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Last Thread: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive/4256375/

Archive: http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?tags=Black+Clover
> Please vote if you feel like it.

Character Sheet:
https://pastebin.com/raw/rrDB77bJ
> Cynthia now has a defined height, and other updates.

Thread theme:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFaTouc-Q64 [Unyielding Wish]

“Silhibip!” you shout towards the Gold Magic user, putting your best efforts to catch her attention. You nudge your head from Cryz to the mummy councillor before releasing a surge of ashen magical energy. You grimoire arches around your body in a spiral - fluttering through the empty pages - before the settling on the one you need.

It stops suddenly, a meter in front of you, a zephyr of warm magic caressing your palms and wrist. You cast a spell.

“Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation!”

One by one, but as if all of them in an instant, a wild cloud of pearl-like sequins is born from your magic before you. Wasting no time – the cracks around the shielding glass panels now growing bigger and louder – you send the magical torrent towards Silhibip. Hastily, the shimmering sequin nebula surrounds her and surrounds her body.

Infused by your ‘filtering spell’ – is that how it works? – Silhibip’s three-leaf clover sends a flow of golden energy through her form and further. It is as if the edges of her flames are birthing crumbles of gleaming dust .She gracefully bends her hands to explode the massive golden dust cloud to have it roll through the air towards every single glass windowpane present. Her face loudly grinds, a small piece of her ear crumbles and falls off her head as she visibly struggles. Thousands of minuscule particles flow inside the cracks and begin to fill them up with gold.

Rather alertly, Virginia’s cold and concentrated grey-blue eyes watch and glide across every one of the mirrors.

“That’s not going to be enough,” she says, her hand gripping her sword.

A few loud cracks emphasis her judgment.

Cryz shoves himself just a few inches away from you, his head bowing forwards. “There’s no harm in giving it to him either, then,” he says, a barrage of white sequin hail flowing from behind him through the air towards Zitanhu. “Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation!” he doesn’t say it with any enthusiasm or urgency.

Cryz spend 15 mana.
Mana: [126/165]

As soon as the nacre-like coating clings to the Royal Scribe, a radiant flash of aquamarine ambience overwhelms the “Lifeless Zoo” like rays of a newly born sun. The melodically howling light-blue magic sends a strange shiver across your golden skin; it glimmers with strange blue-yellow light. There are hardly any changes to the chamber outside of the creatures hidden beneath the opaque windows; Fezar’s magic has barely corrupted it. To your relief, it looks as if all of the cracks are now gone, and you can no longer hear banging noises; so are the beasts.

You look towards the exit: the fleshy goo that used to block it is no longer present; it is just a regular door now.

“I don’t like it when you just get rid of all my effort like that, Zitanhu,” you imagine Silhibip to pout.

“I ask your forgiveness, Silhibip,” the petrified man speaks up, his body still dimly blazing with his magic, “This magical spell does not last for a long time, I assumed I should go all out with my spell in such a case.”

A devastating shattering turns your relief into an anxiety, your eyes dart left and right, noticing three particular panels from where the strident blare resounds once more. Now, with the obelisk clinging to the past where it was not still activated, those windows stay foggy: you can’t see what sort of creatures there are inside. With every tremor, huge chunks of the glass-like panels break, shatter and explode. Nobody looks too happy with all of this.

“Why couldn’t you remove those three things as well?” Virginia demands with a strict voice, pointing her sword.

Zitanhu remains stoic and informative, as if he was a mere guide, “It is just my basic magic, woman, powerful creatures and magical forces are able to resist my Calendar Magic and not be influenced by it.”” He looks towards one of the panels, the one nearest to the exit. The crack soon consumes the entire surface of the crystalline metal. “ ‘Fezar’ is rather discriminatory, he gave some of those fossils more ‘flesh’ than others.”

Zeden hums behind the Wardress, “If you try-attempt-probe it again, will it get rid of them then?”

“It is certainly possible.”

While the other two panels continue to slowly crumble from inside, the one near the entrance finally explodes. From within the fossil confines leaves a big four-legged skeleton carcass, as big as a horse. Its legs have multiple knee joints and force it to walk like a spider. Its skull is massive, and it appears this beast has no neck. There is a single empty eyehole in its skull from where – now – small fleshly tendrils wallow and wriggle. There are two shark-like symmetrical jaws, each open as wide as possible. The skeleton is covered with arteries and bio-organs.

“Well that’s just freaking great,” Cryz says with irritated sarcasm.

> Please roll 1d10+10 – best of three – for the cost of your previous spell.

> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Silhibip.
> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Zitanhu.
> Summon your Sequin Magic to attempt to drain Fezar’s monstrous creation.
> [Write In]

>>4291803
> Summon your Sequin Magic to attempt to drain Fezar’s monstrous creation.

well if Zitanhu's calendar magic does not work on strong opponents then there is no point giving him nacre rejuvenation and Silhibip's magic was not enough earlier it probably won't be enough now

Rolled 9 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>4291803
> Summon your Sequin Magic to attempt to drain Fezar’s monstrous creation.
>>4291847
Roll for the dice gods!

Rolled 4 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>4291803
>>4292177
I forgot

Rolled 3 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>4291803
>> Summon your Sequin Magic to attempt to drain Fezar’s monstrous creation.
Hope we can drain it fast.

> Okay, can you guys give me:
>1d40+10 - best of three.
>1d40 - best of three.

>I'll write an update a bit later today hopefully.

Rolled 8 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4293379

Rolled 5 (1d40)

>>4293390

Rolled 9 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4293379

Rolled 35 (1d40)

>>4293379

Rolled 30 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4293379

Rolled 37 (1d40)

>>4293379

> Introduce the 1 or 40 roll mechanic
> People have yet to roll either

>>4293523
In some ways the dice gods are merciful. Is it even possible to get 1 since you do best of three? Or would a 1 override the other rolls?

> I apologize but I am having trouble with my 'net and because of Corona I can't get a hold of them.

>>4293655
> Yes, it counts if one of the three rolls is 1 or 40 which is why I am amused.

>>4295243
no worries

>>4295243
Yeah, that sucks. Don't worry though.

The creature stands up, its spider-like eolith joints and bones shattering the ground of every step it takes. It is just as fast: this amalgamation of flesh and bones quickly closes the distance between it and Zeden, Virginia, Zitanhu and Silhibip. Almost immediately, born from the fleshy red glow of Fezar’s magic, a twisting torrent of tentacles burst from within its ribcage, spiralling out of control and encircling the best in a massive likeness of a flesh cage.

“I don’t like the look of that thing,” you hear Cryz mutter – he probably did not intend for you to do so. You see him expose his orange-glowing fangs as his mouth twists into a grin. The mercury-vivid gush of his Sequin Magic escapes from within his raised hand before solidifying into crystal pearls. His glassy eyes glow with white radiance.

“Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation.”

Zeden continues to tightly cling to Virginia, probably to not to get in the way. The towering woman grabs the hilt of her sword, strikes the edge of the ground to ignite the bladed surface into a blinding-white fire, and then – without a moment of hesitation – forces it into the vortex of squid-like coils. Her slash completely splits one of the many tentacles. A blaze of ghostly inferno left in the wake of the split ruptures across the tentacle and onto the others. It is inextinguishable. The creature loudly roars in pain. It trashes before all the protective tentacles fall of.

Cryz spend 19 mana.
Mana: [107/165]

Cryz motions his hand forward, sending the magic he prepared to surround Silhibip into a beautifully crystalline cocoon. Like sponges, they are immediately filled with her bright, sun-like magic, cleaning and refining it. Wasting no time or the opportunity, the Royal Treasurer raises her hands to form as much golden dust as she possibly can, quickly solidifying it into a large wave of liquid gold. It circles her and follows the motion of her sluggish mummy hands, slowly falling into pieces. The wave forms into four gleaming ripples, crashing towards the legs of the fossil.

But the spine-chilling being is too agile; already wary of how dangerous Virginia is: it is well prepared of Silhibip’s assault. The multiple-jointed legs crash the ground with powerful force before dashing and hastily crawling away from the whips of gold. Silhibip continues her attempt to capture the beast with her golden liquid spirals, but she is unable to. With every missed strike her wave of aureate loses chunks of it, until her Gold Magic fully evaporates.

“Why, you are rather springy despite how gruesome and big you look.” Silhibip notes with annoyance.

Cryz rolls his crystal eyes – realizing his and Silhibip’s combined attack was not a success. He turns to you.

He nods towards Zitanhu, “Let’s see if he’ll have better luck.”

“His spell doesn’t work on strong creatures, so it’ll be useless.”

Cryz leans forward, staring you down with his narrowed eyes, “We don’t have any offensive spells.”

You release a cloud of white magic born from your mana. A mythical zephyr takes hold of each of your sparkling beads. You form them into a powerful billow you immediately send forwards. “I am going to make it into one.”

You spend 18 mana.
Mana: [89/165]

The alligator-like skull heads twist as soon as you manifest your spell. The flood of your sequin crystals quickly reaches the tissue and fossil amalgamation, but as soon as the shining beads begin to cling to the skeleton carcass, the body of Fezar’s manifestation bends and twists. The collection of fleshy organs beneath the ribcage beats and pulsates, a crimson magic clinging to every body part and soft muscle tissue. Your cloud explodes, but where the creature just stood there is nothing left but a thick cloud of sandstone dust. With a single leap, it dodges you fully.

The creature spirals through the air like some kind of ghastly tumbleweed, smashing and clinging to the wall...

Cryz straightens his head. “It was a cool line,” he tells you. You are unsure if he is being genuine or sarcastic; both?

You curse under your breathe; this creation is a troublesome one. You watch Zitanhu’s chest persistently crack before an aquamarine light bursts from within the petrified shape of his three-leaf grimoire. Shining like pixie dust, the cyan-blue magic coils around his white-stone arm before it reaches his fingers and sends forward a blurred and opaque beam towards the beast. Unlike your Sequin Magic, or even Silhibip’s Gold Magic, the spell closest the distance almost instantaneously, the entire ray capturing the horse-spider monster in magical glow.

As soon as it happens, the aquamarine light overwhelms the entire skeleton presence in an aura, the fleshly blood vessels clinging to the bones dissipating into what those bones had surrounding them years ago – sand dust. The flux of magic continues to dig deeper into the unrealistic vitals inside. The pieces of Fezar’s Flesh Magic crumble into vanishing cinders as the legs give in, and the fossil comes crushing down – smashing upon the hard cold floor.

A massive brume of shingles envelops the exit as the fossil skeleton cracks and explodes into fine dust. It collapsed directly in front of the exit. You protect your eyes from the circling dust. While the impact of the fall destroyed most of the skeleton carcass – and Zitanhu’s magic removed, at least for a time, Fezar’s controlling flesh – the gruesome pile is still alive; Zitanhu was unable to banish all of the Flesh Magic to the sands of time. The convulsing amalgamation is more disgusting than ever, a single un-cracked skull flowing in a pool of dust, goo and bone meal.

Zitanhu clenches his head, his body straightening as he gives a brief nod to Virginia. She answers the same way.

You are not allowed a chance to relax – the two other panels behind you, one of them close to the ground level and another high above, fracture and burst open – the glass shards raining upon the sandstone floor. From one emerges a fleshy being. It is as big as a human but only in size. Its skeleton is surrounded by fleshy tendrils. Blood vessels and demonic organs make it impossible for you to imagine its appearance of before it died and was brought here by Mydias and Zitanhu. The central ribcage consists of a strange merger between a skull and a body skeleton, with four eyeholes gurgling out leach-like tentacles. The skeleton resembles a wheel with five leg-arms.

The skeleton of the other monster currently bashing the remains of the glass window to make enough space for it to be free resembles an amalgamation between a stingray, a snake and a bird. There is a single long and twisting spine with multiple smaller wing skeletons. A single massive kite-like carcass covers it like raincoat. Fezar’s coral-like arteries and organs are placed beneath it, drooling and oozing black-red liquid between the bones beneath it.

> Summon your Sequin Magic to attempt to drain the last magic of the spider-horse creature.
> Summon your Sequin Magic to attempt to drain the body-less creature with five arm joints.
> Summon your Sequin Magic to attempt to drain the kite-snake-stingray creature before it flies away.
> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Silhibip. She might have better luck restraining another creature.
> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Zitanhu. He seems to be having the most luck amongst you.
> Instruct Cryz. He might not listen, he probably won’t, but if you make your ideas reasonable he might listen.
> [Write In]

> I'm back.

>>4296408
>> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Zitanhu. He seems to be having the most luck amongst you.

>>4296408
>> Instruct Cryz. He might not listen, he probably won’t, but if you make your ideas reasonable he might listen.
> Ask him to use Nacre rejuvenation on Zitanhu while we attempt to drain the stingray while it is still trapped in the glass.

>>4296643
changing vote to this

> This will require another set of rolls.

>1d40+10 - best of three.
>1d40 - best of three.

Rolled 13 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4296824

Rolled 27 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4296824

Rolled 34 (1d40)

>>4296842

Rolled 11 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4296824

Rolled 37 (1d40)

>>4296824

> Will need one more 1d40!

>>4297084
Want one of us to roll again?

>>4297340
> Well we have until tomorrow, but if you want to.

Rolled 32 (1d40)

“You should do that again,” you follow your nod to Cryz with a hand motion towards Zitanhu.

“Wasn’t planning of changing the tactic that works,” he tells you haughtily. The man opens his palm; you feel a part of his mana leave his body to begin circling around his arm like a whirling coil of Sequin Magic. Your grimoire opens.

Your brown-orange eyes settle on the tossing stingray fossil: the only creature left that is still struggling with escape.

The broken pieces of its opaque cage continue to rain upon the floor, penetrating into the sandstone with sparkling pieces. Taking a deep breath, you outpour a furious layer of transparent mana from within your body; as soon as it elevates into the air it spirals into a form of shimmering snow-like sparkles before finally solidifying into crystalline sequins. Closing your eyes, you find their magic in the darkness and concentrate before sending them upwards.

[blue]You spend 21 mana.
Mana: [68/165][/blue]

A blitz of magical energy bursts towards the ceiling like a radiant, white blizzard. Your sequin zephyr circles the air to gather speed before smashing into the window glass; the shiny flecks surround and then cling to both the remains of the glass panel as well as the twisting pastiche. The snake crashes into the wall, several of your sequins shattering from the impact. The further your sequins are the harder it is to use them.

The creature roars in unnatural, crackling motion as its four smaller wings begin to flurry like mad and lift it off the ground. The wings toss and throw the beast around its cage as you slowly squeeze your hand, as if you were gradually executing it. The dark-red flames whirlpools inside the creature with a corrupting glow before they grow much dimmer, your magical crystallites draining it with no mercy. Eventually, however, your sequins begin to shine with such intensity that you realize it is impossible to drain the fleshy manifestation any further: they are full.

You guide the concentrated magic from within the glass display and towards yourself, pulling the weighted white cloud to fall on top of yourself and Cryz like a liquid cascade. In an instant, you feel yourself becoming rejuvenated; less tired. This spell certainly makes you a parasite, but the good kind. A single, massive piece of glass falls upon the floor before a massive shadow of the snake-like creature surrounds and covers you like a cold blanket.

[blue]You have restored 37 mana.
Mana [105/165][/blue]

Despite your efforts, the creature is still crammed with Fezar’s gory incantation: the fleshy organs are clinging to the sharp skeleton frame of the creature with bleeding veins and scarlet dark magic. With the uncanny sound of a decomposing dragonfly, it flings far into the air to hover and spin above you and Cryz. It soon becomes clear that it begins to somehow create oily black orbs which it then begins to quickly and swiftly raining and tossing upon you.

> Please roll 1d100-20 [dice+1d100+-20] – best of three – to avoid the attack.

> [Write In]

Rolled 13 - 20 (1d100 - 20)

>>4298154

Rolled 13 - 20 (1d100 - 20)

>>4298152
Yikes, that minus 20 is gonna be a killer.

>>4298171
>>4298300
>The same shitty roll
For real!?

>>4298304
I blame Cryz, he didn't share food with us

>>4298309
Still, 1/10000 is some impressive bad luck, the dice gods are laughing at us.

Rolled 23 - 20 (1d100 - 20)

>>4298154

>>4299225
:(

>>4299228
:(

>>4299238
:(

Despite the situation, Cryz continues with his spell casting. His glassy, iris-less eyes burn briefly with white flux before your beautiful, waxen grimoire stops and settles on the only page filled with the spell he needs. It hovers right before him. Cryz motions his hand forward and says – calmly enough for it not to be considered a shout, “Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation!” A torrent of pearly sequins manifest from the combination of his mana and the magical essence of the tome, soaring towards Zitanhu.

> Cryz spend 15 mana.
> Mana: [90/165]

You raise your head to watch the oily egg sacks descend upon you. Cryz notices it too. Wishing to avoid the repeat of awkward tug of war, he does not fight when you pull your connected wrists to lead yourself and him away from the disgusting bombardment. An orb explodes in front of your face. A rotten stench immediately waters your eyes as it does so. Pulpous oil sprays and covers your golden skin as you hastily turn around in an attempt to rush into the opposite direction. Several more surround you in their fulmination.

