A new face in town (Open)

So...that was it. Ace of Spades. It was...way bigger then what he had imagined it being. When it came to his expectations, he could say the town kinda sorta exeeded them in some ways. Man, to think a guild built all that. The whole place. Like, not just a buncha houses cobbled together, but a full on city. One had to guess just how powerful, or wealthy, the Guild Masters were. Could probably be royalty. Or nobles. Or super famous people.

Before he could snoop around taking in everything, though, he had one thing to take care of.  Motion sickness. Every time he hopped on any kind of transportation he just started feeling really sick. Probably just randomly puking in the middle of the street wasn't a good thing. It would make for a bad first impression for sure and while he didn't mind the limelight he wouldn't want to attract that kind of limelight to himself.

Took him ten minutes to fight off the nausea, but eventually the sickly feelings subsided. What a relief. Hopefully, he didn't have to get onto any other moving thingy for a good while. Hopefully. There was no guarantee to that, sadly.

The reason for that coincided with his reason to be there in the first place. If he wanted to "git gud" at magic he needed people with experience able to give him a few pointers and a nudge in the right direction. Granted, his magic wasn't really the same as normal magic, but there was bound to be at least one guy that would know how to spice up things! In the end, he had a whole town worth of people to search through.

Perhaps it was better to visit the big castle up there at the city centre before he started wobbling around asking for people that could help him. After he had joined the guild he'd probably be allowed to walk around town freely. Keyword being probably.

He had no idea what would happen as soon as he walked past the door to the caslte. He had zero experiece with guilds. Only small tales coming from travelling merchants. Though he was certain on one thing. He probably had to go through some kind of initiation or trial or whatever and get the guild symbol tattooed. Every guilded mage had one, that's how you could guess people's association at a glance. Some of those tattoos also had magical properties apparently, or so he had been told.

He just hoped any trial they would have him do didn't involve any riding. That wouldn't end well.

Man, how long were these stairs? He'd been going up and up and up for a while now. Tyson shook off his own thoughts as his walk came to a stop right in front of the massive doors precluding access to the castle. No one in sight. Looking left, then  right, the Slayer couldn't really see anyone around. Weird. He would have guessed castle entrances would usually have some sort of guard standing there as security. Apparently not.

Reaching up with his hand, he very faintly knocked at the door, just to see if anyone would show up. Perhaps the place was closed?

Wearing her blue t-shirt and black skirt with white tennis shoes, Victoria was inside the guild hall proper and was about to head to the tavern to sling drinks for a bit. She wanted a break from running jobs that involved fighting A. Kerwes' science projects and going into harm's way. It had been awhile since she had visited the tavern in any capacity, either as a patron or as a worker.

In another move that she did not do too often, Victoria left her Azure Armor, Bandolier, and Crown of Persephone in her room because she would not need them in Sabertooth territory. Besides, she was strong enough with her magic that being on home turf was all the protection that she would need. Still, she valued Itori's gift of the Bandolier for its ability to sync well with her primary magic and the various weapons she could summon and valued the Crown of Persephone for its ability to boost her Combat Medic magic beyond its normal limits. It took an immense effort for the brunette to ignore the urge to go back for her items.

Victoria stepped into the portal and entered the grand ballroom, then exited the ballroom and walked towards the castle entrance, where she believed that she had heard faint knocking on the door. It could have been wishful thinking or it could have been a mind trick. Victoria still decided to walk towards it because even if it was intruders knocking at the door, she could still handle them until help could arrive.

The brunette walked towards the large double doors and listened carefully. There was indeed knocking on the other side. Victoria waited a moment for the knocking to subside before opening the door. On the other side was a guy with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes wearing a white outfit with dark pants.

"Hi there. Can I help you?" Victoria asked the taller guy. He was a mage, but not a very powerful one... yet. He might be a lost traveler or he might be a prospective new member. Maybe an Ace would come along shortly and help sort things out with the guy.

Tyson stared at the wooden door. Well, perhaps he did come around during a festivity or something like that. He always had been out the loop when it came to those things. In Hunting Village they didn't really have set holidays or festivities. Sure there had been some festivals, but perhaps every city has its own customs. Fiore is a big region afterall. It would only be natural to have different ways of doing things.

Dropping his hand back down, Tyson waited for just a moment. No response. Oh well, better luck next time. Having resolved himself to try again sometime later on in the week, the mage tirned on his heels and began making his way back to the city below. He walked about two to three steps maximum before his senses would allert him of an incoming presence.

