Last Part
The shimmer of light faded just as quickly as it came, and suddenly Sorano and Hoshi would find themselves on yet another strange island. It seemed that the teleports that the Magic Council had programmed into their little seals had worked after all, and they were off to their next target. Strangely enough, as the letter mage did a quick checkover of herself and everything on her, it seemed that they had renewed supplies of magical energy. To her surprise, it seemed that even the wounds and scratches she had received on Shadow Island had mysteriously disappeared, leaving the mage feeling fresh as a daisy and ready to go. Glancing over to her companion, Hoshi seemed to feel the same way, fluttering her wings experimentally before flashing a smile at Sorano. “Everything’s great over here!” With that positive comment, the two would get going. Thunder Island was yet another dangerous place to be – apparently there was an eternal thunderstorm raging overhead, and as such, the trees were largely barren and black, charred down by the strikes of lightning that were common here. The constant rumble of thunder could be heard growling overhead, as the mages trudged over the moist, muddy land, similarly blackened as the trees. A light drizzle fell upon them from overhead, the rain splashing miserable on their heads and shoulders as the young mages tried to figure out how to go about finding their next target.
“Well, this is miserable and all, isn’t it?” Hoshi commented dryly after the catching Sorano from tripping and falling into a charred pit. They’d been walking along for quite some time with no sign of life – it seemed that nothing and nobody desired to live in a place as desolate and constantly dangerous as the barren island. According to what she remembered from her readings, the cause of the lightning problem was due to some sort of failed experiment. If it were so, what mage could have possibly been strong enough to cause so powerful a spell? It was admirable, in a way, despite the horrible consequences. Either way, they’d have to move on and see what had caused the disabling of this particular beacon. Could it be linked to the lightning problem, perhaps? They’d have to make their way to the center of the island then, if that were the case. After all, that was where all the lightning strikes were concentrated, no?
Explaining her theory to her companion, Hoshi nodded approval, and they went off towards the center. This time, the exceed did not dare to fly above them. With the abundance of electricity in the air and the light drizzle, getting closer to the clouds would be far more dangerous than staying right here on the ground. They trudged through the peatish dirt, shoes soon getting coated with mud, and Sorano erected a quick sort of invisible umbrella around them, trying to keep them as dry as possible so as not to catch a cold or anything along those lines. Fighting dangerous monsters with a runny nose was not how they wanted to operate, and it was so simple a spell that barely any ethernanos was needed, anyways.
Making their way up a slope, Sorano would suddenly blink in surprise as a bright spark suddenly snapped against her skin, and she hissed in pain, pressing her hand on the spot. Only a moment later, she blinked in surprise. Her ethernanos storage had briefly been drained, leaving her with just a bit less than before – not enough to be life-threatening, but enough that she could acutely feel the loss. A moment later, another one of the sparks appeared as well, snapping her on the leg with the same energy-draining phenomena occurring. How strange, whatever were these? They were harmless enough, but it seemed that getting zapped by these floating balls of electricity too many times could result in great ethernanos deficit. They should probably be quickly eliminated. A sharp yelp from Hoshi at her side would confirm the existence of three separate sparks, and Sorano thought quickly for a moment before writing out a wind spell to act against the sparks. The clash of sky magics would hopefully be effective in giving her the upper hand here.
It would evidently work, the powerful wind pushing the sparks back and dimming their light briefly before they returned, this time much weaker than before. One would push up against Sorano, but the zap was so weak she barely even felt the movement of ethernanos particles. They were quickly ended with a quick flash of fire from the letter mage, dissipating and disappearing from view with the casting of a simple spell. They were not dangerous, but tedious to deal with. In the end though, the task was necessary, as little sparks stealing their magical energy would not be a fun thing to deal with on top of having to fight a potentially powerful enemy later.