You cover your eyes and hold down your now-lipid tears. You protect the only part of your body that is not covered in gold – your face. When you can no longer feel the cold and heavy shadow hovering above you, you open your eyes. You find a greasy mucosa forming a thick, web-like layer around you and Cryz. You feel the heaviest on your feet - even beneath the oil and gold you can easily see how bruised and bloody they are. The fleshy ooze chains both of you the floor, but you also feel a strange resistance from the mana itself.

It’s incredibly hard to move your body, as if you became a magnetic antithesis to everything which touches the membrane that covers you. You exhale. You watch Cryz struggle and wriggle in vain, unable to escape.

The bones of the bodiless monstrosity are massive, so are its joints. Fezars boiling veins, surrounding the bones like eldritch strings, make the five ‘arms’ circling the massive head of the monster appear like muscular arms. Like a wheel of destruction, it spirals and rolls across the sandstone floor with haste and ease, quickly closing the distance between it and the Wardress. Virginia is a Senior Magic Knight, however, as well as a noble. It would take much more than a fossil with a fake beating hurt to catch her off-guard...

You see her cold grey eyes stare the “wheel” down before she jumps an incredible height and rolls out of the way of the attack, likely bruising Zeden in the process. This short engagement raises massive clouds of dusts. The five-jointed creation does not stop: crashing into one of the walls with such force it bursts a hole, and shattering many of the windows above it. Thanks to Zitanhu’s magic, however, the creatures inside are nothing but petrified carcasses, at least for now. The Diamond Kingdom’s mercenary gingerly ouches in pain before tightening her grip around Virginia’s shoulders. She stands up and raises her sword above herself.

Enveloped in Cryz’s cleansing spell, and shining with immense white radiance, Zitanhu approaches the faltered mess of a beast lying directly in front of the exit to finish it. The Royal Scribe stops, as if sensing that something is wrong. You watch as the strange, eldritch magic overwhelms the pool of ooze, flesh and bones. With the colour of demonic lava, the monstrosity begins to boil and turn on itself, as if a crushed maggot consuming its own tail. Pessimistically, as if by impulse, Scribe’s stone body takes a few steps back.

The scarlet, gelatinous remains of the first horror explode with a cacophonic and deafening shriek and scream; it echoes across the room. As if a torrential rainstorm, hundreds of gory chunks of flesh, all no bigger than your finger, are sent flying into different directions. Fezar’s corrupting blood immediately covers the “Lifeless Zoo” as it does so. One of them passes through Zitanhu’s petrified body; the man doesn’t have time to react: the fleshy shards break and shatter a quarter of his face, and a piece of his chest.

The same happens to Silhibip, her mummified body is neither quick enough to dodge all the disgusting husks of flesh or sturdy enough to block the impact. A massive chunk of fidgeting flesh penetrates her shoulder and tights, exploding them into tiny white fragments. It looks bad, but she is still able to stand up.

Virginia quickly turns away from the rumbling monster she was facing against.

This time, Zeden warns her with an obvious worry. Turning around to either protect or to have a better chance facing the fleshy shards head on, she raises her sword to make a clean swing through the blood-infused downpour. She grunts in pain as the fleshy leach-like chunks slice and penetrate through her shoulder and neck, forcing her to bleed out. To your surprise, Zeden immediately covers the open wounds with her hands, likely to allow your Wardress to continue fighting without having to worry about them.

You and Cryz stand no chance, the snake-bird’s secretion makes it impossible to even attempt to jump out of the way; it restricts you. The sharp flesh violently flows and hits your and Cryz’s golden skin like living shrapnel, causing you immense pain and suffering. Your body shudders and turns cold from the anguish, you can’t help but cry. Your golden skin shatters; it rains upon the floor. It is able to stop the fragments penetrating deeper into your body. The creatures’ oily ooze continues to weight you down, however...

You turn to Cryz, without the golden skin covering his body he is a way worse condition than you. He tries not to show it, to downplay it, but it is clear as day that his skin is badly bruised and scorched. He just recently stopped bleeding, as well. You are not sure if he is going to survive another attack like that one.

> You have lost a benefaction: [Skin of the Keledon] [2]

> You no longer posses +1HP add to your current health, but you also no longer posses -5 penalty to your DR rolls.
> Cryz no longer posses +1HP add to his current health, but you also no longer posses -5 penalty to your DR rolls.

> You lost 1 health.
> Health [2/5] [0/0]

Ignoring the pain, Virginia stands up and, after making sure that it was indeed a suicidal attack and there is now nothing left of the monstrous creation, she turns to face the slowly rising shadow of the five-jointed abomination. However, it visibly struggles. Two of its five joints have been heavily damaged by the explosion earlier, it and Virginia and now on even grounds; at least, injury-wise. Virginia wastes no time, she strikes her blade against the ground to emblaze another angelic fire as soon as she rushes towards the beast. Holding the hilt with both of her hands she swings her sword in a long wave, ashen flames blazing in all directions. She... misses however, like a spider the five-jointed manifestation jumps left and right away from the encroaching fire of her sword. It rushes towards Virginia and one of its hands grabs the sword...

Despite suffering some injuries Zitanhu summons as much of his Calendar Magic as he is physically available to – his magical essence still enchanted by Cryz’s magical spell. His glowing three-leaf clover gives birth to a blinding cyan array that almost immediately leaves his side and bursts through the creature Virginia has been fighting. The amalgamation of flesh and fossil attempts to jump out of the way but it is near impossible. Calendar Magic immediately begins to take effect, the glimmering snowstorm penetrating and clinging to the inside of the monster’s bones. The dimly glowing blood veins and organs soon vanish.

The fossil carcass of the creature collapses on top of the floor, joining the rest of the “Lifeless Zoo” as nothing more than a display piece. A long shadow continues to circle around you. “Why, you little...” you hear Silhibip mutter before her chest is quickly engulfed with golden glow; the cracks spread much further.

Her mana turns into golden dust and soon after, once again, forms a spiralling tentacle cage of liquid gold which she does not waste much time thrusting towards the last remaining monster with obedient chains. The stingray-bird-snake is able to avoid them at first, but as soon as one of them reaches and solidifies around the tail-end of its collarbone its fate is concluded. Silhibip adds a few more binding chains and send it smashing upon the sandstone floor, cracking the surface from the sheer impact of the fall. She exhales...

“Whew,” the ringing voices in your head make it hard to hear what Silhibip said beyond that. Once they make sure no other panels are about to be broken, Silhibip, Zitanhu and Virginia (with Zeden) approach you.

“Are we not going to kill it?” Virginia asks, her head knocking to the chained bird-like fossil.

“There is no point,” Zitanhu whispers – flames of magic burning from the chunks he lost. “I did not destroy them; my magic only banished them for a short while. If we do not hurry, we’ll have to fight them again.”

“You look horrible-dreadful-nasty-terrible Cryz,” Zeden looks out of Virginia’s shoulder at the boy.

“I’ve been better,” Cryz stays half-assedly. He struggles to remain standing on his feet, “It freaking hurts.”

“Yeah,” Zeden exhales with the same kind of half-caring tone at him, “You really got unlucky with your partner-compatriot-companion.” She emphasises her point by kissing her extremely white, woundless skin.

Cryz looks at you and looks away, unable or unwilling to argue. You harrumph.

“You are not my ‘partner-compatriot-companion’, Diamond Kingdom’s dog,” Virginia mocks her.

“Why, it’s a good thing you had my golden skin on you!” Silhibip’s head grinds a few times in energetic nod. “We don’t know... well, actually, we do know what’s after this room, but we don’t know how this criminal of yours influenced it, and what traps and other nasties he put there. It’s best you have it again!”

“Are you sure you have enough magic left to use it like that?” Zitanhu stoically asks the petrified woman.

Silhibip, too, has burning yellow fires escaping from the fractures she suffered during the battle. “Why, look who’s talking, Zitanhu. This will take much less of my magic than what you have been doing all along.”

Virginia looks at you with visible concern; she takes a knee to get closer to you. “You should stay safe.”

> Now that the bird-snake-stingray creature is restrained, there’s no way for you to miss. Drain some magic.
> Ask Silhibip to restore [Skin of the Keledon] to both you and Cryz. Better to be slow than dead.
> Ask Silhibip to restore [Skin of the Keledon] to Cryz only. You have enough strength left without it.
> [Write In]

>>4299501
>> Ask Silhibip to restore [Skin of the Keledon] to both you and Cryz. Better to be slow than dead.

>>4299501
>> Ask Silhibip to restore [Skin of the Keledon] to Cryz only. You have enough strength left without it.

>>4299501
>> Ask Silhibip to restore [Skin of the Keledon] to both you and Cryz. Better to be slow than dead

You offer a short and uncertain nod to your higher-up. You look over your badly bruised and damaged skin. Empowering and draining magic of others is useful and powerful, but, for you, nothing can replace a healing spell. You would prefer not to slow yourself down with a thick layer of gold surrounding your body; Patricia would probably faith if you ever have to tell her what happened here. But, beggars can’t be choosers. You look at Cryz, there is no doubt you can argue with either him or Silhibip that it is better to be fast than safe. Neither do you really believe it yourself. You briefly imagine having to carry Cryz’s dead body with you; it sends a cold shiver down your spine.

You nod towards the woman, making sure to avoid looking at her naked, petrified chest, “Can you do it again?”

Silhibip’s head turns to face you; her eyes are ever-constantly glowing with a golden radiance. “Why, of course.”

There are still some thin golden pieces clinging to your completely ruined dress – it didn’t survive a month – and skin, like foil. As soon as Silhibip activates her magic, and the white stone memory of her grimoire cracks to release another dazzling cloud of golden dust, those pieces begin to melt and uncomfortably – it would be ticklish if you weren’t so injured – roll down your skin, like rain water. You bite your lips and close your eyes, trying not to think.

> You have gained a benefaction: [Skin of the Keledon] [2]

>A coating of true gold covers yours and Cryz’s skin. It weights your body and makes it harder for you to move, adding -10 to your DR rolls, but it adds +1HP to yours’, as well as +1 HP to Cryz’s, HEALTH regardless of the max’.

> Health: [2/5] [1/1]

Once again, a metallic and cold layer is quickly formed and solidified over your skin. You exhale, and the coating on your chest trembles with your breathe. You glance over at Cryz: the gold is hiding the majority of his wounds in a perfect manner. With his clothes gilded, his fashion sense looks even more ludicrous. You look away from him.

He smirks, weakly but smugly, “Isn’t gold just amazing? Not only can you buy a good life, it can save your life, too.”

...Only if it’s magical gold. You awkwardly nod at him, deciding not to entertain him further.

You approach Zitanhu. He is looking over the lifeless zoo in silence. His head grinds uncannily – the only thing that stridently cracks the quiet air. You nod at him. Zitanhu melancholically acknowledges that there is no longer anything here holding you in this chamber. Feeling his Calendar Magic fleeting, he guides you towards the exit door.

Appreciatively, it easily opens to lead you into a long hallway. Just like any forsaken room in this palace, is has been completely twisted by Fezar’s perverse magic. Disfigured lips carve the ceiling like an eldritch river, its disgusting droll forming into solid stalagmites dangerously hanging above your head as you pass. Cryz looks it over and scowls...

Zitanhu prepares to summon his Calendar Magic. Going through this room in any other manner is going to take too much time. Cryz asks Zitanhu to wait. The man raises his hand and summons the grimoire the both of you share to hover just slightly beneath his face. His fingertips gently turn the pages and, as if picked by wind, they continue to flicker until the spell is found. “Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation,” He speaks out loud as his sequins cover Zitanhu.

> Cryz spend 13 mana.
> Mana: [77/165]

No longer in danger of destroying and collapsing his life-trapping stone form, Zitanhu is quick to summon an aquamarine radiance from beneath his magical soul. The entire room is soon consumed by his powerful aura, removing and cleaning any presence of the dark Flesh Magic. The time turns to where this hallway was just that.

There are engravings and fretworks surrounding and decorating the hall of learning, but you don’t have the time

The six of you continue walking through the incredibly long hallway until you finally find yourself standing in front of a massive gate divided into four squares, each held by the one nearest with a strange and heavy hinge. To your relief, neither Zitanhu nor Silhibip test your knowledge, although Zitanhu – the Royal Scribe and person most likely responsible for the creation of most of the original traps and puzzles – allows Silhibip to test hers. You are not sure how, but after several minutes Silhibip manages to turn the jigsaw-like pieces of the door into the correct order...

With a deafening noise the door roars open, each of the four pieces sliding away inside the wall. Of course, the room is dark, but it doesn’t take long for both you and Cryz to illuminate it the glow of your sequin butterflies; mad butterflies. As if noticing the nectar of heavens, the sequins you create from the magic coating your palm immediately leave – burst – to fly into dozens of opposite directions. They surround and cling to strange pillars all across the massive chamber. The pillars are made of strange, bluish sandstone; the mineral imperfections inside the pillars glimmer under your sequin light. The pillars are tall and towering, each as big as each other and standing in a perfectly symmetrical chessboard pattern. There is a glass-like cube inside each of the pillar that divides them into two halves; those cubes are located on Zitanhu’s eyelevel, so, for you, they are a little bit higher than necessary. While not so obvious at first glance, you notice magical runes slowly and continuously rolling inside the surface of those cubes.

“Oh? What is that?” Zeden jumps off Virginia’s shoulders to shove her face just a few inches away from one of such protective tetrahedrons. Curiosity be damned, you take a few steps to take a look as well; inside there is a gray feather.

Zitanhu coldly clears his throat, “I would not suggest touching or attempting to destroy them, they are all protected.”

“This is the part where you tell us you can’t remove the traps, isn’t it?” Cryz exasperates.

Zitanhu remains stoic, “My Calendar Magic will not change a single thing in this room.”

Silhibip turns to him; she says something private to him in an ancient language. The man stares away, patiently.

“Then we will just have to drain and free the ones we like the most,” he tell you and raises his palm.

Virginia steps in front of him; she intercepts both free hands of Zeden and Cryz and painfully bends them.

“It will not be your decision, but ours. Those artifacts are too dangerous to be allowed to get in your hands.”

“They are not dangerous-risky-unsafe,” Zeden winces as she bends her knee. Virginia looks at her with annoyance. Zeden explain, rather gleefully, “They will be, just imagine how more powerful those things will be as Magic Relics!”

Virginia’s cold eyes stare Zeden down, but the woman continues to disobey her. Zeden’s can’t even bother to pay attention to the Wardress, amethyst eyes madly rolling to stare at what each of the items inside are...

> Do you have any suggestions to have divide and ‘empower’ the artifacts without this becoming ugly?

>>4300546
You should probably list the available artifacts Melk. I think this is the paragraph from the last thread describing them, unless there are others he didn't tell us about yet.

> Zitanhu nods – the crumbling sand dust slides off his neck and falters, “Let’s see... I remember there was the ‘Sandshine Emerald’, if you keep it protected from any light for ten years, once removed, the person it will shine on will be able to treat any sand-like surface as if it was water for an hour. That can be very useful, beneath all this flesh your criminal created, there will still be sand. Then there were the four runic tablets from the Heart Kingdom; they are flat stone-like tablets decorated with runes engraved using a powerful dust-like dye. Each have a different array, but they require magic to be recharged and you risk the dye disappearing if don’t wait at least an hour before uses. Then there’s the ‘Canopic Elixir’, it allows potent and strong mages to remove all illnesses.”

I think we should definitely take out the Elixer and hold onto it ourselves (We might be able to use it to heal Cryz and ourself, and if we manage to keep it when this is all over with, it might help with the curses on some of our friends). Other than that maybe the Emerald and one of the tablets? I assume we don't have the time or the mana to get everything.

>>4300546
elixir and the emerald and one of the tablets

Wincing in pain, Cryz raises his gold-covered hand towards the nearest of the pillars and cracks his knuckles.

“Or else what, you are going to kill us?” his voice rings with sarcasm, “As beautiful as you are – although your personality is a lot to be desired – this intimidation-play of yours is not going to work.” He clenches his hand...

The magical runes surrounding the glassy cube rammed inside the sandstone pillar have their glow switch into a weak flicker, opposite of the white sequins clinging to the polished mirror-like surface. A brilliant white radiance surrounds your magical baubles as they begin to quickly drain the magical of the long-forgotten, ancient trap set by Mydias (?).

> Cryz spend 21 mana.
> Mana: [56/165]

Cryz’s audacity practically shadows Virginia’s face. She clutches his hand even further, twisting it to such an extent even the layer of gold begins to silently crack. The towering Wardress lifts him heavily above the ground and tosses him down. Because the two of you are connected, you are forced to wobble violently as she does so. Virginia gives you an apologetic say. Cryz looks away in irritable yet carefree fashion, as if making it clear he’s defying her leadership. He twists his hand, and, in a brilliant glow, the overflowing sequins explode into a cloud of shimmering white magic, completely consuming the runes and exploding the protective glass. He covers himself in the mana.

> Cryz restored 15 mana.
> Mana: [71/165]

Zeden easily ignores the commotion. Wasting no time, she hurries to rush towards the pedestal for the Magic Tool. She is unable to get as close as she hopes for, Virginia is just too big and muscular for the lightweight mercenary to pull along. Still, she is able to see it clear enough for frustration to appear over her face; she pouts and looks at Cryz.

