Beatdown

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Days past, but not too many, Ozwald had heard of an upcoming event that will be happening across all of Fiore. Streets will be filled with party goers and the night will be accompanied by the rhythmic beats of the DJs’ songs echoing across each city. Drinks of various magical harmless properties will be served to the attendees, and the dance floor will be flooded with people competing who the dance master will be. Drums will be beat to the beat of the music, with each beat of the drumstick splashing paint all over. It is all, to sum it up, a rave party happening in every city in Fiore, with more neon paint to color and fill the dark alleyways and streets with the vibrant colors of neon light.

As Ozwald is both a member of the guild Silver Wolf and a member of the Scholar of Grimwold, he has had his fair share of responsibilities, and by that he has alot. Contributing to both the guild and the scholasticate has proved to be a challenge for him as he’s had to find a way to balance them out. After all, he didn’t want to dedicate most of his time working with the magically inept scholasticate to recover artifacts and the likes without contributing to the research and development of the magically adept guild. This is a chance for him to take a break and relax, seeing as the guild and the scholasticate are both attending, save for the few recluse individuals.

It has been a long time since he’s had some time off from work and enjoy some quality time with his peers and/or family. Alas, fate has it that they had other plans. The members of the guild already made plans and he did not want to intrude, though it may have been because he has neglected to establish a presence in the guild. Majority of the scholasticate decided to continue working though not as much, with those attending he is unfamiliar with. Thus, his last option was to bond with his family.

Of course, Michael is obviously out of the picture. As much as he wanted to invite him over, who knows what trouble will bring with the demons inside him threatening to manifest and lay ruin to the festivities. He knows that Olaf, one of his other twin siblings, won’t be attending as all NEET recluses are. Only his other twin brother, Francois, and his older step-siblings and triplets Anton, Cinna, and Zander are left. “Franz! Have you heard of the rave party that’s happening all around Fiore? I’d like to spend time with you all, seeing as it has been awhile since we all had some family bonding. Michael excluded, for obvious reasons.” He types in his phone and sends the message to Francois. He knows full well how busy he is as a Rune Knight, and it was only right to text him, otherwise, he would have interrupted him for an important meeting or what not. He has sent similar missives to his other brothers.

Minutes went by and he received a reply from all 4 of them, though unusual for Francois to reply at this time of the day. He was delighted to hear that Cinna will be attending, but dismayed that Anton, Zander, and Francois declined for their own reasons. Francois already made plans to attend the rave with his fellow Rune Knights in Era, and Ozwald had no intention of invading their soiree. Anton oversees the preparation of meals in Hargeon, and Zander oversees the alcoholic magical beverages to be served in the Neutral Grounds. “Sure thing, Oz! I might just make our outfits for the rave. Meet you at home before sundown on that evening!” The message from Cinna says.

Magnolia may be far from Era, but with the recent advancements in technology and magic, travelling from one city to another has never been so easy. What took days to reach one place to another, nowadays it took only a few minutes up to an hour, depending on which mode of transportation you’re using.

The city of Magnolia is where Ozwald planned to attend the rave party alongside Cinna. Hours before sundown, but not too early, he arrived to see Francois inquiring Cinna about what to wear for the rave party. “Greetings Cinna! Might I inquire of you to fit me an outfit for a... 'rave' party? I assume you know about 'cool' culture.” Francois asks. “Oh hey Franz! I would love to! Though... I think your wardrobe would suit just fine. Your casual clothes would just do, but I am willing to provide you some accessories!” He sees Francois going upstairs to his room to get changed for the party with his fellow Rune Knights. Oswald is wounded as Francois didn’t acknowledge his arrival but, knowing him, he’s probably going to figure out which casual outfit to wear for this party for a long time, browsing through his endless expanse of a wardrobe. He could have not heard him open his front door, or was in a hurry.

