Galactic Gladiatorial Games

Shinku. One of the most dangerous places to be in the known regions of space. The name even tended to give baddies the chills. Of course, the fact that it had an interdimensional passageway leading into it from Fiore made the place relatively desirous to dark mages who needed to be away from the law. Most times, the only people you would find here were evil folk on the run from the law, and hunters, out to catch a quarry. Shinku's quarry was quite special and dangerous, and many of the people who saw the blonde-haired Errings Rising mage assumed, if they recognized her guild symbol, that she was probably one of those on the run from the law, although they wondered what someone as harmless-looking as herself would be doing in such a place as rough and decrepit as Shinku. The bolder ones who felt they should ask, and in the ruder colors of the spectrum as expected, quickly served as a warning to the more prudent ones that this young woman probably had every right to be here.

Beira, for her part, was simply here because she was hunting someone. Some rich, spoiled brat from Crocus, who had come to Shinku for reasons she couldn't understand. Someone had once told her that humans had serious issues with goodness; too much of it, and people decided they wanted to become bad, just for the sake of it. This young fool, for instance, had come to Shinku because he had the money to pay for his protection here, and rather good guards as well to defend him. It was all probably some silly 'bravery' contest for bragging rights among his peers. "Hey, you ever been to Shinku? No? Then I'm way cooler than you, because I have, and I got back." But what this poor sod probably did not know was that there were powers beyond his understanding that had manipulated him into being here. Beira had known, when she saw the ring on his finger, that he was most likely an unwitting pawn in some unknown person's games, as she immediately identified it as an Utgardian relic, something that was supposed to have been lost to eons past. It was probably a trap; someone was trying to bait Beira here, and use the spoiled brat as a bait. The bait had worked, in any case, but if Beira had her way, that was as far as the whole trap would be sprung. Whatever was behind the trap was probably an Old One, a member of an ancient evil race that was well tied to Beira's origins, and like her culture, was lost to long forgotten times. Beira had faced Old Ones before and triumphed. She did not fear their tricks.

Presently, she sat in a bar, watching the spoiled brat drinking with his three goons around him. While this was a relatively high-class establishment (after all, the dark side still had class), it was almost empty, probably because the brat had bought most of the spaces therein. That would make the questioning session easier to manage. Rising from where she had secured a seat, her body concealed by her traveling cloak, the Utgardian approached the table and said in a quiet but clear voice, "Greetings. I would like to talk to you." The brat looked genuinely surprised that someone would probably dare to approach him, but his face slowly changed from irritation at being disturbed to something much more vulgar. He whispered something to one of his goons, who rose and went to speak to the owner of the establishment. In a few moments, the place was totally empty. Money was magic of a kind.

Beira was aware of two goons standing behind her chair, but she made no attempt to leave, or show she was ruffled. "What did you say you wanted to see me about?" the opulent brat inquired, licking his lips. He was probably of the same age, probably a bit older than Beira, if looks were to go by. No one would believe it if they knew actually how old Beira was. "Your ring," the Utgardian maiden said innocently, "I would like to ask where you got it. Who gave it to you?" The young rich oaf grinned dangerously. "Why don't we have a bit of fun, first?" he burped. The Utgardian's countenance grew irritated."Show some manners," she replied imperiously, "and be so good as to answer my questions."

The brat's face contorted with rage. Clearly, he was not used to being spoken to like that. One of the thugs standing behind Beira suddenly grabbed a fistful of her hair in one meaty hand, while the other twisted her right arm painfully behind her back, forcing her to rise at the same time. "No one rejects me or keeps me waiting, woman." The other goon grabbed her cloak, pulling it away from the God Slayer to reveal her curvaceous, half-clad form. There were murmurs of lascivious appreciation from the group, and then the brat said with glee, "get her face down on the table and spread her..."

His words were cut short when he noticed that the goon restraining the Utgardian maiden was now a dark purple statue, totally immobile. Beira pulled herself away from the hold of the statue of nether rime, breaking its arms as she did. A dark, ominous aura swirled round her. The second goon made the mistake of throwing a punch. Beira caught the coming fist in her open hand, and the man instantly suffered the same fate as his colleague. Ripping the outstretched arm clean off its body, the God Slayer viciously clobbered the head of the third thug with the makeshift ice club, laying him flat on the ground. The rich slob ran for the door, but Beira got there before him, locking the door swiftly, before grabbing him and smashing him through a table. Then she twisted his arm in a rather unnatural way, taking pleasure in the sickening crunch that emanated from his arm. He shrieked at the top of his lungs.

"Now now, be a dear and calm down," Beira cooed, pulling him to his feet by his broken arm. "Now, let's try the questions again. Where did you get that ring?" Discovering that his screaming did not seem to do him any good, the rich brat decided to cooperate. "Fr-from... from a me-- me-- merchant," he stammered. Beira shook her head in mock disappointment. "That's very vague. Please be more descriptive, or I shall get your face down on that table and spread your-- wait, what did you want to spread again?" A good number of people had heard the screams and were watching the proceedings. None was interested in helping. That was what you got from a place like Shinku that thrived far away from the shadow of the law.


WC: 1147 words
Total: 1147/...

It had been quite a while since the Guildmaster had been out on an official mission. It was because of his duties here in the guild where his expertise was appreciated and all, but grabbing a request nailed to the job board by a client sure felt nostalgic. Even he, Mura, could get behind some good-old handiwork as a wizard of Fairy Tail.

It all started here in the guild hall of Fairy Tail at the heart of Magnolia. He was busy tying his sandals as everything else on his person was strapped and ready for use - his katana and red dagger, cloak, gi, and the few accessories with magical properties. The greatest accessory being the Guild Mark painted on the left side of his forehead, proudly showing to any who would gaze at him.

“Going on a mission now, Master?” the head bartender, Adam, spoke to grab Mura’s attention. The young Master turned his head to face Adam standing in the middle of the guild hall, having approached Mura all the way from the bar section to quench his curiosity on the wizard’s purposes. “Yep. A young man from Crocus is reported missing,” Mura explained to Adam as he finished tying his right sandal, “And believe it or not, he was reported wishing to go to the Wakusei Portals… I don’t know exactly why, though.” The young Master cupped his chin in deep thought over what could have been the cause of the missing man’s desire to enter the mysterious portals that led to what people called ‘dimensions’ and ‘planets’, or other planes of existences beyond Earthland. “Hmh… he comes from a wealthy family, that much I can tell. Maybe he wanted to try something new.” Anyway, it wasn’t exactly part of his mission; he just had to find and bring back the poor, lost dude… okay, not poor, but the rich, lost dude. He rose up on his feet, stretched his arms, grabbed the handles of both his weapons - Harusame, his short katana with a blue streamline of a gem, and Futsu no Mitama no Tsurugi, a mouthful of a name for a small, red dagger.

“I’ll be out for a while! The Aces watch over while I’m gone…!” he bid the guild and Adam farewell before walking out of the opened gates of the guild hall, stepping feet onto the bricked Dragonbane Avenue and suddenly flipping gravity a middle finger as he just flew up without any charge or kickstart.

…

The portals were located in a sacred site somewhere in Earthland, but despite not having a map and going by memory, Mura had little to no issues finding this place simply because people whom he asked for directions knew very precisely where this strange, world-bending place was located. It had been sought out and travelled through by many adventurers, and heck, for a while in the past, Fairy Tail’s guild hall was located on one of the planets that this site held. Ah, a beautiful, jungle-like wildlife of a planet that, up to this point today, must’ve grown out all of the guild hall’s interior and exterior with vines and leaves…

… Now came the hard part. Mura gently panted his feet on the marble-like floor and eyed the portals in front of him. However, which one did the missing lad go through? He would have to think this through… now, what kind of information did the client give him in her request? Yes, the client was actually the missing person’s mother, and she had written something ala this:

My son planned to entertain himself at one of the worlds that Wakusei Portals take you to. He is not alone; we had given him a unit of guards to watch over him. If you find the guards, then he will be there.

… Bummer. No guards were left outside of one of the portals. Welp, guess Mura had to try one portal at a time… unless…

“*cough* … Man, where will a rich, handsome fella like me go to have a good time, eh, folks?” he spoke up loud. There were no guards or guard-looking folks, but there were a couple vagabonds, guildless wizards and hooded figures spread around. One of them approached Mura, and the young Fairy Tail Wizard thought that he was posing just like the rich, lost guy who must’ve done this kind of ‘hey, give me suggestions, I’m bored and rich as fuck, make my day’ himself. Maybe, said hooded guy who approached him would treat him the same.

“… Uhm, Mura Kensho, right?” the hooded blonde addressed him. Shit, he knew about him, which resulted in a couple seconds of awkward silence between them. “… Y-Ye, sorry about that,” Mura replied, “Uh, forget what I did, and uh… y-you kinda ruined my plan, there. I was gonna… y’know-“ “I, uh… it’s cool to meet you in person, but what was your plan, exactly?” the hooded guy cut him short, clearly smarter than most around here. Mura sighed and decided to explain directly instead of playing scenes like these as if he was some kind of detective: “I’m looking for a rich dude with a gang of guards around him who wanted to hang out at one of these worlds… figured that if I replicated something a rich boy from Crocus would do, then I would end at the same location.” The hooded guy chuckled a bit and responded to Mura’s surprise: “I think I know who you’re looking for. A dude with a group of guards went through the portal to Shinku. You should check the places and inns there, I’m sure he’s still partying or something… or whatever rich people do.”

Nice! If the hooded guy was right, then the lost kid would still be found in Shinku at this moment. Mura bowed in gratitude and flew through the portal, warping towards the world of Shinku, a few moments later located what looked like lightyears away from Earthland. And this was Mura’s first time in this place, too… however, it didn’t really bother him that much.

“S-Shinku, huh? That’s a Midian word, isn’t it?”
“It sounds Midian. I’m pretty sure one of your techniques is called-“
“Shinku Buddha Kiri (Vacuum Buddha Slash)! They ripped it from me!”
“They?”
“W-Well, whoever named this dumb place!”

The two orbs of ghostly life energy - the samurai ghost Kyuken, and the dragon ghost Zirconis - commented on this eerie-looking place. It felt like walking in Sin again…


A bar had its doors closed up by someone. And as a certain, blonde woman with such fine figure was threatening the lost kid that Mura was looking for, the latter busted the doors open with a single push by his hand. Through the entrance to the almost empty bar, he walked with an aura that smelled like shrubbery, salty water from the ocean, burning coal, magma and rusty iron. His gaze was sharp and full of intent to gain an explanation from the lady who was hurting his client’s son.

“So would you be a dear and let go of my client’s son?” he spoke up clear and loud to all of them, already having manifested a steel log to emerge from the ground beneath Beira without waiting for her response. It was intended to grab her arm and pull her off from the lad, who would probably be a little pissed that his mother was requesting his return.

