Dire Straits (p)

Little over a month had passed after returning from the Greenscape, a realm where nature was the dominant force and no form of industrialism had ever taken form. It was within this world that Solmar had seen a vision of perfection, of a world where humans had not gotten the chance to ruin much of the planet, kill various forms of life by pushing it towards extinction and having the audacity to build cities, factories or other facilities where there was once nature in abundance. While he had gotten over his initial hatred towards humanity and managed to slim it down to a more general dislike, there was still a lot people would need to do if he was to ever have his faith in humanity as a race restored. After all, there was no other species, aside from demons, where doing things for the sake of earning greater social status and lining their pockets with currency was as prominent as it was with humans. Luckily for him, Solmar had met a lot of people so far that actually sought to do the right thing for this world, and not just to earn more money and comfort.

Where he had always been very picky about the jobs he took on, there were however also many eager and foolish mages out there that would do just about anything as long as it meant they got to earn their precious jewels and get recognized by the “Magic Council”, which was a governing body he had never really managed to understand properly. In nature, there were no councils of any kind. All there was, was an alpha that oversaw a pack and made the decisions while the others followed until the alpha was too weak or old to lead, in which case he got replaced by another. Clearly enough however, people seemed to like the idea of it, which was why many of them wanted to fall into their good graces. This had never been true for Solmar. He had always done things the way he believed they should be handled, doing the things he believed needed to be done for the sake of nature being able to thrive and the little people who dwelled in villages on the outskirts of society could continue to live with nature in a way that was different from the cities.

But to get back on his earlier train of thought, he knew how some mages would take on any job without fact checking the origin of the job first. No one thought about the bear they were hired to kill, and how it might have lived in the spot where their contractor had built their summer home, which had become a temporary den for a curious mammal. No one thought about the monster they killed when they ventured into the Monsterlands because someone had built their farm too close, and now had their entire farmland uprooted or turned into a breeding ground. No, all people cared about in this world was currency and status. Through it all, corruption slowly took root in this world while people merely turned a blind eye to it. That said, most of them were actually blind to it because of how well it managed to hide itself while moving under the “watchful gaze” of the mages of this land. Due to the industrialization, many people would not notice it when fish gradually grew bigger, no longer edible and more aggressive towards other species.

While such things would make things harder on fishing communities, it was not really something a mage would be concerned with as it might just be some kind of sickness or something caused by pollution. At least that was what people thought. Solmar however, was one of the select few who had seen some of the minions of corruption, being one of the few that had come into contact with some of these agents that sought to spread their filth and feed upon life itself. And that was exactly the reason why, for the first time in many, many years, Solmar found himself within the vast rainforests to the east of the country. Being quite used to spending time in forests and having a way with animals, he had nothing to fear from the poisonous plants he encountered along the way, nor from the predatory animals. In fact, some of them had quite some interesting things to say whenever he asked about the local “guild” known as Rakshasa. When he asked a panther, which had initially tried to attack the mage before it figured out that he could actually communicate with him, he claimed that most of them that he had seen in passing were quite naturalistic.

Only being able to tell the young black haired mage so much, the least the large black feline could do was to point him into the right direction before going away to hunt for new prey. Pointing him towards the ancient ruins he could see through the dense foliage, it was not long before he made his way into the place. From what he could tell, he was at the very least somewhat impressed by how they had not built an entire new guild hall in these lush forest lands, but had decided to occupy the ruins that were already there. That in itself showed that they cared about nature a bit, though the fact that they were known as an “eco-terrorist” group to some and as a “dark guild” to most within Fiore meant that they might not appreciate it when a stranger invaded their guild hall without being invited. That said, he figured that once they heard him out properly, they just might reconsider trying to kick him out, though he would welcome the challenge. If they did prove to be violent, he’d be able to get an accurate reading as to what these people were capable of, and whether or not they would be worth bringing into the fold. For the time being though, he would first try announcing himself.

“Yooooooooooooooooooooo, Anyone in here? You have a guest!”


(1021)

Among dryads Lily's stance on the civilized species could be considered controversial or progressive, depending on who you'd ask. it wasn't that she liked the idea of life being trambled and stomped out by a single large group which would pave over the world with stone and metal. However on the other hand she also didn't think that declaring all out war on the civilized species was the right answer either. As it stood her preferred path was to try and learn more about the humans and the other creatures that preferred to live in constructed buildings rather than nests and lairs while taking steps to at least soften their worst excesses. If she knew enough about how they worked and what they needed she might be able to find a way to protect all other lifeforms from the civilized folk without having to resort to wiping out or even severely diminishing the settlement builders.

Of course part of that might also be that she wasn't exactly the most powerful dryad around, although she had been blessed with a lot of latent talent and potential. If she tried to face the civilized world head on she'd certainly lose, so even if she wasn't inclined to minimize the amount of damage to both sides she wouldn't have resorted to that plan. She could be a bit optimistic and reckless, but that didn't mean she was completely stupid.

So her current position was mostly one of observation, only taking action against the most extreme forms of harmful behaviour from the civilized people. And even then she tried to destroy that which they used to inflict such harm on the world around them rather than killing them outright. Their tools allowed them to perform amazing feats but simultaneously they were also dependent on those tools. A trade off that might be worth it considering how effective civilization had been over the years, but it was still a point of weakness that could be exploited by someone clever enough to think of it.

Right now, on this day at this point in time, however, Lily was communing with the jungle that the guild Rakshasa had made its home in. Sleeping inside one tree allowed her to feel pretty much the entire jungle through the roots which burrowed deep into the earth, and from the roots to the earth to the roots of other trees. If the creatures living on the surface knew what the world below a jungle looked like... They'd look at those tall trees towering high above and think how that was only about half of the actual jungle. Then they'd probably become very unnerved.

It looked like the jungle was doing all right though. It was ancient, overflowing with primal magic and untouched even by the most stubborn forms of civilization. The closest thing to civilization were the amazon tribes which had managed to make their home amidst the trees, and frankly those didn't behave much differently from the other animals. Other than that the trees remained gigantic and resilient towards pretty much every type of attach through sheer size and hardiness, the floor of the jungle was a permanent war between various plants and fungi which tried to take as many resources as available, and especially among the animals there was a constant dance of life and death as the predators chased prey and the prey either defended itself or ran away. And only one side could win that conflict, and through victory the right to survive...

The dryad helped out here and there, but knew better than to try and save every little unfortunate critter. The cycle of life was necessary, even if she had a rather soft heart. For dryads maintaining the health of their surroundings was important for their own health as well, and one of the worst things you could do was try to keep every herbivore alive no matter the cost. You could destroy an entire ecosystem that way.

