The Daily Humdrum of a Spymaster [Training/Private]

Garret had awoke, as was his normal, several hours before the sun had risen. Stretching, meditating and basic physical training. He continued to go through his normal routine of running in the morning, joined by the recruits. When it was time to hit the baths, Garret cleansed his body before sinking into the hot water. The other male recruits were simply sitting down in the hot water as well. Garret closed his eyes for a short while, recalling the prior day's events.

"Lu Feng, forget about Azix. The man hides behind a dozen masks, and often jokes around for the sake of joking." He rarely spoke during these moments, and it caught the others off guard. "He is a dangerous man to cross, as well. I believe we are on par in terms of combat ability. He was fairly efficient with the use of his blade, last I saw him."

"..." Lu Feng said nothing, at first. He considered the implications of what Garret had said. When it came to straightforwardness, Garret didn't lie or sugarcoat his words. "I've forgotten about him already." In truth, Tseng Qiang had spoken to him the prior day, and had already helped him work out his anger.

Garret simply nodded at the words and left it at that.


The sun was rising at this point in time, and Azix had just began lying down in the garden. A Kou woman walked out from the central building directly across from the gate, katana at her side. she walked towards where Azix was, but it didn't seem she noticed him, as she was still too distant. Though Azix wasn't particularly paying attention to the woman, he would soon feel an unnatural killing intent that wasn't aimed at anything in particular. If he cared to see the source of that intent he would see the woman performing a series of cuts in the air, each attack looking like it could cleave a person. After each cut, the blade returned to its sheathe. This movement was repeated many times, the killing intent disappearing after the blade re-entered the sheath.

It was at this point that a familiar voice called out to Azix. Garret had approached the man from the side. "I see you are relaxing." How long he had been watching Azix was hard to guess. "Though it looks like there's a lot on your mind..?" It was an open-ended offer to hear the man's thoughts.

Garret looked over to Akiho, smiling. He waved, and the movement caught her attention. Quickly turning, the woman looked in their direction. Noticing Garret, she bowed and went back to her work.

Garret had Kuroi Shimo sheathed in a pouch on his right side, and his Prismatic Dagger sheathed on his left. He sat down two meters next to Azix, relaxing himself as well.

In the middle of his thinking he felt a person with strong killing intent nearby, he lifted an eyelid and spotted a woman practicing cutting with her katana. He briefly noted that she seemed quite practiced with a blade and that she didn't intend to bother him, so he went back to his musings. It wasn't long after that he was interrupted again by the sound of Garret's voice, who approached from his side. Azix twirled the violet flower in his fingers as his friend sat down.

"Yes, I do have a few things on my mind, but I think your comments the last time we spoke helped. It is strange, I used to curse my fate, but now I am starting to see that maybe the past laid the foundation for me to handle the future." He raised the flower to his nose and inhaled the sweet scent before continuing. "I apologize for my prank yesterday. It did show me their discipline, I imagine that you may have had a hand in that. I wanted to say that I found the girl I was looking for." An shudder ran through him as he recalled what he had gone through to find her.

Taking a deep breath, he exhaled the disgust of the memory and looked up at Garret. "So, did you really call me out here just for a spar? I had hoped you missed your dear old friend." He let out a small chuckle, "No matter, it sounds fun. While our powers in concert with each other create interesting utility for missions, making us a pretty formidable team, if I may say so from prior experience, it would be interesting to see them clash."

The spymaster was on the left of Azix. He nodded his head as he listened to Azix. "No, the man was disrespectful. Your response was much more mild than it could have been. Depending on who they are around in the future, which will likely be important figures, they will all have to act with the utmost respect." He dismissed Azix's apology with a wave of his hand in an attempt to assure the man that he was well within his rights to discipline the charge had he so chosen to.

When Azix next spoke, it was about the child the man had been searching for. Garret held back from saying anything at first, but decided to say something. "It seemed like it was important to you when we were at Serene's and talked about it briefly." He didn't say too much after that, and allowed that line of conversation to die out.

Azix changed the subject, asking about the main reason Garret had called him out here. A contained laugh escaped from the spymaster. "We're busy, so there always needs to be a justification for what it is we do." While he had sat down next to Azix, He had moved his right leg so that his leg was bent with his foot on the ground and his knee. His hand, hidden by the placement of his leg, began making signs to Azix.

'Do not speak too freely here. There is something important I need to tell you.' The movements were fast and precise, and Garret hoped that Azix had seen them. He looked Azix in the eyes. "I don't think it would be wise for our abilities to clash here. I've been doing some training a few kilometers north of here, on the beachside. That would be the best place to practice."

Azix enjoyed the company of his friend as they conversed on the lawn. From his time in Zou, he never had friends, not that there were many to be had in the ranks of nobility, so it was rare to have such a relaxing moment. As Garret spoke, the spymaster shifted the position of his leg and gave hidden hand signals to avoid speaking too openly. Azix ran his fingers through his hair, a signal to show he recognized and understood the hidden message.

"I think a trip to the beach would be lovely," he looked up to the sky and surveyed the clear sky. "Perfect weather too, as luck would have it." Azix would follow Garret to the beach when he was ready to leave.

When Garret and Azix finally got to the beach, Garret breathed a sigh of relief. "Someone is, once again, moving behind the scenes. It is much more thought out, and a lot more focused than Li Cao's heavy-handed approach." Garret began filling Azix in on his most recent run in with a group of bandits. "Somehow, the bandit knew what to expect from me. There seemed to have been enough of them, too, to overrun the number of people we were supposed to originally have on that job."