WC. 1247

It was such a shame that of even those that this little punk had paid to render him favors, such as give him total and exclusive access to this drinking joint, an act that had miserably backfired on his face, nobody sought to help him, even as his money jangled in their pockets. Beira was sure she would have probably felt sorry for him, if he had not been the one who'd attempted to be so rude to her. At any rate, all she wanted was information concerning where he had gotten the ring on his finger. And if it meant breaking his arm again, she was quite ready to do so. Well, fortunately for him, the Utgardian was not really interested in gaining possession of the ring. The sooner he answered her questions, the sooner she would let him go, that is, if he didn't go ahead and do something stupid that would probably cost him his life.

Beira's Slayer senses picked up a curious smell, like a strange mixture of natural scents and something reminiscent of a forge. She looked up in surprise, as the door to the establishment exploded, and a boy walked in. Dark-haired, and dark eyed fellow, probably a bit younger than she was, not so bad to look at, though his hair and laid back appearance made him look a little like some sort of slouch. But there was something about him that seemed familiar. Whatever it was, Beira was sure she had never met this fellow before, and yet... yet she could swear she had seen him before. A little draft of wind gusted into the bar, ruffling his hair and revealing the turquoise guild seal on his forehead. She had seen that face on a magazine. Her eyes slowly widened as recognition set in. This was none other than the one called the Wizard Saint of Fortitude, Mura Kensho, guild master of the independent guild Fairy Tail.

Her surprise quickly transformed into alertness, as a steel pole erupted from beneath her, causing the Winter God Slayer to quickly leap away from the rich punk and perform a graceful back flip to land easily on her feet, watching with disgust as the punk hobbled over to Mura Kensho and positioned himself behind the Wizard Saint, pointing animatedly at her. "Kill the crazy bitch!" he yelled in a nasal wail. "She just came in and tried to kill me. I'm sure she must be some assassin sent to try to eliminate me from the world and rid this existence of one of the greatest potential leaders to--" suddenly he stopped, and his complexion faded. "Wait. Did... did my ma send you?" His voice was shaky as he asked, only realizing then that the Fairy Tail mage had mentioned that he was his client's son.

Beira watched the spoiled brat's antics, and the shook her head. "You wouldn't be Mura Kensho, would you?" she asked, walking past the steel log, though her eyes darted towards it to make sure that it was all solid and non-moving. "Like, the great Mura Kensho, Fairy Tail leader and Wizard Saint of Fortitude? I'd have been quite impressed, if I wasn't disappointed. I didn't think someone of your ilk and caliber would play the toothed lapdog of the rot at the helm of society. That's a let down really. And what's the point of asking a lady, when you won't even wait for her to give her consent?" the God Slayer continued, casting another glance at the steel log. "I expected better manners from you, Wizard Saint of Fortitude."

As she spoke, she drew nearer, and her eyes moved from Mura to the sniveling rich brat behind him. "Seeing as I'm the only one with manners here, I'm going to be cordial enough and ask you, would you be so kind enough as to give myself and your client's son just one or two minutes of your time? We were approaching a rather-- ah, intimate part of our... discussion when you showed up. And while, like every other country girl, I'm rather blown away by your august presence, I must insist you grant my request and let me have my way with that unfortunate waste of space behind you. A poor choice for an evening such as this, but he'll have to do. They can't always be all perfect now, can they? Don't worry, I'll be nice. I don't bite... much. And I promise I'll return him when I'm done. At least his mama will be able to recognize him, or what's left of him."


WC: 766 words
Total: 3160/...

The rich lad was found. Luckily, he was found before the tall woman could hurt him, and as he cowered behind the Guildmaster of Fairy Tail, Mura found his mission proceeding accordingly. From the man’s explanation, the woman had probably been sent as an assassin to kill him, which did raise some questions; even though he was totally a rich kid, why would an assassin like her go after him to begin with? Or was it merely the infamous hospitality of Shinku that led to this moment? Hopefully, he would stay the hell away from this place in the future.

And he didn’t seem like leader material. Take that from an actual leader, boy.

“Yeah, she’s pretty worried about you,” Mura explained to the lad, his eyes squinting sharply at the poor coin master who just smelled of… well, Louie, “And I bet that she’d whoop your ass the moment you return. Why you’re here to begin with eludes me.” His eyes rose up to face the strange woman’s own, sky-blue eyes as she addressed him. She knew him too, but her first impression was akin to many; impressed and disappointed. He was a Wizard Saint, but he didn’t exactly look the part… or, well, she also didn’t like how he stood up for the young man whose mother was his client and all. Toothed lapdog or whatever, a servant of the top society, all of that - Mura took this mission on a whim, honestly. He just wanted to bring the young man back to his parents safe and sound, and yet people always found fault in him and his ways. It was bound.

Kyuken and Zirconis eyed the tall, buxom lady too. Kyuken, especially, was quite tranced as he caught small glimpses of her firm, hourglass figure underneath her cloak. Kyuken was aproud admirer of womanly beauty, so obviously, the lady in front of them was a teasing treat for his eyes to strip. “SSS-She’s, yo, look at her… what a beauty. We found a diamond of a treat in this rubble of a planet, don’t ya say?”

“… K-Kyuken, how the hell can you see anything?” Mura would ask his ghost pal. Since Kyuken and Zirconis were of the spiritual plane of existence, it was unlikely that the lady would be able to hear them or even see them unless if she possessed shamanistic powers or an innate connection to the realm of dead spirits and souls.

She seemed intent on just needing a couple minutes with this guy. Given by her words, she was far from done with her ‘discussion’ with him, but Mura had seen and heard enough. She was bad news, and she would need to know that getting to him meant having to exalt force enough to take him down first. The shaman scratched his head and sighed: “I’m clearly getting the wrong vibe from you. C’mon, kid; let’s get you home.” Mura would approach the door once more, intent on just - yes - leaving this woman here alone. He had a mission to complete, after all.

“She won’t be able to touch you as long as I’m here - let’s be honest.”

WC: 531
TWC: 1778

Perhaps on a normal day, Beira would have probably just shrugged and allowed the two to leave; there wasn't much to some lousy idiot trying to feel like he was tough just because he had the money to throw around and hire big muscle with. Today however, she was feeling particularly insulted, because it seemed everyone had just assumed that she was some assassin sent to off this inconsequential meatbag, when that was not the case at all. Beira herself felt she would be most sorry for anyone who thought this young idiot was worth wasting assassins on, unless they were probably trying to get at his more important parents. And it was because of this loser's important parents that he could attempt to break the rules wherever he went, with the assurance that no matter what tomfoolery he engaged himself in, he would definitely be protected by his parents' money, and their high social standing. Like now. Another thing that the Utgardian found rather insufferable was the fact that it seemed her presence was inconsequential, since Mura Kensho was here. For someone who had been royalty growing up, that was an insult to her pride.

In any case, despite her irritation at these perceived slights, the sensible part of her mind had cautioned the God Slayer that it would not be wise in the slightest to get on the bad side of a Wizard Saint of Fiore. After all, he had definitely done quite a number of amazing things to get into the spotlight. Though Beira had grown some measures since getting to Fiore, she was more or less unknown, at any rate. It still didn't give anyone the privilege to apparently walk all over her. This was why she had been in search of power. So that injustices like this would be avenged, as it was certain that might made right everywhere. If you were strong, you made the rules. The weak would just have to obey, or get obliterated. Beira stopped walking as shesighed and shook her head. 'Wrong vibes' was not a very flattering label. Despite her strivings, perhaps she was not strong enough. Not yet. She would get stronger, so that such a situation as this would not go down without her earning the right to make her voice heard. To be fair to Mura Kensho though, Beira had not exactly given an explanation as to what she was doing to the rich miscreant. Well, Mura hadn't asked. She would let this slide, even though she could feel the insult keenly. The God Slayer took a few deep breaths, counting in her mind, as she calmed herself. She was controlling her rage, despite the fact that she was being walked out on. Control was always good.

Then it happened. As the Wizard Saint herded the rich oaf out of the bar, the fool had the guts to turn and make an obscene gesture at Beira with the hand of his unbroken arm, being confident of Mura's words that the Wizard Saint would protect him from Beira. Beira stared wide-eyed at the insulting gesture, her face slowly turning red as she realized she was being further insulted. She had tried to maintain decorum, despite the fact that she had been assaulted and insulted, and all she got was more disrespect. This could not be borne. "How-- dare-- you!" the God Slayer growled, her rage building to a fever pitch as she drew on her magical reserves. Ever since coming to Fiore, Beira didn't think she had been this angry before. Maybe, against the better voice of caution, she would give rein to her rage, and bear the consequences gladly. The atmospheric temperature dropped sharply, as a number of bottles in the room shattered from the sudden change in heat levels. To the surprise of everyone, an ominous wind began to howl, as a blizzard seemed to spring out of nowhere. The rich oaf screamed as he began to feel the effects of Beira's Winter God Chaos. "Help! I'm blind!! Blind!!!". Mura would certainly notice the cold, but he would not experience any negative effects... yet. Beira had no qualms with him, for now.

"Apologies, Wizard Saint," the God Slayer said gently, her voice soft but ominous, as she resumed walking towards the Fairy Tail mage and his ward, "but I have no gripe against you. Your client's child, however, has insulted me for the last time. And I will see that he regrets it. Now, if you please, step aside. While it is a polite request, I shall not be refused." Beira's tone was ladylike and courteous, but beneath the genteel tone was an underlying imperiousness. Somehow, Beira suspected that Mura would not grant her desire. It was well. She had crossed the point of no return.


WC: 801 words
Total: 4492/...

… Mura heard her loud and clear. Her growl was low, but it was sharp and stinging. Almost as stinging as the cold that rose in the sudden of this scenario; rather, the temperature dropped like heavy rocks in the air, causing a chill to travel down his arms and neck. This was a terrible cold, and it screamed with an ominous atmosphere that was… that was…

All too familiar to him. This magic…

The blizzard that rose up around her caused Mura to step in between the lady and the rich brat. While the blonde ‘noble’ was screaming, Mura kept his eyes on Beira who apologized rather quickly, stating that she had no qualms against him specifically, but she really had something personal against the kid behind him. He, apparently, insulted her - a few more than one time, even. She sounded like she didn’t want to go through him to get to the blonde lad, but at the same time, she was intent on bringing hell to him for whatever he had done.

“…” Mura’s eyes were sharply aimed at the blonde woman, and for a few moments, it did look like he would jump into battle. However, he quickly turned his face back to the blonde kid and asked: “W-What the hell have you done to her to anger her like this? Don’t tell me that you harassed her like Kyuken used to do…” He cracked his neck and sighed, clearly unamused by the direction that his mission was taking.

“I don’t know what he’s done to you… but I’ve made myself clear. There’s no more to it,” he ended saying to her before turning his back to her once more. He thought for a while, and then he turned back to face her. “… I’ll take his stead. Whatever he owes you, I’ll pay… tenfold.” His hand drew nearer to the handle of his sword, but in reality, he was reaching for his bag of jewels. Yes, during this situation, he figured that she was perhaps a ‘paid’ entertainer that was dissatisfied with the payment of her services, which would explain her previous words and the rich boy’s reckless behavior.