She'd have pondered on this concundrum some more, the balance between keeping creatures alive and not disturbing the cycle, if she wasn't alerted that an outsider was moving towards the guild. She could feel the ground trembling under their steps, a faint tremble that you'd only catch if you were listening with the roots of the trees rather than your ears. The stranger moved with confidence and no hesitation, and if Lily had to guess she'd say that their footsteps were those of a pretty strong person. You could often tell someone's strength by the way they walked, from several small variable.

Remaining inside the tree for the moment the dryad homed in on the outsider, silently observing their arrival while considering what to do. She highly doubted she needed to alert the guild master, if this was important he was attentive enough to pick up on it himself. She could go out and greet the outsider... and figure out what they wanted. If they wanted something bad she'd have to be able to quickly react.

The call for the outsider for anyone from the guild to show themselves made up her mind. As Solmar yelled into the tunnels that led into the depths of the Rakshasa guild hall he'd get several seconds of silence before a voice answered him, originating from some of the numerous vines which had done a good job of reclaiming the ruins from the palace that had once dominated this part of the area.

"Give me a moment, I'll be right there!"

Lily was true to her word, the dryad moving through the network of plants before exiting it, stepping out some thick roots and having her humanoid body form itself. She'd decided to reform a bit into the tunnel so the outsider wouldn't be surprised, and so she'd have a better chance to react if things went down. Not that she was sure she could do much if things went south: the outsider was a lot stronger than herself, that she was certain of.

Solmar would see a rather short girl walking towards him from the depths of the ruins, her skin the rich brown of an oak tree, her eyes a vibrant green with sclera the colour of amber resin, and green hair which looked more like foliage than hair, including a yellow lily on her head. To top it all off she was wearing an outfit made of leafs, with the divided skirt at the bottom showing that she wasn't quite so silly as to think that a normal dress was a good idea in a jungle.

Once she was close enough to see the stranger with her own eyes Lily waved and called out to them. "Ehm, hello!? Sorry, we don't get a lot of visitors. I'm Lily Ambrosia, but could you please tell me what brought you here? I'm guessing it's something urgent." If it wasn't something urgent she'd have a hard time believing he bothered coming all the way here. For her part she studied Solmar a little bit as she stepped up until she was mere feet away away from the man, her expression one of friendliness combined with curiosity and maybe the smallest amount of wariness at having someone on the guild's doorstep with no idea why that person decided to come here.

WC: 1,220

Lance didn’t necessarily care for humans, but he did tolerate them. To him they were more of his play things rather than his friends or his equal. After all, they are the ones destroying nature and setting life’s natural forces in disarray. When it came to settling matters between nature and civilizations though, Lance cared about nature overall and will drive nature out of towns if that means that it will protect them in the long run but if the town were to try and threaten to hurt the forces attacking it then he would help with the destruction of the town. As a force of nature himself, his top priority was the protection of what nature the world had left. It was for this reason he had joined the guild in the first place.

He was returning from a trip outside of the guild on this day though and he was pondering about the jobs he recently went on. When he entered the jungle though it was almost like a breath of fresh air. Around him, even more life sprung up from the ground as he walked. Pumpkins, squashes, and an array of red yellow and orange flowers covered the ground around his feet as he walked and returned to normal when he stepped away. This is the power that the spirits gave him: The power of fall. He was also a very playful person as heart, so it manifested into a magic that he was able to pull pranks people with. He was wearing his normal attire, his white Kimono and black uniform underneath. His hair was let down today so long, yellow-red hair flowed behind him as he walked.

When he reached the guild hall he heard talking. One of the voices were asking someone why they were here. This made Lance raise an eye “A stranger?” he thought to himself, his smile growing wider and more mischievous. He ducked behind a nearby tree and chuckled to himself. In a puff of smoke, a yellow squash appeared in his hand, oozing with a slimy substance.

One of Lances favorite things to do in his free time was to cause misfortune or despair to others as he saw other people as his toys rather than other people.

“One” he whispered as he gripped the squash.

Two” he tossed his hand backwards, getting ready for the toss.

“Three! Sticky Melon!” he exclaimed loudly, lobbing the slimy squash at the stranger that had appeared in their jungle. He howled with laughter as he watched what happened next.

wc: 443

Sticky Melon:

Shortly after taking the first step into the ruins, he was greeted by the first he believed to be a resident of the place. Activating his almost undetectable magic zone that allowed him to better read magic power, he made sure to stay on top of the situations. After all, these people were dark mages that belonged to a dark guild, though they seemed like the kind that would be useful towards his ends. That said, they were known for a few things to him, one of these being that they wanted to keep people from getting stagnant while also caring about nature. If the corruption was to continue to fester, there would not be anything to keep from getting stagnant, nor would there be any nature left to care for and enjoy. While it might have sounded a bit weird, the woman Solmar saw was more or less what he had expected of a nature-loving guild, even if it was one that was aligned with the darker spectrum. In a way, she had a lot of things in common with the treefolk from the Greenscape that he had met, yet was still different in some ways.

“You are correct in assuming I’m here for something important Lily, though I was expecting this place to be better defended and somewhat more… crowded. Is this not the Rakshasa guild hall?”

Bringing a hand up to his face to grab his chin as if he were pondering on something, he thought about how he had been quite certain that these ruins were supposed to be the guild hall. Maybe he was merely in the wrong portion of the place, or maybe they had their base located underground or something. As he slowly paced around the room to get a better look at the architecture, it looked as if he had completely forgotten about Lily being there in the room with him, though this was not the case. Even as his thoughts were somewhere else entirely for the moment, he was completely up to date on whatever went on inside of the room. In fact, his ability allowed him to be aware of everything going on in a rather wide range, the ruins being but a small portion of it. So even as he was admiring the old ruins, he was aware of what Lily was doing, as well as the person approaching from outside of the ruins. Not thinking much of it as he did not sense any hostile intent, he turned his attention back to the woman.

“I came to see if your guild was truly all that it was talked up to be, and to determine whether it would be worth recruiting you into the fold and protect nature. It is quite in need of people right n- Hold on for a second.”

Extending his arm to the right, a white flame came forth from it that enveloped and ate the strange squash that had been thrown at him by the person outside. Due to his magic, sneaking up on him was quite hard, while the person counting down, shouting and laughing out loud outside of the building did not seem to really be trying to conceal his actions either. With his magic doing the work for him, he could tell that the squash that had been thrown was actually an offensive spell, though it was one he had never seen before. He knew of people that could make fruits with their magic that possessed healing properties, people that could make poisonous spores and people that could manipulate trees or plants, though he had never seen a spell quite like this one. Part of him wondered what would have happened if he had allowed it to do what it had been tossed in for, just to see the full extent of this strange type of magic. But since that much was out of the question now that the final remains had more or less been devoured by white flame, he turned his attention outside.

