The Day of Fate - Howling to the Rukh

A carvan of wagons rolled across the night plains taking one of the main roads. The hours was late and the helmsman at the lead yawned as he looked up at the night sky. The moon was full and at its peak in the starry canvas. Even so, this convoy wouldn’t be setting up camp for the night any time soon. Their evening was only just beginning as they came to a fork in the road that split around either side of a rather large hill. It seemed like a simple intersection but rather than turn left or right the beasts driving them were guided straight ahead as if to climb the hill. The diver rubbed his hands to fight off the cold as he reached out and rang an ornate silver bell with a magic circle engraved onto it. In response to the bell the hell in front for them started to shift and morph into the likeness of a large face with a third eye and a large mouth. The hill had become a giant head!

Slowly the gaping maw of gaia opened up revealing a throat-like cave that was even adorned with lit torches. The path lead downwards into darkness but the beasts were blinded so at the driver’s lead they pulled the wagons down into the belly of the beast. Once all of the wagons were through the mouth slowly closed and returned to its inconspicuous form as a simple hill splitting the path. Inside the earthen tunnel it was comfortably warm which was noticed by two of the prisoners being held within cages hidden on the wagons.

Zion opened his eyes and sat up noticing that the clownish man that was caged next to him had also stirred. ”So you noticed it too?” Zion asked hoping to confirm his suspicions and that it wasn’t his senses playing tricks on him. Zafar smiled and taunted the magician with his reply. ”Of course. I’m not an amateur like you are, kid. It seems like our destination isn’t somewhere simple...there was a bell earlier and now there is torchlight outside and its become warmer.” This made Zion blush slightly as he had only noticed the warmth. It was true that he had no experience in a situation like this. Thankful for the darkness to hide his embarrassment, Zion cleared his throat and changed the subject.

”Just so you know, I don’t trust you. But since it doesn’t seem like you’ve accepted a life in a cage either, let’s cooperate. What do you know about these collars? If I could just use my magoi then I could get us both out of here...”

The cold iron of the collar was ever tight around Zion’s neck and even strained his breathing slightly, but worst of all was how it muddled his magoi flow making it impossible to control. Though it had seemed like he was sleeping the entire trip Zion was actually wrestling to control the sludge-like magoi inside of him but it was all a useless effort. ”You’re wasting your time, kid. These collars are designed for magicians and magic tool users like myself. The only way to get one off is with the brute force of a fanalis or by using the key. The only choice we have is to steal the keys at some point and find out where they are keeping our magic tools. If it goes well we can even rob the rest of the auction items.” There was a bit of excitement in the clownish man’s face as he explained the impossible plan non-chalantly as though it would be a simple matter.

”And if it doesn’t go well?”

”Isn’t that part obvious? We’ll either die or get tortured as punishment for making the attempt and kept alive. The latter is honestly more likely, slaves don’t make money when they’re dead after all.”

The wagons traveled through the torchlit cave for what would seem like an hour before the distant sound of music could be heard. Eventually the tunnel opened up into a huge cavern. The grand earthen hall was lit up by glowing moss up above and torchlight near ground level. There were several other tunnels which all led to this room and others were arriving through those entrances as well. Everyone’s destination was a large tent propped up in the center which looked big enough to accommodate hundreds of guests. The caravan carrying Zion and Zafar came to a stop outside the tent where they were met by a group of men. ”Invitation.” The leader of the group spoke plainly as Aponitus Seventus, the overweight merchant who owned the caravan graciously disembarked and hurried forward to present a silver plate engraved with intricate symbols.

Seeing the silver plate, the leader of the group began to smile and act with a bit more courtesy, ”Ah, welcome Mr. Seventus. From the looks of it you have brought some things you wish to auction?” The man eyed the multiple wagons with money in his eyes as his organization took a cut of everything auctioned off here. ”Yes, yes, I have a number of fine magic tools, rare drugs, and some slaves. Oh, but the two in the middle wagon are not for sale. I’ve brought them for different reasons~” Aponitus replied as he gently tugged on his mustache. The man leading the group of inspectors seemed to understand what the fat man was hinting and simply smirked,

”I see, despite only having a silver plate invitation, you know about the surprise only gold plate members had been informed of. The information networks of underground merchants are truly terrifying, hahahaha!”

