Yuurei was in the lounge of the guild as he was his friend. It was a day to relax as it seemed like he was doing that a lot whenever he had finished doing a job. The young lad hadn’t ventured throughout Fiore ever since he had come to Hargeon and for some reason, he felt that it was for the best. Still, knowledge did grow within his mind the more time he stood in this one town. He was reading a book, but this time on one of the couches that were placed in the guild. Renji was laying next to him as he was taking a nap with nothing better to do. He couldn’t hang out with Nimbus, for the Exceed was cuddled by that elf with the pigtails.

While things progressed normally it wouldn’t take long for somebody to yell just outside of the guild. It seemed like they ran straight towards their station just to scream for help. This would bring the light mage to move his book slightly down and away from his face to look around.

“Am I the only one who heard that?” He asked out loud.

Renji would turn to his side and scratch his right butt cheek as he was disturbed from his nap.

“Can they shut up, I’m trying to sleep here.” He spoke out loud, which provided Yuurei with what he needed.

The half-elf had gotten up from the couch he was sitting on, placing the book onto the couch as he would stretch a bit. They needed help and he was going to provide that act of service. The pirates were annoying in this town as new ones would emerge almost every other week or so. When he was about to head out, he caught a glimpse of a woman who from where he stood was young and beautiful. She had spoken up even though short but was enough to know that she was going to help as well.

“I was going to go, but if you’re going then we should go together then.” He suggested as he blushed a bit.

He didn’t know who she was and it was the first time he would approach anybody in the guild besides, Daiko, Kailani, and Brone. Renji would find himself rolling off the couch falling on the ground before getting up and walking towards Yuurei. He was groggy from his nap but climbed up to the young man’s shoulder before looking at the woman.

“I’m coming, it was boring here anyways. Are any of you guys coming?” He would rudely ask waiting for an answer before moving.

459

With her purple locks tied into their usual pigtails, Kailani sat up from the lying position on one of the sofas within the guildhall's shared lounge with a yawn. Beside her, a ball of black and white fur, clad in its usual red and white suit. Since taking in Nimbus the wind mage had noted she had grown somewhat lazy, his preference to sleeping in rubbing off on her. With another yawn, she'd stretch before rubbing her tired eyes.

"What's all the commotion?" Kailani would ask as her still waking brain processed the information, "Pirates...? Again...?" Her lilac eyes scanned the room, lingering on her best friend, it seemed he was keen to go along with what she could only assume was another guild member they had yet to have the opportunity to speak to. A beautiful woman with gorgeous brunette locks. Kailani found herself subconsciously raising her hand as she stared in awe at her beauty.

"I-I will join you as well, miss." Kailani declared as confidently as she could while forcing herself to stand, her heart pounding as it began to anxiously race despite the lack of danger they were currently in.

"Wait what?" The exceed beside her blurted, "I thought we were going to-" the wind mage snapped her fingers causing the air around his mouth to silence him.

"Shush Nimbus, we can get sushi for breakfast another time." Kailani glared down at the feline with a sharp look, causing him to remain quiet even after her magic had dissipated. Crossing his arms he simply huffed and muttered a few angry, but inaudible, words to himself. Picking up the furball, the wind mage would cradle him in her arms like a newborn, causing him to grumble once more as they joined the group.

"And that shall do it" Brone Heavyaxe had finished looking himself over for the final time once he fastened his ringmail armor. The amount of time was tedious, but it was necessary for fighter like himself; besides, his time spent fastening his armor takes just as much time as most guild members within Blue Pegasus take when they check themselves in the mirror. Although, the dwarf has noticed he has been taking more time getting ready, making sure his hair and beard are combed well and tied with a gold band that held a rune etched into it.

Brone gave one look at his new helmet, it was well polished, enough to reflect the smile on the dwarf's face, "Finally becoming what my father was" he felt his pride swell as he rested his helmet under an arm before walking out one of the many dressing rooms. He made his way to the bar and hopped onto one of the stools, "Tall ale" he tapped the bar once with his knuckles and the bartender, who was already a familiar face, nodded and turned to get his drink.

