Kaz made his way through the residences. They were just as much of a maze as he had been warned of. He walked around corners only to find himself at the same fountains time and time again. With a huff, he marched a new path only to be led back to ones already walked.

With his frustration mounting, he flew up to get an overview of the layout. As soon as he saw it from above he could grasp it a little better. But he'd prefer to stay aerial. He landed and dusted himself off and made his way back to meandering through the walkways. He gathered stares from those that lived there.

Faint whispers hung on their lips as he passed by. He could vaguely make out what they were saying. Concerns about his presence and their lives that would change.

The intel reported at the guild said that the people here were worried that they would be changing things too quickly. Kaz stopped and sat at a little family-run cafe out of the first floor of their home.

Even though these were the residences, the people still found a way to run a business. Kaz sat, ordered a tea and waved at people with a warm smile, beckoning them to come over. One by one people dribbled in to sit with the wind mage.

With each new arrival, he spoke about the same things. Reassuring them that everything was going to be okay and despite how fast things were growing, it was a good thing. Astera was becoming more plentiful and there would be more resources and opportunities for all to enjoy. He took in whatever feedback that gave with a nod and sip of his tea.

The day drug on and before he knew it, the sun was beginning to set. His last patron told him about some of the more influential people in the residence. That they planned a gathering at night to talk about community projects and The Phoenix Feather Guild was invited to speak about the ongoing changes.

Kaz accepted the offer and stood from the chair. The sun was almost set and Kaz set out seemingly alone to go and speak with the family.

Unknown to him was that throughout the day people had been watching and waiting. Learning about the mage and plotting their moves. Kaz walked down an empty cobblestoned path. Men scoured around rooftops and peeked from corners as the mage strolled along.

He felt something unsettling and slowed his pace for a moment, but continued as if he didn't notice. The realization that he was casual strolling along while an ambush was about to be sprung crept into his mind.

There were fifteen men. Five on the roofs, five in the alleyways around corners behind Kaz and another five ready to cut him off and flank him from the front.

The new arrangements no doubt stressed everyone out. From the relocation, to hiring new recruits, training recruits, and expanding- there were many things to be stressed about. For Shimura it was the paperwork, the large amount of paperwork, and for Kazimir-sama it was no doubt all of the above. Being a guild master was no doubt frustrating, and Kazimir-sama no doubt had a lot on his mind. Shimura wanted to stop him and take him out to a bar for a couple of drinks, but they both seemed to busy. For once in his life, Shimura had a lot of paperwork to do, and usually he waited until the last minute to do it. 

 Honestly, being in charge of military affairs excited Shimura greatly. His father trained him from an early age to be a cunning tactician and warrior, he even taught him a little about politics and court affairs. This was all done in the hope that he could propel and serve his uncle as his vassal and second in command. Therefore, his skills were nearly perfect for his position at phoenix feathers. And as the man in charge of the military, Shimura felt like the first thing he should do was get a map of the city.

Shimura wanted someone who knows all the crevices and crannies of the town, and once more, he would want a tour of the city. He did not care how long it would take, but  he would find someone to show him around, even if that meant threatening someone or paying them handsomely. Preferably the latter instead of the former, he was aware of how fragile the guild relationship was with the town. That was something that needed to be addressed, and he would have question Kazimir-sama later on. But right now, he wanted to learn the ends and outs of the town and go ahead and establish defensive measures and plans and whatnot.

Eventually, Shimura managed to find an elderly fisherman who seemed to be excited about the guilds presences within the town, and this old man agreed to show him around. Honestly, Shimura was impressed with this man’s attitude, it was honestly refreshing from the secretive whispers and whatnot. They honestly needed to figure out what to do about this distrust, it could lead to rebellion and war. For once, Shimura asked himself what his father would do. His father would utilize violence to instill fear and respect in the towns people, but Shimura knew that wouldn’t be the most reliable way. Or well, he knew that Kazimir-sama would not use such tyrannical means.

Night drew nearer and the old fishman continued to show Shimura around, needless to say, the town was like a maze, with winding and never ending turns- easy for defense. The old man took him down a corner, and he could hear some commotion. Shimura instructed the man to leave, and go to the guild hall to ask for some reinforcements- if they had any that is. He then took the corner, and found his guild master slowly getting surrounded by a group of men. “Owi, idiots.” He called out. 

The people had begun to close in on the wind mage. just as he walked by the front door of an abandoned building in the center of the residence area, their presence crept closer. The men moved skillfully over the rooftops and through the street. Five men came out in front of the wind mage cutting him off from his path.

Kaz breathed through his nose and turned around only to see five more people coming from behind him. They intended to box him in here. A pincer move that left him alone in the walkway. No other residents were around, which was most likely why they chose now to strike. Hiding their intent from the rest of the populace.

