To Be A Master (IC Thread)

[mangafreak7793]

Sangreal Participant Dorms
United Kingdom
June 18, 2010

"REALLY!" My said excited as eyes sparkled as Enforcer Withers confirmed my hopes and dreams.

Seeing myself act childish I snapped out of it as then composed myself by crossing my arms and bare a serious look.

"O-of coarse, after all books are a gateway to knowledge,emotion, and understanding." Despite trying to play off my previous display, the Enforcer didn't seem to buy it so I decided to change the subject.

"Well, I'm glad that he did or else I would have went on a wild goose chase searching for clock towers." I said as I nodded imagining myself in that predicament. "Remind me to give him a gift as thanks for his help"

Mustering up as much poise and composure I shakily begin to walk towards the library to begin to resupply my books rations as I heard Enforcer Withers say something.

"You may enter, and have been assigned to room 403. Please be aware that a battle is taking part in the courtyard, so be careful. Or watch, if you feel like it. One never can have too many advantages."

He makes a good point and it is a good way to archive battles for future reference especially I may end up fighting them.

But the books.....

I began to ruffle my hat in despair as the conflict between duty and desire wages inside my heart. I turn my head with a pleading look towards the Enforcer hoping to get some advice to which I should proceed.

[alfheimwanderer]

Sangreal Participant Dorms
United Kingdom
June 18, 2010

"...well, I suppose most magi are interested in knowledge," Withers said with a trace of amusement. "Even so, we don't have anything too restricted in there. General information mostly - of course, you could always visit one of the other London Libraries, if that is what strikes your fancy."

He chuckled at the thought of the young man wandering around the city, looking for literal Clock Towers.

"The name is somewhat deceptive, since our headquarters are not actually a tower - we simply call it that as a final layer of misdirection in case others hear of it," the Enforcer related, nodding towards the courtyard beyond the door. "As for what you should do - that is up to you."

[mangafreak7793]

Sangreal Participant Dorms
United Kingdom
June 18, 2010


"So even if it's general information it helps build the foundation of knowledge" I replied to him not feeling disappointed to the lack of more exotic books. "Though I will check out the others once I get the chance."

"That is true, a magician should never reveal his secrets after all" I laughed a bit as I thought of my predicament of what should I do.

Books or battle archiving....

Battle Archiving or books....

"Nghhh....: I grunted trying to reason with the fact that I should probably do my duty. "I think I might want to look at the battle, can you tell me where 's the courtyard and the library for future reference?"

[Fangstrike]

Ashram von Himmelbrand
Office of the Head Enforcer
British Museum

"I know," Ashram replied. Due to his bloodline, Ashram was acutely aware of the power in his veins and the temptation to give in to it. He had already fallen to it once, but he was older and more mature now. He wouldn't make that mistake a second time.

"The second thing I wanted to ask you was are there any other cases within London that I can take care of?" His report wouldn't be due for another 48 hours, something he could write up quickly, and the competition wasn't until the end of the week, so Ashram had some time to kill. He supposed he could "purge" some of his fellow competitors, but that wasn't his style. No matter how logical or efficient a strategy, he couldn't just eliminate anyone for the sake of his goal. That's why he restrained himself to baring his fangs towards people who had stepped off the path of morality.

[alfheimwanderer]

Sangreal Participant Dorms
United Kingdom
June 18, 2010

"Spoken like a true magus," Withers noted with interest. "You may not have been awake to the realities of the Moonlit World for long, but perhaps your mindset will help you in the end. It will be interesting to see how a scholar fares against the more combat oriented individuals who tend to take part in this competition, since knowledge is power in its own way."

He smiled faintly at the other's question.

"The library is on the top floor of the building, while the courtyard is on the ground level."

---

Office of the Head Enforcer
British Museum

"There is a report of a possible manifestation of a Wraith in the southern part of London," the Head Enforcer noted, consulting her notes. "As well as a missing magus case you may want to look into, but for now, that will likely be all. Please do remember that with other competitors and magi coming into the city during this time, one must be careful how much to reveal. Or just how zealous one can be at times..."

After all, much could be learned from an observation or two.

"You are of course, welcome to use the Enforcer training hall until you do decide to enter the competition."

[Ace]

Devon Steele
London, UK - Haunted House
June 18 2010

Devon felt his right arm go limp. Damn, this isn't good. Stupid ghosts, always having annoying powers. Before he could go and reinforce the shards of glass lying on the floor, he was hit by a beam. His head felt heavy as he became disoriented. It was so to move properly, Devon couldn't tell which way was up and he kept seeing doubles of the enemy Daemon. "F-Flame!" Devon called.

