The Chaos of Mara

[Infinite Complex]

Preston Azul stood in front of the line of mages, processing each persons abilities by their look. He could tell by the look on each's face that his stare unnerved them. "You are the new recruits, the only people who decided to help us with our plight. We will start with a simple spell......" He looked down the line, checking who would be the worst at simple spells, and who needed no work whatsoever. "You!" He pointed to the end of the line, "Cast a fire spell!"
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derrick stood in rank with the rest of the warriors. "All of you, today we face those wretched under-powers, who dare go against us....." Although the general was talking, Derrick wasn't really listening, he was dreading going against his family in combat, his cousin, Preston, being a mage, and his other cousin, Xantra, being a seer. "....We will attack the mage new recruit fort at dawn, we should handle them easily enough." With that, the general left his warriors to ponder their strategy.
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Xantra was in line, awaiting the orders for any attack. Although the machinests wanted the same things, the seers and the machinests never got along, so the seers were going to attack their fort soon, as soon as the general gave the order. Where is the general? I want to hurry up and attack

[Crimson]

As Preston trained the new mages, he was stared at by a pair of piercing blue eyes. They belonged to a young woman, who, unlike others, stood near the edge of a forest, leaning against a nearby tree. She had long, straight, black hair and a slender body structure.
She was one of the elite. She was called Seiren.

Seiren looked at the training silently, her arms folded.

"You are the new recruits, the only people who decided to help us with our plight. We will start with a simple spell......"
"You! Cast a fire spell!"

She looked at the slightly shaking young man at the end of the line. He raised his hand, mumbling the spell. A small puff of smoke escaped from his fingertips, fading into the air.

The man tried once more, but the result didn't change. Seiren sighed, stepping forward.

"You have to relax your body. Concentrate and let the mana flow freely through your veins", she said, walking in front of the mage. "Put a bit more emotion to the spell, and force it out."

The man gawked at her, unable to decide what to do.
"Try again", Seiren said, turning her back to him and walking back to her spot. She once again folded her arms and leant against the tree trunk, ice-blue eyes fixed at Preston.

[sephiroth2]

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Standing within a huge dimly lit room, a giant of man, standing almost 7'' tall with shoulder length silver hair, light tanned skin, and red piercing eyes, wearing a full length black and purple mage cloak and garbs, and holding a staff almost as tall as himself with a large crystal embedded in the top with two much smaller ones floating and rotating around it, stood infront of many much older men and woman, all positioned atop of their own thrones creating and forming a sort of court.

"General! As you know, the Warriors have been proven ever more braver recently, attacking more and more of our Mages and whittling down our numbers steadily. We believe, that it is a matter of time, before they begin to attack our recruit bases. We would like you to go to one, one which we believe is a very possible target. We also know that as a General, you would rather do things more fitting to your rank. For that, we apologize, but would still like you to go! Here are your orders, and information relating to the fort itself!" the woman elder said as she handed the General a sheet of paper, with his instructions, the location of the fort along with other orders to any and everyone at the base.

Bowing respectively, the General, raised his head up again and clutching his staff, proceeded to walk out of the room, through the two huge wooden but incredibly strong doors. Leaving the building behind, the General arrived to an open space of courtyard, where his mages were already lined up. "General! What are our orders?" One of the mages said, only a few of them actually equipped with staffs, the others using their hands for combat.

"We are to move out to the new recruit fort, in the event of a possible attack from the Warriors. We move out, immediately!" the General said as he slammed his staff into the ground infront of him, causing the two crystals that rotated slowly, to instantly pick up speed and spin around the main crystal incredibly fast, causing it to begin glowing and radiating outwards. After an incredibly bright flash, the General and all of his mages, had disappeared, leaving nothing behind with the swirling dust from where they were.

Reappearing in another vacant opening of space, a small pulse of strong magical energy radiated from their point, giving anyone who knew alot about magic to realize that someone incredibly strong was there. Turning his head around to them, the General motioned to the other mages to follow him as he grasped his staff and started to look around the place, soon turning around a corner to find other mages there practicing. Even from the distance, the General could easily tell which one where the most experienced and which were just the recruits.