“Cryz you idiot-dork-cretin-dunce-dimwit-moron-nitwit-knucklehead,” she begins vexing, trying to catch her breath. You watch her hastily push away her light-blue hair-moustache, “You should be releasing the ‘Heart’ tablets first!”

“Why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’?” she gasps out loud, “If we have the arrays, we’ll be able to release more items!”

“What in damnation is an ‘array?’” the man asks his frustrated companion.

“I can’t believe you don’t know, you must be the only one in our kingdom who doesn’t!” Zeden chews her nails.

“I think you’re the only person in the Diamond Kingdom nerdy enough to know,” the man rolls his eyes.

Zeden lifts her sharp nose together with her chin; smugly. “Why thank you – hey!” she is shoved aside by Virginia.

The armour-wearing Wardress approaches the now shattered cube and, once she makes sure it is safe, shoves her hand inside the empty space between the two parts of the pillars. She takes out a very strange artefact: a round carving in shape of an eye – the iris is made out of clear-cut emeralds, the ancient magic, like mercury, is flowing inside of it.

“That’s mine, give it back,” Zeden demands as she reaches for the Magic Tool. Wardress just lifts her by her head.

She takes a few steps to turn around and face Zitanhu. She raises the object towards him. “What is this?” She asks.

Zitanhu’s takes a few brief, but incredibly loud and worrying – as his body continues to crack – steps towards her. He pauses, as if trying to remember. With a cold, yet affirmative nod, he says, “That’s the ‘The Sun Eye’, very powerful.”

“I did not ask for its name. What does it do?”

“I believe it allows you to see the person you think of for a brief moment of time, as if you were above them.”
“We could use this to find where Lanarel is,” Virginia’s cold demeanour is briefly shattered by her protective nature. It doesn’t take long; however, as she notices Zeden attempts to summon a cloud of pristine ashen magic to cover the “The Sun Eye” like an ethereal bubble. Grabbing her face even more painfully, Virginia interrupts her spell casting. Using her free hand she summons back the flux of white magic before it can properly interact with the Magic Tool.

“What... are you doing?” she shoves Zeden rudely.

“Ouch-ouch-ouch, I was just trying-attempting-undertaking to turn it into a Magic Relic with our magic.”

“I didn’t realize I gave you the permission.”

“Well, no, you didn’t!” Zeden admits half-caringly. “But that’s the only thing out magic is good for!”

“And I will be the one to decide on which items we shall empower,” she turns to Zitanhu, “What are the others?”

Zeden nods and flairs her hands with her face still being in Virginia’s grip, “Maybe you are right, what’re the others?”

Zitanhu’s head looks over the opposite pillar. With stands there in stoic silence before his ancient voice escapes from within the petrified chunks of his face and clearly, with a vibrant and ghastly noise, echoes in your and the rest of the living’s heads. Virginia shoves the “The Sun Away” inside her chest armour, away from Zeden and Cryz. She follows Zitanhu to the second pillar; there is a strange and rather simplistic carving of a bird made out of pale, white wood...

“The Mur’At Bluebird,” Zitanhu explains, “If somebody gives it life with their magic, it will turn into a loyal familiar.” He approaches the next column, inside is a feather Cryz has noticed of previously. “’Feather of Truth’, it will turn heavier with every lie told by the person who it is touching; it was designed to get the truth by all means necessary... not by the ‘Chosen of the Sands’, but the kingdom we came victorious over.”

He continues, this time holding his hand above a glass cube with a small silver bowl inside. On the platter you notice strange, brownish-blue seeds. “‘Seeds of Hekka’, they force your body to restore all of your mana immediately, but at the incredible cost for your health, sanity and sleep; the men and women of this kingdom fought until the last person dead, never to surrender.” The next is a small and strange, thick bag made out of crocodile leather dyed in black. “Inside is the ‘Sandshine Emerald’, it allows the user to travel through the sands as if it was water – with all the drawbacks.” He leads you deeper into the chamber, where you find four pillars standing in a rhombus, inside each glassy display are flat slate stones with polished quartz neatly decorating each. There have powerful inscriptions.”

“Those are-”

“Magical Arrays,” Zeden interrupts him as she sneaking slides away from Virginia to approach and extremely-close inspect each of them. Her purple eyes glimmer, “This is the first time I see inscribed arrays from the Heart Kingdom in real, I heard-discovered-perceived that the new Princess is unable to create them. That means those are –old –“

Zitanhu is not insulted by Zeden’s interference. He simply turns around, “Sadly, I can’t tell you of their effects.”

“I can-able-proficient,” the Diamond Kingdom mercenary says with visible smugness. She points at one of them, “This one will make the magic spell faster, this one will make the magic spell stronger, this one will make the magic spell last for longer and this one will make it bigger.” She spits off a piece of her nail, “Yep, you can praise me now.”

“What about the elixir you mentioned?” Virginia – and everyone else – ignores Zeden as they continue to the other pillars, inside of which there is a brilliant jasper bottle tightly sealed with wax. The liquid inside is very see-through.”

Zitanhu nods, “The Canopic Elixir, you know about it as much as I do.”

He finally approaches the last pillar with a glass cube – all others do not have a protective glass to hold Magic Tools.

Inside, there is an eccentric brooch with miniature gemstones forming the shape of a bird. “‘Bennu Broach’,” Zitanhu explains. He hovers his hand above the glass, “It will transform into a pair of usable gemstone rings, I believe.”
“I want-want-want all of them,” Zeden exclaims, attempt to rush from one glass box to the next.

“You are getting none,” Virginia stares daggers at both her and Cryz. She looks at you, “Cynthia?”

You glance awkwardly at Cryz before raising your shoulders an uncertain shrug, “A tablet would certainly be useful against the fight with Fezar, any of them, all of them. The emerald as well, and the elixir.” Your eyes falls to the sandstone floor, “But I don’t think I have enough magic left to free even half of them, and I don ‘t feel like setting the traps off is a good idea. What about you, and your Relic Magic?” you ask Virginia about the specifics of her spell.

She briefly chokes on her breathe, coughing. “It empowers Magic Tools and takes a lot of mana to do so. I am a noble, but because this mercenary is a commoner I don’t have as much magic as I used to.” She explains calmly, making sure to keep an eye on both Cryz and Zeden. “I will need some mana in order to re-charge my sword, but it might be wise to use up the rest here, as my magic is not going to be much of a use. Let’s think. It should be enough for three items.”

> Do you have any suggestions to have divide and ‘empower’ the artifacts without this becoming ugly?

>>4300842
> Not enough time sometimes to write a big update, sadly.

>>4301586
>Firstly ask Zeden which arrey we should take first to make dispelling/draining traps easier

>>4302296
>Then ask Virginia of Magical Arrays counts as artefact and if she can upgrade them to Relics
>If yes cast [Supplementary Form] on her

> I'll try to update after work (no promises). So there is still time to write your prompt.

>>4301586
In addition to this
>>4302296
>>4302298

>Free the Elixer and have them empower it as well
>Also free the sun eye so that we can perhaps look in on Lanarel or Fezar.

“Three items then,” you nod softly to her; your eyes dart across the pillars and the items hidden inside them. You look back: Cryz is agitated, Zeden is unhinged and Virginia is uncompromising. You see Zitanhu and Silhibip standing aside, away from your ruffle. Silhibip is leaning on the man as they discuss something hollowly in their ancient language. You imagine they are watching the four of you in either judgemental or pitying manner; fighting each other.

You shiver, clear your throat and raise your voice, “Wardress Virginia, are you planning on empowering that thing?”

You point at the “Sun Eyes” she is now hiding in her armour. The tall woman jingles her gauntlet, pausing to think.

She shakes her head. “No,” she says, “I am going to use it to find out where Lanarel is, then it’ll be useless for me.”

“Then you won’t mind if I have it?” Zeden nudges her head.

“I would rather destroy it than have it get into the Diamond Kingdom’s hands.”

You exhale, “We can’t be fighting among ourselves right now, Virginia.” You turn to both Zeden and Cryz briefly to attempt to include them in this conversation. “We came here to find Magic Tools which will help us with defeating Fezar, we shouldn’t be thinking about which Magic Tools will be useful outside of this dungeon.”

Virginia folds the hand she is holding her sword with across her chest, “You are gullible, Cynthia. Around people like them you should be cautious. There is no doubt that as soon as they are able to escape, they’ll try to take those items.”

Cryz sits himself on the cold surface, his legs crossed. “We came here for those items originally,” Cryz states clearly and honestly, droll of greed and anticipation rolling down his lips and chin. “I don’t give a single heck about the criminal you were tasked with arresting. You wouldn’t even know we were here and took those items if your criminal didn’t come here, so don’t act mighty. Everything here belongs to those who came here first, and that will be –me–.”

You frown and grind your teeth at Cryz; this is not helping!

“Tell her Cryz, tell her Cryz!” Zeden raises her free hand into the air in a form of a salute and cheer.

You notice Virginia’s eyes narrow in scorn. Her sword trembles as she tightens her hold. Her breathing is heavy.

“Besides,” Cryz continues, clearly unaware or uncaring about Virginia’s growing urge to do something bad to him, “Why should we assisting you with fighting Fezar in the first place? We are caught in your problems, and are only tagging along because we are literally forced to. But you can’t kill us; you can’t beat us up because you’ll have to carry us along. We can make it very difficult for you. Conceivably, Fezar is going to be more reasonable than you?”

Virginia’s sword trickles with white fire as she removes it with a pinch and quickly reveals the blade.

“Don’t test me, mercenary. If I’ll have to, I’ll cut you both-”

You can’t allow it to escalate. You quickly approach Virginia to place your hands on her iron stomach and stand between her and Cryz. “Please, Wardress, this is what Fezar wants us to do. Let’s focus on finding Lanarel and their other companion and deciding on which Magic Tools to take and empower with your Relic Magic with that goal in mind.” You turn to Zeden, “Do you know which of those four array tablets is going to be most useful right now?”

The blue-haired merc’ blinks at you a few times before grinning and lifting her nose smugly, “Of course I do.” She points towards one of the four tablets sealed inside the pillar, “For your kind of the spell, the most useful-practical-functional-applicable will be the one that will make your spell bigger-grander-larger-huger. It’ll conserve your mana but will allow you to release many at once!” She pauses, her head hanging, “Can’t say for sure how big it’ll be...”

You nod to Cryz and lift your hand, “Then we should focus on that first, and decide on other items later.”

Virginia grabs your hand before you can summon your sequins. “Unlike our magic, your’ is very likely to be helpful once we have to fight Fezar, you should be conservative with it. How much of your mana do you think you have left?”
You smile sheepishly, “I would say from ability to use two to five spells, it’s rather random.” You admit.

She knocks the blunt end of her sword against the pillar, “Then we are going to stop on you releasing that tablet array and you using it to free as many Magic Tools at the same time as possible, and that’s it. Just two times is enough.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to use your Relic Magic on that tablet to make it stronger?”

“If they are Magic Tools, and the spell is imprinted on them properly, that should be possible.” Her grey eyes look across the dark chamber, with only your sequins and the magic of Zitanhu and Silhibip creating bright illumination. “Are there any Magic Tools you think will be useful?” She asks you after a brief pause, she herself considering it.

You nod hesitantly, “On our way here we have been attacked by some strange creatures that put some kind of curse on us. Some strange magical sand entered our bodies and now there’s a constant pain in my heart and lungs and skin....”

“That is worrying,” she nods dutifully, “Then we are going to get the ‘Canopic Elixir’ first, that’s reasonable.”

You stomach growls and you embarrassingly glance away, your cheeks turning red. Her eyes widen; then narrow.

“I-I’m sorry,” you whisper awkwardly, “I haven’t got to eat anything since we left the Blue Rose Headquarters.”

“You didn’t?” Virginia hisses slowly before she points her sword towards Zeden, “You, mercenary, give her the same seeds you gave me – you should still have a lot of them left.” She demands of the woman who continues to smile.

“It is strange now unprepared-unready-unqualified you Magic Knights are,” Zeden ponders, “Let me pick a Magic Tool after this one and I’ll be happy to give her some food-meat-fare in exchange-transaction-barter-trade for that.”

“I can offer the same deal,” Cryz intercepts his companion, who shrugs at him with a pout.

“You... had food with your all this time?” Virginia turns to Cryz to demand an answer.

“Yes.”

She is ready to kill him.

> Virginia is probably going to get physical and beat the seeds out of Cryz. It is his own fault, let her.
> Insist that nobody died from being hungry for a few days and you’ll be fine. No need to escalate the situation.
> Cryz is planning on selling those Magic Tools, but Zeden is just interested in them. Agree to Zeden’s deal.
> You don’t know exactly what Zeden is planning; Cryz is just going to pick the most valuable one. Agree to his deal.
> [Write In]

> Then, please roll 1d10+40 – best of three – to drain the protective magic shielding one of the array tablets.
> Also, please roll 1d40 – best of three – to see how much magic you’ll be able to drain from the protective magic

>>4303616
1d10+40?

Rolled 25 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4303616
I am guessing you meant to write 1d40+10

>>4303646
>I am guessing you meant to write 1d40+10
Yeah, my bad.

Rolled 40 (1d40)

>>4303616

>>4303648
fuck

>>4303616
> Insist that nobody died from being hungry for a few days and you’ll be fine. No need to escalate the situation.
> Cryz is planning on selling those Magic Tools, but Zeden is just interested in them. Agree to Zeden’s deal.

although as much as I hate Cryz since he is a bastard we don't want to waste our time and mana beating him up

Rolled 2 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4303616

> Insist that nobody died from being hungry for a few days and you’ll be fine. No need to escalate the situation.
> Cryz is planning on selling those Magic Tools, but Zeden is just interested in them. Agree to Zeden’s deal.

Rolled 23 (1d40)

>>4303784

Seems redundant after >>4303648 but gotta respect the rules

Rolled 25 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4303616
>> Insist that nobody died from being hungry for a few days and you’ll be fine. No need to escalate the situation.
>> Cryz is planning on selling those Magic Tools, but Zeden is just interested in them. Agree to Zeden’s deal.

Rolled 15 (1d40)

>>4303887

>>4303648
>>4303650
At the very least, the other Anon rolled almost minimum mana cost, so even if we don't absorb any back we won't be losing much. Hopefully there aren't any extra consequences thrown in for maximum drain.

You interrupt Virginia before you have to end up carrying an unconscious – or dead – body with you. You lean closer to the Wardress to whisper. “I-it’s fine, Virginia, nobody has died from being hungry for a couple of days. It’s fine...”

Her grey-blue eyes fall on top of you before she grunts and slides her sword back into leather sheath; it extinguishes.

You take a deep breath and shake your head. You force your stomach to stop growling by painfully squeezing it. You turn to Cryz and narrow your eyes; you immediately glance away in ill feeling. You look at Zeden and nod your head.

She puts both of her thumbs to her chin and squeaks, her eyes dazzle with pure excitement as she begins looking over each of the pillars to decide on which of the Magic Tools she wants the most, although Virginia – as if a standing boulder – does not allow her to venture too far away. You see Cryz scowl but then immediately shrug his shoulders and, as if it was not really in his interest, look away with boredom in his eyes. You release a flux of magical energy from your body, the translucent mana slowly manifesting into pure-white magic and then solidifying into sequins...

> You spend 12 mana.
> Mana: [59/165]

The floating ashen cloud carefully surrounds the glass-like container, hanging and dazzling the pillar in dim glow. You twist and squeeze your hand, compelling the manifestations of your magic to drain the magical inscriptions and release the spellbound trap. The magical symbols immediately sizzles falter and fade away. The magic inside your sequins makes it incredibly radiant. The glassy container crumbles into dust as soon as you lift the glowing cloud of magic; however, as soon as you attempt to bring it back towards yourself, it becomes unstable and loudly explodes.

All the magic you have drained spirals and whirlpools across the massive chamber, diminishing into the natural mana.

There is a light shuddering in your body as soon as it happens, but it is not anything worth worry about. Your hands fall as soon as you realize you lost the control over your buildup of magic. Sombrely, you turn to Virginia to nod.

“Well that’s a first,” Cryz comments at you briefly and sarcastically. “Maybe you should leave it to me, kid?”

Virginia approaches the now-revealed tablet and, after a brief pause, takes it into her hands. She looks it over; it is flat slate stone shimmering with quartz surface. There are magical runes carved and then drawn in a circle around its edges with a very strange and unnaturally glimmering blue dye. In the centre of it is a bigger rune in shape of a twisted cross with two squares going through each other. She looks it over and approaches you. Virginia gently puts it in your arms.

> Item Acquired: [Magic Tool: Rune Array: ‘Enlargement’]
A magical artifact created by the Heart Kingdom. A powerful rune engraved upon the enchanted sea stone is activated by applying magical energy and harnesses the natural mana surrounding the user to empower and enlarger the spell to target multiple targets (+3 additional targets). Upon activation, the magical dye becomes volatile and, if used again within the same hour, disappears from the surface of the tablet. The item requires to be charged again once used.

You lift it to Virginia, your voice faltering, “Do you want to try using your magic?” you ask her.

Your Wardress nods. She tightly grips the edge of the tablet and releases a surge of blindingly-bright sunset magic. The cold blazing inferno quickly envelops the object and begins to turn into pure-white cinders. For a brief moment, the tablet appears as if it put into the oven of a divine blacksmith. With a crackle, the tablet begins to soothe down...

