Tales of Core

"I'll make sure Toki doesn't go after them." Binks replied, turning away and stretching. "Let's just rest for now. Worrying about what may or may not happen will sap your strength." He patted Tabitha's shoulder.

"Try and get some descent rest Tabi." He said, walking towards his room.

Moments later, a yawning Ragnatok trucked up the stairs, grabbed the chalk, updated his total to 500, then followed his little brother up to their room.

"Are you sure about this?" Josh asked, his face was flustered.

"Spineless." Presea replied, in a monotone voice.

"Just do it." Warrant said with a grin. "Good luck Boya." With that Warrant left.

Presea reopened her book and went back to reading in the chair by the window.

There was a couch in the room. On it sat Josh, and laying down with her head on his lap was Hisako. Warrant had brought her in and set the situation up.

Hisako was sleeping peacefully.

Josh leaned forward to examined her face, and smiled to himself.

"Pervert." Presea said without looking towards him.

"Shut it." Josh replied, as he softly touched Hisako's hair.

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"Perhaps your right." Tabitha said back to him before he vanished. She rubbed her temple. It was clear she hadn't got much rest in the last few days.

"Go to bed. I'll take care of it tonight." Lia told Tabitha.

"You sure? It's a lot of work."

"I don't require the same amount of sleep as you people. I'll be fine. You on the other hand will be useless tomorrow unless you can think clearly."

"I suppose you're right." Tabitha replied. "I'll be passed out in my room."

Lia smirked as she watched the woman head to her room. Lia reviewed the board of the tallies. Noticing Ragnatok's tally, she picked up the chalk and wrote a note beside it. Showoff. With that she headed down the stairs.

Light poked in the room from the crack in the curtain. Hisako open her eyes slowly. She felt warmth against her cheek, and realized it was someone's leg. Hisako froze and her face went red. She glanced up at the person, and noticed it was Josh. She quickly turned back.

Josh was asleep.

On one of the beds Presea was laying on top of the covers sleeping. Her glasses and book were beside her.

Hisako slowly got up and examined the situation. She took the blanket off the spare bed and put it over Josh. She then put Presea's glasses and book on the side table, and folded the blanket onto her.

As she did Presea opened her eyes and smirked at her. "Good morning."

Hisako jumped back. "Jeez. Don't have to scare me."

Presea sat up and put her glasses on. "It's nice to see lover's getting along."

"It's...but...I..." Hisako replied while stuttering.

"Yes yes. You haven't confirmed your feelings, and so on." Presea said tapping her shoulder. "But consider the time you have left. Do you want to let things end without starting?" With that Presea left the room, leaving Hisako alone with Josh in the room.

Hisako glanced back at Josh nervously.

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"Good morning." Presea said arriving in the tavern.

"Morning." Kenji replied.

It was still early, so only Kenji's Charlie Group, Fuyu, Warrant, Rafa and Jean were up.

Presea walked over to Adel. "So have you figured it out?"

Adel glanced at the girl. "Took me this past week, but yes." Adel pulled a capsule from out of her pocket, pushed a button on it, and placed it on the table. A few suits appeared on the table. "They're to your specifications." Adel told her.

Presea picked the one that was her size up. "Thank you."

"Also." Adel said, placing a different object on the table. "Lori showed me this. They call it a Limit Breaker. Apparently it streamlines a person's power, and let's them surpass their current limit."

Presea looked at it. "Would be useful."

"Be careful though. Side-effects after usage are a sure thing. After all they force your body to do things they couldn't before. You should only use it in emergencies."

"Understood." Presea replied, as she headed to get changed.

Lia entered the tavern and waved to everyone. "Morning." She said, even though she had been up all night.

(at this point you can add whatever preparations for your characters)

Cale poked his head through the attic door. "Binks?"

"Hmm?" Binks asked without turning. He was tossing books left and right.

"Err," He fidgeted. "Here." He held up his gun for Binks. "You need it more."

Binks took the gun gently. "Thanks Rico." He smiled brightly.

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Ragnatok stepped back inside the tavern, holding a wrapped package. He looked at the others gathered. "How long do I have before we leave?"

Lia glanced to Ragnatok. "Once everyone is up and about. We're letting everyone get some longer rest then usual, seeing as we'll be fighting for the next two weeks."