Despite his words the man seemed to be complimenting Aponitus as he gestured for his men to begin inspecting and taking custody of the items and people brought along for sale. Inside one wagon Zion and Zafar waited quietly until men came to move their cages. The experienced assassin kept his mouth shut and simply paid attention to their surroundings. Zion, on the other hand, began to ask a slew of questions that would ultimately go unanswered by the workers or teamed up in groups of four to carry the cages inside the large tent. Inside the tent the music was even louder as a scantily dressed woman stood on stage and sung for the crowd. There were a number of large tables with vips and numerous smaller tables orbiting them for their respective goons. Most of the attention was on the stage behind which was a partition sectioning off the hall with a sort of backstage area. Most of the goods and slaves were taken backstage but Zafar and Zion were placed near Aponitus’ table.

They weren’t the only slaves caged up next to the VIPs present. The ones with the largest tables otherwise known as “gold plate” patrons all had brought people in cages next to their tables. Zion began to feel a tight feeling in his chest as he tried to figure out what the point of it was. Zafar remained silent, but the look on his face was a sour one. He had been expecting to get led out of the cages to the back, but the workers simply moved the cages slaves and all. If their magic tools were sold here and they were unable to escape then reclaiming what was lost would be almost impossible. It was likely that these underworld figures wouldn’t gather like this often and it was impossible to make out their faces due to some magic of the tables which blurred them from afar.

”At last, I’ve been waiting the past three years for this event. I do hope to make quite the harvest. I can take my sweet revenge while I’m at it….I am looking forward to the show.”

Aponitus said to himself as he sat at the head of a medium sized table and brought a cup of wine to his lips. His associates took their seats at the table as well and began to enjoy the banquet that was being held. Zion looked at the food spread across the table and felt his mouth water. Gulping down dreams of satiating his hunger on something other than gruel, Zion turned his attention away from the tables and began to observe the surroundings. After a time the music came to a close and the woman on stage gave a sultry farewell before exiting right to make way for a well dressed gentleman who walked out on stage.

"Contrary to what some of you may be used to at this auction, this time we have some very important guests present with limited precious time. That said, the main objects of tonight's auction shall be presented for bidding first rather than last!" There was a flair of showmanship to the man as he swept his arms about in drastic gestures ending with a flourish in which a wand appeared in his grasp through sleight of hand. The wand's tip seemed to carve a trail of light through the air which grew and expanded into a unfurling scroll of dazzling light with the forms of various mythical beasts printed on it. The crowd stirred with excitement as even if one couldn't possibly compete for such rare and valuable creatures, it would be a once in a life time chance to see such beasts caged up close. Overhearing some of the exchanges in the crowd, Earl Grey grinned and shook his finger side to side.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, its best not to make assumptions based on immediate appearances."

As the bright scroll of light distracted everyone and blocked view of part of the stage staff were quickly at work behind the curtains and through the "magic" of theater, once the light magic faded there were now four pedestals. One for each of the mythical beasts that had been depicted on the scroll previously. In order from first to last was Edge Golem, Lava Beast, Lamia, and Storm Kitsune. The scroll had shown pictures of the beasts themselves, but on the pedestals were artifacts of sublime wonder. Each was like a condensation of rukh compressed into crystalline form. Magicians in the audience, Zion included, gaped in awe of how intense the rukh of these objects were. One resembled a Golem Core made of heavy metal. Another was red hot stone and seemed to be on the verge of melting at any moment. There was a set of bones which appeared to be a coiled snake's tail. The most eye catching of all however to the magicians was a large fox fang the size of small child's arm. The rukh in that one was particularly potent and wild.

