The sounds of sucking mud could be heard, as joshua and his crew of 2 other syndicate members made their way across the muddy dirt road, if it could even be called that anymore given how wet it was, and began their descent into the farmland below. Who ever thought this area was worth acquiring for the guild was an idiot, thought Joshua as they continued their walk.

The damp amd dark swamping land wasnt worth anything to joshua except as a place to get diseased or somehow eaten. He grumbled to himself as with two loud ringing outside of gun powder he stopped in his tracks. His lip shaking as he turned behind him and looked at the men who he had been with. Each had drawn a hidden pistol. Their smile told him everything he needed to know. Woth a roar of anger and hatred he turned to attack them, only to be shot dead by their bullets. He dropped yo the ground.

Joshua had no understanding of what happened next, but when he came too it was nearly midnight, based on the moons positioning. He opened his mud encrusted eyes and groaned his way back into the living world. Despite having just been shot Joshua was fine, the strange magic he had developed after fighting the lich had saved him once again....he was grateful to it.

He stoop up and began to walk. Shortly hed begin to hear the sound of screaming, and he could smell the burning hay as he started to get into a run and made his way toward it. He wasnt full strength, but what ever was happening he figured it was those two bastard who shot him. He aimed to return the favor.

(Post count for Jyu: 1/100

Dahlia was an... interesting location, to say the least. Tomoe had been fast to get to it upon recent events involving a mysterious creature telling him of things to take place here. Despite that, he was at a loss. Wandering through the night, the Joyan found a degree of happiness in simply moving about under the moon. Perhaps there were courageous nocturnal beings that would be upon him, dragging him into a fight for his life. That would certainly be a change of pace from his mostly mundane life otherwise. No such beast ever came, however, instead leaving the man to walk in silence. He was armed with everything he considered to be of value in a fight, as always. One could never be too paranoid when living as a guild mage.

It was during Tomoe's nightly stroll that he smelled something. That scent was quickly reinforced seconds later once he had begun to look around and saw smoke and flames nearby.

"The hell...?", the samurai muttered, adjusting his armor and weaponry and bolting off towards the location.

He arrived at the entrance to the farmlands at the fastest he possibly could, stopping to assess the situation. With his right hand already grasping the handle of the sheathed sword on his back, his eyes moved like crimson stars in the dead of night. Due to the powers given to him by his Moon Aura, he would be able to pinpoint all activity even in the darkest corners of the marsh as long as no objects blocked his line of sight.

Joshua arrived in the farmstead to see the barn burning with a woman screaming as a man was killed infront of her. She was being held by the arm by a large imposing figure. Joshua couldnt tell who it was at this distance but it wasnt the two men who had shot and betrayed him.

But regardless Joshua couldnt let this happen without getting involved. But as he began to make his way down he was ambushed but a laughing assassin and forced out into the open. The bandits had been waiting hoping to grab any heroic travelers. Joshua cursed his luck again.

He jumped back and barely managed to block the spinning scythes that were like razor blades to the wind. He was able to use the punisher as an effective shield for the moment but even this holy weapon would give. He was forced into the open and surrounded as the figure tossed the woman to the side to other people nearby. The assasin kept up his assault as the figure walked around just outside of the light watching Joshua.

He ducked a blow and found himself on the receiving in of a sudden counter as he tried to run out of the circle around him, he cursed.

Tomoe would move at a sprint towards what appeared to be a hysterical maniac and some weirdo with a cross-shaped weapon. Mages these days were getting so much more complex. Though with Tomoe's relatively new introduction to magic himself, he couldn't claim to be any different. He always found himself to fight in a simple way: to get a sword and hit someone with it. In essence, what he'd grown into as a mage was no different even now.

Even in darkness, the Joyan could see his targets clearly. Even without perfect darkvision it was obvious where one of them was due to their loud cackling. As for the other, his gigantic cross weapon wasn't the pinnacle of subtlety. Tomoe watched their fight, believing the cross-wielding man to be on the defensive and thus, on the losing end.

There were of course others that surrounded the two, but they were faceless nobodies in the grand scheme of things. Tomoe was a cautious man but even he knew that people too cowardly to do more than watch were worth nothing. He would approach the crowd from behind, not making a single noise, until he was upon the crowd from behind.

