Aneko Tala's Story

Tavlin took note of the mischievous gleam in Azaken's eyes as he kissed the other mage who had so carelessly mentioned his weaknesses. There was clearly some sort of chaos magic at play here. The way Azaken spoke, the words were very deliberate, not something that was very noticeable, but Tavlin picked up on it right away. He knew all to well that words were power in this line of work and a spell could be cast quite easily on a novice without their knowledge.

He shook Brand's hand as well. When Azaken made his rather loud announcement of wanting to see everyone's magic and what they could do, Tavlin nodded and gave a sly grin.

"I'm interested in seeing yours at work too." He said before he was distracted by the other young mages coming toward the building as well and arguing over whose power was stronger.


Meanwhile, another bus came to the nearest bus stop and a young felinoid Aonian stepped off and walked toward the Mage's guild. His silver and black fur shimmered a little in the sunlight. He was wearing a black thin hoodie with teal green trim and a striped tank top underneath along with a pair of black cargo shorts. He had a pair of headphones on that were attached to a small music player that had a near infinite storage capacity. He took the headphones off so that he could pay attention to what was going on around him. He walked toward the guild building and looked almost too small to be a mage as he was so short and young. He walked past all the others, Tavlin took note of him as well, and went to the front desk to register.

Rayia eased the TIE Phantom onto the landing pad the strange sound of it's twin ion engine shutting down as the ship came to rest. "Well her goes nothing." Rayia said as she exited the pilot seat.

Kassandra pulled on her helmet and readied herself while Rayia went over and activated the commando droid that would serve as a guard for the Phantom fighter should anyone be foolish enough to tamper with it.

Rayia lead the way out of the fighter her hood and mask hid most of her dark skinned face her armor cling tight to her form as she drifted down the gangplank her lightsaber hang from her belt her only weapon... and the only one she needed. behind her Kassandra followed her red armor standing out next to the black of Rayia's gear. On her hips where holster laser pistols and on her back was a vibroblade and what looked to be a sniper rifle.

"Seems We have a welcoming party..." Kassandra said nodding toward the locals coming up.

Rayia eased the TIE Phantom onto the landing pad the strange sound of it's twin ion engine shutting down as the ship came to rest. "Well her goes nothing." Rayia said as she exited the pilot seat.

Kassandra pulled on her helmet and readied herself while Rayia went over and activated the commando droid that would serve as a guard for the Phantom fighter should anyone be foolish enough to tamper with it.

Rayia lead the way out of the fighter her hood and mask hid most of her dark skinned face her armor cling tight to her form as she drifted down the gangplank her lightsaber hang from her belt her only weapon... and the only one she needed. behind her Kassandra followed her red armor standing out next to the black of Rayia's gear. On her hips where holster laser pistols and on her back was a vibroblade and what looked to be a sniper rifle.

"Seems We have a welcoming party..." Kassandra said nodding toward the locals coming up.

A young mage walked into the area before the mages guild itself, grimacing a little. At his side, a Succubus on his arm. She seemed rather affectionate, which was likely the catalyst for his apparent discomfort.

Norme, my Norme. Now that we're here in Questrios City, standing outside the Mages Guild, what shall we do together?

The Succubus crossed her arms, her fiery hair intensifying its orange glow as she adopted a confident look. It was clear she was a demon through her orange skin, orange eyes, and pointed ears, as well as her tail and her cloven hooves. Her nails, though not long, seemed sharp and ready, likely able to be used as claws, and she stood slightly taller than the young mage she accompanied. She wore some kind of armor, though it looked demonic in origin, and was made of dark-colored metals and thick brown furs. At her waist was a spellbook, chained to a belt she wore that also held two small pouches and a small case.

We shall enter the Grand Magi Games. I've been in the shadow of my siblings when it comes to magic, and a stage like this will finally let me prove that I am just as capable as they are! Of course, it's thanks to your help. I really do value it, and I'll be counting on you during this tournament just as much.

The young mage replaced his grimace with a confident look of his own. He was a Human, and he was likely raised on Origin, but something seemed off. He also dressed about as expected by a mage; in robes befitting a scholar. A robe, belts, tunic, and shawl, all coordinated in blues, greens, and beige. He also wore brown boots and had a hat that was quite large compared to himself. His hands were covered by brown gloves, and he too bore a tome at his side, as well as small pouches and cases of his own. He was slightly shorter than the demon that accompanied him, but it seemed he was in control of their choices.

Norme began walking to the Headquarters itself so he could sign up, trying his best to not be approached by the other people in the area, and Jezebeth clung to his arm as a romantic partner might.

I'm always glad to help you, Norme. Of course, I already know you're stronger than your family. No offense, but they were kind of lackluster when I met them. Ahaha! Hahaha!

If no one hailed them, they'd enter the Mages Guild Headquarters.

Brand was slightly taken aback by the unusual greeting from ‘Rulo’, however he didn’t react much and instead shrugged it off. “In some places people kiss each other on the cheeks, there’s nothing weird about it. Nice to meet you, Rulo, Tavlin,” he said, beaming at the two of them.

The fire mage probably looked like a fool to those more experienced, especially Azaken, since he’d seemed not even slightly suspicious. Not that it mattered, since Azaken wouldn’t have needed his spell in order to cause some chaos. Brand would be happy to oblige either way.

The pyromancer grinned, stepping back from the queue as he twirled his hand around in the air. A small, delicate trail of fire danced around it, which crackled as it morphed into a ring of embers. He tossed this up into the air above, where it exploded like a small firework, forming the shape of a golden phoenix, which beat its wings once or twice before disappearing in a flurry of sparks.