"Look mage. You're not making it to the meeting and just to give you some more incentive, we have a hostage in the warehouse. So why don't we take a walk over that way." The leader of the pack stepped forward and flicked out a blade. He stopped in his tracks as they all heard the call of another intruder to the situation.

It was a familiar voice and one that put Kaz at ease before a brief flood of worry washed over him as to how his guildmate would react at the moment and the safety of the buildings. The men glared at where Shimura's voice had come from.

Kaz smiled and gave a small nonchalant wave, "Oh Hey. I didn't expect to run into anyone else here." The wind mage kept the corner of his eye attentive to those behind him. The force of thugs gripped their weapons tighter with furrowed brows.

Without warning one of the men from behind dashed forward. His blade aimed at Kaz's spine. "They said they have a hostage. We should check it out," he blurted it out and whipped out his staff to block the knife. The blade stuck into the thick piece of wood. Kaz stepped to the side and pulled the man in a half-circle. The thugs back aimed at the door of the warehouse.

The wind mage kicked behind himself and sent a gust of wind roaring out. The force propelled Kaz into the thug whose knife was still stuck in the mage's staff. Their bodies hit and the thug flew forward with Kaz and slammed into the door, knocking it from its hinges. "I'll take care of the repairs later," He yelled out to the lieutenant. He knew the man's magic was dangerous and he had grown over the year to adapt it to a plethora of situations.

Kaz dropped the man to the floor. The thug's head was dizzy and he blinked repeatedly and squirmed to try and find some sense of balance and stave off pain. The wind mage stood up and clapped his hands to try and sense the vibration of the hostage.

Just then the remaining four men rushed to the warehouse. Five men on the rooftops crashed through the windows of the warehouse and moved to confront Kaz.

On the outside, Shimura was faced with five men on the ground and five on the roofs. All ten of them inching their way to the warehouse to escape a battle on the streets.

The men on the inside dropped down around the wind mage and they began lunged at the man as Kaz used his superior speed to side-step and roll to safety. All the while calculating how best to defeat them all and using his staff more like a cudgel.

“So that is your plan.” Shimura managed to catch what the leader of the pact said, before everyone stopped in their tracks, and turned to face him interrupting their little ambush. “You know as guild master Kazimir-sama, I’d don’t recommend leaving the HQ without protection.” 

This could only be described as an assassination attempt, and once this assassination attempt is thwarted a discussion would be needed on how to lockdown and win over the city. In Shimura’s opinion, this was proof that it was time to take a more militaristic approach to things. But that would be a discussion Kazimir-sama and he would have after these foolish thugs would be taken care of. Shimura would clench both of his fist, causing a magic circle to appear below him, and for magma to coat both of his arms. He would then fold his arms over his chest and a magic circle will wrap magma around his body. 

A murderous smile had formed across his lips. “Now shall we begin?” he questioned and charged forward towards Kazimir-sama and the group of bandits. The wind mage could act before Shimura could do anything, through a complicated set of actions. Kazimir had blocked an attack aiming for his back and pushed himself and other bandits into an abandoned warehouse- most likely to avoid collateral damage. That was when Shimura heard about the hostages and groaned in an annoyed tone. “Why do you handle the hostages, while I handle the idiot thugs who dare attack two mages.” He growled. Though, it seems that now he was faced with  five men on the ground and five men on the roof. They circled around him for a while, before one of them decided to lunge at Shimura. The lava mage dodged the attack and slammed his knee into the thug’s stomach; Shimura slam his fist down into the thug’s back, sending him spiraling into the ground.

Shimura would then clench his fist, and a magic circle would increase the size of his magma arm. He would then charge into three thugs that were in front of him, and slam his fist down into them. "YOGAN KEN" he would shout as an eruption of magma bursted forth from his arm and onto the opponents. The explosion caused a hole to be blown into the building that Kazimir-sama was in, and the other bandits on the roof started to jump down cornering him. Shimura cursed and stepped into the abandoned building with Kazimir.

Kaz stood up over the dazed man he slammed through the doorway. Behind him, he heard the familiar growl of Shimura and felt the temperature rise as the magma mage began his attack. Kaz was surrounded by nine more men. On the other side of the room was a hostage. "Well, you made this easier than expected." Kaz said as he got into a fighting stance.

The men began to surround him with weapons drawn. when they were on all sides they rushed in at him. Kaz dashed into the air and spun around, swiping his hand to create a tornado. The blast toppled three of the men. He landed and dashed with his back to the hostage and his eyes on the enemies. His foot hit the ground and he thrust his hands forward to create two whirlwinds that tore into six more of them. Their clothes shredded and bodies battered against the floor. Two of the men stood back up just as an explosion ripped into the side of the wall and sent them spiraling back down with charred clothing.

