Ahoy 'Cross The Whirls [Freeform | Teresa]

Job Link:

Oh, would you look at that? Thinking back to it, Yuvon’s adventures across the seas around Fiore were always remarkable and worthy of remembrance, so when he spotted a paper on the job board from a client wanting magical aid in an expedition to a newly found ruin under the depths of the sea, why wouldn’t he take it? He lived to experience, and value lied in what he saw, felt, heard and acted. These memories would boost his magical prowess, no doubt. There was absolutely no reason for him to turn it down - such an opportunity to venture above the surface of the blue seas was too tempting.

The open seas always hided something deep under their curtains of waves and reflections of the sun’s light. He urged, every time, to just dive in and claim any object of interest down there for further study. Ruins of old civilizations often covered the sea floor, which contained tales of people from times before - even if they were just leftovers at this point, bones and rotten flesh, they spoke stories worthy of documentation. Even their causes of death could often be deduced, and who wouldn’t want to know how an entire civilization ended up at the bottom of the ocean?

Ohh, man! This was too much! He grabbed the paper rather greedily and glanced over it, his eyes reading up its content through the eye holes in his mask. His mask was cartoonish, kind of, and the eye holes acted like real eyes at times. Funny detail, really.

The paper led to him meeting up with the client, which ended up with the client accepting him and Teresa as experts in the field of exploring old ruins - Silver Wolf was renowned for that kind of events, btu where did Teresa come from? How did she get into the picture?

Well, she was a promising, new guildmate of Silver Wolf and, therefore, of his! She was now a fellow Wolf, a Gamma, and a member of the pack! He had to take her with him - he knew little about her, and that was enough reason on its own. She was going with him, and that was final!

But while most of the- y’know, let’s settle the scene now. On a huge, wood-carved ship led by sails, a platoon of mercenaries had gathered to fulfil their duties in order to keep the ship sailing - a good chunk of them would rather try their lucks with Teresa and bet in corners on each other’s lucks with her, but Yuvon wasn’t among them. Oh, no no no…

He wanted to lead the navigation… but he also wanted to pull the sails- no, he wanted to play chess with the captain- no, he wanted to swim and practice some of his water-themed spells- no, he wanted to- he wanted to-


“FOOOOOOOOOORWAAAAAARD!”

He roared, pointing straight forward from the steering wheel’s location on the back of the ship. His garments were dark-green, almost royal in design, and they had long robes reaching down to his feet. He looked like an archmage, and given his knowledge and wide variety of spells, he might’ve been one. The most characteristic of his garments, however, was that squid-themed mask of his - golden and oh so strange.

“… U-Uh, it’s alright, I got this, no worries…” the shipmaster responded to him. Oh well, if he needed no help, then what was Yuvon going to do? The masked wizard looked around, having asked pretty much everyone - none of them were in great need of his help as they were sailing across the deep sea with no land in sight.

Alright, then! If they insisted on him not doing anything, then he saw it as green light for his collapsible stool to be brought forth! A bottle o’ Breezer wouldn’t hurt, either; he would be wary of drinking it, not letting people see his mouth as he moved the mask off per sip.

“*slurp* Just you tell me if anything bickers you - that goes for all of you, lively gentlemen!” he spoke up to all men in board before aiming his focus at Teresa, “And Miss Sinclair, if I may interrupt you - men, make space - come and have a bottle! We’re still, what, hours away? Maybe an entire day? I’d approximate the time left to be one day, but I’m open for surprises…!”

WC: 739

Teresa let out a deep sigh as she turned out a page of her book. She was honestly not completely sure what had happened. It had all started out so nicely today. She had just finished a nice and easy job, enough to cover the rent and enough of her drinking bill so that the would serve again. Of course not the entire bill, ye gods no. To do that she would have to do a hundred years job at the very least… but it was enough that the bartender back at their guild would server her again. That had to be good enough.

She had just made herself cozy near the fireplace, a few pillows and a blanket to rest upon. The fire was roaring nicely and the bartender was just bringer her hot golden ale, a delight after spending the morning in the cold dreary weather. The silver eyed witch was just getting cozy when Yuvon had shown up.

And… and… and… she honestly had no clue what really happened… Just that she really did not seem to have much choice.

All she knew was that now for some reason she found herself aboard a ship on some expedition. All in all it could have been worse. The weather was nice, the expedition interesting and she loved the smell of the wood and the sea all around them. Now if only there had not been a horny band of man around, this might actually have qualified as nice. The first few she had knocked through the fore castle of the ship when they had hit upon her. For some reason the captain did not seem to appreciate his ship from having people shaped holes in them. However when she had simply pushed the next mercenary overboard the captain had cursed at her again, complaining now they had to turn around the ship.

Her answer that it was in fact not really necessary had not been appreciated for some reason.

Therefore Teresa had simply picked a nice spot on the deck and surrounded herself with a square shaped shield. Which was fine, except for the fact that the air got stale after a while and she did have beans for dinner yesterday. So every few minutes she had to lower the shield and it seemed some of the crew took it as a challenge to lie in wait for it.

“Oh yuvie, darling, thank you for the distraction.” Teresa said delightful as Yuvon had distracted the man long enough for her to drop the shields. Gratefully she took the bottle from the masked man.

She did not know much about Yuvon, aside from the fact that he was in her guild, had semi-abducted her and liked masks. Still the bottle more then made up for it and she was even happy enough to ignore the crew trying to get close enough so they could accidentally touch her. The booze tasted good an-“GODDAMNIT YOU FILTY ARSE MONKEYS! THAT’S IT! NEXT ONE TO TOUCH MY BOTTLE DIES!” She suddenly said very loudly as an aura of death surrounded her and she gave everyone a glance of misery and torture.

“So Yuvon, may I ask? How are we supposed to search some ruins underneath the sea?” She asked curiously as she took a big swig of the bottle in her hands.

