Scribe of Thoth

Jigokuraku Academy

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Shun pursed his lips in thought as he did a quick sweep of the bookstore. He was a bit out of his element, but there were definitely a plethora of points to be scored in there. Neither he nor Shiki had the strength to move the debris, but his small size had other advantages. He dropped to all fours and started crawling along the base of the toppled bookshelves, peaking in the spaces underneath for any dummies or outstretched limbs that were close enough for him to crawl in and drag out, or spaces large enough for him to pixelate into that would give him easier access. He had his head wedged in between two bookcases at a particularly awkward angle when his phone buzzed in his back pocket. Already on edge from the general ambience of the area and the stress of the test, he jumped in surprise, slamming his head into one of the shelves.

"Ow ow ow ow!" He babbled rapidly, furrowing his brow in annoyance as he realized he was only being assaulted by his phone and not the serial ass-grabber he saw back by the bus. He wriggled out of the space he was in, checking his phone. This better be a teammate with important intel and not his mom wishing him luck or something.

Try to collect as many dummies as you can and dump them all in one place. I have a plan to move them all at once. 🐻 with me. <

It was a number he didn't recognize. He'd been in too much of a hurry to leave back in Zone 2 to actually put anyone else's number in his phone. In hindsight, that was a tactical error. So much for championing teamwork and cooperation. It was probably Shiki, he mused, since the other boy was the only one that had knowledge of where Shun was. Nevertheless, he shot back a quick response before diving back into the crawlspace he was previously tackling.

> You can count on me!!! ^.^

He was a fraud. A liar. A fake. That was a false assurance. He wasn't making progress at all. He didn't have a single dummy yet. He hoped he could deliver before he disappointed whoever was counting on him. Or worse, failed. Shun was pretty sure he didn't have any schools left in this half of Japan he could even apply to.

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@Animal

Jigokuraku Academy

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Shun seemed to only get more fired up as the test went on, rather than losing energy. The mysterious weaving alleyways may have been daunting to a normal person, but to an idiot like Shun they were simply the setting of some cheesy street-level hero movie, and he was the star. He was tempted to start bounding off the walls and around corners with his quirk to enhance his mobility; the only thing stopping him being, not a rational plan to conserve his quirk's stamina for when he'd actually need it, but a sympathetic glance back toward the boy tailing him (pun not intended). Shun had already vowed that he wouldn't slow himself down for anyone here, and he wouldn't, but speeding up when Shiki seemed to already be lagging behind was just mean-spirited.

When they emerged on the scene of the ruined commercial district, he remained similarly unintimidated. He did a quick sweep of the areas that weren't too obscured by mist to get a good look at from where he stood, tentatively deciding that his quirk would work well here, provided he didn't have to do any particularly heavy lifting. The mailbox in the middle gave him pause, though; a flash of bright red contrasting with the dull grayness of the foggy rest of the area. Obvious trap? Colorful diversion? Happy accident? Fortunately, it didn't really matter anymore; Shiki seemed to have a solution to the psychological warfare presented by the ominous postal container.

"I'll stay close, yell if you need me. We can gather up a bunch of dolls and drag them back all at once." He called, following the injured wails toward the closest pillaged storefront and peaking his head inside through the shattered remains of a large display window for any dummies that would be relatively easy for him to rescue right off the bat.

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@Animal

Interest Check - Fantasy with Knights, Adventurers, Magic, and Whatnot

I'm interested so far

Of Blood and Magic

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"I guess we'll see. What's your affinity?"

Max focused a bitter glare down at the paper he was writing on, his hand noticeably clenching the pen a bit tighter. Was he really that far behind? Lightbulb was understandable, he clearly had connections to some prestigious tutors or lifelong grooming regimen, but this girl looked far too casual for that. Was this just rebelliousness on her part? He didn't know whether to like her more or less for that. Or, maybe she was just lucky. He'd have to ask pale girl if she knew her affinity already too, but that would involve interjecting himself back into that conversation and he sure as hell wasn't about to do that.

"I can only hope."

Oh good, a distraction. He didn't have to answer her earlier question, if he was lucky. She was less confident in that one. Was she scared? Hoping doesn't sound like fear. Curious.

"Got a grudge to settle?" he questioned with a tad bit more enthusiasm in his voice than normal, brow raised as he shot a sideways glance at her, "Or are you just one of those weirdos that gets off to challenges?"

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@Gisk

Of Blood and Magic

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"If you're a first year too, we might end up beating each other to a pulp here!"

