ShiningSector

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

"Mornin' Nemo, and to you Zoey," Travis replied in kind just before the two Talent eventually left the room and finally returning his attention to Wesley once more, "Perhaps for starters, there is a restroom down the rightmost corridor from the main stairs. Should be easy to spot assuming you came through the front door."

He took a quick bite from his food before continuing, "Though like all of us, you'll have you're own room and bathroom too. I think you'll find the quality to be very luxurious. Of course you should be able to arrange it to your liking."

Travis then leaned back and stared at the ceiling for a moment as he reached out to anything he would figure okay for him to disclose, "Don't think we have any officially established ground rules and most of the facilities are free to be used by anyone just as long it is maintained properly after use...don't remember anyone screaming their heads off about someone not flushing the downstairs toilet."

"If anything, be courteous and respectful and you'll be okay," he ended before finishing his last bite, "honestly though, I think Felix, the leader of our group, would be the better spokesman in filling you in a lot better than I can."

For a moment of silence, Travis carried his crumb-ridden plate to the kitchen where he would cleaned and placed it at the nearby staking for drying before returning to the table, "Speaking of which, we'll be having a meeting shortly so if you want, I can lead you there."

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Finally stirring from what felt like a long silent unprovoked slumber, Travis turned within his birth and slowly opened his lazy eyes. His eye lids eventually flickered all the way open until he gazed up at the redwood ceiling. For once after the past few days, his conscious was tamed and devoid of any thoughts. Whatever that was in Zoey's concoction was, it proved helpful in clearing his head. That and heading straight to bed late last night had helped too. He would definitely need to thank her once he had the chance

Now he felt rejuvenated for a change as he breathed in easily through his nostrils only after giving a single satisfying yawn. While in his previous state of fatigue, it would have taken him minutes to notice an unknown aroma until he was looking right at it. Almost immediately could Travis pick up the soothing smell from downstairs. To him, it smelled like a fine meal.

Eager to live the new day, with fresh enthusiasm and the pressing will to dine, the Untalent arose from bed, turning over the sheets and blankets atop him and sought to clean and dress himself properly after a few weeks grind of studying.

---

Upon stepping down stairs, the smell of breakfast was much stronger than it was before. Travis couldn't wait to dig in after a longer peaceful rest. Turning the corner, and past the living room and to the dining table, Travis came across the majority of his colleagues ate the table already, including another new face. The man appeared only slightly smaller and younger than Travis was however bore strange resemblance to that of Nemo and Raiya. Not by physical appearance but perhaps a fierce demeanor in a way.

He tried not to think much about it but what seemed evident was that Felix had yet another vision and name to collect into their group. Travis wondered if this was seriously how Felix would continue to recruit new members. He didn't mind per se but the method was becoming more and more ominous. The notion of bringing into Felix into somewhat of a therapy session regarding the manner was compelling with the intent of unmasking this presence that could somehow know the names and location of everyone here. Unfortunately, Travis already imagined Felix wouldn't know anymore than the what the Untalent understood. Perhaps in time maybe; if he could live till then.

Travis eventually claimed his own seat at the table and his own plate with an assortment items and confections. Before he could even dig in though, Raiya decided to introduce herself in the more sarcastic manner possible just as the newcomer-- now self identified as Wesley --asked for their names. Maybe it was sound to say that her behavior was predictable by now since they had been in the same establishment for quite sometime. Of course given her choice of words used to paint herself, Travis humored himself into believing the plausibility of that thought. As she returned to her own meal, Travis decided to present himself too.

"Name's Travis," kindly replied, "pleasure to meet you, Wesley."

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

I would have posted last night with something of better quality but here in the Northwest, we just got hit with a bit of nasty frozen white that only looks appealing behind a window of a warm house and not in the streets. What is usually a casual 45 minute drive home from work turned into 2 hours of arduous lane finding, space giving, and slow careful traversal over a icy road surrounded nearly shoulder to shoulder by semis. Heading back to work the morning wasn't much better.

Sorry for the delay.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

"Mana...dial?" Travis sounded unsure what Raiya was talking about for a mere moment, almost as if the device she spoke of and even demonstrated before him was like an alien concept. Simple-minded curiosity drove him to investigate his many pockets of his attire, feeling around them until finally retrieving his own manadial Felix had given him before. With an annoyed groan, Travis grasped his face with his right hand, "Ah, jeez...I completely forgot about this thing. I'm clearly working more than I should be..."

