:[ SOLO ]: Relics of the Elements (Nephi)

[Seiana_ZI]

After a couple days of rest and recuperation, Nephi was ready to head out again.

This time, it was to the Aura Nin Mountains.

Genesis had told him that was where the Air Relics had lied. There was a frozen over battlefield, she said. He had to wonder what battles had taken place there. Had it been bloody? He imagined that no matter what the battle had been, the Guardians and their forces had been the ones who had stood tall. ... Even though he did not know of any angelic or demonic settlements in the mountains these days.

Nephi spread out his wings, stretching them as he stretched his arms. Considering he did not have to deal with other pae this time, this particular mission would probably be much easier than the previous one he had gone on with Genesis. The main thing that would get him was the distance, and the search for the battlefield. It was an awful long distance to have to fly.

Still, perhaps he would start out at an advantage if he flew off the floating city instead of taking the landing pand to the land before. He could see the mountains in the distance, even beyond where he stood. The high latitude meant that there would probably be less oxygen, so he would likely need to take it slow.

Nephi rolled his shoulders, placing on some light armor. There was no need to be dressed to the nines for this particular adventure. Around his waist he had a belt. On one side, he had stashed a dagger for any emergencies, but on the other side, there were the things that he thought would be a little more effective for quick silencing.

Vials.

They carried all sorts of conoctions in them, and one of them even included some ink... In case he needed to actually use his ability.

He really didn't think he would run into anyone on the Mountains, though.

Taking a running start, Nephi took to the sky, spreading his wings out.

Ah.

Nephi loved the peace of the flight. Up here, especially up here, so high above the other Pae'il flying... He felt like nothing could touch him, here. And so, he relaxed, taking a rather leisurely, uneventful flight towards the frozen Aura Nin Mountains. There, he knew he would find what he was looking for.

It took him a while to reach the area he thought Genesis was talking about. At that point, he brought himself a bit closer to the ground, allowing him to scan over the land better. It was so hard to tell the differences between anything in this area. The mountains were absolutely covered in snow. On the Floating City, they had gotten the recent cold, but they did not get any of this stuff. Perhaps it was because they were still over the ocean?

With the return of the warmth to the Isle, he was certain it had become even colder up in the mountains. This was miserable...

It was getting hard to see the further he pushed on. Snow had whipped up while he was moving to find what Genesis said they should. He should have dressed warmer. Light armor was not nearly enough to handle this, and his cloak had no sleeves. Nephi shivered. He had to find this faster. Genesis said to look for a battlefield with swords frozen, helmets frozen ... maybe there would be some warmer things buried underneath the ice...

Nephi lowered himself down to the ground, gathering his arms closer to himself and marching towards where he saw something standing up. Was that ... was that a stand?

The squire picked up his speed, reaching a frozen landscape. Here, there seemed to not even be any moss or low-lying trees and bushes. The battlefield seemed ... abadoned.

Except for what was under his feet.

Nephi's eyes lit up when he saw it. A sword! He saw it, under the ice! As a bonus, there seemed to be an old ratty cloth made of fur. He could make due with that. How was he going to get the sword out, though?

... Aha!

Nephi concentrated on the idea of having a blade in his hand. Made of light, made of warmth... As he focused, a light lance started to form in his hand, taking on the shape of what he would need to get through this ice. It would likely take all of his efforts, but if he could cut the sword out of the ice, that would give him what he needed.

The squire bit on his lip, demonic wings gathering close as he plunged the sword into the ice. He knew that this would have trouble breaking through a magical barrier, but this wasn't a magical barrier. This was ice. He could break through ice.

In his mind, Nephi envisioned himself breaking through the ice. He usually did not brute force things, but this was a situation that called for it. If he cut through the middle, he could stick his hand through the middle and grab that cloth too.

Slowly, he sawed with it, breaking through more and more of the ice underneath it. From the point of impact, the crack spidered out, breaking apart underneath the light lance he had summoned.

Eventually, it broke apart, the light lance fading immediately afterwards as Nephi fell to his knees.

The cloth was the first thing Nephi had picked up, placing it around his front to help warm himself. In the second move, Nephi swiped up the sword. Used to working with smaller things, the item felt heavy and unnatural, but he knew what this was. This would protect Nephi from the dangers that would come, according to the Guardians, and he trusted in the Guardians absolutely.

