As the boy explained how that combat exam went down, Arara closed her eyes again, letting the description play itself out in her mind. Prince Smithing would probably have provided their heir with some metal armor, so she could see how the difference in equipment would have been a bit of a problem. Still, it was a bit odd that the combat examiners didn't provide a set of standardized equipments for the usage of the students, but seeing how there was less focus on 'martial arts' and more on 'personal fighting style' here in Vytal, Arara accepted that as a cultural difference, not a fault of the exam itself. Smiling a bit about his comment regarding how old his weapon was, she said, interrupting him for a second, [b]“Just so you know, my weapon here is a few centuries old, and I'm fairly confident that a lot of kids use inherited weapons.”[/b]

Her smile faded slightly at the mention of a malfunction then, wondering whether the judges cared about in-match weapon malfunctions as well. The strategy was sound, if a little bit odd. If she remembered correctly from that one kingdom-wide competition, the heir used an axe, most likely two-handed. Yet this boy before her managed to match it with one hand, apparently, using the other hand for a suicide attack. Interesting...perhaps she should help him after all.

At his last comment, Arara decided that the judges were incompetent after all. If a loss resulted in not being qualified for joining Beacon, no wonder she didn't need to do the Combat Exams. To think that the judges were so black and white about such things. Atrocious.

Flicking out her wallet and drawing out a black credit card, Arara asked, [b]“Seems fair enough. I'd give you three pieces of information then. One: take better care of your equipment before important dates. Two: you can resolve this issue the fastest, if he's truly an 'honorable' person, if you rematched him and either won or lost in a fight without suicide attempts. Three: if you want to provide blueprints for your weapon, I can request a shipment of weapon parts from Prince Smithing and it'll probably prevent your weapon from malfunctioning. The irony will be delicious anyways, if you beat him with weapons constructed from his factories.”[/b]

Her smile turned just a shade darker, as she playfully rolled the credit card on her knuckles.