In the realm of Zariel, every person can manipulate one of the four elements their zodiac belongs to - Fire, Earth, Air or Water.
Tamie Wingfield dreams to become the greatest Zodiac Master of all time. For that, she decides to join the Rose Cruce...
"Tiger..." Tamie called out to her new friend when they finally stood on their posts in the square to act as 'formal guards' like the old man had named it.
"What is it?" Tiger glanced up at her with excited eyes as she played with her three pets. Especially her dog Blizzard was restless, as always.
"I feel suspicious of that old man and this whole place... Maybe we shouldn't have come after all..."
"Oh... Why that?" Tiger held her little shy cat, Astra, in her hands, and petted her black-to-orange-and-white fur.
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"Because, I had a talk over a Star-gadget with one of my acquaintances yesterday, and he told me things about that Blood Dragon our Magister talked about if you remember, that murderer who massacred his whole clan..." shivers ran down her spine again as she recalled this gruesome tale. "So the magister of Blood Dragon's order - the Crimson Flame - was named Merlinn Goldreich, the same surname as this old man, the holder of the Dragon Festival, has!"
"I think you worry too much, Tamie. Surnames might just be a coincidence. Like... I am Braun, but there are a lot of other people under Braun surname who are not related to me at all".
"Yeah but, still..."
Suddenly they heard people whoop and noticed how dragon balloons began floating in the sky and the crowds gathered around dragon dance performers. The festival had begun.
"I tell you, don't worry about a thing. This will go smoothly. Which sane person would ever attack a festival?" Tiger laughed. Tamie still felt uneasy:
The likes of Blood Dragon are exactly insane...
The party continued. People whooped, clapped and danced on the upbeat tunes, getting more and more cheerful and excited. They felt safe as their guards were none other than the Rose Cruce members, and everyone knew Rose Cruce was a famous and powerful Zodiac Order. However, as Tamie feared, this party didn't prove to be all that safe and secure... When the sun rolled a little to the west and it dusked, three lightning bolts struck the highest pillar - the statue of a golden dragon - in the square, and out of the smoke, three robust men appeared, all with sunglasses - the famous criminal group, Aries Trio!
"Hello, ye people! We're here to grab some fortune!" the leader of the three - a curly-blond-haired, slim, almost bony guy with sunglasses - grinned, showing his several golden teeth amongst his white ones. "I advise you to panic!" he raised his hand, bursting out powerful flames.
The people screamed and ran, trying to leave the square as soon as possible. The old man, Knut Goldreich, trembled:
"Guards, please save us!"
"Ugh, and this you call a job for Rankless?!" Tamie grew angry and worried all at the same time.
"I... I'm sorry! I... I could not give enough reward! But please, you can't get the people involved!"
While they were arguing, the Aries criminals threw out powerful flames and burned the surroundings. It became hard for people to escape. Some even got caught in a large fire around the square and couldn't move forward.
"Ah, mommy, help!" a little boy was screaming somewhere.
Tiger's heart couldn't withstand all this.
"Blizzard, Christo, Astra, in position! We shall beat them!" she took a battle pose, as well as all of her pets as if they could actually hear and perfectly understand her. She clenched fists as if a hand sign, and yelled: "Virgo Style, Tamer Art, Naturalist Mode - We all stand as one!" she raised her hands, sending powerful green energy around - the Zen.
She can manipulate Zen already?! Tamie was astonished - at only Rank Three of Tamer Class, the Naturalist, Tiger could use Green Zen energy of Virgo? I guess Rose Cruce Order is truly powerful...
But there was more to it - as the Green Zen powers of Tiger reached her three pets - Blizzard, Christo, and Astra - all of their eyes glowed green. Blizzard snarled and the two cats growled, taking a stiff, upright stance.
"Christo, take down that guy," Tiger pointed on one of the Aries leader's minions - an orange-haired man. "Blizzard, grab that one," she pointed on another, black-haired minion. "Astra, you and I battle against the boss," she then glared at the Aries leader, the blondie. Upon hearing the command, Christo, the fat and powerful cat, hit his paws upon the ground and caused an earthquake which hit only the orange-haired guy he was commanded to attack. Blizzard too once heard the order, barked violently and dashed at the black-haired guy, spitting flames out of his mouth. "Well then, Astra, it's the two of us now..." Tiger smirked and shouted another incantation: "Virgo Style, Tamer Art, Naturalist Mode - Lianas of Mother Nature!"
She made powerful and thick lianas grow from below the ground and rush towards the blond Aries guy. Astra purred and added even more, but smaller lianas to the shot. Tiger grinned - her little cat made it well too! However, Tamie's and their happiness was short-timed.
"Huh? You think you can kill me with some plants, you silly Virgo?" the Aries blondie laughed. "Aries Style, Battler Art, Raider Mode - Flames of the Ram!" he spat giant flames out of his mouth, burning all of the attacking lianas, and even hit Tiger and Astra.
"Ah!" Tiger yelled as she and Astra got burned and fell down. "Ugh..." she tried to stand but collapsed back to the ground.
"Tiger, no!" Tamie ran up to her, examining her burn marks. W... What can I do?! Raider rank is the Rank Four of Battler Class. Even Tiger, the Rank Three of her Class, was powerless against him, and I am Rank Zero!
"Give up, ye kiddos. Ye lost!" the Aries guy grinned, his golden teeth blazing on the rays of the sun. Tamie fearfully watched him, not sure what to do, but then, seeing those rays of the sun, an idea struck her mind...
"Okay then, let's settle this!"
"Huh? Who are you?" the Aries guy noticed her Libra necklet. He burst out laughing: "Huh? A Libra? Libra signs are weaklings! Ye think ye can defeat me?"
"Not I. But I'm not alone... I shall make you regret you hurt my friend!" Tamie clicked a certain signal on her gadget, "Erik, help!"
"Erik?" the guy muttered, just to reassure himself it was a false alarm, but he was disappointed - the guy who emerged before him, indeed had bushy blond lion-mane-like hair, just as he feared he would. He trembled upon seeing his savage eyes blazing with an inner fire. He sweated and stepped back: "E... Erik?"
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Erik didn't even pay attention to his squeaks. He just looked back at frightened Tamie knelt beside her wounded friend, and asked:
"Yo, Tamie, this guy upset you?"
"Erik, please help! He injured my friend!"
"M... Mate... I didn't know that girl was your friend..." the blond man tried to resonate.
The lion guy before him cracked the joints of his fists, so he gulped, more sweat pouring down his forehead.
"Attacking two girls of lower rank... No dignity, no honour. I tolerate no excuses!" Erik roared and charged on.