There was no shortage of confusion and shock in the audience but the master of ceremonies didn't let those who weren't in the know suffer ignorance for too much longer. "The latest of magical genius has managed to bring the power of the dungeons to the outside world! Everybody knows that Dungeons contain metal vessels, but there is a lesser known power to be gained. Transformation! Through painstaking efforts we have managed to harness that magic for use, but it is a limited time opportunity as the materials to craft these miracles are not likely to be obtained again. We shall start the bidding on the least valuable of the four, the edge golem. Though we have deemed it the least valuable do not let that fool you! This beast is said to have amazi-..."

As the Earl introduced the first item, Aponitus showed excitement but calmly sipped his wine and did not make a bid. Seeing this, the magician that served him leaned over and asked about it. From nearby, Zion and Zafar listened in. "Shouldn't you bid on the cheapest one while the price is still affordable?" The older magician looked worried as he felt concern that the merchant would expend too much wealth trying to compete with the gold plate patrons to prove himself. Knowing what his closest adviser was thinking, Aponitus sighed and shook his head. "If I want the auction to recognize me as a gold plate member, I can't seem like I was desperate to just buy the cheapest one. Look, they are bidding as if they don't even really want it. They are just raising the price to get under each other's skin. It's like a game to see who will chicken out first." After snorting to himself the fat man waved the concern away. The bidding for the Edge Golem was indeed oddly cold and unexciting as the price steadily rose back and forth a few times before winding up in the hands of a well known pirate queen who seemed a bit peeved as she glared at the Kou noble across the hall from her whom was chuckling from behind a paper fan while looking at her with disdain. Though magic veils hid their faces from one another it was more of a pretense, in reality most of the gold plate members knew full well who their peers were and where they were seated. The Kou noble had only bid on the Edge Golem to trap the pirate queen  in the first place and so instead of stealing his prize she just wound up buying some expensive thing she didn't truly desire.

”Please send the one who will be transformed onto the stage, we shall perform the act here and now.”

The pirate queen gestured to one of her sailors to approach the stage where he was presented with the Golem Core. Earl Grey flicked his wand a few times and the core was ground up into a fine powder before turning into a paste of sorts which was injected into the sailor’s arm. The Earl commanded the rukh and their magic went to work rewriting his form. Bright light shone from the stage as his body shifted and molded into a different form. Many in the hall were surprised that the object had actually worked as advertised. The man looked at his new metallic body and then made a toothy grin of slightly fanged teeth before letting out a powerful roar. ”I’ll get you for my brother’s death, Qiang Ming! You’ll regret not winning this Edge Golem!” Pumped up by the surging sensation of power he felt, the former sailor declared his intentions loudly before being reigned in by his captain and queen who called him down from the stage. The Kou group had gone silent and some among them felt terror but the leader did not seem perturbed.

Once the scene of the transformation and ensuing drama had been played out, Earl Grey moved on to the second transformation artifact, ”Now then, the Lava Beast has a human-like form but its temperament and movement is more like that of a beast and its body is made of living molten earth. Truly, a miracle life form of the Dungeons! Its body is constantly burning and thus some suspect it is in constant pain. But for those who could bare the agony, a body that wont age or decay has its advantages. We shall start the bid at 200,000!”

From behind the iron bars of his cage, Zion couldn't take his eyes off the stage as the Earl performed the magic. The commands used were simple and unremarkable despite revealing unimaginable results. Those results seemed to be born thanks to the dungeon beast dna sample rather than any magical mastery. Though Zion wouldn't claim to be able to copy the spell after seeing it once, he couldn't help but be bewildered by how simple it had seemed. The roaring declaration snapped the young doll out of his awe as the reality of the situation came crashing back into his mind. The people gathered here were probably all cut-throats and crooks. A practical gathering of vipers and cobras! Gulping down his fears Zion listened to the introduction of the Lava Beast and noticed that Aponitus became rather excited.

"At last! This is the time to make a move!"

