The gold that pierces all.

https://www.fairytail-rp.com/t29116-obsidian-gold

The day was young, around nine, the sun was shining down brightly, nary a cloud in the sky. News had spread all around the nearby towns about the legendary dragon in the mountains, a dragon of a specialized gold. The scales of this dragon are capable of cutting with the strength of obsidian, and because of the combination of aesthetic and practical qualities make the Dragon's scales a commodity highly sought after by many Fiore Wizards. Rumor has it that certain legendary weapons were made with the scales of this dragon.  

"When this job was announced, many have tried to reach the dragon, however only few were seen again, and only a select bunch lived. As time passed, the possibility seemed dimmer, so the reward was raid slowly over the course of a century to keep motivation, tales were made of the Dragon's strength, even some exagurated him as having the strength of a god. Eventually, the need to hype up the job was over as it earned it's status as a 100 year job." Luna read out loud from her Ilac to her blonde android companion as the two were walking up the base of the mountain path. The Android nodded, taking in the information. "Sounds tough, and perfect, one job with enough hype to restore our names and enough funds for you to solve the problem with both sisters."


Luna sighed, and remembered the reasoning both former guild masters decided to finally take on such a large endeavor. "Yes, well, after both of us were being used as fall girls for a plot to shut down guilds for profit by making us look incompetent, I frankly don't care about reputation. But you are right, unfortunately I need the money for both my sisters, Zina's got accepted into an excellent school close to River village, about ninety minutes by horse ride and five by boat. Also then, Solaris, well, got into big trouble, mass damage this time. The bail isn't cheap this time, even for a wizard."  Amelia looked over at the fairy concerned. "Can you explain to me again what it was she did?"

Luna reached into her shoulder bag and unfolded a list. "According to reports, she got drunk with a few lumber haulers, charges include public nuisance, public indecency, and arson resulting in damaging half a yard of lumber. To compensate for the materials, the drunken employees were fired." Luna put the list away. "Yeah, that might be a few big jewels to fix. I assume the financial reason is why you are dealing with this and not your mother?"

Luna nodded. "Yeah, usually it was easy to bail her out cause Solaris never really damaged anyone, but this, was way too far for my mother to acquire the funds. Granted she never killed anyone, worst thing she ever did to a living being was singe off eyebrows. Granted I am far from happy with her, but family is family."

The two kept walking up the mountain, awaiting whatever dangers where in store for them.

WC 536

Walking along a rocky mountain trail while wearing her signature green-and-gold outfit along with Argent Gloves on her hands and Silver Longsword on her left hip, Leona slowly and carefully traversed a rocky mountain range she had never been in before in a place called Tera Ignis. The Wizard Saint made it a point to avoid spending too much time in mountains because of her acrophobia, but on this day she had a very good reason to set aside her phobia. There was a dragon here that needed to be slain, but this was no run-of-the-mill storybook dragon who burned thatch-roof cottages and slept on a hoard of gold coins the size of Earthland. This dragon was a special variety made out of a special glass-like stone that could cut like obsidian while possessing formidable defensive qualities.

Even an amateur scientist like Leona could see the value in harvesting some of that material for study. If she were able to pull it off, she could do research in earnest and possibly even contribute to the guild's mission of advancing magical knowledge. Aside from the motive of knowledge, Leona had another reason for undertaking this perilous mission to an unknown region.

Leona had experienced a low point in her life when she was late to the scene of two massacres in Desierto during a mission undertaken with her older brother Leonidas. She lost morale and wondered if she even deserved the title of Wizard Saint if she could not save innocent lives when they needed her the most. Through a series of frank questions that challenged her morose viewpoint Leonidas built her back up enough for her to complete the mission and prove to the world that she deserved the title of Wizard Saint.

Taking on and defeating a dragon made of an obsidian-like material would prove to the world and herself that she deserved the prestigious title she carried. While beating up bandits helped the people of Earthland in more ways than one, detractors could argue that Leona only took fights against opponents that she could easily overpower. With the defeat of this dragon the blonde would prove that she could fight 100-Year-level threats as well as poorly armed and organized bandit gangs.

However, Leona would not be undertaking this challenging endeavor alone. She would be working with both the Guildless mage Luna Mira and Hero Yamamoto of the fairly new Legal guild Dies Irae. She had heard of both mages and knew that they were of a respectable power level, but she had not yet met Hero in person. She would have to meet Hero and take his measure before forming an opinion on him.

Getting a little tired from the pace at which she traveled and more than a little nervous about being in a mountain range, the Wizard Saint of Courage paused in place and made sure that no one was behind her before trying to touch her toes. She did not want to give other travelers a look at her backside. Her legs were threatening to cramp on her and there was still plenty of mountain range to go before the trio of intrepid mages would find their quarry. Leona sat down on the rocky ground and stretched her legs again before the sheer discomfort of her gravelly seat forced her up. She brushed off the small rocks and fine dust that had clung to the back of her skirt and decided to keep moving in case Luna and Hero had already met up and were waiting on her to get there.

Leona made it a point to stay away from the edge as she walked along the trail. Even now her fear of heights was gnawing at her, but as long as she stayed away from the ledge she could keep it under control. Leona would need that control because the dragon they were going to fight lived in this range and she did not have the luxury of becoming paralyzed with fear during the battle.

[Post Word Count: 682]
[Leona's Word Count: 682/8,000]

Making pace on the path, Amelia began to see something ahead, and her lacrima eyes began to focus ahead to make out the forms of two humanoids, a male and a female. She restored her focus to normal, blinking twice as she readjusted. While she had sight stronger then human eyes, her eyes still weren't binoculars and not meant to be used as such. "Lulu, looks like our company is just ahead. So what do we know about them again?"

Luna nodded as she was expecting this encounter at some point or another. Since no one even tried to suggest meeting at the base, it was assumed that everyone would meet up on the path as they are now. "Yes, we aren't alone in taking this job, if I recall, there is a Wizard Saint and Master of an independent guild. The other, is from a, military based guild." Luna said, there was a hint of dismay at the end. Amelia didn't wish to comment on her tone, she understood that Luna was naturally opposed to a highly disciplined organization like a military, as there was little room for individuality in a uniform structure.

Luna was scanning her person, aside from the shoulder bag, she had her fire whip holstered to her side, the dark twin blades of Zygmunt on her back, and the gem of the Lightning Dragon's eye on her left middle finger. She stared at the gem for a moment. "This might be our best bet against the dragon. Since this was made with Dragon Slayer magic anyways, but yeah, looks like everything is ready just in case. You ready?"

Amelia nodded to the Nature fairy, who in turn took a deep breath. Since the two ahead were a fair distance, she figured the best way to proceed was to skip the distance in the safest and quickest method. "Alright, running is dangerous. I'll wing jump over, you lightning body it."

Amelia nodded in acknowledgement. Luna took off her shoulder bag for a moment as she partially transformed, a skill that she had been developing for a while where she cam extend her translucent shimmering wings in her human form. She sped up for a few seconds before lightly jumping, and her wings caused her to gently glide through the air closing the gap between them landing a few meters behind.  Meanwhile the Gynoid's body seemed to glow before it converted itself into a mass of electricity, that then sped on a path, often taking twists and turns but landed beside Luna as she assumed her form.

Luna's wings retracted back into her body as she walked towards the two. "Damn this is painful, even when I don't let it all out it gets awkward to retract them." Amelia rolled her eyes, fully aware of the thoughts of Luna through the link they share. "Lulu, you forgot to disconnect, you pervert." Luna, taking the high road and not acknowledging the telepathic remark she focused on the two wizards before them.

"Hello Saint Jarnefelt, Mr. Yamamoto. I am Lunaris Mira, but just call me Luna for short." She gestured towards the blonde next to her, before trying to figure out how to introduce the Gynoid. "This is, uh..." However Amelia stepped up, seeing the awkwardness Luna was suffering. "Amelia Thorn, a female android, or Gynoid. I am bound to Luna by organic link, as such I didn't register myself as the law goes back and forth between recognizing me as a person or property." Luna was starting to feel awkward as she doesn't really know what to say to that. "We really need to work on a story to tell other people. This is just getting, awkward every time I hear it."

Luna returned her focus back to the other two mages. "Anyways, glad to meet both of you, especially for a job of this magnitude."

WC 648
TWC 1184

Leona was wondering if Luna Mira and Hero Yamamoto were further up the trail and waiting around for her to finally get a move on and meet up with them. She wanted to get going but something kept her from moving on, namely being around the edge of the mountain. Just looking at the scenery below made her stomach churn and do flips. She was far away from the danger zone but she was still nervous because of her acrophobia, which had developed in Desierto a long time ago. It all started when she and her brother went to check out a source of water for the village over ten years ago.

When Leona was eight years old she and her brother Leonidas were climbing a mountain when her brother grabbed her by the waist and playfully threatened to throw her over the side. He whirled her around and slipped on a loose rock, accidentally throwing her to the ground near the edge. Leona tumbled for three full revolutions, teetered just long enough to give her hope that she would not fall, and went over the side, but by some miracle her brother grabbed her right ankle just in time to prevent a fatal fall. Unfortunately for her she got a good look at the ground below and the vast desert surrounding the mountain while waiting to be pulled to safety. Ever since that day she was deeply afraid of heights except when flying on the back of her Winged Lion summon.

Leona finally looked away from the ledge and wondered what she was thinking when she took a job that took her into a mountain range to fight a dragon on its home turf. Then she remembered that she was out here to possibly get a sample of the "golden glass" that composed the dragon's scales and to prove to the world that she deserved the title of Wizard Saint of Courage. It was at that moment when she felt another magic signature and turned to her left to look for its source. The source was a mage with light green hair in a white military uniform that was a bit on the gaudy side.

He had introduced himself as Hero Yamamoto. Leona thought she recognized that name. Back when she had first started out as a mage she had heard loose talk of a mage who could empower his punches to defeat almost any adversary. However, the pugilist mage had faded from the spotlight until he receded into myth... until his recent re-emergence as part of Dies Irae. She knew very little about him but knew that despite his weaker magic signature Hero was not to be taken lightly.

