Open Eastern Brisshal Dark magic is a path some would consider unnatural.

[Tick Tock]

.

It took only a few hours after arrival and the awakening of her interests to realize the do's and don'ts in this world, with one exclusively bound to magic:
Seek not the dark, least you consume yourself with it.
Walk not the rivers of blood, least you pay the price with your own
Let the dead be dead, least you break the cycle of life.

To say the trinity of taboo magic was interesting is only scratching the surface of her personal thoughts, yet warnings only served to ignite the flames of her interests even further, albeit this drive would be treaded with carefully, much like everything since her arrival to Terrasphere has been: with heavy, coordinated steps.

Shane pushed page after page over her blank tome, every single sheet but an empty canvas to the naked eye, the runes carved maleficiums in black magic, the door to every spell she has memorized this far and yet the pages kept going on and on. On itself, a catalyst to her craft, aswell as a compendium that went from little tricks to harmful effects that could backfire within the slightest error, be it through chanting or gestures alike.

The temporary seals left upon the trees worked as landmarks for her to traverse the way back and forth on known pathways, having taken a few days to explore the starting point for all newcomers and adding runes of differing symbols, should they cross and lead to different waypoints. She could laugh at the idea of being seen as a witch, but then, the devil wears suit and tie some say, and she would be no exception to the eyes of the public, even if her own could only see their worth upon the magical essence they carry, in quite a literal manner.

The idea that there were more like her, daring souls ready to research the unknown or brave the very powers others couldn't understand emboldened to search not only for any suitable for the description, but the latest tracks she's covered guided her to leftovers that emanated from the grass, the trees, the very forest itself, like an omen, albeit long forgotten and merely a mark by now.

She braved on, exchanging tome for her little personal diary, quill tainted by her own magic to write down intrinsic runic patterns different to that of a spell, sharing a glance between the paper and her path alike, tapping her foot twice every twelve seconds to let her aura grow and unravel any obstacles ahead of her, or warn her of them in the first place.

Wouldn't be the first time she crushed against a tree...

 

[Nicolas]

"Oh what a busy little bee."

He spoke through his teeth, the end of a cigarette butt delicately balanced between, sitting upon a throne of shadow suspended in the treetops. Smoke billowed from his mouth as he exhaled in exuberance - there was nothing quite like the taste of tobacco, even a fake such as this. The brain never forgot the sickly sweet nature of nicotine it seemed. Though, this stopgap was nothing like the original, a mere trick of smoke and mirrors meant to trick none-unlike that of smoking a candy cigarette. It did do the trick though.

"I'm not sure what you'd get out of those scribbles beyond useless prattle-speak. Stuff like that means nothing really. It was put there to intrigue you and lead you nowhere. That's how the game works. Maybe it could inspire you, but I doubt if you somehow cast it as a spell, or inscribed it anything would happen."

The chair slowly suffused into the backdrop of shadow it suspended from, taking Nico with it before he appeared closer to her in tandem with one of her 'knocks', his face inquisitively eyeing the action. He saw merit in it, fleeting as it were so.

"I do say that to help you, looked into those markings myself. They're Dark Magic markings though, no?"

The accusatory message came with the idea to get arise out of the woman who skulked through the dark forest trying to go from neophyte to witch.

@Shane

 

[Tick Tock]

.

A voice put her on a state of alert, visible once she came to a halt and listened with intent, lifeless sight scanned her surroundings if only to find nothing but mere traces of magic and her own. The skies followed, and the energies that gathered atop of it formed a seat, with a figure of a different colour, an outline of the most neutral, yet the voice was enough for her to discern a male.

