Reim Empire

"Right," Malik said with a nod when Yasmin gave him the clear to carry on. "Sorio lived in Magnostadt during the civil war they had several years ago. He had always come here to visit the family, but after that war ended, he took up permanent residence in Reim. He was... very different then, but your dad still thought to make him an important person in the palace."

"What do you mean he was different?" Fudo asked. "It was just... the way he carried himself, you know? Being around him felt weird. Sorio was a magician, and though they won in Magnostadt, it almost seemed to him as if they'd lost."

After such a long time being in one place, Ali stretched and yawned, wondering how much longer it would take for them to move on. "We could be in Reim right now. Hey, Shadiya. You have Dantalion; maybe you could give me a hand in moving us there."

As Yasmin read up on the history of the areas and people mentioned by Malik, she also took in his speech about the man apparently known as Sorio who was currently acting ruler here. She couldn't help but wonder what about being involved in a war would change a man so much, but given her own life experience with her radically changing circumstances she could understand how it could go awry without any real intention on the parts of the people involved. "According to this that wasn't a winnable situation. The Mages who rose up in what used to be the Kingdom of Musta'sim slaughtered the entire royal family and all of their personal mages as part of their uprising. The Royal family because they were a symbol of the previous oppression and their personal mages because many refused to turn against people they saw as doing no wrong against them. After it was renamed Magnostadt and run under the leadership of the former leader of the Mages school there. But apparently there was a bit of unrest because of the way the previous leadership was dealt with, the man currently leading that country has become extremely paranoid which has led to an extreme bit of inaction in the country. Literally it seems to have completely stagnated following those events." Yasmin added, not knowing if this would be important or not but it could explain the mindset of the change Vizier.

Meanwhile, Shadiya was called upon by Ali who seemed to want to get this group properly settled in Reim sooner rather than later. She looked out at the horizon and hopped on top of the carriage as well. "I can help with that... if you the heavy lifting so to speak. I am not quite strong enough on my own to move all of us... it'd likely render me unconscious for weeks if I tried. I can however, show you where we're going." she said. Shadiya had in this place a villa previously owned by one of her brothers which had been set up for her extended stay here. Of course, she was more than willing to open this place up to her new friends since they'd all likely be here for a while, and it happened to be placed in a very lively part of the empire. With this in mind the girl touched her locket. The Rukh around the girl began to bend as her locket melted into her hands creating a partial equip which would make two eight sided starts on the backs of each of her hands. These were glowing with a bluish light "Dante Al-Thais." she mentioned and she began to draw with this the constellation of the Big Dipper over this group. In so doing another would appear over the open courtyard in front of the Villa. Waiting only to to pushed up and through the transportation circle as the conversation continued between the others below.

"So, there are problems in Magnostadt, as well as Reim, which go beyond our current understanding. Regardless of the situation between the countries, it's only right that we do something about this Sorio." These were the last words spoken by Fudo before Ali and Shadiya went about their use of Space-Time Magic.

Shadiya's partial Djinn Equip opened up the pathway to their next destination, and now that he was able to see it, Ali began to utilize his own Magoi to physically transport the group and all their belongings through the rift, virtually teleporting them through Shadiya's path and having them reappear within the villa. "There we are. Thank you, Shadiya. Now... I'll be back soon-ish," he said with a wave as he walked away.

Fudo took a moment to look around the area from his place on the carriage, taking note that this place seemed to have reasonable living conditions, yet no residents. "This place doesn't look inhabited, but it looks ready to be. Where are we?"

During the use of the space time magic, after Fudo had spoken all was quiet with the young women currently occupying this place. Once they had moved though, Yasmin nodded her agreement to the clause that something had to be done about the Vizier known as Sorio. "I agree." she said there were plenty of problems in the world, and she had nothing better to do than help conquer them one by one.

Shadiya gave a quick bow and cancelled the use of her partial Djinn equip as it was more than a little draining for the young woman. Once it was gone and her locket was back secure on her neck she nodded. "Alright... this place is ready for everyone and there is more than enough room for all of you to stay here if you wish." she said of this place. Upon reaching their destination she jumped down from the roof of the carriage in time to hear and answer the question posed by Fudo about the place they were currently in. "This is my villa. Hmm, rather a place that was acquired for me when I said I'd be coming here. It was abandoned in the past and while I was on my way here it was refurbished and fully stocked. I figured... if we were all going to be here, we'd need a place to stay. So... " Shadiya seemed to be suffering a moment of minor embarrassment at the offer she was trying to make to her newfound companions. "I mean... if you want to stay, there's more than enough room..." she said trying to downplay her feelings in this matter. It only made Nasira chuckle and Yasmin smile. She really was a nice girl.

Meanwhile the landing of these people and all of their things caused someone from inside the villa to exit. Upon doing so, one would see a slim yet curvy young woman with fearsome scarlet hair pulled up into a ponytail that still hung down to her waist. Her bangs parted to cover her right eye only a grim look to her face. She was dressed in partial armor pieces black with silver filigree and a linen loincloth. Her outfit completed by a black scarf draped around her neck which blew into the breeze. "Hm. This is way more people than I expected."

Fudo's mouth curled into a grin when Shadiya explained the existence of this place. Knowing that it was hers, he immediately felt more comfortable being in the area. "I'm sure we'd all be glad to stay. Thank you, Shadiya."