The two trudged on, moving through the rain that had begun to lighten up a bit. Even now, there was no sign of life as far as the eye could see. Occasionally, the tiny tip of a sprout could be seen poking its head cautiously through the blackened dirt, protected from harm by a fallen tree or something, but they were rare. While burning a forest to the ground was supposed to help new growth, constant burning was definitely not a good thing to apply. Instead, all new life was quickly burned to a crisp. Even now, looking over the horizon, Sorano could see a giant lightning bolt slam down into the center of the island, sending electric shockwaves out all over the place. The plant hiding beneath that fallen tree trembled in place, the thin, fragile leaf barely managing to hold on as it shook with the shockwaves. Sorano and Hoshi were protected by the shield that the exceed quickly put up, protecting them with a solid earth wall from the tiny sparks of electricity that flashed up against them. They would continue to be safe for now.
Moving on more cautiously, after the warning the strange weather here had given them, they approached the center of the island. In here was a giant, charred black crater with, strangely enough, a single hut sitting in the very center. It was equally charred and black as everything else, but obviously still standing, meaning it was built out of something that was resistant to the thunder and lightning. “That must be where the beacon is, yea?” Sorano mused out loud, eyes narrowing at the spot. It was the only logical place it could be, protected from the elements from this magically enhanced hut. However, even as they approached, a hunchbacked, elderly-looking man would wobble out of the building, scowling up at the sky while leaning on his gnarled cane. What? Their first sign of moving life, and it was some old guy living out here? Before Sorano could decide whether to greet him or not, the man would walk up to them, raising an eyebrow. “Good grief, they sent a kid here to unlock the beacon? Well, good luck, cuz a brat like you will never get rid of me!” He hacked up a mocking cough, before suddenly disappearing in a burst of electricity, only to reappear behind Sorano, slamming a powerful kick into her gut.
“Now, I dislike hitting girls – especially little girls as much as the next person, but Magic Council rats could die for all I care!” Sorano choked and gasped in shock, having just had the wind knocked out of her. This man was not a weak fighter. “You’ll be screaming out the name Eibon – that’s me, kiddo – in your worst nightmares!” The triumphant “brag” would be in vain, of course, as Sorano rarely dreamed – and when she did, they never involved emotion. But alas, it was obvious that this man was the key they had to defeat in order to able the beacon again.
Reacting with a burst of sound at a torturously high-pitched tone, a dome of sound would be erected to protect the letter mage and her companion, while another layer would pulsate outwards instead, slamming into the old man and knocking him off his feet for a moment, hands fumbling to grasp at his ears. Already, Sorano had noticed that the man was not really the one behind this. A simple narrowing of her eyes brought about the two overlapping auras that made up Eibon. His true aura was frightened and despairing, hidden and oppressed behind the aura of some sort of demon or other unnatural entity. Made sense – it didn’t seem very likely for a martial arts expert to want to get involved in political stuff like this, no?
She had little time to ponder the issue, however, for in the next moment, the man suddenly transformed into the possessive spirit’s true form. It would seem that the demon thing that had possessed the old man was a lightning spirit, and it had now incarnated itself to utilize its full power. Instantly, lightning began slamming down all over the island, except for where the fighting was occurring. This was obviously not an opponent to tamper with – it was dangerous to enrage something so volatile as this. The old man’s body, meanwhile collapsed onto the ground, convulsing briefly before passing out, and probably dying due to all the sudden changes that had affected him recently. Bolts of lightning would be shot at the two mages, one of them scorching a hit into Sorano’s leg and causing her to stumble backwards, falling down before throwing out a spell of her own. In response, she would write furiously out a powerful spell, something to end the spirit as fast as possible. Instantly, fifty ice bombs catapulted themselves at the lightning creature, icing over and clashing horribly with his electricity form, and contorting it into some sort of weird experiment. In a shriek of anger, the lightning-ice figure would quickly burst apart in a huge wave of lightning and ice shards alike. Hoshi had to hastily throw up her earth shield again, and even then, the top of the barrier crumbled under the force of the explosion, leaving the girls that have to stumble backwards in shock. But the beacon in the hut would suddenly begin to glow again, the reassuring golden glow visible even from here. The old man laid there, seemingly dead, but little could be done. The girls glowed with a bright light, and disappeared.