Garret shook his head. "And they died on the trip back. Our head interrogator, Maximus, determined it was through self poison that they hid in a false tooth. This suggests a much more discreet opponent, as well as a mole in our organization." Sighing, Garret shook his head. "Just be careful. I don't know the real motive behind these attacks just yet, and you might become a target as well. Ready to spar?"

Garret stopped moving, and pointed to a spot 30 meters away from him, as if letting Azix know that he would like them to start a decent distance away from each other.

Azix listened to Garret explain about an ambush that occurred after a recent mission and his concerns about someone behind the scenes trying to take them out. Azix had to agree with his friend, it would appear that even with Li Cao out of the equation, the assassination attempts still continued. Between the obvious knowledge of Garret's abilities and the prisoner's suicide attempts, the attack reeked of an extremely detailed operation. What was concerning wasn't that his own life might be at stake, but that his friend, the spymaster of Reim's operations was being targeted. Previous experiences led Azix to believe it was someone in the ranks of Zou's nobility.

Azix looked Garret in the eyes when they stopped, "This is concerning, if they are willing to target you and your recruits, then I worry for the safety of mine..." He trailed off as he thought of the Grumptoes. The idea of them being used as pawns to get to him finalized his decision to test Ariella further, another magician keeping an eye on them wouldn't hurt. But would it be worth it to risk her life too? He exhaled his concerns for now, they would have to wait for when he could do something about them. He hoped they would be fine during his absence, at least he didn't hope he would be gone as long as he had been before.

"If you would do me a favor, Garret, keep an eye to avoid any traps. I wouldn't want you to come to harms way without me here to watch your back." Garret would be able to hear the concern in Azix's voice behind the teasing comment. They had fought together enough that Azix knew Garret was skilled enough to handle himself and judge a situation fairly accurately, but that didn't change the fact that he was Azix's sole friend.

With that he moved to the spot Garret had pointed out thirty meters away in preparation for their spar. Azix took a few moments to clear his thoughts, focusing on his breathing to find his center. When he was ready he let out a deep breath and pulled his staff free, signaling that he was ready to begin.

Garret took a deep breath. The last time he trained with somebody and went all out, he had nearly killed them. With wand in his left hand, Garret brought out a Prismatic Dagger in his right. The weapon was something Azix had not yet seen him use. Garret had made decent study of the weapon, but had not actually used it overly much in combat.

Garret noted that Azix, too, was ready to begin. The man was giving him the first move, which Garret decided to take when he began to gather blue Rukh infused with his Magoi to cast the Controlling the Currents spell. The water from their right covered the ground about 25cm high in a 15m diameter area around Garret. Garret sustained the water, and kept a feel for it while he moved forward. He would pay close attention to the details of Azix's actions all the while considering his next move.

The man could go invisible, which would make things difficult for Garret if he chose to do so. In preparation for what would likely come, Garret also cast Water Gill. If Azix did nothing, Garret would continue to approach him until he was within 10 meters of the mage, and then move the center of the water he was controlling to be directly between the two of them.

OOC:

Word count: 228

The blue magician started by manipulating water from the ocean to pool around him in a wide circular puddle. Azix noticed that Garret was wielding a dagger he didn't recognize, as usual, it seemed Garret was constantly expanding his skills. Azix had been training too, but he wondered if it even compared to what Garret had been doing. A flicker of blue Rukh caught his attention as a bubble formed over Garret's nose and mouth. With those two spells prepared, Garret began approaching Azix.

Knowing Garret's skill with controlling water, Azix wanted to keep his distance from it. With swift commands to the Rukh, Azix cast his Twist Reality spell forming two illusions of his likeness overlapping his skin. Afterwards, he called the Rukh to alter gravity's influence around his body with the use of Gravity Lift. When Garret was within twenty meters of him he sent the two illusions towards Garret at two-and-a-half meters per second. As soon as they moved, he flew upwards ten meters above the ground, keeping an eye on Garret.

The illusions both unsheathed the curved short sword at their right hip, each aiming to strike one of Garret's shoulder. Azix watched Garret's reaction, staying on his guard for any spells.

[206/2000 int spec]

Garret had cast his first spell, Controlling the Currents in anticipation that Azix would go invisible. Continuing to sustain both that, as well as Water Gill, Garret watched for the movements in the water's surface. It was his intention to be able to tell where the man was. He was surprised to see that his opponent instead chose a different spell, one that he did not recall the Azix having cast before.

Well, that's new. As one of the three of these Azixs flew upward, Garret confirmed whether or not the ones still on ground level were real. Though they were not invisible, the water would still show ripples from the movement of the real one. He frowned when he saw both were producing ripples. They aren't illusions? Well then, change of plans. The flying one is less of a danger than these two, but I cannot afford to let my guard down. Garret had no need to approach the two Azixs that were approaching him. They were already within his sphere of influence.

This was soon evidenced by the rushing of water, as the 25cm of water floating across the ground quickly changed into a funnel of water that drew everything towards Garret. Garret was using Controlling the Currents to pull the two Azixs into the rush of water at 20 m/s. They had been moving slowly just earlier so, even if only for a moment, they would have been under the full effects of the strength of his spell. While they were pulled close to him, the funnel moved upward and in a cone-like motion, akin to a tornado. Garret, during this time, had cast Pressure Crusher, which would definitely activate Azix's Borg if the real one were there...


OOC:

Word count training for spell: 303+228=531/1000

As the illusions stepped into the pool at Garret's feet, a flicker of blue Rukh flashed before the water began to swirl in a vortex, sweeping the illusions into it. Azix was glad to see that his previous caution was warranted, getting in close would have knocked him off balance. The illusions lashed out against the water, but they dissolved into magoi as the pool took on the shape of a cone. Azix wasn't sure how well Garret could see through the vortex, so instead of waiting to see he sustained Twist Reality and formed two new illusions around his body which he directed forward at twenty meters per second.