“Hey! That squash you threw, what kind of magic was that?”


(686 // 1707)

fire stuff:

Libbier was never one to care much about rules. Not that she didn't follow them, she just didn't feel like there was much sense to most of them. Like, why should she not be able to punch those annoying bastards that kept pestering her for whatever reason, especially those that joked about her height. If it wasn't for her love for sweets, Libbier would most certainly prefer to keep adventuring around the world at her leisure, exploring lost ruins, large mountains, dark caves, and deep jungles. If there was something that loved as much as sweets, it was to live free and at her own pace. Unfortunately, this world was not one that allowed for such freedoms. After all, how would she pay for sweets if she didn't work? Even if there were some sweet fruits that allowed Libbier to recharge her sugar levels by a decent amount, nothing could replace chocolate and the like.

As such, Libbier joined the known guild of Sabertooth to earn some money. But as if to mock her, something awoke inside her during that time, and it became slightly hard to finish jobs that required more finesse, without her other size not making a mess out of things and getting a pay cut as a result. This made very hard to have three meals a day without cutting on desserts. Furthermore she had to pay for Nero's, her exceed companion, share of food, which wasn't small since he had to eat a lot due to his body being absurdly large of an exceed, and he did not cut back when it came to sweets either, although he does have better restraint when necessary.

That's how she ended up on Rakshasa following a rather simple meeting with the guild leader after she decided to leave Sabertooth for a guild that didn't mind the chaos caused by her other side. Still ever since that time, Lib has only done some odds jobs as the guild was situated on a rather isolated area with no easy access to confections. Very good fruits tho. The room allocated to her small and only had one bed, after all, being a member of Rakshasa did allow her access to one, but Nero was her 'pet' and unfortunately, he couldn't sleep in a box. As such the rule of thumb for sleep hours was that Nero would sleep on the bed, and Libbier would sleep on Nero. Pretty simple, and comfortable for all involved... well... not so much for Nero during summer.

The day had started in the same as many, Libbier and Nero left to finish a simple job and buy sweets before returning to take a nap. They were both sleeping soundly when Nero heard something. It seemed like someone had come to the guild and was calling them out. Which was strange considering the nature of the guild. So he got up... or tried to.

"St-op. Moooooving.", grumbled Lib who was still half asleep on Nero's chest.

"Hey, I think we have visitors.", Nero said, trying to catch her attention.

"Hmmm.", Lib squirmed, before starting to daydream, "Maybe a baker came to sell sweets."

"Yeah. I seriously doubt tha- hey, HEY! WAKE UP! YOU ARE DROOLING ON ME!", Nero shouted as his fur became wet due to Lib's delusions, then the grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and pulled her out of him.

Getting up, Nero held Lib on one hand while trying to shack off his fur clean. Somehow Lib was still half asleep even while being held in that position. But he eventually gave up, his once shiny black fur was now too sticky for comfort, he had no choice than to wash it off, so he kicked Lib with the promise that he would have some strawberries cut and ready for her when she returned from checking the front door.

So Lib was slowly making her way to the front door, yawning as she went. Until she heard an explosion.

"Are we under attack?", thought Lib as she began to run, now fully awake.

As she sprinted, Lib activated her Left Eye of the Dragon to improve her chances in case the enemy used some tricks.

When she arrived, she saw three people, two of which she was able to recognize as fellow guild members, but the third person she did not know. The strange thing was that for an attack, everyone seemed to be way too calm. Not to mention the aura around the newcomer was definitely not normal. He was strong.

"What the hell is going on?", Lib asked before complaining, "I was trying to sleep!"

Magic used:

[775//775]

The man who had entered their guild hall looked like he was rather cautious of the place himself, which put Lily a bit more at ease. It didn't mean that he didn't mean any harm, but at the very least he was behaving in a way which didn't disallow for the possibility of a positive outcome. Wild animals often had to threaten and posture when encountering strangers, and it certainly didn't mean that they were dead set on hostile relationships.

That said Lily was still keenly aware that she was the weaker one here, and that if she had to equate this to a meeting between two strange animals she was the one who would have to submit in a battle of dominance. Fortunately as a dryad Lily felt more like a tree. As the stranger asked about the state of the guild hall the green-haired girl first gave a little shrug, then nodded in response to the actual question.

"This is the Rakshasa guild hall yes. I think if you wanted to talk about defences you'd have to ask the guild master, but most people don't make it through the jungle. From what I've seen even most magic users have some difficulty with it." Inside the jungle Lily's observation abilities went far and wide, so she could see how for most people the jungle was a nearly impenetrable barrier. It was little wonder, given the raw primal power that flowed through the earth and the roots of the trees.

She watched as the stranger appeared to have become more interested in inspecting the room than speaking to her, the dryad still looking rather curious but unsure of how to proceed. She still didn't know who this man was and why he had come here, other than that he was interested in Rakshasa. She was opening her mouth to ask when she faltered and looked to the side. Through the ground she could hear the faint tremors of people moving about, one of them heading towards where she and the stranger were and the other... somewhere inside the guild hall, and slowly beginning to move.

When the stranger spoke up once more she jerked in mild surprise, having become distracted by the movements of her fellow guild mates. At his words she frowned, puzzlement beginning to overtake her mind before surprise came back for a second round as the next turn of events was the stranger blocking a pumpkin thrown at his head. She had been aware of the guild mate outside but not of their intentions, although the flying pumpkin certainly did a good job of identifying said guild mate.

"That's Lance. He's a bit... well, he likes to entertain himself." She didn't actually know Lance that well yet, but it had already become obvious to her that he had both a strong mischievous streak and was either apathetic or oblivious to the wants and needs of others. While she couldn't exactly fault his playful nature she just hoped he wouldn't go overboard with this stranger.

And there was also the other guild member to consider... "Sorry, I have to go meet the other one. And we might have to alert the master if I'm understanding you correctly." With that said she hurried over to the entrance through which Libbier would be arriving within seconds. She could tell that the girl had begun to run, and she guessed it was because Lance and the stranger had been using magic.

As Libbier voiced both confusion and irritation that dryad put her hands up in a placating gesture. "Sorry Libbier, this man showed up and Lance decided to greet him by throwing one of his pumpkins, which... I don't know his name yet but he burned it." She looked over her shoulder towards the stranger. "I don't know exactly why he's here yet but he's mentioned wanting to see if we could help him protect nature. Could you maybe find Suijin? He should probably be the one asking questions but I'm not sure if leaving Lance alone with the outsider is a good idea." While she meant no offence towards her lively guild mate there was no denying that his chaotic personality could be problematic at times. Such as when a very powerful mage was standing on your doorstep and you had no idea what he really wanted.

