Kihia's A rank Exam,

The trip back from Desierto was as uneventful as the trip there, however this time Quorta had given him a cabin all to himself for he could treat his wounds in private, she did give him a thorough lecture being reckless and that he should steer clear of Desierto for a while, for the fight he had created a lot of displeasure and disturbance within the country. When they arrived back into Hargeon, he had already changed out his bandages five times over, and slowly started to head back to the Guild Hall.

Kihia slowly walked back into the Guild Hall, limping slightly as his injuries had only recently begun to heal. He was wearing his trench coat normally, with Icarus and the Geruks in their sheathes, with his grey sleeveless shirt a little torn up underneath revealing the bandages underneath, A group of mages sitting at one of the tables in the main hall saw Kihia and stood up suddenly with one speaking up, “Kihia what in the world happened to you??” Kihia quietly looked at the mage who spoke up and sighed, “Its better that you don’t know… is the Master here currently?” The group of mages sighed and shook their head, “Yeah he is in his office currently.” Kihia nodded in thanks and started to walk towards the small stair case leading up to Zuo Cii’s office.

When he arrived he knocked twice, “Master Zuo… it’s Kihia” Kihia waited it for a moment, then opened the door and stood there for a moment collecting his breath, “Hello Master Zuo, I have come back from Desiertio… I am have something urgent to report to you that goes along with my mission report…” Kihia stood there for a moment, before adding onto it, “And I have been requested to relay everything that transpired… so this report will be a little lengthy I am afraid…” Kihia stood there for a moment waiting for Zuo’s response, he had a feeling that this was only the beginning, but he was relieved and a little happy to finally be back in the guild hall.

Zuo stood by his study window with his back turned as Kihia came in. He stared out into the bright light of a sunny day with a certain sadness on his face. There was an unusual display of uncertainty about him when he turned to greet Kihia "Welcome back Kihia. I hate to steal the words from your mouth but I assume you met Vent and Sando. That is the only explanation for what I felt. I must first apologize that your mission was likely thrown into chaos and I must also apologize that I failed to warn you of the potential danger." He took a few steps, landing directly behind his stone desk, and sat down. Zuo was without a doubt a very old man but he never seemed to act his age, that is until right now. "I can see from your injuries that I owe you many answers. Please tell me your story and I shall tell you mine." He had folded his hands together in front of him resting them on his desk with a slowness that seemed unlike him. To be honest he seemed most shaken and was making strained efforts to cover it.

Kihia stood there for a moment watching Zuo’s unusual behavior, he wasn’t surprised at all when Zuo had told him that he had a feeling he had met Sando and Vent, when Zuo apologized Kihia simply shook his head, “You are not at fault Master Zuo… a life as a mage is an unpredictable path fraught with moments of peace and moments of Peril, most of the time both of which are unpredictable…” Kihia watched as Zuo returned to his desk and sat down, Zuo then asked Kihia to relay the story, and in turn Zuo would tell his.

Kihia had stayed quiet for a moment, contemplating how to start, after a moment of thinking he nodded. He started at when he first arrived in Desierto, the small problems entering into the country and the days trek to Vishinuze, how that was essentially the calm before the storm. He went on describing how it all went south as soon as he arrived in Vishinuze, with the corpse of the Ant lion falling out of the sky, and with Sando following up behind it. Kihia started to go into far more detail about his confrontation with Sando, about how he had kept on trying to force him to denounce Master Zuo and the rest of the Guild, and his early threats that lead up to the fight that would eventually break apart the canyon below Vishinuze.

Kihia explained how for most of the fight he had been on the defensive, trying his best to avoid or defend against Sando’s powerful attacks with Gallad, and explained that the fight with that Genie alone ended up being more like a draw than anything else. After this Kihia told Zuo how the fighting escalated when he first turned himself into a Genie, trapping him in some kind of portal box, then eating his lamp, and how Kihia had used the spell passed down by his ancestors to be able to compete with Sando. After a bit more of explaining Kihia got into how the fight finally ended, “After I had managed to block his sand twister… I managed to close the distance between us and land a solid punch on him… which shortly after he had gotten up… Vent had intervened by stopping Sando from using a spell called Ground Death… and bounded Sando… Vent then told me the story behind the Guardians, what you had trained them… and how you had separated them across the globe, which also told me why Sando had his opinion on you the way he did… However… I did put in a thought which I don’t know if it is accurate, but I told Vent… that you might have trained them together and then separated them… for they can quickly respond to crisis’s… and if a Crises arose that one couldn’t take alone… they could come together and fight as one…” Kihia took a deep breath before continuing, “Vent didn’t respond to that idea, and instead had begun the process of him leaving trying to take Sando in tow, however Sando managed to break free of his bonds then escape before either of us could react. Vent thinks it was Gwahard Dedig. After that… I had finished doing the preliminary dressing of my wounds and made it back to the port before the Sultans could grab me… They weren’t too happy with two mages having a major fight near a settlement…” Kihia stood their catching his breath again, waiting for Zuo to respond, he hoped that he provided enough details, and that he didn’t miss anything by accident.

