Benjamin Reeves's Story

Benjamin stared up at the large building in front of him. He'd never even been near a mage guild, let alone in one. His mother had never allowed it. He slid his hands in his pockets and turned to leave when that man's voice popped into his head again.

Flashback

Tears clogged up his vision as Ben ran from his home. He could still hear his mother's angry screams. "I knew it! From the day I gave birth to you I knew you were a no good mage! No, you're worse then a mage. You're a monster! Get out of this house and never return. No monster is a part of this family." His tiny shoes clacked on the pavement when the alley swallowed him whole. If you were to walk past that same alley at that exact time, you'd be witness to a spectacular, if not frightening, sight. You would see a small boy fall into a pile of garbage only to have the so-called pile reduced to hundreds of ribbons in the air. Not even the stench remained. Just a crying boy with his back pressed against the wall.

Ben looked at the destroyed trash with a mixture of fear and anger. "Mother's right. I am a monster!" A tiny hand struck the pavement in disgust. He was a monster. Cursed to live in solitude for the rest of his life. He would have no friends or family, only hate and destruction. His tears intensified. 'Why? Why does everything I touch die?'

"Having trouble little guy?" A voice called from above him. A warm, powerful voice just like father used to make. Ben shifted his gaze upwards to see his companion. A large man with bright brown hair stood before him. His cloak seemed to flow like the breeze around him, emitting an air of power and authority. The boy gasped and backed away quickly. "D-Don't come near me! If you do you'll die like the rest of them!" Ben cried. The big man laughed and picked up a stone from the cobblestones around them. Ben watched in amazement as the rock quickly crumbled beneath his touch. "We're not so different, you an I." His hairy knuckles softly patted the ground beside him. "Sit here."

Ben's eyes wandered over the man, trying to pick up any hint of trickery or deceit. The man's eyes sparkled with knowledge, power and most importantly of all, understanding. Still, the boy didn't trust as easily as others and cautiously made his way over to the man. When he made no notion of attack or speaking, Ben sat down. "Don't cry little guy, it's not as bad as you think." the large man said cheerfully. Ben turned away and wiped off the still flowing tears. "I wasn't crying. Who are you anyways?" The man smiled and held out his hand. "My name is Gildartz." As the two hands drifted towards each other, the smaller one suddenly jerked back towards its owner. The little boy stammered, "I can't touch you. You'll get hurt."

Gildartz smiled again and reached into the sack on his waist. From it he pulled two gloves as white as milk. The gloves were tossed into the air towards the youth. As the fell into his palms, he reached a surprising conclusion. "They didn't rip!" Gildartz nodded his head. "I should hope so, those things cost me 200'000 jewels. Magical gloves are a rarity these days. It's a pity, they're so comfy too." Benjamin stared in astonishment at his new possessions. His lithe fingers snaked into them and began to writhe in their new home. "T-Thank you sir!" he cried, enveloping the man in a hug. He could feel Gildartz hand wrap around him and clap him on the shoulder. "Kid, remember this. Destruction is only destruction if that's what it's used for. Any type of magic can be good or bad. It all depends on you, not your magic." Ben released him and nodded happily, tears of joy replacing the ones of sadness. The large man smiled and pointed down the street. "You've got a lot of potential kid and I want to see you grow. So, in order to pay off those gloves I want you to join the local guild." With a final smile, Gildartz turned and disappeared into the ever moving crowd of people that wander the city streets. Leaving Benjamin with only a pair of white gloves and a feeling of eternal gratefulness.


Flashforward

The hand closed around the door handle as a tiny flicker of doubt crossed into his mind. 'I don't know if I can do this.' Ben thought. The color of his hands drove these fears away. Without the material covering his fingers, this handle and quite possibly the entire door would be in splinters at his feet. A small sigh escaped his lips. "Well, here goes nothing." The door swung open as Benjamin stepped inside. "Excuse me? I'd like to become a mage!"

Potato didn't pay what he owed. Instead, he proceeded to ask the Guild Master what Jewels were. And he called Gawain creepy. What was creepy about him? Wasn't he a great man, like Freya had said? However, before he could object, Potato sent a barrage of questions at him.
Gawain stared at the young man in front of him who sent forward his many questions, keeping his face expressionless. Then, when Potato had finally finished, the Guild Master took a deep breath, much like the one Potato took, before answering his questions one by one.
"Jewels are the currency of Fiore. Money. Like this." He brought out a few high-value notes from his bag, showing them to Potato. "You pay for things -like food and lodgings- with it. Its important. And yes, it helps to know that you don't have any. Know I know that I'll have to make you work for what you owe, instead." That would probably mean having him join the Guild. That was troublesome. He hated going through all those procedures again and again. It would have been much simpler to just have the boy pay in cash. Well, what had happened yesterday...
"As for the fairy..." Gawain continued after a brief pause. So it really was a fairy. At least if Potato was to be trusted. "She's being kept under watch. I'll show her to you later. AFTER we decide on how you're going to pay your debt." ...It had been interesting. The 'fairy', and how she had 'merged' with Potato. It piqued Gawain's interest, at least a bit. So it might be good to have Potato stay around for a bit.
"And who said about not giving you potatoes? If my nose is right, that's the scent of potatoes coming from the kitchen. You'll have some to eat soon enough. Which will increase your debt, by the way." Unless he joined the Guild, of course. Food was free for the members of the Guild. As long as they went on missions regularly. The scent of food reminded Gawain that he was hungry as well. He'd been awake for several hours already, but hadn't eaten anything yet. After this thing was done with, he'd have a good meal.
"Where is this? This is the main building of Amaranth, my har- I mean, of Amaranth, the Mage Guild. Mages gather at this place to find jobs to do, which will let them earn some money." He had no idea whether Potato knew what a guild was or not, so he explained it, just to be safe.
"That lady -whose name is Issabella, by the way, remember it- had to hit you in order to subdue the thing you call Liricia. Which is the obvious thing to do when someone threatens to kill you, really." Not that it had really been a threatening situation. Most members of the Guild could handle themselves, and many of the strongest members of Amaranth had been gathered at the feast.
"And I am Gawain Harlen, the Master of this Guild. I'm the most important person in this place." That wasn't boasting, but a simple fact. He didn't like that. He would have been much happier being unimportant.
"And you are Potato. You are the epitome of potato-ness, the thing all potatoes strive to be. You shine your blessing upon them like a prophet, come to foretell the coming of the golden age of potatoes. No man, no horse, no watermelon, no potato can deny that you are the true and rightful emperor of all potatokind. Verily, thou art Potato."
Gawain grabbed a bottle of wine that someone had left on the table. It was still closed. He opened it, took a good gulp, and put it down. "Understood? Any other questions?"

And then more troublesome things happened. "Excuse me? I'd like to become a mage!"
Gawain's head turned around in a flash. And then turned back as soon as he saw the person's gender, letting out an exasperated sound. "Another one?" There sure had been a lot of newcomers lately. And all men. Why couldn't he get a charming new girl instead?
"Come in, welcome", he said in a monotonic voice, lifting his arm at the direction of the newcomer lazily. "Welcome to Amaranth, I am the Guild Master, Gawain Harlen, show me what you can do, and then head into the kitchen." He said all this without changing his tone in the slightest. At the moment, he had no interest in working in the Guild Master's position, so he intended to shift the responsibility to someone else. Yuliana was probably in the kitchen right now. At least there was food on the tables, and few others than Yuliana cooked for everyone without being asked. She'd take care of the paperwork.
But, of course, he couldn't give her the entire job. Even he didn't have to do the paperwork, he had to be the one to verify that the person wanting to join actually could use magic, and wasn't of danger to the Guild. So, he turned about to look at the newcomer again. "Come on, let's get this over with. Show me what you can do with your magic." His tone was no longer the monotone of before, but rather a tired one.

The respectable Guild Master pulled back a chair from the table close by, turned it around and sat on it so that he could see the newcomer. It was a small boy with blonde hair. Another blonde? As if Potato wasn't enough. He didn't have anything against blonde hair, mind you. After all, he loved Freya's hair. But these were men, not women. He didn't care about men in the first place, so they should at least show some variety in order to make it a bit easier for him to remember them. And he did need to remember them -not as a person, but as a Guild Master. No matter how much he disliked it, he had the duty to know each and every one of the people in the Guild, regardless of gender, and know their strengths and weaknesses. But how was he supposed to remember them when they were all the same? This boy had better do something unusual enough to make it easy for Gawain remember him. Like rush into the room yelling 'meat' and leap onto a table. Or have a fairy with him, or have Freya give him an interesting nickname.
Or maybe he'd have some interesting type of magic. Even if he didn't remember people, he remembered magic types, and could associate them with their users. That was another thing that Meat had that made him interesting -for a male, of course. There was something curious about the magic he used.
How about the boy who was in front of him now?

A small spark of anger ignited within Ben. This man had taken one look at him and automatically put him off as a harmless kid. The boy's eyes narrowed. If there was one thing he hated more then being called short, it was being underestimated. The white barrier on his hand was slowly removed, each finger reluctantly leaving its silky confines to exact it's duty. Any other boy his age would be intimidated by the man in front of him, with his large figure and piercing eyes, but not Ben. He had a promise to keep.

And Benjamin Reeves always kept his promises.