Adel stood up and walked over to Ragnatok. She handed him a Limit Breaker. "Use this as a last resort." She told him, before sitting back at her table. Adel was browsing through a catalog of the Albaron supply machines.

"Is there anything you need looked into?" Lia asked Ragnatok. She was working as a Tabitha fill-in for the moment. "This city might not look like much, but the magic, technology, and craftsmanship here is higher then the previous timelines I've seen."

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Presea closed the door behind her, and put the suit on the bed. She glanced at the couch where Hisako had fell asleep with her head on Josh's shoulder.

Presea put her glasses on the table and undressed. She then put on the body suit and zipped it closed. She put her glasses back on and turned towards the door. "I hope you're ready brother." She said as she left.

He turned the limit breaker around in his palm a few times. He looked up at Lia briefly. "No, thanks. I make my own weapons, just wanted to know how long I had left."

With that, he left through the kitchen door.

A few minutes later, Binks and Cale were descending the stairs. Reading through a very thick tome and lightly swishing his bow back and forth, Binks seemed to not notice anyone as he dropped down onto a cushion near a low japanese style table.

Cale vanished into the kitchen, where a light clatter of pots could be heard.

Kazuko came down the stairs with Presea. As the two entered the room, it got a bit brighter. The source of which was Kazuko.

"You're looking brighter today." Kenji said, fully intending the pun.

Kazuko laughed. "Opps, sorry." The light from Kazuko died out.

"How does it feel?" Adel asked Presea.

"Chaffing." Presea replied. "Asides from that, it handles well. But to know for sure I'd have to test it in battle."

"Well it will increase you martial art abilities, but you're on your own for your deflection abilities." Adel explained.

"I can handle that. I just needed some better defense."

Adel tossed a limit breaker to Kazuko. "Lori will show you it's use later."

"Lori?" Kazuko asked.

"Lori seems to be a person that doesn't have side-effects from the breaker." Adel explained.

Lori was sitting on a crate outside of the tavern. She had one leg crossed and one sheathed sword and one sheath sitting on her legs. In her hands was the other blade and a cotton swab. On the ground beside her was a bottle of blade treatment. She dipped the cotton swab in it before tapping the blade with it.

"So why are you hunting Ren?" Jean asked.

Lori didn't look his way. "She killed my partner."

"Thought people rarely died here." Jean stated.

Lori smirked. "Not quite what I meant." Lori sheathed the first blade and leaned it against the wall. She unsheathed the second and began work on it. "Ten years ago I had different blades. You see. In our undying world, the only way to have new company was artificial intelligence. This AI was converted into multiple forms. Such as Ren, humanoid robots. Others include weapons. AI weapons provide company to those who rather go it alone, and also helps them with their abilities. Calculating and such." Lori examined a spot on her blade and tapped it with the cotton swab.

Jean glanced at her, before looking straight.

"I had twins katanas at the time. It had a shared AI between both blades. During my fight up the tower I rarely got the chance to do maintenance on them. He had warned me on several occasions about the risk. When I got the level with Ren we fought." Lori slid the blade into the sheath and placed it next to the other one. She sealed the cotton swab into the bottle of treatment. "Near the end of the battle, Ren caught me off guard and shattered my blades. Destroying its core in the process. I would say that is killing. Wouldn't you?" She asked.

"Hard to say." Jean replied.

Lori stood up and tapped his shoulder. "Just because something wasn't born, don't think it doesn't have a soul." With that Lori tied the blades back onto herself and went inside.

Jean took a breath and headed away from the tavern.

Binks muttered violently under his breath as he placed the bow beside him and started rifling through the book.

A moment later, Ashura and Cale brought out breakfast for those that were awake.

"Eat up dears, I am almost finished preparing some supplies for you all. Please feel free to send anyone else who awakens into the kitchen for their food." Ashura bowed, glanced at Binks who merely waved at her before stepping back into the kitchen.

A sudden crash was heard from upstairs.

Various people readied their weapons, when a Kenji held up his hand. "Settle down. I'll check it out." He pointed at Egil. "Come with me."

Egil nodded back behind his cloak.

The two men headed upstairs to the noise.

