Inedible

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

There’s a small debriefing following the operation upon return to the academy, both for each girls’ individual test and the attack afterward. It consists mostly of checking to make sure their wounds aren’t too grievous, along with a short medical examination and psychological evaluation. More of what they’ve come to expect so far, though the process is at least less invasive than their previous examinations.

The interview concludes the same way for each student; A handshake from each of the senior faculty, and these words:
“Congratulations cadet. Today you are an Ars Magi.”

𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚊 𝙻𝚞𝚡 𝙰𝚌𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚖𝚢
𝙰𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚕 𝟷𝟻𝚝𝚑, 𝟷𝟷𝟽 𝙰𝚅
𝟽:𝟹𝟶 𝙿𝙼
Dana Noel, Penny Grenoble, Nicole Cognoscenti, Diana Khay Vanna, Astrelle Lennox

---

After dinner the common room is buzzing with energy, a dozen newly minted Ars Magi swapping stories of their transformations and the events of the day. By now a few of those faces are familiar; Priya, Amanda, Cara, a handful of others. Some of the girls bear new wounds, all carefully bandaged up. There’s no grievous injuries on display, but anyone seriously hurt is still in the infirmary.
The main topic of discussion this evening seems to surrounds the appearance of the higher-powered Voids in the testing ground. Apparently there was more than one incident over the course of the day:

“It was, like, this huge thing, with a dozen arms.” Priya is describing excitedly at one of the tables scattered around the room, going into details about her groups encounter.

“That’s not supposed to happen, is it?” Asks one of the cadets.

“We didn’t see anything like that.” Another replies.

“Do you think they let the big ones in on purpose?” A third asks.

The sound of chatter echoes down the hallways of the dorms, stories and gossip frantically passed before lights-out comes in a couple hours.

Secundi Lux

Three detonations resound across the empty streets, one after another. The first two spheres pop when they’re shorn through by Chie’s chakrams, two small explosions that leave behind wispy trails of black smoke. Crystal handles the third, the last blast ringing out as her weapon collides with the projectile, leaving her injured for her trouble.

The Void is in far worse shape though. When Aoife demands that it kneel the monster has little choice in the mater, the jet of water channeled by the newly arrived Ars Magi striking its leg and sheering through its dark flesh with the sheer force of the current. The creature pitches forward, brought low from the powerful blow.

Its arm rises again, slowly, and slower still as Chie’s magic begins to take effect. The weight of gravity bears down on the Void, gripping and holding it tight as the seconds tick by. Long enough for Crystal to engage it, her sword thrusting deep into the spindly monster’s core. Frost quickly begins to form and blanket the tall monster’s dark form, and soon it’s entombed in a shell of ice, frozen from the core outward.

And when Selma arrives it shatters, fracturing into frozen chunks when the green-haired girl collides with it.

“Gottem!” The blonde girl, Noel, announces with a pump of her armored fist.

This time it doesn’t reform. There’s a few seconds of pregnant silence before an operator’s voice crackles to life in Aoife’s ear: “Spike is gone. Nox levels are dropping—diffusers are back online. You’re clear.” The message comes through to the rest of the girls and their original operators soon after, once radio channels are switched over.

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

The Void, descending to meet Nicole, is denied its prey one last time. This time by Penny’s hammer, the girl’s high-speed impact intercepting the monster before it can continue its wicked pursuit. The sound of the impact carries across the street, echoing between empty buildings as it resounds through the abandoned district. The force of the blow sends the Void skyrocketing upward, throwing it into a vicious spiral.

It doesn’t have time to right itself before the blast from Dana’s gladius hits it. The Void is engulfed in that blinding light, it’s ink-black skin flaking away in chunks under the searing glow of the attack. For a moment all that can be seen is a skeletal outline, a glowing purple core at its center that buckles and cracks as the light washes over it.

The slicing gale of Nicole’s weapon severs what remains, casting the Void to the winds. It fades into wisps of darkness, vanishing in the sunlight that streams down over the empty street.

