It was around six o'clock in the morning that Nastasya woke up. Her body was sore from the work she had done but she simply ignored it and turned on her left side to look at the window. She moved her right arm away from underneath the blankets and tried to open the curtains a little. Again the world was covered in a little layer of snow. Which made her at least smile a little before she rolled back on her back and removed her left arm from underneath the blankets also, to stretch. She yawned a little and kicked the blankets of her body and simply stood up.

She didn't care that the curtains were open and she was only wearing shorts. No one would be able to look in her room, since she was on the second floor and her window looked at the scenery behind the hotel. No person should be there and other wise, she might throw a dagger. But she didn't check, and simply headed to the bathroom to wash herself and make a start of her day. She washed her face and neckline and checked her left eye before she moved back into the main room of her hotelroom. She went to the closet and picked out a dark red sweater and leather black jeans which she put on after clean underwear and a bra. She yawned again while wiggeling her legs into the trouser. She wasn't actually awake for she had been up quite long the night before and she didn't feel like she got a lot of sleep.

She went to look for clean socks and had to make a note that she had to go and do the laundry soon. She put the note on her bed to see it when she returned from her breakfast. She had a lot of things to do today and laundry could wait another day. After her socks she went to put on her knee high brown boots and returned to the bathroom to brush her long purple hair. As a finishing touch she put on the eyepatch, over her left eye and left the room five seconds later.
She was yawning again while she walked down the stairs to the breakfast area in the hotel and ordered french toast and a coffee with lots of sugar. She needed to be awake soon. It didn't take her long to be done with breakfast and at a quarter to seven she was walking back up stairs to finish the last things before she would leave the town for her plan of the day.

She grabbed a weekend bag and put her laundry in it and went to brush her teeth before she went down to the lobby and handed over her dirty clothing. She said specific the rules for her laundry and that she would pick it up here because she didn't like people in her room. She didn't pay much money for nothing, so they beter do what she told them. With one final glance at the girl behind the desk, she put on her leather jacket and left.

She had made an appointment with Caius to train for the big Yumi-had-an-idea-day. But it wouldn't be smart for a Grimoire Heart mage to simply train their magic spells in the middle of town and the forest would be annoying. So she had offered to walk to the mountains that were on the North and west side. She only had to cross a river and she was there, which was a piece of cake even though the bridge looked like it would break down in any second. She knew that because she checked yesterday. She was not out of town yet or she thought she spotted someone familiar, instead of immediately heading of to the mountain range that was close by she decided to check if it was really Odin that she saw. When she was close enough, she grinned and called: "Yo." with a small wave she walked the last few steps closer. "Long time no see." which was totally a joke but she wondered how she could invite him to come along and train without making the surrounding people suspicious.

Note:

The white snow was falling straight and steadily from a sky without wind. Caius sat on his knees with his eyes closed in the outskirts of Era. It was a small forest clearing with nobody else around but him but trees and cold tundra.With their new orders they received from Yumi, He and Nastasya had scheduled a training session before the mission took place. Other guild members were depending on them to execute their orders. Though they had worked together before, the mission did have some issues and was not as smooth as he had hoped. With the practice that was scheduled, they could complete this new one flawlessly.  Wanting to set a good example for the rest of the members, he already woke up and was doing some training by himself before the time came when they met up.


He took deep breaths of the cold air and exhaled it out in a steady rhythm. Taking one final breath, he exhaled with a battle cry. He shot up and pulled his fist back. He slammed it into a nearby tree causing all the snow to fall from the branches. The bark rippled from the impact leaving the area he hit cracked and bare. Caius pulled his fist back and saw it was trembling. The tree was battered but it was still standing. He knew his magic was strong but he also wanted to harden his body as well. With the damage he did with the punch, he knew he still had a long way to go to bring the whole thing down.


Looking up at the sky, he saw it starting to lighten up. It was probably about that time to get together. Caius swiped his hand and a black razor wind would cut down what was left of the tree. Afterwards, he headed towards the entrance gates of Oak. Nastasya mentioned that the location was somewhere in mountains so he headed towards the part of town that was closest. Using his height, he was able to see over the crowds and spot her not too far in the city. She was speaking another member of the guild, Odin. Perhaps he was in the same group as them?


Caius walked over and put his hand on her shoulder. "What’s up? I hope you had a good night’s rest because today we will be putting in work. I hope you can keep up.” He turned over to Odin. "And are you coming too? I still have yet to see your ability and I’m curious.” This man must have been new because the meeting was the first time he saw him. It was his duty to get to know the members. Seeing how he fought would help them strategize for the mission.

461/4000

Getting up early in the mornings had never been an issue for the olive haired dark mage, as he was a light sleeper and always knew that he had to be ready at any time in case of attack. This morning was no different, as he had decided to get up early and get stronger in preparation for whatever it was his guild mate and senior, Yumi or Carnage, had planned for the guild members that had gathered in that small inn meeting room, receiving new codenames for this mission, white masks and black cloaks to wear so they wouldn't be recognised or spotted, and an envelope with a single letter on it: A or B. Since receiving that letter, given its importance, Odin hadn't taken it out of his inside pocket, knowing that, if it were to get lost or fall into the wrong hands, he would have all hell breaking loose. Reaching his hand into said pocket, the young dark mage brushed his hand over the letter, making sure it was still there before he left the room he had rented in another inn from the Purple Mist, this one being almost on the other side of Oak.

Strecthing as he got out of his bed, and donning his training gear: which consisted of a pair of loose fitting navy blue training pants and a similarly coloured top. His entire outfit could be easily mistaken for a training gi, which wasn't wholly untrue, the only difference being the metal belt that kept the trousers tied around his waist, the belt actually being a metal enforced plate that was embedded into his skin, stopping the spread of the infection which gave his upper body and shoulders the green tinge to it that would make people run in terror. Washing his face briefly, and making pulling over his red cloak, the Grimoire Heart mage made his way towards the outskirts of Oak, hoping to train in a place where no one would be able to witness his exploits, as his magic required him to become a demon.

Naturally, that was not going to be allowed to occur, as Odin was spotted by his guild mate, Nastasya, just before he managed to leave the town. Ignoring her joke remark about them not having seen each other for a while, Odin was about to end the conversation there and then, as he was planning on simply training alone that day, and he preferred the solitude, until he noticed Black: the highest ranked guild member that had been present for the meeting, walk up behind Nastasya and put his hand on her shoulder. Of course, today the members of Team A were no doubt planning on training for the upcoming tasks they were going to be given, but the invitation was also extended to Odin, as Black was interested in the demon TakeOver, although he didn't know exactly what the olive haired young man's magic was, which was the reason for his curiosity. Putting his preferences to the side and deciding to train with his two guild mates, Odin simply nodded before speaking to the two.

