Liu Lang Zhe/ Gunther Gross
"WHO DID IT?" The man screamed at the crowd. "I'll fucking kill you."
Well that's hardly an incentive to admit to anything, now is it? Zhe thought darkly to himself. The humor was a shield, and he desperately needed it right now.
Zhe wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty. If his plan had worked, and he retrieved her crystal to keep Gunther alive, he wouldn't miss a wink of sleep. But having killed her in cold blood and gained nothing for it? That was going to bother him. At least for a few days.
Luckily for them, Leo had somehow found a stone at the penultimate moment. Apparently the child had a use aside from a cute little mascot.
Gunther and Zhe had undergone the awakening not long ago, and the two of them were comparing notes. They both had developed new senses, a sort of a live in spirit and a mental scroll that gave details of their new spell. That's what it was right? A spell. What else could you call it.
They each could sense the energies around them now. The vast wave coming from the crystal, and the still impressive but relatively smaller surge coming from their hosts. Each of them had their own signature, but it was hardly noticeable in this environment. Like a burning coal on a lake of lava they blended into the surrounding power.
Zhe had acquired the spell
Minor Illusion (Somatic)
The first thing he did with it was make a set of bloody footprints from the old woman's corpse, into the crowd. A little misdirection.
He was happy to see it worked. The enraged man followed the footprints, not bothering to give them a closer look. All for the better, they would hardly hold up to scrutiny. Little more than an image painted onto the stone. No texture or depth, anyone would quickly realize the truth.
Gunther on the other hand had received a spell that Zhe could have picked for him. A shield. It wasn't much. A Semi-spherical dome he could summon, no larger than a foot wide. He had already interposed it between them and the momentarily hostile spirits.
"Vhat do you think you'll get little Leo?" Gunther said, smiling down at the boy.
The number of unawakened shrank more by the moment, leaving more mages than regular folk. The boy was hesitant to go, but the time for second guessing had passed.
Leo put his chin on two tiny fists and scrunched up his face in concentration. "Mmm, maybe I'll get a dragon."
How is "dragon" a spell? Zhe thought to himself, but didn't voice his concerns.
"Do you think the spirits take our wants into consideration?" Zhe mused. "I wonder if I went in wanting to teleport or blast fireballs if they would acquiesce."
"Ack-awhat?" Leo questioned.
'Acquiesce. It means to agree."
"Why not just say agree then?" Leo asked earnestly.
Zhe stared at him for a moment, annoyed at the boy's impertinence, but quickly banished the thoughts. He was far more insufferable as a child.
He put on a face of deep thought and kneeled down, "Perhaps you're right little Leo, sometimes simpler is better."
"I'm not little!" he exclaimed indignantly, stomping one foot on the ground, "Only Gunther calls me that cause he's super big. You're tiny like me."
He wrapped one of his hands around Zhe's small bicep.
Alright, perhaps not this insufferable, Zhe thought, his expression falling to a grimace.
Gunther leaned down laughing, "It is not the size of your arms that shows your strength, but the size of your heart. Your courage."
Zhe didn't roll his eyes, but he wanted to.
The Councilors continued to prattle above.
"Your Tokens are not tied to a person and can be spent, traded, or stolen. It is your own responsibility to obtain tokens." The councilor said gravely. "While we don't encourage violence or theft..."
His eyes found a few members of the crowd, lingering on them knowingly. Zhe was glad not to be one of them.
"We won't prevent it either."
One of the people Zhe saw him look at was a petite girl. Skin a cream white, raven dark hair, and smattering of freckles like spice. She returned the man's look unflinching, a half-cocked smile on her face.
Something about the girl made Zhe's guts squirm. He wasn't sure why, but he put himself between her and Leo.
Since when had he started doing that?