"Yes, I'm Leona Jarnefeldt. It's nice to meet you, Hero Yamamoto." Leona said while walking over towards the uniformed male mage. She stopped in front of him and offered a gauntlet-covered hand in greeting. Moments later a pink-haired female mage arrived on shimmering wings that retracted into her back, a trait which drew the blonde's attention. The youth looked familiar and got Leona to thinking. Where had she seen a pink-haired mage before?

Silver Wolf Guild Hall.

Leona had met a young woman just like the new arrival several months ago. The blonde was struggling to remember her name when it was provided for her. The pink-haired mage was named Lunaris Mira, or Luna for short. Accompanying her was a blonde "Gynoid" named Amelia Thorn who was a companion of Luna's currently trapped in legal limbo regarding her status as human or as property. Leona was not sure what to make of Amelia's story, but the name "Luna" certainly sounded familiar.

"Hi Luna. Hi Amelia. It's nice to meet you both." Leona greeted them with a wave of her right hand. She was silently relieved that she was not late to meet up with her teammates for this job before traveling further into the mountains in search of the dragon. Hero and Luna's help would be needed because this would be the first time Leona had ever fought a dragon.

[Post Word Count: 702]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,384/8,000]

Luna was nervous, she knew that she can't avoid the past forever but she did not want to confess to Leona some, unsavory facts just yet. She remember that she tried to join Silver Wolf, but disappeared soon after due to an, unfortunate incident. Amelia picked up on the feelings, after spending time with Luna organically  linked, she didn't even need to look to know what Luna was feeling. Amelia only glanced at Luna with a concerned look. "Lulu, you gotta tell her, the guilt is eating at you. I'm sure she'll understand, you only did what you had to."

Luna didn't respond telepathically, Amelia understood Luna's silence on the matter, and decided not to push her any further for now. For she remembered all too well what happened. Luna agreed with Hero about walking and discussing capabilities. She looked at Hero, his life force was brimming with energy, in terms of energy he appeared on the same level as Luna. However, glancing at Leona, she felt a massive amount of power, she knew that she was no match for the saint, she hoped to stay on her good side.

Luna closed her eyes, opened her senses and she could not sense the dragon, but there were a few vibrant animal life signs, however she couldn't interpret more from a distance. To break any possible tension, Luna and Amelia decided to go first. "I am a Nature Fairy, I was born human, but my fairy genes were suppressed but overtook my human, keeping my human like form is just the remnants of my humanity. I have control over plant life, I can persuade most animal life, and I specialize in healing. My healing capabilities are stronger then average, I can revive the recent dead, as long as their head and heart are still connected."

Luna paused for a moment, taking a quick breath after halfway explaining her abilities. Figuring best to continue explaining at this point. "Lastly, to compensate for my lack of combat focused skills I can call on spirits from another world, with combat abilities ranging from close to long range, most powerful of which is a Dragon of Life and Chaos, who can essentially suck the life out of things and use the essence of life for a chaotic blast. However, he's not the Forest Beyond the Horizon's embodiment of Chaos for nothing, he killed the last Nature Fairy he was bound with, he lacks allegiance, all he wants is to destroy. He once tried to drown me in the middle of a frozen lake with a punctured lung."

Luna stopped, then nodded to Amelia with a glance to let her know she was done. "My abilities stem from my two cores, one of which is a shard of a Legendary Lightning Lacrima, the other the most complex Lacrima in the world made of evolving Archive magic, and I have talents in both schools of Magic. I have immense control of Lightning, I can alter it's properties to freeze, pierce, and even take on the Lightning of Gods and Demons. To top it off, I even know the rare technique of Lightning Body, where I can convert my ability into lightning. As far as Archive goes, I can repair items to a previous state if I understand the item, can be used on people but is highly risky. I do have the ability to copy one spell I see, and Link up to twenty people telepathically. However I learned to give both telepathic and text options for that. Lastly, I can transfer wounds to and from my owner-"

Luna smacked Amelia in the back of the head. She hated to be referred to as an owner. "After the whole deal with Neptuna nearly making me look like a slave owner I am not going to restart that again with a sentient Gynoid. I am trying not to look like a slave owner again. As far as I am concerned the laws of Fiore can go to hell as I don't see you as anyone's property."

Amelia shrugged, however she did understand Luna's feelings. She knew that Luna did everything possible to make Amelia feel like she wasn't just a tool, and Amelia knew all too well that Luna hated slavery. "Sorry, force of habit. Anyways, I can transfer wounds too and from Luna through the Organic Link we share."

WC 732
TWC 1916

Leona had been so busy listening to Hero and Luna talk while cautiously looking at the mountain scenery that she had spaced out on them. That was utterly embarrassing for her, a Wizard Saint in whom the people of Earthland had invested their hope and trust. If they learned that the Wizard Saint of Courage was prone to spacing out at random times, the people of Earthland and the Magic Council might lose faith in her and might appoint a new Wizard Saint, one who could focus on the present without getting distracted. Leona returned to reality and recalled what her esteemed companions for this adventure had told her.

Leona had heard most of what Luna had to say when the pink-haired mage gave a brief explanation of what she brought to the table for this job, which was quite a bit. Luna had control over plant life and had the ability to persuade most animals to do as she requested. She could also heal people; she even possessed the coveted ability to revive the recently deceased, provided that their head and heart were still connected and not structurally compromised by mutilation of any kind. That impressive skillset was geared for support purposes, but Luna had a lot more support capability than Leona did.

Leona recalled that Luna informed them that she could also call upon spirits from another world to be her muscle. She spoke of the double-edged nature of her strongest spirit, a Dragon of Life and Chaos. It could drain the life essence from things to power a very strong attack, but in keeping with the name "Chaos" it had no solid allegiance to her and sometimes tried to harm Luna. The example given was the drgon trying to drown Luna in a frozen lake, an example which made the blonde shudder thanks to her own near-death by drowning in the cistern underneath the Abandoned Cabin. The Wizard Saint was glad that the worst thing that her summons could do to her was insult her fashion sense or make fun of her lack of friends.

Amelia then stepped in to describe her own array of abilities, which were as impressive as Luna's. The key to this variety of powers was her two cores; one of them was a Legendary Lightning Lacrima and the other was "Evolving Archive" Magic. Together these two cores granted Amelia abilities that included but were not limited to immense control of Lightning which allowed the alteration of its properties to freeze, pierce, and even take on the Lightning of Gods and Demons. Amelia even knew the rare technique of Lightning Body, where she can convert her ability into lightning. That in itself was impressive enough, but Archive Magic added a new layer of versatility to the female.

Archive Magic permitted her to repair items to a previous state if she understand the item. It could also be used on people for emergency medical care, but doing so entailed a great deal of risk with no guarantee of the procedure working as intended. Last but certainly not least, Amelia could copy one spell she saw and link up to twenty people telepathically for instantaneous non-verbal communication. Leona could see why Luna and Amelia had gotten winded during the explanation of what each of them could offer to the team.

"Those are some impressive abilities that you and Amelia have, Luna. I'm glad that you're with us because we'll need a good support mage if we're gonna fight a dragon." Leona complimented Luna and by extension Amelia. Just because the pink-haired mage was not yet capable of the raw power output of herself or Hero did not mean that Luna had nothing to offer. On the contrary, Luna could bring a lot to the table and help fill in gaps that Leona and Hero had in their skillsets.

"I'm not anywhere as versatile as Luna or Amelia, but I can offer summons that can fly us around to either attack from multiple angles or to rescue us if we get knocked off the side of the mountain. As long as the dragon's not invulnerable to Wind magic, I can hit it with a few Wind spells that pack a punch." Leona brought her admittedly modest offerings to the table. In comparison to the banquet of support powers laid out by Luna and Amelia, the Wizard Saint had only brought crumbs. Still, Leona could hold her own in a fight. So could Hero, the master of a special pugilist magic that could bring even the strongest adversaries to their knees.

Leona turned to Hero, who had warned them that they were not the only ones on the mountain. What did he mean? Her attention completely focused now, Leona turned to Hero and asked him.

"What do you mean? Will we be fighting wildlife... or something a lot worse?" Leona asked Hero. With the near-certain possibility of having to fight to reach the dragon, she was not going to space out anymore.

[Post Word Count: 856]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,558/8,500]
[Total Word Count: 2,772]

Luna made careful notes of Leona's skill set, and Luna was impressed with the guild master. By the sheer magic energy and capacity she possessed that it would be a valuable asset in the long term of this mission. However Luna was concerned however about the elemental match up when Leona mentioned the fact at the end of her description of her own capabilities. From what information was available about the Dragon, having qualities of gold and obsidian, as well as depictions being on the hefty side she believed there would be reasonable possibility that there would be resistance. "If Legend and scarce tales hold true, the Dragon might indeed hold some resistance to wind. Depictions say he isn't exactly on the petite side and his body does have obsidian qualities. Normal Dragon weighs about 2700 pounds give or take so adjusting for obsidian this dragon could weigh..."

Luna was mentally trying to estimate the answer, but her Gynoid companion managed to figure out the math well in advance. Luna had a habit of trying to use her own mind instead of Amelia's mind which was made from an advanced computation form of Archive Magic.  "Above average Dragon with scales as tough as depictions portray, roughly 4,500 Pounds. So in mass alone it can probably resist most wind based spells." She casually admitted. Luna couldn't find anything wrong with the math and chose to leave it at that.

When the dangers before the dragon were mentioned, Luna took a moment to close her eyes before she would calm her breathing and mind. She opened her mind and let her sixth sense pick up on the life on the mountain. While she could sense the edge of the monstrous presence of the Obsidian gold dragon at the summit of the mountain, she focused on the smaller specs in between trying to take as many mental notes as possible before opening her eyes again. "I can sense mostly scarce plant life and small critters with a small number of larger predators. However there are indeed a number of humans, since we're at such a distance I can't be more specific, especially as we get closer to the dragon. Dragons of it's level have such a large life force that they can actually overshadow others."

Luna was starting to grow concerned for the long term application of the job, figuring that if there might be challenges along the way the least she could do was make things easier for the endgame by giving the party details to start to form a battle plan. She held out her hand as a pink liquid oozed out of the palm of her hand before gathering together into a droplet. Luna tossed it onto the ground and it burrowed itself underground. A moment later a twisted root shut out of the ground and unwound itself part way forming a small platform before a pink magic circle appeared rotating on it.