His actions and words looked hostile, but he didn’t think about it. Thoughtless moments like these defined most of his history, to be honest…

WC: 388
TWC: 1778 + 388 = 2166

For a moment, it appeared that the Wizard Saint was going to do battle with the Utgardian maiden, and even though she was sure that such a battle was not going to probably end well for her, she had too much pride to simply say something like, "oh okay, I'll just let this one slide, and you just make sure your client never does that again". According to Utgardian tradition, there were three things that one needed to defend desperately, because such things were more important to a person than even life. These things were one's family, one's land, and one's honor, in no general order of significance. Beira presently had no land, and she had no one currently living who was related to her by blood. Of course, she had created bonds with others and those could be defined as family, but none of her present 'family' members was threatened, so these two could not be presently fought for. Her honor, however, had been insulted, and it had to be paid for. The God Slayer preferred blood to be the price of payment in this case, but she liked to think she was not a difficult person, and could be mollified by other means, but these would be according to her standards.

Mura surprisingly appeared unwilling to fight against her, despite the likely possibility that he would come out on top, were he to cross swords with the Winter Goddess. A breath that Beira didn't know was being held inside her chest was let out, albeit quietly enough so that no one would know that she had been nervous. But she maintained a straight face, her sky blue eyes watching with apparent impassiveness as the Wizard Saint turned to chide the spoiled brat, who made some unintelligible noises in response to the accusation leveled his way, although he did not seem as fearful for his life as he had some moments ago. Perhaps it was because she had let down her inclement aura and the depression in temperature that came with it. In any case, the spoiled brat seemed to think that the whole situation had boiled over, and despite his look of unease, he seemed a lot more relieved now.

Whoever Kyuken was, in any case, the Winter God Slayer was not very sure that she wanted to know.

Mura reiterated that the matter was to be dropped, a tone Beira was not particularly pleased with. However, the whole situation was probably taking too long, and the Utgardian was minded to involve herself with things that would be much more pleasant to her than getting insulted and being reminded of how unfair life was in general. As Mura thought, Beira regarded him silently, wondering what he was considering. Then he offered to pay her for whatever loss she had suffered at the hands of the rich miscreant. And tenfold the cost, no less! Beira raised an eyebrow, her expression a slight mix of confusion and curiosity. Exactly what did he intend to pay her with, seeing as honor was much more weighty than money was, at least in Beira's evaluation? Frankly though, as Beira was not as... sophisticated as the present people of the day, her mind did not even move towards a compensation of jewels to make her overlook the slight.

She was still attempting to figure out what the Wizard Saint was planning to use to pay her, when her senses suddenly warned her, by reason of peripheral perception, that there was possible danger afoot. Swiftly, her large blue eyes darted downward to the motion of the Wizard Saint's hand, widening with consternation as she realized, or thought she realized, the destination of his hand. He was reaching for his sword! The tone of his voice had not particularly been placatory, had it? So his solution to the injustice that had been rendered to Beira would be to attempt to cheap shot her with his sword? And he called himself a Wizard Saint, one of the "good guys", whom everyone respected and adored. It was on days like this that Beira wished she had never come to such a place as Fiore, with all its weird mannerisms, and most importantly, its lack of ideals and morals. Imagine people scolding her for having an immoral dress style, and having the moral bankruptcy to set as a Wizard Saint, one who was not above claiming to give recompense for a wrong, while intending to make a sneaky attack with his weapon.

As Beira's eyes darted back to Mura's face, the curiosity was gone, replaced only with silent rage. With her left hand, she tried to prevent the Wizard Saint's sword from reaching its destination, while in the fist of her right hand, which had been drawn up, appeared a thin jagged sword of nether rime, which the Winter Goddess aimed at Mura's throat. She could see the wisdom in the Utgardian belief that when you had identified an enemy, the preemptive strike was always the favored stroke. Beira would not let him attack first. He would not take her by surprise.


WC: 853 words
Total: 5733/...

Things took an even sharper turn the moment Mura was reaching his hand back to grab something very specific. While it looked like he was aiming for his sword from Beira’s perspective, the silly fact was that he was trying to pull up his bag of jewels to recompensate her. There were few alternatives to dismiss a stranger like her, and due to this place’s bad reputation, he figured that it was the most effective choice of action. Obviously, the world wasn’t black and white, and his faulty intention alone might have been the trigger to the next chain of events.

A terrible cold rushed towards him from her left hand, seemingly attempting to freeze him solid. Yes, that horrifying cold was identical to a previous Ice God Slayer that Mura had encountered and befriended in the past - one of the past memories that lingered in his mind. Said God Slayer met a tragical fate by the hands of her previous friend, and to meet another Ice God Slayer fueled this bad memory of a friend gone out of control that Mura had to put down by his own hands.

Perhaps it sharpened his blade, or at the very least his body. The moment the icy cold seemed to grab him along with the nether blade of hers, Mura’s body flickered into nothing. All that was left in his previous position was his bag of jewels that hit the ground and made a loud, clinging noise for all to hear. The rich boy didn’t spot it due to himself having been pushed down to avoid being hit by the cold wave and the ice sword, while Mura had enacted his counterattack. Unintentionally, the bag of jewels left out could have served as a distraction, but Mura hadn’t even held any hostile intentions towards the lady until now.

The floor beneath Beira’s feet would begin fuming with a dark-grey smoke, revealing itself to be burning… no, melting down in magma. But where was the actual shaman controlling this spell? He was actually located on the ceiling right above her, having activated a spell from his Onmyōdō library that transformed one matter like the dark, marble-like ground into another matter like molten lava. It was but a centimeter in thickness, not even enough to deal lasting damage to her, but Mura was already descending down upon her from above, his fist clad in a ghost dragon’s emerald hue and lunged down to smash her head down.

WC: 415
TWC: 2166 + 415 = 2581

Spells Used:
Jade Dragon's Gem Barrage (basically 'Emerald Fist')
Onmyōdō (turning the floor - assuming it's made of a rocky or earthern material - into magma)

It was very much expected that Beira's attack would not manage to land on her target; as a matter of fact, she would have probably been very surprised and wary if she had managed to land a hit on Mura Kensho, seeing as he had to have merited the name of Wizard Saint. If her sword had managed to strike him, or she had even been able at least to hold the hand which moved towards his belt, Beira would have had all the alarm bells in her head ringing, as something would tell her that she was probably missing something, which was why she had been able to place a hand on the Fairy Tail mage. Still, preventing a preemptive strike was always the best course of action, because even if it would not damage her opponent, in any case, it would prevent her from being taken by surprise. The thought that he had been trying to reach his money pouch did not come to Beira; perhaps if she had time and space to think, she might have eventually come to that realization. As at now, she didn't.

As the Wizard Saint vanished into thin air, Beira's battle instincts went on high alert, even as she suspected that he would not just attempt to flee, and that suspicion was based on the rather deplorable way which she perceived herself to have been treated. Since everyone seemed rather rude and unwilling to respond 'honorably', Beira was convinced an attack was coming. The strange sound of crackling below her feet immediately informed her where she needed to pay attention to. The ground was already cracking, with seams of magma beginning to glow in the fissures created by whatever spell Mura Kensho had cast. Whatever Mura had in mind, Beira was sure part of it involved affecting her mobility. There was wisdom in reducing the speed of an opponent, as the winner was usually the faster or more mobile one. Usually.

As Beira quickly ran through the options available to her, she suddenly realized, thanks to her Cosmic Resonance, that Mura Kensho was actually above her, diving towards her for another attack. So that was the plan. Whatever the ground was doing, it was more or less a distraction, while his real attack came from above, from a position in which no normal person would be able to expect an attack to come. But Beira was no normal human being; her Cosmic Resonance allowed her to sense things accurately in  radius around herself. "That slinky..." the God Slayer fumed silently, as she gathered energy and leaped backwards almost totally horizontally, missing the giant fist of doom by millimeters, and at the same time smashing into the wooden wall of the establishment. The obstruction wasn't strong enough to hold against her physical strength, and she blasted a hole through it by sheer kinetic force, rolling and positioning herself in an upright, albeit crouching position. Beira's irritation was simply from the fact that Mura had almost taken her by complete surprise, even though she had a sixth sense capable of capturing what was going on in her immediate environment. Getting out of the bar served two purposes: Firstly, she would have more space to dodge about, as opposed to being confined in a place where the ground was melting. If Mura wanted to melt the entire ground around for miles, he could very well go ahead and do it. Beira was sure he wouldn't, being a Wizard Saint and all that, though she wasn't really respectful of the virtue of the name, presently.

The second reason for getting outside was a very spiteful one. The rude brat who had started it all. "Got you, little rat!" Beira said in an elated tone as she turned her gaze to him. By now, most of the people around had realized that things were going to get messy, and were beginning to attempt to make themselves scarce, but the brat hadn't moved much, probably because he believed Mura's words that he would protect the sniveling rat. Currently, the rat was one of the least of her worries, but she had to use him to figure out what Mura Kensho was up to, and maybe discover more about whatever strange magic he was using. She would try one of her more potent techniques and see how the Wizard Saint managed himself.

"Winter God Barrage!"

Instantly, a huge orb of nether rime appeared behind the God Slayer, before exploding into flying shards of cold death, which mostly rained on the structure which Mura Kensho was expected to be still inside, cutting the bar into ribbons, while some other shards homed in on the rich spoilt brat. Definitely, Mura would have to save him, because the fool was too useless to save himself, and Beira was certain he would not use his money to erect a barrier to defend himself against the flying death which swiftly approached him. So, in Beira's opinion, Mura would have two options: either he would handle himself against her Winter God Barrage (Beira was certain he wouldn't be injured at all by the projectiles) and raise some sort of shield to defend the rich bugger while he took care of himself, or he would attempt to conserve magic energy by darting out of the building and snatching the sorry excuse for a noble's child out of harm's way. A large, two-handed sword formed in Beira's hands. She hoped Mura would opt for the more energy saving option, because she would attempt to attack him with a downward slash of her newly formed weapon, if he chose that route. Whatever else he chose to do, she would simply adjust to his tactics and respond as best as she saw fit. She was confident of the years of Utgardian battle training she possessed, and even though she was aware that she was pitting her skills against a famed Wizard Saint, the Utgardian God Slayer was too proud to concede defeat without a fight, especially as her honor had been insulted in so base a manner.

"Your move, Wizard Saint..." the God Slayer thought silently, primed for the next round of battle.


WC: 1034
Total: 7182/...

Ugh, he was close, but the blonde culmination of anger managed to leap back and avoid his emerald-coated fist. Although, it required her to move way too far back, resulting in crashing through the bar’s wooden wall and appearing outside of the building. Ah, great. She wants more space…? Mura imagined and judged her action as reasonable in case if she was about to explode. Given by both her attitude as well as triggered expressions and lack of hesitation in jumping into hostility against the Wizard Saint, he expected her to do her best. She must’ve felt excruciatingly humiliated by… this rather average, rich brat? Was Mura the only adult among them right now?

