January 1st X794, Valgore's Market Place

"Thanks for letting me tag along!" a young boy chirped happily. He was wearing an orange sleeveless shirt with black stars imprinted on it as well as a pair of yellow fingerless gloves and an orange pointed hat on top of his out-of-place hair. Going along with the outfit was a pair of long, puffy white Arabian pants that reached to the tops of his ankles. The boy's hair was spiky blonde while his skin was very pale. Uniquely, his right eye was emerald green while his left eye was ruby red, a partial side effect of his magic. He had an underactive build and was very short compared to his two companions, standing only at an embarrassing 4'8. However what he lacked in height was easily compensated in spirit, visible from the bright and adorable smile on his face.

"Not a problem! The more the merrier!" his female companion called back from the front of the caravan, a bright smile on her face as well. This female mage had a healthy thin built with a modest sized bust. She had dark brown straight hair that went well with her pale skin tone, going down to her second ribs. This mage was by no means tall, standing at 5'3. Like her companion, her almond shaped dark brown eyes also sparkled with excitement. She was currently dressed in a dark forest green sweater with a long neck, blue jeans, white socks and brown shoes. Her hair was held back with black hair band with embroidery flowers on it.

"By the way Vento? Why did you want to choose a mission like this? Aren't there easier missions for someone your size?" a voice purred from the female mage, though the owner of it was a ruddy Abyssinian that was curled up on her lap. The feline had a single golden eye, the other blinded due to an accident earlier in his life. Around his neck was golden collar that had a tag with the guild's symbol attached to it.

"Aengus," the female mage chided. "Don't be rude!"

"What Chantal? I was just stating the obvious." The cat shrugged. "I mean I'm pretty sure there are missions that don't involve driving magic vehicles."

"It's alright Chantal," Vento giggled. "The truth is I'm kind of out of jewels already, binge eating and all. So I decided to find a mission that paid especially well but as you know C class missions hardly earn much. So I kinda…"

"Piggybacked off our mission eh," Aengus finished for him, causing the mage to rub his head sheepishly.

"Well that's the long and short of things," Vento chuckled, laughing nervously in an attempt to dispel the awkwardness.

"I don't really mind though," Chantal replied. "Its kind off nice to meet up with new guild members. Besides, I believe that this mission pays more than enough for the two of us."

Like Vento, Chantal had just joined the guild about a year ago under the recommendation of her mother. It really caught her off guard though, seeing how large and bustling the guild was. There were close to a 150 members and she could hardly even remember a handful of them. Most guild members spent their time in the clock tower if not travelling to and fro from the guild, hence minimising most interactions with one another. As a result, Chantal and Aengus had spent their first year in Scarlet Nova doing missions alone. So imagine her surprise and excitement when another member actually bothered to introduce himself and asked to go on a mission with them.

"It's always good to make new friends," Chantal added, Vento nodding his head in agreement. "We all need someone to rely on and talk with in the guild."

"Agreed!" Vento cheered.

The trio's mission was actually quite simple. Deliver a dozen crates of Blue Gum fruits from the harbour to the market district before noon. For a job that payed 12500J, it was relatively much easier than some of the other missions that Chantal and Aengus had taken on previously. The only thing required was a licence for magic wheelers.

If only they had read the fine print on the request.

"Chantal, don't you think we are going faster?" Aengus quipped as he stared on the accelerometer.

"Yeah we are," Chantal replied in surprise. She was pretty sure she was stepping on the gas constantly and yet the numbers before her eyes indicated that they were going faster.

"Everything ok back there Vento?"

"Yup, all seems fine back here!" the boy called back, though his voice seemed slurred slightly.

"The vehicle's probably busted," Aengus meowed, "We should report this to Master Glaive when we get back." Chantal nodded in agreement.

Within a few minutes, the trio arrived at the designated shop. The owner of the shop was an elderly lady that was currently waiting outside in anticipation.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," Chantal smiled as she left the driver's seat.

"Its fine, its fine my dearies," the elderly lady smiled. "Scarlet Nova has always been reliable so I don't mind waiting a bit."

"Vento, come on out and greet the client," Aengus called to the back of the magic wheeler. When Vento did not reply, Aengus decided to check on him, crawling into the back where the goods lay.

That was when an ear-piercing screech could be heard.

"Aengus!? What's wrong!?" Chantal yelled in horror as she recognised her companion's voice, rushing to the back of the magic wheeler as well.