[Darkfyre]

Virgil Alexandros watches as Preston starts to train the newest of the mages and smiles. He then notices a few stares at him from a few of the recruits and realizes that they of fear. He feels that they must believe that he is an enemy warrior and is there to attack them or something of the sort. He fights a laugh at this through and bites into a small loaf of bread in his hand. He then stops walking as he hears a woman walk across the field and tells the young man to relax and put more emotions into the casting. Virgil can't help but agree with the woman and makes his way around the recruits until he stops at the line of trees that act as a border. He then walks up to the woman and holds up a hand as a greeting.

"Something tells me that you and Preston should switch places. I'm not sure how training to be a Mage is done, but the way that he's treating these kids is the same way that Warriors are trained." He knows that the chance of the woman hating him for being a warrior is high, but that doesn't bother Virgil any. He then leans against a tree as well and looks to the group. He then opens his mouth and says only to the air, "If I'm asked to simulate a Warrior attack, I think I'll survive." He could tell that the group of recruits wouldn't last ten seconds against a battalion of Beserkers because of how the warriors fight.

Taking his mind off of his past side for the time being, Virgil looks down at the hilt of his katana on his hip and takes note of the name etched into the wood. He then reaches up to his neck and grasps the silver ring tied to around his neck by a piece of leather. Memories of his mother flood into his head and forces his closed eyes to swell with moisture. He suddenly remembers where he is and who is near him so he pushes the memories out of his head and looks to the woman again before looking to the recruits once more. Before he could think of anything else, he feels a slight twinge of magical power from an advanced spell, even a Warrior picks up on a few magical tricks when constantly surrounded by Mages, and looks around. He notices a new battalion of Mages and smiles. "Either the Council feels that this place will be attacked soon or they are stopping here to set up an attack. Either way, it'll be fun for those with experience."

His eyes then fall on the man that leads the group and dread fills Virgil's heart. He quickly pushes himself to the side of the tree that he's leaning on as he remembers how most of the people that hate him are either those that are new recruits and have yet to learn of his own ranking, which happens to be the ranking just under General, and even those of the highest of ranks that feel that he should stick to people who use a sword. He then takes a deep breath and moves back to his former spot and watches as the recruits train, wondering what will happen next.

[Crimson]

"Something tells me that you and Preston should switch places. I'm not sure how training to be a Mage is done, but the way that he's treating these kids is the same way that Warriors are trained."

Seiren turned her gaze towards the man. She spotted the katana, a wave of hatred piercing her.
I remember seeing this person here before... Is he Virgil, the "Ally Warrior"?

She sighed and decided to be friendly to him... for now.
"I know Preston's methods... They are a bit harsh, but the new ones do make progress", she replied.
She watched as the warrior leant against a tree as well, his eyes focused on the group.

"If I'm asked to simulate a Warrior attack, I think I'll survive."
Seiren sneered.
"They have no chances against the enemy", she said quietly, glaring at a short woman, who stood in the line. Everyone else were taller than her; she looked around in fear, her face completely white. Seiren sighed once more.

She looked around, and suddendly saw a small group heading towards them. Soon she was able to recognize the leader.
"It's the General", she said, stepping away from the tree.

[[ Sephy, is the General in the same place we are? I'm not sure... :D ]]

[Infinite Complex]

Preston was about to agree with Seiren, when suddenly, a strong force of magical enery burst to the scene.
There, standing in smoke, were a group of highly trained mages. Among them, was a powerful general by the name of sleif. "Well, general...all i have to say is, could your appearences be any more random?" Preston laughed, letting the general know it is a joke. "Now, come to my tent, and we will discuss the reason for your coming," he turned to the mages, and barked, "All of you! Stay in formation!"

[Crimson]

Preston and The General disappeared into the tent. The young mages sighed in relief, starting to talk to each other.

Apparently they forgot, that there was two higher-ranked Guild Members standing near them.