“*sigh* Yeah, we’re getting out of here, boy,” Mura informed the blonde man lacking his guards who all suffered a terrible fate at the hands of the God Slayer. The Wizard Saint grabbed his collar and darted out the opposite direction from Beira, while a white aura surrounded the both of them to protect them from scrap and rubbles. Although, that wasn’t enough to ward off the ice shards aiming at them; Mura had to swing his katana, Harusame, to alter the form of the white aura, so that the ice shards aimed at the rick kid were reflected away.

After reaching the outside and letting the white aura manifest as plates along with a long, steel blade made by Kyuken’s aura, Mura The plates went around Mura’s back and guarded the rich boy too, functioning as a left-side shield. There were plates on both sides, but the left side was wider and served a more defensive role.


The ice shards really did work on the building that was now ripped to shreds. Before any other moves were made, Mura flicked his finger and retrieved a huge, iron orb that rolled towards him and the rich, blonde kid. The orb revealed its hollow inside where a couple of the staff workers behind the kitchen of the bar inside the building were located. Thanks to Mura’s spell, they too were spared from being cut open by the ice shards.

“Okay, you two stay back. She’s not after you…” the shaman informed them before looking towards the smoke raised by the attack, sheltering Beira’s form. What’s she up to? She didn’t have to destroy that building…

There was an invisible force around Mura and the richie next to him as they were only a foot apart from each other. Even though the white, clear plates served to defend them both, while the sword on his right side served to intimidate her, he always ought to surprise his opponents as that would compensate for the lack of drive to win the battle. Perhaps, if he drew the battle out long enough, then she would calm down…

WC: 467
TWC: 2581 + 467 = 3048

Spells Used:
Spirit Bind: Battle Control
Onmyōdō (iron orb)

Beira watched as her ice shards devastated the area, her sword at the ready as she waited to see Mura Kensho’s reply to her attack. The Wizard Saint did not choose to do as she had hoped and took the rich brat by the collar, dragging him out of the building as he created a strange white shield around them, and used his sword to deflect some of the flying shards. The Sword mage was really proficient, although Beira hoped that Mura’s keeping close to the rich spoiled brat would afford her to attempt to see if she could attack both of them at the same time, although she had a feeling that this was unlikely. Still, there was no harm in trying.

In any event, Beira would not press her attack, instead watching as he manipulated a large iron ball, inside which were safely stored the workers of the bar. Well, that was a step up for him, in the Utgardian’s opinion, seeing as she had initially assumed him to be a simple mercenary, driven only by the prospects of money. Granted, it was basic Utgardian battle culture to create an attack, which could be followed up by a secondary, more punishing attack in an attempt to get the opponent off guard while they were responding to the first attack. It was believed by Utgardians that to attack and defend at the same time was more difficult than to defend or attack alone, and Beira’s people preferred to tread that path of battle philosophy. Of course, such a tactic was rendered useless by the maneuver known as the counterattack, but to be a master of counterattacking meant you were one of the best, as responding to an attack with one of your own proved that the counterattacker was either a genius in their art, or plain stupid. And counterattackers of the second category tended to be quite few, owing to the fact that the often did not manage to live long.

”Color me impressed, Wizard Saint,” the God Slayer commented, nodding her head in approval. ”With your initial rudeness and lack of manners, I was of the opinion that you were just one of the ‘money first’ types. I’m impressed you gave some thought to the workers of this establishment, though you may save me the platitudes of commenting about not letting innocent people die. Nobody is really innocent. But that being said, I do not enjoy intermittent breaks when I’m trying to hack off the head of some rich waste of space who is better dead than alive.”

So saying, the Winter Goddess stamped her foot, as a wall of ice erupted from the ground beneath Mura Kensho and the rich brat, aiming to perhaps knock them off their feet and disrupt their balance. She was sure a simple trick like that would not work on the Wizard Saint, but the smallest of advantages were needed for battles such as this one. As the wall rose, the God Slayer would dash as fast as she could to attack Mura with her giant sword, using a lunging thrust and this time deciding to ignore the rich brat. If she could manage to take care of Mura, the brat would be easy to deal with. The strange appendages that the Wizard Saint seemed to have conjured were things to be wary off, especially that ridiculously large sword. Beira did not want that thing hitting her at all. Certain that her thrust would not land a hit, Beira decided that if Mura dodged, she would follow up with a slash in his direction. If he blocked, she would attempt a downward slash at him. In battle, one could only hope to foresee their opponent’s attacks. Beira hoped she would be able to do the same.


WC: 634 words
Total: 8283/...

Spells used: Winter God Shield

It seemed to spare some more time for both the shaman as well as his client’s son, the trick of his that he used to ward off the ice shards from the annoying blonde. Did this dumb place harbor all kinds of sensitive powerhouses like her? Why was he still here, even? He had his client’s son now! All he had to do was find a way out again, and perhaps he would never have to venture to this place ever again. Screw what the blonde woman wanted or felt, he had a mission to fulfil. He wouldn’t compromise that just because of her hurt feelings, at least not that easily. He barely even knew her!

She spoke to him again, complimenting his skill and choice of actions. She was somehow of a previous opinion that Mura was all, as she pronounced it, ‘money first’ type of Wizard Saint, but watching him save the two workers might have changed her mind…

Something about what she said afterwards annoyed him. Nobody is really innocent? Was that what she convinced herself to sleep well at night? Was that her philosophy? Wouldn’t that be tiring to think of every day?

Beira decided to surprise the two of them with another spell, this time erupting an ice wall between Mura and the son of his client. It was, perhaps, her intention to separate the two, so that she could quickly off the rich brat. In a worry, with one slash, Mura flicked the ice wall to the side and caused it to crush into pieces, but to his surprise, the rich brat wasn’t targeted at all. That was when he realized that Beira was aiming her next attack at him, coming from his side now with a giant, black ice sword.

His shield, his Battle Control as he called his crafty plates and sword combo, managed to soften the attack from Beira. She immediately followed up with a downward slash to chop his head in two, but his free sword blocked that as well. He broke a pearl of sweat from the heavy weights of her attacks, for her anger showed itself in her swings. She was likely around the same tier of magical prowess as Mura himself, and with that kind of foe, he couldn’t afford to draw out the battle any longer.

His breath sharpened and caused a fog to escape his mouth like the steam from a locomotive. And in a sudden, unwarned burst, golden flames engulfed the entire area, vaporizing from his skin and flowing past him and Beira, even reaching as far away as to the rich brat that was left alone. If Beira tried to get any sense of it, she would fathom Elemental Magic imbued within it as well as Dark Magic, Light Magic, Life Magic and heat. It was his spirit lit ablaze, and it was a bad sign for his foe.

The flame suddenly returned to him. All the bursting heat and colors that flowed in all directions suddenly retreated back into his skin and locked itself in, until he was exposed without his Battle Control. There stood Mura in his normal garments and with his ninjato, Harusame, in his right hand, but his skin was emitting an awful lot of vapor and heat. All the terrible mana that escaped him earlier had now been concentrated inside of him, and his blade was moving.

“Go.”

With a single move, he lifted his blade up, and its impact with the snow beneath his feet that Beira had manifested with all of her ice spells caused a gigantic avalanche that appeared to be capable of covering the entire sky above a country. So much force was within that faint move; it was as if every hit by him held the force of all of his mana released at once.

WC: 642
TWC: 3048 + 642 = 3690

Spells Used:
Flame Of The Phoenix (tl;dr, 3 keys to unlocking all of his magical potential at once)
Inner Sanctum (concentrating all of that mana into his body, kinda like Perfected Super Saiyan Blue for reference...)

Beira had not managed to get a single hit on her opponent, although she had been able to see that her last attack had managed to make him exert some effort in executing his defense against her. That was both a good thing and a bad thing. A good thing because it meant that she could hold her own against the Wizard Saint; it wouldn't be a beat down if Mura Kensho decided to get serious. And that led to the bad thing. It was very likely that, seeing as the guild master had a job on his hands, and coupled with the fact that he now knew he was facing a foe with enough power to make underestimating her dangerous, he was definitely not going to hold back. That was very likely, especially as he hadn't even appeared interested in being in Shinku at all.

Beira was right; at first, she thought it was an attack, and braced for impact as the flames washed out, seeing as she was too close to start attempting evasion. However, the flames, seemingly harmless, washed past her, expanding to a large radius before returning to their source. Beira's Cosmic Resonance allowed her to surmise that the flames were not actually made up of the element of conflagration alone; there was a lot within it. Probably a battle aura or something, but Beira was sure that whatever would follow would be of immense power. That being the case, it would be wise to avoid the attack, as even blocking whatever was coming was probably going to be dangerous.

All of a sudden, Beira's Cosmic Resonance detected something strange and unnatural in the area, with malice directed at her, and it was not Kensho. It wasn't the rich brat either; the miserable excuse for living proteins was not even nearly strong enough to make a chicken cower through sheer force of will. In that moment, Beira realized too late her mistake of allowing herself to get distracted. Mura Kensho's sword was coming, and she was not going to be quick enough to dodge it. It had been always said in Utgardian military philosophy that in a fight between seasoned warriors, a single blink could be the deciding factor on who would get to live, and who would get to die. Beira thought she could appreciate that line of reasoning, as she could only do what she had initially decided not to do: parry.

The Wizard Saint's ninjato met with the nether rime of Beira's giant sword, and the ice splintered into  million pieces. Almost at the same time, Beira felt an explosion of pain. Sure, part of it was the shock wave from Harusame colliding with her weapon, but something else had slipped in a furtive attack that she would never have even a chance of dodging. The God Slayer did not remember herself falling down. All she saw was herself lying in a smoking crater, and the stones that had been blasted out of the ground by reason of the shock wave generated by Mura's strike falling as though in slow motion. She couldn't move, except to cough up some blood. It was possibly an internal injury, but that wasn't an issue to Beira. She could heal from that, she was sure. The fear came from the fact that she was currently vulnerable, and she was in hostile territory.

The sound of jubilant screeching caught her ears. It was that rich bastard, glad that his would-be murderer had been defeated. "Let's kill the crazy bitch! Make her suffer for what she did to me!!" he yelled, all brave and cocky now that his aggressor had been vanquished. Beira couldn't even move enough to see where he was; all she could see was Mura Kensho, standing over her supine form. She attempted to scowl at the Wizard Saint, in an attempt to dissuade him from listening to the shoutings of that spoiled rash can. She wasn't sure she was doing a good job of looking menacing. At least she could show defiance. She wouldn't beg.

From the shadows watched a strange hooded figure with glowing yellow eyes, the perpetrator of the interference that had cost Beira. It waited till Mura had bundled off the piece of trash to take to his mother, and then it approached Beira's fallen body. Some of the other Shinku denizens, being the evil souls that they were, were already contemplating what to do with the pretty mage who currently seemed incapable of defending herself, but they quickly fell back as this strange figure advanced. If Mura were to take a last look back, he would see the hooded figure standing over the crater in which Beira lay. When it was convinced that the Wizard Saint had left, the creature stepped into the crater, and picked Beira with one hand, slinging her over its shoulders like a sack of potatoes. Then it turned and walked off into the wastes of Shinku. Nobody lacked the sense to follow such an ominous creature.