"Oi, oi, make way. I want a better view!", Tomoe shouted aloud, finally alerting the group to his presence while kicking one of their weak, faceless numbers into the circle where the mage battle was raging on.

Tomoe would obviously not let a single one of the men live after this, but he wanted to see the fight to its natural conclusion first. The woman wouldn't be harmed, naturally, and if anybody tried to use her as a hostage, kill her, or otherwise cause her harm? They would be the first to go. It wasn't anything heroic; he simply wished to see innocent people live. Why? That wasn't a question worth answering, if he even knew the answer himself.

"If any of ya touch me you'll die, so carry on like I'm not here, yeah?", the Joyan declared with his arms crossed, looking to the cackling wackjob and the cross-wielding man in the center of the circle of spectators.

While a few would surely try to kill Tomoe in their shock, those were didnt simply looked at the man and gave him his room. The large figure didnt even pay him any mind and they watched the fight. Their eyes glued to the fight as the men around them cheered and hollered.

Joshua on the other hand was fighting for his life. He had managed to get back to his feet after the sudden boot to the forehead he had taken when he had tried to escape. He blocked the relentless blows from the laughing maniac. The maniacs feet barely seemed to touch the ground, and each swing was like a hammer blow. Joshua was forced heavily on the defensive.

But finally, after what felt like an eternity to Joshua, as he blocked the final attack from the maniac, the punisher shattered on impact. The mans scythe was unfazed, sharper even for every impact they had made.

But as the man tried to bring around his other scythe for the finishing blow, it was like time had slowed down, and Joshua grabbed the flying metal sharp from the punisher and with a blood curdling yell, he drove the metal shard into the mans chest as he closed the distance.

The repeated stabbing while effective, only mostly did more damage to Joshua's hand as he fueled every messy stab with his anger. Soon the maniacal body finally hot the floor as Joshua stood there panting, he dropped the metal shard.

The large figure smiled, and suddenly their aura was exploding out from them as they activated their magic and stepped into the ring. The crowd hooted and hollered, calling for the boss to bring the pain. She cracked her neck and smiled as she cracked her fingers with ease.

"I'm impressed, you killed my second in command. Why dint you join me? I'd hate to kill someone as strong as you."she said that like it was a good thing she disnt want to take his life because he might be useful to her.

Joshua gritted his teeth and spit out some blood. He took up a boxers stance as the leader grinned with eagerness. "Shut up and hit me already."

Any thugs who barreled towards Tomoe would find themselves with their faces smashed in by a torrent of fists. Weak nobodies who merely sat back and watched fights were never that skilled in fights themselves - rather, they were the kind that hyped up the true combatants instead. There was some merit to those kinds of people, but not if they were under the delusion that they could actually fight. The result was a number of forgettable goons getting tossed to and fro, slamming into the dirt and into the night. The would-be second wave of thugs saw this and backed off, merely allowing Tomoe to stay and watch.

Time passed, and the fight concluded; and what a bloody fight it was. The winner almost seemed more beat up than the loser, which was interesting in its own way. When another fighter immediately stepped in, appearing far more capable than the last, Tomoe began to think of the situation as unfair. The poor winner had broken his strange weapon and hadn't even been given a breather yet. As a guild mage, even one who was off duty at the moment, the crimson cutthroat couldn't ignore this entirely.

"Oi. Don't even got a care in the world for fair play, do ya? I respect that, but still. Don't you badasses even have it in ya to heal the poor sap?", Tomoe spoke out before the battle began, wondering how the group would respond.

He wasn't expecting anything resembling honor to come from it, but if their response was one of rejection, the Joyan would see no more reason to hold himself back.

One of the things smiled and answered the mans question for him. He was older then the others and seemed to always smile as he spoke. His tomoe looked closely enough hed notice the same eyes as the imp were on the old man. He smiled a toothy grin and spoke.

"This is how we recruit members. We see what heroes come to save them and if they prove their worth we let them join as the new second in command."

She tried to speak to Joshua, to tell him more of the benefits of the group. Only to be met with a fist from Joshua. He had dashed forward and hit home against her sternum. But it barely budged her as she smiled and sent him flying into the circle. However reddish mana lines would appear and send him flying back onto his feet. He stumbled a bit.