It was true that technically she could not drown and could explore a sea bottom… but the sensation of constantly downing without actually drowning was not something she could recommend it to anyone, let alone a sane person. Last time he had tried it, it was because someone had rather inconsiderately bound a block of concrete to her feet and then threw her in the water. It was not something she ever wished to repeat and she doubt Yuvon would have the luxury to survive it.

WC: 626
TWC: 739 + 626 = 1,365
@Yuvon

“You’re graciously welcome, my dear guildmate,” Yuvon assured her. She appeared to have been annoyed by the horde of men in heat, but Yuvon couldn’t blame them if they truly fancied a pretty girl like Miss Sinclair. It reminded him… she looked a lot like Kita. Blonde, sleek build, curvaceous, but she missed Kita’s bloodthirst… her wild… her predator-like advances… y’know, what got Yuvon dreaming at night.

Oh, now he was just daydreaming. It was clear that Kita had invaded not both his mind, but his heart as well, but she had been quite advantageous during their missions and events together, so why wouldn’t Yuvon turn interested? Maybe it started in the hot spring… oh shit…

While nothing particularly happened between them other than the sharing of intel in that hot spring, the mere memory of Kita’s bathing suit could prove a danger. He had to focus on something else, before a tent rose up… he couldn’t let anyone be frightened by him. Especially not his new guildmate, jeez…

Thankfully, Miss Sinclair’s uproar turned focus towards her for him, but not for the poor soldiers. They were terrified by the sudden expression of disinterest in any of them, and since the blonde maiden would rather show affection to her bottle than to them, most of them gave up and spread away. That was when Yuvon was able to inform her about the tool needed for this quest.

“Oh, don’t you worry, Miss Sinclair! You’re in the presence of an expert in the arcane arts and their practicality, an encyclopedia of useful spells for venturing to every corner of the known world!” he expressed to her in flamboyant fashion, spreading his arms out to emphasize on it while still on his look-a-like beach stool, “I have knowledge of a spell that transmutes water into fresh air by extracting traces of oxygen enclosed in water particles. All it requires is for us to carry a seal on our necks… which I also know the incantation to manifest.”

The ship rocked a bit by the arrival of large waves, which indicated that they were getting close to some real business - strong waves often hid better treasures, after all.

“Ooooooh, I bet there’ll be fine artifacts for generations to know about! Maybe some ancient, gold earrings too, or crowns of some sort - Kita does like ancient jewelry…” he mumbled in wonder, his mask blushing in his stead, “Tell me, proud Sinclair, what kind of treasures do you fancy? Jewelry, coin, ancient weapons of legend, tomes of hidden secrets, portals to other worlds or others?”

…

Shit was about to get real, already. Despite being kilometers from the destination, a grim aura touched the ship, which caused one of the sailors to start screaming in unspeakable terror a good while after Yuvon had questioned and heard Sinclair’s response. That grim aura belonged to the source of this grim, grim… eldritch power that lured deep under the sea, lying in wait for its next victims…

WC: 501
TWC: 1240

It had not been so much the fact that they were paying attention to her, but the way they were doing it. They were creeping. Not one of them had the bright idea to simply talk to her and offer to get her a drink or give her a foot massage. You know, the simple things in life. Since she was not very shy at all. ‘Shyness is a luxury only the young can afford.’ She always said jokingly when the subject came up. She was indeed very lose, except for that last final horde, she was pretty open about anything.

“H-eh it seems like you are the only ‘REAL’ man around here.” Teresa said loudly as she slid one finger over the chest of Yuvon, before turning her gaze to the other men and giving them a destructive gaze. It was not that she had wanted them to continue, but giving up completely was just insulting.

A moment later she had to restrain herself from giving her guild member a good wipe-out. “My dear Yuvon, as much as I appreciate your courtesy, I insist upon you calling me Teresa. We are colleagues after all and I am sure you don’t want to give me the impression you think I am old, now do you?” She said with a bittersweet voice as she ran that finger up his chest again until it was at head level and gently patted him on the cheek. Her eyes spoke a different tale though, that it probably was best if Yuvon refrained from making a lady feel old.

Luckily she was already distracted again. The idea of a spell that allowed one to breath underwater was fascinating. There had been talk about such spells in the royal eastern courts, but she had never met anyone who could actually do it. This was indeed rather fortuitous.

“Oh a real adventurer. Now I am intrigued. You have to tell me sometimes where you have all been and where you have visited.” She said suddenly dead serious, only a faint smile resting upon her face and she even put her bottle down. “I love traveling and exploring new places. It is one of the few pleasures one can truly have in life.” She continued, thinking about all the great places she had visited in her long time. All the foods she had discovered, all the drinks she had tasted and… okay all the great views and wonders she had witnessed. She had to admit those were pretty cool as well.

The next question came a bit out of the blue though and Teresa had to think a bit about it. She had never been one for earthly possessions and the older she got, the less she cared for them. They only tended to slow her down. “Hmmm I think for me it is about making new memories, seeing things that have been hidden for a long time. Maybe a tome or two to read.” She answered, deep in thought, as she was scratching her chin and trying to give an honest answer. It was extremely unlikely they would find a nice restaurant there, so that probably was what she loved the next best.

She was still thinking about it and wondering if she should reciprocate the question, when suddenly a very ghastly and familiar feeling crept over the boat. “Ugh… let me guess, that is exactly where we are going.” Teresa said, dead serious as the smile left her face and she turned her head in the direction of where she sensed the power coming from.

“So… I am guessing you did not invite me after all because I am nice company.” She said with a sigh as she reached for the bottle of breezer. Half way through the motion she reconsidered however and diverted her hand to her hip, where the magical flask was as always. With a practiced movement she unlocked the holster, unscrewed the lid and took a big sip of the whiskey that was stored inside. If this involved Eldritch, she was going to need a whole lot stronger than breezer

WC: 676
TWC: 1,866 + 676 = 2,542
@Yuvon

Hmh. The men left her alone, for now. That was right; by simply upholding proper courtesy and manners, Yuvon rose to the top of manhood among the soldiers aboard. Couldn’t say he wasn’t flattered to hear that - although it was terrifying to have her fingers slide across his chest with the rather… intimidating spirit of hers. He feared that she would suddenly have half a mind to drill her finger straight into his lung, but he feared for naught, and he ought to have more faith in his guildmates - therefore, this all proved to just make him feel a little guilty inside.