3,477 / 12,000
The shimmer of light faded just as quickly as it came, and suddenly Sorano and Hoshi would find themselves on yet another strange island. It seemed that the teleports that the Magic Council had programmed into their little seals had worked after all, and they were off to their next target. Strangely enough, as the letter mage did a quick checkover of herself and everything on her, it seemed that they had renewed supplies of magical energy. To her surprise, it seemed that even the wounds and scratches she had received on Shadow Island had mysteriously disappeared, leaving the mage feeling fresh as a daisy and ready to go. Glancing over to her companion, Hoshi seemed to feel the same way, fluttering her wings experimentally before flashing a smile at Sorano. “Everything’s great over here!” With that positive comment, the two would get going. Thunder Island was yet another dangerous place to be – apparently there was an eternal thunderstorm raging overhead, and as such, the trees were largely barren and black, charred down by the strikes of lightning that were common here. The constant rumble of thunder could be heard growling overhead, as the mages trudged over the moist, muddy land, similarly blackened as the trees. A light drizzle fell upon them from overhead, the rain splashing miserable on their heads and shoulders as the young mages tried to figure out how to go about finding their next target.
“Well, this is miserable and all, isn’t it?” Hoshi commented dryly after the catching Sorano from tripping and falling into a charred pit. They’d been walking along for quite some time with no sign of life – it seemed that nothing and nobody desired to live in a place as desolate and constantly dangerous as the barren island. According to what she remembered from her readings, the cause of the lightning problem was due to some sort of failed experiment. If it were so, what mage could have possibly been strong enough to cause so powerful a spell? It was admirable, in a way, despite the horrible consequences. Either way, they’d have to move on and see what had caused the disabling of this particular beacon. Could it be linked to the lightning problem, perhaps? They’d have to make their way to the center of the island then, if that were the case. After all, that was where all the lightning strikes were concentrated, no?
Explaining her theory to her companion, Hoshi nodded approval, and they went off towards the center. This time, the exceed did not dare to fly above them. With the abundance of electricity in the air and the light drizzle, getting closer to the clouds would be far more dangerous than staying right here on the ground. They trudged through the peatish dirt, shoes soon getting coated with mud, and Sorano erected a quick sort of invisible umbrella around them, trying to keep them as dry as possible so as not to catch a cold or anything along those lines. Fighting dangerous monsters with a runny nose was not how they wanted to operate, and it was so simple a spell that barely any ethernanos was needed, anyways.
Making their way up a slope, Sorano would suddenly blink in surprise as a bright spark suddenly snapped against her skin, and she hissed in pain, pressing her hand on the spot. Only a moment later, she blinked in surprise. Her ethernanos storage had briefly been drained, leaving her with just a bit less than before – not enough to be life-threatening, but enough that she could acutely feel the loss. A moment later, another one of the sparks appeared as well, snapping her on the leg with the same energy-draining phenomena occurring. How strange, whatever were these? They were harmless enough, but it seemed that getting zapped by these floating balls of electricity too many times could result in great ethernanos deficit. They should probably be quickly eliminated. A sharp yelp from Hoshi at her side would confirm the existence of three separate sparks, and Sorano thought quickly for a moment before writing out a wind spell to act against the sparks. The clash of sky magics would hopefully be effective in giving her the upper hand here.
It would evidently work, the powerful wind pushing the sparks back and dimming their light briefly before they returned, this time much weaker than before. One would push up against Sorano, but the zap was so weak she barely even felt the movement of ethernanos particles. They were quickly ended with a quick flash of fire from the letter mage, dissipating and disappearing from view with the casting of a simple spell. They were not dangerous, but tedious to deal with. In the end though, the task was necessary, as little sparks stealing their magical energy would not be a fun thing to deal with on top of having to fight a potentially powerful enemy later.
