Fantasy Edge of a Circle - Main

[ArcaneDreamer]

After Freya caught up with the group and asked what, exactly, was in his bag, Kean glanced down at the object in question, a confused frown on his face.
"There really isn't anything in here that should attract the interest of a dog! There's just some clothes, a couple of books, and my... Rune-writing set..."
The scholar's voice trailed off, his attention abruptly caught by a sudden glare of light from a spot near his feet. Focusing on this interesting sight, he looked down at the spot where the dog had started to dig. Sure enough, poking out of the upturned soil, there was a corner of a shiny metal box.
"Well, this is unexpected..."
Curiosity piqued, Kean lightly tapped the metallic object with the tip of his boot, trying to gauge just how deeply buried it was. Suddenly, to his immediate surprise, the object seemed to respond to the contact - several Runes abruptly appeared on the visible portion, shining with a piercing white light. Feeling a slight sense of trepidation, he took a small step back - just as the energy within the Runes erupted, shooting an almost blinding pillar of light into the sky. After a moment, the pillar and Runes disappeared, almost as if nothing unusual happened. Kean let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.
"... Ah. I probably shouldn't have done that."
Ace Cream salem. Lost Plumbelle

 

[Ace Cream]

Misha

Misha covered her eyes as the pillar of light erupted and then vanished. After which she seemed to eye the buried object with massive interest.

"Is that a treasure?? Wow, thank you Brat. I will give you snack when we get back to the village." Misha said to the dog. She then approach the buried object and kneeled next to it. Using her magic she pushed the metal box out of the ground to uncover it then she lift the object above her head.

"I don't know what is this but I'm sure this will fetch a good price! See? I really am lucky today. All hail Gyuugura!" She beamed a wide smile to the others while praising the name of the god's of wealth.

 

[Lost]

The stars were distinctly beautiful tonight, Elian decided as he lay on the bench, satchel under-head. There was something very peculiar about losing near everything he had worked for; it allowed him to appreciate the smaller things in life. Like the stars. The bright, shiny sparkles with nary a care in the world. They were so calm, so peaceful, so irredeemably irritating! Gods, what a fool you've become in the space of an hour; annoyed by the stars! Hadn't he just committed to having a plan? To overcoming this setback with dignity and grace? Sure, he thought reluctantly, but that's easier said than done...

Time had seemed to pass slowly after his firm resolution, and yet no length of it seemed to provide him any idea as to what to do next. It was one thing to wish for freedom, to wonder what it might be like. It was another, entirely, to have it.

As he sat, stumped, the peaceful park suddenly seemed less pleasant, the sound of the creaking swing more grating, and Elian Terrel did what he always when he felt oh-so-lost and feared to feel: he grew angry. It was unhealthy, some part of him knew, but easy, too. Easy to be irritable and sarcastic, to shove away the other stuff to a place where he could sort himself out and deal with it later. Except later never came.

Suddenly a sound made itself known to him, the rustling of a bush near the far side of the playground. Elian froze, his attention rapt on the foilage, but after two minutes of complete silence he sighed. Just the wind, Elian. No need to be so jumpy.

That was the last thought he had before a brilliant beam of light leapt from the forest, throwing his vision into disarray. He stumbled back with a cry, shielding his eyes from the strange sight. And then, swiftly as it came, it was gone. Elian sat there, puzzled, before his senses began to return. And when they did, he was immediately filled with worry. In all his years in Clearwater, he had never seen magic so potent as that; what if someone was injured? They could be alone in the forest, as confused as he, with no aid in sight. Immediately he grabbed his satchel, and began to run towards the woods. He had to get there, quickly, before-

You're not an apothecary anymore.

The thought hit him like a hammer, and he froze mid-stride. It was stupid, so stupid, to be caught on something such as that, and yet he was. The intrusive message was right; he wasn't an apothecary, wasn't even an apprentice. It frustrated him so greatly, to have his hands tied by insecurity, but in that moment, Elian had a realization: it didn't matter.

