Final Fantasy IX: The Fall of Mages RP

The airship was slowly turning it's engines off, while boarding to WDT.
'' That's one huge tower...'' A young sailor mumbled when saw the tower. Richard smiled to him and slowly walked to the room from where you can left the ship.

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Few minutes later the airship stopped. Richard opened doors and left the ship together with the blackmage.
'' Nice to be back... see, Delta is heading this way.'' The blackmage mentioned. Richard quickly started looking around but he couldn't notice the man mentioned before.
'' Hahaha... got you Richard!'' A voice suddenly told. Then Richard kicked air. Complaining started in mere seconds.
'' Shit... You almost killed meh..'' The voice told. In a second, a middle-aged man, around 40 year was standing in front of him.
'' I thought what was Vivius talking about... so, everyone in the hotel?'' Richard asked while looking around. The dock was a beautiful one, covered with different paintings and filled with statues. Doors to different shops and ticket offices also lied in walls.
'' Yeah... I got only 5 men... that should cost around 10 000 a face... if you count in their crew. For a month of course.'' Delta said. Delta was a rat-man with no doubts. He had pretty small body-type, which was pretty well-built. He seemed to be very experienced, because of his look. Even if his voice was 100% positive, his face reflected the pain of war and death.
'' Hmm... I am slowly running out of funds... I think I gave too much to crew of veterans...'' Richard quietly told and then turned to a sideway. After ten meters, they were in front of a big sign:
'' The Hotel Of Richard- The Terminator of Beastmen!''
'' Hehe... it seems as every town has a place named by me... Tho, when I fought for Ipsen, they chanced names of 50% of the buldings.'' Richard sighted and started laughing.
'' Let's see then.... I think Predator is here too...'' Vivius mentioned while he was opening the door. They entered the room, and exactly like it had been in Lindbulm, he was welcomed here too with few Hurrays.
'' Huh... thje Ljegen Hjemself Hjuh?'' A rat-faced barkeeper said. He was pretty old, but still seemed to possess some power.
'' Don't worry... only our people in here at the moment... Black Lotus or Order Of Nibenay don't have their hands in this kind of place... besides, we got bigger little-mans than they have so they are afraid of us...'' Delta sigheted. A big laughter came from everywhere in the hotel bar.
'' Anyway... Let the meeting begin...''Vivius said and walked slowly to private room back at the bar. Slowly he walked to the top of the table. There were total of 5 men besides him, Vivius and Delta. The three sat down and Richard welcomed others.
'' We know the deal... Everyone will get 10 000 gold coins for one month and 10 men. Besides the transport... but Predator... he has something against it...'' A old looking dragoon with small lancer said. Then he looked at a man covered in darkness. His was was dark-cold, his gaze was empty, he had black messy hair and he was weawring black armor covered with black cape.
'' I wish 20 000, for me and 20 men. Will find my own way to get to there...'' The man said. His voice was so terrible and fearsome, that any normal citizen would started screaming and run away.
'' Probably... I am okay with it... as far as the others are!'' Richard said eagerly while watching the faces of the elite dragoons.
'' Then it's the deal... so where are you heading?'' The oldest of them continued.
'' Alexandria... And then, I will go to Madain Sari and Vivius to EOC (Eastern Outer Continent). I think I will go then give a look to Land Of Snow and then head out trough north to Daguerro.'' Richard said and changed the topic. Everyone seemed to be pretty talkative and so they chatted until night. Then, Richard nodded to everyone, whispered something to Vivius and left, Delta followed him. They went out to the main street and walked towards Castle of Burcmeria.
 
After a few hours of rest Jacel awoke, it seemes somewhat lighter even in the dark sky, he made sure everything was together before leaving his room, locking the door, handing in his key and heading outside. He looked about and quickly caught the attention of a man leaving a slightly more rich-looking inn, he was obviously someone of influence so odds were he would have some form of information leading him to more gems, or if not he may actually posess some gems, or at least some money if he didn't.

He was about to follow him when he noticed a man following him, he daren't try to attack him, odds are others would come out to stop him if he tried. He instead followed his target, hiding behind objects as they seemed to be proceeding toward the castle. He then felt his weapons warm up, something was wrong... Maybe it felt a gem somewhere... Or maybe something more hostile?
 
