Lets Write A Story || New Recruit

Ren sat iddly at a table inspecting his hat when he looked up at hearing the guild doors open. He studied the lady that stood at the door, who looked surprised if anything. He might as well be the welcoming party, it would either be him or the guildmaster, and who knows what kind of game he would start up at her arrival.

Ren stood up, and put his hat on. He had to look tall, seeing as this new mage was very tall looking from a distance. As Ren got closer, he realized his fears were justified, as the mage was definitely taller than him. Ren struggled to hide his grief, and pulled up a smile. "Welcome to Lamia Scale! Are you here to join?" Ren asked with a chipper tone. She had to feel welcome above anything, even though her appearance intimidated him somewhat. "I'm Ren Hengi, I'm a water mage, how about you?" he continued. So far so good, don't act stupid, the guildmaster is probably watching somewhere he thought to himself as he turned to look around the guildhall. "It seems like Zuo Cii is out, but you would never really know, that man is a like a ninja"

Zhu spotted the woman walking towards the Lamia Scale guild hall. It appeared that he wouldn't be the only one that was joining this particular guild. He wasn't surprised, but still it would be interesting to see what kind of person this girl was. As he followed her on his hip hung one of his Iron fang swords in it's special sheath.

As the girl walked in she was greeted by someone else Zhu could hear that much. Zhu walked in behind the girl to see Ren and look him over. Zhu determined that the mage was far too timid and shy in order to pose any threat to him, but he decided that he would keep his eye on him. He then turned his attention to the woman he had been following and took in her stature. He thought she was very attractive, but beyond that he didn't have an opinion of her as a threat to him or any other such thing. He looked to Ren once more tipping his head "I am Zhu Feng. I am looking to join Lamia Scale if I am allowed." Both could see the weapon hanging from Zhu's hip so they could probably make a guess as to what kind of Mage he was, but he said nothing beyond that not wanting to say too much as of yet.

Zuo Cii was located in his first floor office dealing with paper work sent to him by the magic council. Apparently making a castle appear in the middle of Hargeon town and declaring yourself a guild without asking any form of authority brought a lot of questions down, a lot of questions. He sighed and stood up from all the letters, with the intent to go take a walk. As he stood he noticed voices outside in the main guild entry room, two of witch he didn't recognize with a grin on his face he sunk into the marble tile of the guild hall as if it was water and he was on the move. A moment later Zuo Cii would rise up from the floor right behind Ren "Ren, a ninja does not begin to do me justice." The earth mage turned his lower body and torso into sand allowing him to walk through Ren before solidifying. He now stood in front of the two new mages with Ren behind him with a wide grin on his face "Welcome to Lamia Scale."

He seized up each new mage in turn with shifty eyes. The girl was tall, proud, yes hesitant and slightly confused he could feel a dark power emanating from her it was a vile force that made Zuo want to throw her out the doors and tell her to never come back, the power of a demon. But Zuo knew better, allowing a sane starting demon mage to wander around unchecked was more dangerous then dropping a rabid master demon mage in the center of a massive city, he didn't like the idea of a demonic mage in his guild but he promised himself that he would keep her there for the express purpose of making sure she controlled her magic and not the other way around. The man was different taller, prouder, potentially aggressive, judgmental, egotistical, condescending.... Zuo found it hard not to laugh at the irony of the though of him calling someone else judgmental and condescending as those were two faults he had himself. Regardless he decided he liked the two of them, they would benefit greatly from their time in his guild and the guild would benefit greatly from them. He said "So tell me about yourselves." as if didn't already have a good idea.

As Talen walked through the town of Hargeon, he did his best to take in the beauty of the town, but Melissa had other ideas. "Hurry up Talen! Quite dragging your feet. The sooner we get the this Lamina Scale, the sooner we can join and the sooner we can start making steady money." Talen sighed at this. The whole idea of joining a guild had been her idea. Melissa saw it as a way to make more money, and she had convinced Artemis that joining a guild would be good for Talen, giving him a place to call home. And if Artemis was convinced, Medusa was as well. Artemis had been so excited by the  idea that she had made Talen bathe in the forest outside of the town the night before.

