Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Blu
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Avalice Academy Plaza | Interactions: @KoL

As Hana'O opens her eyes, she is greeted by the lovely smile of a girl with silver hair and piercing golden eyes. It seems the girl had not expected anyone to speak about her mana in such a complimentary way. So, she introduces herself as 'Eris Reinhardt of Class-C' and tells the Sixth Seat that she is someone akin to an admirer. Hana'O has heard that last word often. And, unfortunately, it's not always something she wants to hear. That word usually follows with some form of negative interaction afterward. Almost instinctively, Hana'O mentally braces herself for what's coming next.

But, much to her surprise, nothing approaching ill-mannered ever came. Instead, Eris tells her that she has no intention of eliciting a duel or anything of the sort. Hana'O's eyes grow slightly wider with pleasant surprise. Eris then says that it must be difficult for Hana'O to be in such a position constantly. Hana'O smiles gently in response. "It's not for one such as I to complain about duty." Hana'O replies, but her tone seems pained. It's obvious she agrees that the challenges are tiresome, but it's also obvious she is very much duty-bound to it despite her true feelings.

"I," she hesitates before locking eyes with Eris, "sometimes wish that someone stronger would appear and finally wrest me from my seat. Power... can be a curse." She shakes her head. "Oh, but where are my manners? I am Hana'O, 651st of my name. It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Reinhardt." She places her hands on her lap and does a traditional bow of her culture, known as Ojigi. "Forgive my lack of knowledge on the families of this land, but, 'Reinhardt' is the name of a noble family, is it not?"

Some time later, a familiar voice calls out for Hana'O. One of the Seven. It would appear that it's time for Hana'O to take her leave. She picks up her thing and walks up to Eris with a friendly smile. "It seems I have to go now. I regret not being able to talk with you more. It's been a decidedly more pleasant meeting than I've had in a very long time. Lady Reinhardt," she bows once more, "I pray our paths cross again. Perhaps, we can become friends then?" She almost falters to suggest. It's as if she thinks Eris would be offended by the idea. Soon after, Hana'O leaves, returning to her tiresome duty.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by samakama
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samakama はいどうもー / バーチャルニートサマカマです

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Misaiya had not spoken much today. He hadn’t any problems with that, though, content as he was to lie back and let Ankaa talk. It was soothing to listen.

The sudden sound of an unfamiliar voice reverberating in his head, in a manner that could only be accurately described as ‘magic’, gave Misaiya quite the shock. It was a little relieving to see that Ankaa and Kress were similarly startled by what he concluded to be the teacher employing telepathy. Only Camellia had been called back to class, it seemed, as no-one else had reacted in the slightest. The paints club had just finished off a solo portrait of their mascot, and Misaiya and his two companions would have been able to take the next slot had the circumstances been in their favour. They were so close…

Ankaa’s words of complaint echoed his own thoughts.

Another thought came to mind. The teacher - Nyx, was it? - had sent a magic message targeting only the Camellians. Which meant that he definitely knew all his students, and most likely had a way to tell where everyone was. The conclusion: Misaiya had probably been found out.

Ah well. He would come clean if Nyx were to probe him in class. It wouldn’t make for a spectacular first impression, but Misaiya did have somewhat of a legitimate excuse, it being the first day and whatnot. Nyx would have to be quite the hypocrite to grill him that much over it, late as he himself was — and as the teacher no less!

Now it was Kress who had begun to share his wisdom.
Maybe Misaiya was overthinking once more, but Kress had seemed a tad more disappointed upon hearing the news than he and Ankaa were. But looking now at the other first-year as he began to explain the workings of the Arcane Paints, that upset mood was no longer apparent.

Misaiya felt a slight pang of envy. He wasn’t a total muggle, but his knowledge of magic was probably below average for a student of Avalice, especially with regard to its more artisanal applications. The less said about his ability to actually use magic the better. Kress was no older than him, but clearly much more experienced in the arcane arts.

Those improper thoughts were quickly deconstructed and dismissed. Each crop has its season. There was no point in envy, perhaps save for being motivation to improve. Most would never be able to so much as manipulate mana; Misaiya had little reason to go about whining. Enough of that.

Thinking about Kress’s invitation… there wasn’t much cause to decline, Ankaa had already accepted, and Misaiya was interested in learning more. There wasn’t really another option.

”I will be looking forward to it.” He may have been a big fish in Suanneipua, but this was truly a place filled with peers and far greater people. ”I hope we’ll learn a lot here in Avalice.”
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by OwO
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With some actual tea recommendations, Sanhan would... immediately forget about everything relating to tea. She tried to listen, really she did. Most of the details were lost on her. Her mind was like a sieve. The tea talk just kept on slipping through. This wasn't out of malice or a lack of intelligence. Moreso that the tea talk used all kinds of words she'd never heard relating to liquid. Oxidizing was rust, and rust was what happened to metal. It was why swords and arrows got rusty if improperly maintained. Withering was what happened with crops on bad land. The insult about her sleepiness was also lost on Sanhan. She was mostly awake now. Why would she need tea to wake up? Wasn't like she was always tired. She was just tired in that instance. Weird, she thought about her. Didn't say it out loud, though. Didn't want to trouble her. She did take the recommendation, though. Lemongrass and liquorice. She had no idea what those were, but the people at the P.U. would probably know.

"Why would we have a tea party...?" Sanhan quietly replied to Kiara's question about a party, practically only audible to herself. A delayed response, but Sanhan actually had to spend a hot minute pondering what exactly a tea party was. She had some understanding about the word for party. Her people didn't really party, though. They were too busy trying to live off the land. The only time they would ever hold any form of festivity was when something truly amazing happened. Nothing happened that really warranted it. Even then, having a party focused solely on tea? That seemed really wasteful.

Then, Sanhan's brain was beamed with some form of speech. She didn't like this magic. It seemed rude. Get to the lecture hall... But they barely had any time to eat and drink! Well, not much she could do about it. With a forlorn disappointment deep in her heart and the same blank expression she always had, she accepted the fact that she trapped herself in conversation instead of getting food. Now left alone, Sanhan had a thought. She could get food to go, right?

Like a madman, she dashed from stall to stall as she looked for the perfect food. What was the perfect food that was cheap, had amazing variety, and was easy to carry a lot of.

Bagels.

With never before seen speed from her, she got herself a big ol' bag of bagels. A variety bag, if you would. Bagels were something that her people would have never thought about making, so for Sanhan, they were practically an o-shaped miracle. With bag of bagels in hand, she went back to the lecture hall.
Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Chezka
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Yvaine wasn't certain what she was watching, but she cheered on her dear classmate all the same, calling out encouragements in between bites of her pastry. The whole event was quick, too fast for her to properly follow, and soon there was a man crowning Ty as the winner. Yvaine watched on intensely, hands half raised and ready to applaud but faltering as she wondered if it was appropriate to do so. Was arguing boy called "Ty?" He looked like he could be, but he also looked like an "Axel," or perhaps a "Tony."

She turned to Mandi to ask when she noticed the lightning-fast blonde fall to his knees in disappointment. She felt sorry for him, but oh! that means Mr. Seventh Miracle must have lost! "How wonderful," she said, clapping her hands as she smiled up at Mandi and Sophiel. "Our classmate Ty just won." Despite still not being entirely certain what game it was they played, Yvaine set her mind to congratulate him in person when she gets the chance.

A familiar voice rang then, startling her momentarily. It was the professor! The shock quickly gave way to awe and Yvaine looked around for him, amazed that he sounded so clearly to her when he was nowhere near. Out of curiosity, she tested out the parameters of the spell, attempting to respond to his announcement. Her eyes screwed shut as she focused on her message in earnest.

Hi, Professor! I hope you had fun during this small break. I am looking forward to learning from you. Yours respectfully, Yvaine.

There was no response to her response by the time Sophiel urged them to hurry back to class, so Yvaine filed the spell under one-way telepathy. Although, Professor Nyx could also have received it but chose not to respond. Or perhaps he'd received so many responses that he couldn't be expected to answer them all.

Her aimless wonderings kept her preoccupied throughout their short journey back to the classroom, and once there, Yvaine let Mandi lead the way to their seats. She still hadn't figured out where to sit, but this was finally her chance to do so.

With eyes rampant with earnest resolve, Yvaine took hold of Mandi's hand and asked, "Mandi, may I sit next to you?"
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Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by AlteredTundra
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AlteredTundra RIP to the GOAT, Akira Toriyama

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Location — Avalice Academy Plaza
@Blu


Like all good things in this world, Caelum's conversation with Ines the Silver came to an end in a few different ways. The commotion with Ty and one of the other Miracle Seven diverted any and all attention over to wherever it was that they were only for someone to say that Ty had one. Caelum didn't know what he won or even what sort of game they were playing. The only thing he knew to be a fact was Ines looked annoyed and he mirrored her reaction (for his own reasons, of course).

"This is your professor speaking. The afternoon class session starts in fifteen minutes. So get your asses back to the lecture hall, now."

Suddenly he heard the voice of his professor in his head. For a minute, Caelum had thought he was just hearing things, that maybe his excitement and possible dehydration from the dream that came true of meeting Ines and having a decent conversation (in which he didn't make a complete fool of himself) had resulted in him hearing voices that weren't really there. It wasn't until he looked around beyond Ines and Weyrose that he saw some of his classmates reacting in the same way he did, prompting him to stand up. "I am so sorry!" Caelum bowed to both Ines and Weyrose. "I have to get back to the lecture hall. But.." He stopped himself, trying to find the right words to use, looking at Ines. His eyes, which were shoddy and grey like a neutral cloud now lit up with an electric blue tint in the background of green. "If you're ever around here in the near future and you have the time, I would love to have that sparring match with you!" He said with a grin before heading into the direction of the lecture hall.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Dezuel
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'Kiss with moderation?' Mandi blinked while thinking about that, but there had only been a single kiss on the cheek. That hardly counted as moderation. "I have noted the warning, miss Sophiel. But when you said it like that and with that red on your face it made me wonder~ Are you upset that I didn't greet you like that? Maybe you wanted me to..?" Mandi smiled in a friendly fashion towards Sophiel. Yvaine also did point out that the scream in the distance came from one of the classmates, Ty. Mandi gave a soft smile to Yvaine on hearing that and nodded softly, it did indeed seem like Ty had bested one of the seven in something. Though it was most certainly not a magic duel as that would have drawn more attention and cheers no doubt. The young mage had not spoken with Ty yet, come to think of it Mandi had not spoken to anyone aside from the two girls.

"Oh it does sound like he did. Maybe he used that fiery temper of his?" Mandi pondered aloud, before waving the thoughts away. The mage's ears soon perked up on hearing the voice of the professor, it seemed like he had cast some form of greater telepathy. Perhaps he did in secrecy while everyone were in the lecture hall. If that was the case, the feat of doing such a thing without anyone's notice was very admirable. "Oh but you are right, miss Sophiel. We should get back, I heard the professor too. Best not keep him waiting~" Mandi looked Sophiel over and then nodded to Yvaine, who was now taking hold of Mandi's hand again, this time asking if the seat next to the young mage was free. It certainly was!

"Ofcourse you can sit next to me~ I would love that~ I just hope theres enough chairs, if things come for worse, I suppose you can sit in my lap." Mandi snickered slightly, before softly pulling Yvaine along on their quest to get back to the professor. "Let's make sure we get there on time~"
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Blu
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Class-C Lecture Hall | Interactions: None

Once everyone settles back into their seats, Nyx wastes no time in starting up the lecture. "Would anyone like to guess why they would hold a 'fair' after a welcoming ceremony? So that students can have a bit of fun on their first day of the new semester? Sign up for clubs? Hang out with your friends?" Nyx stands up from his seat and leans against the blackboard with arms crossed. "All foolish notions. You know what I like to call the 'welcoming ceremony'? 'Opposition research'. And that is especially true this year." He pauses, letting the magical blackboard write something out. "'The Festival of Champions'." He pauses again to let those words sink into the students' minds. "Every ten years, a great tournament is held by Avalice; one that lasts an entire month. Every class aside from Class Aster is expected to participate in contests of battle and games for the amusement of both the Academy faculty and the common citizens of Genelogia. Points are tracked for every win a class receives in any one of the many events. And, at the end of festival," Nyx glares at the class with intense eyes, "the five classes with the lowest point tally are expelled immediately."

His words echo with the feeling of dread. 'Expelled immediately'? Every single student in the class? Just what sort of game are they playing at here? "My generation never had to compete in the tournament, but take a guess what lucky year we're in. We have three months until the Festival begins. Three months of preparatory work. After those three months are up, your fate is left in your own hands. You either win, or you lose. It's as simple as that. I shouldn't have to tell you what everyone thinks of our chances to make it out of the bottom five are. It'll be your chance to prove them wrong." He walks back to his desk without sitting down. "With that said, it's time for your first test."


Class-C Courtyard | Interactions: None

The sun beats high overhead, enveloping the courtyard in the warm Spring glow. Every class has its own courtyard and private garden. The prized possession of the latter being the class's signature flower. For Class-C, that would be their purple camellias. A rare hybrid coloration not found anywhere else but here in Avalice. Since camellias bloom from Fall all the way through Spring, an orchard of violet hues blankets the courtyard for all to enjoy. But today's lesson is far from flower viewing. A small, green frog hops to and fro among the cobblestone path. It flees into the bushes as soon as the class passes by. They soon arrive at an arena large enough to comfortably fit everyone inside.

"The key to becoming stronger is through your control of mana. There are those who compare mana to the blood which flows through our veins. 'Blood for the self. Mana for the soul'. An idiotic expression. Mana is a language. A set of components and instructions in which we manipulate to form the extraordinary." A odd-looking tome begins to levitate beside Nyx. "This is a Lexicon. Those of you who are in any way adept with magic should know what this is. To everyone else: this is the highest form of the magic tome. I can count on one hand the number of people who are alive today that is in possession of a Lexicon; myself being one of them. This tome contains no spells, no pre-fashioned formulas. It simply contains that 'Language of Mana'. Illegible by anyone but the owner of said Lexicon, this language can be used to freely craft any spells at will. But, to do that, one's mana channeling must be flawless."

Nyx takes the Lexicon and straps it to his belt. "The point being: power is directly correlated to one's control of mana. If you ever wondered why none of you can sense my mana, it is because I have complete control over it. Those with poor control leak their mana like a weaved basket filled with water. Right now, I can tell that none of you can fully control your own. Today's test will help me determine the level of control you have with your mana in a combat scenario. One-on-one bouts; you will fight until only one of you is standing." Suddenly, a list appears out of thin air. It contains the match-ups of the test. "Once you know your opponent, find a spot in this arena and get started. Feel free to not hold back." Nyx begins to walk away toward a nearby bench. "Oh, right. There is one more thing. I will be expelling over half the class once this test concludes. So you may want to take this seriously." He says with complete nonchalance.

Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Relin
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Ty Varen


The students sauntered into class one by one, taking their seats and winding down after the festivities. Ty was still on cloud nine from his victory over Lanza, and as a result, was actually sitting quietly, just enjoying the feeling of being on top for a bit. However, when the professor spoke, the mood of the classroom changed. Festival of Champions? Opposition research? He flashed back to the insidious gleam in his clubmate's glasses. Did she already know? Had she manipulated him into participating into a challenge to see his abilities? He wouldn't doubt it, coming from her. But then the professor announced the stakes. FIVE classes expelled!? Ty's jaw dropped when he heard it. Once he had a chance to digest those words, his heart began to race, not out of fear, but out of excitement. The professor beckoned them to the courtyard for their first test. Ty practically jumped out of his seat. "Hell yeah! Let's kick some ass in this festival!" The threat of expulsion didn't bother him. All they had to do was win.

***

Ty took in a deep breath of fresh air as they all assembled in the courtyard. Outside classes were so much more interesting, even if the topic was just about boring stuff like math or history. However, the professor's quick lecture took an unexpected turn. The class went from festivals and explosions to... books. Ty scratched his head when Nyx explained the Lexicon. How could mana be a language? He didn't use words to cast any of his spells. Hell, his spellbook didn't even have any words in it. Surely that was just the professor's way of doing things. He'd been using magic just fine without using any kind of language. Eh, he'd figure it out as class went on. But, one thing he was definitely good at... one on one combat.

Ty's opponent was Sekhandur, the guy who had introduced himself with a long lineage of names and... stuff. He kinda zoned out when the boy introduced himself. It didn't matter who his opponent was, though. He was going to win. The professor could expel as many people as he wanted. All Ty had to do was win and none of that would matter. It was kind of harsh, expelling students after one test, but they were ultimately here to learn how to fight. If you couldn't do that, then perhaps this wasn't the right school for you. Ty wouldn't let sympathy dull his fangs. He made his way to the patch of land where he would fight his adversary. He rolled his shoulders, but his body was never really stiff these days. He inhaled, filling his lungs to capacity, threw his head back, and bellowed, "ALRIIIIIGHT!"

