Pride(5)

Riza Plough, was never one to back down from a challenge. Of course, this was one of her charm points. However, others might say she's just stubborn. Born of common blood, Riza wasn't naive to the world she had been brought in, as reality had been kind enough to show her early on where she, a woman, stood. Which is why her view of the world and its people were always pretty narrow.

When she joined the Hounds, she had no time to focus on "Public relations'' and simply stuck to paving her way forward without looking back. "Work hard and prove yourself" "Follow rules to the TEE" were the "unshakable foundations" she deeply ingrained in herself.

Her belief in being firm and unshakable in the storms of life was her best way to go about moving forward, and she followed this like it was a religion. However, life has its way of being unexpected, and Riza found herself in a whirlwind, her ideal of "moving forward" shaken when she gandered upon the wounded body of Jean.

'J-Jean..w-why did you…..'

The blue sky, the passing white clouds, people, sounds, all dwindled into a buzzing ring, whispering in her ear harshly. Her breath slowed, tight and breathy. Her eyes absorbed him, his body becoming nearer to where she could reach him, she was moving, but she didn't know it.

'W-what...jean...why did you….' Her heart thrummed with regret and worry.

'Jean you stupid idiot'

First a quiet whisper, until a raging plethora of howls sparked her to act, and she soon found herself chanting

"O'Blazing heat, arise from thy simmering depths and devour your way in a mass blight of speed, Hell pierce'

Fire erupted from her hand and large arrows of flame became one with the warm wind, fizzing loudly. They made contact with water piercing the bubbles and turning them into fizzing steam.

"Tch..what is she doing here?"

Riza Plough was never one to back down from a challenge. She who always followed the rules to the tee, and proved herself time and time again she was competent enough, and always looked forward. NEVER looking back, and yet here she was breaking down all that she set for herself.

'What am I doing here?' The thought of it was so absurd that she chuckled a bit internally.

'I don't even know half of it myself but…" She grasped the situation clearly as she eyed Porter, someone who was once an old "friend" of hers. Bleak memories flooded her head, added with the sight of Jean, a sense of rage welled itself within her.

"Funny, I would like to ask you the same thing….Porter"

Riza made the decision to no longer follow the rules.

----------

Riza readied her sword " I'm not the one who will be dying PORTER!!!"

Riza's body shot forward.

" O searing flames, become one with thy blade" flames swirled and encased the steel of the blade. She thrust her arm forward,

"HAH!!"

A quick barrage of sword thrusts burst forward in afterimages, showcasing the speed of Riza's blade. They sailed forward aiming at many vital points of Porter's body. Porter flinched and quickly chanted:

" O cooling well, bring forth your fluids, deep from thy depths and converge into a protective wall, <HYDROSHIELD>"

Water rose and merged with each other, twirling and twirling until a thick shield of water was brought forth.

*Thoom* *Thoom* *Thoom* *Thoom*

A flurry of thrusts blasted through the shield of liquid with ease, the end result revealed gaping holes that left the shield with no further use. Though Riza's sword was blocked, she wasted no effort to take another swipe at Porter now that his defenses were low.

"Tch"

Porter underestimated her a bit, but it was within his expectations. He needed to create some distance, or Riza would definitely have the advantage over him. He waved his hand in a circular motion, the water reshaped and was shot forward

< Water wave>

*Floosh!!!*

Riza sucked in a breath, she stomped forward and made a diagonal swipe of her blade, slicing the incoming projectile. However, Porter wasn't done yet, just as she got rid of one nuisance, more came forward, and they were coming in fast.

<WATER BULLETS!!!>

*FWIT* *FWIT* FWIT*

Piercing howls of water soared through the wind at alarming speeds, echoing across the yard.

'Are you serious?' Riza snorted.

With a flick of her wrist, she opened her hand.

"Infernal flames hear thy call, devour all that come before thee, <Hell Clutch!>"

Red flames rose to her call, they expanded shaping into a large hand, it grabbed at the bullets of water as if it were merely flies crushing them into a sizzling mist.

"PATHETIC!!!" Riza shouted.

She burst forward once more, the large hand of fire opening itself wide, ready to crush and burn all before it. "SURRENDER NOW PORTER!!" The scorching hand of flames rushed down on Porter.

As she eyed Porter, she saw him whisper something. Riza had a tense feeling in her gut.

'HE'S!?' Riza's eyes widened as she read his lips.

<Bashing wave>

Then, Riza's body was forcibly rammed to the side.

*BOOM*

Her body slammed on the hard pavement. Her simmering hand of flames was doused immediately.

