What had been a heroic standoff against a seemingly never-ending wave of petrified students, teachers, and various other cursed people soon became a free fall as Noboru was sent hurtling out of the hallway towards the ground. His senses had at least let him curl up a bit before the explosion hit...though judging by the lack of any real pain from where he thought he got explode-d made him wonder just what kind of power Installing had given him. Landing on his back, Noboru winced as he looked back up at the building. It was as if he'd only fallen a foot or so in terms of physical feedback, and he couldn't help but wonder just where the hell this power had all come from, and if this was all just some strange dream that'd end. Sadly, reality wasn't so kind as his ears perked up, driving his empowered form to move in an instant as an arrow whizzed past his neck; Some new sense of experience in his mind told him that strike was targeted, planned to strike a vital point...and oddly, squinting his eyes, that arrow seemed to move slow enough that if he tried, he could catch it in his hands.

There wasn't time for that however, as the stone soldiers that he had thrown out the window, as well as the many that had been blown out by the explosion circled around him. 

[color=FFEFD5][i]"So...uh...what else can I do?"[/i][/color] Noboru questioned as he sidestepped a stab from a stone soldier, dropping to all fours as two to his sides swung, their stony blades clashing where his head at one point been.

[color=f9ad81][i]"Hrm...well, I'm not a really fancy sort of Spirit, so if you were hoping for some sort of beam, or legendary weapon, might as well get used to disappointment. Fun as it'd be to watch you stumble around with my powers, I'd rather not die so soon after meeting my Master. 8 O'clock."[/i][/color] the spirit within his mind warned, Noboru heeding the direction to narrowly dodge away, aided by the chain who's head was tightly wrapped around his left fist.

[color=FFEFD5][i]"I don't need some beam...I need a manual. And what's with the ears?"[/i][/color] Noboru questioned, the stag ears in question twitching and flitting up and down as three arrows whizzed by him, deflected by the chain's swipes around him. Feeling that now he was beginning to be overwhelmed, Noboru sprinted forward, figuring he could just vault up another wall. Since, y'know, being possessed let you do that or something.

[color=f9ad81][i]"Eh, complicated. You'll get used to them if you stick with it. Surprised you didn't notice the antlers first."[/i][/color]

[color=FFEFD5][i]"...The what?"[/i][/color] Noboru asked, just before being ambushed by a stone soldier jumping from a window, forced to block with all his strength against the aerial assailant's assault. His chain was tightly wrapped around both his hands, stretched taut to catch the stony blade as he twisted and pulled the chain to toss it out of the figure's hand, before a swift kick to their chest sent them stumbling back. Taking a moment to feel the top of his head, he was shocked to feel the bony pillars protruding from the top, but...today was already weird enough, so he could ignore that for now. [color=FFEFD5][i]"Not important. You said 'Someone' is using them like this. Tell me how to stop them...whatever your name is."[/i][/color]

[color=f9ad81][i]Its Herne. H-E-R-N-E. Do they really not talk about me anymore? I used to be a big deal, you know. Anyways, don't even worry about it. Just run away and hide out for a bit; Idiot is probably burning up all his mana just using this Noble Phantasm. We can hit him after he's taken the town and thinks its secure."[/i][/color]

Noboru clenched his fists as he ran, before suddenly pivoting on his left foot to spin back around, lashing out with his chain in order to whip the arrows flying at him out of the air. [color=FFEFD5][i]"There's still people in here! And there's gotta be more in the town. I'm not just gonna-"[/i][/color] he started, before the voice in his head interrupted him. [color=f9ad81][i]"You're not just gonna do the smart thing, and save everyone all at once, instead tiring yourself out to run in the middle of EVERYTHING yourself instead of catching him off guard. You can pretend to be a heroic big shot all you like with power like this, but that guy's on a whole other level from you,"[/i][/color] Herne explained.

Noboru stopped, childishly stubborn to admit that, for how cruel it was to just...leave everyone...Herne was kind of right. If this could all be undone...it might just be more effective to wait and end it in one fell swoop. He was just starting to buy into that line of thinking, before the face of his petrified mother came back into his mind.

[color=FFEFD5][i]"...Herne. Work with me here. I'm not just gonna charge in, but I can't just leave everyone here. What can I...what can WE do?"[/i] [/color]Noboru questioned, as he backed further and further away from the terracotta army. 

A deep sigh echoed in his mind, as if he'd just actually convinced a lazy child to cooperate. [color=f9ad81][i]"Okay, so, there's this ONE thing we can do to make it easier to hunt for survivors; See how your right arm's wooden? Jam your palm into some dirt, and watch what happens."[/i][/color] Herne explained as Noboru immediately complied. His wooden hand breached the dirt present in a nearby flowerbed, and, in an instant, a sharp pain caused "something" to split from his being, before the pot would explode violently into a mess of vines, brambles, leaves, flowers...all of which spread out with an abundant desire to grow, propagate, and completely consume the surrounding area. Terracotta soldiers suddenly found themselves entangled in thick underbrush, surrounded by trees that completely shifted the landscape. The interior of the school was left unchanged, though it would become clear to everyone that something had happened.

Mere moments after the planting had finished and the school grounds were covered in plants, small woodland animals began to merge from contorted branches, some even just APPEARING from out of bushes, their bodies composed entirely of bark, and their eyes replaced with distant white dots that seemed too far back in the skull to truly be "eyes". First, it was small things, like rats and sparrows, but after a few minutes owls and deer would begin to blossom outwards. Directionless, they wandered about, attempting to eat foliage and not at all being surprised at their inability to do so. The owls would catch and shred the mice, the deer would graze and flee; It was as if an entire forest had been transplanted and recreated.

[color=FFEFD5][i]"...Won't this make everyone harder to find?"[/i][/color] Noboru questioned, before Herne immediately said: [color=f9ad81][i]"Walk into a bush. This is the fun part."[/i][/color]

Obeying his partner in crime, Noboru stepped into a bush that was about as tall as him before vanishing completely from sight; To Noboru, he was simply stuck in a mass of leaves and twigs that poked at his skin, but to the world, Noboru Maki had vanished completely. As such, the stone soldiers would lose interest quickly. [color=f9ad81][i]"Now we just follow where they go, and bam, people for you to save."[/i][/color] he said, as Noboru moved from foliage to foliage, completely evading detection so long as he was covered in green, thanks to his Jack in Green skill. First, he would try to find Maggie once again if he could. Then, he could regroup with the others out front to get her to safety before diving back into the school to look for survivors. [color=f9ad81][i]"I'm gonna be honest here though; You can only keep this thing up for about 30 minutes before you'll pass out from exhaustion. Don't waste time."[/i][/color] Herne at this point was basically revealing that he didn't like giving all the details up front, which caused Noboru to pick up the pace.