After a good deal of walking, the creature came to a hole in the earth, and carried the paralyzed mage into it. After walking a little ways underground, the creature got to a strange gate, let itself in, and approached two guards, both of a physiology quite alien to that of humans. "Tell your masters that I have gotten the specimen. You may proceed with testing immediately," it hissed, before throwing the God Slayer down with no gentleness, and walking off. The two aliens began speaking to each other in a strange language, as they dragged Beira into a room full of cages, most of which were filled with all sorts of things, ranging from things as commonplace as humans, to masses of eyes and tentacles. Throwing Beira into one of the cages, they locked it and wandered off, probably to continue their rounds.


WC: 984 words
Total: 9909/...

…

Mura sweated quite a bit, so he decided to cancel his highly concentrated spell that was active at the moment. With Beira finally having calmed down via the road to subconsciousness and exhaustion, he could take the kid back home and call that a day… his mission would be over. So why was he just staring at Beira? The shaman had no intentions of taking her life, and he didn’t harbor any drive to take pleasure in a defenseless woman with no consent to such - especially because he was married.

No, there was something else that caught his attention… but the way that he addressed and approached this strange thing would determine a lot. That was why, after a solid moment of silence, he merely turned his back and went over to the rich brat who wanted nothing more than to see the ‘crazy bitch’ die. Mura’s response to that was a swift iron club growing out of his palm with such speed that the bastard’s face was boinked just hard enough to make him faint. Whatever injury that would cause on his person, Mura could heal when they returned to Fiore.

For now, the kid just needed to shut the fuck up. If he hadn’t come to this godforsaken world in the first place, then none of this would’ve happened.

From the view of those around the area, Mura would then pick the kid up on his shoulder and wander off, heading towards the portal and ending his mission. That was when the hooded person - humanoid but cloaked in secrets - walked into the crater and took off with Beira, treating her not so gently… but this place was full of criminals, so why would that bother the shaman at all? Besides, he had left long ago…

…

Moving underground was a blessing. One of Mura’s Onmyōdō techniques granted him the ability to modl the earth, so that his figure could march through the ground with ease and discretion. Why was he underground and alone? What with him taking the kid back to his mother? Well, you see, another one of Mura’s skills included clones of shadow, so when he made a decent distance from the crater, he let such a clone carry the kid back home. After that, he dug himself underground and returned to the crater where Beira’s body was nowhere to be seen.

Someone had intervened with his last attack against her. Mura intended to break the fight between her and the kid, and now someone else wanted more. The shaman assumed that the very faint blast that hit Beira was aimed at him, mainly due to his reputation as well as Fairy Tail’s reputation. Then again, said intervener took Beira with them, so maybe the hooded figure was after her? This place, Shinku, was way more dangerous than he thought… if the young brat didn’t have a Wizard Saint to come to the rescue…

Digging himself underground once more, Mura tracked the God Slayer’s faint, magical signature. Someone else was dragging her along, likely the intervener from their bout. From about a 100 meter distance, Mura followed them under the earth until a hole on the ground was present. There were others… many more entities nearby…

“… H-Hey, Mura-“ Kyuken asked. The ghost of the samurai had now gotten the opportunity to state his thoughts to the shaman. “Just what are you doing, now?! Your mission’s over! Don’t tell me that you wanted her for yourself-“

“… Wha- no! Of course not, and keep quiet!”

“NOBODY CAN HEAR ME, FOR I AM A GHOST!”

“… J-Just hold on for a moment; I’ll explain later…”

…

A while later, Beira was thrown into a cage underground. This underground, subterranean prison harbored many extraterrestrials, but Mura had made his way over here specifically to check the inmates. He didn’t condone a prison to exist in a lawless land like Shinku, for it was more than likely administrated by lawless figures. And if any innocent souls had gotten captured and sent here… it was a terrifying thought.

There were two guards at the front. And they did not look humanoid at all - as a matter of fact, they didn’t resemble any race that Mura even knew of from Earthland. Mura eyed them from the top of the hole in the ground, his head discreetly held in cover behind the surface.

WC: 736
TWC: 3690 + 736 = 4426

The inhabitants in the cage mostly turned their attention to the new addition to the cells, then eventually got around to minding their own businesses once more. Beira, for her part, had been somewhere between the world of waking and that of unconsciousness, but she managed to at least be aware of what was happening to her. Since it appeared that she was presently not going to be disturbed as she lay in her cage, the God Slayer decided that the best thing to do would be to feign unconsciousness, and remain so until she began to feel more in control of herself. Whatever had attacked her had probably used a toxin-based attack of sorts, one that muddled her willpower enough so that she could not use any of her magics. Whatever this creature was, the shadowy attacker, Beira suspected that it had some knowledge of her abilities. An unease began creeping up her spine. Despite the fact that she belonged to a dark guild, Beira had been careful not to make too many unnecessary enemies. Her presence on Earthland was not simply to be the scourge of anything that resembled law and order. Seeing as she hadn’t been making enemies left, right and center, Beira could keep tabs on the ones she had. And the modus operandi of her latest attacker, its furtiveness and unwillingness to expose itself, as well as its shadowy presence, hinted at the identity of her captor: Old One.

Beira opened her eyes and sat up. She had rested reasonably enough to be a decent threat if someone was foolish enough to put a weapon in her hands, and even though she couldn’t yet use her magic, she was alert enough to be able to piece her thoughts together articulately. At this point, it would be unwise to keep pretending like she was unconscious. Now was the time to take cognizance of her environment, figure out what she could with the use of her five senses. Being stripped of her Cosmic Resonance felt strange, like she couldn’t hear but with a much different sensation than that which came from being robbed of one’s auditory faculties. The God Slayer looked round warily, taking in the sights and sounds of the prison. Some of the inmates turned to look at her, then one, a huge hulking creature with earth-looking skin, grunted something in a guttural tongue, and some of the other denizens made sounds of ridicule. Probably laughing at her.

”Do you know what they’re saying?” a voice to Beira’s left piped up, catching her attention. It was human, and belonged to a wild-looking fellow in a large, ragged, shaggy fur coat, with as many tears as he had scars. ”They’re amused by the presence of the new meat, you.” Beira regarded him with an expression that spoke volumes of apparent lack of care and boredom. The man tried again, probably to get some more animated response from her. ”Do you know where you are? This is the Shinku Coliseum, and everyone in the cages exist to fight as sport, till one is dead and the other the victor.”

Beira shrugged and kicked idly at the bars of her cage, testing their strength. ”And so?” she asked, still maintaining the façade of nonchalance, though deep down, she was eager to have the man tell her everything he knew about this place. ”Why should I care that outside there are unfortunate wrecks screaming for blood they dare not shed?” The man chuckled, a deep, throaty sound. ”You’re as beautiful as you’re brainless, girl,” he replied. Beira felt her face slowly turning red, but she fought down the urge to throw tantrums. ”You’re lucky you threw in a compliment there,” she said, crossing her arms. ”Those words would have otherwise been a lot more costly, with your life being the price.”

The man threw back his head and laughed, as did some of the other creatures. ”Do you hear that?” he said to no one in particular, though most of the prison inhabitants were listening now. ”This young lass talks the talk.” He fixed his gaze on her again. ”But can you walk the talk? Can you defend your words in the arena? The name for humans here is ‘meat’. Why? Because so few of us survive. I’ve survived longest. Five matches, and I won four and drew one. Hopefully, with my talent, some warlord from the far reaches will take notice of me, and I’ll get sold to him to serve as his personal guard or something. That’s the only way you get out of this place. That, or in a body bag.”

”Oh, silly me,” Beira exclaimed, displaying mock embarrassment. ”And here I was thinking that this place would really be a challenge. If you’re a considerable fighter by the standards of this place, I don’t think I have anything at all to worry about. Oh, and you forgot one other way of leaving this place, which is the way I’ll take: I walk out of here with my own two legs, mistress of my fate, not waiting on anybody.” The whole place erupted in different sounds of laughter and derision. The large stony creature roared something, and the laughter intensified. ”You hear that?” the haggard man asked, laughing as well. ”Old Stonehand there said he wouldn’t even be able to use the little girl’s femur to pick his teeth.”

”Well, you tell Old Stonehand there that if I can get him anywhere within twelve feet of me, I’ll rip out his own femur, and jam it up the unholy end of his alimentary canal,” Beira spat back, loud enough for all to hear. The place fell silent. The ragged man gave the God Slayer a warning look. ”Be careful, girl. Stonehand is the meanest thing in these cages. You don’t want to insult him.” Beira looked at where Stonefist was now glaring at her. ”What, he can’t stand being talked down to by a ‘little girl’? Oh, did I insult your pride, you useless, overweight pile of earth? Where I come from, we use you to bury dung.”

”No…” the man said in a worried tone. ”’No’ what?” Beira interrupted. ”Aren’t you human? Every human civilization I know of uses the earth as its grand repertoire of droppings.”

”It isn’t wise to anger Stonehand…”

Just then, the shadowy creature walked in with another creature, this one slightly humanoid and very tall. ”There she is,” it rasped.

”Really? She doesn’t look strong.”

”You haven’t tested her yet?”

The tall alien called out a command, and the two alien guards appeared and opened Beira’s cage. She walked out as if she owned the place, not waiting for them to coerce her out. The aliens opened another cage, and out came a rat-like creature, its maw of wicked teeth large enough to bite three human heads off in one bite. ”Let’s test her now, then,” said the tall alien. The battle was to be had in the space between the cages. Before anyone could react, Beira had snatched the long pike from one of the alien guards, and flung it at the giant rat. The weapon sailed through the air, and plunged into the creature’s mouth. With a croak and a hiss, it fell to the ground, twitching. The guards rounded on Beira, but with that same stately air, she marched back into her cage, and seated herself proudly.

Meanwhile, Mura would notice that some snake-like aliens were milling around the area, their tongues darting in and out rapidly, their heads to the ground. They seemed to have caught the scent of something, and were looking for it. One of the guards chattered something to the tall alien, who said, ”must be a burrowing cruath. They usually come here to feed on the dead. Find it and kill it. I don’t like dangerous vermin in my establishment. It scares away the patrons.”

Then, turning to look at the seated figure of the God Slayer in the cage, the tall alien clapped its hands together. ”Impressive. If anything, your… Incarnata, did you call her, has a strong arm, and a good willingness to take initiative. I’m impressed. We’ll pit her against something more challenging then. Maybe that other human.” The alien looked towards the haggard man. ”He would hardly be a challenge,” Beira stated, ”unless you have an interest in watching human courtship dances. Despite his rough appearance, he does have some fine features.”

”Is she talking to me?” asked the alien, surprised.


WC: 1423 words
Total: 12068/...

… There was a lot of people further down the entrance. It felt like a huge complex deep underground, and to be fair, it didn’t feel like a prison… not specifically. There were hallways leading to a place further away… but he had to get closer to see this. “We should sneak in and see if our busty friend is held captive there…” it sounded as if Mura spoke, but his voice was contorted by the voice of another entity - Kyuken, the rascal who took over his body in a brief instance of letting his guard down.