"I can upon he with wings of the winds and sight of endless bounds, come forth Arken!" The owl spirit came flying out of the circle and flew circles around the party before Luna held out her left arm for the owl spirit to land on. "This is Arken, his skill set is purely recon and delivering messages in emergency situations, and he's one of the best at it. He doesn't speak except for telepathic images of what he sees." Luna introduced the spirit to the group, the spirit gazed right at Leona with it's glowing eyes, occasionally twitching it's neck. "Arken, long story short we're going to slay a rather large dragon on top of the mountain, can you scout things out there for us please?"

The owl nodded and jumped flapping his wings before taking flight again in circle, before suddenly bursting in speed and flying upwards at a rapid speed making a hoot noise along the way. Amelia watched as the bird flew away. "That's one odd bird, just how many spirits do you got bonds with anyways? You already got two princesses, a wooden alcoholic, a damn fine green wolf, and the draconic personification of chaos of life. Now an owl?"

Luna coyly smiled back at the Gynoid. "Got a problem with any more surprises?" Amelia shrugged as she started to continue walking with Luna right behind. Amelia knew that her partner was a long story, but sometimes she found it way too frustrating to deal with at times.  "You're too much of a mystery Luna, I mean I can't even figure out which name to call you sometimes. Luna, Lunaris, LuShirain, then the fact that you're a fairy but most of your siblings are human and your half sister is a fairy, but the other half of that sister is dragon, I swear if you have any more mystery to you I am just going to write your autobiography to make a killing off of it."

WC 824
TWC 2740

The member 'Luceam' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Monster Dice' :

Leona listened to Luna and Amelia do a lot of number crunching on the dragon they would be facing and was confronted with a lot of numbers pertaining to the weight and mass of the legendary beast. The short version of all the number crunching was that due to its gargantuan mass her Wind spells would only inconvenience it because it was simply too heavy to be shoved around. With that revelation the blonde felt more than a little upset. Leona had come here to help slay the dragon and prove to all of Earthland that the Wizard Saint of Courage could do more than beat up bandits. She wanted to prove that she could take on large-scale threats as well as more mundane dangers.

Leona frowned for a moment because with her mainstay Wind spells being rendered less effective against the bulky reptile her greatest use to Luna would be as a distraction. Then the blonde realized that she did not need to take front and center in every adventure. Sometimes playing a supporting role to others who were more qualified to take on the task at hand was the best way to be helpful. The blonde's mind did something dangerous and began to think critically. Just because she could not shove the dragon around like a rag doll did not mean that her spells were totally useless against it. She would have to be a bit more selective about what parts of its body she targeted instead of mindlessly aiming for center mass like she always did.

Then Leona's mind began to turn against her and tear down what self-confidence she had managed to restore.

If the dragon had glass-like scales comparable to obsidian, its entire body might be made of the substance. Targeting the eyes or the soft area inside its jaws might not work if its entire body was composed of a material that was highly resistant to Wind spells. In that case she would have to try a different approach, but what could she use against the beast?

Leona had no idea. What she did know was that due to their combination of intellect and power Luna and Amelia would be the key to defeating the dragon. They could think faster and in more far-reaching ways than Leona could. Leona then had a new thought that built her back up again. If she could get the pair to the dragon intact, that was how she could meaningfully contribute to completing the job.

Luna had commented that she had sensed the presence of plant life and small creatures plus a small number of larger predatory animals. The pink-haired mage could also detect the presence of humans, but their exact number eluded her due to a combination of distance and the presence of the dragon. However, the closer they got to their quarry the easier it would be to tally the number of humans in their immediate area. Leona watched as Luna summoned an owl named Arken from a pink magic circle created by a root she had made from a pink liquid that came from the palm of her hand. The owl took flight from the pink-haired mage's arm and Luna explained that Arken was a spirit that was geared for recon; Arken would be a big help in smoothing the way for Leona, Luna, and Amelia to reach the dragon that was their quarry.

Leona thought of bringing out her Pharoah Owl Summon but decided against it because Arken would be more than enough. Leona's thoughts then turned to the large brown bear that had rushed to within six meters of her and barred the way. It stood on its hind legs and roared, causing Leona to shriek before drawing her Silver Longsword and preparing to fight the ursine menace. Unimpressed with the puny armed human standing before it, it dropped to all fours and closed the distance, then stood on its hind legs again, raised a paw and swatted downward at the blonde. Leona jumped back and narrowly avoided having her chest cut by its razor-sharp claws; she retaliated by quickly darting in and giving it a quick and shallow diagonal cut across the chest, but that weak attack only pissed it off.

She quickly took six hops back and had barely completed a seventh when it rushed at her on all fours with killing intent. Leona stood her ground, put her left index and middle fingers together, and pointed them at the brown bear before focusing silver magic into her fingertips and firing a Silver Tempest spell. The silver horizontal tornado fired from her fingertips hit it squarely in the face and stopped it in its tracks; its forward momentum caused it to slide on the ground until its nose touched Leona's feet.

"I took care of that one, but there's likely more where he came from. We need to watch out for more hostile wildlife on the trail." Leona suggested to Luna and Amelia, wiping the bloody sword on the fur of the deceased animal and putting the weapon away. She stepped away from the animal and took a deep breath. While the brown bear was an unpleasant surprise that could have ruined her day, she had managed to defeat it without too much effort thanks to the use of a Silver Tempest spell. While it would have been more prudent to save the use of her big-ticket spells for use against the dragon, Leona's priority was making sure that Luna and Amelia reached the dragon in the best possible shape they could be in. Clearing the way for Luna and Amelia was how the Wizard Saint of Courage would make slaying the dragon possible.

[Post Word Count: 953]
[Leona's Word Count: 2,511/12,500]

Luna could sense that the Wizard Saint was disgruntled during the time she and Amelia were trying to analyze and match up the prospect of wind magic against the dragon from a pure elemental standpoint. However Luna had assumed Leona was well aware that this was not going to be a good match up for her given the fact that legend said the dragon's body was too heavy to be able to obtain enough lift to soar through the sky. Although in all fairness, Luna and Amelia were unsure whether or not the Dragon was going to be weak to electricity considering it had the properties of gold, but the scales of the dragon were thick.

She felt bad that she might have made the wizard saint feel useless even for a moment, she was grateful for the support on the job. However Luna sensed the approach of a bear closing in on them, however as she was about to try and talk down the animal but was startled by the shrieking of the wizard saint. Luna said nothing as she did not want to distract Leona and being the cause of her getting hurt, but when the bear was within sight Luna was able to commune with the bear. "Must, collect food, little ones need food, food in sight, must hunt."

However it broke her heart a bit to see the bear lose their life trying to find food for their child. After Leona was done with the bear, Luna approached the fallen bear and got onto her knees. "I could have talked her down. I can commune with animals, and you just slayed a starving mother desperate to feed her children." She rubbed the snout of the bear feeling bad for the animal, however since she was able to get to the fallen animal quickly, she was still able to save their life. The bear's body was encased in a soft pink glow for a few seconds as Luna was casting Nature's mercy, causing the wounds of the animal to close up as the animal slowly stood back up, whimpering.

"I apologize for her roughness, you did scare us, we don't want to cause you harm but we don't want to be dinner, sorry. Go in peace, we don't wish you any further harm." The brown bear would respond by licking Luna's face, Luna giggled slightly towards the affection of the bear before it would slowly walk away from the group. Luna pulled out a cloth from her pocket and stood up as she wiped her face. "Animals really do love you. Although in all fairness I would kiss anyone that brought me back from death. Are you sure that was wise though?"

Luna stood back up and folded the cloth and stuck it back in her pocket."A little compassion goes a long way. As a Nature Fairy of the Vishda faith, it woul be wrong to let the bear die when it would serve no purpose. Unless anyone wanted bear meat and a fur coat." Amelia wanted to jokingly admit she did, but narrowly managed to hold her tongue on the subject. "Alright, we should probably keep going while we still have Daylight, any signal from Arken?" Amelia said as she started to walk back with Luna not far behind. "Not yet."

Feeling bad about how she might have come off earlier towards the Wizard Saint, Luna figured best to apologize before things would have time to fester. "Leona, about a few minutes ago, sorry, Amelia and I did not mean to belittle you in any way if that's how we came off when we were talking about the Dragon's potential resistance to Wind Magic. Just, well when you take power and skill level out of the equation, the sheer mashup of wind against Earth or heavy metal is quite clear. While neither side has the advantage, wind is too fast for Heavy Metal and Earth too sturdy for wind, it's quite a standstill from an objective standpoint. Amelia and I are well aware that we would need your support all the way through this endeavor, especially with animals, crazy individuals, and Shirain knows what else is out there."

Amelia agreed with what Luna said, much to her chagrin that having a Wizard Saint might belittle their success as everything might be attributed to Leona once all is said and done. "Not to be offensive, but Luna, why does your religion have you use your own Mother's name when you are talking about your God, or technically Goddess, and put even more emphasis on the Matriarch with using your mother's name and first part of your own for a formal name?" Luna shrugged, she did not have all the answers herself either. "Vishda are a nomadic tribe of fairies that due to genetics have a strong propensity for female children over male so naturally there is a matriarchal system in place that also has a heavy precedence in our own faith as well. I mean we're not oppressive to men, but there are simply few males unless they are children that typically take on more attributes from another species if they are half breeds."

WC 867
TWC 3607

The member 'Luceam' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Monster Dice' :

After coming down from the adrenaline rush that was triggered by the unexpected encounter with the brown bear, Leona stood around awkwardly as Luna healed the bear she had killed. Leona felt embarrassed and more than a little upset by that. She could have just knocked it out, but instead she had resorted to lethal force right away. Leona remained silent and accepted the criticism Luna sent her way about killing a mother that could have been trying to feed its cubs. Leona was not going to lay down and die for it, but even she privately admitted that she could have handled the situation better than resorting to murder as the first solution.