With the cone of swirling water around Garret, it would be hard for Azix to force his way through. Instead, the illusions flew above the cone, before descending at twenty meters per second, head-first with their swords held before them.

Meanwhile, Azix formed a mass of shadows above his staff which he sent at twenty meters per second to the ground beneath the blue magician's feet. Kage Youshiki formed a circular seal that radiated black light with magical symbols drawn in a dark purple that stretched in a fifteen meter diameter below Garret. From within the seal, fifteen tendrils braided together to form a single fifteen meter long shadow tendril that would pierce upwards, attacking Garret from below.

Still hovering ten meters in the air, less than twenty meters away from where Garret stood, Azix still hovered thanks to his Gravity Lift spell. He decided to stay where he was, ready to move or counter-attack if a spell aimed towards him. Azix knew his true location was revealed when the illusions struck Garret's spell. With two more illusions attacking the blue magician from above, Azix hoped that would keep Garret from attacking him. If that didn't work, there was the second attack from below to have to deal with as well.

[527/2000]

The two solid illusions from before had managed to consume his Pressure Crusher spell. The required force for him to destroy them was equivalent to the amount of force provided to the spell. Garret continued to sustain Controlling the Currents, and Water Gill.

While Garret was not oblivious to what was happening outside of the vortex, it was certainly true that his sight was greatly hindered. A trade-off for the superior defensive capabilities that the product of his combined spells provided him; defense for visibility. Garret could not see Azix. This was due to the fact that his vision was so obscured by the swirling water. Of course, this also meant that those on the outside couldn't exactly see him very easily either. The only thing that could truly be seen by those on opposite sides of the vortex were things that were moving.

It was the two clones striking the top of his water vortex that had immediately garnered his attention. Garret looked upward as they began to attempt to descend through his spell. Again, he was not sure if one of them were real and the other fake. He readied himself and prematurely moved the water out of the way of the two clones while simultaneously shooting upward with Water Falls in Reverse. His plan was to use River Styx Style: Raging Current in order to perform a spinning kick to both of them when he met them in mid-air. This plan was soon interrupted due to a shadow tendril which had shot up from beneath him, which struck his Borg as he jumped. Azix had landed the first blow.

He had still not used his River Styx Style: Raging Current technique, as the shadow tendril had interrupted him. Now that there were three targets, the situation had escalated quite a bit. He could Things were moving smoothly, and going well in Azix's favor, as Garret's only current spell he could use in this situation was too broad a spell to use and would certainly cause him more harm than it would help. His choices had become quite limited, and Garret's mind raced with a speed that outpaced the actions of a physical body.

With a touch of intuition, Garret quickly modified one of his spells. Intoning his spell, Garret put more force behind it, dredging up a much greater power than he had done previously. Forcing the spell to change in this manner removed the possibility to be gentle with the spell moving upwards, however it brought to the table another tool to face opponents at.

Beneath the spell sigil that Azix had cast, a great rumbling occurred as Garret had cast a newer version of Water Dowsing

The spell completely engulfed the sigil as it shot upwards. Though the tendrils themselves did not clash with the spell, as they had already dealt their damage, the two clones were soon met by the force of the upwards explosion of rock and dirt. Garret, too, was hit by the technique; the final defensive power offered by his Borg was gone.

A stone came forth from beneath that gyser of water after his Borg had shattered, and Garret landed feet first on it as it shot upwards at 20 m/s. Still sustaining Control the Currents, Garret brought some of the incredible amount of water about him, centralizing it from within. At this point, what was occurring within this water giant would be impossible to see. But it wouldn't be long before Azix saw something new; a rush of water shooting outwards with Garret floating inside, sitting lotus within a flying 'river'.

The river itself was 15 meters in length and 4 meters in diameter, and the water seemed to have 3 different currents within it. The inner current, which pushed Garret forward at 20 m/s, took up approximately 2 meters in diameter of the center. The middle current seemed to be flowing into the inner current, and then changing directions as it fed into the inner current to move with that inner current. This kept anything that was in the inner current still floating in place instead of sinking. Then there was the outer current. Its origin was actually from the inner current, as the water moved forward and beyond where Garret was, some of it moved in the opposite direction to 'feed' the back of the current and replenish the water with itself.

Garret was fast approaching the mage, though his Borg was down.


OOC:

Word count 766+531 = 1297/1000

From his vantage point in the sky, Azix glimpsed Garret jump up into the air within the vortex. It looked like the blue magician would be dealing with the illusions, leaving him open for a strike from the tendril below. The vortex made it hard to completely see what was happening inside the vortex, so Azix didn't know how successful the attack had been, if it had struck at all.

The orange magician watched the scene carefully, knuckles white from his tight grip on his Staff of Refractions, plotting his next course of actions. The illusions were still descending towards Garret when a loud rumbling shook the earth around the blue magician. In the space of a breath, Azix watched as a massive plume of water surged upwards around Garret. Azix recalled a similar spell being used against Li Cao, but it didn't compare to the force that he had just witnessed.

Through his connection of the magoi, Azix knew the illusions had been destroyed again when the plume surged upward. What concerned him the most was that he could not see Garret through the large amount of water that was lifting off the ground. He had a feeling that the blue magician was within the water, but he couldn't be completely sure. Adjusting he gravity around his body with Gravity Lift still sustained, Azix flew backwards another ten meters to get some space as he prepared a spell. He thought of sustaining Kage Youshiki to strike from below again, but the magician and his waters would soon be out of range. The tendrils could move quick, but Azix judged that Garret's waters were moving just as quick.

