Ascent (Open)

[Minerva]

The land of her birth was the same as she had last left it – cold, austere, and bleak. It invited the foolhardy, luring them to their deaths in its frigid embrace, and warned the wise of its perils through its landscape and climate. The mage was neither foolhardy nor wise – she considered herself a healthy mixture of reckless and powerful. It was a conceited view, but, then again, she was a rather conceited person at times.

Her abilities gave her an advantage, though, as she walked up a winding, long-forgotten path. The mountains were steep here, rough and slick with ice, although she traversed them with ease and grace. To the casual observer, she was a skilled climber and possessed inhuman ability to poise herself on the slippery slope, but to one who knew her, they would know no such innate climbing skill rested within her.

Instead, she had channeled heat to her feet, and was actively melting the snow and ice around her, leaving a small path of clear stone in her wake. Her goal was a bleak and forlorn ‘temple’ nestled in the valley between two high peaks. It was there that the secret of Ilia’s eldest mage was kept – the true power of Fimbulvetr.

While she had harnessed the power of ice for her own already, she lacked the knowledge to bring its power fully to bear. She needed the secrets honed by the naturalists who had created the Temple of Nature. It was an ancient gathering place for worthy anima mages, nestled far away from those who were unworthy and protected by its nigh-impassable terrain.

It was in that temple that she hoped to gain knowledge. It was one of the only places she held sacred, and one of the only sets of rules she still abided by. When she entered, she would learn the secrets of Fimbulvetr, no more and no less. She would inscribe her name in charcoal on the wall of those who had come, and then she would descend. To learn more, she would need to remake the trip. Greed would be punished in the Temple of Nature.

But she was still far from the building, which stood unchanged despite the years, its walls and roof created from the unbreakable earth of master Gaea mages. But its hall was empty – none resided there now. It would be only her and the books, her and the collected knowledge of years.

She continued to climb.

[Lynessa]

Lynessa was tracking the magic energy coming from unknown source. She, who had affinity with magic especially the ice type, felt the flow of magic circulating around this area. As a fan of exciting adventure, the dragoness couldn't resist the temptation to follow the flow, hoping to find the source. For that purpose, she didn't mind climbing the steep mountain. True...It would be a lot easier if she just flew up there and searched from above but that would ruin the fun. After all, it was exhilarating to know that she was getting closer to her destination for every step she took. To help keeping her footing steady and her hold firm, she carried an iron rod and digged it into the snowy ground to prevent herself from slipping.

By the way, it seemed Lynessa wasn't alone in this place. Someone else was going at the same direction. Oh great... that meant this place wasn't as mysterious and secret as she thought if someone already knew about it. Well, it might be coincidence that someone went up the mountain too? It was hard to say. The only way to make sure was to go there and talk with this person. The violted-haired dragoness closed their distance, carefully stepping on the slippery surface. When she was close enough, she could tell that the other person was a woman with dark blue hairs. For some reason, the surface of the ground where the woman had stepped in before emitted a small amount of steam. And the snow was melted too. This strange occurrence only had one explanation. Magic.

"Hello! Sorry if I surprise you...Are you, for some reason, heading up there too? I guess you aren't here just for fun hiking," she greeted Miverva. The ice dragon hoped her new "friend" would turn out to be friendly and good woman. After all, she could use a companion to have nice chat with in this trip.

[Minerva]

"Hello! Sorry if I surprise you...Are you, for some reason, heading up there too? I guess you aren't here just for fun hiking."

The mage turned her head, halting for a moment to see another woman working her way up. She had come up a different way, using a rod to prop herself. So clearly she wasn't a mage, because no mage with any knowledge of Trinity would willingly choose not to use their magic to help them unless they were simply suicidal. What business did a non-mage have in ascending to the Temple of Nature?

There was nothing to do to dissuade the woman from ascending. She clearly either knew of the temple or had been there. Perhaps she was simply powerful enough with the magic of Gaea to sturdy her every step. Without knowing, Minerva felt it foolish to be anything less than polite - on this mountain, a fight could mean death for both of them. So she answered the inquiry, her voice cool but not cold.

"I am indeed heading up the mountain. I am seeking an ancient place at its peak, known to us as the Temple of Nature. Do you too seek the knowledge, or are you in search of riches or fame? I can assure you there are none of the latter two to be found at the top of this mountain... So if it is that which you seek, turn back."