"I wasn't aware you'd both be training today, but I shall join you for the day. I am equally curious as to your own abilities, since I only got snippets of the story from this one." He gestured over to Nastasya, not wanting to say either of her names in a crowded place like Oak, and trying to act as casual as he could.

"So, where to? Lead the way."

606/4000

So Nastasya had found Odin in town and she was still wondering on how to extend the invitation when she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to look at Caius. She gave him a smile and she nodded when he asked if she had a good night sleep. Well it was short but that didn't matter. She would be working hard. Her dream since a child was to become impressive and you could be that in a lot of ways.

She was shortly daydreaming about how she had impressed her mother at a young age. How she had killed the cat from the neighbors when she was around five only because she had wanted to see the organs and the inside of the little beast. She wasn't so nice, she was totally insane as a child, she knew that now. That's why she was trying her best to remain perfectly healthy and sane now. She didn't want to be all wrong again, it might had looked like fun to the child but right now looking back it didn't even look so nice. Her mother even though despicing that moment had tried her best to hide it and loved her none the less, but when she died and Nastasya was twelve, her dad hadn't loved her anymore and he simply had left her alone with his parents. That's why she had killed him. Giving him the regards that she had felt for the seven years that she was without him. Parents needed to love their children, no matter what.

She quickly blinked and had been zoned out for what felt like a long time but was no longer than maybe 20 seconds. She just heard Caius invite Odin which made it no longer her problem to bear and she turned to look at Odin, looking more ready for training with Caius than she did. But Yumi would have made the decision for a reason, she trusted on Carnage that it would be fine.

She waited till the conversation was over, till Odin accepted the invitation and turned her heel a little. "Follow me." was all she said because she wasn't going to share her location. So she left town perfectly aware that no one but Black and Lucifer were following her, she had checked the street when they entered it. She went a little to the right into the woods where she had found the old bridge that crossed the river. She didn't say a word about the bridge that looked like it would collapse every minute but simply crossed it without a minute of hestation. "I found a secret path here." she said when they reached the mountains. It wasn't that secret but it was a path that looked hidden thanks to the stepping stones being covered by moss and another part of the path was hidden behind some willows, but after not much climbing, and it was more just walking, they reached a wide space that circular and open. The sides were mostly cut off by boulders and to her it seemed like the perfect place. "I thought here." was again all what she said, but her eyes questioned the two guys, wondering if the spot was good enough for them too.

Caius smiled as Odin accepted their offer to go with them and train in the outskirts of town. He liked him already. That showed initiative which was a good quality to have in this line of work if you wanted to rise up in power. Many members fell because they didn't practice after joining the guild. The question was would he be able to keep up? He was an A rank mage and Nastasya was a B rank mage. If he didn’t work hard he would be left in the dust. Carnage said she trusted him on this important mission so he had to have some talent. Caius could barley contain his curiosity and wanted to get started as soon as they could.

After the pleasantries, Nastasya led the way out of town to the secret area that they would be using for training. It was a great location that she had scouted out that was far from the city and took effort to travel too. He doubt anyone would bother them there and even if they did what would they do against 3 Grimoire Heart mages? After crossing a rickety bridge and climbing a short distance, they finally reached their destination.

Caius walked around and inspected the area. He ran his hands along the boulders as he went around the area in a circle. He balled up his fist and tapped on the rock like door. He concluded that the boulders were sturdy enough and the area would be big enough for the three of them to not completely destroy the place unless they went all out and tried to kill each other. He swung his arms back and forth to stretch them out before squatting down to the ground. He looked at both of his guild mates ready to begin with the training.

"I think this place is perfect. We got a big mission coming up so you better work hard if you want to survive it. Now since you found the place I'll let you guys decide. You want to do some warm ups first or get straight to it? Maybe you two can fight each other. Or maybe you want to fight me?" Caius suggested. He gathered up black wind around him that would circle his entire body. It was just meant as a way to show off power and intimidate the two a little. He stayed down awaiting their decision.

866/4000

It seemed Nastasya already had an idea of where would be best for their training to take place, taking the two other Grimoire Heart members: Black and Odin himself, outside of Oak town towards the forests. After traversing a rather difficult and decently hidden path through the forests and over a very unsafe looking, old, wooden bridge, they eventually arrived at their intended destination. A wide open clearing in the mountains of Oak, how they'd gone from the forests to the mountains Odin had no idea but he hadn't been paying much attention to the path itself, more curious about the basic things, like the slight breeze on his face and the animals he could hear in the distance, as they tried to work out whether the three humans walking their way were friend or foe. But now that they had arrived, Odin had a chance to inspect the area, something Caius himself was also doing by the looks of things, although Caius went into a lot more detail than his guild mate, who was just happy to be in a dry, open area. Being a claustrophobe as Odin was, anywhere that was a wide open space was a godsend and a blessing, one that he was more than happy to train in. Whereas Caius looked around and inspected the rocks, punching them to see how sturdy they'd be, before commenting that they were in a perfect environment to train and asking what the plan of the day was. They all knew they needed to be stronger, but the A ranked mage wondered if they wanted to warm up first or just get straight into it, and if they both wanted to team up on Caius himself, or fight each other. It was interesting, but not nearly as interesting as what came next.

Due to Caius squatting on the ground, if was much easier to see than if he had been standing, but still Odin wasn't sure what he was looking at. Black wind started to swirl around the mage in front of him, not doing anything but showing that it could be done, almost as if Caius wished to show off the power he had. It was certainly amusing, as Odin would have to show off his own power to even begin his training.

"That certainly is an interesting power you've got there. As for how we train...how about a three way match. That way we have to fight against two opponents and understand how that'd go."

Lucifer:

1044/4000

Nastasya remained on the side line while both Caius and Odin seemed to check out the place that she had found during her searches around town. She crossed her arms and leaned against one of the rocks close to the entrance and simply looked at the other two. She decided after a minute of standing there to remove her eyepatch, to make sure that she was using both her eyes. Her left one was closed but she could open it after a little bit of a rub and blinked a few times to make sure she was doing fine. Even though it was made of magic and ice and glass, she could see perfectly through it. Magic that was the only answer that she had for it. She wasn't sure if it was the eye or simply her own biologic working but her parents both had possessed the same sort of power as she had, but their nature was ice, while hers had showed for the first time since the eye was placed in her head, that was the first time that shadows started to dance.

She took a deep breath and felt unsecure about fighting either Black or Lucifer. She had seen both their powers. She had seen a dead body dropped from a balcony by Caius his doing and she had seen slimes explode by the fire made by Lucifer. She didn't feel like burning and scratching her body all over. Was it that she felt weak compared to them? Not really but her powers felt so stupid compared to them: shadows, well boo hoo. No one was going to cry over that but the small child that she scared in the streets. Odin his idea was funny and would give her the strength or the idea that fighting both men alone was a victory for them. Which made her angry with herself, she wanted to be impressive, than she had to be impressive and thus work for it.

