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Magic Contest!
Odine Magic and Occult Supplies Inc.
is hosting this year's Magic Contest in Gariland.
All Mages and Warriors accepted
Hurry now before spaces fill up!
The best magic show wins!
-Professor Mahoujin Odine XVII
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Propositions
Episode 3: Gariland Magic Contest -or- The Academy Revisted! Ai's Rival!
"Step right up ladies and gentlemen, get your own Magic Competition Coffee
Mug! Come on, folks, while supplies last! 100 Gil each!" Cried a salesman
in front of a large booth with a display of mugs on it, he held a bamboo
cane in his right hand. A teenage warrior walked by, he held his cane in
front of the teen, "Hold it right there son, you look like the kind of boy
who could impress his friends with an official Gariland Magic Competition
Coffee Mug."
The teen looked at the man, and then at a coffee mug, "Um... Do you have
any blue ones?"
"Son, I've got every color of the rainbow! Of course I've got blue!"
"Osamu, get your butt over here so we can ENTER the competition!" A voice
from in front of both Osamu and the man shouted.
"Sorry, Ai!!" Osamu gave the man 100 Gil, "One light blue one, please!"
"Coming right up!" The man reached behind his stand and gave Osamu a light
blue mug, "Thank you son, and have a nice day."
"Thanks!" Osamu took his mug and ran to Ai and Ken, who were waiting for
him at the registration, "Sorry about th--"
"You actually wasted your money on one of those stupid mugs?" Ken asked,
"It's just a stupid piece of blue clay that can barely hold water, let alone
coffee!"
"W-well... I want to remember this event!" Osamu said, "Besides, it's the
only souvenir I'll buy!"
"I bet you 200 Gil he'll buy a stupid T-Shirt of Visor next." Ai whispered
to Ken, who just chuckled in response.
"Come on! Let's sign up!" Osamu said, putting his mug in his item pouch.
"Hold it," Ken said, "Don't you know how this works? A representative of
our group goes in and signs all of our names down."
"And that would be me!" Ai said, she looked at Osamu, "Hey, Osamu, what's
the symbol for your name?"
"Reign." Osamu replied.
"What about you, Ken?" Ai asked.
"I don't use the ancient symbols for my name, I just spell it as K-E-N."
Ken said.
"Ken, this is an official event, you need to use one of the ancient symbols
for your name, especially in something like a magic contest!" Ai shouted,
very surprised at Ken.
"Why a magic contest?"
Osamu was next to be surprised, "Ken, kanji is what ancient spell scrolls
are written in. Anyone who uses magic knows these symbols, or at least a
few. Mages are required to use them in any official gathering."
Ken shrugged, "I don't even know what mine is, so, Ai choose one, please?"
"All right!" Ai told him, she went into the main building. She came out a
few minutes later with a list, sighing in relief, "Thank God, I was the last
person to enter before they stopped accepting people." She gave Osamu the
list, "Here, you're supposed to hang onto this. It's a list of representatives
and team mates for the contest."
Osamu scanned the list, "Let's see... Here we are... Ai Jou, Osamu Sentou
and Ken Yabusame--" Osamu suddenly burst out laughing.
Ken looked at the symbol, "What? What's wrong?"
"There are two symbols for your name Ken..." Osamu explained, "One that means
sword and..." Osamu laughed, "One that means Dog."
Ken suddenly glared at Ai, "YOU USED THE SYMBOL FOR DOG!?"
Ai grinned evily, "Oops!"
"Grrr...!! My name is KEN, as in SWORD!" Ken glared at the smiling Priest,
"SWORD, NOT DOG!"
"Ken, no-one's gonna notice!" Osamu said, trying to calm down his friend,
he turned to Ai, "Thanks for using the right symbol for my name..." Ken punched
him in the shoulder, "Ow!"
"Don't be so happy!! I'M the one who's been named 'Dog' here!!"
Osamu grinned, "...Woof."
"Oh, that's it...!!!" Ken almost tackled Osamu, if not for Ai grabbing him,
and holding him back.