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"The hell was that?" Josh said, suddenly waking up. He felt pressure on his shoulder, and looked to it.

Hisako had awoken as well and was red faced.

Josh's face went red as he realized their positions. "I'm....sorry."

"It's alright." Hisako replied sitting up straight.

Loud footsteps could be heard passing by the door.

Both turned serious, and exited to the hall.

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Kenji glanced back at them. "Good morning."

"What was that sound?" Hisako asked.

"We're about to check." Kenji replied, turning back towards his course.

Egil followed him.

Hisako and Josh then went after the two.

Binks started snickering to himself as they headed up the stairs.

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As they finished asending the stairs, they would see Ragnatok sprawled on his back by the entrance to the twins room. A long pure black sword with an unfinished handle was embedded in the floor beside his head. Another one was half way down the stairs, as smoke billowed from the open door.

With excessively violent undertones, he sat up. Coming to a stand he tried to yank the sword from the floor to no avail. Looking up to see them, he asked "Could ya give me a hand Kenji-San?"

Egil shook his head, turned and headed back downstairs.

"Idiot." Hisako said.

Josh and Hisako left as well.

"What were you doing that could cause such a ruckus?" Kenji asked, gripped the blade and pulling it from the floor easily. He offered it to Ragnatok.

Ragnatok gripped the sword easily. "Trying to graft the metal with other properties. That stupid AI blew me out the door then tried to impale me with the swords!" He exclaimed, gesturing towards the open door, where black smoke continued to billow out.

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For all intents and purposes, Binks seemed to be ignoring everyone. He also had not touched any of the food that had been brought out. The bow flicked back and forth in his grip before he would mutter violently. At current, he was flipping through the giant tome with quick motions. Sitting sideways on the couch so his lower back rested against the arm rest, his wings drooping heavily.

"Well consider where we are." Kenji replied. "Many people downstairs were ready to fight when that sound went off." He glanced at the room. "Adel should be able to help you. Want me to send her up?"

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For the most part the sound had woken everyone that had still been sleeping. They began leaving their rooms and heading downstairs.

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Lori entered the tavern as the rush of people came down the stairs.

Everyone sat down at tables and ordered breakfast. Hisako, Josh, and Kazuko sat at the same table.

Lori glanced towards Binks. Teleporting beside him, she spoke. "What're you working on?"

A shrug, "It's up to her. That stupid AI is going down." Ragnatok stomped his way over to the stairs, picking up the other sword on his way up.

---------------------------------------------

He glanced at Lori. "Making sure I can still fight," he replied. It was then noticable that he was wearing a strange glove on his right hand. It was embedded with some strange metal and a few crystals.

It was also clear, that he had not slept well at all.

"I'll send her up, Ragnatok. But remember. You're disturbing the last peaceful rest many of us will have." Kenji was fully aware of what was at stake. Shaking his head he headed back downstairs.

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"Adel. He's trying to forge an AI weapon. Can you..." Kenji was about to ask when interrupted.

"I'll take care of it." Adel replied, quickly passing him and going upstairs.

Kenji sat back down at his table.

"Shouldn't you need rest?" Lori asked. "Spire is not going to be a walk in the park you know." She told Binks.

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Adel appeared in the doorway while covering her mouth with her sleeve. "Do you even know what an AI does?" She asked.

Ragnatok just pointed at the glowing crystal sitting on the desk without looking up at Adel. "Talk to that thing if you want. I'm sorry it worked." He was seated hunched over in the middle of the room surrounded by tools and scrap metal. Various bright crystals were scattered by his other side. One sword lay across his lap while the other was laid on the floor.

"You're doing it wrong." Came a male voice from the crystal. It pulsed with dark light. There were bits of metal infused crudely to its surface.

"Shut. It. Kai." Ragnatok growled at the crystal.

"It's going to blow up in your face again. You can't embed that with miasma. How did you even get that? And you know that Orcihalo and Platnium don't react well without light magic." Kai responded in turn. "You should ask your brother..."

"Binks has enough to deal with right now! His main weapon was destroyed, I'm not bothering him with this!" came the snarled reply as Ragnatok glared at the crystal.

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A bleak look crossed Binks' face. "I will not sit by and let you all fight for me." Came his response as he flipped through the book more.