As he let out his roar, his whole body hummed. He felt his blood rushing to his limbs, his bones rattled, and he felt lighter on his feet. This combat ritual of his was no form of magic, and had no justification in any martial art. But, it got him psyched up. His mana swelled, emitting the presence of a pouncing tiger. He was ready. "Give me your best, Sekhandur! I'm not going easy on you!" He crouched and leaned forward, the muscles in his body tensing. He activated his sixth sense, a standard enhancement for his fights. And with that, he was ready for it to begin.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by KoL
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“Apologies again, if I made you uncomfortable. I know a thing or two about duties as well. I imagine how it must feel,” Eris explained herself after hearing the other girl's comment, holding back the urge to chuckle after seeing her skittish behavior.

“Yes, the irony of power is a tragedy worth of the grandest stage. And, if I didn't knew this to be real, I would think I'm before a character penned by the greatest playwright to ever live,” Eris sai after Hana'O introduced herself. She couldn't help but add a bit of theatrics to her own speech, bringing a hand to her chest and speaking in a dramatic voice. “I'm pleased to meet you. I must admit that I find it very exotic to bear a name of such weight as yours, but it too has a kind of nostalgic beauty.”

“Time flies when you're having fun, indeed,” Eris said to herself as the other girl made her leave known. “Farewell, Miss Hana'O. I'm sure we'll come across each other more than once. This academy isn't so expansive, after all,” she added before following her own path.

※ ※ ※

“Excuse me,” Eris said once their teacher finished his explanation of the things to come. “I'm not saying that this tournament is... ill-thought, so to say. But, isn't it quite excessive to throw a hundred-or-so students out of the door all at once? Furthermore, isn't it a little more accurate to say that they throw away Class C plus for others? Since this class has always been considered the worst as far as I remember from my studies.”

“Not saying that I plan on losing or anything like that but it's certainly quite inconvenient and sly,” she commented to herself.

※ ※ ※

“I prefer to think of it like a pool of mercury. Formless, yet heavy, it's just a matter of pouring it on a vessel fitting to do one's bidding,” Eris commented once their teacher began giving a lecture that sounded more like he was bragging than trying to impart any knowledge upon them. “In fact, combining this lecture plus an earlier encounter from today gave me quite a few interesting ideas,” she added as she made her way to a corner of the arena.

She reviewed some points in her tome as she waited for her opponent, already preparing a trick or two. “My my, aren't we eager with the expellings? I imagine the paperwork for that much be truly exciting,” she said, casting a spell that had seeming no effect at all but was indeed an illusion, making her invisible while leaving a formless clone in her place.

“I at least assume we aren't going to do this with lethal weapons, are we?” "Eris" said, hoping that at least they could have some training gear on hand. Controlling the power of a spell was a thing, but going all out with a bow or a blade wouldn't end well.
@Blu
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by TheWendil
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Once they had all returned to class, Professor Nyx made a rather dramatic announcement. Sophiel had mixed feelings regarding the announcement. She had felt that Professor Nyx was being a little too competitive in regarding to the tournament, but she did agree that they should work hard for it. Though, she felt confident that her class out of all of them wouldn't be the ones to be expelled.

If that wasn't enough the professor was going to throw them a test right of the bat. While Sophiel had no complaints wasn't this a little too early to start out with? It seemed like the Professor would take no complaints as he had them go towards the courtyard immediately.

Sophiel had looked at the blooming camellia briefly before turning back to her professor and listen to what he had to say. "Mana..." The essence that thrives in all living things and had many uses. Mana wasn't something that Sophiel could use. She had plenty of it, she was sure, but using that mana was out of her grasp. No matter how many books, how many attempts, or how many teachers she want to, she could never use her mana.

A frown grew on her face as she listened to the professor's lecture over it. She could practically hear the insulting nickname in the back of her head as she listened to the professor's lecture.Though, finally when he finished he summoned a list of the match up for that test they were holding. She won't get expelled, she wouldn't. And as she looked at for her name, her calmness dropped when she found who she was going to face.

Kiara Reinhardt

Whichever god was watching over her right now must have been laughing their ass off when they decided to make opponent. The wretched feeling manifested again and writhed within her. She took a deep breath before turning to try and look for her opponent. It was nothing personal about this, nothing personal. She wasn't going to be petty.

She wasn't.

Kiara would end up having somewhat of a similar experience to Sophiel when they returned to class, by choice or chance. With their first true lesson under Professor Nyx, so too came with it the haunting announcement of the Festival of Champions. Though while the speech was, by all means, dramatic and hyped up, no doubt spreading some concern among the other students, Kiara couldn't help but frown to herself. Didn't that...not really make sense? Surely, if classes were docked off for expulsion, wouldn't that mean Class-C would have been cut off more than a while ago? After all, they weren't exactly a prestigious class to begin with. Thankfully, or perhaps less so, another voice answered her qualms by bringing to life the questions she had. Unfortunately, it came from none other than her sister. Kiara almost twitched an eye as Eris pointed out the obvious in her mind, but whatever answer their teacher gave, she was already thinking of other prospects.

Like the fact they were moving now, towards their class' courtyard. The announcement of personal matches between each other was, once again, hyped up for dramatics now. Kiara couldn't help but think Professor Nyx was perhaps trying a bit too hard to scare them? Surely he couldn't just flat out expel the students who failed this one test on their first day; not to mention the flaws in his earlier announcements. Considering all that, she was pretty sure this was just another scare tactic. Oh well. With her Volted Tome in hand, she looked at the list of student matchups, finding hers was the very first one. Sophiel huh?

The name wasn't alien to her, and she distinctly remembered her being around in the earlier hours. Much like Sophiel, she looked about for her opponent before spotting her, walking up with a friendly smile and an extended hand. "Ah, Sophiel? I don't think we had a chance to introduce ourselves. We're supposed to be fighting now, so let's make this a good match."

Coming up to Kiara, her unwanted disgust grew as the girl in front of her had the audacity to smile at her. Taking another deep breath to vent her feelings away, she smiled back and took the offered hand as if she wasn't wishing Kiara to begone. "Yes, it will be a pleasure to fight you, Miss Reinhardt." While she didn't use Mandi or Yvain's last names, she felt better saying Kiara's.

"Is there any place you would prefer to fight at?" Sophiel said, retaining her polite tone and demeanor. It was a tough struggle to force her feelings away, but she was sure that Kiara wouldn't notice her apparent hostility towards her.

Kiara's smile faltered a little but her hand didn't lose its grip in the pleasantries. "Er, I actually go as "Bastion" for my family name now. It's a little complicated, but Reinhardt isn't much of a moniker for me anymore. Anyway, we should pick a corner now. Might be best since it'll make sure we don't get in the others' way." True to Sophiel's predictions, Kiara didn't notice any flaring hostility sent her way, yet. Instead, she spotted out an empty corner unclaimed and led them there. Once both took their sides a few feet away from each other, Kiara's small smile turned into something of a smirk, if only for friendly competition.

"Alright, ready when you are Sophiel."

Sophiel blinked for a moment, "Oh, my apologises I didn't know." So, it was Bastion now. Wondered what could have happened. Though, that didn't matter right now. All that mattered was to beat Kiara in fair combat. At the very least, she didn't detect any hostility direct at her.

She followed Kiara towards their battlegrounds and took her place, opposite to where Kiara was. After a moment, she nodded at Kiara. "Okay, on one, the match will be begin, okay?" With that said and done, she began the count down.

"3, 2, 1," On one, she lunged forward to close the gap between them. Using her Sail Gun technique, she had briefly pulled back her arm and threw out a punch while quickly closing the gap. Unbeknownst to Sophiel, that punch was full of hostility.

Everything started out smooth enough, Sophiel being the one to initiate the first move. So fast was it Kiara almost didn't think to move, and indeed, she only barely moved out the way from the first punch. But none of that was a concern, less so when she felt the air slightly disrupt from the impact of Sophiel's move. "You ok there?" she asked, skidding back. She knew Professor Nyx had told them to not hold back, but that seemed a bit more rushed for a training punch. Still, if this was how Sophiel was going to move, she'd respond in equal kind.

The first thing she did was clench her Volted Tome, drawing in her mana inwards instead of out in a constant flow until her body sheened slightly of an outline, sparks emanating from her body. Narrowing her eyes, she stared head on at Sophiel, body clenched and waiting.

So, she managed to dodge her fastest attack. That alone made even more infuriated than before. "No, I'm fine," Sophiel responded to the question with the same polite tone, though it seemed a little different. That same awful feeling was more noticeable than ever before, though Sophiel didn't take notice of it.

She eyed the outline that was radiating off of Kiara's body. Sparks were essentially coming off of her as she stood there. Was that her magic? Whatever it was, Sophiel doubted that she return unharmed from attack Kiara. But choice did she have? If she didn't engage, Kiara would deactivate her magic to conserve it and raise it again when she was attacking.

Taking a deep breath she focused. Her gloves were made out of a leather which would hopefully minimize the effect of Kiara's shroud. Readying a punch one more time, she lunged and punched at Kiara once more, again with the same hostility as before.

"You sure?" By now, Kiara's smile was gone, replaced by her usual expression of neutrality. Along with something more. "The way you were moving almost looked like you wanted to punch my face off." No, not just that, she could feel the force that came off from that first punch. "I don't know what's going on and I doubt you're going to tell me. But I guess this fight is the best way of resolving it for you." And as simple as that she pried no more, for there was no more to be said on the matter. Clenching her Volted Tome at the ready, Kiara moved just as Sophiel launched at her once again.

However, unlike before where she just barely avoided the attack, this time she kept up even with Sophiel's speed, moving backwards just out of reach, clenching around herself to endure the drawback of the punch. The sparks around her sizzled, perhaps some indication to her suddenly faster reactions. The hand holding her tome drew power and with her other hand, she pointed it directly at Sophiel. Positioned like a firearm, she "shot" her Railgun, a single bolt of mana fired with a crack. At such range, she hoped it'd discourage Sophiel from a direct approach any longer.

A frown soon grew on Sophiel's face in response to Kiara's now neutral expression. What was she going on about? She wasn't trying to punch her that hard? What did she even do that brought up that? Blinded with the now false accusation, it fed into her wretched feeling and she gave it up more to it. She didn't bother to respond to Kiara as she continued her assault.

With her attack dodged once more, she gritted her teeth. Unlike before she had barely dodged, this time she managed to dodge it before she had reached her. Though, she didn't have time to think about it as she struck by a bolt of magic that felt like electricity. "Agh!" Sophiel staggered a bit, but that only made the feeling within her even more outraged than before.

With her already nearby Kiara, she pivoted her foot, brought up her leg high up, and swung her leg quickly at Kiara.

Kiara's suspicions remained unsaid, though even she could tell Sophiel was getting more and more frustrated with their matchup. She almost expected the other girl to give up, especially when she took the brunt of her Railgun at such a close distance. Thus, it was to her surprise Sophiel only lashed out more, swinging her leg directly at her. Not expecting it, Kiara had no choice but to take the blow, raising her arms up as much as she could and brace herself. It still felt like her world was rocked, the kick sending her flying backwards and skidding along the ground. Still, she wasn't going to give up just because Sophiel was having a tantrum. As far as she saw it, this was the only way to help her classmate; letting her vent her anger.

"Alright, scratch that. Just because you're angry at me for whatever reason doesn't mean I'm going to let you use me as a ragdoll without a fight," Kiara sputtered, rolling along the ground before catching herself back to her feet. It was a calculated move, one that put distance between herself and Sophiel as she fired shot after shot at her. "Come on and throw it all at me if you have to, I'll return the favor...."

Sophiel hissed as she had forgotten the shroud that Kiara cloaked herself in and winced at the electricity. Even if it was for a brief moment, it didn't mean it wouldn't hurt. Though she managed to land a hit with her attack, so she was okay with it. Though, she did notice that Kiara went a little bit further than usual. Did she kick a little harder than usual?

Watching her classmate recovered from her latest attack. She was angry? Now that she had calmed that, she did feel heated. It then she realized that she had been consumed in that feeling prior to her first hit on Kiara. A small bit a guilt weighed in on Sophiel, apparent on her face, but she wouldn't let that get in front of her. "I see, I apologize then." Sophiel said as she readied herself, "But, I'm afraid I'll have to accept your offer." It was she would like to have said until she realized the distance between her and Kiara.

Her classmate had begun firing her previous spell with rapid consistency. Sophiel had no choice but to dodge the attacks by performing some acrobatics. It was to make her harder to hit while moving at the same time. Cartwheeling, front flipping from them, she had to find a way to breach the distance between them. Seeing that Kiara was firing without a care in the world, it would seem that Sophiel was the one pressed for endurance.

Deciding to take a risk, she dodged that last shot and went straight at Kiara. She front flipped forward and pushed with all her might to propel herself forward to dodge her last shot. With brought her leg up and was about to slam it at Kiara from above.

Kiara was pretty sure she heard an apology from Sophiel. Pretty sure; it was somewhat hard to tell with the distance put between them. She also could have swore she heard something else but by then she was firing off shots that crackled in the air. If nothing else, it had Sophiel constantly on the move, ducking and weaving, dodging and moving in a display that honestly impressed Kiara a little. That admiration was hard pressed to remain though when the other girl was dashing right for her like a shot arrow. With her last shot dodged, there was no time for Kiara to dodge or even set up another shot, not when Sophiel was upon her in moments. For the first time in the fight, a look of surprised panic came over her features and in a desperate attempt, she raised her Volted Tome above her head as some meager means of protection.

The tactic went as well as she expected, Sophiel's powerful axe kick smashing into the book and spearing through it; well, it was more akin to smashing it to pieces as pages and scraps of it were sent flying every which way. It did little to stop Sophiel's kick, if only a little, as it slammed into Kiara, sending a puff of air against the ground from the impact. With her tome destroyed and her head reeling in a million different directions, Kiara lashed out and held onto the pain coursing in her body just long enough to activate her trump card.

"Schrade...Shroud..." She wasn't sure if she was even clinging to one of the scattered tome pages but felt the mana flow regardless, the area suddenly exploding into sparks and electricity that burned and singed the ground rotten black. She wasn't sure how long she had the spell going off for, delirious as she already was, as if her mind was swimming in an endless ocean and she was struggling to keep her head about the water....

Surprise was apparent on Sophiel's as she felt something hard that she made contact with. Was it... Wood? She didn't have a chance to question it further as a page flew up as if to answer her question. Her attack eventually did land onto Kiara, but in the next moment...

Something happened.

She had heard Kiara mutter a spell before an intense electricity was shocked into her. The explosion of electricity and sparks blew Sophiel far, far, back. She couldn't catch herself, as if she could, and she rolled over the camellia flowers. Pain was apparent throughout her body. A few places were burned and a few scabbed from friction. Not to mention her head was pounding... Did she get a concussion? It wasn't like Sophiel focus on that question alone as she winced and tried to push herself up. She felt like was conscious going to fade, but in the end she could only think about the battle.

She clenched her fist over her defeat.

The rampage of sparks and electricity continued to run loose and out of control, if only for a few moments. Kiara wasn't sure if she was unconscious or in some lucid state of a trance, but she was sure her magic was still being fired off. Strange. Were she not cognizant of the pain spiking in her back and the pounding in her head, she might have wondered why the spell was still going off even without her tome. Regardless, the entire lapse lasted only for a few seconds more before she was brought back to reality, gasping a little. Immediately she reeled her mana back in, relinquishing the spell as sloppily as was allowed. Soon enough their little fighting corner was devoid of the crackles but still stenched of charred debris and surroundings.

Her back also hurt like hell, no thanks to Sophiel's last kick. But she ignored that in place of trying to get up on wobbling feet, a hand to her back gingerly as she noted the scattered pieces of her Volted Tome. That...was going to be a problem. But there was no use in musing on it now when a problem she could solve remained in front of her. Hobbling over to Sophiel, she lowered herself as much as the pain around her gave her leisure for, mirroring the gesture from earlier and offering a hand.

"Good match," she huffed, teeth grit in some clear aftershock. It was almost ironic the both of them had been knocked out of commission from just one direct blow from each other.

Shocked, ha, ha, shocked, she would have laughed if she didn't feel rather terrible right now. Though regardless, Sophiel was shocked at Kiara coming her over and offering her hand. She looked down and could only chuckle. How pitiful of her, not being able to look at your opponent in the end. Reaching up, she took her hand and pulled herself up.

"Yeah, looks like it's your win," Sophiel said, still looking down. "Sorry about earlier, I think I was... too focused into the match," A sorry excuse for a sorry excuse of a person. Her expression evident on her face. She looked over towards the rolled over camellias. The professor would probably get mad at her for rolling over them.

"Do you have... another book? I can try to help you get another one if you don't..." The absence of Kiara's tome was apparent as Sophiel looked down at the ground. It made her even feel worse than before.

Kiara almost wanted to ask what that was even all about, but before she could Sophiel was asking about her tome. Oh well, at the very least, maybe the other girl got it out of her system. "Well, uh, I don't," she said truthfully. "Honestly with the professor, he might even rule out that you won just because I got my tome smashed. But I can always get another one." A pause then as she considered the rest of Sophiel's words. "I also wouldn't mind accepting your help in a new one too. Pretty sure the school has some materials to make a new one. I think."