"Guys!! Come on!! Let's head to the Inn and rest!!" Ai shouted, holding back
the enraged Archer.
"Actually..." Osamu began, "Um... If it's all right with you guys, I wanted
to stop by the Academy, just for old time's sake."
Ken stopped, "..Actually, that might be a good idea. I've wanted to see the
place again for a while, it was like a second home to me."
"And it's where you learned to shoot an arrow without almost killing someone
on YOUR side." Ai added, Ken glared at her.
"And we all met there, remember?" Osamu asked, Ai rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, Ken spilled his lunch all over me in the cafeteria that day... I thought
I'd never forgive him!"
Ken spoke, "You *didn't* for at least two months!"
"Well, yeah, you dumped a taco covered in sauce on me!!"
"Delita tripped me!!"
"Let's just go!" Osamu shouted, before another fight broke out between the
Archer and the Priest.
The Academy was on the other side of town. It was a huge building, with various
fields around it. Students training their hardest to become fine warriors,
most of them just Squires and Chemists, not yet choosing a profession, a
few were dressed in Academy uniforms, showing that they still weren't sure
if they wanted to train as a warrior, mage or both.
"Heh, still the same as before." Ken said, stepping into the main hall, looking
at a trophy case, "Hey! Look!! It's the trophy I won for the school at the
All-Ivalice Acedemy Archery Contest! I'll never forget it!"
"You only won because someone accidently bumped into you and you actually
HIT the target!" Ai said, "You were probably going to miss, if Rad didn't
bump into you."
Ken glared at Ai, "At least they got the trophy!"
"Hey, Osamu, look!" Ai pointed to a poster by the door, advertising for the
Academy Prom, "Remember when you asked me to go to the Prom?"
Osamu began rubbing the back of his head, "Yeah, I think I still have a mark
from your answer..."
Ken chuckled to himself, "I still can't believe you broke a plate over his
head in the cafeteria."
"Why? I did it to *you* all the time!"
"Well, if it isn't Ai Jou, the Academy's most violent Priest ever."
Ai stiffened, she knew that voice, VERY well, "...You..." She turned, facing
a Time Mage, with a Monk to her left and a Mediator to her right,
"...Toki?"
Toki grinned, "That's right, Ai, it is *I* the great Toki Yami." She snapped
her fingers, a Monk standing next to her gave her a list, "Here you are,"
She read the list, "With... Osamu Sentou and," She did her best not to laugh,
"...Fido."
"IT'S SWORD!!!" Ken shouted, glaring at Toki.
"Oh, *you* Ken," Toki smiled at him, "I'm sorry, I thought it was some other
loser."
"Still as egotistical as ever, I see..." Osamu muttered.
Toki smiled, "Still hanging around with losers? Really, 'Samu, you had *such*
potential to be with me when we left, but, I guess when opportunity knocked,
you weren't home."
"Shut up! Back in school all you did was hit on me! It was annoying and
embarassing!" Osamu shouted, glaring at Toki, "And all you did was make fun
of me and my friends!"
"...Isn't that what we do to each other?" Ken asked, Osamu ignored him.
"Oh well," Toki looked to her left, "I got Honoo here to join me. He's been
very big help in battle, right, Honoo?"
The monk said nothing, just glared at Osamu.
"You'll have to excuse him, he's not much for conversation," The Mediator
spoke, he extended his hand to Ken, "Sogeki Mono, the Team's sharp shooter,
and you are...?"
"Ken Yabusame." Ken said, shaking Sogeki's hand.
Toki glanced over to Sogeki, annoyed, "Sogeki, we're here on business, not
pleasure. No making friends."
"S-Sorry, Toki." Sogeki stepped back, sighing.
"What do you want with us anyhow!?" Ai asked.
Toki laughed to herself, "Well, I saw that you were entering the Magic Contest,
and I wanted to know just *what* you planned to do! This contest is judged
by Audience approval, you know, so it has to be better than simple battle
magic."