"I like Odin his version." she said and looked at him change into the guy that she called Lucifer. Just because it was easier to give the two versions another name. She didn't even know she was right and she would probably cared less. She still called Axil, piano guy. So that explained a lot. "But I'm also game for warming up." However it didn't have to be a big one. She put her right foot a little in front of her and stretched her left to warm up and pushed herself a little forward to feel the strain on her muscle, after that she switched legs. She could also do without but it was all up to the three of them.

The air started to warm up as fire gathered around Odin’s body melting the falling snow hitting his body.. Caius’ eyes widened with surprise as he looked on at the sight in anticipation.  His body transformed covered in a lava looking skin with two horns curled around his head. A pair of wings stuck out his back and his eyes were now red. He looked over to Nastasya to see her reaction to this crazy situation. However, she didn’t looked phased at all by the transformation. She must have seen it before on a mission together. Caius had seen people experimented on in his childhood to transform but not ones that could control it like this. It looked like he had some rare type of magic.


Afterwards, Nastasya finished getting ready so they could start.. He would have to keep his eyes on the shadows while facing her. One wrong step and it would be over. Hearing both of them out, he agreed with Odin's idea.. “It looks like he is all warmed up.” he said jokingly pointing to the new demon in front of him. “Fine then have your way A free for all it is. Now prepare yourselves. Here I come." Caius stood back up to his feet and brought his arm in front of him. Clenching his fist, black wind gathered around and shot out straight forming a wind blade. It wasn't much but it would do some small cutting damage if he got in close with it.  He inched closer and closer as he slowly walked towards them keeping an equal distance between them both. He had no intention of attacking until one of them made move. He wanted to see out of the two of them which would strike at him first. Facing down a higher rank mage was an intimidating thing to do but in this guild you had to face your fears to get the job done.


1187/4000

spell

Spoiler:

As the brimstone began to cover Odin's form, as his eyes began to glow red and as the horns and wings began to sprout from his head and back, the young mage kept his eyes on Black, curious as to what his reaction when coming face to face with a demon. Nastasya had, of course, already seen Lucifer's true form, and so her reaction would no doubt be one of uncaring amusement at the show of force. But Black, the strongest mage in the guild and no doubt a man who was rarely surprised, raised both of his eyebrows with that same emotion, his eyes moving towards Shadow to see if she had the same reaction which, in fairness, she had done when she too had first seen the form. Now she was used to it though, and it no longer bothered her, she even stated she preferred this version of Odin, to which the demon thought he might as well introduce himself.

"This is a form of Odin, but moreso a form of myself. I am Lucifer, the true bearer of the name that my partner has been given, and the true reason for that moniker. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

During this, Nastasya did a few stretched to warm her legs up before they began their fight, and Caius himself seemed ready, remarking that Lucifer already seemed warmed up enough due to his appearance, but stating that he had no issue with a three way brawl between the two, before making the first move. A simple enough spell that formed a blade of what looked like the same black wind he had swirling around him just a moment ago, one that would no doubt sting if either Nastasya or Lucifer were caught by it. He then began to walk towards his two guild mates, keeping an equal distance between them both as he did so, almost baiting either of them to make the first move, as he himself seemed ready for it. Lucifer decided to test the waters a little, placing his palm out in front of him, directed at Black, before sending out a small fireball in the shape of his taloned hand out at his target. A rather small and weak attack that's only real purpose was to see what his current opponent would do, which way he would dodge and how. While doing this though, the demon's eyes were darting between Black and Shadow, knowing that either one of them could send an attack his way if he wasn't careful.

1484/4000

Spell:

She was the most quiet one of the two of them. Maybe it was also because she was like a shadow. She shouldn't be seen, she would only be there. However she knew that both weren't stupid and would suddenly forget her, no but it was something that she would just do. Allow herself to focus on her powers. Her own shadow looked liked it shivered for a second but she restored herself quickly and shook out her hands. She watched Caius, whom agreed with the free fighting way and he summoned a dagger with his magic. She would follow his example. She already missed the daggers that she normally carried on her bag and one in her boot. She had wanted to take them but since she wanted to train on magic it was more logical that she didn't take them. She would easily count on them instead of on the magic that she was planning to use.

She wasn't looking at Odin at the beginning, because she knew how the transformation looked like and yes it was still interesting, she was more curious as to what Caius would do. She had to clear her mind and focus, watch every step and be sure to anticipate at the minute. Watch the shadows was the best thing she would do. She looked like she didn't care and that's what she wanted to give off. It was something Yumi had said to her, she needed to keep control of her face and her emotions. She didn't have a pokerface and that would give way to her very idea of what she would be trying later at this point. Thank god her mind always worked fast, so she was a quick person to decide.

She was bent a little forward, working still a little on a warming up and more looking at Caius whom was in front of her and Odin a bit to the left. She herself was the closest to the path that brought them up this area. She heard Odin talk or the transformed version of him and she frowned shortly before standing up straight and shortly move her eyes on Lucifer. As he just introduced himself, it was now easier to keep the two of them apart, which wasn't difficult because of looks but she hadn't know what to call the two of them, if it was one name. She was actually a little happy with herself that at the catacombs she decided to call the one Odin and the other Lucifer. She had been right, but her face didn't show any of his happiness as she only nodded and crossed her arms, now holding her own dagger made of shadows in her right hand.

It was Caius that came closer but not that close yet and it was Lucifer that gave the first attack and she was sure it was smart to do something now. Her brain had to think between which one she would take to throw her dagger at. She should make it more interesting and instead of staying at the spot that she was, she tapped the ground with her right foot and created the starting blocks that would send her to the opposite side behind Caius, if he was attacked from the front side by the Ember spell of Lucifer, she might be able to throw her dagger at him by moving quickly, she threw it as soon as she reached her destination and the moment she was sure she could throw straight, which was just a few seconds between. She doubted she would hit Caius but she had to do something, besides Lucifer wouldn't be able to hit her with Caius in front of her.

Spells:

Caius was surprised to see the demon in front of him was able to speak in such a polite tone. He introduced himself as “Lucifer” which would explain his nickname that was given to him in the guild. The appearance he had now a little intimidating as he got closer and could see even more grotesque details on his body. He read stories of monsters like causing great destruction across all of Fiore. What would he bring to the table here? “Well then Lucifer it’s good to see you finally out in the open. I hope you don’t disappoint me.”

As he finished talking, Lucifer made the first move of their little guild spar. His hand rose up and shot off a small fireball heading towards him. The attack didn’t look too strong but fire was fire. It would still cause massive burns to your skin on impact. He had both eyes on his fellow members but Nastasya started her attack as well. She used a shadow and moved out of his line of vision. With the fireball heading towards him and her behind him, he had to act fast. He assumed she would attack from the side or back in his blind spot. But that wouldn't matter for what he had in mind. After she moved, Caius would move his leg back and black wind would ripple around him. It pushed him 5 meters off to the side to dodge the fireball and whatever Nastasya had planned. He quickly turned his body again so he would have both of them in his sight.