You open your eyes, tears of blinding pain still floating down your cheeks. The appearance of the object have not changed too drastically, but the overwhelming power inside is much stronger. This heaviness makes you numb.

> Item Aquired: [Magic Relic: Rune Array: ‘Enlargement’]
A magical artifact created by the Heart Kingdom. A powerful rune engraved upon the enchanted sea stone is activated by applying magical energy and harnesses the natural mana surrounding the user to empower and enlarger the spell to target multiple targets (+5 additional targets). The item requires to be charged with magical energy after every use.

You and Virginia stand in a brief silence before she lifts her hand and harrumphs, “It is going to take all of my mana to recharge once you use it. Well, at least now with one of your spells you’ll be able to free at least half of stuff here.”

You give her a brief nod. You place the table upon the ground before you raise your ahead; Zeden is shoving her head so close she is almost kissing you. “You’re done? Good-fantastic-great-wonderful! I decided-asserted-concreted-concluded-picked on what I want in exchange for the seeds, it’s not good-awful-terrible-crude for your health to be hungry. There is a lot of research about that. Regardless-nonetheless-anyways, what I want is the-that wing-broach.”

You nod with uncertainty before raising your hand once more. You have never used an array before...

>Pick five or less:
> Release the “Mur’At Bluebird”; a wooden carving that will transform into a royal familiar.
> Release the “Feather of Truth”; a magical feather that will turn heavier every time a lie is told.
> Release the “Seeds of Hekka”; a magical food that will restore all your mana for some consequences.
> Release the “Sandshine Emerald”; an enchanted crystal that allows the user to travel through sand like water.
> Release the “Rune Array: “Hastening”; a magical tablet that will empower your spell to make it faster.
> Release the “Rune Array: “Strengthening”; a magical tablet that will empower your spell to make it stronger.
> Release the “Rune Array: “Leghtening”; a magical tablet that will empower your spell to make it last longer.
> Release the “Canopic Elixir”; a potion that will remove sicknesses and poisons from the target, or make them worse.
> Release the “Bennu Broach”; a magical brooch that will create a pair of gemstone wings to let the user fly.

> Please roll 1d40+10 – best of three.
> Please roll 1d40.

> You can also suggest one or two items Virginia and Zeden should use their Relic Magic on.

Rolled 27 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4305203
> Release the “Canopic Elixir”; a potion that will remove sicknesses and poisons from the target, or make them worse.
> Release the “Bennu Broach”; a magical brooch that will create a pair of gemstone wings to let the user fly.
> Release the “Mur’At Bluebird”; a wooden carving that will transform into a royal familiar.
> Release the “Seeds of Hekka”; a magical food that will restore all your mana for some consequences.

use relic magic on bird and Bennu broach

Rolled 38 (1d40)

>>4305203

>>4305302
fuck yeah I have redeemed myself, can nobody else roll for drain since there is a chance for us getting a 1 or a 40

Rolled 24 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4305200
> Release the “Mur’At Bluebird”; a wooden carving that will transform into a royal familiar.
> Release the “Feather of Truth”; a magical feather that will turn heavier every time a lie is told.
> Release the “Canopic Elixir”; a potion that will remove sicknesses and poisons from the target, or make them worse.
> Release the “Bennu Broach”; a magical brooch that will create a pair of gemstone wings to let the user fly.
> Release the “Sandshine Emerald”; an enchanted crystal that allows the user to travel through sand like water.

I think they should use their relic magic on the Elixer and maybe the Wings.

>>4305203
By the way, is there any reason we would want to target fewer than five of the tools?

>>4305611
> Not really. A small reason would be caution that too much of those items do not get into the Diamond Kingdom's hands.

> I need one more 1d40+10 if anyone would be so kind.

> And, maybe, another prompt with 5 selection so I pick which is the bigger vote is for.

Rolled 22 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4306383

>>4305203
>> Release the “Mur’At Bluebird”; a wooden carving that will transform into a royal familiar.
>> Release the “Rune Array: “Hastening”; a magical tablet that will empower your spell to make it faster.
>> Release the “Rune Array: “Strengthening”; a magical tablet that will empower your spell to make it stronger.
>> Release the “Rune Array: “Leghtening”; a magical tablet that will empower your spell to make it last longer.
>> Release the “Bennu Broach”; a magical brooch that will create a pair of gemstone wings to let the user fly.

Rolled 4 + 1 (1d6 + 1)

> Let's see then:

[2 votes] Release the “Canopic Elixir”; a potion that will remove sicknesses and poisons from the target, or make them worse.
[3 votes] Release the “Bennu Broach”; a magical brooch that will create a pair of gemstone wings to let the user fly.
[3 votes] Release the “Mur’At Bluebird”; a wooden carving that will transform into a royal familiar.
[1 vote] Release the “Seeds of Hekka”; a magical food that will restore all your mana for some consequences.
[1 vote] Release the “Feather of Truth”; a magical feather that will turn heavier every time a lie is told.
[1 vote] Release the “Sandshine Emerald”; an enchanted crystal that allows the user to travel through sand like water.
[1 vote] Release the “Rune Array: “Hastening”; a magical tablet that will empower your spell to make it faster.
[1 vote] Release the “Rune Array: “Strengthening”; a magical tablet that will empower your spell to make it stronger.
[1 vote] Release the “Rune Array: “Leghtening”; a magical tablet that will empower your spell to make it last longer.

> I am going to roll 2 1d6 to see what the last two are.

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4306402
> Okay, that didn't work as expected but was 4.

> Release the “Rune Array: “Hastening”; a magical tablet that will empower your spell to make it faster.
> Release the “Rune Array: “Strengthening”; a magical tablet that will empower your spell to make it stronger.

> Right, I'll have to apologize but I won't be able to finish this update by today so I'll have to postpone it until tomorrow. See you then. I kind of regret picking descriptive novel language for this quest but I can't imagine doing it another way.

File: Cynthia.png (7 KB, 283x302)

7 KB PNG

> Have this as an apology.

“I think I’ll be fine,” you grumble pettily at Cryz as you concentrate. You briefly connect the fingers of your hand to summon a brief burning of magic. You kneel in front of a now Magic Relic and gingerly hover your hand on top of it, allowing your magic to go down; inside. The tablet sizzles and cracks as the blue dye begins to glow like glitter. You hope you did it right. You circle your hand and then your entire body in an awkward but fluent dance, sequin crystals slowly manifesting in the air from your magic. A circle of shimmering crystals forms like a tail to follow your gesture.

Then, you feel a sudden and immense rush of mana, but not from within yourself but from the cold air surrounding you. More and more sequins, like ashen ambers, begin to manifest around the ones you created previously. Together, their blinding glow resembles a glistering surface of a snowy mountain during a calm, sunny day. You shake your head; such image is from your dreams and mind, you’ve never been up a peak before, but now you hope you will...

> You spend 32 mana.
> Mana: [27/165]

You raise your second hand – forcing Cryz to stumble. You take a deep breath before squeezing your hands and then opening them with a powerful thrust. The cloud of sequins explodes into five crystal zephyrs, each of them lunging towards the five pillars you have picked. Like a quintet of raging waves, they fall and surround the glassy vaults placed inside each of the pillars. Once every single sequin is clinging to the cubes and the radiance dims, you twist your hand to begin the draining spell. You watch as one by one the runic spells forming a trap within each of the cubes twist and break – their inscriptions coming to resemble nothing but squiggles now – before completely disappearing. Each of the sequins burst to transform the essence of Mydias’ Sand Magic into your Sequin Magic’s mana. You wait until the five protective glass vaults shatter into dust before you finally pull back the cloud of magic towards yourself.

> You have restored 38 mana.
> Mana: [65/165]

The blue rune on the flat stone tablet finally diffuses. If what Virginia said is correct, it will take a lot of magic to recharge this tablet that neither of you two currently have. It might prove useful in the future, but now it’s useless.

“Why, those tablets are certainly powerful,” Silhibip’s voice rings in your head with a hollow playfulness.

“There are no weak artifacts here, Silhibip, they were put here – away – because of how dangerous they are.”

“Good-fantastic-spending job!” Zeden tosses a light comment towards you before she grabs the “Bennu Brooch” into her hands. She also tosses you a small pouch of dried fruits, not unlike the one Cryz shoved you previously. Virginia is unable to keep track of all five of the pillars. It is a peculiar brooch with small gems forming a pattern of wings.

Almost immediately, she releases a surge of overwhelming magic, covering the brooch in ivory-yellow fire; her Relic Magic. Virginia quickly realizes this, and grabs her hand in an attempt to stop the magical consecration, but the flickers that are left play no difference. Relic Magic is fast and potent; you can feel the force and heat of the brooch.

“Ouch-ouch-ouch,” Zeden winces as Virginia painfully and extremely harshly raises her above the ground.

“I did not realize I gave you permission to enchant any of those items,” the Wardress speaks with a menacing tone.

Zeden’s four spiky buds dangle as she faces Virginia, “Well I can’t un-relic it now, and your friend gave it to me.”

Cryz has a carving of a stretched out bird in his free hand. He says, “I think I’ll take this.”

Virginia immediately raises her sword with her free hand. She is still holding Zeden above the ground. “This is the last word of warning, Diamond Kingdom’s dog, I told you to stay away from those magical items. If you won’t, I am not-”

Cryz winces; he briefly looks at you and shakes his head, “With an emotional and threatening woman like you, Magic Knight, I think I’m going to need some additional protection. It’s only logical and fair that I’ll get to have this thing.”

Cryz forces his magic into the wooden carving, immediately, bright blue cracks surround the wooden toy and shatter it into splinters; Cryz is quick to hide the splinters in his pocket, but you notice. From the flare, a striking white creature loosely resembling a falcon elevates to hover above you and the mercenary. Its wings are flowing with a blue inferno.

As the lagoon cinders, like snow, begin to descend on your head, you realize that you share a connection with the bird as well. It is likely because the two of you share a body and the mana he used to awaken it. Have Cryz realized this?

Virginia angrily clears her throat. Her gray eyes fall upon and stare daggers at you. She is serious. Her hands are busy.

“Cynthia, pick up the rest of the things you freed before those two get any funny ideas,” she says, and you nod...

You keep Cryz as far from yourself as it is physically possible – not much – but he doesn’t try to grab anything else.

You take the “Canopic Elixir”, “Rune Array: ‘Hastening’” and “Rune Array: ‘Strengthening’” into a heavy bundle.

> Item Acquired: [Magic Tool: Canopic Elixir]
A small and dusty jasper bottle without label sealed with ancient white wax. Inside the bottle is see-through and resin-like liquid which, once drunk to the last drop, allows the use to remove all sicknesses, poisons and illnesses. A roll of 1d10 is used (not best of three but only one roll), and if it the result is maximum hp of the user or lower all the unnatural afflictions are removed. If not, the negative effects of every poison, curse and sicknesses are doubled.

> Item Acquired: [Magic Tool: Rune Array: ‘Hastening’]
A magical artifact created by the Heart Kingdom. A powerful rune engraved upon the enchanted sea stone is activated by applying magical energy and harnesses the natural mana surrounding the user to accelerate their next spell. The DR of the next spell is raised by 20. Upon activation, the magical dye becomes volatile and, if used again within the same hour, disappears from the surface of the tablet. The item requires to be charged again once used.

> Item Acquired: [Magic Tool: Rune Array: ‘Strengthening’]
A magical artifact created by the Heart Kingdom. A powerful rune engraved upon the enchanted sea stone is activated by applying magical energy and harnesses the natural mana surrounding the user to empower and strengthen the next spell. Offensive Form spells deal +1 Damage, Healing Form spells give additional +1 HP, Defensive Form spells exist for 2 turns longer, Restraining Form spells exist for 2 turns longer, Creation Form spells gives +1HP to the creation. Supplementary Form spells exist for 1 turn longer. Upon activation, the magical dye becomes volatile and, if used again within the same hour, disappears from the surface of the tablet. The item requires to be charged again once used.

Virginia nods once she is assured you have the remaining items. She lets Zeden fall on the ground, her eyes meeting the glowing and looming eyes of Cryz’s floating familiar. The bird calmly hangs above you and him. It is able to float by the very presence of its magical presence; the “falcon” flails its wings like sails just for show. Blue snow hangs...

Virginia frowns, and lowers her lips next to your ear, whispering. “We are going to take all of those items back later.”

You nod at her awkwardly.

She nods in return and stands up, “Because of this hanging annoyance I only have about enough mana left to make one of those three things a Magic Relic. What do you think, Cynthia, which of them should I empower to use?”

> You still have some mana left. Should you try going for another Magic Tool? You don’t wish to be greedy...

>>4307679
>make the strengthening rune array a relic

lets not take anything more, cryz being a bastard would probably take something if we were to go for another magic tool

>>4308158

+1

>>4307679
>Make the Canopic Elixer a relic.

You hold the magical tablet - one Zeden mentioned to contain the runic arrays for ‘strengthening’ the spells you cast -towards Virginia. “I think this one will be the most useful to empower with your Relic Magic,” you tell her gingerly.

Virginia looks over the three items you are holding as if to make her own decision. After a brief pause, she nods. She looks at Cryz who is looking at her with clear tedium, and Zeden, who is quite busy looking over the brooch she now possesses. After holding it for a brief moment – her pink eyes glimmering with excitement and her mouth held wide open – she quickly put it in her hair. If it wasn’t for overwhelming magical power inside of that brooch, it would be very complimentary. Virginia raises her free hand to hover above the tablet; a yellowish bright fire soon consumes it.

> Item Acquired: [Magic Relic: Rune Array: ‘Strengthening’]
A magical artifact created by the Heart Kingdom. A powerful rune engraved upon the enchanted sea stone is activated by applying magical energy and harnesses the natural mana surrounding the user to empower and strengthen the next spell. Offensive Form spells deal +2 Damage, Healing Form spells give additional +2 HP, Defensive Form spells exist for 4 turns longer, Restraining Form spells exist for4 turns longer, Creation Form spells gives +2HP to the creation. Supplementary Form spells exist for 2 turns longer. The item requires to be recharged again after each use.

Your skin shivers and your hair tingles as soon as the calming holy flame of the Relic Magic dissipates from the surface of the stone. There is now an overwhelming power inside this tablet, just like the one before it. Does Fezar have anything to do with the type of power you and Cryz, and Virginia and Zeden, got, or was it just an accident?

Satisfied but clearly unhappy about the fact that two of the artifacts are now in possession of the Diamond Kingdom mercenaries, Virginia offers to take those items off your hands. They are heavy and cumbersome, and you trust the Wardress to give them back to you once you’ll need them the most. You pass it to the towering woman, who somehow manages to tie them with her belt and then put it over her shoulder in a manner similar to a crude rucksack.

You use the opportunity of the more-or-less peaceful room to chew on the dried fruits and seeds Zeden gave you. While it is likely that you can survive a few more days without having a single bite to eat, you don’t really want to. As soon as you put one of the fruits into your mouth and make an attempt to chew it, your hunger awakens like a mad dog. Your stomach growls loudly; it twists on itself forcing you to bend your knees and put your hand down to avoid collapsing on the floor. You did –not– realize how hungry you were. You sit down and continue to chew the fruits.

An amalgamation of tastes fills your mouth, throat and stomach. It’s not pleasant, but neither is it unpleasant. You can taste some fruity flavours, but they can’t hide the dry, oily, harsh and savour tastes overwhelming the magical rations. Still, it is way better than nothing and, after a couple of minutes of chewing on the tangy gum-like food, your stomach no longer hurts and you no longer feel like you have been starving those past few hours. You gulp it down your throat.

> You have removed an affliction: [Mild Hunger]

The six of you leave “The Display” and return back to the “Hall of Learning”, where Zitanhu’s magic is no longer present and Fezar’s meaty flesh is once again visible and evident. Zitanhu reassures you beforehand that there is another way to the throne room without having to return to the “Lifeless Zoo”, where most of the spine-chilling eldritch creatures are once again present and will pose a problem and a challenge. However, the “Hall of Learning” is the only way out of room with the artifacts; unless – you think – you want to try and destroy the walls of the palace.

Something has changed in this hallway, however; something that has not been Fezar’s direct influence. The shifting sandstone had pushed away the disgustingly organic lips and shattered the hanging drool stalagmites in order to transform the room into something else. The centre of the room has completely shifted and has been reconstructed by itself. There now stands a raised platform which the two mummies lead you to slowly; they are discussing something.

“Is this another trap?” Virginia asks coldly as her eyes examine the engravings and fretworks decorating the wall.

You look as well; you allow yourself to be curious. It is a continuous piece of art depicting a single long story, but at closer inspection this single chronicle is loosely broken up into numerous panels. The images of people are very intricate and are enforced with gold; in every depiction their bodied and faces are looking side view. You start from the beginning, where a child is depicted sitting all by himself in the corridors of a big city; he’s playing with sand...

What follows is the boy being tossed outside the city by a pair of burly guards. The outside of the city is depicted by a line of withered crops, with everything else outside of it being an empty desert. The panels follow the boy venturing through the desert becoming thinner, hungrier and more desperate. Eventually, to survive, the boy steals food and water from a nomad tribe but is caught and, instead of being killed, he is left in a middle of a desert for a sky burial.