“Nox levels dropping.” If there was any further doubt that the Void might be a threat, the operator’s voice crackles in each Ars Magi’s ear. “Levels are returning to normal. Return to tower.”

Secundi Lux

The chunk of concrete that Selma launches skyward intercepts the ball of darkness racing toward the tower with a spectacular detonation. The concussive force released when the two meet is visible in the air, a distorted plume of darkness as the stone is erased from existence. The tower, for the moment, is safe.

It affords Crystal time to start hauling wounded soldiers down to the bottom of the structure, the operators likewise making a hasty exit after giving the order to evacuate. The husk of the observation room is soon cleared out, flickering monitors and beeping displays left behind as the crew moves to the street below.

And while she does Rivka takes up position, two sharps cracks of her rifle echoing out in the wake of the earlier detonation. The first red streak connects with the tall Void’s center mass, and the second with the arm half-raised to defend itself. The force of those two impacts are enough to sheer the spindly creature near in half; it’s right arm and shoulder are torn from its body in a splatter of black mist, vanishing abruptly into thin air.

The second volley, Selma’s next round of debris, is less destructive. Still, the makeshift projectiles find their mark with enough force to send the Void flying. It tumbles backward, vanishing over the side of the building.

It’s not immediately clear if the monster is gone, but the answer comes soon enough. It’s only a minute later that the Void appears on the street below, lurching into view of the Crystal, Chie, and the officers gathered at the base of the tower. The empty space where it used to have an arm has already regrown a vestigial sort of appendage, a long and whip-like span of darkness that’s swiftly growing back into the long limb it possessed before.

The more intact of the two appendages is raised toward the group of soldiers and Ars Magi across the street, and this time it conjures more than one of those explosive spheres. They come in a volley of three, each launched at alarming speed across the intervening space and toward the small cluster of individuals in front of the tower.

The Void’s hand rises again to begin conjuring more in their wake, another two spheres half-formed in front of it before something--someone--stops it.

The first girl emerges like a blonde bolt of lighting, leaping into sight from an alleyway near the Void. Electricity crackles around her metal-clad fingers, discharging in a brilliant flash of light when her fist slams into the explosive-hurling foe. The force of the blow is enough to take the Void off its feet, it’s tall frame tumbling across the street.

It comes to a stop a few feet away before it begins to rise once again, pushing itself to its feet.

“Aoife!” Calls the lightning Ars Magi, “Go!”

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

The smaller snake-like Voids scatter under the force of Penny’s hammer, several smashed flat or blown away by the blast that comes with the explosive impact. Dana’s stars protect her and Penny from being swarmed by the rest of the serpents, blasts of light shearing a dozen of the void-spawn in half before they can swarm over the two girls.

The spindly Void’s ascent is made more difficult by the winds buffeting it, the currents shaking both it and Astrelle as it rises higher into the sky. Dark wings flap and fight against the interference, beating in wide sweeps as it makes steady progress upward. It’s near three stores up when Nicole meets it in the air, launching from the railing to strike at the claws grasping her dark-haired roommate. Her blade sheers through the lower half of the monster in one clean strike, sheering away the Void’s feet and freeing Astrelle from its hold.

The monster legs out a shriek as Nicole sails past it, venting its rage into the empty sky. Astrelle’s savior finds her flight suddenly interrupted soon after; one of the Void’s long arms extending to crash into her midsection before she can completely escape its airspace. Claws dig into her skin and parma as the creature yanks her backward, whirling her through the air and flinging her like a red-haired stone cast from a sling. She plummets abruptly toward the street, her new flight-path taking her toward the concrete at vicious speed.

The Void follows after, whipping around in the air and dive-bombing in pursuit of the prey that it's just flung. It descends rapidly, mouth opening to display row after row of razor-sharp teeth. Once Nicole crashes to the ground it’ll be atop her, ready to rip and tear into the Ars Magi.