"I see, well, I guess we should rest or something. I'm feeling a little faint right now," Sophiel said as she took deep breaths. Looking over, she found an area with a lot of shade. "Let's go there, I don't think I can take the sun anymore..." Sophiel said as she began her trek over there. Hopefully, she could make it up to Kiara somehow with how she acted earlier.

Sophiel wasn't the only one feeling faint. Kiara felt like her head was still spinning, just barely fighting above some invisible ocean. But she kept those thoughts to herself, merely giving Sophiel a low nod as she hobled along with her to the shade. The idea of picking up her scattered tome pieces did briefly cross her mind but she was too busy trying to keep said mind from leaking out her ears at the moment. She'd just clean it up after the fact.
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Dead Cruiser
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Dead Cruiser Dishonour Before Death / Better You Than Me

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Once they had returned to the lecture hall, Sekhandur found that he now had the focus to actually pay attention to what the professor was saying. He quickly got the impression that their professor was quite a ruthless, embittered fellow. He wondered what had transpired in his past to make him so, or if all of the academy's graduates were similar. His opinion of the institution continued to complicate as the conditions of the upcoming decennial tournament were explained. It came as a surprise to him that what appeared to a be a cushy, western institution could be so fiercely competitive. He was beginning to suspect that his father had known about these conditions when he chose to send him away to this academy specifically, hoping that the cutthroat environment would result in him being expelled in disgrace. Sekhandur admitted to himself that this was more cunning than he usually gave his father credit for, but as he leaned back into his seat and quietly smiled, he knew his father still had not tried hard enough to get rid of him.

Once they were back out into the courtyard, the professor announced that they would be facing off against each other as a first round of cuts. Sekhandur quietly wondered if their teacher had been bullied as a child, and was now externalizing that frustration as an adult. The explanation of his lexicon intrigued Sekhandur, and he wondered if the Shan'iatu had not possessed similar power when they established the foundations of the Sehsa-Hebsu in the dawning days of Kemet. Regardless, it was clear that he needed to win this fight swiftly and cleanly if his education was to progress. Half of the class being expelled after one-on-one fights boded poorly for those that lost their fights.

Stepping up to the corner of the courtyard that his opponent had wandered over, Sekhandur eyed him as he made his own preparations. He honestly had no idea who this person was as, again, he had not been paying much attention during the introductions. But he could surmise enough through observation. Diminutive, but with an aggressive posture. Obviously overcompensating for perceived inadequacy. He could expect a direct, aggressive, and persistent offensive presence. Avoidance and misdirection would be key, as Sekhandur would not likely withstand direct confrontation. Sekhandur took off his cloak, his robe, and his sandals, leaving him in his linen undergarments, and set them aside, folding them carefully. He stretched, the dusky skin over his statuesque physique glimmering in the afternoon sunlight. All the while, his own mana took hold in the aura around him, the cold glare of golden starlight, the eyes of a thousand dead kings all staring, watching, waiting.
Hidden 4 yrs ago 4 yrs ago Post by Matsuri
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Matsuri procrastination station

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A L B E R T A

AVALICE ACADEMY — CLASS C COURTYARD


Walking amongst the courtyard camellias did little to improve Alberta's bitter mood. She had heard whisperings of the Festival of Champions before in her time at Avalice, especially during last semester considering what the next one would bring. Alberta was also aware of the consequences should a class fail to perform all too well; just her luck that this was the year where she would have to fight alongside the finest failures the academy had to offer. If last semester's mishap hadn't humiliated the Blumenthal name enough, then the most likely outcome of the upcoming festival definitely would.

As much as she loathed her new classmates already, Alberta had no choice but to trust that by the end of their professor's 'test', only the better half of Class C would remain. Of course, Alberta knew where she stood. She just hoped those who also proved themselves to be part of the 'better half' were component enough to keep the class afloat once festival season arrived. If not — which honestly wouldn't be much of a surprise to her at all — then Alberta's plans to reach the top of the school on her own would remain unchanged.

Caelum Tempesta was to be her opponent for the day. That was the sword boy, wasn't it? Alberta could just about remember the terrible ruckus he'd caused after running late into class that morning. As she approached him, her eyes narrowed into a scrutinising scowl. She didn't like him already. Something about his presence just aggravated her, both mentally and physically. It felt like a swarm of invisible bugs were nipping at her skin, and the irritating sensation pissed her off. Alberta closed the gap between them with a heavy stomp of her boot, overshadowing Caelum as much as her height would allow her.

"You're Tempesta, right? Come with me," Alberta ordered, expecting him to follow behind her. She led him to the middle of the courtyard where most of the students seemed to be avoiding in favour of the walled corners. It would give her more than enough space to run this sorry excuse for a swordsman into the dirt.
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Relin
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Relin

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Sekhandur Khain vs Ty Varen


Sekhandur did not wait for any official acknowledgement for the matches to begin, and attacked Ty as soon as he felt ready to. His grimoire unfurled, an ancient scroll filled with the utterances of long-dead kings, and he repeatedly whipped his staff in Ty’s direction in a graceful, circular motion. As he did so, small cyclones the height of a man tore their way up from the ground, vicious funnels filled with scouring golden sand. It didn’t matter that Sekhandur was not currently standing in the desert in which he ruled; its natural forces obeyed him all the same. The dust devils homed in on Ty in the way that natural phenomena most certainly did not, roaring with cutting wind and blinding sand. Keeping his opponent on the backfoot would be difficult, and Sekhandur had to attempt to get him there as soon as possible. He stayed ready, carefully watching for how Ty would react to this.

Straight to business. Ty was starting to like this guy already. His heart was racing and if he had fur it would certainly be standing on end. He watched as Sekhandur spun his staff and his ears were filled with the violent hissing of a million grains of sand. He’d seen elemental magic users before, but sand was one he wasn’t familiar with. Moist soil and rocky creeks were what he had back home. He’d walked on a beach once and noted how it was harder to run on sand, but other than that, all he could tell was that these cyclones surging towards him were not fully solid. And that was enough to go on for him.

Ty brought his left forearm up as if shielding his eyes against the assaulting winds, then pulled on his mana. His tome was tucked away, pressed against his chest. It pulsated with energy, matching his ever-quickening heartbeat. He visualized the toughness of a shell, imagined the feeling of its rough contours, and a tortoise shell spread out over his forearm, acting like his shield.

Ty grinned, then dashed forward to meet the cyclones head on. What was the point of running around trying to avoid them? He’d just be wasting energy before he had to deal with them anyway. His feet pounded against the ground, then, just as he was about to collide with them, he channeled his bull charge. He felt the rough grains biting into his skin as he plunged through them. He was aware of every cut and scrape the sand made, a side-effect of the sixth sense, but one that he could plow through with some raw guts. His swift maneuver brought him through the cyclone as quickly as possible, his shell protecting his eyes, nose, and mouth. He sustained some cuts on his arms, legs, and body, but they were shallow. This small amount of pain wouldn’t stop him.

Ty bounded towards Sekhandur, pulling his shell away from his face and revealing a wide grin. His right arm warped and contorted into a tiger’s claw. With an animalistic yell, he swung. What he used was no martial art, but the honed instinct of an apex predator. It was a swift, clean vertical strike aimed at his opponent’s chest. If Sekhandur wanted to play a distance game, it was clear Ty had no intention of letting him.

The turtle shell covering Ty’s face, as well as riotous noise of the dust devils, made Ty completely oblivious to Sekhandur’s next move. As he saw that Ty intended to charge head-first through the devils, he began to side-step the oncoming charge, and waved his staff so as to direct the tornados of sand. He did not have much time, and concentrated on working quickly. The dust devils that had gone to either side of the one that Ty had plowed through swung back around behind him, and at Sekhandur’s command they dissolved into tendrils of sand that latched around his ankles from behind, and swiftly hardened into durable clay, rooting into the ground. Sekhandur had planned for this to bring the bull-charge to a swift halt, sending Ty crashing face-first into the ground. The desert prince intended to end this quickly, and made ready for the remaining swirling stand to converge on Ty with increased fury as soon as he was immobilized.

Ty felt the sand hardening around his ankles. Immediately, he sensed his center of balance shifting. He crashed to the ground, but not on his face. He swung his tiger claw downwards and caught himself before he ate the dirt. But, now he had some very serious problems to worry about. He was grounded and those tornadoes were coming in fast. He didn’t have time to smash free from the clay, and if they were on hard ground he’d likely be in trouble. Lucky, they were in a courtyard with soft soil for growing delicate flowers. Ty released his adaptations and took a deep breath as the cyclones converged on him.

Ty focused on growing a new tortoise shell over his head. It was stuffy and temporarily blinded him, but it protected his face from the grating sands while he worked. He plunged his hands into the soil and scooped out the dirt surrounding the clay roots. He didn’t need all of it, just a good chunk to loosen it up. Then, one good tug with his legs yanked the rest of him free. He bounded out of the cyclone, clay on his ankles, a tortoise shell falling off of his head, and his arms and legs covered in cuts, blood flecking off of them as he ran. But now, instead of attacking Sekhandur directly, he made a grab for his staff.

With the precious few seconds that immobilizing Ty had bought him, Sekhandur worked on the next stage of the attack. With his staff he kept the dust devils focused on Ty, like drill made of sand, but he looked back to his grimoire to make ready for when his opponent made it back up onto his feet. Sekhandur chanted words in ancient Kemeti, feeling for etheric presences. At first it seemed fruitless, but then, there it was, small but direly angry, balling up into itself in a singularity of hatred.

Ty broke loose just then, and Sekhandur readied himself to jump back from yet another savage charge. However, he veered to Sekhandur’s right, where his staff was held aloft, and Sekhandur adjusted his plans. As soon as Ty latched onto his staff, Sekhandur gave it up without a fight. The small smile on Sekhandur’s lips may have been Ty’s last indication of the mistake he had made. Sekhandur’s grimoire was the source of his power, not his staff. Now that the other boy’s hands were full, he had no way to defend himself. Sekhandur thrust his hand toward Ty’s face, and from his palm erupted a stream of boiling-hot sand directly toward the other boy’s face and eyes.

Ty gripped the staff. Sekhandur smirked. Ty smirked right back. Wolves would often attack stags head on, to make them think the danger was up front. But, while the front wolf would deal with the antlers, the one from behind would go for the kill. All predators knew about misdirection. It was in their blood, and it was in Ty’s blood. Sometimes, all it took was for him to do something unexpected, leave an opening and see what happened. Here, he got Sekhandur to stand and fight. Hunters were always taught to aim for the core. A head could move too quickly and you would miss your mark. Ty was no good at verbalizing strategy on a piece of paper, but his instincts kept him sharp on the field.

Since Sekhandur was no longer holding his staff, Ty spun and ducked beneath his palm. The searing-hot sand would definitely have put him out of commission, but it sailed high, over his head. Low to the ground, he pivoted on one foot, performing a sweep kick with the other. But, his intention was not to knock Sekhandur off his feet. As soon as their legs connected, he would activate his constrictor limb, coiling his leg around his enemy’s and applying enough pressure to threaten the integrity of his bones. And, since he had that nifty staff, he’d whack him right in the ribs as well, using his circular momentum.

Ty’s quick movement’s took Sekhandur unawares; he was not prepared for the speed of the other boy’s reflexes. The takedown was swift and effective, leaving Sekhandur on the ground, his leg painfully coiled, and he could feel a bruise forming on his ribs. He kept a death-grip on his grimoire and continued to channel its power as he writhed on the ground in pain.

Clever.” He forced out through his teeth. “Too clever. This will be worse for you.

With that, his eyes glowed with power that did not belong to this world, and he beckoned to the presence of pain and hatred he had felt earlier. Class Camelia had been using these grounds to train for every one of the past ten misbegotten years. Avalice was not a nurturing place for the weak, Sekhandur had learned, and it did not surprise him to find that there had been accidents in this very courtyard. Accidents that left behind some incredibly bitter and vengeful spirits.

Invisible forces tore at Ty by Sekhandur’s command, murderous ghosts that hated Avalice Academy and all of the living students in it. They ripped and screamed and shrieked at him, unleashing their pent-up rage at their own failure, and their bitter jealousy of those that still lived. Trying to fight them was like trying to fight the very air around you, like a wind that could hate and could kill. //

”This is a place of learning, you ingrate!” Ty had no idea where the voice was coming from. ”All that yelling, yelling, yelling! How is anyone supposed to rest!?” The voice was like claws ripping right at Ty’s brain.

”What the hell!?” Ty gasped. This wasn’t just mental tearing. He could feel that anger manifesting into something physical, but not. Something that could absolutely tear at Ty’s flesh. ”G-GHOSTS!!” There was nothing that Ty feared in this world. The other world, though, that was something he couldn’t even comprehend. Unfortunately for Sekhandur, since Ty couldn’t attack the incorporeal creature tearing at him, he’d have to attack the very corporeal being that was summoning them. He raised the staff. His constrictor limb tightened. ”Make it go away! Make it go away!” he said in a panicked tone, punctuating each plead with a whack to Senkhandur’s head with his own staff.

Sekhandur grunted in pain as Ty thwacked him about the head, and lifted his free arm in an attempt to ward off the blows as well as he could. Neither of them could keep this up for long. He encased his arm in a shell of clay from the surrounding sand scattered around, buying himself time to think, but the pain from his leg was starting to overwhelm him. Sekhandur then realized that when direct confrontation wasn’t working, a different approach was necessary.

If you beat me unconscious,” Sekhandur grunted out between blows, “I cannot call them off of you.” Then, a look of pure malice overtook Sekhandur’s princely features, his eyes once again glowing with spectral light. “His eyes!” He called to the attacking ghosts. “Take his eyes!

Ty stopped his assault with staff at Sekhandur’s warning. In any other circumstance, he’d likely have maintained his gung-ho attitude, but ghosts? No, he couldn’t be haunted forever! ”Mister Spirit! I’m sorry for yelling!” Ty yelled. But then Sekhandur uttered his command. Ty’s blood ran cold. He’d been holding back with pressure on his constrictor limb to prevent permanent damage to his classmate, but if this was how it was going to be… He gave one sudden jerk of pressure, enough to shatter the bones surrounding Sekhandur’s knee, and then released the hold.

He swung at the ghosts with the staff, but his hands were trembling, his grip weak. The pole went flying out of his hands. His heart rapped inside his chest with an unfamiliar rhythm. A cold sweat ran down his body and his normally nimble legs wouldn’t move. He tried to run, but he tripped over his own feet and tumbled to the ground. Ty’s whole body was trembling and at that moment, all of his training and practice failed him. For the first time in his life, Ty felt fear.

”Please, make them stop! Make them go away!” Ty cried out. He curled up on the ground, scared and helpless as the creatures he couldn’t possibly understand clawed away at him. For all intents and purposes, the fight was over.

Sekhandur sighed in deep relief, his face still tight with pain but the venom in his gaze gone. He wasn’t sure that bluff was going to work. If he had been beaten unconscious, it would be a match loss for him, and it was more likely that the ghosts would have dispersed on their own or otherwise been dealt with by their professor. Sekhandur felt… rattled, to say the least. Even though he had won, he didn’t like how close that had come. It did not bother him that he had to use deception to win, merely how near he had come to being defeated.

Now to deal with the ghosts. His eyes once more burned with ghostfire, but rather than command the spirits, he inhaled deeply, his jaw even seemingly extending wider than would be normally possible. The sounds of spectral screams seemed to be sucked into his waiting mouth, and once his maw snapped shut, were silenced. Sekhandur swallowed the ghosts, turning their spiritual essence to pure mana, and ending their post-mortem existence of rage and suffering. The first thing he did was rest his hands on his broken knee, and his eyes and palms glowed with glimmering golden light. Pops and cracks sounded from his injured leg as the bones snapped back into their rightful places, and Sekhandur stood back up onto his feet, though slightly unsteady.

Sekhandur bent down over Ty’s prone form, retrieving his staff, and aimed it down at him, as though he intended to finish him off. However, his eyes again glowed with golden light, and the brilliance shone out of the end of the staff. Ty’s wounds from the sand and ghosts closed, leaving behind only faint traces of marks, easily lost among many others.

Well fought,” said Sekhandur, in a tired yet regal tone, “But fate was not your ally today.” With that, he turned back to join their professor and the other students that were observing the matches that still had yet to finish.

The screaming subsided. The phantasmal claws stopped raking his skin. It was over. Ty just stared at the ground still trembling. The pain wasn’t the worst of it. The wounds were only a bit more painful than tumbling through some brambles. Even as the spirits departed, the cold grip of terror still clung to his body. He hadn’t even realized that he turned off his sixth sense, so he didn’t notice Sekhandur approach. Then, in an act of camaraderie, he used his magic to undo the damage from the fight. What was left was entirely superficial. Ty sat up with a daze expression, but his hands still shook. He looked at them curiously. How long would it be before his body would go back to normal?