“… Why?”

“… Y-You know, to see if she’s learned something from our bout-“ the supposed Mura explained his reasons to enter the complex, but Zirconis rushed right into the side of Mura’s head to cast Kyuken off of the shaman’s body. Free again, Mura darted his eyes at the samurai ghost who simply sweated and tried to take a stand for his belief to approach that maniac - in vain, as both Mura and Zirconis both knew that Kyuken woudn’t rest until he had his hands kneading those huge mounds on her chest… or at least simulate that action. Never underestimate the imaginative powers of a pervert, for one could drown in his own daydreams…

“W-We’re just going to see if any humans are trapped down there… or elves, dwarves, people we know, anyone who shouldn’t be-“ the real Mura explained to the two of them to get things straight - they weren’t here to perv on anyone. For the love of god, Mura could enjoy all the worldly pleasures with his wife back in Earthland, so he barely had any reason to - but he was caught short by his next action; ducking his head into the hole he made and sealing it off with his magic as one of the guards were approaching his location. Were they catching on?

With his magic, he drilled his way towards the underside of the floor inside the prison. He could hear someone talk… yup, that was her. Someone else was with her… a good bunch, actually. And he was only, like, 5 meters under the floor now. Thankfully, he had so much control of the earth’s elements that he could get away with just slipping through walls and floors this freely.

… Y’know what, maybe someone could fill in information for Mura about this place. He would have to wait for the blonde and her match-up to keep the guards distracted or make them leave, so that Mura could blend in later…

WC: 430
TWC: 4426 + 430 = 4856

The serpent-like guardians searched in vain, but were unable to discover the hiding Wizard Saint. One of them even tested the ground for firmness; a burrowing creature would have to have displaced earth to be able to get close enough undetected. Unfortunately for the guards, they could not find any proof that anyone or anything was in the earth, as the earth seemed solid and undisturbed. So they decided to assume that whatever smell they could detect was most probably the residual scent of something or someone that had been this way before, but had definitely left, and was no longer in the area.

Meanwhile, the tall alien looked curiously at the calm God Slayer, wondering whether to be impressed by her forwardness, or angry that she had deigned it possible to address it directly. It turned to the mysterious one who had brought Beira to the underground arena, and the shadowy figure shrugged. ”Yes, I suppose she talked to you just now. That’s the thing about humans. They don’t know their place.” Beira made a scoffing sound. ”Are the Old Ones so out of business that they’ve become so decrepit that they have forgotten the true nature of an Incarnata?” the Winter God Slayer asked. The shadowy creature did not reply. For a moment longer, the tall alien studied her, then shrugged. ”Well, if she thinks the human will be an unworthy opponent, let’s have her face—“ Beira cut it off in midsentence. ”Why not pit me against that pathetic-looking lump of slag and dirt over there by the corner?” she asked, pointing directly at Stonehand. There was a ripple of murmurs among the cage denizens. The giant earth-skinned creature was silent, but its eyes were now fixed on Beira, burning with rage as it breathed deeply and raggedly, wishing for the chance to rip her limb from limb.

”Your Incarnata is quite unmannered,” said the tall alien, a touch of irritation in its voice. ”Still, courtesy and etiquette never won battles. Let’s give her what she wants and throw her in the ring with old Stonehand. Even if the match will last three seconds, I’m sure our patrons will be happy to see Stonehand fight once more.” The alien turned to the rocky creature. ”Try to prolong the match. You know the patrons like lengthy spectacles.” Stonehand grunted in response as its cage was opened, and it marched out and down the same hallway that the alien and the shadowy creature had come from, with a number of snake guards keeping an eye on it. The haggard man looked at Beira with pity in his eyes. ”My dad always said that the problem with the pretty ones was that they had large mouths and little brains. I hope you die quickly. It’s the best I can hope for you.” Beira chuckled. ”You’re so cute. Maybe I’ll come back and save you when I’m done.” With that, she stepped out of her now open cage and was escorted by the remainder of the snake guards down the passageway, followed shortly after by the tall alien and the shadowy one. This left the room empty, save for those securely held in their cages.

Beira was hurried into an armory of sorts, wherein she was asked to choose her weapons of choice. After a bit of inspection, the Winter Goddess picked a short, sturdy javelin, and a war mallet. It was quite evident that everyone in the room seemed inclined to believe that her choices were quite unreasonable. Beira didn’t care. The tall alien leaned over and whispered something to the shadowy fellow, who simply shrugged again, then produced a strange collar from some hidden place on its body, and clamped the device round Beira’s neck. Instinctively, she tried to touch the collr, but to her surprise, her fingers passed through it and rested on her neck. ”That is to make sure you don’t use your dangerous ice magic and cause a lot f trouble,” said the shadowy creature. Having certified that the Utgardian was ready to do battle, she was escorted out of the armory and down a long tunnel, at which point the snake guards left her, and a gate slammed shut behind her. The only way out was forward. As she walked forward, the cries and cheers of a crowd looking for bloodshed came to her ears. She grimaced. They were a miserable lot, the whole of them, looking for entertainment in the death and dismemberment of others. Beira tried to see if she could access her magic. She couldn’t. It was the blasted collar, it seemed. She would figure out a way to take it off, But until then, there was nothing left to do than give the crowd a good show.

With an enthusiastic jog, she made her way out of the tunnel into a large circular enclosure, observing that it was ringed round about with spectators. Normally, most first timers to the arena would be scared and wary, but Beira decided that she would give the spectators something to see. Thrusting her hammer into the air, she cried an Utgardian war cry at the top of her lungs, then turned to face the glowering Stonehand, an eager smile on her face, noticing that the reason Stonehand had not tried to turn her into a bloody smear as soon as she emerged was because a force field that bifurcated the fighting ground separated the combatants from each other. The crowd was confused, even as the noise died down a bit, even as they wondered who the young beautiful fool was who didn’t fear the death looking at her. Then the screaming intensified, as they called for the blood to flow. Beira could see the tall alien seated at a central position, from which the arena grounds could be viewed easily. She needed to kill it, for it seemed to be the owner of this establishment. But first, there was some quarrying work to be done. The force field blinked once and was gone, and Stone head roared, brandishing a giant axe, whose blade alone was far bigger than two Beiras put together. The rock creature charged, and the God Slayer stood still, her enthusiastic smile on her face, as she stared into the face of the oncoming hill.


WC: 1052 words
Total Personal WC: 8264/...

… From what he could hear through the layers of stone, Beira provoked people around her. She demanded to fight some ‘pathetic-looking lump of slag and dirt’, which would likely be the distraction that he needed to enter the cell and look around. Mura was confident that none of the prisoners would attempt to hurt him, especially if they sought freedom from their shackles.

So the wards used prisoners for entertainment? They pitched them up against each other, probably in the huge area that Mura could feel through his ties to the earth. A kind of arena wasn’t too far away, which gave the purpose of this underground facility a selfish, perverse tone. The most practical thing to do now would be to lay waste to all of it, but he couldn’t let any prisoners get caught in the crossfire.

“Let’s find out some more…” Mura whispered to Kyuken and Zirconis before attempting to dig himself up from the ground into the room where all the cellmates lied waiting for their tribute. And so, he leaked up from the surface with ease, his magic easily bending the earth and the rocks to do his bidding. Once he stood up as Beira had left along with her opponent and the two guards, he looked around. He spotted… one certain human and a bunch of otherworldly creatures, a couple elves, a ddraig-like person and… was that a half-ghost, half-man?

Well, his arrival must’ve been unexpected, to which Mura wanted to assure them as quickly as possible: “… I take it that none of you are here willingly, right? If you want to flee, I can help you… just vouch that this place is as bad as I think.”

To show that he wasn’t joking around, he grabbed the handle of his katana. His short, refined katana didn’t beam with mana, since that could give his position out, but it did show that he was ready to draw blood and souls. That begged the question… how long had these people been here? Did any of them even know about him?

“… And who the fuck are you, even? Y’know what, never mind that; ya got in here like nuffin’, you can get me and them foo’s out just as quick… but ya gotta kill the one with a cloak. Tall fella’, also one with lots of tentacles.”

“Easy.”

“… Y-Ya do know they caught all of us here, right? They bloody no joke!”

The ddraig-like humanoid had quite a recognizable yet broken accent.

“I’ve… a lot of experience behind me.”

“But ya look like a fuckin’ toddler-“

“Do you want me to free you or not?”

“S-Sure, sure… just, ya heard me! And hurry, before that pretty girl gets herself killed!”

“I’m sure she’ll do fine… maybe there’s an armory nearby. I need materials. Oh, also-“

Mura quickly flicked his wrist as iron hammers tried to break off their cuffs and whatever else was holding onto them. He did find difficulty breaking the magically bound shackles, which were connected to the signature of whoever had left earlier.

Maybe I should get rid of those two first… looks to me like they kidnap just about any kind they find around here.

He threw another gaze at the only fully human person he could see in the room. “How long have you been here? Mind to tell me about this place, if you can?” he asked.

WC: 571
TWC: 5427

The human was sitting down in a relaxed slouched position, though his eyes were alert and on Mura Kensho through out the time he spoke with the half lizard fellow. When the Wizard Saint turned and addressed him, he sat up a bit more straight, as he realized the kid looked familiar. Despite his young age, this youngster was someone he had seen before, but where exactly, he could not place. Perhaps a celebrity of sorts? No, celebrities didn't appear in establishments such as this, unless they wanted to take part in the nastiness. Maybe he was a high-ranking lawman or something. In any case, if he could avoid the guards, and remove the non-magic restraints with just a gesture, he was certainly powerful, and it would be safe to not act as arrogantly as the half-lizard.

"Huh? I can't say how long. Shinku doesn't reckon time as seamlessly as Earthland does. But if I were to make a rough guess, close to two months, I'd wager. This place is the Shinku Coliseum. They get warriors and fighters and nasty things and pit them all against each other in battles to the death, just for sport, or so that high-paying clients can buy gladiators who impress them. That's what many of us here hope for, that we'll get noticed by someone that matters, before we get a crippling injury or worse. There is no mercy in this place. Truth is, the high payers don't come often, because most of us here are people who no one will look for, if they disappear. But most of the spectators make a living betting on outcomes of matches. As to the layout of this place, I know there's an armory down that passage there, which leads to the main arena, then there'll be passages leading into and out of it. Not sure what else is in here." He paused, looking at the Fairy Tail guild master hopefully. "Say, you're serious about letting us go, right?" There was another pause. "Oh, and in case anyone mentions anything about the matter of the Minstrelian boilers, don't believe anything you hear... maybe except that I had nothing to do with it. "

One of the elves rose to his feet, and said to Mura in broken Fiorean, "If you to free us, human, cannot escape unless magic broken. Long demon--" he meant the tall alien, "use powerful witchcrafts. It must be kill. But shadow more dangerous. Less powerful, but more dangerous." The man nodded at the Saint of Fortitude. "Pointy-ears is right. Someone will have to kill those two, else escaping might be a serious problem. If you can let us out, I know it may not sound like much, but I'll believe that there's really some good with power in this world...."