Caius was glad to see they both were eager to attack him but it would be a pain if they both kept up the join assault on him. He decided to finally go on the offensive himself. Caius decided on his next move after quick and careful thinking. Lucifer was a big target now that he was in this demon like form and he used fire which was easier to spot than the shadows. Natasya was B rank so it would be a problem if she ran free. This was all betting that Lucifer wasn't that strong which he had not seen in the fight so far. However, this was a gamble since he didn't know his ranking in the guild. They had just met at the meeting earlier in Oak.

He tapped his heel and the black wind would boost his speed up to C rank. The way he moved was running around to the side of her rather then straight at her so he could see Lucifer with the corner of his eye. He dashed towards Nastasya and would move his wind blade up in the air and slash down in an attempt a strike across her chest. He made sure to be careful for any attacks. They had all attacked at this point so things were starting to get serious.

1674/4000

SPELLS:

It seemed that Shadow was of a similar mindset to Lucifer which, given how many encounters they had had up to this moment, made some sense. They both knew that Black was the strongest mage of the three, and so focused their attacks on him. However, Nastasya had decided to move around to the other side of him, placing herself so that Black was between both her and the demon, and then throwing what looked like a dagger of shadows, one Lucifer had briefly seen her using during their encounter with the slime creatures beneath the Oakland Church. With a fireball in front of him and a dagger approaching from behind, it was finally time for Black to make his move, whatever it may be he decided to do.

Naturally, he acted before either projectile hit him, using a bit of his wind magic to propel himself to the side, once again creating a triangle between the three guild mates. But, as this was a battle, he also decided to go on the offensive, moving at a surprisingly faster speed than the average human, and dashing towards Nastasya, but in such a way that he could keep the Prince of Darkness in his sights, which meant he took longer to get there than if he had moved straight towards his target. It seemed that, since he had never met Odin or Lucifer beyond the guild meeting, he was somewhat cautious of the true powers of the demon, and thus wanted to make sure he kept an eye on him, and kept him within range. That was an understandable way to act, but not really necessary considering Lucifer's method of fighting. Little did it matter though, as Black went for Shadow, hoping to slash her with his knife of wind.

Odin decided to act before any of this occured, having noticed the speed at which his guild mate had moved. Dashing to be within range of the two mages, making it before Black made it to his location thanks to the path he had chosen, Lucifer raised one of his brimstone encased talons at Black, smiling like the devil he was. Instantly, before he would make it to his target, it would seem Lucifer's guild mate would find he was not going at the same speed as he had a moment ago. Suddenly dropping in speed without expecting it, well that was just going to be awkward for everyone.

1894/3800 (5% discount due to INT stat)

Spells Used:

She had to keep her eyes on the both of them but Black was in front of her, blocking the sight of Lucifer the most, but she had done this on purpose. She tapped again her foot on the ground and her shadow started to walk away from her. This was her purpose, her shadow was still a little bit of a coward, so she bet that if Lucifer was coming towards her, her shadow would run back. But she felt a bit annoyed that her attacked missed Black as well. He was fast too, something she should have known. She didn't expect to hit him but it would have been a nice idea.

Her eyes had to keep an eye on Black, since he no longer blocked Lucifer but formed them back to the triangle that they started. But now they sort of stepped up their game. She prepared herself when she saw Black coming towards her but before he was there Lucifer appeared next to him, shit. She had forgotten to look at him. Her shadow had remained where it was walking, great such a thing, she really had to command it better.

It was not smart to remain to close to the two of them especially if Black marked her as his target. She had to anticipate. So she jumped backwards onto the rocks, however thinking about a certain idea in her head made her lose balance. It was not herself that made the mistake, and it was not like she would be falling but she had thought about the spell before. She had wanted to merch, blend in with surroundings and it was some sort of happening before she noticed it herself. Instead of ending with her feet on one of the rocks that surrounded the open space, her feet entered the rock, as if gravity and surface did no longer exist. It was like falling because in her eyes everything went rather fast for herself. She could see Lucifer slash or try to slash (not entirely clear) Black at the point where the two of them would collide, right in front of where she had been standing. But instead of remaining on the ground she now disappeared in the rock wall.

It was a bit weird to stand there and her shadow returned. She could see clearly what was happing on the sort of other side of the wall. She had perfectly blend in, she became like a shadow herself. If Black and Lucifer would look at the rock wall where she had been standing, there now stood two shadows of her. Her own, and she herself had become a black shade that looked exactly the same like her own shadow. No colour, no face, everything black. Which made it brilliant. Which one was now the real deal. She didn't have to command her shadow out loud but let it walk to the side away from Black and Lucifer and herself closer. She had a perfect plan and it didn't matter which one of the shadows they went for.

Spells:

Caius saw Lucifer take off right when he dodged the previous attacks that were thrown at him. It was good instinct to follow up on your opponent after your first attack missed. He was pleased to see the man had some good combat instincts. However, with the way he was moving now there was no chance he could catch up to him with his current speed. Caius kept his main focus on the Shadow of Grimoire Heart, Nastasya.

When closing in towards Nastasya to complete the slash attack, he felt some sort of weakness in his body. It felt different and his movements were slower. Caius looked down to see the black wind around him was still giving him energy yet it wasn’t the same as before. He felt normal as if he was running without anything helping him. Lucifer now was closing in on him running at a similar pace. Before he could reach Nastasya, she had disappeared into the shadows causing his attack to fail.

It would be a pain to chase shadows as a demon was closing in on him so he shifted his focus now to Lucifer. Judging the distance between the two of him he was about in striking range. He turned his body towards him and gathered black wind in his right fist. He pulled it back causing a vacuum in front of him that would pull him towards Caius. Lunging foward with his left hand, he went for a strike against Lucifers chest with his wind blade in a stabbing motion. He would now be sucked into him. If Nastasya attacked, he hoped he could some how maneuver himself around the demon so he took the hit instead.

1951/4k

SPELLS:

Lucifer's plan had been simple enough: disrupt Black's attack on Nastasya and then observe. He had stopped the man's speed from being faster than the other two present, which would've been the end of it, but something changed. An animalistic nature forced Lucifer's body forwards, and he kept moving towards Black to follow up on an attack, not that it hugely mattered in the end, but the movement was not something Lucifer had expected, which made sense since it wasn't his movements. Within, hidden below, Odin was having one of his episodes. He had lost all sense of control and now the young mage just saw two enemies that he had to kill. Lucifer was glad he was the one in control, otherwise it would've been much more difficult to keep this as a simple training match, and not an all out slaughter.

