One benefit to not being able to read - you got to go to new places all the time. One downside to not being able to read - you had to travel to new places all the time.
Today Magnus was headed out to Cedar, a small port-like town on the complete opposite end of the country to Magnolia for a job pertaining to, he'd been told, some kind of uncovered secret. He was to be a bodyguard for a group of would-be treasure hunters who were eager to explore the new caverns that had been discovered at the coastline, but that was as much as he had been told before he had rushed off. It had taken him a full four days to get here and, were it not for the fact the job had been approved and the information sent to the client, they likely would've found someone else by now. Still, he was here in Cedar now and, thankfully, it didn't take too long to find the clients. Upon arrival, he entered the tavern to get more information and the landlord kindly directed him immediately to the table in the corner - but not without a warning.
"They's a tricksy bunch. They's damn good at what they do, but they's not a kindly bunch. Watch yerself." Magnus gave a surprisingly quiet chuckle. "Five of them and one of me? I quite like those odds!" he replied coolly, receiving a shake of the head but a chuckle nonetheless. "Brave or stupid, either way ye've had yer warning. 'Ope to see yer 'gain, but fergive me fer not 'oldin' me breath." With that, the landlord gave a slight wave - slightly dark given the conversation - and Magnus walked towards the table.
The group wheeled around as the shadow of the Chaos mage loomed over them and Magnus watched their eyes look from his abs, to his shoulders and finally meeting his gaze. "Well bugger me, ain't you a big boy then?!" one of them, a stocky, bearded man stated with wide eyes. Another chuckled nervously in response while the two other men in the group remained silent. The final member, a rather well-built woman, scoffed. "Seen bigger. But he'll scare off anyone else at least and God's knows he'll be more useful than you sorry bastards." She rose to her feet and the rest followed suit. "I'm Flora, and these lot is my team. Bearded one is Sulley, That one's Adder, that dirty bastard pickin' 'is nose there is Hoary and the shy one here is Mitch - e's me favourite. Don't cause me no trouble unlike the rest of 'em and I make sure they remember that." she stated loudly and Magnus could see all the men shrink back in embarressment - particularly Mitch who clearly didn't want the attention. Magnus nodded and smiled. "I'm Magnus, The Supreme One." he replied proudly. The group stayed silent for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Well look at the balls on you! We'll see how 'supreme' you are soon 'nuff! Right you lot, le's move!" The group immediately stopped laughing and grabbed their bags and tools, making a tremendous racket in the process. "The entrance is 'bout twenty minutes from 'ere. I want us there in ten, so shift it!"
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Magnus respected Flora - she wanted them here in ten minutes and, whilst he couldn't be certain it was really that long, it certainly didn't take them the twenty minutes she said it should've taken. She was an efficient leader for sure, even if she had no respect for any of the men working under her. As they headed into the caverns she began to explain the job more to Magnus. "These caves were found by Mitch the other week. They seem to stretch deep 'neath Cedar which, incase you weren't aware, used to be run by pirates. Least that's 'ow the stories go. Which means there's bound to be summat of value in 'ere somewhere. But Mitch also saw some nasties in 'ere. Mitch is a good boy but he's no fighter, nor are the rest of these wastes of skin. So you're 'ere to back me up."
They'd already gotten to a point in the caves where the light was starting to fade, and so Mitch stepped forward with a torch in hand. "See what I mean? Mitch is always a step ahead" she laughed, motioning towards the other three men who were only just fumbling with their torches now. "Stay close behind us now Mitch, me and 'The Supreme One' need to be able to see." she continued, deliberately mocking Magnus in the process. On any other day Magnus would have fought her and shown her exactly why he was 'The Supreme One' but he'd promised to behave better whilst on jobs. So for now he simply smiled politely, which only seemed to draw more ire from Flora. "You really are as thick as you look aren't ya?"