The sound was really faint, even when turning back towards the door. Still, whatever it was, it sounded like steps. They were really light, too light to be a man. Perhaps the whole castle was enchanted with some sort of muffling spell? Well, people do love their privacy. Though if it was actually a spell he wouldn't be able to hear anything at all. Plus, he would have felt the spell's presence through the Weave. Enveloping an entire castle in a spell sounded like a grandiose undertaking.

It was at that precise moment that the door swung open, leaving Tyson a little off guard as the vision of a girl greeted him. "U-uhm, greetings." He managed to spit out after a moment of complete and awkward silence. He bowed his head slightly to avoid staring at the lady in front of him. Being this formal wasn't really his style, but he needed to make a good impression. For all he knew, that girl standing in front of him could very well be the Sabertooth Guild Master.

"I, uuhm. Did I disturb you? I was here to forward a recruitment appeal for the Sabertooth Guild, but I can come by another time, it looks like the place is closed..." He quickly disclaimed himself. She didn't seem to be wearing any special garment or Guild uniform, so perhaps this was her day off. Either way, it would be rude to barge in unattended like that and expect to be showed around.

Ah, come on, he had just woke up. He barely had his t-shirt properly on, his hair was a mess, and his headband was lost in his crimson-red hair. Not to mention the toothpick in his mouth as well as the morning feeling on him despite any time of the day that it was; he lost track of time a long time ago, and he was paying the price right here and now. He had walked down the stairs in all his majesty, nearly tripping on his own feet upon the way down, when he noticed that he wasn’t exactly alone in the guild hall…

What was the clock? He should’ve kept a watch on him.

While Sei, the pink alien cutie, hung onto his back for comfort, Imai maneuvered across the tables and approached the gate to the castle entrance. Literally treating this entire place as home, he almost spat out his toothpick when he saw both Victoria and a newcomer donning what was probably the most badass-looking, scaled armor that the celestial wizard had ever laid eyes on. He had to fling his arms towards the flying toothpick mid-air before grabbing it successfully, dashing away and returning on the same spot donning his own, every-day attire… but his blue jacket and white scarf held no ground against the other guy’s suit.

Upon closer look, however… he was no ordinary wizard. Wait, wasn’t that Tyson Rhodes?! The Rising Star?! “T-TYSON!” he let out joyously as his feet instantaneously advanced his entire body towards a position next to Victoria and Tyson, holding out a hand to eagerly shake his. “H-Hey there, Tyson! I’ve read about you, you’re so famous and all! Also, daaaaaaaamn; that suit of yours, where’d you get it? I haven’t seen anything like it before… is it made of scales? From what? Kirins? Dragons? Varans? Griffins?”

"You didn't disturb me. I was on my way to the tavern to do some part-time work." Victoria told the youth, who seemed like a good guy, if a bit shy. She heard that he was here to join the guild and was going to point him towards the Guild Masters.

"I'm just an ordinary member. If you wanna join, you should talk to the Guild Masters Ryo and Kite. You can also talk to an Ace, but I don't know if any of them are around." Victoria said to the youth. Moments later Imai took over the conversation and the brunette let the redheaded Ace take over the conversation. Victoria was glad that she did because Imai told her a lot about the new guy standing just outside the castle.

The fellow's name was Tyson... Tyson Rhodes. Not only was he a mage looking to join Sabertooth, but he also held a special rank. He was one of the Rising Stars, a title Victoria briefly considered applying for but ultimately decided against it because she was not what the title was supposed to represent. A Rising Star was supposed to represent excellence and the brunette was far from ideal. She fought for money, she took dangerous jobs for kicks instead of for the greater good, she drank alcohol, she served alcohol, and she had done a lot of things that would disqualify her from holding that exalted rank.

Victoria leaned against the wall and let Imai keep the conversation going. She was glad that someone who was worthy held the title of Rising Star and was looking to join Sabertooth. Besides, she did not need a fancy title to kick some ass, as the Corlones in Rose Garden and dirty cops in Hargeon Town learned the hard way. The brunette had some regrets about her past actions but was ultimately satisfied with her place in the world.

"I forgot to introduce myself earlier. I'm Victoria Sheridan." Victoria introduced herself to Tyson.