'Gotta make a big impression, something that will blow him off his feet.' the blonde thought. A mischievous grin spread across his face like a cat that had found the perfect time to pounce. Even if this got him kicked out, at least he'd get a good laugh out of it. His other hand slipped noiselessly from it's glove and gently placed them in his pocket. 'This is for underestimating me, old man." He quickly strode toward the observer and, ever so gently, touched his bottle of wine. The bottle shook violently before exploding in his hand. Shards of perfectly straight glass clattered on the floor around him as Ben put phase two of his plan into action.

His other hand shot out and collided with the man's chair. For a second, nothing happened. The chair remained completely intact. Suddenly, the sound of ripping leather filled the air as the chair proceeded to rip itself apart. It started with the area right beside his palm. Small cracks in the material like those from years of use. Unlike those rips however, these ones continued to grow. They reached along the smooth leather, slicing into it like a sword through butter. Ben smiled cockily and pulled on his gloves. "I don't know who you are but I've got some advice. Never underestimate me." He watched in amusement as the chair collapsed underneath the man.

Cedar
Cedar inspected the other new person as the man, Gawain, explained the answers to all his questions. He the answers, quite truthfully, confused him. He didn’t know what the man was talking about when he said guilds or that he was a master, but he tried to follow along as well as he could. The news about Liricia concerned him, though. If he couldn’t find her, he wouldn’t know about his past… And he believed that Liricia could tell him why he didn’t know that he was actually a potato, and how he was able to rule over his brethren. Did that mean that he couldn’t eat them? That would be bad. He might have to stop being a potato if it meant that. If he could stop being a potato, that is. Maybe Liricia was a potato as well? No, he was sure that she was a fairy…

Cedar sighed and opened his mouth to ask Gawain what to do. It was obvious that Gawain didn’t especially like him, and Cedar found it somewhat unnerving the way that he looked at some of the other people that had been in the room earlier.

Suddenly, though, Cedar was ripped from his thoughts by the exploding of a bottle full of liquid. Cedar fell backward with a yelp and scurried away as the boy that had just walked in proceeded to make a chair and a bottle to be destroyed.

He stood from the ground and rushed forward to hide behind Gawain, crouching and hanging on his clothes while cowering.

“IMSORRYISWEARIDIDNTDOITPLEASEDONTHURTMESCARYPERSON!!!!” he said, his voice quivering. The boy looked angry. He didn’t want angry mages to be around him. They were scary, as he had learned the night before. Peeking over Gawain’s shoulder, he peered at the violent, destructive boy in front of them.


Meer (“Rain of Blades”/War Fairy)
“So he’s awake…” Meer said, half to herself. She sat on a hill overlooking the town of Oshibana, where she had found herself wandering to. She felt herself drawn to the town by a magical power, one that couldn’t have belonged to any human but Cedar, her master.

“You say that as though it’s a good thing,” a bitter voice that came from a pitch black, winged silhouette beside her remarked. “He abandoned us. That man is nothing but a damned traitor.” She spat out the words as though the very presence of Cedar in her mind was disgusting.

Meer turned toward the figure. Her name was Irios, the fairy of shadow. Her form was in stark contrast with any of the other fairies, being only a silhouette of a tall, human sized woman with wings. Her only features were the emerald green eyes that stared out from the darkness of her body. Even Meer’s own appearance, that of a red haired, rather attractive human women with wings that she often hid, though larger than most fairies, was not quite so odd.

She looked at the huge sword that sat beside her, encased large leather sheathe, on the hillside. It had been a gift from her to Cedar long ago, which she had taken with her when Cedar was no longer able to use it many years ago. In the centuries gone by, the sword had cleaved and bit a path of carnage, its bloodied blade now stained with the blood of monsters and humans, beings with power and skill. Their bodies littered its past in the thousands, and Meer had taken the power and skills of each, being absorbed into the blade, all in preparation for the time that her master would awaken once again. The blade itself, in Cedar’s absence, had gained the title “Scarlet Desire”, given to it when Meer had asked a skilled mage to name it as he slowly succumbed to death, the blade buried in him, almost a century ago.

Meer smiled. She was finally able to see him again. The event would end the whirlwind of blood and death that he life had become, the same way that his first appearance to her had.

“He never abandoned us… Liricia did that, to save him. Did you forget?” Meer said softly, frowning at the memory. It was not a very happy one, and she and tried to forget it many times.

“Liricia… The little brat is to blame for imprisoning him, but he was still at fault. Using that wretched power of his... When he had our magic to use, too. He was to blame.” Irios said finally. They had been through the conversation many times before, and they still had not reached a conclusion.

“He had no choice. We were not able to help him, though we could have, had we taken the chance.” Meer was finished with the conversation, and stood, picking up the sword with her. Irios hissed.

“Do what you will, Irios. Should you decide that you wish to see Cedar, we will meet again soon. I wish you luck in your endeavors,” Meer said, beginning to walk towards the town.

The Guild Master looked at the boy, wanting him to hurry up. He had other things to do. He readied Analysis in order to examine the newcomer as he used his magic. Then Gawain noticed something. A grin, which he believed to be mischievous, had appeared on the boy's face. A tiny bit of curiousity sparked in Gawain's mind. The boy intended to do something. Maybe the process of admitting him to the guild -or refusing him- wouldn't be quite as tedious as he had imagined.
The boy began to stride towards him, and, curiously, took off his gloves. As he came closer, Gawain activated Analysis. And he instantly noticed something strange. Magical energy kept coursing through the boy. More specifically, through his hands. It was as if he was already using magic, even though nothing seemed to happen.
The Guild Master did not get the chance to ponder this curious thing for much longer, as his bottle was suddenly destroyed by a simple touch from the boy. So that was it, the meaning behind the boy's smirk. He intended to give the old man a dramatic first impression. Inwardly, Gawain gave a smirk of his own. He kept his physical face completely neutral, however.
When the boy's other hand went for the chair Gawain was sitting on, he turned off Analysis. He'd need to focus in order to do this perfectly.
As expected after seeing what happened to the bottle, the chair beneath him soon began to break down. He hadn't had the time to use Analysis to determine how exactly the boy's magic worked, but it was still obvious enough that the chair would break, too. Gawain saw the chair weaken. It was almost as if it was growing older, but not quite. He didn't have much time to observe the curious phenomenon, as the chair was soon unable to support his weight. "I don't know who you are but I've got some advice. Never underestimate me", the boy said.
At that very moment, the place in time when the chair broke, Gawain lifted his feet so that he wasn't touching the ground in any way.
And activated Freedom.

The chair broke, its pieces falling to the floor.
The man who had been sitting kept sitting.
On air.

Free from the grasp of gravity, there was nothing pulling the Guild Master down, so even though there was nothing to support him, he didn't fall. He simply sat there, in midair, looking at the boy in front of him with a neutral face. His feet were off the ground as well, extended before him, as if resting on a footrest.
He stayed like that for a moment. Just long enough for it to sink in to the boy who'd just demonstrated his magic to understand what had just happened. Then he reached with his hand towards one of the tiny shards of the broken bottle on the table, moving in a languid manner. He activated Analysis, studied the shard for a moment, and then used Repair.
The bottle, which had been broken into hundreds upon hundreds of tiny shards, gathered back together. The bonds which had existed between its many different parts were reformed, and within three seconds of the shard being touched, it sat upon the table as if nothing had happened.
Well, except for the wine. The wine was still covering the table -and Gawain's hand and arm. And some was on the floor.
Glass was easy. Well-made glass, with no air bubbles or the like, had an orderly structure, with easy-to-understand bonds between its parts. Thus, if you knew the shape a glass object had held before it had broken, it was child's play to Repair it. Infinitely easier than repairing a broken table.

Or a chair, for that matter. The instant he finished Repairing the bottle, he turned his Analysis towards the chair. And he cursed inwardly. The boy had done a thorough job. He hadn't simply broken the chair. While the remaining parts were relatively large, they were broken off in quite a troublesome manner.
Well, it was better to have a little challenge. He didn't show the slightest bit of emotion on his face, and Analyzed the chair. After six seconds, he had determined the former structure of the chair, and used Repair again. The chair began to reassemble itself under him, its parts slowly growing back together. Even the leather, which had seemed ancient after the boy's treatment, regained its former appearance.
In another six seconds after he'd finished the Analysis on the chair, or twelve seconds after the bottle had been restored, he released Freedom, letting gravity hold him again. When he did so, the chair was in perfect condition under him again, fully supporting his weight. He let his feet fall back to the floor.

The respectable Guild Master looked at the blonde boy in front of him -he had completely forgotten about Potato, who was cowering behind him. Then he slowly opened his mouth, and said: "I believe, that that is my line", in reference to the boy's earlier words.
He let the feeling sink in for some time. Then he added something. "By the way, the wine you spilled was of a particularly fine vintage of a particularly fine wine. You now owe the Guild forty-seven thousand and eight hundred Jewels, or maybe eight thousand or so less, since I already drank some of it." He was actually telling the truth. While he hadn't realized it when he'd first opened the bottle, he'd been drinking some of the most expensive wines Amaranth had.
"Putting that aside, you pass." The Guild Master reached into his bag -with his non-wine-soaked hand- and pulled out a small box after a moment of searching. He threw it to the boy. "Get into the kitchen -just follow your nose- and give that to the red-haired girl in there. At least she should be there. If she's not, bring me something to eat. I'm hungry."
Gawain paused. "I'd kill to eat Potato right now." He had intended to say 'potatoes', actually, but the word had somehow become shorter as it had left his mouth.