Then there was a cry of pirates and Brone turned towards the front double doors. It was trouble and he was quick to down from the stool. He tightened his grip as he tried to listen further, but there was nothing else to hear, then he realized the guildhall was too quiet, many of the members continued their own business and some simply looked about to see if anyone would take arms; what was most eye catching was their emotional reaction, they were laxed. Even though they were probably well seasoned mages, he didn't like he was probably the only one quick to grab his helm.

A brunette woman called for any volunteers; Yuurei volunteered and Kailani soon after. Brone got his smile back, his only acquittances had stepped forward and now shall he.

"Your ale?" the bartender returned. Brone grabbed the large mug and drank it down quickly.

"You have my axe!" Brone called out as he raised his then empty mug.

354 words.

Yuurei was glad to see that these two were the ones to join him in this sudden attack. He felt at ease to have multiple people he trusted with him. It wouldn’t take long, but after the small talk was over, he had found out the mystery woman’s name. He had blushed a bit not because of her name, but because he had truly forgotten to introduce himself. He rubbed the back of his head feeling embarrassed and rude for not saying anything. Soon enough, she would use what looked like magic before running off at a speed that surprised him. His eyes widen as he knew that she was clearly holding back, which brought him to wonder if he could ever reach that level of speed.

He shook his head as he didn’t have time to think about this right now. Two gold magic circles appeared, one coming out of each hand before three stars would form floating in his hands. They would find themselves entering the light mage before he had done the same thing as Sofia. His arrival to the location wouldn’t be quick, but he would get there just in time to see her dawn a weapon before cutting one of the pirates down. The smirk on his face allowed him to know that she was in a different class than the three of them.

Still, he didn’t have the time to compare as for her attacked signaled the other pirates. Now that the surprise was over the attack had begun. The half-elf caught glimpses of different pirates moving towards them. He decided to see how they would fair against. He had fought many before him and figured it would be the same today. He would rush straight towards one of the pirates and when close enough found himself launching a punch. The pirate was able to barely dodge the attack, which surprised Yuurei because these pirates seemed more train than all the ones that he had fought before.

It was interesting to see, but one thing he found out about the way this pirate dodge was that he wasn’t quick enough to continue those movements. The young man had spun his body using his right leg and extended his left outward as he would catch the pirate on his next. It would cause the criminal to stumble from the blow, which gave him enough time to bring his leg back to the ground and deliver another blow straight into the pirate’s abdomen and drop him to the floor.

One thing he got from this was simple, he wasn’t going to go in half-ass in this fight because he might get hurt.

“The name is Yuurei Starlight, sorry for the late introduction Sofia.” He paused as he looked over to where Kailani would possibly be.

“You think you can make me faster than I am Kai?” He asked her as he got into a fighting stance waiting for the fight to come to him.

“I thought you were about to make a fool of yourself. Good save Yuu, it seems like you can move faster than I can now.” Renji said feeling proud of Yuurei’s progression, but knew that his strength was surprising the thing that increased the most.

563

50/300 Mana

Spoiler:

Near silent footsteps pitter-pattered on the cobblestone roads as the wind mage rushed with all her might, Nimbus strapped to her back. They managed to keep up with her best friend Yuurei fairly easily despite him using his magic to enhance himself. Glancing at the other two, the woman, Sofia, had already rushed ahead of them, having no issues outpacing the rest of the group. Their little dwarven friend, however, was definitely going to lag behind if left to his own devices. Summoning forth her mana, a small circle of magic formed on her hand as her fingers clicked twice with Brone in mind, a copy of the circle would appear upon his back as a surge of magic would draw in the air behind him, picking up into a gale that would push him along allowing him to keep up with both herself and Yuurei.

Her magic was not entirely fantastic for fighting alone. Fortunately, this time she had a team beside her and she had seen what the stout man was capable of with those axes as long as he could outpace his targets he would have no problems carving up a few. Her lilac eyes danced around the battle scene once it came into view, taking a position behind her teammates as she used them to guard herself while she analyzed the situation. Heart racing with adrenaline, she'd focus back onto Brone, deciding to aid him this time around as she waited for the moment it looked like he was ready to charge in. With another snap of her fingers, she'd expend more of her magical energy, another circle, this time mirrored beneath the dwarf's feet as gusts of wind would surge beneath him and allowing him to dash at full speed or lunge instantly towards his choice of opponent.