It had never been about the title. It had been about helping others, about healing the world in whatever way he could. And it always would be.

The anger wasn't gone; far from it, he was angry at himself! How could he have been so caught up in losing his apprenticeship that he forgot the only reason he came to accept it in the first place?

He knew himself for a fool, but this time, it wasn't because of the stars.

========================================================================================================================================================

Like his friend Kean, Elian was far from the most active of their group. And so, it came as no surprise that when his self-loathing had run out, he learned that running all the way to the forest was not going to happen. Instead, he opted to walk, with intermittent bouts of wheeze-filled rests. How ironic that you of all people often lecture others on self-care, he thought, amused, on one of his many breaks.

But eventually, all bad things must come to an end, and Elian found himself around where he guessed the light had been. "Hello?" he called out, loud as he was willing. "Is anybody there?" The trees loomed eerily on all sides, and suddenly he began to wonder if this was such a good idea. He shook off the doubt with a shiver, and set out among the trees. If someone was wounded, they were hopefully conscious enough to call out. And if not... well, he'd have to hope he could find them without getting lost himself. If there's even a 'them' to be found, he thought ruefully.

ArcaneDreamer Ace Cream salem. Plumbelle

 

[animegirl20]

Yaling had been training all morning at the Academy. When she had finally finished she decided to go see her friends though problem was she had no idea where the heck they were. She had been looking everywhere for them. "Where those guys go? I've checked everywhere else unless...." Before she could finish her thought she saw a pillar of light appear in the forest and then disappear. "The forest....i bet all my damn savings that has something to do with them." With her blade and shield in hand she headed out to the forest to find them.

 

[salem.]

Kaiju.. Well, she was still scared. Sure, more people were coming and inventing solutions, but they were still in the forest. Alone. Her only procedure for these situations was usually tend her attention to her hamster or just stand there, so she proceeded to just sit down and pet her hamster. Since it seemed that Misha had already taken the dog.

When Kean’s curiosity had its backlash in the way of a surprisingly blinding light, she was quick to cover her eyes with her arms.

“O-Of course y-you shouldn’t h-have done that, we’re l-lost, and c-confused n-now! s-stupid!“ Kaiju muttered the last part, yet it was still barely hearable. And yes, she indeed thought Kean was stupid.

“W-Whats that a-anyways?.. I-Is it just.. t-that?” She wondered out-loud. In case someone might actually know what the pillar-looking thing is. Kaiju stood up and carefully got a bit closer to it, not really wanting to touch it. Since it looked like it might burn her finger. If the fish bit she took today wasn’t enough.

ArcaneDreamer Ace Cream Lost Plumbelle animegirl20

 

[salem.]

((E this died

 

[ArcaneDreamer]

Kean felt rather foolish as he watched Misha easily uncover the mysterious box with her magic, and he winced as Kaiju scolded him for his actions.
'... I definitely shouldn't have kicked the box...'
Before he could wallow in his shame for the umpteenth time that day, the brunette glanced over at the metallic object that was currently in the demon huntress's hands. He blinked as his gaze was drawn to a few particular carvings on one side, a small flare of recognition lighting up in his green eyes.
"Oh, actually... Misha, could you give me that box? I believe I can open it-- Oh, and I promise I won't do anything too dangerous!"
Kean was about to eagerly follow up with an enthusiastic explanation about the method he was going to use, when he heard the voice of a certain apothecary call out in the forest. The brunette looked in the general direction of Elian's voice, a mix of surprise and confusion on his face.
'I thought he had returned to his master's shop...? Ah, I suppose that pillar of light earlier was rather attention-grabbing...'
Quickly dismissing his thoughts with a small shake of his head, Kean proceeded to respond to Elian's call.
"We're over here, Elian! I swear to you that nobody has been severely injured this time!"
The scholar paused for a moment before quickly amending his statement.
"... At least, I think nobody is severely injured!"