”Yeah… guess you’re right,” he said in a soft, distant voice. He replayed the scene in his head. Sloppy. Everything he did once the ghosts were summoned was sloppy. It was inefficient, irrational, and not what he had practiced. He took a deep breath and brushed his hair back. The trembling slowly started to subside. Who would have thought that the fearless boy would lose to fear.
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by samakama
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samakama はいどうもー / バーチャルニートサマカマです

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Nyx began to speak, and Misaiya at once understood why Avalice had such an atrocious attrition rate.

It appeared that each class was the personal fief of their professor. The students were akin to serfs, subject to arbitrary dismissal at the professor’s whim. The headmaster was no doubt complicit — no, he was the ringleader, the overlord in this feudal analogy.

It was inane. Was this the norm in Genelogia? Or were Suanneipuan schools the outliers? Either way, Avalice was in dire need of pedagogical reform — but that was a goal for the long term. There were more pressing matters to attend to now.

Avalice was a school that placed as much (if not more) emphasis on combat. Well cognizant of this, Misaiya had prepared and brought both his stationery and his equipment. Put all together, it was quite heavy and awkward to lug around concealed despite all the pockets his robes had, and made him yearn for the backpack that he had left back in the dormitories along with his luggage. There was no more cause for regret now, though.

His rifle made up over half of both the weight and the awkwardness, spare air reservoir and a tube of extra ammunition included. On the opposite extreme was the sling that he had earlier tried to turn into a noose, folded up neatly and tucked away somewhere safe, which was so light he had half-forgotten where exactly in his robes it was now. A machete and a walking stick which doubled as a laundry pole rounded out his melee options. Of course, Misaiya had very little real experience with most of these ‘weapons’.

Thankfully, this wasn’t meant to be a deathmatch, and he didn’t intend for it to become one.

Misaiya pointed his (unloaded) rifle at the ground and squeezed the trigger a couple dozen times. Each harmless puff of air reduced the pressure in the rifle’s reservoir and hence the danger it posed, should he end up using it during the bout. After firing a few live test shots into the ground, he seemed satisfied and slung the rifle his shoulder. Next, he collected a handful of pebbles lying around the arena — but slings could be very fatal, and even though he took the lightest practical bullets he could find, Misaiya was loathe to actually use them for that reason. The machete and pole didn't need any prep work, unless he planned on combining…

Nah. He’d kept his sparring partners waiting enough, and the sling still had its uses. Lastly, he stripped off his robes and placed them far away from the arena in a neatly folded stack, leaving him wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and khaki bermuda shorts.

As he jogged back, he began considering his options. Nyx had announced that ‘over half’ the class would be expelled, which implied that neither victory nor defeat were the ultimate factor informing his decisions. No-one had to win in order to stay, and no-one was guaranteed to stay just because they had won. Now, that was all well and good, but either way he was still rather screwed. His odds of victory were… questionable. His ability to control mana was next to non-existent. Things were looking pretty good.

Misaiya was back at the section of the field where his fellow sparrers were. He took a good look at Yvaine, who he hadn’t previously met — a sylphlike girl, with an air of naïveté and gentle eyes, like a novice straight out of the nunnery. A magic-user much like Kress, most likely. But both of them seemed so harmless that he doubted either would initiate the three-way.

His apprehension wasn’t so apparent as he greeted them. “Hello again, Kress — and you must be Yvaine.” Misaiya gave each of them a nod in turn. Checklist time. Machete: on his hip, ready to be drawn. Rifle: slung and loaded. The stick he held with his left hand, and he slipped a stone into the sling in his right. Honestly, Misaiya probably looked like some sort of super-shepherd.

Appearances aside, he was ready to get this done and over with. ”I am not much in favour of it, but it looks like we’ll have to fight each other.” To win without fighting is the greatest victory, but Misaiya was no general. He would have to settle for something lesser.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Chezka
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Yvaine listened to their young professor in rapt attention as he explained the nature of mana, the power of a Lexicon, and the significance of control. The lattermost was a subject she was very familiar with, one drilled into apostles from the moment they set foot in the priory. Discipline above else was prioritized and all the nuns endeavored to teach different ways of learning to channel and control one's mana. Yvaine in particular had favored the ways of Sister Agatha, who was in charge of the mystic class. She had taught all manner of techniques used to attain the three-fold mind, states derived from the celestial bodies. From the Moon, serenity. From the Sun, clarity. From the Stars, tenacity. It was said that mastering all three was necessary to perfect one's control over their mana, but each mental state on its own has its benefits.

The professor's sudden call for one-on-one (on-one, in her case) bouts meant she would have to use these techniques in practice. It seemed Avalice would never cease to amaze her with its constant surprises! Yvaine was excited, though, so much so that she completely overlooked the high stakes involved. She had observed many practice fights like this in the priory, and she had always wondered what it was like to participate in one. Professor Nyx has given her this chance now; she only hoped she could make him—and her opponents—proud with her efforts.

After wishing Mandi and Sophiel luck with their own matches, Yvaine headed over to find her group. Immediately her eyes were drawn to a flash of blue and the fine attire; there was something about the first boy that made Yvaine feel immediately comfortable. Across from him was someone taller with robes that she recognized from her books as Suanneipuan in origin. Contrasting what she felt earlier with the boy with the azure soul, Yvaine's initial impression of him was one tinged slightly with gray discomfort. Yvaine appreciated his scholarly mannerisms and civility, but there was something in him that brought to mind the bleak rigidity of the priory.

Ah, but one must not be so quick to judge! Yvaine knew that first impressions never gave you the whole story. She would just have to get to know them better later. Right now, she had to focus on giving it her all—anything less would be disrespectful.

"Well met, Kress, Misaiya," she smiled at each in turn, a giddy sort of excitement gleaming in her eyes. "Let us all do our best!"
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Mandi El-Alzaru versus Ankaa Liu

When they returned, Professor Nyx explained about the Festival of Champions, which sounded like an even Ankaa would very much enjoy. She even nodded along when the teacher said blood was self and mana soul, though frowned immediately when he denied such. The language, components, and instructions he spoke of as key were surely just implements they, as humans, used to help channel their innate soul-given energy, no? The well was the soul and the focusing point the mind with all its contraptions and structures. Ankaa nodded once again to herself as she made sense of that. The professor’s point about control being key was something she also knew very well.

Finally, the match-ups were announced, and the students were all led into one huge area. Each pair (or trio, in some cases) had space enough to set up in a spacious private spot, though the martial artist noted with curiosity that while the grounds and the outside of the arena were protected, the whole inside was not. That is, no singular pair or group were protected from the other contestants, and they were all fighting simultaneously. Hmm. We'll have to take care not to get knocked over by attacks from our neighbors, I see.

Ankaa briefly assessed her enemy, breathed in, and centered herself. She channeled the mana within her body, reinforcing it, and focusing a part of it in her eyes. As such, she was able to see the clear-sky-reflected-in-a-river colour of her opponent’s mana. Liu smiled peacefully as she recognized their strength. Then, with the left palm resting on the handle of her sheathed sabre, she dashed towards Mandi, closing the distance between them. Once near enough, she half-crouched, and swept her right leg at them, aiming to destabilize their balance by targeting their legs.

'Exhibition matches already?' It all seemed pretty odd to Mandi, and the warning... no the promise that the lowest performing students would be kicked out. Just like that. Mandi thought this itself was a jest, in order for everyone to really give it their all. It was for certain an effective motivator. Whereof it was true or false, all students would try their hardest no doubt just to be on the safe side. Mandi believed that there would be no chance that the professor would throw someone out after the first day, it went against the founding principles the headmaster spoke of. It wasn't after all the difference in skill or magic that mattered, it was about bringing out the potential out of everyone. Perhaps this was indeed what professor Nyx was after.

As Mandi headed towards the place where the fightings would occur, the young mage wished Yvaine and Sophiel the best of luck, with a wink and friendly smile. When the match-up's were announced, Mandi came face to face with the one who had introduced herself before Mandi did in the lecture hall. Ankaa Liu. The words at that time had been very brief much like Mandi's. But now they were standing face to face in a place of fighting beginning all around them. If this were a fight against the miracle seven... victory or loss wouldn't matter much to Mandi. But now with the promise, a lie or not. A possibility of being forced to leave the academy. This was a fight which had to be won no matter what.

'This girl...oh?' Mandi thought while looking over Ankaa, reaching out to sense her mana. This opponent also seemed to carry a blade. 'An up close and personal type...' The young mage thought, whilst locking eyes with Ankaa. The girl offered a smile before dashing towards Mandi. There was no words, no introduction and no formality to what Mandi was concerned. Mandi's red eyes widened, then a slight glimmer in the eyes, as the cheery and carefree personality was replaced with a serious one. The hydromancer quickly summoned it's magical water to both hands, the water violently twisting and becoming larger with each passing moment as Ankaa was quickly approaching. The girl was quick and had some particular style or technique which worried the hydromancer. There had to be some distance made or this battle would be lost.

But Ankaa came in quickly and with a swift sweeping motion swept Mandi's feet off the floor, the young mage fell backwards unto the floor, landing on it's back. Mandi made a huffed sound and then using the right hand with the water contained around it, slamming into the ground to create a geyser to attempt to hurl Ankaa into the air and away from the prone mage. Mandi also began to swiftly gather more water to the left hand, using said water to summon forth two water elementals which took shape right next to the prone mage. "Grab!" Mandi yelled out to the newly formed summons, while preparing to avoid any possibly breakthrough by the fierce close-combatant. The two bulky looking water elementals went towards Ankaa, intent on grabbing her and pulling her inside of their watery bodies.

The mage was felled but the water they’d gathered up to that point in their palm burst out right in front of her. Though Ankaa swiftly drew out her sabre and slashed in front of her, this was water she was attempting to cut. The upper half of the stream dispersed and fell down upon her in a torrent of rain, soaking her. The lower part of the jet was still forceful enough to stagger her, even though she’d been in a decently stable position. Ankaa had to put her left palm to the ground so as to not be pushed back or overturned, and used her right to shield against the remaining water. However, there was enough of it to have her splutter and cough afterwards.

When she blinked the liquid out her eyes and peered towards her opponent, she saw that Mandi had already righted themselves, and created two hulking water beings. Ankaa stood up, gaze flicking from water creature to water creature, before briefly settling on the mage warily. A water-mage. Very capable. This could be bad. The martial artist wrapped her mana round her blade, and slashed a wide arc, arm moving from left hip to right. Both elementals were cut through at the waist, and part of the wind force moved between and beside them, in the general direction of her opponent. However, Ankaa did not have opportunity to focus on Mandi yet, as the water-creations were already reforming, the water of their torso fluidly reconnecting with their lower body.

Moreover, with their orders to grab her, the elementals were already upon her, trying to snatch at her. Dancing around the brutes, Ankaa slashed at them, observing the obvious distractions while sneaking the occasional glance at Mandi whenever she was able. She…he? Knows I need to get close, and has means to prevent it. Bad indeed. A precise vertical motion of her sabre was finally enough to permanently disarm one of the creations, and Ankaa raised her brows in realization. She gripped her weapon with both hands, and sliced from the floor up, halving one of them.

Avoiding the other’s grabs, she gradually weaved her way closer to the mage, though it certainly was not simple to make any progress. Inhaling deeply, she twirled on the spot, and halved the other one. These two had certainly accomplished to delay her, however, giving the mage opportunity for more preparation. Temporarily sheathing her blade, Ankaa adopted a wide stance, and sent a barrage of gale palms towards Mandi, observing their reaction and defenses. Then, once again re-drawing the sabre, she advanced upon the mage at a dash, determined to get within range despite the obstacles.

The opponent was a competent one, Mandi could tell as much. The young woman opposing the hydromancer seemed to have both precise aim and impact. It seemed as if her swings were amplified by the very air itself, if not even cutting it through itself.

'Not bad.' Mandi thought on seeing Ankaa take on the water elementals, whilst such was happening the hydromancer took the opportunity to get up on it's feet and then flooding the ground with water, rising up to the point of half a boot. It was quite the area around the mage and slowly sliding over even towards the elementals. Whilst the opponent was both swift and powerful, it wouldn't mean a thing if she couldn't reach the hydromancer. Now Mandi had been given enough time to create a field of water. Once that had been done, the hydromancer smirked but soon removed it on seeing Ankaa having sliced her way through the water elementals with such ease and grace, but not only that the girl was now counterattacking.

'Aeromancer. Hmm..' Mandi thought, gritting teeth together before seeing disruptions in the very air itself. Mandi raised a few pillars of water between the two of them, but the compressed balls of air pushed through. Mandi's eyes narrowed and the young mage raised both arms sending up a large wall of water, but halfway's up it began to shimmer and turn into ice. The compact balls of air slamming into it, denting it but the wall holding.

'Close. If I didn't have my ice magic that would be the end. But now it's my turn. Take this...' Mandi began to focus on the water under the young mage's control, feeling the very water at the ground, the wall of ice inbetween them. The young mage extended the field of water abit further until there were a pair of feet being felt running across the water, causing slight ripples and disturbance.

'I cannot see you. But I can feel you!' The hydromancer focused and began to raise smaller geysers of water, turning them into jagged spears of ice halfway up from the watery field behind and in front of Ankaa, a few of them appearing in seemingly random places before the melee combatant. Almost as if the hydromancer was trying to lure the capable Ankaa into a dead end.

'The ultimate defense and offense!' The mage smiled from behind the wall of ice, what was Ankaa going to do now? Mandi had often considered possible counters to the water field. But did this opponent possess such?

By this point, Ankaa was wading through an ankle-height field of water. It was a hassle, but she’d honestly have more trouble if Mandi had decided to ice the whole field. As it was, she was only slowed down a bit. She was jogging towards her opponent, who’d uprighted a huge ice-wall in front of them.

As she ran, more of those geysers got in the way. She couldn’t just dash through them, since they froze midway, their sharp points ever-chasing. Ankaa narrowed her eyes as she slashed through one, her sabre getting stuck mid-way for a second. Though their sight was obstructed, the mage was clearly able to see her in some way. The spears of ice were too accurate for it to be otherwise. Perhaps Mandi was able to see mana just like Ankaa could.

Regardless, she had to make her way through, even if she had to cut down or shatter all the icicles. She did have to be careful not to get caught in any of the geysers and be frozen, which was an additional challenge. All the magic being performed left a chill in the air, and Liu’s breath misted. Each breath left a familiar sharp feeling in her throat and lungs. It was accompanied by a sensation similar to drinking from a clear forest spring after a rigorous exercise, which the martial artist suspected partially reflected Mandi’s mana characteristic. She could admit that she liked it, and she also admired their masterful and tactical use of their power.

That respect was a tad hard to keep in her mind when after finally making her way to the ice-wall and attempting to get around it, a handful of geysers sprouted towards her, almost poking her eyes out. Ankaa protected her face with her sabre, and twisted out of being outright speared through, but her arms and torso suffered several cuts in the process. Unconsciously producing a close-mouthed growl, the martial artist broke out of the semi-confinement with a forceful outward motion of her arms. Then, a steam cloud wafted towards her, and she retreaded behind the wall with a hiss, almost getting burned on top of everything else.

Ankaa stared up the wall in determination. Her opponent was just on the other side of it, and if she couldn’t get around, then there was only one option left. Well, maybe two. Shatter the wall or get over it. She stood in front of it, and slashed at it several times. As expected, it did not fall. However, similarly to how it had been dented by her gale palms, there were now several grooves lining and dotting the wall as well. Grimly resolved, Ankaa stabbed her sword point into one groove, grabbed onto another with her free hand, and began to climb. No different than scaling a mountain in winter, she tried to convince herself as she moved up. Unfortunately, this was a man-made obstacle, and the person on the other side rather had the means to worsen the situation. A lot.

Sweat was falling down Mandi's face as geyser after geyser had been turned into ice on the other side of the wall of ice. The opponent had made swift movements forwards and seemingly avoided being hit or perhaps only lightly so. The hydromancer was impressed, even if now wasn't the time to think about such things. Feeling the quick steps in the water getting closer and closer. Then there was a scratching sound on the other side of the ice wall just as the feeling in the water seemed to vanish. She was attacking the wall? No... she had leapt up on the wall of ice? She had actually made it all the way there? 'What? She made it?'

It took a brief moment for Mandi to gather the fact that this was certainly the case, Ankaa was so close, just on the other side of the wall and was surely intending on descending down on the aqua mage with no doubt fierce retaliation. This could not be allowed to happen, quickly the hydromancer dismissed the idea of hurling ice shards over the side, she was way too close. To topple the wall of ice could potentially cause fatal damage and that was out of question. To use steam to hurt someone was only a last resort if there was no other way. It had to be just liquid water.

Thus Mandi began with outstretched arms to quickly draw water from the field, closer and behind the wall, in order to build up a large amount of it, before pushing it up along Mandi's side of the ice wall and then pour it down with full force on the other side. Like a fierce waterfall or a liquid avalanche. It was in this moment that Mandi felt bad for resorting to these tactics, but this was in order to remain within the academy. Not for power, not for fame... and not for gloating. This was to better learn to control the magic, and only by staying at the academy could this be achieved. Had this been a fight for the miracle seven, Mandi would have stepped down in an instant and given it to Ankaa without a fight. Though if a friend had asked the young mage to win or if there was a personal reason then perhaps...