Repositioning her feet slightly she'd prepare herself, deciding to savour her one and only offensive spell in case of emergency. For now, she had a protective barrier of allies between herself and the enemy, but if even a single pirate managed to sneak by she'd be in trouble if she wasted her magical daggers. Hearing Yuurei introduce himself in the heat of battle Kailani sighed, this really wasn't the time for introductions, that could wait for when they were done.

"Brone needs it more than you." the wind mage responded curtly to her friend's request, unable to aid him currently as her magic was tied up elsewhere.

Spells Used:

Brone grabbed his helmet and rushed towards the door and just when he was about to yell out "Onward!" the brunette beauty had vanished within a blink of an eye, the front doors burst open and a gust of wind whipped up. It took the dwarf to realize the woman wielded speed he had never seen before. Another blink and Yuurei dashed out after the woman, followed by Kailani. Brone slid his helmet onto his head and rushed out the doorway, determined to join the fray, but seeing the distance between him and his companions increase with each passing second sadden him despite he was running as fast as his shorter legs can carry him with all the heavy equipment he held.

Then, like a fresh breeze, Brone felt as if the wind had lifted him and even parted, making way for the dwarf as he ran, faster and faster. He swore he could smell lavender as the wind guided and gently nudged him, he assumed it had to be Kailani who had helped him. He bellowed out a laugh as he spotted the confrontation; the brunette woman swung her weapon which looked like a blur to the dwarf, and Yuurei made quick movements and seem to have downed a pirate already. Brone looked about, making sure his aim had a target and just as he hoped, he spotted a thug that drew a bladed a weapon while facing Yuurei. Brone's speed had picked up to the point he couldn't slow himself down... "Good" he thought as he drew his iron battleaxe. When he finally closed the gap, he slammed the axe into the unsuspecting pirate with such force it sent the pirate flying into a clutter of barreled that exploded from the collision.

The contact of the swing managed to slow the dwarf enough for him to tumble safely. When his roll slowed, he got to his feet stood  ready with his axe in hand, "Call me Brone Heavyaxe; and yes... this axe is heavy!" he laughed loudly.

342

Now with everybody joining the fight, it seemed like things would go smoothly, which was good. His eyes looked over to Kailani who had used her buffs on Brone, and he would nod as he understood that the dwarf might need it more than anybody. He wasn’t paying attention in the beginning, but it seemed like the axeman was slower than the group. In the end, it didn’t matter because he needed to focus on his fight or else, he might get hurt. Of course, that was hard to do when Sofia decided to create a dragon head. His eyes widen when he saw the magic she wielded, and he could feel just from the sight of it that he didn’t want to get hit by such an attack.

Still, with what she had done just now, the majority of the pirates had been taken care of. It was crazy what a seasoned mage could do to these people who would have taken them quite a while to handle. There were still a few of them left, not as much as before, but enough that they could handle without taking a long time to finish. There were some pirates that didn’t get taken out by the attack that Sofia had launched, and Yuurei was quick to react. His movements were quick, but the pirate was just as quick. The ruffian would dodge the first punch of Yuurei’s and would send a punch of his own.

The light mage found himself instinctively blocking it with one hand to feel the blow behind the attack. His left arm shaking from the blow, he would move again to attack the pirate this time, their distance closer than it was last time. Yuurei would throw another punch, but this one was a feint attack. The pirate fell for it dodging the punch, but not noticing the light mage bending his arm to go for a blow to the face with his elbow. The pirate would take it fully, which would cause him to stumble back as he held his nose from the impact.

The half-elf took advantage of this as he rushed straight towards him, and this time launching a rising knee straight into the man’s forehead as he fell to the floor. The mage would find himself standing straight as he looked around to see if there was anybody who needed to be taken down. Renji noticed something and it was the man that Yuurei had taken out who was shaking his head as he was slowly getting up. The cat leaped off his companion’s shoulder and launched a flurry of scratches towards the pirate, which took him out for good.

Renji would shake his head at this as he climbed back on Yuurei’s shoulder before he was caught off guard.