"Take a look?" Aengus replied, his eyes glued onto the scene that lay before him. When Chantal arrived, she immediately understood what caused the shriek. Very soon, she was trying very hard to maintain her giggles like her feline companion.

In the back was Vento, though one could hardly say he looked the same. His entire body was inflated into a large blue ball, his clothes on the verge of exploding already. Beside him lay the open crates of Blue Gum Fruits, its effects for all to see.

"Hehe whoops," Vento wheezed as he tried to wipe the last of the juice on his cheek with his tongue. "They just tasted so good so I couldn't help myself."

"Oh my," the elderly store owner exclaimed. "Looks like your friend here ate one too many of the fruit. The fruit's fibre expands exponentially when exposed to acid, making it dangerous to eat more than half a dozen at once."

"We are very sorry about this," Chantal and Aengus bowed their heads in shame, desperately trying to put Vento's ridiculous figure out of their minds at the moment.

"Oh it's fine," the elderly owner smiled. "It just happens that I ordered more than the amount I needed."

"What about Vento? Is he going to be alright?" Chantal enquired. While it was a sight to behold, she was still a tad concerned about her guild mate's safety.

"Well, give him a few hours for the fruit remnants to dissolve and he should be just fine. Though I hardly recommend eating anything at this point." The elderly owner laughed under her breath.

"Since we have no choice but to wait, why not make the best of the situation?" Aengus suggested. "I know a spot in town whereby there's a steep hill. We could line a few crates at the bottom of it and…"

"Aengus!" Chantal chided when she caught on with the idea, while the cat simply shrugged his shoulders once more. "Well it was worth a shot."

That caused a laugh amongst the rest, Vento included.

Oh well, that was probably the price he had to pay for his gluttony. Not that he regretted it one bit at all.

Clock Tower, Floor 21

The training floors, or Perfect Cube as the Combat division calls it, was essentially a high tech arena. The entire area, save for the lift lobby, was coated in a special chrome lacrima coating that was said to be unscratchable by the Research department. At the far right end of the floor was a transparent lacrima box lined with tiered seats. It served as the viewpoint for anyone watching the spars, a safe distance away from the action. Like the training floor, the lacrima box was also coated in a similar material, lest any stray attacks flew out of control and hit the unsuspecting audience. The screen at the front of the box also served as an Archive panel, allowing the terrain within the room to be changed at will.

The field today though was currently empty and in the middle of it stood two mages, both with big grins written on their faces. In the stands, there was a pair of Exceeds, which was quite fitting for the scenario, given that both participants today were slayers. Just except that both Exceeds were cheering on for only one of them.

"GO TSUKI GO! KICK HIS ASS!" the first Exceed, known as Sora, cheered, waving a pair of flags and wearing a headband that had the word victory in Kanji written on it. Sora had orange coloured fur and a white belly that was currently obscure by an orange hoodie with cat ears. His orange eyes were blazing with determination and confidence that his partner would definitely emerge victorious today.

"Shiro believes Tsuki will win too…" the second exceed known as Shiro, mumbled timidly. Like her brother, she also wore an orange hoodie that had cat ears and bright orange eyes.

"Looks like your fan club are all assembled and raring to go," the second slayer grinned. This slayer was ripped and intimidating, standing at 6'7 with 420lbs of bulging muscles. He had short blood red spiky hair and crimson red eyes. Along the right side of his face, a long diagonal scar ran from his forehead to his jaw. He slightly tanned frame was bring covered in a white top that went well with his army styled jacket. He also wore beige combat pants and a pair of black combat boots. "Hope you won't disappoint me today!"

"Not a chance Zion! Today's the day I'm gonna put an end to my losing streak!" Tsuki replied back, bouncing about on her feet as she warmed up. Tsuki had a slight hourglass figure and stood at 5'2 with ivory skin. Her heart shaped face was currently carved into a grin, making her high cheekbones with pouty rose pink lips stand out even more. Her lush long hair fell to her ribs, a ribbon on each side holding up her braids. Her brown eyes sparkled with excitement at the prospect of challenging and beating an S-class. She was wearing a white long sleeved button up under a gray almost black vest, a matching gray skirt, white knee high socks and black shoes with a red tie.

"I don't quite get it though," Zion chuckled lowly as he cracked his neck and flexed his joints. "Aren't you under Vitra, so why are you always asking to train with me?" While they were both S-class and belonged to the Combat Division, both Vitra and he were in charge of monitoring different members of the combat division. Yet Tsuki always seemed to find him for spars instead, despite her mentor being Vitra.

