Scare Away Those Thugs...wait, I know that guy! (Mission - Zenshin and Marick)

The pair walked through Hargeon receiving some rather worrisome looks that, in all honesty, weren't helped by Zenshin still gripping his scythe. Nonetheless the two Sabertooth mages continued to walk with their minds set on the task they'd started - although Zenshin found the time to sign his autograph, prompting Marick to do the same for a young boy and girl. They miraculously remembered him rescuing them in Era a year ago. He smiled a warm smile at the pair before he and Zenshin turned their attention back to finding the hut. Surprisingly it didn't take too long. Unfortunately the smell exuding from the door was so vile that even a man with no olfactory perception would probably be knocked out from it. "This must be the place, right?" Zenshin asked him. Marick nodded in response. "Either that or we've stumbled upon the nest of a necrophiliac." he replied, gripping the hilt of his sword. "I'll go in first." he announced before kicking the door open and walking in casually.

"Hello boys! Daddy's home!"

Needless to say none of them ran up to Marick for cuddles. The four remaining men of the gang looked up in shock at the man that, they'd heard, had joined a guild and would never bother them again. "Awwww....are you all shocked into silence? Did you miss me that much?" he asked them as he continued to walk casually into the room. He grabbed a bottle of beer that was on the table and opened it effortlessly. "Cheers! Bottoms up!"...and the whole bottle was gone within three seconds. He lowered the bottle slightly, swinging it in his hand for a moment. One of the men drew his sword and got to his feet and promptly received the glass bottle straight to the head, knocking him out cold. Clearly he hadn't trained at all since last time.

The sudden attack on their comrade seemed to spark life back into the remainder of the group as they all got to their feet and took a battle stance. Marick smirked as his cards levitated in front of him again. "Three on one...I like those odds...but I think I can lean them in my favour just a little bit more..."

The member 'Legacy' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

The member 'Zenshin' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Block Dice' :

Marick simply blocked the initial hits from the men as they attempted to knock him off of the stool. The one man who could've knocked him off with a feeble punch was almost immediately dealt with by Zenshin before he'd even reach him, leaving Marick with just two men remaining. One of them turned their attention to the Wizard Saint, leaving the Solitaire with just one man to take on. "I told you I liked my odds didn't I?" he said with the smirk. He soon had to get serious though as the thug gripped a chair and swung it at him, only narrowly missing. Marick looked up in time to see a furred fist punch him in the gut, sending him flying through the air and against the wall on the opposite side of the room, his whole body creating an indent in the stone wall. Marick got to his feet, only to be pinned up against the wall by the second furred hand.

As he was slowly lifted, his head was turned up to look into the eyes of a gorilla. "Animal Soul Takeover...impressive...you've upped your game since last time I saw you." he said calmly before receiving another punch to the gut. "Now that was just RUDE!" he yelled, making a card levitate into his hand; 6. A fireball appeared in his hand and he pressed it into the gorilla's face, causing the mage to scream in pain and recoil. Marick landed on the ground and put a hand to his neck. Admittedly he'd gotten himself into a little bit of a jam there. This fight was far from over though, as his opponent changed his takeover to a lizard-like creature. Adjusting to my fire...that would've been clever if I only had fire magic.

Both men stared at each other from across the room before the mage roared and rushed forward, shoving all obstacles aside. Marick followed suit, pulling his sword out and rushing forwards. The two met in the middle and ended up in a heated stalemate as Marick's slash met the thick scales of his opponents cross-positioned arms. "It's a shame...some of you guys would make good mages if you weren't so pig-ignorant and money obsessed."

The member 'Legacy' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Block Dice' :

The member 'Zenshin' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Block Dice' :

Marick and his opponent pushed off from one another, both seemingly equal in strength. Neither one of them had the upper hand right now as, whilst Marick had versatility and stronger offensive spells, his opponent had considerably higher durability with those scales. The way things were going, this battle was going to become one of endurance. Given how Marick had been battling the man's teammates before this point, he was highly likely to struggle if forced to go for the long haul. The two men clashed again, this time with Marick being tackled backwards as the mage chose to charge him down. He quickly recovered and threw the lizardman over him and into the wall behind him with his legs, before getting back to his feet. Once again the lizardman got up virtually unfazed, his scaled hide soaking up most of the damage. Marick was starting to wonder how he could beat this man. He didn't have to wonder for long though.

As massive explosion could be heard from behind him, causing him to wheel around and look to see what had happened. His eyes grew wide as he saw a body come flying directly at him, and he barely dodged it. His opponent wasn't so lucky, as he took the full hit and was sent flying through the wall and out onto the street. Marick looked up to see that the body was none other than his guildmaster, who got to his feet and simply brushed himself down as if it was the most natural thing to have happened to him. Marick laughed and shook his head; Zenshin was unbelievable at times, that was for sure.

"Ugh... what a mess we made. Oh well, at least they'll never come back and bother this town ever again." the Saint mumbled as he fixed the walls of the hut so that they looked good as new. That is some crazy magic...

~

The Sabertooth duo were finally headed back to the restaurant. Marick's stomach was growling considerably louder now than it had been at the start of the job, and rightfully so. He'd worked hard and had been forced to push aside his past in order to focus on the task and move towards his future. It was a strange situation that he found himself in. The ones he once worked with - albeit grudgingly at times - were now some of the people he'd been forced to fight against. As he glanced at Zenshin, the thought of having to fight the Wizard Saint crossed his mind. He shook it from his head quickly. He'd never have to fight Zenshin like he'd had to fight Lucio and his gang. He had no intentions of ever doing so.

As the two returned to the restaurant, Zenshin decided to reveal something. He mentioned about the B-rank exam first, stating that Marick had grown considerably in strength. Truth be told, Marick hadn't felt so powerful in his life, and to have Zenshin notice this was confirmation that he had indeed improved. He'd felt powerful before of course. He was one of the strongest mercenaries in Fiore with exception of the mages who left their guilds for solo glory and the like. But being with Sabertooth and working with Matabei on a closer and more relaxed level, plus working with Zenshin had certainly done wonders for both his outlook and his development. It was odd to think that, even at 33, he still had considerable improvements he could make.

Zenshin then requested to use something on him called Origin Perception, an ability that would apparently give Zenshin the knowledge of everything Marick had been through in his lifetime, and everything about himself as a person. "So long as you don't delve into my lovelife I'm happy with you doing so. That's more for your benefit than my own though." the Solitaire replied with a chuckle. Whilst he wasn't necessarily proud of his past, it was in the past nonetheless. Taking it seriously now would be pointless.

As the pair arrived at the restaurant, the Wizard Saint revealed the good news to the manager and his staff, which was met by a cheer. However, one of the waitresses merely stood at the counter and stared...

Guess whooooo?:

...before running up to him and hugging him tightly. Marick couldn't help but laugh as he returned the hug. "You said earlier about coincidences didn't you Zen?" he called out with a chuckle. Kara had to quickly return to work, leaving Marick to sit at the counter with his guildmaster, each with a bowl of noodles in front of them.

"Anyways, you challenged me to an eating contest? Let's do it. I'll show you that my appetite is unmatched when it comes to the noodles made at this restaurant!"

Marick gripped the pair of chopsticks and gave Zenshin a competitive glare. "You're about to witness the sheer wrath of a hungry mercenary! Have at you!"

~End
((OOC: As Zenshin said, apologies for the messy dice.))