“Pay attention Yuu, you got to make sure that the enemy is fully down.” He said to Yuurei.

The light wizard would shake his head surprised that Renji had done something like this and wondered what the sudden change of heart was. For Renji, he just didn’t want to fall on the floor if Yuurei was caught off guard and hit to the ground.

545

100/300

Kailani's eyebrows furrowed as she grew frustrated, while one of her spells had certainly helped the dwarf, her other one was struggling to help speed him up. Possibly due to all his hefty attire? Regardless it was infuriating the wind mage, they would need to practice after. Evidently, she required a more powerful spell in order to aid the stout man properly. Her thoughts on the matter were interrupted as the feminine voice of the brunette asked a question directed at the wind mage herself.

"Oh.. um. K-Kailani." The wind mage stuttered nervously as her eyes met with gorgeous green ones momentarily in the heat of combat, causing her heart to race for a reason unrelated to the current combat and chaos surrounding her. She could feel her cheeks heat up as they flushed, quickly peeling her lilac eyes away from the brunette to focus back on the battle before them. It seemed the brunette had managed to annihilate most of the enemy forces alone, clearly, she didn't really require their help. However, the experience for the low-ranked trio was still something that couldn't be overlooked.

With a twist of her hands and another set of clicks, the lavender wind mage decided to focus on Yuurei's original request. Recasting her speed spell to instead form a magic circle onto her best friend's back instead of the dwarf, while clicking with her other hand simultaneously to summon forth more magical energy to once more give Brone the more potent, instant burst again rather than a weaker sustainable one.

"Hey! They're trying to get away!" Nimbus cried out to everyone. The exceed strapped to Kailani's back, eyed over the battlefield calling out to the others as he spotted a few pirates trying to make an escape back to their ship. Glancing over to where the feline pointed, the wind mage would notice he was correct, a small band, further along, had noticed things weren't going well for them and were now trying to make haste to return to the docks, most likely to board their ship and set sail.

Spells Used:

A small, yet simple compliment from Sofia warmed Brone's cheeks to a blush, the dwarf laughed, "Please do not spoil the magicless fighter when we have talented mages about!" he called back to the brunette woman while peering around for the next enemy. Two pirates decided to take on the dwarf and rushed him, so Brone answered their charge by running towards them, all the while pulling his battleaxe back, preparing it for a great swing.

When the first pirate was close enough, both he and Brone swung their blades, fortunately for the pirate, he was faster than the slow dwarf, however unfortunately, his blade slammed into the iron helmet, not stopping the dwarf's massive swing. The axe arced and came in with a great force. Because of the first pirate was so close, he wasn't hit by the axe's blade, but was caught by the handle which slammed into the side of his pelvis while the blade caught the second pirate who was trying to keep up with his partner. Both pirates were sent flying by the massive swing of the dwarf.

Brone twirled and nearly collapsed. He pulled up his helmet which had sank in, blinding him for a brief moment when the pirate's blind struck the top of it. Seeing no other pirates before him, he understood he must have succeeded in his attack, though he was confused about why a flood of water had just passed his feet "Tide? or someone's plumbing busted? Oh well" He lost interest. Then suddenly a purple magic circle appeared at Brone's feet, as bright and as large as it was, the dwarf didn't notice it, but smelled the familar sent of lavender as a gust of wind whipped up around him. "Ah! more speed!" he figured out what Kailani's spell was and accepted it. When he heard her voice cry out about the pirates escaping, he understood why he was given the spell buff, "Aye, don't ye worry, lass" He said as he stood off towards the docks.

Though he was slow naturally, the speed boost was enough for him to eventually catch up to the pirate who was tailing the rear, "Pity ye weren't fast enough, lad!" he said as he swung his axe. As the pirate looked back to see who had just spoken to him, the flat of the axe slammed into his chest and sent him flying backwards towards Yuurei. While the half-elf deal the final blow on that one, Brone figured he would keep running until he caught the next pirate.

431

It wouldn’t take long, but Yuurei could feel the energy that came from Kailani. It was similar to his light magic, so the feeling wasn’t unknown to him. Still, it wouldn’t take long for things to be in effect as he could see that there was one pirate flying straight in his direction. It was different, however, as he looked like he feared for his life and he was actually in the air. When he looked in the direction of where he had come from he could see that it was Brone who had made a special delivery. It brought a smirk onto his face as he had rushed straight into the ruffian, leaping into the air and delivering a lariat across his neck.