Max paused in his writing on the application as he heard the ungodly cheeriness of the voice next to him. What was with people here? Did he have a sign taped to his back that said "Bother Me!" today or something? He shot the girl a scrutinizing gaze, nostrils flaring in distaste. He could admit, she was far too underdressed to be some annoying vampiric adulator and her opening line was clever enough. He'd humor her. For now. Beats talking to the retriever and his overly-pale crush, in any case. He shoot a quick glance their way. Disgusting. Labrador was fawning over a glorified toothpick hanging from her waist. Get a room. When he looked back to Cassandra, his eyes softened, if only slightly, and he went back to filling out his Guild paperwork.

"You're half right," he sneered with the slightest upturn of his mouth into a grin, "I might end up beating you to a pulp here." He tapped his pen against his chin in feigned contemplation, continuing casually without skipping a beat, "Think they'll let us beat up vamps too, or are they keeping us separate? I'd imagine there's a lot of pent-up anger there." He phrased it innocently enough; one might even believe that was a simple observation and not the exact intent running through Max's head.

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@Gisk

Jigokuraku Academy

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Shun paused in his erratic movements as the connector poked his forehead, his eyes crossing in an attempt to look up at it. He cooed out an "Oooh." as the quirk seemed to be working, opening his mouth to speak again before being interrupted by a horrifying cacophony of screams and explosions. He jumped a bit in fright, then rigidly locked his posture in place, noting that there was still a delicate-looking cord plugged into his forehead. It didn't stop his entire body from rippling into vaguely disjointed pixels, as if a wave were traveling upward from his feet; his body splitting apart and immediately reassambling itself in its wake. He took a few deep breaths, his gaze flickering to the tense-looking Shiki in front of him in search of some kind of validation. He didn't get much, before he was already bracing himself against a sudden gust of wind from Airplane Arms, stumbling a bit from his rigid posture before he managed to ground himself in a proper stance. When he glanced back at the bubblegum-topped boy, he was disconnecting his tail from Shun's forehand, and Shun's mind helpfully filled in the details of his would-be classmate's quirk.

"We should get going...It will be easier for us if we can actually see through this dense fog...Let's try following that lightbulb guy."

Shun nodded, waving for Shiki to follow as he took off at a brisk jog after the glow that pierced through the fog. He was calm now, his thoughts shifting from the incoherent jumble of fear and enthusiasm to tactical analysis with his new insight onto his partner's quirk.

"Hey," he began without looking back, instead focusing on the duo that seemed to have gotten the same idea as them, "I think our quirks can pair pretty well, wanna head further in and get a head start? If we run into a villain I can probably stall him so you can do your tail thing or lure him back toward one of the other groups." Though he'd phrased it as a question, he immediately veered toward Zone 6 without waiting for a response.

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@Animal

Of Blood and Magic

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Light magic? Lucky bastard. That could probably vaporize a vampire in minutes. No wonder he was so sure of himself; he'd won the magical lottery, in a sense. Max lifted a hand briefly to shield his eyes as the display grew to the climax of its brightness, then blinking rapidly as he refocused an annoyed squint on Aaron when the light had faded. The affinity didn't seem aggressive enough for Max's tastes, but the demonstration was respectable nonetheless, if not a tad irritating to onlookers.

"Anyway, I'm happy to help if you're interested."

"Great," he muttered. It didn't sound all that great, judging by his tone and the terseness of his answers. "That'd be useful, you seem to know what you're doing." Assuming Aaron's little show was more than just superficially impressive. Not that Max really had room to be critiquing right now.

"That was amazing!"

Max quirked his head toward the nearby applause, leveling a flat stare on the pale girl. Typical for people to want to come pet the golden retriever. This better not turn into some asinine study group with Little Miss Fangirl tagging along. He turned away wordlessly to give them time to chat, picking up one of the sign-up sheets off the nearby Arena Guild table. He remained nearby enough that they could easily grab his attention if they needed it, but kept himself facing firmly away from the duo.

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@Obscene Symphony@Hero

Jigokuraku Academy

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Shun looked at Shiki wide-eyed during his underwhelming quirk explanation, mouth puckered into a small "O" shape. Once the other boy finished, he immediately jumped into an animated series of movements, tilting his head to get a better look at Shiki's tail and shifting his weight from foot to foot.

"That's so cool! So you can just know anything about a person's quirk with just a touch? And fifteen feet, that's crazy! You could exploit a villain's weakness without them even seeing you! You could- you could-" He gasped, partially because he had hardly taken a single breath during his barely-coherent ramble and partially out of realization, "You could just find out their identity and send the police after them! That's amazing! What does it feel like? Do me! Do me!" He bounced up and down like an excited child, presenting his arm and tugging his sleeve down a bit as if he were about to get an injection. Just, with way more enthusiasm.