Gaining distance was not an option though, the waters moving around Garret cleared and Azix could see the magician sitting lotus style in the center. The image was still blurred, Azix could see strong, flowing currents swirling along the surface reminding him he did not want to be close. Yet, it did not look like Garret was giving him the advantage of distance any longer as the magician and his water sped towards Azix.

The orange magician had formed a Bright Beam in front of his outstretched staff as the river began to move forward. He sent it towards the floating river of water at fifteen meters per second. He wasn't sure how effective the hot beam of light would be against a river of water, but he hoped the blinding effects would be of use. Azix averted his gaze from the bright light, while descending to the ground hoping to pass under the floating river.

In his place, Azix had reformed another likeness of himself using Twist Reality so that it hovered in the air ten meters above him. The illusion had a panicked expression on its face and looked to be bracing for impact. Azix landed on the ground, watching Garret closely while preparing another spell. Azix wondered how much was left of Garret's Borg, he thought the tendril had struck something but he couldn't be sure, the vortex had blocked most of Azix's vision. It concerned him how close Garret had gotten, prior experiences taught Azix a healthy fear of water magic. When they had taken Manius out, Azix had seen Garret use water to choke the Fanalis as well as imprison him in an orb of ice. Azix definitely did not want to be an icicle, in such close quarters, he was sure Garret would have the advantage.

[1107/2000]

Garret was able to see Azix move downward, and was slightly irked. Azix had gotten the first technique off, and Garret was in the process of trying to get back at the magician. He was still sustaining Controlling the Currents and Water Gill as the Bright Beam was cast towards Garret. Garret immediately cast Ice Mirror, which was made out to be just the same size as the Bright Beam. This 10 meter sized wall was created instantaneously due to the large amount of water that was nearby, and it moved forward while intercepting the entirety of the spell Azix had cast. Unfortunately the mirror itself wasn't strong enough to reflect the beam of light energy that Azix had cast, but it was enough to stop it in its tracks.

Garret saw movement from below. Looking down, he noticed that there were, once again, 2 Azixs. The magician certainly enjoyed his illusions, and it made things much more difficult for Garret. Sighing, He flew upwards at 20 m/s until he was 28 meters away from them on the ground. Garret focused and pointed both the river and his wand down to where the 2 were and cast Icy Explosion. The 1 meter sized ball of ice and sound magic materialized in the center, right in front of Garret. It shot out of the water, as straight as a ballista's ammunition and as deadly as a ball of iron shot from a catapult. Garret was certain that the Magician would survive the spell, as his Borg had yet to be touched. And with this, at least, Garret believed he would be able to equalize the damage that was dealt to him...

OOC: Word count 287/500

The Bright Beam traveled forward as Azix descended to the ground, clashing against a wall of ice that Garret had summoned. The orange magician was not surprised that the attack was quickly defended against, but he hoped it had distracted Garret from noticing which Azix was real, the illusion that hovered in the air in Azix's last location or the one touching down on the ground below it. So far in the fight, Azix was realizing that his illusions weren't as effective in offensive situations, best as minor distractions to wear an opponent down while they dealt with them. The only attack that seemed to have any effect was Kage Youshiki, which had lost its effectiveness when Garret moved away.

Azix looked up to see Garret hovering in the sky at a great distance away. For some reason, the blue magician seemed to want to keep a wide berth from Azix. He quickly contemplated his options, he could sling a spell that would most likely miss by the time it traveled up to Garret, he could fly up to him and likely get hit by a spell in the process, or he could wait for Garret to get closer. None of those options seemed right at the moment, but he was quickly shown the best option as he caught the barest hint of blue and green Rukh flickering around Garret. Azix had a moment of shock, he couldn't remember what magic they dealt with and he didn't have time to guess. At the very least, he shouldn't have been surprised his friend had also learned a second magic type as well.

From within the flowing river, a one meter ball of ice streaked out of the sky towards both Azix's. This was a new spell that he had never seen before, since he was unsure of which target Garret was aiming for, he immediately prepared a spell to take the brunt of the damage if it hit him. Black Rukh flickered around him as a thin film of magoi was conjured around his body, ready to Clear anything within a fifteen meter range of him by expelling the force in a dome shape.

When the one meter ball of ice got closer, Azix had a brief moment to notice that it was aimed between himself and the illusion, Garret had taken no chances. Suddenly, the one meter ball expanded in an eruption of ice and a concussive force of sound as it exploded in a twenty-five meter diameter. The illusion floating above Azix was immediately dissolved from the explosion. Azix's clear spell expanded in anticipation of blocking the explosion but shattered from the full force of Garret's spell. It continued forward and if not for Azix's Borg, he would have been hit by the spell.

Azix was momentarily stunned from the spell, but recovered and quickly sustained his Gravity Lift spell while conjuring his Vanish spell. He was annoyed to have to rely on his invisibility spell, but it seemed necessary against Garret presently. He flew upwards towards Garret, looking for an opening to strike back.

As he flew, Azix wondered if the green Rukh were a sign of sound magic. From the cacophony of Garret's spell it seemed possible, but would that explain how Garret seemed to know where people were located during his last job? He planned on asking after this little spar they were having, for now he was focused on Garret.

Azix was now fifteen meters underneath Garret, wrapped in invisibility and had his staff aimed towards his friend. He could feel the drain of slinging so many spells, but he pushed himself to prove that he was capable of standing up to the blue magician. He watched for any signs of attack, prepared to counter attack while equally prepared to launch the first attack.

[1746/2000]

Garret frowned. The spell that he had cast was certainly effective, as it destroyed the illusion that Azix had made, but there was another trick that Azix had up his sleeve. A sheen of magoi surrounded him and pushed outwards. Garret immediately recognized the Rukh, from the Magnostadt books he had been reading, as that of Strength. Garret recalled the graph that was written in the novice book that explained the relationship between Rukh, and understood that Strength was Azix's second strongest affinity, since Light was his strongest.

