New Pride

**Date Started:** July 27th, 2021
**Date Completed:** Ongoing
**Previous Role-Play:** The Right Day
**Users Involved:** User:KontonMan
**Setting:** Clover Kingdom
**Characters Involved**: Rosanne Vermillion, Rebekah, Bishop Quintrell, Frozen Shogun

## Burning Rock

It was boiling. Sweat would likely trail across the newcomers in the Ultime-Volcano Mountain Trail, the home base of the Crimson Lion Kings. But it wouldn’t be only because of the bubbling lava trails, but the fact that it was a Grand Magic Zone. The sheer amount of mana here was suffocating for many, even at the base of the trail. But standing with three other figures was a woman.

Long crimson mane, a black bodysuit and a jacket that cut off by her midriff. Rosanne Vermillion was the Captain of the Crimson Lions, and today was the formal induction of the rookies mages from the exams. She smiled at all of them, spreading her arms wide with glee. “Welcome!” she exclaimed. “This is gonna be your home, training ground, and relaxing place all in one while you’re a member of the Squad.”

“Now before I go on about teaching you how to deal with the pressure of this Zone...” Rosanne crossed her arms. “Introduce yourselves to one another. There are only 3 of you, so you’ll all be working closely together.”

Right behind Roseanne was Rebekah. The dark skinned warrior with eyes as pink as the deepest lily. She seemed the most calm despite the heat drawing liters of sweat from her pores. Some would attribute it to the legendary warrior blood coursing through her vein as a member of the Tribe of Solomon. But in honesty, that *mystical* ability to survive in harshness, to resist the strongest mana, did not come from love or admiration by magic. It was through ferociousness.

For generations, the Tribe of Solomon made their home in the Desert Babylonia. A vast sand covered land plagued with sandstorms, droughts and seasonal floods. Both Rebekah and her brother often spoke about how *free* and *light* they felt in Clover Kingdom. And those around them spoke or were jealous of their ability to seamlessly control their magic, which they compared to *breathing*. It allowed Rebekah to partake in this test at the ripe age of 14.

But more importantly. In an odd way, this trail felt more like home than any of those houses Samson managed to get for the two of them.

"I'm Rebekah." She said. "Pleasure to meet you all. And-" She looked away as a slight blush came across her cheek. She could feel the beads around her neck move as she looked away. "Thank you for allowing me to join, Captain Vermillion."

Bishop watched Rebekah introduce herself with rather unimpressed eyes. Was he the only one who noticed? "We already know each other, more or less. Rebekah was lucky enough to be one of my partners for the second phase of the exam. And well, I guess I don't know anything about this person in the clunky armor." Bishop tugged on his collar as he spoke, trying to keep cool as air circulated in and out of his attire. A shame that he was only letting hot air out only for more hot air to come in. "Speaking of that armor, aren't you hot in there?"

"Why don't you mind your business." Rebekah grumbled. Bishop had a point...but she thought it'd be the proper thing to reintroduce herself. Back home, they'd already be discussing plans on taking down their first monster.

Rebekah growled. Would Roseanne *really* be upset if she pushed Bishop off the trail? After all, this would be a great way to start training right? Rebekah might actually *help* Bishop build muscle...since right now Rebekah was the second muscular person their. And with the first being a female, well...the boy and living armor needed to catch up.

Bishop simply looked at Rebekah as she responded to him. A shrug, he was simply pointing this being their second meeting. "Still needlessly abrasive I see." Bishop mumbled to himself, he figured that it was probably worth greeting himself to the person in armor at least seeing as they never had a proper introduction. "Bishop Quintrell, nobleman of House Quintrell and now, 5th Class Junior Knight of the Crimson Lion Kings." Bishop wouldn't admit it, properly hiding the excitement on his face, but it felt amazing to finally be able to add Magic Knight into his greetings.

"Still nauseatingly ostentatious, I see." Rebekah said after his underwhelming introduction. She rolled her eyes and looked away. "As if we're not the same ranking..despite our *different* ages."

“Both of you, behave!” Rosanne crossed her arms, squinting her eyes at the pair of them. “Beka. Don’t lower yourself to the level of an aggressor or those we deal with. It doesn’t look good if a member of the Squad that defends Clover initiates fights without a proper reason.”

Rosanne’s head craned to face Bishop. “And you, Bishop.” she clicked her tongue. “You’re a member of a Noble House, but more importantly you’re a Crimson Lion now. Similar advice for you, don’t feed the fire when someone is angry with you. That’s the move of an idiot if you don’t know what you’re doing. And you especially shouldn’t do that to a teammate.”

“I’m going to add 5 more laps of the trail for you two to do TOGETHER after the tour.” Rose raised a finger before the two could interject. “Use that time to find some common ground! Our power doesn’t only lie in our individual skills, but our ability to work seamlessly as a unit.”

Rosanne nodded to herself, glancing up for an instant to make sure she had gone over everything for that topic. “Okay, now that the boring bossy stuff is out of the way...I want each of you tell me the best way to deal with the intense mana of a Grand Magic Zone.”