Minerva lifted her hands and sent a small jet of water into the sky, and as it fell in an arc to earth, it froze, forming an arch that stayed momentarily twinkling for a moment before collapsing into nothingness as the mage balled her hands into fists and lowered them to her side.

"How did you find this place? Are you too trying to refine your Anima?"

The blue-haired mage gave Lynessa a quizzical look, her eyebrow raised.

[Sergeo]

Come on...where is that old temple he kept talking about?" Sergeo mumbled to himself as he truged through the his frozen native land.

Studying for seven years in Etruria and its warmer climate had almost made him forget about the blistering winds of the frozen tundras, but even with the studying abroad, Sergeo's tracking skill and rumors of the lands hidden treasures did not fade away with time. Back when Sergeo was younger and still with his bandit family, his dad always had something of a magic phobia or at the very least a huge distrust in his gang to be able to use magic without killing themselves. Even so, he was always interested in the rumors of a temple hidden up in one of Ilia's many mountains. Within the halls of stone and ice, was the belief that inside held a tomb that every anima mage in Ilia's boarders would want to claim as there own. The tomb of true Fimbulvetr.

While tombs of Fimbulvetr were available to any mage that had the coin to buy them, this tomb in particular was rumored to hold the secrets and knowledge to bring out the tomb's true potential and with Sergeo first hand experience of seeing the ice book's power back in Delfia, the thought of passing up such knowledge and power would be daft in Sergeo's mind. With its secrets, he was certain that employers would come to him and in turn mountains of gold with it.

It took several miles of walking through the frozen tundras with only the sound of his feet crunching through the snow, but eventually he found the suppose mountain. "Finally. Lets hope these old rumors have some truth to them or I just-" he cut his own quip short when he saw something he didn't expect to see on the mountain path...people. Two of them in fact and as far as he could tell they were both women. Were they after the book as well? No doubt they were, or why else would they be here in the middle of nowhere? Never the less, what was most important was making sure he got the knowledge he came for, but whether these two would get defensive or violent could not be figured out at a distance.

For now it was best to play it cool as he walked up the mountain.

[Lynessa]

Lynessa rolled her eyes when she was asked about her purpose for coming here. So it was Temple of Nature? Never heard that name but it sounded quite important and magical. She wasn't sure what the meaning behind the other woman's little show. Was she showing off her magic or making a threat or warning? Well, it might be just her habit or something. It wasn't important.

"To answer the first question..." Lynessa smiled and shrugged. "...I am not seeking anything. Well, nothing serious I mean... And I come here to learn what resides up there that emitting such strong magic. Maybe that also answer your second question..." The dragoness was about to end her sentence by calling the other woman's name but stopped when she realized they hadn't had a proper introduction. Reminding herself to introduce herself later, she continued speaking, "Yes, I can feel the flow of magic coming from up there and I come here by following it." Although Lynessa realized that she couldn't really do any magic at all, at least not in her current condition, she decided to just answer honestly. It was up to Minerva whether she believed her or not. Lets just hope the mage wouldn't pry too much.

"Don't mind me. I am just her for my own curiosity. Although I hope we can be good friends and maybe go up there together," Lynessa said as she approached Minerva with extended arm. "Lynessa Heartwater. I am from a village not far from here," she added. As a note, her village was actually quite far from this place but the violet-haired woman tended to have bad sense of distance since she did most of her trip by flying.

Someone walked his way up when both women was talking. Lynessa quickly noticed the new guest, seeing him through the corner of her eyes. "It seems the temple is quite famous, isn't it?" she asked jokingly to Minerva.

[Minerva]

So the woman could sense the magic? She was strong, then, strong and attuned. Good. Very good. And then she started to babble about friendship. Friends? They had barely just met. How was she supposed to be good friends with her? Minerva had to try hard to suppress a laugh, but she did, only letting her eyes twinkle. It would look like she was friendly, but inside the mage was scoffing at the weird Lynessa woman.

"Sure, why not. Feel free to come along. Not like there's any point in fighting about it - the Temple's not mine, so I hold no claim over it."

The approaching mage made Minerva even more cross. Why was this remote mountainside lighting up like a field of fireflies? This wasn't a damn tourist destination, it was a temple of Anima magic. The mage barely managed to keep her peace as he approached. If she weren't concerned about the other woman standing by her, she might have 'accidentally' blasted him off the mountain face.

Yet her face was calm and open, almost friendly, as he came close.