The pirate would only do one thing and it was become an acrobat by flipping backward and landing flat on his stomach on the floor. Yuurei would land on his feet as he would look around to see if there were any more pirates for him to take care of. His eyes looking over the direction of Kailani to see if she was fine, he would see the woman kiss his best friend on her hand. His eyebrow arched for a bit as he was surprised by the different approach of greeting, and then he chuckled.

“Yeah either she’s treating Kai with special attention, or she likes girls.” He would say this out loud as he didn’t know whether or not it was rude of him to say.

While he saw this another pirate who was running away had accidentally gone in the direction of Yuurei. The ruffian figured he had no other choice, and attacked the half-elf so that he could get out of the way. Renji being on the lookout would be surprised about this attack but noticed his partner wasn’t looking. He would pull Yuurei’s ear and at the same time find himself screaming at him.

“Behind you, you idiot! Stop looking at the girls!” He shouted at Yuurei, which made Yuurei jump as he was caught by surprise.

He heard his words though, which caused him to also step out of the way of the attack that was coming for him. It was then the pirate would come to view, which brought Yuurei to grab the man by the back of his shirt and slam him into the ground before kneeing him right in the chest. He would stand straight up as he had kicked the pirate one last time to make sure he wouldn’t get up this time and would look over to Sofia as she had asked them a question.

“Going after them. I guess we can I don’t want them coming back, but it seems like pirates around the world are brave to come here. Is there something in Hargeon that we don’t know about?” He asked ready to continue on with their pirate hunt.

506
150/300 Mana used
2073/1000
[exit]

The wind mage found herself unable to refuse as Sofia offered her hand out, her cheeks turning crimson as she felt Sofia's lips press against her knuckles. This was definitely a first for the young elven woman, who was now visibly more nervous due to their fellow guild member than about the pirates who had been so easily defeated by the brunette's blade.

"Th-the pleasure is a-all m-mine." Kailani stammered as butterflies fluttered within her stomach due to the forwardness of the flirtatious female before her.

"Oi, snap out of it!" the raspy voice of the exceed clinging to her shoulder spat as he pushed a paw onto her cheek, bringing Kailani back to the reality around her. With an apologetic glance at her exceed companion she'd focus back on the task at hand. They had managed to reduce the damage to the town, but if they didn't deal with them completely then they would likely return with an even bigger force. Yuurei thankfully answered first, his confidence helping to ground her a little.

"Y-yes, we should deal with them properly." The wind mage spluttered, finally finding words, her eyes fixed towards the harbour, as she strode quickly down the cobblestone road, almost as if she were avoiding everyone's eyes lest they notice her flustered expression.

Brone had looked back to see if his team was following suit, but seeing as they stopped for a moment to contemplate the next move, the dwarf stopped, though his back heels weren't firmly planted, ready to continuing running after the pirates if they decided. "Well?" he asked, though trying not to sound impatient. Given his distance he couldn't hear their conversation, but he figured the moment they started making their way towards the docks, then he had his decision.

Seeing Sofia greet Kailani in such formality made Brone realize that he himself may have a rude way of greeting people. He waved at Kailani when he first met her and he accidently shot a button from his dress shirt at Yuurei when he first met him. He wasn't sure if "Proper Greetings" were listed in the Blue Pegasus "Rightful Etiquette" handbook, but then again, Brone had barely skimmed through it, not having the patience to read it, though he wasn't even fully sure if it was an official handbook one of the guild members gave him; either way, he was sure being part of this guild that upholds values and etiquette, Brone would have to do his best at representing the guild. He needed to work on his socializing indeed.

Non-combat concerns to the side, seeing the group make a sprint towards the docks gave Brone his answer and he cheered as he turned on the balls of his feet and continued his run, chasing the pirates, though the other three will soon pass by him due to having a big gap in speed between them and him, he was filled with excitement to be able to deliver a win to the guild.

[Exit]

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Total Word Count: 1,412