A powerful storm is depicted in the fretwork. As the boy is lying on the ground, weakened and exposed, the wind caresses the sand beneath his feet and reveals a crystal. The boy, out of desperation, grabs the crystal into his hands. The storm is immediately ceased, and in its wake there is a massive figure of a blurry woman in bright-sand colours.

The boy raises his hand above himself, and the figure places both of her hands to surrounding him in a soft motherly clutch, before disappearing. Instead of a small sand castle the boy did previously, he is now able to create big towers.

Zeden’s eyes are darting like no other; she is absolutely excited to consume the knowledge:

“This is so much more-extra-informative than I was able to find by my own research!”

Silhibip approaches Zeden as she looks over the fresco with respect, “Mydias was only six when he became the “Chosen of the Sands”. Why, he built his kingdom when he was just becoming a teenager, with the Will of the Desert, he was able to defend it against all the local kingdoms and soon it became the most flourishing sovereignty around.”

This is only the beginning of the panel-work, it continues far deeper and around the room; the history of the kingdom.

You hear Silhibip’s rowdy voice ring in your head hollowly as you stop on the edge of the pedestal:

“Why, you made sure nobody was going to leave this room with any of the Magic Tools, Zitanhu.”

“It... wasn’t me,” Zitanhu answers hesitantly, “I did not design this trap. It must have been “Chosen of the Sands.”

“Why, so you weren’t as close to Mydias as you thought you were?”

Zitanhu lowers his head, only to stand up and remain stoic, “I was here days before my ‘Dwindling Ritual’, and this trap was not present. The “Chosen of the Sands” must’ve constructed it after I was gone, but I don’t understand why?”

You look beneath the platform; there is now a strange and massive half-circle just below it. The limestone half-circle dimly shimmers once you manifest a couple of sequins to brighten the chamber. The half-circle is divided into twelve massive yet equal stone pieces. On the beginning of each there is an ancient letter. It’s a language you do not know...

“Numbers-figures-digits-decimals from one to twelve?” Zeden shoves her head forward, “Is there a meaning to it?”

Virginia rolls one of her shoulders, “Are we suppose to use the correct one? What happens if we don’t?”

“I am not sure,” Zitanhu answers after a short pause, “But I am sure it is nothing we should be attempting to learn.”

> Try to figure out the answer to the puzzle and which of the twelve “roads” to go through.
> Suggest to Zitanhu to use his Calendar Magic to reverse the room before you entered “The Display”.
> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Zitanhu so that he does not have to use his own mana.
> [Write In]

>>4308861
>> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Zitanhu so that he does not have to use his own mana.
> Suggest to Zitanhu to use his Calendar Magic to reverse the room before you entered “The Display”.

>>4308861
>> Suggest to Zitanhu to use his Calendar Magic to reverse the room before you entered “The Display”.
>> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Zitanhu so that he does not have to use his own mana.

Huh, so Mydias became able to control the desert storms because of a crystal he found. I wonder if it's similar to the crystal that Fezar is using now, and the one the Snowglobe mage had.

You approach Zitanhu, pulling annoyed Cryz with you along the way, “Do you have an idea on how to solve this?”

Zitanhu stands perfectly calm, an aquamarine fire brilliantly flickering from his cracks and eyelids. He is silent for a minute or two, for a moment you even begin to worry he did not hear you. He inclines his head with a grind.

“No, I am afraid we will have to figure it out together,” Zitanhu concludes, his body turning slowly to the artistry.

You raise your hand, “Or, we could combine our magic to return this room to how it was before the trap was set.”

You imagine Silhibip smirk. The mummy leans her upper body further away from the platform, “Why, yeah”.

“That would be disrespectful and insolent towards the “Chosen of the Sands”. I am fine with skipping and shifting the existence of the dark Flesh Magic and your criminal’s attempts at tests and tribulations, but not for Mydias’.”

Virginia loudly and angrily clears her throat, “Of all the things, ignoring a puzzle-trap – one set for thieves and not his close subordinates – would be the last thing on your king’s mind, if he was still alive. If you want to pay you respect to him, you better concentrate on the important things – like stopping Fezar from corrupting the palace.”

Zitanhu unhurriedly raises his head to face Virginia, the light-blue glow in his eyes turning even brighter for a brief second before he turns around and nods to you. You briefly smile at the petrified man before summoning your grimoire to land on your palms. You turn a few pages and then your grimoire magically flips through the rest. Within a brief moment, it settles on the page you need; the numinous letters shimmer below the layer of mana hanging above the papyrus. “Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation.” You say as you join your hand with the layer.

Your own mana leaves your body, quickly solidifying into glowing hail of pearls that surrounds every part of Zitanhu’s whitestone body like a beautiful set of sequin armour. Perhaps this is what your dresses were missing during your challenge with Olyver half-a-year before? You shake your head and patiently wait until it all settles.

Zitanhu nods at you, he slowly raises his hand as the ashen dust continues to fail and fall from his joints and skin. He touches the three-leaf clover on the centre of his chest, where the outlines of the shape of his grimoire are. Within a moment, the entire chamber is consumed by a powerful and stretching aquamarine aura. Once again you feel an immense amount of magic only the nobles are allowed to posses; it makes you feel insignificant. It is not even a grimoire spell, you can only imagine how powerful Zitanhu was during his prime; as well as the other ones.

The trap and everything else that is not suppose to be present in this room, disappears and soon reveals an ordinary hallway. The engravings and the fretwork are more vivid, fresher; they are all colourful and bright.

Deciding to use the artefact while everything around is peaceful and without trouble, Virginia takes out the “Sun Eye” from her gauntlet and stares it down hesitantly. Closing her eyes, she whispers the word ‘Lanarel’ before infusing the strange object with her own mana; the white-yellow fires trickles down the surface of the sphere.

The mercury-like substance beneath the emerald iris begins to boil. The moment Virginia opens her eyes, they are completely white – no – the mercury-like substance is now floating inside of her eyelids. She stands like this, motionless, for a couple of minutes before releasing a heavy breath. As if she just awoken from a nightmare, Virginia’s eyes return to normal and the magic inside the “Sun Eye” dissipates. Virginia’s calm face is very pale.

“She is in the throne room – she is still connected to the third person who came with the mercenaries. She is still alive but... something is not right about her, and him. They are there, motionless, with a pulp of strange flesh, like brain with tentacles, covering their heads.” She bites her lips to the blood. “He’s done something bad to them.”

Cryz harrumphs, “I guess this criminal of yours stopped enjoying his ‘playing’ with them.”

Zeden strokes her hair-moustache with an audible ‘hmm’. “I wonder if he is now conducting-directing them.”

“His Handprint Magic is a pain,” Cryz says as he puts his hand behind his back, “But he doesn’t have it right now, he has sort of combination with that deaf Magic Knight of theirs. Let’s hope it’s nothing too troublesome.”

Zeden puts a finger to her lips, “I don’t know, if it’s something as interesting-intriguing-entertaining as my Relic Magic, I’d love to take a closer look at it.” She wobbles her head, “But I really don’t want to fight Avrill right now.”

“I’d rather we have left this palace hours ago.”

They just continue on. They are completely uncaring of the fact that their friend is in Fezar’s clutches now.

The six of you – seven, if one wishes to include Cryz’s familiar fire-falcon – leave the “Hall of Learning” to move into hallway different from the one that is suppose to lead you towards the “Lifeless Zoo”. Here, too, there are many disturbing and disgusting obstacles manifested by Fezar but, Virginia, Silhibip and Zitanhu are able to take care of them without having to resort to using the artefacts or putting you in danger. Eventually, you reach and return to the antechamber of the throne room – the place where you and the Diamond Kingdom’s mercenaries fought. It is much different now; the entire place is consumed by what can only be described as a dry wax skin.

The walls, the ceiling, the floor and everything in-between is enveloped in a repugnant, thick membrane. The skin is unnatural; it forms into chequered plates separated by deep infectious cracks. On the very centre of the ceiling there is a massive, disfigured eyelid filled with leaking white-yellow excretion. The big eyeball does not resemble a human one, but one of a goat... instead of white it is oily and black, like an egg-sack made out of tens of mashes.

It doesn’t blink.

Hanging magical mirages and some small seismic destruction are present inside this room – it did not manage to completely repair itself by the time you came back – means the other two mummies were here a while ago...

By memory, you can tell where the entrance to the throne room is.

> Ask Virginia to give you one of the runic tablets to empower your Sequin Magic to drain the eyeball.
> Use Sequin Magic to drain the “eyeball”. If this thing plans to attack you, it’s best you do it first.
> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Zitanhu to allow him to deal with this room using his magic.
> Use your Sequin Magic to drain Fezar’s flesh off the entrance. There is no point staying in this room.
> Allow Virginia, Zitanhu and Silhibip to deal with everything here. You need to conserve your mana.
> [Write In]

> [Magic Relic: Rune Array: ‘Strengthening’] will make your 1d40 drain roll into 1d140 one.
> Please roll 1d10+10 – best of three – for the cost of your previous spell.

Rolled 5 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

> Use your Sequin Magic to drain Fezar’s flesh off the entrance. There is no point staying in this room.

Rolled 3 (1d10)

>>4309924
> Use your Sequin Magic to drain Fezar’s flesh off the entrance. There is no point staying in this room.

there is a chance that the destruction caused in the room is due to them fighting the eye but then the eye would have been destroyed so it is unlikely

Rolled 8 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>4309924
>> Use your Sequin Magic to drain Fezar’s flesh off the entrance. There is no point staying in this room.

>>4309924
>> Use your Sequin Magic to drain Fezar’s flesh off the entrance. There is no point staying in this room.

> Update will be later today.

> You spend 13 mana.
> Mana: [54/165]

You immediately shake your head for Cryz to take notice – there is no point wasting your time, energy and magic in this room. You know where the door to the throne area is; you also know that he is just toying with you. You pull Cryz just to initiate the charge. You rush across the cracked skin consuming the floor like a horrible miasma; at this point Cryz is able to follow your cadence. The crust scrubs against your naked feet, you are going to have so many nightmares if – once – you leave this dungeon and get some proper rest. The other four quickly follow you.

Keeping half of your attention on the run, you push the rest of it on spellcasting. Raising your hand in front of you, you summon an invisible blaze of magic from beneath yourself, shoving the blazing fires before they can even begin to manifest the sequins. A gust of magical energy smashes into the bubbling and twisting flesh of Fezar, glimmering white crystals forming over the wall, as if thousands years of accretion happening in a blink of an eye.

You watch as the magical crystals begin to rapidly absorb the dark magic of the criminal. They begin to shine.

The shadow of the hanging eye engrosses the rest of the room. An echoing pop rings and spreads across the fractured walls of the antechamber as the eyeball plumps and begins quickly descending towards the ground.

Cryz stops in front of the wall – his glassy eyes are set on the falling orb. As soon as you reach the barely hanging layer of flesh that is covering the archway entrance, you clench your fist and force your sequins to explode into a cloud of mana – you don’t really pay attention if you manage to consume it or not; the adrenaline in your body does not let you notice how much magic you have left. You stop briefly to look towards your companions...

The eyeball explodes like a loose skin overfilled with a disgusting viscous liquid. A massive ripple of infections secretion bubbles into the air, ascending towards the ceiling and, once again, smashing into the ground below.

That is where your companions were just a second ago. You gasp with relief once you notice the blurry presence of their figures inside the hanging cloud of vile. It was both an eyeball, and an egg, and what hatched are dozens of crawling tick-like-creatures, each as dark as ebony wood and as big as a dog. They are crawled on top of each other, forming a morbid and constantly moving pile of carapaces, mandibles and twitching legs. Their bodies small, but loose, as if in wait to feed on blood and bloat. On the very top is a single, huge mite with velvet body and silvery mandibles. It concocts disgusting, red-black magic from within itself. It’s the most dangerous one.

You hesitate to enter the throne room.

“You go with her,” Virginia demands as she slams her sword against the ground to immediately burn a couple of those creatures into white ash. Zeden still clings to her back, finding it the safest space to be. “I’ll handle it here.”

With a single movement, and an audible opposition from Zeden, Virginia removes the bundle of artifacts she previously took from you and heaves them across the room right into your arms. Silhibip attempts to quickly pass through but her stone-mummy body is just too slow to avoid the ticks. Several of them jump on top of her, quickly binding her to the ground. Of course, Silhibip does not have any blood or flesh those monsters can feed on, but that doesn’t stop them from trying. Several bursts of golden mana leave Silhibip’s carcass in a fiery blaze as the ticks begin crush into it in an attempt to burrow deeper. She summons a raging golden vortex to counterattack.

Zitanhu was the nearest of the four that followed you. His three-leaf clover is shining with aquamarine light, but his spell has been interrupted by Virginia. The Wardress is angry and demanding, there is no argument to be had.

You, Cryz and Zitanhu enter the throne room, forced to leave Virginia and Silhibip behind. They will be fine...?

The burning blue bird follows behind you like a torch.

Once again, the towering obsidian pillars ‘greet’ you with a menacing shine of their razor-sharp edges decorated in a manner of claws. However, this time they are completely weaved with a twitching, gasping flesh. The opaque windows are now consumed by his dark magic, the gold-like glow no longer present. Now it is completely scarlet.

Multiple disfigured organs hang to and from the ceiling of the throne room. Mucus glands form a very long, eldritch web-like garland, constantly twisting and turning with a cacophonic whinge. From beneath them there are tens of bloated vines of intestines, each of them bubbled and as if ready to burst. A gurgling open stomach lies beneath where the raised platform towards the staircase was. A horrible odour and twitching teeth flowers grow.

Just before the staircase stands the connected figure of Lanarel and Avrill, at each other’s embrace, but it is cold and foreboding. They stand there motionless, barely breathing. Like Virginia said, brain-like tentacles cover them.

The only thing that is left unchanged in this throne room is the massive – as big as the room – statue of a crocodile-headed humanoid sitting just beneath the throne it protects. There are cracks covering it, however, Fezar’s red flesh is sure to force it into motion the moment he needs it. On the throne still sits a red-haired man.

Fezar did not get rid of Mydias’ skeleton. The disrespected body of the king is lying just beneath Fezar’s feet. The man slowly stands up as soon as you enter, on his head is Mydias crown, but most importantly, the gem which allowed Mydias to conquer the desert, and then cursed it to become a Grand Magic Zone. Next to the throne you can still spot a tall staff with glassy violet sphere. Star-like objects sporadically move and sizzle brightly inside of it.

“It has been fun watching you suffer,” Fezar’s voice announces as he stands up to greet you. He pauses and tilts his head, “It is good to see people to go through the things I was forced to, in that prison.” He raises his hand to point his finger at you and Cryz, “But you two, you really like to hide from me and avoid my traps, do you not?”

His fingers nervously twitch. He loudly sighs, as if calming himself. “But, you brought me something interesting.”

Zitanhu’s body is glowing with aquamarine light and his eyes are completely blazing with it. With a harsh grind, and crumbling skin, he takes a few steps closer towards the hanging bridge. “Why did you do this to our palace?”

He spreads his arms in a shrug, “I really don’t care about this place. I know nothing about it. But it has the means to an end; I am going to spend here at least a few more months of my life. Is it not fair I become a little king-like?”

“You should not be sitting in that throne. It is not meant for you.”

“I am afraid that is not for you...” he smiles wickedly before two skinless, fleshly hands begin to grow from the two sides of his throne. In each of those hands there are papyrus scrolls, the magic inside each is pressuring, “Or for your friends to decide.” He smiles and opens his hand to have those hands open the scrolls right towards you.

“I don’t know or care what those are,” Cryz says with annoyance as he steps forward, “Your problem is with them, and they are from the Kingdom that imprisoned you. Detach me from this kid and let me leave. If you are a wanted man I’m sure I can make a few arrangements for you to have a safe space in Diamond Kingdom. Deal?”

Fezar pauses. For a second you worry that he is seriously considering it. However, he starts to loudly laugh at him.

“I am afraid my plans are much greater, but until then, I am going to need some sort of amusement for myself.”

Zitanhu hisses in his ancient tongue, his voice quietly echoes in your mind.

“Unlike others who went through the ‘Dwindling Ritual’, we each have one of our most powerful spells put into a scroll to where our grimoires used to be. Those two scrolls he has are Zonrizir’s and Tisatuhn’s more powerful spells, which means they fell in battle... If he is planning on using them here, it is going to be a very hard fight.”

“Do you and Silhibip have one as well?” you ask him hesitantly.

Zitanhu pauses, “Yes, and the moment I falter you should not waste a second activating it, if you still got mana.”

Fezar descends back on his throne and then, connecting his left fingers with his right, leans forward, “I really-really want to avoid killing you if I can help it, but I’d rather you continue to go through my maze and not be here, in my throne room. I am not sure what your plan is, but I must say, I did not expect you to be so brash and bold to come here.” He laughs manically, “Oh, Magic Knights are such zealots.” He puts his hands beneath his chin, “Very well.

“Let’s see how you plan on defeating me, Magic Knight. En-Ter-Tain Me.”