The Dragon Slayer hummed lightly as new batch of informations was given to him. "I...I see. I wouldn't want to hold you from your assignments any longer. I'll check back in some other time so that I can speak to the Guildma-"

Who was calling him?

The young mage watched as an even younger mage barrelled down to the entrance gate at full speed, stopping in front of him all giddy and excited. Tyson's eyes first glanced at the weird creature accompanying the young spiky haired mage, then trailed down to the extended hand. Well, considering by the amount of questions thrown his way by the second, it was probably best not to keep the guy waiting too much.

"Eheh, nice to meet'cha too" He replied, grabbing the guy's hand for a firm yet gentle greetings. A grin was plastered on his face now. He didn't know he had fans. The whole Rising Star deal just kinda happened. He didn't even remeber how he got that kind of recognition. He probably had sent an application to the magic council in the midst of all the other job signups probably. Even then, it took the council little to no time at all to drop the title on him.

He was about to properly greet Victoria when he was asked about his suit of armor. "Oh, this? I was given this suit of armor by a friend of mine. It's a token of our friendship." He didn't really need to, but he gave the other mage a fairly slow 360 so that he could amire the craftsmanship of his armor.

"As far as the material go, it has been made with the scales and bones of a Poison Dragon, reinforced with damascus steel, even though it didn't really need it. I believe the blacksmith referred to it as 'Ivory Fang' due to its distinctive ivory coloration."

That was about all he knew about it. "Also as I have found out myself, it seems to resonate with my abilities. Aside from making me considerably more agile and able to lift more weight I have seen it repair itself as long as I am wearing it." He probably should omit that may be cause due to it being made with remains of the very same dragon he inherited his magic from. "And it also seems to always fit to shape. It's like a second skin."

There. That should be enough lore to quench the boy's curiosity. For now, at the very least. Since this new face had arrived, perhaps he could help him with his quest to join the Sabetooth. With Victoria having to do some errands it wouldn't be wise to delay her for his troubles.

"Uhm. So uuuh...since Miss Victoria here has a job to do, I wouldn't want to hold her here more than necessary. I'm in need to talk with your Guild Masters or Guild Aces. I want to submit an application to join forces with you. I am not familiar with protocols around here, but I assume there would be some sort of examination I'd need to undertake. I do admit it's quite early in the day so if I need to come back later I will do so."

Imai eagerly shook his hand in admiration. Their guild sure brought lots of attention from various corners of the world to them. Although, right now, Imai could only think of his wants; and he wanted to know about the armored suit of Tyson’s. You see, Imai’s own sense and taste of style was laughable at times, and maybe he could be inspired by other people’s choices in wear. Maybe he could, one day, fill his shelf with a new set of clothes that didn’t match the odd-numbered sets of bluish wear that he was known to wear on a daily basis to the point of becoming iconic for his character.

Scales and bones of a Poison Dragon?! That was so awesome! It meant that he literally must’ve defeated a dragon out in the wild and skinned it for bones and flesh to make his armor. It couldn’t get more badass than that, really. “S-S-So dragon armor?! That’s insane… damn it, I thought I could make a set myself, but I don’t know any dragons who are willing to spare some bones and… w-well, I don’t think many would want to- y-you know what, nevermind.” He had to just cut himself off there, because it did get weirded out thanks to his choice of articulations or whatever he was using.

Sweet armor. And Tyson also wanted to join their ranks in Sabertooth, which only benefitted this day and age. As inhumanely eager Imai was, it did punch the side of his head when Tyson told of his unfamiliarity with protocols and an ‘examination’ that he likely had excepted. Uh… Imai was an Ace, yes, but how should he go through with this? Since Tyson was a Rising Star, he definitely had experience for a wizard. Sabertooth did deal with otherworldly anomalies on a daily basis, too… wait, if his suit was made of dragon scales-

“Y-You’re a Dragon Slayer, too? Man, you powerhouses are starting to dot all over the map…!” he stated with quite the energy. He would have to come up with a suitable and acceptable examination, but Tyson did suit well for a protector of the world. Fighting otherworldly beings also fell in his category, since Imai would assume that he had dealt with a dragon… now, only one thing remained to be assured for the star wizard.