Carefully, he looped the sword into the final open hilt on his belt, and flew off. After warming up, he had only one more relic to go...  

[Seiana_ZI]

A day after obtaining the air relic, Nephi was plenty ready to go on a quest for a relic that was not up in the cold reaches of the Aura Nin Mountains.

Nephi had done his own research after Genesis had told him what her hankering was. He asked around, spending to the Knight Lord Andrei and the Archmage Tansa to hear what their opinions were on where Nephi should go to look for the Fire Relic. The general feel he was getting was that the Fae Clearing was the right direction to head in.

It seemed so odd, to acknowledge that perhaps there was something to the superstition that he had heard from the faeries who lived both in the City and down on the Isle. There was magic in those woods, magic he did not believe could exist.

But yet, he was looking in those woods for the Fire relic.

Nephi landed on the Isle via the landing pad and looked out to where he had to go. It would be a while if he went by foot to the Loka Nei Forest, but even by air, it would not be a fast trip. The Loka Nei Forest was on the other end of the Isle in comparison to where the Floating City had sat itself. Even the Aura Nin Mountains had been closer.

But up there, the weather had been frightful. Down here, where he was in a tropical winter, the weather was incredibly pleasant. Nephi was okay with taking a slower route.

Perhaps he would glide close to the ground, though.

Nephi took flight, keeping close to the ground, but not so close he was getting in other paes' ways. While he was flying, he took the time to glance over his surroundings, looking at who was there and what they were doing. While he was flying by the waters, he took the time to observe the heretic naiad, watching as one appeared to be talking to an ... angel. Blech. Why would an angel ever freely associate with a heretic?

Perhaps they, too, were on a mission from the Guardians. He had heard the offer had been extended to the others living in the City, loyal to the Guardians, but he had not seen many of them in action. He assumed it was because it took great bravery to try and do the same as the Squires, who had been specially selected for such dangerous roles. Nephi, for a moment, wondered if he should take the time to approach, but he knew an angel could handle themselves, and so, he carried on.

Eventually, he made it to the Loka Nei Forest, deciding it was at this time he should probably take fully to the air. Nephi had ventured through the Loka Nei Forest before, in particular to find the cave, but it would be more efficient to find where the Fae Clearing was if he could actually see the clearing...

Nephi launched into the air, gliding over the Loka Nei Forest.

Eventually, he came to what was a rather large clearing. This had to be the right place.

Magical clearing.

Feh.

Nephi touched down near a strange tree, looking around the area. So he was supposed to take a branch from one of these trees and refine it, right? That was what Genesis meant? Carefully, he turned in a circle, observing just how strange the plants in this area were. What was with that odd tree with seeds hanging off it? They were such a strange color, like what he had never seen. For a moment, he considered reaching out to them, but...

No, his curiosity was not what he was here for. He could mention the strange things he saw to the mellons, or tell about them in a prayer to the Guardians. Then, he would know what to do about them. Perhaps they were natural for this area, because the Guardians were capable of a great many things.

He bowed his head and said a silent prayer to himself, disturbed by such a strange place.

The Guardians were what fortified him and gave him strength, though, and soon, Nephi steeled up again, confident in his prayers and confident in his ability to handle what was around him. He would approach ... one of the nearby trees. This one would work fine. There was small branches on it that he could easily hack off with the short sword he had on him.

So he did.

When the branch fell into his hand, Nephi looked over it. Perfect. This looked like exactly what the Guardians were looking for. It just needed some refinement.

Pressing his tongue to his lips in concentration, the squire went to work on taking off the spare bits on the branch. Any extra branches that were starting to come off his branch were immediately hacked off. The leaves that were on it were carefully removed without harming the branch underneath. As he sat, he eventually managed to take off some of the bark, leaving the branch with only the core remaining.

This was perfect.

Nephi placed the dagger in its hilt, coming back to his feet. The trimmed branch was carefully placed in his messenger bag. He had what he needed.

Now just to wait.

Nephi closed his eyes, thanked the Guardians for his good fortune, and flew up into the sky.