As Talen approached the what he assumed was the guild hall, he asked Melissa the question that he had been wondering for the last hour, "Melissa why are here anyway? I'm purity sure that I can handle joining a guild by myself." "What do you not want me around?" Melissa said with a painfully obvious sad look on her face. "I thought you liked having me around." "Oh can it, we both know that if you are out for to long..." as Talen said this he tripped over his miraculously untied shoe. "Stuff like that happens." Talen said standing up. "If you must know I am your backup." "I don't need backup for something like this." "Well the  others don't agree with that, and since Artemis hates humans and Medusa wont talk to them, that leaves me." "Fine," Talen said in an exasperated voice, "Just don't do anything to embarrass me." "Don't worry, I'm sure that you will do a fine job of it by yourself." Talen just rolled his eyes. "Talen we are all just a little bit worried about you that's all." Melissa said in a more serious tone. "I know, but I can handle myself." "I'm sure, but hummer us." The two of them were standing in front of the slightly open door to the guild hall.

As Talen walked into the guild he heard a man welcoming two other people to Lamina Scale then asking them to tell him a little bit about themselves. Before the others could speak, Talen quickly said, "Hi, My names is Talen, I am a Celestial mage and I was hoping to join this guild." Melissa suddenly elbowed Talen in the ribs. "Aww!... And this is Melissa, one of the spirits I have a contract with." "Hi!"

She stopped in her tracks as a young man walked up to her, he wore a hat that stood taller, a few inches above her head. However, physically he was shorter than she was. The boy was friendly, introducing himself already, and even asking about her magic. Really eager isnt he? Ren was him name, and the guildmaster, Zuo. She looked around ans before she could even answer she felt someone walk up closer behind her. She glanced over her shoulder, another new Recruit? Kariline looked him over, he defiantly thought highly of himself, did he have the power to back him up?

The girl watched, and even raised a brow as the floor behind Ren bulged and then appeared a older man. There was something inviting about him. Apparently that was the Guildmaster. Zuo gave a warm welcome, and just like Ren, he immediately began asking questions.

Once more she was interrupted as another new person walked through the open doors, and with him was a rather yippy girl. But it wasn't a girl, Kariline could sense it, She was a Celestial Spirit, which meant he was a Celestial wizard. There magic had similarities, Contracts and Summoning, but the will and power behind it differed alot.

She could feel many eyes around her, and at this point it was useless to give up and walk away. She stuffed her left hand in her pocket and used her right to push away her hair. " My name is Kariline. " She said rather nochalant, " Im a Summoning Wizard."

Her eyes flashed to the Guildmaster, who had already seemed to figure what she was about.

Ren yelped as the guildmaster appeared behind him, and then made a much louder yelp at being phased through. Zuo Cii was definitely right, a ninja did not begin to describe him. His mind questioned if phasing through him was really the best way to get in front; Ren got headaches after turning his body into water, but just thinking about turning others into water gave Ren a minor headache.

He grinned up at the two other people who followed in, he was glad the guild was popular suddenly, because the gigantic halls of the guild were so empty these days. Having more company would be nice. "Well everyone is welcome here!" Ren said, stepping out from behind the guildmaster. "Oh! Can I give them their guild tattoos?" Ren asked the guildmaster. He had always wanted to do something like that, even though he had never done it before.

Ren inspected the other two people who had entered. Both of them, were taller than he. This made him slightly upset, but he kept up his smile none the less. He was intimidated by the sword hanging from one of them, so he decided to keep his distance.

Zhu watched with inner amazement as he watched Zuo pass though the other man by turning himself into sand, and just appearing. Ninja wasn't the word, more like omnipotent specter. Still he wasn't about to say anything like that out loud for feel of making himself look very foolish. When the guild master asked about them he looked to the girl as she spoke nodding his head lightly to show he heard. He then looked to Zuo and bowed in half slightly before standing back up straight "My name is Zhu Feng. I am a requip mage. My type of requip is called 'The Warrior' I hope to serve you, and the guild well."