"Everything has a purpose, and not all magic has to be of extraordinary effect to have one. You only see glyphs and runes that lead you nowhere. -I- see a path, a pattern that serves as a means of guidance. Such is by design." She explained, concluding once she closed her tome in one quick motion and held it close to her coat, tapping the floor twice yet again, only-

This stranger cut the distance short between them once she picked up on his energies, and shades of purple begun to swirl across her for one quick second as her aura took a visible form and spread across a decent radius all around her, only to become invisible in but an instant after that little jumpscare, stiffness upon her shoulders given some rest as mixed signals were given, between a witch-hunting accusation, and the pretext of assistance that had her tilt her head slightly.

She chuckled ever so gently, as amusement had her nod in agreement. "Very observant. Correct, these are markings and runes. I carved them myself, and like I said, they are meant to guide me to traverse the forest." Shane hunched her shoulders just a bit in half-a-shrug. "But you would know of the topic now, wouldn't you? I can see that I'm not the only one who took on said obscure arts. And was that shadow arts just a moment ago?" A rhetorical, flavoured with an innocent smile from her side, her right hand reaching into her pocket.

"But that's all bait, isn't it. You knew they had no meaning, and you knew someone kept re-tracing the magic to keep it alive. No matter how long-lasting the fuel is, it will burn out eventually, and the dark is no exception." She loved to play detective, and this man only gave her a feast to work with. Pupil-less as her eyes are, the calm intensity with which she set her sights upon his only mimicked his own accusatory tone of earlier. "Were you also waiting for me? I'm flattered if so, but why don't we start with a name to address eachother first - I'm Shane, researcher of the unknown. My pleasure."

@Nicolas

 

[Nicolas]

"You're almost right, at least when it comes to the Shadow Arts part." He spoke answering her quickly as she attempted to dissect his own abilities as he had done hers. His hand hands clasped behind his back as he began to circle her, waves of vantablack roiling off his frame only to fall to the ground and slither about like a mix between ember and snake. The mark left in the wake by this magic stained all it touched a ghastly black, almost smoothing out the edges such that the definite start and end points of individual objects became indistinct.

"Shadow Arts is plenty utilitarian but lacks the pizazz necessary for impact. Weave a little Dark Magic and Illusion into the mix and then you can really up the spice." Mocking a popular culture reference for pinching salt onto a meal, Nico stopped and grinned toward the woman.

"You can call me Nico, and I was never waiting for you." His hands went up in feigned innocence, the grin never having left his face. "Coincidence, I swear. I happened upon this place recently and inspected these markings out of curiosity. My unique combination doesn't necessitate anything like this, so I had wondered if I could replicate it into something useful. Sadly, again, no go."

He'd have made a full rotation around the woman if left to his own devices, watching her as he did so for some sort of reaction. She was already jumpy - as all she had right to be considering his sudden appearance and her seeming vulnerability, faked as it likely was in some respect. No player of this game ever lacked the tools to retaliate accordingly and while she could never be quite sure how much of what he said was a lie, just from initial inspection he had already gleaned at least two of her aspects.

"Research? Strange way to enjoy a game. Tell me, if I had been waiting for you though, and suddenly ambushed you here. How does this go? Dark Magic and Aura is an interesting combination, would the last aspect save you?"

@Shane

 

[Tick Tock]

.

"Give some merit to the impaired." She mused as her sight darted once magic rolled in serpentine fashion across the ground. Tap tap And the depths of her aura bursted in colours akin to ink. Light, almost translucent even, and it interrupted not the slithering waves of borderline pitch-black magic Nicolas brought forth, yet to her eyes it made the difference when keeping track of the darkness that multiplied itself with everything on it's path.

Shane couldn't trust on how he revealed his cards. Confidence and friendliness were so easy to mix up. "He who controls the spice controls the universe." Her hand leaving her pocket as to wave at the trail of black left on his wake. "I trust this is a mere side-dish and not the epitome of your cuisine?" A little tease, and a formal challenge if one would wish to see it that way.

"You can call me Nico, and I was never waiting for you."

