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This whole thing was cryptic and weird. Magic skulls and evil clones weren't the type of thing he'd been expecting going into this test, but in hindsight Max didn't know why he expected any less from the wackjob that tried to spear him with an energy bolt on the first day of classes. At least the riddle seemed to make perfect sense this time. The demons were obviously the clones, though it seemed a bit unfair that the mages had to disarm before the test while his duplicate apparently got to hurl bowling balls around with impunity. Touching the skull was clearly how they activated the puzzle, which would take them to the 'others', most likely. That meant 'others' implied... he'd be fighting Eris and Eris would be fighting him? He could work with that. Armed or not, he wasn't going to turn down an excuse to beat up his capto- [i]ahem[/i], partner. The riddle made it clear there was a gimmick for an easy win, though. 

He felt the interlopers before he saw them. It was subtle, but something metallic had definitely stepped inside his range. Probably a vampire's tracking pendant, but given that... [i]sound[/i] he heard in the distance earlier, he wasn't taking any chances. Max swiveled toward the approaching figures as his vambrace disassembled itself into its components, the pieces fanning up like a posturing animal as he prepared to shoot. It looked like... Cinnamon and the Retriever? No, that wasn't where the metal was. Those were illusions too, which meant the real ones were likely not far behind. Must be the 'others'. Not-Cinnamon was trying to say something, that was probably their clue on how to win. 

Going? Going where?

[color=ccff99]"Did we get a coin? He mouthed it before he vanished--"[/color]

Oh; coin. That was still useless.

[color=8585ad]"No idea what that means, maybe ask them,"[/color] Max grumbled as he fanned his arm toward the approaching Sinnenodel duo. Why did they have to meet up with possibly the [i]worst[/i] pair to run into out here? Why couldn't he get... uh... hmm... Okay, so he didn't exactly like anyone here, but Cinnamon was still the worst.

At least Eris kept his pleasantries to a minimum before he got to the point. Max unlocked the vambrace he'd left on Eris, smoothly and unobtrusively returning it to his own arm while the vampire talked. If he was going to have to fight, he was at the very least doing it as armed as he could be.

[color=8585ad]"I don't think they come back, I think we go to them,"[/color] The mage corrected as he pointed to the creepy skull, [color=8585ad]"I wager it's either a pair fight or they're matching mage with mage and vampire with vampire."[/color] Even though this test seemed like a giant excuse to humiliate the vampire population of the academy, Max doubted they'd go so far as to allow lowly mages to kill vampires, even if they were just illusionary clones.

[hr][@Hero]