Richard and Delta were soon making their way to the castle, when Delta suddenly started talking with quiet voice.
'' You noticed that low one following us huh? Richard sighted, smiled and then told:
'' If you noticed that he is so weak, why did you get worried?'' Richard told with quite ironic tone. Delta's face got a bit more serious.
'' You know... it's no joke. He is weak, but the power... what somehow spills out from his swords, is a dangerous one. It seems like one ancient item or something.... But no idea how a young boy could buy that kind of expensive items... probably stole them and so has no idea of their history...'' Delta told, than suddenly he stopped.
'' Hello Vivius!'' He mumbled. Vivius flashed in front of them in great hurry. His face was death-serious and a bit worried.
'' Delta.... and Richard... get the hell away from here!'' He shouted. The boy following them suddenly stopped. Some kind of magical pressure came from his baselards. His hearth was beating faster as the energy grew.
'' It's a summon... heading this way. Here in any minutes! The Royal Mages court seems to be up already and moving out to make a barrier. Just leave the town Richard, I will follow you later!'' Vivius told and wanted to teleport away, but than... something unpredictable happened. The street was smashed up, a furious beast in flames was standing next to Richard. Delta jumped next to the boy:
'' Do you feel any kind of pressure?'' He asked eagerly. The answer was yes.
'' Richard and Vivius, hold the beast here... He wants this boy... or something from him so I get him to safety. Two minutes would be fine!'' He shouted, than grabbed the boy and jumped quickly towards EDT.
'' That idiot... two minutes... That will be hard as hell!'' Richard shouted, had already raised his blade and charged on his enemy. The speed of Richard was unimaginably big, his face was calm, but his body was ready to take a hit. Then, Richard jumped. This came as a surprise to the enemy, as one could never presume that this big man could jump more than 5 meters up.
'' The blade of Frost! BLIZZAGA SWORD!'' Richard shouted, Vivius raised his hands and said something, then Richard slashed. The enemy was completely frozen, as everything else behind the beast in 40 meter radius. Richard fell down, quickly ran next to Vivius and smiled.
'' Hehe..haven't used this one for many years! But you seemed to be as good as always.'' Richard told to Vivius. Then started running down the alley towards WDT. Vivius followed him by teleporting. A second later, 10 mages were surrounding them.
'' Where is the enemy?'' A Archmage of Burmeria asked. He looked like Black Waltz master and was pretty trendy.
'' There... broking free from our Blizzaga in second!'' Vivius told to them and started teleporting behind Richard in a second.
'' Hmm... was it really prince Vivius, the youngest son of Grandmaster Vivi? The archmage wondered and teleported next to the frozen statue. A second later the fight started. The beast broke free.
'' Hehe... hope we make in time...'' Richard told while raising his running tempo. Then, he jumped to the railway, a moment later jumped up once again and landed on the aircabin. Then, slowly he slided himself inside the aircabin and told:
'' Just raise some speed... A elemental beast is on main street!'' Richard smiled to everyone and sit down. A second later Vivius was standing in front of him
'' They can hold the beast for some time, but I am afraid that the beast will give everything to follow the boy... who seems to be their object. So Delta went to EDT?''
Vivius asked eagerly. Richard smiled and answered:
'' Yeah, but we go to WDT, as the cabin goes there... we get the airship up and go and get the boy. Than we ride him to Alexandria I presume... From there I recommend him to go to Madain Sari, only safe spot from the invasion of beasts..''

'' Let me go!'' The boy shouted. Delta only smiled to him while jumping at incredible speed.
'' Don't worry, I get you to safe area... this beast was after you... so yeah, try not to stop me.''
 
After a few seconds from his blade detecting a presence he was spotted, then before he knew what was happening he was being dragged away from the town. when they finally stopped he could feel the temperature rising and the sky turning crimson red as the rain ceased for the first time in burmecian history. He then felt his baselards increase in heat, from below a being of fire had appeared and was being attacked, he then caught sight of Jacel and almost in response he began to grow to an astounding height, growing to twice the size of the burmecian castle, it then began to thicken the veil of fire surrounding it. It's already fiery body became engulfed in a magma skin, it then began to rise to full height and slowly stomp it's way towards jacel, ignoring people's attempts to hinder its movements.

Jacel could see this thing would cause greater devastation if he remained in the city so he broke free from his protector and ran into the lower areas of the castle, hoping something of use would be there, his arm than began to gain a strange sense of numbness... Something strange was going on here. Paying it no heed he continued to run through the torch filled tunnels until he found a darkened corner, while out of sight the creature might stop destroying everything in sight... That was his thought at least.
 
'' Huh... what the heck did that idiot do... Shit, any case, no other way to go to castle huh?'' Delta wondered while looking how a dark shadow mass moved next to castle. Then, it slowly entered the castle.
'' Any case, I will get him out from there..'' Delta mumbled and jumped next to the door. Quickly, he followed the young boy, until it stopped in a corner.
'' You know.. you are a thumb thief... You will be killed by Royals if they find you here... as the beast is after you and so you maybe brought the death to the castle. WDT would be safe... we would have escaped already, but know you needed to find your own way... you dumb youngsters. Now there is no way away from here other than trough the tunnels of Death... the ones that go from the castle to the Fossil Roo... and as there is no way you would survive alone... it seems I have to aid you. As I got business in Madain Sari anyway. '' Delta said.
The boy seemed to be a little bit surprised, as he never had seen a man who was able to follow him so easily, while he tried to move away as fast and hidden as possible. He thought, that maybe it's best to follow the man.
'' It will take a good quarter of hour to make your way to there... The castle is huge afterall!'' Delta said. The boy was quiet.

After walking for quarter of hour, the action going up somewhere finally seemed to have stopped. No bangs were heard anymore.
'' Thank to god... Now come!'' Delta said, walked next to a old wall, touched a stone and the wall moved away. Delta looked back at the boy and smiled.
'' 8 to 10 hours from here trough the dark tunnels, then we should be in fossil roo and we can get a train to transport us to Madain Sari... of course, you will owe me a buck or two for this safe travel.'' Delta said and started laughing. Then he raised his hand, a second later, bright light came frome the body of Delta. It seemed as Delta possessed some great magical powers.
'' It was too dark otherwise... now let's move on.'' He said and raised his walking tempo. The boy seemed to be following.
 
Shera was about to debark from the airship at the port of Alexandria when she noticed a congient of armed guards waiting at the dock...