He must have seen her doubt coming a mile away if he could predict a raised eyebrow and an all-knowing smirk, timed just right as his hands waved to declare, despite his grin earning him a roll of her eyes. "Coincidence eh? Well Nico, you are probably not the first to stumble upon these, but the first to inquire. They are landmarks and nothing more. Is it a witch's? Is it some kind of evil wizard's warning sign? No one will ever know." The thought never dawned before, satisfying herself with the idea of clueless adventurers cowering in fear to mere runic language upon trees like some sort of bad omen. "Illusion, dark magic, shadow arts. An interesting combination, yet two of these rely on creativity, and one in extreme caution. This 'game' allows for so many combinations, there are no presets set on a spellbook or the like, despite my inclination to carry one." As she did, Shane pushed the tome back in sight for him to look at the blank slate that every page was- To the naked eye, at least, as magic clearly found it's way to create runes, and each page revealed a different curse only they would be able to tell apart by the slight differences: an extra letter here, an internal pattern weaved differently, sometimes like cobwebs, some like veins.

She stretched her hand out for him to shake, patient as the man did a full circle around her like predator seizing prey, only none of them dared to draw first blood in such a case, like a parley of sorts. He guessed two, and yet her third card remained a secret, yet could she really trust a single word of what Nico said? Well...

Why not, was the question, rather than why yes.

"By all means I've had my fair share of murderspree, yet this game is far different than any you may have played, you see. Exterminating an entire ecosystem will actually have impact on the world, as opposed to enemies merely materializing back after a few seconds. I limit violence to when it's necessary." She didn't expect him to understand it fully, afterall, he is right: Researching on a game was odd when everyone is clashing swords and shields. Yet freedom of choice is a wonderful concept.

"Hmm." His hypothetical however...

Shane turned herself to face him, her aura retracting back tightly as mere fumes around her body, harmless for the most part. "Implying you are true to your word, there would be no fight here. If you are smart enough to guess I chose Aura, then you surely are all the more wise and realized beforehand that hunting prey you know not about until the heat of battle is not exactly the safest option. Besides, who is to say I only have three?" She rose an eyebrow, smirk turned to grin, and a glitter could almost seen on pale eyes. "I'm certain it would, to answer your question. But to waste time and effort on bleeding eachother out on the ground is not in my priority list. It would be a waste of a much dashing individual such as yourself, yes?" The lack of energy poured on her voice implied none on it's compliments, hollow to the core at that. He looked like a magical shadow to her in anycase.

@Nicolas

 

[Nicolas]

Most of what she said was temporarily ignored save for her last comment, his thumb and forefinger forming an 'L' as he held it to his chin knowingly. Ah, yes. She was a woman of culture, someone who understood magnificence when she saw it. While this avatar was a more 'perfect' version of himself it was himself none-the-less, and hearing such words couldn't help but boost ego. However, just as soon as the measure of amusement came it fleeted, a sudden comatose look coming over his face as it dropped to a measured gaze, filled with a blank and vacant stare that eliminated pretense.

"No, Ms. Researcher. A hunter must hunt, and a loaded gun has nothing to fear from the bucking of a doe."

The shadows that lingered suddenly retracted into his outstretched palm, formulating what would be observed a single point of the culmination of that magic itself. It fought his influence as he kept it contained, a sudden corona erupting from it's spherical form as it retained a shape and appearance none unlike that of the sun but pitch-black.

"Such works both ways of course." He mused, as he slowly forced the magic upon itself, a droning reverberation sounding its imminent implosion. "Someone truly powerful wouldn't have need to amuse me. Your scrawls, combined with this encounter already spelled out just the nubile nature of you and your abilities. And in that case it wouldn't matter if you had five."

A closed palm snuffed out the magic in a puff of smoke before he continued.

"But, I am most interested in magic in this game and how others use it. That is the truth of why I was here. You aren't incorrect in that my specific nature forces my abilities down the road slightly different than not, where creativity is key. It necessitates experiencing more of what the game has to offer than average and here we are."

He pointed.