Kaz shot a blade of wind that cut the bindings on the hostage. "Stay there for now," He said peacefully as his molten companion rushed into the building with five more warriors trailing behind him.
Two more men that Kaz had faced pulled themselves back up but their legs gave out and they collapsed back down. He went to the side of the hostage as Shimura faced off the five. He had the utmost faith in his guildmate and tended to the wounds of the hostage while Shimura finished them off.

Once all was done, Kaz would walk the hostage out and look at Shimura, "Hey I'm about to go to a meeting with some of the residence to tell them things are gonna be alright. You wanna come?"

As they walked out if Shimura agreed, more trainees from the guild arrived to take out the people that had been knocked out and cuff them to take them to the local jail.

The two mages could then make their way to a two-story house, where a man would wave them in. The walked down a small vegetable garden path with lush shrubbery until they got to the already open door. Inside there was a table of people.

A man stood up, "Ah gentlemen please come in and sit," he welcomed them. The inside of the house was a humble abode with more books than prestige.

Once Shimura and Kaz were settled, the man would speak, "I'm so glad you came. We have been talking and. Well to be frank. We are just worried about what all these changes will mean for Astera and our way of life. The markets are growing rapidly and more people are coming in. Will there be a place for us."

Kaz looked at Shimura in case he wanted to speak first.

Shimura stood tall and proud; ready to melt anyone that stood in his way. He understood that Kazimir-sama did not need his help, but he was merely excited for a fight. Being stuck in the office and forced to do paperwork, given to him by the rather bossy and scary Noyiah-chan, surely did bore him. The only excitement he had being stuck in the office was the occasional arguments he had with Noyiah, and then of course, making playful jabs just to make her react. Honestly, currently, in this moment, right here and now, Shimura was in his element and it was clearly visible by the savage smile he held.

As the men began to surround them, Shimura checked to see which said Kazimir-sama would take care of, and as the wind mage dashed into the air spun around and created a tornado. Shimura would lunge at his opponents, opposite of where Kazimir-sama was release his attack, and cause an eruption with his fist that would take another three men, and then he thrusted his fist into another man. He would turn to see that Kazimir-sama had created a wind blade to free the hostages, but as he did a man kicked him right in the stomach- unfortunately for him, the heat from his magma armor burned his aggressor.

Shimura would finish of whoever remained and turned off his boiling armor. He would then go over to Kazimir-sama who invited him to conference. Honestly, Shimura was a little irritated that he was just now hearing about it, but he nodded in agreement. As they walked out, Shimura informed one of the rookies to isolate one of them so that Shimura could interrogate the man. “Kazimir-sama, after this meeting I would like to have a word or two with you. “ He would say as the walked to the location where the meeting was being held.

A man greeted them at the door and took them inside. He would then explain his concerns, and Shimura had to stifle and annoyed sigh. The man was an idiot and their concerns were foolish. He waited for Kazimir-sama to say something, but it seems that he was given the chance to talk. “Our main priority is protecting the people. If you accept us into your city and accept the changes. Phoenix feather would not only provide protection from outside threats, but would also aid in expanding trade, and protecting the growing trade industry from pirates and dark guilds. While, there may be a heavy military presences within the city, it would be similar to the rune-knights, and we would not interfere with trade unless in the event that the people are in danger or dark mages are taking advantage of this pure port. Besides that, we are not here to change your way of life, only to enhance and defend it from evil.” He would explain.

As the battle had come to an end Kaz invited the magma mage along with him. Although it seemed as though something was weighing heavily on his mind at the moment. With all that in mind, Kaz looked over the wounded people from the battle. "You have certainly grown into your technique, he complimented the fire mage on his abilities.

"oh, of course. We can speak back at the guildhall," he answered Shimura. The wind mage couldn't help but wonder what it could be that the two needed to discuss. It seemed Shimura's mind was always racing to some topic or another of concern. But it was for those very reasons that Shimura's position in military affairs was important.

They made it to the house and Kaz listened intently to what the others had to say. He then passed things off to Shimura to answer with a glance. He wanted to let Shimura know that he was trusted even with the most delicate matters of the guild.

Kaz leaned back in his chair as Shimura spoke. He crossed one leg over the other and the only thing that would have made the moment better would have been a cup of tea. He hit on all the points that Kaz could have hoped for. The men that filled the room, nodded back and forth. The worry on their faces was melting away. They seemed to have been won over by the mage's words.

"Thank you for your time. I do hope what was said here, eases your concerns," Kaz stood up and said once Shimura was done. The people stood up and reached out to shake the guild members' hands.

"Thank you two for coming and letting us know your vision. We hope to work well together in the future," the owner of the house said as he clasped both hands around Shimura's and then Kaz's to thank them.

They seemed genuinely more relaxed and Kaz eased away to the front door, "The night has been a long one. If you ever need the guild you know where to find us and we will be ready."

With that Kaz and Shimura could leave the house and have their chat on the way back to the guildhall. It would no doubt be one that they would need to continue into the morning.
-exit-