Malik wasted no time literally leaping from the carriage, finding this area dangerously familiar to him. "Ah! We're right next to-" he began to speak, only to abruptly stop his sentence upon seeing the trademark scarlet hair of one particular gladiator. "Oh! Erza! I brought some guys!"

Both Nasira and Yasmin nodded that they'd enjoy staying here as well. This gave a great deal of relief to Shadiya who smiled. "Alright then, I'll enjoy having everyone around." she said swiftly only to turn towards the house and see the scarlet haired woman while the other two young women went to begin retrieving things from the cart which everyone could or would use within the house. In the meantime when they came out it was obvious that there was a new person among them, a scarlet haired warrior type who seemed to be familiar with Malik. "Oh, did you? That's great and all but I am not here for that. I am here because I set up this Villa for... she said looking at the girl who stepped up with her purple hair. "You." she said. Looking to the girl who nodded. "Yes, I'm Shadiya, thank you very much." she said knowing this woman had been the one in charge of the restoration of her house. She scoffed just a little and shook her head from left to right. "You're late." she mentioned. Though taking a look at the rest of the people she figured them to be reasonably capable so she just shrugged in reply to Malik she had but one thing to say.

"You know the old man has to look into all the rest." she mentioned of the Gladiators, of the villa she explained a bit more. "Basically this is a prime spot, right next to the Coloseum and within walking distance of a very good market. The place is fully stocked and the nearest public bath is only about a block away. "

"Ugh, really? Gramps is such a stiff, though. I don't think he'd be open to just letting a bunch of new people be around while we're training," Malik said. This old man of whom they spoke was apparently not the friendliest of people. Of course, the same could be assumed of the red-haired woman who'd so recently appeared to the group. "Perhaps this man you speak of would be interested in letting us train as well," Fudo interjected. The teal-haired prince approached the woman called Erza, extending his right hand to her with a smile upon his face to begin his greeting. "You're with the Yambala Gladiators, right? Fudo Shakir. My friends and I came from Parthevia to seek guidance in improving our Magoi Manipulation."

Erza looked at the pink haired boy and rolled her eyes. While it was true the leader of the Gladiators was a seemingly stern individual, that didn't mean he'd be totally opposed to new people. After all, he'd taken on the pink haired boy at some point. Before she could point this out though the teal haired young man was walking up, and extending his hand in greeting the scarlet haired young woman could do nothing but accept his outstretched hand and firmly shake. "I'm Erza Nicolaides." she mentioned the young woman who was obviously not from this place but still here. "And yes, I am one of the Yambala Gladiators." she said acknowledging what this young man had to say she could only shrug. "I am not one to say whether that would be permitted or not. But talking to the old man is your best bet. I'll take you to him if you'd like. He's supposed to be meeting this one anyways." she stated finally gesturing to Shadiya. She was apparently not a mean person, just a bit withdrawn as far as her interactions with people.

After these words were spoken, Yasmin and Nasira returned from settling a few of the things out of the cart and into the villa. "What'd we miss?" questioned the female dungeon capturer.

"There's no need for that," spoke an elderly voice teeming with masculinity. From the rear of Erza, a very short male who seemed to be bordering a hundred years old, approached. He wore a cloak lined with white fur matching his mustache and what remained of his hair. This midget of a man was all but imposing to the naked eye, but there was something about his presence that made Fudo's brow quiver momentarily. "Pleasure to meet you, Erza. No worries; I understand you wouldn't have the final say. I take it this is the man you're talking about," he said while looking toward the elderly male to hear his next words. The old man had his eyes fixed not on Erza, not on Malik, but on Shadiya alone, even as he spoke to the general public of the area. These words would come just as Yasmin and Nasira revealed themselves. "I don't care why any of you have come here. I agreed to take on one final pupil, and no more than one. Who I take is my chosen successor in the art of Magoi, and so help me I'll not show another soul so long as I draw breath."

"Master." Erza said as the old man spoke up apparently he'd been nearby this place. It was kind of funny to see such a small old man approach with such authority. His appearance made Nasira and Yasmin glance at each other. His words to the girl Shadiya made her look at her new friends. She could appreciate someone wanting to only teach their technique to one person, but she also couldn't really abandon them to fate either. "Well, I get that, but I can't really abandon them in this either. So, if that's the case, teach either Fudo or Yasmin... " whatever this girl was about to say was completely lost.

Shula had been talking with Samiya on top of the cart, but now that she was finished she'd approached the group only to see the tiniest most adorable old man she'd ever seen in her life. "OH! HE'S THE MOST ADORABLE THING EVER!~" the young magi interrupted her immediate actions involved her aiming to capture the small old man and pull him into her bosom and smother him with her doting affections. Such a thing was so random it completely broke the concentration of all the females present. Even Erza was frozen and had to quickly cover a grin which spread across her normally stoic face.

Though Malik did not know how to sway the old man from his decision, he came to the realization that he had never been able to bring Shula along with him to the Yambala Gladiators, so she had yet to meet the old master. With this in mind, he knew mostly what to expect from the moment she laid eyes on the man, and the confirmation of this came swiftly within a few moments of the Magi's outburst. "WATCH OUT WATCH OUT WATCH OUT!" he shouted. He was, however, too late. The next thing Malik saw was the grabbing of the master, and the subsequent smothering of him betwixt the Magi's bosom. 'Aaand Shula out of nowhere. I'm actually kinda jealous...' he thought.