“Now that you put it that way, I have to agree, but some honorifics are to be uphold in the guild… at least, one type of such, to prevent future confusion,” he replied to her, lifting his hands to cast a few Solid Script spells as words manifested between them for her to read, “The guild’s Aces, our respected figures in each branch, are referred to as ‘Beta’ - mimicking the hierarchy of a wolven pack, that is. That would make the rest of the pack - including you and I - ‘Gamma’ - yes, regardless of our branch, but I can get to that later… and last, but not least, the guild’s Mistress herself also goes under the title ‘Alpha’.” It looked like a slideshow with the words displayed in front of her thanks to his varied magic, a gateway to put his thoughts on screen to further understanding.

He adjusted his mask after the patting he got on his embarrassed cheek. “By my right hand, I didn’t mean to make you seem or sound any older…” he mumbled apologetically. Thankfully, she was intrigued by his arsenal of spells and all the adventures that he had went and been. She valued it too - travelling and exploring new places, getting to know the world you live in just a bit more. More and more… it was soooooooo exciting! This floating world held so many secrets yet, and maybe - just maybe - more than they knew were just beneath their feet! The fact tat she fancied the gift of memories from these journeys almost made him tear up.

“Oh my, oh my, oh my!!! Memories sure are the best a human being can possess - all your convictions, emotions, experience and visions of your past, present and future self are all memories, so why wouldn’t you value them the most?!” he proclaimed joyously, almost rolling off of his beach stool. Something, however, did catch her attention… a ghastly magic touched the boat, and Yuvon was on high alert.

“Taking you to the deep seas under such possible circumstances for the sole purpose of pulling myself out of my boredom would be weirdly selfish, don’t you think?” he rhetorically asked her, “I did it, first and foremost, to gather intel about you! HOHO!”

He was suddenly on his feet with his arms spread out like a comedic villain, unphased by the boat’s shaking. He was in his element, the element of surprise and unpredictability!

“I have kept a close eye on you ever since we left, o sweet Teresa! And I have come to a conclusion about the inner-most core traits of your very self!” he explained to her with a fat thumb pointed straight at her face, “For you see, blonde, beautiful fang in the jaws of Silver Wolf-!”

The dramatic atmosphere, the blackened sky, the comedic lightning effects suddenly died out with a quick flick of his fingers, his face - or rather, his mask - returning back from a dead-serious contour to a more laid-back form, “You’re actually a pretty cool gal, and you sprout with confidence on par with the proudest of wolves up in the cold mountains~! I can’t help but admire that… and I’m convinced that my dearest Kita would agree, were she with us again today. Yes, mhm, I can read her well, you see…”

The last part was cap, however. Kita was strange, but a sensual kind of strange. The kind of strange that stimulated his curiosity in just the right way.

“Say, maybe that poor sailor could have some of your whiske- wait, are you drinking that straight out of the bottle?! How is that even possible?!” he exclaimed in shock, being a rather fine man of fine liquor as a fine Minstrelian that he was. Strong beverages were enjoyed by him in small sips for the most part, so emptying a bottle o’ 90% whiskey without a filter was all but… wow, otherworldly. He would remember that.

“A-Anyway, hey! You, skipper! Hang in there-!” he called for the screaming man who felt some kind of overwhelming fear overtake him. Falling to his knees, the sailor watered in a state of shock as Yuvon approached him with a helpful hand - his thanks to Yuvon’s act was to choke the librarian with the strength of a damn Minotaur! It was almost as if he feared Yuvon now, instead of the unseen forces around the sailor himself!

“H-Hey *grunt* the h-hell-“ Yuvon shockingly pushed out his voice to reach the confused man, but it was as if he was treated as an archenemy of his. The sailor wouldn’t let go, so Yuvon jabbed at his arm and inflicted quite some blue marks - he didn’t want to hurt the sailor too much, but he wouldn’t budge. Yuvon quickly cast an Enchantment on his right arm and chopped, attempting to dislocate his elbow just enough to force him to let go, but somehow, his elbow was like reinforced steel - sailors weren’t all that physically superior to his Enchantments, were they?!

“W-What’s gotten into you, brother!” one of the other sailors called to their mate who was in a state of blind rage, a counter-reaction to the immense fear he felt earlier. It was all aimed at Yuvon, for now.

“W-What are you doing to my sailor?! C-Can’t you hold back-“

“B-But he’s choking me to death, here…!” Yuvon complained, having subdued the sailor with chains erupting from purple magic circles - Amaterasu seals.

In the meantime, the ship itself was being hugged by clawed, fanged tentacles whose roots were found… nowhere. They just, sort of, grew out from the water itself, a few dozen meters below the surface. They weren’t friendlier than the sailor, sadly.

Yuvon flicked his hand and sent another Enchantment towards Teresa, bosting her physical strength. The sailor next to him had to be kept subdued, so he would have to trust Teresa to loosen the boat off of the grasp of those monstrous tendrils…

WC: 1100
Thread TWC: 3642

“H-aight!” Teresa said as she gave the big man a grin that could mean anything and everything at the same time. Well it was good to here she was a pretty interesting gal. “Shucks, you know how to make a pretty gal blush!” She continued as she playfully punched him in the shoulder, while turning away slightly to make it look as if she was blushing. “What is this Kita thing you keep talking about though?” She asked, her voice and smile changing to an imitation of an innocent child. “You keep talking about it, but I just can’t imagine it would measure up to a big strong man like you.” She continued and she probably would have continued it had Yuvon not grabbed her magical flask.

