"Would you mind showing us your abilities as an Earth Mage?" Nix noticed that the Aquarion Alchemist was staring longingly at his hot-tub, some things never change.

Fajii nodded quickly. "I actually haven't assigned myself a path yet but I will show you what is available for Tier 1.

Earth Mage

[Three available Paths: Crowd Control, Defender, Assault]

[Crowd Control-1st Tier]

Earth Mire I: Area Effect

Your opponents are mired in mud and unable to move. Mire can affect

up to five enemies. 45-second duration. Cooldown=1minute

Dust Bowl I: Single Target

Your target is surrounded by a cloud of dust and unable to see. 60-second duration. No Cooldown.

Ground Quake I: Area Effect DoT [Damage over Time]

A sudden quake takes your enemies by surprise. You're at the epicenter and all enemies within

meters of you will take 1500 damage per minute. 3-minute duration. Cooldown= 2 minutes.

Silent Earth I: Single Target

Your target has breathed in a large amount of dust and is unable to speak or cast spells. 60-second duration. No Cool Down.

[Defender:1st Tier]

Rock Wall I: Mass Buff

Your allies receive a rock shield and will take no damage until the shield is destroyed. The amount

of damage a shield can take is equal to the allies hit points. Duration based on damage taken. Cool Down=5-minutes.

Earth Shield I: Single Target

Your ally receives a personal shield and will take no damage until the shield is destroyed. The amount of damage a shield can take is equal to twice the allies hit points. This effect may be stacked with Rock Wall. Only one Earth Shield may be placed by each Earth Mage. Duration based on damage. Cool Down=5-minutes.

Rock Blade I: Mass: Buff

Your allies' weapon is modified to do Earth damage. This effect stacks with whatever type of damage the weapon normally does. Duration: Persistent,

Earth Mother I: Single Target

The power of nature returns your ally to life. No Cool Down.

[Assault: 1st Tier]

Boulder Slam I: Single Target A large boulder slams into your target. This strike causes no damage but the target remains stunned for 5 seconds. The effect may not be avoided or countered. Duration: 5-seconds. Cool Down-60 seconds.

Ground Spear I: Single Target

A deadly shard of rock shoots upward from the ground and strikes your target. This strike adds a poison earth counter. Counters stack up to ten times. Duration: Instant. Cool Down: 3 Seconds.

Rock Pelt I: Multiple Targets up to 5.

Hundreds of rock bullets pelt your target. Rock Pelt also damages gear and equipment. Duration: Instant. Cool Down: 15 seconds.

Rock Golem I: Summoned Pet

The Rock Golem is a front line tank. He has the ability to completely shield one target until he is destroyed. If Rock Golem is used as an attacker, he does half the damage of the owner.

Rock Coating: Self-Only weapon buff.

Adds a rock coating onto your current weapon. Damage is changed to Earth damage and increased by fifty percent.

Nix glanced at the Earth Mage 1st Tier stats. As someone who didn't have a gaming background, most of it went over his head. However, he was surrounded by experts. "Thoughts?"

Chael was staring hard at the Assault Mage path. "Rock Coating will enable me to use my rifle without the penalty of having it as my secondary path."

Semmi nodded in agreement. "There's a bunch of nice CC abilities, including a silence. However, the big hit is the Rez. Earth Mages have a real rez."

Jun Li had only needed to glance at it to realize that it was a powerful path. Comparably the 1st tiers of fire and water were much weaker. "It's nice, but not overpowering. I think we should consider the upgrade. They wouldn't call it an upgrade if it makes the class weaker."

Sharl was staring hard at the Defender path, "The Defender path will be huge in keeping tanks alive. It would be tragic to lose stackable buffs that effectively quadruple your life expectancy."

"Let's vote then." Nix looked around at the group, by their expressions he couldn't tell what they were thinking.

/Inferno: NIx: Change.

/Inferno: Sharl: Keep it.

/Inferno: Jun Li: Change.

/Inferno: Mina: Keep it.

/Inferno: Chael: Change.

/Inferno: Fajii: Change.

/Inferno: Shae: Change.

/Inferno: Semmi: Keep it.

/Inferno: Wind: Change.

/Inferno: Pon: Change.

/Inferno: Ronnie: Keep it.