"Well, I guess it probably cause we are about the same age," Tsuki giggled. "Makes it a lot easier to speak with you. Besides, since our elements seem to overlap, I figured I would have a higher chance of reaching A rank."

"Haha, underestimating me are you?" Zion smirked, though he could understand where she was coming from. Though it wasn't conventional, there was an alternative way to ranking up more quickly in Scarlet Nova. Beating an S-class mage in a 1 on 1 fight seemed so easy but yet again reality checks are painful. The sheer impossibility of it was what cleared this as an unofficial test, though it only applied to B and C ranks. For as long as Zion could remember, there was only 1 other mage that came close to beating an S-class, on his entrance test to top that off. The sheer potential of that member immediately received approval for his transfer to A rank despite the lost.

"Well, I guess its time to let our fists do the talking instead." Zion laughed lowly. He then proceeded to flex his muscles, causing both his jacket and shirt to rip into shred, revealing his well defined and toned body. "You may have the first move."

"Don't regret this," Tsuki cheered as her body began to glow with a bright orange aura. Her eyes then narrowed with determination as she shot forward, her arms coated with flames and light.

"Solar Dragon's Devouring Fang!' she shouted as the flames and light blended to form a fang, swiping horizontally across Zion's chest. Zion just stood perfectly still, waiting as the attack was only inches from his chest before he moved. At the last second, Zion sidestepped, causing Tsuki to stumble forward in surprise. Immediately, he delivered a swift chop to her neck, causing the dragon slayer to cough in surprise as she collapsed to the floor.

"Magma God's Hatred!" Zion yelled as his fist became coated in black magma, bringing it down on where Tsuki was. Tsuki instinctively reacted though, doing a narrow flip which barely avoided the strike, causing it to plummet into the ground instead.

"Solar Dragon's Drones!" she commanded as balls of light and flame lit up around her. As she leapt back, she flicked her fingers from side to side, commanding the balls to fire off streaks of solidified heat energy.

"Oh not this again!" Zion groaned as he recognised the spell. While the attacks didn't really faze him, they were annoying hard to hit. The pesky little things seemed to come from all angles, making it difficult to eliminate them individually. "Eat this, Magma God's Eruption!" he then punched both his fist straight into the ground, causing streams of black magma to erupt simultaneously all around him. Before the drones could even get close, the columns of magma instantly incinerated them.

However on the downside, that left Zion temporarily blinded. Tsuki instantly took advantage of this, and charged headfirst into the magma. Once again, magic coated her fist and forearms, blazing to life in a brilliant mix of flames and light. "Solar Dragon's Firing Hammer!" she called out, swinging a roundhouse punch at Zion through the magma. Unfortunately, her cry alerted Zion to her position. The instant her arm came into view, Zion grabbed it, causing her to yelp in surprise. Tossing her into the air slightly, Zion changed his grip to her waist and did a back suplex, smashing Tsuki headfirst into the ground, causing the lacrima coating to shatter. As if to add insult to injury, he then grabbed her leg, hurling her across the room.

The small girl winced in pain as she skidded across the floor. Her clothes were currently in tatters from where Zion's magma had hit. She grimaced. "You still hit really hard Zion. Ever heard of restraint?"

"Told ya you should have gone to practice with Vitra instead. Unlike him, I don't hold back." Zion stated. He began to walk over to her, extending a hand out to help her up. "Yield?"

"Well, I guess that's it for today," Tsuki shrugged, taking Zion's hand. Despite the exchange lasting less than 10 minutes, she was already sore and exhausted. Shows just how much further she has to go, but that wasn't going to stop her from trying.

All of a sudden, the duo felt the ground tremble slightly.

"Earthquake?" Tsuki enquired.

"Don't think so?" Zion shrugged. The tremors were not rhythmic and felt more like something was cracking instead. It was as though…

"Oh shit," he whispered silently when he connected the dots.

'Err guys," Sora muttered. "The floor is cracking."

Both pairs of eyes traced towards where the lacrima plating had shattered. Sure enough, the concrete tile beneath it was cracking, pieces of rubble already falling to the floor below.

"Master Glaive is gonna have my head for this," Zion sighed mentally, his last thoughts before the floor tile crumbled beneath his and Tsuki's feet, dropping them into the floor below.