WC: 727/1,747

Listening to the explanation regarding the guy called Lance being someone who liked to play tricks, it reminded Solmar of the Halloween festivities of late. To him, Halloween did not have a whole lot of meaning, though the origins of the costumed parties meant a whole lot more to him. After all, during that time of Samhain, the boundaries between worlds were a whole lot weaker than they normally were, which brought with it a good deal of trouble. Using this period to cross between worlds, spirits and fairies were up to all sorts of mischief in Earthland, which was why he had gone around to put a stop to a good deal of them. As the king of the fae, or at least king to be, he had a certain amount of authority when it came to beings like that, as well as their darker cousins. But to make a long story short, the guy reminded him of the more mischievous fairies that would go around hiding things, get stuff dirty or cut people’s hair while they slept. But that wasn’t exactly a bad thing.

Everyone was different after all, that much was something he had come to figure out once he started spending more time among other humans. Where the girl called Lily seemed to be one who would provide him with the answers he sought, the guy called Lance would rather lob pumpkins at him, which was quite new to him. Normally, when people sensed the difference in sheer magic power alone, they would think twice about bothering him due to his looks. At times, people had seen him and figured he was some kind of dark mage, though that was obviously far from being the case. But speaking of people being different, it wasn’t long after the initial explanation had been provided to him that yet another person had seemingly just stepped out of bed and into the conversation. Being quite loud about it, she too did not seem to care a whole lot about the gap in their power, which was somewhat refreshing to say the least. Taking note of the magic she used through his own magic, copying it was not that much of a stretch as his yellow eyes lit up.

“My oh my, what an interesting spell this is! In a way, it is quite familiar, though your spell works through the eyes, while mine is more of a… feeling, I guess you could call it. You’ve got a different color about you when compared to the others, which likely means you’re a bit stronger… but not strong enough to be a guild master… What color am I though?”

Keeping the spell active for a bit as he looked around in wonder, turning his gaze between the three mages that had made their presence known to him up until now. He imagined that the girl who’s magic he had copied would likely experience it as odd to have someone else be able to use the same magic she did. Things like these were exactly the kind of thing Solmar pulled a lot, though never really intentionally. He liked to know how magics worked, particularly the magic of others and magic he had never seen before, which was something his own magic was uniquely equipped to do. In a way, it seemed that this Libbier girl’s magic was quite useful for actually seeing magic with one’s eyes instead of doing so the way he did. All in all, him using spells other people possessed gave rise to how many believed that he possessed all forms of magic, or was at the very least capable of using them himself, which was both true and false. But that was not really important now, as he had come here for a reason. And no matter how annoying it was that he wouldn’t be able to question people about their magics in depth at this point, it had to be done.

“But uh, yes, do go and fetch your guild master for me if you would. I imagine it will make a lot of things a lot more clear for all of us. After all, time is not really on our side, and the world withers as we speak.”


(708 // 2415)

Spoiler:

It seemed a lot happened while Suijin was away and he only just got back into the Rakshasa temple when he did. Though Guild Master of the group after the leave of their first Master, Indra, he had been busy doing jobs and other duties outside of the guild to keep their reputation strong and seek out other supporters and patreons-- that and causing his own trouble.

It was there in the Watering hole and waterfall where he was now, easy to find to the other members since they knew where the Water Slayer would like to frequent. The muscular, blue haired man was under a waterfall, washing himself and meditating as he tried to embrace the nature around him.

Up till then, he had no clue about the stranger in the jungle... but he would be with the other's appearance to seek him out.

(Short and sorry just juggling a bit, but officially entering now)

It was odd to see the outsider copy Libbier's magic, but on the other hand Lily hadn't heard of there being a rule that two different people couldn't use the same type of magic. There were plenty of mages who tried to harness the powers of nature after all. Although the fact that he could recreate the eye effect while apparently also being capable of producing those white flames did lead to some questions.

"You know what I'll see if I can call him. Although now I'm both curious and worried, because you're speaking like something big is going on." Taking a couple of steps away from Libber and Solmar so she would have some space she closed her eyes, feeling the world spread out beneath her. Perhaps somewhat strangely for a dryad Lily's bond with the world around her wasn't limited to just the flora: the earth, the rivers and the oceans also were within what she could sense and interact with.

This did make it very easy for her to get a good grip on her surroundings though, as most locations contained these elements. She figured she'd have to be somewhere up in the air or in a metal box before she'd completely get lost, although she'd never really tried out either.

But that wasn't what was important right now. As her consciousness expanded she focused on the insides of the ruins which served as Rakshasa's guild hall, moving her thoughts through the network of stone tunnels and the numerous plants which spread themselves as nature tended to do if not kept contained.

After some searching she found Suijin where honestly she should have been looking in the first place: the waterfall hidden away near the middle of the ruins, which served as a source of water for most of the ruins. It was a place Lily herself also liked to frequent, although not quite as much as her guild master, the water god slayer.

"Found him... give me a moment and..." She spoke as someone whose attention was for the largest part elsewhere. Her consciousness wasn't necessarily limited to a single location since her fundamental nature wasn't the same as that of an animal, but she needed to focus on this since she was still rather green and communicating with Suijin would be a bit harder than just locating him.

It helped a lot that she'd had a lot of time to integrate herself into the guild hall, knowing every stone, every patch of moss and every trickle of water.

---

About a meter away from Suijin the water would begin to bubble as if something was rising up, followed by the water itself cascading upwards. Once it had reached the appropriate height the pillar began to shape itself into a rather crude approximation of Lily. It definitely wasn't a masterpiece but someone familiar with the dryad would recognize her, especially if they also were aware that her magic also granted her some measure of control over water.

The water body raised one hand and pointed in the direction of the entrance where Solmar had managed to already attract the attention of three inhabitants of the ruins. At the same time Lily's voice spoke, albeit lightly distorted: with some difficulty she was managing to use the water to project her voice, but given that sound travelled very quickly and very easily through water it came out a bit oddly. Perhaps if she had both more training and more raw power she could have done a better job of it.

"Master Suijin, there is a man of great power who claims that he might need our help in protecting nature. His words sound urgent and he wants to speak to you." Once Suijin had given some form of response the water body would collapse, the liquid which had formed it falling back down into the pool.