With the advent of Azix's sudden disappearance, coupled with the continual manipulation of the heavy spell he had been sustaining, as well as the rapid fire of several other spells, he had to subsidize the amount of Magoi he was working with. He was beginning to tire, and while it was most certainly true that he had recently began to study books from Magnostadt, which definitely increased the efficiency of his spellcasting, it was not so all-encompassing as to keep him from feeling the drain.

Garret allowed a certain amount of water to fall from his spell, downgrading his control and the strain upon his body. At this time, he had cast Water Manipulation Technique and sustained Water Gill. He simply waited within the core of his water, which was now a 5 meter diameter sphere, to see where Azix would attack from.

OOC:

287+234= 521+/500 Word Count for next spell training...

From his position, fifteen meters underneath Garret, Azix began conjuring his Phantasm's Redirection spell with the help of the Rukh. With the Vanish and Clear spells sustained, Azix would still be invisible as he performed these actions, while a thin film of magoi covered his body, ready to expand if an attack came near to push it back. Two meters to the right of Azix, an illusion of Manius, the Fanalis Corp member they had killed on their first job, appeared with a haggard face. As it appeared, Azix moved five meters to his left, hoping to put some distance from the illusion in case one of Garret's spells grazed him. The likeness of Manius flew towards Garret with the intention of performing a spinning kick through the sphere of water to strike the blue magician. After the experience of the battle, Azix was sure it would fail, but he hoped that it would distract his friend momentarily.

Meanwhile, Azix called to the Rukh to conjure a Bright Beam at the point of his staff, sending it to the other side of Garret. He turned his head to avoid the blinding light affecting his vision as it formed, releasing it shortly after. After casting the spell, Azix flew down towards the ground, hoping to avoid any counter-fire. In the back of his mind, Azix realized that his flight spell was not effective in close-range. During the battle he noticed that the spells that both he and Garret cast traveled immensely faster than that which he could travel with his flight spell. It was something he would have to correct at another time.

Keeping an eye on the blue magician as he descended to the ground, Azix would land and wait to see how Garret responded. He had to admit, the back and forth action of the spar was exhilarating. While he had experience sparring with magicians in the past from different missions, Azix had never had a fight of this level before. Especially on jobs with Garret, the magicians they faced quickly fell to the combined weight of the two Zouen magicians.

[2000+/2000]

Azix's invisibility was a tough opponent to go against. He continued to strain his vision in search for any movements. Left, right, up, down. Moments ticked by as Garret continued to rest up, solely using Water Manipulation Technique and Water Gill in order to sustain his movements. Azix was nowhere in sight, of course. As he continued to watch, however, he managed to catch the sight of one of Azix's illusions coming towards him. He put his Prismatic Dagger back in its sheath as he prepared for what was to come. Garret would never forget the face of the likeness that was quickly approaching him from below; Manius.

When they had first met, it was the first mission Garret and Azix had taken together. Also the man that had attempted to strangle Garret even as Garret had fought back and engulfed the two in water, allowing the clever use of his magic to outmaneuver the Fanalis. It seemed Azix wanted to repeat the past through the use of his magic. That's just like him. I bet he's laughing behind his veil of invisibility. Garret shook his head. But I've changed much since then. Garret then watched the oncoming danger and gauged the strength of the man once known as 'Manius.'

The details of the Fanalis were quite accurate, and Garret wondered if the entire encounter had made as much of an imprint upon Azix as it had on him. His thoughts focused to the moment at hand. He took a deep breath and focused the magoi from within his body.

The attack he was planning on using next would be far too deadly to use on Azix directly, so Garret felt that the use of it on the illusion would be a good chance to show the other Magician his strength. A coursing power ran through Garret's body as his right arm was charged and reinforced with Magoi through Magoi Manipulation. It released the limits of his muscles, bones, blood flow and skin. Increased the efficiency of the joints and their ability to handle stress, and increased the overall strength and power that was able to be put behind the technique.

The technique Garret was using was the River Styx Style: Ikken Hissatsu: Deep Sea Harpoon technique. The rush of adrenaline Garret felt as the haggard and haunted looking Manius approached him was enough to make Garret want to howl with a primal energy. There was no need for Manius to attempt to break through the water, as the water parted ways before Manius at Garret's will. When Manius was within a meter of Garret, his hand shot forward, meeting Manius' kick and piercing straight through him.

As Garret's magoi-infused technique struck the illusion, it ate away at the spell. The strength behind the technique was so great that it disintegrated the false Manius with little difficulty.

This, of course, caused Garret to fall out of the water he had controlled. The water moved and caught him just as he caught a flash of light approaching him from the side. Moving Kuroi Shimo into the direction of oncoming light, Garret created a series of blue orbs between himself and the light that were each a meter in diameter. Instead of his prior lotus position, Garret had angled himself in such a way that he was pointed like an arrow towards the blue orbs of water that had been generated. They soon shot out a pressurized blast of water down the light, canceling out the damage that it would have done as his Jet Stream collided with the spell. The strength of the water broke up the effects of the blinding light.

As the spell was swallowed by Garret's water, he followed the trajectory of that attack back to the ground and dismissed the Water Manipulation Technique as well as his Water Gill. He kept his wits about him, his right hand still flowing with the strength of Magoi Manipulation.

OOC:

Strength technique training: 660/1000

Azix was impressed by the display of speed and force displayed by the ability Garret used to tear through the illusion of Manius. Clearly, the blue magician had devoted much of his time honing his bodies own physical capabilities. That was something that Azix had let fall to the wayside while he improved and expanded his magical skill. The realization dawned on him, that his caution of getting close to Garret was justified, but for a complete different reason. From that one attack, Azix could see that in a physical fight he was at a complete disadvantage.