Zuo nodded at the completion of Kihia's story and then as promised went into his own "Vent was rather accurate in his description of the guardians. One for every country and then the sky. Trust me I gathered quite the cast of characters. Sando and Vent were always the strongest however the others are no joke either. To be honest while Sando had a great deal of magic power he was rather bad at using it(a fact that probably kept you alive), Vent on the other hand is among the deadliest men on the planet." Zuo glanced at the floor as he prepared to address the next issue "Gwahard is the fifthteenth of us. From the country of "Sin." He is more human then monster however his heart is dark. At the completion of the training of the guardians I gave them a test, to go out into their respective countries and find a secondary source of power. If you remember Sando referred to himself as "master of the lamp" and Vent called himself the "master of the strings" the lamp and the strings were the powers they gathered in this time. Gwahard came back with a different title he called himself "master of men."

Zuo's eyes closed and he shook his head. His tone was steeped in regret "He was likely my greatest failure and I can't blame him. Sending him out to a country of demonkind was a horrible mistake even if he had the power to survive. His body survived but his mind was lost. He obtained a power that allowed him to subjugate human minds. Enraged at his tour in hell he tried to turn the guardians against me with his new power. He would amass a number of followers however Vent cut the head off his revolution. Literally. Gahard was beheaded decades ago." He unfolded his hands and tapped his forehead "But I suppose these would-be-dark-lords-of-all types never die the first time around. Sadly his hand in this would make a tragic amount of sense. I sent you and Vent to Desierto at the same time, you to deal with the antlion and Vent to check in on Sando who had gone silent for several weeks. No communications, no reports, no nothing. Shortly before as did the guardians of 5 other countries and since then 3 more have become unresponsive. If Vent is right it would seem Gahard already has a dangerous numbers advantage. I fear Lamia Scale may be tasked with cleaning up this mess if Vent cannot." With that said he was finally able to return his gaze to Kihia "I want you to understand and be prepared that on an unknown day at an unknown time we could be forced to go to battle. You should also know should you ever encounter Sando again, do not let him use 'Ground Death.' It cannot be blocked, it cannot be dodged and it cannot be survived. All who have faced the spell have perished without fail. Only by stopping it before it can begin have people lived to tell the tale."

Kihia thought for a moment after hearing Zuo’s explanation of his history with the Guardians, so Gwahard Dedig… the Guardian of Sin… if he was killed by Vent… why his is legacy coming up again… something is indeed off here… Kihia then looked at Zuo his ice colored eyes studying the Guild Master of Lamia Scale, “Master Zuo… you should know that if the need ever arises… I will step up and defend the Guild, it is my only real home now… and I vowed that I would not lose another home without defending it first. A Knight is loyal to his duties and his companions, when and if the time does arise that we need to address this issue… I will be sure to lend my abilities and my ice to help resolve it… hopefully with no lives lost in the process…” Kihia then reached back and unsheathed Icarus and held it like a walking stick for a moment, he then handed it to Zuo.

“I know I haven’t told you about Icarus… it was once the weapon of my Teacher, Iarok… When he passed away, he gave me his weapon and a special directive… To use the gifts he gave me, to walk a brighter path through life… May this weapon hold this Vow, If the Guild is ever attacked or faces a threat, I will make sure that I cannot fight any more… before I let any harm come to the Guild… As the Frozen Knight... I give you my Word Master Zuo.” Kihia then waited a moment taking Icarus back after Zuo was done with it, For that Vow… shall be the answer to the question you had asked a while back… A reason to get stronger and train… Something to live for… Kihia closed his eyes for a moment holding back the pain from the wounds on his legs, after a moment he opened his eyes, showing his gaze was unwavering despite his injuries, I know people will try and get me into the infirmary after I am done here… but I will treat my own injuries as I always do… That is the only way I can grow to bear the pain from that spell…

"My my you have grown into quite the man Kihia. You came to our guild as a rather directionless wanderer and seem to have found a higher purpose." examining the curious weapon for only a minute he quickly handed it back and locked eyes with Kihia. "I admire your resolve. It brings me great joy in knowing my guild has become so dear to you. I pray you will stay with us for much time to come. Because of this I would like to offer you the title of guild Ace. Naturally the choice is yours but I believe you are more then worthy of the honor of being the first Lamia Scale mage to hold this title." Zuo meant every word of what he said. Kihia had been a great asset to the guild since he walked in the door and he believed it was time for some recognition. Also on a slightly heavier note he felt something bad coming on the horizon and if this bad thing wipe out Lamia Scale and all who inhabit it he wanted Kihia to at least have a nice title before he died. Of course that last part was a huge if.

Kihia stood there for a moment, unsure on how to respond to what Zuo had just said, An Ace of the Guild...? Kihia stood there for a long moment, and tightened his grip on Icarus and bowed, to Master Zuo, he stood there like that for a moment, "Thank you... Master Zuo... Words cannot express my gratitude... I will do my best to uphold the honor of the title and the Honor of the Guild..." Kihia then stood up ignoring the pain coming up from his legs, Kihia didn't say anything more, solely for he didn't know what to say.