Lost Ace Cream salem. Plumbelle animegirl20

 

[Ace Cream]

Misha

"Sure, here." Misha handed Kean the box. She then caught the sight of the apothecary and waved at him.

"Elian, nice. Our knight in shining armor. You'll lead us out of the forest, right?" Misha said, thinking Elian was some sort of rescue team sent for them.

 

[Plumbelle]

Frey jerked backwards as the pillar of light erupted, reaching up to shield her eyes from it and crying out - it was bright and blinding and seemed to reach up endlessly, she half expected something to smite them down. For the light to come crashing down on top of them and burn them to ashes. Instead the light disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, she still felt herself shaking slightly - the adrenaline that surged through her not quite dissipating.

"Careful!" She murmured as Misha reached for the box but cut herself off as Misha seemed not to be harmed but she found herself speaking again at Misha's comment. "That price better be split equally Misha, or does Kean at least get to call it for the dog stealing his bag to bring it here?" She eyed the box, it was in better condition than she'd expected and she took the chance to move closer once she'd deemed it was safe enough. If Misha could hold it without getting burned or the light appearing again then she assumed it was safe, her fear turned to curiosity and she focused more intently on the box. It wasn't like it had killed them the first time and so she decided it was worth the risk, "It looks like a box-" She muttered dumbly, surprised by the relatively normal appearance and almost disappointed by it. "I'd expected something a bit more flashy."

"Elian!" She called with a relieved smile, if he knew the way to them then surely he'd be able to guide them out - she hoped he'd be able to follow their voices.

Her mind was still going into overdrive as she tried to work out what exactly the light had been. The light had been bright and blinding and she hadn't seen anything like it before. Frey wasn't the best student truthfully, she was good enough but not diligent enough to be an expert on magic outside of her specialisation which was why she was drawing a blank on the runes and the white blinding light. Magic involved light sometimes, bright and flashy incantations requiring that extra flair but something that big? It scared her. She hated not knowing things. Runework wasn't uncommon, especially at the Academy and Kean used them often enough. "Kean," She spun around to look at him whilst waiting for Elian to find them, it was somewhat of a relief that he was going to be there too - someone with his skills was always useful. Although she was worried as to why he wasn't at the apothecary, his master hadn't seemed like the type to allow him to leave early - unless she'd misjudged him. "Did you recognise them? I really never paid enough attention to runes to be able to know. Is that why you think you could open it? And you do actually think you can open this and it won't be a repeat of the library incident?" She really didn't want a repeat of the library incident.

Misha handed over the box and Frey hoped Kean could glean something from looking at it. She wanted to know what exactly all that had been.

ArcaneDreamer Lost Ace Cream salem. animegirl20

 

[ArcaneDreamer]

Kean smiled brightly at Misha as he was handed the box, before looking over at his fellow academic exile with a familiar excited gleam in his eyes.

"Freya, remember that phase 'Don't judge a book by its cover'? Sure, this box looks rather plain, but considering that pillar of light earlier and the fact that this is covered in Runes? Surely it's hiding something interesting!"

He adjusted his grip on the box as Freya quickly asked about his ability to open metallic object. Understanding her apprehension, Kean did his best to project his confidence in order the reassure her.

"Oh, don't worry! I'm certain I can open it! I recognize most of the Runework here - While they're rather advanced variations of Protection and Sealing Runes, I know the proper disabling techniques. Though, as for the ones over here I don't know about..."

Here, the scholar glanced down at an unfamiliar cluster of Runes that he just knew had created the light pillar from before, his earlier look of excitement now mixed with a hint of trepidation. Kean took a moment to think, before returning his now somewhat sheepish gaze to Freya.

"... Ahh, now that I think about it, maybe it would be wise to pray to the Goddess of Luck before I start the process. Considering recent events, while I am confident that these mystery Runes have been used up, and that they won't cause a lot of damage, I don't wish to have a similar encore to the... er... incident..."