"Shit, they tricked me!" She exclaimed as she made her way to the back of the airship as the guards started boarding the airship...

before the guards noticed her, she took her coat off and pulled her mask back over her face, unsheathing her katana from its scabbard adopting her stance, her left hand facing outward with two fingers raised skyward with her palm exposed facing forward, and her right hand clenching her katana behind her back holding the blade what would be upside down with her hand, but the blade facing skyward as to conceal it from view, her legs were slightly bent to lower her stance and solidify her base, but at the same time allow for quick and agile movement.

The guards finally spotted her and made there way up the airship "Black Lotus your under arrest for attempted assassination, resist and you will be executed!" one of them shouted, clearly indicating the guard captain....

"Well, what are you waiting for...come and get me!" She shouted back as the guards closed in on her and began to surround her.

Remembering that her king had allowed her to use excessive force had her identity come under the threat of being exposed, she felt she had little or no choice but to dispatch these guards that persued her and make her escape....

As the first guard lunged forward with his large blade she reached into her gi with quickened reflexes and backflipped throwing a shuriken at him piercing his breastplate wounding him in the chest...she landed next to the guard stood behind her quickly grabbing his arm and spinning herself behind him impaling him with her katana blade in one swift and fluid movement, another approached while she held her katana through the chest cavity of the impaled guard and she lept upwards catching his head between her heels in a head-scissors and quickly twisted around snapping his neck and dragging her katana out of the previously impaled guard...

All that remained was the Seasoned guard captain and Shera....she knew full well none of her tricks would work against this mighty opponent as she readopted her stance...taking a deep breath.

"Lets see if your truly a worthy opponent shall we?" She remarked as she brought her katana in front of her clenching it horizontially and bowed showing a mark of respect for her opponent before readopting her stance...

The guard captain enraged charged towards her swinging his blade wildly but accuratley, every swing, Shera quickly evaded, but every blade swing she made towards the guard captain was blocked by his mighty jewel encrusted shield....

As the both stood about 20-30ft from each other panting slightly from the fast paced combat, Shera had an idea....

She moved towards the guard captain who raised his shield, ready to quickly block her next attack, when Shera pulled her grappling hook out and fired it at his shield and dragged it out of his hand, as he stood there befuddled by the move, Shera's eyes began to glow yellow as she closed down on him, as she quickly teleported behind him and impaled him with her katana...mortally wounding him to finish there deathmatch...

"This isnt.....over Shera..." The guard captain said as he struggled for words coughing up blood as the katana had pierced his lung.

"Who told you my name?" She demanded pushing the blade of the katana further in to intensify the pain

"m...Maste....Vi........." Before he could finish his sentence his eyes rolled upwards and his body fell limp upon the blade of the katana, he was dead.

"Dammit!!" She cursed as she pulled the blade out of the former guard captain and held it downwards letting the blood drip from the blade for a moment before replacing it back in her scabbard.

Shera knew that her identity had been comprimised and lept from the airship firing her grappling hook onto the side, lowering herself down to the forest floor below....she had to get back to Lindblum....and fast!
 
'' Where's the airship?'' Richard shouted. A guard eagerly run next to him:
'' Lord Richard, it's waiting at 19th dock... How's the situation? What's going ...'' Richard interrupted the voice of the guard by his powerful and louder voice:
'' A great beast... attacked some little boy... Now the Royal Mages Guild is dealing with them, together with arch-mage itself. You should go out and help them.'' Richard told quickly and then started running together with Vivius towards the 19th dock.

After few minutes of running they finally made to the dock 19th. It was an old and rusty dock pretty much unpopulated. Tho he noticed 4 familiar man standing there. Each of them was wearing a pointed hat and seemed to possess great powers. The mages of Burcmeria they were.
'' Richard, the beast is giving up. It seems as he lost the track of his prey. He should be gone by now I think...'' One of the mages told.
'' Please catch the boy and give him to us!'' The other one said eagerly while staring Vivius.
Richard nodded to the mage and run towards the ship. Vivius started following Richard, but stopped for a moment before the mages, told a word or two and then teleported next to the door of ship.
'' Let's get moving... Delta should be waiting for us!'' Vivius told and followed Richard to the ship.
 
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As Jacel saw he had been discovered he quickly found himself being led by the man, he was more or less directly behind the man for the walk through the tunnels. He saw him speaking with the mages, he wasn't paying much attention so he didn't catch everything, though when he heard someone say "catch the boy" he quickly focused. When they had left he silently followed after the man he eventually came to an airship, he needed to climb inside before the mages spotted him.
 
The airship slowly started to moving out, the furniture inside was so beautiful and well-decorated that it surely did impress Jacel. For Delta it seemed as he never had saw that kind of luxury.
'' Heh, you sure are one thief right? Never been in this kind of places right?'' Delta said with homely voice.
'' Don't ya worry a bit... we got thieves all among the noble classes... Oh hey Richard!'' Delta said with his friendly voice. It was Richard marching towards the boy.
'' Hello Delta, so you are safe right?'' Richard asked Delta while checking the boy.
'' I shouldn't be? You know, I totally forgot about the dock in the tunnels... How you found out we were there?'' Delta asked with quizzing voice.
'' Hehe... a favor from Vivius.'' Richard smiled and looked at the boy. Then he started talking:
'' You know you are in deep shit and so why, I will transport you to Alexandria, but if you wish, I can take you to Madain Sari as well.... It should be the only one spot in world where these kind of beasts wont problem you.'' Richard said and turned away.
'' Delta I will be in 3rd deck eating... If you wish anything from me.''
In a minute, Richard was gone. Delta smiled to the boy and said while started moving.
'' I will go to the captain deck, if you wish anything, come and check by. And oh, don't try to steal anything... If you wont I will give you some money!'' Delta cheered the boy up and left soon.
 