"Insolent child!" said the elderly male as he pulled himself away from Shula's grasp. "Who do you think you are to approach me like that!? I am the greatest gladiator to ever grace the Reim Empire! Now, you," he went on, looking toward Shadiya once more. "Come again, child?"

And just like that the most comical moment that Nasira, Yasmin and Erza had ever witness happened before them. All while Malik tried to warn the old man of the presence of the coming Magi. His foreknowledge of the kind of behaviors this young woman had made, Yasmin wonder just how often the young Magi had done something like this prior to this moment. Still it made her chuckle as she tried for a serious face but couldn't manage right up until the old man managed to pull the young girl off himself. When he went on to say that he was oldest and most decorated Gladiator made a spark fly in the pink haired girl's mind. "Oh?! That means you're... Makarov Dreyar!" this moment of recognition made Nasira look to the pink haired girl in a questioning manner. "What, it was in the book Shadi handed me when I asked about the stuff earlier." she clarified. Still he seemed like an exciting man, if not a lot more tiny than his biographical information made him out to be.

Meanwhile, Shula took her scolding with all the care of an impetuous child. "My name's Shula, and I'm a Magi. I picked him and her." she said pointing to Malik and Shadiya. In this moment of craziness it took a moment for the attention to return to Shadiya bu when it did she seemed to be even more resolved than she had been before. "I said if it's the case that you would only teach one, then you should choose either Fudo or Yasmin. Both of them are more suited for it than I would be... besides they'd be able to put it to better use. I don't really want to be the one to learn it if only one of us can. Especially not when they didn't abandon me when they could have." she finished rather firm in her decision about this. Yasmin seemed a bit shocked. "Wait, Shadi, that isn't even necessary, you were the one coming here to learn this... there's no need to give that up for us." Yasmin was always very surprised by the kindness she was shown by people, and though she understood all aspects of this, she also didn't want to be the sole person learning any skill when more deserving or better suited people stood among them.

All the while this conversation happen Shula was grinning widely. She always liked the spine the purple haired girl showed in the face of adverse situations. And this was one such moment. It made her happy she'd been the one to choose her. "Aww, and I was all jealous 'cause I didn't choose the future legends. I forgot you were your own kind of legend." said the Magi as she sprang from her current position to spread her doting attention to Shadiya.

"Yes, that would be me," the man replied. "I will allow a Magi's presence. Magi are far beyond the simplistic teachings I have to offer. However!" Shadiya's clause was noble indeed, but Makarov seemed disinterested in the others in the vicinity, bar Shadiya and Malik. When the purple-haired girl offered her training up to the other two, he looked at them individually for a few moments each, then shook his head. "They do seem stronger than you by a large margin. And that is exactly why I won't train them! Malik is stronger than the two of them after a year of training, but the Tao boy I took in was another strong one when he arrived, and I don't like how he turned out. I am willing to grant strength, but I will not add to it!"

Shadiya looked at this old man as if she was confused. "Tao?" she could only think of one person with that name and had been in meeting with her brother on behalf of the Ko Empire before they had arrived here. Even so, she couldn't go along with such mediocre reasoning. "Sounds to me like you're simply afraid of what they will do with what you give them. But not wanting to help them because they could go on to do great or horrible things without knowing their intentions is demeaning to them and me. It makes it sound like you'd help me because I am too weak to help myself, but discount them because they were strong enough to help me. You are making it sound like people who are strong are innately off to do something wrong simply because you've had one bad experience. One would think that one as old and wise as yourself would be beyond that."

Watching this girl argue made Yasmin kind of proud. She found it interesting that this girl was willing to go so far. She had to admit in this moment she had a great deal of respect for the girl who was a few years younger than herself. 'I'm glad she's on our side... I am not sure I could win an argument against her.' the pink haired girl thought. Given how passionate the other girl seemed, Yasmin didn't even want to make her stop until she was satisfied with the whatever answer she was going to receive from the old man.

"Oh, the ignorance of youth," Makarov said with a sigh. With that, he began to pace in a circle around the group, holding his head up and looking into the open sky above. "Power is corruption itself. No one with power seeks discipline; only more power. Those without power can be taught discipline and restraint as they grow. I do not teach for the simple sake of making others strong. I teach to keep the knowledge and understanding of Magoi alive, and nothing more. To abuse this by instigating war and the like is not what I want from my pupils, so I will take no more chances!"

Though Fudo sided with Shadiya in this matter, he could see Makarov's resolve from this interaction. So, he approached the purple-haired Dungeon Capturer, placed a hand atop her shoulder, and leaned toward her ear. "It's fine, Shadi. He's not going to budge, no matter how hard you try. You deserve the training from the master," he said. And with that, he looked toward the master and spoke openly. "Besides... Though he won't teach us, there's no saying he doesn't want any of the other Yambala Gladiators to show us what they know. He's just hiding the secret he hasn't even shown them. Right, Master Makarov?" When Fudo spoke, the old man's eyes widened, then immediately narrowed. He had nothing to say about this, but the fact that he said nothing brought a smile to Fudo's face. In this very moment, Makarov's intentions became blatantly obvious. "My gratitude goes to you, Master."