"The writings on the trees were interesting, but that's about it. Show me more of what you can do, and perhaps I will be mindful of not accidentally erasing this whole ecosystem, the trees, and everything within it."

The world's luster subdued as he radiated the nature of his 'magical shadow'.

 

[Tick Tock]

.

"Beware of the wolf in sheep's clothing, I say. Prey is not exclusive to rabbits and doe. But that's fair, some would choose wisely what to hunt in risk of retaliation."

Magic coagulated into what she could describe a dark sun once it's caster demanded it so, and her own Aura slipped like tendrils into her clothing only to leave not a trace of it's presence, yet a speck marched upon the soles of her boots for one last double tap before finally subsiding.

His own explanation found her guilty, and yet these final words just lifted weight out of her back right away, discarding the importance of multiple abilities. Her hands went behind her back. He shared his piece, and so did she nod along to begin her own. "Well mister, this conversation has been assumption after assumption from each party. But that bears the question: do you trust in your instincts enough to stand behind your words?" Simpler points made with a much more hyperfocused tone, her hands clasping infront of her with a barely audible clap. "Pray tell what you wish to learn about magic itself? You speak of uses, yet call mine but a set of scrawls. Ah, but a true master would not pour more than the necessary to a basic spell, less so in a non-lethal scenario." She felt the need to elaborate, and thus it become her turn to be the one to walk on circles around Nicolas, with her eyes never breaking contact with his own, yet her steps lost that carefulness they had the more precise they became- 'Natural' the right wording. "Dark magic is different to every other form you may have heard or known. It consumes the wielder, hence why it's ill adviced to use it raw, rather, to utilize a catalyst to it's power. Curses and rituals being the most basic, but the risk to the caster is easy to handle if the quantities are kept low, such as..." Her voice trailed off, a hand waved at the nearest tree where her latest rune, fresh out of her book, carved itself line per line.

"But i'm no one to tell you how to play this game. If you wish to exterminate all life around, be my guest. Not the hero type myself, but neither am I one to stain my reputation for nothing." She dusted off her coat, shooting a cheshire smile to him. "Ah but you wouldn't know that, would you? Killing other players is the greatest crime known in Terrasphere. Much like homicide itself outside of a videogame." A topic she's always managed with professionalism to keep her own displeasure from showing. Death was plain distasteful for one who works with debts. The dead cannot pay, afterall.

"Now, you wish for me to show what I can do, yes? Dark arts, Aura and my own two hands. But I can tell you that manipulation of residual energy on the air is what makes my spells shine the most. Emotions, in this case."

@Nicolas

 

[Nicolas]

"Emotions?" He quickly responded quizzically, doing well to hide the minute amount of stun the notion had hit him with. "Quaint, if not more-so strange. I do realize magic itself, is a more fleeting concept - hence research, but doubling down with something so ephemeral seems. . .interesting. I like it."

The bubble of monochrome leaked, color dripping down its spatial circumference, as the black-and-white smeared into the ground claiming that instead. As she would walk in a circle about his frame he would do the same, matching her pace and movement only in counter. Again the shadow trailed behind his steps infecting all it touched with the same vanta-black, fighting for control in what would be seemingly hushed combat. Detail-less hands sprung from these areas, reaching up as if attempting to grasp things unknown.

"I'm interested in all things magic because mine seems incomplete. There are choices to be made in the future with its direction, and I have a lingering feeling that should I not choose the correct thing, I will lose something."

He thought it interesting he used those specific words when referencing what was actually a game, noting the alterity he felt when he did so. Lately - like many, this game felt more to him than the real world, a world itself. His arm reached out at his side, hand touching the tops of those hands as if they were mere blades of grass; they swayed and he continued.

"Emotions. ." He paused. "That's close but not just it. Something more primal and visceral than that. Some dread power - not of a God, but something more base. Its not as though when I use Dark Magic it consumes me at all, but that something is pushing through with that as fuel and me conduit."