The beam of bright light was taken out with a pressurized blast of water from the blue magician as he descended onto the ground, ten meters from Azix. The orange magician slowly circled around behind Garret with Vanish and Clear sustained, thinking of his next move. It seemed a good time to try out an idea he had. Recently he had learned the clear spell, his first true strength spell and it had given him some inspiration for further uses.

Azix muttered several commands to the Rukh, drawing black flickers of Rukh to fulfill his desire. In his mind, he held the image of five cubes of force and as he gathered magoi to form at the tip of his staff, they began to solidify in reality. The five cubes were a quarter of a meter tall, wide and high. With the Force Cubes formed, Azix jogged forward till he was nine meters from Garret's back and launched them forward. He continued forward behind the cubes until he was seven meters from Garret and released the Clear spell around him, extending the film of force around his body to expand outwards in a dome shape to knock back anything hit by it.

After the dome expanded, Azix kicked back on the ground to take two five meter dashes backwards using Sakeru. He was leery of getting so close, but the constant use of magoi was starting to drain on him. In an effort to conserve the remaining magoi, he was resorting to small spells.

[250+/250]

Garret kept his wits about him, watching from left to right. Nothing was coming to him immediately, and instead of wearing himself out he chose to drop the magoi manipulation that covered his arm and reinforced it beyond normal means. The waves from the water crashed against the shore, muting the sounds from around them, but Garret continued to strain his senses for the slightest change in the environment that he could find.

He turned around, still looking, but saw nothing. Turning once again, he planted his feet firmly into the ground. A few seconds had passed since he had landed on the ground, and Garret was on high alert. Just moments after he turned back around five cubes of force hit him from behind. Bending his knees, he withstood the brunt of the attack. The attack from behind was expected, though he did not know when it was going to come to him. The fact that the cubes of force hit Garret directly clued Azix to have the knowledge that the man's Borg had shattered earlier.

The stinging pain was just a precursor as the Magician that was opposing Garret had another spell pulsate outwards. Garret was already looking behind him to the right due to his attempt to determine the direction of the previous attack. He saw the fluid-like air move towards him and recognized the sight from the description of pure strength magic that was written in the books he had received from Magnostadt. Garret knew that this magic would strike him with a blunt force, and judged the spell to be fairly devastating if not responded to appropriately. He turned his body slightly to the right and brought his right hand to his left ear, quickly bringing it out to meet the pulsating spell that was about to hit him. His arm and hand slammed against the spell just as it hit him, and Garret went flying. The technique he used, however, was something taught by the Judo teach Fusao; Ukemi.

As Garret went flying into the air, he aimed his next spell 20 meters behind where he was standing. An approximation of distance based on how far he believed he would fly, and how much space the size of his spell would take up. He believed Azix would be within the resulting effects. A huge rush of blue Rukh gathered and shot forward at 25 m/s, covering the distance in less than a second and generating a large ball of ice that imprisoned anything within it. Garret had cast Prison of Water and Ice.

When he came close to the ground just 10 meters from his original position, Garret had prepared himself for the rough landing. Once again, he brought his right hand close to his left ear and slammed it on the ground just as he came to it. The resulting force brought him right side up at a rate of 20 m/s.

OOC: 660+491 = 1151+/1000 Word Count for Ukemi.
BIC:

He looked at his handiwork and cast Sound Field. He closed his eyes, allowing the sounds around him and the synesthesia to provide him with the images about him as he approached the ball of ice to find the opposing magician. There was no immediate sense of the man inside the outer edge of the spell. As such, Garret then began to sustain his Ice Phase spell and started spiraling inwards, tapping on the ice and sensing the how the sound reacted. He could not see the mage, but he would be able to sense the change in sound through his spell.

Once he rounded to the other side of his spell, he noted Azix's position just 2 meters behind the center of expansion that the spell had made. Grunting, Garret utilized State Transmutation to create a 5x5x5 meter box of water within the Prison of Water and Ice. He wasn't aiming to kill his opponent, and quickly made an adjustment to a spell he already knew. It provided water breathing to both himself and Azix, whom he could see due to his Sound Field. It was the use of Grand Dive that allowed them to both breath in the water.

OOC:

521+211= 732/500 for Int spell training.

Azix found himself immersed in water, surrounded by a prison of ice. It had all happened so fast, at first the force cubes had struck Garret, followed up by the clear spell that knocked the blue magician back. Garret had reacted quickly, using his body to block the brunt of the force and using the time he spent in the air to cast a prison of ice around Azix.

Azix had glanced around looking for an escape, before a large cube of water had filled the center of the ice dome. Before he could worry about drowning, a bubble of air formed around his mouth and nose, allowing him to breathe. He was now forced to have to fight in closed range and while Azix still had some tricks up his sleeve, the drain on his magoi was a factor he had to consider.

Quickly, Azix swam out of the water towards a pocket of air and dissolved the invisibility spell around him. "While this has been fun, Garret, I don't think I have much more left in me." With both magician's Borgs gone, any further spells had the possibility of permanent damage. He had learned several things in this spar about himself and Garret. Azix felt that if he spent some more time studying the Rukh and magoi, he would be on par with Garret, but he was far beyond Garret in physical aptitude. He would have to dedicate more time to pushing his physical capabilities again.

He sat down in exhaustion and let out a deep breath, "That explosion of ice and sound, does that mean you learned sound magic? Is that how you knew where people were located during that job with the Street Ninjas and Alexander? That was certainly impressive."

Azix had dropped his invisibility as he swam to the top. Garret silently cursed himself for forgetting to pressurize the ice so that the water would fill it completely, but that would have little impact on the actual fight to come.

