The Kingdom of Eonis

[Apollymi]

Aerona was soon confused by the lad not finishing his circle, and more over his lack of affront by the source coming his way. This particular weapon was deadly even when people knew what it was, and Aerona was quite proficient in its use. What was more, this would be shown most effectively after the lad deflect two attacks by the weapon, as it recoiled from the secondary attack, she wrapped the string of it around her ring finger just once, shifting its trajectory rather suddenly aiming now to slam the weapon into the side of the boy's body with only a quick tug of the string as a sign. All the while the string was growing ever long, and disappearing from sight as part of this young woman's power. Her plan to spin a web around this room and halt the lad's movements when she was ready. Such a plan was always in her mind and why she was fine challenging anyone to a direct fight. 'Hm... four more steps,' was the gentle guidance that crossed Aerona's mind. This time there was extra magical power involved though the lass stood her ground, it was obvious in watching her fight, that straight forward methods like these weren't her normal method of attack. 'Sou ka, Assassin Class is at a disadvantage in straight combat, she'd be better off trying to do something sneaky, or even setting a trap or two. Maybe she still will and it will be fine, but as it stands... Kou is definitely winning this,' Miki thought to herself, as she relaxed atop her pillow. She seemed to not be very concerned about the lad's safety in this fight, but she figured Kou wouldn't actually take a fight that he couldn't win himself.

[Bloodedge]

'Three more steps...' This was a thought within Kou's mind as he continued to focus on his own location relative to Aerona, as well as the placement of her source. As he watched it shift about and gathered where it would move next, his primary source of knowledge began to disappear. The thin line connecting the source to Aerona was gone in moments. Though he could always watch her finger and determine the source's path from it, he would also have to know the source's exact location to react. He couldn't possibly do both without becoming a sitting duck, as it were. Luckily, he had one final movement as a sign for the next attack, just before the string vanished. 'Left," he thought as his sword moved once more to deflect the third strike attempt. With that done, he took another step. "This is all you've got for a plan? Just gonna stand here, in the middle of my ring?"

[Apollymi]

'Three more steps...' the white haired lass kept track of this boy's movements. It was always fun to watch people try and wiggle their way out of the sort of situations she set them up for. Strangely this lad didn't seem at all concerned about Aerona, instead he seemed to be moving forward at his own pace, all the while simply using his superior combat skills to deflect her oncoming attacks. Eventually he would falter or he'd step into her trap, at this point it was only a matter of waiting to see what happened first. "I'm not planning anything. And your ring doesn't intimidate me..." Aerona said calmly. The bounce of her weapon from the last movement had sent it tumbling several paces away, and the string of it disappeared once more, this time it was wrapped around three of her fingers, and raised above their heads, only to drop in an attack which rained down from above onto the lad. It aimed to strike no less than four times, in a succession so rapid it would be hard to counter. "Meteor Drop," was the name of such an attack which seemed to be imbued with toxic aura as it fell upon the lad. This was the alpha skill applied to the assassin, meant to maim powerful foes in a short burst of extreme damage.

[Bloodedge]

'Two more steps...' Kou's footwork continued to develop into something greater, even when he wasn't necessarily moving forward. He refrained from standing in one spot. If he'd done so, he assumed he would fall into some sort of trap. Just the same, he had his own trap of sorts in the works, having long since known what the weapon of Aerona was capable of. Deep within himself, he worked through potential incantations, until one struck a chord within him. 'That one. I can feel it,' he thought, taking another step toward Aerona. The golden glow around his blade became something that looked more like the cosmos as he began, and worked through, his new incantation. "Let the 88 stars of the heavens shine now. Starlight Dreams," he chanted. The Meteor Drop Skill of Aerona came crashing down upon Kou only a few moments later, but he seemed too focused on what was ahead of him to even make an effort against it. At least, this was how it seemed. In actuality, he was betting on the next strike to be one using her source's poison effect.

