The Lady of the Lake... A major plot device in a lot of major books and several stories that transcend time itself. This goddess of water was said to have given King Arthur his sword Excalibur and even more so, she was an entity that existed in this realm as a powerful water spirit. What struck Shiki so speechless was the fact that Guiche wanted his help to obtain something from the watery goddess. Whatever could it be...?
"Zero" – Regular Speech
'Zero' – Thoughts
"Zero" – Unknown Speech
"Zero" – Spell/Technique
[The Mirror Lake]
"Please... remind me again Guiche..." Shiki stated as he was hanging upside down by a ring of ice around his left ankle. "Exactly what the hell were you thinking?!" he shouted at the man to his left as he too was caught in a similar fashion.
"Oh don't patronize me you damn fool!" Guiche retorted as he tried to struggle out of the ice. "If you had just gone along with my plan, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"And if you weren't a greedy, flirtatious and hopeless idiot we would've been fine!" Shiki barked back, a little agitated at the events that had transpired.
[Tristain Academy - Four Hours Ago]
"You want to do what?!" Shiki had exclaimed.
"Now now, I know what you're thinking… but I need your help on this. With your skills and my cunning strategy we can easily undergo this task." Guiche stated as he had suggested something that Shiki interpreted as suicidal.
"No way! Even if I'm new to this world, even I know about this legend you're talking about!" Shiki retorted.
The person in question was indeed the Lady of the Lake that Shiki had read about in history lessons. It was one of those odd lessons that Shiki didn't really quite understand in his early education but he was glad that he was interested in History… at least to a point.
Guiche, for some odd reason, had the bright idea that he needed to obtain something from this watery enigma. From what Guiche had informed the young man was that this apparition was a powerful water spirit… perhaps one of the strongest in the world. It was worshipped as a god and brought great prosperity to villages that happened to be near this large water source called 'The Mirror Lake'. So what exactly had Guiche planned to take from this potent elemental?
"All I need from it is a piece of its essence." Guiche filled in the blank as he tried to reason with Shiki.
"Oh sure, that's all you need." Shiki emphasized as he knew this was a terrible idea.
"Don't sass me! You may be strong but you're still just a Plebian! You should be honored to help one such as I!" Guiche tried to reprimand the young man as he held himself in such high regard.
"Oh yes. Coming from the man who just got destroyed by said Plebian and just recently began walking again." Shiki prodded at the noble, hoping to get a rise from him.
"Grrrr!" Guiche gritted his teeth in great disgust as he looked at Shiki with a bit of rage behind his eyes. When he started to think of the consequences though, he decided to drop the point here and instead turn things in his favor.
"Look, you want me to teach you earth magic, correct?" Guiche replied after thinking things through.
"Yes. I do." Shiki responded, wondering where this was going.
"Well, in order to take you have to give. So take your pick. Either help me or find yourself a new teacher." Guiche stated as he stood triumphant in his argument.
"Okay. Fine." Shiki stated as he started to walk away.
"N-No wait!" Guiche called out, making the highschooler stop in his tracks.
"What is it?" "Shiki replied, deciding not to look at Guice as he didn't want to entertain this fool any longer.
"I can make it worth your while." Guiche grinned.
"Explain." Shiki simply stated as he decided to see where this rabbit hole went.
"It is said that the water extract from the Lady of the Lake is a powerful component in potent healing potions. It is said that this extract can be used to completely cure those with deadly illnesses and curses."
"Get to the point." Shiki decided to cut to the chase.
"Okay fine. If you help me get enough extract, we can split it 50/50." Guiche stated. "With that extract, you can enlist the help of a powerful alchemist to craft you a potion so potent that it could cure you of your curse."
"How in the hell do you know about-" Shiki was cut off.
"Oh don't worry. I have my sources." Guiche replied. "I found it odd that a mere Plebian could destroy my golems with ease so I decided to look into it with the help of a few individuals." Guiche grinned as he saw through the man. "I have to say, to be able to do so much with eyes such as yours is probably a burden on your body... it's probably why you've kept your eyes shut for almost the entire conversation." Guiche pointed out as Shiki had just grown accustomed to talking to others like this.