Tears almost rolled down her face as she took back the flask, focused for a second and than took a sip of Dalmore 18 year old whiskey. “Oi Yuvon, you might want to be careful with that flask. It is an old artifact and basically is always filled with what the holder is thinking about. So if you are thinking about very, very strong whiskey, you might actually get a 90% strong spirit whiskey from the haunted mountains.” She said with a grin as she licked her lips and put the flask back on her hip where it belonged.

“Oh a minor tip though. Be careful what you think about and what you are doing at the time. For instance the other day I was filling up my engine was gasoline and tried to take a sip… let’s just say that now I know no one ever bother to make a beverage out of gasoline.” She said with a grin as she reached for a cigarette. “Needless to say, never take a sip when you urgently need to use the toilet…” She continued, the happiness literally fading from her voice as the memories of that mishap returned fresh to mind.

…

At first Teresa was a bit unsure what was happening. She was still fiddling around with a cigarette, trying to light the damp thing, when suddenly she heard the sailor scream. It all went rather quickly and she barely had time to think. Yuvon however was already doling out the pain. The silver eyed witch just couldn’t help but admire a man who was acting that fast.

As she overlooked the situation though it became obvious that the more inexperienced and/or weaker members of the crew were being grasped by an unrealistic amount of terror. “Hey do you mind if I disp-” She said as she looked to the side, only to find Yuvon currently preoccupied.

Several chains had shot from purple magical circles, subduing the sailor near him. Why she was not entirely sure, but Yuvon must have had good reason for it. He had not seemed the type to randomly start attacking people. Nor to be that much affected by whatever this was. No matter the reason though, she did hear him arguing with the captain about the precious sailors. For some reason though everyone seemed more focused on Yuvon than on the big oversized squid trying to mate with their ship -judging by the rocking of the boat anyways- and even less on her.

Naturally this wouldn’t do at all.

With a sigh she plucked the cigarette from her moist pink lips and threw it annoyed to one of the fanged tentacles. As she calmed herself, she breathed in deeply and let her senses stretch out far beyond her body. Feeling the world around her, sensing the magic in the air, ‘tasting’ the aether all around them, molding them all into a 4d probability curve in her head. “Aight Yuvie, I am going to do something about all this fear and aggression.” She said as she opened her eyes again and began to draw ancient sigils in the air.

As she drew in the air from outside and mixed it with her bodies own, her eyes slowly began to change till they were copper colored. A fine pink mist began to evaporate from her body and the tips of her fingers began to glow, drawing the magic sigils in the air. “PATRIA, NOSTRI RUPTOR!” She chanted, giving the sigil more power. When it was ready she simply snapped her fingers and instantly a clear and transparent shield began to expand from her body, rapidly engulfing most of the ship. She lacked the power to completely cover it though and the end of both castles and half way to the mast she shield ended.

Instantly everyone inside the shield turned calm. At least until they looked around and saw the tentacles, then panic began to spread again. At the very least it was not the blind terror and rage anymore.

At least for now.

“Yuvon, do you think you can take care of these tentacles?” Teresa said as she looked around, while drawing her sword. Already a bead of sweat was forming on her head. At best she would be able to keep up a shield this size for a couple of minutes. “If you play offense, I will play the defense and try to keep everyone safe.” She said as she drew her claymore and shifted her weight so she could adopt a defensive position.

“AND WILL ALL YOU HATRACKS, CLUSTER UP AND LIE ON THE FLOOR NEAR ME? IT WOULD BE CONVENIENT FOR ME!” She bellowed loudly as she swung dashed sideways, barely slashing the tip of a tentacle that came down upon an unexpecting sailor. “Okay… Yuvon, time to proof your worth.” She said, when she was suddenly hit by an enchantment of the tall mage. Suddenly it felt as if she could lift twice her weight. “Oh wow… is that your magic?” She asked surprised as she could feel how potent it was.

WC: 976
TWC: 3,642 + 976 = 4,618
@Yuvon

He could hera her loud and clear, but her voice had become… staggering? Was Teresa intoxicated by the awfully strong beverage? Perhaps a bit too soon, maybe? Well, she was quite the outstanding, expressive personality - he did deduce that by now, given her bashful reaction to his summary - and she rewarded him with knowledge about said flask - and by Shezzar’s beard, what a flask! His mind wrote that down by summoning a notebook out of thin air and a pen, the pen writing the information down - all the information, and also about the repercussions of not being careful with the powers of the flask - all by itself before both the former and latter disappeared again.

Oh well, back to the present; tentacles attaching themselves to the ship, and the sailor was desperately trying to free himself from Yuvon’s Amaterasu chains. While he was held down, Yuvon glared at Teresa who unveiled a pink mist which manifested into her magic as she wrote sigils in the air. When Yuvon witnessed the use of magic, he had the ability to store it in his memory - while most human beings were able to do such a trivial thing, it meant sooooooooo much more for the librarian.

For you see, his magic revolved around the concept of memory! What he remembered from his past, whether it be years or a second ago, he could draw forth with his magic power and materialize in form of a spell! And now, Teresa was pouring blessings down upon him with her very words of wisdom that he would never forget, NEVER FORGET-

“PATRIA!”

As he spoke the words himself, he approached Teresa, “NOSTRI RUPTOR! Those are the sigils to your spells, and what magnificent sigils they are! Do not mind, Teresa, if I enchant them too - my Green’s Gift should do the trick…!” He snapped his fingers as a white magic circle unleashed a colorful book with feathers attached to it - the Kaleidoscope, as this tome was named, possessed arcane spells symbolized by colors. Green was suitable for enchanting the auric shield that Teresa had summoned, so he opened the book by flicking his hand and released a green aura from its pages. The green aura enveloped the ship as well, boosting the shield that Teresa held up.

Yuvon was starting to feel excited, learning and using all these spells at the same time. The rest of the ship’s populace - the soldiers and the captain - were hysterical as the latter tried to turn the ship in vain.

“W-We have to retreat, the beast’s too much for us-!”

