[color=7bcdc8][center][b]XUAN SARGA[/b][/center][/color][center][@Eisenhorn][/center]
Xuan Sarga ate joyfully while walking around the food area. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been to a festival. The snacks here were amazing! The chefs back at the Sarga homestead were excellent, but nothing could compare to the mouthwatering unhealthiness that steamed from this street food. Xuan took in the atmosphere of the festival. If she had to put it into one word, it would be “colourful”. Tents and stalls of all varieties lined up, not neatly in most cases, spreading smiles and definite future bowel movements to everyone who attended. There was just so much energy around and she loved it. This was the best was for her to take her mind off recent developments concerning her academic life. As she explored, the brown-haired girl observed other teens wandering around the festival grounds in their little groups of four. Teams, one could even call them. Xuan felt a pang of sadness in her chest. If she had just tried a little harder at the entrance exams…

She would have been able to make her siblings proud, instead of receiving that disappointing letter that read: “We feared that would happen. Return swiftly”. She would have been able to participate in real missions, real spars with soon-to-be huntsmen and huntresses. She would have been able to make real friends.

Either way she’d have people to help her with the ridiculously large amount of food she was accumulating. Unfortunately there were limits to how much miscellaneous food on a stick one could hold with just their mouth.

This whole reserves thing was a bit confusing, she had to admit. How long was she to wait around for? Was she meant to hope that one of the students from the main course would get eaten by a Beowolf or something? Being a huntsman was a dangerous line of work, so it was definitely a possibility. But Xuan would prefer to not have to wish that sort of injury upon someone, even if it meant benefiting her and the Sargas. Though of course, the elder members of her family would have had no qualms about doing so. Was she supposed to follow along in those footsteps, the ones that had tread over so many others? Xuan chewed dejectedly on her third Mistralese Churro. Maybe that’s why they were so eager for her to work in the boonies. She didn’t have the guts to do the dirty work, make the difficult choices.

Lost in thought, she suddenly found herself out of snacks. Xuan furtively glanced down at her pouch, the one that housed her limitless credit card. She scowled at it and shook her head determinedly. If she was going to make the most of this second chance, she would have to learn to better herself. And that meant no more reckless spending. Even if the food was beautifully greasy and sugary and salty and-

Xuan slapped herself out of her fervor. She needed to find something to distract herself. A quick spin on the spot revealed the weapons area. A whole lotta craftsmen and vendors displaying their firearms and crafting parts. Xuan’s face lit up. It had been a fair while since she had last talked shop with someone. Maybe she’d even find some decent parts for her continued modification of that clunky old BlitzMaw back in her dingy second-rate dorm room. Her attention was soon stolen away by something else. An old-timey gun, something as incredible and well-crafted as the grandfather clock that was displayed in the Sarga House’s main hall. The weapon looked archaic but innovative. Was it an Atlesian design? It had to be Atlesian.

[color=7bcdc8]“Woah, shiny…”[/color] she breathed. She inched her face closer to the piece to get a better look, unwittingly stalking its owner as a result. The craftsmanship was simply superb. She followed it around the stalls area like a dog sniffing a juicy steak, until the owner of the piece did what any person looking around during a festival did. He stopped. The gun stopped. Xuan didn’t. Her face smacked directly into the gun and the person’s back.

[color=7bcdc8]“Ah, pardon me sir!”[/color] Xuan grinned sheepishly in apology and bowed her head, [color=7bcdc8]“I didn’t mea- I was just admiring that weapon of yours! I’ve never seen a mechanism as intricate as this.”[/color]

She allowed herself another peek at the gun and its owner. A bespectacled, well-dressed young man. Rich too, no doubt about that. The teen had an unreal sense of calm regality to him. He was definitely one of those students who were talented enough to get in without being demoted to the reserve course. A clear indicator in the gap of abilities between her and the main course. Xuan straightened her back and smiled wistfully.

[color=7bcdc8]“Man, I’d give anything to be able to build something as fancy as that. I bet your team really appreciates those tinkering skills of yours.”[/color]