The fat merchant's chubby digits raised his sign to place and bid eagerly. Two other guests entered into a bidding war with him but an arrogant grin was plastered across his face as he continued to raise the value in spite of them. By Aponitus' side his adviser began to sweat nervously as he calculated how much they would have to liquidate in order to actually pay for the Lava Beast. With each passing moment the look on the old wizard's face became more and more grim. "Sir, y-you can't bid anymore than this. The company won't be able to handle it if you raise it any higher!" He suggested urgently. Aponitus grit his teeth and then laughed. "If you consider the price those items we put of for auction, I've actually got a lot more wiggle room...One more! I can afford to raise it one more time...!"

After convincing his companion, and himself, Aponitus confidently declared one final bid which punctuated the war.  After no one else felt it was worth bidding the Earl declared Aponitus' purchase. "Sold! Please send up the one who will receive the Lava Beast's form." The merchant jumped out of his seat and snickered, "Hehehe, Tonight is the night I make him suffer..." After mumbling to himself Aponitus walked up to Zafar's cage and kicked it violently. "You get tortured for days and you don't say a damn word, my man even says you might enjoy it. But we know your profile, you use magic but you can't stand magicians, can you? I'm going to turn you into a pet beast for my magicians to toy with!  Men, take him up there!"

As several workers came to open the cage, Zafar smirked and shot a glance towards Zion. Their eyes met, one gaze confused and scared, the other sadistic and calm. Then the assassin was taken, willingly exiting the cage to let the men escort him on stage. Aponitus sucked his teeth and sat back down after watching Zafar move with out losing his composure. "Even at the doorstep to hell he acts arrogant. Be sure to make him suffer in your experiments." The older seated beside him sighed and assured his boss, "Yes, yes, I'll dip him in ice water or something." But Aponitus wasn't even listening as he watched Zafar like a hawk.

The clownish assassin kept a cool smirk on his face as he was walked up the steps and made to stand before Earl Grey who blinked in surprise. "Oh? What's this? It appears that one of your guests has thought to force the transformation upon another~" He then looked out to the audience where Aponitus was seated as if to ask for confirmation. The pudgy man took a moment to notice that several eyes had come to rest on him before clearing his throat, "Yes, yes, he's a slave! Get on with it! Hmph..." Earl Grey frowned at the merchant's behavior and thought him a fool for bestowing a "gift" onto a slave like this, but didn't make a scene of it and turned his attention back to Zafar with the red hot stone floating in hand. "As the buyer wishes..."

Though he had seemed complacent up till now, nobody knew that there were still a few hidden weapons inside Zafar’s body. None of the workers carrying him by the arms noticed how holes had opened up on Zafar’s palms and the base of his spine. These unnatural orifices revealed winged nightmares as Aviarachnids emerged responding to pheromones communicated by Zafar’s body manipulation signals. The black and red flying spiders had crawled their way onto the men holding Zafar and just before the Earl prepared to begin the spiders simultaneously stopped and began to bite at the men. As the two shouted out in shocked pain, Zafar grabbed onto the and used their standing bodies as support in order to perform a strong accurate kick to the Earl’s hand in an attempt to knock it away knowing that if he had attacked the magician himself a borg would have interfered. The Earl was caught off guard and looked with wide eyed shock as the target for his disassembly spell disappeared causing him to stop casting it befuddled.

The master of ceremonies was no fighter and so it took him a moment to grasp the swift physical movements of the assassin and realize that he needed to look up to find the Lava Stone. Zafar used the momentum of his upward kick to flip behind the men escaping their already weakened grip. ”As if I would accept being turned into some kind of magical creature. That’s almost as bad as being a magician.” Zafar thought to himself in disgust as he attempted to dive behind the curtain thinking that he would have no choice but to come up with an escape plan as he went. Earl Grey had other plans. The Lava Stone had been “held” with gravity magic in the first place so regaining control of it had been a simple matter after he got over the initial fluster of surprise. Zafar found himself stopping in air mid-dive as Eal Grey leveled his wand at the assassin.

”Don’t run from this blessing, it is the magic of djinn. If you resent that this is your fate...then do something about it. I see you understand that, but sometimes you can’t walk away from destiny.”