“Oh, stop being so paranoid!” Yuvon scolded them, glancing at Teresa then back at the soldiers, “Don’t you know that you’ve got two splendid Silver Wolf Scholars keeping you safe and sound?” While the Amaterasu chains held the confused soldier from before, and the Kaleidoscope was floating up to aid the shield around the boat, Yuvon’s free hand summoned another magic circle that opened up like a pair of doors to release a large, straight sword! The sword was held by invisible forces coming from said magic circle, which Yuvon controlled with his free hand and swung to cut the tentacles off even from afar. What a nice sword spell that allowed him to attack from a long range, just like many of his other spells focused on long-range - he was like a chess player, turning the area to his advantage!

The soldiers clustered up as commanded by Teresa, while he easily cut off the tentacles like he was a calamari cook. “Yes, Teresa, this is what my magic is all about! Diversity is my focus, ironically - name the spell, and I shall cast it!” he proudly proclaimed while almost dancing the sword around those tendrils and cutting them off, causing purple blood to splatter into the sea.

The tendrils that were still left unharmed quickly let go of the ship and sunk back down to the sea. It was clear that they had reached the center of activity - the surface where ruins could be seen deep under the waters. Why did the monster stop attacking? Was it a trap? Or was it afraid by them and wanted to protect something precious? Either way, it led the initiative of attacking them in the first place, so Yuvon held little compassion towards it.

“Huh…?” he let out in curiosity, “Did it, perhaps, have enough of us already? What a half-assed monster, not even trying to finish its job - I do appreciate it, though.” He clapped his hands and cancelled his sword spell, then took a glance down at the water from the side of the ship. “Seems we’re here. Ready to take a dive, Teresa?”

He readied another spell; this time, a magic circle formed underneath his feet that caused a seal to summon on his neck. The seal was purple and allowed him to filter pure dioxygen from saltwater, so that he could breathe underwater. For convenience, he had thrown another magic circle down; this one was green and changed his clothes to leave him in a diving shirt and dark-green swimming trunks. “Step into the circle, and we shall begin our dive!”

WC: 877
Thread TWC: 5495

Out off all the things Teresa had been expecting today, this was definitely not it. Maybe she had expected to see a city being carried on a flat disk by a turtle and four elephants. Or a giant inversed mountain where imagination made dragons real. Or a chest made of sapient wood, that would follow her around on hundred tiny legs. Maybe she had even expected death itself to show up to claim her, since she was a wizard after all. The last thing she had imagined though was Yuvon repeating her loudly and actually copying her magic. Even worse… improving upon it!

If she would have had any pride, this might actually have just put a dent in it. Luckily for her she lost that a long time ago and the substitute she acquired was not that easily impressed. Well maybe a little, but she would be damned before she would show that!

“WOA! How did you do that?” She asked, putting up an amazed smile, as she looked at Yuvon. Well actually perhaps it was not even played that much. She was truly amazing by the fact that he copied her magic only a mere moment after seeing it. When she was still abroad, she had heard rumors about a mage so incredible he could copy any kind of magic. Of course back then she had disregarded it as pure rumors. Surely someone like that could simply not exist. At the time she had just disregarded it as a rumor of an absolute prodigy being boosted even further. Apparently she was wrong.

There were so many questions. For one, did that mean that Yuvon now grasped the entire concept of her sigil shield magic, or just this one. “So Yuvon, does that mean you can now create and combine sigils at random?” She asked as she swung her sword, cutting off another tentacle coming their way. With a wet slopping noise the three meter long tentacle landed on the wooden deck, trembled a bit and than began to leak out blood as it began to convulse, the little suction cups closing like flowers.

The silver eyed witch barely noticed it though. Her attention was fully drawn upon the magical masked man, who kept dishing out the most diverse and wonderful sets of magic. The most beautiful she thought was the sword though. It really was a thing of beaut and the swords woman instantly rose with the desire to match blades.

She almost had to chuckle at his ironically focused pun and barely in time noticed the tentacle coming in from above. Instinctively she raised her left hand, pointed two fingers and was just about to weave a sigil, when she remembered what had just happened. As much as she liked Yuvon, until she understood his ability better, she did not want to show off too much. With a sigh she lowered her left hand, as she raised her right and leveled the claymore horizontally to use it as a shield.

The wooden boards below her cracked and a few actually cracked, as the tentacle slammed into her. The impact forced her to bend her arms and knees a bit, but luckily Yuvons enchantment was still holding and with a loud grunt she managed to deflect the tentacle back into the air.

By now Yuvon was quite busy slicing up more tentacles and considering the amount of tentacles, versus the size and subspecies of the kraken, the main dish should come soon. Yes oddly enough she had fought these creatures often enough to be somewhat of an expert -which was extremely odd as she had always tried to avoid traveling per ship- on them and had even written several books and a thesis on them many years ago. Basically she had figured out the ratio to damage, size and weight before the beast would surface and the real fight could start.

For some reason though instead of emerging, the remaining tentacles slithered away and splashed into the water before the entire creature submerged itself. For moment Teresa just stood there, rather flabbergasted, mouth wide open, still covered in squid slime and blood. “Yuvie, did you bully that nice monster?” She finally managed to ask, with a grin, as she quickly cycled through two outfits and back into the body suit, to get rid of the bits and pieces of kraken she had been drenched in “Well I really don’t sense it anymore, so… yeah…” She said as she approached the man who was dishing out even more magic.

“So if I step into this circle I will be able to breath under water?” She asked as she stepped into the circle.

WC: 783
TWC: 5,495 + 783 = 6,278
@Yuvon

Oh? She hadn’t heard about his magic before? She didn’t know how he copied her spell?! THAT SIMPLY WOULDN’T DO - HE HAD TO INFORM HER!

“Memory-Make!” he quickly spewed out the name of his prized magic - for what kind of magic would suit him more than this?! Mhhhhm, however it came to be, Memory-Make Magic was at the very top of the types of Magic that molded one’s imaginations into one’s tools and weapons - his memories became his strongest weapons, his greatest arsenal of power! And oh, how vast he imagined things! How vast his memory was!