Once all the water had been poured over the wall, Mandi controlled some remaining water along the ground to skate around the wall to see what had happened. If Ankaa was there and if so, were she allright?

There was a deeply disturbing whoosh sound beneath and all around her, and when Ankaa glanced down, it was to see all the water being vacated…and collected. Paling, she gulped, and in a moment of panic, simply stuck her sabre deep within the ice-wall, and clung desperately to it. She was not a moment too late, for right then, a literal lake fell onto her head. Calling it a mere waterfall would do it no justice. No, this was much more, and all at once, rushing at her in one great torrent.

Ankaa looked at the approaching current wildly, inhaling deeply and doing her best to emulate a stubborn index. Yet, it was not enough, all that water being dropped down on her was simply too strong. Ankaa was swept down in its wake. Her grip on her weapon loosened, and while it remained stuck in the wall, she was brought down and flooded. Though she kept her breath as long as she could, and attempted to fight her way out of the downpour with bursts of air, she was overwhelmed. Eventually, she had to inhale, even if it meant taking in some water. Blinded, tired, soaked, and half-drowning, Ankaa passed out.

The hydromancer's eyes was wary, had the opponent somehow evaded this attack, then Mandi would be in a bad situation. The effort it took to push all that water over the wall of ice, the elemental summoning and in overall the magic use was beginning to wear on the young mage. Had the mage gone overboard with the amount of geysers and things to defeat this foe, perhaps so. But it couldn't be helped, this was a fight which had to be won.

'Where is she.. oh?' Mandi thought upon seeing the blade of Ankaa, it had been jammed into the wall of ice. It was impressive to see how determined the girl had been on overcoming this obstacle, and speaking of the girl... further away from the wall Mandi could see her. She was lying down and not moving. The realization then came to the young mage, had it been too much? Was she allright?

Mandi dropped the grip around the magical water and began to run over towards Ankaa. "Hey! Are you allright?!" Mandi called out, but swiftly got up to the girl. She didn't respond. Mandi quickly looked Ankaa over, her body was covered in cuts but they seemed to be of less concern, the girl had likely swallowed alot of water, which had to be removed as soon as possible. Was her heart still beating? Mandi quickly leaned down and pressed the ear against the girl's chest, there had to be a heartbeat but it was hard to hear due to the wet fabric and Mandi's own heart beating rapidly, the adrenaline still running wild from the fight. The mage focused, pressing the ear closer still and accidently placing one hand on Ankaa's chest for support and the other against her shoulder. There was a heartbeat. The young mage sighed in relief but there was no time to waste. The hydromancer couldn't remove the water from inside of the girl by magical means, it would be far too risky an attempt, if even possible. Mandi shook that idea away quickly and decided to do this in a more mundane manner.

The young mage took a deep breath in, and then leaned down to breathe some air into the Ankaa's mouth, and then tried to lean her body slightly to the side so that any water inside could slide out of her lungs would she somehow snap out of it. Mandi was not good at carrying or holding unto things for a long time, but the girl seemed relatively light and right now there was no time to complain.

This was totally different from waking someone up by throwing water in their face, the small cuts could be treated afterwards by the hydromancer if the girl would be willing. The more important part was now having her open her eyes and breathe normally. "Hey! Come on! Talk to me here!" Mandi shook the shoulder of Ankaa abit. "Hey!" A second call was made to the unresponsive girl, followed by a slight shake of her shoulder.

Something was shaking her, and she felt that damnable water in her throat again. Sensing and opportunity, her body contracted, her lungs squeezing the water out. Ankaa turned fully over, slapping the yellowish figure above her out of the way as she heaved and coughed and hacked all the water out. Her face was heated, her eyes and nose running, her throat burning. She felt like a mess.

Several exhausting minutes later, she was done, and she wiped at her face with a groan. She peered up at Mandi, realizing they’d probably freaked and tried to help her. “Thanks,” she said, voice rough and grainy, as she picked herself up. She was of half-a-mind to ditch all her clothes, but instead, she adapted her offensive gale palm spell for utility purposes, expelling a light but continuous breeze from her palms as she set to drying her attire. “You’re a difficult opponent to fight against,” she’d intended it as a compliment, but it came out as a grumble. With a sigh, she added, “I’ll be tasting water for weeks.”

When she finally wasn’t feeling like a rain-soaked dog anymore, she went to retrieve her weapon, then returned to continue the conversation with Mandi. “It was a good match, and I’d love a rematch, but,” she turned to glance at Professor Nyx with a frown, “I suppose I’ll be getting expelled, after all.” Ankaa shrugged, trying not to be too disappointed or ashamed at the thought of being punished with expulsion for losing. “Ah, well. Would you like to watch the rest of the matches with me?” she asked, gesturing to their classmates, the majority of whom were still duking it out.

"Whoa!" Mandi had fallen backwards, Ankaa had slapped the young hydromancer out of the way, whilst coughing and getting the water out of her. She certainly looked like a mess, though Mandi knew that occasionally it was good to be quiet. It didn't take Mandi long to breathe out a sigh of relief at seeing the competent fellow student breathing properly again, Mandi also found the opportunity to get up from the ground itself, brushing off the rear of the yellow attire to make sure no grass got stuck to it. And that's when Mandi felt the bruise and pain in the lags after having had been swept off the feet by Ankaa early in the fight. It was the mage's adrenaline which had so far prevented it to be felt, but now it did sting.

'O-ouch..' The mage thought before shaking it's head from side to side, now it was time to try help heal the girl- Oh she was already drying herself off with her air magic? Perhaps she still had alot more strength to use? Mandi was further impressed seeing how good of a shape Ankaa was in, considering all the magics she went through. Then Ankaa had complimented the yellow clad mage. "Happy to help! Oh? I am? Heheh... oh I'm nothing special I'm sure." The bruised hydromancer said awkwardly, scratching it's neck. "Well, you are really good yourself you know! Oh and rematch?" Mandi blinked, then began to briefly ponder of the idea of that. There was surely nothing to be gained by them beating each other up aside from satisfying that professor of theirs. It seemed like he had a taste for blood. That former miracle seven. Then Mandi snapped out of the thoughts as Ankaa spoke about possibly being expelled, the thought didn't sit well with Mandi at all. Whilst Ankaa had been unable to win this fight, it was not in her favor Mandi thought. Because of how different their magics were, Ankaa would surely have won had she had faced someone who fought more directly.

Mandi felt a slight feeling of shame, but then shook that away. It's not only a person's magic that determines a winner, the body, the intellect and there were other factors too. But Ankaa surely did seem like a smart one and tough, so it was surely just a really bad opponent for her. At least that's what Mandi thought. "I will speak with professor Nyx, I'll tell him that you fought really well and try convince him to not expell you. I don't think he is really going to throw people out though. It goes against everything the academy stands for no? It isn't a persons initial skill with magic that determines if they will be-" Mandi took a slight breath before continuing. "A legend. As some like to put it. It's about a personal quest, your own path forwards. If you end up becoming part of the miracle seven, graduading or not, maybe some who come here have other dreams. There's more to a person than a first impression..." The voice of the hydromancer became more serious and almost abit grim to the end. "Oh sorry, I'm Mandi El-Alzaru. Good to meet you! Oh and I would like to watch the rest of the matches with you. But uhm... you're bleeding." The hydromancer smiled softly, then pointed out in a more serious facial expression to the various cuts that Ankaa had gotten.

Ankaa raised a brow at Mandi when they appeared to be abashed at her statement. “Being too humble is an insult not only to yourself but to me as well,” she commented. “If you deny your strength then how could I be anything but weak?” she asked neutrally. She wasn’t offended, because it was clear the mage had good intentions, but she did want to point out their refusal of recognition was faulty.

The pair made their way to the sidelines of the courtyard, out of the way of every other fight. Ankaa shook her head at Mandi’s proposal to speak to the professor on her behalf. “That is a very honorable offer,” she stated, a thankful smile gracing her lips. “However, I am sure the professor will make the correct decision. He is watching all the fights, after all, and it is up to him to decide who he finds worthy,” she concluded. “I agree that a person’s individual path is the most important, but this academy…I think they choose to focus on the strongest, those with the most obvious potential for power. They say they are interested in honor, kindness, and heroism too, but I haven’t seen many expelled for lacking that,” she pointed out.

Liu shrugged; it was how it was, no matter putting up a fuss if this is how the headmaster and the faculty decided for things to be. She nodded at Mandi’s introduction. “Yes, I remember from the introductions. I’m Ankaa, in case you forgot,” she added mischievously. At the reminder of her wounds, she blinked down at herself, startled. “Oh, I already got used to the sting. They’re not that deep, but you’re right that I should treat them.”

Saying so, she sat herself down on a well-cared-for patch of grass, a good distance away from the duels. Focusing on her breath, and turning her intention and mana inwards, she entered a brief trance, her awareness drifting yet intently directed at her body. Given the relatively mild nature of her wounds and aches, it was but a few minutes until Ankaa opened her eyes, the founds gone. She was still tired, of course, so simply remained sitting on the ground. With a questioning gaze up at Mandi, she patted the grass next to her, a clear invitation for them to also sit down.

Mandi settled down next to Ankaa shortly after the latter had indicated the area right next to her as a valid place to sit. The mage's legs ached abit so it was a good idea to sit down. "You are right. It is an insult. Also that's a handy technique you have there." Mandi nodded swiftly in agreement while watching Ankaa heal herself. "Honorable hm?" The hydromancer had tapped it's lips with a finger on hearing that, recalling the headmaster having spoken about the four principals of the academy.

Did that meant the young mage was honorable? The thought had lingered for abit before the mage had mentally waved it away. "I hope professor Nyx will make all the right choices. Oh and I didn't forget your name~ Though I wonder what would you say strength is? The ability to seize the power? The ability to control it? The ability to reject it?" Mandi smiled softly, looking Ankaa over from top to toe, taking abit longer time looking over her face and chest. The girl was pretty. Mandi hadn't thought much about it when they were fighting as it had happened to suddenly, but now as they were sitting next to oneanother that was much easier.

"Oh~ You look so pretty by the way~ Are you together with one of the boys in the academy? Perhaps that loud one? Or the whirlwind idi- Caelum right? Oh whose your roommates? Who are you cheering for in these matches? I'm really hoping Yvaine will do allright! So what do you like to do when not learning magic? Do you like baths? Or trying on new clothes?" Mandi asked question after question, there was no brakes on the verbal missile storm.

“The nature of strength…always a difficult question,” Ankaa said, mulling over the answer. “A person’s inner quality, the conviction to do the good one can, the connection with others, nurturing the self and the world…” she trailed off, remembering several lectures on this matter. However, she could not quite verbalize what she learned and believed in any more cohesively than she had.

She was momentarily distracted from the matches by Mandi’s slew of questions, and turned to look at them. “I am familiar with the concept of appreciating a person’s appearance, though I can’t say I understand it. I would advise you not to linger on such trivialities either,” she commented. Her thoughts briefly strayed to the memory of her biological mother’s kidnapping, and the much later realization of why and for what purposes the bandits had likely taken her. Liu’s expression darkened minutely, but she soon shook it off. “It’s what inside that matters,” she murmured, and turned back to gaze out into the courtyard.

After a lull in the conversation, she was inundated with an entirely off-topic slew of questions. “Together?” is what she chose to focus on first, tasting the word. Ankaa eventually concluded that Mandi was referring to a courting ritual, which tended to result in the joining of a couple; physically, spiritually, and legally. “No, I am not, nor do I intend to be – not unless I happen to discover someone who would match me well,” she offered, though she did not truly think that she would find such a person when they were all supposed to be focused on learning and training for the duration of their stay.

“Hm, I am curious how Kress and Misaiya will manage, since I’ve talked to them just before this. A three-way match is bound to be interesting anyhow. But otherwise, I intend to observe anyone I find to be a capable combatant,” she answered, not at all rushing as she did so, regardless of how urging Mandi’s questions had been.

“My roommates?” she questioned, the answer oddly hazy, and out of reach of her recall. “I am unsure,” she admitted. She felt both as she’d met them and as if she had no idea who she was supposed to room with at all. “As for what I like…hmm…being outside, physically active or meditating. I’ve also found drawing to be a very relaxing hobby.” Ankaa wasn’t certain whether to mention anything else, since some of her interests had to do with magic, learning, or both, and after a pause, simply left it at that. “What about you?” she added as an afterthought, not at all bothering to ask anything specific. She rather thought that the mage was chatty enough for the both of them, and that they were sure to find a way to answer at length despite her curt question.

Mandi remained quiet while listening to all the answers Ankaa gave to the questions asked, the hydromancer nodded slowly upon receiving each answer. 'Strength exists in ones core, outer appearances do not matter. In harmony with oneself and the surrounding area. She is intigued by those who are similar to her and capable combatants... and drawing. This girl is all about feeling and seeing things.' Mandi thought as Ankaa took a minor pause, before she proceeded to talk about Kress and Misaiya. Kress Alstein was one of the students which Mandi recalled from the lecture hall, mostly because of his chirpy tone and speaking to professor Nyx soon after introducing himself. Misaiya on the other hand was not someone the young mage had seen. A late arrival or someone who camoflagued him or herself? "But thanks for telling me, I feel like I know you much better now.~"

The darkhaired mage was smiling broadly before proceeding to speak. "Three ways are always interesting! You never know when someone is trying to sneak up behind you while you are busy with the other person! I am hoping Yvaine comes out on top in this~." Mandi said in a softer tone, looking towards the area where Yvaine, Misaiya and Kress were. "Being outside and training alot hm? I suppose drawing sceneries be something you do then?" The mage tilted it's head to the side slightly, looking to Ankaa as the girl had asked about Mandi's hobbies.

"Oh.. well.. I like many things, such as reading and writing. Like reading poems or writing them, or riddles. I also like to train physically and with magic, a strong vessel is needed to contain vast mana." Mandi took a moment to breathe before continuing. "I also fancy abit of alchemy and looking at plants nad possibly grind them down for some useful potions. Well and I like magic and learning more. Oh and try out fine attires." Mandi chuckled softly, turning to look to the threeway fight. "Though maybe we ought to tell the professor we are done. Right?~" It didn't take long for the mage to tilt it's head and close it's eyes, with that near trademark soft smile decorating the lips.

Ankaa listened without much comment, only the occasional vocalized "Hmm," or the nod of her head signs that she was not ignoring her companion. "Sceneries, and just about everything else," she confirmed the mage's observation. "Oh, alchemy?" she perked up, glancing at Mandi when that detail caught her attention. "If we ever get the chance, we could do some sort of a project for potion making," she said, an eager glint in her eye. Her pleased smile turned into a mild frown when Mandi suggested going to their professor. "I'm sure he saw that we're done," she waved a hand dismissively. She didn't particularly desire to parade her loss in front of an unknown instructor, and if she ended up being expelled for it anyhow, Nyx was unlikely to offer her any sort of lesson on how to do better. As such, she simply stayed where she was, focusing on the remaining combatants.
Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by Matsuri
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Matsuri procrastination station

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A CLASH OF SWORDS & ROSES

CAELUM vs ALBERTA


When the bit of reprieve from class was over and with it, the sight of his idols gone from him, Caelum followed his professor and his classmates. He thought, if not for a moment, they were heading back to class. It was a reasonable thought given what was said to them telepathically, but when they passed the building where their class was and went immediately to what was labeled “Class-C Courtyard”, Caelum became riddled with more questions than answers. 

Hearing the professor explain what a Lexicon was and how it worked was fascinating to him. Caelum’s default setting was curiosity. He always loved being on the receiving end of some quality exposition. He had only heard of the term Lexicon in passing but he never managed to find out what it was - at least, not when it came to the specifics. He engrossed himself in everything Nyx said. He was dependent on his every word as he wanted to know more. But as soon as he was done, Nyx moved on to another point.

"One on one fights?" Caelum repeated back to himself, looking around at all the faces of his classmates, seeing how they were sharing his same reaction to it. And a festival in three months. That was the reason for it. Some big festival and these fights were to test their strength, to determine where they stood and how far they had to go to be the best. 

Something in Caelum sparked, like a wind on his ass, brushing past him and lifting him up. The excitement covered him and his mana started to flow into his hands. It was faint but if one was looking close enough, they would see the smallest hint of green and blue cover him in a thin aura and the breeze near him picking up just slightly. 

Then came the match-ups popped up in shiny, magical letters.

Caelum went down the list, quickly finding his name. At the same time, his opponent found him.

Alberta had approached him and asserted herself from the vertical high ground she held on him. His first thought about her was how beautiful she was. Despite that, however, he held his ground, gripping Stormbringer as he followed her roughly a hundred meters away from everyone else. As they walked, he couldn’t stop himself from wondering how he was going to fair against her. He didn’t know anything about what kind of skills she had or what sort of magic she used. Of course, the same could be said for her. She didn’t know him or his skills. It was a perfect position for them both and this fight was surely going to be the test of their abilities.

