SilverPaw

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

<Snipped quote by Remram>

I love meathead activities

@Expllo

It was fun :D Blood for the combat junkies and muscles for whoever wants to ogle? I see what you're doing XD

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

I'd just like to clarify somehting, since Camilla's performance has been brought up twice now.

Camilla's performance was anything but impressive. In fact, it would be more accurate to say it was staggeringly mediocre. At least as far as the floating tile target-portion is concerned. Camilla didn't destroy particularly many of her targets, nor was her control and use of the magic bullet anything to write home about, it was actually not that good at all, seeing as she hadn't done or used that sort of spell and maigc in (most likely) several years.

Where the pillar test is concerne,d I suppose you could call it "impressive". But really, there're likely plenty other applicants and candidates who could do the same level of damage as she did, if not more. Do recall that CAmilla's got an issue with people whore' "try-hards" or "ambitious", and as such she wouldn't exactly put any significant effort into her own actions - even for something as (supposedly) important as the Magic Knight Exam.

Now, if anyones characters are remarking on her being impressive for pacing herself or not using needless amounts of mana to cast her spells, that's fine. If someone picks up that she doesn't seem to be going all out or even trying to put on a good show, that's also fine. But her actual practical performance has been anything but noteworthy.

... But perhaps people are just noticing her because of... Certain anatomical reasons... xD

@Xaltwind

It's also the whole PC-focused narrative. We haven't yet seen NPCs perform, and since the players are usually more interested in other players and their characters...Well, that, and you can always write it off as 'this person considered it impressive bc xyz'

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

	Location: Kikka, in the Coliseum Interactions: / Mentions: /

Solveig was, due to her detour, unfortunately at the tail end of the crowd. However, they all had to crane their heads up, front row or back row, because the captains were all up above on the balconies. The nine magic knight captains, in the flesh! Sol cheered, caught up in the fervor of the crowd, her own excitement expressed in each shout, clap, whistle, and foot stomp.

Each of the captains had their own charm, and they all oozed power. While she respected them all, her heart was set on two squads. The Golden Dawn, because it had been they who had come to the rescue when her home city’s defenses had faltered. The Crimson Lions because it was somewhat of a family tradition, and she knew her father greatly respected the captain (though he also saw him as a rival), while she in turn admired her father.

That last captain was the truest surprise, however. An elf! Solveig’s intrigue was piqued, and the Black Bulls suddenly became one of the tops squads to look out for.

This was all for later, however! First, she had to do her very best. Only at the end of the exam would she see whose interest she had aroused.

The captains’ introductions over with, the exam began. Officials came in to cast protective spells, set up their first test, and explain the rules.

During the first round of participants called forth, Solveig intensely watched the competition, observing how they approached the tasks, what spells they used, and how well they did.

However, there were altogether so many people, she could only really memorize those who stood out.

Besides, just standing there and watching wasn’t only making her antsy, it was inefficient too. It occurred to the young noble that no one had said that they couldn’t prepare themselves before being called upon.

“Flammea Fluenta,” she intoned. The spell started off as just a few strands of flame flickering into existence, attached to her at one end, freely floating at the other. It made it seem as if searing red ribbons had been tied to her, gently swaying in the breeze.

With this great mass of people casting spells, freely expending their mana, the atmosphere was soon over-charged with magical excess. It stoked her flames much like a rainfall of oil would to a wildfire.

As time progressed, the flames grew and multiplied. Soon, it was as if blazing crimson feathers had sprouted from her, cascading down her back, and enveloping her in a searing shroud. Some of the more easily spooked participants had edged away from her. While the molten mantle might give the illusion that she and all those in her vicinity were at risk of being consumed by an igneous eruption, that was the farthest thing from the truth. She had the magic completely under control.

Granted, she sported a manic grin, and might have cackled once or twice. She was riding the most powerful high of highs ever, adrenaline coursing through her veins, mana flowing all around her.

There was

so much

mana!

Was this how those immensely blessed by mana felt all the time?

No wonder some of them went bonkers.

Despite there being several testing stations, it still took long minutes before Solveig was called upon. By the time she was, she was a walking inferno, and even one of the officials gave her a strange look.

She paid it no mind, however, and approached the testing station. During the countdown to the starting time, she took a deep breath, and focused.

On the mark of, “Start!” she immediately unleashed the fire gathered around her in one great torrent. It twisted, it turned, it roared as it veritably ate through the tiles. The first few floating targets were destroyed completely.