“Mhm! Mhm! I saw your spell and all - its code, I quickly made my own! Although, I wouldn’t go and mix spells up right now - I tried once, and I almost went blind…”

He was still somewhere in the middle concerning his mana. And he had lots to learn, still. Memory-Make was difficult to channel, to use and to cast, so Yuvon always spoke so vigorously to hide the fact that he was rather tucking himself out… if he just had a source of insane magic power, then he wouldn’t have to strain himself so much through every single mission.

… Okay, Teresa was stoic, but she sure too was hard to shock. Her clothes and face were covered by the insides of a tendril, and she barely flinched. He liked her confidence! If his garments got too dirtied, then he wouldn’t hesitate in washing them with a water spell at the very moment.

“Bully? If that’s what my actions can be conceived as, then… okay, it does really look like that,” he replied, “But it probably wants to lick its wounds and ready for a second wave, which I sure don’t want to happen! So let’s dive in and meet it in its own home field, Teresa!”

When she asked if she would be able to breathe underwater via this spell, his legs almost shook out of joy. “Oh yes, indeed! With this spell, I can mark a Seal on your neck that allows any substance of water to turn into dioxygen - air for you to inhale and respite with!” he explained, and oh boy, he loved to explain things. He contributed to making her a little smarter, a little more knowledgeable, and that was just amazing.

After she stepped in, both of them got a Seal on their necks in form of a collar. “Alright, ladies first,” he offered, waving his hand over the edge of the boat down to the water.

Deep down, a large ruin in form of a destroyed dome could be seen. The tendrils from before were… gone. The cracks, though, indicated that something had broken out from it, and should they venture into the cracks and enter the dome, then they would find themselves in what could be explained as a labyrinth of tunnels that led into other tunnels, all leading straight down to a secret lair with a certain golem lying in wait…

A certain golem carrying the heart of a dragon… a deep dragon…

WC: 516
TWC: 6011

Teresa brushed her hair out of her face a few times, even when there where not longer any strands left. It was a habit of hers when she was thinking things through. This memory make magic seemed quite incredible and the user not less amazing. To be able to see through the magic and the coding was simply astonishing. Still there were many questions she had.

The power of her shield magic laid in the different and greatly diverse sigils. She could make a cubicle shield as strong as the hardest iron or add an elasticity sigial and make it behave like bubble gum, without ever losing it’s strength. If she wanted she could add a lightning element to it or as in this case made it improvable to aura’s. In fact she made a mental note to ask him about that green magic ‘thingie’ he had used. Perhaps she could adapt it somehow and use it as a sigil. That was though where her power lay, in the diversity of her sigils. She could even use a form of her shields for her tertiary magic; creating a black shield around her armor and weapons to make them almost impossible to destroy.

As she gazed calmly looked upon Yuvon and brushed an imaginary strand away again, she wondered if he was able to copy that diversity or just the three sigils she had combined before. In the grand scheme of things it would hardly matter, she would gladly share her magic, but she was interested in these abilities. ‘Perhaps something I can experiment with.’ She thought happily to herself, quickly reminding her though she should only do that if it was appropriate and possible.

Last time she had tried to do it, she had become indirectly responsible for the destruction of the great ‘Deduci’ workplace in motor city.

“Well don’t worry. If you want I could show you a few of the more practical spells when we get back home.” She said with a friendly smile as she placed her warm hand on his shoulder, the slender fingers gently bending themselves around them. “In return, perhaps you could teach me that green… gift magic. It looked really useful.” She continued, just remembering the right name of the magic in time.

Yuvon’s idea to meet the Kraken in it’s home field was either the most insane, brave or brilliant suggestion she had heard all day. As it were with these things though, it was most likely all three at the same time.

Staying on the boat was no option. The main sail was already ripped, the railing busted and most of the ropes holding everything together were either snapped or somehow tight together. The two castles on the both sides were battered and if she was not mistaken the keel of the boat was taken quite a beating, causing several leaks to spring. “Y-yeah that might be a good idea. I am not sure how much more this ship could withstand and I am not looking forward to walking home again.” She said as she nodded to Yuvon.

Last time she had water in her ears for months.

“I know, I was just joking my boy.” She said with a grin as she walked past Yuvon and had a quick conversation with the captain. “I would suggest taking the materials from the main mast and the secondary castle to reinforce the keel.” She ended the discussion, before turning to her guild mate.

“Ugh sailors are so stubborn. I mean it is obvious the main mast is cracked and the secondary castle is just a decoration to look big and mean.” She said, more in general than towards Yuvon, with a sigh as she finally stepped in the circle.

“Oh the fishman spell!” She said enthusiastically as Yuvon explained the magic, happily she finally understood something he was talking about. Well at the very least similar kind of magic. From what she heard there had been some improvements and the fact that it could now be put on a body was incredible. However that did pose, potentially, a small problem. “Yuvon, before you activate the magic, you should know that is also where my Silver Wolf stamp is.” She said as she turned her back to the masked man and pulled her hair to the side, revealing the turqoise SW stamp in the back of her neck.

Now normally this should not poise a problem. The stamp was dormant magic and the seal should be active, so they should not intervene. However there were always exceptions and she did not want to find out the hard way, by the seal dissolving two miles below sea level. “I presume that won’t be a problem? You know with the two different types of magic?” She asked carefully, hoping not to offend Yuvon.

Still she could feel the seal being imprinted into her neck and for a moment there was a strange sensation going through her lungs, spreading out through her chest. It felt as if her breathing changed as well, as if she was breathing through a handkerchief or something. ‘Probably the effect of this magic.’ She thought to herself as she readied herself. It was not that she hated water… more that she preferred air to breath in. Still this was no time to show Yuvon that she was uncomfortable. “Alright, see you in the water.” She said, putting effort into grinning, as she walked to the edge.

She even forgot to playfully punch him in the shoulder for the chauvinistic approach to things.