Shadiya found this old man's arguments interesting. He didn't want people learning his special skills instigating war, to be fair, by that logic alone he should probably be giving said information to the two people most likely to try and avoid it at all cost. But before she could open her mouth to speak this point, Fudo interjected. His words in this moment were similar in tone and cadence to how he'd spoken to her the first time they'd met and since both he and Yasmin had already expressed that they weren't pushing this issue she let it go. Her hands raised up to him as he said his peace. "Fine, fine. If you're sure I won't argue about it." and just like she was done. "I guess, I'm the student of choice then. I'll try my best." she said bowing to the old master.

Yasmin was now standing apparently alone only to look over to her right and see Nasira standing beside her with a smirk on her face "You know he's always been like that. Even when we were kids... I suppose we should settle in for the long haul, we are going to be busy I assume." Nasira finished speaking and bounced on her toes. It would be Yasmin who spoke a second later, only after giving an encouraging thumbs up to Shadiya. "So, I see. This kind of makes me happy. If both of them were against me I'm pretty sure I'd collapse... I am not really made to argue like that." mentioned the pink haired girl as she stretched happy to be moving past the roughness of this initial meeting.

"Of course I'm sure. You trust me, right?" he asked of Shadiya. If there was one thing Fudo always was, it was a man with a plan, so to speak. And of course, he had a plan. What Makarov said was true; Shadiya did seem a bit physically inept for a Dungeon Capturer. He and the others were looking for increased skill with their Metal and Household Vessels, but if Shadiya could learn even more, it would only make her a much better asset for the group as a whole. No matter which way he thought about it, this would be a win-win situation for everyone.

"So, we've got some new young'uns?" spoke a white-haired male with tan skin, seeming to be near middle-aged. His approach was made with folded arms and a stern expression, his steps firm and purposeful as a sword on either side of his body swayed to and fro with his movement. "Dibs on the one with the rack," he said as he took a side to Erza.

"Of course I do. Do what you feel is best." Shadiya said. She could trust in this man's plans because he was so good at making them sound good and beyond that she believed in his goodness as a person. If he was fine with this she was as well. It would seem that more and more of these Gladiator type people were emerging to going the group as a whole. And while Yasmin and Nasira talked over the less important bits, a man appeared beside Erza. "Obviously." she said when he stated his intentions to train the one with the rack. This would make the scarlet haired woman aim to nudge the man in the ribs with her elbow. "You're disgusting. But... I think I will be taking this one." she said inclining her head to Fudo.

"Thank you. I'll do my best not to disappoint," Fudo said with a smile. Now, things were all set to begin moving forward at a reasonable pace. The only thing to address, was the training itself. This new arrival somehow managed to rub Fudo the wrong way from his introduction, but the teal-haired man thought it to simply be an off hunch.

This white-haired man received a swift elbow to the rib-cage. The following statement from Erza, though, caused him to shift himself directly into the woman's line of sight. "Ohh, but I'm the disgusting one. Got a thing for the freaky eyes, huh?"

A bright smile beamed from the younger of their group. Shadiya wasn't at all good at hiding herself properly and as such when she said she had faith in Fudo she meant it. With it already worked out who she would be learning from she was interested to see who the others were picked by. It would be the conversation between the scarlet haired woman and the white haired man she'd just nudged which would continue and determine who would be training whom. "Ew, of course not. Unlike you, I am thinking with the head on my shoulders. He's the only one visibly armed; I want a challenge." Erza mentioned, intending apparently to get some sort of stretch out of teaching Magoi Manipulation to Fudo.

Yasmin seemed to be astutely aware she was being talked about. But she was always aware of that anyways. She felt no particular way about anything and with that in mind she simply waited for whomever decided she was worthy to be trained. 'And talking about me... again. This is kind of maddening.' she thought as she pushed pink locks out of her face. Nasira watched this entire group of people ready to move if she needed to but stuck between the pairing of Fudo and Yasmin about equally distant from each of them, as if she intended to be within arms reach of either at a moment's notice.

"Yeah, say what you want. Have fun with the pretty boy, Erza~" he said as he walked away from the red-haired gladiator. "Hey, pink one! You're comin' with me."

In the meantime, Fudo was also honing in on the interaction between gladiators, gathering from Erza's body language that she'd be taking him on. Judging by her general demeanor, and a few key bits of knowledge, he could at least assume why this was the case, but that hardly mattered anyway. "I take it neither of you was ever opposed to doing this, then. This seems promising."

Makarov, on the other hand, had been silently moving away from the group. He eventually reached a far enough distance that his voice would only be heard if he yelled. So, he did exactly that. "Shadiya! Come along!"

Erza scoffed, but it seemed her choice of person was already headed her way. With that in mind she simply shrugged. "I will." and there after she was addressed directly by Fudo which made her look at the young man oddly. He was at least perceptive which was a good place to start, as for how they all felt about it she could only imagine. "I can't speak for him, but I was never opposed. I am always looking for a new challenge and nothing makes a reasonable one more than making sure your opponent is ready."

Yasmin was soon approached by another and when she was, she looked at the man as if confused. "Well, fine. I'm Yasmin, nice to meet you." she said giving a small bow. In this interaction she was called pink one, but she supposed she'd been called worse before so this didn't bother her in the slightest which is why she'd introduced herself anyways.