But then, as more and more tiles appeared, or when they floated into positions out of reach of the first stream of fire, Solveig split it off. First one, then two, then three long, violent, serpentine streaks of flame were dancing around the testing station. She directed each stream in a complex winding pattern, covering as much of the area as possible while also actively redirecting them when necessary to hit the tiles. While she did aim for the bulls-eyes, she prioritized swift destruction of as many tiles as possible, so her accuracy was lesser. As soon as one tile was summoned, she’d nudge the closest current, the flames whipping into the tile to crash it to the ground.

One could easily imagine her flame as a multi-headed dragon; a flaming hydra lashing out and biting at its foes.

Well, the spell wasn’t quite at that level, but nevertheless, Solveig destroyed all the tiles created for her during the 1 minute. She had no idea how many tiles she had scored because she’d lost count. The crowd was raucous in its cheering, though, so she figured she must have done pretty damn well!

She merely smiled in the audience’s general direction, still busy keeping the remaining flames under her control.

For the floating platforms, she’d used up about half of the reserve of fire she’d built up during the waiting time. Now, she recalled the currents to her, and they followed her movements to the reinforced column.

Solveig rejoined her multitude of currents into one. Then, without much ado, she sent it charging at the column. The large infernal snake assaulted the base of the column, then immediately wrapped around it. She kept it spinning around and around the lower portion before she directed it to start climbing up and up and up. When it reached the top, the stream of fire was at the end of its life; about as thick as an arm and shorter than its target. Even so, Solveig gathered it, and attacked the ‘head’ of the column with a final gust of flames, giving the target one last push.

A moment passed. A second stretched into infinity. The section of the audience who had been drawn to watching her held their breaths.

Then slowly, creakingly, the column tilted, the thicker upper three-quarters broke off…and toppled to the ground with a resounding thud!

A loud applause followed, and Solveig broke into a grin. She walked up to the felled column, stood onto it with her left leg, and withdrew her sword with her right hand, raising it high into the air. Another round of cheering followed.

Chuckling, Solveig sheathed her blade, and walked off the testing area with one last look at the column. Honestly, it was still mostly intact. The bottom quarter had been thinned significantly, which is why the pillar hadn’t been able to support the remainder of its own weight. Then, there was one narrower winding groove from when her flame had twisted around the column going upwards. At the top, there was about a head-sized chunk missing.

It wouldn’t have killed a demon, but it was what she could do right now.

“Whew,” Solveig exhaled, and began stretching. Several officials were going around, offering glasses of water to those who were done. She gladly accepted one with a heartfelt, “Thank you!”

Perhaps to some, it would look as if she’d ‘wasted’ most of her power on the very first test. In truth, she hadn’t expended all that much mana; most of the magic for that spell had been gathered from her surroundings. Controlling all of that had taken an effort, however, so the short reprieve before the next task was just what she needed.

She relaxed, hanging back, and observed those remaining participants who were called after her. Solveig was smiling softly to herself, feeling accomplished after the first challenge, yet eager for more.

What would be in store for them next?

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Impossiblé!? Not a single new post anywhere while I was at work? Are you guys slacking off? Murricans? Are you slacking? We talked about this, 'member? *giving you lot the evil eye*

@Xaltwind

Patience, patience. The writing process can take time

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

<Snipped quote by SilverPaw>

Sorry, I meant that each "player" has their own "station," on the two sides, not that literally one person is taking up each entire testing ground at the time! The Officials are constantly replacing the tiles and columns as they're destroyed, so neither section will run out.

Think of it as like, there's an official standing there, the Player walks up, a set of the tiles floats over, and they're replaced as the player destroys them. Some distance away, there's another official, watching over another person, doing the same thing. On the other side, one official might be watching multiple columns, but if somebody's gonna use a big boom spell the officials will clear others out of the way, etc.

@Zeroth

Ah, gotcha, gotcha, I misread that, thanks for clarifying! Either way works for me :P

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

<Snipped quote by SilverPaw>

People are called up one at a time per station, but Players should just post with the assumption that everyone's called in order, they're the only one on the given range at the time, and so forth. We don't need to wait for Official responses in-between posts, and other players can't really interfere in another's test...yet. *ye olde winky face*

@Zeroth

So someone like Sol would wait for about 4 hours, oh boy XDXD

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Okay so, REALLY LONG POST has been updated! Apologies, I included a TL;DR at the bottom! If anyone's unclear on anything or has other questions, please let me know!

