[right][h2][color=yellow]Matt Harken <>[/color][/h2][/right]
[right][@Azereiah][@FlitterFaux][@hagroden][/right]


Throughout the group creation process, Mat had been stumbling around meekly seeing if he'd be picked up by anyone. With his nerves the way they were before the test, he really didn't have it in him to talk to these strange people. And non-people, too. All kinds of diverse characters had showed up, and all of them seemed to have some clue what they were doing. Halfway through Mat made an meek attempt at conversation with a darkskinned human guy, only to be completely ignored. Since then he had just stared at his feet and fidgeted, hoping he wouldn't get disqualified for failing to find a group.

When the teacher started talking, Mat couldn't do anything other than stare at his feet. By the time he was being assigned to a team his face had turned bright red, and he could swear everyone was looking at him. At that moment, he'd do anything to get out of the situation. However he solemnly marched over to his new teammates, although he didn't get too close. He refused to even look up from the ground, fervently asserting in his mind that as long as he didn't look at them, they couldn't judge him. He was broken out of his little bubble of self-pity when the teacher started explaining their equipment, however. A rifle? What in god's name were they supposed to use a rifle for? Were they going to shoot people? Were there going to monsters? Oh no, oh no, oh no. He'd thought the physical exam would be running or something, maybe some wrestling. Something he could get past, and then make up for in the written test. He didn't even know how to use a gun properly! Hell, he'd hardly ever even seen one!

While relieved at the fact that his knowledge and education would be able to net him some points in this exam, the explanation of the other two objectives left him staring incredulously at the teacher. They had to hold the central temple with REAL GUNS? Wait, KILL POINTS? They were going to send the students out to kill each other?! What kind of insane place was this!! Halfway through the explanation Mat's hand shot up, which swiftly transitioned into a sort of frantic hopping as he tried to get noticed. This was entirely unreasonable. There was no way that they were actually setting up some sort of death-tournament. There had to be a catch. Was the ammo rubber bullets? Were the students protected by magic? But no such system was established, and the teacher merely ended his lecture by teleporting Matt and the entire group off into the distance.

Defeated, Mat sank through his knees. It felt like his stomach kept sinking, all the way down into the ground. A cold knot of anxiety had taken it's place in his body. In front of him lay a small pile of gear he had no idea how to use, and in the distance he could already hear scary sounds. Biting his lip, he took a moment to collect himself. This was going to be fine. He might not be great at fighting, but he had his own talents. Surely the other students wouldn't be out for blood. And there were probably people with healing magic ready to make sure people didn't actually die. Besides, his teammates were probably skilled and competent people. Breathing in and out to calm himself, Mat decided to finally examine the people he'd been lumped in with.

First he took a look at the girl, and immediately discarded any illusions of camaraderie. She certainly didn't look like she was interested in light conversation. The look in those eyes could be accurately summed up as... hostile. Despite this, the way the small girl handled that rifle somewhat reassured Mat. She held it like she knew what she had some clue what she was doing, which was enough to put her above his own level of competence.

Second he glanced over at the guy. He looked even bigger when compared to the girl. This guy was wearing military uniform, and something about the way he handled himself radiated confidence. Like he'd been in situations like this before. In fact, something about his face seemed familiar. And the name the teacher had mentioned earlier. In his embarrassment and confusion Mat had completely forgotten what his teammates were called. How was he supposed to address them without their names? Oh no. He was going to make a fool out of himself all over again. If he kept quiet, maybe he could just kind of follow them victory....

Deciding against any misguided attempts at actual human interaction, Mat instead sat down and scooped up the condensers he'd been given. Those, at least, he could use. The guns he put in his backpack, handling them gingerly as if they might suddenly explode. The only reason he was picking them up was because he felt strangely bad about just leaving them on the ground. The backpack, of course, were magic. A bag of holding, one he'd made himself. It had been one of his first magic items. It wasn't very good, it only held twice it's normal volume and it didn't do more than halve the weight of objects placed inside. So it was only about as good as having two backpacks. But nonetheless he enjoyed using it, and it helped him store the rather large and cumbersome rifle. Next he retrieved something from the bag, which was getting a little full with the addition of the guns.

What he retrieved seemed to be a massive stack of brightly coloured paper. Reds and blues were the most prominent colours, although all the colours of the rainbow were represented in some fashion. Leaning down Mat placed one of the condensers on the stack, even as he said some arcane words. Or at least they were supposed to be arcane words. In reality, the activation phrase was 'fizzy gum sticks', but he added in some latin-sounding gibberish to disguise the poorly chosen password. As soon as the words left his lips the pile of paper started folding out, and then refolding itself, reconstructing it's appearance until a three-metre origami golem was formed. This brightly coloured companion was Fizzlestick, an easily storable and portable paper golem. Mat had also used his enchanting magic in order to make it waterproof so it could go out in the rain, and it was a good bit tougher than normal paper. You'd have trouble killing it with scissors, at least, although Mat hadn't considered making it bulletproof.

Once it finished folding itself into the proper shape Fizzlestick formed a seat with it's hands, and Mat hopped on. He wouldn't have to walk with his pet golem to carry him everywhere. And with Fizzlestick's long legs, there was no way he'd lag behind his newly found companions (or at least, allies). Besides, he always felt a bit safer with Fizzlestick around, even if the golem wasn't really suited to battle. Smiling shyly he turned to the other two, silently hoping one of them had an actual plan.