This time, when the Earl spoke his voice did not carry to the audience magically. He spoke directly to Zafar as the clownish man was held forcibly in a crucified position by intense gravitational forces. Zafar struggled and resisted with all of his might but the most he could do was squirm about helplessly as his body was drawn towards Earl Gray who again used a simple spell to dismantle the dungeon beast DNA sample and inject it into the patient’s body completed with a simple activation spell. Zafar howled in miserable defiance as his body became a beacon of bright light. The smell of burning cloth spread as Zafar’s garments caught aflame and the light faded revealing a scrawny creature of molten earth that appeared to be dim and on the verge of solidifying. As the magic ended, Zafar was released to fall onto the stage where he slouched over still trying to cry out, but his voice was strained and quiet sounding like his flame of life were on the verge of going out.. The men who had been bitten had swatted the spiders off of them and recovered by now but they were unsure of how there were supposed to carry Zafar back. The stage was smoking beneath his body and they could feel the heat coming off of him from a good distance away despite the fact that he looked a bit too solid to be a lava beast.

”Move!”

The adviser next to Aponitus had come onto the stage himself and pushed the two men aside in order to take custody of Zafar himself. With a wave of his staff, the helpless looking Zafar was lifted from the ground and carried back to the table where he was returned to his cage. The steel bottom wouldn’t burn and with his body so cool Zafar could barely move let alone scream. Seeing the results Aponitus grinned ear to ear from his seat. His grudge against Zafar had finally been fulfilled and now he was in a state of constant torture, none of the previous torture sessions had shown Zafar to suffer at all. But now he was writhing around on the ground in torment, it was just the sight the merchant had spent so much of his fortune to buy. Many who saw this began to whisper among themselves in concern but Earl Grey was quick to predict their worries.

”Fear not everyone, there was no malfunction or mishap in that transformation. That man must have been a rather dangerous slave as his collar was of the kind that seals the wearer’s magoi making its flow muddled and slow. The Lava Beast is a creature of magic, with its magoi disturbed, it is only natural that its body become unstable.”

The Earl’s explanation relieved the concerns that some of the transformations were defective and some of the guests in the audience even spoke up to vouch for the information about the collars. And so bidding on the third transformation began with even more zealous fervor than the first two forms. Not only was the Lamia highly valued for its strength, but after seeing the first two transformations people began to become even more entranced with the idea of transformations. Zafar could barely process any of what was going on around him however. The burning sensation he felt was pain, but as a masochist it was actually the one thing Zafar could focus on to maintain his consciousness, in fact, he had a strange desire to burn even hotter. The agonizing thing was a feeling of suffocation his disturbed magoi flow brought. Zafar felt as if his body could barely move at a snails even if he but all his willpower into it.

Red was now the color of Zafar’s world as he looked to the shivering figure in the cage next to him. The former human had a sinister face before but now it was simply ghoulish as he cracked a dripping smile and slowly reached out a glowing red hand as he rasped a tiny voice. ”Hey...kid….still plan...on getting out...of here…?” Zafar wasn’t ready to give up yet. His body wasn’t smooth flowing lava right now, but he was still a viscous mess, if he could get his body to slip through the collar he could assume his proper state. Though he did not want this body, now that he had it Zafar would make the most of its convenient features. ”H-huh? Mister, are you okay? Did you think of a plan?” Zion replied with hushed urgency. Zafar struggled his way over to get closer as he asked, ”Tell me, kid...how’s your resistance to pain?”

---

Spoiler:

Zafar brought his head as close to the bars as he could, his molten head squeezing between them gradually until the collar met the gate wall. It was difficult to speak so Zafar didn’t say more, he just shifted his feet and hoped the young magician could understand what he meant. The white haired doll was a bit confused at first but once he saw the pose Zafar assumed he understood what the assassin had meant. Zafar hurriedly took off his jacket and wrapped his hands up the best he could after reaching through the bars. Zafar’s collar was already red hot when Zion’s padded hands grasped either side of it. ”Hurry up, this is still really hot…” The magician whispered through grit teeth as he endured the burning sensation on his hands. Zafar pushed with his arms and legs and gradually slipped free of the collar.