Spotting Cinna alone, he approaches him. “Hey Cinna! How are you? Do you have them ready?”
He asks, and the suspiciously short but older orange haired sibling of his turned around to meet him. “Oz! I’m so excited for this rave! And yes, I have them prepared in your room. They should all fit to your size, assuming you’re keeping yourself in tip top shape.” “Thanks! But what about Francois? Don’t you have something for him as well?” He asks about what the two of them conversed earlier much to his confusion. Cinna is just chilling at home so why didn’t he bother to ask him for a set of clothes? “Oh, you know his wardrobe. Hella expensive and hella big, bigger than our rooms combined! How does this man own so much clothing?!” The both of them chuckles at the silliness of it all. “Well, I better get dressed. Hopefully I don’t take too long navigating through my endless wardrobe.” He says as he went to his room to get changed.

He left his room wearing a brand new set of clothes tailored by Cinna consisting of a green hoodie jacket, black tank top with neon colored splash designs, blue pants, and a pair of black boots that’s slightly splattered with neon paint, but not too much. Accessories include a set of silver chains connecting the belt loop and his wallet stashed in the pockets of his pants, a silver ring of modern design, and some neon colored bracelets. A strap of black belt with a silver buckle prevents the pants from going down, and another strap of stylish belt is worn over it. A pair of black shades conceal his emerald green eyes, which also doubles as a pair of correction classes.

Cinna is wearing a simple white tank top with a blue jacket wrapped around his waist. He sports a pair of light brown cargo pants, and a pair of orange rubber shoes. It’s not much but given his height, he would be sorely mistaken for a teenager, a young one at that. “Ready to go?” Cinna asked, and Ozwald nodded, prepared to leave for Magnolia. “Did Francois leave already?” “Yeah, surprisingly. I did fix his clothes up a bit to make him look hip before leaving to meet up with his friends.”

The two left home, and went to the train station, boarding a train that’s headed for Magnolia.

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Except for the pair of turntables he got which conveniently shrunk down to the size of a coin, he brought nothing with him that he could use to protect himself just in case things get heated. He left his grimoire back at home. He’d only have his bare hands to help fight off drunken party attendees should they want to get physical.

Prior to the day he’s heard of the event, has was on a mission with the Guild Master of Silver Wolf, Leona, and another one of his peers, Kageyama, in their attempts to drive out the dark mages from the safety of the cold climes of Phoenix Mountains, where their guild is located. During this time, the team had found one of the 12 of the Brass Artifacts taking the form of a peculiarly shaped turntable. Considering how this artifact was made, it is possible he needed the requisite skill in order to use these magical turntables. He learned a new skill in a week’s time - the art of DJing.

Coincidentally, as the duo arrived, the DJ of the party was calling out for volunteers to have a turn at DJing.

“Alright! Who wants to try and DJ for a bit?” The DJ yells out in front of the mic and, halfway through the crowd, Ozwald was raising his hand enthusiastically. “You there! In the green jacket! Make way for the guy in the green jacket!” The crowd looked around to find Oz which was easy enough considering that he is literally the only guy in green in the entire rave. The crowd made way for Ozwald to be able to get to the stage unobstructed, and Cinna gave a thumbs up to him and wished him good luck in this endeavor. He steps unto the stage and inspects the equipment the DJ had. Luckily for him, it was the self same equipment he used to practice back at the scholasticate.

The music the DJ played was still playing and has provided him ample time to mix and match songs. He sifted through the DJ’s library to find songs that would enervate the audience just as he did when he was practicing. Using these, he was able to mix songs with matching bpm to keep the flow going without altering the pace abruptly. His familiarity with the equipment allowed him to create the mix more efficiently, seeing as it was the selfsame equipment he used. Soon it was time for Ozwald’s mix to come to play, and as the song’s mix was at the drop, the audience jumped and danced to the rhythm of his mix.

He was awarded a lit neon stamp of a smiley face on his wrist for his participation in the event. The DJ, seeing as the party attendants were enthralled by Ozwald’s mix, he decided to let him at it for a while longer. He was enjoying himself, mixing various songs the audience was enjoying. All was well until a wave of intense beat disharmonized his track, and it grew louder and irritating that the equipment broke, effectively shutting off the music.