"What's your point Guiche?" Shiki started to get irritated.
"My point, you ignorant fool, is that we can both benefit from this if you're just willing to help."
Shiki didn't exactly know what to think from all this. It seemed too far-fetched for it to be a legitimate thing but this was indeed a magical world. If things like mages and mythical beasts lived here, then obviously something as simple as a magical potion would exist as well. Besides, he'd be killing two birds with one stone. If he helped Guiche he'd receive an extract for a cure potion and he would also have Guiche indebted to him so he would also have a teacher of earth magic. Overall, it wasn't a bad deal but Shiki couldn't help but feel like Guiche wasn't telling him the whole story. Something just didn't feel right about this request and he knew he'd be getting the short end of the stick, one way or another.
"Alright fine. I'll go along with your plan... for now." Shiki added in that caveat as he looked at the setting sun. "So what's the plan? We wait until tomorrow?"
"No. Sorry to say but we need to do this at night. The moonlight glow is what reveals the Lady of the Lake and she only appears at midnight." Guiche stated as he recalled the book he had read on the watery goddess.
"So a night operation... great." Shiki replied as he knew he wouldn't get much sleep for tomorrow.
"Don't worry about it too much. The area isn't that far from the Academy... maybe two hours by horseback?" Guiche thought about it as geography wasn't something he was terribly great at.
Shiki sighed but had already decided to go along with Guiche on his suicidal quest to obtain the essence from the Lady of the Lake. What Shiki didn't know though, were the dangers that were to come when they would reach their destination. Shiki knew little about this world so he was rather ignorant of everything outside of the walls of the Academy. Luckily, Shiki had a great sense of direction so it wasn't hard for him to find his way as the two got on their horses and set off towards the residence of the spirit.
[Otonoa - The Lakeview City]
Rounding the corner around the slopes of the mountain, Shiki's mouth gaped in awe as he saw the small city come into view. The area itself seemed to use the lake as a part of their infrastructure as most of the city was structured inside of the lake itself. Small frames of aqueducts and portions of latrines all seemed to circulate throughout the core frame of the area as this finely constructed city used it as a resource to give it power and life. The area, despite being completely shrouded in darkness, was lit up by dazzling globes of light.
"Wow... I didn't think a place like this existed." Shiki sat atop his mount, amazed at the spectacle before him.
"Hm? Oh, you mean the town. Yes, this is Otonoa, the Lakeview City. As you can imagine, the town decided to name itself after the lake as it has given them life and protection from all around." Guiche explained. "The water acts as a power source and the watermills located throughout the city are used to generate electricity. Despite being so isolated within the mountains, even despite all the darkness around, this little gemstone is able to light up the surrounding areas."
Despite the in-depth knowledge that Guiche had given to Shiki, the young man was quite oblivious to what his blonde counterpart had said as he was almost mesmerized by the lights. Well, that and the fact that he didn't really much care for what Guiche had to say but still, the distraction wasn't exactly helping with his concentration.
"Hey! When someone talks to you, you should at least give them the proper respect of listening!" Guice tried to reprimand Shiki as he was getting irritated with his insolence.
"Yeah yeah.. whatever you say." Shiki said before yawning slightly. "How much farther do we have to go?" He asked, looking at the sky. "It's about that time, wouldn't you say?"
There really was no way to tell time since he didn't have a watch but Shiki could tell just from the atmosphere alone that it was nearing the designated time. Things seemed to be a little quiet though. Almost too quiet for Shiki's liking. Since he was plagued constantly with things in the supernatural realm, Shiki got accustomed to dealing with things constantly going wrong around him. As such, when things seemed to quiet or when things seemed to be going well, this made him uneasy and on edge.
Thankfully, if you could think that way about it, Shiki's suspicions would soon turn into fact as they neared the lake. As the duo neared the lake, something caught Shiki's attention as he heard a snap of a twig. The sound came from about 50 feet away but Shiki had a great sense of hearing. With it being near silent all around him for such a long time, even the slightest inkling of a sound could be heard. This didn't help his paranoia though as he quickly jumped off his horse and shifted to a defensive stance.