Shadiya was urged to come along and so she did since the voice carried far off. It didn't take her very long to catch up with the older gentleman and once she was right behind him she took on his pace. "Ready!" the purple haired girl mentioned utterly excited by the prospect of learning something different.

Nasira watched as the rest drifted off, and given this she was more than content to finish what she had been doing previously which included getting them all settled into this new place and checking on Bakura who had been unconscious an awful long time.

"Fair enough," Fudo replied as he followed the red-haired woman. "I'll do my best not to disappoint."

The white-haired man whom Yasmin followed looked over his shoulder with narrow eyes as she introduced herself. He didn't care much for introductions, but he supposed if he was going to be taking care of this one's development, he may as well be acquainted. "Caelus. Caelus Aratus," he said. He continued moving forward until he reached the inside of an old building with nothing short of open space betwixt its four walls. "Alright, kid. Show me what ya' got."

Meanwhile, Malik took a side to Nasira as she checked in on the sleeping lad in the carriage. It seemed the ashen-haired boy was beginning to stir. When he opened his eyes, Nasira was his first sight, which brought comfort to the fact that he had nary a clue where he was at the time being. "Ugh... What happened to me?"

"Good." said Erza as she stepped into another large space just off the Colosseum which she'd use to train this young man. She looked to the sword at this young man's side and though the large space was basically empty she walked to the side and retrieved something which looked like a large polearm with a spear head attached to one end only it was much shorter than one would think a polearm should be. "Assuming you know what to do with that sword at your side. Let's see it." she said twirling the spear around in her hand motioning for the young man to come.

Yasmin soon found herself in a large room with a vast space with this lone white haired man who introduced himself shortly before asking her to show him what she had. "Alright then." Yasmin held the assumption that Gladiators would always be ready for a coming battle and with that in mind she didn't stop herself in the slightest. She removed her flabellum from its place at her side and channelled her Magoi into it. This would create a weapon in the form of a long spear which the girl would immediately use. Her body falling into the practiced movements she always seemed to possess when using a long weapon. A few steps would be taken forward as she changed the positioning of her hands on the weapon so that she could create quick sweeping motion from left to right aimed into the center of this man's being.

As the battles and trainings ensued, Nasira found the missing male household member of theirs finally stirring from his extending slumber. A grin came to her face as he seemed to be alright and she was also distinctly aware that Malik was still at her side and as such she would begin to answer Bakura's question while offering him a hand up. "Well, you tried to sacrifice yourself to save Yasmin and got stabbed facing that guy in Parthevia. But Samiya fixed you up before you could bleed out completely. You gave us all a serious scare, especially Yasmin." she said calmly. "But we're happy you're alright, and you've missed a lot, so I'll help you get caught up." she said.

"As you wish," Fudo said while drawing his sword. Foregoing the use of his Djinn Weapon Equip once again, he held his sword in his right hand, and pressed his left forearm against his lower back while making a fast approach. He could already see one benefit to this battle; he'd be able to better himself against long weapons. When he was in range, he aimed a simple, swift jab of his blade at Erza's face. It was a strike which, whether it hit or miss, would immediately be withdrawn to allow a potential evasive maneuver... one Fudo figured he would be needing very soon.

At about the same time, Caelus was being charged by Yasmin, who thought it a good idea to utilize her Djinn Weapon Equip against him. Sighing, the man held out his right arm against the weapon she bore, stopping it in its path toward his center. "No," he said, using his own Magoi through his hand to counteract the Magoi in Yasmin's weapon. In doing so, he intended to negate the magic which allowed this weapon to maintain its form. "Magoi against Magoi. The more focused one always wins. You might be an early Dungeon Capturer, but at this level, it's nothing to shut down that Metal Vessel of yours."

Erza found herself facing a boy who obviously had more than a little training in the use of his weapon. Even so, it would only impress the woman a tiny bit as he'd chosen not to use the Djinn Equip he more than likely possessed. As the strike came towards her face the blunt end of the woman's weapon met the sword only to have, Fudo immediately move towards an evasive stance. The smirk on this woman's face didn't change as she moved forward not with her body but with her weapon, more specifically with the Ki her Magoi created channelled through her weapon which gave more reach than her shortened version of the long weapon would normally have. Such a movement would make it appear as if she intended to stab the young man in the face with the added length and efficiency of her weapon, only for it to be spun and the blunt end to be brought into the young man's torso instead. "You're always going to be at a disadvantage against more ranged weapons if you carry on like that. You should be using your Magoi and your Djinn to remove your weaknesses... not allowing them to add new ones." she mentioned of the boy's form and fighting style.

Yasmin soon found herself stopped in the middle of what would have been an attack. Her weapon equip simply disappearing in contact with the older man's Magoi. That was kind of an amazing feat and left the pink haired girl wide eyed as she stared at her flabellum in its original form in her hand. By what he said it was obvious that he was the more focused of the two of them, but she wasn't sure what to do with that information. "What do you suggest?" she asked of him, if this was all about controlling her Magoi then she needed to understand how he made it work to so easily disrupt what she'd done, that way she could keep it from happening at every turn. And just like that the former slave girl was becoming an avid learner.