"Didn't you hear him?" Seiren said loudly, walking in front of the group. "No talking, you are here to learn!"
They all shut their mouths, going back to line. You could sense the nervousness.

"Let's continue with spellcasting", Seiren said, glancing at the man at the end of the line, who she had given advice. He stared back, gulping.
"Now, remember what I told you. Relax."

The man breathed deeply, closing his eyes.
Seiren took a few steps closer. "Now release the mana, slowly", she said.

He extended his arm, mystical wind swaying his brown hair. Seiren started to feel the spell, how it wanted to burst out of him. This guy had lots of potential.
"Remember to put more emotion to it!" she spoke. The man started to whisper the words, that triggered the spell. His fingers glowed slightly.

In a blink of an eye a swirling ball of fire formed into his hand. He flinched and dropped it in amazement, causing the grass to catch fire. Seiren flicked her hand, mumbling a spell. An orb of water appeared and was chucked at the fire, causing it to go out.

"Very good", she said, and turned to the rest of the group. "I hope you followed observantly; now it's your turn to cast spells." She once again swayed her arm, summoning a bucket of water to every mage in the line.

"Make a fireball, keep it in your hands for a few seconds, and drop it into the bucket. I don't have time to put out all the fires, if you start to throw them all over the place. Begin."

For the next 20 minutes Seiren followed the newcomers, giving them advice. She didn't abstain from putting out fires; many dropped the fireball past the bucket.

[sephiroth2]

OOC: He is actually. Sorry, I probably should have said more in my post, sorry if I confused anyone.

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As General Sleif continued approaching the group of experienced and somewhat less experienced mages, his sights continued darting back and forth. First from the one who was actually with the recruits, then towards the two beside the tree, however one of the two, Sleif could tell wasn't actually a mage, and upon realising this, his anger was already beginning to rise, to which his own mages knew would be bad. Reaching the small squad of recruits, Sleif continued to keep his sights on Virgil before the other powerful mage spoke to the General.

"Well, general...all I have to say is, could your appearances be any more random?" Preston laughed, letting the general know it is a joke. Obviously realizing he was trying to be funny, Sleif continued to simply look down at Preston with an extremely serious gaze, before briefly looking at Virgil again. "Now, come to my tent, and we will discuss the reason for your coming," Preston said as he turned to the mages, and barked, "All of you! Stay in formation!" before retreating to his tent.

Turning around to his own mages, Sleif nodded to them, informing them to remain there until he returned as he moved and entered the tent with Preston. Withdrawing the paper that was given to him from the elders, Sleif handed it to Preston. "I was sent here by the elders, for there was a possibilty of a Warrior attack, the most serious being this recruit fort." Sleif said to Preston as he waited for his response.

[Crimson]

Seiren ended the Fire spell practice. Almost everyone had been able to form a fireball. The ground was burned all over and some of the mages were soaking wet, due to Seiren's water orbs, which she had thrown towards them, if their clothes had catched fire.

"It could have gone better..." she muttered. Suddendly a bad feeling hit her, like a big threat was coming nearer. Seiren shrugged it off, talking to the group.

"Next I will teach you Water spells. The simpliest of all is "The Bubble", an orb of water which you can throw at the enemy, similar to Fireball."

A bit eager mage already started to cast the spell. He was able to form a ball of water, but suddendly it started to wobble and finally exploded in his face.

Seiren prevented a chuckle. "As you can see, you have to be careful with Water. It is not easy to control."

After a few minutes she regretted her decision to teach Water spells. Everything was wet; the mages, the ground, even Seiren herself. She desperately glanced at the tent, hoping that the meeting would soon be over. She also remembered, that the highly trained mages were following the events.

This is just great... she thought, when suddendly a water orb hit her in the stomach.