The leader laughed and cracked her hands as they began to glow red. "Fine then! I'll just beat you to bear death till you finally join us! That's better anyw--"

Joshua had dashed again scooping mud along the way and throwing it in her face mid word. He lashed out hard and even went for weak points only to be sent flying again. This time he didnt stick the landing and after landing on the mud with his face, he groaned as she picked him up and pummeled him against the red mana ropes.

The old thug smiled more. "Pay attention here Tomoe~" he said his name just as the Imp had. "This is why you need to bring him to your side."

Despite the beating and the broken rib cage, Joshua would stand up again as the leader returned to her corner. Showing red mana ropes that she leaned on. "Your tough boy. I'll give you that. Into stand. after that beating means you've got some hidden strength. So what do you say? Huh come and join us and you'll be able to do what ever you want."

Joshua didnt answer. He only looked up at the sky with his mud covered face. Before he clenched his fists and cleaned his face off. "If I wanted that, I'd have stayed with the Syndicate... they must have known my heart wasnt with the guild. So they made my choice to leave for me." The dark energies of the marshlands mud and half rotten life slowly flowered toward Joshua, though only Tomoe and the imp would be able to see it. It was liches magic after all, but subtle and easy to miss in this swamp.

He summoned a C rank mirror with his magic. Each glyph around the edges of the mirror, as well as its general design spoke to the lich infection that now permeated Joshua body.

"I'm done letting evil bastard have their way with this world. So shut the hell up and just try to kill me... I promise you'll find it harder then you think."

Tomoe eyed the older man sharply. The stranger had made it as plain as day that he was involved in bringing the Joyan to Dahlia. That being said, it was still unclear as to why. Why would some random person wish for a light guild to gain an ally? It didn't add up, especially considering the people the man surrounded himself with. The voice, the mannerisms... it was all very familiar to the impish creature from days ago. There was something larger at play here, and Tomoe would have answers sooner than later.

"Tell me what's goin' on here, fucker, or ya get turned into ground beef.", Tomoe declared with a commanding authority, activating his magic.

Around in him the air danced fifteen blades, with another magically appearing in his right hand, all at once. They pointed themselves towards the man without advancing, lingering in the air like phantoms conjured from steel. While the fight between the two mages waged on in the background, Tomoe's flared eyes looked towards the old man, ready to launch a hail of swords towards him.

That was, until, Tomoe's attention was drawn back towards the fight moments later. He had heard of the man's withdrawal from a "Syndicate". A guild of some sort? Maybe, but that wasn't the important part. Rather, the presence of something familiar yet foreign drew the Joyan's attention back to the battle, his magic dissipating in confusion.

The mud-covered man was no lich, and yet the feeling... as energies gathered around him, the feeling of death lingered oh so potently. It was similar to Aegis or Odin, albeit at a lower level.

That ain't no boneman. Seen a few liches, and that ain't no boneman..., Tomoe thought to himself, gritting his teeth in confusion and aggravation at the situation.

The words of the mud-covered man, now flowing with something resembling a lich's energy, caused Tomoe to feel as if he needed to see how thing concluded here. If the man were to die, Tomoe would go with questions unanswered. If he were to live, Tomoe would help him eradicate the remainder of the cockroach-like thugs gathered to watch. There was a conclusion to this that was immediately more interesting, but the Joyan would nonetheless watch the rest of the fight without interruption; or so he would appear to, but would keep the old man in his mind and in his peripherals.

The old man smiled as the blades appeared. But to the other people, the man was... threatening nothing but air. They backed away a bit nervous not to break the circle, but still looking to not be near the person who had interrupted.

The burly woman threw herself forward and went to deliver a deadly blow, only to have it not only stopped, but reflected back on to her damage. She staggered back and felt her nose bleed from the magical impact. She only smiled.

Joshua reapplied the magic to the mirror, repairing any cracks that may have formed. He wasnt going to let this magic hit him. After taking the damage he had already taken, he wasnt sure he could survive her magical blows
He was also unsure if the strange magic that brought him back would do so again.

But he barely had time to think about it before she threw herself forward like a bullet. She didnt hold back with her physical strength and magical strength. The magical air wave that slammed into Joshua gut sent him sliding back and forced to inhale.