From the stance he'd taken, Fudo had what he thought to be a reasonable view toward any incoming attack. In fact, he had exactly that. He was able to react to the incoming stab to his face by ducking, but in not anticipating high maneuverability with this polearm, he only left his face susceptible to the true strike of Erza's weapon meant for his torso. The blunt end of her halberd slammed into the front of the prince's face, knocking him back on impact. When he recovered, blood was dripping from his nose, which seemed to have broken. "I didn't intend to use my Djinn at all, to be honest. I'd hoped I could overcome that weakness completely with skill alone..." Without another word spoken, Fudo returned to his previous stance and charged Erza again. He seemed to be going for the same move again, but this strike came with a sudden alteration. 'Amon!' Calling on the power of his Djinn, Fudo quickly transformed his Metal Vessel into the large, black sword of Amon. This occurred before his normal blade would have been considered within striking distance. Fudo's aim was simply to have the sword elongate when changing forms, enough to cut across Erza's left cheek as it did so. "Amol Saiqa!"

Meanwhile, Caelus finally drew his twin swords in the face of Yasmin. This training session seemed to oppose that of Erza and Fudo, as he was requiring his trainee to go without her Djinn Weapon Equip. However, this was not the case. He only wished for her to make it better. "The first use of Magoi Manipulation is countering someone else's Magoi by using your own. This works by touch. Fire beats fire. You use your Magoi to make a weapon, so I use mine to shut yours out. If you did the same thing at the right time, you could stop me from killing that weapon of yours."

Erza seemed content to continue on in the way she was. And though she'd caused this young man a greater injury than she'd intended, he seemed content to continue without treating it so she'd do just that as she watched him put her advice into practice. As he attempted his next strike it seemed unreasonably similar to his previous one. The main change would come with the summoning of the Djinn's weapon which would happen in a shorter space than his previous type of strike. This would end of course, with a cut appearing on Erza's left cheek. But unlike most who would have been stunned by this when she moved to retaliate she had more to say. "Yeah, that's better. Using Magoi in this way, trusting the Ki to your weapon is one way to use it. It modifies your fighting style and allows you to reach that which wouldn't normally be capable of." she said, moving the large halberd in her hand to aim a series of strikes at this young man's sword, totaling three in downward powerful strokes. If she succeeded in this it would make the larger sword harder for the young man to pick up creating another opening for her to strike at the center of his being with the blunted end of her weapon providing him an image of the weakness caused by the use of such a large weapon when he wasn't properly used to it.

Meanwhile, Yasmin was told by Caelus what he'd meant by his earlier statement. His words seemed to click together in the pink haired girl's mind and as he drew his weapons she created hers spinning the staff around in her hand and trying to think of how best to time her manipulation of Magoi through the weapon to keep it whole as she attacked and dealt with counterattacks. With this in mind, she attacked again not bothering to clarify her understanding or interpretation of what this man had to say. This time her staff travelled in a quick downward strike coming from above this man's left shoulder and aiming to travel straight and hard towards the man's feet. The entire time she as using a minimal amount of her Magoi to keep her weapon in its form, waiting for a coming counter to test her timing.

"But?" Fudo questioned. It was then that his sword received a trio of strikes atop it, forcing its weight down to open him up for a counterattack. As she transitioned into this attack, Fudo reacted by altering the size of his sword. It became a small, blackened and somewhat jagged version of his original weapon. His attack range became a bit longer than the sword itself due to the heat emitted directly from the blade. With this smaller, lighter form though, he became able to parry the next strike Erza had in store for him, then perform two jabs at her upper left arm with his burning sword. "Amon's Royal Sword."

"Alright, let's see it," Caelus said in preparation for Yasmin's developed ability. Her strike warranted an evasion to Caelus' right, followed by the dropping of his right sword. With a free right hand, he reached out to thrust his palm into Yasmin's abdomen, once again performing the Magoi counteraction.

Fudo's question would go unanswered for a few seconds. As the attack she'd planned didn't turn out the way that Erza had intended. In fact, she was more than a bit surprised at the ease with which this young man switched between the two different forms of his sword. Once he was able to fully utilize his Djinn Equip he'd be quite scary to face in combat. But right at the moment there was still experience separating the two and so the duo of jabs aimed at her left were instead absorbed into her magoi wrapped around her weapon. "That's, surprising." she said spinning the weapon around in her hands and once the blunt end was pointed towards Fudo once more she explained. "It's better but where's the rest of it?" she questioned the magoi which was manifested around her halberd spreading up her arms and across her shoulders, spreading even down to her legs as she used her magoi to enforce her body and though she could strike this way it receded. "Weapons and skill with those weapons are nice, but until your magoi stretches the power of your Djinn to its full limits... you're going to find yourself outmatched." she finished gesturing towards herself to encourage another attack.

The man's movements to avoid her strike didn't really surprise Yasmin. In fact, she was prepared for this her body flowing and her staff moving from one hand to another so that she could aim another strike. And though this man's hand did make contact with her torso, she was more than capable of pushing her magoi back against his nullification. Holding on to her Djinn's Weapon Equip the strike that was coming was swift and from her left straight into this man's right hand side aiming a quick jab into his person with the end of her weapon.