Through sparkling green lenses, Ben watched in amazement as the man sat on the air. He seemed to be surrounded by an air of authority, an air of power. Shivers ran down the boy's spine. Sudden movement caught his attention as the other blonde boy ran behind the floating mage. The blonde mage's body was trembling in fear. Ben tilted his head curiously. Had something happened before he got here? The realization struck him like a brick to the face.

'H-He's scared of me.'

Tears began to swell in the young boy's eyes. His hand reached out towards the trembling mage, grasping at air. "Please, don't be afraid. Don't be like everyone else." The clink of glass drew Ben's gaze. The large man was now standing, holding the bottle that he had completely destroyed. The wine still stained the floor beneath him. His eyes widened in astonishment as the chair began to knit itself together. The rips in the leather seemed to close up like they had a zipper attached, the broken wood interior rose from the floor and flew into their proper places, even the age of the chair itself seemed to disappear under his magic. After approximately six seconds, the chair stood as new.

"I believe, that that is my line" Benjamin turned away and quickly wiped the tears on his sleeve. No way was he going to show weakness now when he's so close to getting in. "By the way, the wine you spilled was of a particularly fine vintage of a particularly fine wine. You now owe the Guild forty-seven thousand and eight hundred Jewels, or maybe eight thousand or so less, since I already drank some of it." "W-What!" His tiny hands began fiddling with each other, a sure sign that he was feeling nervous. 'I can't believe it. I've been involved with mages for two hours and I already owe them sixty-two thousand Jewels!'

Before he could reply however, a red box flew toward him. Ben caught it easily with his enhanced reflexes, twisting his wrist to get a better look at it. He had no idea what it contained, only that it was light enough to catch with one hand. "Putting that aside, you pass." A large grin broke out on the young blonde's face and was swiftly followed by cute, giggling laughter. His white-clad hands shot out and clamped around the large man's. "Thank you sir! I promise you that you won't regret it!" "Get into the kitchen -just follow your nose- and give that to the red-haired girl in there-" That was all Ben needed to hear and, after offering one final wave to the blonde mage, raced off to the kitchens. The sweet smell of desserts filled his nostrils as he got closer. The people in the guild were nothing like his parents had described them. His mom had told him they were vile, nasty people who killed for fun. She was obviously wrong. These people were all happy! Drunk, but happy. It seemed laughter was a second language here. Ben smiled, he was sure he was going to like it here.

He wandered into the kitchen. Cooking food assailed his senses. A huge pig was roasting on a rotisserie at the far wall. Colorful fruit was laid out everywhere. "Hello? I'm a new mage an I was told to come here!" 'Just you watch Gildartz, I'm going to become an S-class mage and pay back your debt ten-fold!'

Yuliana kept cooking for quite a while, occasionally stopping to greet someone who dropped by and give them something to eat. Cooking for so many people was hard work, even if it was a lighter meal like breakfast, so she appreciated the momentary rest. Of course, she couldn't stop for too long, since some food required constant attention while it was made, lest it turn out imperfect.
While the red-headed mage was cutting some colorful fruit into smaller pieces and arranging them into beautiful sets, someone walked into the kitchen, announcing that he was a new mage. It was a young boy, even smaller than Yuliana was. She thought for a moment that he seemed a bit too young for this kind of thing, but then again, age didn't decide the type of magic a person could use. Yuliana herself was a very skilled mage, and the amount of sheer power she possessed was not small either, but her magic was simply not fit for battle. This harmless looking boy was probably much more dangerous than Yuliana was. Though it was quite hard to believe when looking at him, that was probably the case. He had just announced that he was a mage, after all, and magic had nothing to do with physical appearance.
Yuliana finished arranging the fruit quickly, and went to the sink nearby, washing her hands of the fruits' juice and then drying them with a towel. After she'd done this, she turned to the young boy.

"Welcome to Amaranth, then. I am Yuliana Lumina, but you can call me just Yulia." She glanced at the boy's hands, and noticed that he was holding the small red box. "The old man approved of you, then? In that case, we simply need to take care of the paperwork and such." Yuliana thought for a moment, trying to remember the events of late last night.
"Could you wait here for a moment? I need to go fetch the documents necessary. Feel free to eat while you're waiting. The food's free for any member of the Guild." Yuliana turned about and checked every item of food in the middle of being made, estimating how much time she'd have before they'd need her attention. After a moment, she judged that she had enough time if she hurried. Without waiting for another moment, she left the kitchen.

As she entered the main hall again, she noticed that the amount of people there had grown larger -though the presence of people had grown less powerful, with the disappearance of the likes of Freya. Wherever she was, it felt much more lively than anywhere else, no matter how many people were present. Of course, there were still some people with an actual presence left. The Guild Master was there, and also the curious 'Potato'. Yuliana would have stopped to have a word with them, but she was in a hurry. Cooking didn't wait.
So she practically dashed, moving as fast as she could in her long dress without fear of falling down. Though it wasn't a long distance either -just to the other side of the hall. There was a small closet close to the stage. Yuliana opened it and quickly scanned its contents. It did not take long for her to find what she was looking for. The Guild Membership Registration forms, and a pen. Sikes's was still on the top. She had left them in this closet after taking care of the formalities. It had been so late that she hadn't wanted to take the detour into the Guild Master's office again before going to sleep, and had decided to take care of them in the morning. Well, it was lucky that she had, since it saved her the longer route again.

With the papers and pen in hand, she returned to the kitchen soon after she had left. She put them down onto a clean table, and returned to the food, working on them for a moment, making sure that they wouldn't be anything less than perfect. After that, she washed her hands again and carefully wiped them dry with the towel, and went back to the boy who wanted to join the Guild.
"Sorry for the wait. These are the forms you need to fill in in order to formally join Amaranth." She put Sikes's form to the bottom, and brought an empty one on top, then moving it to in front of the blonde boy. Yuliana handed the boy the pen she'd brought, and took the red box at the same time.
She opened it, bringing out a curiously shaped object, almost like a stamp. She held it in her right hand, and opened her left one. She then pressed the stamp against the Amaranth symbol on her left palm, and channeled magical energy through it. She kept it there for a second or so before pulling it off, and turned her eyes to look at the boy.
"Once you're done with the forms, just press this against the place where you'd like your Guild tattoo." She held the stamp towards the newcomer.

Yuliana's sudden appearance made nearly made Ben jump out of his clothes. Her bright colors had seemed to blend in with the fruit she'd been cutting. His growing hunger didn't help his sense's much either, focusing more on the delicious food around him then searching the mage he was supposed to find. When he did find her however, Ben was extremely happy he did. She had to be one of the cutest girls he'd seen, her beauty only magnified by those crimson locks that sat upon her head. Oh how Ben loved red hair. There was just something about it that made any woman one hundred times more attractive, though he couldn't put his finger on what that aspect exactly was. Perhaps it was the way the sunlight caught it, transforming the locks from a sparkling ruby to a roaring wildfire. Maybe it was the texture, a fine silk, or maybe it was as simple as the fact that red was Ben's second favorite color. Nevertheless, one thing was for certain: Benjamin Reeves loves redheads.

Her hair wasn't the only thing that caught Ben's eye. The sheer multitude of colors surrounding Yuliana was a sight to behold! Shades of purple mixed with flecks of red and yellow to form a whole new color, unknown to mortal eyes, or at least Benjamin's. "Welcome to Amaranth, then. I am Yuliana Lumina, but you can call me just Yulia." Ben caught himself with the biggest, stupidest grin he'd ever thought possible but he couldn't help it. The girls voice sounded like a chorus of angels had began to sing with only the most beautiful birds in the world, like golden silk being wove in the loom of a princess. Alright, maybe he was exaggerating but the red hair had taken him under it's spell. He was powerless to resist and, for the record, wouldn't dream of doing so. He tried to say "It's a pleasure to meet you Yulia, my name is Benjamin Reeves. Would you care to join me for lunch?" but all that came out was "Ummmm, hi."

"Could you wait here for a moment? I need to go fetch the documents necessary. Feel free to eat while you're waiting. The food's free for any member of the Guild." Ben nodded, still unable to say a cohesive sentence. Her red hair once again captivated his gaze as she hurried out of the room. Once she had left, Benjamin decided to explore the kitchen and, if possible, find a big bowl of stew. He had always loved stew, to him it was the most genius invention ever created. His fet carried him over to the fruit Yulia had been cutting. Beautiful little color-coordinated platters of fruit stood out on the otherwise drab counter-top. He recognized all of them except for a small, star shaped fruit. Curious, he popped the small thing into his mouth. "Well...she did say I could eat." A warm sweet flavor slid down his throat with just a tinge of spiciness. Ben smiled, he'd have to remember to ask for more of that stuff when Yulia came back. His eyes wandered the kitchen until they found what his stomach had been longing for. A huge pot of stew! After pulling up a chair for a better vantage point, he gingerly stuck his spoon into the pot, lifted to his lips and sampled the meal. "It's missing something..." He muttered, reaching for the spice rack. "A little rosemary, some bay leaves and a pinch of salt!" He once again sampled his dish, nodding in approval. He scooped himself up a bowl and waited for Yulia to return.

The grin returned along with Yulia. As he tried to hide it, Benjamin became aware of how unattractive he must look. Shaggy blonde hair, fresh tear marks on his cheeks and a mouthful of stew? Not what he'd be looking for in a potential girlfriend....actually, any girl who likes stew is alright in his books. "Sorry for the wait. These are the forms you need to fill in in order to formally join Amaranth." The redhead chimed, sending shivers of joy down Ben's spine. He wiped the stew off his lips and, for the first time since he met her, he said something not completely moronic. "Oh, it's no problem."