Aponitus had since decided to enjoy the show of the auction and the Kou noble from earlier was making for a good show as he claimed the Lamia transformation for himself. Initially he wanted to get it for a concubine, but after being threatened and seeing the power of dungeon beasts he began to covet it for himself. All the more so now that an Edge Golem was out for his head. Once the transformation completed on stage he made it a point to shoot the pirate queen’s table a smug look before returning to his own table. They were about to move on to the final transformation when Zafar finally broke free from the magoi sealing collar.

The dimly glowing viscous body of the Lava Beast lit up the instant his magoi flow was restored. His body quickly heated up more and more as it became more fluid and nimble. ”AOOOOOUUUUUUUU!!!!” A demonic howl filled the tent as Zafar let out a warped gravel laced voice. The burning pain skyrockted in intensity which was a blissful sensation for the twisted Zafar and his shout was as much a release of pleasure as it was of joyous relief. Everybody turned to see what had made the unearthly noise but no one reacted fast enough to stop what happened next.

Zafar’s body fluidly moved between the bars of his own cage and enveloped the bars of Zion’s cage where there were quickly melted to become part of the flowing molten minerals that now made up the assassin’s body. Zion stumbled backwards startled as the lava beast’s claw-like hand reached for his neck. SSsss! ”Aaaaargh!” The magician let out a panicked cry of pain as he felt the collar around his neck suddenly heat up and the smell of burning flesh filled his nose but it was over in just a moment. Zafar pulled his hands away from Zafar bringing a melted and deformed collar with it. Zion felt the flow of magoi in his body return to normal which made the burns around his neck something forgivable, though he didn’t thank Zafar in the moment. The Lava beast did one last thing before leaving, melting a single iron bar off for the magician to use as a makeshift staff.

”Now it’s your turn, kid. Go get our stuff while I cause a scene.” Zafar’s earthen voice growled at Zion before turning and pouncing towards Aponitus’ table where his body immediately started a fire. Zafar stopped there just long enough to look at a horrified Aponitus mockingly before leaping off to start another fire nearby. Though he would like to get his revenge, the magician by the merchant’s side was already getting ready to cast a spell and it would all mean nothing if he couldn’t escape. The Lava Beast was on a rampage and in an instant the auction was thrown into case as people got up from their tables and tried to avoid the spreading flames.

The doll coughed and choked through his scorched throat as he reached out and forced himself to grasp the hot iron rod Zafar had melted off for him at its center where it would be least unbearable. Even so, Zion grit his teeth as tears swelled up in his eyes and he called upon the rukh. While everyone was paying attention to Zafar, Zion quieltly wrapped himself in a cloak of invisibility. ”Sight Bend Coat.” The spell put the magic in motion as Zion flicked the rod towards himself followed up by a another which activated the gravity magic spell, Flight. Unseen, Zion flew out of the hole in his cage Zafar had melted and flew into the air covering his mouth as there was now a great deal of smoke trapped in the tent and even those just standing up were finding it difficult to breath.

Not wasting any time, Zion flew back stage where the cloth partition actually kept a bit of the smoke away. After flying over the partition and then descending down into the backstage area Zion found some breathing room and looked around to see several auction workers rushing out to help deal with the chaos. The pirate who had become an edge golem took the confusion as a chance to attack the Kou noble while Zafar went on a rampage making the situation even more hectic and out of control. It wasn’t long before Zion was able to lower close to the ground without fear of bumping into anyone. Floating just above the surface, Zion would inspect a few temporary “rooms” set up where the musicians from before were found relaxing and prepping for their next performance scheduled to be held between the end of the rare item and the general auction. Zion moved on until he found a storage room filled with shelves of magic tools and rare objects.

”Found it!”

Zion thought to himself as he hurried inside and began looking for his own magic tools. The makeshift staff was set down and replaced with Zion’s own as he strapped the nightmare rifle on his back and used his magic carpet to gather up the rest of his things along with the tools Zafar had described and a few other trinkets just because there was room to grab more. Still invisible, but now fully geared and carrying a carpet full of valuable items on his back, Zion flew over the partition again to see how Zafar was doing. Even though Zion knew the man was a killer, if it weren’t for him Zion would still be collared and caged like an animal. He couldn’t just leave the fiendish clown and escape on his own.