"U-UGH" Riza coughed up saliva at the point of impact. Large cracks filtered through the ground.

"Hahaha, Pathetic!" Porter sneered at Riza who struggled to recover from the initial shock and pain. To add salt to the wound, he threw her ridiculing words back at her.

"It didn't have to be like this Riza, but you brought it on yourself, now all of the hounds will know of your insubordination," Porter said with a relaxed smile on his face.

"But I can make you an offer, after all, to lose such a valuable colleague like you in the hounds would be...deafening for the kingdom…"

Riza stabbed her sword in the ground to help herself up, her body was aching in pain. She coughed the irony taste of blood seeped on her tongue and she immediately spit it out in distaste.

" Simply hand over the bead, and all will be well, '' Porter said. The device Riza had was a hearing device that all hounds within the intel jurisdiction(ears of the hounds) owned. They are embedded with a type of rune magic that allows sound to be projected and recorded upon the user's will.

Porter was wary of that device, whatever was recorded on there could potentially get him kicked out of the hounds or even killed for all his acts until then. Another fact was:

'I don't know how much she heard, nor how long she's been around' Hounds within the intel jurisdiction specialized in collecting information, and they acquired information through rather extreme means, whether it be espionage, tracing, tracking, or even becoming someone else entirely only to disappear once the job is done.

'Even now, other rounds could be masking themselves and watching the battle' But Porter had no way of knowing. With the recent attack on another suburban village, the king sent more security to the remaining villages still intact, therefore it is highly possible that more were in this village.

However, that doesn't mean they heard any of what was going on, which means Porter was likely not to be questioned.

Riza fully stood and wiped her mouth.

"Well, Riz-

"noisy."

Porter flinched at Riza's now rough tone. Normally she spoke in a refined tone that befits a hound but now it's like she completely threw that out the window.

"What did you s-"

"Shut it"

Porter clenched his hands tightly. This...tramp dares to silence him.

Riza stretched and cracked her joints. "I've been dealing with a lot of stress lately, but I guess you can be a proper outlet."

*Crack* *CRACK*

Porter frowned.

"I wanted to settle this quietly, but now" She assumed a bare-handed stance.

"That's no longer an option"

Her figure disappeared.

"!!?!?!?!?"

Porter whipped his head around frantically, but couldn't find Riza anywhere.

*WHAM*

"UUGH"

A forceful punch was embedded deep within his solar plexus. Porter was sent flying, his body crashing along the pavement. Riza dashed forward, fists raised, her figure enveloped him, and she slammed her fists on the ground.

Porter narrowly pushed himself back from the blow, he didn't even have time to soothe his throbbing stomach. He was in a bind, Riza excelled at combat; she was known for her aggressive and quick movements. Giving Riza time to actually step within his range would be fatal.

Contrary to Porter's wariness, Riza herself was also pretty frazzled.

'I let my guard down' That initial blow took a lot out of her. <Bashing wave> was a pretty high-level spell for water affinities. water is condensed tightly until it's as hard as a boulder, getting hit with that could break bones or even kill someone.

Though Riza was hit, her hell clutch blocked a bit of the blow.

'I need to hurry'

Riza was running out of time. She glanced a bit at Jean who was still lying still. She turned her eyes back to Porter who was scrambling to get up.

Riza closed her eyes and focused "through the depths of hell hear my call, flames come forth, envelop thy hands, blast thy enemies to smithereens, <Fire Gauntlet!>"

red flames swirled their way to Riza's hands, they expanded shaping into mighty gloves befitting even the bests of frameworks.

She aimed her gauntlets of flame and rained heavy blows on Porter.

'Let's end this!'

' O tranquil stream rise up and defend thy honor, WATER WALL" water rose up and stood tall and bulky taking Riza's onslaught blow for blow. Riza gritted her teeth.

"I need more power' she chanted once more, '' Through the depths of hell, channel your raging flames once more, COMBUSTION BLAST"

*Vooooom*

Riza's gauntlets ignited into a brighter hue of orange, no longer the bloody red color, Porter flinched at the searing heat.

"W-WHAT!?!?!"

Riza sucked in a breath, with her arm extended back, she stamped her legs and swung powerfully at the wall of water.

*BAAAAAAANG*

The collision of opposing elements caused a wayward explosion, Porter's wall of water sizzled out of existence and both parties were sent skyrocketing in the opposite direction. The battlefield was swirling with hot steam.

--------------

Sorren gaped in awe at the impending battle, he could barely understand let alone see what was happening. Hot steam blew like a storm, his hair whipping backward. He grabbed Callie and Cale to keep them from being blown away.