The first strike in this assault landed on Kou's right shoulder, causing him to lose his composure from the impact, and stumble forward. It was during said stumble that the second strike landed, sliding its way down his back before the same area was pummeled by strikes three and four. Kou caught himself before falling by jamming the tip of his blade into the floor, and leaning on it. But, there was more to this. With Aerona's poison beginning to course through his body, he unleashed the Magical Energy that was already funneling its way down his blade. "Galaxia Blade!" he said as the light emitted and filled the entire entry hall of the castle, and then some. This spell was one possessing the ability to dispel dark enchantments within its area of effect, clearing Kou of the negative status ailment and leaving him with only the wounds. That much was fine. This wasn't all the spell could do, though. Whatever caused the dark enchantments Kou's Galaxia Blade dispelled, would suffer petrification leading back to its source, which, in this case... was Aerona herself if the poison effect was her magic. Whether this was the case or not, though, Kou's tactic left him with only one more step to take... and he intended to make it a grand one.

[Apollymi]

'Two more steps...' There was light in Aerona's eyes as she watched this lad progress forward, taking more and more steps towards her trap. Beyond this, she was completely unfazed by his antics, and strangely taken by the amount of damage he suffered as he tried to move through her Meteor Drop without seeming to defending himself. 'How cute!~ He's going to be crushed~' Aerona thought as each strike of her skill made contact, it was only after this happened that she realized something was wrong.

"WHAT?!" the boy's spell had some unseen effects. Rather he was more magically inclined than even Aerona expected. Something about Mages, always seemed to put her at a distinct disadvantage, and this was one such moment. The poison effect of her magic, seemed to be dispelled and what was more, the lad's magic retaliated against her. This had the strange effect of making obvious several things. The petrificaton which led back to her, had the strange effect of solidifying the magical thread which connected the girl to her source, which made obvious in the moment exactly the nature of the intricate trap she'd laid, while simultaneously making it impossible to trigger. 'Shit!' the connection between the young woman and her magic would be severed to stop the spread short, so she could move her body, but doing so would cause her to temporarily lose control of her source. It would only be a moment, but the lad was still closing in on her.

[Bloodedge]

'One... more...' This thought crossed Kou's mind as he cleared the poison from his body. What Aerona assumed would be the number of steps he took, and what Kou himself chose to do, were exactly one step off one another. Kou's count had been one less the entire time, and Aerona would discover this momentarily, now that her weapon had been reduced to temporary uselessness. His final step forward was performed simultaneously with a new charge of energy within his sword. A single swing of the blade unleashed a wave of Kou's Mana large enough to encompass the entire entry hall as well, though its aim was primarily to encompass Aerona.

[Apollymi]

The momentary uselessness of her weapon combined with the boy's tactics lead to Aerona being encompassed by a full wave of the lad's mana. The only thing she could do, to help herself out in anyway was to make use of a certain defensive support skill known as Mana Skin. This would give her a bit of extra fortitude at the cost of expending a large sum of her mana to help her remain after the wave subsided. Even so, she'd be left quite exhausted, several ragged breaths escaped her as she looked at the lad across from her with something akin to disdain in her eyes. They narrowed for just a moment and then the orb she'd used as a weapon returned to her person. She held it in her right hand and stood, dusting herself off as if unfazed by anything that had taken place. 'These adventurers piss me off. All of them are just so damn high and mighty. I don't want to admit it, but he's definitely capable as a Royal Knight. Wherever he came from...' she thought. Aloud she had only one thing to say and it was directed not at Kou but at the girl acting as princess for the area. "Do what you want..." she said a scoff escaping her as her body turned invisible and she left without another word.

Miki watched this entire battle intensely taking note of the words and actions of Princess Aerona. 'Sou ka, she goes a little too hard as a tsundere. No wonder everyone was complaining about how hard it is to win her over...' Miki thought with amusement. Still, Madoka stood coming down from her throne and Miki followed atop her pillow, a Knight met her at the floor and handed her the Merchant's Pass Miki had asked for. And she prepared herself for something else, "Sou ka, that's almost a ringing endorsement from her. Congratulations..." offered the princess as she produced from within her own robes a Sigil of the Kingdom of Eonis. "Here, this marks you as a Royal Knight!" she said offering it to Kou. "It will give you the authority to act on your own good conscience within the Kingdom," she said with general authority. She was not worried about this sort of individual having such a thing. And knew that if he wanted at some point he could come back for an upgrade. Simply possessing the Sigil would do something strange for the lad, and it would be bound to his person once it took it. "Onee-san, this is your Merchant Pass. It will allow you to trade at market price across all the Kingdoms and enter regions without paying tolls. It will also get you into some really interesting places to gather materials... but... you probably both know that since you asked for this stuff, gomen...." the young woman apologized with her cheeks puffy. "Arigatou na..." Miki said in response to the lass before looking to Kou.

