[color=forestgreen][b]Character Name:[/b][/color] Den, Mentor of House Meadowmist [color=forestgreen][b]Time of Day:[/b][/color] Early afternoon [color=forestgreen][b]Location:[/b][/color] The practice fields [color=forestgreen][b]Interacting with:[/b][/color] Brandon[@Avant] [hr] The next student to step forward in order to take the test was a Dwarven man with blonde hair who introduced himself as Brandon Argyle of the Republic of Bergen in a solemn tone of voice. [color=forestgreen][i]”He seems like a mature, responsible kind of guy,”[/i][/color] Den thought as he noted that Brandon had affinities for the same Schools as Marius. [color=forestgreen][i]”Maybe he would be a good influence on Marius and Sylvanna? Might be worth considering if they end up being even more eccentric than they appeared to be.”[/i][/color] Filing that thought away for later, Den gestured for Brandon to begin his demonstration when he was ready. Brandon began his demonstration simply by stomping the ground in order to cause a moderately sized stone to rise from the ground in front of him. While the stone was still rising in front of him, he slapped it away with a barrier that he had created in his hand so that it embedded itself in the ground. More stones followed the first as Brandon began to stomp his feet rhythmically. Maybe Brandon was planning on demonstrating his magical endurance instead of his precision or raw power like the other students had done? It would certainly be an uncommon choice if that’s what he was going for. As Den watched Brandon’s display progress, he couldn’t help but note the differences between Brandon and Artemis’ styles of working Evocation magic to move earth. At first glance, it appeared that Brandon’s style was primarily focused on using explosive bursts of magic that he synchronized with his movements. It seemed very similar to how people took a deep breath and focused before attempting to lift a heavy object in one motion. Artemis’s style of working Evocation magic had seemed to focus more on moving earth with dexterity and precision. In a sense, she had been using magic to guide the earth rather than force it to move as she wanted. Of course, neither style was necessarily better than the other, though one might be better suited to certain applications than the other. Towards the end of his demonstration, Brandon suddenly began to sing loudly and clearly in a language with which Den was unfamiliar. While he belted out his strange song, he continued to stomp and launch stones into the ground a few feet in front of him with the same even rhythm that he had established at the beginning of his demonstration. Moments later, he had finished and looked upon his work appraisingly before explaining that he had created the rune of his house using the smaller stones. Curious, Den and the other proctors moved closer upon hearing this in order to get a better look at the shape before scribbling a few more notes on their clipboards. [color=forestgreen][b]”Very well done, Mr. Argyle,”[/b][/color] Den said as he finished making his notes. [color=forestgreen][b]”Your demonstration clearly showcased your endurance and your ability to multitask, even if you didn’t display quite the same sort of raw power or precision that we have seen already today. It’s also a little impressive that you were able to localize your barriers to your hands, though I’m not sure that I’ve ever heard of Abjuration being used for launching rocks. Of course, it’s not revolutionary or anything, but it requires more finesse than it would appear to at first glance. I’m sure that you’ll do quite well here as your schooling progresses.”[/b][/color] Once he finished giving her his evaluation and Brandon had rejoined the other students, Den called out for the next student to come forward and demonstrate their abilities. [hr] [color=forestgreen][b]Character Name:[/b][/color] Den, Mentor of House Meadowmist [color=forestgreen][b]Time of Day:[/b][/color] Early afternoon [color=forestgreen][b]Location:[/b][/color] The practice fields [color=forestgreen][b]Interacting with:[/b][/color]S’Hraa[@Lurking Shadow] [hr] The next student to approach the square in order to demonstrate their proficiency with magic was a large snake-like Tosuri that introduced himself as S’Hraa. Following the trend that the previous couple of students had set, he also mentioned that he was from the Hri’Saa tribe. [color=forestgreen][i]”Huh. Our first Illusionist,”[/i][/color] Den thought idly as he noted which Schools S’Hraa had affinities for. [color=forestgreen][i]”I wonder what elaborate display he’s planning on showing us for his demonstration.”[/i][/color] Perhaps unsurprisingly given the nature of their magic, Illusion mages often seemed to come up with some of the most interesting and elaborate displays for their demonstrations in Den’s opinion. S’Hraa began his demonstration by creating an illusion of a human who was covered in bruises and cuts. As he spoke about the body’s natural healing process and his ability to use Animancy to speed the process along, he made it so that the illusion’s cuts and bruises faded away as if he was healing them. A few moments later, he shifted the illusion to display different parts of the human body as he mentioned his ability to locate specific injuries in those parts of the body with his magic. He continued to discuss his ability to determine the best spot to inject the different alchemical concoctions that he could make to paralyze or kill his target quickly, demonstrating what he meant by springing forward and “injecting” a yellow liquid into the illusion. Evidently opting to demonstrate his abilities with Illusion magic more clearly, S’Hraa proceeded to create several copies of himself that scattered in different directions. Each of the copies appeared to move independently of the others, which made it tricky to tell which of the images, if any, was the original. A brief moment later, all of the images vanished, which prompted the proctors to look around for where S’Hraa might have gone. Though it was fairly clear to them that S’Hraa had used his Illusion magic to make himself invisible, that didn’t mean that they knew where he had moved to while hidden. As such, they were rather all rather surprised when he landed behind them with a predatory look. Though he hadn’t been frightened perse, Den had still jumped when S’Hraa suddenly appeared behind him. As such, he took a moment to tidy his clothes and finish his notes before opting to give his evaluation of the Tosuri’s performance. [color=forestgreen][b]”Perhaps what stood out to me the most in your demonstration was your extensive knowledge of anatomy. Even if you weren’t able to actually demonstrate your ability to heal using Animancy, it’s clear that you have received an exemplary education in the subject as a whole. Of course, this isn’t the first time that a new student has been unable to display their proficiency with healing magic, so don’t feel like that’s a mark against you or anything. “Your demonstration of your proficiency with Illusion magic was somewhat simple, but effective. The ability to weave multiple illusions together to enhance their overall effects is something that many new Illusionists struggle with, even if the individual illusions are relatively simple affairs,”[/b][/color] Den said. While somewhat longer than the evaluations he had made of the other students’ demonstrations, he really didn’t want S’Hraa to feel that his inability to properly demonstrate his proficiency with Animancy was going to be held against him. As it was, it would be hard to justify being hard on any of the students that had already demonstrated their abilities. It seemed that they were a particularly talented bunch this time around. [color=forestgreen][b]”Okay, I think that there’s only one student left, right?”[/b][/color] Den asked after S’Hraa had rejoined the other students. His gaze swept across the group of students several times before he noticed a small figure that he hadn’t seen come forward to demonstrate their abilities yet. [color=forestgreen][b]”I knew we still had one more to go! Come on over and show us what you can do,”[/b][/color] he called out to Anyu, while gesturing her for her come forward.