Beneath the Shadows Chapter Two: Chasing Shades

[Ether]

"Nothing in particular comes to mind... I spend most of my free time trying to improve my magic... but it isn't something that I would say I particularly enjoy... it's something that I have to do." Elysia responded, with a slight sigh.

'Hobbies, huh? That would be the normal thing, wouldn't it?'

[Nanami Touko]

"You don't enjoy practicing magic? How can you not?" Linn asked, flabbergasted. "It's such a wonderful thing! I mean, we can control the elements with our bare hands. Doesn't that fascinate you?" Linn started spinning some air above the table in front of them, smiling as she did. "I don't know how I'd be able to go through life if I wasn't able to do this sort of thing anymore. Maybe we can practice together? It might make it less boring for you."

[scorri]

Sayina nodded. "Lets head there then."

Rayil meanwhile looked up at the new face staring at him from across the table. "Hmm? Oh, yes. I joined up about a week ago, like a lot of these folk actually. Why, did you join up with us? It's... well, it's been a couple of busy days for us. Lots of sights that I wish I hadn't seen and lots of fighting which I guess is what you'd expect from a mercenary group. But, I'm still alive so I guess I can't be complaining too much. Besides. Sometimes, you just get caught up in the fight and it's wonderful."

[Ether]

"My magic... it's something more important to me than that... I can't take pleasure in it... not yet. If I did, it would defeat the meaning it holds to me... I did not mean it as wishing away such things." Elysia replied, surprised once again by just how damn enthused Linn seemed about every little thing.

"Though, I am not against practising together, regardless..."

[Nanami Touko]

"Oh... I guess I got that wrong, huh? Sorry." Still, that's a really weird way to feel about your magic... Just what did this woman go through, before we ran into her? "Great! You give me a time and we can have a go at it. Maybe I can drag you along shopping after, and see if I can get you as into it as I am."

----------

"Why yes, I sure did! Quite the mixed group ye've got goin' on here. Can't wait t'get to know you lot more." Speaking of knowing, Franklin listened intently to what Rayil was saying, a bit curious about what he'd seen but not wanted to see. "What sort of things, lad? There's not much that a mercenary group led by such a fearsome woman would be taken back by, I would imagine! Though at the least, I'll agree that a good fight is a good fight. Can't wait t'get myself back into one. It's been so long since I've swung this lovely sword o' mine!"

[Ether]

"I don't tend to have much filling my time so... usually you needn't worry about that." Elysia replied, before Linn offered to take her along shopping.

"I suppose that wouldn't be so bad."

[Snike]

"You really don't want to have to learn this, if you have to," Hale responded, as he stepped away from Zeff. "It takes a lot of practice. Kind of like swordsmanship, which there's sill room to improve on. Like I said, the enchantment has provided you with the strength to keep up, but you still need to work on your swordplay, for finesse."

He then took strolled back and accepted the mercenary's hand, shaking it once. "I'm happy to be of help."

[scorri]

"Things like demons. I know this might make me sound crazy but... it's true. We've faced demons and people twisted by dark magic. And people who would wipe out an entire town for a single person. That's who we're chasing now. Senians kidnapped our employer for some reason. And we're chasing them to rescue him and hopefully figure out what in the world is going on such that Senians would invade Celisa just for getting one person."

[Vestige]

"Heh. If you can manage both, it can't be impossible, right? But I guess I'll just focus on my swordplay..." He paused as he tried to formulate the correct words to speak next.

"Say, Hale. If it's not too much trouble, uh, I'd like to train under you. You're the only one here that I know of who fights similarly to the way I do. You know, sword and magic. And even though I wont be projecting illusions anytime soon," he added, "I'm sure there's a lot more I can do not only with my swordsmanship, but my glove too. I told you before that my fiancee knew a lot about magic. She was actually a mage herself, and I got her to teach me some basic things for fun but...that was before I even had this thing to begin with. Anything I know now is just stuff I've managed to remember from back then, and of course I...I can't ask her about it now. You're the only one I can trust with regards to it, so I was hoping you'd be able to brush me up with the basics of magic sometime. I feel like there's more I'd be able to do with this magic if I just knew how, you know? Hell, even being more efficient with the magic I use would be a big help."

"I don't know how long you plan to stay with us, but if you could help me out for the duration, I'd really appreciate it."