Shera made her way through the forest, with her sword unsheathed, scanning the horizon as she moved, making sure to move with haste but not too much as this forest was said to be the home of many dangerous creatures.

She wandered for hours through the forest trying to make her way back Lindblum, there were many natural twists and turns as overgrown roots and felled trees blocked her route...

She eventually ended up in a clearing with an extinguised campfire and a darkened patch on the ground, with holes that would have been punctured by tent pegs...Shera was pretty tired from the events of the day and decided this was a good place to take shelter, she re-pitched a tent on the same spot as the old one and gathered wood and lit a fire.

She sat on the ground and looked down her katana blade, still bloodstained from the battle early that morning, she took a cloth from within her suit and cleaned the blood from the blade and discarded the cloth onto the fire, she removed her mask and stared into the fire and drifted off into her thoughts...thoughts about times past, recent events and emotions....

She sighed heavily "I wonder if I will ever find love" she mentioned to herself as she continued to gaze into the fire and search her thoughts and feelings to answers of the many questions she desired and answer to.
 
Vivius was enjoying the view from his room and watching out from the window when someone knocked at the door.

'' Yes?'' He asked with his old and tired voice but it had a tone of anger in it as he didn't like that he is interrupted.
The door was opened slowly and a black mage with funny pink hat entered the room.

'' Master Vivius ... Alexandria just reported that ''Black Lotus'' was there and caused a lot of trouble. She was able to kill captain Douglas and escape by the information we got from Alexandria.'' The black mage told with a voice that reflected the fear of being in front of a high black mage. Vivius smiled and asnwered:

'' Hmm... Tell Alexandria to send four Pluto Knights after him, because '' Black Lotus'' stole some information that may affect the safety of Alexandria!'' Vivius told, now with a more powerful voice. The young black-mage step behind a bit and continued:

'' ''Black Lotus'' did stole something?'' His voice was now a bit more confident.

'' No, of course not... but that is the only way that I don't have to use my men. Now, may you leave me alone?'' Vivius asked, but it seemed more as he was commanding.

'' Sure, master Vivius!'' The black-mage told, left the room and run towards the messaging room.

'' So you think they will catch her?'' A poweful voice asked. It was Richard who had sit all the time on a sofa in the corner of the room.

'' Nah... I think they will get to her, but after that they won't be able to do anything against her... tho I know Pluto Knights are powerful, but '' Black Lotus '' is a black mage by her blood ... I felt it the first time I noticed her. And it's hard to go against a black-mage with wonderful fighting techniques!'' Vivius told with his usual voice and started staring outside.
 
Letitia walked into the Garnet Til Alexandros and bowed, pretending to pray as she looked up at the far away ceiling. A smile curled her lips as she thought of the chaos and the plans she would further in this city. The success- and failure- of her plans here would change everything.
 
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“Black… Lotus?” The name resounded through Eris’ mind the entire day, ever since she exchanged conversations with one of the Alexandrian guards. The guard couldn’t disclose much information, but Eris could tell that things were getting interesting in Alexandria now.

I suppose I should be more careful from now on.

She breathed a sigh of relief. It was a calm night in Alexandria, even in this dump of an alleyway. Amateur thieves and the scum of the city dwelled in the mornings as innocent bystanders walked from Alexandria Square to the steeple. During the later hours, however, this area often remained untouched.

Although a little humid, the faint wind felt like ice when it tickled the warm sweat on her face. Even in the evening, the large helmet she wore made breathing hard and hot.

“Sir, don’t you find the weather to be perfect this evening?” With a smile, Eris said these words to the shivering body next to her, fixed to the ground in an odd position. It was a scrawny man in his late 50s and if it was snowing, any passer-by would think he was making snow angels, with his arms stretched out to each side of his body. His face was rough with untamed whiskers, signifying his poor status. He also looked flustered and red like a cherry and his cheeks rattled uncontrollably like a suffocated blowfish as he struggled to breathe normally. A rugged towel had been tied firmly around his mouth, preventing any words to escape. During such a peaceful night, the silence was better that way… After all, everyone else was sleeping, fatigued by the troublesome workloads presented in such a kingdom. But for those who have no occupation except to be the useless filth on the street,…

The homeless man’s hands distorted and cringed as if they were spiders wiggling their last legs before curling up and accepting death. A multitude of industrial nails punctured his hands and ankles to the ground, forming a small cup of blood within his palms.

“It’s very rude not to answer, sir," she replied to his silence. "But judging by your appearances, I don’t believe you’re one to have learned manners. There are loose threads on the ends of your shirt and your nails are blackened with dirt... I do apologize though, it’s rude of me to judge… Then as a favor, I’ll end your life quickly then? Here, let’s play a simple game of rock, paper, scissors. Do you know what that is? Unfortunately, I don’t have knowledge of very many children’s games, but one of the fair lads playing out in the theater district today taught me this game. It seems very fun!”

The man didn’t seem to be paying attention. His face had grown paler. Was it from shock or the loss of blood? Both, maybe?

“Oh, I understand. It must be difficult to play the game with crucified hands. Don’t worry, I only brought scissors anyway.”