/Inferno: Chael: Keep it.

/Inferno: Milat: Change.

Shae smiled at the results, they were split but the majority wanted to upgrade the temple. "The upgrade will take six hours. Fajii will need to initiate it as the Temple's Earth Mage."

Jun Li opened her hud and checked the countdown on the forums. "There is still a bit over two hours until we get the details of the event."

"I will initiate the upgrade in an hour." Fajii could feel the eyes of her Aquarion friends staring at her, she turned to face Milat and Mina. "I'm still me, perhaps even uglier in your eyes, but inside I haven't changed. Milat shook his head, "You've become beautiful Fajii. I'm sorry for staring."

"Oh?" The brown-haired Aquarion raised an eyebrow and held up her hand. "What about my shorthand?" (Refers to the webbing that stops at the first knuckle.)

Milat looked at the ground without commenting. The Aquarion males had never paid much attention to Fajii, even though she was exceedingly good-natured.

Mina sensed that Fajii was being honest, although she hadn't commented in the past, the opinions of her people had affected her. "The changes suit you Fajii."

****************

A few minutes later only Fajii remained. Nix assumed that she wanted to relax in his hot tub for a few minutes. "You don't have to ask Fajii, make yourself at home."

Instead, she approached and sat next to him. A brown hand touched his face. "What do you think Nix."

Nix shrugged, his yellow eyes catching the small change in expression. It seemed she was easier for him to read, less alien somehow. "Still beautiful Fajii."

The Aquarion leaned forward until their lips brushed softly, her light brown hair fell against his face. "Thank you for saying such nice things Nix. I know you actually mean it when you say that."

He tried to keep the grin off his face when her hand rested against his leg. "Are we having a conversation? Or is this going somewhere?"

Fajii returned the smile, "well... We could exchange pointers if you like."

**********************

Nix was sitting in the Inferno Guild Hall with Pon and Wind. The two of them, along with a dozen Aquarions, had volunteered to help Nix place the mines in the waters around Glory island. He pointed to the Northern part of the island. This is the only section we don't really need to worry about. The formation of the Fire Palace has made this area unpassable."

/Inferno: Jun Li: Nix, I believe we are going to be outnumbered at least two to one.

/Inferno: Nix: Not as badly as you think. As part of the Broyan alliance, we have allies ready to come to our aide.

/Inferno: Jun Li: They are going to help us?

/Inferno: Nix: Of course, that's what allies do Junie. Shae put in a request, we can expect three additional fleets.

/Inferno: Sharl: Let me know when the temple upgrade is finished. We need to get Ronnie spun up for this fight.

/Inferno: Nix: I wonder if her looks will change.

/Inferno: Sharl: I hope so.

/Inferno: Ronnie: You can't improve on this obviously.

/Inferno: Nix: I agree.

"We'll leave the bay itself open, but I'll mine the f*ck out of the rest of the shoreline, in the water and the beaches." Nix wasn't worried about winning the battle, his biggest concern was the safety of his Aquarion friends and the sacking of Glory. Like last time they would evacuate all non-fighters to the Sea-World.

/Inferno: Wylie: I just received a communication from Colonial Knight HQ. They are sending a battalion of Elites to aide us.

/Inferno: Wind: Expect the opposition to recruit a few heavy hitters also.

/Inferno: Semmi: I agree. They know there is a Nemesis here. I wouldn't put it past them to find their own. magic

/Inferno: Shae: There aren't any. However, if they were to gather enough Water Lords, it could present a problem.

/Inferno: Nix: Did you contact Severance?

The former water-filled crater in Lapu had been the domain of a dieing Fire Lord. During the mission, Shae and Nix had helped restart the dormant volcano. Severance had also received benefits. She had been silent since the operation. The crater was no longer dormant, it frequently rumbled and spewed molten rock high into the air.

/Inferno: Shae: Yes. She will be here.

/Inferno: Semmi: Okay guys. The Event details have been posted. Everyone meet at Guild HQ and we'll discuss it.

/Inferno: Nix: Finally, now we can start planning our strategy properly.

/Inferno: Shae: I won't be there Nix, I'm preparing to defend the Palace grounds.

/Inferno: Nix: No worries. I'll stop by after and give you the details.