The Earl Grey had been caught off guard by the negligence of Aponitus’ magician in allowing Zafar to slip through his collar. He tried to urge everyone to calm down when the fires first started to spread as staff emerged from backstage to put out the fires while the Earl prepared to subdue Zafar himself. But then the pirate edge golem decided to enact his revenge against the Kou noble lamia and soon the two were brawling amidst a circle of flames as a Lava beast laughed gleefully while trailing a path of carnage behind his prancing beast-like movements. The Earl was hesitant to use magic on the guests even if they were fighting. The VIPs and organizations backing them were among the most dangerous in the world and most of them had the power to cause trouble for the alchemists. But the feirce battle for revenge or survival was getting in the way of regaining control over the situation. After huffing in frustration the dark gentleman finally decided to step forward and put an end to the circus.

”Humph, must I remind you dear guests that this is a neutral ground as per rules of the auction? Do you want your respective gold plates revoked!?”

The irritation in the Earl’s voice was evident as he stepped off the stage and with a sweep of his wand created three large stamps made of strength magic appear overhead before dropping with distinct loud bangs. All three dungeon beasts were crushed into the ground and pinned there by the Earl’s magic. By the time he had done so, dozens of auction staff had put out most of the fires and were taking care of the last few which were the most recently created trails. ”Let’s all behave a bit more civilized. I think everybody learned a valuable lesson in properly keeping their pets, as well as their manners. Hahahaha!” As things quieted down, Earl Grey spoke in a light hearted tone as he released the seals from the two guests slowly and made it clear that if they behaved themselves now, things could be overlooked. An uneasy truce was called in the life or death battle and Aponitus’ magician hurried over to take custody of Zafar once again, only taking so long in order to get another magoi blocking collar. Seeing that the old man was doing so, Earl Grey nodded and then gestured back to a now empty podium.

”Now everybody, the tables and noble atmosphere have been charred, but the auction shall go on! At last, the final transformation, a beast known to fly through the skies and call storms. Among the fastest of creatures! The stooooorm kitsu-nani!?”

Earl Grey was just about to introduce the item when he realized that it was missing. His eyes practically jumped out of his skull as he panicked and hurriedly rushed over to the stage. ”WHO STOLE IT!?” The Earl shrieked having lost all compsure. He got onto stage and swiped his want creating a clairvoyance window which showed him the light of the scene prior in hopes of catching sight of who swiped it, but it only revealed the fang being there one second before disappearing the next. ”The light...is bent?’ The Earl replayed the scene and squinted his eyes before coming to the realization. ”A light magic user!” But it was too late as a gunshot sounded and a moment later the stamp sealing Zafar was suddenly attacked by a black monstrous doll that seemed too unnatural to be human.

Zion had snatched the storm kitsune fang while Earl Grey suppressed the chaos and then moved closer to Zafar before firing the Dream Infiltrator at himself. A host of little nightmares from Zion’s own mind then emerged from him and dropped down onto the strength magic seal to claw at it. The stamp almost seemed like a balloon as its magic failed and popped out of form releasing the pressure on Zafar. ”I’ll follow you, let’s get out of here!” Zion shouted before actually rushing on ahead to tackle the tent supports at full speed. Zafar scrambled off the ground like a spooked cat and rushed out of the tent as part of it began to collapse. Using the kitsune fang which was grasped tightly in Zion’s hand, he cut open a slit to escape through before chasing after Zafar’s glowing figure as it made a cheetah’s dash for one of the many tunnels leading to the massive earthen chamber.

The dark auction wasn’t about to simply let them escape however and a collapsing tent was not enough to halt a pursuit. Leading it was a furious Earl Grey who flew after them with fire in his eyes. It was a disgrace the auction had never suffered before and it was unlikely the Alchemists would be very trusting of their event after all this, or the other underworld groups for that matter. Earl Grey needed to get the kitsune fang back at all costs if there was any hope to continuing the auction and regaining the face it had lost today.