Seeing Black come towards her, Shadow had lived up to her name wonderfully, jumping back into the rocks away from the two men, and sinking into the rocks, something Odin had never seen her do before. She was getting stronger, and now she could control the shadows so much better, a good thing to see, this training match was not wasting time, but starting progress. Progress was always a good sign, and training was the best way to achieve it. Waiting for something to happen was for the weak, the strong however forced themselves to have to get stronger. In this fight, if Lucifer, Black or Shadow didn't get stronger, they'd lose, and none of them wanted to lose, that was just in each of their natures, and the nature of Grimoire Heart. A guild that was never seen, never heard, but never lost.

Seeing his prey escape into the shadows, strangely now being standing next to her actual shadow as if there were two twins standing directly in front of them, casting the dual shadows. Of course, there were no twins, just Nastasya and Black, the latter of which was now focusing his attention on the demon, the current only tangible enemy in sights. Holding that dagger of wind still in his hand, Black pulled back with his right hand, forcing the wind between the two mages to disperse, and the wind around Lucifer to come rushing in, pushing him towards his foe, who waited to lunge into his target. It was a smart attack, and not one Lucifer felt he could avoid this time around, but he wouldn't necessarily have to.

As he reached Caius, he snapped his fingers, activating a spell before placing his hand in front of his chest to receive the blow. Yes, his palm would be in great pain from the stab, but it was about to be returned. Using the force of the wind pushing him towards Black, Lucifer span after receiving the lunge, escaping the vacuum to now be standing next to Black, using the spin to send a roundhouse kick to his face. The stab wound had caused the fire surrounding Lucifer to latch onto and attack Black, before the kick would hit him. If Black wanted a close up fight, the demon was more than happy to oblige.

2435/3800

Spells Used:

It wasn't the idea to just get out of the fight and do absolutely nothing. She wasn't like that, she just had to get the great angle and fire off her spell or well fire of herself first. It was weird being in a wall that wasn't technically hollow inside. That might explain why it felt like she was in a dark room with no windows or doors. It was also impossible to put her hand onto something and there was only one big screen to look at. The outside. It was like a TV screen or more like a Cinema Screen. It covered the whole wall on one side but there were no chairs and you couldn't actually turn around and leave though a door.

This brought her to another problem. She had no idea how to exit in the first place. She had more than once thought about being able to become one with the wall, like some sort of bumper sticker or anything else. Like a sticker, like a shadow. She was now really in the wall, or the rocks in this case. You couldn't even call it a proper wall. She slammed her fist angrily on the screen that showed Black and Lucifer. "Get me out!" She tried to slam on the screen again with her hands made into fist. But it didn't work. She couldn't understand how she got in here because it was done by accident. This she really had to learn before any battle would happen again. So that meant at first that she had to get out now and second: at one point get back in.

Her strategy plan wouldn't work than again but it was a nice way to get away. She closed her eyes. It didn't matter if she saw the things in the real world right now. Finally she felt a tingling sensation when she had the feeling that she could step out of this world, this wall and she would be able to hit the real world again. Which was the moment she opend her eyes again to make sure what was going on. Both Lucifer and Caius were not standing close enough for her to for example hit them both at the same time. She had to see where her shadow was, whom was still walking around the two guys. But before she could get out Lucifer got closer to Black and made a roundhouse kick, which was the perfect opportunity. With Nastasya being on their flanks (right for one, left for the other) she came out of the wall prepared with her dagger again in hand.

Her shadow however was standing directly behind Lucifer and was the point of becoming her new spell. A cannonball appeared in the shadow that Nastasya coordinated to Lucifer his back, she hoped that her getting out of the wall was a great distraction and that both boys didn't keep an eye on her shadow now that they knew where she was. She came closer but not to close to be in the rain of fire as a matter of speaking but again she was a distracting role. Her eyes went from Black, whom might see the cannon ball coming to Lucifer to quickly behind Lucifer and thus the cannonball before she moved it back and made sure to let her Shadow return to her once it wasn't needed anymore.

Spells:

The vacuum Caius created was successful in pulling in Lucifer. He moved towards his blade and it did not look like he had any way to avoid it. However, the demon in front of him did not falter. His demonic flesh started to ignite in flames as he held out his hand to take the incoming attack from Caius. To a normal person, catching a blade with their bare hands would be madness but this demon did not care about the damage it would cause him. The attack struck causing cuts on his hands but the flames spread to Caius. The fire seared his body causing some pain but he could bear it for now. The new threat was the attack the demon was going to throw next.

As their battle continued, Cauis saw the shadows moving behind Lucifer right when they collided. It must have been Nastasya’s doing. He heard her say something earlier during the fight but he ignored it to focus on the monster in front of him. One of the shadows seemed to raise up and shoot a projectile from behind Lucifer. With his current attack focused on Caius, he wouldn’t be able to see it. Using the vacuum to his advantage, Lucifer threw a kick at Caius’ face. It was a brilliant move by Lucifer that was hard to counter. Unable to raise his left hand in time, the burning kick struck his face. Caius gritting his teeth in pain and a bit of anger. He wasn't about to be outdone by this lousy demon. As he fell to the side, he raised his two fingers on his left hand to cause an area of effect black wind vortex that shot out from his body. Lucifer might have struck him but the black winds swirling from his body would trade the damage right back at him.

The momentum from the kick sent Caius to the ground but he tuck and rolled after the impact to get back up to his feet. There was a little bit of blood coming from his lip that he wiped off with his thumb as he watched on to see what happened to Lucifer. If the cannonball attack struck him it would be a good time to follow up on him to get some more damage in. If he dodged it, he would put some distance between the two of them to see if Nastasya made another move that allowed him to strike her.

2365/4k

SPELLS:

The battle between the two Grimoire Heart mages continued on, as Lucifer and Black fought it out, and Nastasya stayed in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. The blade stabbed into Lucifer's hand, cutting him and drawing some blood from his palm, which the demon was forced to ignore to continue fighting. He could worry about blood after the fight. Right now it didn't matter, it wasn't going to be allowed to matter, especially once Lucifer's kick to his foe connected, drawing blood from the man's lips and knocking him down to the side. But that was about all that went the demon's way for that move. As Black fell, he activated a spell that would cause some wind to surround himself, encasing Lucifer I the wind and cutting him, receiving the same amount of damage that he had just inflicted upon his opponent, who fell before rolling away from his opponent to try and recuperate and continue the fight after a brief rest.

The demon was not about to let that occur.

As his foe rolled to escape from him, Lucifer dashed towards him, placing his palm in front of him to send off one more fiery projectile before he approached his target, not knowing about the shadow cannonball following him as he did so. Reaching his opponent, with the fireball coming too, Lucifer ducked to the left of Black, bringing his right fist in line to connect with Black's stomach, along with the fireball and shadow, that was now lined up to hit the A ranked mage.