"Once you're done with the forms, just press this against the place where you'd like your Guild tattoo." With the passion of a burning sun, Ben filled out the forms to the best of his abilities, though he left the guardians spot blank. His mom and dad didn't deserve that title. He handed back the forms to Yulia and pointed excitedly to his neck. "Right here should be good." He thought for a moment, "Would it be possible to have a green one?"

Yuliana watched the young boy fill in the form. He had made himself at home while she'd been away, taking himself a bowl of stew to eat. He seemed a bit quiet -at least he hadn't really said anything when she had introduced herself to him- but didn't seem too reserved. That was good. If Yuliana offered someone food, she liked it if they actually ate.
Her eyes scanned the kitchen while the blonde boy was writing. She noticed a few small changes. Yuliana had a very good eye for detail, and since it was her kitchen, she also remembered where everything was. One of the fruit she had been cutting earlier had disappeared, one of the bowls was now close to the newcomer, full of stew, and... the spices had been used. The salt shaker, in particular, had not only been used, but was even in a different position from before. She looked a bit closer, and had soon determined that in addition to the salt, rosemary and bay leaves had also been used. There were two others that had been moved a bit, but hadn't been used.
So, the boy -Yuliana glanced at the form that had been filled halfway through, and saw that his name was Benjamin- had decided to season the food that she had been making. It made her just a bit displeased. When she was making food herself, the food was hers. She was the one who made it from the start, raising it from mere ingredients into something so much more. It wasn't a good thing when others interfered with that without her permission. Well, now that it had been done, there was no point dwelling on it. She'd have to talk to Benjamin about it later, though.

As Benjamin finished filling in the forms, Yuliana raised the 'stamp' again. "Right here should be good. Would it be possible to have a green one?" Benjamin said, pointing at his neck.
"That shouldn't be a problem", Yuliana said, and thought of the color green while holding the stamp. More specifically, of the color V533-S501-Y339-W127-L111-B700-9. It was a tone that fit the young boy in front of her, if you asked Yuliana. "Hold still." And the red-headed mage leaned forward, gently placing one of her hands onto Benjamin's neck, and brought the stamp closer with the other one. Then she carefully pressed the stamp against his skin. She held it there for a second, and then pulled away. There was an Amaranth tattoo on his neck, a lime green one.
Yuliana inspected it for a moment before pulling away and placing the stamp back into its small box. After making sure that the box was closed well, she turned towards Benjamin again, and waved her hand in front of him. The air in front of the boy suddenly turned reflective, like a mirror. It had been a while since she'd last used Mirror Flame. Still, it worked perfectly -it seemed like a mirror hung in the air in front of Benjamin. "Is this what you had in mind?" Yuliana asked Benjamin while pointing at the reflection of the tattoo on the boy's neck.

"Let me welcome you again", she said, smiling to Benjamin. "You are now an official member of Amaranth, and have all the rights of a regular member. You can take jobs from the mission board, eat for free here -as long as you do so in moderation, of course- access the Guild's library, get yourself a room in the dormitories if you do not have another place to stay... And other things. If you have anything you need to know, feel free to ask me." While her tone of voice turned a bit more official as she went on, it still kept the warmth typical to Yuliana.
"There are a few important people I should introduce you to here in Amaranth, but most of them are out on missions right now, so that will have to wait. You already met our Master, right? Old man, dressed like a beggar?" She had been trying to get him to dress a bit better for a while now, but with little progress. His hair was almost gray -that awful color, if it could even be called such- so he should at least wear something colorful. "You shouldn't expect too much of him. He has... other things in his mind than his duties as Guild Master." If Benjamin had been a girl, Yuliana would have warned him of the specific nature of their Guild Master's activities, but since he wasn't, there was no real reason to bother him with it.
"There are also our two S Rank mages, Issabella and Freya. But you shouldn't expect too much of them either. Issabella spends most of her time on missions, and is somewhat of a loner, so it's unlikely that you'll have much to do with her. And Freya is..." Yuliana paused for a moment. How should she explain to the young boy in front of him that one of his Guildmates was a creature capable of creating a black hole inside her stomach that could reduce nine hundred eclairs into nothingness during a single meal?
She stayed silent for some time, probably long enough that Benjamin noticed it. "Well... Freya is Freya. You'll understand when you meet her." That was the only thing that could really be said. Freya was Freya.

Yuliana turned away from Benjamin, heading over to the food that was still unfinished. She resumed the process, checking that everything was alright. "Do you have any questions right now, Benjamin?" She asked while adjusting the heat of a stove. The blonde boy had interrupted things a bit, but most of it could be easily fixed with a bit of changes. And that which couldn't be easily fixed could still be fixed by someone with as much skill as Yuliana.

The boy winced involuntarily as the stamp touched his skin, much to his disliking. A soft warmth spread through his neck, like he was sitting in front of a lit fireplace, or like he had just drank a sip of perfect hot chocolate. Memories of Christmas mornings, where both of those things were abundant, flooded into his brain. The feeling diminished, to his discontent, over a few seconds. His cheeks turned a deep crimson as Yuliana leaned toward him to examine her handiwork. Her hair fell down around her neck, a wreath of scarlet strands weaved around a porcelain pole. Ben had to physically hold his hand down so he didn't touch her gorgeous locks. She pulled away and set the stamp in it's box, the hinges giving off a little squeak. Suddenly, the air in front of Ben began to shimmer.

He rubbed his eyes, 'I must have eaten my stew too fast.' When he pulled his hands away however, instead of a beautiful redhead he saw a small, cute boy with blonde hair and a bright green tattoo on his neck. Ben gasped in surprise and stared at the boy siting across from him. His fingers brushed through the boy's face, leaving small trails through the image. "Wow. That's amazing." He said softly. "Is this what you had in mind?" Yuliana chimed. Ben smiled widely and nodded. His hand reached up to his new tattoo and touched it softly, as if touching a spiderweb without breaking the threads. His smile grew. "It's perfect! Thank you so much!" 'I did it, I actually did it! I'm now a full-fledged mage! Just you wait world, I'll show you that I'm not a monster!'

"Let me welcome you again. You are now an official member of Amaranth, and have all the rights of a regular member. You can take jobs from the mission board, eat for free here -as long as you do so in moderation, of course- access the Guild's library, get yourself a room in the dormitories if you do not have another place to stay... And other things. If you have anything you need to know, feel free to ask me." Ben's eyes lit up at the word library. He loved reading almost as much as he loved stew and redheads. It was as if a whole other universe was contained within every single book. They are portals to a world far away from reality. When his magic started to develop, they were his only friends.

When Yuliana mentioned the old man at the entrance, Ben's mouth dropped. "He's your guild master? But..he's so old...and grumpy." In truthfulness, Ben didn't really have an opinion of the old man. He hadn't known him long enough to develop one. What he did know is that he had to prove himself to not just him and Yuliana but the entire guild! He had to do something big, something amazing....

"Do you have any questions right now, Benjamin?" The redhead asked, effectively destroying Ben's train of thought. "H-huh? Oh, one question. Would you, by any chance, show me to the dormitories later? I'm not very familiar with, well, all of this and I don't know where I'm going."

A look of guilt crossed Ben's face at the mention of the altered stew. He hadn't meant to make her annoyed, in fact, he hadn't even expected her to notice at all. His hands fiddled nervously with the knives around him, twirling one in each hand. Probably not the safest habit but it always seemed to calm him down. His little head nodded at Yulia's statement. "Sorry, it won't happen again. You can bet I'm going to help you in here though, with your permission of course." He gave a little smile and placed the knives back onto the counter. "I would appreciate it if you helped me bring these to the dining tables" Before the cute girl had finished he sentence, Ben had already loaded up with dishes including eggs, sausages and a steak. Ben's mouth watered at the sight of it. His family had never been rich enough to have steak for breakfast. He'd have to ask one of these days for one.

His mother had always told him he had two hollow legs. Ben didn't really know what it meant but he knew it had something to do with his ability to consume his own weight in food. He had no doubts that, if he wanted too, he could eat every dish he was carrying in one sitting and still be a little peckish. Nevertheless, these were other peoples dishes, not his. Though this didn't stop him from taking a little scrambled egg off someones plate after Yuliana had left. The taste was marvelous! He definitely needed to take some classes under Yulia.

He walked out of the kitchen with his burden of food, slightly stumbling under it's weight. It was a good thing the guild members, except for a select few who were too drunk to remember they ordered, knew what they had wanted otherwise Benjamin would never had known where everything went. After several tables and shouts of "Over here boy!", Ben was left with only one plate left containing two eggs, sunny-side up, and a huge pile of bacon. None of the drunks had seemed to order it and no one else called out for the platter when his eyes landed upon the old man from before or, as bewildering as it seemed, the guild master. 'Maybe he's hungry-' Ben's thought was cut short however, when his eyes fell upon the woman who accompanied the old man.

Another beautiful redhead stood before him. She seemed to carry an air of power with her, an unusual contrast to Yuliana's kind one. Not that it mattered to Ben, all that did were those luscious crimson locks. He wasn't one to be intimidated, Yuliana had been a special case. He couldn't quite explain it at the moment and, frankly, didn't want to. That would just throw off his plan. 'Alright Ben, you've got this one. Your a suave, cool, interesting guy. If this works, she'll be crawling all over you.' Being a teenager, it's only normal that his mind wandered to places not suitable for this RP. A small grin popped onto his face at the thoughts as he pushed them away. It was time to put this coaster in motion.