As approached the wooden, wet and slimey rail of the ship she turned around. She shuffled a bit backwards till the rail was in the back of her knees. Still grinning she placed her arms in an X in front of her chest and then leaned backwards until gravity took over. For a moment all she heard as the rushing of air and then she hit the water, head first.

Before she hit the water though, she used her personal shield technique. For a moment she glowed brightly and then it faded. It was almost skin tight and she was unsure whether it would hold under miles of water pressure, but at the very least she would stay dry. Her body suit tended to get really uncomfortable and riding upwards when it got wet.

For a moment fear gripped her as she sunk into the water, her heavy boots and claymore automatically dragging her down like a rock. Even if she had wanted to surface she probably wouldn’t have been able to unless she got rid of a lot of her clothing. Then she remembered she should now be able to breath under water. Carefully she opened her mouth and allowed the sea water to wade in. Suddenly she could feel a bit of the pressure fade, so she pushed the water out and allowed more water to flow in. Still she was not exactly breathing and it took a lot of effort and concentration for her to ‘breath’ in the seawater. She could fill the water flow into her lungs and naturally she expected to feel the suffocation that was too follow.

But to her surprise nothing of the sorts happened. Suddenly her lungs seemed to expand and she could feel how oxygen was being spread through her body. Eagerly she repeated the question and to her surprise she started to feel better quickly.

It was still a weird sensation. It was not like breathing at all, since the pace was much slower. It took a lot longer to empty her lungs again and fill them, compared to pure air. Still the water contained more oxygen for some reason or perhaps it was more condensed, so it was not really a problem and after a few minutes she had gotten used to the motion to the point where it almost went automatically.

“bllubllbublllblblbbblblblyuudlslsss” She said to Yuvon, as only water left her mouth. She tried again, but the result was the same.

With a sigh she shrug her shoulders and reverted back to a more basic language. Pointing towards the vague outlines of the ruins there were slowly getting in sight and drawing a question mark in the water. Hopefully Yuvon understood she was trying to ascertain whether that was the correct destiny.



WC: 1394
TWC: 6,794 + 1394 = 8,188
@Yuvon

Yuvon smiled widely under his mask. Finally, someone curious enough about his magic to want to learn something from him! For ages, he had been quite a strange link in Silver Wolf - knowing a lot, but feeling like falling behind due to his lack of suitable mana - but with Teresa’s presence and her growing interest in his Memory-Make Magic, confidence sprouted out from his chest. He had to collect himself, for the ship around them was looking battered, broken and injured pretty heftily.

The captain was in a panic, about to order his men to seal the leaks without even telling them what material they needed to do so, before Teresa came in clutch and pointed their attention towards the main mast and the secondary castle of the ship - y’know, the decorations of their proud ship that really didn’t fit any grand, too practical role in its sail. Despite her generous advice, she was pretty tired of them as she expressed so right after to the masked wizard.

“Stubborn, huh?” Yuvon reacted, holding the chin of his mask, “Well, they have been quite beside themselves today… but who wouldn’t be beside themselves? You’ve seen how obsessed they are with you~! It’s ultimately expected…!”

Yuvon imagined that, in the presence of Kita, he would start acting a tad more flamboyant or brave in order to impress her as much as possible. When those mindsets sat in, he rarely thought about the view of himself from another perspective, and he lost a little self-awareness in his desperate attempts at drawing someone dear to him closer. That was why he could understand these soldiers a little… poor men.

Hmh… so there was her stamp, the Silver Wolf symbol painted on the back of her smooth, bright neck. She posed an interesting thought, worried that the Guild Mark would intervene with the seal that he was about to put on her. She mentioned the fact that it was two, different types of magic laid upon each other… which made his mask bright up, just like his face did behind it.

“I’d like to clarify to you, Teresa, that it is still my uncanny Magic,” he explained, while the aura from his magic circle rose up to implant itself onto his and Teresa’s necks, “-and we’re both undoubted Silver Wolf Wizards, both blessed by the Mark of the Wolf on our bodies! If anything, our cooperation and mutual trust for each other will break way for an even stronger and more efficient version of this old spell!”

With that said, the preparations were done, and Teresa grinningly entered the surface of the water at his generous offer. She took her steps carefully, perhaps nervous at this new endeavor that they were about to take. Fear not, Teresa! Yuvon was watching her all the time, making sure that his spell was active! He would not deactivate it until they had completed their mission.

While this spell must’ve been new to her, Yuvon had used it plenty of times before. He knew exactly how it felt and how they were going to approach the ruins that Teresa pointed at…

So now, they were both submerged underwater…

Yuvon made an ‘ok’ sign with his right hand to signal to Teresa that it was the source of this… this… he didn’t know if she could sense it, but hoooooooooooooly shit… that sickening, dreadful energy spelled pure fear into his heart. Was it the magic of the ruins that did this to him? He felt at unease, clutching his garments in front of his chest in a mild shock.

But… he could do this. Teresa was by his side.

Yuvon torpedoed himself down towards an opening in the ruins and followed the tunnel that led him further down. Once Teresa was with him, he activated another spell - this time, a small, white magic circle was held right in front of his forehead, which then emitted a strong, white light that illuminated the path in front of him.

Luckily, nothing tried to attack them until they reached the bottom chamber… oooooh, what a sight.

A golem-like figure was emitting terrible amounts of mana, its chest broken up for some reason and exposing an… an… eye? The eye of a monster, that was! An eye that pulsated like a living heart! It caused the water around it to bubble up as the golem rose up on its feet and eyed them down, before it began charging in an attempt to smash them both. Its heart, the Eye, charged mana through it as a vessel…

“Bllublbublbbub!” he screamed, trying to say these words…

That’s our treasure! Brace yourself!

WC: 779
Personal TWC: 6790
Thread TWC: 8967

Teresa had not consciously noticed the dreadful feeling coming from the ruins. Now she had noticed something, but she had just figured that was her dread of water, combined with all the new experiences bombarding her. It was just taking her a while to get used to all the things below the sea. She had seen them off course, but usually through a screen or while traveling on a vehicle. A submachine boat or something it was called. To actually be here though, breathing water and being able to touch all the slimy creatures… let’s just say she preferred octopus fried on her plate or straight of the barbecue.