Once the bear had been revived and shambled off on its way the Wizard Saint finally realized what Luna had meant by her earlier analysis of her Wind magic and the lioness suddenly had egg on her face. Her frown had made her look like a petulant child who could not handle the truth that Luna and Amelia had imparted. They were only telling her that the obsidian dragon could not be shoved around by Wind magic like her past opponents because it was too heavy to be moved in such a manner. Instead of Luna apologizing to her, the Wizard Saint should be apologizing to Luna for the implied insult. Leona paused in place for a moment before facing the pink-haired mage and speaking to her.

Leona owed the pink-haired mage an apology. She had mishandled the news about her magic and had mishandled the situation with the brown bear. However, the blonde did not want to come across as sounding insincere by being brief with it. Rather than trying to put some elaborate phrasing to it, The Wizard Saint decided to just be honest and direct.

"You didn't do anything wrong, Luna. In fact, I owe you an apology for earlier. I wasn't mad at you or Amelia for saying what you did. You were only telling the truth and were trying to warn me before we got into battle with it and I found out the hard way. I reacted poorly and I apologize for that." Leona apologized to Luna for the frown and the image it had created. It made Leona look like a person who could not handle unpleasant truths and a prima donna who had to have the central role in every job they were involved in. The Wizard Saint had to get a better handle on her emotions before they caused her trouble that she might not be able to get out of. However, that was easier said than done. As befitting someone named in honor of the lion, Leona had pride and wanted to prove to the world that she could handle the big challenges when they came up.

Leona would have to swallow her pride for this job because she would not be able to shove around the dragon like she would animal or human opponents. This job would be a team effort. Luna and Amelia would take charge of subduing the beast and Leona would work in a support role by doing whatever needed to be done to ensure the job succeeded. First, the trio had to reach the dragon. She would get the two of them to the dragon if she had to physically carry them both across the entire mountain trail.

"I'll get you and Amelia to the dragon no matter what. If we come across any more animals, I'll let you talk them down. If we come across any humans, I won't use lethal force on them." Leona assured Luna, the mishandling of the bear "attack" still in mind. Just a minute later a quartet of mages in black robes and white face masks came ambling up to them and seemed delighted by their find. Leona knew that they were looking to make a name for themselves by taking down a Wizard Saint.

"Looks like we have a couple of legal mages, boys! They're sure to be carrying a lot of money for us!" A tall mage said to his three colleagues. They gave various statements of agreement.

"We can't let you live. You see, we've got a good thing going here and keeping that good thing means we can't have witnesses reporting us to the authorities. We can't have those Rune Knights tromping around here, so you guys gotta go for good." Another one chimed in. Leona had had enough of this idle chatter. It was time to shut them up. Leona used a Zephyr Dash to close in with a careless Dark mage who was about to taunt them and hit the startled man with a Swift Palm to the chest followed by six rapid punches to the face, knocking him unconscious. The three mages still standing began casting their magic, which was Lightning magic.

A bolt of lightning flew just over Leona's head as she closed with the second man and hit him with a Mach Straight to the chest, staggering him just long enough to dodge another bolt of lightning hurled at her head. She ducked under it and hit the mage under the chin with a Mach Uppercut when he attempted to grab her with hands charged with electrical energy. He fell down and Leona was grabbed from behind by another one of the dark mages, who pinned her arms behind her back. The other dark mage hurried over to the two and placed his hands on Leona's chest before firing an electrical spell at point-blank range.

Leona screamed as her body was flooded with electricity. After the painful spell subsided she fell face-first to the ground, unable to move her arms or legs due to numbness. She felt herself being picked up by the arms and legs but could not do anything about it. She could not even call to Luna for help.

"Throw her over the side of the mountain!" The mage she had hit earlier ordered. Leona panicked. She was being carried close to the edge and there was nothing she could do to save herself. The Wizard Saint was deeply afraid of heights and was about to suffer an ironic death if the pink-haired mage did not intervene.

[Post Word Count: 1,044]
[Leona's Word Count: 3,555/12,500]

Luna was grateful that she and Amelia did not offend the the Wizard Saint, however she did not expect the saint to outright apologize. However both of the other girls could empathize with the Saint's predicament, sometimes magic types matching up poorly creates a bad situation resulting in the user needing either superior power or mind to fight back. Luna herself knew she wouldn't be effective against lava or extremely toxic foes, and Amelia had a lot of problems with a few types of magic from time to time herself.

Luna recognized the signs that Leona was merely unaware of how she came off, thus the reason she was able to remain calm and avoid feeling annoyed. Amelia however was impressed on how the Saint was handling the situation, recalling her own past experience with a saint. "Gotta admit, you're a bigger person then the last saint I met, granted that was fifty years ago and that guy was a brat. He tried to have me tried and executed because I killed one more demon then he did as he claimed that 'no woman or machine, especially both can ever beat a wizard saint', and tried to have the judge disqualify me for that reason and well, let's just say he wasn't a saint for long." Luna looked at Amelia with a confused stare. "And you said I was the one with too much mystery"

Amelia shrugged it off, trying to ignore the double standard she seemed to have put herself in. However she was glad that the Wizard Saint decided to take the front to allow Luna and Amelia to conserve their energy, to her it showed that she was a good team player which at the moment was critically important when hunting large creatures like a dragon.

Luna had a bad feeling in her gut when the trio was intercepted by a group of dark mages, but she had faith in Leona's abilities. Amelia did as well but she soon got skeptical as soon as she saw Leona strike the first dark mage. "I'd have gone either striking all of them or starting from behind the group. Otherwise you risk opening yourself to allow them time to form a counter." Luna reached to her back underneath her qipao as she loosened the straps on binding the dual bladed dark weapon Zygmunt on her back, preparing to draw if she had to step in but she trusted in the Wizard Saint, she had one of the mages fallen already and another soon after.

However when one of the standing wizards had grabbed her from behind before their accomplice soon followed through grabbing Leona by the chest, Luna didn't know whether or not that was honestly attacking or desperate chance for perversion. Luna could sense Leona's life full of fear, with a click of her tongue and walked forward. She kept her usual calm demeanor but there was a level of assertiveness in her tone."That's enough, you two, put her down on the mountain, gently, and walk away. Play nice and I'll let you have enough time to drag your friends with you, this offer ends at the countdown starting at three or you try anything else perverted or otherwise with her."

One of the Dark mages let out a laugh for a few seconds till he was out of breath, before signaling with his hand to the other to wait. "Really? Although gotta admit, she's got a slit tomboyish thing going on, think I'm in the mood for a real woman, make it worth my while and she's safe."

Luna's calm face turned slightly annoyed as she was trying to hold true to her terms. "Three." Amelia merely stood back wishing she had a bag of popcorn at this point. She knew Luna was no stranger to perverts and arrogant bachelors, and she was eager to see them refuse Luna's mercy.  

The dark wizards chuckled, not taking the threat with any seriousness as they swayed the body jokingly. Luna clenched her hand into a fist, clearly serious as she was preparing to channel her energy into the land around her. "Two." Luna walked forward as she closed the distanced to stand a few meters away. The dark mages weren't taking Luna with any seriousness, considering that Leona seemed to go down without much trouble, they had assumed anyone with the Saint would be less of a challenge."One."


Soon after, Luna channeled her energy through the ground in a small burst, yellow mushrooms with green spots seemed to suddenly sprout out of the ground and mountainside as she cast her Shroom Gloom spell. The Dark Mages were shocked at first but both soon started to laugh, disregarding the seriousness of the spell. "Oh no, mushrooms! What's next, gonna get in the kitchen and make us a salad? You know what, make it a sandwich, you might be better there then on the battlefield." He said before he would stomp on one of the mushrooms, but it exploded, causing a chain reaction in all the mushrooms creating a cloud of yellow dust. "Toss her clear of the river for this!" The men were coughing and they were about to throw Leona over the edge, as they pulled her back to try and get enough force, they slowed down as they seemed to stop moving as the paralysis affect was starting to kick in. Luna walked over and grabbed Leona's shocked and most likely paralyzed body, getting her free of the grip of both men. "Well, I tried being reasonable, remember that you two. But you sick bastards decided to grope and subject someone to fear, howabout I return the favor, nature's law is if you want to hunt prepare to get hunted, so consider this the same level. Sorry for this Leona."

Luna had kicked one man off the cliff and used Leona's body to push the other man off, letting them fall off the mountain into the river bellow. Amelia soon walked over to help carry Leona free of the spores range and stopped to put Leona down. Luna was on her knees as she put her hands gently down on Leona's chest where she was grabbed; recalling that she was attacked with electric magic so she took care to gently rub any burnt areas instead of applying pressure to avoid any harm. Her hands glowed a soft pink before Leona's body would be coated in a soft pink glow healing any damage from the wounds and sending a calming and soothing sensation throughout her body.

"Leona, sorry about the delay, was trying to avoid harming you in the process of saving you. people tend to underestimate those that don't run into danger suddenly and by making the best of the parts of my magic that appear weak then it is I can usually get the upper-hand on mages like those. Those shrooms were actually a forgotten explosive mushroom that humans drove to extinction simply because it only paralyzed humans. Also by the way avoid lying, this spell shuts off whenever someone lies."

WC 1187
TWC 4794

Unable to do anything but watch herself be carried towards nearly certain death thanks to the paralyzing magic of the dark mages, Leona had plenty of time to bask in the magnitude of her failure. Not only had she managed to look like a violent mage and a petulant child who could not handle harsh truths, but now she looked like a failure of a Wizard Saint for getting subdued by a single electric spell from dark mages. This day kept getting worse and worse and unless Luna intervened it would culminate in Leona being thrown off a cliff to almost certain death. Leona could hear people laughing at her as the end approached. Spectral Kasim was among them... he was likely enjoying the idea of Leona's worst fear being used as the means of her death.

Leona hung limply as Luna stepped in and offered the dark mages a chance to walk away without any more harm being done to them. The enemy mages did not take the pink-haired mage seriously and laughed off her warnings. They continued to make fun of her when Luna used a spell to summon yellow mushrooms with green spots... they upped the ante with jokes about Luna getting into the kitchen and making them a salad. Leona wanted to warn them that angering the pink-haired mage was an awful idea because there was something off about those mushrooms. They were no garden-variety mushrooms, so they had to have a special purpose for her to expend the magic to summon them.