Clock Tower, Floor 20

"Okay easy does it," a mage muttered to himself as he watched through a pair of magnifying lens, carefully placing a detonation charge into a lacrima. Only when the lacrima sealed itself up did the mage heave a sigh of relief.

"Phew, another successful transplant." The mage commented. This mage went by the name of Blitz and belonged to the Research Department. He was a raven haired man with piercing dark crimson eyes that complimented his sharp looking features. He had a clean- shaven face and sported a height of 5'8. He wore a deep black cloak with sharp white fringes around his shoulder with a unbuttoned black dress shirt underneath. Beneath that were casual looking jeans slightly tweaked to allow freer range of leg movement while a slick belt which bore many small knifes and needles hanging off them, it also held up his pants. To finish it all off he happened to be wearing a fedora on his head with the outfit ending with steel tipped jet-black combat boots.

Scattered all around him were various test tubes that held boiling liquids and slates of lacrima plates. Despite the vast array of equipment, he was the only person using the laboratory, indicating that all research currently going on was being done by him. It wasn't that the Research Department was lacking in manpower, it was just that most members would prefer to work a few floors lower despite the 20th floor sporting the largest space.

Not that Blitz minded at all, if anything he preferred the extra arm space and silence. The line of work he was involved in often required extreme concentration. The last thing he needed was an explosion that would level the clock tower.

"Still, I must really be lucky. If I recall correctly, there should be a training session going on directly above." Blitz remarked to himself as he continued to shake a bunch of chemicals. Combat Division was notorious for breaking things and being loud which was partially why no one wanted to work directly below the floor they were training on. Just last month, the floor caved in on them due to wear and tear from sparring, causing more than just a minor explosion.

"Seems like the extra coating works this time round," Blitz grinned, admiring his handiwork. After all, he was the one who came up with the designs for the lacrima coating for the Perfect Cube. Seeing it do its job made his chest swell with pride.

And then he jinxed it.

First there was a slab of rubble that smacked him on the head, causing him to look up in suspicion. Sure enough, cracks were already lining the ceiling and dust began pouring down, a sign that whatever was about to happen was imminent.

"Oh hell no," Blitz groaned and the instant the words left his mouth, a huge chunk of the ceiling came crashing down. With it, the screaming forms of Tsuki and Zion.

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" the duo yelled through freefall.

Wordlessly, Blitz reached out and touched the biggest slab of concrete, a white magic circle and his fingertips. Before it even hit the research table, the concrete slab vanished, reappearing several metres out and falling safely beyond the Wall. The remaining rubble scattered all around him and the two Combat Division mages collapsed into a heap behind him.

"Dear Mr S-class, what the hell did I tell you about restraint the last time this thing happened?" Blitz growled lowly, the tick marks on his forehead for all to see.

"See told you to show restraint," Tsuki reminded.

"Well whoops," Zion smiled sheepishly though that smiled vanished shortly when he saw the demonic aura pouring out from Blitz.

And so for the next hour or so, the duo had a hard and long lecture by Blitz about the properties of lacrima and why the hell they shouldn't break it. If the duo had a choice, they would rather spar elsewhere than incur the wrath of Blitz again.

The Wall

"See its simple Vitra, you should try it!" a female mage called out as she balanced on her hands, hopping from tile to tile on the top of the Wall. This mage was dressed rather uniquely to say at the least, standing out easily in a crowd. She had a slim, lithe build, with supple thighs and small hips and waist. Standing at 5'3, she was a little curvy, but it's mostly around her hips and thighs. Her eyes were a warm golden brown, with a light burst of champagne amber around the pupils. Her heart shaped face had a small, straight nose, plump lips and arched eyebrows. Beneath her eyes were dark circles, a testament to the limited sleeps she gets due to being hyperactive. Her shoulder length messy hair was dyed several shades of silver, blue, and purple, going well with the ratty purple long-sleeved t-shirt that seemed to envelop her arms completely. The back of the shirt was open though, revealing her bright orange guild mark between her shoulder blades. To complete the outfit, a pair of faded blue jeans and white sneakers.

The female mage seemed to effortlessly cartwheel across the Wall's rim despite them being elevated several hundreds of metres in the air. Even for the most brave of mages, fooling around on the Wall was a big no no, especially when you could plunge to your death easily. Recklessness and courage was definitely the top of this girl's values.