Alarmingly, by the time it lands the Void’s lower half has already started to regenerate. The hole punched in its chest earlier by Dana’s blast has likewise begun to stitch itself together, the empty gap now stitched by goopy black threads.

Secundi Lux

@Write sorry it took some time to get back to you, I missed the notification on your post.

Anyway, I like it! The only note I really have is that Aoife's family wouldn't have to save up to go to send her to Nova Lux, it's basically mandatory as long as you test magic positive.

Other than that I don't think there's anything to mention. If you're still interested I'd be happy you have you join us. You can drop in to the discord server here when you get a chance.

Secundi Lux

One by one each Void falls, either to burning heat, biting cold, crushing earth, or cutting steel. All are reduced to darkness, returning to the fog that blankets the streets and alleyways of the broken-down district. Rivka, Crystal, and Selma all are allowed to make their return to the tower to watch the next candidate, and all can see Chie’s victory and injury from the windows of the observation area.

“Masuzu,” Comes the voice in Chie’s ear. “Re--“

The rest of the order never comes. Inside of the tower the consoles light up in rows of red, their displays flashing with information. A voice is raised in sudden alarm:

“Nox levels are spiking! Something is--”

| Music: Primitive |

Anything else is swallowed up in the detonation that follows. Glass and concrete explode inward as one of the tower’s corners abruptly vanishes, crumbing under the concussive force of some outside influence. The force of it reverberates violently through what’s left of the room, hurling both officers and the three Ars Magi inside off their feet.

Chie can hear the noise from the street below, and when she turns back she can see the extent of the damage: A chunk of the observation room is split open, a visible hole having appeared in the wall. When the girls inside regain their footing they can see the same from a much closer view, an empty space where a wall once stood.

The source of the blast isn’t immediately obvious, not until one of the operators calls it out. Both Chie and the girls in the tower can see it: A little more than a hundred feet away, perched on the top of a half-collapsed rooftop, is a Void.

It’s taller than the others, perhaps seven feet, still almost humanoid in shape. Strange tendrils emerge from its ink-black head and pulsing red lines can be seen on its outline even in the afternoon light. From its torso stretch a pair of dark elongated arms, and between its oversized hands the Void has conjured a roiling cloud of Nox that it weaves into a basketball sized sphere of solid black matter.

A sphere that, once complete, launches with explosive force toward the top of the observation tower. Each of the newly minted Ars Magi can see it coming, traveling toward the group above ground at alarming speed.

Void - C-Class

While military forces are capable of containing D-Class Voids with great effort, C-Class entities are generally the purview of Ars Magi. Basic magitech weapons are completely ineffective, and these some of these Voids are capable of even withstanding blows from Ars Magi weaponry.

C-Class Voids typically demonstrate the power to alter their own bodies and are also likely to possess some small-scale reality altering abilities. Experienced Ars Magi find these types of Voids a manageable threat, but they may be considered an adequate match for an untrained Ars Magi.

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

Penny’s rollerblades are quickly proving themselves invaluable assets as she glides across the ruined street, mere inches ahead of the black tendrils that chase after her. Concrete and steel crack and bend under the force of the impacts, each rubbery arm leaving behind a destructive indentation in whatever surface is touches.

The situation changes once the other girls take the field. It’s the blast from Dana’s Gladius that leads off the incoming attack from the other magical girls, the bolt of light spearing into the center mass of the spindly Void. That brilliant ray of light leaves a gaping hole behind, a fist-sized gap in the black mass. Yet unlike its lesser kin, that one blast isn’t enough to expunge the monster from reality.

Nicole’s plan, to herd the monster toward her blade, seems solid—until it becomes suddenly clear that the Void isn’t limited to the same methods of movements as its enemies. The blade of her sword and the shearing winds that sheath it find only empty space as the creature moves past her in a blur. Past, and above.

Astrelle gets a clearer picture as she emerges from their enemies’ grounded shadow. It’s long arms spread wide, beating once as they transform into ragged looking wings that launch it into the air. The blade of her scythe drives into its lower half as it makes its escape, but the creature twists toward her as it rises. It’s clawed feet hook into the dark-haired Ars Magi, grasping her tight and taking her captive as the Void rises into the sky.