Magnus had no chance to reply to that comment - no sooner had the words come out than a trio of large, bi-pedal rocky-fishlike creatures dropped from the ceiling in front of them, causing Mitch to jump back slightly in panic. Immediately Flora was ready, lunging forward with a roar and tackling one of the creatures. Foolishly she'd left the rest of her group wide open - thankfully, despite being ignorant to that fact, Magnus liked to fight against the odds. He jumped forward at equal speed, throwing a fist at the body of one of the creatures and using that momentum to spin-kick the second at the legs. The creatures were nimble though and quickly got back to their feet to retaliate. One kicked at Magnus' abdomen and, with him being close to the floor still, they landed their strike with relative ease. The second attempted to tackle Magnus and made a grab for his face but he was on the strike again before it could reach him, plucking it out of midair with an uppercut that sent it flying upwards and slamming its skull on the roof of the cavern, causing a few pieces of rock to fall to the cave floor. The remaining one tried another attack but this time Magnus was ready.
"Chaos Blast!"
A burst of black and white magic flew from his hands and slammed into the creature, sending it sprawling backwards into the cave wall. He watched as it slid down the wall and slumped forward, either dead or at the very least unconcious. The Chaos mage looked around at Flora who herself had dealt with her enemy relatively quickly, albeit not nearly as cleanly - Magnus could see an arm from the creature was a good few feet away from its body. Thankfully the lack of decent lighting prevented him from seeing too much more in much detail. She got to her feet, nodded to Magnus and then looked at the others. "Stop gawpin' keep movin'!"
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There weren't any more of the creatures or anything else for that matter for quite some time and Magnus was starting to feel a tension rising amongst the group - something wasn't feeling right and they all knew it. Even Flora was completely silent right now, her eyes darting around trying to find something, anything that would indicate something was nearby. Finally something caught their eyes - a slight glimmer of light in the distance. "Over there boys! Let's go!" Flora called and the group surged forward at an increased pace. Magnus remained at the back of the group - something still felt wrong. Why is there light in a cave?
It didn't take long for his concerns to be proven right - no sooner had the rest of the group reached the source of the light than he could hear screaming. One of the men, Sulley judging from the beard, came running out with blood pouring from a stump where his arm had just been. Mitch followed immediately behind him. By the time Magnus reached the source of the light it was too late for the other two men - both lay dead in the middle of the open area, with Flora the only one left standing, coated in blood that was not entirely her own. In front of her was a larger form of the creatures they'd fought before. Magnus pulled Flora back and stood in front of her, just in time to receive a slash across his chest for his troubles - were Flora to have been stood there, it would have slashed her throat. "I'll...I'll find Mitch and Sulley...deal with them. Y-you handle this." Magnus said nothing as the woman fled, his eyes focused on the creature in front of him. It took another swipe at him but before it could land Magnus was already in motion.
"Chaos Control!"
His sudden surge in speed allowed him to dash forward before the creature's claws reached him and land an uppercut directly on the abdomen of the creature. It recovered quickly, slamming him backwards with a backhanded swipe. The Fairy Tail mage flew several feet backwards but managed to keep his footing, immediately retaliating.
"Raising Hell!"
Large black and white spikes burst from the ground from in front of Magnus, sending the creature up into the air.
"Heavensfall!"
A powerful beam of black and white magic burst down atop the creature's head, slamming it onto the spikes below. But despite the pain it continued to screech in rage, clearly not done. Magnus wasn't done either.
"Chaos Blast!"
The burst of magic slammed into the creature, shattering the spike it was on and throwing it against the cavern wall behind it. It was dazed but very much still alive. But not for much longer.
"Purgatory Shard!"
Six fist-sized sharpened black stones flew at the creature, each hitting various parts of its body and severed each of its limbs. The screeches turned from those of rage to those of agony as the creature slumped to the floor, only its head remaining attached to its torso. Magnus walked over and ended the creature's suffering with a single stamp on its head.
"...vilekin..." the big man hissed angrily.
After a short time Flora came back with her two remaining men - who nearly vomited at the sight before them. Upon inspecting the opening closer, the remaining foursome found a small tunnel just big enough to squeeze through. At the end of the tunnel was their prize - chests containing gold coins, as well as a few sheets of paper that, Flora explained, detailed how to use takeover magic. Magnus growled in response. Takeover magic again? Something bigger is going on here... He kept quiet for now though - this didn't concern Flora and her gang. They collected the chests and made their way out of the caverns. Magnus was thanked and paid for his work, but it felt like hollow payment compared to what was unfolding in front of Magnus right now - non-magical people were dabbling in takeover magics. But why? And how were they getting this information?
Magnus ran this through his head many times on his journey back but after two days of wracking his brains he sighed and gave up. He'd get answers one day, but this wasn't that day.