He got a good scolding from a few of the other mages waiting in line (partly due to some of them being singed by sparks) but overall no real harm done and he looked quite pleased with himself, although he was still none the wiser to Azaken’s magic.

Not long after, he had registered, thankfully being in no serious trouble, and was standing outside the HQ like before, chatting to anyone who’d put up with him.

Azaken was happy to see his actions taking success, as he loved the sight of chaos. It was something he enjoyed, the chaos that people could create, and how they could react in different and unique ways, and he especially loved seeing people surprise him. He loved that the most, the fact people could keep surprising him.

The event in question got the attention of everyone else though, including Astral and Luna, finally breaking up their fight.

"Hey, watch it!"

They also responded in unison, further strengthening Ixa's belief that they were great friends.

However, it seemed that little display caught another's attention as well.

"Alright people! Enough dawdling about!"

This voice spoke with wisdom and age, but also had a fierce power and spark inside of it. One that might make people want to obey, to listen, and to not interrupt him.

This was the voice of the Mage's Guild leader, Aedrios Gale.

"Alright everyone! Come on in and get registered already! It wont be too much longer till the games start, so you don't want to procrastinate it!"

Hearing the voice of their old master, both Astral and Luna practically snapped to attention, and did not dawdle in the slightest. Many others followed them, entering the Guild Building and its truly magical and fantastical nature. Even from the small view through the doorway out there, one could see books flying past, floating lights, and of course...breathtakingly attractive male and female receptionists.

"You may converse inside if you please, but lets at least get this started!"

Ixa, who also heard all of this, looked at Ryder.

"Looks like its time to enter!"

Shinku however, while following, didn't quite feel himself...and Akamaru meanwhile made a call.

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Lyrian went and met the people who had parked, along with several immigration workers from the Origin Immigration Agency. Lyrian kept a cool look around these people, all of who had legendary class paperwork skills that should not be underestimated, with various documents ready to be filled out and completed.

"Welcome to Origin. My name is Lyrian LeCross, Enforcer".

One of the people next to him came next to Lyrian, and kneeled as a clip board and some papers, along with a pen, were presented to him.

"Archon LeCross! Please use mine!"

"Thank you. But no need to use my rank here. After all, our guests wont know the rankings most likely..." he said, keeping a cool voice. One might noticed his clothes were a bit more old fashioned besides the boots, but that the katana on his side practically radiated a supernatural power.

Turning back to the guests, he continued to speak.

"Now then, we just need some registration information and some forms filled out, like for parking, which should only take a few minutes, and then we could guide you to the Mage's Guild to register for the Grand Magi Games. Sounds good?"

Tavlin made his way to the desk and began looking over the paper work as he took a clipboard and went to sit down and filled things out. The questions on the form were just the basic information and didn't ask for anything too personal, so Tavlin wasn't too worried. He returned the clipboard and went to do a little exploring.

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Meanwhile, Aneko made his way to the front desk and noticed the boy who introduced himself as Lyrian LeCross the enforcer of the guild. He was a little awestruck to see another feline since he hadn't seen one since he escaped from Aonia. He could tell that he wasn't Aonian like himself, but he still felt a kinship to other feline races. He walked up to the boy who looked to be a little older than him, though not by much.

"Hi, Lyrian, I'm Aneko. You're a feline race too! Where are you from? I'm from Aonia. You're the first feline I've seen since I left there." Aneko gushed getting a little over excited, his lack of social skills starting to show as he hadn't spent much time with other people but had been training his powers alone. His fluffy tail swished back and forth as he got excited by the idea of making a new friend.

Elysia didn't notice much of anything, having gone in lecture mode at Snowflake's question. It wasn't until it was her turn to register that she was forced to focus on something else. She stared at the clipboard. The questions weren't all that outlandish, being basic information, but then again, her circumstances weren't that ordinary either.

"Hmm, Age huh..?", she muttered, "Even if I don't count my time 'outside', I lost track after the first few millennia." In the end she decided to cast a cantrip to divine her actual age. Her initial attempt at casting it failed. She had forgotten to account for the fact that her own universe was destroyed, and the root of the spell was set there. It wasn't until she had her magic direct the query to the Seed she was host of, that she got an answer to her question.

Of course this DID include her time in the Void. She couldn't help but stare at the number. Changing the query, she got the actual answer. It changed the amount of years less than she had hoped, but she wasn't going to lie about it, no matter how much she was tempted to.

Her casual modification of magic hadn't gone unnoticed by most, some actually being able to divine the extent of what she just did.

"So... Age: 28754-years-of-relevant-existence...", Elysia continued muttering. After that she went to planet of birth. Here she simply put down 'Fysalda'. and when it came to the Location of said world(Space Sector and/or Plain of Existence) she had no choice but to put down N/A.

She had to skip a few other answers to questions, for lack of having them, until she finally finished by signing the Waiver. She wasn't all that worried about her 'life' all things considered. Mostly because she was outside of that cycle, simply being. A true immortal.

As people stepped up and took some registration forms, a strange vortex appeared on the ceiling. For a moment, nothing came through, and then it closed. Nothing happened, so people shrugged their shoulders and disregarded it....until another vortex opened up, and Jaune, Demor, and Iviri fell through.

"Owww...."

"Could someone please get off of me?!"