"Shiki? What are you-" Guiche was cut off as Shiki hissed at him.
"Quiet!" Shiki commanded. "Someone is nearby..." He said in a hushed tone.
"What? All the way out here? No way." Guiche tried to reason with the paranoid man as he noticed the dagger held in his left hand. "Look, put that thing away before you-" He was once again cut off.
"Get down!" Shiki yelled at the boy, yanking him by the collar and pulling him off the horse.
As he did so, Shiki heard the concentrated air blast whisk by Guiche as it cut off a piece of his clothing. If he had been hit, who knows what could've happened. This didn't really matter though as it gave him an idea of where his opponents were. With blade in hand, Shiki dashed towards his opponents.
Deciding to open his eyes at the possibility of a viable threat, the man surprised himself as he was able to see rather easily. Even though the lines of death were streaked across his vision, the darkness of night didn't plague his vision as he quickly saw the two hooded figures. One was casting a spell of some sort, the other seemed to stand 10 feet away from their counterpart... perhaps surveying the situation.
As Shiki came within 20 feet of his opponents, a large ice wall was erected in front of him. He was shocked as it was almost instantaneous and it stood 10 feet tall by almost 30 feet wide. This didn't matter much to him though as he still had his Eyes of Death Perception. Using his simplistic knife, Shiki made short work of the barrier placed between him and his target. Instantly shattering it and sending bits of magical ice everywhere, Shiki was shocked though as his opponents were nowhere to be seen.
"Where did they-" he didn't have a chance to finish his thought as he felt a large blast of air impact him in the chest.
Effectively disabling and knocking the wind out of him, Shiki's dagger was sent flying from his hand as it imbedded into a nearby tree. The power alone from the blast was frightful as it sent the young man through the air, placing him back where he started except this time at the feet of Guiche.
It didn't end there though. Even with Guiche's "superior" skill in magic, he was quickly dealt with as another magical blast of air sent him flying from his once proud position into the cold water. Slowly recovering to his feet, Shiki was met with a very familiar spell as he was picked up from the ground.
"Ah damnit! Not again!" Shiki exclaimed as he was tired of being levitated.
Positioning him upside down, Shiki felt the cold embrace of ice wrap around his left ankle as he was propped there in the air. In the next few moments, Guiche was there beside him, pinned to the wall of ice that was manifested into existence by its user.
[Present Time - The Mirror Lake]
"Please... remind me again Guiche..." Shiki stated as he was hanging upside down by a ring of ice around his left ankle. "Exactly what the hell were you thinking?!" he shouted at the man to his left as he too was caught in a similar fashion.
"Oh don't patronize me you damn fool!" Guiche retorted as he tried to struggle out of the ice. "If you had just gone along with my plan, we wouldn't be in this mess!"
"And if you weren't a greedy, flirtatious and hopeless idiot we would've been fine!" Shiki barked back, a little agitated at the events that had transpired.
"Hmph, look what we caught ourselves Tabitha?" A familiar voice called out from the darkness. "Two fools trying to aim for the same prize as us." The feminine voice stated as she slowly walked towards them.
Walking out from the darkness, barely being lit up by the midnight moon, a hooded figure slowly approached the two helpless men. It was hard to tell it was Kirche. It wasn't obvious at first but as she got closer and from the certain form of her speech, Shiki instantly knew who he had been caught by. He wasn't expecting to see them so far out here, but it was good to at least see a familiar face.
"I must say, you scared us for a second there. I didn't think that someone could break through Tabitha's-" She stopped herself when she finally got up close enough to see who it was that she actually caught.
"Wait a minute, is that Shiki?" The voice said from under her hood. "Oh wow it really is Shiki! Look, Tabitha! It's Shiki Tohno!" She reiterated, completely forgetting about Guiche's presence as he didn't appeal to her as 'interesting'.
Simply nodding at his existence, Tabitha went back to reading one of her books as she wasn't very much the social type. Despite her amazing skills as a magi, her overall skill as a normal and contributing human being was... well, lacking.