Garret was wrong in his belief that Azix was trying to put distance between the two as Azix began to speak, saying he was finished with the fighting. Garret laughed beneath the water, the sound of which was a lot more natural than that time when they were both working together a while back. Though slightly muffled, his words would reach Azix. "So, I take it that means you're ready to head on back?" He sustained State Transmutation, creating a human sized hole in the ice to the outside and draining the small room of water at the same time.

Azix came down to the ground level and sat down, letting out a deep breath as Garret dismissed Grand Dive. Garret closed his eyes at Azix's question, his breathing steady while he nodded his head. "That's exactly it. I listen to the Rukh, that tells me the sounds made in the area and imparts its movement with a visual effect."

Switching the topic for a moment, Garret made comment on Azix's spells. "Your invisibility is truly difficult to deal with. And I note that you've made progress with the affinity directly across from light element, strength. It should be the second most natural magic to work with for you." Garret took an educated guess at it. Though there was a chance that Azix had been concealing his true strength ever since Garret met him, he did not believe that to be the case.

He began walking out of the ice prison. "Come, lets head back to the villa. There is something else I would like to discuss with you." After they had walked for a decent time, discussing small talk, Garret spoke to Azix about something he had planned. "I intend on having my recruits learn how to survive and thrive on the seas. I was thinking the Pirate Queen Trixie could use some extra hands, but I didn't recall much on what you had said happened to her. Other than that she was in hard times."

Garret would continue to talk to Azix even as the villa came in sight.

Azix had been correct, Garret had learned sound magic. "That is quite the spell, but that combination to create an explosion of ice shards...I'm glad I had my Borg."

"I try not to rely on my invisibility too much, I don't want to end up depending on it. Though, it is fun to have on missions." He laughed, it seemed Garret had figured out his affinity for strength. "I learned while you were in the mountains. That shadow tendril was my first spell utilizing strength magoi."

After they walked for a time making small talk, Garret mentioned having his recruits taught the way of the sea by the Pirate Queen, Madam Trixie. Azix remembered his time spent under her wing fondly and he was sure that he could convince her to teach them, but he didn't know where she was. "I think she would be willing, but I haven't heard from her. After hearing that she had major losses, I probably should have reached out. She gave me a way to send word to her."

Azix slipped a hand into a pocket in his cloak and removed the purple flower he had pulled from the garden. He inhaled the sweet aroma, "You know, there is something familiar about this flower and I can't place it."

He was struck by a thought shortly after, an idea for them to combine their magic for future jobs. Azix lowered his tone so only Garret could hear, "If the situation arose, do you have the ability to make my illusions speak or mimic other people's voices? We would be able to go anywhere." His eyes lit up at the idea, gaining entry to places or information would be eased. A strong light magician might hinder that plan, but in theory it seemed solid.

Garret nodded, listening to Azix and throwing in a few lines of his own here and there. "It was difficult to create. I had learned of combinations through some books from Magnostadt. You're free to borrow some, if you would like." Garret offered.

It was moments later down their walk that Azix had commented on the flower. Garret looked to the man in a sidelong glance, surprised that it had managed to survive their exchange. "It's from Kou." He said, simply. "Fredrick likes to garden in his spare time, and we all appreciate some of home brought here."

As they approached the villa in question, Azix whispered a question to Garret. He simply nodded. "It should be simple enough." He confirmed. Though Garret did not have such a spell currently, it didn't seem all too difficult to create. He was sure a little bit of effort was all he would need.

As they entered the villa, Fredrick was waiting for the two. "Sir, a package and letter had arrived for you while you were out today. It was marked urgent, Sir."

Garret nodded towards the man before turning to Azix. "You said you wanted something refreshing. Milk, if I recall? A good choice." He turned back to Fredrick. "Prepare some milk and have it sent to us, please."

Garret led Azix to the main building of Headquarters. There were various rooms for meetings, and different departments throughout. He explained the basics of the different departments before they arrived in the office. Garret would offer Azix a seat before going to his desk, sitting down and opening the letter to read it. Beneath the letter was a mahogany box with an intricate design of a Kou dragon upon it.

As Garret began reading the letter Fredrick entered the room. He placed a cup upon the table next to Azix, as well as a glass of milk. "Tea?" If Azix confirmed, Fredrick would serve him a unique tea that held an apparent Kou flavor.

Fredrick did the same for Garret, but did not ask him if he had wanted tea. By now, Garret was already half-way through the letter. His breathing had stopped. When he finished, it was as if he just remembered to start breathing again. He looked up to Fredrick, and then over to Azix. There was a slightly confused look in his face, and his face was uncharacteristically soft. Garret took a sip of the tea, and looked up to Fredrick, even more confused. "How did you..?"

"I, too, received a letter sir. Congratulations on your entry into the Kou nobility. Communications is aware and has informed everyone within HQ of your new status." Fredrick didn't change much of how he spoke to Garret, as he was a Butler and always spoke as if he were simply a servant. He bowed to Garret, if just a slight bit more than he usually did.

Garret's hand trembled slightly as he brought the box closer to him. Upon opening it he found within it three objects, all of which were marked in a similar design. The first of which was a signet ring, which could be used partially as an identification of who he was. The second of which was his official stamp for sealing letters. The third of which was a fan, which happened to be a magical tool that was enhanced with life magic. As mentioned in the letter, these objects were registered as his household.

Garret felt overwhelmed. He looked to Fredrick, who was watching him. "Fredrick, could you leave for a moment?"

Bowing, Fredrick left the room. Garret looked to Azix, gauging the man's reaction.