Holding the plate of food in his hands, Benjamin strode over to the group, a sly smile on his face. The woman's beauty only intensified as he got closer. A small blush spread across his cheeks. 'Step one, look like a kind bad-ass. Which I already am so this shouldn't be too hard.' "My prayers have been answered! Never again shall my faith waver!" Ben laughed and wrapped his arm happily around Gawain's waist. "Geez master, I didn't think I was that big of an influence!" His gaze drifted to the beautiful woman in front of him. "And who would this be? A new member perhaps?" He smiled sweetly at her and began to put the other half of phase one of his plan into action.

He raised his finger between the tow of them. "I'm terribly sorry, I'll be right back." His shoes clacked on the floorboards as he made Ben made his way over to the blonde guy who had been there when he came in. The man looked positively horrified. Ben wondered what had happened when he was in the kitchens. He offered the plate of food to the blonde and smiled happily. "I'm sorry if I scared you earlier, I really didn't mean too. Here, this should help calm your nerves. I'm Benjamin by the way, Benjamin Reeves." He gave himself a mental high-five and looked back at the crimson beauty he was currently smitten with, watching her reaction for a second before turning back to the boy. "Are you going to join the guild too? That would be awesome! We could go on missions together, defeat monsters, save princesses, all that cool stuff!"

Gawain was so focused on the redheaded hopefully-newcomer, that he barely even noticed the boy that had just joined, though he felt a bit of annoyance run through him as the boy came to interrupt his time with the gorgeous woman. "Geez master, I didn't think I was that big of an influence! And who would this be? A new member perhaps?" Well, at least the boy knew how to pick the right subject. The Guild Master kept looking at the woman, eager to hear her response, while still slowly moving into the right position.
“Yes, actually, that is what I’d like. Is your guild open for any positions, mister… Harlem, was it?” Gawain made a 'YES!' inside his mind, but outside, only let a pleasant smile come onto his face. The now-confirmed female newcomer had a smile on her face as well, a charming one, though it seemed like she wasn't used to it. A shame, someone like her should smile often, considering how good she looked when she did so.
"Harlen, actually. But please, call me Gawain, my dear." He preferred the more intimate first-name basis -at least with women. "And we will always have some room for a charming young lady such as yourself. All we need to do is take care of some formalities, and you are in." He had now positioned himself within striking range, standing next to the woman. "First, I need you to show me some of your magic, to make sure that you actually are a mage." He readied his Analysis magic to study her magic -and, more importantly, her other assets. Of course, though he did find out the information via Analysis, there was just something about direct touch.

He laid his hand on the woman's behind -not too obviously, though. While it could certainly be felt, it was still in a way that could be interpreted as perhaps wrapping one's hand around someone's waist -like the boy had done earlier- but gone a bit too low, maybe by accident. It was the Secret Art of the Inconspicuous Touch, mastered through years of arduous -but not unpleasant- training. Only those pure of heart -with pure desires- could use this technique to its full potential. The path to learning it was hard, full of setbacks and disappointments, but if one persevered, not straying from the Path, one could reach supreme bliss.
"Any time you're ready, my dear. Do anything that requires the use of magic." He activated Analysis, ready to examine the newcomer's magic potential -and already examining her body. It took a moment before Gawain realized that there was something odd -mostly because he was engrossed in some very interesting information he was getting. But eventually the strangeness made his logic overcome his emotions.
The woman certainly was a woman, no question about that. But her body was... strange. He couldn't quite say what it was, but there was something different about her, something unlike any women he had ever Analyzed before. There were subtle and not-so-subtle differences in her. The more he Analyzed her, the more obvious the strangeness became. Gawain's expression had changed from its former kind smile to one of curiousity, like that of a biologist that discovers a new species.

It was obvious now. This woman, yet unnamed, was not human. She was something else.

Then Gawain shrugged and the earlier smile returned to his face as he resumed Analyzing her proportions.
She may not have been human, but she definitely was a charming young woman, willing to join his har- Guild, that is. Nothing else mattered, really.




As expected, the respectable Guild Master headed over to the woman. Yuliana kept an eye over the situation while going back and forth, bringing food to the tables from the kitchen. She thought about interfering herself for a moment, but then decided that the woman Gawain was making a move on was someone who could handle herself. She wouldn't be taken advantage of easily. At least that was the image Yuliana got of her fellow redhead.
Then she blinked in surprise. It seemed like their Guild Master was not the only one making a move on the other redhead. Benjamin had headed over to her as well. The light blush that appeared on his face, his assumed attitude, the smile he gave her... Everything about him said that he was trying to make an impression on her. It seemed like he had found a love interest already. That was fast. But then again, he was a young boy. He'd probably get a crush on other girls as well. Well, she wished him luck. Love was a beautiful thing, and it always made her happy to see it blossom between people.

After she finally finished carrying the food back and forth, Yuliana noticed that Benjamin had now joined the company of Cedar, also known as 'Potato'. Since she had nothing else to do, and had promised to show him around after breakfast, Yuliana headed over to them. She sat down, bringing a plate of slices of fruit for herself, and a plate full of potatoes with butter and dill as a spice, along with a few other things to bring out the full flavor. She wasn't going to eat it herself, but had intended it for the Guild Master, who still hadn't eaten anything. Or maybe 'Potato' would like them? Though it seemed like he already had some food. "Good morning, Cedar", she greeted him. She hadn't spoken to him much, but had interacted with him a bit last night, bringing him something to eat and preparing his rooms. "Is the food to your liking?"
After exchanging a few words with Cedar, she turned to Benjamin, and then glanced at the other redhead's direction. "She is a rather pretty person, wouldn't you say?" She wanted to make sure of how he felt about the other newcomer before doing anything, even if it had been fairly obvious.
She gingerly took a slice of fruit between two of her fingers and brought it to her lips, slipping it in while waiting for the boy's answer.

Benjamin smiled as Cedar began to eat the food. He was glad that the blonde didn't think of him as a monster and more of a friend, who knows? Maybe they could even be on the same team, or whatever the mages did. He caught himself. He couldn't refer to them as mages anymore. He had to refer to them as his guild, as his family. His eyes wandered back to the red headed girl. The pervy guild master was standing quite close to her and from this angle, Ben could see his hand just floating over her rear-end. A small twinge of jealousy flew through him but he pushed it away. Women were not objects to be handled carelessly, they required constant affection and a passive nature. If you run up to a strange dog, chances are it will bite you. Women run on the same principles. If you don't love them, your not ready to own one.

Still, she did have a really nice butt.

“Who’s that, Benjamin?” Ben picked up a slight hint of recognition in Cedar's voice but discarded it as coincidence. "Hopefully a new member of the guild. She looks strong and not to mention beautiful. Stupid guild master, schmoozing her up for himself." He sighed and snatched a sausage link form Cedar's plate. It was really delicious though it would be better with stew. Ben returned to watching the new girl. Her red hair seemed to shine in the light, turning into a bright copper. The change reminded him of the girl from before. While this one was certainly pretty, there was just something about Yuliana's personality that drew him towards her. Not the Yuliana wasn't pretty, it's just this new girl was a little more-so. Though by the looks of it, she had the personality of a rock.

"She is a rather pretty person, wouldn't you say?" Ben smiled again. "Yeah, she's certainly something. Though, personally, I prefer Yuliana. You know, the one in the kitchens? She's really nice, really pretty and an amazing cook! I actually feel kind of bad for messing with her stew. I was just trying to bring out the flavor more. The ingredients that I put in wouldn't have changed the flavor, just heightened it. Letting it show it's true colors or in this case, flavors." He turned around, expecting to see Cedar or another of the guild members. Ben's heart skipped a beat when he found Yuliana standing beside him, listening to his every word. His cheeks turned the same shade of scarlet as Yuliana's hair."I mean, I, uh, shit. You didn't hear any of that."

While it was disappointing that the beautiful redhead pulled away from his hand, it wasn't overwhelmingly so. He had already gotten a good feel. He also had finished analyzing her body, so he changed Analysis to concentrate on her magic for when she actually started using it. For some reason, she seemed to hesitate a bit. “I’m very sorry, to ask sir, but I need a place where nothing will be…” the girl started, and then continued: "The magical capacity of the magic I use is too high to be used on its own in a populated area without a singular target. To put it bluntly, I would prefer to have an opponent and a place in which I won’t harm or destroy anything… important."
Gawain nodded. "I see. Your magic is highly combat-oriented, then. The training ground behind this building should do. The walls surrounding it have been Reinforced to endure any attacks that aren't specifically directed at them." Of course, they couldn't take some of the more powerful area spells out there either, but it was unlikely that anyone would use such a high level spell for just training. The kinds of attacks that could harm those walls on accident were attacks that you would only use in a life-and-death situation.
"Just follow me there, it's not a long distance..." Gawain was about to head to the door that led to the back yard of the Guild, when he heard knocks from the main entrance, and then the door opening. Soon afterwards, he saw a man wearing a postman's uniform striding towards him.