*Cough* Cough* He swiped away the hot steam. His skin felt hot and moist.

'T-This is insane'

Seeing two powerful people battling to death was a sight. It was nothing like a child's innocent imagination. Sorren was reminded once more of just how small his view of the world really was.

'Can...I ever become strong like that?' He didn't know, nor could he even picture himself even coming close to it.

"Eeergh..Sorren" Jean called, snapping Sorren out of his stupor. He took in the sight of Jean trying to raise his body, though with much difficulty.

"J-jean, stop! if you do that then…"

Jean shook his head "L-listen to me, my bow….I need you to….hand it to me.." Sorren frowned. He couldn't possibly be thinking of joining the fight? "W-what, Mrs Riza is -"

"Riza will lose"

Sorren flinched at Jean's stern tone.

Riza...will lose? No way. She was practically driving Porter into a corner, overpowering him even.

"Riza...is adept..at physical combat..yes...but" Jean's eyes blazed with rage "Her weakness is something Porter excels in" Jean groaned "So please lad...Hurry" Jean had an ominous foreboding as he watched the battle.

Porter was known to be..evasive. You wouldn't know what happened to you until it was too late. 'He's been using too many low leveled spells' in his youth Jean had studied spell books for the sake of it, and he learned quite a bit regarding magic and affinities, added with seeing magic up close during his time in the training regiment to join the hounds, Porter was very efficient with magic.

'He's up to something, this isn't his normal style…' Jean gnashed his teeth

He felt that if he didn't do something soon, Riza would be in danger or maybe worse.

*BOOOOOM* The two clashed once more, Riza refused to yield in her onslaught neither did Porter, it was a standstill of opposing elements.

"Alright RUN!"

Once the chaos died down Sorren rushed forward, toward Jean's bow that was a bit away from the clashing duo.

'Almost there!" Sorren reached his hands out.

Porter spotted the boy and immediately knew what he was doing.

'Hehe, I warned you, kids should stay out of adult conversations' Porter clenched his fist, small droplets of water thinned out until they were slim as needles.

*FLING* *FLING*

Sorren paused at the oncoming bits of water "A-AH!" His body toppled forward, and he fell to his knees.

*FWOOOSH*

An inferno of flames came crashing down like a swirling wave, Sorren tried to shield his body from the blazing heat.

"Tch" Porter directed an annoyed glare at Riza.

'Her tenacity is aggravating' Riza landed not too far from Sorren and flicked her blade at Porter.

"Attacking a little child? your honor reaches an all-time low" a cold voice laced with utter bloodlust.

Porter smiled, but he couldn't keep himself from shivering a bit.

"Of course not my dear, I simply wished to keep the little criminal at bay, can't have such viable evidence reduced to a bloody mess can I?"

"The only criminal is you, who used false allegations. Keep your eyes on me, Porter, "

"My, if the lady insists"

The battle ensued once more. Sorren quickly grabbed the bow and ran ignoring the stinging sensation of his scratched knees and hands. He came to Jean's side.

"T-Take this…" Jean shivering hand slowly, another one of Granny Jo's charms. It had light blue markings that glowed upon the reflection of the sun's rays.

"E-EH?"

"It's a rune charm, T-take this and- *cough* more blood spurted from his mouth.

'Crap...times almost up for me'

The light charm was beginning to die, he needed to hurry quickly or else he wouldn't be able to move...for good. "Tie this around the arrow, and position it along the bow"

Sorren could only gape in shock, was he serious? He knew nothing about fixing arrows and whatnot. Jean understood his hesitancy, but there was no time. "HURRY!!" Sorren immediately acted upon Jean's frantic tone and did as instructed to the best of his ability.

Once the arrow was positioned and the charm tied, Jean slowly dragged his body to sit upwards.

"HNNNGH…." Tears threatened to spill from his eyes, he was close to blacking out multiple times he bit his lip hard to focus.

"O-on my mark...pull the drawstring...and fire it. I'll direct and aim"

"U-Uh Ok!"

Sorren's mind was plagued with fear. Can I really do this? If I mess up, then Jean's efforts will be wasted. They only had one arrow left, if this failed then, that was it. All these thoughts swirled like a typhoon. His green eyes shut tightly and he gripped at the green necklace that dangled from his neck.

"Sorren…" The boy flinched.

He opened his eyes and stared into Jean's dark-colored eyes. Though his face was deathly pale, face layered with sweat and blood, his eyes looked calm.