When he looked at her, her arm all the way down from her elbow was covered in magical circles and a fiery red aura. She rushed him down again and delivered a combo of blows each one sending shock waves through the mirror. Even as she damaged herself she managed to still damage him. Soon Joshua was panting, he felt a few broken ribs. She spat out a wad of blood and rushed him again, over and over until he was forced to take a knee. Even then he didnt let his magic stop.

She laughed. "I'm fucking impressed. Your the first kotherfucker in years to actually hurt me!" She laughed again and rushed him once more. But this time Joshua caught back. He motioned with his hand sending the mirror into her stomach mid charge. As she choked out a gasp and stumbled back holding her stomach, Joshua stood back up and grabbed the heart of the punisher, it had managed to stay intact after the main weapons destruction.

"I̷̼͋ ̶̛͇d̴̮͑ȯ̵̠n̸̩̂'̷̘͌t̵̛̠ ̸̮͒c̶̝̽ä̴̬́ṟ̸͊e̸͔͛.̴̮̋" Joshua answered, but his voice was not one of common tongue. It was the language magic of the liches. He walked forward as dealthy energy forced it's way into the engine, it forced it to create a dark and life sucking blade.

The woman looked up in shock. "W..what the hell?! How do you have two mag--" the blade sunk deep into her heart. The blade pulsed and drained her of all her mana, turning her into a husk within seconds and healing Joshua. However, it was clear that Joshua was not in control. The other thugs began to panic some rushed the man who killed their boss, but most ran for the hills.

The remainder of the fight was a bloody, brutal affair. The man's magic involved damage reflection of some kind, using mirrors as the catalyst to make it possible. Tomoe wasn't as knowledgeable about magic as most, having unlocked the ability to use magic on his own for the first time a few months ago, but he still knew that it was a valuable magic to have. Despite being mirrors they weren't exactly flimsy, and their effects on the musclebound bandit were as clear as glass. It was inevitable that she would grow tired in a fight against a defensive mage, but Tomoe wasn't fully prepared for what was to occur at the fight's conclusion. Rather than the natural assumption that the aggressor would simply exhaust her stamina and succumb to reflected damage, something much different happened.

Standing by and watching, the crimson cutthroat watched as the bandit leader was drained of her very life essence, meeting a swift yet gruesome end after all her bravado. It was an unsettling end, to say the least. Aegis wasn't the kind of lich that drained people, and his intentions could never be called nefarious. This was more in line with what one would expect a lich to do, and yet no matter how much he looked, Tomoe couldn't confidently say that the man was one.

The stragglers who rushed the man were met with a rain of swords from behind, Tomoe not allowing a single one to get close enough to try to harm the man. There were no gestures necessary, no vocal commands, or anything else. The swords simply skewered the aggressive bandits to death, leaving any fleeing cowards to live until the Joyan felt like hunting them down another day.

Rather than checking on the physical state of the mirror mage, Tomoe once more locked his gaze on the old man after the thug rush had been dealt with, his swords returning to his general area and circling around him.

"Seems like the show's over, bud. What's your plan with him? Eh?", Tomoe questioned the old man, pointing towards the mirror mage in his peripherals.

It was a curious situation to be sure. In all honesty, Tomoe hadn't yet ruled out the mirror mage as a potential threat yet either. He was an enemy to the bandits, sure, but that didn't mean he was an ally. Explanations needed to be had before swords started flying.

The imp smiled, having turned back to hid real form when tomoe took his eyes off of him.

"Oh I wasnt with the bandits, trust me.... their not even worth involved. They only did get involved because of bad timing."

The possessed Joshua would launch himself toward tomoe, and should any sword try to attack him they would find their path blocked by skull shaped mirrors. The dark blade Joshua held would screech against any object it touched, like a steam valve approaching explosion.

