A WATCH, was it? Arara was impressed by the technology that the staff of Beacon Academy was handing out so easily, to students who weren't even officially part of the school yet. It was, how should she say it...ah right.

It was like they were babysitting the first years through their test. A computerized GPS that not only provided locations for anyone who you added into the WATCH, but also acted as a biometics and Aura scanner, as well as a helpful tool for weapon maintenance and Dust management. It was, in her eyes, much too easy. Sure, this was a helpful device, but shouldn't it be expected that all students already knew how to subconsciously 'feel' how much Aura and Dust they had left? Shouldn't navigation WITHOUT maps be a skill that's more appreciated when hunting Grimm in unknown lands? Or were Arara's standards too high once more, her own standards being what she expects of everyone else? The heir to the Sakanade family took in a deep breath, refocusing on the details of the mission. Headmaster Arrun Tower had done a better job this time, focusing on the details and what actually mattered, instead of spouting out some sort of motivational speech that fell flat on its face.

It was a simple examination with two stages. Find a partner that you had no choice of actually choosing, due to the fact that you're automatically partnered with the first person you see, and then find a Data Cache within the examination grounds. A simple, luck-based objective. And Arara had no intention of leaving up her pairing to luck. The girl cared little for suffering the incompetence of a potentially useless teammate. With that in mind, she hide her WATCH in one of the many folds of her White Rakshasa, before taking a look out the window. The airship had slowed down, and indication that the area below them was most likely going to be their examination grounds. She focused on remembering the general orientation of all the terrain, before nodding once to herself. There was a ravine, a mountain, a lake with an island in the middle, as well as an underground mine that was most likely connected to the Ravine and Mountain in some way.

Also, whoever named those places needed to get some sense slapped into them. That naming sense was on par with a seven year old's names for his fantasy world. It was all sorts of stupid, and was absurd enough that it pulled a light smile out of Arara, before she refocused, readjusting her grip on the Heavenwrath as Arrun announced that they were landing soon.

Amongst the students tinkering with their new tech toys or preparing for the ordeal ahead, only a few of them seemed to know what was going to happen next. Arara was amongst the 'knows'.

Beacon Academy had an odd tradition that concerned forcing their students to survive falls of thousands of meters through the usage of Aura or their weapons. A peculiar tradition, but one that, through research, Arara familiarized herself with. As a giddy, rising feeling arose from her stomach, metal screeching and groaning as the metal 'claws' holding up the room detached themselves, she flipped her spear around and stabbed the tip into the floor, creating an anchor point for herself as the metal box containing them all began to tumble and spin, sending students in a panic.

Many of them escaped through the hatches or the doors available, while a few simply panicked and tried to break the walls with their weapons, only to be eventually dragged out into the sky by the suction of a decompressing room. It did not take long until Arara was the only person left in the room, the wind pulling and pushing her clothes and hair, yet failing to move her.

Then, one minute from impact, falling at terminal velocity, she decided that this was enough of a handicap to make that landing a challenge. No other students around, so her Semblance had no use. Terminal velocity, so it would be much harder for her to stop. One minute, so the time she had to land properly was only a mere sixty seconds. That would be enough for her.

By then, the falling room was already tilted ninety degrees downwards, with Arara standing resolutely, parallel to the ground. With a casual step, she lifted her feet and her spear from the floor that they were anchored to, curling into a ball as she slowly rotated, before she was ninety degrees with the earth once more. She allowed the wind resistance of her clothing to naturally let herself 'rise' out through the exit of the detached room, and found herself outside after a moment's wait, free falling at a speed that was only a bit slower than the box.

She took a brief look around her to appreciate the view. It wasn't particularly breath-taking, but the scenery was nice, in a subjective sort of way. She would have liked if it was the afternoon or at midnight instead, so she could get a brilliant view of the burning sun or the night sky, but, alas, it would have been equally annoying if the test was postponed for 12 hours, just so Arara could get the view she wanted.

Then, as if it was the most natural thing to do, Arara began to walk in the air. In a manner that could only be considered graceful, she took a step downwards each time, planting her feet firmly on a circular plate of translucent Aura. It gave the impression of someone walking down an escalator that was going upwards, but if a sharp-eyed observer focused, they would have seen that she was simply reusing three different Aura-platforms as she walked downwards. Every step slowed down her overall velocity, until finally, her dark hair, once streaming upwards, had now fallen to her shoulders, as silky and unruffled as it had always been. Another application of Aura? Perhaps, but it didn't matter too much.

Through the usage of her Aura, she had turned one minute of free fall into five minutes of descent, without using much of her inner energy at all. And with a final step, Arara landed on ground once more, ready to start the exam.

<<Location: Shores of Lake Listless>>