Seinvocc

The mages were relieved that Noah had not overestimated their jumping ability, as his was rather impressive, for a mage. They scaled the pillars, then dropped down the next set.

Cool!

Yes, that was cool!

They headed through the desert as Noah's Terramancy effects wore off, eventually reaching the front of their guild.

((To "Arrival of Another"!))

The young mages looked at each other. They gave a sort of 'that is doable' nod with raised eyebrows.

Yeah, that'd be cool!

They were almost there . . .

Naw, it's sahagin guts. Of course, it's water.

Haha, Korg . . . Yes, that would be nice, but the walls are high. We'd have to go through the Levelling Infirmary, which could be crowded, so it's best to take the simpler route.

See that city in front of us about a quarter-mile? That's Sacucasu. We're gonna' walk around it to get to the Razibiju Sand Ocean.

After traversing the grand desert, there's a rockier desert, at the core of which lies our guild.

If you want, we can stop in Sacucasu, but they're more of a warriors' guild, so we figure that you'd just want to get to the magical one and skip Sacucasu.

We have extra rations, so we don't need to make stops for that.

Zet and Korg each held an extra flask of water toward Noah. Korg pointed at the satchel at his side.

Any time that you get hungry, just ask. ^^

Well, that sounds good.

Regardless of any details, the general concept was a good one to be agreed upon.

We're going East, toward Xuten. That's the name of our guild for magical studies.

Zet and Korg didn't answer for a moment. This was a tough one . . .

Erm . . . I haven't . . . really . . . heard of someone who didn't want the position . . .

I don't think that you have to be a Grigori if you don't want to . . .

I suppose that, if you change your mind mid-term, we'll either hold another election or just go without a Grigori for a while, depending on when you quit . . . I wouldn't advise quitting, though . . .

Yeah, that'd be kinda' rude . . .

Sorry about that; we are just glad to see that you're already at least fairly competent with magic.

No worries; it's not like being a Grigori has any drawbacks.

Well, that's not entirely true. There is some responsibility, and it can be time-consuming.

Right, right, but that's obvious, and even that isn't so bad.

That's what we hear, anyway, and Grigori stuff is pretty public knowledge. Mostly, a Grigori is just a leader that makes missions to send other members on and helps out around the guild.

They don't have to lead all their missions, either.

*The young mages-in-training glanced back at Noah when they noticed the faint glow of his spells, continuing to head toward the Sandstone Hollows.*

Wait, you already know how to move and cast at the same time?

Furthermore, I didn't hear any mantra; you can already cast without it?

*As they walked along, the pair again looked at each other. This guy was from a different universe, probably a different dimension? On one hand, was it a good idea to bring someone with no prior knowledge of the position? On the other, who better to run Xuten than an outsider who learns quickly?*

Yeah, basically.

"Grigori" is simply a title for guild leaders in this universe. Admittingly, we don't know what the processes are, but it can't be too strenuous.

Yeah, the Grigori doesn't necessarily have to be the best fighter in the guild; they just have to be competent. We normally vote 'em in, so we have no idea what the plans are, other than including anyone who seems to be capable and willing.

Right this way!

*The bright, youthful white mage turned and treaded back toward the direction that they came from, that being toward the desert. The black mage turned to follow, but spoke before moving along.*

We need someone to try to become our Grigori.

Yeah, all the previous Grigori- apparently the leaders of the Sacucasu and Locco guilds, too- just up and disappeared. I heard that they went out to fight some baddie, but never came back.

They were all rather competent, and the proposed hunt was supposed to be nothing beyond their aptitude. That only makes us worried more.

It's already been two months, too. We won't call 'em dead, though!

Whatever the case, special elections are in order, so we need to find some keen scholars of the magical arts to try out.

*The mages looked at each other, then back at Noah. He had some sort of title, too? Even without knowledge of its significance, this sounded like a good sign.*

Well, you see, we were actually-

Come with us, please! We'll explain along the way!

It's rude to interrupt.

Ah, sorry.

Hey, thanks!

We appreciate your aid. He's Korg, and I'm Zet. Might we ask who you are?

_11 caustic dweevils and 3 somewhat small antlions sprung from the ground, surrounding the mages. The caustic dweevils spewed what looked like large bubbles (known to actually be acidic) while the antlions lunged with their pincers poised. Individually, these were no big deal, but their simultaneous attacks and proper positions put them at a serious advantage. The young Xuten members were not likely to make it out of this one alive._

Yeah, I just don't get why we're out here, specifically. I mean, how are we supposed to find someone here?

That's just it, though! The best of them are always hard to find. Remember Ilsren? What about Abel the Blue? Venom Rahbal? If we want to find a replacement, we need to look where they're hardest to see!

Okay, but how? We'll run out of torches and Torch staves well before even getting through the wasteland, to say nothing of the water. The sea will be a lot harder to search than the wasteland, and we may struggle just to handle ourselves on land.

We can see without the lights, though, and we should be able to handle ourselves abroad.

If they're hard to find, the lights may not even help us, much less our own sight. Sure, we can take care of ourselves most of the time, but, if we're to scour the entire region, we're likely to run into trouble, which we may not be able to escape from. We also can't go underwater very far . . .

Maybe you're right . . . We should probably come back with help, then.

*Two members of Xuten, which appeared to be an average white mage and a slightly taller black mage, were wandering toward Noah unknowingly and searching for . . . someone, evidently.*