Whoo-hoo! Another chapter, another class... but first, Review Responses!
Mastery: Oracle, Geomancer, Samurai and (specifically) female Lancer, hmm? I'm interested… any particular reasons? At any rate, I'm glad you like it!
Hmm… ideas… anyway, next chapter! ...It's time for a dose of malicious bloodshed.
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Chapter 6: Black Mage
"Diebe im Auge des Sturms"
Henverge... a small town, home to a mere hundred fifty people. Visitors were infrequent to the inhabitants, even from relatives (except in very particular cases). People came here because they wanted to be forgotten... left alone... multitudes of miles from any other civilized area, the place kept its residents fed and comfortable by the seldom-arriving caravans as well as small privately-owned farms and a small-scale if-you-need-it-here-it-is economy. One family in particular had raised a pair of mages, and sent them off to the academy to learn more, so the place wasn't all rural in mindset.
Nearly nothing near the village for miles around... Naught but a rather wide path, fashioned of dirt and oftentimes mud. A streak of brown in a world of green... naught but the caravans had traveled the road for perhaps a few months... and never, certainly, on foot. Lone roads like the one mentioned left many vulnerable to attack… a note that bandits took down, and travelers underlined. This was why it was so odd to see the one figure lightly hiking its way down the strip of tan on the horizon, seemingly unaware of the encampment a mere kilometer in front of it, even with its wide-brimmed straw hat obviously able to see the small, sprawling tents. Either it was foolhardy, or it simply had the knowledge that any of them could have seen it, as well. Bandits... at least seven of them. Regardless, the tall, blue-robed figure strutted directly between the two halves of the camp, following the straight line of the road.
"Oy, oy... Where you think you might be goin'? Eh?"
One of the green-hatted teens un-leaned from a tent pole, brushing a hair from his vision and tucking it behind his ear as he stepped to the side of the striding figure. "Yeh know, there ain't no passin' though here wi'out payin' the road toll..."
This sentence was followed up by a round six joining the speaker, men and women alike making a rough circle around the traveler. "So we'll be having it, then... anythin' money or magical... er..."
The figure did not visibly move once, face and hair hidden under the hat, which seemed to darken everything under it almost eerily. Hands were hidden in the sleeves, and the robe was pulled tight around it... all the black mages wore the same uniform, the same clothes that allowed one to recognize another. This particular one, however, had no individual fabric designs, no embroidery on the fabric or ribbons about the hat. A student of the academy... but any other mage could tell that it was certainly a promising one.
The spell of stalemate was broken when the bold speaker stepped out of the crowd from behind the mage, placing a hand on the shoulder of their supposed newest victim. "Be reasonable, either you give us yer crap, or we take it annyways, then sell yeh on th' black mar-"
"Don't touch me."
Later, it was unclear whether the girl's words had done it, or whether it was simply a spell, but Kedri's hand pulled away from her shoulder so fast that the shoulder socket's tendons ripped, the arm becoming useless. A scream... surprised and shrieking, as he stumbled backwards and almost fell over. It was an instant later, that a waiting sniper behind a tent flap fired the carefully-aimed arrow-
"First Fire."
-which incinerated in mid-flight, the arrowhead sent spinning along the shaft's trajectory only to fall to the ground, inches from the mage's brown-booted foot-
"Second Bolt."
-and it was the archer's turn to squelp in fear, the noise abruptly cut short by a deadly shaft of electricity. In a mere four seconds had this happened, and just now the circle of bandits was coming out of its stupor. The biggest among them, a huge woman that everyone called Eb, stepped forwards and drew a hefty broadsword, an ugly frown on her scarred face. "Cut the shite out, missy... we ain't gonna leave yeh alone just 'cause you know a few clown tricks. Yeh got one more second teh giveup easy-like... o' course, poor Kedri's arm is gonna cost you, and so's Feddu's miserable li-"
"Clown tricks?"
The stranger's hand went to her hat, flinging it aside to give her a better field of vision. Platinum blonde hair tumbled waist-length out of the crown, down the back to reveal near pearl-white skin, red eyes and black lips on a near-flawless face, a tapestry of gorgeous death. The black lips were another trademark of the Wizards, a byproduct of the magicks they studied and practiced. Not all black mages were evil, or even particularly odd... In fact, most were generally amiable, simple practitioners of the art, though they still had the byproducts, as well as the clothes. White skin, hair, and red eyes, however, were something else entirely... "St. Ajora... she's cursed! She's got the curse of the albino, she has!"
"Clown tricks! ...HeheheHeehahaha! What a toad you are! May you be the prey you make of others..."
Eb was tugged forwards by forces seeming to originate from something akin to gravity, towards the Mage's outstretched hand, that horrific laugh echoing off the campsite, the equally terrifying smile freezing solid any soul not already fearful of the discordant, vibrating, ethereal voice. Arms and armor fell away as Eb's form shrunk, toughened, and became webbed... and Eb the toad came to rest in the pale girl's palm, quivering, too panicked to even attempt to escape. "Hey... HEY! Y-you bitch! Let Eb go or… o-or we'll cut you down!"
"I'm disappointed in you... the ones before you had so much more bravado... but here you all stand, too cowardly to brave a single wizard's defenses? Her loss, I suppose."
Ivory teeth closed on the clutched creature's skull, ignoring the creature's squeal of agony as sharp jaw pulled head from torso, blood and spinal fluids spraying her chin. Ebony lips frowned and her head turned to spit the lurid and leaking part upon the ground. Making a face with her pink tongue out, her hand wiped away the gore on her cheek and chin.
"What a sad, sorry excuse for a snack... Honestly, how could you live with yourself, knowing you taste as if you had rolled in something nasty? ...If only you were a tree frog, or something appetizing. Here, you can have her... ugh."
A flick of the wrist sent the amphibian's corpse tumbling through the air, reverting to its original-yet-headless-and-gushing shape as it rolled to the feet of a hapless thief. A moment of recognition, and the girl fell backwards in attempt to scramble away in sheer horror. Four remained , still surrounding the dark figure, the near-petrified thief girl and Kedri watching from the sidelines, too scared to act... and a second of decision was all it took for the still-standing to run at her from all sides, knives and swords drawn.-
"Flare."
-and an explosion rocked the area, charred bodies arcing into the air in all four compass directions. She turned, red eyes and wide smile beaming fear directly into Kedri's soul...
"By the way, my name is Latii... I don't have a title yet, so just Latii will have to do... It was nice to meet you."
Latii stooped over to pick up her hat, brushed it off, tucked her hair back inside the crown and placed it on her head... and the traveler continued on her way as the disabled Kedri held onto the shivering thief, attempting to calm her down.
Some Magi of the Black are quite normal practitioners... Some are eccentric... some are a little twisted... some are quite insane... but the most dangerous are downright batshit-fucking-nutcase-bonkers.