Ken and Osamu looked at each other, "...Uh-oh..." They both said in unison,
neither of them were good with magic, let alone something more complex than
battle magic.
"We've got something!" Ai told her, "What about you? You're not going to
castle haste on the audience or something like that, right?"
Toki glared at Ai, "Want to know!? Fine, allow us to give you a demonstation..."
She looked over to Ken, "Rover, shoot an arrow at me!"
"Just for that dog joke," Ken loaded his crossbow, and aimed it, "With
pleasure."
Toki moved backwards, students in the surrounding area backed away, "....Shoot
when ready."
Ken fired.
"Stop Bolt!!" Toki shouted, the arrow stopped in mid air, before being struck
by lightning and falling to the ground in ashes. The surrounding students
clapped their hands and cheered, Toki took a bow, "I call it combining. I
combined the 'Stop' spell and the 'Bolt' spell to freeze your arrow and strike
it with lightning." She said to Ken, before turning to Ai, "Can you beat
that, Ai?"
"We will." Ai said, confidently, "We've got the best magic act you've ever
seen planned!"
"Are you going to saw 'Samu in half?" Toki asked, mockingly. Osamu resisted
the urge to draw out his sword and challenge her to a battle.
"Stop calling me that!"
Toki turned to Sogeki and Honoo, "Let's go, boys." She turned back to Osamu,
and blew him a kiss, "Good luck, 'Samu. You'll need it with her on your side!"
She left.
Ai turned to Osamu and Ken, "Let's go." She sounded very angry, she left
without saying another word.
"Geez, Toki hasn't changed at all.." Osamu muttered, "...Remember how she
was always the popular girl in the Academy?"
Ken nodded, "Yeah, one of the best mages I knew. Looks like it's going to
be a tough competition." Ken thought for a moment, "Hey! I just thought of
something!! Go find Ai and bring her here! I'll be right back!"
"What are you planning?"
"You'll see!!" Ken ran off, down the halls.
Within fifteen minutes, Ai had been located and Ken had taken her and Osamu
to the middle of the school's magic trainfing field, which consisted mostly
of large boulders and various target areas.
"What's going on, Ken?" Ai asked, impatiently as Ken put up wooden targets
all over the field.
"Well," Ken started lifting a target, "When I was a student, I was good friends
with the head of the Magic Department. I spoke to him, and explained our
situation..." Ken finished putting up the target, "And he said we could use
the field until the contest to practice," He leaned on the target, "What
do you think?" The target fell over, "AAAIIIE!!!" Ken fell with it.
"Thank you, Ken...." Ai said, happily, "With this, we can practice our magic
skills and come up with a good act! Right, Osamu?" Ai turned, and found Osamu
placing his blue coffee mug on a boulder, "...What are you doing?"
"That combining thing that Toki did gave me an idea..." Osamu took a Hi-Potion
and an X-Potion out of his pocket, "What about items? I mean, just think
about it! The X-Potion and Hi-Potion heal wounds, but, not all of them or
really big ones! What if we combined them together?" Osamu poured the X-Potion
into the mug, "Let's try it! We could great something like the O-Potion!"
Osamu began to pour the Hi-Potion into the mug.
As soon as the first drop of Hi-Potion fell into the mug of X-Potion, the
result was a huge pillar of fire. The heat could be felt from the Archery
Class all the way across the school. The fire ball could be seen from the
other side of Gariland, even far into the Mandalia plains.
After the fire ball burned out, Ai and Ken looked up from the boulder they
hid behind, facing Osamu... Pitch black, charred clothing and smoke coming
from all over his body.
"....And we pour that junk on our battle wounds?" Ken asked, looking at a
Hi-Potion from his item pouch.
Ai spoke, "....We've GOT to find a way to work THAT into the show!!" She
paused for a moment, "...Osamu, your cape is on fire."
Osamu titled his head, his Knight's Cape was on fire, "....Why, so it is....."
He promptly fainted from the blast.
Ai sighed, "Okay, we need to start some serious training... Ken, cast a revive
spell on Osamu."