[Infinite Complex]

Preston read the paper, wondering why the warriors would even consider attacking........"I see the predicament...Im not sure what to tell the recruits.....Whatever, put up your mages at these places." He got a map of the camp from the shelf, unrolling it. He then pointed to precise points he thought would keep the warriors out. "Also...Make sure your men watch the sky, and underground too......The machinests may attack as well....." Preston was about to tell Sleif to leave, when a spear came in through the tent. "WARRIORS!" He yelled. He immediately ran out of the tent, seeing several warriors at the gate.
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Derrick Nama charged the gate, along with the rest of his comrades. He took out several of the mages easily because they were new recruits, who couldnt cast a single spell. He got most of them with his spear, but there seemed to be more skilled mages there, taking out several warriors. "Experts.....they knew we were coming.... As he thought this, a fire spell singed his arm. "arrrgh!" He yelled in pain. "So this is real combat...."
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The machinests high-tech fortress loomed overhead, looking strange being made of steel, unlike the forest around it. Xantra was ready to raid the fortress, but it now seemed impossible. Circling it were dozens of strange flying devices. On the roof, there were several search-lights, along with archers and snipers. On the ground, were vehicles with long barrels, that shot large shells that leveled entire villages. The machinests may not have been magically or physically talented, however they built large machines that were very well armed. "How are we going to survive this one....?

[Darkfyre]

Virgil curses to himself once he hears the familiar sound of Warriors marching and runs to the gate just as several spears were thrown. Many of the weapons sunk into their targets of new recruits while one went through the side of the tent that held the two leaders. He then looks back to the mass of soldiers storming the area and stuffs the rest of his bread into his mouth before gripping the hilt of the sword on his hip. He draws it in one swift motion and watches as one Warrior falls into two different spots now covered with blood. He could tell that several of the surrounding Warriors were confused as to why he just did that but then they looked onto the shoulder of the man and saw the symbol from the Mage's Guild.

Virgil just looks at the group that start to surround him and raises the hilt equal to his head and stares at the group. "Let's see who can injur me first." The group starts their assault on his body but quickly find out that he has more skill than all of them. He just smiles as he slices through the last of the brave, or idiotic, ones but then notices another wave of spears being thrown. He curses to himself and uses a post to jump into the path of the spears and concentrates. He quickly unsheaths his second sword and sends out a wave of vacuum air from the pure force of his swipes and watches the spears are sliced and sent in safer dircetions.

Suddenly remembering that the group of recruits still had survivors, he slices through another Warrior just as he lands and slides the second sword back into its sheath on his back. He then forces his way through the crowd of combatants, dodging a few attacks from some of the more confused Mages, and stands before the group of recruits. He noticed that a few of them were bleeding from spears that were previously thrown and stick in the ground behind them. He quickly sheaths the one sword and puts his fingers to his lips and whistles loudly. All of the recruits look to him with fear but the more observant ones quickly notice the symbol on his shoulders.

"All Mage Trainees are to take shelter in the barracks! If you can move then take care of the ones that can't!"

Many of them follow his orders and carry his/her friends off the to tents in the center of the fort while many are left behind. He curses to himself and notices a few Mages that have just graduated and were trying to avoid actual combat. He grabs the first few that he can and tells them to help him carry the injured to safety. Knowing that he's on their side, the Mages quickly follow the order and leave only one person on the ground. Virgil instantly recognizes the tiny girl and runs up to her. He sees a large gash in her hip a a spear in the ground directly behind her. Thinking quickly, he tears off a part of his undershirt and places it hard around the wound. He then places her hand on it and tells her to keep pushing on it as he picks her up and runs to the barracks. Once there he hands her over to one of the others and runs back outside to join in the fighting.

Once outside he draws his sword from his hip and slices through three Warriors trying to attack the barracks. He then looks around at the Warriors already inside of the gates and quickly sees the man from his past that he was hoping to never have to face. "Derrick..." He runs at the man that leads the attack but is cut off by several Warriors. He looks to the grounp and notices that they are all part of an elite group. "Dammit! This is not my day!"

[Crimson]

Seiren was just in time to dodge a flying spear coming towards her. She looked at the gate and saw Warriors charging through it.
"Not now!" she cried out, starting to quickly help the new mages to shelter. As the last one disappeared into the barracks, two Warriors from the elite group attacked Seiren.