Today Magnus was headed out to Cedar, a small port-like town on the complete opposite end of the country to Magnolia for a job pertaining to, he'd been told, some kind of uncovered secret. He was to be a bodyguard for a group of would-be treasure hunters who were eager to explore the new caverns that had been discovered at the coastline, but that was as much as he had been told before he had rushed off. It had taken him a full four days to get here and, were it not for the fact the job had been approved and the information sent to the client, they likely would've found someone else by now. Still, he was here in Cedar now and, thankfully, it didn't take too long to find the clients. Upon arrival, he entered the tavern to get more information and the landlord kindly directed him immediately to the table in the corner - but not without a warning.
"They's a tricksy bunch. They's damn good at what they do, but they's not a kindly bunch. Watch yerself." Magnus gave a surprisingly quiet chuckle. "Five of them and one of me? I quite like those odds!" he replied coolly, receiving a shake of the head but a chuckle nonetheless. "Brave or stupid, either way ye've had yer warning. 'Ope to see yer 'gain, but fergive me fer not 'oldin' me breath." With that, the landlord gave a slight wave - slightly dark given the conversation - and Magnus walked towards the table.
The group wheeled around as the shadow of the Chaos mage loomed over them and Magnus watched their eyes look from his abs, to his shoulders and finally meeting his gaze. "Well bugger me, ain't you a big boy then?!" one of them, a stocky, bearded man stated with wide eyes. Another chuckled nervously in response while the two other men in the group remained silent. The final member, a rather well-built woman, scoffed. "Seen bigger. But he'll scare off anyone else at least and God's knows he'll be more useful than you sorry bastards." She rose to her feet and the rest followed suit. "I'm Flora, and these lot is my team. Bearded one is Sulley, That one's Adder, that dirty bastard pickin' 'is nose there is Hoary and the shy one here is Mitch - e's me favourite. Don't cause me no trouble unlike the rest of 'em and I make sure they remember that." she stated loudly and Magnus could see all the men shrink back in embarressment - particularly Mitch who clearly didn't want the attention. Magnus nodded and smiled. "I'm Magnus, The Supreme One." he replied proudly. The group stayed silent for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Well look at the balls on you! We'll see how 'supreme' you are soon 'nuff! Right you lot, le's move!" The group immediately stopped laughing and grabbed their bags and tools, making a tremendous racket in the process. "The entrance is 'bout twenty minutes from 'ere. I want us there in ten, so shift it!"
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Magnus respected Flora - she wanted them here in ten minutes and, whilst he couldn't be certain it was really that long, it certainly didn't take them the twenty minutes she said it should've taken. She was an efficient leader for sure, even if she had no respect for any of the men working under her. As they headed into the caverns she began to explain the job more to Magnus. "These caves were found by Mitch the other week. They seem to stretch deep 'neath Cedar which, incase you weren't aware, used to be run by pirates. Least that's 'ow the stories go. Which means there's bound to be summat of value in 'ere somewhere. But Mitch also saw some nasties in 'ere. Mitch is a good boy but he's no fighter, nor are the rest of these wastes of skin. So you're 'ere to back me up."
They'd already gotten to a point in the caves where the light was starting to fade, and so Mitch stepped forward with a torch in hand. "See what I mean? Mitch is always a step ahead" she laughed, motioning towards the other three men who were only just fumbling with their torches now. "Stay close behind us now Mitch, me and 'The Supreme One' need to be able to see." she continued, deliberately mocking Magnus in the process. On any other day Magnus would have fought her and shown her exactly why he was 'The Supreme One' but he'd promised to behave better whilst on jobs. So for now he simply smiled politely, which only seemed to draw more ire from Flora. "You really are as thick as you look aren't ya?"
Magnus had no chance to reply to that comment - no sooner had the words come out than a trio of large, bi-pedal rocky-fishlike creatures dropped from the ceiling in front of them, causing Mitch to jump back slightly in panic. Immediately Flora was ready, lunging forward with a roar and tackling one of the creatures. Foolishly she'd left the rest of her group wide open - thankfully, despite being ignorant to that fact, Magnus liked to fight against the odds. He jumped forward at equal speed, throwing a fist at the body of one of the creatures and using that momentum to spin-kick the second at the legs. The creatures were nimble though and quickly got back to their feet to retaliate. One kicked at Magnus' abdomen and, with him being close to the floor still, they landed their strike with relative ease. The second attempted to tackle Magnus and made a grab for his face but he was on the strike again before it could reach him, plucking it out of midair with an uppercut that sent it flying upwards and slamming its skull on the roof of the cavern, causing a few pieces of rock to fall to the cave floor. The remaining one tried another attack but this time Magnus was ready.