He just finished as he heard someone approach from behind him. His hand by default went to his sword's hilt as he very calmly looked back to see who was coming. When he took in the measure of not only the other mage, but also his companion he slowly relaxed letting his hand drift away from his sword's hilt. When he heard the new comer introduce himself and the celestial spirit that is with him Zhu's attention is taken to Ren who says that he wants to put the guild tattoos on everyone. Zhu began to think of where he wanted the tattoo to be.

"I see you all appear to have great things to contribute to this guild. I look forward to helping you all." He turned his head to stare directly at Zhu and spoke kindly "Something worth remebering. You are not here to serve me, I am here to serve you. Just as Ren is here to serve you and Kariline to serve Ren and you to serve Kariline and vise versa. Here we are all masters and all servants, it all depends on who is in need. Keep that in mind 'warrior.' Zuo looked down at Ren "Very well Ren, but I do hope you won't make a mistake." The old earth mage squinted at Ren causing his own tattoo to gleam in the light, it was a shining pale green located just above his right eyebrow.

He then once again changed his focus, now to the celestial spirit mage. "You come to my hall with a strong power capable of much growth. I welcome you to join us as we play a little game. As much as I would love to embrace you all with open arms, I cannot permit the incompetent to enter my guild. Consider this a chance to gain some injuries for enlightenment." Zuo Cii dropped into the floor and reappeared several feet behind Talen, using his power to slam the gates shut behind him. He took up the 'mantis' martial arts stance and looked at the mages "Come show me your conviction and your power!"

She looked to the side as the Master continued to speak, about how everyone was equal here, and how we all worked for one another. There was some wisdom and truth in there, as she didn't think anyone is above the other. She had a slight smirk as Ren wanted to do the tattoos, she thought about where to place hers, but since it was a guy giving it, she figures someplace simple. On her left forearm would be simple enough.

She grinned slightly as the Master phased behind Talen, closing the doors. She wondered if anyone nearly wet their pants from that. She turned her body, he was challenging them? All of them? True they were novice wizards at this point, but there were three of them, well three and a half counting Ren.

She kind of felt excited, this would be a challenge, and sure they would get their butts kicked, but it was learning. She pushed aside her hair once more, " If we are getting serious then." She said. Her wrist tattoo glowed and a red smoke loomed around her body.

The smoke grazed the ground and a flame burst in front of her, from that appeared a large hound shaped flame. It was a demon, and dripped flames from its mouth. It gave a low growl from the back of its throat, however she waited to see was everyone else would do.

Talen stood as the other two new recruits to the guild introduced themselves. The female mage was a Kariline, a summoning mage, and the male was Zhu Feng, a requip mage. Talen was interested by Kariline, she was the first summoning mage he had met. Zhu Feng seemed very serious and intent.

The mage that Talen assumed was already a member of the guild said that he wanted to apply the guild tattoos. Talen had not really thought about that part of joining a guild. He thought that a green tattoo on his left forearm would look good.

As Zuo Cii explained the philosophy of the guild, Melissa leaned over and whispered into Talen's ear, “I don't like her.” “What?” “That summoner, I don't like her.” “Well we are going to be in the same guild soon, so get over it.” “But you don't understand her...” “Shhh.”

When Zuo Cii finished, he disappeared and reappeared behind Talen, shutting the guild hall doors. He then challenged all three of the perspective members to a fight. The first person to act was Kariline. Her wrist started to smoke and the smoke formed into what looked like a large canine. She stood there waiting for the rest of them to make a move. Talen looked over at Melissa, but instead of looking at Zuo Cii, she was looking at Kariline and her summon. “Melissa,” Talen whispered at her. “What?” Talen nodded in the guild master's direction. “Oh right.” Melissa pulled out her deck of cards, taking one out seemingly at random. “Ace of Hearts!” Melissa throw the card at Zuo Cii, midair the card turned into fire before flying into him.