"Jaune! Kimaru! Thank goodness, I just detected a spike in interference with the neural lin..."

And then, as if on cue, a huge stream of fire emerged, centered around a red haired boy (Shinku) like a flaming snake, with extreme hostility. There was no precursor incident (aside from Azaken's brainwashing from earlier that morning), and no trigger. It just happened immediately, and then struck out towards the audience. Its brilliant flames flaring with life....and then, several swords launched out from the flames and changed up the attack entirely.

But at that same time, a huge gust of wind seemed to knock the flames away and restore piece, even blowing the figure who had been hidden by fire and smoke out of sight...

"Whew...that was close...now, stay still!"

In truth, Jaune had just sped Shinku to the opposite side of the room to get out of eyesight while he figured out what the hell just happened. Of course, most people might miss it, but anyone with exceptional perceptive abilities might have noticed.

Iviri was still confused about what happened, but so where many others. Ixa just stayed by Elysia and hoped to not get involved. Plus, he was not a big fan of fire.

However, it was at this point that the leader of the Mage's Guild, Aedrious Gale, appeared.

"Do not worry. Sometimes, magical anomalies happen in these areas. Please stay calm and know that you are in no danger here, as the security people already had barriers and other countermeasures deployed to deal with the situation if needed. Now then, since I am here, and you are all here, does anyone have any questions about the Grand Magi Games that will be hosted soon?"

Despite his age, he spoke loudly and clearly to everyone, and given his height, towered over most if not all of the people there.

Rayia made her way at last into the mage guild hq. Mages of all sizes and sorts where rushing around to get sighed up and settled in. Any that could sense it would feel a darkness coming from Rayia has she walked into the hq. The Red armored figure of Kassandra soon joined her side have had finished filling out the docking paper she joined her mistress.

"Some of these are just kids..." Muttered Kassandra.

Rayia was silent making her way to the nearest table. "So is this where I sign up?"

Needless to say, Demor was a little surprised by being warped to the Mages Guild Headquarters via portal stone... or whatever it was that got him here. Landing on his stomach, the Male Drachini rolled to his feet, and then stretched out his body, now fully relaxed and clean from his time at the baths with Iviri and Jaune. His tail swished out behind him, likewise stretching as he yawned, revealing sharp teeth. As he finished he licked his lips and crossed his arms over his chest, blinking slowly.

Looking around, Demor took in the area around him, and each individual he could see, or smell, or even just magically sense. There was a massive amount of magic energy in the area, and he sensed that the games would prove to be quite the spectacle to be a part of, let alone to watch. A bolt of lightning sparked around his body, arcing around his shoulder as he became eager, and he shivered with excitement.

"Well, that's one way to make an entrance I suppose..." he commented finally before turning to Iviri, offering the boy his tail to help him to his feet if he hadn't already made it there yet.

Norme, currently seated in a chair, finished filling out his form as Jezebeth peered over his shoulder, an inquisitive eye trained on the paper.

Well, Norme, it seems the host has made himself known. He's got a powerful aura though, so you'd best be on guard.

Norme looked up and filled out the last part of the sheet, completing it.

Urgh. Just being in the room with him is oppressive. Well, we'd best listen carefully. Some questions may give us the information we need to take note of.

Norme glanced at one of his gloved hands, a look of determination crossing his face as Jezebeth placed her own like hand on top of his, surprising him. The faint glowing marks embedded in each were identical.

Jezebeth...

Oh, my Norme. Remember we share our power, and my power is far more intense than any lowly demon you may have ever known; it's a power you have to your name as well. We'll succeed for sure, and I've got your back as long as you have mine. That's a part of this connection, right?

Yes. You're right. I think he's about to speak more, let's ready ourselves, and commit everything he says to memory.

Brand chuckled at the flaming apparition that had appeared. He was as lost as anyone else in guessing where it had come from but he felt motivated to take a humorous approach to the situation.

“Pyromancers, am I right?” he remarked. Whether his joking was appreciated was little concern to him, so long as he wouldn’t get in trouble with the authorities. Well, at least not too much trouble.

His attention however was mostly focused on the arrival of new mages directly into the room that had just occurred. Having now registered he thought he might as well get to know the other contestants, if they were social anyway.

“Well, that was more unusual than taking the front door!” he joked as he approached Demor and Iviri.

"And here we are, the moment we have all been waiting for! The Grand Magi Games has begun! Here in the QuestZone Colosseum at Questrios, we are here now to celebrate, or participate, or just enjoy the Grand Magi Games! I am your well known reporter, Trisha Adler, here with ONINet, the Original News Intelligence Network! We are here live for the very start of the event, hosted by the Mage's Guild, and sponsored by more companies and organizations then I can say in one go! So you can see the list of sponsors below, and probably across the stadium on various ads! In addition, I believe those companies and organizations have even offered to pay all of the expenses for certain contestants in exchange for wearing clothes that feature their brand! Now...oh, look! The Guildmaster, Aedrios Gale, is standing up from his center position to make a speech!"

ALl of the cameras cut to the center judges table, where Aedrios Gale had stood up.

"We are here today to let everyone here today use their magic to their fullest. Remember, today, it is not just about magical strength! It is about creativity, cunning, cleverness, charm, aesthetics, talent, skill, hard work, and so much more! For we are not just brutish warriors or powerful artillery, we are those who have honed and mastered our gifts to their fullest! We are those who had taken our talents, our aims, beyond what most view our gifts as being used for! We are those who will seek out the unknown, find unexpected ways to use what we have, and aspire for greatness beyond simple means!"