“Yes, yes, examination… uh, I got an idea,” Imai spoke as he invited them into the castle. He would head straight for the more finer bar inside, unlike the more woody and authentic bar of the Red Dragon Inn, and just leap over the table and head for the tank filled with the child-friendly soda. Sei began pulling his ears, and Imai protested softly: “N-No, stop, I know what I’m doing…” He grabbed the tap of the tank and connected it to a tube, then did the same thing with the identical tap right next to it, and at that point, it was pretty obvious what he had come up with.

“Okay, I know it looks a little weird, but trust me. Putting danger and magic crises aside, one’s life here will get pretty weird - and I mean, PRETTY WEIRD. Like, super-duper-fungus-weird. Like shakalaka-weird. So if you’re up for a life of unpredictability, then you have to be ready for anything… like helping me down a tank full of Root Flush Soda, it’s not alcohol, sour and brushy in taste, okay you ready, fine, 3, 2, 1, go.” His words sped up towards the end, and with a weak warning, he just put the tube into his mouth and started emptying the tank.

He needed a filter for his birthday, man… and probably a new sweater. One of those who could get its sleeves locked.

Victoria watched Tyson and Imai interact and wondered if Imai had always acted so... different. He had acted a bit strangely during the mission to the island to retrieved the cattle from the giant and his Orthrus, but he had never acted this oddly. Her attention momentarily focused on the fact that Tyson was a Rising Star. It had been awhile since she had seen a Rising Star in person, not since the Autumn Jamboree with that Pumpkin Lord dude and the floating instruments and Sassi Luminosa... well, living up to her name by delivering the sass to someone she could not remember just yet. It was a weird night.

Of greater interest was that Tyson was a Dragon Slayer. Victoria had heard of Slayers, but only in passing. She had heard that they had powers above and beyond those of ordinary mages and had learned them through special means known only to them. She heard that they could even consume their element for a power boost, so if a Fire mage chucked a fireball at a Fire Slayer, the Fire Slayer could literally eat the fireball and become stronger. Victoria did not know for certain the full extent of what Slayers could do, but she knew that they were few in number and tended to be tough customers.

She decided to let Tyson and Imai do their thing while she stood back and watched. She did not have a whole lot to say and Tyson needed to talk to a Guild Ace if he wanted to join. It was up to Imai to seal the deal and recruit Tyson for Sabertooth.

Tyson chuckled. So Imai was intrested in Ivory Fang? Well, he could see it honestly. It was a very cool looking armor with intresting properties. He didn't say anything about his own powers, but it seemed little Imai had him figured out. Man, he was a smart guy. Tyson was beginning to really like him.

"Well yes. I am a Dragon Slayer, as in I actually slayed a dragon with his own magic." He confirmed with a small chukcle. While it was quite the archievent, he kinda sorta had a stroke of luck. Any longer in that torture Xivu Jih'va called training and he would not be standing there. He tilted his head slightly at the invitation to enter the castle, but he did not mind it much. Imai seemed overjoyed to meet him, he could spare some time with him in the end no? He did not have anything better to do anyway. "It's...a long story, but not particularly worth sharing. It's not adventurous or anything. Quite repetitive actually."

Wow that place was way bigger than it looked from the outside. It had its own bar and anything. One had to wonder if it was the work of some spacial spell. Tyson took it all in. He soaked it all in. If he did manage to get in, that was going to be his home. Sure helped if he knew his way around a bit. He quietly listened to Imai's explanations while noticing the kid's glances at his armor. He liked it alot it seemed.

"You know, Ivory Fang magically fits to the user. It's rather easy to take off too so, if you want to try it, I guess I could lend it to you for a while, what do you think?" He offered, demostrating how easily the armor peeled itself off of his body. The whole armor seemed to fold onto itself, scales receding somewhere too. What remained was Tyson holding out the armor's chestpiece. Thankfully, he was wearing a undersuit, so there was no problem if he were to take off his armor for a while.

"Here." He offered at Imai. "Just place this on your chest and you're good to go. It's better if you just keep something simple on you. It would be more comfortable on you, considering it's kind of skin tight. Also, watch the feet claws once you get em. They are really really sharp. I would not want to ruin this castle's floor by scratching it."

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed that Victoria had followed them. He gave her a sheepish smile as a slight blush crosses his face. He was technically undressing in front of a lady, but it was for a good cause. He did not have much time to mull over it though, Imai had mumbled something about weird stuff and was probably challenging him to some kind of soda drinking contest as his examination. Tyson scrambled to his own soda tank when Imai was already downing his own, despite the boy's pet being not too okay with the idea. Before he knew how to open the faucet for the soda and stuff, the kid would probably be near halfway.