"Sir, you have an urgent letter from Mailman Trade", the postman said and handed the Guild Master a letter. Gawain broke the seal and began to read the message quickly, wanting to get back to welcoming the woman to the Guild as soon as possible. The message was simple enough, and so was the reaction it caused in the Guild Master of the no-money-at-all-at-the-moment Amaranth. Having to pay for something unnecessary was not something he wanted to do right now. At all. He had to stop Freya's rampage -it was probably Freya who was doing the destroying.
"Agreed", Gawain muttered as he read the last line on the letter.
The postman gave him another letter, a 'Poof Letter'. He had heard of the things, but he didn't really trust them. In the first place, he was very suspicious towards teleportation. The idea of his body being torn apart by some spell and then reconstructed somewhere else? Well, he changed his own bodily structure all the time, but only in parts, and it was Gawain himself who was doing it. He didn't trust someone else to do it, much less some random object. Besides, a one-use-only teleportation spell? If Mailman Trade could waste money for something like that, why did they need his money for repairs?
But as much as he disliked the idea of doing so, he would probably have to use it. While he could travel extremely fast when he wanted, every second counted in this situation.
Next was a load of gifts to Freya. Gawain watched as the pile kept growing. After the postman had left, he raised his voice. "Someone put them next to the others later!" There was a similar pile near the stage. Freya was popular. While that was a good thing sometimes -every box of sweets given to her was one third less that she ate from the Guild's stores- there were bad sides as well. What if some lecher took interest in the famous, beautiful girl, and went and took advantage of her? The respectable Guild Master could not allow something like that to happen.
But for now, there were other things he had to take care of.

Gawain took a deep breath. He then glanced at the red-haired newcomer. Then at the 'Poof Letter' in his hand. Then he took another deep breath, and turned to the woman.
"It seems like I have some business elsewhere, so I'm afraid we will have to hurry a bit, my dear. Follow me." He then took off, striding towards the side door and the training ground with long steps taken at short intervals. It did not take long before he had arrived at the large area where he had done his morning practice earlier. Once he was on the other side of one of the sparring circles, he turned around to face the woman wanting to join the Guild.
"I'll act as your opponent for this demonstration. Feel free to throw whatever you have at me: I'll be able to take it." After having said so, Gawain pulled out the quarterstaff Azure from the pocket dimension where he kept it. He took a stance with it, and proceeded to Reinforce his skin and the rest of his body. He had no idea what the woman had in mind -other than it was something intended for battle- so he had to prepare for several things. He closed his eyes.
He began to rearrange the carbon of his skin. It took a fraction of a second for him to change the 'perspective' of his Analysis so that he could 'see' the individual building blocks. After that, it took another second for him to create the shape once. Then he began to multiply it, the layer of the unique form of carbon spreading underneath his skin. Soon, it had spread everywhere in his skin. But that was not enough. He repeated the process, creating a second layer, then a third one, then another, and another... Until he had tens of thousands of them underneath his skin. Yet it didn't show outside in any way, since an individual layer was so incredibly thin. He had had a hard time even conceiving that something could be so small when he'd first tried it. But despite the thinness, they were extremely strong. Next, he pulled the protective layer tighter, so that it wouldn't simply stretch when an attack came. As the last step, he inserted a large amount of magical energy into the substance forming the new layer of skin, making it even stronger than it naturally was.
Next was the body. He started with the bones. Unlike with the skin, there wasn't really any reason to turn them back to normal after he was done, so they were always much stronger than that of an average human's bones, but he still had to check for any flaws. After he had done something very straining, he usually wasn't sharp enough to notice minor cracks and such. This time, there was nothing. The structure could stay as it was. He proceeded to fill his bones with magical energy. And the last part was his internal organs. They were so complex that he didn't dare mess with their structure -any failure would have severe consequences, especially in the case of something like the heart- so he simply Reinforced them by inserting magical energy into them, making them much more resistant to shock.
"I'm ready for whatever you have", the Guild Master said, opening his eyes. A moment of silence. "By the way, may I ask your name? You never did introduce yourself, my dear."




Yuliana waited for Benjamin's answer to her question, eating the slice of fruit. It did not take very long. "Yeah, she's certainly something. Though, personally, I prefer Yuliana. You know, the one in the kitchens? She's really nice, really pretty and an amazing cook!" She blinked, glancing at the other redhead. Yuliana did think she had chosen her colors well this morning, but she didn't really think she was as pretty as the other woman. It was a bit strange how Benjamin could call Yuliana prettier, considering how obviously infatuated he was in the other newcomer.
The boy continued before Yuliana had a chance to say anything: "I actually feel kind of bad for messing with her stew. I was just trying to bring out the flavor more. The ingredients that I put in wouldn't have changed the flavor, just heightened it. Letting it show it's true colors or in this case, flavors." True colors. She liked that metaphor. Indeed, the flavors of food was for taste what colors were for vision. When she thought about it like that, she realized that she'd probably start to enjoy cooking even more than she already did. A small smile appeared on her face.
It seemed like Benjamin hadn't realized who he had been talking to, considering how he suddenly seemed surprised when he turned around to look at her. "I mean, I, uh, shit. You didn't hear any of that." Was he the type who was easily embarassed, or why was he blushing?
"I'm afraid I did?" Yuliana said with a hint of question in her voice. "In any case, thank you for the compliment. It is always nice to have one's appearance complimented on." Her clean hand brushed her blue dress. It really seemed like he had chosen well this morning. "And I do realize that you didn't have any bad intentions when you put spices into the stew. And your choices weren't exactly bad either: While I would have added a pinch less of rosemary, the seasonings you chose were good for the stew. It is more of a matter of principle: I do not want others altering the food I've made without asking me first." She took another slice of fruit between her fingers and ate it.

At the entrance, the Guild Master had gotten some kind of letter, and seemed a bit agitated. A large pile of presents had also appeared next to the door. They were probably for Freya. Some guild members had already stood up to move them next to the others. For a moment, Yuliana wondered how Benjamin would react to Freya. Or Issabella, or Amaya, or any other girls in the Guild. He didn't seem as dead set on the newcomer as it had seemed earlier, after all.

Ben smiled and placed his hands behind his head, resting his back on the wall. "I'll keep that in mind. I'd like to cook with you in the future, I mean, if I'm allowed." he said cheerfully to the cute redhead. His eyes wandered back to catch another glimpse of the new girl but she wasn't there. Ben looked around, confused, until he spotted the guild master's grey hair bobbing across the hall towards the back. He scratched his head, didn't she have to show him her magic like he did? He began to ponder this when he came to a conclusion. The way she held her hand over her sword, her intimidating air, she must be really strong already! Ben smirked and grabbed Cedar and Yuliana's hands. "Guys, let's follow them!" He pointed to the walking pair, "I think something big is going down!"

Without waiting for an answer, Benjamin dragged them across the hall, trying to stay out of Gawain's line of sight. The other guild members seemed captivated as the new redhead walked by, their hands seemed to fidget with anything they came in contact with. Ben found it amusing though, a few minutes ago, he was doing the same and would probably do it again in the near future. Nevertheless, his attraction could wait. Being a sneaky little bugger came first. He released his new friends hands. "Alright guys, let's be really sneaky. If what is going to happen does happen, we definitely don't want to miss it." Dropping to his hands and knees, Ben silently made his way after the pair of mages, making sure to keep a fair bit of distance between them.

Meer stood silently for a moment, before placing her hand on the hilt of the sword. "Meer. Just Meer... Sir," she finished. She didn't quite know what to call him, but she assumed that "sir" would do fine.

"But If you have somewhere to be, then I will make this quick. You need not worry, sir." She said. About half of her power might be nice... No, that might be too much. She didn't know how hard the walls were... That thought didn't last long, as dark red tendrils snaked up from the hilt and burrowed themselves in her arm. Her eyes went wide. That was bad... The sword hadn't been used in a long while, but... She grimaced and forced herself to draw the blade slowly.

It, however, had different ideas. With a loud growl, it shot out of the sheathe, the tendrils pulling her arm in a sweeping motion that sent her flying forward... And, in her vision, straight through Gawain and into the wall behind him. The sword glanced off of it. Meer took a moment to be impressed that the wall was able to take that kind of shot with only a scratch, actually.

She turned around to face Gawain again. "My apologies. The sword... Is not quite normal. I will attack you this time, though," She said. It wasn't much of an apology, but for Meer's purposes, it worked.

The sword changed from the smaller weapon that she used when putting it in its sheathe to the larger, wider form that boosted her power. Depending on how large this one got, she could create more power. The metal itself never changed its weight, for that weight was equivalent to the number of lives it had taken, but it could change length and size within a certain degree. She still kept it just enough that she could swing comfortably, though a normal human, even when the power form was this small, would probably use two hands to do this.

"Ready," She murmured out of habit, and dashed forward, bringing the sword near the ground to swing upwards at him. Her speed, though, she kept in check. If she went too fast now, she might reach the limit of the rules later. That would be bad for any fairy. Very, very bad.

Cedar

Cedar was being dragged along to... Follow the odd lady and the creepy old man? It wasn't quite the best situation, but... He still needed to ask the man where Liricia was. He had yet to do that, though now he was in considerably better spirits than he was earlier in the day.

"Hey... What are they doing...?" He whispered, since it seemed like everyone was being somewhat quiet.