Crap, he couldn't remember the name of the move he wanted Flame to do. But Flame was no ordinary creature, he was born out of Devon's soul, their connection was fairly good. Without needing to hear the command verbally, Flame stepped forward and stood in front of Devon. Flame wasn't a very strong Daemon yet which meant he didn't have many moves at his disposal. Flame used Growl while Devon reached for a shard of glass. He took a deep breath and tried to clear the fog inside his mind and reinforce the glass. He couldn't touch the ghost which meant he needed the glass more then ever.

[mangafreak7793]

Sangreal Participant Dorms
United Kingdom
June 18, 2010


"Thank you, I'll do my best." He said cheerfully as he did a small bow filled with gratitude and turned around. "I best be going, See you around Enforcer-san."

He then brought the wheels out of his shoes and then skated toward the courtyard with haste.

-------

Courtyard.

Following Enforcer Withers's instruction I managed to find my way into the courtyard where a boy and his dog-like daemon was fighting a bug and a.....

A Talking Seaweed patch?

"...."

The world of magecraft and magic is truly large and vast isn't it.....

Seeing the fight going on I found a nice little corner in which to sit and watch so in order to not disturb them and won't notice me at first glance. I then brought out some food (a couple of sandwiches and a bottle of water) from my pack and begin to chow down I decided to do a little 'dinner and show' presentation.

[alfheimwanderer]

London, UK - Haunted House
June 18 2010

Even as a lingering vestige of grudges and spite, the Shuppet was not beyond feeling some intimidation, as fear and such were bound up in its emotional matrix. Thus, when the flame lizard growled, it still shivered, hit with the instinctive urge to retreat. But...though it's physical attack capabilities may have been weakened, ghosts had other abilities beyond mere shadow manipulation or casting mental effects upon its attackers.

It could clearly enough see that the Charmander was not a threat to it at all, as weak as it was, and so decided to focus its energy on the confused master of the hostile daemon.

Without a moment's notice, the collection of grudges launched a horrible aura imbued with dark thoughts, terrible images of pain and terror channeled directly to the mind of the one who tried to strike it earlier, showing it ever hurt, every pain, every grudge it held, striking the soul with a pulse of grief (a Dark Pulse).

Death. Violence. Killing. Rape. Murder. Loneliness. Images of a child hung by her own entrails from a bathroom light. Blood. 'Help Me' scrawled across the walls. No one coming. No one. Cold. So cold. Why...?

(Devon HP Remaining - 1)

[Ace]

Devon Steele
London UK - Haunted House
June 18 2010

Just as he finished reinforcing the glass, his mind was bombarded with images of horrible, horrible things. There was blood, so much blood and a kid, oh god that kid. Bloody hell, that was awful. But what did he expect? This was a ghost he was dealing with. Ghosts had to have strong grudges or unfinished business to stick around, or so the myths go. Devon couldn't imagine what it was like, stuck in this house for eternity thinking nothing but negative thoughts... if there was a hell, he bet it was like that. Devon looked down at the shard of glass in his hand. He didn't know much magecraft but he remembered hearing once that when you die you wiped clean and are reincarnated.

Whether or not that was true, he didn't know, who could? But... but that had to be better then this right? With renewed determination, he stared straight at the Daemon. "I'm sorry. I really am, but some people are just given a bad lot in life," Devon wasn't exactly blessed either. "But staying around here won't do anything. It's hard, but you have to move on. There's another life waiting for you." God, he could only imagine how cheesy he sounded but he was fighting the ghost a kid. Young children didn't have a good sense of what was cliche and what isn't.

Devon took a step forward and threw the glass forward with his left hand, hoping that the earlier attack hadn't messed up his sense of direction too much.

[alfheimwanderer]

London UK - Haunted House
June 18 2010

Unfortunately for Devon Steele, he had not, in fact, managed to fully recover from the state of confusion and despair the ghost had put him through, and the throw went wide, embedding itself into the wall near the ghost. Yet, although it had missed, the Shuppet knew that such a magically charged item could have harmed it, and so resolved to finish off the threat to its existence in one fell swoop, instinctively knowing that if the master were felled, the enemy daemon (which posed no threat to it anyway) would disappear, becoming the stuff of raw emotion it could feed from.

In the darkness, the black shadow throbbed. The room and environs seemed to tremble, as heat, life, hope were drained away, the ghost expanding with the power of pain and gathered miasma, expanding like an overfilled balloon - and then striking, with a gust of cutting wind meant to rend the other into nothing more than miasma to be further absorbed.