"What?! Why can't you?" Ken asked.
"Because, by nature, Warriors, especially ones like you, tend to suck at
casting spells. Your training begins now."
"...Wait, what do you mean by 'warriors like you'?"
"Warriors who not only such at magic, but, suck at fighting as well!"
"Grrrr..." Ken turned to Osamu, "....Revive!!" A small Angel appeared over
Osamu, like what was supposed to happen when Revive was cast, but, it did
nothing, "...Well, revive him already!!" Ken said, impatiently.
The Angel just shook its head.
"Well, do SOMETHING to wake him u-- HEY!!!!" Ken shouted as the Angel dug
through his pockets, "Get out of there, you poor excuse for a Cabbage Patch
Kid!"
The Angel pulled a Pheonix Down out of Ken's pocket and dropped it on Osamu,
waking him up from his unconscious state.
"....Well, you don't see THAT every day...." Ai muttered as the Angel
vanished.
"Ugh.... That's the last time I EVER mix potions..." Osamu muttered, he pulled
an X-potion out of his item pouch and poured it over his head, his wounds
began to heal as the liquid absorbed itself into his body.
"Okay, now, both of you need to start training for the Magic Contest." Ai
said, smiling in a way similar to Vormav, "Now, we'll start with the basic
fire magic...."
"....Can we work with something besides fire? My clothes are burnt enough
as it is." Osamu lifted up part of his burnt cape.
"Fine, we'll work on..." Ai raised her hand, "Live.. Know... Become a Frog...
FROG!!"
"Hey!! Ai-- Kero! Kero!" Osamu's clothes lay in a heap, as he stood in the
center of the pile as a frog, "Kero! Kero! Kero!" The frog glared at Ai.
"What? You'll probably get more dates looking like that!" Ken said as he
crossed his arms, grinning. The frog jumped onto his face, "H-hey!! Get off!!
OW!! THAT HURTS!!!" Ken shouted, falling to the ground with the angered frog
on his face, "Ai!! Do something! OW!!"
Ai pointed her finger at the frog, "Know... Live..."
The frog looked over at the pile of clothes, "KERO!!!! KERO!!!!!" it hopped
away from Ken.
"..Become a frog! Frog!!" A green magic shot out of Ai's finger, Osamu (the
frog) jumped out of the way, the spell barely missed Ken, instead hitting
a rock, turning it into a small stone frog, like what one may find in gardens
as decoration.
"Hey!!! Get back here!! Frog!!" Ai shouted, missing Osamu again and hitting
one of the magic targets, turning it into a wooden carving of a frog.
"KERO!!! KERO!!! KERO!!!"
"FROG!!!!!!" Ai screamed at the top of her lungs, hitting Osamu just as he
dived behind a rock, "Osamu, what was THAT abo-- .................."
Osamu stood up from behind the rock, which covered him from the waist down,
"....Ken, could you hand me my clothes?" Osamu glared at Ai, "The spell DOESN'T
work on clothing, remember, Ai!?"
"...Sorry."
Ken gave Osamu his clothes and turned away, Ai did the same.
"Thank God no-one saw me..." Osamu mumbled, he dropped one of his gloves,
"Darn..." He turned around...
....Only to face a group of new students who had just arrived at the school,
staring at him in shock, "...WHAT?! Haven't you ever seen a guy naked behind
a rock before?!?!?!"
"....Only one other time!" One student shouted, which earned him a large
amount of stares from others nearby.
It took a few minutes, but, Osamu was finally dressed and the students had
left
"Okay, now, we start with fire magic..." Ai pointed to a rock, "Destruction
of nature! Gather in flame! Fire!!" The rock lit on fire briefly, then went
out.
"Okay, I can do this." Ken pointed at the rock, "Descrution of nature!
Gather in flame! Fire!!" Nothing happened, "...I don't get it..." Ken scratched
his head.
"Uh... K-Ken..."
"Look at your...."
"What?" Ken said, "...Hey, is it getting hot out or is it just me?"