One of the mages stomped on a mushroom as a gesture of contempt, a gesture which sent up clouds of yellow dust as the rest of the mushrooms went off in a chain reaction. The Wizard Saint had a feeling that that was not a good omen, but she did not have time to ponder the significance because the men were winding up to throw her over the edge. She panicked again as her worst fear was about to become reality, but then the men stopped. The blonde slowly began to put two and two together... the yellow dust was the culprit behind the mages stopping, but why?

Leona did not have time to ponder that as Luna rescued her from the dark mages in decisive fashion. The pink-haired mage kicked one enemy over the edge and used Leona's body as a weapon to knock the other over the side. Leona had heard of people being living weapons, but Luna took it literally. Still, the Wizard Saint could not complain because she had been rescued from her own recklessness by the pink-haired mage. The blonde had not fought many mages over her career and had nearly paid the price for her arrogance when she had taken the dark mages as lightly as she did run-of-the-mill bandits.

This job was shaping up to be a humbling experience for Leona. However, it was a needed lesson in humility. She was not the most powerful being in Earthland and she was not invincible by any stretch of the imagination. Leona let Luna heal her of the paralyzing effects of the mushrooms and lay motionless on the ground for a few minutes as the electrically-induced paralysis wore off. Leona was cautioned against lying because the healing spell would shut off if she did.

Leona had no reason to lie to Luna after the latter saved her life. There was no point in lying because the blonde's battered image would only take an even worse beating. If Leona and Luna were going to work together now and in the future, the Wizard Saint needed to accept that she had her limitations instead of making boasts that she could not back up.

"I can't lie about what just happened, Luna. I took those mages too lightly and got myself in this mess. You saved me from my own stupidity." Leona freely admitted, her face burning red from humiliation. This had not been her finest hour. Her humiliating defeat by the dark mages only reinforced a negative belief that she was only a pretender to the title. A real Wizard Saint would not have been so easily subdued by a bunch of two-bit goons with fancy magic. The period of forced inactivity and the polite but firm admonition against lying as Luna's spell did its thing made Leona slowly realize what her biggest problem was.

She had been trying way too hard to prove herself worthy of being a Wizard Saint.

Instead of rushing recklessly into danger to prove herself, she needed to slow down and think before she acted. There was nothing cowardly about thinking things through before acting. If Leona applied her power in a thoughtful fashion, she could still be an effective fighter, possibly more effective than she was now.

This day had been both humiliating and humbling, but Leona could still recover from it. She could rebuild herself and do better as a Wizard Saint. She was not sure if Luna was deliberately trying to teach her a lesson, but it was turning out to be that way.

This epiphany would not be a miracle cure that solved all her problems. Leona's pride would flare up from time to time, but today would be a good reminder of why she needed to rein it in. Luna would not always be there to bail her out and the Wizard Saint needed to be able to exercise self-control in the absence of others. Leona took a deep breath and waited for the healing magic to do its thing. Her face was still burning red and it would burn for awhile because her pride had taken a serious beating.

[Post Word Count: 951]
[Leona's Word Count: 4,506/12,500]

"Taking any group of mages lightly is defeat before you start. Even groups made of weaklings have a unique advantage against take charge fighters that take on one at a time, they have reaction time. Groups with reaction time can take down even the strongest of wizards if they have mediocre level cooperation. However on the other hand they let the power from their advantage go to their heads and possibly think with the wrong head and misjudged their enemy, in this example Luna. She doesn't flex often, but I gotta admit that was pretty cool how she took them down while hardly using any effort." Amelia surmised the situation and broke it down into a brief review. Luna herself blushed a bit out of embarrassment as Amelia praised her in the review.

"While Nature fairies are more common in the Vishda faith, our combat strategies typically involve varying levels of force. We don't believe in needless displays and extensive applications should the enemy be so unbalanced they stand to fall on themselves without it. So those shrooms were all that was needed. Secondary aspects include using what is found in nature to one's advantage. Vines, trees, rocks, etc." She said trying to remain humble, to avoid bragging about her own abilities however Amelia couldn't resist the chance to joke at the Wizard Saint's expense. "Or using a Wizard Saint like a two by four to push the other guy off the cliff? Honestly I think I can get at least ten million views by tomorrow if I upload the video to Lactube." Amelia joked.

Luna rolled her eyes, she wasn't surprised that Amelia had recorded the ordeal, her memory, mind, and brain were made of an advanced form of archive magic after all. "Seriously, probably a bad idea, ten million? Probably fifteen, but even then, let's save embarrassing videos for a later discussion, preferably never." Luna said  as she was wrapping up the healing and would slowly offer to help her sit up. She figured at this point it would be best to make Leona feel like she isn't alone in dealing with her flaws. Luna too remembered a time when she was acting similar to the Wizard Saint.  "But in all fairness, Leona, you move like you got something to prove, I've seen the signs before, namely in a mirror. I used to have a title I thought I wasn't worthy of and needed to work my ass off to prove it. I am former guild master of Aurora. I was promoted because the previous masters went missing, killed in action, resigned in secret, I don't know. I wasn't ready then, and I fought every day trying hard to make it work. Ultimately I was blinded to my enemy that I didn't even know existed."

"Magic Council Guild Assessment and Accounting department..." Amelia hissed right after Luna finished, clear hostility in her own words. The wounds to her pride were still fresh to this day, and thus putting a slight dent in her trust in the Magic Council. "Oh right, Amelia has the same story, except she was master of the Thunder Arrow guild. Essentially, there were two corrupt officials under the Magic Council that periodically attacked guilds with trumped up charges and tried to get them disbanded, then stealing any unaccountable profits they can and smuggled them through a shell charity that was really a long way into their own pockets. How they shut down Aurora was humiliating, they took advantage over the reason for the turnover since the Magic Council was worried about the stability of the guild since masters went missing, they said it was either I accept and stabilize the guild or it's done. John Seamoor attacked me because there are criminal aspects in my background, two of my five siblings are criminals, my mother committed identity fraud and faked her death to keep said fraud, they attacked me on my religion making me unfit to be a leader, and any cheap shot they could make at me. I was humiliated, ashamed, I wanted to go cry to my mother for the first time in years and the 'she's dead' line didn't work as I figured out she faked her death. I let my pride and determination get the best of me."

She took a deep breath after explaining practically her recent life story. Amelia decided to tag in and explain from there. Since she was around at this point in the story that Luna was getting to, she figured it was fair that she get some say in it. "And after she figured it all out, tracked me down, at that point I was hospitalized by a dark wizard hired by the Seamoors since I found the incriminating evidence, Luna stitched me up and like any good country song involved a pissed off woman and a greedy fat man, it ended with a fire, drinking, and a new start. A few months later here we are. Ready to get back on our feet in the bigger field after working jobs in the shadows. Last I checked the Seamoor nephew and uncle duo is still in jail but due to the Magic Council quiting the matter, we're still suffering the public humiliation of being labeled as 'poor guildmasters'. All because we were too focused on our guilds, and not the enemies of our guilds."

Luna closed her eyes for a moment and steadied her breathing. She hoped she would not overwhelm the Wizard Saint with her advice. However she had to acknowledge that wisdom is meant to be used, and shared with those that are in need of it. "It took learning from a fall from grace and a massive blade through my pride for me to grow not stronger, but wiser and stronger through wiser as opposed to stronger. Not to mention it took being stripped of something I thought I hadn't earned and needed to work harder then anything to feel like I earned to know, all along I had well earned it all along. Just needed to stop and hear the world."

Amelia shrugged at trying to understand Luna. "You know Luna, sometimes you sound like a wise old lady who always has tea for some reason." Luna batted the Gynoid an eye. "No, I don't sound like the elder matriarch of my tribe. Also she does switch it up sometimes, I once caught her with iced tea." Amelia was stunned silent for a moment, but in all fairness nothing surprises her anymore about Luna. "Alright, what's next, is the fairy of the Fountain of youth somehow your relative?" Luna giggled a bit before looking at Amelia with a straight face. "Current one is Third Cousin twice removed. Nice lady, if she wasn't confined to a fountain for ten months a year in Seven I'd have her as Zina's emergency guardian." Amelia threw her hands up in the air. "I was kidding! what about the tooth fairy?" Luna rolled her eyes. "That pervert, hell nope. She isn't a relative, she used to be married but that was a over a hundred years ago that didn't pan out."

WC 1196
TWC 5990

As she waited for the healing magic to do its thing Leona continued to think about the circumstances that led to her current humiliation. First, she had reacted poorly to a factual analysis that stated her Wind magic would be unable to shove around a dragon made of an obsidian-like substance. Luna and Amelia were only telling her the truth, but she reacted in a way that made her look childish and immature. Second, she had underestimated Dark mages who could use Lightning magic and assumed that simple hand-to-hand combat would be enough to subdue them. She was only partially right... hand-to-hand combat was enough to deal with individuals, but she had neglected to isolate each Dark mage before attacking them by using group-hitting spells to break up the quartet. As a result she looked like a loser in front of Luna and was almost thrown off a cliff while she was paralyzed by the Lightning spell she was hit with.

Fortunately Luna had felt generous enough to rescue the Wizard Saint from her own stupidity and Leona, while utterly humiliated, would live to fight another day. However, Leona had cause for concern when in the course of discussing the rescue with Luna, Amelia revealed that she had recorded the altercation and hinted that she would post it on "LacTube" for the world to see. The Wizard Saint prayed to whatever deity would answer her that the posting would not take place. It would take weeks for her to live this fiasco down and video proof floating around would make it harder to move on, if not impossible, because the proof of her folly would always be there to haunt her.

The red-faced Leona pushed that awkward thought out of her mind and listened to her rescuer speak. Luna opined that the Wizard Saint had behaved like she had something to prove to her and to the world. Luna's analysis was spot-on and Leona's face reflected that with an appropriate look. Whether the pink-haired mage was a mind-reader or was simply observant was unknown, but it did not change the fact that she was right.

"Yeah, you're right. I've got something to prove." Leona said simply. She saw no point in lying about it. The Wizard Saint had already suffered enough humiliation for today and pointless lying to try and save what was left of her image would only destroy it.