"A greeting to you both, then. My name is Minerva. I am traveling to the temple atop this mountain in order to learn the secrets of Fimbulvetr. I seek mastery over the magic of water and ice, and I will stop at nothing to obtain the knowledge I seek. I blaze a path before my feet and tread in safety through my own skill, the abilities I have developed through my effort and power."

Minerva gave a brief bow and then turned, continuing to walk methodically up the slope. The ground immediately in front of her feet was cleared of ice and snow as she walked, but she made no effort to clear a wider path for the others. They would need to either walk behind her or blaze their own path to the side. The second no one could see her face, Minerva glowered, allowing herself a pout and a sneer. They had to show up, two others trying to reach the temple. Well, maybe they wouldn't be too bad. She would have to see.

[Sergeo]

As Sergeo approached the two women, they seemed just as confused as he was that someone other than them knew the location of what is supposed a hidden temple. "Well...it seems like me and my old man weren't the only ones who remembered this place after all. A shame. I was hoping I didn't have to share this discovery with anyone but I guess that is impossible huh?" he said so casually as to hope to defuse any tension.

The woman with the lavender hair introduced herself first as Lynessa. She seemed to act quite casually about coming out to the mountains. She said she came to the mountain cause she "sensed" something here. Most humans wouldn't come out the middle of nowhere cause they felt something pulling them towards it. Maybe she got lost, or maybe she knew exactly what was inside the temple. Whatever her reason was, he decide to keep what knowledge he did know to himself and act dumb. "Well then since we are introducing ourselves, I am Sergeo Ry- *cough* uh Sergeo Reinhardt." he said catching himself. He wasn't sure how much the last name of Rycroft brought fear and anger in the hearts of the Ilan people since he been gone, but anything to keep himself out of a two versus one fight. "Anyway I guess the two of you heard that there was a temple here too?"

The blue haired Minerva confirmed that and so much more in her very strangely detached but unoffensive introduction. At least he knew that he was in the right place. "Oh. You sure don't beat around the bush do you?" The girl didn't even retort before she turned around and continue her trek up the mountain path. Something about this Minerva didn't sit well Sergeo. She was way more accepting of having two uninvited tag alongs suddenly appear than you think such a serious looking young woman would be. It seemed like all an act to him, but acting on or voicing such suspicions would make him look bad in the eyes of his new company.

It was best to test the waters with some light poking and prodding as he walked behind the mage girl, starting by pointing out something that generally did rub him the wrong way. "You know when you said you'd blaze a path before your feet, I figured you were just being metaphorical. Are you so worried about getting snow in your boots that you would have to use your weapon in such an undignified manner?"

[Lynessa]

That was...definitely not the most pleasant introduction ever. Miverva acted accepting and all friendly and Sergeo introduced himself well despite having minor stumble. However, both of them didn't seem pleased with having people finding this place. Lynessa wondered if she was imagining things as they continued their way up to the top. Looking at Minerva, she made a note that this woman had showed tendency of being boastful, which was proved by how she had boasted about her blaze steps trick. On the other hand, Sergeo hadn't revealed much except that he already knew of this temple beforehand The blonde mage seemed to be quite blunt with his opinion as well. Oh please...Lynessa could only hope those two wouldn't start bickering.

Staying behind these two, taking advantage of the dry trail Minerva had left behind, Lynessa tried to find a way to cool the situation a bit. Things had been pretty hot since Minerva and Sergeo had started talking. Now..now...she didn't want to have two seemingly dangerous mage fighting in front of her...at least not in this place. At worse case, the would create an avalanche that killed themselves. "Well, her magic have made walking easier for us," the dragoness quickly spoke before Minerva could respond to Sergeo. Pointing her rod toward the dry footsteps, Lynessa tilted her head and smiled to those two. "It's not that bad, don't you agree?" It might or might not be enough to stop things going bad. She didn't know both mages well but from what she had observed those two were probably the type that prone to become aggressive.

Maybe she should try to change the subject by asking a question. "By the way... You two seems to possess knowledge that I don't. So please tell me. What's exactly this place? Has this temple been there for a long time?" she asked. If this temple was more that a century old, Lynessa would probably have heard about it in her younger days. However, she couldn't denied that even with her vast experience and long lifetime, there must be a few places she had never visited or heard about. "It makes me feel a bit weird to be the only one who know nothing of this place," she added, smiling.