Plumbelle Ace Cream animegirl20 salem. Lost

 

[Ace Cream]

Misha

"Hmm? Recent events?" Misha tilted her head in confusion at Kean's words, but then she realized that Kean might refered to the thing that made him expelledsuspended from the academy. She dug into her pockets and pulled 6 golden colored dices. The golden dices were ritual trinkets used during some ceremonies involving Goddess of Luck. However, it's also occasionally used in God of Wealth's ritual since they're actually twins. Hence why Misha carried some of it around as good luck charms.

"Be grateful for the luck, but don't rely on it. Be grateful for the gold, but don't be blinded by it. O, Duality of Prosperity. Led us through the glitters and the clovers-" Cusping the dices between both of her hands, Misha recited some verses from the prayer book. She wasn't actually that good at praying compared to other priests, hence why she rarely assigned to handle ceremony. However, she's an avid follower of the wealth god so any prayer that involves of getting more loots she's able to recall it perfectly. After finished the last line of the prayer, she gently threw the golden dices. The dices bounce off the ground and miraculously all six landed on the same side.

"We get six of six! Such jackpot! I believe whatever is inside the box will change our life!" Misha exclaimed enthusiastly.

ArcaneDreamer Plumbelle Lost salem. animegirl20

 

[salem.]

“U-Uhm... I don’t think we should rely on.. t-two random g-golden dice, M-Misha..” Kaiju spoke/muttered, she didn’t have the best relationship to luck by any means, seemed her life was mostly full of unfortunate events, she had 0 percent idea how the luck god worked, and she wasn’t interested.

”A-And I don’t think i-i’td be that safe to hand everything for Kean to do- We may actually g-get blinded b-by an l-light this t-time-“ Kaiju wasn’t the best at making her opinion on a crowd, people were complicated to understand for her, they all seemed to overreact to the smallest of things.. man, feelings are hard.

When the dice surprisingly landed on a six of six, she stood corrected to her statement- but still didn’t believe in luck due to her tendency to get in near-death situations most of the time, she was like the most unluckily lucky person in the group, she got into near-death situations, but seemed to survive them just fine, maybe that was her luck.

”W-Wow- U-Uhm.. A-Alright then- I’m just hoping it doesn’t change it for the worse, t-there is a d-downside to e-everything- maybe we get l-like.. c-cooler powers but have to f-fight in a w-war or something-“ intentional foreshadowing hehehe

Ace Cream ArcaneDreamer Lost Plumbelle animegirl20

 

[Lost]

Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, Elian thought to himself, a small shiver passing through his body. The silence of the forest was eerie, and the dark, thick trees seemed to loom over him in a way that was much too menacing for his liking, a seemingly supernatural twist to the gnarled bark. Suddenly he was all too aware of how isolated he really was.

Elian wasn't a coward, or so he liked to think. He had seen grizzly wounds, fatal infections, even death. And yet something about the strange, the supernatural, bothered him. It was easy to deny the existence of ghosts and the like in the comfort of a bustling village. It was another, entirely, when alone in a dimly lit forest.

As his eyes surveyed the area, looking for signs of people, he found his gaze drawn to a particular oak. It was spotted and knotty, with various crevices and dips that produced a peculiarly human-looking visage. Uncomfortable as he was, he couldn't help but take one step forward, then another, and another. Finally, with the tree right in front of him, Elian raised his hand up, moving to touch the malformed bark.

"We're over here Elian! I swear to you that nobody has been severely injured this time! "

The young apothecary stumbled to the ground, eyes wide, before he realized the voice was not, in fact, coming from the tree. By the gods, maybe I am a coward. Cheeks dusted red with embarrassment, Elain climbed to his feet. That voice sounded really familiar - was that Kean?