"Ally Switch."

...but Devon was not hit by the blow, as an unseen force grabbed him and pulled him back, with something green and white blurring past him to take the brunt of the ominous wind in his stead.

(A Critical Hit! Ally Ralts' HP Remaining - 2)

(Enemy Shuppet's Stats rose by one stage)

Sensing the presence of this new creature, which could possibly hurt it more than the weakened ones - which it would need time to feed on, it struck once more, extending its shadow and attacking the foe from behind with ethereal whips (a move that some magi classified as "Shadow Sneak")!

But the Ralts had a priority move of its own - the barrier known to some as the Daemon move Protect, capable of blocking out even the strongest of attacks - and it warded off the shadows as its master came in, wielding a rune-carved naginata and slashing the phantasmal creature in twain.

With the banishing of the ghost, the gloom lifted, miasma dissolving away to reveal the morning light and the form of the mysterious savior.



With that, she recalled her Daemon and turned to the injured young man on the ground.

"Cutting it a little close there, aren't you?"

(Charmander gained 69 EXP! Charmander grew to Level 3!)

[Ace]

Devon Steele
London UK - Abandoned House
June 18 2010

"Cutting it a little close there, aren't you?"

Before he could realize what happened, a mysterious woman suddenly asked him a question. The enemy Daemon was gone now, it must have been her since she was the only one in this house besides Flame and himself. With the Daemon gone, Devon could think clearly again. Devon glanced at Flame briefly, he felt different, stronger. He then turned to his savior. "As you can see, I'm not the best magus out there. Thank you very much for helping me. I'm Devon Steele, nice to meet you," he stuck out his hand.

Devon looked at the weapon she held. The runes inscribed on them caught his attention immediately. "Damn, you must be a pretty good magus with that weapon of yours." He sighed, he had a long way to go before he could enter the Holy Grail War with any chance of surviving. Good thing there was plenty of time for that since he had to earn blessings as well.

[SeiKeo]

Office of Her Eminence the Cardinal Caren Ortensia,
Director of the Assembly of the 8th Sacrament
Il Vaticano, Roma, Italia
June 18, 2010

Cardinal Ortensia, head of the Assembly of the 8th Sacrament, looked over Executor-in-training Lorenzo da Venezia as the young man strode through her door. He had changed since he was a child in the orphanage in Venice, and it appeared that his time in the Assembly had not been unproductive.

"Peace be to you, Lorenzo da Venezia," she said simply, gettin. "So you wish to participate in the Holy Grail War?"

"Yes, Your Eminence, I wish to represent the Church, either it in its whole or just the 8th Sacrament." Gah, where had he seen her before...

[alfheimwanderer]

London UK - Abandoned House
June 18 2010

Ayako Mitsuzuri nodded to the man she had rescued, shaking his hand as she looked him up and down for signs of battle damage. Though the mental effects of an attack might fade when its originator was gone, wounds tended to remain, and so it seemed he had been injured, given a rather nasty gash to the head and some continued circuit disruption.

"Well, no one starts off as the best, and I know that better than anyone," she replied with a hint of bitter amusement. She herself had only begun to awaken her powers a few years ago, after the initial shock of an attack that drained part of her soul had caused her circuits to activate in response to stave off death. "Mitsuzuri Ayako at your service, from the city of the Grail itself. And I'm only half-decent - plenty of room to improve, compared to Tohsaka."

Odd that she'd have to come halfway around the world in order to compete to take part in something in her hometown, but she supposed that that was how the world worked.

She looked around her surroundings critically.

"I suppose you were trying to train your Daemon, then?"

---

Office of Her Eminence the Cardinal Caren Ortensia,
Director of the Assembly of the 8th Sacrament
Il Vaticano, Roma, Italia
June 18, 2010

"Well, then, if you wish to, I suppose I can oblige," the good Cardinal acknowledged, looking at him with her golden eyes. "You have come a long way since I discovered you in the orphanage years ago, and thought you would be an adept trainee of the Assembly."

An appraising expression.

"Then if you wish to compete, I shall test your ability," she said with finality, rising from her seat. "Come to the training areas, and we shall have a duel to see just how far you have come, and if you are truly ready for such a thing. Competing in the War is no small thing, after all."

[Fangstrike]

Ashram von Himmelbrand
Office of the Head Enforcer
British Museum

"I'll handle the Wraith in southern London." The case of the missing magus was concerning, but the Wraith seemed like a more immediate threat. Not only was it a danger to innocent people, it was also a wayward soul that needed to be put to rest. "What information do we have on it?"