Meanwhile, in the arena, Stonehand, spurred to a blind rage by the calmly standing Incarnata, swung at her as it got within striking range of the Utgardian. The blow slammed into the earth, creating a discernible tremor, and bathing the area with a huge plume of dust. When the dust settled, all eyes looked to where the earthen creature's axe had split the ground, but there was no mangled corpse that should have been there, if the blow had struck its intended target. The crowd began to scream in frenzied excitement, even as they realized that the Utgardian was standing comfortably and securely on the back of Stonehand's hunched form, idly examining her nails. Due to its thick skin, the rocky alien had no idea where Beira was, until she sighed loudly. With surprise and rage, the beast swung a massive arm over its head, hoping to hit her, but Beira had already jumped off its back, and was walking back to the entrance to the arena out of which she had come. "I thought this would be a worthy match," she called out, "but I find myself highly disappointed. Open this door. I shall be more entertained sleeping." Bristling at the insult, Stonehead dove at her, but once again, Beira was on the creature's back. What happened next, only those with very acute reflexes would see. To the rest of the arena spectators, maybe except the tall alien and Old One, Beira's hands seemed to blur, and Stonehand stared with a stupefied expression at Beira's sturdy javelin firmly lodged in the earth just below and in front of it, and covered with whatever liquid passed off as blood in Stonehand's species. With a single blow of her war mallet, Beira had driven the javelin clean through the back of Stonehand's head and its skull, the kinetic power of the blow ramming the javelin into the earth. Then Stonehand crashed forward, the Utgardian still on its back. The match was over.

There was a grave silence that lasted more than ten seconds, for there was not a single one who had bet on the survival of the Winter Goddess. Then the silvery laugh of Beira of Utgardr rang through the silent arena. The tall alien turned to the Old One and said, "Incredible."


WC: 850 words
Total Personal WC: 9114/...

Mura got a lot of grateful information from the lad, most definitely horded over the time he had spent in this shithole; apparently, he had been here for two months if his sense of time was intact… then again, one would more likely lose their touch on telling the time after several months, so Mura was a bit iffy on that information. However, having been confirmed of the place’s purpose as a coliseum was good to hear. That meant that Mura could wreck this place without fearing repercussions from the wrong parts. Gladiators who would be bought by high-paying clients… although most here clearly had no intentions of staying. All of this was against their will, simulating slavery… it was slavery.

There was an armory on the same way that led to the arena. Got it. The other human male sounded, for a brief moment, to be in disbelief about Mura’s previous statement to let them all go. Mura looked back at him with no doubt in his eyes - only fire. “That’s what I said, didn’t I?” he asked back.

He was to remember that if anyone mentioned something about the Minstrelian boilers, then he was to turn a deaf ear to it. Suspicious, really, but Mura simply nodded to it. One of the other prisoners, an apparent elf, spoke to him now. He informed Mura in a broken, Fiorian language that some magic had to be broken before they could be freed. A ‘long demon’ was said to be powerful in the arcane arts, and a ‘shadow’ was even more dangerous… less powerful, but more dangerous. He must’ve meant the cloaked figure who walked away with Beira under his arm earlier… and the other one, the ‘long demon’ must’ve been one of the taller creatures. Yes, the one who inspected the entrance and met the cloaked figure before. The pieces fell in place.

Hearing his words, Mura’s compassion rose to the surface. How long had he really been locked up in here to give up on those who could use their powers to help others? Mura was no white knight, but his morals were set in stone, and even though he killed when he found it necessary - a trait that the old Fairy Tail would have deemed inexcusable - it hadn’t devoured or corrupted his spirit. Maybe it was because that the concept and subject of death was fluid to him, who could see the souls of people leaving their dying bodies and even talk and interact with them.

“I can tell you this much; you’ve missed out on a lot back in Earthland,” Mura informed the cloaked human, “Everyone, listen. I’ll go get rid of those two as quickly as possible. I don’t know exactly what they’re capable of or what their weaknesses are, but I’ll find a way and return with both their heads. Then I’ll free you - if you want to continue living here in Shinku of all fucking places, then I don’t care for as long as you don’t repeat this shit.” He turned around to approach the hallway that led to the arena, “… But if you’ve gotten tired of this area, of Shinku, then I know where the portals are. I’m telling you this, so there’s no reason for you to do anything braindead.” With that said, he simply hoped for the best from them and dashed forward with his objective clear; the two hosts of these gladiator battles would die, and with their deaths, the prisoners would be freed.

And what if some of the prisoners were so joyed by their freedom that they would begin assaulting others? Well, Mura was pretty good at multitasking…

I should split the two up, somehow… I don’t know how potent their magical prowess are, he thought to himself as he approached the armory, The cloaked guy… he’s more dangerous. The one with the tall form should be easy to deal with. Question is, how do I split them up without raising suspicion?

He could hear the dying roars from the arena… something had happened. This silence was unusual for a gladiator battle… maybe Beira hadn’t lived up to someone’s expectations, or maybe she killed someone too quickly. No matter what it was, it must’ve held the attention of his two targets.

He suddenly heard footsteps from behind and quickly dug himself under the floor. A group of people carrying a board were to pass by… it felt like it had to happen for a reason, but Mura quickly realized that they could help him gain the distraction of at least one of the targets. Said group suddenly found themselves dug down, so only their heads stuck up - the board and their equipment indicated that they were the ‘clean-up crew’, but Mura wasn’t so aware about that until the results spoke for themselves.

With the dead corpse outside unattended, one of the targets had to go down and check where the darn clean-up crew had went…

WC: 834
TWC: 6261

The silence in the arena soon was displaced by a mutter, to a furious whispering, and then to a roar. The noises were mixed; some hailed Beira as the new queen of the arena. Others, most likely the ones who had bet a fair sum on the pretty Utgardian losing, were screaming all sorts of things, but their similar denomination was dissatisfaction. Beira, for her part, could not give a damn. What she wanted was to get out of the arena, and back to the prison area. Whatever the Old One had in mind was certainly not going to be good for her, and she had to escape this place, as soon as possible.

The door from which Stonehand had come out opened, as expected, to usher in the cleaning crew that would take out the dead body of the loser of the match. Beira thought to herself with idle amusement of how the corpse bearers would have something much heavier, than they expected, to carry out. But the door remained open. Nobody came out. Meanwhile, the crowd was getting bored, and now calling for some other entertainment, most likely to divert their minds from whatever losses they may have incurred in their not so lucky betting that day. The tall alien rose to its feet and turned to look at the Old One. ”It seems something is holding up the cleaners,” the creature said with irritation. ”They must be annoyed that they have more work to do. Humans are such lazy creatures. Wait for me, and I shall be back shortly. I am most interested in your Incarnata.” So saying, the alien strode off.

Meanwhile, seeing the open door, with no one coming out of it, Beira began walking towards it, when the Old One dematerialized in a burst of shadow from where it sat, and in another burst, appeared in front of Beira, standing between her and the door. ”What new hoops do you want me jumping through now?” she asked in an annoyed tone, suspecting that the Old One was very unwilling to have her alone and unsupervised, as she would surely be planning a means of escape, which would most certainly be bad for business between the tall alien and itself. ”I will make sure you get back to the holding cells in one piece,” the shadowy creature rasped. ”Your kind is known to be dangerously resourceful when the situation calls for it.” Beira shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant, though deep down, she was rather displeased. Having her captor watching her was not the best if she was to hatch a feasible escape plan. ”If you want to chaperone me, be my guest,” the Winter Goddess replied.

As the two walked towards the door, meanwhile, the tall alien, using another path, had headed to the sanitation crew’s place, only to find nothing. It was evident that they had prepared for their work, and had left, but something had delayed them from getting back to the arena proper to carry out their duties. Muttering to itself, the alien began to trace the path from the sanitation quarters to the arena. Meanwhile, as Beira and the Old One entered the tunnel, Beira was surprised to pick a familiar scent, made easier to detect, thanks to the confinement that the tunnel provided. Among other unidentifiable, but likely human smells, she could smell the Fairy Tail guild master, but his scent was faint, residual, as if he had been here, but wasn’t anymore. Could he possibly be around? Initially, anger welled inside her, then she realized that if indeed he was there, it was most likely to destroy this establishment; he was a Wizard Saint, after all. Then she picked another smell, that of the tall alien. It seemed to be heading down the tunnel towards the arena entrance where they stood. Worried that the tall alien was coming to finish whatever business transactions it had with the Old One concerning her on the spot, she reflexively tried to touch the collar round her neck, but as usual, her hand passed through it. The Old One noticed. ”Don’t bother, you cannot remove that collar,” said the shadowy one. ”It has been configured so that it can be touched by anyone else, except you. And unfortunately for you, you have no allies here.” Beira stopped walking and turned to face the Old One. ”Well, if I’m the only one who can’t touch the collar, then you can remove it, so why don’t you?” She hoped that their conversation could be picked by Mura Kensho, though it was just hope she was relying on; she couldn’t be certain he was there.

”And why would I, against my better sense of judgment, want to remove the collar?” asked the Old One.

”Because you haven’t explored the extent of my powers,” Beira replied.

”Which, presently, is what we want to avoid. Now, keep moving.”

Just beyond a bend in the cave tunnel, the tall alien had come across the cleaning crew. ”What sort of foolishness is this?” it asked angrily. ”Get out from there this instant, and do your work.” If Mura attacked the tall alien, the Old One, just around the corner, would definitely hear, and come running to assist. But the advantage that Mura would have would be that Beira was also there, though she was currently hobbled by the thing around her neck.


WC: 902 words
Total Personal WC: 10016/...

Huh… he heard someone’s voice. It was low and dry, but it spoke of a collar… something about removing the collar. That phrase gave him little to no context, however, as Mura didn’t know what they were talking about. Beira’s voice, however, was recognizable, and she was asking the other person to remove the collar for her if she wasn’t able to herself… quote ‘if I’m the only one who can’t touch the collar, then you can remove it, so why don’t you?’

The signature from the tall alien from before reached the area too, and those two voices were close to each other. Mura missed his chance, for he was supposed to only attract one of the two targets - not both. Beira was there, too, but… how likely was it that she would aid him? Yeah, she was a captive of theirs too, and she probably wouldn’t deny a helping hand, but he would have to watch his own back at all times from that point on…

Ah, screw it. He beat her once, he could beat her again (given he didn’t see exactly what knocked Beira down during their first fight).

Now, instead of attacking the tall alien, he would have to rip that collar off of Beira’s neck. There was an old spell of his that could come in handy right now… Hades’ Helmet. While underground, he pulled an invisible helmet down across his face with his index and middle fingers as it materialized and eradicated any photons escaping from his person until he was drop-dead gone on a visual level. Given that the two enemies hadn’t noticed him yet, his magical signature proved not a factor in his stealth - one of the virtues of human magic, perhaps.