[eclipse]

"I found out what that girl's problem was. Sort of. You ever seen what happens to someone that's come from a long history of abuse?" Raelyn asked pointedly.

[Nanami Touko]

"Then...how about right now? I think Caslan's going to be a bit longer, and I don't really know what else we could talk about. Let's flex some magical muscle, and make a good time of it!" She took hold of Elysia's hand, and brought her along outside. Of course, practicing magic right outside the inn would probably be a terrible idea, so she walked herself off to just outside the village, where Zeff and Hale seemed to be talking. "Hello over there, Zeff, Hale! Were you two practicing? Elysia and I were about to have ourselves a little bit of that, if you wanted to watch. Maybe give us some pointers on what we do wrong."

----------

"Aye, demons? Ya don't say? I can't say I've seen any, but I'm definitely old enough t'have heard tales! And they were real, ye're sure? Goodness gracious." Franklin sat himself back in his seat, blown away by this news. Demons, in this day and age? I know magic's a thing, but demons! Fairy tales springin' t'life! "And an entire town ye said? Maybe I signed onto the wrong group, ye all seem deep into business no one should be in. Bah, I won't run though, not unless I'm about t'die. Who is this one person, if I'm allowed to ask?"

Edited November 2, 2013 by I have opinions

[Ether]

It seemed that her immediate future had been decided for her, as Elysia was dragged outside, where is appeared another sparring pair had just concluded. Elysia could feel the hanging air of light that was about the area, it would seem that magic had been involved in the last fight as well.

Though it was odd, she didn't recall any of the group she had joined using light magic, yet there were traces of it coming from not one, but both of the combatants.

"I didn't know we had a light practitioner... I don't recall seeing any in the last fight."

[Snike]

"I suppose," Hale mentioned, at the not impossible remark. "As for the training, that could be feasible. As you already know, I am not sure how long I'll be with the group, but I'll try my best. The basics should be easy enough."

The half-elf was going to continue by starting off with some remarks about the magics, but Linn -along with the the elven ice mage- arrived and asked if they had been practicing. Then she offered to allow them to watch the two elves practice. Meanwhile, her soon-to be spar opponent made a remark about not knowing that the Harriers had light magic users.

"Yes, we were. And I might just do that," Hale responded to Linn. Then, he turned to the relatively new mercenary. "I was in the inn during your battle. That might've been why you didn't sense anything outside."

[Vestige]

"Very well. Any amount of help is much appreciated. Who knows, in due time I might be able to beat you even with those illusions." he said jokingly. Well in truth, he wouldn't mind being able to beat Hale, but that was something for the future. He had a lot of training to go before that was going to happen, that was for sure.

Before he could ask Hale a couple more things, Linn and Elysia arrived, so he refrained from doing so and instead responded to Linn. "Yeah, just a little sword fighting. Since I'm here though, I'll stick around and watch, but I can't say I'll be able to give you any tips. You'd best ask Hale for those," he shrugged.

[Rothene]

Without wasting anymore time, Conan led Sayina to the inn as fast as his halfling legs could run. As soon as the two of them reached the inn, the halfling knight spotted Zeke not too far away from Adari and pointed, "There he is! That pretty boy over there!"

[Nanami Touko]

"Yeah, Hale uses light magic, though... It's weird, but it feels like there's more here than there should be if you two were just sword fighting. You shouldn't be so hard on him, Hale! Really now," Linn assumed, walking over to the two, with Elysia in tow. Upon getting closer, Linn noticed Zeff wearing a gauntlet. Wide eyed, she quickly hopped over to check it. "What's this lovely accessory? Does it do anything for you? It looks really cool! Where'd you get it?" She almost wanted to reach out and grab it, but she knew better than to just start fondling someone's possession...at least while they were wearing it.

[Vestige]

"It's okay, I asked him to duel me using magic," he said rather plainly. But Linn's suddenly getting closer to him startled him, and he jerked his hand back. Quickly composing himself, he replied "Does it do anything for me? Well yeah, it protects my sword arm. My father gave it to me a while back. Never thought I'd be seriously wearing it but here I am.

[Ether]

And once again with the dragging and the pulling. Linn immediately spouted off about Zeff's gauntlet, asking what it was for, a question which the man abruptly dodged with a generic answer. If the other mage couldn't feel it and this man wanted to hide the enchantment on his glove, it was not Elysia's place to mention it, after all... but with the traces of Hale's spell having been whisked away, that glove stood as the only remaining source of the lingering light in the area.