"Chaos Blast!"
A burst of black and white magic flew from his hands and slammed into the creature, sending it sprawling backwards into the cave wall. He watched as it slid down the wall and slumped forward, either dead or at the very least unconcious. The Chaos mage looked around at Flora who herself had dealt with her enemy relatively quickly, albeit not nearly as cleanly - Magnus could see an arm from the creature was a good few feet away from its body. Thankfully the lack of decent lighting prevented him from seeing too much more in much detail. She got to her feet, nodded to Magnus and then looked at the others. "Stop gawpin' keep movin'!"
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There weren't any more of the creatures or anything else for that matter for quite some time and Magnus was starting to feel a tension rising amongst the group - something wasn't feeling right and they all knew it. Even Flora was completely silent right now, her eyes darting around trying to find something, anything that would indicate something was nearby. Finally something caught their eyes - a slight glimmer of light in the distance. "Over there boys! Let's go!" Flora called and the group surged forward at an increased pace. Magnus remained at the back of the group - something still felt wrong. Why is there light in a cave?
It didn't take long for his concerns to be proven right - no sooner had the rest of the group reached the source of the light than he could hear screaming. One of the men, Sulley judging from the beard, came running out with blood pouring from a stump where his arm had just been. Mitch followed immediately behind him. By the time Magnus reached the source of the light it was too late for the other two men - both lay dead in the middle of the open area, with Flora the only one left standing, coated in blood that was not entirely her own. In front of her was a larger form of the creatures they'd fought before. Magnus pulled Flora back and stood in front of her, just in time to receive a slash across his chest for his troubles - were Flora to have been stood there, it would have slashed her throat. "I'll...I'll find Mitch and Sulley...deal with them. Y-you handle this." Magnus said nothing as the woman fled, his eyes focused on the creature in front of him. It took another swipe at him but before it could land Magnus was already in motion.
"Chaos Control!"
His sudden surge in speed allowed him to dash forward before the creature's claws reached him and land an uppercut directly on the abdomen of the creature. It recovered quickly, slamming him backwards with a backhanded swipe. The Fairy Tail mage flew several feet backwards but managed to keep his footing, immediately retaliating.
"Raising Hell!"
Large black and white spikes burst from the ground from in front of Magnus, sending the creature up into the air.
"Heavensfall!"
A powerful beam of black and white magic burst down atop the creature's head, slamming it onto the spikes below. But despite the pain it continued to screech in rage, clearly not done. Magnus wasn't done either.
"Chaos Blast!"
The burst of magic slammed into the creature, shattering the spike it was on and throwing it against the cavern wall behind it. It was dazed but very much still alive. But not for much longer.
"Purgatory Shard!"
Six fist-sized sharpened black stones flew at the creature, each hitting various parts of its body and severed each of its limbs. The screeches turned from those of rage to those of agony as the creature slumped to the floor, only its head remaining attached to its torso. Magnus walked over and ended the creature's suffering with a single stamp on its head.
"...vilekin..." the big man hissed angrily.
After a short time Flora came back with her two remaining men - who nearly vomited at the sight before them. Upon inspecting the opening closer, the remaining foursome found a small tunnel just big enough to squeeze through. At the end of the tunnel was their prize - chests containing gold coins, as well as a few sheets of paper that, Flora explained, detailed how to use takeover magic. Magnus growled in response. Takeover magic again? Something bigger is going on here... He kept quiet for now though - this didn't concern Flora and her gang. They collected the chests and made their way out of the caverns. Magnus was thanked and paid for his work, but it felt like hollow payment compared to what was unfolding in front of Magnus right now - non-magical people were dabbling in takeover magics. But why? And how were they getting this information?
Magnus ran this through his head many times on his journey back but after two days of wracking his brains he sighed and gave up. He'd get answers one day, but this wasn't that day.
-END-
WC: 1890
WC: 1890