The worried attendees faced the direction of a group of troublemakers responsible for this mess, one being a neon samurai being accompanied by a few slime creatures of unknown origins. The samurai obviously is incapable of producing these sounds as he wielded a pink flamed katana. The bulky one clad in cybertech armor was the obvious perpetrator of the whole mess. Lagging behind was a woman staring at her phone and she looked like she didn’t care about this whole ordeal.

One swing from the samurai’s sword was enough to strike one of the buildings down. The party goers fled for their lives as the chaos that ensued almost took innocent lives. Soon, it was only Ozwald and Cinna who was left at the now spacious park. “We are PL4GUE! The lot of you had the nerve to steal our plan of holding a street party and for that, you shall pay!”

“Pay for what, you self absorbed holier-than-thou weeaboo with a goddamned anime blade!?“ Cinna retorted, clearly not having any of the samurai’s bullshit. The samurai obviously took it as an insult. Despite his well spokenness, he looks like he would be able to find the most appropriate vernaculars in the dictionary to deliver harsh roasts on Cinna. The only roasting that will be happening, however, is Cinna. Being on fire.

The samurai attacks and unleashes a wave of pink flames against Cinna. Thinking quickly, he tried to grab for his grimoire to defend him, only finding it to be missing. The only thing he brought with him was his pair of turntables. He popped the coin sized turntables and it grew as large as the ones that were destroyed. They levitated, with gears and mechanisms exposed from below them. He reached out to Cinna and hoped for a miracle, and it did. The flames that threatened to hurt his older step brother was met with an invisible force that protected Cinna.

The unflinching Cinna knew this would happen, but was not expecting to see the turntables instead of the standard grimoire. He knows his brother is capable of using magic, after all, and he did witness him practicing his magic. “I didn’t even need your help, Oz! I may be a crafter, but I am at least capable of fighting!” Cinna says as he procured an oddly oversized paint brush that’s as tall as him.

“You… you’re no ordinary citizens.” The samurai was taken aback at the retaliation exhibited by the duo. “That’s right, my good sir. Ozwald Emeraude Morgan, adventurer extraordinaire and…” he pauses and takes off his perfectly intact jacket and wraps it around his waist. “...guild wizard of Silver Wolf. Remember that.” The discs on the turntable turn and a track was played from it, somehow acting as an epic combat music.

“I am not wont to introduce myself to the dead, and you will be... by my hands!” The insulted and agitated samurai lunged towards him, ignoring Cinna. He moved one of his turntables and casted a spell that projected a temporal barrier, absorbing the full brunt of the enemy’s attacks. Ozwald retaliates by connecting the gears of the two turntables and he deflected his enemy’s attacks by forcing the attack to miss him by bashing the katana with one of his turntables.

While the pair exchanged blows, Cinna was left with some of the plasma elementi and the cybernetic titan who interrupted the music. “I may be small, and you may be big,” he says, and before he continues, he paints a magi circle on the ground, activating it and calling forth a frightening amalgamation of fluffy and wooly bear and razor sharp scissors, “...but my friend is bigger!” The titanic bear, even bigger than the cyborg, raises his fists and slams them down, only to be dodged by the nimble cyborg. Anticipating his next move, the cyborg released sound waves that made it difficult for the huge bear to get near him. However, he failed to take into account Cinna’s magic as a whole and, in his hubris, was flanked by an even more frightening amalgamation of a fluffy lion and several saws. Clawed by the lion, the waves of sound ceased and the bear yeeted the cyborg, hitting one of the ruined buildings which ruined it even more. He then faces the plasma elementi that he thinks will be more difficult to get rid of.