The Untalent sighed and arose from his seat upon hearing Felix's brief announcement of the and his retiring for the day. Considering the circumstances he too was due for some proper rest himself. While Zoey's elixir was proving invaluable recovering his strained stamina, he nonetheless heeded her warning regarding its side-effects to that of a simple energy drink. A game of simulated target practice seemed appealing but Travis rather he recuperate his health for tomorrow, assuming They finally get a bead on their next Paragon. Besides, he was becoming oddly irritable towards anything of circular design, even of his own making.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

"Its quite alright," Travis replied upon taking another sip of the concoction. The taste of the herbal drink was indeed quite bitter and somewhat dry, devoid of any artificial sweetness yet soothing and particularly rich in its own natural splendor. Travis couldn't gauge the flavor but he did feel strangely revitalized and more alive than he was a day ago, "I don't mind it at all. I've had a few local teas in some of the South Americans towns before where they used native herbs and spices to make them. Some of them were a hit or miss for but they certainly kept me going."

Travis then eased into his couch and kept the warm cup close to him. Now that we was more focused and no longer thinking about his work he speculated the location of the waterfall and caves Zoey had visited. Using his own magic, he casted a projection spell and began to draw the entire region of Redwood and its known sites and basins as if they were on a detailed map, "Perhaps the more notable waterfall here would be Trillium Falls though I could name a few other close by like Berry Creek Falls here..and Silver Falls there..."

Travis then stopped and stared at the drawn-up map, "You know what? I haven't even figured out where we are on the map."

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Zoey's direct and honest reply to his query wasn't quite the explanation he was looking for. It did indeed answer Travis' question though he had hoped for a follow-up that would have explained this new physical and natural identity. Nevertheless, he retained his calm demeanor during the matter, albeit perhaps not purposefully given his relatively passive state likely influenced by an overworked and tired mind.

"That must of been quite the arachnid. What cave did you visit?" Travis replied after being shown the extent of the healed scratch upon Zoey's hand. He pondered for a moment if she had visited the catacombs they ventured through earlier. It wouldn't be surprising if that was the place she came to. Then again as they were close by the Academia, the alternative could have been an escaped test subject; also not surprising.

His attention was briefly placed back to the luminous liquid within his cup, looking over it and gander upon the glittering contents of his untested. Travis merely guessed the herb she had added in was a unique replacement to tea mix she had rejected and interestingly portrayed some kind of chemical reaction to the heated water. Travis shook his head, believing himself to be overthinking things and took a small gulp.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Just as he had cleared the stairs and entered into lobby, the voice of Zoey grabbed Travis' dazed attention. She had pontificated what seemed to be a quote of sorts from what he could understand anyway. While he was not taking a kind to the poetic choice of words, Travis admitted they at least had merit in describing his declined hygienic state.

"Let's hope that I did find all the pieces lest we risk a opening a black hole..." replied a perturbed Travis as he found and collapsed into an adjacent couch from Zoey's and began staring to the ceiling, "How I'm doing? Well. To say the least; completed our big Paragon containment project...I think...I swear I'm seeing glyphs now that aren't there. What about...you?"

Travis was initially going to return Zoey's well-being inquiry back to her but as he turned tiled his head to face her direction, what he found instead wasn't Zoey, or at least not the Zoey he remembered for the past few days. What casually laid in the opposite sofa before him was a near-animalistic feminine body; exhibiting purplish skin and fur and toping off with large wolf-like ears and a tail. Despite the bestial appearance that had now caught Travis by surprise, he couldn't ascertain any hostile intent though likely due to the woman's familiar lazy posture.

Perhaps this is Zoey, Travis surmised to himself as he continued to stare in awe at her but remained still, awaiting a response and possibly and explanation.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

For the past few days, Travis had slaved away to perfect his complex runic spell; theoretically to be, at least in his own hopes and possibly Felix's as well to be potent enough to suppress a Paragon's aura detecting capabilities. Since he started this intensive project, his journeys out of his quarters were infrequent at best and when he was out and about, it was not for very long. The occasion meal, a few trips to the coffee pot, a bit of exercise, and perhaps a self-privileged hour to himself before resuming his work once more. Sometimes he would be summoned away from his work for longer periods. The practice could definitely be seen as unhealthy and even Travis would admit it himself that he was surely pushing himself hard to complete a project without an estimated deadline but if there was thing he found pride in, it was his work.

Just as his base-of-operations was back in Mexico, the room had become rather unkempt with clothing tossed to a corner and stacks of research notes placed almost anywhere he would consider convenient. Several stands holding his tomes surrounded his workbench where several large articles of paper enveloped the table's surface with additional notes and a tome or two spread out. The center piece was of his work was a sheet that had drawn on it a well crafted rune. Eye pieces and magnifying glasses peered over the design as a way for Travis to write the necessary micro-scripting for the rune to function correctly.

Never has he applied so much into one rune before. His latest creations were complex in their own right but only expressed the necessary instructions for the spell to work. Given the facts at hand, this monster of a rune could be considered overkill in terms of logic and rules. So much so with all the many lines and curves etched in with a series of linguistic text, the magic circle itself could've been past on as a piece to be displayed in an art museum. With the rune's sole function in mind, that alternative was perhaps a plausible destiny to meet.