From her side pouch, she removed a pair of large, fashionable scissors, most likely ones used in gardening. As her thin hands equipped with the weapon inched towards the man’s glazed eyes, thick tears began to form at the bottom of his eyelids, dripping down in streams when he clenched his eyes shut.

“Eyelids fail to be an efficient shield, sir. They are like paper, and scissors beats paper~!” She covered her mouth to giggle softly.

At that moment, she peeled one of his eyelids back in order to sandwich one of the scissor’s blades between the eye and lid. And slowly, slowly,….

“Cut~ Cut~ Cut~” She whispered softly into his ears while his face contorted with agony, helpless screams muffled by the towel. In a matter of seconds, his eyelid was completely cut off, red substance tainting the eye to make it bloodshot. And next, the other eye……

…..

The few minutes that Eris consumed torturing her victim before he let one last gasp of pain passed by almost too quickly. Despite her absolute hatred for bums like these (there are far too many of them out in Alexandria), she simply wasn’t satisfied by the suffering of the victim. She thus proceeded to pummel his corpse with her knife sporadically, a trademark move that appeared on all of her experiments. To her, it was like messing around with red finger paint (A splash here, a splash there,… Hey Mother and Father, look at this abstract painting I just made!); it was child’s play. At this point, the mutilated corpse no longer depicted a human body, but poorly sliced pig entrails, at best. Her work here was done. She cupped her hands in the sallow and crimson fluids and slowly poured it over her armor, relishing the very existence of each and every drop of human’s primal source of life.

This is… “true freedom”…

I really do enjoy these silent nights. Holy nights, were they called?
 
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Walking into the bar, Gabriel was greeted by the bartender, who has already recognized him after seeing him for a long while. Gabriel, was, after all, a regular customer there.

Sitting down, he ordered his usual jug of beer. Drinking half of it at one go, he heaved a great sigh. "Heavy drinker, huh, Bloodrage?" The bartender, whose name was Ron, commented jovially.

"Sure thing." Gabriel replied, smirking at his comment. Going easy, he took several more sips from the jug before he went on. "So, any new offers?"

Ron shook his head, shaking his beard as he did so. "Nope. Thing's pretty much peaceful around."

Then, as if he recalled something, he looked at Gabriel intently. "Ah, yes.. A request.."

Gabriel eyes lit up immediately. "From whom does this request come?"

Ron kept silent as he searched for something. After a rough search, he surfaced with a poster in hand. Passing it over, Gabriel read what it said.

'Mercenaries Wanted! The Knights of Pluto are currently suffering from a lack of manpower due to training schedules. The mercenaries are to gather at the Great Castle, where you will be briefed. Reward: 10,000 Gil'

The reward was probably the only thing that caught Gabriel's eye. 10,000 Gil, that was the lowest reward he had ever seen in his life.

"Well, up for it?" Ron asked casually.

Gabriel's eyes widened, then sighing," Sure.. I suppose I'll need something to pay for beer and accommodation anyway."

Standing up, he finished the jug of beer quickly. "Thanks again, Ron" He said as he turned to head to the Great Castle.
 
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It had been a while since they had boarded on the ship and they were soon making their way to Alexandria while Richard and Vivius were enjoying their chat.

'' Vivius, I thought we should put a bounty on the head of Black Lotus.'' Richard told with his usual calm and cold voice and then watched out from the window. He could see the Evil Forest a mile ahead of them. It was still as wild as it had been, the only difference was that now there was a Alexandrian gate somewhere inside it guarded by hired mercenaries, just in case.

'' There is already ... in Alexandria it was around 25 000 gold coins .... but after the last events I added 5 000 and ministry added 20 000, so 50 000 total.'' Vivius told with his tired voice and also stared the forest full of life, but not ordinary life, beasts and horrors of different kind. Then Vivius smiled to Richard:

'' I think I will add some myself too ... fifty thousands seems kind of lame... for Black Lotus.'' Richard continued and started raising slowly. While he was getting up, a voice from speakers said:

'' Boarding in Alexandria in five minutes!'' The voice was so emotionless and mechanical that one would think it was a robot.

'' Got to go ... I will check the young boy Jacel up!'' Richard told and walked to the finely crafted door. Slowly he opened it but stopped on the doorway to listen to Vivius for a moment.

'' Don't worry about the boy. Delta will watch him.'' Vivius told and started watching as the beautiful Alexandria city got closer. It was pretty early in morning or even late night. The lamps in everywhere of Alexandria lightened the city well enough to make it feel like Treno, city of Eternal Life.

'' Fine... I will go check Ron's bar at first, he seems to have nice mercenaries for low price there, usually.'' Richard told eagerly and left the room. He walked trough the corridors when he finally made his way to captain's dock. Delta and the captain were both there.

'' Delta, go follow the boy!'' Richard told eagerly with more powerful voice than usually. Delta sighted and jumped up. In a moment he was gone.

'' Thank you for ride, my old friend. I think you should go back to Burcmeria, after all it was attacked pretty hard. And if you get everything ready there, take my boys to the ships and go to Burcmeria. I think you and Lindblum guy will be first ones so probably you will be there before war, so you will be sent to front. Wish you luck.'' Richard told quite eagerly as they were already above Alexandria. He saw as the captain smiled and nodded and then concentrated on the docks where he needed to land. Richard left quickly and walked to the main exit. When he made his way to there, he noticed Jacel sitting on a chair and Delta sitting next to him.