As he dashed towards Black, Lucifer made sure to keep an eye on Nastasya, glancing over to the rocks once to see that she had escaped her shadowy prison of her own making and was now standing at the rocks, eyes on the battle that was currently ensuing in front of her, but choosing not to partake herself (although she had, unbeknownst to the demon). It was funny, standing back and watching what the opposition did before reacting and watching the fights for the perfect moment was often a tactic employed by the demon himself, but there were times when faced with an opponent that wished to rest and take a moment, that you simply couldn't allow them that moment. Sometimes, you had to go on the offensive, and give the opponent no quarter, being as relentless as the fires of hell from which Lucifer came.

2851/3800

Spell Used:

It was best to watch from a little far off to see what was happening. It was almost as if she could sit on the rocks and do nothing but watch. She needed to learn to become better at this. Most of all, she needed to learn to fight with a companion like for example Caius. Which was according to Yumi her plan. She didn't want to accidently hurt him if it was a working together plan. Today was of course not that idea which made it so that she didn't actually learn from it. However she still learned to work against two enemies.

She felt bad to stay that far away but at least her cannonball attacked worked for quite some. Now she couldn't use it anymore for these two. Which was fine, but it still was useful for people that didn't know that technique. It would be best to simply sink back into the shadows and get closer to attack too.

There were so many memories of her fighting, when she was more aware of what she was doing with her magic, she seemed to be a bit off her normal ideas. She didn't seem to be able to grasp what she always used except for the dagger and the scissors. She would have to work on that but it was not the time right now. She remembered many years ago, around five or six. That she went into a dollshop here in Oak. She couldn't call the name obviously because she sucked and remembering names. However she had asked the guy Teddy or whatsoever where her father was. Regulus Crowe left his child alone when she was twelve. With the most horrible grandparents that is. Seven years she had thought nothing about it but than it was seven years enough or well it was just seven years when she decided to look for him. But with no idea how he thought and any of his ideas she went to the only clue she had: he was a very good and well known dollmaker. Teddy didn't know and so she went around town, following other dollmakers but after Teddy she had lost her patience and killed them every time they didn't produce an answer she liked. Some old lady had even tried to poison her. She had killed them all, there were probably new people that started doll shops but she had killed 15 people or 17 throughout the country. That were her first kills. That's where she started, it had been so weird and she had said to herself everytime that it was necessary to kill. It was a necessary action to do so and thus she had to do it. She had killed an old man in Crocus. He was already on the edge of the world, almost into heaven or hell and because of that she had relieved him. He thought she was his granddaughter, but she didn't know her and she was looking for the girl for a short period but had given up for now. She had forgotten the name so it didn't matter anymore.

It was enough to think about that, she had to go for consequences now. She was no longer in the past. She had found her father, had stabbed him a couple of times to make him feel the pain that she had felt all her life. Just because she wasn't good enough to be his daughter, well than he was not good enough to longer be her father and thus be alive. To warn her grandparents, she had killed her grandfather and left her grandmother in the huge mansion in Myras. She had not returned there since she killed her grandfather, five years ago.

She blinked her eyes rapidly as her adventure of her first kills and the dead of her father and grandfather was like a vision in front of her eyes. It had been a whole lifetime in front of her but only seconds had ticked away from the real here and now. She had to focus and get back to the fight between her and Black and Lucifer. They were around five meters away from her and still fighting. Her cannonball apparently missed Lucifer and again she cursed in her mind that she wasn't doing properly. She needed something bigger and better but she didn't know what at the moment, her spells still not back to the original point that she wanted. She watched exactly to the moment that Lucifer tried to punch Black and that the two spells might collide with Black. She had to move now and used the Shadow Step spell again to get over the five meter distance in a very rapid time.

It was a risky idea but she took the idea none the less and showed up between Lucifer and Black to shoot a Shadow Dagger and a Shadow pair of Scissors towards either of them and tried as rapidly as she could to throw an extra spell to Lucifer before she ran off to stand in a small triangle again. She didn't want to get caught between them at all. But she could also no longer stand on the side line. A small plan was again forming in her head but she had to be a beter tactican before she could make sure that the plan would work this time.

Spells:

On Caius’ drop down from the kick, he saw Lucifer get sliced by his wind vortex. For every strike he suffered, he would be sure to give one right back at him. It seemed that they both favored the all out offensive approach rather than defending the attacks. The way things were going right now it was going to be a bloodbath and their durability would be tested to the max. A smile went across his lips as Caius wouldn’t have it any other way.

After he hit the ground and was rolling his body to the side, he would see Odin not give up on the attack. He reached his hand out and shot another fireball and resumed pursuing him. It would be a problem if Lucifer reached him before he got up. As he was rolling on his side with his stomach to the ground, he slightly moved his leg back to gain some force. The black wind would form from beneath him would shoot him up in the air like a cannon. The fireball would graze his chest burning off part of his clothes and giving him a slight burn but he had dodged the majority of it. It was a risky move being up in the air but he had a chance to counter and catch him off guard.

As soon as he lifted off and Lucifer was close to him, Nastasya showed herself between the two of them. She had some type of shadow blade in her hands. She threw one at her and one at Lucifer. Being in the air it was hard to dodge so the blade struck him in his shoulder. However, he moved his hand back and created a vacuum to pull her in before she could run again. He was sick of her hiding in the shadows and wanted her to join the fight. This was three man battle after all. If she got pulled towards him, he would adjust his leg and go for a kick at her face. He kept his wind blade pointed towards Lucifer so he would have to move around to strike him. Hopefully Nastasya's attack slowed him down.

2729/3.8k(5% discount)

SPELLS:

The fireball hit on target just as Lucifer desired, but his punch never needed to occur, as Black propelled himself into the air to get out of the way, having narrowly avoided the majority of the fireball but yet still haven taken some damage, as his clothes started to singe and burn. The demon did enjoy the power that he had over fire, but in times like this he knew it wasn't a favourite of his foes, especially when his foes were like his current ones: actually allies that he was training against. A water magic user would only get you wet and potentially drown you, but a demon of fire such as Lucifer had the unwanted extra effect that he would also normally ruin your clothing, something nobody liked to have happen to them. As was the case with Black, who's attire was starting to burn away ad was definitely singed in various places. After today, it was unlikely that the clothing was still going to be usable, which gave Lucifer a tinge of guilt. He was evil, burning down villages and killing innocents without a second though, after all, he was a demon, and demons killed for joy, but ruining someone's clothes was just a nuisance no one liked having to live with. At least for the majority of the battles Lucifer entered, he was the only one leaving so it didn't matter too much, but in this scenario it wasn't the best.

Now that the fireball had hit and burned his clothes, Black was in the air, no doubt preparing to make some form of counterattack. But just then, Nastasya appeared in the midst of the battle, reminding everyone that there was a third person in this brawl, and it was not simply a one on one match between Lucifer and Black. Appearing between the two men, she seemed to throw some projectiles: two at Lucifer and one at Black. Despite the obviously unfair move and the favouritism shown, she had appeared while Lucifer had not been focussed on an attack from Black, or planning an attack himself. Having seen Black escape into the air for a brief moment, Lucifer had glanced over to Shadow, and seen her quick approach. Thus, he knew how to dodge the attacks. He span, managing to avoid the sharp object sent his way but not avoiding the orb, which collided with his chest, dealing blunt damage and momentarily winding the demon. And then Black acted.