He had to be quick. Get the collar off of Beira, kill the two, then make sure that the captives all got out in one piece before hell broke loose on the arena. He had to remember that a lot of spectators were sitting outside, probably bored to death… and when someone in this realm were bored, they’d likely switch to hostile and immoral means to entertain themselves. Quite sickening, which was why Mura couldn’t wait to get this done with.

His jump to action was sharply interrupted by Kyuken, the ghost of the ancient and legendary samurai who had something to ask him: “Ey, hey, oi, Mura! Quick, let me take control!”

Mura was dumbfounded by the ghost’s plead all of a sudden, so he stuck to auric communication and asked with a voice of frustration: “W-What is it? What do you mean-“

“I’m good with these things, trust me! Fuse my spirit with yours, now! Before it’s too late-“

“O-Okay, okay, wait a sec-“

Reluctantly, Mura allowed Kyuken’s spirit to enter his body and merge, but Kyuken was such an impulsive and passionate character, and Mura had a quick moment where his body was completely under the control of one of Kyuken’s passions… wait… why did he feel so horny right now?

WOOSH!

His ethereal form shot straight up from the ground right behind Beira, himself hoping that the cloaked, black one didn’t notice him… but Kyuken - inside Mura’s body and basically hijacking his movements - had gone way too close up to Beira’s bottom as his body ascended and slid up her behind, getting a reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaally good, detailed sensation of her rear and back before ripping the collar off of her with his bare hands powered by the Helmet of Hades. However, his shot of ecstasy was met with a repulsion of auric energy that shot Mura’s body away from Beira towards the wall as Mura’s conscience was in an absolute uproar as his tongue held both the voice of his own as well as Kyuken’s voice.

“KYUKEN!!! KYUKEN, WHAT THE FUCK!??!?!?”

“600 FUCKING YEARS, MURA! 6 TIMES A HUNDRED!!! HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I SAVED YOUR LIFE, BOY?! LET ME HAVE SOME COMPENSATION; I HAVEN’T FELT FLESH IN SEVERAL CENTURIES!!!!!!”

“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU DID THIS TO ME!! I’M MARRIED, YOU SICK APE!!! I CAN’T JUST TOUCH EVERY- Y-YOU FUCKING KNEW THAT!!!”

His enraged eyes suddenly gained their focus when he remembered to lift his arm towards the tall alien, rising four walls of the floor up to restrain the alien’s movements like a small enclosure. From his arm, a flame was released that tracked the cloaked one, but Mura’s focus was out of reach and the flame wasn’t as intense as it should’ve been.

WC: 754
TWC: 7015

There was a very weird sensation for a moment, as Beira felt something she could not immediately identify slide up her from the back. She yelped as she jumped from the alarm, causing the Old One to turn and look at her suspiciously. Then she felt a strong jerk on her neck, and there was this sudden rush of euphoria, with which came the immediate recovery of her powers, including her ability to sense spatial objects without her natural five senses. It seemed it had been a human body that had brushed up against her, most likely intentionally. And judging from the size of the person she sensed, as well as the residual smell which had been in the tunnel, the Winter God Slayer was sure she could venture a guess as to who had been so rude, but at the same time had practically rescued her.

Beira turned to see the Old One staring in surprise at the broken collar. Then their eyes met. ”I swear, I didn’t do that, honest!” the Utgardian said in a mock apologetic tone. The tall alien suddenly came striding into view, having heard the voices. Its eyes focused on Beira and then darted to the remains of the collar on the ground. ”Is it--?” The alien could not finish its question before four tall pillars suddenly rose from the ground, imprisoning it. The shadowy Old One suddenly attempted to make a dart for the exit, but Beira had been anticipating that it would attempt something, and dashed forward, kicking the Old One into the path of the flame, which it would have dodged easily, as the attack didn’t seem well-targeted, and the Old One had been alert. The shadowy creature screeched as it caught fire, and began to roll.

”I wasn’t responsible for that fire as well,” Beira stated, ”but I can show you a thing or two that I’m quite responsible for.” s she spoke, everyone would notice that their breaths had begun to mist, and then all of a sudden, a wild blizzard erupted out of nowhere in the small tunnel confines. And it was well that Beira had summoned her Winter God Chaos, because the tall alien suddenly began twisting its shape, as it wormed its way between the stone pillars to escape its prison. Having been hit by the blizzard, the tall alien growled in anger, and its left arm began to unravel into thin tentacles. ”I have grown tired of your war asset,” yelled the alien at the Old One, or at least, in the shadowy creature’s general direction, for it was obvious that the alien had lost its powers of sight. ”I will proceed to kill it. There is something else here. Find it as well, and eliminate it. I shall not condone hitches to my business.”

So saying, the alien began to swing around wildly, the thin tendrils that formed what was supposed to be its left arm flailing and leaving scratches where they hit the rock walls of the tunnel. Beira decided it would be very wise to avoid those attacks, as they seemed strong enough to scratch rock. With a few acrobatic maneuvers, she evaded her way close to where the Old One was attempting to recover from the flame and subsequent sudden cold and blindness, seeing that the tall alien seemed to be careful about striking that area, most likely to avoid hitting its business associate. The Old One heard Beira’s motions and held up its hand in her direction, firing two pulses of shining energy in rapid succession. They missed their mark, and Beira came within striking range, formed a Winter God Spear, and drove it through the head of the Old One. As the shadowy creature crumpled to the cold ground, the God Slayer called out, in a suspiciously sweet voice, ”Am I to assume I have one Mura Kensho to thank for freeing me from that collar? It would be nice if I could see whom I’m going to castrate—ah, I mean direct my thanks to.”


WC: 676 words
Total Personal WC: 10692/...

Seemingly, the two creatures responsible for this whole place and its existence proved quite underhanded thanks to Mura’s powers of stealth. He was able to scold Kyuken all the while Beira made short work of the Old One, the cloaked guy who turned out to be covered in black smokes all the time. Despite him having been warned as the most dangerous of the two, her spell that coated the area in black, icy winds plus her ice spear appeared to have done the job. That meant that the tall, rampaging alien was the last one left.

“D-Damn it, we’ll continue this later!” Mura reassured his ghostly companion as he charged up on his feet and made calamari of the alien’s tentacles. It was quick with its strikes, but now that it was bleeding out of its limbs, the execution was much easier. Mura raised his ninjato up in the air with both hands, and with one quick chop, it was planted right through the middle of the alien’s torso as he slid it off violently. He used his arm, between forearm and bicep, to clean the blood off and vaporize it with embers escaping his limb.

It was when he heard her words that his shivers returned, Hades’ Helmet faded away and revealed his position and contour, and his eyes grew angry and protesting. “K-Kyuken, go and apologize to her, you godforsaken, perverted- WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU DON’T WANNA?!?!?!”

Mura had no idea if Beira could see Kyuken or not, but the ghost was riiiiiiight next to Mura, sweating profusely. “N-No, you heard her! No fucking wa-“

“OH BOO HOO, YOU COULD’VE NOT HARRASSED HER LIKE THAT! 600 YEARS, MY ASS! THAT’S JUST- JUST- oh, this is unbelievable, can she even see you? You’ve framed me, you retard-“

“N-No, no, no, listen here buddy, she can’t really castrate a ghost and all, so how about I take over and apologize?”

“She’ll try and castrate me, that’s the damn problem!!!”

“B-Bu-But, wait, maybe she can be reasoned with! Just try and sound apologetic, up your charms, and m-maybe she’ll… f-forgive you? I mean, not gonna lie, my head’s not all here at the moment - after 6 centuries, a strong wind can make you hard-”

Mura’s veins began popping out of his forehead as his eyes reddened in embarrassment. Kyuken used to pull these shenanigans so many years ago when he was a young, impressionable teenager, but he wasn’t so forgivable this time. He wanted to smear the ghost and rip him in two - to think that Kyuken still had it in him to pull these tricks. Bastard.

“…” His tired eyes moved towards Beira, basically looking like he was tired of life already, “Uh, yeah, Mura here. You’re welcome… shiiiiiiiit, I’m not in a very good position right now.” Reconsidering his next actions, he took a deep breath and rose a hand towards her while looking away. It was but a hand of surrendering, as he had no intention nor desire to fight her right now. “Listen, I don’t know if you’ll believe me, but a ghost took over me for a moment. His name’s Kyuken, un-castratable, trust me. Creep, trust me. Also, uh, you can go now. Please, by all means, you’re free to leave. I got some things to wrap up here, then I’ll go back to where I come from- wait, catch-“

He quickly pulled out his bag of jewels and threw it at her. “I said I’d pay you tenfold… buuuuut I don’t think that’s enough now, given a certain ghost’s actions that were beyond my power and precognition.” He aimed his eyes back at Kyuken.

Whatever happens to me, that’s your fault.

WC: 608
TWC: 7623

Beira watched as the tall alien suddenly began losing body fluids from what had formerly been its tentacles, as the appendages began getting shredded to pieces, minced by the invisible assailant that was Mura Kensho. Well, she was sure it was the Wizard Saint, although whatever spell he was using to cloak his presence made it impossible for the Winter Goddess to see him. Suddenly, the alien expired, as it was cleaved almost in two in a dramatic but brutally effective fashion. Then Mura Kensho appeared, anger evident in his eyes. Beira was about to go ‘battle mode’, when she realized that the Fairy Tail guild master had his annoyance directed at something else. She could sense, rather than see, using her Cosmic Resonance (which allowed her to detect things normally invisible to the human eye, unless they were shielded by concealing magic) that there was some form standing beside Mura; it seemed humanoid, but it was evidently invisible and intangible.

”A ghost?” Beira wondered silently in her mind, though she made no show as though she knew there was the ghost of a samurai beside Mura. She could sense that the spectral being was shaking, but she couldn’t hear the discussion from its end, which meant that she had to piece information from what Mura was saying. It was hilarious, but the Utgardian tried to maintain a straight face. Best that Mura didn’t know she knew there was a ghost there. She wanted him to be as uncomfortable as she could afford, as her means of revenge, after having fought and arguably defeated her, since she was in no mood for a rematch. Fortunately, he wasn’t as well, so Beira decided to watch him with a suspicious look on her face, while he tried to explain what had happened.

Rather than catch the money bag thrown at her, the Winter Goddess dodged, evading it as though it were a projectile, rather than something to be caught. ”What is it with you Fioreans and thinking money can solve anything?” she asked in an exasperated tone. ”I’m not interested in your money; I’m more interested in a ghost’s neutering, but you just told me it can’t be done, so I’ll not waste further time here. Tell your ghost that if he ever tries that again… well, neither of us wants to do any imagining in that direction.” She glared at the perverted ghost, or at least in his general direction as she could sense his presence, then turned to look at Mura. ”Thanks, anyhow. Be seeing you around—NOT!”

And with that, she ran through the wall as if it was water, using her Shadowstep ability. While she had it in mind to leave Shinku, she was not going to leave without rewarding herself for all the pains she had gone through here. And while taking the Wizard Saint's money was not acceptable, due to her pride, Beira had no qualms with raiding this outfit's treasury, for she was sure there had to be something of that order in the arena.



WC: 509 words
Total Personal WC: 11201/...