With those words, he sat down. It appeared for today, the judges would be Head Mage's Guild Leader Aedrios Gale, Second Prince Acara Verrevia, and Local Mage's Guildmaster Donna Roux. Meanwhile, in terms of announcers, there was Allo Aurios, the reporter herself Trisha Adler, and Lyrian LeCross.

"Now then, lets go and watch the contestests as they come on out!" she announced, and surely enough the contestants hurried onto the field. There had to be at least one or two hundred, a large number to keep track of, with mages of all types. Men, women, old and young, it seemed like people across the galaxy had come to compete. Some even looked rather intimidating and scary, as if they had experienced hundreds of battles and wars.

ANd in the center of all that, the Master of Ceremonies, Sola Arken, stepped onto...

"Oh my...look! Its Sola! Sola, sign my cup!"

"Sign my shirt!"

"Sign my napkin!"

Suddenly, the audience went into a blitz for someone who was not even competing. That was just how popular Sola was as a pop idol.

"Now now, calm down everyone! Otherwise, I wont be able to do my bit and get the games underway!" he told everyone with a charming wink. The audience calmed down in an instant, far quicker then anyone else had expected to be possible. "Now then, I am here to announce the first event for the competitors! That is right, the first one right off the bat! After all, we have too many people here right now to introduce everyone! And iv been told that it is rather fitting I introduce this one...because event number one is a talent show and popularity contest!"

With that, the crowd cheered even more until Sola waved at them to let him continue.

"After all, while the Mage's Guild has plenty of people who can fight, the primary focus is not fighting but magic! The Grand Magi Games is about magic and creativity, about spirit, not about who is stronger! So, here is the deal! You gotta use your magic and abilities to put up a great show, dazzle the crowd and get their interest, win their hearts! Be charming and sweet, cool and composed! But don't worry, because its not just a popularity contest but also a talent contest! You can pass either by getting enough votes from the crowd, or by impressing the judges with your talent! So make sure you stand up, but do remember to play it safe! Be fair everyone, and I will appear afterwards! And if everyone behaves and enjoys the game properly, I even get to be in charge of the halftime show!"

And with that, Sola Arken hopped off the stage and into the back, since he was told this event would be impossible if he remained in the crowd's sight apparently.

And of course, as if by fate, pretty much everyone who was at the Mage's Guild together earlier would be going up with the first group...though it was pretty much guaranteed many of them had not expected the first event to be like this.

Emerin looked at Altian, and had a wicked and playful smile. "I got a great idea!"

Jaune meanwhile looked at Shinku, and had a mischevous grin. "Game on".

Allo just sighed, and hoped no one would trigger his ability.

Nao started to do some stretches before anything began.

Iviri meanwhile was rooting from the sidelines, though he was not sure who he should be rooting for. Demor? Ixa? Rivyan? So he rooted for all three.

Ixa just looked back at Elysia. "I think this will be a ton of fun!"

Azaken meanwhile may have used his highest of stealth and discression ability, and pumped a small amount of an oderless, colorless, soundless, tasteless hallucinogen into the field to see what sort of mayhem would occur...though, when he saw everyone else get pumped up, he couldn't help but decide to compete for real.

Luna and Astral were also doing stretches, as they glared at each other from their friendly rivalry.

And Cyrus was preparing himself for a grand show, interested in participating in such an event. Teh revelation of the first event had only pumped him up more actually.

And so, the Grand Magi Games....began!

Elysia listened to the explanation, it was nothing she hadn't foreseen, but she couldn't help but feel nervous. A fight might have been easier on her frazzling nerves. She was not quite being used to being around people yet after millennia of isolation, let alone comfortable at being the centre of attention like this.

It was Ixa's words that drew her out of her funk. She smiled, albeit still a bit of a wan one, to the boy, "I'm sure it will!"

She watched as a few of the more confident people in the group she was standing on one of multiple stages with, started their appeals. In some case, that confidence seemed to be founded. In most others it seemed to be decidedly misplaced. Not even a minute had passed before she decided to join in on the fun herself.

She eyed what was already being cast, and how the different magics clashed with each other in a rather unsightly manner.

'This wil not do', she thought to herself, a mischievous smile on her face.

She began to draw on her magic, which in turn drew on the Seed of Wonder hiding itself in her soul. She altered the structure of her magic, which was by nature an amethyst color, to make it shine golden.

As it was, it caused her to seem to be surrounded by a lazily swirling golden haze, birdlike constructs formed of the same golden magic, visible in the vortex. She took the opportunity created by going unseen to transfigure her clothes into something more fitting for the occasion.

All of this, safe for the transfiguration of her clothes, had been pure manipulation of aether, not given purpose as of yet. This, as one might have guessed, was about to change.

She imbued the magic around her with a single purpose, and blasted it outwards. That purpose: Dispel. The magic raced across the field, dispelling whatever displays it was capable of. In the process her new outfit was unveiled, a form-hugging pale green ensemble with white, black accents.

She did a rather good job at hiding just how uncomfortable she was in such a revealing outfit, continuing on with her appeal.

Now that the field was cleared of most magic cast by the rabble that would have lost anyway, whether it be to her, or to other opponents with actual personality, she started her appeal for real.

She raised her arms to the sky, and a giant construct shaped like a bird formed around her. If one had paid attention earlier on, they would have noticed that this bird seemed to be of the same design as the ones flying around the haze earlier.

The bird moved, and a mournful trill could be heard throughout the entire colosseum, reaching even the spectators that where the furthest away. Creating several more effects by shaping her magic, she simultaneously focussed on continuing what turned out to be the approximation of a bird's song. In truth, she controlled strings of magic to create the music.

A portion of the spectators, and even a few contestants broke into tears at the sound. It was a song of loss, of longing, of melancholy. It was song of realisation that what was longed for could no longer be found anywhere but in memories. Yet halfway through an undercurrent that had been there from the beginning, but was not focussed on became the focus of the piece. It seemed to speak of determination, of love, of hope.

What once was may never be again, but every end marks a new beginning. As the music died down the bird flew to the sky, the other effects she had created rising with it. With a final 'cry' the bird and the other visual effects burst into flame, a golden shower of sparks raining down on the platform she was and the others in her group were on.

At the center of these gentle lights, a small construct shaped like an egg appeared in the sky, where the bird, now identified as phoenix used to be. It slowly floated down to Elysia, who appeared to absorb it into her body. She gave a small bow, signalling that she was done.

As she sat down on the edge of the platform, her legs dangling. As the transfiguration on her clothes dispelled, sounds of dismay could be heard once more from her fellow contestants. The first round of grumbling had come when their magic had been dispelled mid-action. The second however, was when they determined those gentle lights from earlier, which stuck to them, were draining their magic bit by bit. They gave her the stink eye, but she didn't see nor care. That performance had drained her emotionally, if not magically.

She'd start paying attention again when Ixa decided to come out and play.

A round of creativity and flashiness, rather than combat, eh? Demor crossed his arms and lowered his hood as he looked around the stadium. So many contenders, so much Magic Power in one place. The Judges had their booth, the audience was countless and surrounded them entirely. The Male Drachini nodded softly to himself, and tapped his foot. Most of his spells and skills were purely combative in nature - this wouldn't be easy.

But then he saw it: Another Mage who could use Storm Magic, or at least Weather Magic of some sort, creating a Storm Cloud above the Arena, drawing many eyes towards it as the lightning arced between the clouds and Thunder roared. Many children and those scared of the thunder cried out in fear, and Demor's eyes widened, pupils narrowing into Reptilian Slits as he darted for the Mage, Lightning arcing around his body as he let out a loud battle-cry, drawing perhaps some of the crowd to look at him as he then shoulder-charged that mage, slamming them off their feet before crouching, and leaping high into the air.

"I Sure hope everyone can see this..." he thought to himself as he continued flying upwards, covered in lightning as used his Arc Flight spell to dart across the air within the Arena, the Yellow and Purple Lightning flashing and arcing beautifully as he flew from spot to spot, right into the clouds.

Then he began to inhale. Within seconds the Storm calmed, and after perhaps a minute, it became apparent that the size of the storm cloud was shrinking. Demor was EATING the Storm Cloud. More specifically, feeding off the Magic that created it, and using it to both sate his appetite and fuel himself.

It would take another couple agonizingly frighting minutes before the entire cloud was gone, and the sun shone through to hit the audience again. Lightning arced from the clouds to the ground, scorching the earth and kicking up small bursts of flame or dust. Once the cloud was gone, though, Demor remained floating in the air for a moment, before letting out a small, almost inaudible belch, and beginning to fall to the ground face first, smiling the whole time.

His body began to glow brightly, and then it began to shift. Feet and Hands became claws, his tail flicked out fast enough to make a whip's crack, horns grew from his forehead, flowing back against his skull smoothly before pointing upwards, and finally, great wings of Black erupted from his back.

Dragon Force.

Once entering this form, the light vanished and he spread his wings, stopping his descent immediately with a burst of air that spread across the field, kicking up more dust, making clothes in the audience flutter, and hats fly away. He then flew up without the need of his Arc Flight spell, flying over the audience and directly in front of the judges to make sure they saw him and considered him for the next round. As he did, he did a variety of tricks - flips and corkscrews and other fancy flying before launching bolts of lightning and water into the sky, the two bolts of magic meeting in a dazzling explosion of light and mist.

He'd continue to do this, and many other flashy things that came to mind as long as his transformation lasted, which based on the sun-blocking size of that storm cloud he consumed, would be for most of the first stage at least.

Rayia looked at the crowds of people cheering as the Mages made their way in even with the mass of people Rayia quickly spotted her red armored bodyguard watching from the stands. Be ever watching. Rayia sent into Kassandra's mind. Kassandra gave a nod to Rayia as sign she had gotten the message.

Rayia made her way to what was to be her stage as the games where opened. Someone named Sola who was some kind of big deal here started off telling them the first event. A talent show of sorts... Not really one of Rayia's strong suits.

Rayia watched on as others made storms and some dragon thing ate it... Well that ruled out playing with her lightning. Rayia suddenly had a flashback to her days in the Jedi temple....

Rayia sat there all of 10 years old her pale freckled face and long brown locks. She gazed on in wonder as her master made objects float around her head. the young Jedi Rayia laughing and cheering as her master gave her a show...

Rayia brought herself back to the here and now. "Weak Jedi tricks..." she spit out

But those tricks would awe these feeble minds... Rayia sat down on her stage crossing her legs in front of her as she removed her hood and mask her dark shadowed skin was in stark contrast to her snow white hair. closing her eyes she began to channel the force around her. her lightsaber unhooked from her belt and ignited it's blood red blade. It and soon other small objects began to dance around above her head.

As the crowd looked on Rayia entered into her battle meditation. in her mind she could sense everything around her. The object danced her lightsaber carving shapes of ships and creatures that the peoples of Origin had likely never seen before. As the range of her battle meditation spread mages on platforms near her found themselves facing mishaps. Spells would fizz out or backfire on the caster. Some mages even tripped and fell from their stages.

Rayia's power slipped into the crowd as well a chant of "All hail Lady Rayia!" came from the lips of those taken by Rayia's power. Kassandra seeing this soon joined in the chant and encouraged others around her to join as well.

Maybe Rayia could pull this off after all.

Altian smiled at his friend as he glanced among the crowd, his gaze resting on the judging booth, "Well...there's no rule saying we can't work together yet. I'm all ears! What'cha got?"

"Alright!" Emry shouted, and then began to think. Which in retrospect, while it wasn't like he was dumb, what tended to happen in cases like this... "Okay! I think we should go with a big wazoo! And then crackle crackle with some pshiii, followed by fwooosh and bams and krataw! Oh, and then some buuble buuble for good measure, followed by more crackle in a big swirl overhead, with some kachink and sploosh!"

That is what happened. Emerin's mind was....unique.

But Altian, having been around the blue-haired wonder for a while, knew that while he couldn't understand what he was saying, he definitely had an awesome plan in mind involving some sky stuff, "Then let's do it! I'll follow your lead."

That was how they worked. Emerin enjoyed creating the huge shows, casting the powerful spells and conjuring the most brilliantly awe-inspiring stuff few could think of. Altian refined the edges, making things smoother and more practical, and bringing Emerin's imagination to life.

The moment he agreed to it, Emerin immediately started working on what had to be largest collection of mana ever conceived. Not as in mana capacity, nor the amount of mana a wizard could gather inside him. What he was doing was gathering the mana into a gigantic ball in his hands, a relatively pointless and almost moronic activity normally. However, what Emerin did next caused everyone to change their minds.

He smashed his hands together while holding that massive chunk of mana, and this caused it to burst out into the sky in a form of a vortex, creating a sort of waaa noise around it while a zoo noise rhythmically went down the center, meshing into an unusual but appealing melody. And then, he added a large amount of lightning into the vortex, following the trails of mana he created, and formed a vortex of lightning and colorful transparent hue with a huge beam down the center.

And this was followed by wind magic, zipping around and around and causing the vortex to shift and shape, making it a fluid ever-changing structure instead of something static. And it caused some reactions, making the mana light up in all sorts of colors. From all sides, the light show flowed and twirled with a pattern that made a spectacle.

Of course, if one was not careful, it would probably run totally out of control and maybe explode.

But that was why Altian was there. As quickly as the vortex could become unstable, he would spot the uneven ebbs and flows of pure mana around them and correct it. Sometimes it meant throwing a bit of wind magic in one spot to push it along, sometimes it meant actively manipulating the mana in the air to keep the swirl smooth and non-clustered. The melody set a cool and relaxing tone, Altian realized, recognizing the potential to do some cool stuff.

He took some liberties and started shifting the raw magic power around them with his dominant hand, using some more wind magic to spawn miniature twisters from the vortex. A total of six touched down and began circling the duo, drawing the audience's attention back to them. With his non-dominant hand, he continued to keep the vortex under control within the new facets of spawning several wind towers created out of pure mana. The six twisters split apart, creating twelve, then twenty-four, growing smaller after each split. The cords of wind themselves would appear synchronized as they moved, twirling around Emry and Alt and bending in several interesting and chaotic ways...but it never felt too out of control.

"Emry! We can use the mana in the air!" he called delightedly as the twisters around them started to converge into two funnels, making it look like they were inside a massive, shimmering candy cane as it spun, "We can turn it into stuff!"

As Altian said that, some playful ideas formed in Emerin's head. As the funnels began to shrink and dissipate, he began to twist and shape the mana in new ways, deliberately this time, and began to create a stage with the two of them at the center. Compared to before, he shifted it in a purposeful way to make sure that all the eyes would see them at the center of the magic, and created decorations of simple design around them. Funnels, loops, and all sorts of other things, while maintaining the base core of it. The lightning sparked and cracked around them, the wind swept and sung, and now fire of various colors was added to the mix to bring a brilliant flare. It added more effort and work to maintain, but it began to form into the start of a brilliant display.

"Then let's really spice it up!" Emerin replied, with a full on grin.

"I'm glad you said that," Altian winked as he rubbed his fingers, a few sparks emanating and falling to the stage beneath them.

His attention turned towards one of the loop-de-loops. Pulling out the pen resting on top of his ear, he clicked it, letting it morph into the shape he desired: a short, smooth stick with a hilt on the end he was holding (A.K.A. a wand). He muttered an incantation and flicked his wrist, pointing the tip at the loop he was focused on. As if a metamorphosis had occurred, the loop suddenly gave way, falling away into a sort of magical dust. In it's place was a mid-sized, elegantly slender rainbow dragon. It's beard was white and magnificently long and it's body closely resembled something like a snake or a leviathan. It's scales were rainbow-colored and seemed to shimmer magical dust like a fairy. There would be no classification of species for this particular dragon as one didn't exist of it's kind. It was completely made up by the imagination of a twelve year old boy, after all.

With a flick of the wrist and a wave of the hand, the dragon started flying through the air, doing loops and corkscrews and all kind of crazy tricks. It even flew by the audience...so close that the spectators could touch the raw energy that passed them. Eventually, it barreled over to where Alt and Emry were standing. But Altian had control and he had a plan in mind.

"Hop on!" he cried gleefully as he took Emerin's hand and jumped onto the dragon.

Immediately they were airborne. The Dragon was undeterred by the new presence on it's back and continued it's routine. But for the two boys, it was like a roller-coaster ride, zigging and zagging all over the place. Once more, they passed over the audience, only this time it would be Altian and Emerin reach out to slap fives with the spectators, immersing them in the experience. It was pure controlled chaos.

Altian glanced up at the sky and noticed the massive mana pool was suddenly severely depleted, having been used to fuel their wonderfully thrilling creation. It was still huge, but not nearly as big as before and it seemed to be shrinking fast!

"Emry-Shu!" he pointed as they rode, "We need a big finale! Something that can use up all that mana!"

Seeing an opportunity in mind, Emerin quickly grabbed Altian's hand and smiled at his idea. "Just hold on tight, and make sure to keep us balanced!"

What he said might have been odd at first, but then what he did next explained it all. Emerin went for the grand finale of the performance, with the dragon taking them down and then up, the mana forming an even stronger vortex that they went up through the center of. The dragon stopped after it reached the top of the vortex of lightning and mana and wind and fire around them, extending its head which now carried Emerin and Altian on, as it breathed out an array of breath that turned into sparkling glitter like particles around them, causing the vortex to burst out into this as well. Like a vacuum, the cloud of colorful mana above them absorbed itself into the dragon and out the mouth, fueling the beast's breath.

And in the center, Emerin and Altian were in a rather meaningful and heartwarming position. The two had their feet planted on opposite sides of the dragon, and both were at an angle where they would fall off, if they were not holding each other's hands. Of course, because each human being was different in some way, Emerin and Altian had to use some magic to keep up the actual balance, but from the perspective of the audience, it looked like they were keeping each other perfectly balanced through will and teamwork alone and the light show floated down around them.

They kept up this position for a bit, until it was finally time to lower themselves down and let someone else use that part of the stage. The dragon slowly disappeared into a blend of sparkles and glitters that rained down with all the others. Despite this, the two boys seemed to gently float down like a feather until their feet hit solid earth.

"Well I think that went really well!" he said, probably unaware the sheer amount of time Altian stopped the entire thing from exploding...

Altian was breathless after the excitement, effort, and overall mana strain on his body, "Yeah...ooo, we should've brought the staff you got at the underground library! I bet we could've done some REALLY cool stuff!"

"Oh yeah! Wait, maybe I could get it to come now!" Emerin said, raising his hand into the air. The staff was supposed to have an automatic recall if he called for it but... "Oh, it might be out of range. Oh well".

...and on that note, Allo was also glad to see them done, having recieved various visions and what not about the potential chaos that could have been caused each time before Altian dealt with it.

Well, he hadn’t been entirely sure what to expect walking into this but Brand had been hoping the games wouldn’t all be focussed on combat. This was good news for him, since he wanted to try his magic in lots of different situations to see what he could do with it.

He had tried a bit of performing with his magic before, so he had kind of an idea what to do, although those sparkly fireworks he’d shown at the guild HQ earlier would likely be lost in the sea of spectacles if he used it now. He needed something bigger, flashier.

“OK” he said, igniting a spark in his hand, “Let’s-” he was cut off by a wave of magic which dispelled his own, and he turned to a nearby mage whose own display had just begun. Brand’s first instinct would have been to show off his shapeshifting ability as a phoenix, which he was now realizing would be a not so great idea. After this rather moving performance involving a golden bird motif, something too similar looking would look like a cheap rip-off to the audience. After this finished he could already see a few of the more desperate mages across the arena trying to imitate it. Nevertheless he applauded the mage, having genuinely enjoyed it despite having such a high bar to go against.

“OK, maybe not that. Let’s see if a dragon gets-” almost immediately his attention was caught by the sound of thunder and lightning. He watched the draconic mage’s display of shapeshifting and storm magic, clapping resignedly along with the audience.

“Right, maybe one that’s more serpentine-” as if on cue, he was cut short as another two began their display, this time in collaboration. It involved a giant serpent-like dragon. Again he was very impressed, although this was starting to worry him since there was such daunting competition, and from the first group as well.

“OK. OK… crap, I can’t just copy someone else’s idea.” The knight that he defaulted to for combat might be interesting but it just wouldn’t grab people’s attention by itself. “Oh!” he snapped his fingers as the idea kindled in his mind.

With a small flourish, Brand enveloped himself in an orange blaze, shifting effortlessly into his usual awakened form, a large suit of armour covered in phoenix and wing motifs. He observed the feather like patterns on his forearm, appearing deep in thought despite having no visible face beneath his stoic helmet. He shook his hand downwards, and the flames broke up, reassembling to change the decoration - and colour. The inner glow remained a fierce marigold while the outer plates of his armour took on a marble of deep crimson flame which trailed black smoke, making an ominous but vibrant display. To match, his phoenix motif was replaced by an ornamentation of various bone shapes, namely skulls. This change spread over the armour, the result of which was spooky looking while being just goofy enough to not actually scare any of the younger spectators. Waving a hand over his helmet, it changed into a flaming grinning skull which he promptly removed from its ‘neck’, tossing it up and down in the air while it chattered and cackled.

He then spun around, being swept up in a cloud of black smoke. He them emerged, atop a matching flaming horse, rearing on its hind legs, while he held his laughing skull ‘head’ up in the air. The smoke from the cloud formed into a cloak around the rider as he galloped up into the air and did laps around the edge of the arena.

As the blazing steed galloped across the air right past the audience, the young mage balanced atop the horse and juggled his skull, which split into two, then three, until he was performing various tricks with about 5 heads along with various swords and daggers, also made of fire. He also added some hops, handstands and backflips in for good measure. In reality, this kind of performance was impossible for the young man as he had little, if any, acrobatic skill. But thanks to his magic ability, it was just a matter of manipulating the fire his awakened form was made from, and doing it in a way that convinced the viewer he had weight and realistic anatomy. Actually, even the ‘smoke’ was just fire that he had altered to suck in light instead of emit it.

And now, Ixa walked onto one of the center stands. Around him, contestants would feel a chill when he passed, even those such as Demor and Rayia would notice. This was not anyone getting spooked, but rather the temperature dropped several degrees around Ixa as he took center stage. He then winked at everyone and gave a nice little bow...and then it began.

Huge pillars of ice errupted, majestically being shined upon by the sun as their smoothness and quality was beyond the measure of a normal ice sculptor. And because Ice Sculptors did not rely on magic power, their creations were often of higher quality then an Ice Sculpture produced by a mage as they could focus more of their mind on the details. It was more direct and not through magic power, so they could be more precise and of higher quality.

But Ixa, he was different. It was not magic that propeled him, or at least not only magic. He himself had command over the ice and snow, as if he was the very thing itself.

Furthermore, one could only really tell that he was wearing a blue sweatshirt. It was so oversized, but his legs that were not covered were bare as if the cold did not bother him. And right now, he had actually left his shoes by the side of the stage, so he was standing on ice without it bothering him, as he rode his creation up to the top.

At the same time, to add some flare, snow and ice particles floated and danced around him, creating a glitterdust effect around his creation that captivated the audiences even more. And with the addition of his red eyes and snow white hair, he couldn't help but draw attention to himself.

And then, the ice he was standing on shattered, and revealed him to be standing on top of a refined bird ice sculpture as the particles fell all around him. Surely enough, the applause went wild for him...as well as another. Rivyan, off in the distance, seemed to have also caused a huge stir, including the fact he created three dozen rainbow colored birds at once.

Meanwhile, Astral and Luna were having their own rivalry go on. Suddenly, the entire day turned to night, and a moon appeared overhead. This moon let down a beam of light, a spotlight if you will, that focused on Luna as he went into song, using his charismatic, if not really manly, voice to soothe and capture the audiance....or at least, that was how it started.

But then, several blasts of starlight came and exploded next to the stage, and then illuminated Astral, who counter sung him...

Well, to put it simply, the two tried to outdo each other and it turned into a duet of sorts? Its better not to question those two when it comes to rivaling each other.

As for Azaken...he was putting on a show. With enough pyrotechnics to make Allo cringe a little and be worried from all his visions, Azaken did what Azaken did best...cause a chaotic scene and attract attention. In retrospect, he had a brilliant personality for all this, although thanks to his disguise no one had recognized him yet...or even that he released a powerful hallucinogen to affect some of the contestants.

As for Jaune, he had summoned Kimaru and was doing a one boy one spirit routine, creating rings of magic and then hopping through them while bringing around storm and lightning for special effects. As for Shinku, he was proving fire magic could do more then just destroy. From the fire, he forged and smelted metal he had brought with him, and used the fires to take shape and form all sorts of things. For while all forms of fire he was good with, his true specialty relied on the creation power of fire, and its ability to change and manipulate things.

Cyrus of course showed off his flying ability, taking to the skies, moving around freely, and showing a clear domination of the air above. He also made use of his skills with a bow and shot targets down as they appeared, while also always giving the audience a smile.

ANd in one corner, Nao...showed something spectacular with his lightning. Not only did he become lightning, but he created a sort of sphere, in a way line art or constellations, with his lightning and made it form all sorts of things around him. It expanded and grew, and showed everyone a new side of lightning they would not have expected as the lightning projections moved about around him and put on a circus show.

As for the judges, they looked ojbectively and inquisitively.

"Truly, that contestant...Nao Toreta...what an interesting application of lightning".

Trisha said that as she admired Nao.

"Indeed, it seems like we have some talented storm users all around. Look at that one boy Jaune, or that one sorcerer Demor. Truly, we are seeing some unique and exceptional displays of storms".

Allo mentioned that as he tried to look as if he was enjoying eager, like there were not certain people out there who seemed to enjoy giving him heart attacks...such as Emerin on accident various times, and Azaken because its Azaken.

Lyrian however eyed Altian and Emerin.

"I liked those two the best so far. They know their strengths and weaknesses, and compensate for each other. They also understood you really could work together for this event...and their ability to understand and read each other's actions and react. Although I do want to see what they can handle solo, as a team they seem quite formidable".

"Well....I think that Rayia is rather nice. She is not pushing the limits but instead keeping it safe and elegant. A rather wonderful display".

"Oh oh! BUt look at those two! Its weird, I think Astral and Luna are trying to compete against each other only...but they have unmistakable turned into a great duet!"

"I will give them that".

"They way they use Lunar and Astral Magic is magnificent".

"I think that one woman, Elysia Ryder, also shows potential as well..."

The commentators continued to make observations and remarks, occasionally pointing out a negative but mostly it was positive. Although, as people were still performing, they were not done yet and continued to give on the spot commentary as the last few people got their shows in.