"The rest, huh?" At this point, the Magoi of his trainer was clearly visible to Fudo. The fact that she invited him to make the next assault was a bit of a relief, as he now had a moment to think over the next move. As he thought it over, he came to realize that he had yet to attempt more of a Djinn Equip than this. Actually, he sought to use his Djinn sparingly, as he knew it to be one of a very dangerous element. On the other hand, though, he was better off working on the full equip now, rather than later. Until now, he had been focusing Amon's flames into the sword and his hands for Djinn Weapon Equip. Logical progression dictated that he burn his entire body with the flames, focusing them throughout his core to progress the transformation. And so, he did exactly that, engulfing himself in Amon's flames and aiming to focus his form on his entire body. There was a bit of progression in the form of his arms gaining armor, instead of the usual smoldering appearance they took. However, this seemed to stagnate there. "Tell me something. Your master seems opposed to using these abilities for power, but you seem very combat oriented for a person trained by such a man. Why is this?"

Caelus could see the progression of ability within Yasmin, but he knew there was still much to be done here. As such, when the young woman aimed to lash out at him again, he raised his right arm against her weapon to parry. "Your Djinn Equip is missing something. Your Magoi is being held back more than it should be. I don't know what's missing, but you're not getting everything that weapon form has to offer."

Erza seemed to come under question from her chosen pupil about her choices as far as combat was concerned. When one thought about it from the outside perspective she supposed she could see how one might take her randomly aggressive use of fighting and her outwardly cold nature, but it was more complicated than that. As she watched this young man start on his full Djinn Equip she noted that it progressed if only to move his Magoi up his lower arms. "Well, I'm from the Sasan Kingdom. I was sent here as part of my training to become a Sasan Knight. Strength and conviction are simply part of who I am... it isn't me wanting to be powerful. I was here to learn patience and discipline to go along with my physical prowess." she said not knowing if this would be fully understood. She explained of herself. After this she moved right along staring at his arms she could tell he was still holding back by a great deal considering the stopping point of his transformation. But she wasn't sure just yet whether this was his intention or if it was that he was mentally stuck there. 'Two options, it's mental... and he has some sort of hangup which stops him from fully committing to the Djinn Equip. Or it's physical and he doesn't have enough.' Erza found it a bit complicated to deal with and until she figured out which thing it was she couldn't well move on from this point of his training. "You know you have an entire body right?" she asked somewhat rhetorically waiting to see if he would come up with more or see if he would need motivation.

Meanwhile Yasmin was having a similar conversation with her trainer about not getting enough out of her weapon equip, which was more than obvious considering that he was still able to parry what would have otherwise been a fairly good blow. With this new information she backed away... taking a deep breath. "I know. I saw it fully when Fudo and I were looking into our likeness, he used it so I know what it is. Besides the weapon it comes with armor..." she said her face gaining a slightly pink tint. Yasmin didn't purposefully hold back, it was simply built into her personality to withhold a bit of herself, which was likely due to the time she spent enslaved. It was rather difficult to truly lend that much of herself to any given form when doing anything that fully rash before this point had always lead to full disaster. It seemed a great deal of caution was built into the girl's persona and it had made its way into her Magoi Manipulation for whatever reason.

"I see... So you are from Sasan. I knew you weren't from here," Fudo said as he contemplated the redhead's words. Still, he had made no progress on furthering his Djinn Equip. Though he had Magoi in excess, he could not bring himself to finish the evolution. From what he already understood of this Metal Vessel, he could only assume that its ultimate form was a force to be reckoned with, and he felt as if its power was very dangerous to those around him. "Yeah, I know. It doesn't seem like it's working for me, though. Maybe I should try something else instead."

"Eh? Wait, wait, wait..." Caelus was astounded by what he was hearing from this girl. So astounded, in fact, that he dropped his other sword and looked at her as if she'd gone mad right in front of his eyes. "You mean to tell me... that you've known this entire time what that thing could do... and you haven't been doing it? What the hell are we doing here if you're not giving it all you've got?"

Erza looked at this young man and was a bit confused by what she was seeing. Because it became obvious to her that he had the excess Magoi to complete the transformation yet he claimed he couldn't do it. 'Ah, in his head then.' she said thinking about it she didn't know enough about this boy to figure out what was keeping him from his transformation. "And now you know where I am from... what about you?" she asked of the young man seeming to have relaxed completely and was now leaning against her halberd which she planted into the ground. Afterall, there was no point in continuing to fight the young man as he was, if he couldn't push past whatever was keeping him from a transformation he could obviously activate.

Yasmin was in her own training receiving a much more direct bit of disbelief at her present state of inaction. She had the grace to look a bit embarrassed and tried to think of how to explain it. "I didn't mean to hold back. It's just kind of hard to unlearn the habit... it's all still really new to me." Yasmin mentioned. It was true that she had a more than reasonable amount of power, but until very recently she never considered herself to be very powerful at all. Given that and the known negatives she had for throwing herself into things, she was always very cautious.

Seeing Erza's relaxed state, Fudo dropped his fighting stance as well, and did away with Amon's flames and his Djinn Equip. "I'm from Sindria. I won't lie and say I'm not here for power. What I want is to be able to deal with any challenge thrown my way as I go on to realize my ultimate goal: creating a world without poverty or suffering, as a king that treats all of his subjects as members of the royal palace."