"So, what brings you out here at this time of night?" Kirche inquisitively asked, hoping to make to headway with their... 'relationship'.
"Well, you should ask Guiche. He's the one that spear-headed this little expedition." Shiki instantly threw Guiche under the bus as he didn't want to take any blame for anything that may soon transpire.
"Oh really? Guiche, you enlisted the help of Shiki for your own personal gain?" Kirche asked, making the blonde mage scoff off the remark as if he had been insulted.
"Hmph. It's not like he came here for my gain alone. It's an agreement between gentlemen." Guice retorted, trying to maintain his composure despite his current predicament.
"Oh, an agreement you say?" Kirche's ears perked up when she heard the word. "And what pray tell was this agreement between gentlemen?" She asked, genuinely intrigued by the ordeal presented before her.
"Wouldn't you like to know? Well, as it turned out my lips are sealed. An agreement between men is a sacred thing that should never be sullied by telling others. It is a bond established between two men who agree to terms set forth by one another in order to achieve a goal and I would never-" he was cut off when Shiki decided to chime in.
"I'm here to help Guiche obtain a tonic or something from the Lady of the Lake. In return, he's going to teach me earth magic." Shiki stated simply as he was still left hanging upside down.
"A-Ah! Shiki! How could you just tell her like that?! Have you no pride?!" Guiche yelled at the man, shocked at his remark.
"I don't think it's a thing about pride..." Shiki replied with a dull expression. "Besides, they're friends. We have nothing to hide from them. Besides, I'm actually curious about what you're doing out here as well Kirche." Shiki turned his attention back to the red-haired mage, hoping for a direct answer.
"Well, as it turns out we are here for the same thing as well." Kirche said with a smile. "I dragged Tabitha along with me since I thought it would be good to get her out of her room every now and then. As you can see..." Kirche motioned towards Tabitha who was still fully engrossed in her book. "...She's not much of a social person." She sighed, trying her best to make Tabitha a more out-going person.
"I see... well, if you would be so kind I would like it if my feet were on the ground, if it's all the same to you." Shiki tactfully put his request as he didn't want to cause a scene.
"Ah! Yes, of course." Kirche replied, almost shocked she didn't realize it sooner.
Taking out her wand and flicking it ever so slightly, the magic that held the water together in its icy form soon shattered as both Shiki and Guiche were set free from their bindings. As the two recovered from their vulnerable postures, Tabitha had finally finished reading through one of her books before getting off of her horse. Walking up and standing next to Kirche, she tugged on her companion's cloak to get her attention.
"It's almost time." The dead-eyed mage stated with a dull tone.
"Oh I see... is it that time already?" Kirche replied as her eyes fixated themselves on the lake behind the two 'gentlemen'. "Look, we don't have much time so I'll propose a deal to you two. You help us obtain what we need and we'll do the same for you. Sound good?" Kirche asked, hoping for a valid response.
"Sounds fair... but what is it that you want?" Shiki responded.
"I want a locket of hair from the Lady of the Lake." Kirche stated simply.
"Isn't she supposed to be a water spirit?" Shiki asked, puzzled by the request. "Wouldn't that make it impossible for her to have actual hair?"
"Normally you'd be correct for normal spirits but the Lady of the Lake is a legendary creature with magical properties of her own. She is able to take a physical form unlike most in the ethereal plane." Kirche explained as she has just reiterated what Tabitha had told her on the way over to the lake.
"Wow... well, if it's that strong then how are we supposed to contend with such a threat?" Shiki asked, a little dumbstruck at the problem that was presented to him.
"Well, Tabitha here is a powerful mage. Her skills and prowess alone make her a worthy successor to her family's heritage." Kirche boasted as Tabitha would most certainly have not said anything at all when it came to her past or even about herself as a person.
"Even though she is a little rough around the edges and she could probably speak up more, she's a great asset. Isn't that right Tabitha?" Kirche asked, hoping for the impossible to happen.
"Mm.." Tabitha replied.