"I don't have any talents other than fighting. I can't cook, I can't sing, I can't dance, and I can't create works of art. All I can do is fight." Leona started. She was a lousy scholar and even worse in social situations. She was not a charismatic figure like Serilda or Nessa, a figure who could inspire guildmates to pursue greatness. Her guildmates likely saw her as a distant figure who did not really care for them. Leona did care for their well-being and wanted them to thrive, but she did not know how to properly show it.

Leona felt like she had risen so high in stature only by being in the right place at the right time. When Leila Vergious and Poko Monstar vanished without a trace, Leona was the one chose to become Guild Mistress of Silver Wolf. When the last generation of Wizard Saints and Gods/Goddesses of Ishgar vanished without a trace, the path was clear for her to become the Wizard Saint of Courage. Both of those events transpired not because she had planned for them to, but because Leona happened to be in the right place at the right time when they happened.

"Two years ago when I left Desierto for the first time in my life, I never imagined that I would make it this far. I want to prove to the world that I earned my titles fair and square and didn't just have them handed to me. I also want to prove that I can do more than beat up bandits, which is why I came out here for this job." Leona admitted to Luna. Her older brother Leonidas had predicted that Leona would get into trouble trying to live up to her titles, but she had brushed it off as him being jealous of her adventurous lifestyle. The events of today had vindicated him once and for all. Leona was about to explain further when Luna warned her against developing tunnel vision and focusing exclusively on external threats to her guild. The real threat to the blonde might be the very entity that had granted Leona her titles, the Magic Council.

Luna then told a lengthy story that started with her appointment as Guild Master of Aurora and ended with her being publicly disgraced and humiliated. Amelia chimed in with her own story that ended largely the same way. The common thread in the two tales of woe was the "Magic Council Guild Assessment and Accounting Department." Leona had never heard of them before, but that did not mean that the group did not exist.

"I'm sorry for what happened to both of you. I mean it." Leona said to Luna and Amelia with sincerity. That was not much, but that was all she could say to them. She could imagine putting in so much hard work to keep a guild going only for someone to come along and destroy it on a whim, then have that same someone label her a "poor Guild Master" and have their skewed version of events become the official truth of the matter. That situation would crush Leona's pride much more than what had happened with the Dark mages earlier. Luna and Amelia had warned her of what happened to them and they had also told her what they had done to recover from such a crushing blow.

That was to stop acting like they had something to prove and to let their work speak for them.

Leona knew that she had to keep working to keep the guild going, but she now knew that she also needed to pay attention to the guild's enemies, which consisted of outlaws, Dark guilds, and apparently a shadowy element of the Magic Council that saw fit to destroy guilds at will. In addition to learning to think before she acted and to lead off with crowd control spells against crowds of enemies, Leona also learned that she needed to monitor the guild's internal workings for hidden threats because not all of a guild's enemies stood out in the open. The Wizard Saint was not a cloak-and-dagger sort, so she would not know what to look for. She would need to learn what to look for before it was too late.

Today was a humbling day, but it was also an educational day. Leona had suffered embarrassment, but it was minor compared to what Luna and Amelia had went through with the closure of their guilds. They had suffered much worse embarrassment and had weathered the lows to come out on the other side. They had passed on that information to Leona so that she might avoid what had happened to them. Leona had to act on it and she could start by helping them get through the rest of the journey without any more reckless behavior on their part.

"Thanks. Thanks for saving me from my own recklessness. It'll take awhile, but I'll bounce back from this." Leona thanked the pair for their help so far.

[Post Word Count: 1,241]
[Leona's Word Count: 5,747/12,500]

Luna was glad that the Wizard Saint was receptive and not defensive to criticism, and that the stories of the former guild masters did not fall on deaf ears. To her it was more important that the message not be lost, espeically given that she met someone who was able to be warned just in time. "Good to see that you are willing to try and grow. Pettiness doesn't solve anything. Like the worst part about what happened to me and Amelia is after we exposed the plot, the Magic Council hasn't even sent a lousy half assed apology and did everything possible to cover up the discovery to prevent their reputation from being ruined; eight great wizards that served to manage legal guilds have been sentenced to live suffering heart ache and humiliation so a needlessly rich family could waste their hard earned jewels. Aurora was shut down so their yacht could get a tune up and a bar installed. Amelia's guild was shut down so they could afford to change all their lavish artwork."

She said as she stood up, helping out the saint in the process before proceeding to walk further. Figuring that the saint might not have been totally aware of the villain of the story of the two wizards she offered her own explanation of the subject."Magic Council Guild Assessment and Accounting department is a small subdivision between their guild regulations and own accounting departments, essentially they manage legal guilds and a limited scope of independent for bookkeeping and administrative infractions. The few independent guilds on their radar don't really suffer any consequences except maybe a delay for legal status, but they have the ability to affect legal guilds. Normally you don't here about them as they are quite quiet and rarely make a noise, normally differing their issues to the main Guild Relations department."

The words the Saint had claimed earlier regarding her skills being only for combat did bother Luna. "Also, it's impossible to have talents on the battlefield if you have none outside. Some skills are translatable, and as far as cooking, that can be learned. I once taught a child that accidentally cut their own arteries as a first mistake and she eventually became a decent cook." Amelia raised an eyebrow at the last part of that. "What the hell did you have her start out with?" She asked concerned, but Luna was still relaxed as she answered. "A salad, well a chicken salad but she was having difficulty with the lettuce. One trip to the doctor, apothecary, priest, and safety store later she tried again and succeeded."

Amelia shrugged as she was not sure what to make of that story. "Anyways, Lulu does have a point. You got speed and strength, plus hobbies and talents can take on many forms. Like have you considered certain sports like sailing? Or if you want something more bold, I think you might be able to withstand blacksmithing or even magic blacksmithing. Lulu's actually got some decent skills in magic knitting and weaving, but she rarely works with the right materials. The world is too big for you to even know. Personally I prefer carving, stone and wood."

Luna and Amelia thought they were able to hear a sound similar to a drawn out hooting noise of an owl in the distance, but neither acted on the knowledge. Luna assumed she was hearing things that didn't exist and Amelia thought her ears were glitching for a moment, until both of them looked up to see the falling brown object, instantly recognizing the spirit of Arken. "Arken!"

Amelia calculated the trajectory of the falling owl and noted that it was going to be a bit off the mountain. Sparks seemed to surround her as she took a few steps towards the edge backwards, her eyes focused on the owl. "Got him." Amelia said before she would jump backwards off the cliff and her body turned into lightning and would bolt back in seemingly random directions in a zig-zag pattern before materializing mid air for a moment, and as she fell she caught the owl and proceeded to toss the Nature Spirit to Luna quickly before she would turn back into lightning and took a direct path back to the cliff, crashing into the ground causing her to return to a physical form.

Meanwhile Luna managed to barely catch onto the spirit, who was softly moaning in pain. He had rock shards gleaming with gold impaled throughout his tiny body. Luna instantly started to try and heal her spirit, shards had fallen out as his body seemed to be partially restored but was still quite wounded, but Arken had signaled for Luna to stop.  Confused, she looked into his eyes as he used the last of his strength to relay a vision into Luna's mind. He had relayed his memories of ascending the mountain to the peak, before finding a cave filled with shimmering gold sparkles, after entering there was a roar and shards coming at Arken that send him flying out of the cave and off the mountainside. After transmitting the full details, his body dissipated into green sparkles of light that blown away into the wind.

"Well that wasn't encouraging." Luna said as she was grasping the magnitude of the vision the spirit had sent as Amelia rejoined the group. "He seemed pretty worn out, how bad was it?" Luna took a moment to breathe before trying to describe what she saw. "He made it too the peak and was about to investigate the cave. He saw sparkling lights from gold, but before he could get a solid look at anything he was blown out by a shrapnel based breath attack of the dragon. Essentially that dragon is prepared for someone to storm his castle. To get in, speed and timing are critical unless we look for alternatives."

Amelia sighed as she was really hoping for the dragon to be in some sort of resting phase but she knew things weren't going to be that easy. "Pretty much, I can just use lightning body to get in and strike him, won't hurt but I'll be able to get in strike before it's brain can react to the information of my presence, that should create a momentary distraction but you two will need to get inside and split instantly, no sense giving it one cluster to target."

WC 1072
TWC 7062

...

The member 'Luceam' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

---

'Monster Dice' :

"So this Magic Council Guild Assessment and Accounting Department's just a subdivision of the overall bureaucracy, but a subdivision with more power than it was intended to have? How did that happen? And how could they stay hidden for so long?" Leona asked Amelia, not entirely sure of how bureaucracy could get out of control like that and not entirely certain that she wanted to know the answer to that question. She was sure that just asking Amelia would bring trouble down on the blonde despite her status because what the Magic Council gave, the Magic Council could take away. However, Leona needed to know about the shadowy cabal that could unmake guilds at will.

Leona listened to Luna talk about how it was impossible to not have a talent other than combat and listened to Amelia offer suggestions for something that the blonde could do outside of fighting, something that could possibly even be developed into a talent. Amelia fielded the suggestion of taking up a sport like sailing and Leona listened passively because she did not want to insult the helpful spirit. The blonde's interest was piqued when blacksmithing was brought up. That was an activity that was up the Wizard Saint's alley. She had already done it once before when she had made her Nightshade Machete over a year ago.

"Blacksmithing, huh? I can see that working out. I have a blacksmith's primer back home that I need to re-read before I take up the hammer again. If I need more information on the subject, I can always go to a library or pay a blacksmith for some lessons." Leona informed the pair and hinted that she had made a weapon once before. However, she opted to keep what it was secret because a plant-killing weapon would not be very popular with a nature mage like Luna. She would just let the matter go at that and discuss something else with Luna and Amelia. She did not get the chance to bring up another subject because the trio heard a hooting sound and Arken began to plummet from the sky on a trajectory towards the canyon. Leona put her hands to her mouth and feared the worst, but Amelia turned into lightning and after a few zig-zags grabbed Arken in mid-air and brought the brown owl back to safe ground.

Leona noticed that the owl was riddled with rock shards with specks of gold in them. Luna tried to heal it but the owl stopped the pink-haired mage and instead looked into her eyes intently before fading away almost a minute later. Leona was not sure what happened but soon learned what had transpired from Luna herself. Arken had flown to the dragon's lair and spotted sparkling lights mixed with gold but was unable to take a closer look before being hit with a breath attack that riddled it with the shrapnel she had seen.