OOC:

Stamp & Ring:

Fan:

"Oh...," Azix looked surprised as he sniffed the flower again. With so many terrible memories of his homeland, he was shocked to see that he enjoyed a part of it. Maybe deep down inside he did miss Zou. He shrugged, if that was the case, it was something to think about later. At the very least, he would have to compliment Fredrick's skill at maintaining such a beautiful garden.

Inside the villa, Fredrick awaited them and informed Garret that a couple items had arrived for him. Garret acknowledged him, asking for milk to be brought up before leading them to his office. Azix took the offered seat, gazing at his surroundings while Garret read the letter and looked in the package. It seemed to Azix that Garret was doing quite well for himself. The man seemed more relaxed, a bit softer than when they had first met.

Fredrick entered the room, setting a glass of milk and an empty cup on the table in front of Azix. The orange magician happily accepted the offer and took a sip of milk while he waited for it to cool. With a smile, Azix looked at Fredrick, "With the care you put into tending the garden, I can see why the villa is so well maintained. I think you do an excellent job. With such attention to detail I wonder if you've missed your calling in leadership." He was indeed impressed of the man's work. He remembered Fredrick from when he had maintained the safehouse and assumed that he was now in charge of the other staff.

Having been the black sheep of Zou's nobility after his father's actions, he had dealt with humiliation. While his uncle had managed to mitigate the damage to the family name by turning in favors and making some, it was still blemished by his brother's rebellion. Some of the noble youth his age understood Azix's situation and would use it for laughs. Li Cao's nephew would sometimes invite him over and Azix would be forced by his Uncle to accept. 'Build connections to restore the Niraj name, don't be like your father,' he would say. As a game they would play Lord and Servant, the rules were simple; Azix would always be the servant and he would have to listen to him. Li Cao himself would watch as Azix acted butler to his nephew, Ming Cao.

Azix would have to clean the house and pay extra attention to detail. If he objected or did a bad job, Li Cao would tell simply explain how horrible of a guest Azix had been to his uncle. With a disillusioned view of most of Zou's nobility, the young magician found a sympathy for the servants. It became a game to watch each house's staff and see how they performed their job and how they were treated.

So seeing how maintained the Villa and the garden were, Azix had to compliment the man. An air of duty and pride in his work surrounded Fredrick, showing in his attention to detail. The orange magician had a healthy respect for him.

He noticed an odd expression on Garret's face and leaned forward, "Is everything ok?" His question was soon answered as Fredrick congratulated Garret on being accepted into nobility. Azix hesitated before congratulating the man, remembering that his personal experiences may not necessarily be Garret's. "That is good news, congratulations. Someone has recognized your work it seems."

Azix watched as his friend opened the box and revealed the contents within. A slight tremor passed through the blue magician as he looked over them and dismissed Fredrick from the room. With a bow, Fredrick left the room, leaving Garret and Azix alone.

Seeing that Garret looked overwhelmed, Azix broke the silence with a laugh. "When I first met you, I never would have thought I would be watching your rise through the ranks. What a crazy ride fate has been, huh?" He took a sip of the tea and blinked, "So many memories of the homeland today it seems. I'm happy for you, Garret. Be careful though," Azix looked up and stared at a distant point, "the danger of the court is sometimes worse than our missions. Someone always lurking in the shadows, looking to put a dagger in your back to gain favor."

He chuckled, "Actually, that sounds just like our missions." Azix hoped his words helped put Garret at ease.

When Azix complimented Fredrick, he simply bowed with a pleased-looking smile.

After Fredrick having left the room, green Rukh began to gather around as Garret cast the spell Controlled Sound. Their voices would be unable to be heard by others. "Azix..." He closed his eyes briefly after having listened to the man's conversation and nodding to his warning. He opened them again. "It should come as no surprise that I know who you are, your past and the history surrounding it. You are somewhat famous, after all, since you began as a noble..."

There was still hesitation, as if Garret was trying to make a decision. He sighed, moving the objects to the side. "I was far more lucky." Garret's eyes lost focus, as he began to speak about distant events. "I came from a low-caste household. When I was young, before I was old enough to remember my parents well, they were executed. Caught as part of the rebellion."

At this part, his eyes gained focus as he looked at Azix. He held as best a poker face as he could while he did so. He allowed the gravity of the situation sink in. Azix's family was the reason for his parent's death; just how upset was Garret with Azix? And now that he was considered a part of the nobles, would he join them in their derision of the man? The poker face broke out into a smile, and Garret laughed. "Relax. That may have been insensitive of me. Your father was not the reason for my parent's deaths."

Garret's face took on the serious look, one that Azix had seen most often when he had first met the man. There was a hint of anger, if just slight, within his voice when he spoke again. "My uncle has that dishonor. He framed them, had them take the fall for him. He was never very loyal, and just ran with the flow of things." Garret pursed his lips, but let out a sigh. He spoke no more of his uncle, as he took a drink of his tea. It relaxed him, visibly so. "When I met you, I knew of your history. However, I did not hold any of it against you. A person may only be judged based on their own merit..." He smiled, once again. "I'm proud to say you stand among the few I would trust with my life."

He shook his head. "Feels weird, telling you all of this. But it didn't feel right, with me knowing who you were and you knowing next to nothing about me..." A look of confusion passed across his face, before it left and all that remained was a serene look of understanding. He muttered, almost to himself. "...I wonder. Is this friendship?"

Garret drummed his fingers on the table, looking back up to Azix. "It seems my foster father, and the current Spymaster of Kou, had determined that it was necessary for me to hold a position in nobility so that I could exert the influence of my station without revealing my position as Spymaster within the hierarchy. The extent of my authority seems to reach the same level as some of the high nobles of Kou. I will definitely keep in mind your warning about the courts, though."