Her anger rised, as she saw their swords, their armors and the Warrior symbol. She jumped out of reach, starting to cast a spell. A strong flash of light escaped from her hands as she summoned her Skywing Dragon.
"Attack!" she yelled, dodging the other Warrior's attack. She once again backed up a bit, starting to trigger another spell.

"Nommus Enacirruh!" Seiren whispered, forming a giant hurricane. Her now white eyes narrowed, as she flinged the spell towards a big group of warriors. Many disappeared into the strong wind, while the others got damaged by the items flying around.
Seiren was so concentrated, that she didn't notice a Warrior creeping behind her. Sharp pain hit her, as the Warrior sliced her hand with his sword. He was just about to stab through her, when suddendly the summoned Dragon attacked him ferociously, biting and scratching.

[sephiroth2]

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As soon as the Warriors began their attack on the fort, the mages that were under Sleifs command, immediately began launching fire balls, and thunder strikes in all directions, two of the them taking charge and going with the surviving recruits into the bunkers, to protect them. Still within Preston's tent, Sleif didn't budge even when the spear came through and Preston ran out to battle against the other warriors.

While everyone else was beginning to get preoccupied with the attacking warriors, none seemed to notice a small group get past and enter the tent to find Sleif there, acting like nothing was happening. "You, come with us now. And don't try anything!" one of the warriors said, pointing their weapons at Sleif, as he turned and smiled at them, following them out of the tent, and slowly towards the gate, where the other warriors were.

"You must be the dumbest person here. Did you not realise there was fighting going on all around you!" the Warrior said again, poking Sleif in the back with his weapon egging him on. Sleif only continued to smile all the time, this seemed to cause the warriors to get angry. "Why are you smiling?" he asked, causing Sleif to slowly open his eyes. "Well, first of, you didn't think for one minute why Ii was in that tent, and the second, you never took my staff away from me!"

Upon saying that, the Warriors looked at Sleif to see he was right, they never noticed the staff he was holding, and by then it was too late. Tapping his staff onto the ground, the earth started to shake and rumble causing the Warriors to fall onto the ground, and with a single powerful slam, the warriors around Sleif were thrown into the air, landing onto the ground a couple of feet away, bones broken. Turning around clutching his staff more, Sleif waved it in front of him, causing the small fires that had broken out too spiral and combine, before attacking the Warriors all around the area, in the form of a huge flaming serpent.

[Infinite Complex]

Preston was casting firaga in all directions, trying desperately to kill most of them. He was soon faced with a very unwelcome sight. "Derrick....." he mumbled, running after him. The spears falling around him were all but invisible to him, and he continued toward his cousin. "Derrick!"
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"Derrick!" Derrick turned to see his cousin, Preston Azul, running to him. "I don't want to fight you, Preston, but if you resist me, i'll kill you!" he turned to his cousin, his spear at the ready. "You and I know that i have more power thatn you." Preston replied, "And besides, would you really kill your own blood? And of all the heartless deeds you would ally yourself with, you chose to kill mages who could barely defend themselves yet!" Preston let it all out. These were things he had always wanted to say to Derrick. "If it is what it takes to keep you under-powers under control, then i will kill all of you if I have to!" Preston had had it. He removed his long pole from his robe, getting into his position. "It's a fight to the death then!"

[Crimson]

Suddendly Seiren felt, how the ground shook. She looked around and saw the General, taking down hundreds of warriors with a flaming serpent.

Seiren was just in time to duck, before the huge fire would have hit her. Her dragon was not that lucky; the serpent finished the warrior Seiren's summon was fighting, making both of them to disappear into the flames.

She turned around and saw another warrior, getting closer. Seiren formed a ring of fire into her hands, eyes turning their color from white to bright red. After swinging the flaming ring above her head for a while, she threw it towards the enemy. It stuck around him, starting to shrink. The warrior's clothes and skin started to burn; he screamed in pain and started to run around hysterically.

Seiren smirked and snapped her fingers. The fiery ring exploded, the burning body flying several feet and landing roughly onto the ground.