Ren grinned as the guildmaster told him he could give them their tattoos. However he then let out a yelp as Zuo began to challenge the new comers. He scrambled underneath the nearest table, watching their moves carefully. One of them made a large dog out of fire, and the other one threw out a card that turned into fire. Ren thought this display was pretty awesome, he hadn't seen anything like this. He wondered how the guildmaster would react to these attacks. Probably really well. Oh well, at least they hadn't been dumped into a labyrinth like he had on his "entree exam". Then he would of had to tag along as well. Ren hoped that the guildmaster wouldn't drag him into this fight, seeing as he would probably make a fool of himself, if he already hadn't.

When Zhu heard the guild master spoke he was a bit caught off guard by this statement. The man was the guild master, and the guild master was supposed to rule the guild and keep it safe. Still Zhu was going to serve the guild to the fullest, but as for others he knew he was these new recruits equals, and that upset him. He wanted to be better than them, and that was what he was going to do.

When Zuo however said that there was more to come, and that they weren't part of his guild yet Zhu wasn't surprised. As the guild master went to shut the door Zhu turned and looked at him. The Guild master challenged all of them, and this was interesting to Zhu. He watched as the two summoners already were on the move. Zhu on the other hand simply removed his sword from his belt and it shone with a great light going into his dimension. Zhu smirked as he clapped his hands together "Green Dragon." he said softly as he stretched his arms apart and in between them emerged a great crescent blade. When he gripped the shaft of the polearm the weapon became tangible. Zhu gripped it in both hands and moved it so the blade was facing the guild master. He widened his footing, and he held himself ready. He would wait for the guild master to make his first move, before striking.

So the game began, and an interesting game at that. With a hell hound, some form of card spirit and a pole arm wielding requip mage as his immediate opponents it made for an interesting battle spread, but it was far from the strangest Zuo had to ever combat. His first object was to deal with the fiery projectile in front of his face, naturally the only sensible way to deal with the problem was to punch it. From his perspective it was a simple open palm strike that made contact with the flaming card crushing the flame in one movement, to the observer it was a 'blink and you miss it' moment with the card vanishing just as quickly as it had appeared. For a normal person punching fire is a dangerous activity with dangerous risks, but Zuo possessed strength of stone and earth, a fire of that level possessed no threat to him. With his first target temporarily out of the way Zuo took the offensive. He didn't see Talen as high priority as the moment as they had already shown their hand and Zuo felt confident he could be able to deal with more attacks from him with a much ease as he did the first. So he went to identify the unknown variables. Running right past Talen he charged Zhu.

Closing the gap between then with speed that seemed unreal for a man his age, or even for a man at all, Zuo Cii mentally calculated the best way to defeat his foes. Zhu Feng. Kariline and Talen had all been told to fight him together, but just because he said they were a team didn't make them one. Zuo intended to exploit that. He initiated that plan by making an attempt to grab Zhu's polearm putting both his hands just outside of Zhu's hands, he would then attempt to sweep his right foot under Zhu's left foot to knock him off balance before pushing him with great force at Kariline's hellhound. Should he fail at any point in the maneuver he would simply jump a few feet back and initiate a defensive stance to prepare himself for a counter attack.

OOC Note: Zuo posses super human strength, endurance and speed, at present he is using them on a level compareable to Captain America from The Avengers

The movements he preformed told Kariline about the abilities he possessed. There was no doubt he was a Guild Master. She watched carefully as he flicked the card away with a open palm attack, and in the next moment was at Zhu's feet. Why him? Why attack him first, it was true that he was a short range based mage, but was he really the most dangerous one?

But it seemed like that wasn't the true reason. He was going to push Zhu into Ukobach, which wasn't the smartest idea at all! It would hurt Ukobach, as he was Ethereal, but it would defiantly hurt Zhu, with burning to the max. Kariline quickly, with a snap of her fingers got his attention and Ukobach lept to the side, so if he fell back , he would land at her feet instead of in a pit of flames.

Ukobach then let out a large condensed ball of flame at Zuo while in midair, hopefully the movements with Zhu presented a diversion like opportunity for her. She gritted her teeth waiting to see what happened next.