When they stopped, they stood about ten paces away from each other. With a sharp turn of her heel, Alberta faced him, arms firmly crossed over her chest and spellbook strapped to her belt at the ready. She observed the boy through an intense scarlet glare.

In the same moment, Caelum noticed that she wasn’t going to start off easy; he saw a poised, almost frightening look on her face that told him she meant business. Likewise, Caelum unsheathed his sword, holding it in front of him with a two-handed grip. His arms were bent slightly, his left leg forward and his right supporting him.

"Right. Let's get this over with."

"Very well then!" Caelum spoke to her in a raised voice.

But she wouldn’t respond with words. A deep green glow enveloped Alberta's body as she channelled a torrent of her mana towards Caelum, intent on throwing him off focus. As he braced himself for impact the push of her sharp green mana hit him. It felt constricting, binding him in a sense. He felt a sharp pressure on his arms, causing his stance to falter.

Caelum took in a breath. It was slow, relaxing, and centering. When he exhaled, he did slowly, but when it ended, his mana exploded out. Hues of green, blue and pure white surrounded him in a much thicker aura, whispering like a large gust of wind during tornado season. It tore apart Alberta's constricting mana that threatened to crush Caelum. His own mana crackled like electricity, pushing it back with a force of a lightning bolt striking the ground.

"I’m afraid this isn’t going to be as easy as you thought it would be," Caelum stated. He smirked at his opponent and charged forward. He was never the type to sit back and let fights come to him. 

But even as Caelum rushed towards her with a brandished sword, Alberta didn't move at all. Instead, her face lit up with a prideful smirk as she distributed more of her mana into the earth. Their little makeshift battleground started to rumble, louder with each passing second. On the third second, a dozen large briars sprouted from the ground before Caleum could reach her. Bright red roses gleamed in the sunlight as the vines stretched towards the sky, before tumbling down towards Caelum with frightening speed.

And as they drew closer, so did Caelum’s grip on Stormbringer. He channeled his mana into his hands, static electricity surging through the hilt of his sword, past the handguard, and up the silver blade. At the moment the sharp vines came to him, aiming to shred him into a million pieces, Caelum diagonally sliced into the air, producing a thin, yet effective sickle of lightning that tore up the vines like butter. 

He didn’t stop there. Carrying himself into a full charge, Caelum followed through with his initial plan and repeated his same move. But this time, Caelum’s target wasn’t a descending wall of vines, but rather the mage who created them.

For the first time since her last real battle, Alberta was taken aback.

Holding back on her mana input was her first mistake; the rumbling and the size of the briars were mainly just for show, but apparently, it hadn't been enough to phase her opponent as she'd intended. Still, to see briars of that size be damaged so easily inflicted a swift, harsh cut on Alberta's pride.

So, fear and intimidation wasn't going to be enough to bring this country boy and his flashy sword down into the dirt. Her smug expression twisted into one of rage as Caelum rushed towards her.

She needed more mana.

Once he was within one pace and a sword swing's reach from Alberta, her body shattered into thousands of rose petals. The storm of blinding red hurtled towards Caelum, thrashing his body around with enraged vigour. Seconds after, the petals dispersed and zoomed past him, and Alberta's figure took shape several paces away.

"You were right, Tempesta," Alberta spoke to Caelum through the dust clouds, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "This isn't going to be easy for you at all."

Another rumbling came from the ground, much louder and fiercer than the last one. The second eruption of rose briars were thinner, but stronger and numbering in the thousands, the tall vines creating a small, dense forest of sorts around Alberta and Caelum. As the creator of these vines, Alberta could move between them without having to worry about getting hurt. But in Caelum's case, the briars would not part way so easily. The thorny stalks swayed back and forth around him in a continuous motion, filtering much of the sun's light and piercing Caelum from all directions as they danced to Alberta's spell. It ripped parts of Caelum's tunic and pants, drawing blood in repetition. 

But even this wasn't enough for Alberta, no. Professor Nyx had told the class to go all out, and she wanted to get back at Caelum, hard. Raising her hand, a cloud of thorns appeared above the entanglement of briars. With a swoop of her arm, the thorns rained down upon Caelum.

So he did the only thing he felt was the most natural thing to do; he dodged like he had never dodged before. His body flailed around and the collision the thorns made with the ground sent Caelum flying in the opposite direction. To save himself, he dug Stormbringer into the ground in an effort to slow himself, but right now, he needed to avoid falling back-first into the sharp vines that now surrounded him.

But his sword didn’t work in the way he had hoped. His body was drifting and drifting but he wasn’t slowing, so Caelum poured his mana into his sword, digging deep into the root of the ground. Then, as his mana engulfed his entire body, he came to a full stop.

Caelum's eyes narrowed at Alberta and fixated on her every move. She was poised like a true mage and if her last move was any indication, she possessed skills that were a true testament to that. She's really strong. Caelum stood up and held his sword by his side, wincing from the cuts around his body. His attire was coated in a deep red color from the drops of blood that oozed from the cuts on his arms. He could still move them around, even though there was some pain. But pain was irrelevant when you kept your mind on the prize.

"You’re quite the skilled mage, Alberta!" Caelum shouted, shooting her a half-smirk. "I can tell that you've trained hard and honed your craft, but if that’s the best you got, you might as well admit defeat!" he would shout again. If there was one thing he was starting to pick up, it was her excessive pride. And the best way to disrupt that was one of the classic blunders; mocking.

Alberta's smug expression quickly faded. Of course, she gave into the bait. Caelum's genuine compliments fell on deaf ears, but his false mockery didn't. Clearly, she hadn't learned from the errors of her last battle with a mage.

"As if!" Alberta howled from behind the swaying briars, hands curling into fists. "I'll drag that stupid face of yours through the mud!"

"Aw, come on now. You’re being a little mean, don’t you think? My face isn’t that bad." Caelum grinned at Alberta, flashing her a wide smile. He was probably digging his own grave but Caelum honestly couldn’t resist. "Just look at how pearly my teeth are! How can you call something so bright, stupid?"

"Ugh, just shut up already!" Alberta yelled back, shooting him an irritated glare. "Just you wait, Tempesta. I'll beat you into the dirt so hard it'll knock those things right out of your mouth!"

His grin persisted, though it faded as he spoke. "How are you going to do that when you can’t even touch me?" Caelum knew he was playing a dangerous game but it was clear she was superior to him when it came to raw skill level. If he could somehow throw her off her game, then he might stand a better chance.

Alberta's fingernails dug deeper into her palms, hands whitening as all the blood rushed to her face. Though she tried to suppress the thought, Caelum's words did hold some truth. She'd realised from the moment he'd swung his sword at her briars that things might get a little tricky as their battle continued. Alberta was no close range fighter; if Caelum managed to close the gap between them again at this point, he might just be able to turn the fight in his favour. The frustrations became more evident on her face as she continued to think about it.

"Oh, I don't need to come anywhere near you. You're in my garden now, Tempesta. A beating isn't the only thing I'm going to give you."

Caelum looked around him, surveying her so-called ‘garden’. With a sigh, he disappointedly glanced back in Alberta’s direction. "Not much of a garden, is it?" he would say, slowly grinding his feet forward, moving a few inches with every word. "If this is all you have to offer: a bunch of prickly vines, I would probably reconsider what type of magic you pursue. You’re still young, like me, I’m sure you could pick one that suits your… demeanor." Every word spoken was another inch closer to her. It was in cases like this that Caelum’s loud voice was beneficial.

Alberta's blood seethed with a fiery rage. To think he still had the nerve to argue with her in his beaten and bloodied state. To think she had used two spells in succession with a hefty amount of mana powering them, and Caelum still hadn't fallen to the floor.

The fact she was putting in any kind of effort against a Class C student was a far greater insult to her entire being than Caelum's fake taunts. 

But this time, it wasn't just the taunting that enraged her. Every excruciating step Caelum took to push through her writhing briars reminded Alberta that she wasn't doing enough. That she had a weakness.

Alberta was stubborn, but Caelum even more so. And she really, really hated that.

She couldn't let him get any closer.

With a mighty yell, Alberta summoned another storm of thorns to bombard her opponent. More and more of her mana started flooding into the earth without control, causing the rose briars to move around with even more speed and ferocity. Loose petals rained around them, and from outside, it looked as if the vines were violently shaking. Her teeth grinded against each other as her mana pulsated through the ground in great volumes, as if it threatened to devour Caelum's own.

This was Alberta's second mistake; the floodgates that held her most violent temperaments from devastating everything in her path, had burst.

Caelum shifted around the swaying briars that encased them both and he had started to pace around, though the boy didn’t remove his emerald gaze from Alberta. He saw that all attempts made to pull her out of her composed state had worked, but in realizing this, he also saw how unhinged she’d become. She was like the storm he knew he’d eventually control - someone who had all of the earth’s fury within her fingertips. And she was p-i-s-s-e-d.

A rapid breeze hit him from behind, dirt getting thrown everywhere from the rapid swaying the briars were making, but that alone didn’t affect Caelum. It didn’t matter if his cuts were getting covered in dirt, not when Alberta’s screeching holler resulted in a raincloud of thorns coming from above and straight for him. It was quick and the impact they made with the ground was a close call, but Caelum slipped out of their pathway in the nick of time. But in the process, he was pushed against the writhing briars. Unlike previous times where it was only shallow cuts, Caelum felt one dig its pointy thorn end into his left leg. He jerked out of it but he knew it was bad because he glanced down and blood was gushing out.

"Well, this isn't good," he muttered, glaring at Alberta. The rage he saw in her eyes was only a testament to how this wasn’t going to end after just that. He knew it was only the beginning. "If only I was stronger, I might be able to last through her fury."

But he knew he wasn’t and he couldn’t go on for much longer. The more time he spent dragging this out, the more time that open wound had to drain him of all of his blood and then he would most certainly be done. "It's now or never."

In a series of actions, Caleum pushed through the pain as he poured his mana into his legs and hands. The wind gathered at his feet pushed him forward to cut down the distance between them and the mana focused in his hands went straight to Stormbringer, causing his sword to glow a bright and majestic blue and green. Gliding across, Caelum jumped on his uninjured leg and held Stormbringer over his head. As he landed three paces away from Alberta, he penetrated the earth and poured everything he had into the top of the hilt.

"Surging Shock!"

Green and blue mana pulses went into the ground as though that single command was the trigger, immediately cracking the earth open, the length of which was from where Caelum was and where Alberta stood. A geyser of wind and lightning mana as tall as Alberta shot out and had the same urgency Caelum did. It responded to his conviction and it reacted just as swiftly as he did and made its way to Alberta almost at the same speed as her storm of thorns did.

A horrified gasp escaped her as the fissures around her feet lit up with a brilliant light. Activating her Scarlet Wind spell, Alberta shot herself out of the thorns as Caleum's geyser tore at the briars in his immediate vicinity. The tall vines that surrounded him fell to the ground, shedding a ray of light on him as he stood surrounded by the darkness of Alberta's thorny entanglement.

Alberta didn't have time to brace herself as her back hit the ground outside of the rose vines. As she struggled to her feet, her eyes widened in shock as more of her vines started to topple to the floor. Rose petals fluttered to the ground as the garden started to wither away, a morbid spectacle that made Alberta's heart sink. Caelum's sudden attack wasn't the main culprit of her garden's untimely death; it didn't hit her until now that she was almost out of mana.

The two mages could see each other clearly now, the destruction they had caused now exposed to the harsh afternoon sun. The massive fissures and holes that had been left behind in the wake of their relentless magic assaults were, admittedly, a rare sight to see inside Class C's courtyard.

Alberta tried to catch her breath, hair and clothes matted with sweat and dirt. Gazing up, her eyes widened again at the sight of Caelum, still standing strong after everything she had put him through. As the sun beamed down on him, Alberta saw every gash, bruise and puncture on his body, his green and grey robes now soaked in red. Caelum was bloody, filthy, and absolutely exhausted, yet there he stood just metres away, a tight grip on his broadsword, even though it showed signs of loosening. 

In that moment, images of Alberta's last formal fight flashed before her eyes. All the pain, anguish and humiliation she had experienced that day, it all came flooding back to her in an instant. She could even hear the faint voice of her former classmate call out to her from the back of her head, taunting her, mocking her, insulting her. Then her memories started to cross over into reality, and what she saw standing before her now was a reminder of her disgraceful shortcomings.

She started to walk towards Caelum, stepping over the piles of rubble scattered over their battleground. Her steps were slow, cautious and calculated, as if her rage had been overcome with an eerie calm. Yet her eyes still burned a furious scarlet, and the mana that continued to seep out of her felt more menacing than it ever had over the course of the fight. 

It still hadn't been enough. She wasn't enough. And those words echoed in her head, louder with each step she took.

With a gradual raise of her hand, several thin rose briars crept up from the cracks by Caelum's feet. They snaked around his body and started to slowly constrict his limbs, digging their small thorns into his skin. Alberta clenched her fist, tightening the deathly grip her vines had on him. This was no longer the grand display she had intended to put on for her professor. This was an act of desperation. 

Wails of sudden agonizing defeat claimed Caelum’s tongue, like it was the result of the creeping silence of the thorny briars wrapping around his feet. His attack had drained him and only the proof of his nigh unbreakable will to keep going and prove himself kept him standing. If only that was more powerful than Alberta’s own will to win, if only he had a quarter of conviction over her, maybe Caelum would’ve been able to stop her from claiming victory.

Suddenly, Alberta dropped to her knees, and with her, Caelum's thorny constraints. She looked at her hands as they started to shake, sweat dripping onto her palms. She was out of mana.

And so was he. 

The feeling in most of his body faded, forcing Caelum to fall to his knees, sacrificing his vertical lead over Alberta and once again looking up at her. Everything from the knee down burned and hurt but Caelum smiled. He didn’t know if it was because of his injuries or just how victory was so close, but he smiled and gave Alberta an appreciative glance. 

He forced himself to laugh. "I really tried you know," he admitted, coughing up blood but still keeping his blood-stained grin. "I threw everything at you. I taunted you, I mocked you, I tried to get you to let your guard down, but in the end..." The clanking metal sound Stormbringer made when it fell out of Caelum’s hand and crashed to the arena floor was probably the perfect symbol of this fight. "It was an honor facing you, Alberta."

Alberta grunted as she soon regained her footing. She gave the defeated Caelum one last, almost apprehensive look, and held it for a moment. It disturbed her how close defeat had come to her over the course of their wild battle. It made her face contort with an unnerved disgust as she observed the boy's battered body, before turning away to walk back to the professor. No words, no support. Alberta just left him there.

Before Alberta reached the students that had finished, she tried to fix her appearance as fast as she could, ruffling her curls and patting her body free from dust and dirt. She grumbled as she glanced down at the minimal cuts and tears her clothes had sustained.

"Great. My skirt is ruined."
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Hidden 4 yrs ago Post by KoL
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KoL Knight of Lorelei

Member Seen 11 days ago

Sanhan vs Eris

A duel? Fighting was certainly not what Sanhan wished to do, but it wasn't exactly like she had a choice. The upcoming festival of champions was the quickest way for her to be expelled, and not of her own fault. No, in three months time, even if she did the absolute best she could, the low performers of the class could easily be the cause of her own expulsion. While she beared them no ill will and understood that not everyone gained skill at the same rate, wasting her people's resources in getting her to Avalice was not something she wanted.

Lo and behold, when Nyx announced that the worst performing half would be expelled after the first test, Sanhan was filled with a sense of remorse. Unfortunately, those that were not immediately talented would be sent packing. A sad state of affairs. One made to protect the rest of the class from being expelled? Maybe.

With all of the explanations out of the way, it was time for Sanhan to duel. If she had her horse, she would stand much more of a chance. Her people were most skilled on horseback, after all. Unfortunately, all she had was a bag of bagels, something that she brought

"Ready?" Sanhan asked the white-haired girl in front of her. It was more an affirmation of herself being ready, if anything. She'd try to win this thing. After all, getting expelled on the first day would have made her family's efforts vain.

'Eris' looked at her opponent with a puzzled expression. It didn't look like she had any will to fight. Not for the same reasons as Eris herself. No, it was more like she was sleep walking, or something like this. “Well, it's not my place to judge,” Eris thought as she shrugged.

“Sure. I'm ready whenever you are,” 'Eris' said as she picked a wooden sword. It wouldn't do well to cut down a classmate by accident just because their teacher was a little too eager to see some action.

As soon as she made her status known to her partner, 'Eris' hushed forward with great speed, aiming a thrust at the other girl's gut as a feint. The true attack would come in the shape of a low powered light shot, aimed at Sanhan's back. If no one of them was really willing to drag this fight for that long, Eris might as well try to get a good hit from the very beginning.