"Ken... YOUR HAIR!!!" Ai screamed, pointing at Ken's hair, which lit on fire
when he began scratching his head.
"AAAAAIIIIIIIIEEEE!!!" Ken screamed, rolling around in the grass, "STOP
DROP AND ROLL! STOP DROP AND ROLL!!" He screamed over and over.
"...Osamu, your turn." Ai pointed to the rock, "Burn it!"
Osamu pointed at the rock, "Destruction of nature, gather in flame! FI--
KEN!! LOOK OUT!!" Osamu shouted as Ken rolled in the way of his spell.
"Ahhhhh!!!!!!" Ken screamed as his shirt was lit on fire.
Osamu pointed at Ken, "Scatter your chilly sharp blades!! Ice!!"
A large block of ice formed over Ken and fell on him, putting out the
flames.
"Ow..........." Ken moaned.
Training continued like this for the next few hours. Ken and Osamu would
somehow blast each other with their spells, while Ai occaisionally threw
in a cure spell. Eventually, they took a break so that Ai could think of
a new way to train her partners.
Ai sat on a rock, while Ken and Osamu were using potions on their wounds
from training.
"Ow....... I didn't know you were so good with lightning magic..." Osamu
moaned, pouring an X-potion on his arm.
"Look who's talking, with your ice spells..." Ken groaned, shaking snow out
of his hair while pouring a Hi-Potion on his leg.
Ai began setting up targets, while the two warriors talked.
"Ow... You're a natural at ice magic..." Ken poured an X-potion on his arm.
"Guys, here's what you need to do!" Ai pointed at a target, Ken and Osamu
got up, "What Ken said about Osamu's ice magic gave me an idea... Osamu,
you cast an ice spell, creating an icicle, and Ken, you shoot it from your
cross bow!"
"....What? Is that even POSSIBLE?!" Osamu asked, "I might be good at ice
magic, but, make just an icicle?!"
"Try it!"
"But--"
"DO IT!!!"
"Yes, Ai-sama!" Osamu shouted, he held his index finger straight up, pointing
to the sky, "...ICE!!" He shouted. Nothing happened, "...I said ICE!!!" Still
nothing, "I don't get i-- ACK!!" Osamu fell to the ground as two frozen birds
fell ontop of him.
"Okay.. Point at a rock or something..." Ai suggested.
Osamu pointed at a rock, "...ICE!" A blue ray of light shot from his finger,
creating a large icicle from his finger to the rock, "Yes!! I-- STOP!!" Osamu
shouted, noticing the spell was still being cast, his hand covered in ice,
"Stop it!! Cancel!! Someone cast silence!!!"
"FIRE!" Ken shouted, melting the ice, and stopping the spell, "...What was
THAT about?"
"I don't know! It just.... Came back at me!"
Ai looked at the rock, "...I see why..." She grinned, evily, "This rock has
Mica in it..."
"Mica?" Osamu asked.
"Remember back in magic class?" Ken asked, "Mica's a mineral found in some
rocks and in large deposits in the ground. It's too thin to make armor out
of, but, it's the only thing out there that can reflect ALL kinds of magic!
Even the stuff the most powerful Reflect spells don't cover!"
"Thank God they can't make armor out of it!" Ai added, "I remember fighting
a guy with a ring with a Mica stone on it, all he had to do was hold out
his fist and my magic came right back at me!"
Osamu looked at the rock, "What can we do with Mica?"
Ai grinned, "The show is audience approval, right?"
Ken and Osamu nodded.
Ai rubbed the stone with one hand, loose Mica falling in the other, "...Why
not throw in some 'fairy dust'?" Ai tossed the loose Mica in the air, she
raised her hand, "Fire!" A small ball of flame flew from her hand, the flame
hit the Mica, bouncing off one speck, shattering into smaller fire balls,
and bouncing off many other small pieces that were floating to the ground.
The end result was a beautiful dance of fire in mid-air until the spell
eventually ended and the Mica fell to the ground.