[Minerva]

Minerva chuckled. Share the discovery? Please. These fools were just wanna-be masters of the frozen element. She could stomp them with her eyes closed, the way they carried themselves. And the man, especially. Sergeo? Come on. He played it cool and dumb, trying to act as if they all were not vying for the most ancient and complete knowledge of Fimbulvetr that still existed. Psh. She couldn’t deter him, as the temple’s knowledge was meant for all who could scale the mountain and enter the building, but she sure could leave him in her wake. No point in unnecessarily helping a loser.

"Oh. You sure don't beat around the bush do you?"

"No, hon, I don’t, the mage replied, not looking back as she continued to move upward. I have an agenda, and it doesn’t call for time spent on pleasantries. You’re welcome to come along if you can keep up."

And then he had to go and insult her. That was a bad call. Now she was fired up, and the cocky mage was going to get it. Using her weapon in an undignified manner? What did he think he was, some pure-and-holy Eliministic prick who couldn’t think his way out of a box? Using her weapon in an undignified manner?

Turning to face Sergeo, and stopping her ascent briefly, Minerva let a voice laced with icy scorn lash out at the man who seemed to have a personal problem with her resourcefulness.

"Babe, allow me to let you in on a little secret. We Ilians are born in the snow, live in the snow, and die in the snow. If I was afraid of snow, I’d be a damned Nabatan, waving my stick and herding beasts across the desert. I simply have enough of a brain to realize that it would end my trip pretty quickly if I were to slip on some slick hidden rocks and fall into that ravine. In fact, I bet I wouldn’t be doing any traveling after that. So I suppose that if being smart and knowing the environment has become undignified, I would rather be an illiterate and uncouth heathen and keep my neck and the rest of my bones in one piece.

If you dislike the way I ascend, use another path. No reason to jab at me for how I travel. And even if you can’t stand it, most people would have the class not to create a problem out of it. Look at Lynessa here. She’s a tactful one. Probably knows how to interact. Maybe grew up in a house, instead of a barn. Or perhaps she just wasn’t dropped as a babe. I don’t know."

Turning away from the pain-in-the-ass mage, Minerva answered Lynessa’s questions. As weird as this woman was, at least she was decent.

"The Temple of Nature was an old meeting place for practitioners of Anima magic throughout time. It eventually became almost inaccessible due to changes in climate, creating these hazardous slopes and strong blizzards, and so the Sages used it as a test, storing the knowledge of the mastery of Fimbulvetr inside the Temple. Any who can enter it can train within and learn the stored knowledge, and that is why I’m traveling to the summit. No doubt I will be unable to immediately call forth all of the power of Fimbulvetr, as I am still studying to unlock its potential, but at least I will have the knowledge to continue my work. I have a memory, you see, that is most unusual. When I see something, especially written things, I can imprint them into my mind and see them clearly forever afterwards. So I will not need to return to the Temple, or even stay here. After I see the written knowledge, I will study over it, practice, and refine my craft until I can master it.

But you intrigue me. Tell me, how did you sense the presence of the Temple? That is a skill most rare and admirable."

[Sergeo]

It was very rare that Sergeo would meet someone more prideful than he was. What he wanted was a reaction from Minerva and that is what he got with his little barbed-tongue diss at the young lady. What he didn't quite expect however, was the intensity of the response with Minerva immediately jumping down his throat for the way he detested using a magic tomb like a glorified personal sun to melt away the snow. She even had the audacity to lecture him about how Ilians "Live and die by the snow" as she called it which to him was her way of saying she had lived here her whole life. Sergeo was no stranger to the harsh terrain of of Illa, much less to what the lies beneath the sheets of snow. Anything that would trip her on this path would be poking out of the snow as long as she didn't start running up the mountain trail like a crazed buffoon. As annoying as this girl's lecture was, he also had gotten a bit of an unintentional tidbit about herself that she might have not wanted him to know. Between the tomb, her high-horse, easily angered attitude, her lecture about Illa, and using words and phrases such as Uncouth and "Being born in a barn" told him she had at least an education level above most commoners.

This was all very enlightening to him, and if he wasn't trying to keep such a low profile about his true identity (and subsequently keep from any avalanches from happening.) he would tear into this "princess" even more than she did to him, but what was most important here was not about being right, but getting that tomb. So for now, it was best to just take it. After Minvera's long winded rant was done, he stuck one of his pinky fingers into his ears as if to clean them out with his only response to the high and mighty cloister mage was just a "If thats what you want to do then go right ahead...Princess."