"It's going to be ok"

Sorren nodded, and he directed his attention back to the battle.

-----------------

Riza clicked her tongue in annoyance. 'He's worthy of his tenacity' she thought disdainfully. She knew Porter was meticulously keeping her at bay, he was only using long-distance spells. Of course, this simply meant he knew her strengths of close combat and that it would give her a major advantage.

Sweat trickled down her forehead, Riza was anxious, though she kept a calm front. Time was ticking and Jean didn't have much longer or he'd bleed to death. She felt the soothing magi toms of light, but it was slowly dying, which meant that once it died completely, Jean might not make it.

'What should I do' Riza was limited in her options, if she continued to keep using physical attacks, it would be a battle against time, but if she used her affinity…

'I may end up burning everything around me'

Riza knew her weakness in magic efficiency wasn't the best, it was precisely why she was never able to join the teeth regiment of the hounds, which deals heavily with combat, however, without proper control of your affinity, you'd be considered a liability instead regardless of your combat potential.

With this in mind, Riza was limited in her options against Porter.

"The only thing I can do is…"

Riza Plough was never one to back down from a challenge.

She chanted a spell, " Roaring flames, converge into a mass of destructive power, lay a path of smoldering hell amongst the fertile grounds you gaze upon,"

She was taking a heavy risk. This was the only high-leveled spell she knew, it would certainly drain her of most possibly all her magi-toms, but risks were a part of life and she dove headfirst into it.

'If I fail, then I will no longer have any means to defend myself from Porter's affinity' regardless, Riza acted.

" SCALDING BEAM!!"

a tiny dot of condensed fire formed at the tip of her sword, it started off small, before gradually expanding until it was a full-fledged sphere.

Porter's eyes widened "S-SHE'S!?!?!"

*VWOOOOOOOOM*

A straight line of scalding heat cut through the ground like a saber. Porter immediately dodged, however,

"AAAAGH" Porter screeched. He felt his flesh was searing as if he was being cooked inside an oven, the heat was just that excruciating.

Beams of fire rained down like meteors, covering the pavement in fire. Porter stumbled sideways, his hands throbbing in pain. He used every ounce of water he could muster to block the incoming beams, but that proved difficult.

The beams were relentless, they rained and bashed the ground heavily, the once beautiful silver pavement was now charred black like charcoal.

"THE HELL WITH ALL OF THIS!!" Porter roared, he swiped another beam of fire away.

Suddenly, a beam bashed to the ground; the sheer force of the impact was enough to send Porter barreling backwards.

His body fell to the ground and he stayed there. Riza smirked victoriously. However, her smirk soon vanished as a massive wave of dizziness accented her.

'Ugh, it would seem...I'm pretty much spent' She thought.

The only thing she could do was use Porter's method against him, if a long-distance attack was his strong suit, then she had to do the same thing, but with even more precision.

``It's precisely why I had to use such an advanced spell-like <Scalding Beam>'

She was hesitant to use this because this magic was a destructive spell that could sinch even armies if wielded properly. She glanced back at Jean and the children who were unharmed.

Riza sighed with relief. Though the results were satisfactory, the damage was still pretty wince-worthy. Houses were laced in flames, or dripping wet with water, puddles of water were burning from leftover flames. Even the elder's front yard of honey flowers were charred pitch-black, she no longer even had a front porch.

'I'm going to have to do a lot of apologizing…' Riza thought. Her gaze landed on Porter, whose lanky body was still on the pavement.

"That's enough Porter….just give up and come quietly." Riza stepped forward though her sword was still raised.

Porter gripped the pavement. Blood speed from his mouth, his clothing was burned black, and he was layered with darkening bruises on his exposed skin.

" you...take me..too lightly...Riza…"

Riza stared at him emotionlessly.

"You used way too much magic, any more and you'll be suffering from magi depletion, it's over" Magi depletion for those with magi cores was quite severe, especially in regards to those with larger cores.

"Why...of course, Riza…..everything truly is… over"

Then....

Water converged gathering and shaping itself until a spear in all its splendor was formed.

Porter threw back his arm,

"WATER SPEAR"

*WHOOSH* The spear of water hailed forward at a burst of speed. Riza flinched she staggered backward and quickly raised her sword,

'CRAP I CAN'T CHANT A SPELL IN TIME!"

*STAB*

"!!?!?!?!"

The spear of water pierced her arm and she was thrust backwards far from porter's body.

"A-AHGH!?"

Her body skidded along the wet ground.

"You should have killed me, but now" Porter steadily rose and he raised his hands, his mouth formed into a warped grin.

