Magical Lotus - Mahou Shoujou Byakuren - Episode 3, Part 6 [COMPLETED]

[DracoOmega]

>"My Violet Lotus isn't able to reach the youma's core unless the veil shielding it is sufficiently damage beforehand. This one was... much more durable than I have been accustomed to."
>No sign of Air at all on our magical senses? How far out can we be confident of this?

[Oldmansour]

>"I misread it. Can anyone see traces of that bat?"

>No sign of Air at all on our magical senses? How far out can we be confident of this?

>White Rose shakes her head while Lillian scans the sky. "'It didn't seem like it wanted ta stick around." the former woman offers. And you can be reasonably confidant in your ability to sense living beings auras within some distance. You were able to sense Air as soon as it revealed itself this time, after all.
>Although by the same token, you had no sense of its approach. It's much better at concealing its presence than Fire is. Given that Air doesn't seem to have a great deal of subtelty about it, you feel reasonably secure in Rin's judgement that the thing simply flew off, but you can't completely rule out the possibility that it's simply in hiding, lurking somewhere about. For right now, though, all you hear is the sound of voices from some distance behind you, and what you believe is someone running in your direction.

>"My Violet Lotus isn't able to reach the youma's core unless the veil shielding it is sufficiently damage beforehand. This one was... much more durable than I have been accustomed to."

>The big reptile seems a bit confused. "You kinda lost me."

[DracoOmega]

>"Simply put, my purification magic cannot reach the center of the corruption which created a youma as powerful as this one unless that youma is weakened first."

>Reach out of the Purpose: Purpose, do you have any idea where Air went?

[Oldmansour]

>"Simply put, my purification magic cannot reach the center of the corruption which created a youma as powerful as this one unless that youma is weakened first."

>Reach out of the Purpose: Purpose, do you have any idea where Air went?

>"Ahh. Well, good to know that brawling wasn't for nothing." the bog youkai replies.

>As you send your thought out to the Purpose of the Barrier, the thus-far unnamed police woman jogs past you, dropping down to her knees at the fallen horses' head, a look of tremendous concern on her face. It was traveling in a northerly direction, but I have lost the sense of its presence. the Purpose answers.

[DracoOmega]

>About how far away was it from here when you lost it?
>Concentrate our senses in that direction. Can we pick up anything at all?

[Oldmansour]

>About how far away was it from here when you lost it?
>Concentrate our senses in that direction. Can we pick up anything at all?

>Not far at all. Perhaps fourty of your feet?
>A tight scan of the indicated direction reveals nothing of any interest, excepting of course the magical auras accounted for around you.

[DracoOmega]

>And then its presence simply vanished abruptly? No sign of it perhaps doing something?

[Oldmansour]

>And then its presence simply vanished abruptly? No sign of it perhaps doing something?

>It was not abrupt, it faded out of my awareness, much as it did the previous times it has revealed itself.

[DracoOmega]

>Then I fear we may have let it get away again. Nonetheless, thank you.

>Sigh
>"I'm afraid that Air seems to have escaped; I can no longer detect its presence anywhere nearby."

[Oldmansour]

>Then I fear we may have let it get away again. Nonetheless, thank you.

>Sigh
>"I'm afraid that Air seems to have escaped; I can no longer detect its presence anywhere nearby."

>I have noticed, however, that your power has increased substantially since your last confrontation with the Air Champion. the Purpose tells you.

>"We'll get 'im next time." White Rose says quickly.
>In this time, Makie the miko has walked over to your assembled little group, her eyes fixed on the normal horse on the ground. "I can't believe you did it. Some of the most powerful beings on the planet couldn't restore a youma after it had been created."
>The resonant voice of Haruka answers her, "Magical Lotus it seems is full of surprises."

[DracoOmega]

>"I am just glad that I was able to save it. Being turned into a youma is a fate no one should have to suffer through."
>Does working on mending our injuries take too much focus to be able to carry on a light conversation during? If not, let's get ourselves a bit more comfortable and start to work on that.

[Oldmansour]

>"I am just glad that I was able to save it. Being turned into a youma is a fate no one should have to suffer through."

>Makie the miko bows to you with profound respect.
>"Then, she really did it?" the kneeling officer asks not you, but Haruka, who is approaching behind you. "She made him normal again?"
>"Yes she did." Haruka assures her. "I sense nothing at all remaining of the demon's power. Your friend will be fine." The big youkai smiles gently. "Though I admit, it's quite possible he'll wake up with a headache."
>"Sorry 'bout that." Lillian says with a toothy grin.