> Use Sequin Magic on Fezar in an attempt to drain him of his magic.
> Use Sequin Magic on the inscrutable staff with a celestial nebula inside. It is half the source of his powers.
> Use Sequin Magic on Lanarel and Avrill in an attempt to drain the strange flesh on their heads controlling them.
> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Zitanhu so that he can use his Calendar Magic to make the battlefield much easier to traverse and fight in without sacrificing too much of his magic he can use to attack.
> Use [Magic Relic: Rune Array: ‘Strengthening’] to empower your spell.
> Use [Magic Tool: Rune Array: ‘Hastening’] to empower your spell.
> [Write In]

>1d40+10 - best of three – for the cost of the previous spell.
>1d40 - best of three – for the draining result of the previous spell.

> I promised later today!

Rolled 6 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Zitanhu so that he can use his Calendar Magic to make the battlefield much easier to traverse and fight in without sacrificing too much of his magic he can use to attack.

Rolled 5 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4312313
> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Zitanhu so that he can use his Calendar Magic to make the battlefield much easier to traverse and fight in without sacrificing too much of his magic he can use to attack.

Rolled 30 (1d40)

>>4312313

>>4312639
i never expected me actually getting lower than the other person

Rolled 7, 23 = 30 (2d40)

>>4312313
>Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Zitanhu so that he can use his Calendar Magic to make the battlefield much easier to traverse and fight in without sacrificing too much of his magic he can use to attack.

First roll is for cost, second for drain

> You guys are rolling low on the cost!

> You spend 15 mana.
> Mana [39/165]

> You restored 30 mana.
> Mana [69/165]

You allow your grimoire to float besides you as you gently grab Zitanhu’s mummified hand. The ancient letters of your only spell begin to glow with immense shine; a heat that is bright but does not burn through the papyrus pages. A pillar of invisible but immense magic escapes from inside of your body and trickles like a coil around Zitanhu; a fluffy snow-like coating slowly manifests to surround him before it completely forms into ashen pearls.

“It looks like you got yourself a grimoire,” Fezar continues to nervously chuckle as he tightly grips the armrests of the gilded throne, “How very convenient for you there was a grimoire library here. Perhaps I should visit it as well, after how callously they got rid of mine.” His voice snaps; he leans even further forwards. He breaks the armrest.

You ignore him; your eyes begin to shimmer with white radiance.

“Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation,” a whisper leaves your breathe.

You feel an immense pressure – so strong your mind goes silent and numb for a blink of a moment – before Zitanhu release a circle of light so overwhelming the entire throne chamber is soon completely consumed by a virescent radiance. Almost all of the fleshy titbits Zitanhu’s magical zephyr touches begin to crumble and disappear into the oblivion between times. The magic of the Royal Scribe forces the room to return to how it was.

Everything, but the objects and people will the strongest magic is turned into sandstone, dust and ancient sand. The skeleton of Mydias is no longer there, but Fezar is still sitting comfortably in his throne chair. The many disgusting amalgamations he had weaved to decorate as well as turn the room into a troublesome trap are gone.

Lanarel is still there, as well as the gigantic statue – although it has been completely sealed of its cracks.

“I don’t like what you’re trying to do here,” you hear Fezar say. Scarlet-black tendrils are born from within his endless mana on top of his right hand. Slithering and hissing, the pulp of flesh slowly forms a hovering orb...

“You are the only person in this place with a grimoire, but a spell or two is not going to make a difference.”

“That makes two of us,” Cryz raises his palm to point it straight towards Fezar; he begins manifesting sequins...

Moments before he is able to finish his spell, however, Fezar rudely sways his other hand towards Lanarel and Avrill. The celestial stars inside the staff become even more sporadic and bright. The fleshy concoctions, the ones sitting on top of their heads, loosely resembling dense and foggy brains, begin to crawl under Fezar’s direct command. Their claw fleshy tendrils force and burrow themselves deeper into their heads; a disgusting display.

Fezar takes a deep breath. He begins to awkwardly play with the edges of his red hair.

“You know what is always enjoyable to watch? At least, it is for me. Watching two acquaintances fight it off.”

The two, previously stuck in a tight embrace, slowly – while still holding each other’s hands – break it and take a single step back. In uncanny and creepy unison the two of them twist their head to look directly at you and then, as if they were in a dance, raise and point their connected hands. Suddenly, the entire chamber is consumed by a raging wind, it bursts one after another making it impossible for you to concentrate, or even to keep standing up.

You notice, quickly that five massive stripes of hanging tornado-like winds have been formed from the beginning of the throne and to the very entrance. Lanarel and Avrill are standing inside one, and so are you, Cryz and Zitanhu. The cold, frenzied draft forms an endless mistral, smashing into your face like a barrage of sharp objects.

Then, the shape of Lanarel and Avrill vanished inside the wind, before magically reappearing with inconceivable swiftness inside the one in the centre of the room. A second later, you find both of their lifeless eyes stare you down, a burst of wind exploding in your face as they rematerialize right in front of you like a rampant cyclone...

> [Write In]

> Please roll 1d100-15 [dice+1d100+-15] – best of three – to avoid the attack.

> Please roll 1d10+10 – best of three - for the cost of the previous spell.

Rolled 83 - 15 (1d100 - 15)

>>4312928

Rolled 6 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>4312928

Rolled 75 + 15 (1d100 + 15)

>>4312928

Rolled 8 - 15 (1d100 - 15)

>>4312928

Rolled 1 + 10 (1d10 + 10)

>>4313069

> You spend 11 mana.
> Mana [58/165]

You gasp as your breathe turns cold and heavy. Cryz pulls you towards himself seconds before their attack connects with your face with an unimaginable speed. A powerful wave of wind torrents above your head, it ruffles all-through and sends your red hair flying into all directions. The zephyr forces you to pathetically stumble back.

While you are dazzled from the impact of the wind, Cryz avoided the worst of it. The man avoids the face closest to him – Lanarel – and attempts to punch Avrill instead. He doesn’t get the chance. The spinning bodies of Avrill and Lanarel glow bright-white and then disappear into the standing whirlwind to – practically – teleport into the typhoon. You narrow your eyes to see the two of them reappear in the central stripe, before disappearing once again and continue to rapidly appear in reappear between the wind shears. It’s going to be hard to catch them.

“What a pain... There is no point fighting on his terms,” Cryz says out loud, although it looks like he’s talking to himself alone. He raises both of his hands high above himself before a spinning column of magic escapes from within his body in a brilliant white light. You watch his eyes dart from Cryz to the staff and then back as he quickly makes his decision. Tossing his open palms forward, he summons a barrage of sequins to fly towards the staff...

> Cryz spend 30 mana.
> Mana [28/165]

The stream of glimmering crystals quickly flies across the entire room gathering even greater speed and momentum as it enters the wind tunnels previously created by Lanarel and Avrill. Moments before it can envelope the glimmering orb located on top of the staff, Fezar tosses the fleshy bubble to protect the magical truncheon. The impact forces the freshly manifested egg to crack and a disgusting and slimy worm-like creature with hundreds of fleshy centipede legs to appear from within. The sequins surround the creature instead, unable to reach the staff. Cryz exposes his glowing orange fangs; less in arrogance and more in despondency. Briefly at loss at what to do next, he calms down and squeezes his hand to begin withering the amalgamation instead...

The creature screams in agony as its very origin begins to decay. The blinding sequins shatter with a loud echo once they no longer able to contain the dazzling ashen magic – now converted - inside of them. Still annoyed, Cryz pulls back the cloud of magic towards himself, engulfing the both of you in a storm of enchanted, magical spell...

> Cryz restored 27 mana.
> Mana [55/165]

Fezar moves one of his hands to begin summoning the exact same egg enveloped by a pellucid membrane. He looks at Cryz with a short smirk moments before he sways his other hand. A tentacle begins to wrap around the staff; it slowly extends to lift it from the ground... a ray of aquamarine light smashes and immediately phases out the tentacle from the present. Burning with blinding light, the blue-green fire consumes the staff and the celestial stars inside the globe begin to crackle and break. The stars lose a small bit-sized layer of their aura, but just barely.

You look at Zitanhu, another huge chunk of his arm and chest breaking off to be replaced by a radiant blue fire...

Fezar stands up with a loud grunt of annoyance. His palms slam the armrests. He continues to slowly manifest the loose sphere of flesh one of his hands above his head, while weaving the other to summon another twitching tentacle to, once again, pick up the staff and gently pass it into his outstretched hand. He grabs it rather tightly.

“It appears that I can’t just leave this lying around, you care more about it than your friends. It’ll be safer here.”

“That’s one less arm to worry about,” Cryz whispers neither seriously nor sarcastically.

> Use [Magic Relic: Rune Array: ‘Strengthening’] to empower your spell.
> Use [Magic Tool: Rune Array: ‘Hastening’] to empower your spell.
> Use [Magic Relic: Rune Array: ‘Strengthening’] to empower Zitanhu’s Calendar Magic.
> Use [Magic Tool: Rune Array: ‘Hastening’] to empower Zitanhu’s Calendar Magic.
> Use Sequin Magic on the staff Fezar is holding in an attempt to continue draining it.
> Use Sequin Magic on Fezar in an attempt to drain him of his magic.
> Use Sequin Magic on Lanarel and Avrill in an attempt to drain the strange flesh on their heads controlling them.
> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Zitanhu so that he doesn’t destroy himself any further.
> Attempt to give Cryz some sort of instructions, or thumbs up for being useful.
> [Write In]

>> Use Sequin Magic on Lanarel and Avrill in an attempt to drain the strange flesh on their heads controlling them.
>> Use [Magic Relic: Rune Array: ‘Strengthening’] to empower your spell.

>>4314428
+1

> Just a warning, it is possible to miss if they don't fail a DR.

>> Use Sequin Magic on Lanarel and Avrill in an attempt to drain the strange flesh on their heads controlling them.
>> Use [Magic Tool: Rune Array: ‘Hastening’] to empower your spell.

> And you -can- use two arrays at the same time, not saying you should but just wanted to make it clear.

>>4314787
yeah changing vote to this we should save our strenghthening array for ferraz himself

You watch Fezar finish intertwining the revolting flesh vacuole with his hand. As if a balloon, he gently pushes it to bounce and hover above his head. He gently bumps his fingers against its surface as if he was trying to tickle it.

“When you stuck in a prison for a long-long time you begin to find creative means for even your basic magic...”

He strikes the fleshy egg sack like a ball into one of the long wind stripes. The current quickly picks it up and spirals it with an immense speed across the entire room and towards Zitanhu. The orb cracks and breaks into disgusting ooze and membrane pieces to release another worm-like creature mid-flight. You hear Zitanhu’s body loudly crack. The cracks spread further, and the aquamarine fire of his magic continues to slowly burn; it evaporates.

The worm smashes directly into him, despite his best efforts to avoid it. The monstrosity spreads all dozens of its sharp legs and clenches them deep into the mummified body of Zitanhu. It restrains him, and breaks a hole in him.

You quickly remove one of the two slate tablets from the makeshift bundle Virginia had weaved them into. You grab the edges of it tightly with your hand, gliding your fingers against the smooth surface and touching the ancient dyes inside the runic engraving. You put all your efforts into ignoring the powerful winds pushing you forwards and back like a heavy ragdoll. You place the table on the ground between yourself Cryz. You wheeze, finding it incredibly hard to concentrate in the middle of a storm. You place the hand which you are connected to with Cryz on the centre of the array rune. You glare at Cryz to ask him to comply; preparing his own spell, he nods.

You release a stream of magic into the rune; it forces the stone surface to crackle like popcorn. The dye painted inside the deep carved runes lustres with a vivid blue light. Still kneeling – if you stand up the wind just might push send you tumbling across the floor – you summon a gentle flow of mana from within your palm. You point it towards the ever-shifting bodies of Lanarel and Diamond Kingdom’s mercenary. Their zephyr-like shapes vanish into the wind shears they have created; it is going to be near impossible for your sequins to reach and trap them.

And if you meddle, and wait, they are going to try and attack you once again, and you might not be as lucky...

The flux of mana spirals around your arm like a growing tornado; your invisible magic quickly becomes a shimmering barrage of white sequin crystals. As soon as it is ready, and Lanarel is as close to you as possible, you release it forwards. Almost immediately, the array conduits the mana of the nature into your spell; with a thundering speed of a lightning your barrage of sequins breaks through the layer of tormenting wind, charging towards Lanarel and Avrill. No matter how fast they are, it –has– to hit now. The sequin cloud reaches the two...

But before it can surround and restrain them in a cocoon of shiny ashen tinsels, both of their bodies become one with the surrounding wind. A gust of air rends and rips through their bodies as if they were made from transparent straw; there is nothing left for your magical baubles to cling to, they pass through their faded frames and then get caught in the whirlpool, forced to explode and vanish away. Your eyes tremble as you watch it all...

“You missed,” Cryz tells you as he nudges his head. “Maybe it’s not too late to beg him...”

Before you can response, you feel a sudden presence above you. Born from the wind, Lanarel and Avrill reappear.

> Please roll 1d40+10 - best of three – for the cost of your previously spell.

> Please roll 1d100-15 [dice+1d100+-15] – best of three – to avoid the attack.

Rolled 7, 7, 10, 6, 2, 4, 2, 7, 5, 5, 10, 10, 2, 6, 1, 8, 5, 6, 1, 9, 6, 9, 2, 10, 9 = 149 (25d10)

>>4315732

Rolled 39 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4315753
huh i did not write that

Rolled 79 - 15 (1d100 - 15)

>>4315732

Rolled 3 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4315732

Rolled 80 - 15 (1d100 - 15)

>>4315760

Rolled 2 + 10 (1d40 + 10)

>>4315732
Boom!

Rolled 44 - 15 (1d100 - 15)

>>4315732
Dodge, Duck, dip, and dive!

> You spend 12 mana.
> Mana [43/165]

This time it’s your turn to pull Cryz away from immediate danger. You grab into the man’s arms and together with him, you roll onto the ground as low as you possibly can. A powerful and painful burst of cold wind smashes above your head one more time, sending your red hair and white clothes into a mad flutter. Cryz winces in pain as his shoulder hits the ground. You watch a semi-transparent fist of Lanarel fly above you before a zephyr rends through her hanging white body like a claw. What remains of her cut ashen body disappears into the wind shear.

“You are not one to sit in debts for long, I assume?” the man smirks before pushing you off himself. With a brief struggle against the wind – the design of his clothes and the presence of all those emeralds make it very heavy – he grips his fist and summons a burst of sequin magic. You watch Cryz immediately turn to Zitanhu. He pushes his hand towards the creepy flesh maggot feasting on Zitanhu’s petrified body, a surge of white pearls clinging to it...

He is not planning on draining the creature; at all. Cryz raises the open grimoire; he begins casting the magic spell.

“Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation,” Cryz says out loud as the pearls begin to multiple like boiling bubbles. They completely engulf both the clutching creation as well as Zitanhu’s body. Every single one of those pearls is glowing with a brilliantly white, blinding luminosity. Before you can react, Cryz picks up the unused Runic Table, infuses it with his magic to activate, and then tosses it just beneath Zitanhu’s stone-like feet. He tells him to cast his spell.

> Cryz spends 15 mana.
> Mana [28/165]

Zitanhu stops his struggles against the monster; instead, he lets it dig its sharp legs deeper into the saltified carcass that is his body. He drops his long arms with a grinding motion before his chest explodes with an aquamarine light and a massive green-blue flame burst from within the three-leaf clover present on his chest.

With a loud, echoing crackle the glowing blue table crepitates and sizzles beneath his feet, infusing the powerful Calendar Magic with even more potency. Once more the entire chamber is soon consumed by a powerful aura.

Both of the worms immediately dissipate and scatter into a radiant turquoise light, disappearing into limbo. If everything goes well, it is unlikely they are going to return. As Zitanhu’s aurora continues to spread out against the tall walls and spirals of the throne chamber it even begins to calm and vanish the five wind tunnels Avrill and Lanarel have been teleporting between to nearly catch you off-guard. The Vice-Captain and the mercenary eventually are forced to remain in the shear closest to the throne, but even there Calendar Magic surrounds them.

The entire room explodes with a blinding light before only the dim flickering blue flames are left clinging to the walls. The throne room is now exactly the same way as you discovered it - no - it’s even more pristine than before. It’s if you enter how it was thousands of years ago, when the palace was still in its glory.

There is not a single bit of Fezar’s magic left here. The walls and the floor are no longer hidden beneath layers of dust; no poisonous ancient air hangs to harm your eyes and lungs. The four vertical streaks carved into the tall obsidian pillars are burning with golden fire. The gilded glow that flows across the edges of the sandstone mosaic spreads across the whole room. Simultaneously with the now clear stained-glass orange windows on the very crown of the room, the room is now extremely bright and welcoming, yet at the same time humbling and regal.

The red-clay vases standing near each of the pillar are no longer empty – inside each there is a massive tree with blooming yellow flowers and gently falling, orange leaves. Even beneath the bamboo bridge that leads to the throne room and splits the room into two there is now a basin of glimmering, clear water present like a lake...

You find Lanarel and Avrill gently flowing inside that basin, their clothes drenches and their bodies unconscious and limp. The brain-like plumps of flesh are no longer there; likely, they have been destroyed by Zitanhu’s magic as well. They are too far to see them clearly... You can only hope and wish that the Vice-Captain is still breathing.