It was barely audible, even to Shiki, as Tabitha was very soft spoken. Her speech seemed to be like a whisper as she didn't talk much at all and even when she did talk, the environment around her had to be put on mute to even hear what she was saying. It was as if her voice were like a church mouse, small, squeaky and insignificant.
"You see? Nothing to worry about." Kirche stated, almost as if she was trying to gloss over the fragile existence of her partner.
"So, Tabitha?" Shiki asked, since he thought it would be appropriate to get this question out of the way. "Don't you also want something from the spirit?"
"No..." She replied again in her mumbling voice. "I don't... need such things."
"Then why go so far for nothing?" Shiki asked, genuinely curious.
Tabitha didn't respond at first but as she looked back at her friend and then back to Shiki, she simply said: "A favor... for a favor."
"Besides I'm curious..." She mumbled even quieter. So quiet in fact that Shiki almost didn't hear it with his keen senses.
"I'm sorry what was-?" Shiki didn't even have time to have her clarify what she said as she just started to walk off towards her destination.
From what it looked like, the lake itself was roughly 800 feet in diameter. The depth could only have been guessed at as the entire surface of the water seemed to be colored black. This didn't necessarily help since it was completely dark outside but from what Shiki could tell, between his small glimpses in his vision, he noticed that the Mirror Lake lived up to its name. It seemed to reflect the light of whatever what shined upon it. It was what they surface seemed to dark and black as it was completely dark outside... but when the water drew closer to town, the dancing light of the town illuminated up the surface of the water, changing it back to its clearwater status.
"So, what do we do to summon up this spirit?" Shiki had finally asked as he knew it was drawing close to midnight.
"Well, the legend goes that once the previous and next collide, the spirit will appear in the center of its origin." Guiche chimed in as he paraphrased the legend. "This basically means that once the toll strikes to midnight, the spirit will appear in the center of the lake. It is a protective spirit that watches over Otonoa so as long as we don't mean any harm to the town, we should be able to negotiate with it." Guich explained, looking up at the night sky.
"From the looks of things, it seems that we're nearing that time now." Guiche stated as he took out his wand. "Be on your guard though. Who knows what this spirit may or may not do."
Shiki didn't quite understand what Guiche was getting at as his data seemed to contradict itself. Despite all the preparations that were supposedly put into this quest of his, he seemed to have very understanding on how things were supposed to go and it was more of a 'happy-go-lucky' type of attitude when it came to possible oppositions that may come in his path. Shiki didn't exactly like this but he was stuck which him now. There was no going back and with Kirche and Tabitha now at his side, he was put a little more at ease for what may or may not happen.
Now, I know this may sound a bit cliché but as the clock struck midnight and the previous day met with the next, something 'magical' happened. Almost as if the next coming of a new age was beginning, the clouds overhead in the blackness of the sky parted. Behind it shined a brilliant full moon which illuminated the lake in all its glory. As the radiant moonlit glow hit the surface of the lake, a formation of water started to build up. This soon started to shift into a makeshift platform that stood 6 feet tall in the center of the lake. Forming from the platform itself, or to be more precise, phasing through the bottom of the platform was a female being with golden hair and white robes. Her demeanor seemed to be that of something almost holy as it came into fruition.
"I take it that's the Lady of the Lake?" Shiki asked through his blurred vision.
"You'd be correct in your assumption Shiki." Kirche responded. "But, it's a bit too dramatic of an entrance for my taste. If you want to look that grand, try something with a bit more flair." She commented on the spirit's entrance, rather than what was more important at hand.
As the spirit had finally transformed into a fully physical form, the magnificent beauty opened her eyes to reveal two bright cerulean eyes. Adorned on her head was a laurel wreath and covering most of her voluptuous body was a white silken robe. It looked thin as you could almost see through it but from her grace and beauty, one couldn't quite break contact with her eyes. As she looked around her domain, her eyes quickly set themselves upon the small party of mages. She was at first confused at what they were doing here but once she sensed something more malevolent inside her domain, she quickly became hostile.