WC: 647/2,394

@Suijin Azurestorm

The pumpkin that was thrown was demolished by the stranger. When Lance saw this his mouth hung open “Woah!” he exclaimed and jumped for joy a little bit at the sight of a powerful wizard. Standing down he waved his hands “It’s a squash. I throw it and BOOM it blows up! My favorite part is the sticky goop that explodes out of it, I mean it just covers the area!” he laughed, answering the stranger’s questions. Another guild member joined the fray shortly afterwards and complained about trying to sleep. Lance would just simply shrug “Sorry!” he scratched the back of his head. Although the guy was strong, Lance did not sense any hostility coming from him so he would stand down and listen to what the stranger had to say.

When Lily went to go retrieve the master he would sit down on a nearby rock, placing his hands over his mouth thoughtfully. A couple seconds passed, and he finally spoke up in a more serious tone than previously used “There’s something happening right? Something that could threaten the balance of nature?”. In all truth, being a forest spirit himself, he had sensed it earlier this morning but found himself stumped as to what it was. This was strange for him because usually he would be able to pinpoint what the problem was.

His one purpose in life, given to him by the spirits, was to protect the balance of nature and to not let it fall. He didn’t really care about anything else but that goal. He stood up and walked over to the stranger “Thanks for letting us know. But how can we know to trust you? We don’t even know your name.” he had no hostility in his words and he knew that this man was stronger than him but it Lance would make it obvious that he was not afraid of the mans power.

wc: 320//763

“Aaah, I see, that sounds like a fun kind of magic. I didn’t see it explode, though I could tell that it would likely have made quite the mess of my attire if it had, so I’ll take your word for it. If all goes well, you should teach me some of those!”

Being quite giddy as the guy who had tossed the squash at him seemed to also be quite giddy at seeing how Solmar’s own magic ate the flying pumpkin mid-flight, it was nice to see that there were other people who could get as hyped as himself when discussing the subject of magic and spells. Being truly interested in seeing more of the squash magic, it was not the only thing that seemed interesting in this room. Still peering around with the strange eye magic he had copied from the girl, he also wondered what more she could do, as well as wondering what the more helpful girl was capable of. All things considered, even if they would not be willing to help him fight of the coming storm of corruption, there was no reason why their magics would not be able to help fend it off. At least, that was the way he saw it, even if that meant crossing certain boundaries some people did not want him to. After all, very few people seemed to like the idea of him wielding their magic, which was why he made it seem like he was already capable of casting it by himself and just needed to see how they did it to better do it himself.

While only a partial lie, as he did need to see how it was executed for his copying to work, it was always a good way to see how the actual user of the spell went about it. That way, he would have some solid footing to work from. Moving on from that point, he nodded at the helpful one when she claimed that she would make an attempt at finding their still missing Guild master. Through it all, he could not help but think what might happen if some kind of other guild was to attack this place. If he had wanted to, he could have erased the guild from the globe before anyone even near his level would have come to protect the place and the guild members inside of it. To him, that felt like a lack of oversight, but that wasn’t something he should concern himself with. After all, he was barely part of a guild himself, merely being part of it in name since he had helped them fend off an invasion and they could provide him with the means to fend off a far more devious enemy. When the squash guy called Lance brought up that something was happening, and that it was why Solmar had come here, he wanted to share the story in full, but left it at an acknowledging nod.

He could have told the story right now, though he would just need to tell it again by the time the guild master arrived, meaning it would be a bit of a waste of time in his opinion. Instead, he waited to see how things would unfold as Lily used her magic to seemingly contact the man in charge. Her words, if nothing else, only served to make him a bit more giddy when she referred to him as a “man with great power”. No matter how many times he heard things like that, it always made him feel a bit odd, though the sense of achievement always outweighed the oddity of it all. He had worked hard for the power he had now, as nothing had come as a gift. Hoping that her magic would manage to pull the man he needed to see the most to the guild hall, he turned his attention back towards Lance, who posed a rather decent question. In these times, it was quite hard to trust someone, which was exactly why Solmar would not make the mistake of doing that with anyone unless they went to hell and back to prove themselves worthy of it. Soon, the members of Rakshasa would understand exactly why he would be cautious when it came to trusting someone, and the answers and his reason for coming that they undoubtedly all wanted would come with it.

“Once your guild master arrives, I’ll tell you all you want to know and more. But word from the… uh.. wise, don’t trust anyone.”


(760 // 3178)

Libbier was slightly surprised when all eyes turned to her but considering she had just voiced out a complaint the moment she showed herself, it couldn't be avoided. Hearing Lily's reply to her question, Libbier learned that the fault for most of the noise was Lance's, to which Libbier frowned. However, something like calling the guild master? How on Earthland was she supposed to know where that guy was? But thinking a little, it's not like she couldn't make an accurate guess. Still, if Suijin was where she thought he was, then she would rather not.

"Sorry, but I can only guess where the Guild Master is at the moment, and I'm not inclined to go and get myself wet.", Libbier replied, momentarily amusing the idea of sending Nero to fetch the Guild Master. But the thought of sleeping with the smell of wet fur immediately leads her to purge such thoughts.

Looking at Lance apologizing, Libbier couldn't but squint her eyes with an expression that voicelessly screamed: "Why are you randomly throwing stuff at people?".

Resigning to the inevitability of something similar happening again in the future, Libbier sighed before focusing her attention once again on the newcomer. That's when she noticed something strange. His left eye had turned into that of a reptile, much like her own when she activated her magic previously. She had yet to recover from the astonishing sight when the man spoke. What she heard made Libbier both confused and wary of the man. There was no doubt about it, considering the shape of the eye and the mention of colors of magic power, the man was without a shadow of a doubt, using the same magic she just used. The question was, how? Did he have the same magic? No, he just inquired about it so it must certainly have been the first time he ever used it. So did he copy it in some way? Most likely, but then again it could be an act of some kind, to begin with.

Has she was wondering this, Libbier didn't fail to listen to the man also asking for the Guild Master to be brought to his presence, adding something ominous, about time not being one their side and the world withering. Libbier had just woken up, and could already feel a headache coming in. As she rubbed her temples, she heard a voice in her head.

"Oh, this is starting to sound fun.", her other self mocked.

"Please don't add fuel to the fire.", Libbier replied in her head, and she massaged her templed more vigorously.

Thankfully her other self complied and she was able to stay in her corner, listening as the others moved the conversation along.

Lily volunteered herself to find the Guild Master this time and swiftly began using her magic to search around the guild. It didn't take long for her to find the Guild Master, none could say it wasn't handy magic to have for these situations.

Looking at newcomer and Lance's interaction, Libbier came to assume that this powerful man was not a threat, at least at the moment, and tried to calm down as she waited for the Guild Master to arrive. But what the man said next caught her attention, and maybe because she was tired or just went back to her previous half-asleep state, because for some reason she thought it to be somewhat amusing. Libbier voiced her opinion out loud while slowing down her self massage.