Talen found it frustrating that the guild master had nocked aside Melissa's attack so easily. He had expected him to be strong, but he made it look as though she had merely thrown a ball of paper.

After he had blocked Melissa's attack, the guild master had rushed up to Zhu Feng and tried to throw him into Kariline's firry hound. The beast had jumped back to her side, while unleashing a fire ball at Zuo Cii. Talen figured that the Guild master would probably block this one the same way he had Melissa's card.

But, Talen thought to himself, I could use that to my advantage. "Melissa, play the same way we did in that Magnolia casino." Melissa's eyes lit up and she immediately started to move.

There was a casino in Magnolia Town, it was the one of the few places that, when Talen was young, he had cheated in so he could make enough money to get some food. Talen and Melissa had worked together, one of then would be the detraction when the other would do the actual cheating.

Melissa ran behind Zuo Cii and through another of her cards. She timed it so that the card would hit the guild master from as close to the opposite side as the fireball as possible considering the short amount of time that she had to act. The plan was that Zuo Cii would be to distracted from Kariline's frontal attack, that he would not notice Melissa's card. Hope this works.

Ren watched as the two went into action, one trying to use the others attack to their advantage. They definitely more tactful then Ren, who would of just blindly shot magic in any direction he though would suffice. He had never watched a battle, seeing as most battles he had been watching this close were battles he was involved in, and he barely even saw what those were like, seeing as he shut his eyes most of the time. He felt like cheering them on, but attracting the guildmaster's attention might end up in him getting involved, which was something Ren did not want.

As Zhu watched the guild master he was both impressed and honored to be fighting someone of this caliber. He was slightly surprised by just how fast Zuo could move and this caused him to be unable to block Zuo's advance. The moment that Zuo took hold of Green Dragon and tried to sweep Zhu's legs out from under him Zhu used his strength to lift himself up and kick off and away from Zuo using Green Dragon for the support as he knew Zuo could make his body intangible.

As he sailed through the air and away from the guild master he noticed that both of the others had taken advantage of the fact that he was targeted first. This was smart and Zhu couldn't deny that they were skilled. As Zhu flew backwards he held his arms out and spoke "Warrior's Glaives." Around his hands a new set of weapons appeared and these were long sharp glaives that were covering his hands. Once they appeared however Green Dragon vanished into thin air. Zhu landed on his feet waiting for the right moment to strike. If Zuo managed to evade the attacks then Zhu would be right there charging him while hovering in the air trying to slash at his chest and face.

Zuo was surprised to see his initial assault had gone poorly with none of his attacks working as intended, but really it mattered little. Seeing everyone prepare themselves for a counter attack Zuo developed a wonderfully awful idea. But first he had to deal with the fireball sailing at his head, he considered punching it but that wouldn't give him time to react to any attacks from behind(which considering the fact that Talen's celestial spirit had slipped from his peripheral vision there almost certainly was one) so rather he ducked. The fire ball sailed over his head and scorched the card that was aimed at the back of his head, how convenient. His next immediate threat was Zhu coming in for another attack with his glaives, Zuo decided now would be a good time to make things escalate. By escalate he meant bury everyone. He crossed his arms over his chest with his pointer and index fingers on each hand pointing upward while the remaining fingers were curled into a fist, then in one swift motion he uncrossed them and pointed his extended index and pointer fingers at the ground. The result? A trap door of stone appeared and opened under Zhu, Talen, Kariline and Ren.

The trap door would drop them into a chute that would carry them for just a second before launching them all into an underground arena. The arena was simple and bare, circular with a 40 meter diameter and a domed ceiling 5 meters above them. Zuo's voice would echo throughout the room "Fight to get out. Only one will be permitted to leave, conscious." With this done Zuo, still in the main guild hall, would mold himself a chair of marble and sit down listening through the ground to hear what would come next. He was eagerly awaiting their reactions to this abrupt change in the trial.