>Does working on mending our injuries take too much focus to be able to carry on a light conversation during? If not, let's get ourselves a bit more comfortable and start to work on that.

>Coping with the pain of your injuries doesn't take too much of your power or attention. Actually healing them will take a bit more focus and energy.
>"Are you girls all right?" Haruka asks you and your fellow combatants.

[DracoOmega]

>"I believe that last hit I took broke a rib, but I should be fine."

[Oldmansour]

>"I believe that last hit I took broke a rib, but I should be fine."

>"I'm not surprised." says Lillian. "That thing was probably strong enough to put a dent in the side of a tank."
>"Yes. I was wondering about the wisdom of staying that close to the youma by choice." Haruka muses. "But that aside for the moment, we can help with that injury, if you'd like."

[Hello Purvis]

>"Please. Was anyone else hurt?"

[Oldmansour]

>"Please. Was anyone else hurt?"

>Both White Rose and Makie shake their heads, while Lillian answers, "Naw I'm good. Hero here took all the real abuse."
>Haruka, after asking for your assent, probes your side experimentally, locating the damaged rib in short order, and with minimal discomfort you note with appreciation. "Definitely one broken. I think the rest are just bruised, fortunately." The big youkai produces an ofuda and utters a short spell, making the talisman's edge glow a soft blue. "Place that charm over the broken rib. It'll make the damage heal significantly faster." she explains, offering the paper talisman to you.

[Hello Purvis]

>Do this thing!
>"Thank you."

[Oldmansour]

>Do this thing!
>"Thank you."

>"If I may ask." Haruka says as you place the glowing ofuda atop your damaged rib. The talisman adheres to your skin and straight away you feel a very cooling sensation spread through your midsection. It feels like water element magic, which strikes you as a bit odd since the Bird shrine represents the Fire element. "Wouldn't it have been a better idea not to stay that close to the youma for so long in the first place? I gathered from what I saw that your powers function at range as well as in melee."

[DracoOmega]

>"In retrospect, that is almost certainly true, but I am afraid that the enhancement to my strength and agility I performed earlier in the battle left my other magical abilities impaired until I could find sufficient time to reverse it. A tactical misjudgement, I fear."

[Oldmansour]

>"In retrospect, that is almost certainly true, but I am afraid that the enhancement to my strength and agility I performed earlier in the battle left my other magical abilities impaired until I could find sufficient time to reverse it. A tactical misjudgement, I fear."

>Haruka nods, understanding. "It can happen during a battle, even to the best of us." The big youkai then squares her shoulders. "I don't want to offend you, especially not after you saved that horse, but would you mind if I made an observation?"

[DracoOmega]

>Nod
>"Please feel free."

[Oldmansour]

>Nod
>"Please feel free."

>"From what I observed, I would guess that while you have a tremendous amount of power, you haven't seen a great deal of combat since you found it. Nor have you had any kind of organized training with it. And if I may further guess, I would say that whatever you do in your off-days, for lack of a better term, they don't involve combative pastimes such as martial arts. Am I correct?"

[DracoOmega]

>"This seems apparent to you?"

[Oldmansour]

>"This seems apparent to you?"

>"Not certainly so, but apparant enough to guess. It's a skill I've had a great deal of practice with in my years."

[DracoOmega]

>"It is... true that my experience in this area is more limited than I should wish, given the current state of affairs. But if the result of this battle has left you in doubt of our readiness to handle what worse there is to come, I assure you I do not plan to make the same mistake twice."

[Oldmansour]

>"It is... true that my experience in this area is more limited than I should wish, given the current state of affairs. But if the result of this battle has left you in doubt of our readiness to handle what worse there is to come, I assure you I do not plan to make the same mistake twice."

>"The result of this battle, Magical Lotus, has left me with a potential opportunity to help both of us." Haruka counters.

[DracoOmega]

>"What do you propose?"

[Oldmansour]

>"What do you propose?"

>Haruka spreads her wings a little. "We of the Four shrines train extensively at combating supernatural threats to our world. On behalf of the Fire Bird shrine, I invite you and your comrades to train with us."

[DracoOmega]

>Glance at Rin
>What do you think? We may have ended up the resident experts on the demons, but it is true that neither of us have trained for anything quite like this and they have.

[Oldmansour]

>Glance at Rin
>What do you think? We may have ended up the resident experts on the demons, but it is true that neither of us have trained for anything quite like this and they have.

>I like the sound of it. your kasha informs you. This fight coulda been a lot worse without Lillian and Makie's help. But I wonder about Kiku. If she's trained like the others have, Hakura might recognize it, and that might give her secret identity away.