Miki reached over to accept her Merchant Pass and swing it casually around her finger while looking over Kou. "That was pretty cool. You took a bit of damage to make that happen though..." Miki said directly to Kou. She leaned across her Pillow with her other hand extended and drew a Rune that looked a bit like a stylized X across his chest, this was the rune, Gebo and once it settled it would offer the lad a gift, in particular it would give him reprieve from his wounds, healing them quickly in exchange for Miki's excess stamina. This would serve to revitalize him a bit, he'd retain his hunger under the circumstances. The only noticeable effect on Miki being a stifled yawn caused by the exhaustion of gifting her stamina to heal Kou.

[Bloodedge]

Following the use of his Mana Burst Skill, Kou stood motionless and watched Aerona recover. She eventually decided to delegate to the other princess that Kou could be granted Royal Knight status, if that happened to be her wish. This exchange resulted in Kou being offered a badge of honor from the kingdom of Eonis, which he reached out to claim without hesitation. Once the sigil was in his hand, he could physically feel it being bound to him. He immediately scanned standard knights in the vicinity, and was able to see more than simply their combat stats. He could now see his own standing in the kingdom as opposed to theirs, and he knew this determined his ability to command other knights. "Right. That fixes the Party issue. You'll be the first," he said to the knight who handed Miki her Merchant's Pass, marking said individual with his sigil to have it appear on the knight's armor. Four others nearby would be chosen in this same manner, each wielding swords instead of other weapons. Kou had a very specific reason for organizing his underlings this way, but that would likely be seen at a later time. There was a mention from Miki that Kou still had injuries, and she was quick to apply a Rune to his person for the sake of healing his wounds. She didn't seem to be at her own maximum potential thereafter, but they didn't have anything else planned for the immediate future anyway. "Arigatou," he said to Miki. With that, his gaze was set upon Madoka again. "The next time I come back, I'll take the Holy Knight position. I'll be ready by then."

[Apollymi]

Soon after the lad received his Sigil, he went about making several Knights members of their party. All the ones he chose, used swords, strangely enough, but, Miki didn't have a problem with this, as more bodies, simply meant she had the ability to retain her sneaky abilities. Moving right along, she was thanked for healing up the lad which she met with a simple nod of her head. "Iie, don't mention it..." the girl said as she floated along. A group of five Knights would turn to begin accompanying the group, and Kou's words to Madoka would be heard. The white-haired lass would nod her head apparently excited by the news. "Hai! I'll look forward to it. See you when you get back, good luck on your travels, Onii-san, Onee-san!~" the young woman said. While Miki knew this was likely to irritate Kou, she figured they hadn't exactly been forthcoming with their names or anything so it wasn't really a big deal. Beyond this, it would likely be worse if the Princess Madoka had gone about calling them by their actual names.

"Hm, that's it for here right? Time for dinner?" she asked of Kou, an amused tone in her voice as she began to float off on her pillow.

[Bloodedge]

Kou was more than prepared to take his leave. He had his knight servants, Miki had her pass, and they both had a large amount of gold to carry them through their adventures and aide in the Guild creation process. Kou knew from experience in the game that he could summon his registered knights whenever he wished, so he was content to leave them behind for the moment. He was on his way out, only to take pause when addressed by Madoka again, in that familiar way he detested. "Oi..." he said, looking over his shoulder to aim his burning gaze at the princess once more. "If you call me that again, I'm going to do everything I can to tear you apart. My name is Kou, damnit."