Her fireball sailed over his head as Zuo ducked, and smashed right into Melissa's card, at least it didn't hurt any one.... Zhu was about to attack with his glaives when she felt the floor start to give way. She gasped and released Ukobach, who exploded instantly. And summoned Zuuricai. a Air Magic based demon, who soars from the twister that reaches for the sky.

She used the twister to carry her down to the bottom of the pit instead of falling. Kari looked at the others around her. A fight to the last one standing? This was going to be interesting. She prepared herself and with a snap of her fingers, made the fist move. She jumped onto Zuuricai's back and soared with him. He used his wings to summon hurricane like winds, which would slice at any objects below, more importantly her opponents.

" I will not lose!" She yelled out, to her weakness was a sin, and Losing was not a option, she worked to hard to be pushed around like that.

Again, The guild master had simply brushed aside his attack, this time he had simply ducked under the two attacks and they collided in mid air canceling each other out. Then all of a sudden, the ground came out from underneath Talen and Melissa, they fell down into what appeared to be an underground arena.

Talen did not have much time to appreciate the room however because the guild master had said that only one of them was going to get out, and Talen had every intention to be that one. He needed to show them all the power of his Spirits. However Kariline had acted before him, she had dismissed her previous creature and summoned a new one that she was now riding in the air. Suddenly the Creature unleashed a powerful cutting wind that knocked Talen backward and causing Melissa to return to the spirit world, I only really have one choice, "Gate of the scorpion I open the, Scorpio!" "We are! Our sand will defeat this demon." Scorpio got onto all fours and aimed his tail at Kariline and her demon, "Sand Buster!" Scorpio fired a blast of sand at the airborne duo, but the two attacks were equally powerful, so the sand was unable to reach her.

Damn, she is to powerful for Scorpio to simply over power... But maybe I could use her power, "Scorpio, aim your sand at him!" Talen said pointing at Zhu Feng. Scorpio aimed his tail at the requip mage and shot sand once more, this time, the Sand Buster was amplified by the demon's wind, making it even stronger and faster than it already was and heading straight at Zhu Feng.

Ren screamed higher than he had ever believed to have screamed. Why did the guildmaster have to drag him into this? He already navigated a labyrinth. When fell down into the arena, his eyes widened and he quickly ran to the sides, attempting to climb up. "ZUO CII" he screeched. "I THINK YOU LEFT SOMEONE DOWN HERE" he screamed in panic as he fell back down. He turned around to the new comers that were also down here, and let out a swallow.

Ren was definitely not a fight person. He could already feel his eyes trying to pry themselves shut. He had already witnessed what they could do up there, and he knew he definitely couldn't dodge or punch like Zuo could. He decided it would be best to go flat against the wall, and hope that no one could see him, despite his flashy clothing. Suddenly, he was already hit by something. It whipped him up and then let him fall flat on his face. ALREADY!?! he mentally screeched as he scrambled to get up.

As the Ground Opened up Zhu looked down and sighed softly. He didn't know where he was going, but what he did know was that he was going to land there in style. Being a veritable surfer he rode down hovering in the air so the fall didn't bother him at all. The moment they landed in the arena however he switched back to Green Dragon and touched the ground ready to strike.

Upon hearing the match was now a three-way brawl between them he raised green dragon into the air and electricity began to form around it. The moment that Kariline soared into the air on the back of her demon and let loose her winds he pointed Green Dragon at her "Dragon Stirke!" as the wind roared and pushed him back a bolt of lightning surged towards her upon her demon looking to hit her. If she was hit, or her demon they would both be stunned and rendered useless.

As he watched his bolt sail towards Kariline he also noticed some sand flying toward her as well. He looked to see that the other one had summoned a new spirit. He watched and saw that the kid was now turning his attention to him. Zhu frowned and began to spin Green Dragon in front of him in a great vortex of defense. The action however, caused not only him to be protected, but it also created a funnel for the wind to go through. Now the wind was focused and it was pushing back the sand attack thanks to the intensity and new wind current. Zhu couldn't keep this up forever, but it was a perfect time to use it.