Intent to leave Minerva alone till they got to the temp proper he turned to his much more quite and well mannered traveling partner Lynessa and answered her questions starting first with the subject that had gotten him the ire of Minerva.

"I suppose your right, but having lived off the land for so long I get kinda bothered if I don't here the sounds of crunching snow beneath my feet. Plus since we all are hiking up a mountain its more important to focus on where we are walking instead of what we are walking on, less we go and walk off the side of the cliff."

"As for this place, I'm afraid I couldn't tell you much. Just stories that my dad told me about this place when I was younger and how mages used to gather on dark nights and they like to keep their secrets there. I never really paid much mind to them back then, but once I went to Etruria, it wasn't long till those old stories crept back into my mind.

[Lynessa]

Probability of avalanche (caused by the bickering mages) = 50%

Lynessa rolled her eyes and sighed in defeat as the other two threw unpleasant and scornful remarks towards each other. And worse, Minerva had compared Sergeo with her, probably causing the man to feel provoked. Maybe it wouldn't be too late for her to flee from this place now before they started throwing fireball, she thought. At least they seemed to become softer when they talked to her. No need to add an angry dragon to this mess, right? "Ah...well...." That was the only response she could mutter before returning to being quiet. How should she mediate between two angry mages? Lynessa had no idea. She could only hope they would play nice and apologize. Okay, that was unlikely. The dragoness smacked her forehead when Sergeo addressed Minerva as "princess" sarcastically.

"I can agree to that. I must admit it's feel different with the snow melted but well...it's convenient," Lynessa remarked to Sergeo's explanation. She felt afraid that her agreement with the man might agitate Miverva but the blue-haired mage hadn't shown any response. Just to make sure they wouldn't bicker again, Lynessa wlaked faster and caught up with  Sergeo, leaning toward his ear and whispering, "Just let it slide, please? Miverva seems quite easy to anger."

Listening to both mages' replies of her earlier question, Lynessa made sure to remember every details. Minerva made a quite long explanation, along with a few boastful claims, and Sergeo had admitted that he knew very little about the temple. So...those two came with the same explanation. The temple was basically a place where mages gathered and stored their knowledge and secrets, which was probably a fruit of their hundreds years of studying magic. Now this had become intriguing. Whatever inside the temple should be worth climbing the mountain. There might be some ancient scrolls, figurines, or drawings that she would like to see. It was he hobby to seek place that offered adventure. Not that she hoped a depth mystery or frost giant reside in the temple but she expected to see something new, hopefully something she had never seen in her hundreds years of life.

Miverva's question was unavoidable. Lynessa had expected it to come sooner or later. Maybe she was too rash with her explanation about sensing magic. She should have come with something better than that, probably a a reason that wouldn't produce more questions. However, she was used with answering such question and there was no need to reveal everything here. "Oh, I was born with good affinity toward magic and spirits, especially ice magic. There's nothing special really. I can perform a bit ice magic as well but it has been a long time since I did it the last time so my skill has been deteriorated much," she replied calmly, smiling. Her explanation wasn't a lie although it left out a lot of details about herself. There was no need to tell them she was an ice dragon. How to explain it, anyway? Seriously...she couldn't just say it like it was nothing. And she wasn't lying about her capable of casting ice magic as well. However, to use ice magic in her human form required a lot power. After living peacefully for years without any need to draw her full power, it was only natural that her skill had become a bit rusty.

"By the way, I assume the temple pose no danger to us, right?" she asked.

[Minerva]

There was not a lot going for Sergeo in Minerva's mind. He was brash, spoke like a peasant, and seemed to have an air of obliviousness about him. Good Gaea, if he couldn't think through using fire to make the path safer, he wouldn't last very long. Were the secrets of ice and snow truly to be shared with one so poorly equipped to use their might? Again she had to halt her train of thought, forcing herself to be accommodating. All who ascended to the Temple were allowed to take advantage of its secrets. But there was a longstanding tradition...perhaps...once they got to the summit...

Chuckling to herself suddenly, the Mage heightened her pace. Plus, that way she didn't have to be as close to him as he spouted off some nonsense about gathering on dark nights. They weren't some filthy dark mages. Dark nights? The only thing dark was the inside of his skull. No torches there, clearly. Ugh. Just a little farther to go. Once they got to the top, she could finally let herself relax. Until then, she remained on edge, her mind full of spiteful thoughts and hateful ideas.