[alfheimwanderer]

Office of the Head Enforcer
British Museum

"It appears to have manifested several days ago, as the product of an odd magus' research into summoning," Bazett replied, handing Ashram a slim folder containing what information they had on it. "Its appearance alone destroyed the warehouse where the experiments were taking place, and while it has not moved from its location for now, it is proving to be hostile towards any who would approach. Capabilities are probably at least on part with an average magus, though no closer examination has yet been made. Your orders are to investigate and to eliminate the anomaly, if possible."

[SeiKeo]

Il Vaticano, Roma, Italia
June 18, 2010

Her words hit him like a hammer, his training the only thing keeping his expression neutral. That's where he'd seen her: she had saved him from the orphanage in Venice, and brought the light of God. He nodded, following her to the training areas; now without hesitation, however. She was the administrator of the entire 8th Sacrament: did he have a chance against her?

[Fangstrike]

Ashram von Himmelbrand
Office of the Head Enforcer
British Museum

"I'll assume the worse and stock up," said Ashram as he looked through the folder, absorbing all the details. It was always better to be safe than sorry, and Ashram had already been through one fight already. Admittedly, the fight had gone smoothly, but that didn't mean he was going to start overestimating his powers. "Do I have your permission to access the armory?"

[alfheimwanderer]

Assembly Training Area
Il Vaticano, Roma, Italia
June 18, 2010

Given that the Assembly of the 8th Sacrament was one of combat arms of the Church, naturally, every member had access to a training facility designed to help them improve their skills, whether these were simply in physical combat, in the use of forbidden thaumaturgy, or in manipulation of one's daemons. All were encouraged to use it, as those who were Executors of the will of the Lord could not allow their prowess to dull, given that they didn't know when the next threat would come, be it wraith, Dead Apostle, or demon of some sort.

Still, activity died down, with conversation fading to a hush as Cardinal Ortensia herself strode into the Daemon battle hall, carrying her infamous Cloth of Magdala, followed by a junior Executors-in-training, who it seemed she was about to face in a duel, as she stepped to one end of the hall and summoned forth her blue and white Gardevoir, a rare version of the daemon.

To say that such an occurrence was uncommon was an understatement, given that the Cardinal tended to spend more time with the members of the Burial Agency, and so only visited the standard Assembly training area either to discipline or test one of her subordinates.

...most of the Assembly members were quite curious as to which it would be this day.

"Come at me, Lorenzo da Venezia and test your abilities," she said simply, golden eyes staring emotionlessly at the young man. "I do not expect you to win, but I do expect you to fight well and show me what you have learned."

---

Office of the Head Enforcer
British Museum

"Indeed, you may access the armory if you find it necessary, particularly as you have already been in one fight today - a messy one, it seems," Bazett commented, looking her subordinate over. "Further, given the timeline, you are authorized to carry a Smoke Ball with you, an item that will render you harder to track by thaumaturgical senses. Doyle was not the most difficult opponent, even if he was a crafty one - there were many with sheer power many times his, so be careful. After this investigation, and termination of a threat, if possible - report if it is not, and we will have a dedicated team sent to dispatch it - you will be relieved of duty for the duration of the war."

[Fangstrike]

Ashram von Himmelbrand
Office of the Head Enforcer
British Museum

"Thanks, boss. I'll be careful." The Smoke Ball would definitely be useful if he needed to make a tactical retreat. While he was confident in his skills, it was best to be prepared for anything. "Then I'll make my preparations before I head out. Excuse me."

Armory

"Hello, I'm here to pick up some equipment for a Wraith hunt. In addition, Head Enforcer McRemitz has authorized the use of a Smoke Ball." Ashram held out a paper to the armory clerk. "Here's my paperwork."

[SeiKeo]

Assembly Training Area
Il Vaticano, Roma, Italia
June 18, 2010

Well, this won't end well, he thought. May as well make a good effort though. Clear the mind, he chanted to himself. Focus, center... move. "Ignis," he said.

At that instant, his Riolu lashed out with a Blaze Kick, at the same time that he drew four Black Keys, two in each hand, and threw them. Two at the opposing Daemon, two at Her Eminence, saying two more words in the process. "Clypeum, Armo." The surface of his robes rippled, taking on an appearance that seemed reminiscent of liquid metal. In his hands, a shaft of a weapon began to grow, as he leap towards his opponent.

For Alf

Used spells Aegis of the Faith and Call to Arms. Call to Arms is assumed to take a short time to fully generate, a time that would be less than the time it would take Lorenzo to cross the room. Don't kill me please.