"I̶̐ͅ ̸̫̔S̸͎̃H̷͍͆A̴̳̅Ĺ̵ͅL̵͚͗ ̵̦͗A̶͚̽D̶̨̅D̶͍̆ ̴̨̒Y̸͚̑O̸̹̊U̴͚͊R̸̫̀ ̷͇̔S̴̜͒O̴̟̓Ų̵̉L̵̞̍ ̴̭̉Ţ̸͗O̷̟̐ ̸̹͊T̷͚̈H̶̟͆Ė̷̱ ̵͉͂C̶̺͊O̵̞̊Ḽ̶́L̵͈̆Ḙ̸̛C̶͎̏T̸̠͆Ȋ̸̗V̵̯̕E̸͙̋.̴͖̀ ̷̥̇" the imp would move like lightning and be outside tomoes range, yet he could still hear his voice.

"Trust me, answers will come in due time. But if you dont want him to devour everything with life near him, id suggest killing him. Who knows, maybe hell come back as his old self."

If Tomoe was within range, joshua would lash out with a mighty kick, infused with lich energy. The sound of snapping bones from Joshua's leg could be heard, shortly followed by the sound of his bones being forcibly stitched back together by unholy magic.

In the flowing aura, tears and the silvery gleam of a cross floating from the outpouring of energy. But who ever was in control wasnt the one crying.

All at once, Tomoe shifted into his combat instincts. The imp was no threat at the moment, though his usage of shapeshifting was noted. That would be something important to keep in mind, Tomoe himself knowing the dangers of walking around with different faces.  That was all to worry about at a later date, with the mirror mage moving closer and closer towards Tomoe. Four blades were sent forth towards the approaching man, but were deflected by mirrors. However, these blades would not come shooting back towards Tomoe; rather, they would stay in place in the air, neither dissipating nor moving just yet. After all, each and every sword within Caelum's armory was controlled by him personally unlike regular projectiles that had straight and uncontrolled trajectories.

What an annoying ability., Tomoe thought with a furrowed brow.

Defense and redirection were the man's strong suit, as was seen in his battle against the bandits moments ago. In that respect, the most beneficial move would be to allow the man to get close - Tomoe still possessed an offensive edge, he believed.

When the mirror mage drew close enough to kick, two more swords would jump to intercept it while Tomoe dashed backwards five meters with a lunge. One sword would absorb the force of the attack, taking the blow in Tomoe's place while also being destroyed. The other would meanwhile slash at the same leg, aiming to disable it. As that happened, the four blades that had been blocked a second prior by mirrors and stayed hovering in place behind the mirror mage lunged forth, aiming to stab the man in his back at the same time as his leg was slashed.

Fourteen total swords remained. There was one in Tomoe's hand, four aiming to pierce the mirror mage from behind, another slashing at his leg at the same time as his kick was blocked, and eight levitating defensively around the Joyan five meters from him ready to respond to any surprises.

The blows hit home, and the possessed body of joshua stumbled forward on a slashed leg and pierced body. Even as it tried to heal it cpuldnt heal around the blades lodged in his back, nor the blade that slashed him.

He stumbled to the ground and groaned as the possessive magic began to fade. Each one of the blades flowed with lich energy trying to overwhelm and possess them.

However it would fail. A lingering mist on Joshua's unconscious body was the only thing that remained of the damage he had taken. Once the sword were moved the wounds slowly healed leaving scars.

Joshua was out cold, barely alive in his own body as he slowly came back into the waking world. He groaned and rolled onto his back. "Just let me die already... you stupid power." He tried to move but could not. It was as if his entire body was unable to get enough energy to move. "Well fuck..... this suck.... hey.... hey you, you kicked my ass right?.... thanks... thanks for saving me from what ever the hell that was." He panted softly and still tried to force his body to stand, and was met with failure.

The exchange had ended in seconds, and Tomoe relaxed upon seeing the man fall. The swords all returned to hover around Tomoe in the air, pointing towards the man who had seemingly recovered from his injuries. Well, not entirely - there were scars left behind where the blades had pierced him, which left many questions in the Joyan's mind. What had just happened moments ago? Was he back to normal? Was he normal at all? Those questions floated around in the samurai's mind until he was brought back to the present by the voice of the mirror mage. It seemed as if the whole thing was expected to a degree - the healing, rather than the possession.

Tomoe stood there, magic still activated while looking down at the wounded man. Unlike his best friend who sought to help people at every turn, Tomoe was not so selfless. Rather than assisting the man with returning to his feet, Tomoe instead observed him carefully and ensured that there were no other surprises that would come shooting forth at the last second.