While he was waiting, he Reinforced Azure, the quarterstaff he was holding, as well. Since he had taken care of any structural flaws earlier, making it as sturdy as it was possible for an object of its shape and material, he only had to insert magical energy into the small gaps within the parts that formed it, strengthening its internal ties. He kept putting in more and more energy into it, making sure there were no empty spots. As a result, it became an object that few things could match in durability. It was a family heirloom, the only thing he had left of his now nonexistant family. Even his brother had died some years ago. So he wanted to keep it in perfect condition. Of course, he could Repair it, if anything ever actually happened to it. He had used it for years and years, knowing its structure, both magical and physical, inside-out. He could even replicate it perfectly, if needed. He would rather not do that, though.
The woman introduced herself as Meer, and added a 'sir' to refer to Gawain. She was the formal type, then. Well, that was good, too. Charming in its own way. Not everyone had to be like Freya, no matter how charming she was. Variety was a good thing, in women as well. If there were only one route, it would get boring soon enough, no matter how delightful the treasure that awaits at the end. It was good that there were many different types, each with their own ways of being charming. For example, there had been another extremely charming girl, once. He hadn't seen her in years, but she had been one of the most delightful girls he had ever met. Covering her shyness with displays of anger.
The Guild Master didn't have more time to think about it, as Meet was beginning to pull out her sword. Gawain readied his quarterstaff- and blinked. Meer had suddenly disappeared -no, she had not. She had merely moved at an extremely high speed. He activated Analysis for a moment, and could sense the traces of the strange magic used. It lead behind him. Gawain turned around, and saw Meer standing there. "My apologies. The sword... Is not quite normal. I will attack you this time, though", the woman said.
Gawain stared at her for a moment, and then, slowly, a grin appeared on his face. She was interesting. She wasn't simply beautiful, but possessed a fair bit of power as well, from the looks of it. He might even be able to fight seriously against her. From the way she moved, he could see that she was a warrior -her movements were fluid, instinctual. She required no thought to perform as she did. It came to her naturally, either through great amounts of practice, or sheer talent. Or both. And that sword of hers was interesting as well. It changed its size, becoming larger. It was easily large enough to require most people a two-handed grip, yet Meer was holding it with ease, not seeming strained by its weight. Of course, there was the possibility that the size merely brought it reach, not actually changing its mass.
"Ready", Meer murmured, and came at Gawain, moving at a high speed -yet nowhere near the speed she had moved at earlier. Her sword flashed upwards towards his chest.

Azure swung sideways, redirecting the blade away from Gawain's body, the white, Reinforced wood striking against the metal of the sword. The Guild Master took three long steps backwards, away from the wielder of the shorter weapon, before Meer could gain complete control over her weapon after his block. Now at a safe distance, able to take full advantage of the quarterstaff's superior length. He took the offensive, making a lightning-fast thrust at Meer's chest. She avoided it, stepping sideways and swinging her sword at him again. She was fast. But a quarterstaff always had the advantage against a sword. The distance between their bodies was simply too long for a blade. Gawain stepped backwards again and swung the staff sideways with an amount of power easily capable of crushing bones behind it. Of course, she managed to block it -she was no amateur. Either her skill or her instincts, or both, were amazing. She moved without hesitation. But he wasn't exactly a rookie either.
They kept exchanging blows. Strikes from the staff flew at the swordswoman's direction repeatedly, not giving her a moment's rest. Each strike aimed at a different place: One tried to break her arm, another to crush her windpipe, another to crack her skull. Of course, there was no real killing intent behind them. He was good enough to stop any strike before it actually reached its goal. His opponent was certainly the same -not that it mattered, considering that his skin was almost impenetrable right now. Even if she did deliver a hit, it wouldn't even scratch his skin unless she put all her power behind it.
She really was good. Despite his endless barrage of attacks, she was slowly adjusting to them, learning how to read their pattern. It would not take soon before she would take the offensive, and force him on the defensive. That would be no problem per se -defense was his forte, after all- but unless he was the one attacking, he couldn't end this. Her sword swung at his neck. He blinked, pulling his head backwards quickly, and proceeded to sweep at her legs with Azure. That one had been close. How had she closed the distance between them so quickly? Gawain quickly decided that he could probably make only three more attacks before the tide of the battle would change to his opponent's favor.

He needed to do something differently. He changed his grip, abandoning the traditional grip -one hand at the end, one at a quarter of the staff's length away from the end- which gave the quarterstaff its name, grabbing it close to the middle instead. He then began to spin it, moving at a much greater speed, in more -seemingly- erratic patterns. His style had suddenly changed completely, from the mostly defensive form of the traditional grip to a lightning-fast, unpredictable one that was almost like fighting against two weapons at once.
He managed to gain the momentum again. His opponent had to learn to read his movement's again due to the sudden and complete change in them. And the attacks, even faster than before, were at an advantage against a large, somewhat unwieldy weapon like the sword's current form, in a different way from the long reach of the traditional grip. But that did not last for long either. She learned at an astounding pace, soon knowing where his attacks would come from before the movement's for them even truly started. Of course, that was no wonder. When a weapon was in a certain position, it could only move in certain ways -at least if the wielder wanted to stay alive.
The momentum shifted to her again. Knowing that his stranger technique would no longer work, he shifted back to the traditional form, taking steps away from her to bring the staff back in front of him. It did not give him the momentum again, since she had learned the staff's movements before, but it was the form he was more comfortable with. He began using the attacks he had used before, thrusting for her windpipe, trying to crack her bones, but she knew them by now, and how to block, redirect or dodge them in a way that would give her an opportunity to attack.

She began to overpower him. With each blow they exchanged, the fight shifted more in her favor. She came closer and closer, and Gawain was unable to make good footwork to get distance between them, as she learned what timing he used for it, closing any distance as soon as he to made it. The Guild Master realized that he was no match for Meer in a simple contest of arms. He would lose if this were a simple duel between two ordinary people.
However, this was not a simple duel between two ordinary people. His opponent was not an ordinary person. She was not even human, if he had understood what he had Analyzed of her earlier correctly. But neither was he an ordinary person. While he was definitely human, he was also the Master of Amaranth. A former member of the Magic Council. And he was much better these days. His strength did not lie in using weapons, even if he was good at it. First and foremost, he was a Mage.
Meer's blade swung at his throat again. This time, there was no way he could dodge it -no way he could move his feet quickly enough to get out of the way. But his feet were not the only way of movement he had available.
Direction Change: Backwards. Burden: Two.
Suddenly, he felt a force twice as strong as normal gravity pull him away from Meer, giving him a speed that no person could match on foot. He easily got away from the blade in time. In one second, there was a distance of ten meters between them. More than enough.
Direction Change: Forwards.
He slowed himself down by giving himself a pull to the opposite direction, with the same strength. In another second, he had traveled another ten meters, and came to a halt.
Direction Change: Down. Burden: One.
He was now standing some twenty meters away from his opponents, within a time of only two seconds.
Before his opponent had the chance to close the distance between them again, he lifted his hand, with the palm pointing at Meer. "Restriction." A silver portal, roughly one meter in diameter, opened in front of him, and a dozen silvery chains shot towards the woman. She reacted quickly, swinging her blade, managing to cut one when it came too close, and then another, and a third one. However, then the chains overwhelmed her, one wrapping around the arm holding the sword, another grabbing her leg. Soon, they had completely sealed her movements. A second passed, then another. The chains stayed in place, not letting her move.
"I believe this match is decided, then?" Gawain said after a moment, relaxing his form, ready to release Meer as soon as she admitted her loss -or ready to move again if she did something unexpected. "That was a good fight. It's been a while since I've fought against an opponent of your caliber."

Yuliana gave Benjamin a small smile upon hearing his offer to cook with her. Some extra help in the kitchen was always welcome -as long as they didn't do anything without informing her of it first. It wasn't easy, cooking for a large part of a guild by herself. There were many others who could cook, but they did so only occasionally, unlike Yuliana, who did it almost every day. She ate another slice of fruit, and right when she was about to answer to Benjamin, the boy got excited about something, smirking and suddenly grabbing her hand. Her confusion did not last long, as he brought her and Cedar's -who had also been grabbed- attention to the Guild Master and the other newcomer, who were heading outside. "Guys, let's follow them! I think something big is going down!" Benjamin said excitedly, and proceeded to pull them across the hall, almost making Yuliana stumble. It was not exactly easy to move at such a high speed in the dress she was wearing. It took her a moment to adjust her steps so that she wasn't in the danger of falling down.
After a while, he finally released them, letting Yuliana take his own pace again. "Alright guys, let's be really sneaky. If what is going to happen does happen, we definitely don't want to miss it", Benjamin said, and dropped onto his hands and knees for some reason. Yuliana watched him, a bit amused. There wasn't really any reason to be sneaky. The Guild Master wouldn't mind.
"There is no need for that, Benjamin", Yuliana said, and walked after the Master and the other redhead openly. Right after he had passed the crawling Benjamin, however, he looked over his shoulder at him, and said: "Oh, and by the way, one of these days, I intend to make you wear a dress. You'll see what it's like, being pulled around like that." She gave him an uncharacteristic grin, and then hurried after the Guild Master.

Arriving at the training grounds behind the Guild, she took up a position at the edge, a safe distance from the two who were about to start their duel. She sat down on the bench positioned there, and looked them over. It had been a while since she had last observed a fight like this. Not many people would guess it from looking at her, but she enjoyed watching contests of skill, measuring the strength of people. As long as they were simply contests. If they became just violence, she wouldn't stand silent and watch.
She finally got a name for the other redhead, as she introduced herself as Meer. Soon after that, the battle seemed to start. Meer had suddenly moved from in front of the Guild Master to behind him. But then she apologized. Apparently, it had not been intentional.
But then the duel started for real. Meer charged at Gawain, swinging her sword at him with great speed.