Feel free to do the trials in your own way, within reason of course (nobody should be able to like, completely atomize one of the stone columns or crack the audience barrier, for instance). This is a chance for the characters to really show out if they want to, with the big booms and the pew pews, before they try to test us on things that require actual brainpower/creativity! XD

@Zeroth

Does one person go at a time, or are several people lined up? I know there are multiple columns, but would rather check. If there are multiple people and the floating platforms are close enough I suppose 'kill stealing' could happen?

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

@SilverPaw
In case it wasn't obvious, those're all "joke" theme songs. :P
I've got a lot of free time on my hands after I get home from work, so I got time to spend on silly stuff like that. xD

Nice collab by the way. :)

@Xaltwind

Oh, I know, but even that takes effort. Didn't watch/listen to them all, but Solveig's amused me for sure. And thanks!

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Guess it's time to kill some... time... by searching completely subjective and highly un-asked for theme music for everyones character. Wooh.

@Xaltwind

Impressive, I can barely be bothered with a theme song when they're a requirement for the CS.

This is a writing exercise I used to do and decided to bring it back. Figured I would go ahead and post it since I have nothing to do at the moment. These are opinions Hikari has of the cast using OOC information. This is meta-gaming and should be taken with a grain of salt as it has no reflection on how Hikari will interact IC. It’s something to come back to later down the road once relationships have formed, to see the differences between the two.

hikari dumb thoughts

Tristan Goffe: “You don’t find a goal in this life, it comes to you often when you don’t expect it. You’re hard-working and creative. My new world will need craftsmen such as yourself. And if you never find a goal in life, well hey, we’ve always got mine!” (Respect, finds useful)

Albie Finch: “Simple man, simple life, simple goals. Virtually useless, but you deserve a good life still.” (Uninterested)

Solveig Von Brandt: “You’ve been through a lot. We’ve both watched family die, and decided to be better because of it. I will purge this world, and in doing so will help you in your quest to purge this world of deviltry. Fuckin’ mouthful of a name though.” (Respect, finds useful, admiration)

Illios Avalona: “I don’t care if I have to find your mother and father at the same time, I will make that magic useful to me. By any means necessary.” (Envious, finds extremely useful)

Ludo Liszt: “Rough around the edges, but charismatic, smart and handsome. I like you. I think out of everyone, you might be able to understand me best, yet not enough. I doubt your ambitions beyond your family and yourself, but for now our goals may align. You have my blade-erm, my fists. I don’t have a blade.” (Admiration, sympathetic, attracted)

Kreszenz Leichenberg: “There’s nothing I like about you, and I doubt there’s anything you like about me. A wanna-be tyrant disguising herself as wanting to make a better world. That job belongs to me. However, being powerful and ambitious are two great traits I can’t waste. You have my hand in usurping the Clover Kingdom and the rest of the kingdoms in this world. That, however, is where our alliance would end.” (Dislike, respect; finds useful, attracted)

Camilla Azurios: “You dislike people like me who have high ambitions and goals, therefore I feel no need to waste a single second trying to use you or convince you otherwise. Ya’ look good though baby!” (Uninterested)

Kohra Mey: “You’re interesting. You are virtually no use to me in both power or goals, yet I feel I want to keep you around. We both know what it’s like for our childhood to be robbed of family. My goals may not allow me to recreate that, but I wish for you to. Nice eyes, by the way…” (Friendly, sympathetic, attracted, shy)

Parin Kia: “You understand what it’s like to have to fight for survival everyday. Anyone who goes through what we have, has my respect. You have no real goals beyond taking care of the orphanage, and I hope you find one for yourself. I want you to live in my new world where you won’t need a single coin, so until then take half of my payments. In turn, help me create my new world.” (Friendly, Respect; finds useful)

@Expllo

Heh, fun to see this arrogant bastard's (read fondly) thoughts. Good luck to him on convincing the cast to follow him, I guess :p

Hey, @Zeroth out of curiousity, and because it might(?) be relevant for the exam, any policy on new spell creation? From the manga so far it often seems to be...desperation or need based on the short term, a result of studying/training/inspiration on the long term.