As it was proposed to Felix as just a bare basic doodle originally, the nearly finished rune's intended use was to isolate a Paragon's sense of awareness and prevent it from possibly reacting to another Paragon were another one was to come within any proximity. Travis would've preferred to actually have another Paragon to experiment with but as Felix pointed out, two considered godly relics defined a much greater risk than to leave to chance. Thus Travis had bluntly applied every single safeguard he could think of into the large rune; any possible mana frequency he could write or reference, several long verses of multiplex instructions, and a number of redundant texts to leave no hole empty. It was virtually fool proof but unfortunately that remained to be proven if they acquired their next Paragon.

Travis leaned into his seat staring at his creation. He marveled at his work in all of its elaborate glory but remained compelled to judge it further, prying at it with simulated scenarios and what-ifs. While it was a good thing that everything checked out with each test completing without fail, Travis simply could not help but stress about any other or unknown factors he or anyone couldn't think of. It nagged at him greatly and he repeatedly restrained himself from adding any other redundancies that could risk reducing the rune's effectiveness, or worse, nullifying it already skeptical logic. The Untalent signed and pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned further back into his chair in an attempt to clear his mind of any worry or doubt. But every time he would even glimpse at a shred of the text, he could already imagine the gears of his mind overclocking once more.

With an annoyed grunt, Travis surrendered to the caring thought of putting his mind to something less taxing as it has already become. He quickly rose from his chair, grabbed his appropriate attire and departed the now-locked room before making his way downstairs. Perhaps he would be able to put his mind to something else useful or happen across someone else to converse with to retain his sanity seemingly lost in his chamber of productive uncertainty.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

I will have my post up by tomorrow. Sorry for the delay.

Paragon's End [Modern/Fantasy/Anime/Adventure]

Finishing up his meal, Travis followed behind Felix's lead to his study. Raiya and Nemo also came along as well but as instructed, they waited by the doorway. Once both he and Felix arrived, Felix closed the door before taking a seat at his desk. It was an interesting act if not a gesture that Travis noted. Was this to be a private meeting? He recalled Felix's cautiousness from earlier the late evening before and gathered if that was the case. There was little difference that Travis saw in that matter.

"I'll be amazed if some of these ideas even work." Travis replied as he shot Felix a glance before returning his attention to his notes he took from earlier, "Since we have very little to go by as far as what horrible things that could transpire if two Paragons are in the same space, I decided to take a few practical and cautious routes as a response to the endeavor."

Travis then took a step back and his fingers lit up as he casted a light projection spell and the tip of his conjoined middle and index fingers as he began to draw several shapes and depictions into the air, "We know the Pargaons - or at least Espial for that matter - can react to auras given if certain criteria is met..."

Travis then drew a circle with a simplified image of a Paragon within it, "Since we don't know what two Paragons can do together, one proposal is to essentially blind them. I have a theoretical runic algorithm that should be able emit a field of sorts to limit the Paragon's ability to detect any aura or mana sources. The only thing that could complicate matters is what wavelengths can the Paragon pick up on. There would be more testing - and to be honest - I may have to write the script to include all of them."

The Untalent then shifted to the other side opposite of the first drawing and began to draw a similar diagram, "This one perhaps contains the more straightforward thinking but may appear more unproven and possibly more reliable at the same time. What I have proposed here is something similar to the first concept. Where the first example simply blindfolds a Paragon, this plan basically tosses it into a locked closet. What we have is a small pocket dimension hub that the Paragons can be placed in separate from one another in a space outside our reality."

Travis then took a step back and stared at his design, "I can pull something like this off but will take a vast amount of time to program each pocket...and possibly make each on unique as a safety precaution. The main idea it to eliminate anyway for them in face with our plane existence...which does sound excessive I'll agree."

He then drew several lines connecting the Paragon to the circle in each depiction and which then expanded outward to other circles, "Both concepts are sound currently but I struggle to believe that anything like these may hold up forever. In fact, I'm willing to bet that plenty of mana will be needed to keep such containment plans going. We could use mana crystals as a source to power this spell but changing them out will be tedious and we'd run out of mana crystals before than we could have enough recharged."

Travis drew the golem back at the catacombs with the Paragon on its head, "Since we can't use the Paragon to power our spells without it eating us in the process, we could instead create an inlay formula to use the Paragon as the battery for these two designs; just like how the Paragon was used to power that golem we fought before!"

He then stared at the concept as if to review his work and then placed himself at the center of the amassed light-constructs. "The idea is very energy efficient but will take time to confirm if any of the formulas we come up with will be enough for the Paragon to cooperate with. But with that said, that's all I have as of yet."

Travis took a look at his work and then back to Felix, "I believe this is the part where you now have a go at my crazy ideas ..or my horrendous drawing skills."