Such an attempt at foolery would have worked on a trained fighter. But Sanhan wasn't exactly knowledgable about swords. Rather than try to deflect or defend against the blow in some way, her body instantly dropped to the ground in an over-the-top attempt to dodge. By absolute dumb luck, she managed to dodge the shot aimed at her back. In fact, she didn't even realize it happened. She was too busy tucking and rolling, trying not to bash her knees on her cuneiform tablet or get tangled in the large bag of bagles.

If Eris was really going to go this hard out the gate, Sanhan could at least do her best to respond in kind. From within the bag of bagels, she ripped a chunk of the delicious wheat. Quickly, it turned hard and shrunk, almost becoming rock-like as a flowing river of mana poured over it. Pointing it at Eris, another magic washed over it. This time, it was less flowing and more forceful. A river meeting ocean, the launched the hardened bagel forward at the sword wielding girl.

Well, so the slowpoke act was just a ruse to trick others, huh? In truth, it seemed like Eris opponent was a little smarter than she thought, along with being quick on her feet. It was funny, then that Eris had to drop her act from the very beginning, but an opponent thrown on the ground was just too good to ignore.

Sanhan's counter hit 'Eris' as she intended. It would be an otherwise ironic scene, or maybe just a silly one, where it not for the fact that the 'Eris' she hit just disappeared out of the blue. An illusion not made to last, when its purpose had been fulfilled. Instead of that, the ground-dwelling girl would find a weigth on her back as the actual Eris--who had been invisible until now--pinned her down to the ground between her legs.

“That was an impressive move. To think that you had such wits concealed under your visage of calmness. But I think I got the upperhand here, don't you think?” Eris said as she pressed training sword against Sanhan's neck, lightly. It was less as if she were trying to hold the other girl down and more like she was sizing her up, in a very direct manner.

"You don't get to survive being the weakest daughter without learning a few tricks. Sanhan replied. As if it were second nature, by the time Sanhan was grappled, she had already been protecting her neck with a floating glyph. After all, being the loser princess often meant she had to play with her more successful brothers and sisters. That playing was more akin to torment. At the very least, she learned how to protect herself from those better than her. Like a harsh wave, a flow of mana came to meet the wooden blade and stopped it from being an actual threat.

But Eris had Sanhan's back. It would be difficult for her to see the front of her neck. While she was a mage with a weak body and no technique, only a fool would assume that she was defenseless up close. Her own arms wrapped around Eris' hips like a terrible quality vice. Seeing how the first time was some sort of illusion, the fact she was pinned meant that this was probably the real one. Probably.

Forming two glyphs in the air, Sanhan did another wacky move. She imbued her own tablet with force, launching it upwards as it met with another glyph. The moment it touched, the tablet launched itself at the back of Eris' head. Probably. She didn't have the most accurate grasp on what was behind her. The second glyph was between Sanhan and Eris. In case she dodged it or there was some wacky illusion like her head not being real, it would bounce it back towards Eris' head again. Though, this was more to ensure Sanhan didn't crush her own skull with her magic rock.

“I have a little sister too. I know all about that. Though... from where I'm looking,” Eris said as she was grappled, locking the two of the together. She didn't plan to dodge the hurled tablet either, instead trust her defense to her her shield spell. What happened next was inconsequential to her as well, since this was a fine opportunity to practice some alternative fighting techniques. Or at least have some fun.

“From where I'm looking, you don't look all that small,” she said as she rolled to the side, dragging the other girl with her on the dirty ground, as she crossed her arms around Sanhan's neck and chest catching her in a chokehold. If the other girl wanted a wrestling match, she would have it. “Actually, it looks to be pretty comfy, if I can say,” Eris commented as she squeezed, letting one of her arms dig between Sanhan's breasts while she tried to keep the other girl immobilized with her legs.

Such immodesty! If there was anything to send Sanhan of the deep-end, that was it. She wasn't using many of her spells on purpose. Too cruel, she thought. After being practically groped, the time for that had ended. Eris' chokehold was still ineffective because of the glyph protecting her neck. She seemed to reflect the tablet, judging by the fact it didn't knock her out in that moment. A shield? Probably. If it could reflect magic, that just made it easier. Gripping Eris' wrist with one hand and her own thigh with the other, a course of mana began to flow. It was much more overwhelming than before. If this shield could reflect magic, that would make it all the easier for Sanhan to roast Eris from inside the protection of her own magic.

With the raging overflow of magic that rushed into Eris' arm, the temperature quickly would increase. If anything was reflected back into her, Sanhan would steal the heat away from herself and put it back into Eris. Even if she was protected by a shield, it would burn away at some point. Even if it was reflected back at her, she would just feed that into more heat.

Before things got really hot, Eris took the chance she got when Sanhan let go of her legs for a brief moment and jumped aaway from the other girl, propelled by her Haste magic. “Come on, you don't need to get all hot and bothered just because of a little friendly touching, especially when you are in my sister's room. I gotta be sure she isn't going to be surrounded by bad apples, you know?” Eris said as she brought a hand to her hips and grinned nonchalantly.

“I gotta say you're not an apple at all if you know what I'm talking about...” Eris chuckled at her own joke. “At any rate, I don't feel like going all out since it's pretty hard not to hurt someone else when I do that. Why don't we call it quits and go take a bath? I hardly doubt that our beloved teacher will want a bunch full of sweaty, dirt-covered kids back in the classroom,” she asked sincerely. Though, Eris was still ready to throw anything back at Sanhan if she tried any dirty moves.

Sanhan was getting heated, but when Eris backed off, any bit of anger or contempt she had over that pervert went away. Not out of forgiveness or understanding, though. More so she didn't care enough about Eris. With a deep breath, the sigil floating around her neck vanished and she calmed herself. She went and picked up her tablet, it being no more worse for wear.

"So you surrender then?" Sanhan asked Eris, remembering that Nyx said that they would fight until one remained standing. Sanhan wasn't about to sandbag and possibly get expelled because of some pervert's desire to take a bath. She'd see this through. After all, she couldn't betray her family.

“I don't know why, but it doesn't like you are the friendly type,” Ers said when she looked Sanhan in the face. “Sure. I was hoping for something more like a mutual understanding, but it's not like I bother either way. There's only one... maybe two--depending on the circumstances--persons in this school that I feel like going all out against. So, yeah, I give up.”

“Also, you can feel free to ignore my proposal. There's no point in hanging around someone who doesn't know how to be cool, or doesn't want to. I'm not turning you down, either the choice is literally yours. At any rate, excuse me. I have, something important to do now,” Eris said as she picked her wooden sword and turned on her heels to go see how Kiara's duel was going.

And that was that. The duel wasn't some grand display of skill or intense battle that showed true colours. It was an anti-climactic fight that ended in an anti-climactic way. Had Sanhan been a red-blooded conquerer that demanded blood like her ancestors, she might have continued on with the duel, refusing a surrender until the other party collapsed. But Sanhan wasn't that way. She was more interested in graduating from the school to get money. She wouldn't continue a fight when the other side had already turned their back. So that was technically a win for her? One that would hopefully keep her in the class, anyways.

She went over to her bag of bagels and slapped one into her mouth. The flavour made her regret launching a piece at the Eris illusion. Wasted food and all that. It was a really good bagel. The bag protected it from the kicked up dust and dirt, so she wouldn't get a mouthful of earthly flavouring. Not that she minded the dust, though.

What was that that she said about not being friendly? She just didn't like being groped. Eris was a pretty weird person, equating skinship with sociability. Oh well.

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"Kress. You and I, and Ankaa, are going to go see the arcane paints club later. No matter what happens, it's a promise. All right?" It was faux conviction that Misaiya mustered, although one wouldn't be able to tell from his voice alone.

They'd better not sabotage their own chances on my account.

"The two of you'd jolly well do your best—" or would it technically be their worst? "—and please don't even think about holding back, for I will not."

"Sure sure," Kress replied, tying his sleeves up at his elbows. "But, uh, let's make this clear first, ok? We're still classmates and all, so let's not try to kill each other?"

Someone in the distance was literally screaming. His gaze flickered nervously in that direction, but didn't catch what exactly was causing it. The young man gulped, before slapping his cheeks.

"Seriously, though, let's not."

"Of course." The reply was clipped, almost curt. It was just an act, but Misaiya's neutral expression betrayed nothing. Pole in one hand and loaded sling in the other, he took a few steps back, sling spinning overhead as he went. "Then let us begin — ready, set, go!"

The little pebble flew out of the sling's pouch with a crack, whistling through the air and thankfully right over Yvaine's shoulder. It impacted the ground a hundred feet behind her. Good grief, if I'd missed that shot and hit her head instead… Misaiya readied the next bullet, and it wouldn't be long until it went airborne. Its target: Kress.

As she was wont to do, Yvaine had stepped back and allowed herself a moment to observe. She had no way of knowing beforehand what powerful magic they wielded, which meant she had to be prepared for anything—including a little pebble that came whizzing by, just inches shy of hitting her. "Oh!" Her grip on her scroll tightened. Was that Misaiya's brand of magic? No, she didn't sense mana emanating from it.

Yvaine took the chance to evoke the sign of the Sun, calling for clarity. When entering one of the three states, nothing changed except the way you viewed the world. In her case, mana crystalized into her vision. A gently flowing blue to her left, restrained for now; an unchanging gray to her right, dim but surging with potential. In the distance, a rainbow of colors from her classmates, muted in her vision as she kept it out of focus.

Kress had yet to reveal his abilities, but as with Masaiya and his sling, Yvaine had to be ready.

If it was quickdraw, Kress had no intention of losing! As Misaiya's pellet burst in the dirt, the blue-haired youth pulled out his own spellbook, a silver-framed abacus hung across his shoulder and chest by an embroidered leather strap. His left hand swept over it, gliding over guiding grooves and beads. Three fingers splayed out before sliding three beads up. Light brown, dark brown, and blue.

No red this time; being scalded by hot tea was the sort of experience he wanted on no one.

"Sorry, Misaiya! And Yvaine too!" Kress chirped, before stretching out with his own hand, aetheric mana coiling outwards, upwards and then...

Cold liquid fell from above their heads, a steady stream that washed over their gloriously long hair, until their drenched bangs clung over their eyes. Unpleasant, but not harmful, and even strangely aromatic. Was this scent peppermint?

In hindsight, Misaiya should have tied his hair up. As he gurgled and spat out the flavoured water (or was it a beverage? He had to thank Kress for making it cold either way), it was more his own dripping-wet hair that interfered rather than the conjured liquid Itself. His shirt and his sling felt a good bit heavier, soaked as they were. When he moved to pocket the latter, he found his shorts only a little better off. How burdensome.

Misaiya's shots had attracted the attention of both mages. But Yvaine had yet to retaliate, and if she was using her magic it wasn't as obvious to the naked eye as Kress's abacus. It was clear what her spellcasting tool was - the scroll in her hand - but he couldn't perceive others' mana well enough to tell quite what the black-haired girl was doing with it. And while going after their foci was a tantalising prospect, promising a quick and clean means of neutralising their spells — it would be difficult to say the least. No doubt the magic users would guard those, tightly; plus, he would rather avoid damaging their belongings. The repair and replacement costs for a mage's equipment could be pretty hefty. And if it were an heirloom or artefact, the less said the better.

Right now, the best places to be are up close and very far away.

Looking at the cramped arena, which was slowly devolving into more of a battlefield, it was evident that the former was the only viable position. Too far from their little lot and he would have to brave the havoc their classmates were wreaking upon the field. Misaiya had to close the distance.

"I'll get back at you for that some day, Kress…" Misaiya feigned a sort of pent-up, sulking displeasure, furrowing his eyebrows at Kress with a mix of ire and disappointment that left him resembling an unhappy prank victim. And then he began to advance - with large and careful strides, he approached Yvaine as best as he could. The weight of the magic peppermint tea slowed him down noticeably. Both of his hands held onto the base of his pole now, left above his right, cautiously keeping it pointed forwards like a spear.

"But we’ve got other problems right now. I’m not sure what, but Yvaine’s building up for something really big! I’ll play the bait," he stopped moving, and turned to give Kress a nod. "Counting on you for the rest!"

Misaiya charged.

The shift in his intent was almost palpable to Yvaine in her clarity, the gray aura growing brighter now as it approached. While she looked unprepared, seemingly more focused on wringing her soaked hair and dress, those perceptive enough would see her lips move in a quiet hymn and those close enough would hear the melody nearing its end.

ო ჰოლy wინგს, გრანთ მე fლიღთ

A pair of golden, shimmering wings manifested on her back then, lifting her off the ground, just in time to allow her to glide away from Misaiya's attack. Yvaine flitted about, carefully giving Misaiya and his superior reach a wide berth as she circled him. All the while, she sung a hymn under her breath, the melody distinctly different from the one moments before. The scroll on her hand was unfurled, the page aglow as the notes she sung shimmered with her golden light. Once she reached the end of the melody, she started all over. Again and again and again, she repeated the hymn, yet nothing readily visible manifested after each repetition.

Despite giving herself wings, Yvaine kept low, hovering no more than a feet above the ground. Instead, she used her improved range in an attempt to outmaneuver Misaiya, who seemed to move slower than he was capable. Yvaine was inwardly grateful for Kress then, even though her hair would probably smell of peppermints for a while. She wondered if she could goad him into doing another spell like that, but for the moment, her focus remained in biding her time in preparation for something… big, just as Misaiya had said. He was proving to be as observant and astute as his scholarly demeanor suggested.

Uh...damnit, this was why 1v1v1s were confusing! Because things could just feel like turning into a 2v1 outta nowhere! Kress's own brows furrowed now, the blue-haired mage struggling not with his next spell, but more with the moral quandary of teaming up to beat up a girl who looked like a nice, soft-spoken person. Wasn't that what only bad guys did? Aghhhhh, being opportunistic was super strange...

But Yvaine growing wings was super cool! Briefly forgetting his own mental dilemmas at the sight of those wings of light blooming from her back, Kress called out, "Wow! That's pretty cool!" Though he had tried to make wings himself before, they've always just ended up as wings, rather than his wings. Definitely gonna have to pick her brain later, which meant that he definitely shouldn't just team up on one of them!

Equality meant fighting them equally!

His fingers danced up and down his abacus again, three translucent beads sliding up, while blue and light brown dropped down. If he was doing it properly, the dark brown beads would have also been swept down, in favor of three silver ones, but his sister would literally eat him alive if she found out he accidentally broke a girl's nose; Kress manifested something softer than a shield instead. Holding his mana in his outstretched hand, he watched Yvaine's movements carefully, getting a read on the patterns of her flight.

"There!"

A wall of loose dirt, barely held in place by aether, popped up right in front of the celestial spellsinger. It wouldn't hold against the momentum of her own flight, but it would impede it, blinding her and maybe even causing her to fall. That same dirt, though, would fly back after colliding with Yvaine, hopefully showering Misaiya as well and maybe dissuading his continued advance?

Hm...Kress decided to take a few more steps back from all this.

It'd been totally unfounded speculation when Misaiya had said that Yvaine was up to something, but now he was increasingly certain that he’d actually been right. His jabs and sweeps grew slow and infrequent, and were eventually reduced to half-hearted probing as she fluttered around him, chanting and singing to no visible effect.

Whatever that was she had in store, Misaiya would rather not be on the receiving end of it. He came up with a plan when Kress finally took action and conjured his wall.

He could have stopped. He should have stopped. It certainly would have saved him an awful lot of hurt. When Misaiya saw Kress's magic earthen wall pop up, he didn’t stop. He doubled down and leapt forward, pole held high above his head, perhaps gunning for Yvaine while she was at her most vulnerable — and ate way more dirt than he ever needed or intended to as he ploughed head-first into the wall as well. It was softer than he'd expected and harder than he'd hoped.

Just… as planned…?

Misaiya fell to the ground, prone, and ate even more dirt. His shoes had fallen off and were flung a little ways away, along with his pole. For a moment, he was motionless. Then, slowly, he turned his head and gave Kress a thumbs-up.

"I'll be fine. Go get 'er, tiger…" Misaiya's voice was hoarse, and the aura of his mana somewhat dimmed when his arm went limp.

I can feel my heartbeat in my skull right now. Time to take a break, I suppose.

Misaiya closed his eyes and laid still. He didn't get back up.

ო დივინე სთარს -

The prolonged and repeated incantation of one spell combined with the overexertion of sustaining another was wearing Yvaine down. The light from her wings was gradually fading, flickering like a flame. Her clarity had slipped from her already, along with it the kaleidoscope of colors that was her classmates' mana and the heightened focus that kept her just a half-step ahead of Misaiya's next attack. When Kress's magic wall of dirt burst out of nowhere, it caught her completely by surprise. There was no time for her to do anything but plunge directly through it.


Yvaine braced for the impact, expecting something painful but found it more encumbering instead. Dirt obstructed her vision, and to her dismay, a smattering got into her mouth as well. She fought the urge to spit it out, lest she lose control of her spell, and powered through with disgust. Beside her, Misaiya had his share of dirt, except his experience was perhaps more violent as he had all but flung himself against, and then through, Kress' wall.