Needless to say that when she noticed something slimy wrapping itself around her legs, an almost visible anima like shiver ran down her spine. It took the utmost of her self control not to simply blow away the creature with her magic, even if she had to boil away the ocean to do it.

Instead she gritted her teeth, kicked blindly with her other foot backwards. She desperately refused to look backwards to see what disgusting thing had latched itself onto her. After a few kicks suddenly her pupils shrunk to the size of tiny little needles and the pushed out a wave of water as she screamed out in pain. Metals boots are fun, but not when you accidentally kick yourself with full force in the shins, almost cracking the bone.

Swearing continuously and biting her lips, while tears formed in the corners of her eyes, she followed Yuvon.

As they got closer though, this dreadful feeling she had been experiencing on the ship to grow in strength and intensity. Even if she would have been able to form a shield under water, she was very doubtful she could have blocked out this aura. At least not without draining her reserves.

She swallowed visibly, the pain in her shins slowly ebbing away, as she saw Yuvon torpedo himself towards the energy. He was clearly braver then she was. Gulping again, she deep breathed a bunch of seawater a few times and then dashed after him. Well more like clumsily flopped around in the water like a wet cat. She was definitely not a natural swimmer and by the looks of things, it would probably have been faster if Yuvon had pulled her along. Mind you not as dignified as swimming, but definitely not worse than this aimless flailing in the water.

When she finally managed to catch up to Yuvon, she was so out of breath she did not even have the energy to slap away his hand. A good thing, as it turned out to be a spell that helped them see in the dark. With a thumbs-up, she signaled she was okay.

As they explored the ruins and eventually reached the bottom chambers, she was a bit disappointed. Or rather annoyed. In the movies and stories about such exploration, the important levels always contained air for te characters to be able to talk. Of course if she thought rationally about it, that didn’t make any sense. For the deepest part to be filled with air. Still it would definitely have made things more convenient, as Teresa was a bit unclear of what they were doing down there.

Luckily the issue sorted itself out fairly rapidly once they entered some kind of treasure room. It was quite obvious the room was a treasure room as there were dozens, nay hundreds of old torches around the walls and columns. The only room that was ever this well lit, yet build at the bottom/most secure location of a building was always the treasure room. Well that or the cheese cellar, but since she saw no cooling devices or equipment for storing the cheese… definitely the treasure room.

Of course there were other small hints. Like the fact that the floor seemed to be made of golden tiles or the walls inlaid with gems and jewels. Or the fact that it said ‘Main Treasure Room 1B’ on the back wall in big, bright letters -probably reacting to the light of the illumination spell-.

She was still looking around when suddenly she heard Yuvon scream something. To her surprise she saw the huge golem dashing towards them. “Bllublbublbbub!” She screamed back, thanking the man for the warning. It was incredible the golem was still working in the first place, but even more impressive was it’s speed. Teresa had barely time to draw her sword. “Bllublbublbbub!” She screamed, cursing loudly and very offensively as she raise the claymore, quickly twisted it and blocked the golems punch with the flat side of her blade. The blow was a lot fiercer than she had expected and even after she placed her second arm behind to claymore for support, she was still completely overwhelmed.

This water stuff was truly a problem. She had considered requiping into her combat armor, enhancing her strength… but it was so heavy it would be like tying herself to a tank and then try to run a marathon. Normally the suit used it’s own fire element and magic to reduce that weight, but under water the fire magic was useless. Now talking about fire…

For a second it seemed the water around the impact was about to boil and than somehow it exploded, sending the silver eyed witch flying through the water.

In retro perspective it was probably a good thing this was water, as if this had been air she probably would have smashed into the wall with enough speed to crush her spinal cord. “Bllublbublbbub!” She moaned softly, spitting out some blood as she stood back up. “Bllublbublbbub!Bllublbublbbub!Bllublbublbbub!Bllublbublbbub!Bllublbublbbub!Bllublbublbbub!” She began, chanting and weaving several sigils quickly in the water. Her claymore turned pitch black and with a loud howl she swung her sword towards the golem, releasing a massive wave of black energy in the of a crescent moon.

WC: 978
TWC: 8967 + 978 = 9,945
@Yuvon

The golem was unyielding in its assault, aiming straight for poor Teresa who was taken by surprise. Its speed underwater allowed it to smash its fist onto the flat side of her sword - while she used said side to block the attack, its impulse was too great, and she found herself flung backwards. “BLURBLBULBUBL!” Yuvon cried in shock, worried of his teammate and her condition. She had a bleeding injury on her leg, even… did the golem do that? That wretched abomination!

He swam straight forward and tried to face the golem head-on, sticking his hand into a sudden magic circle that manifested in front of his face. The magic circle was a spatial alteration, and it allowed his hand to stick out right behind the golem - exactly where the pulsating heart was. If that was its source of power, then cutting that power out directly would save them lots of trouble later on, but he did have to dash to the side in a moment. That was when the golem saw a black wave cut through its stone-like complexion like butter, loosening the heart so that Yuvon could rip it off of it.

And thus, in a quick turn of events, the golem fell lifeless to the ocean floor. The lacrima was beating in his hand, slowly sending some strange aura into his arm… but nothing happened. It was somewhat on standby or inactive in a sense.

Yuvon returned to Teresa and released a bright, green goo from his hand’s pores that worked as healing salve to her leg. With the saltwater around them, that wound could prove a son of a bitch in the later run, so it had better patch up quickly. “Blubublublbublbublub!” he informed her with a thumbs-up, signaling that their mission could come at a close here and now. Most of the treasures were solidified architecture, so pieces would have to be extracted… but the biggest treasure was likely the heart in his free hand.

Either that or his welded, new friendship with Teresa.

WC: 341
Thread TWC: 10,286