Tales of the Wizard

Ch 11. Seal of Fire.

"Thank you for your time."

Raiden sighed, as he left the inn, "That clears Triet, nobody has seen her."
Even the Catz exploration team hadn't seen her.

"Sir," a Katz called out to him, "I just came back from an exploration and heard the story. I might have seen her."
"Really? Where did you see her?"
"On the Ossa trail. She asked groups of travellers if the Chosen of Mana among them was."
"I see," Raiden gave 20 gald to the Katz, "Thank you."
Raiden looked in the distance, "So she has been after the Chosen. That makes things easier."
He went to a fortune-teller in the back of the village. When he asked for Sheena it was useless, but the Chosen's group was a better bet.

"Hello again, can I help you?" the fortune-teller asked.

"Yes, do you know were the Chosen's group went?"

"That will be 100 gald."
Raiden gave the money.

"They went to the ancient ruins."
"I see, thank you."

"You're welcome."

Raiden made his way out of Triet.

"The ancient ruins are south-west of here, so that should be that way."
Snakes and scorpions were swiftly dealt with.
An hour later Raiden looked at the remains of a temple of sorts.

A stairway lead underneath the ruins.
Raiden grabbed his swords and entered.

He looked at the hallway, the torches casting an eerie sense over the building.

A firebird flew at him from above.

Raiden dodged and killed the creature with a scissor montion.

The Mana of the creature dispersed, while he moved on.

Two pillars of fire erupted at junction as two firewarriors formed.

Raiden looked at them, they weren't really powerful compared to the icewarriors in Tethe'alla but he was still on guard.

He supposed the decline in Mana was effecting the monsters as well.

The monsters walked to him slowly.

Raiden formed the double-edged staff and muttered words.

Calm water, source of live.

Flowing like an endless river.

Come forth from my hands.

AQUA SHOT!

An orb of water hovered in front of Raiden.

He threw it at one of the creatures.

It cooled down and vanished.

Raiden finished the other off with a combo.

He split the staff and yelled, "Sonic THRUST!"

He attacked using the two blades in a sub-sonic movement.

The Fire-warrior couldn't avoid the attack and died.
The raven-haired ninja smirked, it was too easy.

Looking at the possible roads, he decided to go strait ahead.

He came in a large chamber, he noticed a warp on a platform but no apparent way to get there.

Not that he needed one, Raiden jumped to one of the lower platforms and wall-jumped to the warp.

A large amount of Mana flowed through the warp when Raiden stepped on the warp.

A column of light appeared around him.

He disappeared.

He stepped out on the warp's counterpart.

A fountain of fire erupted from a Mana-seal.

Raiden looked as a creature like no other he had met, appeared.
"You who possess the right of the pact, I am one that is bound to Mithos," It spoke.
"Well, damn. A summon-spirit. I'll guess I'll have to improvise... My name is Raiden of Mizuho, I seek a pact with the spirit of fire."

"I can not..."
"Huh? Why?"

"I am still bound by my precious pact. I am unable to make more then one pact at the same time."
"I see, in that case. I ask of you to cease the agreement of your pact with Mithos, and make a new pact with me."
"Let us see if you are worthy of the pact. "

Efreet attacked Raiden, who could barely dodge the assault.

"If it's a fight you want then it's a fight you get!"
While Raiden was fast enough to dodge Efreet's attacks, he had little experience with Summon-spirits.

His strikes did very little damage to the giant of fire.

He suddenly got an idea, "Shadowdash revised: SHADOW SWORDS"

Raiden hands started to blur, giving him the ability to strike the enemy more then once. (Sword rain)

As a finish he jumped up and thrust both swords at the Sprit, "PHOENIX SWORD STRIKE: AIR ASSAULT!" (Rising Falcon/Phoenix)

After the attack he put some distance between him and the Summon-spirit of Fire.

He put one of the swords away, and held the other in front of him.

It started glowing light blue.

Raiden jumped up, holding the sword in both hands, "Glacial SLASH"

Raiden made a downward strike, a blast of ice coming of the blade.

Efreet was hit but quickly recovered, and Raiden was in range of his attacks.

"EXPLOSION!" the spirit called, striking the ground.
Holding his hands in a handseal, Raiden called out a defence, "DEFENCE SEAL!"

The green shield appearing from the seal blocked the initial strike but the fire technique that followed decimated the shield.

Raiden grunted as pure fire hit him, his Mana preventing the wounds to become fatal.

"Damn, he really is something else!" Raiden said to himself, swallowing a gel to heal his wounds, "BUT I AM NOT GIVING UP YET!" Mother Nature, holder of the Earth

Grant me your strength.
ROCK WAVE!

Raiden held his hand against ground, spikes erupted from the ground and went towards Efreet.

The spirit held up his hand and blocked the attack.

"Your power is admirable, speak your vow."

" I am not of this world, yet this has become my home. I wish to help to restore the balance between the two worlds, on this I make my vow."
"Very well, I shall bestow upon you my raging inferno."

"Thank you."
Efreet's Mana bonded with the summon-ring.

"Allow me to heal your wounds."
A small bit of Mana washed over Raiden.

The scrapes and bruises he had received disappeared.
"Thank you, I'll uphold my vow."

"I expect you to," The spirit said, before his Mana lost cohesion and he vanished.

Raiden looked at the ring, "That was unexpected, Efreet was terribly strong. My speed was just enough to dodge his attacks. I need to train in strength while maintaining my speed."

He made his way to the warp and vanished.