Clash of Thunder and Lava

As the bright sun began to set in the distance, the figure of a young man wearing a black cloak was seen standing on a narrow cliff as he shifted his eyes in several directions, apparently searching for something or someone.

"I heard a rumor that she was seen somewhere in this area... just where is she?"

Ludius Grande Di Tetsuya, the infamous guild master of Dawn Horizon had set off once again on a mission to track down a rumour of there being a powerful wandering mage somewhere close to the borders between Fiore and. As per every rumor that Tetsuya had heard about, he wasted no time in taking off to search for this mysterious mage that he was itching to face in battle and convince to join his continously expanding guild.

So far however, his luck had been pretty poor as he had travelled through several grasslands, mountains, and deserts in his pursuit of the mage but had come up empty every single time. Tetsuya was beginning to think the mage was hiding from him on purpose as he let out a sigh and jumped into the air, soaring through the open clouds as his eyes looked downwards towards the open forest that laid below him.

"Wouldn't it be funny if I found them somewhere in this forest... huh?" Tetsuya stopped his sentence abruptly as his eyes picked up a small figure moving through the forest with alarming speed as he descended back onto the ground. As he landed, he ran on foot to follow the figure but couldn't completely recognize who or what was running so fast and decided to keep going and see where it would lead him.

Eventually, the figure came to a stop after leaving the forest and stood in front of an open lake where they crouched down and gently placed their hands into the water. Tetsuya slowed down and hide behind a tree as he peeked his face out to catch a glimpse of the unknown stranger that had decided to drink some of the lake's water.

"Who is that? That's... a girl right? Shit, is she the one I've been looking for this entire time?" Tetsuya wasn't completely convinced that such a convenient occurrence could happen as he squinted his eyes to get a better look at the young woman in front of him. Beautiful silver hair, soft and delicate facial features, and a radiant charm that could captivate any man's heart; she was without a doubt a gem. Tetsuya had met many women in his life and very few made strong first impressions on him like the woman standing only a few feet away from him did but he couldn't deny that she was a rather dazzling woman.

That said, his agenda still did not change and just as he was about to step forward to confront the girl, she spoke to him first.

She ran through the forest, reveling in the wind whipping through her hair, the sun filtering through the treetops. It was a marvelous day made only more satisfactory by her earlier accomplishment. In her boredom, she casually dismantled a nearby legal guild after studying their importance to the local economy. It helped that they made unwanted advances on her. Most of which she blew off with charm; that is until she torched their entire location. Ever the stickler for thoroughness, she made sure to eliminate every individual present, wanting to make sure not a single survivor remained. After that, Nukumori made herself scarce, placing as much distance between herself and the scene as possible. The young woman wanted to carefully balance her public reputation with her desire for destruction; the longer her facade lasted, the easier it was for people to trust her. Only to be killed by her later; she relished their looks of betrayal, or even their foolish devotion as they lay dying. Believing their death served a purpose for her. Perhaps it did, she rather enjoyed their screams.

Reaching the open lake, she dipped her hands in, cupping the cool freshwater, a polar opposite to the melting heat she could generate. Content to remain there for a while, her relative tranquility was disrupted by the sound of an approach. Having already consumed the water, her mind had eased into boredom. Perhaps this stranger could banish that. Nukumori turned, facing the young man as her emerald gaze studied him. "And you are?" she asked, studying his mildly heavy breathing. It appeared that he had been running for a while. For whom or from what she didn't know but it was of little concern to her. "Why are you here?" she continued, an innocent curiosity coloring her tone. Feminine charms that Tetsuya had noticed earlier were already on display as she waited for his answer. Meanwhile, her roving gaze picked out many details about the young man, including a distant familiarity to his face. Perhaps she had seen it on a wanted poster or something. She pushed such thoughts aside as she dipped her toes into the lake, turning back to watch over its serene depths.

Tetsuya was slightly at a loss on what to do as he had originally planned to surprise the young maiden but that plan was tossed right out the window as she was already aware of his presence. Sighing as he ruffled his wavy black hair, Tetsuya saw no point in hiding now as he stepped forward into the moonlight, his full appearance now becoming visible to the disinterested silver stranger.

"I hope you don't take my hiding the wrong way, I just saw you running through the forest and found it a bit odd so I followed you" The last thing Tetsuya wanted was for this girl to misunderstand his intentions and think of him as some sort of creepy stalker as he tried to clear the situation.

"Is that right...?" She spoke in a disinterested tone, as if she hadn't considered nor cared about Tetsuya's motivation for following her in the slightest as she continued to dip her toes into the serene lake, not even bothering to turn around to face the one speaking to her.

"...So she's not the friendliest person around, noted" Tetsuya comically made a mental note to save the piece of information as he walked a bit closer towards her.

"You still haven't answered my earlier questions though, who are you and why are you here?" The silver beauty spoke once again, this time showing a bit more emotion in her voice but still did not turn around.