[Apollymi]

As they left Kou had a few more words for the Princess, with a burning gaze in his eye. He said his own name this time, giving it to the lass, while making a threat about being called by the more familiar 'Onii-san'. Miki had her eyes shift towards the lad, but didn't say a word about it. It was obvious to her this was an extreme overreaction but there was no telling what his issue with being called that was. Whatever the case, she was content to leave this alone. All the while Madoka seemed shocked by the assertion, her eyes watering up at the threat, she'd not expected. "Hai... Kou-san," she said seemingly defeated. There were tears building up in the lass' eyes but she managed not to cry this time. She looked to Miki as the lass floated away and questioned her preference as well in this moment. "Onee-san?" she posed lightly. "Miki desu." was all the rogue lancer had to say as she floated off beside the lad. They were obviously headed back to town and while they did this, Miki amused herself by twirling that Merchant Pass around the fingers of her right hand. 'Hm... get some food, maybe start building towards some decent stock to go off and sell. Build more of a name for ourselves around...' she thought absently her brows furrowing under her concentration. 'Figure out if this man has any more trigger words, so I can warn people...' the thought of this made her chuckle. But unlike most, she was sure he had his reasons, and it wasn't in her nature to pry them out of him... after all she wouldn't want anyone looking into why she reacted to things the way she did. She decided in this moment, she would leave the lad his mental privacy and instead begin working on a plan to start making a bit of extra money.

[Bloodedge]

Some time later, the Adventurers would be found sitting down to a meal for the first time in days. There was a table just outside a local eatery that served all manner of dishes. Such a place would be where many residents of Eonis were now capable of seeing their saviors, and because of this, many pedestrians stopped, stared, pointed, and/or whispered when passing by. Seeming just about oblivious to all of this, Kou virtually inhaled a rack of boar ribs that had been offered to him without charge, due both to his status as a Royal Knight, and to his identity as one of their saviors.

[Apollymi]

Miki was also eating at this particular table, enjoying for herself a pork tenderloin, salad, and a glass of red wine, also all given free of charge. She was conscious of the fact she was being watched, but she was more used to such things, than she'd like to admit. "Hm, this is all pretty good... I'm mad I didn't have this last time~" she mused. Her eyes narrowed just a bit as people continued to point and stare at them. 'I suppose that isn't going to stop anytime soon... at least there is a good reason for it this time,' she thought absently. Still even as she consumed what would be considered a ridiculous amount of food for her frame, she was rather happy over all. "So... how long do you think it will be before people stop watching us eat?" she asked wondering if the novelty of such things ever wore off at all.

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah. Maybe it would be a good idea to start hunting when we get back to the adventure. These boars are pretty easy to come by," Kou noted. The amount of warthogs they had slain during their first meeting would have been enough to feed them for weeks if they had prepared them for such a thing. For the moment, Kou continued to enjoy his meal, one massive bite at a time. Miki brought attention to the others who were staring at them, asking how long he thought they would be staring. With a face covered in sauce, Kou looked up and glanced around the area to confirm that there were, indeed, many individuals watching them eat. "Hm. I dunno. Doesn't matter to me, though."

[Apollymi]

Miki looked at Kou as he claimed that it might be a good idea to eat warthog while they adventured. And she really couldn't argue against this, as it was rather easy to kill and yielded a lot. "Hm, I could see that working out..." she said in acknowledgement of the idea. If they couldn't eat it all, they could also sell it, or feed it to their mount which meant that it was an almost infinitely useful food source. As she shifted the topic of conversation slightly to their current group of onlookers, it became obvious in one shining instant that Kou was not bothered by the attention given to him while he ate. "Sou ka..." she muttered. She never thought it possible to be so carefree, even so, seeing Kou this way made her feel a bit better about the entire situation as a whole. 'I've never been that carefree. But, maybe it's time for a change...' the girl's mind wandered to this point and a smile came to her lips. She was starting to understand what it was she enjoyed about Kou's presence the more they hung out together... even past the random triggering of the lad's temper. Miki continued to eat, finishing up the whole of her plate and then sipping on her glass of wine as if she hadn't the slightest care in the world beyond this moment.