"Oh, I was born with good affinity toward magic and spirits, especially ice magic. There's nothing special really. I can perform a bit ice magic as well but it has been a long time since I did it the last time so my skill has been deteriorated much."

An affinity towards magic, and skills in ice magic. That sounded pretty interesting. Must be from one of those families of mystics that were always being yakked about by the commoners as able to predict weather and ensure good harvests and make you more interesting or better in the bed or all sorts of ludicrous junk. Well, if she had she magical ability to find the Temple, good job to her. That was about all that she had to say about that.

"By the way, I assume the temple pose no danger to us, right?"

On that subject, Minerva turned her head back briefly, smiling unusually broadly and giving a hearty laugh.

"No, the Temple itself is not a danger... though inside, many mages of old challenged each other to duels to determine who was more skilled. The matches were a source of diversion for the onlookers and a way of asserting dominance for the combatants. Non-lethal combat, of course, fought until one competitor conceded defeat or was incapacitated. Quite fascinating, reading stories of the intense magical battles that were fought in the Temple."

The Mage's voice cut off as she rounded a particularly treacherous bend and then worked her way up a steep incline, until before them stood, nestled between two sharp slopes leading to peaks a ways up and surrounded in part by bottomless-looking ravines, a building of stone, coated in a bluish covering of ice in some parts. It was not ostentatious or grand, but merely a sturdy rock structure. The power of many Sages' Gaea was amazing indeed.

Minerva said no words, merely walking forward to the opening that led into the interior. Stopping before it, she addressed her companions once and then stepped into the Temple of Nature.

"We have arrived."

The inside of the Temple was not a shock to Minerva, but it certainly did root her to the spot once she was far enough inside to see the scope of it. There was no tablet detailing the power of ice magic, nor was there any sort of guru waiting to impart his ancient and timeless wisdom. Instead, in the center of the room, a wide open space, there was merely a dusty floor, a few snowflakes scattered upon it.

The walls were interesting. Pocked with blackened scorch marks and slices that looked almost to be of swords, it showed a lengthy history of many battles. And in the rear of the cold room, a waterfall, obviously magically created, poured down in a harsh deluge that disappeared into a hole cut roughly into the rock foundation.

Minerva crossed the room to the far side, examining the waterfall. A brief thought crossed her mind, but she put it aside for the time being. Now she could truly unload.

"You! Sergeo! I challenge you to a Mage Duel! Together, let us determine who is the more skillful and who is the more worthy of the true power of Fimbulvetr! Come, show me the power of the weapon you have reserved for use in a dignified manner!

That last jab probably wasn't necessary, but Minerva enjoyed goading her foes.

[Sergeo]

((Sorry for my tardiness)) 
Sergeo kept any visible signs of being awestruck to himself as the group finally reached the mountain temple. Nestled above one of the mountains many ravines in between an arching formation in the mountain's face was a rather plain looking building made of stone and covered in ice. The scene was worthy of an master artist's brush in his eyes and was about what he expected a temple constructed in secret to look like. He felt like he could stare at the temple reserved beauty forever, but then Minerva would then surely get her devious hands on the book first. All he could do now was keep to himself until the books location was discovered, as he walked in behind Minerva into the temple.

True to what Minerva had explained to Lynessa, the temple looked to to be an arena of sorts where mages gathered to test there skills against one another. Sergeo placed his hands on one of the columns holding the structure up as he took in the history of the place. He could imagine every detail vividly, two mages standing in a circle, cheered on the crowd of there peers as fireballs and spears of ice were shot at back and forth in a contest of wit and skill as rubbed his fingers over a black outline made what he assumed was the afterimage of a stray fireball, what he didn't expect was his finger to rub into an indent in the wall. It was very peculiar as it looked like a sword had cut through the stone. Now a mage with a sword wasn't so strange sounding to him, but why would a mage bring a sword to an arena dedicated to magic play? Did something happen here that the three of them weren't aware of, and where was the book that was the impetus for this journey? Something was wrong here, but he was unable to ponder on these matters when the piercing voice of Minerva broke his contemplative silence.

"You! Sergeo! I challenge you to a Mage Duel! Together, let us determine who is the more skillful and who is the more worthy of the true power of Fimbulvetr! Come, show me the power of the weapon you have reserved for use in a dignified manner!"