While the towering onyx crocodile-headed statue is now the most beautiful and massive thing you have ever seen, on the throne beneath it Fezar still remains present. He lifts his head to look around. His voice begins calm but quickly becomes hostile and angry. “Not bad, it doesn’t look awful, but... do you realize how much time I spend decorating this place in my vision? How long it took to apply all those beautifully gurgling body parts around?” He tightly grips the staff, forcing the constellations inside to become even more sporadic. He waves his hand once again, and following the demonic dark-red glow of his hand, a twisting hand picks up and lifts a scroll.

He exhales to calm himself. The same way you do. His hand waves towards the scroll to infuse it with magic...

“Let’s continue with the motif of having friends fighting each other. This time, with one of yours’, mummy...

“Seism Magic: Belts of Deformation.”

“This is the moment one considers retiring,” Cryz talks to himself. “But I am still too young for that.”

The moment the scroll begins to shine, the entire room falls into thunderous earthquake. It is so powerful the pillars begin to crumble fall all around you, the glass windows shatter for the immense winds to rain the sharp pieces into the air. The beautiful, clean walls begin to deteriorate on themselves and turn into waterfalls of sand. From the golden throne, trough the shattered steps, across the destroyed bridge and then over the slowly sinking floor, a massive rupture spreads and zigzags until it, in just a matter of seconds, rolls to be beneath your feet...

> Please roll 1d100-15 [dice+1d100+-15] – best of three – to avoid the attack.

Rolled 87 - 15 (1d100 - 15)

Rolled 69 - 15 (1d100 - 15)

>>4317169

Rolled 82 - 15 (1d100 - 15)

>>4317169

Your legs begin to shiver as you attempt to find balance on the quickly shifting ground. The cracked pieces of the floor raise and plummet, making it practically impossible. The earthquake continues to become even madder, massive raptures splitting the ground like paper without a warning or notice. Cryz pulls you towards himself once the earth beneath your feet collapses and you nearly drop into the deep ravine – there is a room beneath the throne chamber, but the colossal sandstone structures will be destroying it quite soon. You won’t survive falling.

You grab onto Cryz’s hand as you pull yourself up, stumbling into his chest with your head. Again, the earthquake destroys and rapidly shatters the floor to raise waves of unstable debris beneath your feet. Your breathe turns cold and heavy as your eyes dash madly in search of a way to escape the attack. You pull Cryz after yourself, and - Gods be praised – he follows you without doubt. You toss a quick glance towards where Zitanhu was moments ago, but he is no longer there. There is no way a petrified body would be agile enough to avoid this earthquake.

You fall into the rhythm, the fingers of your exposed feet break into blood as you continue to rush and jump and dip and dive and dodge out of the way or all the destruction. Sometimes, you are too slow, and it is Cryz who is forced to take the charge and pull you away from the destroyed pieces of the chamber and the fallen sharp pillars.

This is how powerful a spell of a royal councillor really is.

Your blood boils inside your body with a fiery adrenaline before it finally ends; you imagine it’s the same for Cryz. You don’t know how long it lasts for, and you don’t know how you manage to survive... but you do. You stand up from the ruins of the destruction that is now left of the throne room, a layer of heavy sand covers you head to toes. You quickly realize that, despite the spell, the room still remains how it was. This must mean Zitanhu is alive.

“This is not worth the treasury,” Cryz mutters to himself before his glass eyes stare daggers at you. “What did you drag me into, kid? Once we survive I am taking every single Magic Tool we have with me, I’m so done with this.”

Cryz eyes lift to the massive falcon bird still soaring above you. He spits, “Are you going to be useful or what?”

The letters of the scroll disappear with a dim glow, leaving nothing but a parchment behind. Fezar is surprised.

“It was not my intent to have the two of you work together so well,” he speaks out as he takes the other scroll of Mirage Magic into his hands from the hand that passes it, “And it’s not fun when you refuse to talk back to me.”

You look back at the collapsed wall where the entrance is supposed to be. Virginia, what is taking you so long?

> Use Sequin Magic on Fezar in an attempt to drain the Dark Magic user of his magic.
> Use Sequin Magic on the staff in an attempt to drain it even further. It looks unstable. Fezar is holding it.
> Use Sequin Magic on the scroll in an attempt to trigger it. Fezar is holding it, he might dodge and avoid.
> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] to make your next Sequin Magic drain a little cheaper.
> Prepare to avoid the Mirage Magic Fezar is about to cast, and his other attacks, until Wardress is here.
> Try and instruct Cryz on what magic to use or not, as your mana reserves a quite limited.
> [Write In]
> [Write In; a response to Fezar]

>>4317219
> That was a very close roll.

>>4318579
> Use Sequin Magic on the scroll in an attempt to trigger it. Fezar is holding it, he might dodge and avoid.
> try to use our mana connection to the birdy to attempt to grab the scroll.

>>4318721
+1

>>4318721
I am guessing we are gonna use the bird if we fail to trigger the scroll?

>>4318739
That’s kinda what I’m thinking, but figure if he drops it or something, hopefully the bird will be either more of a distraction or help get the scroll from him or something.

> try to use our mana connection to the birdy to attempt to grab the scroll.

I doubt that we can do two things at once.

Finding your footing, you point and open your palm across the chamber – a massive distance separates you and Fezar: you stand in the beginning room and he is standing on top of a large sandstone staircase at the very end. Mana burns through your blood veins, sizzles across your flesh and outpours from within the skin of your hand.

“What are you doing?” Cryz asks sceptically. He cracks his fingers, as if preparing to cast his own spell.

“If he’s able to cast another one of those powerful spells we will not be as lucky,” you raise your eyes to the dazzling blue falcon – its wings burning with glimmering fire – hovering above you. As you sway your arm in a half-circle to evolve your magical energy into radiant leaden-white sequins, you narrow your eyes and attempt to communicate with the familiar. First, inside your mind, you can’t help but begin hissing once it wholly ignores you.

“Is it going to be useful or what?” you jeer beneath your breathe when the bird refuses to cooperate.

“That’s what I said,” Cryz nods and then shakes his head sceptically, “It is completely worthless ‘artifact’.”

You don’t have time to worry about the bird, but if it is going to disobey yours’ and Cryz’s orders like that, you have no other choice but to stop Fezar yourself. With as much physical power as you can muster, you toss the still-forming baubles of crystallized magic across the destroyed throne room. You close your eyes to dangerously plunge everything your around into darkness. You trust Cryz to jump to protect himself... and so, himself too.

You watch the barrage of sequin alluvion blitz forwards. The cloud of white crystals slams through the ruins of sandstone, exploding into a dozen bits after crashing into the solid objects only to, under your direct and concentrated control form back into a strenuous torrent. You open your eyes to realize just how quickly your magic had crossed the distance. Fezar raises his eyebrow and twitches his fingers; the skinless hand grabs the scroll and, as if it was made for disgusting fleshy water, dips, slides and veers away from your magical barrage.

Fezar swings his hand and the fleshy manifestation re-emerges on the other side.

The cloud of shimmering sequins smashes into the legs of the massive and pristine onyx statue and bursts into an enormous nebula. Not yet, again you pull your hand towards Fezar and the scroll. The disconnected sequins quickly form into a zephyr and, like a raging wave, come crashing down atop of Fezar. Caught in a surprise, Fezar swings his arm to hastily form a bulging amalgamation of fleshy tendrils and barely living organs to shield himself.

When the wave is no more, you raise your eyes to find the hand holding the scroll decorated with your hanging sequin prisms. Fezar collects the rest of the shiny flecks on top of his “shield” like a fleshy carnivorous plant, quickly withering and destroying them in his scarlet-black magic. He turns towards the scroll and then at you.

“All those struggles and the only thing you have managed to achieve is ...decorating this scroll...” he quickly forms a gurgling bauble of flesh which he pushes into the massive crocodile-headed statue before he takes a step towards the scroll. “I take some blame for making you two and your magic this pathetically weak, but...”

He stops mid-sentence as if sensing something wrong with the scroll. “Mirage Magic: Morgana’s Presence.”

You grunt, preparing for an impact... but the letters of the scroll remain unmoving and dim. Fezar visibly grunts.

“The sequins are stopping his mana from entering the scroll,” Cryz blinks, “This is going to be piss him off...”

> [Magicl Tool: Magic Scroll] [Curse Form][Mirage Magic: Morgana’s Presence.] Cost: 1d100+10. DR90.
> With an empowered scroll you summon a powerful zephyr of heat and translucent light inside the object or person of your choice. If the target is unable to avoid the force of your magic, their entire physique is penetrated, and adjourned by the lucid head wave, cursing their bodies into a mirage-like existence for 4 turns. In this form, the target is impervious to most damage but is unable to use their spells and magic. The caster of the spell can remove the curse without spending any mana. Otherwise, it can only be removed by a high level healing spell.
> Leave the scroll be and concentrate on trying to drain Fezar’s staff instead.
> Leave the scroll be and concentrate on trying to drain Fezar instead.
> Cast the [Mirage Magic: Morgana’s Presence] spell towards Fezar.
> Prepare to avoid the Mirage Magic Fezar is about to cast, and his other attacks, until Wardress is here.
> Try and instruct Cryz on what magic to use or not, as your mana reserves are quite limited.
> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on yourself in order to have enough magic to trigger the spell.
> [Write In]

>>4320394
> Cast the [Mirage Magic: Morgana’s Presence] spell towards Fezar.
let us hope the dice gods bless us

> Cast the [Mirage Magic: Morgana’s Presence] spell towards Fezar.

> Please roll 1d100+10 then - best of three.

> Good luck.

Rolled 11 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>4321802

Rolled 17 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>4321802
Time to sparkle!

Rolled 99 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>4321802
Here goes!

>>4321930
Wooh! Hell yeah!

>>4321930
oh fuck yeah the die gods has blessed us with their power

>>4321932
>>4321934
> I hate to ruin the fun - sorry - but lower is better, because you are rolling for the cost of the spell. You currently have 28 mana.

>>4321940
oh well since it didn't actually crit then >>4321807
is still valid

>>4321945
> Indeed so! I am leaving to work now so I might not be able to update today so don't wait for update.

>>4321940
Ah well, at least we're still conscious

>>4321949
> Yep. Unless Fezar gets very lucky and rolls 90 or more you are going to get him with this spell.

Alright, that should hopefully buy us 4 turns. Hopefully we can use that time to get the staff away from him, and for our back-up to arrive. Or at least for us to go back and see what's taking them so long.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUYRBE8-swg

“What are you doing?” Cryz asks as you clench your fist to control the distant sequins. “That’s a Shining General-level spell, and as far as I know you are not either royal or a powerful mage. We just do not have enough mana.”

“Its fine,” you slowly exhale to connect with the Royal Vizier’s scroll, “We have more than enough mana for this.”

“No, we really don’t,” Cryz speaks out bluntly; sarcastically. He pauses, “How annoying is that spell to deal with?”

“Very annoying,” you admit. You learned of this spells’ effects after your mana briefly surged through the papyrus. Cryz sighs and, with an irritable face, nods with lukewarm approval. He doesn’t want him to cast this spell on you.

Pushing your legs apart you find your balance; you raise your free open palm towards the scroll. You compulse – force – your magic through the shimmering sequins. Fezar takes a worried step back as the ancient letters of the scroll being to brightly shimmer and glow. Then, the lettering vanishes in a bright, purple-blue flare. A powerful radiance emerges from within the magical script to form an outpour of shining magenta heat and boiling radiance.

> You spend 21 mana.
> Mana [7/165]

The Dark Magic user attempts to form another grotesque covering out of his flesh magic to protect himself once again, but this time, it is useless against the conclusive supremacy of the scroll’s spell. The moment the scorching rays touch the flesh, it quickly begins to wither into a presence no more tangible than an illusion. To Fezar’s discontent, he realizes this too late. He fails to get rid of his slowly deteriorating “shield” and he is unable to avoid the cascading Mirage Magic. The shining purple-blue beams penetrate his body like rays of sun; he stumbles back.

“How...”

“A damn lucky commoner,” Cryz sighs with relief as he helps you up. The two of you continue to watch as particle by particle Fezar’s body begins to turn into an intangible optical light refraction. Using his now-wobbling “ghost” like body Fezar attempts to grab onto the celestial-infused staff but his transparent hand passes through it and displaces into four opposition directions. His body turns into a constantly shifting presence of elaborate forms.

“I hope you are enjoying this,” Cryz allows himself to smirk.

The two of you make a rush across the remnants of the throne chamber; you try to reach the throne beneath the onyx statue as quickly as you’ll be able to. Fezar has turned into mirage together with Mydias’ crown, but the celestial staff remains separated from him. The criminal surrenders trying to pick it up. He stands up and frowns.

“You left me with no ability to use my magic,” he monotones before the ancient nature of the chambers begins to vanish and lift like a morning fog. The chamber remains laying in ruins of the seismic destruction, but even like that, Zitanhu’s lingering spell soon evaporates. You can’t be sure if this means that Zitanhu mummified body has been completely crushed to ashes or if the effects of his spell has been ended...

With a cacophonic echoing the rotten organic vestige returns to the throne room; as well as the bloody scarlet glow. Massive fleshy tendrils regain their sordid form. Now, like primordial creations, they slowly break and rise from beneath the destroyed floor. The oozing glands, intestine garlands and other of Fezar’s creations return...

You pull yourself – and Cryz - on top of the destroyed steps to now stand face to face to the mirage of Fezar.

“You did that,” you hear him say with a smile, “But everything I have manifested before is still here to gut you.”

“That doesn’t matter,” you say with self-confidence as you clench the staff into your hands... before you can finish your sentence, a vision of far-distance skies fills your minds. Quickly shifting and changing nebula of meandering power and magic fills your mind and spirit. The power that overwhelms you is unimaginable; there is nothing you can compare it to. You have never felt this way before. Even Captain Charlotte’s presence feels like small against it.

> Mana [?/?]

It is no wonder Fezar and the criminal that attacked the Blue Rose headquarters became this powerful before...

You feel like there is no limit to the spells or the amount of them you are able to cast. Even with your basic Sequin Magic you feel like there is nothing you can’t drain. Even without his grimoire Fezar was able to completely turn this place upside-down; what can you? And those talismanic arrays, it won’t even take you half the mana to recharge and use them. You realize that Cryz feels this power too, but you can’t really know what he is thinking.

Before you can contemplate on it more, you realize that the towering statue standing above you begins to move.

You hear an explosion on the other side of the chamber. From the cloud of dust emerges a shimmering with white fire figure of Virginia, her body badly bloodied, as well as a barely hanging presence of Silhibip and her gold magic.

> Shatter the staff across the floor and then attempt to dodge away from the crocodile-headed statue.
> Use Sequin Magic in an attempt to drain the Flesh Magic inside the onyx statue and put it into tranquil.
> Keep the staff tightly in your hands. Try to dodge out of the way of the crocodile-headed statue.
> [Write In]

>>4323922
> Use Sequin Magic in an attempt to drain the Flesh Magic inside the onyx statue and put it into tranquil.

we need to make sure that cryz or any of the others do not take this staff but it would be a waste shattering it

> Use Sequin Magic in an attempt to drain the Flesh Magic inside the onyx statue and put it into tranquil.

I'm getting some real bad Juju vibes from the staff, but there aren't many options.

>>4323922
>> Use Sequin Magic in an attempt to drain the Flesh Magic inside the onyx statue and put it into tranquil.

> I will need 1 - just one - roll of 1d100.

Rolled 56 (1d100)

>>4324042
oof

You only have a brief moment to think and come to a decision. You don’t know why, but you decide to go with the most brazen and dangerous one. The immense amount of mana makes you feel powerful. Clenching the end of the tall and long handle of the staff in your free hand, you lower it away from both Cryz and the potential impact. The looming shadow of the statue’s massive fist quickly falls to cover and consume you, before the solid mass follows to dangerously connect with your body. You raise the hand you have been connected with Cryz to slam both of your palms into the onyx surface. All of this happens near instantly. Cryz stands baffled, ready to dodge.

You manifest a torrent of shimmering sequins which explode into existence from the lingering magic inside jittering celestial bodies of the staff. Like a tidal whirlpool, the waves of crystals ascend around and soon surround the colossal arm like lingering hail. You clench your fist and bite your lips. You force the sequins to siphon and deprive Fezar’s Flesh Magic controlling the statue. With a loud echoing shattering, the sequins explode as if it was rain of white stained glass crashing upon the floor. The statue comes to a complete stop, as if it is no longer living.

It doesn’t take long for existence to return to it with a cacophonic grind, however. Slowly, the arm twists into motion and ascend to hang like a blunt guillotine above you and Cryz. The dazzling washed-out dust cloud of your filtered magic begins to whirl in descending circle before it enters your body. The staff’s magic overwhelms it...

“If you are going to do it, at least do it right,” Cryz mocks you as he himself releases another barrage of sequins towards the arm. His annoyed expression turns into a smirk once he realizes the limits of the magic he now has.

Just like you, he quickly surrounds the arm with sequins which he immediately forces to drain the gory fleshy magic put inside the obsidian-slate carcass of the throne’s protector. Not even Vice-Captain’s and Wardress’ combined spell was able to harm this construct... your sequin magic is the most convenient of them all for this.

As soon as the shiny flecks clinging to the statue’s arm explode into another white brume to consume and enter into your body like an amplified bout of magic, the statue stops once again. This time, however, it remains hollow.