Ozwald and the samurai were still at it and the two were near their limits and the fight is at a stalemate. THe PL4GUE leader’s fiery waves of flame was not enough to pierce through Ozwald’s defenses, and at the same time, Ozwald’s temporal barriers were shattered the moment the samurai sent a wave of pink flame on his way. He recalls one of the spells he used to practice a lot, and slipped to the time stream just as the enemy’s destructive flames almost touched him. While he perceived time normally in the time stream, as he exited, nary a second had passed. He tapped the shoulder of the samurai and, as he turned, he punched him in the guts so hard he passed out, a feat possible by physically strong individuals such as himself.

Meanwhile, Cinna had the idea of freezing the fast moving slimes altogether and conjured a pure white bird that has the ability to freeze anything with its freeze breath which has proven to be most effective against the slimes. All that’s left is the girl.

Unaware of the fight that ensued, the woman was swiping away on her phone probably looking at memes. She might not be interested to fight at all, but it doesn’t stop anyone from killing her… with kindness. The frightening bear was about to hit the uninterested girl, and she noticed it too late as she dropped her phone accidentally from swiping so much. Before the blow could connect, the bear stopped attacking, with the fist a few inches away from her face. The clenched fist opens to reveal a most stunning, luminous, and ‘lit’ bouquet of flowers, conjured by the magic craftsman. “If you’re not interested in hurting or being hurt, you should really reconsider your life decisions and choice of friends.” The girl was both flustered and scared, but seeing a face as cute as Cinna, she can’t help but take it.

The battle concludes and the fight is won. The only thing standing between them and fun is the devastation that followed. Buildings were destroyed from the ordeal and the fun can’t continue with a broken DJ booth. Luckily for them, Ozwald is capable of reversing damage through his Chronicle Script, which would be useful if he only brought his grimoire with him. Cinna approached him, worried that this event will be remembered as the worst rave ever because of a few troublemakers “So… what do we do now? I’d wager that the Urban Nights will be concluded early in this town.” He asks, “Can’t you do your timey wimey thing with your book?”

“Not without it, I'm afraid. I left it at-” before he could continue, he felt his hand grabbing something. He found his grimoire with him. “Well. That is convenient. I had no idea I could summon it.”

Skimming through the pages, he found the spell he needed to undo the damage caused by the members of the PL4GUE through his magic. He starts chanting, and a large golden magic circle appears beneath him. Shapes of gears and mechanisms could be seen, animated. The numbers 1 to 12 are etched unto the circle, followed by the hands of a clock, as if the magic circle was one big clock. Just as the clock hands move, so too does the hands inscribed move, a hushed ticking being heard with each passing second. “O Hands of Time, guide the flow of time to its rightful thread. O Brass Cogs, unwind the gears so that the flow of time shall move backwards. O Swift Seconds, move up thy momentum that the passage of time shall be swift. O Ancient Hourglass, unwind the wear and tear that has been and restore that has been worn out to be made new!.” Slowly, the hands of time are moving so slowly as he chants the 4th verse of the spell. “Chronicle Script!” As he concluded the chant, the hands stopped moving at exactly 12:00. “Flow Reversal!” He finishes chanting the spell, and the hands inscribed in it slowly starts to move, this time going backwards, and eventually the hands move faster. Time rewinds and the damage dealt to the structures have been undone, and the structures that were felled by the fiery flames of the samurai was restored to its former glory. Finally, the once broken DJ booth was mended with the help of the spell.

Fatigue creeped in as he spent the rest of his magic power casting the spell, just as he did when he first used it back in the Tomb of the Brass Seraphs. He fell to his knees, exhausted at spending vast amounts of magic power. “Oz!” Cinna yells out to his brother and quickly moves to his side, worried about him. “Don’t worry. I just need a little… rest…” He says before he passes out.

The festivities have resumed and the cool and vibrant atmosphere returned to Magnolia thanks to Ozwald's Chronicle Script, though he did so at a cost of missing out on most of the fun. Cinna's bear helped carry him all the way to one of the inns to have him recuperate from the massive amount of magic power he spent.