Ace had just finished his quest with his tiny orange furred partner handing out fliers around Magnolia. So both him and his companion, Anax, were wrecked. The young growlithe walked next to his befriended boy with his tongue sticking out still going to the Magnolia Bathhouse. Prior to the request they took on, the both of them had to run from an angry mob from some sort of tennis game that was being held where Anax stole one of the balls they were using. Their start to this day was a mess. Then they took a request put up by Bella Missandra to hand out fliers for the Magnolia Bathhouse. Once again, running through town, taping up fliers and trying to give out as many as they can. Luckily enough though Bella rewarded them with a hefty handful of jewels and a nice relaxing bath. It was no regular bath as well. It was meant to rejuvenate their magical energies and boost it up. They walked out of the hot bath soaked up and feeling fresh as ever. They felt as if their day wasn't as long as it had already been. The only thing on their minds now was food. The sun was still up, but not for long. So in this time they had to go get a bite to eat to end their day. But was it really supposed to end like this? They weren't tired at all... With bursting energy the two of them were wondering what else they could've been doing.

Ace thought to himself before speaking out quietly, "What do you think of us going towards the market street and seeing what restaurants are open... If nothing really seems interesting then I can actually try cooking tonight. We'll buy off some fish from the market street and I'll try doing what my grandad used to do." Being the young growlithe he was, Anax was growing up fairly quickly and eating a lot. He'd definitely love to be with Barney, Ace's grandad, right now. The afroed boy's grandad used to make the best food ever. He had interest in it and so tried mastering it. That's where Ace has been taught to never drop what you like. What you like, you master and excel at. The orange furred growlithe interrupted Ace's train of thought by howling as Ace walked a bit slower. "Alright lets go..." Ace said before picking up the pace again.

They strolled through the streets of Magnolia as the sun got closer to setting. With the lessened intensity of the sun it was much nicer to take a walk than before. A cool breeze gently passed over their skin just as they took a right turn at the end of the street. They saw people running around the streets filled with energy and hanging up decorations. "Wonder whats going on here" he said while darting his eyes from one corner to the next. The colorful decoration being put up gave off a really nice color scheme specially at this time of day. They continued walking between the joyful people until they the street came to an end again. Here the number of people was increasing and there seemed to be way kore noise than just a couple of minutes ago. It looked like more and more people were joining the 'party' as well. Ace and his partner had no clue what was going on so they decided to stop someone and ask them. "What's going on here?" Ace asked one of the older men who was participating in the event. "Oh, it's the noble Medias Syrases' daughter's seventh birthday and he's celebrating it with the people!" He stated with a big smile on his face. The old man looked at the young afroed gas mage and his growlithe and said "If you're travelers then its definitely worth it to partake in the event... Food, music, and a whole lot of Magnolia spirit." Ace looked at Anax for a second and just before he got a chance to reply the old man added another comment saying "Over there. Keep walking for about a minute and you should be able to meet Medias personally." Ace nodded at the man and walked with his companion towards the noble. It was definitely hard not to feel happy with all the good vibes around the place. Everyone was smiling, walking around cheerfully and helping out. It was very hard to tell who Medias was all the way from where Ace and Anax were. Even as they got closer they saw no one that stood out as a noble quite that much either. He must have been really close to the people. From the way the old man was talking Ace was able to pick that up anyway.

Shortly after walking for a bit, Ace managed to spot the man. His clothes were indeed a bit different to the rest, but nothing too showy. He seemed like he was the type of person to respect the people. Ace was fond of these people as they were part of the main reason he made it to the Rune Knights. He wanted to lead the people with courage and nobility, unlike the corruption present in the system he wanted to rank up and correct it with honor rather than fall back in line with every other man with power. The young man had dreams... In just a glimpse he felt motivated. Medias Syrases... Ace peeped a quick look at his companion and decided to go talk to the man. "Lets go Anax." He said with a quiet voice.

"Hey I'm Ace Brookes, an apprentice mage with the Rune Knights, and this is my partner Anax. I've recently heard about you from the people of Magnolia. Very nice to meet you sir."

He extended his tiny hand out to greet the man after he finished speaking. Medias showed a huge smile before replying back to the afroed boy saying,

"Nice to meet you too. My name's Medias Syrases. Its very nice to see the youth involved in holding justice on our lands. A lot of respect for you young man."