Bringing forth her power over water, the spirit quickly covered herself in an icy shell. It only lasted for about a second though as it soon shattered to reveal her in an ice-plated armor. In her left hand she held a longsword made of twisted black ice and in her left hand she held a staff made of white crystalline water that swirled around at the top. Her overall demeanor seemed to shift as she looked towards the town that she needed to protect. When she noticed the four mages start to defend themselves though, she quickly sent an icy blast of energy at them, encasing them all in a large dome of ice.
"W-What the hell?!" Shiki yelled aloud as he wasn't expecting such a hostile reaction. "We didn't even do anything yet!"
"No… this was within expectations." Kirche stated as she began casting a fire spell, hoping to melt away the ice.
The spell cast was a simple one but it should've been effective as it was fire casting against ice. A poor match up for a mage… but this ice was special. When the blast had impacted against the wall, it made a noticeable dent but it was quickly regenerated by the magical force that bound it to its form.
"What the… How is this possible?" Kirche questioned her own magical prowess.
"Do not worry ladies… you have me to rely upon." Guiche boasted as he tried to burrow through the side with his earth magic. Once again though, it was a fruitless effort as ice had already covered the entire area around them in a sphere of ice.
"Hm… well this is most unfortunate." Guiche stated simply as he was expecting his plan to work. "Any other suggestions?" He asked, wondering if someone actually had a plan to get out.
"Stand back…" Shiki replied, opening his eyes and pulling out his knife.
Taking one simple swing across the dome of ice was all it took for Shiki to break through it. Seeing the lines of death and being able to use them to his advantage seemed almost too simple as everything in front of him was decimated before his sight. Regardless of how powerful it was, no matter the threat or the opposition placed before him, everything was powerless in front of the Eyes of Death Perception.
"What the hell…?" Shiki said, wide-eyed at what he could see before him.
"What's wrong? Something happ-" Kirche responded as she too saw what was going on.
As the four mages had freed themselves from their icy tomb, they were met with a horrifying spectacle. Flames were spewing forth from within the city of Otonoa. The entire town was engulfed in flames and sounds of men, women and children screaming filled the air. The black smoke rising from the town seemed to fade into the darkness of the night and despite the best effort of the Lady of the Lake, she was being overwhelmed by what looked to be magical fire spells. Fighting atop the rooftops of the city, the woman tried her best to save her beloved town but it was just too much for her. Whatever she was fighting, it was a force of reckoning.
"We have to help her!" Shiki exclaimed as he sprinted forward.
"W-What?! Shiki! You can't be-!" Guiche was cut off when both Tabitha and Kirche raced after him, wands in hand. "Aaaaaah… Fine! It's not like me to shirk away from a lady in distress." Guiche finally resolved his inner turmoil as he too sprinted towards the burning embers of Otonoa.
As the group entered the town, the heat from the fires melted their bodies. The sheer temperature from the flames alone was suffocating and with the smoke rising from the separate buildings, it was even harder to breathe any form of fresh air. What made Shiki wonder though… was how this was all possible? This town was literally by a large water source. How could it have caught fire so easily?
"This doesn't make any sense! There's water everywhere inside the city! How can it be on fire like this?!" Shiki exclaimed.
"It's got to be Immolation!" Kirche responded as she tried to control the flames with her magic. "It's a mid-tier spell that sets anything aflame!" She explained "But to this degree… there must be a powerful fire mage in their group!"
"Alright… Hear me out!" Shiki yelled out as it was hard as is to communicate with everything going on. "I have a plan to resolve this! Guiche! Dig underground tunnels so the civilians can get to safety without traversing the streets! Kirche! Use your fire magic to quell the flames and try to reduce as much damage as possible! Tabitha! I need you to use your dragon and to snatch up anyone who can't get down to street level!" As he finished yelling his plan, Shiki took off towards the town center. He had a plan in mind... granted it wasn't much of one, but it was a plan.
"Who are you to tell me what to do Plebian?!" Guiche yelled at him as he saw the boy run off towards the center of town. "W-Where the hell is he going?" Guiche questioned as he looked at Tabitha and Kirche.
"Well, if you have any other suggestions on what we should do, by all means let's hear it." Kirche responded, hoping it would quell the young noble into thinking correctly.