"Whoah..." Osamu said in awe.
"Shiny..." Ken added.
Ai grinned, "....This could work! Toki shows off skill, but, we can show
off beauty!"
Ken and Osamu grinned as they began to rub Mica off the stone and performing
the same feat with Ice and Lightning magic.
Ai then got an idea, "...Guys, get a huge handful of Mica, I've got an idea."
Osamu and Ken nodded, rubbing more of the mineral off the stone, Ai did the
same.
After a while, they stood facing each other, "Okay, on three toss the Mica
in the air. I cast fire, Osamu casts ice and Ken casts lightning... One...
Two... Three..." All three of them tossed it into the air, casting their
spells into the fine dust.
The result was a beautiful explosion of flames, lightning and ice. The teens
looked to each other, "...We found our act for the magic contest..." Ai said,
grinning evily.
"Wait..." Osamu thought for a moment, "...If this is judged by how the audience
likes it, then we still have a problem."
"What's that?" Ai asked.
"Well... ...I dunno, it's really pretty, but..." Osamu tried to think, "...Most
of the people I know REALLY like a show if there's some danger involved,
like someone's life is on the line!"
Ai grinned, "Good idea, 'Samu..."
"Ai... You... You really scare me when you look at me like that..." Osamu
stepped back, Ken grabbed him, "K-Ken!?"
Ai approached Osamu, an evil grin had spread accross her face.
"S-STOP!! DON'T!!! NOOOOO!!!!!!"
The day of the contest had finally arrived...
Behind the stage, Ken and Ai watched the magic show. The acts weren't as
good as they thought they'd be, the best show so far was a Summoner who taught
Ifrit, Odin and Shiva to tap dance on stage.
Of course, those who worshipped those summoned monsters as Gods were greatly
offended. The Summoner was hauled away by Chemists due to a concussion caused
by a shoe to the head from one Shiva's followers.
The next best act was a wizard who juggled a fireball, a ball of lightning,
and a ball of solid ice. The act ended as the Wizard tried to juggle a frog
spell as well, and ended up turning himself into a frog.
Ai sighed, "There goes my hope that someone else would do better than Toki
before we did..."
"I think it'd be better if we out did her ourselves." Ken replied.
"Yeah, but, Osamu won't be to happy about it..." Ai motioned behind to a
large blanket covering some sort of large structure.
"YOU TWO ARE *SO* DEAD FOR THIS!!!" Osamu screamed.
Ken tapped on the blanket, "Hey, you'll thank us for this one day!"
"WANNA BET?!?"
An announcer walked on stage, "And our next act is by Toki Yami, Honoo Sekai
and Sougeki Mono." He walked off stage as Toki, Honoo and Sougeki walked
on stage.
Toki stood at the far right of the stage, Sougeki held a crossbow and stood
at the far left.
Honoo nodded to both of them, and stepped back.
Sougeki shot the arrow.
"STOP! FIRE!!" Toki screamed. The arrow stopped infront of her and burst
into flames.
The audience didn't seem too impressed.
"Come on! I've seen a Ninja do that with two daggers! He didn't even STOP
the arrow!" One man shouted, "It was saw dust before it got close to him!"
"I've seen Squires catch arrows with one hand!" Shouted another person.
Honoo raised his fist, preparing to use a martial arts skill. Toki stopped
him, "Save it, these people wouldn't know a good act if it came up and cast
a Death spell on them..."
Sougeki looked up to Toki, "...I...I told you we should have done something
else." Toki hit him on the head, "Ow..."
"Shut up and move it!" Toki screamed, walking off the stage, not before sending
a sharp glare to Ai, who was watching back stage, "At least we'll get a good
laugh before the day is out!"
Ai turned to Ken, "...Get him ready."
Ken grinned evilly as he began to push the mysterious covered structure towards
the stage.
"Our last act, ladies and gentlemen, is by Ai Jou, Osamu Sentou and...."
The announcer tried not to laugh, "...K..Ken Yabusame."