Tetsuya had just realized he hadn't introduced himself yet and softly laughed. "That's right, I haven't. I am Ludius Grande Di Tetsuya, but please, just call me Tetsuya. It's a pleasure to meet you... miss...?" Tetsuya worded the last part in a way that expressed he was interested in knowing what to call the woman sitting in front of him.

"Nukumori Mizuki" She stated bluntly.

"Ah, then Mizuki. If I'm not mistaken, Mizu means water... is that the reason you've come to this lake?"

Mizuki snorted. "Not exactly. I just wanted to get my feet wet. Plus, I was thirsty"

Tetsuya nodded as if he understood her thought process. "I can dig that. You know, I'm pretty thirsty myself. S'cuse me a second"

Following that, Tetsuya continued forward until he was standing right next to Mizuki who slightly shifted her eyes to watch the figure of Tetsuya crouch down and cup both his hands into the lake to take a refreshing drink.

"...He seems a bit familiar...I've definitely heard that name of his somewhere before..." Mizuki thought to herself as she studied Tetsuya's facial details a bit more closely this time. Just as she was thinking of asking him another question, Tetsuya had turned to stare directly at Mizuki's face and flashed a charming smile; a smile that had left many woman tongue tied on how to respond to such a fascinating sight.

"I'm the guild leader of Dawn Horizon, and I'm here looking for the one known as Avalokitesvara. That's you, isn't it?"

When he said his name, it finally clicked for her. Another troublemaker and a headache for the magic council that had recently founded an independent (formerly legal) guild. Their notoriety had increased lately, thanks in part to the efforts of their founder and Guild Master. Never did she think that they were run by a bishōnen though. A fact that irritated her as she listened the rumors swirling around the guild and its membership. While not one for collaboration, she did find their efforts to be cute. This thought brought her to the purpose of this meeting. "Perhaps it is." she stated, her voice returning to her earlier state of boredom. However, as soon as he flashed that "winning" smile of his, her irritation increased several fold. It was the face of a guy used to getting his way and making girls swoon.

Nukumori yawned in response, releasing a point-blank Lava God's Bellow at Tetsuya. Perhaps he should worry about that pretty little face of his. "Not interested. You offer me nothing that I couldn't accomplish on my own. Look elsewhere if you need people for your little cohort." Nukumori stood, turning away from the lake and the lava spewed area. "The adorable pretty boy used to having his way with every girl he sees. Hilarious." she snickered, her emerald gaze darkening with more malicious intentions as began walking away from the scene. Nuku didn't care if she burnt his face off; all that matter was that a brat like him learn his place. She extended her stride, disappearing into the underbrush and quickly putting distance between herself and this disgrace. Dawn Horizon Guild Master; more like a Sorcer Magazine playboy. Part of her felt insulted that he choose to seek her out.

After having dodged the rather unexpected lava attack by jumping backwards, Tetsuya landed back on the ground gracefully as he watched the figure of the clearly irritated Mizuki storm away from him with a amused expression. He scratched his cheek awkwardly at having been on the receiving end of yet again, another woman's wrath who didn't react the way that woman he encountered did. The fact that she had brushed him off didn't bother him as much as one would expect as he was used to people not immediately being friendly towards him. This was true for girls he had tracked down before, as the ones who had always dismissed him initially usually turned out to be amazing fighters while the ones who easily fell for his charms without resistance were usually the girls who were unimpressive and not worth his time. The way she had reacted just now definitely meant that she had more to offer than meet's the eye and it spurred Tetsuya's desire to have Mizuki in his guild even more.

"Heh, well I guess she doesn't fall for looks that easily. Good, I wouldn't want her in my guild if I could manipulate her that easily" He stood up, eyes shifting to the melting lava that had spread across the ground near his feet. "More importantly, that attack just now... it was a type of Slayer Magic. I see, so she's a slayer just like me..."

To find both a powerful wandering mage who just so happens to also be a Slayer Mage was something Tetsuya hadn't prepared for as a laugh escaped his lips. Regardless of her personality, Tetsuya had believed he had just hit the jackpot as he leaped off of the ground and landed on a tall tree in the distance, getting a bird's eye view to the entire forest's surroundings. He darted his eyes to the area where Mizuki had disappeared into and produced a malicious grin.

"Sorry, but I can't just let such a promising candidate get away from me that easily"

Tetsuya quickly vanished from his spot, appearing and disappearing through the trees as he steadily approached the moving Mizuki, whose movement speed was praiseworthy even amidst the darkness of the night.

"Since she doesn't seem to be intent on listening to my words..." Tetsuya raised his left arm and began gathering a staggering amount of lightning in it as he narrowed his eyes onto Mizuki's figure that had just passed by a tree. "...Let's see how she answers with force!"

Tetsuya released the lightning from his hand as he aimed his palm directly towards Mizuki, firing off a stream of lightning magic that took the form of a majestic bird as the sound of lightning echoed through the forest. Tetsuya was dying to know just what kind of Slayer Mizuki was and the best way to find out was to engage in a old fashioned duel between mages.