"Now that's a pretty good thing to say, although I don't think that sounded the way you wanted it to sound.", Libbier then stopped her massage while showing a half-joking, half-amused smile, "You do realize that is very much the same as the 'Everything I say is a lie.' phrase, also known as the Liar Paradox."

Libbier decided to ignore the man had just proclaimed to be wise for no reason, after all, considering his power, it's might not be false.

Then as if being hit by it, Libbier thought of a question. Were they going to wait until the Guild Master returned at the Guild's door? Libbier couldn't help but think about the waste of effort when people just stand around in place when they are not actively doing anything.

"Should we move inside? I bet it will be rather uncomfortable speaking about serious stuff while standing.", Libbier asked while wondering about how long all this would take so she could go back to sleep.

[749//1,524‬]

As Suijin sat there at peace under the waterfall, he soon sensed the disturbance in the water. The very feel of it, he knew it was Lily as he didn't flinch or become alarmed as he listened. At the raise of her voice, Suijin cracked open an eye and looked to see Lily's water-form before him. "Man of great power?" Suijin asked, a little bit doubtful in her claim. "Sounds boastful for someone whom invades our land. Still, if he claims we are at risk too... I'll be there shortly. If he wants to speak, it may be amusing to hear his final words... " he answered.

Lily vanished, and he slowly emerged from the waterfall, the water dripping from his half-naked body. While he humored the idea of killing any intruders in their lands like nature demand, he would have to have some sanity to know what he was in for coming here anyway. Still, he could smell them already... and many of his other members. He had hoped they were already putting the stranger through his paces. He would be disappointed if they hadn't in some regard, and he still too wanted a crack at him.

With a smirk on his face, Suijin took off in a grand leap into the trees. One would suspect Tarzan by the way he would swing from vines, but he mixed it with leaps and strides through the jungle with ninja like speed.

---

It took him a bit of time to get there, but he soon smelled and heard them clearly as he reached it, hidden briefly behind the canopy to spy his fellow guild members-- the more capable of them anyway as they confronted the stranger. A man with black hair and strange features, looking more fairer and probably competition when Suijin would of been looking to pick up girls . He didn't give that much thought but more to what the others said. When Janet appeared like a angelic angent of destruction, he figured it was time to appear.

"Whatever he wants, mere words will never prove it here," he spoke aloud.

Like a shadow from the trees, he stood over the others as he glared down. Despite his elegant, dripping good looks (pun not intended :P ) , his gaze was cold and stern to the stranger below. The arrogance of him to just walk in here like that. He had hoped his fellow members would of put him through his paces, but it seems none could land much on him. Or so he presumed. Either they were going easy, or this guy was a lot stronger than he appeared. Even Suijin was aware of his own limitations and strength, but still, if this guy was from the Magic COuncil or something just as bad, it be a mistake to let him leave the jungle alive.

He soon jumped down from the trees and stood among his fellows proudly as he glared at the stranger. "I am Suijin-- the master of Rakshasa. WHo are you and speak your peace. I warn you, we jungle demons have little patience so choose your words wisely before we feed you to the beasts." he warned, his tone cool but his voice grim. Even for a playboy water-demigod, he could control a grim energy if needed.

Now it was up to HIM.

“Well, I imagine that would be one way to go about it, though it wasn’t entirely what I meant. Still, you don’t know a thing about who I am, so maybe not trusting me would be a good idea too don’t you think?”

At times like these, the fact that this was a dark guild did show for a bit as some of the people seemed to be a bit on edge. And they were probably not wrong in feeling that way as there were probably a lot of people out there who were looking for them, aiming to either turn them in for a bounty or merely kill them for a different kind of bounty that often awarded more money. He knew that there were guilds out there who would not mind collecting a few heads for the sake of earning money and renown, so being on one’s toes seemed like a smart enough plan. Nodding at the kid at the notion of going inside and having a seat if they were to be continuing the conversation, he could see why some of them would probably feel more comfortable within their guild’s inner halls. To Solmar, it really did not make much of a difference as he was accustomed to walking for days at a time, meaning standing up for a while did not do much to shake him.

When someone entered into his sensory field from the air and landed not far away from them, he could sense a rather large source of magic power approaching them. While it wasn’t exactly on his level, Solmar understood that someone such as this was most likely either what they called an “Ace” or the guild master himself. Once she got within visual range, it did not take him very long to see the dragon-like features this person possessed. This would have been strange to most people, but again, he had already once met a person who was somewhat similar to this. Haraka, a dragon of ice, had similar traits such as a tail, horns, even wings. As such, he would treat this person no differently than he would any other, as he himself was not exactly like the average person either. Making her presence known by introducing herself as Janet Cinderfeild, she proved him to be correct when he assumed that she was probably either an Ace of a guild master, to which he cracked a little smile. It was about time for one of these to show up.

“Greetings. He has not yet stated what he wanted, no, though I’ll do so in a few moments. After all, it seems that the man of the hour has finally made it here as well.”

Looking past all of them into the direction of the new source of magic power that entered into his field, he could tell that this was a familiar one. Though he did not entirely remember who it belonged to, he knew for a fact that his senses were not wrong about it. If his body gave him a vibe, even if his mind might not like it, the vibe was almost always correct. Even as the man hid within the treeline, Solmar already knew exactly where he was, making his introduction not all that shocking. At times, it bothered him how things no longer surprised him as he could sense just about anything as soon as it got within range of his magic zone. But such was the price to pay for being capable, or so he believed. For as welcoming as most of the members of Rakshasa had been, not counting the squash that had been lobbed at his head before, it seemed that this man was not like that at all. Claiming that Solmar’s words would mean nothing here, he raised a brow as if wondering whether he would want him to put his message across another way.

Introducing himself as Suijin, it was at that point that he remembered who he was. It was the guy that had gone about destroying a part of Hosenka as a means of settling a personal dispute, a guy his formerly other half had put into place after copying several of his spells. Luckily for him, that part of Solmar was no longer around as it had completely merged with him at this point. Still, the memories of that time still remained, and they were not all that flattering. Even though he did not care much about cities or about humanity as a whole, there was such a thing as justice, which was very much something he did believe in. At the time, he had dispensed justice for the people this guy had hurt, and left it at that. So while Solmar remembered who Suijin was, it made sense for him to not know who Solmar was. But as he heard him out, he could not help but feel like this man was calling him out and wanted to have another shot at him. Working in threats left and right, it wasn’t until the threat was made that they would feed him to the beasts of the jungle that his demeanor changed.

