[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/190924/544c85ab5c75bc61a4bb5ce40dc0caa6.png[/img]
[color=salmon]Word Count: 1127 (+2 exp)[/color]
[color=salmon][u]Level[/u]: [b]8[/b] - [u]Total EXP[/u]: 1/80
[b]Location:[/b] Edge of the Blue - The Maw[/color]
[hider=LEVELED UP]New power: [b]Hunter Arts: Sword and Shield.[/b] Advanced techniques utilizing a sword and shield. These arts include: Sword Dance, slashing many times in a graceful, dance-like useful for dealing damage to hard body parts, as you may continue attacking even if a hit is repelled; Round Force, a wide spin attack that slashes in a circle all around, the strong core needed to perform it makes one invulnerable during execution, and the force itself can lift allies into the air; Shoryugeki, thrusting the shield into the air in an uppercut motion after landing a slice attack, the follow-up attack with the shield is strong enough to even stun monsters.
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After Mirage fit himself into the techno-chair-helmet contraption there was a brief, tense moment of waiting for the boy to "give the signal." No scream followed his connection to the device, so the Cadet turned a cheeky look Geralt's way and said, [color=salmon]"Told ya it wouldn't kill him."[/color]

Whether it [i]eventually[/i] would remained to be seen, so the Cadet kept an ear out for any shouts of pain while he wandered away. He went about inspecting the place, if a little lazily. There was metal, machines, and random junk that seemed to be in even worse shape than what was in the garbage heap they escaped from. The Cadet made his way over the diving suits, pulled one from where it hung and dragged it over to where the girls waited beside the water. It was heavier than it looked, and he deposited it with a [i]thud[/i] a few feet from Peach and Bella. They'd mentioned dropping things into the water to draw attention away from the submarine, the diving suits among them, so might as well look them over. He stared through the helmet's glass, and it looked like the inside was stuffed with little machine parts stuck together with some kind of goo or... [i]mold, bleh.[/i] Out of everything in the natural world, those kinds of dangerous bacteria or fungus probably disgusted him most. From effluvium to viral spores, it was all bad. [i]If this gunk even is naturally occurring. It's weird looking,[/i] he thought. He spared the suits a couple more seconds of study before he looked at the girls.

[color=salmon]"They're kinda gross,"[/color] he told them, [color=salmon]"but they'll definitely sink if we push them in as a distraction!"[/color]

A distraction strategy would probably only work once or twice if that man retained any of his intelligence after he transformed - and, yeah, the mini monster hunter was just taking his companion's word at the whole spooky transformation thing. He went to grab another suit just in case, rubbing his aching stomach as he did, and when he returned again Bowser was just getting back from his own investigation with a rod and bait. Although he was caught off guard by the koopa telling them not to look in the jar, the thought of fishing the threat out of the water actually sounded fun. 

[color=salmon]"Groovios idea. We'd probably have to set up some kind of weighted stand for the rod to make sure no one gets pulled in if it works."[/color] He glanced at the water, thinking. That might not be too difficult to do, since there was a lot of heavy looking stuff around. They could finagle something to hold the rod, and then they'd just have to hope the line didn't snap. Or the rod itself. Actually, looking it over again, the fishing pole seemed a little flimsy... but, the more options they had, the better! Now to figure out what the best way to go about making a sturdy stand would be.

Nadia's voice brought the Cadet's attention up to the submarine where she perched. He smiled at her. Had she climbed up there? She was really working those cat-like traits. Unfortunately she confirmed that the sub was as small as it looked, so they wouldn't all be able to go. Much like the future Witcher, Ace Cadet doubted he'd be much help inside of it. Especially because there was something lurking down in the water, whoever went in the sub would need to be as quick as possible - no time at all to try and teach someone to use it during. He followed the cable Nadia pointed out with his eyes, all the way to where the koopas and Rika were heading to try and find a release. With his gaze pointed back towards the ground, the Cadet noticed the Bowser left the bait jar with the rest of the things he'd brought back. Curious, he went over to look. He knelt down and took the jar in both hands, turning it over. The label meant nothing to him, maybe it was the kind of thing inside, or the name of the man who'd fallen into the water. As for what the thing actually was, the Cadet squinted his eyes and peered through the glass. It looked like some kind of underdeveloped creature. Actually without all the bits and bobbles coming out of it, it almost looked like it could be a human.

The thought unnerved him. Ace Cadet put the jar down and slid it over to where the two dive suits laid - the "creepy pile." Just what the hell kind of place was this? Thankfully, a distraction came in the form of the submarine being lowered. Seems like someone had figured it out. Cadet scooted closer to the fence, though he paused when he noticed Sakura walking quickly towards the water, her face pale. When she emptied the little contents of her stomach, he scrambled up to approach her. [color=salmon]"Sakura!?"[/color]

Nadia made it to her first, catching the Cadet off guard with her words. The feral had been gentle with Sakura up until then, but obviously the situation was getting to both of the girls. He could tell it was meant to be a pep talk, so when Nadia looked for support he tried with an expression that came off more as a grimace than anything else. It didn't seem like it did much good though. What was Sakura talking about? Killed someone? Surely she couldn't mean that metal thing, the one that was currently being moved into the room? Though he couldn't understand her thought process, he tried his best to follow up what Nadia said. 

[color=salmon]"Hey, you [i]are[/i] tough. You've bounced back from so many things! This isn't gonna break you!"[/color] The Cadet said, moving a little closer to Sakura and Ms. Fortune. [color=salmon]"We don't know what really happened to that— guy, so..."[/color]

The crash of one of the diving suits that were still hanging up interrupted his words. He glanced at it, startling into a laughable battle pose with his little fists raised when Bella screamed and the suit's arm starting moving. His eyes snapped to the other diving suits laying on the ground, but they stayed right where they were, silent and still. It was just the one, and it had the same voice as Mirage?

[color=salmon]"It's not a ghost! It's... Uh...?"[/color] He had no idea what was going on. He looked between the suit and the chair, slowly lowering his arms. If anything it would have been a ghost of Mirage, but he was still standing there and even speaking. Confused, the Cadet inched towards where the boy was connected to the headset, keeping an eye on the moving suit. [color=salmon]"Are you alright Mirage?"[/color]