It was far too fast-paced for Yuliana. She liked to watch, but she didn't usually actually get to see much of what really happened during physical contests like these. The way their bodies moved like the wind, in one place at a time, then in another, was not something she could follow with her eyes. She had no battle experience of her own, and thus couldn't follow their movements. She wasn't fit for battle. Even if she decided to use an offensive form of Fire Magic -easy enough for her, considering that the Iridescent Flame was infinitely harder to control than conventional Fire Magic- she would most likely lose any battle with any other member of the Guild, save perhaps Sidney, despite the great magic potential she held. She wouldn't be able to react in time for any attacks, and would definitely get hit. In battle, she was nothing short of useless, except in supporting roles.
Despite her inability to follow the individual moves the combatants made, she could still see that Meer was nothing to scoff at. She was easily matching Gawain in speed and power, holding her own against the man's endless attacks. Not only that, but it seemed like she was slowly pushing the old man back. Yuliana had seen the Master duel against many other members, many of them very skilled with weapons, but few of them had managed to do what Meer was doing right now. At some point, the Guild Master changed his style, but even that didn't seem to work for long, as he changed back later.
It was impressive. Even someone who wasn't even an amateur, like Yuliana, could easily see that it was a match between two experts. Their weapons kept whirling at incredible speeds, far greater than your average warrior could handle. The skill of both combatants was glaringly obvious. It could also be seen that Meer was the one who was better, although it was not a large difference.

And then it shifted away from weapons, and into magic. The Guild Master suddenly moved at a great speed, pulled away by something invisible. Yuliana hadn't seen him use that magic many times, but had deduced that it was probably some form of Gravity Magic. At least he had once crawled into the kitchen, coming to snatch some food. Crawled on the ceiling. She hadn't noticed him until it he had already been on his way out.
After getting to a safe distance, Gawain proceeded to use his Chain Magic, which, unlike Gravity Magic, was a common sight. The silver chains -which were of a particularly fine shade, by the way- shot at the other redhead, wrapping around her despite her managing to cut a few of them. The match was decided.
Yuliana nodded approvingly. It had been a good match, rather entertaining. He turned towards Benjamin and Cedar. "What do you think? The Master is not quite as slowed down by age as you'd think, wouldn't you say?" While he had his bad habits, he was, at the end of the day, a very impressive man.

Ben picked himself off the floor and sighed, looks like his stealth training would have to wait. Besides, it's not like the old guy would notice him. He was completely enthralled by the beautiful redhead beside him. Of course, Ben was too but he had another object of affection on his mind. "Oh, and by the way, one of these days, I intend to make you wear a dress. You'll see what it's like, being pulled around like that." Ben laughed, he had never worn a dress before but he imagined them to be very poofy. He didn't really have another word to describe it, just poofy. "It will be my honor." the boy said as he quickly followed Yuliana outside.

As soon as he stepped outside, a loud clang rang through his ears. His enhanced reflexes kicked in, throwing his eyes into a whirling mess as he tried to follow their movements. The redhead looked even more beautiful in the heat of battle. He crimson hair flowed about her like a raging fire and she moved with an unnatural grace that no human could achieve. Her huge sword switched between visibility and a speeding blur but the one thing that caught his eye was the tendrils that burrowed themselves into her arm. Benjamin winced and rubbed his own. 'Ouch, that looks like it hurts.'

The energy of battle seemed to change the guild master as well. No longer did he look like a grumpy, perverted old man. He was a great warrior, able to hold his own with a normal staff against that huge blade. While the redhead's attacks had grace, the old man's had finesse. Every movement he made seemed to have a purpose, each a part in a bigger plan. Even though he could see better then the others, the battle was too fast-paced for even him to keep tabs on. The only times he got clear sight was a fraction of a second after the opponent received a blow. Even so, Ben could tell the red head was beginning to overpower the guild master. Her sword reached for his throat. 'Well, that was exi-'

Suddenly, the guild master flew backwards as if an invisible force had slammed into him. The blonde boy couldn't finish his thought. He was too enthralled by the amazing development playing out in front him. His eyes couldn't even hope to follow the speed of the master's movements. In an instant, the man was standing 20 meters away from his opponent. Silver chains sprouted from his palm and flew towards the redhead. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't get them all and was soon unable to move. The guild master released her and she kneeled to him. A small flare of jealousy lit inside Benjamin.

"What do you think? The Master is not quite as slowed down by age as you'd think, wouldn't you say?" Ben jumped, he had forgotten her and Cedar were there. "He was so cool! They both moved so fast, I could barely keep up!" He thrust his thumb towards his chest, "Just watch, I'm going to be just as strong as guild master and the redhead!" He turned back to see the ending of the match and caught the girl's smile. Ben blushed and twiddled his thumbs through their silken confines.

Gawain released Meer from the chains as soon as he felt her will to fight disappear. The silver chains vanished as if they had never been there. Now relaxing completely, the Guild Master put Azure back into the pocket dimension he'd taken it from. He also began to Analyze his hardened skin, and slowly began to turn it back to normal.
While he was in the midst of the process, Meer came over to him, and suddenly kneeled in front of him. “The pleasure was mine, Master Harlen”, the woman said to him. “I believe that you said there was something urgent you had to attend to, so I will take my leave. Where shall I go to officially become part of this guild?” Ah, that was right. The battle had been so intense, that he had almost forgotten that he was in a hurry.
"Call me Gawain, please. You can keep the 'master', if that makes you comfortable, but call me by my first name." Then he nodded towards the direction of the spectators he had noticed just now. "As for the formalities of joining the Guild... You can see Yuliana over there, right? The girl with hair like yours? She handles things like that when I am too busy for one reason or another. As long as I've approved of someone, she can handle the paperwork of someone joining."
The Guild Master finished turning his skin back to normal. Turning it back to normal was harder than Reinforcing it. "As much as I'd like to do it personally for you, I have to leave now. I'll see you again when I come back." He took the 'Poof Letter' from his pocket, and, though he was as suspicious towards Teleportation Magic as always, he opened it, disappearing instantly in a poof of white smoke.


(Mailman Trade)

Silence.
"I'm not paying for this", the Guild Master said adamantly to himself as he stared at the sight in front of him.
One would think that a person in his position would get used to things like this. But he didn't. Nor did he want to get used to things like this.
"I'm not paying for this", he said again. This time, it attracted the attention of a busy-looking man, who came over to him. "You must be Amaranth's guild master, then. I must say I disagree -you are paying for this."
"For this?" Gawain asked, waving his hand at the Mailman Trade building.
Or, what used to be a building. Now, it was a pile of wood, stone, and money. Though the last one seemed to be disappearing rather quickly. The 'building' had about half of its roof torn off, had no difference between its ground floor and its basement, and had a bar on the top of what remained of its roof -upside down.
"Yes, for this. Your people were not exactly as careful as they could have been when they so kindly liberated the building." Obviously. Couldn't they have done the fighting outside? Or at least refrained from using the more destructive spells. The man continued: "In any case, you will be paying for the damages, obviously. We will have an estimate of the costs soon enough."
Gawain watched as people went back and forth, doing some flimsy repairs. A couple people seemed to be setting up a sign that said 'Freya Hirane was here'. "I suppose you're going to tell me that you had a sign like that to begin with? Well, that doesn't matter, since I'm not paying." The Guild Master started towards the ruins of the building. He was not paying, but he couldn't simply leave, either. They did, technically, have the right to demand payment.
The Guild Master went over to the doorframe. The door that was supposed to be in it had been blown off one way or another. It was lying a short distance away. Gawain grabbed the door, and brought it over to the frame it belonged to. Then, he activated Analysis, and began the long process of Repairing the entire building -which was hard, since he didn't have any real information on what it had looked like to begin with. Nevertheless, he was not paying, and that was that.




The Guild Master disappeared soon in a puff of smoke. Apparently, the job of doing the paperwork was left to her again. Not that she really minded, but it would have been a good thing if the Master did it himself every now and then.
"He was so cool! They both moved so fast, I could barely keep up! Just watch, I'm going to be just as strong as guild master and the redhead!" Benjamin said after the battle had finished. Upon hearing that, Yuliana felt something. Suddenly, she made a decision.
"Yes, you will be", she said with strong conviction, looking at the boy with a firm gaze. "I will make sure of that." He had potential. And he had the will to become strong. All that he lacked was proper nurturing. If he was taken care of, so that he wouldn't collapse under the pressure, after the failures, he would surely become something great. She would take this boy and turn him into a true Mage. Her mind began planning the process -different kinds of training, different kinds of mental support...
As she stared at him, she probably looked quite different from her usual self. She did not have her usual gentleness to her, but rather, a firmness. An absolute dedication to a task. It did not last long before she adopted her usual expression, however. She turned to look at the other redhead, Meer. She would likely provide much help in growing Benjamin to his potential. He had stated that he would become as strong as Meer. Therefore, she was a goal to him -in more than just one way, if Yuliana interpreted his blush correctly- and would help motivate him.
"But for now, I will have to take care of our other new member." She took her eyes off Benjamin and headed over to the other redhead. "Let me welcome you into the Guild. I am Yuliana Lumina. As the Master told you, I take care of things when he's busy. You will need to fill in some official forms before you are an actual member of the Guild. After that, you may receive the Guild Tattoo, and you will become a member. If you have any questions, feel free to ask."