Concern nagged at her when she realized Misaiya had landed harshly. She had little time to react, however, as immediately after, something hit her squarely on her forehead—right where a bruise was already forming due to her earlier collision with the professor's podium. It was... a shoe? Whatever it was, the shock from the pain had been enough to throw her off. The light of her wings had sputtered out and as she fell, what little control she had over the ongoing spell slipped away.

"Kress, please watch out!" Yvaine called out, struggling to get upright. The sight of a knocked out Misaiya had struck a chord in her. At first, she wanted to do her best in this match and make the professor proud, but right now she felt more compelled to help a classmate in pain. And to prevent another from getting hurt. She gestured upward in warning.

Directly above the small section of the arena the three claimed, floating higher than the tallest building in Avalice, was Yvaine's "something big." A collection of stars—manifestations of her mana—that spanned the area they occupied, hundreds of golden orbs bobbing up and down as they awaited release. Normally, the spell would have been instantaneous. But by repeating the same hymn and deliberately stopping before the last verse each time, Yvaine was able to delay the release and extend the gathering phase.

What loomed above them now was the fruits of her labor. And now they were falling.

"Oh geez oh geez oh geez!"

From up above, it looked like a veritable raincloud of holy light, and it was absolutely, positively gorgeous. From his wider view of the arena, Kress was able to take in the entirety of just how brilliantly beautiful Yvaine's spellcasting was. How much control did that require, to delay a spellsong over so many iterations to gather up something like that? He definitely hoped that Professor Nyx knew where to look, because that collection of spellwork was basically...super cool? Super frickin' cool. He was gonna have to invite Yvaine too and have a hell of a chat with her after this!

But only after the battle. Because right now...

Click-clack went his beads. The adjustments he needed to make for a proper Shield were minimal, and so long as the bombardment fell down vertically, rather than do some crazy homing, weaving thing, he should be fine. His own mana reserves were still alright too; he may be a bit on the below average side of magical capacity, but Kress hadn't exerted himself nearly as much as his opponents during the fight. He had energy to spare.

"Yvaine! Stay still please!"

Forcibly pulling out his mana, Kress manifested translucent shields above all of them, the phantasmal steel locked in place by etheric anchors. If Yvaine's song magic could punch through steel, then that was that (and in which case fleshy humans like Kress and Misaiya were basically dead), but if not, then it was fine! Probably. The rain of light began to fall, and all he could do now was hope that his defenses worked.

It seemed like everyone in this academy was virtuous. Yvaine and Kress were caring even to their adversaries, Ankaa was refreshingly honest — and good Misaiya, meanwhile, was committing perfidy in order to gain an advantage in a friendly spar. Hoo-ray.

Misaiya could only guess at what sort of calamity was occurring above and around him. The two mages’ voices had drawn near, and from what he could hear it would be best to continue his mid-battle recess for a little while longer. Until Yvaine’s ‘something big’ had passed, at least.

Now that he was temporarily bereft of his sight, Misaiya began to listen more closely to the soundscape of the arena. There were shouts and shrieks, clashing metal, the sounds of magic: fireballs, earthwalls, waterfalls, animal calls… no, those were humans all right, they just screamed like beasts. A diverse and complex melody, some avant-garde musician might have called it, although it was a little too experimental for his tastes. Yvaine’s singing was a better fit for his preferences. The hymns were in a tongue he did not know, but her voice was so heavenly and waitaminute.

Oh. Sudden realisation time.

It was the middle of the day. The sun was at its peak. Yvaine was a mage with something up her sleeve. She used a scroll and sang hymns and resembled a novice plucked from a nunnery. She could grow wings that looked to be made of stars. There were numerous faiths that worshipped and called upon the heavenly bodies for power.

Yvaine‘s about to drop the Sun on our heads, isn’t she?

It was an apt and well-timed prediction, if slightly astronomically imprecise. The sun was merely a solitary star. But in the next instant there were tens and dozens and hundreds of stars descending from the heavens, each brilliant and bright, each a Sun in its own right. In the beginning, it was said: let there be light —

And there was light.

The world grew silent and strangely dim, save for the roaring of the light. The light was beaming and blinding, blazing and blinding; beautiful to behold, and to witness, blinding. The stars had been heralds of a holy hell that they themselves wrought. The light infiltrated the earth and floated with the air. In every place, it was there. It was blinding — but this hell was harmless. To Misaiya, at least. He couldn't feel anything much besides the all-pervasive sensation of the light, though he had Kress’s barriers to thank for that. And since his eyes were closed and his head buried in the ground, he had inadvertently put himself in the best possible position to avoid the dazzling wrath of the stars well in advance. As a result, he still retained his sight - though it wasn't like he could tell the difference at the moment.

Wow, I’m still alive. It was equal parts amazement and relief. But even as the starfall trickled to an end, Misaiya remained unmoving as the mountain, and showed no signs of rousing. After all, escaping further injury didn’t mean the collision earlier hadn’t left him any less sore. Plus, Kress had put the magic shields directly over him - he couldn't get up even if he'd tried.

It was pleasant for all of five seconds, like a scene straight out of a fairy tale. Kress looked upwards in amazement as the stars fell like rain, his own translucent barrier serving as an umbrella against the coming storm. They splattered harmlessly against his shield, as effective as hailstones and then EXPLODED IN BURSTS OF SEARING LIGHT!

"AGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

Kress immediately closed his eyes, hands over his face as he curled into a ball, the afterimage of those microexplosions seared into the inside of his eyelids as serpents of red and orange light. So they were blinding? Shit, he took everything back about how pretty they all were; this was awful! But on the other hand, wasn't this still pretty interesting? If Yvaine hadn't warned him about it, he probably wouldn't have raised his defenses to begin with. It was just that pretty, wasn't it? Really made one want to reach out and catch one of those globes of light, like you'd catch a snowflake during the first snowfall of the season. Still with his eyes shut, Kress felt for his abacus, his pianist fingers dancing up and down it before feeling the grooves in the beads that told him what they were.

Moments later, he made himself a chair and sat down on it, as he continued to mull over whether or not the starfall spellsong also had a hypnosis or entrancement effect.

Time passed. The starfall ended. Kress opened his eyes, the world looking strangely dark now that it wasn't being lit up by the radiance of a thousand suns.

Walking over to where Yvaine and the still-unconscious Misaiya was, he offered the lady a hand to get back up, removing the shield over both his friends. "So, does that mean I win, or do you wanna go at it some more?"

Yvaine wiped the beads of sweat rolling down her temple, straining to keep the last note of Sunrise on pitch. The glowing glyph that appeared beneath Misaiya was smaller and dimmer than her usual, unable to be sustained for too long as she drew on her reserve reserves, but it was better than nothing. At the very least, Misaiya won't have a terrible headache when he awakens.

When she heard Kress approach, Yvaine slowly opened her eyes to look for him. Starfall should have ended moments ago, but it never hurt to be cautious. Even she wasn't completely immune to its dazzling effects. She shuddered at the thought; her stars weren't painful, per se, but its debilitating effects were still unpleasant, almost reminiscent of severe vertigo.

"Kress, you're unhurt!" Yvaine smiled at the sight of the blue mage looking no worse for wear and accepted the helping hand he offered, only to fall back down again as her knees buckled almost immediately. Ah, she might have overexerted herself quite a bit! "Thank goodness for your wonderful shields! I don't think we would have much enjoyed being stunned."

After attempting and failing to get up one more time, Yvaine flashed Kress a sheepish grin and bowed her slightly, conceding defeat. "I'm afraid I've no energy to spare at the moment. I believe that makes you the winn-- oh!"

Click.

Looming over Kress by a whole head was Misaiya, a little ragged and bruised, but far less exhausted than what would be expected of such an intense spar. In his left hand he gripped his air rifle, its barrel resting on Kress’s back with a freshly chambered bullet inside. Held against the shorter mage’s shoulder was the dull, cool blade of his classmate's machete.

Yvaine. Kress. I am so sorry.

Misaiya had escaped the cascade of stars unmolested — only because, he would note, he had the fortune of having the kindest, most empathetic people in the world as his opponents — and thanks to Yvaine’s healing, even the pain of his earlier bodyslamming-into-magic-walls plan had subsided. He was practically as fighting-fit as he had been at the start of the combat. As a result, the moment he found himself free from the protective prison of Kress’s shields, Misaiya had stood up. He was half-expecting to get pummeled by spells as soon as someone noticed, but it wasn't like he had arisen without a purpose.

At this point the two mages had surely displayed enough of their spellcasting ability to pass. Among the three, Misaiya's performance had by far been, without doubt, the most lacklustre. Of course, Nyx seemed like a fickle man, and nothing at all was guaranteed: but it made for a convenient justification for the time being to go all out in biting the hands that had just fed him so much.

Misaiya had already drawn the machete and slid the rifle off his shoulder. He had psyched himself up for confronting and all but betraying his classmates who had done nothing but help him. He had been scheming from the outset to remove himself from the fight early and take on whichever of the two was left standing; planning to take advantage of their civility and friendliness to play the wounded gazelle without drawing suspicion; biding his time even as they kept him safe, waiting for the opportune moment to arise and take action once they had been manipulated into checkmate. It had all been premeditated, and it had been a resounding success.

But even so — no, even more so because of this, it was disgust at himself that Misaiya felt when he took aim at his friend.

”Kress. I am pointing a loaded gun at your back, and a machete at your neck. Surrender.”

It was pragmatism. It was betrayal. It was permitted. It was cruel. It was the correct way to win.

But surely this isn't right.

There was silence for a moment. Around them all, battles continued on, explosions of magic and exertions of physical ability. From behind, Misaiya could see the tensing in Kress's body, a total stillness in the mage's movements. Restraint? Or anticipation? Seconds passed by. Seconds and then, movement.

Kress fell down, the rifle sliding up his back as the machete rose over his shoulder. In that instant, magic surged out from his fingertips, entwining with the beads in his abacus to trigger another creation!

Pomf.

Kress sat down on a newly created chair, and leaned his head against the back of the chair, looking up at Misaiya. A wide grin was on his face as he declared, "Last man standing, right? Gratz on your win!" His abacus rested on his lap, and he flicked the beads up and down again, structuring a new spell. "Now, uh, hm...looks like we've still got a bit before everything wraps up, and no one's dead or anything, so how about the two of you clean up? Sorry again about all the stuff I pulled, but the only actual offensive spell I have involves launching a spear, so...what can I do, neh?"

He stood up, and in front of him, a sphere of revolving water formed, roughly the size of a human's head. Steam wafted from it, and within, white, soapy suds began to swirl as well. With a small flourish, Kress motioned to Yvaine.

"Ladies gotta make themselves presentable first, right?"

As Misaiya was crowned the victor, in a surprising twist that to Yvaine, only cemented his strategic prowess, Yvaine cheered. She wondered if he had planned every action he had taken—ah, like his shoe hitting her! That was quite well-timed.

"Well fought, Misaiya!" Yvaine congratulated. Then she turned to Kress, eyes wide in wonder as she watched the soapy bubble rotating in front of him as though caught in a miniature whirlpool. "That's amazing!"

She heaved herself up with great effort and walked clumsily toward him to inspect his magic water closer. Such a practical spell! Her hands curiously reached in and cupped soapy water into her hands, watching delightedly as it washed away the grime that coated her fingers. She'd almost forgotten what a mess she looked, with her hair and face caked in mud and her dress sticky with the tea.

"Please proceed," Yvaine positioned herself directly in front of Kress and closed her eyes, bracing herself. She was under the assumption that he would be pouring it over her again, as he did with the tea.

Had the rifle’s air reservoir not been punctured and emptied, Misaiya wasn’t sure if he would have shot Kress for moving or not. But his finger never reached for the trigger, and the machete blade stayed put even as Kress shifted and fell and… plopped onto a chair. Magical, of course.

It was Misaiya's victory. He wasn't exhilarated. Just, exhausted.

And — bless them and their selfless hearts — his classmates were already congratulating him. There was no veiled resentment in Kress’s smile, no deceit in Yvaine’s words. Their sincerity only made the guilt worse. Well-fought my foot. What I did wasn’t fighting. What strong people they were; how caring in action and pure in heart! If he had instead lost, Misaiya wasn’t sure how he would have reacted.

”Yvaine, Kress. Thank you. Both of you are skilled spellcasters. But you two are also incredibly kind — and I took advantage of that kindness to win.”

What sort of expression would be best? In his chest he felt the leaden weight of a heavy heart and guilty conscience. But at that moment his face showed only the same neutrality he had adopted at the start of the spar: mild melancholy, albeit this time faintly tinged with regret. He had just met these people, these classmates of his. They had no problems with what he’d done or what sort of person he was. Yet why was he feeling so strongly about this?

”That’s entirely on me. I have much to learn from the two of you." Even if that Nyx expelled him from Avalice, it had been a day of enrichment and enlightening experiences. Looking at things from that perspective, then maybe there was nothing to regret. "You all are good people: better than I, for certain. Stay that way.”

Misaiya hadn't anything else to say, so he quickly excused himself and went to pick up his shoes, his pole, and the machete handle that had popped off at some point, all strewn here and there across the field. Nothing had been broken to irreparability, not even the damaged reservoir - although that would need a specialist’s care, he had a few spares anyhow. He reminded himself to retrieve the robes he had earlier left at the outskirts fo the arena, away from the action. Those could not be replaced.

When Misaiya returned back to his classmates’ side, it appeared that it was time to wash up. Watching Yvaine rinse her hands, he all of a sudden grew conscious of the fact that he still had a little soil in his mouth. Hopefully it didn’t have parasites or heavy metals or somesuch in it.

Kress had conjured another ball of water, this time a little warmer and with what appeared to be soap in it. Yvaine was waiting expectantly, eyes closed, standing in front of the cleaner mage. Surely she didn’t expect him to — never mind, she was definitely waiting for another magic shower. Well, they were already soaked from the tea, so getting more water dumped on their heads couldn’t make things worse. Misaiya couldn't deny that it was a tempting prospect, but…

”Pour the water on Yvaine first,” he flicked his hand at her, ”but save your energy if you're tired. I can survive until we're released to the dorms.”

"Hey, c'mon now, Misaiya," Kress said, tilting his head in his friend's direction. "Some people win by winning and other people win by losing; it's just how the cards fall sometimes. One day, your...intelligence will probably work in my favour anyhow, so if you wanna not feel bad about this, just sharpen your noggin and do something nice for the two of us in the future! And please, I'm a spellcaster. I've got plenty of energy left."

A slight exaggeration, true, but it wasn't as if Kress was so weak as to keel over after only a handful of mundane spells.

As he spoke, the sphere of water began to float up and down Yvaine's hair, streaming between the strands to wash away particles of dirt and the residue of the tea. Kress's fingers worked carefully as well, untangling clumps of hair before they turned into knots from hell, while making sure that the ends didn't just hit the ground again. It always confused him, why people grew their hair out so much. It looked nice and all, but also looked like a bother to care for.

Once Yvaine's hair was cleaned up, Kress pulled his sphere upwards and frowned. He used to do it for his mom all the time, but now that he thought about it some more, Yvaine was a girl. One that he really only met just now, honestly. Probably would be unbecoming of him to wash her face too. Yeah. Alright. Definitely unbecoming. He pulled out his embroidered handkerchief instead, wet it in the swirling contents of his 'Make Clean' spell, and offered it to Yvaine.

"Uh, here." Kress wiped his other hand on his pants, looking off to the side. "For your face."

Another spell click-clacked into his abacus, and warm air billowed out from behind Yvaine. He still needed to clean up Misaiya, but right now, all Kress wanted was for Professor Nyx to call them all in for classes again.

In her exhaustion, Yvaine could have taken a nap right where she stood, but it was Kress' magic, weaving in and out of her hair like it was playing with each strand, that soothed her nearly to sleep. Only Misaiya's solemn acceptance of his victory, overflowing with so much sincerity that it touched her heart, had kept her awake and in rapt attention. She nodded fervently as Kress responded with wonderfully upbeat words of encouragement, stopping only when she realized she was causing water to splash about by doing so.

"Sister Agatha liked to say that it was important for us to 'look beyond the pieces and see the whole board.' I never understood what she meant, but thanks to you, Misaiya, I think I'm starting to!"

By the time Kress had finished with her hair, and with the help of his handkerchief—quite the gentleman, he was!—Yvaine felt beyond refreshed. Only the sweet scent of peppermint that lingered in her dress remained of his earlier attack. She still felt the aches that came with overuse of her mana, but it was all the more tolerable. "Thanks so much, Kress," she would have to make it up to him later; perhaps with some baked goods to go along with tea. For now, she settled with a quick kiss on his cheek to show her gratitude. "Your spells are amazing!"

All around them, the chaos that filled the vast arena was dwindling. It seemed everyone else had been wrapping up their fights, as well. Yvaine had been slightly disappointed she couldn't observe the others, but she would ask Professor Nyx about it later. Perhaps he had cast a spell to record everything! That would be wonderful.

"Well, shall we find the professor and see how we did?" Yvaine positioned herself between Misaiya and Kress, cheerfully grabbing both their hands as she led them forward.
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