Instead of attacking Lucifer, his foe for most of the entire match, Black instead opted to attack the newly arrived Nastasya, using the same spell he had used on the demon to pull him forward to do attempt the same attack with the female Grimoire Heart mage. This meant no attack was coming towards Lucifer, and he was free to do as he wished. If Nastasya got caught in the trap, then the three mages would form a line. Black five metres above the ground, with Nastasya in front of him, and Lucifer standing on the ground. The blade of wind formed by Black was still pointed at Lucifer as he attempted to strike Nastasya, almost as a warning for the demon not to try anything, and to notice that his opponent had not forgotten him. This would have been a perfect moment to use Ember, but it still needed some more time before he could use it once more, and he had no other ranged spells in his arsenal at present. In normal situations, there'd be nothing right now he could do, which was when Odin's had a though, an inkling from his past.

---

He though of his father, of how his father had treated him during their time spent together, and of how his father died. During all the time the two had spent together, Odin's father had never once mentioned his mother's name, why she was not longer here, and what had happened to her. All he ever said was that she had been a good women, and her sacrifice had been necessary, but that didn't stop him from crying every night before he slept, holding a knife in one hand and a photo of her in the other. The two males, Odin and his father, were camping outside of Oak Town, in the forests not unlike where Lucifer found himself now. There, the two had fought, Odin's father using a powerful fire magic he had mastered, and Odin using the power of the demon inside of him to try and fight well. His father, being the better mage despite having a rather basic magic, always won their battles, up until the day he had died. This was not that day, this was simply another training session where Odin, and the demon he was trying to master, lost to a much more skilled mage. After briefly losing control towards the apex of the fight, the Odin controlled Lucifer ignored all pain sent his way and tried to rip his father to shreds, having lost all sense of where he was and who he was facing, only wanting to defeat the foe before him. His father had decided to stop his son using all the power he possessed, placing one hand in front of him and one behind, both palms opened to the world. From the palm facing the demon himself, Odin's father unleashed what could only be described as hell: an ultimate and almighty fire that burned through the brimstone skin of the demon and sent him back into Odin's mind, knocking Odin out instantly and ending the battle. A powerful ranged attack indeed.
*

Having relived this moment in the space of a blinking of his eyes, Lucifer readied himself to attempt the same spell used by Odin's father, so many years ago. He placed one hand in front of him, facing Black and Nastasya, and one palm behind. Then, from the palm facing his foes, he unleashed a massive stream of fire that shot out towards them, with them no doubt having no way to counteract it in their current situation. The spell was not as powerful as the one used by the boy's father, but that wouldn't matter if it was kept burning for the remainder of the fight.

* - 3849/3800 by this point

Spell Used:

Nastasya wasn't entirely sure if her spells had hit the boys. Because she had no time to sit and wait or actually stand and wait as she had jumped herself more or less inbetween the Fire Mage and the Air mage and had send her spells flying. With that she tried to run away but was caught up in some magic while she tried to dash away for five meters and see what she could do agains the other two.

It wasn't really fair the way she played her role in a one agains one and one battle but yeah, she didn't need to play nice or follow rules because there weren't any. She didn't plan to play nice and chivalerous when she was fighting someone that didn't belong to her guild. However it wasn't as if she felt rather satisfied with the way she handled things herself, she just had to find a better strategy. While she felt the winds around her, making her at first run slower than the idea, she thought about a plan however she first had to figure out if it worked, so she looked over her shoulder.

Now the winds were pulling her back, even though she was so close to her safety point of five meters. So instead she tried to pull herself more to the left. With one more look over her shoulder, she saw something that she rather would not meet at all. Much fire. How to avoid being burned to a crisp by Nastasya Crowe She thought to herself while she pulled and pushed her body to get out of the vacuum that Black must have created. She stretched her left hand for as far as she could to touch the wall and get in. She would rather risk to be stuck in the prison again before she would really burn to a crisp, but it was a lot of work and wether it was Black being distracted or she had really pulled herself out of the spell, it worked for her to get into the rocks again.

It was such a satisfaction to be in the shadows and the hidden rooms of the rock wall. As soon as she got inside she dashed to the left and had to enjoy the feeling of being inside and safe. It felt so cool inside, something that she needed. Her shoe had some damage taken and the skin underneath there too, her left leg was surely screaming but she could still put it down, the skin was red and contained some blisters, thank god her foot wasn't hurt, that would be the real trouble. However her left hand had blisters too or even worse, which didn't hurt so bad.. which was actually the problem. She felt very neaseous when she looked at it and so instead shook it off herself. It wasn't her idea to hid back into the rocks again and stay here. She just had to avoid the huge ball of fire or whatever it was. It was however good to know that even though she had entered the shadows safely, the fire damage was done while she took her dash to the left. Something to remember. As soon as Nasty was feeling better or well ignored the issue at hand and thus the seconds that she needed to re-adjust herself, she thought about her own plan.

It was time to get started. Which gave her the satisfying feeling, even if it was a little bit, that she was going to do something. But she might try to work better in hand to hand combat and work on more spells that she could use to fight. It felt a bit baby-ish the way she was fighting now. However the satisfaction only became a tiny bit better when she was able to move out of the rocks without a block as the time before, something that felt like ages but must have been nothing more than five minutes ago. She was almost five meters away from Lucifer and Black or more like four and a half meters. Having dashed nine and a meter away from the attack inside. Apparently that had been just enough. She was now standing on the other side of the guys than she originally had planned. However this time not working with two shadows it was obvious where she was.

While she was still working her body out of the rocks, she first worked on her upperbody. Her head, upperbody and her arms were already free, enough to start. She summoned the spell that she had planned to use as soon as she was that five meters away in first instance. The Scythe that she planned to make now showed up in her hands and she swung it to create a beam of 10m3 wide and she had to just see and wait what the guys would now do to avoid this. She herself was now out of the rocks completely but held on to the scythe to be sure that she wouldn't need to use it another time.

Spells:

The vacuum of black wind succeeded in pulling Nastasya towards him that caused the mages to be lined up in the air. Odin was hit by the shadow attack that slowed him down giving Caius his chance. At this rate, he would be able to kick her into Odin and then drop down with his blade hitting both of them. That was the plan at least. However, Lucifer was quick to recover after the attack before his kick could land. The demon skin on his body probably gave him some strong resistance to attacks allowing to get back into the fight.