'' Jacel, you can do what ever you wish, I will be behind you, invisible so don't worry.'' Delta whispered to Jacel. The boy didn't seem to be happy with it but like he had a opportunity to choose. Vivius was already there too, together with 4 bodyguards.

'' Have a nice day in city. We will board on Dagger Cruiser II day after tomorrow, at midnight.'' Richard told quite loudly so everyone could hear and stepped out of the ship.
 
Gabriel was starting to hesitate. Looking around, he saw that there were many mecernaries gathered. Looking closely at the poster, he ascertained the fact the reward was a mere 10,000Gil.

Another glance around had him turn away. Usually, rewards are shared among participating mercenaries. With this amount, the most he can get is mere hundreds of gil, which will be too little to waste his time on.

"Well, I think i should have enough for one more day at least." Gabriel muttered to himself as he headed back to the bar. Then, pausing, something struck him.

"Hey. Perhaps i could try for the prize in the arena here!" Gabriel spoke to himself again. "After all, the warriors here are pretty much pathetic."

He quickly changed direction towards the Residential area, where the arena was located. It was filled with nobles as usual. Approaching the registration counter, he signed up for a challenge, with a prize of 5,000 Gil.

.. Moments later..

"WELCOME TO THE GREAT CHALLENGE OF A LIFETIME!" The commentator screamed, to the cheers of the spectators.

Gabriel walked out to the center of the arena, his blade drawn along with his pistol.

"THERE, LET US WELCOME OUR 3-TIME CHAMPION, GABRIEL BLOODRAGE!"

..More cheers and claps.

"ALRIGHT! LETS GET STARTED NOW. ARE YOU ALL READY!?''

..More senseless cheers and claps.

"GOOD, THEN LETS GET IT STARTED IN HERE! RELEASE THEM!"

With that, i heard the iron gates being raised all around me. This was followed by monsters I've seen countless of times before: Fangs, Squirrel and a Trick Sparrow.

Raising my revolver, i quick-fired, slowly turning about to hit the rest that surrounded me. Having upgraded my weapons constantly, my revolver could deal some hefty damage to monsters that attack me. Nonetheless, to weaker ones like those I'm facing, they didn't take long to dispose of.

"Click!" I sighed.

My gun ran out of bullets again. The Fang i initially wanted to fire at pounced at me. I reacted with a slash downwards, killing it. More monsters came at me, and i continued cutting them down.

"IMPRESSIVE. HE HAS NOT MOVED FROM HIS POSITION SO FAR! COULD THIS BE THE POWER OF A THREE TIME CHAMPION!?" The commentator shouted, loudly at the top of his voice.

"Tsk, this isn't even a challenge." I muttered.

..And more fighting went on. Afternoon became evening, and even the evening sun began to set...

Taking this time to reload, i amused myself with the cheers that followed after the screaming of the commentator.

Then, something caught my attention.

"OH, A BONUS CHALLENGE, WILL OUR CHAMPION BE ABLE TO DEFEAT THIS ONE?"

A Zagnhol appeared and charged me. Fortunately, my reaction was quick. I quickly holstered my revolver and had my hands on my Mystic Edge. Enchanting it with Firaga, i drew it and stabbed Zagnhol with it.

The effects of the magic went from my blade to the body of Zagnhol, burning it severely, bringing it down at the same time.

Sighing, i ignored the cheering and comments.

.. After more cheerings and commenting, Gabriel was finally led out of the arena.

"Here's your reward, please join us again some time soon, champion." The registration receptionist said politely.

Thanks to Zagnhol, I received an additional 2,500 Gil, making up 7,500. Better than nothing. Close enough to the 10,000 i thought i would receive today. Walking towards the bar again, i realized it was already night time...
 
Richard slowly walked out from the Great Dock. The building really was huge and even in that late night, airships flew off from here and there and people were running dealing with their own business as usual. Richard then started walking down the street called '' Airway ''. It was a huge and populated street, filled with shops, inns and markets. After a minute of walking, he took a horse taxi. The driver was a old man, around age of 70. He had long white bread and hair.

'' To residence district, arena of Alexandria, fast!'' Richard told with his powerful and commanding voice. The man kicked the horse and started moving towards arena. It was quite a long way, but the closer they got to residence arena, the less populated the streets were and that way they could start moving faster and faster. In 25 minutes, Richard told the driver to stop.

'' I will hop out here... Oh, don't have any change... but take this!'' Richard told while he was searching for change. He only found a little bag of gold coins. He gave around hundred gold coins to the driver and saw as the man was happy, the smile grew and grew and the eyes reflected pleasure. Tho, the taxi payed around 25 gold coins that late and 100 coins weren't that big deal, getting them from a well-known hero like Richard was surely blessing. Richard smiled to him and walked towards a huge bar on the edge of the street, called ''Ron's Hangout''. It was a quite popular spot in residence quarter, especially for warriors and mercenaries as it was close to arena as well to the train station. Richard then walked next to the door and opened it. The bar was quite full, filled with different kind of personalities, mostly young people but the bartender noticed Richard as soon as he had entered.

'' It can't be, the legendary Richard itself. 5 times arena champion, the Hero of Daguerro.'' Ron shouted to Richard. In a mere moment, all the gazes were locked on Richard and everyone were cheering besides some who were too drunk to get a thing.

'' Nice to see you too!'' Richard told with his powerful and loud voice while he was walking towards the bartender. He smiled to a man or two and then he sat down next to the counter table and watched how Ron gave beer to a woman sitting few meters away from him. It was a middle-aged woman with blond hair... even if his body seemed still young, the age reflected from her eyes.