"IT'S SUPPOSED TO MEAN SWORD!!!!!" Ken shouted from back stage, he turned
to Ai, "If you EVER do that with my name again, I will....."
"You'll WHAT?!" Ai shouted, glaring at Ken. A glare so sharp, it could break
armor.
"N..Nothing! I'll just... change my name to the Kanji you use!" Ken
replied.
Ai and Ken walked on stage with the mysterious covered object, "Today, we
give you a show of beauty and a show of pure FEAR...AND DANGER!"
The audience didn't really react, except for two or three men in the front
row who were interested in Ai...
"What you will see, is a BRAVE KNIGHT... Who's fate is unknown... Will he
walk off stage alive or in PIECES!"
Now, THAT got the audience's attention, "BRING ON THE VIOLENCE!!!" Screamed
one man from the back row.
"KILL THE KNIGHT! KILL THE KNIGHT! KILL THE KNIGHT!" The audience chanted.
Osamu's voice was heard from under the sheet, "....Guys, are they saying
'Kill The Knight'...?"
"No, they're saying um... 'Filled With Fright!' Yeah!" Ken whispered, "People
are afraid you'll be hurt!"
Ai tore off the sheet, revealing a large metal cage, with Mica crystals lining
the bars and large sheets scattered around the inside of the cage. On the
top of the cage was a large bag with a rope attatched to it, the end hanging
outside the cage. Osamu stood in the center of the cage.
"Everyone, the brave Knight--"
"LET ME OUT!! LET ME OUT OF HERE!!!" Osamu screamed, trying to break open
the bar, "OSAMU WANTS OUT!!"
".....Yes, BRAVE Knight.." Ai said, glaring at Osamu, "A Knight who shall
look DEATH, that's right, DEATH, in the eye and LAUGH!"
"I WANT MY MOMMY!!!"
Ai and Ken stood next to the cage, "Due to the possibley graphic nature of
what will go on in this cage," Ken began, "Anyone with a weak stomach or
heart conditions is advised to leave the room."
Osamu looked at Ken, "Th-This IS safe, right!? It only LOOKS dangerous...
Right!? Am I right!?!?"
"Let's begin!" Ai shouted, ignoring Osamu, "Ken, prepare the Lightning Spell
and pull the rope..." She raised her right hand, an ice spell began to form.
She raised her left hand, a fire spell began to form.
Ken held his right hand in the air, a ball of lightning was hoverin g over
it, "...3... 2... 1..."
Ken pulled the rope, Mica flakes fell out of the bag like smoke, filling
up the entire cage.
Osamu's voice was heard in the cloud of Mica flakes, "O, Ajora in heaven
please protect this cage and all who dwell within..."
"ICE!!! FIRE!!!" Ai shouted, shooting the spells into the cage.
"LIGHTNING!!!" Ken shot his spell into the cage.
"AAAHHHH!!! IT BURNS!! AAAAAGGGGHHHH! IT'S COLD!! ZZZZYYYYAAAAAHHH!!! PAIN!!!"
The cage shook violently as Osamu ran though the cloud of Mica, trying to
escape. The cloud itself turning into a beautiful dance of fire, ice and
lightning. The screaming was easy to ignore, "HELP ME!!!!"
This continued for about seven more minutes, until the spells faded and the
cloud dispersed.
Ai and Ken looked into the cage. Osamu had various large burns, smoking hair
and clothing, burning clothes and he was unconscious on the floor and
twitching.
"He's okay, folks!!" Ken shouted to the audience, giving them two thumbs
up to show he was fine.
The audience cheered loudly.
Back stage, Toki and Honoo were just glaring at the team.
"...Sougeki, if you don't stop clapping like that, I'm going to cast meteor
on you...." Toki said, turning to the clapping Mediator.
"S-Sorry..." Sougeki hung his head.