Her companion though wasn't as keen as she was, instead standing a few feet back and watching the girl with a mixture of curiosity and interest. After all he had an image to maintain in Scarlet Nova. Not only as an S-class of the Combat Division but also the title of Calamity Zero.

"Come on down Neel," Vitra reminded warmly. "We are here to train aren't we?" Vitra stood at 6'5 and had a very muscular build and this, along with his tall stature, made him look very intimidating. He had an angular, long face with a long, thin nose, a large mouth and narrowed eyes that were a deep blue in colour but appear teal under certain light. His skin tone was rather pale and he had white hair that appeared quite long, but was always spiked up. When Vitra smiles with his mouth open, only one of his canines are visible, making it look as if he has a fang. He often wears a grey coloured top with an upturned collar and long sleeves, accompanied by long black pants with white stripes and a set of combat boots. Over this he wore a silver embroided exorcist cloak with a metallic cross over his heart and a set of black fingerless gloves.

"But this is training," Neel protested with a pout on her face. "When I get excited and hyperactive, I don't get nightmares as much."

"You aren't tackling the root of the problem you know?" Vitra sighed, his arms folded across his chest.

"You aren't tackling the root of the problem you know?" Neel mimicked Vitra's pose, balancing on her head alone and lowering her voice.

That got Vitra into a small laugh, causing Neel's own grin to grow wider. "Besides I always feel a lot safer with you around. So there's no need to be so uptight about it."

"I can't always be there you know," Vitra protested but Neel firmly shook her head.

"Nope, I know that you'll always be there to catch me when I fall. Just like all those years ago."

"I was there just by coincidence," Vitra retorted.

"Then what do you call this," Neel smiled as she flipped herself back up. She then proceeded to close her eyes and jumped off the edge of the Wall.

"HEY!" Vitra yelled in shock as he watched Neel's form disappear beneath the wall. Without a moment's hesitation, he too leapt off the Wall, watching as Neel continued to freefall.

"Awaken and Shred, Bahamut!" Vitra commanded as the veinish black tattoo that resembled a dragon's jaws over his right arm came to life. From the palm of his right arm, a black and bony scythe appeared. At the end of the scythe there was a sharp barb while on the bladed end, a dragon's claws could be seen gripping the scythe's blade and the back of the blade has a dragon's skull resting on it. The blade itself was double edged and was pitch black with purple runes inscribed on it.

Using his free arm, he grabbed Neel by her hand, halting her fall while the other raked the scythe across the Wall's surface, grinding them to a stop.

"ARE YOU CRAZY!" Vitra yelled across the strong winds that were blowing. Despite their predicament, Neel's eyes were filled with warmth and the smile on her face still held strong. "Told you that you would always be there for me." She grinned.

Vitra just sighed in frustration, realising that it was pointless to argue with Neel. Flicking his wrist slightly, he flung himself and Neel back over the Wall. Having done its job, Vitra banished his scythe, having it return to the tattoo state on his arm.

"Alright alright, you win." Vitra sighed as he acknowledged Neel's words. "Just please don't do such a thing again. You almost gave me a heart attack." His voice laced with concern.

'Anything for you Vitra," Neel smiled warmly, her hand behind her back as she skipped her way back into the clock tower.

Sometimes Vitra really wondered who was really in charge of the other. If anything, the training was not for Neel but rather for Vitra instead.

A/N: Heya guys! Thanks so much for the overwhelming responses that you guys have given so far. Like holy crap, I actually maxed out all reservation slots in less than a day. How awesome is that! Anyways, I hoped you guys enjoyed the first introduction chapter of the reboot. For those that are new, updates will be sporadic in October before I go AFK again in November due to National Exams. Will be back on the 1st of December, I promise. OC submissions and reservations are nearly closed with just a single slot left open. Due to overwhelming responses for A and S class, I may have to drop some OCs down a notch. Will contact the respective authors regarding this. Apart from this, just to clarify, C rank does not mean that you are weak. It just means that you lack the experience. Well I guess that sums up what I have to say and I'll talk to you guys next time XD

Death Obelisk Out

Credits

Anim8or: Kasper "Neel" Pax

KingKatsu: Zion Fox

SnowMistress15: Tsukiko Takahashi, Sora and Shiro

Elegant Soul: Chantal and Aengus

Martyn: Vento Kagami

Novachrono: Blitz Alibaster

Death Obelisk: Vitra "Calamity" Zero