Deciding not to go down that road, Guiche grumbled to himself before summoning up his familiar. Using his adept skills at digging tunnels and overall mastery over earth, Guiche and his partner quickly dug tunnels in a network under the city. Making sure not to hit any of the aqueducts, Guiche secured a pathway out of the city.
Using her overpowering control over fire, Kirche quickly made work of the flames that were wreathing out of control. Her swift movements made short work of the arcing flames and smothered them down to mere embers. Removing walls of fire and making sure the civilians were spared from the heat, Kirche made sure to protect all those around her.
Tabitha, taking to the skies with her dragon, was able to reach those who couldn't leave their houses. The ones who were trapped under debris were quickly rescued as Tabitha used her skills over wind and water magic to douse the flames out before brushing them away with heavy gusts of wind.
Things were going well with the trio but nothing ever went well when it came to plans. As the group had cleared out the last of the civilians in their sector, their travel to the next area was halted when a large group of mercenaries came upon them. As it so happened, these people were most likely responsible the ones that lit this place aflame.
"Alright boys! Looks like we found are little rodents inside the sinking ship!" The one-eyed man said aloud as he seemed to be the one in charge. "Mages! Take out the dragon. Everyone else, you get the blonde kid. I'm going to enjoy myself by taking on the red-head..." He said with a grin as he licked his blade.
Taking their positions as they were instructed, the mages went after the dragon in the sky while the remaining 7 mercenaries went after the blonde-haired noble. As it so happened though, none of them were too happy with what they were stuck with as the Captain kept the fun one to himself.
"Man.. the captain always gets the cute ones... I just want to get lucky. Just once." One of the men grumbled as he stared down the blonde-haired kid with a bitter tone in his voice.
"Ah.. don't worry about it so much mate. The captain's getting old. Who knows, you might become leader one day and make decisions for yourself! Haha!" His teammate stated before smacking him in the back. "Now come on. The quicker we get this done, the faster we can go around pillaging the rest of the town. Won't that be fun?" He wagered with his buddy as he drew his sword.
"Yeah... you're right. It's just one snot-nosed noble too. Let's make this quick." The man retorted as the group drew their separate weapons.
As it so happened though... Guiche took great exception to this as he wasn't too keen on being looked down upon. With a great disgust plastered across his face, he rose his wand up with a determination fit for that of one who calls himself a Gramont. With a fierce glare within his eyes staring down his seven opponents, he stood as defiant as he could despite his short stature.
"You imbeciles clearly don't understand the true beauty and sophistication of this world! You should be honored to face an opponent such as I! Now watch, as I teach you exactly what it is that you lack.. and why you shall never stand up to the might of Guiche de Gramont!" He declared as his wand was waved back and forth in front of him.
As his wand began to move back and forth, petals started to fall from the bud as if the rose itself was dying. As it so happened though, this was all that was needed as a conduit to summon up his enchanted golems. Something was different about these creations this time though. Instead of being the generic golems that he had showed off during his fight against Shiki, they were now enhanced with built-in armored portions. Adorned on their arms were plated stone and across their chest was breastplate armor. Their once fragile skulls were also protected by fully plated helmets made of the same sturdy material as their armor. With a resounding defense of six golems, Guiche had decided to leave one of the bandits to himself as he wanted to teach the fool a lesson.
"Now my works of beauty... show them their wrong-doings and teach them what it means to be a noble." He stated behind a sly grin as his golems did his bidding.
Elsewhere, in the skies above the city, Tabitha was having her own troubles with the unknown amount of assailants who started throwing Fireballs and Lightning Bolts in her general direction. She wasn't entirely sure on where her opponents were as the smoke from the houses kept their positions covered. Keeping themselves moving ever so diligently around their target, the mages tried their best to shoot down the dragon but with little success. As they continued their assault though, they noticed something start to form above the dragon as they had no idea about the mage riding atop the beast.
Dark clouds started to form above the dragon as Tabitha started to channel her magic through her staff. Circling it around head over and over again, the dark clouds only grew bigger as it expanded to a 40 foot area around her. Swinging her staff down and using it as a final incantation, the mage silently cast the spell Downpour - a mid-tier spell which sent down a monsoon of rain in a designated area. This not only doused out the flames but it also quickly revealed the position of the six mages attacking her.