'' Hello Richard. What brings you to Alexandria? Preparing for war?'' She asked. Her voice was noble but had a tone of tiredness in it.

'' Could tell like that, Eophelia. Nice to see you are alive. Anyway, Ron, you got any mercenaries to hire?'' Richard knew that the answer was yes and he saw as the man's face got happy, like a burglar getting his first pot of jem.

'' Yeah, sure I do!'' He quickly answered and gave a bottle of beer to Richard. Richard smiled back and started drinking.

'' Hmm... why are you hiring amateurs and unknown people from this spot... wouldn't you like to take war heroes like yourself?'' The woman told. Her voice was quite irritating but her face stayed calm.

'' Heh... you were here and besides, guys like me are getting old you know, waging wars over 40 years is hard for everyone and many want to end their business.'' Richard told quietly while he was looking the list that the bartender had brought.

'' I think the question is in money, veterans like you wish 40 thousand if not more, getting then guys who are able to fight almost equally with the man who has famous name for five thousand is better indeed.'' The woman told, again her voice was offending but Richard didn't care a bit, he never had. Eophelia was cold like that from the time when Richard started fighting against Lindblum for few years. That came as a shock to Eophelia and was the reason she didn't like Richard as much as she had.

'' Gabriel '' Bloodrage'' huh... seems potential. 3 times arena champion and worked for different kind of organizations. What you think Ron?'' Richard asked while he seemed to ignore Eophelia. Ron smiled and answered eagerly:

'' He has nothing besides his skills so yeah, he is good. He is a Mystic Arts user, combiner of sword craft and magic.'' Richard smiled to him.

'' Only 20 tho ... Mystic Arts you say, it is only called like that by the communities of Black mages and knights. I think he will fit, together with the ones I marked on the paper. So, how much will it be, my friend?'' Richard asked with a clever voice which he didn't use a lot. Bartender smiled and answered:

'' For 10 guys you marked I think 9 will agree, each of them around 5 000 for a month in war. But..'' Ron's sentence was interrupted by Richard when he heard the price. Richard's face was pretty serious and he was ready to punch Ron to face.

'' Five THOUSAND for amateurs? What are they thinking!'' Richard shouted so loudly that he was in the middle of attention once again. Ron smiled and told.

'' You know, these newcomers are used to get high pays as the nobles are ready to pay a lot for their safety or for assassinations. And they think that wars work like that too. They don't know that the fact that they will be offered gold from taking part of war is a blessing as most of them will be lugged in to battle and will need to use all resources they have to get well equipped'' Ron told now quietly, trying to ignore the attention they had on them.

'' Geez... I had been a warrior for 20 years without a single peaceful day and I asked 1 000 coins for a month in battle ... what's matter with them. But I will be satisfied with 3 000 ... but when those guys suck, I will come and deal with you!'' Richard told, starting to lose control once again.

'' They don't, the youngest of them is 26 and they are specialized in different kinds of works so they could be used for doing fantastic things.'' Ron told. Richard sighted loudly and continued:

'' 26 you tell, but the one who was 20... I mean the Bloodrage or what ever.'' Richard smiled to Ron when Ron had written a number on the paper.

'' 25 000 you say... I payed 30 000 to man who gives me 5 warships with full, experienced crew. I payed 20 000 to Vivius who is able to kill almost everyone in Alexandria with a single hand wipe or eye blink, I payed 17 000 to Dante, the legendary magician, I payed 20 000 to Mr. Makarov, the most hunted thief in last 50 years... And you tell me that a boy wants 25 000 ?'' Richard was filled with anger and he seemed offended. His voice was getting louder and louder and Ron wanted to take his gun but Eophelia sitting next to the counter table told him not to.

'' That's a list filled with famous names... Master Vivius you say .... Thought he has retired and just deals with the bounty stuff he is used to... and Makarov, isn't he too old ehh? I know he is the best assassin and thief of last century, but new times are coming and he has many, many ones who are capable of reaching his powers. Like ''Black Lotus'' Ron answered with calm voice, he gave another bottle to Richard and saw as Richard seemed to calm down. He then wrote a new number, 15 000 gold coins and showed it to Richard.

'' There is no way that he would be okay with it, but I will pay everything else he wishes. I am getting keen on that man, he sits here every single day or night when he is unemployed and I know that this will be a great experience for him.'' Ron thought and smiled to Richard.

'' He comes here in any minute, usually at least!'' Ron said and gave another bottle of beer to Richard who seemed to get effected by the beer. He started thinking about Makarov when he got attacked by Black Lotus. He had played with the girl for some time, trying to get as much information as possible, but when he had been younger, he surely would have kept the poison away from his mouth and had end up with double information and with good health. Richard knew that they were getting older and young warriors will surprass them, but so soon? That thing annoyed Richard a lot, but thanks to god, wars were starting soon and there only thing what counted was experience.
 
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Gabriel enters the bar, and greets Ron as usual.

Sitting, he heaved a great sigh. He was about to request his usual jug of beer when Ron spoke to someone beside him. He didn't notice him before when he came in, probably because he wasn't expecting someone else.

A glance over had him immediately focus on the scar that ran diagonally down his face. He was very tall too, Gabriel had to tilt his head slightly upwards to observe his features. Requesting for the jug of beer again, he looked at the man's large double-edged sword from the corner of his eye.