Caelus remained surprised by what he was hearing. He knew there was something he disliked about this group of people that had come to the Yambala Gladiators, and now he knew exactly what it was. "Ah... You're a peaceful bunch, huh? A bunch of Dungeon Capturers who don't like killing people. You're gonna have a hard time in this world if you don't learn when to put some killer instinct behind that soft ass weapon of yours."

Erza heard what this young man was about to say. His goals were lofty and given the size of the group he arrived with he obviously had a number of people willing to follow him to get this done. But... "Surely you realize, that doing something like that will eventually require some form of violence, even if it's just to quell those..." she was going to keep talking but an old woman with a hat on her head dressed in robes appeared in the room. Her hair was a grey faded pink and her eyes were large and brown in color. When she entered she spoke harshly her voice raspy, likely from the pipe she smoked on but this was not really the point. "Save your breath, these brats don't get it. I'll fix it; both of you may as well follow me. The Princess also requires this lesson and I'm only going to say this once." she said casually as she walked through with a commanding presence that dictated she expected to be followed at this very moment. Erza surprisingly enough simply followed without question assuming that Fudo would do the same. She was walking towards the room occupied by Caelus and Yasmin and would arrive there surprisingly fast for a woman of her age.

Caelus words reached Yasmin and she supposed she understood them. But she didn't really like the idea of killing people. For her, bloodshed and violence didn't do anything but breed more of the same. That as an aside she wasn't the type to be violent unnecessarily, which was more than obvious given she was well trained with a weapon but never really used one to the full extent of her abilities. But before she could open her mouth to reply to her trainer an old woman entered the room and said but one thing. "Sit."

Fudo's ears were open to whatever Erza had to say, but an interruption came in the form of an elderly woman. Though he did not know who this woman was, Erza chose to follow her, so he did the same. This eventually brought him to the location where Yasmin was being trained by the male gladiator. With the old woman's command to sit, which he assumed to be for him as well, he did so next to the pink-haired girl. In the meantime, Caelus cut his eyes toward the old woman while picking up his weapons. "Uzma. Isn't it past your nap time?"

Upon being told to sit Yasmin did, obviously she was used to doing what was said by people in charge. She was rather surprised to find Fudo now in the room with her as well. Since they were now sitting side by side she could see the injury to his face and her eyes widened as she saw the woman known as Erza enter as well taking a seat off to the side with her back against a wall and her large weapon situated in her lap. Yasmin sighed. "Fudo your nose is broken." she mentioned reaching over she'd attempt to realign his nose leaving it straight with only a momentary bit of pain for her companion apparently something the pink haired girl was used to doing. As this happened the small old woman spoke to Caelus apparently none too happy. "Yes it is. But, I can't sleep with the Rukh around these two being so annoying. And you two aren't going to be able to change this about them..." she mentioned to only to pause in front of the pair staring at them both for just moment before she began pacing.

"Both of you are incapable of using your Djinn Equips fully... but this is probably because you don't understand what's at stake here. It's fine to have ideals and values. Your kindness will get your far, but... it also hinders you and will get you killed if you allow it to cloud your judgement." she said. "I hear the Rukh, I see and understand them. I know this... and I'd rather not see two more brats be killed by someone who has fallen into depravity." mentioned the old woman. But this only brought confusion to Yasmin. "Fallen to depravity?" she questioned her eyes darting to Fudo wondering if she was the only one left out of this.

"Hm?" Fudo questioned. In the midst of his training, he had either failed to realize, or simply forgotten the break in his nose. When Yasmin reached out to him, he braced himself for what he knew to be the encroaching reset of his nose. A bit of a cringe followed the act itself, but after a moment, he was back to normal and rubbing his nose.

"Keh!" was all Caelus gave as a response to the old woman. He then sheathed his swords, and stood with his arms crossed while she spoke to this pair of Dungeon Capturers, and alleged King Vessels who simply did not have what it took to properly become kings. 'Fallen?' Fudo mentally questioned as the woman spoke. He had once heard of such a state of being, but never had he received any detail on the matter. As such, when Yasmin asked, he was for once unable to clarify at all.

Having properly set Fudo's nose, Yasmin was left to pay the utmost attention to the short old woman talking to them. But she was more than a bit surprised to have Fudo not be able to answer one of her questions. The fact that Yasmin even asked this question made the old woman pause right in front of the girl staring into her face. Yasmin was rather attentive but she didn't understand what she'd said to cause the look on the woman's face, it made her a bit uncomfortable to be under such scrutiny. "Sorry, did I say something wrong?" she asked only to have the old woman reach out and flick her nose. "I've definitely told you this before. But since there is someone new around I'll repeat myself." she said only to have Yasmin rub the tip of her nose. "Ow." she mumbled only to go back to listening as the old woman began pacing and explaining.

"When a life is born, it moves within the flow. To move forward you have to accept the Rukh's Guidance. It points you in the way you should go, and you are responsible for overcoming that which it places before you... within that flow. This is what people call 'fate' and it is the responsibility of all to overcome it in their own way." she explained. "But there are some, who cannot accept the guidance the Rukh provide. Some curse their lives and aim to go against fate and change their destinies. It poisons their Rukh and stops them from being able to move forward. Existence becomes negative and they become fueled by hatred and malice. This is what it means to fall to depravity."