A few mummered words, and one of the crystals in the glove cracked in half. A heavy sigh, and Binks pulled a bag from his pocket as he set about replacing that gem. His eyes were lit with grim but weary determination.

Someone was going to have to pry that book away from him to get him to do anything else.

Adel pulled out a palm-sized computer and began typing away. "It's not impossible though, Kai." She replied. "I highly doubt Ragnatok has the skills to do it though." Adel wasn't trying to sound condescending. "Before I help though. Why are you trying to infuse miasma to anything? It is the exact opposite of mana. Having both sources of power in one place negate each other. Doing it wrong, often leads to explosions. Not to say I don't have a workaround."

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Lori sat in the chair beside him. "Then tell me. With all this studying, and preparing. As it leaves you tired and weakened. Even if you gained whatever power you're hoping to from that book. What can you possibly do if you're too tired to use it properly?" Lori asked. "This method leads you more down the path you said you're trying to avoid."

Ragnatok nodded, "That is true, however, I have an affinity for it. You know I'm a Dark Mage, and a Cat Sound Esper. I've been touched by Miasma in so many life times it does not affect me negatively. I can't wield it by itself like I've seen Warrant do tho."

He hefted the sword up to inspect what he had just grafted. "I want to imbue the blade with it, that's all."

"Oh tell her what you are doing to the other one then? That's worse." Kai taunted.

"Shut it you stupid AI. I shouldn't have made you able to speak." Ragnatok growled. "But yes, this one," He picked up the other sword single handedly. "I'm trying to create a variable sword."

Suddenly, he gave a feral grin. He placed the intended miasma sword down to pick up a clear gem. "Finally. Oyasumi Otouto." A silver glow wrapped around his hand. "Thank you for coming to help Adel-san, let's get to work shall we?"

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"I can run on very little sleep over the course of months." Binks replied, not looking up. "I've done it before." He flexed the glove a few times before chanting in the same way as before. The crystals pulsed golden, then dimmed to a faint glow. With a grin, he handed the book to Lori.

"Besides, I'm finally done." Binks curled up in the chair and promptly fell asleep.

"I need you understand that a mage of dark magic, and a miasma mage are two different things." Adel replied. "We have about four hours. Try to keep up." Adel said closing the door to the room.

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Lori flipped through the pages briefly, before standing up. "Enjoy your four hours of rest."

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Four hours later, at exactly noon, Tabitha found herself at the bottom of the stairs, yawning. "Morning."

"Morning Captain."

"Hitomi. Any word of Mathis' group?" Tabitha asked.

"Sorry." Hitomi replied.

"I see." Tabitha woke herself up. "Who are we waiting on?"

"Jean, Binks, Adel and Ragnatok." Warrant replied.

"I'm here." Jean said appearing in the doorway.

"Well, wake him up." Tabitha said noticing Binks sleeping.

Binks popped open an eye. "We are leaving?" He asked.

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Pulling open the door, Ragnatok held it open for Adel. "Let's head out."

"Yes we are." Tabitha replied. "Just waiting on your brother now."

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"As a last thing, Ragnatok. You'd better be prepared for both using those, and the side-effects from using them." Adel warned him, as she headed downstairs.

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"Done with the forging?" Kenji asked as Adel appeared.

"About as well as I can do in this place." Adel replied. "We're all ready down here?"

"Yeah." Kenji told her.

Once everyone was gathered in the tavern, Tabitha came to stand before them. She looked passed all the faces. Ones she knew and ones she met recently.

"I'm not really one for words." Tabitha said. "We all know why we're here, what's at stake, and why. Everyone here is because they made a choice. I won't tell you not to die out there. But I would prefer if we didn't lose anyone." She turned to the door. "You know what you can do. Just do it." Tabitha headed out.

Surely enough everyone filed in after her.

Lori was the last left in the room. Clenching her fist she followed after them.

"Your tournament counts are recognized. Welcome to Spire." The machine told them.

With that everyone headed inside. It opened to a large hall. It was here a person could start realizing how wide the bottom of spire was. It stretched for sections.

"Are you sure you want to?" Hitomi asked Tabitha.

"Let Markus use his tricks. I doubt he could make our lives more horrible." Tabitha replied subconsciously touching her eye-patch.