Amelia stated that the dragon stood ready to repel attacks at any time and that Luna and Leona would have to quickly get inside and split up before the pair was caught in one of the dragon's crowd control attacks. In between her natural speed and her Zephyr Dash spell Leona could move pretty fast, but she did not know if she needed to use her special adrenaline rush to boost her speed further. That would have to wait because another group of black-robed mages wearing masks that were half-white and half-red sauntered into view and spotted the trio around the same time Leona spotted them.

"Oh, another bunch of travelers with goods for us to take!" A man declared to his fellows. Leona's normal adrenaline began to take effect, but she stopped herself from charging in blindly like last time. Being reckless was what led to her incapacitation by Lightning magic and subsequent humiliation. Leona clenched her teeth and tried to put a little thought into this fight.

"There's only three of them. We should be able to handle them with no problem!" A second declared. Leona took a breath and focused. They stood in a rough square formation just like the last quartet. She could knock them off balance with a Wind Blast and knock one over the side with a Wind Bullet before his colleagues could recover.

"We won't need to worry about their bodies being found 'cause we'll burn them to ash!" A third chimed in, his hands glowing orange-red and a haze dancing around them. His fellows followed suit and Leona raised her right hand towards them.

She wordlessly prepared and fired a Wind Blast that staggered all four at once. Leona resisted the temptation to rush in and instead raised the index finger of her right hand towards the man on the top left corner of the box formation. She focused her magic and a small silver marble formed on the tip of her finger. She fired it and hit the man in the chest, knocking him off his feet and sending him screaming over the edge of the mountain. The three looked back at the edge, giving the blonde just enough time to think on her feet again.

Leona formed eight tennis-ball sized balls of wind magic, then leaped into the air and flung them at the men, who had turned around just in time to see the Air Burst attack heading for them. The two men in front were hit two times apiece by some of the balls, but the man in back jumped to the left and avoided the remainder. He focused magic into his hands and flung a fireball in an arc that landed to Leona's left, sending a shower of sparks her way. The Wizard Saint rolled to the right and stood up to find her left hip burning with pain.. an ember was trying to eat through her skirt!

Leona quickly patted it out and faced the man with clenched teeth. She pushed the palm of her hand towards him and fired a Gale Cannon spell, sending a basketball-sized ball of wind in his direction. The enemy was hit on the shoulder and spun to the ground, rolling until he stopped just short of the mountain's edge. The two men in front had recovered and were trying to double-team Leona by charging her at once, but she resisted the urge to rush to meet them.

She let them approach and waited until they were three arm lengths away before focusing magic into her right hand, then taking a knee and punching the ground to use a Storm Impact spell. The dome of wind caught both men by surprise and staggered them, giving Leona enough time to focus on the one to the right.

She rushed at him and stopped, then focused magic into her right arm and punched him rapidly with a Hurricane Punch. All twelve punches hit him in the chest and he staggered back; Leona finished him with a Mach Straight to the face that knocked the dizzied man out. She turned back to the other man and saw him push both red-hot hands forward to produce a cone of flame that licked at her. Leona jumped to the right but noticed that the bottom hem of her skirt was trying to catch fire, so she hurriedly patted it out... she would have to assess the damage later.

She put her left index and middle fingers together and pointed them at the man, then focused magic into the fingers. Once the spell was ready she fired a Silver Tempest spell that manifested as a silver horizontal tornado. The tornado hit the man and dizzied him, allowing Leona to close in and finish him with a Mach Uppercut that knocked him onto his back, where he passed out.

There was one more man left and he was preparing another fireball spell. Leona noticed that he had not bothered to move away from the ledge and knew how to take advantage of this. She focused magic into her right arm and swung downward, sending a silver crescent of wind energy in the form of a Smashing Crescent spell in his direction. The crescent hit and staggered him far enough for him to fall over the side.

"Well, that's the last of them." Leona commented. She felt the wind pick up and felt a part of her left leg go unusually cold. She looked down at her skirt and panicked. A quarter-sized hole had been burned into the left side of her skirt near the bottom hem and the front had been burned a little, meaning that any strenuous movement might rip the skirt and show Luna and Amelia her underwear.

"MY SKIRT!" Leona exclaimed in anguish, surveying the damage to the garment. This was more than a little embarrassing. This was very embarrassing.

[Post Word Count: 1,473]
[Leona's Word Count: 7,220/12,500]

"Great, Bandits, why does it always have to be bandits, or wouldn't these guys be highway men? Again, a cast of all men, where are the criminal women?" Amelia said as the group would unfortunately come upon yet another group of highwaymen. Both the Gynoid and the Nature fairy held back as the wizard saint and jumped right into the battle against the flame wielding thieves. Luna however was confused by the Gynoid's focus on the matter. "Well, thievery in routes like mountains has always been a male dominated industry in crime, most female committed crimes happen in populated area. Most common is attempted or successful murder in the single count, mostly maritcide, women committing Uxorcide however has been on the rise in Bellum though. Now accounts for 0.25% of all the murders. Luna chimed in, impressed by Leona's changing of tactics from before as she overpowered the three bandits.

Amelia shrugged at the point Luna raised. "While there really isn't any argument for gender based superiority so it's wrong to say Men are either smart or dumb for their local and method of crime, but the social norms and standings that have lasted throughout the generations and the dissuasion of crime have rendered this area typically untouched. Most female crime comes from dark wizard guilds these days anyways, so with both the positive role models like the wizard saint over there and various dark wizards, the small time crimes are usually overlooked. As you an clearly see it's the leftover low potential criminals that take these gigs." She said as she gestured towards the group of men, annoyed. "Arrogant, low class, minimal magical potential thugs lucky to be part of a C list's crew."

Luna nodded agreeing with the point although she found Amelia's description a little harsh. "Indeed, although while I'm not one to talk about ladylike behavior in the midst of combat, even against them I think she should be just a tad more conscientious of her outfit..." Luna said as she saw the flames get close to the skirt and the material start to burn. Amelia snickered. "Are we the only ones that wash our clothes with flame resistant detergent?" Luna herself wondered the very question as it does make sense. One of the common flaws and failings of wizards was a lack of preparedness, not always for combat but for the awkward dilemma. "I replaced my qipao and combat shorts of a regenerative magic fiber material as well. Also I also use aqua fresh softener. Really makes a difference if I get soaked or forced to transform into my fairy form. Always more comfortable."

As Leona noticed the damage to her clothing, Amelia stared at the hole for a moment. "Don't worry Wizard Saint, I gotcha covered." She stared at the fabric, her left eye turned orange and glowed as a Archive window appeared besides Leona's skirt as data flowed. "Flying a little blind here but I think I got this. Worst case scenario your one leg has slightly younger skin then the other or I reduce this so far back it's a roll of cloth." She said before a particular line of text was highlighted causing a orange light to appear inside the hole the flames had burnt, Amelia snapped her fingers. "Restore!" Instantly the line of text was replaced with another as the burnt edges slowly disappeared. The orange light inside the hole slowly turned back into fabric, restoring the skirt to how it was prior to entering the fight with the bandits. Her eye returned to normal as the Archive window disappeared. "There, good as new."

Luna was astonished by the ability of Amelia's restore ability. In all honesty in all their time together it was a rare ability for Amelia to demonstrate. For all their time together Luna primarily saw Amelia rely on Lightning based abilities and rarely touched the Archive aspect except for the telepathic link. "Wow, that ability really is better then description. But were you kidding about those risks you mentioned earlier?" Amelia chuckled. "Well, Restore basically is me reverting code. If I don't understand the code correctly, accidents happen. I once accidentally gave someone baby quality skin, really made them bruise, burn, cut, and lose facial hair easily. I once reverted a noblewoman's secret dress on demand and she refused to share the materials, which came back to life and left her naked in the midst of a ballroom because she spilled wine on it."

Luna raised an eyebrow at the latter example. "What was that dress made of?" She asked concerned that Amelia restored something to life as a result of using the ability. "As it turns out they paid someone to slay a Fox God who was not too keen on the sudden betrayal of the noblewoman. Needless to say he was more then grateful for the revive." Luna admired the sheer irony of the situation. "Regardless. Great handling of those bandits Leona, despite the less then graceful ending, at the very least only help you needed was fashion help. Although I think we've come to a point where it's just the reason we came for up there..." She said as she looked up at the mountain, seeing the distance was not yet far away from their position.

Luna was starting to be able to get a more detailed reading of the life force of the golden draconic monster. "The Life force of that thing is, massive to say the least. It's dragon for sure but it reminds me of a rock or metallic life form." Amelia rasied an eyebrow confused at her observation. "What does that mean?" Luna shrugged. "Well, it's hard to explain, usually dragons like Akeya for example can take on the form of their element but never have it fully define their being. Even among earth attribute based dragons they don't come this far. I think this Dragon might be born a half breed and developed towards Dragon."

Amelia nodded, begining to understand. "You mean like your wino drug addict half sister who has the libido of your mother and the impulsiveness of her fire dragon daddy but leans more towards her fairy heritage physically but keeping a repressed dragon form that no one has ever seen?" Luna sighed as she couldn't dispute what Amelia claimed. "Solaris, yes, considering she's currently in jail at the moment for drunken hi-jinks lead to a arsonists dream and we're raising funds for her bail. Besides I don't use my, other or possibly true form often either. Well on the job that is."

Amelia had stared at Luna deep in the eyes. "So what I'm hearing is we've been closer then marriage can ever make two people for a while now and you never even shown me what you really look like? Sure I saw your wings but you never really fly with them , more like glide lightly." She said in a false serious tone. "Here I thought we trusted each other." Luna shrugged it off. "My true form merely boosts my healing abilities but renders my offensive weaker then normal. Anyways, I'm good to go, miss sunshine over here is as well, Leona, you good to press on or do you wanna breather first?"

WC 1211
TWC 8273

Instead of redeeming herself, it seemed like Leona was destined to merrily skip from one mistake to the next, compounding her errors with each battle she got into. First it was underestimating the lightning-wielding bandits and getting subdued in a humiliating fashion. Then it was subduing the bandits without looking dumb by letting herself get surrounded for a second time. In an effort to avoid that she resorted to using Storm Impact without checking to see if Luna or Amelia were out of the radius before dropping the hammer. Thankfully neither Luna nor Amelia were hit by the dome of wind that emanated from Leona's position; that near-miss reinforced Leona's need to take off the blinders and check that her allies did not get caught in friendly fire whenever she started slinging spells.