The announcer walked on stage, "I think I know who won this year's magic
contest!" He turned to Ai, "Ai Jou, on behalf of Odine Industries and Gariland
Academy, I award your team with this Prize Money." He gave Ai a bag of Gil,
"And I give you the first prize Treasure... This." The announcer walked back
stage, and came out with a large red ball, "This is an ancient magical relic
called the 'Red Materia', I award it to you." He gave Ken the Materia and
shook his hand, "Congratulations."
The audience cheered as Ken and Ai walked off stage, Ken dragging the cage
back stage.
Two days later...
"Come on, Osamu! We WON, that's all that matters!" Ai said as the three rode
to Igros Castle in a Chocobo cart, "You should be happy!"
".....Yeah, SHOULD..." Osamu muttered. He was wrapped up like a mummy in
bandages from the contest.
"Hey, any idea what this stuff is used for, anyway?" Ken asked, looking at
the materia, "It looks pretty cool, but, what do you do with it?"
"I dunno, I'll ask one of Dycedarg's servents to look at it!" Ai said, "Ramza's
gonna be SO proud of these results! I wrote to him that we won after the
contest, the messenger came back with an invite to Igros from him!"
Ken smiled, "Perfect, a couple days off from battle and these dumb bar
jobs..."
Ai pulled out some paper from her travel bag, "I'll write up our job report,
I hope Ramza likes how it went."
Later that night, in the Igros Castle dining hall...
Ramza, Alma, Dycedarg and Zalbag were at dinner with all of Ramza's soldiers
for hire to celebrate the victory at the magic contest.
Zalbag turned to Ai, Ken and Osamu, "I'd just like to know, how did you do
it?"
Dycedarg smiled, "I'd love to see the act you used to win!"
Ai grinned, "...Got any Mica?"
"Plenty."
Ken and Ai glanced over to Osamu, ".....Give us about fifteen minutes."
Osamu swallowed his food as Ken and Ai stood next to him on both sides, "Ai...?
Ken.....?"
To Be Continued...
------------------------------------------
Job Report by Ai Jou
Gariland's Magic Assosciation and Odine Magic And Occult Industries sponsors
the yearly magic contest, the 'Gariland Memorial'.
Many participants want to show off their magic
We got to the final competition and faced the last opponent, a Time Mage
named Toki from Dorter.
We beat her and managed to be this year's champions.
--------------------------------------------
Ramza's Evaluation
Wow! I'm impressed by this one, except for the fact you almost killed Osamu.
But, he should be all right after a few days. Good luck on your next job,
I hope to hear more reports like this in the future!
-Ramza Beoulve
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Notes: Yes, you can get the Red Materia in FFT, I chose it because it seemed
like a good prize for a magic contest. Also, in the original job report from
the game, Odine was not mentioned. I added Odine because the company itself
was mentioned in Final Fantasy VIII as a foremost authority on magic and
the occult, so it's the kind of company that would fund a Magic Contest.
The name Toki was not mentioned, either. It was originally a Black Mage (Not
Wizard, they actually said 'Black Mage' this time), and I forget what their
name is (I know it was Alesomething).
Also, Mica is a real mineral. It's really flaky and breaks easily, I see
it a lot of times in rocks around a friend's house. It was that scene that
gave me a lot of trouble with the fic, I wasn't sure what the act was going
to be. Even then, originally, it wasn't going to include Osamu in the cage,
I threw that in for the fun of it.
About Toki, Honoo and Sougeki:
Name translation
Toki = Time
Yami = Darkness
Honoo = Flame or Blaze
Sekai = World
Sougeki Mono = His name is a pun on the word Sougekimono with means "Sniper"
(a good way of describing mediators or chemists when they have guns with
them).
Personality wise, I wanted Toki to have a big ego and short temper. Honoo
is best described as 'silent but deadly', I'm still debating if he should
ever say anything in the entire series. Sougeki, on the other hand, is out
of place in this group because he's actually friendly.
These three will probably return in later chapters as rival teams for some
jobs (Like discovery races, fights, things like that). I just hope people
like them as far as a rival team should go, I'm doing my best to make Toki
as unlikeable as possible.
Thanks! I hope you liked this chapter!
-Kenji Kotaro