The jug of beer arrived swiftly, but Ron had something else to go along with it- a note that had the number 15,000 scrawled on it. Gabriel looked at Ron, curious.

Ron smiled," Well, that man beside you. Do you know who he is?"

Gabriel looked to his right. Eyeing him from top to bottom, he looked back at Ron and shook his head. "Hm. He's the legendary Richard, Hero of Daguerro!" Gabriel's eyes widened slightly. Even at the Mystic's Village, he had heard of his name.

"And he's hiring some mercenaries too. This is the amount he's offering." Ron said, pointing to the note.

Gabriel looked at the note again. 15,000 Gil. That wasn't exactly very little, but it was merely worth two visits to the Arena, assuming Zaghnol was granted as Bonus Challenge. Pushing the note back, Gabriel gave his reply, a simple 'No'.

At this, Richard slammed his fists on the bar top with a loud bang, which startled everyone. Gabriel merely took up the jug and drank, calm, and seemingly relaxed.

"You... AMATEUR. How greedy can you get to ask for such a hefty price as 25,000!?" He began. "In my time, this amount would be a prize of eliminating many key enemy leaders!"

Gabriel ignores him, still drinking from the jug. Richard, furious, pulls him up. Gabriel, slightly annoyed, pushes him back with just enough force to get out of Richard's grip. A girl behind him was trying to calm him down, all to no avail.

"We'll settle this! You and me, outside. There, I'll show you how worthless you are, and greedy, to dare demand such a high price!" Richard shouted, and walked out.

'Looks like i won't be able to get out of this one. It'll be interesting to cross swords with the legendary Richard himself! I must learn from this experience' Gabriel thought to himself as he followed Richard out of the bar.

Fortunately, there was a large space suitable for a serious fight. The bar patrons were all watching us eagerly from within the bar. Drawing his sword and pistol, Gabriel got into a defensive stance, feeling all tense. This was going to be his most serious fight yet.

Though he has crossed swords with many others before, he knew this one would be the hardest of the hardest. However, from rumours, he knew Richard had an uncanny ability to jump high, taking note of this, Gabriel glares into the eyes of his opponent, who just drew his blade.
 
Tho Richard didn't like to fight pointless battles and didn't wish to waste time, he was already out, angry becuase of the arrogance of amateurs and ready to kick one's ass. He raised his sword, shining like holy it was, slowly spilling out waves of energy. Then, he said:

'' Young boy, I don't wish to harm you but I will show you that we two are from different class! Protect, Shell, Invisible!'' His voice was loud and powerful, almost fearsome as a maniac. But the last word was quiet, almost no-one heard it and after that, the winner was decided. Richard had vanished, that was a trick that no-one was expecting, even Eophelia was surprised. Ron started laughing quite loudly and walked back to his bar. Others made a step or two back and carefully tried to search Richard.

'' You are good boy, but you should know one thing, never wait enemy doing his most famous attack as first when it could be countered. Never!'' Richard told, it seemed as the voice came a meter behind Bloodrage. Gabriel swiped with his sword, but he was late. Only air was whistling while the blade smashed trough it. Then a powerful punch, straight to Gabriel's face. It seemed as the nose was bleeding. The crowd cheered and sighed. Then, when Richard had reaappeared behind Gabriel with his blade up and already swinging down, something happened. A blast of something magical stopper Richard.

'' Eohpelia... I should have known.'' Ron mumbled as he had came out again.

'' I don't like public fights ... now end this play and Richard deal with your business... as you said, you are here to hire mercenaries, not to play.'' Eophelia told with her tired voice which now seemed to have a tone of life in it. Richard smiled somehow and then broke free from the paralyze. He seated his sword and smiled to Gabriel.

'' Don't worry, you will get your money. 30 000 gold coins for a month in battle, together with the best men in world. Leave it or take it, your choice.'' Richard told happily and walked eagerly next to Eophelia who was smiling to him. Gabriel had no idea what was going on, but Ron walked next to him and told quietly:

'' You are one lucky man... You will get free equipment made by best smiths and magicians and are able to fight together with the crew of Richard's and you will be payed for it. Lucky devil. Oh and why? Because you just got Eophelia, the lady of peace to fight! Lucky devil ...'' Ron told and then walked next to Richard and Eophelia.

'' You are leaving or staying?'' Ron asked with waiting voice. Richard nodded to him and Ron shouted:

'' Drinks by the bar today!'' He then run in to the bar and quickly started doing his usual job. Everyone where cheering, besides Gabriel who still seemed a bit confused.
 
(Lols. Total defeat)

Rubbing the blood off his nose, Gabriel walks back into the bar. After all the rumours about Richard's pure strength, Gabriel had clearly forgotten he could use magic too. Sighing, he made a quiet resolve to be more careful.

Anyway, he has managed to achieve his target deal. 30,000 Gil was more than he expected, but was better than his previous deal, so he kept his mouth shut.

"Alright, that fight out there should have done the proving. You ARE inexperienced." Richard says, laughing aloud as he does so.

"Tsk, don't be so proud..!" Eophelia, the girl next to him, whispered loudly till Gabriel could hear it.

Gabriel sighs to himself as he drank more from the jug of beer. 'Perhaps its time for a serious training up the mountains with the Grand Dragons... That amount of skill i called for earlier was pathetic.. Sigh' Gabriel thought to himself bitterly as he finished the jug of beer.

Calling for another jug, which Ron delivered swiftly, Gabriel continued drinking.
 
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