Now, he didn't like to waste some good soda, but sacrifices were to be made if he wanted to pass. "Sorry Imai, but I can't fail this time!" He stated, grabbing the tank. Thankfully he didn't need to mutter a spell activation sequence to make his stomach acids even more acid. He began downing his own tank as fast as possible. If he used a strong acid to disintagrate the soda as he drank it he wouldn't feel full. If he did not feel full he would not slow down drinking. He had no idea if he would manage a win, but he could not at least try his best.

At this point, Imai tried out the chestpiece that was handed out to him by Tyson. Man, it was handsy and easy to wear too - clothes like these were revolutionary. Once having the chestpiece cover his torso, he let the scales fall in place themselves as he directly felt his own magical body bind itself to it. Tyson was right; it had some kind of ability that let it fit the magical signature of the user. The scales began shining up brightly in sharp, light-blue tones that pulsated. The Ace firmly looked over the chest suit and lifted his arms to see more of the light show that he had become.

Also, his tank was empty. It had been emptied 15 seconds after he started, and watching Tyson continue with his one not only confirmed that he was quite easy to adapt into such abnormally strange situations, but also that he was very brave. Definitely good material for a guild like Sabertooth.

“… *chuckle* Okay, you can stop now. Don’t want you to get a bad stomach now,” he warned Tyson, “*cough*… You’ve shown vigor to accept this challenge, boy. Yes, I believe that you’ve passed your test. Now, stay and I shall bring the-“ Mid-sentence, Imai dashed away in a blue light akin to a certain, cartoonish hedgehog only to reappear again with a wooden box that contained the paint as well as the stamp, “-Guild Crest. As a wizard of Sabertooth, you will fight under our title, and this crest will be a testament of your agreement.” His voice was being oddly ‘formal’ as a knight, since this was quite a big day for Tyson.

He dipped the magic stamp into the yellowish paint and asked: “Now is the time where you tell me where you want it… I’ve been noticing a thing, though. Guys usually have their crests on their shoulders, while girls mostly have them on their thighs and/or butts…” His eyes turned ever so slowly over to Victoria and squinted a little in suspicion. “… Is that true, Vic?” His voice did reveal that he wasn't joking or anything; he was dead serious.

Victoria listened as Imai described to Tyson how guild members got their marks and where they chose to put them. She had nothing to add to the conversation until he got to the part where he claimed that males had their guild marks on their shoulders while females had them put on their thighs or their butts. That part was where the brunette was compelled to jump in.

"I requested that my guild mark be put on my shoulder, Imai." Victoria politely said to Imai, turning her left side towards them and pushing up her shirt sleeve to show the guild mark in black emblazoned on her left shoulder. She had gotten it in black because she liked the color and it was a way to remind her of her former guild, Black Rose. Unless something catastrophic happened like Ryo and the others tried to kill her, her loyalties were firmly with Sabertooth. Still, she could not turn her back on her history with Black Rose, so the tattoo was black partially as a reminder of her history with the guild that gave Victoria her start.

Victoria was only partially surprised to hear that some women chose to put the guild mark on their thighs or butts. She did not follow their lead for two reasons. First, she was not attractive enough to make that an option. Second, even though she used to be a street kid, she had some standards, as haphazard as they were. Nothing turned off most clients like showing them a tattoo on a butt... Victoria was in the mage business to make money, not lose it.

Tyson watched Imai having fun with Ivory Fang. Well...he sure did not expect that kind of weird stuff of the likes of drinking soda to be part of his exam, but hey, always got to be prepared. So Imai was a Guild Ace probably, since he was talking about tattos and the ability of tattoing people.

"Well then, uuh. Just put it where Lady Victoria has it." The slayer replied, pointing at his deltoid. "Right here. Classic Yellow too, nothing too fancy."

In all honesty, Tyson had no idea how the whole tattoo thing worked. He knew they could be magical, but he could hardly feel anything Weave related coming from the paint. Perhaps he didn't know how to sense it yet or something.

With the tattoo done and his entrance into the Sabertooths, Tyson looked over to Imai and Victodia. "Soo uuuh. I guess I am in?" He mumbled, unsure. "I wouldn't mind a tour of the place. Or actually, I wouldn't mind to know how things work around in here."