Lightning crackles the constant dark skies of Garrochia Mountain path to the summit as an elderly man continues to climb his way to the top. His silver hair shined with every streak of lightning flashing across the sky while his black robe blew in the wind. Half way up the path he stops and looks up to the skies watching them move back and forth in a violent swirl. He sighs stroking his beard gently while he began to think back on his decision to help this man he had not even knew. "You know where my daughter is!? Tell me what you know now!” His hands began to glow with a orange tint, his hands burning with fiery desire matching the sensation in his eyes. The other cloaked man simply smiled back at him while his armed guards began pointing his weapons at the man with the glowing hand. "If you kill me what will happen to you…or better yet your daughter…” the cloaked man said. He stared intensely at the cloaked man wanting to burn a hole through his face. His gaze let up and he eventually dropped his threatening appeal. "I care not what happens to me…but my daughter…she is all that is left of the Azral. I cannot allow her death be caused by my inability to wait.” The armed guards dropped their aim and the cloak man brought up a digital layout of the city where his daughter was being held with a wave of his hand. "This city here…Ruthann City…is where your daughter is likely being held. Who has her I do not know but I can provide you the specific city if you can do something for me.” He looked at the cloaked man and nodded hesitantly. "You see there is a trouble maker there who used our kingdom name in vain.” He looked angrily at the cloaked man. "Unforgivable. Who might this person be?” The cloaked man gave him a picture of the one in question, looking over it before storing it in his robe jacket. "You know what must be done?” He nodded and turned around to leave the impressive stronghold. "Meta!” Meta turned around to face the cloaked man. "Do not let on who gave you this objective. We do not need needless blood shed on our hands.” Meta nodded again then turned around exiting the double doors back into the palace main corridor decorated with marble walls and floors and a red carpet to the entrance.
Meta looked back on to the path up ahead and continued to the summit. "Once I get over this mountain I will be able to see my darling daughter…who would have thought that another Azral lived after our imminent destruction at the hands of Eve. We owe Dreams Kingdom a lot for their help in preserving us as best they can. It…was a shame what happened to their flourishing kingdom. Meta walked up the path with his footsteps echoing through the sky while occasional lightning strikes drown out the sound.
Within some minutes Meta reached the top of the mountain. It appeared as a desolate wasteland with nothing but a tree or two still left that hasn’t already been struck by the constant storm brewing at the top of the mountain. "I believe Ruthann City is just to the east of the other side of the base of this mountain.” He began walking again but stopped himself after taking a few steps looking at the one who stands before him. "Well I’ll be, if it isn’t the one I was to look for.” The man looked to the side before throwing off his coat to the side. "I don’t know what you’re talking about but if you don’t explain yourself you’re about to be back on the other side of the mountain.” Cory drew his whip and kept his other hand on his daggers ready to toss one as quickly as possible. Meta looked on unconvinced. "It doesn’t matter what you believe or not and I need not explain myself to you. If you have a problem with this mayhap we solve this with battle then.” Cory drew a dagger and threw it at Meta with blinding speed. The time it took him to draw one and charge it and throw was at least a full or half a second. The dagger traveled at Meta and seemingly bounced right off of him without even scratching him. Meta smiled while Cory looked on agitated. "You’ve never encountered someone like me before have you?” Cory continued to look on agitated as Marianna finally reached the top after being left behind by Cory. "You really shouldn’t run ahead like this Cory it…what…” Marianna looked at the two standing face to face as a bolt of lightning hit in between them. "Cory…is that…him?” Cory turned his head and looked at Marianna. "I need you to go warn the others. Quickly! Tell them he came earlier than expected.” Marianna nodded. "So it was exactly as you said.” Cory nodded and turned back to Meta. "Tell TJ and the others now! And while you’re there make sure Tierre completely cleaned his computers. GO!” Marianna was shocked to hear Cory yell and nodded while turning around and running back to Ruthann City. Meta picked up Cory’s glowing dagger and stopped it from glowing by what looked to be sapping the power from it. "A great technique indeed in one so young. And you’ve mastered the element holy. That is a feat that only Azral’s could achieve.” Cory looked at him from the corner of his eyes by turning his head a bit. "You’re an Azral huh? Your race is near extinct…it’s a shame I have to remove another one from the list of the living.” Meta laughed loudly. "My young boy didn’t you know? Nothing can match the power of an Azral’s magic capability. Not even the sons of Granas” Cory looked at him and clenched his whip tighter. "Damn…Tierre’s information told them more than I thought. I’m sure he knows about TJ’s whereabouts too…or maybe…he just knows that we are alive…” Meta continued to smile confidently while standing perfectly still. "Well…are you done speculating? I’m sure you would like to see a demonstration?” Cory sighed. "Alright. I’ve got nothing to lose. You’re boasting a lot…so…I’m about ready to shut your mouth!” Cory rushed at him throwing two daggers at varying altitudes.