He then extended his own arm out to shake Ace's hand firmly. Just before Ace had the chance to reply to the man, he spoke out with a clear loud voice just before letting go of the boy's hand. "I'm holding my baby girl's seventh birthday party here with the people. Would you like to help out? You'd obviously be welcome to stay for the party then afterwards. Both you and Anax." Ace nodded with respect and looked at Anax briefly again. "We'll be happy to help you out sir!" His reply was pure from the heart. Ace honestly wasn't looking for jewels right now. They just got paid after their last job so this was more of a helping out type of thing.

Again, Ace and Anax turned around leaving the man alone. Everyone around them seemed just as happy as Ace was, if not more. The gas mage's face seemed naturally more relaxed than other times but still plain compared to the faces of the people around him. He went along and helped move the trays of food out from the shops. There was way too much of it and Ace knew that more people will be showing up to help the man and enjoy the party as well. The young gas mage used some of his basic magic to climb the trees and buildings by walking on them, and then hung up the colorful decorations which extended over the whole length of the street. Anax was also doing his part by pulling the carts of food and mini games set out for the children. Ace couldn't find anyone in this massive crowd that wasn't pitching in. That reflected really good work from Medias. Ace hoped and strived to get there one day. Then again, you have to start somewhere. The gas mage was well aware of that and that was part of the reason he still did his D-rank chore-like quests. Everyone needed a foundation, and this just happened to be the young apprentice's starting point. Being completely honest with himself, Ace wasn't expecting a rank up anytime soon. At least not yet. It was tough work to rank up and his own opinions on the matter were that they'd probably make it slightly harder for a kid to rank up since no one really wants a 12 year old captain. However, that never slowed him down. He was already breaking grounds here while being the youngest apprentice in the Rune Knights. It would be an even larger breakthrough if he makes it to the first seated Rune Knight. That would give the young mage even more respect by the higher ranks and then again be recognized fairly well by his lower ranked peers.

A magnified voice echoed through the streets as Medias' daughter showed up. "The noble Medias Syrases' daughter, Jasmine Syrases... Our festival starts now! Happy 7th birthday!" Ace and Anax looked over at the seven year old just like everyone else around. A loud cheer resounded in the streets as the people of Magnolia celebrated the noble's daughter. Around two minutes after the announcement, Medias showed up with his daughter and introduced her to Ace and Anax. The young orange furred growlithe playfully circled the girl as she laughed. She patted him and played with the canine as Medias handed Ace his reward. Ace looked in shock at the man and said "There was no agreement about a reward..." Medias chuckled for a second and insisted that Ace and Anax take the reward by saying "I know but you've done a big share of the work. Also it's my daughter's birthday, so may it be a celebration for everyone. Again, you're free to stay for the party Ace." Ace took the the reward and thanked the man greatly before saying "It was nice meeting you sir... Hopefully we'll meet again someday." Anax seemed to be having a blast with the girl so Ace let him take a break from all the training they've been doing. Why not take some time off by enjoying this celebration.

Ace wandered by to one of the food trays and helped himself to the wide variety of sandwiches laid out. The sun began to set and left behind and nice mixture of colors in the sky. A nice blend of purple and orange tainted the sky's horizon as the festival officially started. People started drinking left and right and every other person walked up to Jasmine Syrases to congratulate her. Her father seemed to be busy enough trying to make everything look perfect for her, so Ace hadn't really gotten his chance to talk to this great man. But he knew that the time will come when he'll meet him again, either for business or just a casual meeting, but he will get to know this man better. For now, Ace focused on working hard and training as he had a couple spells he wanted to test out in the morning tomorrow. So this was his only time off till then. After that its back to racking jewels and helping the community out.

It was definitely worth staying over for this sjort break from reality. After a long night of chilling out and eating from a variety of different foods over the span of hours, the festival was still going on, but Ace and Anax decided to step out. After all, it did seem like one of their longest days in a really long time. Getting paid twice as if they'd done two requests in one day. Bella Missandra sure did help in making that possible with her magical bath. Ace and Anax knew they had harsh training in the morning and for now it was time for their rest. After all, a good rest was always key to hard work and success in the morning. They were definitely ready for the next challenge by now.

~EXIT~
2016/2000