"Damn, dude, you're fucked seven different ways right now. You mind fillin' me in on what all of that was?", Tomoe finally spoke after a few seconds of pondering how to approach the situation further.

Running a hand through his ruffled hair in stress, the crimson cutthroat eventually extended a hand of support to the mirror mage after more seconds of inner debate. He didn't trust the guy yet, but he'd get an earful later if he'd left a potentially innocent man crumpled on the dirt late at night. If he tried anything, Tomoe knew he could react fast enough with his swords to counter. He had a feeling that there would be no more surprises for now, however, as the man's disposition seemed different from their brief conflict with one another.

"I'm Tomoe. Just a dude wanderin' about, really. How 'bout you?"

Joshua groaned and stood up with Tomoes help. He sighed and tried to clean himself off. He sighed softly and looked at Tomoe. "Thanks for the help." He stretched and sighed again seeing the remains of the punisher. He picked up the engine and sighed once more. "Damn... a shame for real."

"I'm Joshua. Quite honestly, I dont know what the hell happened... all I know is I'm free from that damn guild now." He used his own mana to shatter the guild emblem on his body. "So I guess I'm just a wanderer too."

He stopped the convo and went to the woman, she was crying over her husband's dead body. Joshua knelt down and reassured her softly. He asked her her religion and when she said she was a woman of illumin he nodded and helped her say a prayer for her husband. He even removed his own neckless, and held in in her hand. "Keep this... please. Stay here and keep praying."

After telling him where the graveyard was, a small family plot that have 2 smaller graves, children's, already buried. he gently lifted the husbands body and carried him to the graveyard. "If you have the time, help me lay this man to rest by his children... a wife should never have to bury her husband so close to her children..."

It was a task without pay, but Tomoe felt compelled to help regardless. What would he do, simply refuse? The man's story of leaving a guild was interesting, but it was probably for another time. For now, there was a simple task to be done: burying the dead. It wasn't a task foreign to the crimson cutthroat, having served under many violent and sadistic employers in his time. He had never managed to grow fully numb to the aching wails of family members as they watched their loved ones reunite with the earth, however. All would return to Gaia, and in that there was some semblance of worry removed from the Joyan's mind.

"I've always got time to help. It's about the only thing I do have time for nowadays, honestly.", Tomoe replied to the mirror mage as he assisted in carrying the dead man to his final resting place.

There was so much more time for beautiful women and expensive drinks before he joined Penumbral Guard. Or going back further, before he became a cultist. Life was simpler in Fairy Tail, when all he needed to do was gather information and fight those that caught him doing so. Simpler, yet so much more black and white. There was no place for something as base as "good" and "evil" in the current Fiore, after all, and that was all that was on his mind as they carried the man. Well, almost all.

In addition, there was also the matter of finding out more about the mirror mage and his odd semi-lich status. Something about it was dreadfully ominous, and all too easy to wonder about. In the moments of silence following the dead husband's carrying and burial, Tomoe would think to himself that there was no way he would simply let this mage escape his sight without answers.

"This is gonna sound weird, but I was told to find you, by some weirdo devil-looking bastard. He was at the bandit gathering earlier, too. You know anything about this, or am I losing my fuckin' mind?", Tomoe finally spoke once again after all a moment of silence for the woman's dead husband, turning to the man who called himself Joshua with curiosity ablaze in his eyes.

Joshua carried the man with the help of Tomoe, and after the silent process of digging the mans grave, Joshua would lay him in the ground. He covered the mans grave back up, and at the end of it he was covered in mud and dirt, but he didnt mind. He undid the neckless around his neck, and placed it where the headstone should be. The wife cried in the background. As Joshia began to say a prayer.

"Though thy body may no longer walk the face of Gaia, thy spirit may still walk among us. We bury joy, we bury pride, we bury all earthy emotion except for one. With thy love alone, may you be remembered. Tum Requiem.

He stood up and finally answered Tomoe. "Yes. I've run into him a few times. Though I'm sad to say I dont know anymore then you do right now. But regardless, thank you. Without you here... who knows how many people I would have hurt. As much as a blessing as this power is..." he looked back at the grave. "I do not think it is a power I wish to use fully." In truth he was scared of the power he now had.