Really? Bishop had to run because Rebekah couldn't control her temper? This was outrageous! He wanted to act on his feelings, but what would it be for? Whether he liked it or not, he was still new to the squad and not a valuable enough asset in Rosanne's or the kingdom's eyes to put up with if he started complaining. Not yet at least. So for now, he'd hold his tongue.

"Oh, It's Mana Skin, right?" Bishop replied. He came from a family filled with a few magic knights. His father, mother, and sister all either are or were at some point. So he'd been fed a bit of tales about their journeys and how certain things were done.

Rebekah was opposite of Bishop. Or rather, she felt embarrassed that she'd already annoyed her new captain. She remained silent, accepting the punishment and scolding without the slightest hint of annoyance. And then allowed Bishop to do what he did best. Act first.

"I'm unfamiliar with the term...But this place feels like my homeland. Although we left when we were younger, I remember my parents teaching us how to deal with intense magic. It's the second thing children in my village learn after walking. We don't have a name for it but it's like taking the magical power within us and wearing it like clothes. It protects us from the environment and declares our existence to the harsh world around us."

"Yes!" Rosanne smiled. "Mana Skin involves taking the mana we naturally exude and tightening it around ourselves. It takes good mana control...so you'll all be able to do it. It's the main reason I picked you three. The control over your magic is very strong compared to most of the others!"

Rose pointed to each of them. "First step, sense the mana you're giving off. And then use your control to wrap it around you. If you can't do it, I can't take any of you up the volcano. And you'll have to come back next week if you fail at it."

"So," Rosanne clapped her hands together. "Do it!"

"If all it takes is good mana control..." Bishop uttered to himself. He closed his eyes and planted his feet on the ground so that they were close together. He took his time, and listened to his body. In and out, the oxygen in his lungs taking in just a little bit of the dense mana around him with each breath. He felt the rigorous beat of his heart, an obvious effect of his body trying to fight off the heat of the surrounding area. But with each breath he took. With each beat he felt. Bishop's body pulsed with magic.

This wasn't the new feeling. On the contrary, Bishop was accustomed to releasing his magic in this way. But what was foreign to him was attempting to wear it. But even then, it was completely alien. The way he cloaked objects in his magic to liquefy them, much like in the exam. Bishop knew his magic was one that required fine control to use effectively, down to molding the shapes of what he controlled to shifting items through different stages. Releasing and regaining control. This was his nature.

Without fully realizing it, Bishop had already began to form this Mana Skin. He felt it waver in places due to the intense mana around him, but there was nothing he was better at than adapting. The Mana Skin repaired itself in the places it was weak and strengthened itself as a whole until suddenly, the surrounding world didn't feel as hot anymore.

"I did it, Captain Rosanne." Bishop declared proudly.

"NICE ONE!" Rose patted Bishop on the back. "Don't drop it!"

Frozen had appeared almost lifeless during the trek to the mountain, the rimed-giant being even less talkative than they normally were. Even during their teammate's indignant and petty arguments they had remained unspeaking. Only the icey-blue orbs staring out of the heavy armor and the consistent clank of steely steps gave any indication that the giant lived.

Wisps of vapor fell off from them from the heat, existing only for a moment before the intense inferno in the atmosphere boiled the droplets away. Frozen was always cold to the touch, their armor frosted in normal climates virtually effortlessly. Here the giant remained cool as well, their armor acting as an insulator in both ways, albeit nowhere near as easily as normal. Their mana constantly leaked out into it, being trapped by the thick metal to settle around their form. This was the source of the constant frost that fell upon the armored knight.

"I apologize for not responding earlier, Sir Bishop," Frozen said stifly as a bit of life breathed back into them, the giant once more reacting to the world around them, including their captain's challenge, "I was distracted by the heat of the area." They paused for a second after the quick excuse, "I am Frozen Shogun, a pleasure to meet you." The giant humbly bowed to the three other people on the trail.

"As for the challenge you have presented us, Captain Vermillion, forgive my impudence, but may I ask if you wish me to chill the outside of my armor as well or as I am now sufficient?" They asked in a polite tone, fully aware of who they were speaking to.

"Chill the outside of your armour too!" Rosanne smiled. "Your magic normally keeps you cool anyways, but it'll get hotter and hotter the further we go up the volcano trail."

"As you wish," Frozen responded with a bow as they clapped their hands together. The giant willed their mana outwards, the normal flow of it radiating off from them increasing as they forced the sluggish power to accellerate outwards. Crystals of glacial ice began to coalesce outwards, even in this immense heat the knight appeared to freeze solid. Jagged spikes and smooth plates coated the curface of the armor, the steam flowing off from them in increasing volume as even the cold ice began to melt in the heat. It was only the large ice crystals slowing down this process, as due to their larger structure they took far more heat in order to melt.

What was left of the giant was a frozen statue, rock hard ice coating the outside of the armor, the only openings remaining being thouse over the giant's eyes.

Soon cracks formed at the joints of the armor, as a rattling of broken ice crystals filled the air. Frozen brought their hands apart once more as they cracked and broke open their own icey encasing, leaving them free to move once more. "I am ready to continue as needed, Captain Vermillion."