The two trudged on, moving through the rain that had begun to lighten up a bit. Even now, there was no sign of life as far as the eye could see. Occasionally, the tiny tip of a sprout could be seen poking its head cautiously through the blackened dirt, protected from harm by a fallen tree or something, but they were rare. While burning a forest to the ground was supposed to help new growth, constant burning was definitely not a good thing to apply. Instead, all new life was quickly burned to a crisp. Even now, looking over the horizon, Sorano could see a giant lightning bolt slam down into the center of the island, sending electric shockwaves out all over the place. The plant hiding beneath that fallen tree trembled in place, the thin, fragile leaf barely managing to hold on as it shook with the shockwaves. Sorano and Hoshi were protected by the shield that the exceed quickly put up, protecting them with a solid earth wall from the tiny sparks of electricity that flashed up against them. They would continue to be safe for now.
Moving on more cautiously, after the warning the strange weather here had given them, they approached the center of the island. In here was a giant, charred black crater with, strangely enough, a single hut sitting in the very center. It was equally charred and black as everything else, but obviously still standing, meaning it was built out of something that was resistant to the thunder and lightning. “That must be where the beacon is, yea?” Sorano mused out loud, eyes narrowing at the spot. It was the only logical place it could be, protected from the elements from this magically enhanced hut. However, even as they approached, a hunchbacked, elderly-looking man would wobble out of the building, scowling up at the sky while leaning on his gnarled cane. What? Their first sign of moving life, and it was some old guy living out here? Before Sorano could decide whether to greet him or not, the man would walk up to them, raising an eyebrow. “Good grief, they sent a kid here to unlock the beacon? Well, good luck, cuz a brat like you will never get rid of me!” He hacked up a mocking cough, before suddenly disappearing in a burst of electricity, only to reappear behind Sorano, slamming a powerful kick into her gut.
“Now, I dislike hitting girls – especially little girls as much as the next person, but Magic Council rats could die for all I care!” Sorano choked and gasped in shock, having just had the wind knocked out of her. This man was not a weak fighter. “You’ll be screaming out the name Eibon – that’s me, kiddo – in your worst nightmares!” The triumphant “brag” would be in vain, of course, as Sorano rarely dreamed – and when she did, they never involved emotion. But alas, it was obvious that this man was the key they had to defeat in order to able the beacon again.
Reacting with a burst of sound at a torturously high-pitched tone, a dome of sound would be erected to protect the letter mage and her companion, while another layer would pulsate outwards instead, slamming into the old man and knocking him off his feet for a moment, hands fumbling to grasp at his ears. Already, Sorano had noticed that the man was not really the one behind this. A simple narrowing of her eyes brought about the two overlapping auras that made up Eibon. His true aura was frightened and despairing, hidden and oppressed behind the aura of some sort of demon or other unnatural entity. Made sense – it didn’t seem very likely for a martial arts expert to want to get involved in political stuff like this, no?
She had little time to ponder the issue, however, for in the next moment, the man suddenly transformed into the possessive spirit’s true form. It would seem that the demon thing that had possessed the old man was a lightning spirit, and it had now incarnated itself to utilize its full power. Instantly, lightning began slamming down all over the island, except for where the fighting was occurring. This was obviously not an opponent to tamper with – it was dangerous to enrage something so volatile as this. The old man’s body, meanwhile collapsed onto the ground, convulsing briefly before passing out, and probably dying due to all the sudden changes that had affected him recently. Bolts of lightning would be shot at the two mages, one of them scorching a hit into Sorano’s leg and causing her to stumble backwards, falling down before throwing out a spell of her own. In response, she would write furiously out a powerful spell, something to end the spirit as fast as possible. Instantly, fifty ice bombs catapulted themselves at the lightning creature, icing over and clashing horribly with his electricity form, and contorting it into some sort of weird experiment. In a shriek of anger, the lightning-ice figure would quickly burst apart in a huge wave of lightning and ice shards alike. Hoshi had to hastily throw up her earth shield again, and even then, the top of the barrier crumbled under the force of the explosion, leaving the girls that have to stumble backwards in shock. But the beacon in the hut would suddenly begin to glow again, the reassuring golden glow visible even from here. The old man laid there, seemingly dead, but little could be done. The girls glowed with a bright light, and disappeared.
3,477 / 12,000