As his eyes narrowed, the air around him grew heavier as if gravity had been amplified, making it rather unpleasant to be near him. Clenching his fingers together to make fists while his arms were hanging loosely by his sides, a rather large part of him was screaming at him to just knock this man across the jungle and continue with those that seemed more open to him and his soon-to-be request for aid regarding their own jungle. While he was in no way so arrogant as to believe that he was impervious to being hurt, he knew that if he really tried, he would likely be able to take on this entire guild at once and still come out victorious if that was the path this Suijin character wished to take. Judging by how everyone here had been treated with respect, and had in turn treated him with respect as well, he would prefer not to drag them into a fight that might result in their guild hall crumbling around them. Closing his eyes for a moment, he breathed deeply as he exhaled a long, drawn out sigh. Releasing his fingers from the fist that they had formed, he opened his eyes again, locking them on Suijin as he had formulated his response.

“You’re right, words only mean so much. That said, your words are speaking volumes as your empty threats try to hide your immense insecurity. But do not worry, I am not here to hurt or command your guild, I’m merely here to bring news with regards to this jungle and its potential annihilation. That said, we do still have a few more minutes to spare, so if you wish to exchange blows instead of words, I would be happy to knock some sense into you before we continue.”

Saying all of these things with a slight grin on his face, there was not so much as a hint of hostility in his words as he had buried those feelings away but a few moments ago. He would welcome the idea of fighting this guy for a bit to see if he had learned any fun spells since that time, or to see how he used the spells he had in his possession already, watching them get used in creative ways he himself had not yet thought of himself. Releasing the eye-based spell he had copied from the girl that hadn’t been overly trusting up until now, he looked around to meet the eyes of all those who had gathered here so far. Returning his gaze and attention back to the guild master, who seemed somewhat weaker than his draconic Ace, he imagined that things would get quite nasty of it were to come down to an actual fight. As such, he figured a bit more context should be provided before they continued.

“As a means of returning the respect your guild has shown me up until now, I will refrain from dragging them into this… potential dispute. But do not presume that I’ll allow you to threaten me again without there being retaliation. So please, be respectful, or the purification of this forest begins with you.”


(1398 // 4576)

While Lily was finding and contacting their guild master she was still aware of her own surroundings. As such she listened to Lance and the outsider as they discussed Lance's rather unusual but intriguing magic, as well as some more references to the fact that there was something big going on. The dryad was becoming rather nervous, since this stranger was being rather insistent on this fact yet so far there had been little progress. Of course she assigned some of that blame for herself because she could have tried contacting Suijin right away instead of spending time trying to help keep everything orderly around the stranger's arrival.

Part of that was because she'd hoped to use the opportunity to give Libbier some time to herself so she could finish waking up at her own pace. It hadn't taken a genius to notice that the other woman had come to the entrance mostly involuntarily. However the mage with the multi-coloured hair had made it clear that she didn't want to risk getting wet, and the dryad had to concede that was a fair concern when it came to Suijin. From what she knew of him he'd go to a place with lots of water whenever he had the opportunity.

Fortunately around that time Suijin gave his reply, which Lily decided to interpret as positive. With her water echo gone she could fully return her focus to the little scenario developing near the entrance of the guild. "Master Suijin says that he'll be here shortly." She decided not to mention the part about final words. She knew that Rakshasa was both for those who cared for nature and those with a wilder nature themselves, but she didn't think that treating this outsider with outright hostility would be the right decision. The odds of actually winning against him aside if he was bringing them tidings about a threat to nature he was an ally, even if an unfamiliar one.

Now that she no longer had to focus on maintaining the water echo she moved back towards Libbier's side, having noticed that the woman appeared to be suffering from a headache. "Do you want me to rejuvenate you?"

It was around that time that Janet appeared, the ace quickly getting herself involved. Lily shook her head when the draconic mage asked whether the outsider had already stated what he wanted, but said nothing as said outsider was already explaining that he was waiting for the guild master. Who almost immediately after that arrived himself...

The dryad looked on with some trepidation as it looked like the two men, the guild master and the outsider, immediately got off on the wrong foot. So far things had gone fairly well, but all of that might quickly go to waste if these two decided to fight. Given the amount of raw power present here it could also deal a lot of damage to the guild hall itself, not to mention the guild members who had gathered to see what was going on.

However on some level she also felt annoyed next to the anxiety and fear. She respected Suijin as a powerful water mage who moved with confidence and purpose. The fact that he was the leader of the guild which dedicated itself to protecting nature was also a big plus: as a dryad she kind of approached the whole situation from the other side but she joined Rakshasa because it seemed like the best group to find people from the civilized species who wished to minimize any harm to nature. Which in return seemed like a good foothold from which to protect nature.

But he was the one who started with the hostile behaviour. Given her nature the best she could think of was that he wished to protect his status as the leader of the pack/guild by making it clear that he wasn't impressed or intimidated by this outsider regardless of how powerful he might be.

As for the outsider... well, she could feel his anger through the way the atmosphere changed around him. While she didn't move she could feel how strongly her feet were pushing against the ground, one of the main reasons that she didn't end up on her knees being that trees are built to stand tall. The other was that the stone underneath her feet supported her almost reflexively.

Thankfully he refrained from actually attacking, but instead he clearly went on the offensive verbally as he tried to dress Suijin down. The dryad's eyebrows lowered as she looked at the two men, both significantly more powerful than herself. If it came to an actual fight she would be little more than a sapling. That said...

"Can we focus on the issue at hand please?" Lily stepped forward until she was standing almost in between the two men, which just made her noticeably short figure stand out even more. She first addressed Suijin, indicating the jungle spreading out beyond the border of their guild hall. "Master Suijin, I know we should be careful about outsiders who'll treat us as enemies, but so far this outsider hasn't shown any sign of wishing us harm. He came here because he says that there's a threat to nature, and if that's true we should focus on that and listen to what he has to say."

She then turned towards Solmar, folding her arms while barely being aware of it herself. "Speaking of which, could you please tell us who you are? I don't think you're here to attack us but it might help if we have some idea who the warning is from." She glanced around at everyone who'd gathered so far. "Master Suijin is here and there's enough others to listen as well, so could you also explain what the danger is that nature is facing?" Her facial expression relaxed a bit, but she was clearly still worried. "I'm becoming rather anxious knowing that there's a problem but having no idea what it really is, and I imagine the others would also feel better if they knew more about it."

Lily was terrible at appearing commanding or intimidating. She relied more on attempting to appeal to people's better side both emotionally and rationally.

WC: 1,018/3,412

Lance stood down from trying to question the stranger any further than he already had been. He would stare the man in the eye before sighing “No fun…” he muttered as he walked away, the stranger already making his point that he would not continue until the guild master arrived. He would return to the tree he previously popped out from and leaned on it, waiting for the Suijin to come.