Lucifer raised his hand and it gathered with fire. Caius expected another tiny fireball but this was not the same attack he had used earlier. The flames on this attack were hotter, ,he light it emitted was more intense and the size was way greater than before. Natasya acted quickly and was able to move out of the way using her shadow magic by jumping into the rocks around them leaving him to take the brunt of it. He was tired from the missions in Era and travelling all the way to Oak. He didn’t have enough power to use most of his higher ranks spells right now but he probably could muster up one. As soon as the fire was about to hit him, he opened his mouth and exhaled. “Sky God’s Bellow” A black wind vortex collided with the flames and pushed it back between the two. At about the halfway point between both men, both attacks would both explode and fizzle out. They were equal in power.

The explosion propelled Caius body so it was now vertical in mid air as gravity pulled him down. He landed on his feet a few meters from Lucifer. His breathing was heavy and he was starting to feel a bit exhausted. He would need a long nights rest after all of this to prepare for the mission. Now the question was where the pesky Nastasya was. Surveying the rocks around him, he saw her sticking out of the shadows with a scythe in her hand. With a flick of her wrist, she swung it causing a giant shadow beam to head towards the tow of them. Caius didn't have many spells left so he reacted by running behind Lucifer so it was the beam, Lucifer and then Caius. With the wind blade in his hand he would try to stab him from behind to hold him in place to take the attack. This way he hoped to at least stop Lucifer so he could focus on Shadow.

3167/3800

SPELLS:

Having used one of his most powerful attacks on both Nastasya and Black, with the plan to end the battle then and there, things had not gone tremendously well. For one, Nastasya had managed to escape into the nearby shadows to avoid most of the damage, hiding as was her way of fighting throughout this entire conflict. Black, who had not been lucky enough to avoid the attack completely, had instead managed to send an equally strong attack directly at the fire stream, rendering it useless for that initial assault, which was when the fun began.

Shadow, having hidden in the shadows, emerged from her prison and created a scythe in her hand, sending out an attack that looked almost as strong as both Black's or Lucifer's. Having already spent his attack to defend from one, Black scuttled behind Lucifer himself, planting the knife in the demon's back to try and use him as a human shield, and there was only one thing to do from that.

"I do apologise for this, but you left it open."

As was the use of the spell, Lucifer still had one hand placed behind and one hand facing Nastasya in front. He decided that he could defeat his opponent in front much easier without the interference of the other one behind. Moments after speaking, Lucifer unleashed hell once more, but behind him, striking Black at point blank range.

Nastasya's attack hit as normal, and dealt severe damage to the demon, but Lucifer knew his own limitations, and knew he could withstand a few more of those attack if necessary. If he could now focus on Nastasya instead of the two opponents, he felt it would be much easier a task to complete.

Sustained: Incinerate

You know what the most annoying part about this fight was? Apart from the fact that she had always fought from the shadows and thus had the act of surprise. It had been all really easy, most because the dollmakers that she killed weren't mages and if they were, they never had expected a nineteen year old to attack them so randomly. She knew that when she stepped out of the shadows and onto the fighting scene in front of her. Having escaped the attack from Black which collided with Lucifer's Fire. She wasn't sure, since she had simply made sure she was out of the way.

Her left leg, with the broken boot was annoying and she managed to quickly get rid of the laces and kick it out. With now one bare foot and leg, she knew she was more vunerable like that. But she also felt a little relieve when a cold wind blew past the blisters, but soon after that it started hurting again. For some reason she was more happy about the pain than her hand. Her left hand had taken full damage of the spell send by Lucifer and the wound was without blisters and her skin was even an ash gray and didn't hurt at all. She really had to find a healer of some sorts.

She was slightly out of breath because of the big amount of mana that she had already used and the Scythe that she was still holding on to, was also still asking for more Mana. Her chest was moving up and down while she was catching her breath. There wasn't actually time for that. She had to protect her left flank, as her skin underneath her clothing might also be red and raw because of the fire. She wasn't sure, she didn't even check. Her left leg and hand that was all that she had paid attention to. She had to come to the point that hiding into the shadows wasn't good enough anymore to finish the job.

Man she hated to be in a battle with two enemies, but there might be more points in the future maybe even the near future that this was smart to train. The near future, she remembered Yumi her words at the end of their afternoon. That there was a storm coming, one prepared obviously by Yumi herself and she had to prepare because Yumi had finished the load of lectures with that Nasty had to be prepared. That's what she was doing. She took a deep breath through her nose and closed her eyes for a second.

And I will breathe again.

With that she let go of the breath that she was holding onto.

Cause I have send for a warrior.

And no one but herself was going to be that warrior. If she wanted to be impressive, like she had wanted to be so many years ago, when she had joined Phantom Lord when she was eighteen. How she had stayed here in Oak for so long. She flexed her muscles with the memories. How she had pushed them away. She was no longer the Nastasya that she had been when she was eighteen and nineteen. She was no longer that insane creature. She was human, she was herself and she was exactly aware of what she was doing. Her friends were there, her fighting style had been so different.

From on my knees, make me a Hercules.

Timing in a battle went so fast that she sometimes didn't even know what was going on. Her body just simply reacted. Maybe she had not forgotten what all happened. When she went berserker, when she gone crazy. Her biggest fear. It wouldn't happen again, she would hold onto this post. She was going to do what Yumi had told her. She was going to keep that respect that she got from Black back in Crocus. She was only going to improve because it was too bad to toss that all aside again.

I was meant to be a warrior please. Make me a Hercules."

It was time to do what she had to do. Everything was happening so fast that even though she was standing there and thinking again, it felt not too much for the time. She could probably rewatch her entire life and still be in time to dodge if she only could move fast enough. She looked at her left leg again and back up at Lucifer and Black. She was exactly four and a half meter away from Lucifer and she had noticed that Black had more or less jumped behind him. But the fire attack that Lucifer had used before was now shot towards him, so behind Lucifer. She was a little confused that not one spell was sent towards her. But that didn't mean it would become a quick victory. She had to find a new strategy, while she tapped her right foot twice on the ground. She had to think quickly, thank god her brain worked fast enough.

She would be reckless to simply use the beam again and it might be smart to first focus on Lucifer, since his hand was pointing at her and she had seen what that could give as an effect. She frowned and simply dashed to the right, which would normally put her at the same point of 4.5 meters but five meters aside. However with her wounded leg she was a tad slower and ended up around 4.5 meters again, and that had taken a lot of effort.

It an effortless try but also a desprate one she swung the scythe again to create the same beam. It was just that she had no idea what else to do and it was something. However she had used too much magic and the Scythe disappeared from her hands after the swing. The spell was still going but if it was enough was another question. Her breathing became too shallow and the problem was that she had never used so much magic at once. She was leaning with her right hand on her right knee and tried to lean on her left leg but more collapsed on the ground because of the pain in the left side of her body. She had to stand up but it would be impossible. She needed time and she was sure that she wouldn't get any.


Scythe sustained