In his distraction, he didn't even notice the mass of support that Team Teamwork (Copyright Pending) was accruing in the background, luckily for everyone else. If Shun got anymore fired up he'd probably reach the point of insufferability. Or worse - get touchy. Not that he'd be able to outdo the musical boy's infamous power grope from earlier. He did, however, divert his attention away from the tailed boy just long enough to flash a grin at Minami. "That's great! We just need someone that can move debris now." His head snapped back to Shiki before he could miss anything, eyes darting back and forth as his gaze followed the swaying of his would-be classmate's tail.

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@Animal@KoL

Of Blood and Magic

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Max turned his head away from Sariel as she wrapped their arms together, hoping to hide his brief distasteful sneer from her. Figures she'd be touchy. At least the breeze smelled nice. Despite the dismissive body language, he was paying rapt attention to what the mage had to say. Very sensible, in his opinion, and a stark contrast to the showoffs outside. He just had to hope for an affinity that lent itself to everyday use, lest he be cooped up in a training room at every hour of the day. Well, that didn't sound too bad; less chance for people to bother him.

"Anyways, I’ll introduce you to someone I tutored personally so he has a bit more skilled than most of your class. Once you figure out your affinity, he can help you get ahead on your control exercises."

Or not. He wasn't averse to taking pointers from others, he just wished he could skip the idle chitchat that always accompanied it. His eyes swept over their apparent destination as Sariel led him along. Arena Guild? That sounded useful, provided there weren't so many rules and suffocating restrictions that it was hardly a fight at all.

"Anyways, Aaron this is… Oh gosh, I completely forgot to ask your name. I’m so sorry! I must seem like a complete airhead!"

He narrowed his eyes at the blond in question. Retriever. Great.

"Max." He answered simply, eyeing Aaron up and down. He had a weapon at his side, which implied he knew how to use it if he bothered carrying it around all day. Plus, he was at the arena table, so clearly he at least thought he could fight. Max could work with this. Maybe he'd misjudged the other mage. "Sariel seems to believe you can give me an edge on magic control, and I'd prefer not to settle for mediocrity. Judging by where you're standing," he gestured lazily to the Arena Guild table, "I'm inclined to believe she isn't just recommending you out of nepotism."

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@Obscene Symphony@Achronum

Jigokuraku Academy

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Shun's head swiveled at the back and forth yelling, his face shifting from a disheartened pout to an appreciative grin and back again with each new person voicing their opinion for or against teamwork, pausing only to sputter out a confused "H-Huh?" as he saw the two-toned advocate of competition have her rear violated by the resident musician. Small patches of dissociated pixels danced along his body as he uncomfortably furrowed his brow and attempted to rationalize the scene. Nope. No non-perverted explanation for that.

Wait, Cookies & Cream was talking again. He hadn't meant to start an argument. Although, he was grateful that there were some supporters of cooperation. He had to admit, though, they all had a point, Airplane Arms aside. The exam could have any number of criteria and no one should waste time helping those that can't help themselves. But, he'd never let anyone else slow him down before and he wasn't about to start now. Teamwork wasn't a burden, they just wanted to be famous.

The tall girl seemed to have stolen the initiative he had proposed earlier and made it her own. Not that Shun was offended; from her voice and attitude, she at least presented herself like a competent leader, and he'd happily defer to her until given reason not to. Judging by the muscle tone in her legs, she'd likely be a good asset in moving rubble if it came to that too. No one else looked like they had an obvious strength quirk, except maybe the spiky guy he'd seen on the bus. As for the other three in the unofficial teamwork... team, he could only guess at their quirks. Cat Girl seemed fairly self explanatory, although appearances could be deceiving. The boy in glasses' quirk clearly had something to do with his tail, and the other girl was a complete mystery.

Only one way to find out. Shun approached the trio with a friendly wave, rocking back and forth on his heels once he finally came to a stop. While he honestly would've preferred to try his luck on a villain, the competitive ones would likely be gunning for them first, and it was a safer bet to rack up points from the dummies while the others are busy fighting.

"You're all working together, right? I'm Shun. Nice to meet you," He chirped, pausing his idle rocking to bow his head formally, "I dunno what all your specialities are, but I'm pretty mobile, so I can survey an area for dummies, or ferry them back to the bus, or maybe climb things quickly? Any number of things really, I'm just happy to help!" He gave an easygoing chuckle, although it could easily be construed as nervous. Ironic.

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@TheWindel@KoL@Animal