"... At least, I think nobody is severely injured!" the voice rang out once more, and Elian smiled slightly. Yep, definitely Kean. It took some time to pick his way through the underbrush, but eventually he stumbled upon his group of friends. With all the speed of a trained apothecary, Elian quickly scanned those present for wounds. It seemed, thankfully enough, that all were unharmed. That's something, I suppose. With his fears assuaged, however, Elian's worry quickly shifted to annoyance. "It hasn't even been a day, Kean, and you've already blown something up. If you're trying to get suspended from Clearview, too, you're doing a fine job of it." In situations such as this it was too difficult to keep the tinge of sarcasm out of his voice, and so, as usual, he opted not to.

ArcaneDreamer Ace Cream salem. Plumbelle

 

[ArcaneDreamer]

As Kean waited for Misha to finish her prayer, he decided to have a closer look at the box. He carefully began to trace a finger around the edges of the Runes, a contemplative expression on his face.

'So many Runes, and complex ones at that... Whoever made this, they wanted this box to last for a very long time. But why? Is there something valuable in here? If so, then why bury it in the middle of a forest..?'

He was brought out of his thoughts by the sound of Misha enthusiastically announcing the results of her ritual. Visibly intrigued, Kean looked up from his scrutinizing of the box and stared at the golden dice with an excited grin on his face.

"Oh, well, that's a promising result! Personally, I think that this change will be a positive one - Judging solely by the quality of the Runework on the sides, I believe that this box must contain some sort of forgotten knowledge. We may end up becoming famous for rediscovering it!"

Before he could start going off on a tangent about other potential things that could be within the box, a certain apothecary made his presence known. Kean laughed a bit awkwardly at Elian's sarcastic accusation, pointedly trying to not make eye contact.

"H-How did you already decide that I was the one who did... something...."

The scholar's voice trailed off, already knowing that trying to deny his involvement was an exercise in futility. He sighed in resignation before sheepishly looking over at Elian.

"... Alright, so I might have acted rather rashly earlier. Fortunately, that burst of magic earlier didn't hurt anybody! In fact, I believe it was meant to be a deterrent of sorts, or perhaps an alarm - otherwise, what's the point in releasing that much magic without causing any injuries?"

Secretly, Kean kept a certain observation to himself, not wanting to needlessly concern his friends.

'Though, this doesn't explain why I can't recognize the activated Runes. Deterrence and alarm Runes are relatively basic - there's no need to use any new variations, much less ones that use a lot of magic...'

The brunette mentally shook his head, deciding to think about this later - right now, he had some Runes to deactivate and a curiosity to satisfy.

"At any rate, I think it's about time I actually start opening this thing, hm? According to Misha, fortune favors us in this endeavor!"

With that, and a quick retrieval of his tools, Kean swiftly went to work, his expression being overtaken by a familiar look of intense concentration. While he may be known for being rather reckless in his various pursuits of knowledge, when it comes to working with Runes, Kean is a diligent professional - all of his movements were made with a grace that can only be honed through constant practice and a total confidence in his actions. Barely two minutes passed before Kean made a final slash through the last Rune, and with a soft, not-blinding flash of light, a seam appeared on the box. Pleased with himself, the brunette quickly removed the lid and, after a quick look inside, retrieved the sole object that was within - a old, slightly worn leather-bound book. Curious green eyes looked it over, and after finding no other immediate points of interest, attempted to open it. To his surprise, he was met with an unusual amount of resistance. Now confused, the scholar took a better look at the book in his hands - and finally took notice of the hint of divine energy that was encompassing the object.

"Ah... this book appears to be protected by a Blessing..."

Kean felt a moment of utter disappointment at the idea of being denied a chance at getting answers, before suddenly remembering something. He quickly turned towards Freya, a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Frey, I don't suppose you could try dispelling it? I admit I don't fully understand how this kind of magic works, but... Do you think appealing to the God of Knowledge would do the trick?"

Ace Cream Lost salem. Plumbelle