On the topic of that Libbier brought up about trust Lance simply shrugged “Trust is something that is gained through mutual respect. I don’t know him, and he doesn’t know me. There can’t possibly be any trust there.” He glanced over at the stranger “Until a respect is formed, everything he says can be taken as a lie.” He smirked a little, tapping his nose and Libbier.

Janet, an ace, flew down from the sky and started to introduce herself and question the guild and the stranger about his intentions. Lance would simply shrug his shoulders and shake his head at the question she asked.

While he waited for the guild master to arrive, the spirit would make a pumpkin appear in his hand and toss it up into the air, having it land on his hand and pop before making another one to continue the activity he was doing. Really, he just wanted to do anything that would take his mind off the threat to the jungle. There was almost next to nothing that concerned Lance other than threats to nature. The once lighthearted and playful wizard would turn into a more serious person when something that worried him came up.

The guild master had finally appeared and almost immediately tried to pick a fight with the stranger, to which Lance raised his eyebrow at amusingly. It was true that the guild master was powerful, he had witnessed it previously before. It was also true that he could sense the power the stranger was able to wield, it was the reason he stepped down in the first place. He could tell that the stranger had gotten irritated by the master’s words.

At Lilies words of remedy, Lance couldn’t help but move off his tree and speak to Suijin quite plainly.

“She’s right. There are more pressing matters at hand rather than fighting against someone who, quite frankly, could squash us all like pumpkins being stepped on.” He chuckled to himself. Once he said this, he would turn to Solmar “And you. Everyone is here. Out with it.” He would fold his arms and raise his eye brows, waiting to hear what it was he had been sensing.

WC: 439//1,202

For a moment, he would watch as everything unfolded. The immense unease following up on the various threats and lack of respect and the resounding threat that had come from him in response had made for a rather grim environment. However, seeing how the members of the Rakshasa guild spoke up against their leader and took a stance for the benefit of nature over something as silly as guild allegiance and identity, the black haired mage felt like maybe he hadn’t made a mistake in coming here. The girl that had been helping him trying to get his message across and gather up the guild had taken a stand, trying her best to come across as demanding and showing her authority. While she tried, he couldn’t imagine how anyone would really be scared or intimidated by it, though he could really appreciate the sentiment. The same could be said about the trickster that had been tossing stuff at his head from the moment they met, who now stated a fact by claiming that Solmar could potentially crush everyone here.

Suddenly bursting out in laughter at seeing how at least these two were capable of seeing the bigger picture that their guild master clearly could not, judging by his current and past actions, he knew at that point that he would at the very least want to take the two of them with him. Because that was all this was, a recruitment of forces that could prove useful in the fight against corruption. For that, he was looking for those that would be able to make themselves useful, and not prove to potentially be detrimental to the cause. At this point, that meant that he would not be asking the guild master to join them, as he did not want to run the risk of having to deal with insubordination at a point in time when it would really be a case of “do or die”. While he could be quite jolly and kind, even flaky and overly intrigued by things, there was also the side of Solmar that would not hesitate to evaporate someone on the spot if it meant saving the bigger picture. In this case, that bigger picture was nature itself, so it was time to make people aware of what they would be facing if they were to sign themselves up for it.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t laughing at you, I was merely laughing at the situation. It is really promising to see some of you standing up to your own guild master when he is clearly in the wrong. That means you’ll be able to play a part in what is to come. You see, something has found their way to our little planet from across the stars. While I don’t know where it is they hail from, the embodiment of corruption planted seeds in numerous places here on Earthland in various different shapes and sizes.”

Taking a momentary break to look around and see what kind of impact this would make on those present, he hoped that they would be able to take it seriously. Others had chosen not to heed his warnings, and it had resulted in their holy site being desecrated, their people being sacrificed as cattle to dark beings and their home being used as a breeding pit for evil. If such a thing was to happen here in this jungle, he would have no choice but to raze it all to the ground and reshape it all once the corruption had been uprooted.

“This corruption is not just one creature, but millions of creatures working together in an attempt at devouring all life in this galaxy and the next. They’ve been going at it for countless millennia, and I do not have the specifics as to their origin or their true purpose, though I know enough to not want them here in Fiore. There is more to it, and I can tell you how to beat them at your own game, though I need to know that I can rely on you to do what needs to be done.”

Part of why he had come to this guild was because it was a so called Dark Guild, which meant that the people here might not be as self righteous as some of he other mages and guilds he had met so far. Sometimes, one needed to be willing to make sacrifices so they could protect what was truly important. If this corruption would win, all life on the planet would be warped and altered as it got devoured and used to power the war machine of the Hungering Abyssals that had sent it here. Without nature, humanity would most certainly die out in a matter of days or weeks at best, something he hoped everyone here would be able to understand. For now though, he would hold his tongue and wait to see what the others had to say about all of this. And by that, he meant all of them, not just one or two of them. All of them, including the guild master and the ace.


(858 // 5435)

The pressure from the man was indeed strong. While Suijin did sense the sheer power off of him, he felt his distrust was valid. True, he wanted to set a strong image for Rakshasa and while his members were more friendly, he wasn't so trusting of people who sought them out. He did sweat at the magic presence, but he didn't back down. But his words if this guy wanted to talk, he would hear it out... but what ultimately drop the tougher front was Lily's quick synopsis of what this man wanted... something that he didn't hear up till now. He arched a brow at this and realized perhaps this was a warning rather than some intimidation from one man who thought he could challenge nature's might.

Finally, Suijin hopped down from the tree . Lily did a good job addressing the point. So Suijin let her have that moment. Next to Janet, she would be a worthy ace when she would grow a bit. "Alright, I'll bite. What is this threat you are so motivated to tell us about? If you came for our aid, I insist you be clear with it. " he said. He was glad however Lance wanted to get to the point. He got this man shouldn't be just blindly trusted.

The sudden bout of laughter did however make SUijin's hair go on end from anger. He growled almost feral but kept it under his breath. He REALLY wanted to drown that smug face of his, even if he was stronger. He treated his guild members as equals among him, not seeing himself as higher compared to them. HE had no right to speak of how their guild operated or how they treated him. "Enough. Get on with it before i lose my patience with you." he barked at Solar.

He explained and while vague, the threat could pose some merit. Suijin however still wanted to strangle him for his disrespect to him. He was prideful, he would admit to it and it could blind him, but it was why he regarded his members with equal respect. They earned it and deserved it. This guy had not. "What proof do you have of this danger? And if this threat is so dangerous and threatening to all, why approach US? Couldn't Fairy Tail or those red-necked Knights , whatever they are called, help you on this matter? Why do you want OUR help?" he asked, knowing full well their standards and reputation as a 'Dark Guild' others would call it. He needed to know more, and he was certain the others would to.