Cryz turns to give you supercilious glance; you pout, he only did half of the job. Suddenly, his eyes widen and his irises shrink. He opens his mouth but you turn away before you can read his lips or head him. You hurriedly look to where he is – to the crystal-glass orb at the end of the staff. The celestials are now moving with such speed and furious manner you are unable to identify them. As if overfilled with electricity, the small stars swirl and smash...

They begin to glow brighter, and brighter... with each hit and collision the tempered glass begins to show cracks...

You release the staff; you attempt to toss it as far away from yourself as possible, but you are unable to do it. The orb breaks and the strange nebula burst out of the container and explodes directly in the centre of the room, between you and Cryz. The eruption is cold and hot at the same time, the strange humidity twists into your skin.

The future pains – and gruesome injuries – are cut short when the previously carefree creation of blue fire – the familiar falcon – and descends like a comet between you and Cryz. A cold fire tickles your body like feathers as the vulture shields you with its massive wing – it burns and expands to completely cover you like a blazing cocoon.

You close your eyes, bracing for what is to come. After an aura of radiance dims and disappears, you open your eyes to find the purple aurora-like borealis eldritchly shimmering and present. Soon afterwards, it vanishes as well... The cloak of blue feathers lifts off your shoulders as the familiar is no longer in this world either. With a gasp, after the strange and mingling atmosphere no longer clogs your mind and body, you stare at the staff.

> Mana [7/165]

The globule has been destroyed and the upper half of the glass is no longer there. Neither is the strange spell.

“What did you do?” Fezar angrily raises his hands as he attempts to grab and strangle you, only to pass through.

“Cynthia!” Virginia shouts across the chamber with a visible worry before she realizes that the criminal can’t harm you. Zeden is –still– clinging to the Wardress’ back; her arms are tightly held over her shoulders and neck. She stops in the middle of the room, near the ruined basin, where Lanarel and Avrill are laying without conscious.

“You two borrowed too much magic from the staff!” Fezar’s mirage-like body takes a step back – his translucent figure twists into multiple melting copies before clearly regenerating again into one. After a brief doubt, his eyes still set upon the staff he turns around and attempts to flee. Rushing, his spectral-like body descends the steps.

You raise your palm in his direction and, with an annoyed exhale, you free him off ‘Morgana’s Presence’. The warmth and gleam leaves his body like shimmering smoke as he quickly regains his tangible body. Before he can do anything of worth, however, Virginia grabs him by his shoulders with a mighty thrust. It loudly cracks by the force of her immense physical power. Fezar attempts to push his palm into Virginia’s face, but his magic is weak.

She painfully and rapidly headbuts him, just like Tugela would, forcing a spray, and then a trail, of blood to begin leaking from his forehead. Wasting no time, Virginia grabs into the crown he has been wearing and removes it from his head. She then picks him up and tosses him against the uneven blunt edges of the destroyed floor...

Zeden attempts to reach for “Mydias’ Crown” but Virginia is keeping it out of her reach. She looks at Silhibip, or what is left of her after the fight they just had. “Mummy, can you use your magic to restrain him with your gold?”

She answers back to her in ancient language she does not translate. Afterwards, she turns to look straight at you.

“Where is Zitanhu?”

You face grimaces. Instinctively, you can’t help but have your eyes fall to where he was standing last.

“So that bird was not entirely useless after all,” Cryz pats the coat to where he put the remains of the wooden toy which he used to manifest the blue falcon. He looks at Silhibip and shrugs his shoulders, “He fell and was crushed by a Seism Spell,” he answers her with a stoic but honest manner. He looks at the staff and lazily waves his hand.

Silhibip stops and stares him down. The playful woman looks away; she now resembles less of a petrified mummy and more of a living golden flame with loosely hovering pieces of stone circling around her. Her head grates and grinds as she lifts it to look around. She whispers in ancient language, and her words – just barely – echo in your mind. “Why, neither of them even said goodbye... and this is the last chance ever of us got to meet each other...”

“Cynthia,” Virginia calls you out; she startles you.

“W-Wardress Virginia,” you straighten your shoulders. You can’t help but look weak and apologetic, “I-I’m sorry Wardress Virginia, this staff was a powerful Magic Tool and I broke it. I shouldn’t have risked using it like that.”

You and Cryz descend the steps to face Zeden and Virginia. You flinch when Virginia raises her arms at you.

“What are you talking about?” her stoic voice turns motherly, “That staff is just a conduit for the spell that was inside: a dangerous and dark spell. It is a good thing you did not try using it further. It could leave you magicless.”

“What are you talking about?” Cryz asks.

Even Zeden corks her eyebrows and leans forward, “What kind of bizarre magic is that?”

“I don’t know fully, and I am not going to reveal it here.”

“Magicless?” Fezar grunts from pain as he rubs his face against the cold sandstone floor, “What absurdity.”

Virginia grabs him by his collar “Where did you get it? Who gave it to you?”

“Virginia...”

The Wardress looks down at you and then towards unconscious Lanarel, “Cynthia, we are going to separate you, and that mercenary dog connected to you, first. We are going to need your healing magic to heal her wounds.”

Fezar looks at Virginia with a brief smirk, “I am going to enjoy watching you try, then. I am not separating you.”

“I am not asking you,” Virginia snaps her knuckles, “We just need you to be unconscious and wounded.”

With that, she clenches her gauntlet into a tight iron fist and, almost immediately, smashes it across his face. His eyes turn white and roll above his eyelids, his body wobbles before he wholly loses his conscious and collapses...

You watch as, as soon as that happens, every single one of Fezar’s disgusting creations begins to disappear and depart the destroyed chamber, this time, forever. Afterwards, a scarlet-glow – as if miniscule worms – begins to wither and escape from within the body of everyone – side from Silhibip – here. Everyone begins to twist in pain.

Thankfully, it over soon and your body – as well as your magic – are overwhelmed with a sense of relief. It’s strange, but you do not feel that much different from before. Your eyes widen when you realize you are still connected to Cryz by your wrists, and the magic flowing inside you is still Sequin Magic. Did it not work...?!

While still unconscious, Lanarel and Avrill are no longer connected by their hands.

You glance at Virginia and Zeden who, unlike you, have been successfully separated. As soon as that happens, Zeden slams her hands against Virginia’s body and whispers a spell. The Wardress is able to keep the crown away from the archaeologist’s grubby hands. She grabs her by her shirt and like a bear she tosses her across the room.

The woman is able to spin in the air and land perfectly on her feet. She caresses her moustache-hair; her purple eyes shimmer with excitement. “I must admit, this whole journey-adventure-campaign-pilgrimage has been exciting and learning, but it seems this is where it comes to an end. I am just going to take everything and leave.”

“You...” Virginia struggles to stand up, the heavy armour and parts of her skin are slowly fossilizing.

“Fossil Magic: Relic Fossilization!” she flicks open her grimoire, grinning, “I’m sorry to play you dirty like that.”

“Are you planning on just leaving me and Avrill here like this?” Cryz demands of his “fellow” mercenary.

“Oh Cryz,” Zeden shakes her head pitifully; “I can’t just wait-delay-hang until you two are back to normal. I have already wasted-spend-forfeited enough time here. I’ll tell the truth, you two got captured by the Clover Kingdom.”
With that, she points her hand at you and Cryz, “Now-now-now, I’ll pick everything up and leave with no hassle.”

> Use Sequin Magic in an attempt to drain Zeden of her magic.
> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Silhibip to give her enough power to apprehend Zeden.
> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Virginia. She might have a spell strong enough to break the curse.
> Comply with Zeden’s wishes. Allow her to take the crown, the rune arrays and else and leave peacefully.
> [Write In]

File: Cynthia Gualdo-Transparent.png (5.14 MB, 4000x4000)

5.14 MB PNG

> This encounter was suppose to be much harder but you lot had a lot of lucky rolls as well as the four councillors' assistance and your pick of a Sequin Magic spell! I hope you are enjoying the Quest so far and thank you for playing and sticking to so far.

> Use both Rune Arrays to drain Zeden.

Whelp. Not surprising that the inevitable betrayal was going to happen. Best to burn the Rune Arrays now. Tempted to try draining the Crown out of sheer spite, but eh,

>>4325591
what happens if we have no mana left after using a spell, do we just pass out? if so then I vote for this >>4325610
due to the fact that even if she dodges she would have lost the rune arrays

>>4325610
>>4325659
> tfw nobody comments on the art.
> The Rune Arrays are sadly depleted after one use. Zeden trying to pick them for later use. You felt like you could recharge them when you had the staff, and then take a lot of mana to do, but you didn't since you were a bit busy. If you go into negative with your mana you pass out, yes, but the last spell you cast will still have all it's effect. You can't regain mana you drained with draining spell because you can't physically draw it back if you are unconscious.

Pretty sure the Strengthening Array should still be charged.

And yeah, the art is cool. Can't really say much else about it though.

>>4325728
> Cryz gave it to Zitanhu to use.

Well, I guess that means we're kinda out of options. Ah well, guess we'll just roll the dice then.

> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Silhibip to give her enough power to apprehend Zeden.

Oh well. Guess we'll just roll the dice then.

>> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Silhibip to give her enough power to apprehend Zeden.

>>4325740

Whoops, accidental double post.

>>4325581
>> Use [Sequin Magic: Nacre Rejuvenation] on Silhibip to give her enough power to apprehend Zeden.
well then changing vote

“If we don’t stop her she is going to try and steal the crown,” you yell towards Silhibip before raising your hand up as if you were preparing to toss a javelin. You feel yourself becoming empty and weak as the last remains of your magic escape your body to form into a flux of sparkling white energy which you immediately force towards the Royal Treasurer. Your mind goes numb and your vision becomes blurry but you force yourself to stand straight.

You can’t allow the Diamond Kingdom to have those Magic Tools. If you can help it, you have to stop her now...

Your numb body is soon paralyzed completely; you just barely manage to clench your fist to solidify the sequin magic into the nacre pearls around the glowing presence of Silhibip. Her golden-yellow fire grows bigger and brighter as – thanks to your spell – her remaining mana becomes shinier and more refined. Cryz stumbles and his eyes roll and close; the man falters and collapses on the floor, dragging your feeble and frail body together with him. The last thing you see before you fall into the unconscious is a burst of Zeden’s magic forming crystal wings.

*** *** ***

> Your mana has been restored.
> Mana [165/165]

You feel rested, but just barely.

You wake up in cold sweat. Your muscles burn with pain and your bones feel as if they have been dislocated. The throbbing sting continues to ring in your mind with the same cacophonous buzzing as everything else around you.

You are missing your golden skin now; you don’t know how long you slept but surely longer than the spell’s limit.

Eventually, you are able to recognize the voices of the people speaking above you. It is Cryz and Virginia, arguing.

“Why yes, sure, I’m just going to just pretend to be naive and stupid and follow you into the Clover Kingdom.”

Virginia is trying her best to remain stoic and demanding; the only thing that is stopping her from attacking and injuring him – you wager – is that he and you are still connected to each other. “You don’t have a choice, Diamond Kingdom’s dog; there is no other way to separate the two of you.”

You see Cryz keep his eyes over her plated chest before he raises them with a mocking tone, “Well aren’t you genuine, and once you ‘separate’ us, what are you going to do next? Reward me for helping you defeat Fezar?”

Virginia scowls and tightens her gauntlets; the clench clangs the metal.

“Yes, I realized that nobody is as honest as me,” Cryz tells himself, pointing his free hand at his chest, “But you are too obvious even without saying anything. Like hell you will, you will just arrest me and make me a prisoner.”

“You don’t have to be alive when Fezar will be separating you,” Virginia remains calm, “Don’t make me end you.”

You see Cryz holding your grimoire tightly above his hand; it floats and softly illuminates. You groan to intervene.

Cryz’s glassy eyes widen as he looks at you; he harrumphs and turns around – his attached arm is far extended.

“W-what happened?” you ask with a brief hesitation before a sudden pain clenches your throat. You look around.

Zeden is nowhere to be seen. The room is in pitch darkness now, with only the braziers illuminating golden fire...

Virginia frowns before approaching you resting her plated gauntlet on your head, “The damn mercenary escaped with the two runes, she became far too nimble and fast to stop and I did not have too much magic to spare. She didn’t get “Mydias’ Crown” and I still have ‘The Sun Eye’ as well as my sword. She abandoned her companions.”

Cryz hems, he folds his hands forcing your arm to press against his’. The two of you have a rude glance exchange.

He is silent about the medium that is the wooden splinters of his familiar. You feel as if they still hold some power.

“W-what about Lanarel?” you ask her with a brief uncertainty. Virginia nods her head to lead you away. She approaches a small, even and flat area with both the burly bear-like man as the tomboyish blue-haired woman sleeping. “She is not looking good; she is in critical condition. Without healing magic it will takes weeks, maybe months, for her to recover. Fezar told me after I forced him to that those damn brain-like beasts might’ve wounded them physically and mentally. As soon as we return back to the Kingdom we all need to get looked at.”

You clumsily glance towards the restrained and chained figure of the red-haired man. He’s trying to fake a smirk.

“Avrill is going to be fine,” Cryz yawns with a lacklustre optimism, “It’s his hobby to be on the brink of death...”

“That’s... its good that they are alive,” you stumble on your words. “At least the two of them are separated.”

Virginia pauses for a moment. She quickly realizes what you awkwardly implied. “It must be because of your new grimoire... I should’ve realized sooner it was going to make your ‘connection’ with that Diamond Kingdom’s dog-”

“I am standing right here-”

“-stronger.” Virginia points the end of her sheathed sword towards Fezar, “But you should not worry, Cynthia, we are going to return Fezar his grimoire and force him to use a spell strong enough to break the two of you apart.”

“I told you, I am not going to your damn Kingdom,” Cryz insists, his eyes meeting Virginia, “I have no reason or desire to trust you.” He looks at you, this time as if demanding you to agree with him, “You have your criminal caught and all three of you are alive and well – you did what you came here for.” He points his finger towards the ground, “I –assisted – you with all of this, but I’m not going with this charade further. You can’t convince me.”

“Oh yes? Do you have a better idea?” Virginia’s grey-blue eyes glisten.

“I and the kid are going to remain in a neutral location while you return with a grimoire and Fezar to do it away from any of the Magic Knights, in fact, in a Neutral Territory, you’ll be less likely to bring people with you there. Or, I am taking the kid with me to the Diamond Kingdom where I’m sure the Magic Scholar or someone affiliated with him has the means to separate us. Oh, of course, I see, when it’s the other way you don’t want to do it...”

“That’s ridiculous, there is no way Cynthia is going to be safe in the Diamond Kingdom, I can’t allow this.”

Cryz rolls his eyes, but ignores her. He is looking at you, “For my troubles I want ‘The Sun Eye’ and the ‘Crown’”.

“Mydias’ Crown?” Your eyes wobble and bounce away from him and to the throne, where Silhibip is still “alive”, or, at least, present. She is sitting on her knee in front of the skeleton of her deceased king. Her flame is much dimmer now, as she continues to use her magic to weave a carcass of gold, a casket, around the skeleton frame.

> Tell Cryz that he already has the ‘Mur’At Bluebird’ – it’s enough of a reward for his troubles.
> Tell Virginia that it is true that Cryz has been of great help and that he should get “The Sun Eye”.
> Approach Silhibip and ask what she is planning to do with the crown. Ask if she wants for it to remain here.
> Approach Silhibip and ask what she is planning to do with the crown. Ask if you can have it for yourself.
> Approach Silhibip and ask what she is planning to do with the crown. Ask if she is alright with giving to Cryz.
> Agree with Cryz about going with him to his Kingdom. Demand that he promises to safely let you leave.
> Agree with Cryz about waiting for Fezar and his grimoire to do the “separation” in a neutral territory.
> Disagree with Cryz. Try to ask him politely about going to the Clover Kingdom. Promise to keep him safe.
> Remain silent allow Virginia to take care of the situation. Don’t stop her using force if she is going to need to.
> [Write In]

>>4325591
>>4325665
Very nice art Melk you did it yourself or commissioned it?

>>4327554
> This one is a commision.

>>4327549
> Tell Cryz that he already has the ‘Mur’At Bluebird’ – it’s enough of a reward for his troubles.
> Approach Silhibip and ask what she is planning to do with the crown. Ask if she wants for it to remain here.
> Agree with Cryz about waiting for Fezar and his grimoire to do the “separation” in a neutral territory.
what doe the sun eye even do? I have forgotten

>>4327564
> It allows to see the location of the person you think of.

>>4327549
> Tell Cryz that he already has the ‘Mur’At Bluebird’ – it’s enough of a reward for his troubles.
This is nice thing to ask
> Approach Silhibip and ask what she is planning to do with the crown. Ask if she wants for it to remain here.
As it most likely will be stolen right after we leave
> Approach Silhibip and ask what she is planning to do with the crown. Ask if you can have it for yourself.
> Disagree with Cryz. Try to ask him politely about going to the Clover Kingdom. Promise to keep him safe.

> Tell Cryz that he already has the ‘Mur’At Bluebird’ – it’s enough of a reward for his troubles.
> Approach Silhibip and ask what she is planning to do with the crown. Ask if she wants for it to remain here.
> Agree with Cryz about waiting for Fezar and his grimoire to do the “separation” in a neutral territory.

>>4329065
>>4329065
>>4329065