While her success did not absolve her of the friendly fire incident that almost happened, the bandits were defeated without Leona making yet another stupid mistake that ended in her humiliation... until she looked at her skirt and received a pointed reminder that something humiliating did happen to her. It had already been burned from the stray spark from the fire spell. Using the Sky Hammer ax kick to knock down one of the bandits did not help the structural integrity of the fabric in the slightest. Using an ax kick required that she raise her foot above her head before bringing it down, something that was not conducive to keeping her skirt intact. If she kept using Sky Hammer without the skirt somehow being repaired the Wizard Saint would end up showing Luna and Amelia her underwear and bringing even more humiliation upon herself.

Leona should either invest in shorts to wear beneath her skirt or just switch to pants like she wore before her mother gave Leona her green, white, and gold outfit. She would have to sort out her clothing woes later. Right now Luna and Amelia were talking and the pair had a lot to say about a variety of topics.

Leona set aside her clothing woes and listened to Luna and Amelia discuss such topics as why "highwaymen" were named highwaymen and learned how most of the big-time dark mages were powerful females. The two were a fountain of useful background information about the world that Leona neglected to consider because she was so busy traveling from place to place fighting evil and collecting the occasional magic item of interest. They also made good traveling companions because Luna was kind enough to save the Wizard Saint from her own stupidity and treat her with respect despite the slip-up with the lightning wizards. Amelia, aside from being a fountain of information and wit, was also handy when it came to repairing clothing.

Leona listened to Luna explain how she had commissioned a qipao and combat shorts made out of regenerative material and the blonde instantly took an interest in acquiring some of that material for her own clothing. Considering how often Leona's clothing got damaged in the course of her work, such an investment would be a good one. While the initial investment would likely be costly in the short term, it would pay off in the long run because instead of having to shell out for either a new outfit or the services of a clothing repair mage all Leona would have to do was wait for the fabric to repair itself and the outfit would be as good as new.

"I'm definitely gonna have to look into clothing with regenerative properties. And changing the detergent I use might help too... thanks." Leona said to Luna, omitting details of events where the former's clothing got damaged and she was stuck in the place between uncomfortable and downright awkward. The very first time that happened was when her shirt got damaged during her very first fight with the undead in Silent Cemetery and she had packed a replacement in her backpack. Leona took the shirt off and by the time she put the new one on she had an audience of skeletons watching her... thankfully she had worn a bra. The same thing happened when she fought Jacob Goodnight in Hargeon Town. Leona was distracted when Amelia offered to repair the skirt but warned that she could either make the skin on Leona's legs age out of sync or the cloth of the outfit would revert to a bolt of cloth.

Leona watched as Amelia said "Restore!" and the fabric of the outfit slowly but surely fixed itself without either of the side effects that Amelia had mentioned. The Wizard Saint turned to the helpful assistant and thanked her for the repair that would save more than money.

"Thanks for the repair, Amelia." Leona thanked Luna's colleague for the repair that would save Leona what face was left after the earlier mishap with the lightning mages. While a lot of guys and some girls would undoubtedly appreciate the sight of Leona walking around without a skirt, doing that would not do Leona's reputation any favors. The Wizard Saint blushed when Luna complimented her on the more successful second battle but hinted that the ending could have been a little smoother than it ended up being.

"I agree with you, Luna. I'll have to work on making the end to my fights a little more graceful in addition to working on not rushing into battle without a plan." Leona freely admitted that the pink-haired mage had a valid point in saying what she did. Luna had taught Leona two very important lessons today. The first was to not rush recklessly into battle but instead keep her wits about her and have a plan. The second was to stay focused throughout the entire fight to avoid making mistakes that could cost her a lot more than a burned skirt. Before today the Wizard Saint had gotten by on a combination of speed and raw force to win her battles; from today onward she would have to add situational awareness and intelligence to that mix if she wanted her career to continue for any great length of time.

Leona looked towards the same mountain that Luna was looking at and saw that while the trio were not quite there yet, they were getting close to their destination. Luna and Amelia then began to discuss matters like the dragon's nature as a rock or metallic beast and Luna's familial problems with a sister named "Solaris", who had gotten into some trouble for arson. The Wizard Saint decided to keep quiet to avoid pissing off her companions and Amelia undoing the repair to her skirt in retribution for the slight to Luna. She only spoke again when Luna asked if Leona wanted to take a break or press onto the mountain lair of the dragon. Giving her anemic brain muscles a workout, Leona thought about the best course of action to take.

"I say that we press on, Luna. I'm thinking that the dragon will eventually catch onto the fact that the owl spirit you sent didn't just wander in on its own but was part of a deliberate scouting effort. If we can get to it before it's fully ready for us we might be able to defeat it more easily." Leona suggested to her companions. There was no "easy" way to defeat a dragon, but the process could be made less difficult by getting to it before it had time to prepare for the mages. Leona could only hope that the dragon had not already sniffed them out and was just playing dumb to lure them into its lair.

[Post Word Count: 1,273]
[Leona's Word Count: 8,493/12,500]

"Alright. Lets go." Amelia said as she continued on the pathway. Luna did not sense any additional threats in the way but she had a feeling at this range the Life force of the Dragon would overshadow everything else. "So Amelia, you've been in this line of work for almost a century, surely you've met a few dragons. Any speculations you wanna share?" Luna asked, hoping that her newfound partner had some ideas on what to expect. While Luna has done some pretty impressive things in the past, she never even fought a large dragon let alone one of legendary proportion. "Hmmm, from what we know of legend and what you described earlier this Dragon falls into the Metal and possibly Earth elemental category. Dragons are a unique species where elements imbued into their physiology generate aspects. When it comes to dragons based on strong rocks and metals, they typically have a strong defense. I once helped forge a legendary sword made from a rare metal dragon and the forging process took nine hours of five other high tier wizards in shifts with immense sync. But another thing to note is the typical sensory layout of such a dragon."

Luna raised her eyebrow not quite sure what the gynoid meant from sensory layout. "What do you mean?" She asked out of curiosity. "There are rare instances where certain dragons lack a particular sense for an immensely powered extra sense as a trade off. Such as I once fought a Light Dragon that was so powerful with it's magic it was unable to see, but it was able to hear and pinpoint minute sounds invisible to the naked ear. There was once a lightning dragon unable to feel anything but to compensate it had this ability to analyze it's surroundings by releasing a wave of sparks."

Luna listened intently to the Gynoids words, understanding the point she was trying to get across.  "I see what you're getting at. Any guesses for this Dragon?" Amelia shrugged as she herself had yet to experience combat against many Dragons of earth or metal elements. "I rarely heard of metal dragons and I stay clear of Earth Dragons. But since we're dealing with a heavy metal dragon, expect agility to be your friend here as they are actually quite slow but can take a beating but are extremely weak when you strike the flesh underneath the scales if you can destroy or remove them."


"Don't scream, I simply connected you to my archive link." Amelia communed to the saint via the link of minds. "We would've connected you earlier, but, this type of communication, Archive Link, can be quite, temperamental. Takes experience to be able to navigate between thoughts wanted private and communed. Constant slips of thoughts you want to keep private may end up being broadcast to others." After giving the Saint a due explanation, Amelia inched closer, silently towards the cave's entrance, conscientious of her body and shadow to prevent a trace of her from being seen or heard by the beast within. "Alright, Leona you follow in eight seconds after me, Luna hang back and enter shortly after. You're too slow and you'd probably get hit. I'll get in there and get it's attention for as long as I can, aiming towards the left side of the cave. Wait till it's focus isn't on the entrance, keep Chuck and Savi ready."

Luna nodded, acknowledging the plan of the Gynoid. "Understood, should I hang back in case we need to summon Zixcor or would it be a bad idea if it happened through the roof?" Amelia shrugged silently. [color:8c12=#ffff33]"Use your best judgement but if you do inside, I recommend starting the summon from underneath the dragon, the lightning and energy byproducts and a cave in might help to soften him up a bit.

Amelia took a deep breath before clenching her fists as sparks seemed to fly from her body, but the yellowness of the specs darkened until they were pitch black. "Demon's Thunder, and..." The sparks seemed to fly off at a faster rate. "Overclock!" She said as she combined the two spells, greatly amplifying her own physical and magical speeds. Preparing herself she turned towards the entrance and began to run at an immense pace, a trail of black lightning followed as she sped into the cave. The holes shined daylight inside and the sheer amount of gold valuables surrounding the dragon reflected the light illuminating the cave.

Amelia soon found herself staring right at the massive dragon as she was running towards the beast, looking right into it's eyes. Picking up speed the actions of the dragon seemed to be much slower, Amelia saw a chance to evade but she figured Leona couldn't be far behind. Pointing her fingers at the  Dragon's mouth, a small blue energy ball formed. Amelia watched as a torrent of gold shrapnel was being shot at her path making collision imminent. She released the blue ball of energy into a lightning bolt that collided with the shrapnel wave before the wave seemed to freeze from the inside out, ceasing the motion and creating a large ice block.

Amelia jumped on top of the block and kept running, jumping off leaping towards the dragon. "Alright, one precise bolt to the brain through the eye and this battle is as good as won!"  She thought however her internal warning systems were in the yellow almost red zone, warning her that using one spell over B rank would put her into critical. "Oh hell." She switched her tactics and channeled her energy into her hand, preparing her tazer spell, preparing to strike the dragon's right eye. She managed to make contact as her hand came close to piercing the eye of the dragon and released an electric shock into the beast's body.

The dragon violently thrashed it's head, knocking around Amelia who was stuck with her hand inside the dragon until one large jerk send the female android flying back. Her body slammed into the roof of the cave, fracturing the earth as she burrowed into the dent. Gravity soon caught up to the situation as the blonde fell towards the ground. Narrowly regaining her balance she landed on her left foot and right knee, coughing out a orange liquid. "He's no joke, even is eyes are tough."

WC 1060
TWC 9333