"Bah! Who cares if she can see us now! Continue your-" He wasn't even able to finish his thought though as he noticed what her plan was too late.
As the elder mage looked up to see the young mage cast down a concentrated ball of energy, the man quickly knew what the spell was as he was knowledgeable in most spells. As it so happened, this one was Lightning Bolt. What he didn't take into account though... no, what his whole team didn't take into account though... was the fact that they were all drenched from the sudden burst of rain which in turn made their bodies and the ground around them a conduit. As this revelation struck through his mind, the ball of energy slammed into the ground and swiftly afterwards, so did their six bodies.
As Tabitha finished up her goons that she needed to take care of, the dragon rider looked over to see her feminine teammate had just finished up teaching a lesson to the idiot that decided to take her on 1v1... the main question though was what exactly he had said to her to deserve such treatment. As she looked closer to see what exactly happened to the man, she was able to make out that he had his skin burnt off, his muscles were boiling from a mid-tier fire spell duly named Fire Banquet. It was a spell that set the insides of a person aflame. It boiled the muscles under the skin and it was overall a very gruesome spell. She thought that it was banned against use since it was seen as immoral but apparently that didn't matter much to the Zerbst Fire Mage as she decided to abuse it maliciously.
"Now.. have you learned your lesson yet?" The red-headed woman said to the boiling mass of muscle and flesh. As you could expect though, no response was noted from the burning corpse. "Thought so..." She noted as she looked over to see that Guiche was just finishing up as well.
Guiche, unlike his counterparts, hadn't killed his opponents as he wasn't one to take life so swiftly... It wasn't that he had different morals than his colleagues but it was more of a matter of skill that was lacking on his part. However, this was easily glazed over as it was all a part of his 'plan' to interrogate these men for information. Using his golems as a way to subdue his assailants, Guiche was able to forcibly shove them all into the ground with only their head protruding on the surface. It was here that his simply glared down at them as if he were a noble looking down upon his inferior subjects... which was a lot closer to the truth than most would actually think.
"Now that I have your attention, I'm going to ask you a few questions. First, who are you and what made you want to burn down this town?" Guiche started interrogating the men, hoping to pry some information from them.
"Hah! We'll never talk. We'd rather die than-"
"Ah you see, I'd probably take your word on that but if you don't tell me what I want, I'll have my colleague here use you as part of her next experiment on how heat makes the water inside a human boil." Guiche simply retorted as the man swiftly changed tones.
"Hahaha! I mean did I say 'never'? I really meant 'yes' we'll talk." The man stated in a terrified voice as he didn't want to end up like his 'glorious' leader.
"Thaaat's more like it. Now, back to my question. Who are you and why did you burn down this town."
"W-We're just a small band of mercenaries. We were given a hefty sum of gold to burn down this city and obtain an antique gemstone. We were told that we could do whatever we wished but the gemstone was supposed to be his." The man summarized as he was still trying to get over the fact that his captain was incinerated to a mound of burning flesh.
"A gemstone?" The word caught Guiche as he wondered what could've been so valuable about it.
"I-I-I I don't know anything about the gemstone I swear! I didn't even know what it was supposed to look like except he told us it was of an azure shade of blue! I swear that's all I know about it!" The man gave up the information willingly without needing to be threatened.
"Who is your employer...?" Guiche asked his next question as this intrigued him most of all.
"H-He didn't really give us much of a name... only a codename really."
"And what pray tell was his 'codename'?"
"S-Shadow... he said his name was Shadow."
Alright... and with that, Chapter 13. Glad to have at least pushed myself through this one as it now starts the events that transpire here are sure to make things interesting. Hope you all enjoy what I've implemented thus far. For those who have submitted OC's to me, I'm still combing through them to get a small group together as I will soon need them. Just know that I have not forgotten about them and you can look forward to seeing them soon. I won't give away what chapter it is but just know that they will make an appearance sooner rather than later. See you all in the next Chapter. :)