As it ascends higher one of those wings makes a violent sweep toward the ground below, flinging chunks of inky black flesh toward the girls remaining on the street. Globs of Void-flesh rain downward, each elongating and growing mouths full of vicious looking fangs. By the time they hit the concrete each blob has transformed into a writhing serpent, slithering and lunging for the Ars Magi nearby. There are nearly a dozen in total, each fanged mouth promises a grievous wound should the Void-spawn manage to entangle their prey.

Secundi Lux

@Vega7285 sorry for the late reply, but yes, we're still looking for one more player.

Feel free to read up when you can and submit an application if you're interested.

Nova Lux: A Magical Girl Game

One by one each girl undergoes their trial, oily black puddles and shattered marble cores left in their wake. Exuberant or weary, each of the first four newly minted Ars Magi are welcomed back to the observation tower to join the rest and the small outfit of officers overseeing the procedures. Congratulations are given, though there’s no doubt a more formal ceremony to come later.

From that tower the four other girls get to see Penny strike the final blow against her last opponent, the force of it dislodging brick and concrete as the last Void returns to inky mist. The ruined street becomes quiet once again, just crumbling brick and thin tendrils of residual Nox.

“Grenoble,” Says the staticy voice in Penny’s ear, “Return to tow—”

| Music: Primitive |

She doesn’t quite hear the end of it before something lifts her off her feet. The pain comes just a moment later, along with the deafening crash of her impact into—and through—the wall of the crumbling building on the opposite end of the street.

The girls in the observation tower get the best view of how it happens. They see the hand emerge from a nearby alleyway, and the arm after. They might expect a body to appear soon after, but it’s just arm, and then more arm, an impossibly long and ropey black appendage that plunges through the air and smashes into Penny’s chest. The force of the blow rips the small Ars Magi off her feet and propels her across the street, bricks and concrete exploding as it carries her through the wall and further inside.

She doesn’t stop either, not until she hits the interior wall on the opposite side. It’s only after several seconds more that she becomes cognizant of the pressure on her chest and the obsidian fist that’s gripped her just below the throat. She can see the long length of the arm pinning her in place, and only has a moment to consider her sudden displacement before the arm begins to retract. It drags her with it, back onto the street, flinging her to the pavement.

She and the viewers from the tower can see the arm retract afterward, and the thing it’s attached to emerge from the alleyway Penny once stood next to.

This Void is different. Still humanoid, but even taller than the last ones; somewhere around eight feet, made a little lower by the bestial slouch it has adopted. It’s head is bestial and square shaped, and flowing white strands of what might be something like hair trail behind it. Geometric lines trace over the black skin, pulsing a vivid purple even in the daylight.

“Nox levels are spiking!” Comes the voice of the operator, rising sharply in surprise. “An unknown Void has entered the field!”

“Boost the diffusers.”

“Boosting—Void is still active—picking up multiple high class void manifesting in the training area--”

Several more seconds of shouted orders, and then the officer in charge turns toward the Ars Magi in the tower.

“Noel, Cognoscenti, Lennox.” Fingers point at the small squad. “Assist Grenoble.”

With the order given the doors to the tower are opened for deployment once again. The thing is waiting, and as they Ars Magi take the field it turns to them to open its maw and let out an inhuman howl.

Their enemy is waiting.

Void - C-Class

While military forces are capable of containing D-Class Voids with great effort, C-Class entities are generally the purview of Ars Magi. Basic magitech weapons are completely ineffective, and these some of these Voids are capable of even withstanding blows from Ars Magi weaponry.

C-Class Voids typically demonstrate the power to alter their own bodies and are also likely to possess some small-scale reality altering abilities. Experienced Ars Magi find these types of Voids a manageable threat, but they may be considered an adequate match for an untrained Ars Magi.