The rambling couldn't be helped, not even by himself, having caught himself doing so but unable to cease; almost impassioned. Her words of death, its morality, and its consequences were lost on him even though they were internalized. He had no care for what happened to others, especially in a 'game'. Such things only really were a distraction.

"Again, like the writings, I am intrigued in your abilities Ms. Researcher. Not holistically. What is fear like, entwined with your magic?"

@Shane

 

[Tick Tock]

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Shane chuckled, lightly so as to not seem offensive in the slighest. "Not fickle, Nico. Emotions themselves may not be long lasting-" She paused, as her right hand clenched into a fist only to open up seconds after with a burst of pitch black to emanate from it, the very energies swirling dangerously, like ocean waves on the space, gravitating all across her fingers. "Leylines and emotions put together make for one of the most effective forms of magic, hence why they are very economical when used for curses or witchcraft in the most indirect of means. For example, using your shadow arts and dark magic you could very well set up traps in the most inconspicious of ways." Words whisked away of her lips once they begun this little dance of theirs. Slow and gentle, circling one and the other while her own aura grew in size to compact around her, stepping over the trails he would leave to snuff out the absence of colour it left on the world with it's void-like appearence, squashing both magic and hands alike once the full weight of firey steps left a mark of their own. And this continued, so long as both kept going, unremarkable hands calwing at nothingness, and her aura fighting them back once she made her approach known to them.

"And what do you seek exactly? What do you believe is amiss? Perhaps the lack of control Dark magic may pose is not to your liking? It's not so much a direct type of art, and with your skillset it might do you well to have a straightforward and on-hands magical application to work off as a base. With that said, combinations are very much adviced if you wish to survive out there, Nico."

His own experiences felt curious, almost woefully so. It left her to think deeper, biting her tongue as if she knew it wasn't a good idea to make mere mention of it. "There is one subject I heard about that I'm yet to touch upon." She commenced, the mood suddently shifted in most radical fashion. "They call it the Dissonance. A malignant force that defies logic from this world, unlike anything else. I have only heard rumours of it and how it originates from the very depths of calamity. It's powerful, negative, and perhaps the origin of all dark magic if you would wish to theorize it as such." But that didn't felt right, unless it were to be a branched-off and far more passive form of 'dissonance'. "I cannot tell you much more about it, but that could be related to what you feel. We all work dark magic in a different way, as far as meetings have shown me." Shane quickly swirled her hand to cease the flow upon her hand, and instead switched to sway the left, coming to a full halt to cut short their little game that left the grass they treaded upon completely flat from the many laps they did already.

"Fear- You sure are the one to go for danger, eh? Fear is the most dangerous, and the one I touch upon the least. Everyone is afraid, and while heroes might tell you their bravery protects them of all, bravery is not the absence of fear but to act in spite of it." And to leave theory aside, flames combusted from her hand, or so did the shadows that weaved around her fingers looked like, as if it set itself ablaze and threatened to consume her entire arm with it's rapidly growing pace. "No one can control fear, and it's always there. Precisely because of that it makes for a ridiculously effective catalyst for Dark Magic. However, it also makes you all the more prone to be consumed by it. If you wish for fickle, unpredictable, and more likely to backfire?"

She threw her hand to the side, where the rune imprinted upon a tree was, and the flame became viscous as it got launched, the arc it did gave it weight, the ball splashed like acid as the ink melted away a great chunk of the trunk and eroded the very grass in a matter of seconds

"It doesn't get any better. Emotions come and go yet dark magic is held by such tethers, and it's power is tremendous. But this was a simple display of power, don't you think? Yet I said I specialized on emotions, and so too do I in sins. But if I put that to practice it would either harm you, or prove nothing. To make it simpler: If you tried to attack me for real, I can weigh you down with the burden of your actions. If you are in range, that is. Such is a piece of my powers."

@Nicolas