Was she joking? No she was serious. You'd think she would be more focused on the Fimbulvetr tomb as she seemed so enamored with it, but maybe she hid a big vengeful streak under her prideful boasting and upper-class education. Never the less, he was not interested in playing her games for the sake of her pride if he didn't have to. Plus he was also a little curious to see how far she would take her honor. He decided to stonewall her, completely ignoring her and her request for a duel and instead looked at Lynessa to use her natural gifts to solve the mystery of the missing tomb.

"Hey Lynessa. You said you had an affinity for magic right? Think you can point us in the right direction of the tomb?"

[Lynessa]

The temple itself wasn't grand or majestic, only an old building covered in snow and ravines, but it definitely gave the impression of an ancient relic. It was difficult to tell how old this place might be but it was probably more than a decade at least. Lynessa kept a calm expression as her lips curled into a satisfied smirk. Enduring that exhausting hiking was nothing compared to the excitement rising in the adventurous dragon's heart. Still behind the other two, Lynessa steadily walked into the temple though what seemed to be the main entrance.

Unlike those two, Lynessa didn't have knowledge or imagination of how the temple would look like, so she didn't have any expectation. However, the violet-haired dragon was a bit disappointed by the lack of magical objects inside the temple. Maybe someone kept those magic items hidden? After closer observation, she realized that the marks in the wall were the remnants of those battles Minerva had told them about. A question then came to her mind...were those marks left in the wall for some reason or were they really the remnants of many battles? This place might have some history that they were unaware of. "Well, I guess I have found an interesting place again..." she thought, seeming pleased. Lynessa attention was drawn to the waterfall as her sense was tingling. There was something unusual...or magical about that waterfall. But before the dragoness could go there an interesting event followed quickly, started by Minerva's shout.

"You! Sergeo! I challenge you to a Mage Duel! Together, let us determine who is the more skillful and who is the more worthy of the true power of Fimbulvetr! Come, show me the power of the weapon you have reserved for use in a dignified manner!"

Lynessa was rarely surprised but Minerva's grudge toward Sergeo truly exceeded her expectation. Wait...was it really because the prideful mage wanted to fight? It was strange but Lynessa failed to acknowledge that Minerva just suddenly challenged Sergeo just for petty revenge. If the blue-haired mage was really the impulsive type then she would have been started the fight before they had entered the temple. 

And then Sergeo gave away unexpected response as well. He simply ignored the challenge and talked to Lynessa, probably doing it on purpose just to irritate Minerva. Trapped between this intense atmosphere, Lynessa could only stand dumbfounded and make an awkward smile, wondering if Minerva would explode in rage soon. "Aaah...well...I can't. I mean this place is filled with magic so it's difficult to track the flow of magic. You probably have sensed it too. However..." Lynessa paused as her gaze drifted to the waterfall where Minerva was standing next to. It would need some proof but the waterfall might have some lead for their search. "...Minerva might know something about it. But I am not sure if that's the reason why she challenged you," she explained to Sergeo.

"Is it truly necessary for you two to duel, Minerva?" she asked, trying to confirm if the blue-haired mage knew something she didn't.

[Synkkis Kyyneltya]

The Temple was a grim and frostbitten kingdom of the essence of Ilia. It's raw nature that all of those born within its borders would always be marked with. The magic that flowed and fluxed from the gates were but a small fraction of what laid buried in the crypts underneath. Waves of bitter cold brushed against the fine fog that veiled the ground. The waterfall, a mage's ancient creation, streamed with a constant cacophony of blissful noise.

Until three figures appeared, it was rather peaceful in here. Bones and all.

A snow-haired and thin young man raised his head and opened his piercing crimson eyes. From his sitting place, he blended in well with the fog, darkness, and dust. The sound of the waterfall and the sensory overload of the magic here for those who just stumbled in masked his presence. Synkkis was good about keeping away from people. Whoever these people were, they broke his meditation with no sense of tact. Well, one of them had something about their self that was far more patient - calm. He felt he could get along with that one. It was much more familiar.

Quietly and imperturbable, he watched on to see what the gathering was up to. His ears perked up when he heard the word "duel". Synkkis had been in quite a few of those. They weren't staged or made even. They were chaotic ones. The ones where the unsuspecting opponents fought to the death and had no choice in who they were matched up with. That was the will of battle. So far, though sometimes defeated, Synkkis had retained his life. Many had not. Would this wind up with one or more of them adding their corpses to the collection?