Tomoe remained silent while the man said his prayer, watching to see if any suspicious necromancy-like activities would take place. If anything like that did happen, the Joyan would act immediately, taking measures to ensure no magic fuckery would occur. Thankfully, nothing of the sort happened, and the rites ended as normally as anything else. The samurai breathed a silent sigh of relief and allowed the conversation's flow to continue.

"You know anything about it? What's going on with you, that is. It'd be good to know that kinda shit, y'know?", Tomoe began speaking, running a hand through his hair and taking a step back.

What place did he have to give suggestions to others? He, who had committed so many sins in the past. He had no right to say what was best for others or to act like he knew more about magic than the average commoner walking the streets. Nevertheless, he was intrigued in the man's origins, and wouldn't simply let him go without answers.

"Hey, tell ya what. If you don't have anythin' going on for ya, and there's nothing else you'd rather be doin' with your life, you could come check out the guild I'm a part of. We could help ya out with learnin' your powers."

The offer was genuine, but to someone like Tomoe, it was more out of curiosity for the mirror mage than an offer of help or refuge. That wouldn't be plainly obvious though, his vernacular and attitude giving way to the image of a simpler man. It wasn't as if his curiosity was malicious, though - merely that Tomoe wished to see more closely the powers that the man had shown tonight. Besides, who knows? Maybe Joshua would get along swimmingly with Aegis, being so similar in magical presence and all.

"Whatever you want. I won't force ya. Us over at Penumbral Guard have a lot on our plate, if I'm being real. We hunt down scumbags 'n bag 'em for their bounties. And when we're done with that we enjoy nights on the town like anyone else getting off work for the night. All for the betterment of Fiore, really.", Tomoe explained, stating the last sentenc as if it were a scripted line rather than something he was personally invested in.

Joshua nodded as Tomoe spoke. He could see the logic in having a guild at his side, especially since the syndicate would most likely come after him. He nodded once more as Tomoe spoke of his guild.

"I've heard good things about the Guard. You lot have done alot of good catching bounty holders. I'm thoroughly impressed by the work you all have done. I'd appreciate it, being part of such an amazing guild. I hope you have someone who can help me fix my weapon." He gathered what he could of the punisher and carried every piece he could over to one of te bandits corpse. He emptied the bag on their back and put the weapons pieces within.

He stood up, said a heartful apology to the woman, who thanked them both by giving them what little food she had left to repay them. She wouldnt let them refuse. Once she had paid them and they were walking on the swampy road did Joshua sigh.

"This world is so broken right now... the group I was with, he Syndicate, wanted to control it by political and military ways... but I dont think that's the way this world of.ours will get better. So thank you for giving me this chance.

(Exit)

Tomoe was cynical, but he still knew when to have manners. He accepted the woman's kind gestures and allowed himself to be on his way. He didn't know Penumbral Guard had gained any kind of reputation at all, and quite frankly, he didn't particularly like it either. Time in the spotlight wasn't his thing, and he didn't like that people knew about him. It brought sourness to his day to know that somewhere out there, someone could know of Penumbral Guard and be plotting to take it down. The thought of it brought him flashes of Odin, and of the Midnight Cult. Were HER followers seeking their revenge for his departure, as they so often did to deserters? Or was there something else? Had he attacked someone attempting to turn over a new leaf or make amends? There was too much to think about right now, and it wasn't the right time anyway.

"It's no trouble at all, we're always happy to get new people in. There's a whole lotta money to be made out there chasin' down the dirty hogs of the world. Too much, really. Despicable money, if ya do it right.", Tomoe exclaimed, chuckling at the idea of profiting off of the tyranny of others.

Someone had to do it, though, and the Joyan was glad that there was even one other person he could count on to bring the wicked to justice. Well... it remained to be seen if this Joshua could be trusted. All things considered, the trust levels Tomoe had were absurdly low at the moment even among new recruits. Chances are, this new mage would take a lot to finally reach the standard of trust that the swordsman put in some of his other allies like Aegis or Masami.

Regardless of what the mirror mage would get up to next, Tomoe needed a change of scenery. Hosenka was a nice place, wasn't it? Hot tubs and a festive night life. Definitely the sort of place a city lover would thrive in, and maybe even get up to a little mischief.

---

- EXIT -