The knives bounced off of Meta again seemingly not damaging him. "Didn’t I show you five minutes ago…it’s useless!” Meta waved his now flaming hand in a horizontal motion throwing a wave of fire at Cory. "Hmph…” Cory continued rushing towards the wave of fire and swung his whip forward and spinning it in a narrow long circle creating a tunnel effect to absorb the fire onto his whip. He then swung his flaming whip at Meta as hard as he could with the fire trailing behind how the whip was swung. "Hmm…most impressive.” Meta was astonished at how Cory fought him. Utilizing magic abilities with his weapons was interesting but it wasn’t the most purest form of magic. Meta put both hands up in front of him and absorbed the fire that came at him and put his hand up to Cory who was still rushing him and fired an energy blast at him that was glowing white and filled with electricity. Cory smirked and vanished within a flash of blue willow wisps. Meta gritted his teeth and looked around. "He’s…fast…” Cory immediately reappeared behind Meta just as he turned around and threw an uppercut hitting Meta with a powerful blow lifting him into the air. Cory pulled out a an armlet from within his combat shirt and threw it into the air while rushing the airborne Meta. The armlet fire mini lightning beams at Meta shocking him with jolts of lightning while Cory under him wrapped his whip around Meta and slammed him into the ground with a thunderous boom. He then used the momentum from slamming him down to launch himself in the air and come down with a thrust kick. Cory came down and connected with the kick but the connect felt wrong. He looked at Meta closely finally noticing there was a barrier between him and his foot albeit thin. Meta continued to smile while he looked at Cory over him. "Most impressive! Now…behold the power of the Azral’s!” Meta erupted into a burst of energy prompting Cory to somersault off of him in order to not get smeared by the pillar of light that erupted from his body. "Damn…that was all holy energy too!” Cory slid a bit backwards after the light disappeared watching the area closely. Meta floats up and then begins to lift off of the sky. Cory looked on not knowing Azral’s could fly let alone erupt themselves within a magical element. "You will now dance for me!” Meta said holding up the index finger on both his hands and pointed to Cory’s position. Cory tilted his head before back flipping away from a bolt of lightning that struck his current position. He looked up again watching Meta point to him again and again dodged another lightning bolt. He began running around the summit dodging the various lightning bolts that Meta was summoning for him. "You are fast son of Granas. This battle has been most enjoyable.” Cory continued to run past the lightning bolts as fast as he could trying to close the distance between him and Meta. With the distance not as far as it was Cory leapt into the air to get as close as he could. Meta smirked and pointed to Cory while the sky got ready to slam a lightning bolt into him. "Got you!” Cory used the tossed armlet he threw up earlier as a thunder absorber to absorb one strike of lightning from Meta’s attack which shattered it and dashed forward burning with holy light. Meta shook his head unimpressed by Cory’s advance. "Fool…I haven’t even begun to fight you seriously.” He dropped one of his hands and kept the other one up closing it into a fist. As soon as he did Cory stopped dead in his tracks. "W-what!?” Cory struggled to move but couldn’t, no matter how hard he tried. He looked at Meta trying to reach his arms out being within arms length but they felt too heavy to move. "What the hell…did you do to me!?” Meta again shook his head. "For one who is skilled in magic usage, you do not know how to fight against someone who utilizes it. I know Granas taught you more than this…or were you not listening?” Cory gritted his teeth and tried even harder to move but still had no dice. Meta sighed. "Tis a shame I must end this. From fighting you I know you would have inevitably lost due to your inability to counter magic appropriately. This is the end of this skirmish for you.” Meta held out his hand charging it with holy and holding it to Cory’s face.
Marianna barged into Lianna’s house out of breath and ran up the stairs into the room where Yuriko, Hikaru, Zen, and Lianna was with TJ. She caught her breath for a minute before telling them the news. "…TJ…it’s Cory…the guy Cory…he ran off to meet…he’s here!”. The others looked on confused while TJ sat up and looked at her seriously. "What!?”. She caught her breath some more and talked in a more understandable manner. "That…man Cory told me about…he is here…and Cory…I don’t know if he is okay!”. The room got heavy as the news echoed through to all of them. In the current shape they were in, someone else coming is bad news.