"Preparations are finally complete!"

He crossed his arms.

Riza quickly staggered upwards and held her wounded arm. Her eyes widened. Rows upon rows of spikes surrounded her like an army.

She was foolish. Riza was so focused on Jean, that she did not realize that she was practically creating an advantage for Porter. Water and fire create steam, moisturizing the air, normally that would be normal however due to the collision of magi-toms, it created an opportunity for Porter to manipulate it without regard of using his own affinity.

Basically, it was free service with no cost.

'He..led me to believe I had the upper hand this whole time…"

Then, a snap of the finger could be heard.

*shukt* *Shukt* *shukt*

"C-CRAP" Riza swung her sword to swipe them at bay.

However, the needles seemed endless.

Her body weakened, the result: Needles of water pierced her skin, layering her with lacerations along her arms and legs, Riza gritted her teeth as her skin was laced with pain.

More and more, she swung her sword, but with every gap in her defense, more needles pierced her through her skin until Her body was locked in place.

"W-wh...at"

*drip...drip...drip* blood seeped through and mixed with the water, she was like a sinner at the stake, the sword slowly dropped from her hand.

*ClapClapClap*

"Haha. Always the headstrong person, you tend to look forward a lot huh Riza" Porter chuckled as he stepped forward, water splashed upon contact with his feet.

"Don't worry, I made sure not to hit any vital spots, so you won't die"

"But you never looked at your surroundings, that was your mistake" Porter patted her cut cheek gently, he smeared blood along her face as if it was paint.

Riza glared at him fiercely "You disgusting VERMIN-"

" so here's a question…" He put his hand through her bloodied uniform and took ut the small bead.

"Why can't people seem t take it easy for once, I mean, I make a good offer and they never take the obvious gentle hand. Haaah seriously I'm hurt." Porter waved the bead in Riza's face as he smiled.

"Well it doesn't matter now so"

Porter lifted his hands, water rose from the misty grounds and formed another spear.

"This is goodbye Riza Plough"

However, Porter paused.

"Heh….hehehehe"

Riza...was laughing.

Porter frowned, had she gone insane from the pain?

"Heheh...you're late you know"

"What?"

Riza's eyes curled beautifully as she smiled.

"I already sent the recordings to the rest of the hounds…"

Porter froze his entire body stiff.

"Heheh, didnt you know? One single touch from the user and the bead immediately ignites all information spreading it out to all other beads"

Porter's shoulders slowly sank, his eyes wide.

'It was then…' He remembered when Riza first took out the bead.

'You mean to tell me…." Riza had fooled him, this entire time she made it seem that she was giving him a chance to surrender quietly when she had already ruined him.

"So here's a question?" Riza raised her head.

"What do you think will happen to the little puppy, who bit the hand of his own kin, and was caught red-handed?" she tilted her head cutely.

Porter was livid. The white of his eyes reddened, his body trembled.

Riza continued.

"Well...it doesn't matter now so...this is goodbye Porter machin~"

Veins bulged, ragged puffy breaths, gritted teeth, and a trembling body. Porter could no longer contain his boiling rage.

"YOU SHRIVELING TRAAAMMMP" The spear of water contorted and reformed shaping into many long spears. Porter swung his arm, the army of spears becking at his command.

*Fwooosh*

Just as Porter sought to strike the killing blow, another air projectile came hurling at full force toward Porter.

" !?!?!!?" Porter quickly jumped backwards narrowly missing being pierced by the arrow by a hairbreadth.

His black eyes gazed at Jean who was now sitting upright.

"This...persistent...measly...bug….WHY THE HELL WON'T YOU JUST DI-"

*STAB*

"!!?!?!?!"

Riza gaped in shock.

"H-HUEK!?!?!

*sploosh*

A pool of blood doused from Porter's mouth. His eyes were wide and bloodshot, shocked at the spectacle that occurred.

With his long legs dangling freely, a large slab of ice was embedded into Porter's body, leaving him hanging like a broken doll.

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Name: Riza Plough

Age: 23

Home: Lo'Ven

Magic Core Size:Medium

Affinity: Fire

Info: Riza Plough is another childhood friend of Jean Lock. Though due to his incessant flirting she grew to despise Jean and always assumed things regarding him. She kept her sociality to a minimum and focused on making achievements within the hounds, which prompted her to be called stubborn, though this didn't keep men from aiming at her. She initially wanted to be a part of the enforcers unit to prove herself but was denied due to her weakness, now she works at the booths in many villages as an intel hound.

Interesting Fact: Riza secretly has a soft spot for laid-back men.