---

Magoi: 190/260

Spells:

”Magic Tool”:

”They are catching up!” Zion warned as he and Zafar fled, ”Don’t tell me what I already know!” Zafar snapped back in his gravel voice while in full sprint. Zion frowned and looked back to see the distant Earl Grey and a whole host of people chasing after them, then down to the storm kitsune fang in his hand that they were after. Zion had watched Earl Grey perform the activation magic twice and using gravity to disassemble the dna into an injection was simple enough. The Earl had claimed the storm kitsune was the fastest creature alive and that was tempting in the current predicament. But Zion had been secretly desiring a transformation for himself since they were revealed. Even if they weren’t being pursued the living doll had his own reasons why he would have used it on himself anyways. ”If I were to transform like this...my body being different from normal people wouldn’t be so strange...In a way I will stick out less, but oddly enough that might let me finally stop worrying about being seen as a normal human. My outsides will match the strangeness of my insides…” After thinking about it like this, Zion decided and as he fled his staff went to work disassembling the kitsune fang. It was crude compared to the smooth magic of the Earl, but Zion did his best in a pinch and injected a steam of liquified storm kitsune tooth into the veins of his pale arm.

The otherworldly elixir surged through Zion’s blood as he cast the activation spell commanding the rukh to draw forth the latent magic held within the dungeon beast dna sample. The invisibility shroud around Zion wasn’t designed to hide the bright shining light that emitted from his body as he took in the dungeon beast transformation material and allowed his body to be reshaped. Earl Grey frowned in displeasure as he cursed, ”Damn them! They’ve used the transformation!” He was just about to catch up to them but now the thief would surely get away. Earl Grey felt it would be impossible to catch Zion now with the storm kitsune’s speed so he decided he would just have to capture the lava beast instead since it seemed like they were working together. The Earl just needed to close the distance between them a little bit more.

At that moment, Zion flew ahead of Zafar as a streak of white that left black petals scattered in its wake. The petals floated towards the pursuers before resting as Zion entered one of the tunnels and stopped to wait for Zafar to enter. As The Earl and the rest got close to the petals lightning bolts began to strike out from within them revealing that they were actually tiny lightning clouds! The Earl’s Borg erected to defend against the bolts and he charged after them into the tunnel. Zion was waiting for this and swept his arm unleashing a whirlwind of magoi and storm magic which flowed from his body naturally like breathing or eating. Just as the Earl entered the tunnel the whirlwind met him and surrounded his body before erupting into a mandorla shaped storm which sealed him in place. The master of ceremonies borg emerged to protect him from the lightning wall but it shattered from the abuse it took when combined with the earlier damage from the petals. He was stuck inside a shall of lightning storms which was also blocking access to the tunnel for everyone else.

On the tunnel side of the storm wall Zion floated in the air, no longer invisible, with his long silvery white hair a bit longer than before. Two perky fox ears adorned his head and a spread of nine tails fanned out from behind him. His pure white clothes were scorched in places and tattered in others, but the horrible burns around his neck were gone, courtesy of the transformation process. ”This way, I’ll melt a way out for us.” Zafar said as he began to claw at the earth tunneling a path upwards that wouldn’t take as long to surface as the tunnels they used to enter. Besides, they didn’t know the method for making the secret entrance open from the inside or the outside. Digging their way out was an inevitability, but with a seemingly tireless Lava Beast as an excavator it was a simple matter for Zion to follow behind him floating so as not to touch the freshly melted walls. After a few moments of digging they emerged out into the early morning darkness of the plains. Zion found that he no longer needed to use magoi to ask the rukh to help him defy gravity. That too was now something that felt natural to Zion. So once they broke out of the earth, Zion changed the target of his Flight spell to Zafar and together they flew off into the distance at top speed to escape the scene.

EXIT

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Magoi: 110/260

Dungeon Beast Magic:

Spells: