Ebel

The monster felt a horrible emptiness in its chest as it looked down in a panic, noticing the disappearance of its precious heart. It whipped its head back and forth, looking frantically for its lifeline before hearing its audible tick high above it. The monster lurched its head back to see it freefalling in the sky, being assaulted by cannon fodder. Knowing if it didn’t return the mechanism back within its being soon, it would perish, the Tar Monster speedily stretched up in the air, absorbing the remaining blows in its stick body. Once it had its heart back, it would end these rats once and for all. As the creature extended its arms, the heart almost in reach, it noticed a bright flash in the corner of its eye......

In an instant, Nevark had arrived on the scene. His clothes ripped and tattered, his body covered in tar, but otherwise fine. The Montser frantically reached out to its heart, the hand a mere several feet away, but by then it was too late. With a fierce roar and a fast leap, Nevark was overtop the clockwork heart, his fist glowing a bright light.
“DON’T EVER MESS WITH MY CITY AGAIN!” Shouted the proud guild master as he unleashed a powerful punch, shattering the machine. As the machine shattered, it let off a large series of explosions in the air (Really, it was almost unreasonable how many explosions it was letting off). The monster cried out in agony, a horrible gurgling noise, as it slowly but surely began to lose its composure. It grasped at the air, now like a wounded animal struggling to cling to life. But it was to no avail. The monster lost all consciousness, splashing into no more than a large puddle of ooze. And this time, it’d stay that way.

Nevark landed from his jump, fists still clenched. He stood in the middle of town square, huffing and puffing as he looked up, the fireworks-like explosions high in the now-dusk sky. It had been a long day, but it was finally over. There was an odd silence over the city square, but one by one, a few brave people wandered out of hiding. In a matter of minutes, everyone was back outside, cheering in the streets, chanting out the name of Golden Leo. Children splashed through the puddles of the ooze, young lovers laughed under the explosive fireworks, happy elders gathered round the members of Golden Leo, thanking them for their brave deeds.

“I’M ALIVEEEEEEEE” Hershell cried out as he sat on the ground, tears flowing from his face, “I WAS GONNA DIE BUT I’M ALIVEEEEEEEE!” Hershell immediately got up and grabbed onto Ace and a nearby Tai, clinging to each of them with an arm. “YOU GUYS SAVED ME, I WAS GONNA DIE!” He continued to blubber happily as he clung to them. “YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE I LOVE YOU BOTH.”

As the crowd jumped and cheered, Nevark couldn’t help but smile. His eyes panned around to see all the happy people of Hibiscus City smiling and laughing and dancing in the tar filled streets. All except for two people. Nevark’s grin slowly crept away from his face as he saw a battered Ozwald and Aria standing at the other end of the plaza, huffing and puffing, staring him straight in the eyes. Ozwald tilted his head over to an alleyway, and Nevark immediately knew to head over.

“So, glad to see you decided to come back,” Ozwald stated emotionlessly, acting as though he was not the least bit intrigued by the Master’s actions.
“Yeah, uh, sorry ‘bout that, Oz,” Nevark said, almost bashfully, averting his eyes from the pair and rubbing his neck, “But in the end everythin’ worked out an’ all.”
“We were lucky,” Ozwald quickly replied, his voice slightly raised, “We were lucky that our guild was able to pull through in the end, without our leader to be there. Where the hell did you even go?”
“Look, Oz, it was nothin’. I, uh, just thought I saw someone on the roof.” Nevark still replied calmly, trying to avoid the conversation. Ozwald was almost furious now.
“You’re telling me you left your guild in peril because you THINK you saw someone on the roof? You were running off awfully fast! Who did you see!” Oz shouted now, fists clenched.
Nevark just sighed and shook his head. “Listen, it’s nothing. Forget it. Just seein’ old ghosts, that’s all. Now come on. It’s still the bicentennial. Happy faces, Oz, happy faces.”
And with that, Nevark just patted Ozwald on the shoulder, looking at him sternly before walking away, plastering on a big old smile at his adoring crowd.
“Why that son of a bitch! I’ll show him a thing or two,” Aria muttered, rolling up her sleeve and began stomping out of the alley. Before she could even get two feet, Ozwald firmly grabbed onto her arm. He didn’t have to say anything; Aria could tell just by the cold sternness in his eyes that there was no point arguing. It was over. Relaxing her muscles, Aria took a few steps back into the alley as her and Ozwald stood side by side, looking at their guild master with concern.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ARC 1: COMPLETE!

You have all been awarded ONE extra Signature Ability! PM us your ability for approval!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ARC 2

Three weeks have passed since what the citizens of Hibiscus have started referring to as the "Bicentennial Incident". The city has been cleaned up of all its tar, and thanks to the many guild members, the city is almost back to its repaired status. With professional contractors and builders coming in to fix the city, Golden Leo is given a day off to relax. They use this time to train or catch up on some sleep, for they know some new high paying jobs will be posted soon!

(This arc will eventually split into two separate stories / missions. Once they're posted, pick which one you want to be part in! However, we will be keeping the teams even in number, so there will be a first come first serve basis!)

Hershell continued to trek through the forest, a bit off from the guild. Last thing he needed was someone questioning why their number one lazy guild member was out and about on a day off. Sighing, Hershell tossed his bag of goods on the ground once he came into a clearing. He sat down on the grass, drinking his water. Stupid hiking. Stupid tar monster. Stupid realization he needed to become a better mage. This was stupid.

Hershell spent a good hour lying under the sun, mustering up the energy to get up and start training. All he had in his arsenal were his support attacks. He needed to be able to deal actual damage! Hershell looked at his watch at muttered to himself. He might as well get to work. Getting up, the boy took off his overshirt and shoes. No reason he couldn't be comfy while training. For a few minutes he just stood there. He had never (voluntarily) done any physical training, where would he start.

Hershell started to flimsily punch through the air, trying to work on his upper body strength. Hershell continued to get carried away, walking as he punched, looking like a total buffoon. As he continued to walk towards the tree he picked as a target, he got smacked in the face by a low hanging branch.

"Damnit!" Hershell cussed at himself, holding his hand over the sore spot that was hit. Okay, punching was no good, it left him too close to the enemy and open to attack. Hershell immediately tried to kick the tree, but fell over. Kicking was no good either....Hershell had no balance.

Hershell laid on his back, still toppled over from his fall. He needed a way to punch the enemies, but he didn't want to have to get close to them... He thought about his past fight, how Tai and Kalas were so powerful in the fight. Hell, even the tar men were good fighters, despite being mindless drones. The way their tar arms stretched......
The boy immediately jolted up. That was it! If the tarmen could stretch their arms via tar, could he do the same? Hershell immediately stared at his hand. He had never tried turning his body into a vapour before, but if he could, the possibilities would be unlimited! hershell started to focus all his energy, but immediately stopped, pangs of doubt and fear flowing into his head. What if once his body became steam, it'd stay that way? What if once he made it solid again, it was no longer attached to his arm, and there was just a stub where his hand should be, while his disembodied hand lay twitching on the ground? Hershell began breathing heavily. This was insane. Training his magic like this was going completely against his ethics of NOT putting himself in harm's way. But he knew if there was another attack like the Bicentennial Incident and he didn't have other guild members to protect him, he'd be out of luck.
Hershell took a deep breath. He had to do this.

The boy sat on the ground, crossed legs, staring at his hand for what seemed like an eternity. His eyes began to get droopy. His fatigue was setting in. This was pointless. As his eyes were almost closed, however, he saw it. His eye immediately burst open, and there it was in front of him. He held his hand above in the sky to see it was no longer skin or flesh, but a stack of smoke wisping into the air! Shocked, he quickly waved his hand in the air, only to have it turn back into solid material. For a few seconds Hershell sat still in shock and amazement. After letting it sink in, he finally got up from sitting and starting jumping up and down, excited by this awesome development!
"YES, I RULE!" Hershell shouted at the trees, rubbing it in their non existent faces.
"I RULE, I ROCK!" He continued to shout, running a gag victory lap around the clearing, unaware he was about to run back into the same branch from before.

*SMACK*
"GOD DAMNIT!"

Blitz grinned. "Not bad, moving me away from the stuff at the guild hall. Though I wouldn't want you to be late, so..." said Blitz as he yanked a pocketwatch out of one of his pockets and grabbed it with both hands, a moment later a golden metal encased both his arms to the shoulder. Not enough for a Full Body, but it'll do. Dropping the watch back into his pocket, his hands turned into fans, which he quickly spun around by the sand at his feet, creating a screen of sand around himself and Ace. As the sand floated into the air, Blitz leapt forward through the sandscreen, closing the gap between the two guild mates as he came in low, both hands turning into blades which he swung in a scissor-like move at Ace's legs.

Giacomo was outside on his favourite spot near the sea. It was ideal nothing there besides the fishes and plenty of room, he could shoot his shells to his liking, even try out new loads. And this was just what he was doing, or rather he was developing new shell shapes and loads. He had seen Hershell during the incident, his smoke would be a fearsome weapon, if used correctly, and Giacomo got an idea out of it. Without thinking twice he created a large shell above his head and shot it into the sky. Not having calculated any trajectory he presumes it would land somewhere in the sea. Unfortunatly, the wind had other plans and the shell lands before his feet, hitting the ground a bursting open. The opened shell releases it's vile green gassous contents, and the air is filled with the penetrating smell of rotten eggs and decomposure gasses. Struggling to keep his breakfast Giacomo runs out of the cloud and as soon as he can breathe without gagging he speaks to himself: "Damn, that worked good. Maybe a bit too good, better get rid of this before someone gets KOed by it." He turned to the gascloud and shoots an aimed mias grain sized shell into the cloud. Bursting into flames it ignites the flammable content of the gas, turning the cloud into a massive fireball. A vile smelling, green fireball, but a fireball. "It burns quite well, a dual effect. Thats nice, but I don't think that anyone would stay inside that cloud for long enough for me to ignite, but it's worth noting... Just like it's nausiating smell, who knew that organic matter could make such vile smells?" He said to himself.

( Kalas will come later, no inspiration for him at the moment.)

He had spent a night at his adoptive father's home, but aside from that, Tiir had spent most of his time alone since the events of the Bicentennial, angry with himself for not being more help during the battle. The conversation he had had with the old man still filled his head as he trained alone in his secluded spot by the ocean, making him even angrier.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"This is ridiculous, Therin. I was raised by two of the most powerful mages Ebel has ever seen, and look how much I've accomplished? Nothing! I'm a disappointment to both of them..." he had said from the other end of Therin's dinner table.

"I'm sure that Nevark doesn't feel that way at all." The old man had said,walking over and placing a reassuring hand on Tiir's shoulder. "I'm sure he's very proud of you. You're a very talented young mage, Tiir. As for your birth father... Is living up to Erobos's name really so important to you?"

"My father was a great man, Therin..." Tiir responded, shaking free of the man's hand. "He may have been a terrible person, but he did great things. Of course I want to live up to his name, in my own way. I want to surpass him. And apparently what I've been doing all these years has been a waste of time..."

"What do you mean?" Therin replied, with a questioning look on his wrinkled face. "The time you've spent with Golden Leo?"

"Yes." Tiir said, staring at the floor. "My father always told me that relying on others would only harm my potential. Maybe he was right. Blitz and Ace have both become much more powerful than I have. Maybe opening up and getting close to people like Nevark has told me really has set me back."

"Do you really feel that way?" Therin asked with a sigh. "Do you really feel like caring for others and letting them care for you in return has made you weaker?"

"I don't know..." Tiir answered after a pause. "But I'm obviously doing something wrong. That's the only thing I can think of. I train day and night... how can I not be getting stronger? I can't reach any of my goals this way!"

"And what are these goals of yours, Tiir? You never talk about yourself anymore."

"To pass the S-rank exam. To become a Wizard Saint, and sit on the Wizard Council. I want to be in a position to make Ebel a better place. And to do that, I have to be the best. If I were living up to my potential, that tar creature would have been no problem for me... "

"Maybe..." Therin began. "Maybe the problem is that you're trying too hard. Pushing your mind and body to their limits on a daily basis can't be helping you."

"No..." Tiir replied, standing up from his chair. "No... maybe the problem is that I'm just not trying hard enough."

he walked over to the living area, picking up his mother's spear. "Could you look after this for me? I'm not fit to wield it... I'll be using my own weapons for a while."

Therin sighed once again. "As you wish."

"Try to come home and visit more often, please." He added as Tiir made his way to the door.

"Of course. Take care of yourself, old man." Tiir responded, attempting a smile, but not feeling much of anything.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Shockwave!" Tiir called out, the spell hitting the water, sending spray flying into the air as he floated above it.

Not good enough! He thought to himself, seeing the tar behemoth in his mind's eye. Again!

He put his hands out once again summoning the air magic into his palms. "Shockwave!"

This time, the spell's blast radius was even larger, sending huge waves in all directions.

"Damn it!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, still unhappy with his progress. "This isn't good enough!"

The spell was powerful, yes, but he was intent on creating something that would take out an enemy like the tar behemoth with one hit.

He cast the spell again and again, each time, becoming more and more frustrated with himself. Finally something inside him snapped.

"Damn it!" He yelled once again. "To hell with this! This stupid spell can follow my father to the grave! I'll make my own spell! I can do better than this!"

He summoned the air magic into his hands once again, but this time, once the sphere's were created, and the magic circles were set, he placed his hands above his head, combining the two spheres into one. Perhaps because he was filled with rage instead of performing the spell with a calm mind as he usually did, but something different happened this time. The combined magic circle, which was normally silver, turned a pale purple, and the spell changed radically. When he cast it, instead of waves of air magic, he released a small sphere of purple magic, which upon touching the surface of the water, expanded in size, seemingly drawing the water into it. There was no explosion, but once the sphere reached a certain diameter, it shrank in size once again, and disappeared. And the water that had been inside it was simply.. gone.

"What... " he said, finding himself low on magic power and making his way back to land. "What the hell was that?"

(OOC: hope that makes up for all the posting I've missed. )

"Well, so much for a late night by the waterside," said Blitz with a chuckle. "I heard someone yelling and felt magic being used, so I came to take a look and listen." Blitz leaned against a tree, talking to Tiir as he recovered. "I heard you yelling about your spell not cutting it - and thus, you made a new one. Think about the old man - you think he's just been using the same spell since the day he learned it and just kept powering it up? He had to think of new spells when an older one wouldn't cut it. Take me, for example - my entire fighting style is based on thinking of new ways to use my magic, as it's tactics-based. When I can't get close enough to a ranged foe, I start thinking of ways to get to him fast or unseen. Mages improve their magic through using their magic in new ways - training is just to make sure all the spells, new and old, stay strong." Blitz said with a smile. "Also, for the new spell, how about 'Vortex'?" Blitz said, laughing slightly.