"It's good to have light users around... dark artists are a pain to deal with otherwise... so long as they're good, that is."

[Nanami Touko]

"Well, uhm," Linn said, a bit startled by Zeff's quick recoil, "could I see it? It's really interesting, and I know it's weird, but I like to...well, handle interesting things. I'll give it back right away, I promise. Please?"

[Vestige]

With the glove having been just re-enchanted not even an hour ago, Zeff was rather apprehensive about letting anyone sans Hale have a look at it. Especially another mage. "Sorry, I really don't like people touching my stuff." He contemplated leaving, but he did want to watch the two mages have a go at it, so he remained in place. However, he was now slightly more wary of Linn.

Maybe some other time, but..." he trailed off.

[Ether]

"Uhh... Linn?" Elysia noted, bracing herself. At the very least, she could try and stop the woman before she inevitably attempted to drag the elf forward again.

"Shouldn't we get started? They did finish sparring already, they probably don't want to wait all day." Elysia continued, giving Zeff a wink as she motioned towards her grip on Linn's hand.

'I know all too well what it feels like to want people not to pry... I don't know what the enchantment on that glove is, but if he wants to keep it secret, it's his choice.'

[Nanami Touko]

"Hmph. Fine, I guess," said Linn, slightly indignant that she couldn't even get to see a gauntlet, of all things. "I was just curious because I thought I felt some light magic coming from you. I guess Hale hit you harder than he should have." Or he's hiding something, but unless I get my hands on that glove, I can't know. "Maybe some other time, indeed," she said, as she stuck her tongue out at the silly mercenary.

Feeling someone grab her hand, the someone turning out to be Elysia. Oh, so you're in cahoots with him now. Tricky, tricky. "Right, Elysia, let's get this magic show on the road. Oh, and this should be a given, but let's try not to cut each other up. I've got wind blades and you've got icicles so let's uh, just try to stick to blunt force magic. Don't want to show back up to the inn covered in holes." She backed herself up, took a deep breath, and got herself ready. "You get yourself ready."

[spoiler=Linn]

Level 1/1 Elf Dancer

Inventory: Offense Tome C (anima, air), Defense armor C
Skills: Tome Slayer

Encourage (T1): May buff a stat of one combat team by tier+1
Raw Stats: HP: 6 STR: 0 MAG: 8 SKL: 7 SPD: 9 LCK: 4 DEF: 2 RES: 5
Simplified Stats: HP: 18 MT: 13 (8) HIT: 9 AS: 9 AVO: 11 DEF: 7 (2) RES: 5

[Vestige]

It was just one surprise after another. Elysia's wink was rather odd. He wasn't sure he had ever spoken to her, so he wasn't sure what it was about. Unless...shit. Obviously, she was a mage, and if Linn's words were any indication, while Linn might not be able to adequately sense it, Elysia apparently had done so rather easily. Still, it seemed she was keeping quiet about it so that was good.

But Linn..."Yeah...Hale's quite skilled with his magic." She obviously was sensing something, but thankfully Hale's magic was a good enough excuse. He was going to have to be a lot more cautious around her. Around a lot of the mages actually.

What a bother...

Edited November 3, 2013 by Vestige

[Ether]

"Right..." Elysia replied... that was a strike for a full out assault, she supposed... probably for the best. Taking a few steps back and readying a spell, she looked Linn in the eye.

"Good luck, Linn." Elysia noted, before firing off a barrage of snow and hail... which the agile dancer promptly evaded.

http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4284026/

[Nanami Touko]

Linn wasn't expecting their fight to start that quickly, as a blast of snow and cold shot past her. She'd barely managed to spin herself out of the way, launching off a counter that wasn't anywhere near the strength she'd wanted. Alright... How about this, then? She quickly spun around again, whilst performing a few moves with her arms and legs. Despite almost falling on her ass, she managed to complete the quick dance, and shot off another gale of wind at Elysia. While it wasn't anywhere near as strong as she'd wanted, it was enough to knock the woman down.

"Ha...ha... How's that?" she shouted, catching her breath, and laughing slightly. I can't believe I actually beat her! That book was amazing...