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

	Location: Kikka, by the Coliseum Interactions: / Mentions: COLLAB WITH @Zeroth

The coliseum was crowded. Packed, even. Yet, the sight of a clearly suspicous individual walking in the opposite direction of the rest of the crowd drew Solveig's attention. Now, she didn't think acting weirdly was necessarily an indicator of a misdeed but she had time to investigate.

So, Solveig pursued. Sure enough, the guy did something that he might want to keep hidden. She saw him chug down one of those 'miracle potions' - at least she assumed it was one of those. If the officials of Kikka and the overseers of the exam truly felt these potions were a problem, she figured they'd crack down on the sellers.

That said, she'd already followed the guy, and she was curious what mentality led one to consume such a dubious item.

"Hey, there, you're going the wrong way! Are you lost?" she called out first to lower his guard. However, it seemed she'd had the exact opposite effect as what she intended...

"Gyah!" the guy whirled, almost jumping out of the black, fur-hooded jacket he wore. A belt made of chains jingled on his slender waist above pants that looked like they'd seen quite a lot of wear and tear--the hems came a good inch over his ankles and looked like they'd been chewed by dogs. "What--who the hell're--!?"

She then pretended as if she'd only noticed the empty flask he was holding. "Hey...is that one of those supposedly mana-increasing potions?" she questioned, keeping her tone nonjudgemental. "I heard they give you the runs." That was a lie, but she was certain negative affects would be part and parcel of such a concoction. "How do you feel?" she frowned at the youth in concern. It might be a deserved consequence for a gullible fool, but...His actions should be met with a punishment but aside from revealing him to a guard or official if need be, she didn't want anything too bad to happen to him.

The young man grumbled something that sounded like a few choice curse words under his breath.

"None of your business, Miss Priss! Some of us weren't born with silver spoons up our asses!" He threw the now-empty bottle up with a long, looping arm, casting it out of sight over the edge of a roof above the alley. Still glaring at Solveig, his creepy smile now replaced with a long, sullen frown, he shoved his hands in his pockets. "What, you gonna report me or somethin'? You can't prove nothin', so lemme alone!" Though his shoulders were hunched, a slight uptick in magical aura moved in slow circles around his feet--it had a green, translucent color, and moved like a thick liquid.

Despite this posture, however, as he shifted his weight his feet were pointing away from Solveig. He took one very small, calculated step backwards, though he was still craning his neck like an animal that wanted to make himself look bigger.

"It's true I can't prove anything," she said even as she stared at the obvious affect of the potion. Even if it dissipated or whatever, wouldn't the examiners notice something odd? "Besides, I don't even know if it's the kind of thing that'd get you disqualified." Still, that didn't mean she approved. "I won't stop you from leaving," she told him, noticing his movements. Solveig did make sure to take note of the number on his badge just in case.

"I ain't runnin' from you!" the man snapped, a look of shame flickering across his face before being replaced by anger. His deep set eyes glared at her from behind the shadows of his hair. "But, you--you're wastin' my time! I gotta get to the exam! So just--you go your way and I go mine, yeah!? Get outta my face!"

"I can do that, but if you don't mind answering...If you don't think you can win without a potion like that, what makes you think you can win with it? And what would you do if by some chance you did pass? Keep doping for the rest of your career? What kind of a life would it be?" She wasn't chastising as much as she was expressing her regret. It was unfortunate that he thought he needed a 'miracle' potion.

"Who says I couldn't win either way?!" He snarled again, this time clenching his fists. "All I want is a little extra security--you wanna lecture me on hard work or somethin', too!? Like I didn't try hard enough?" He pointed an accusing finger at her. "You got no idea! Casting a single spell doesn't leave people like you outta breath! How many years did you have to train before your grimoire unlocked your second spell? It took me three! I'm 18, already a man--but all that means is that it takes me a little longer!"

He looked down at the ground, running one hand through his frizzy locks and giving them an even more untamed appearance. His expression faltered for a moment. His voice was shaky.

"Once I'm an actual Magic Knight, I'll be able to live and work somewhere better--somewhere with resources, the kind people like you take for granted! Then my training will pay off more, I'll get stronger faster! I'll catch up--and then surpass ALL of you! All I need, right now, is a little nudge over this hump!"

With one last, hateful look at Solveig, he turned and headed out of the other end of the alley. But she could see, as he rounded the corner, that he broke into a run towards the coliseum down the other road.

Solveig watched the stranger leave, then departed for the coliseum herself. She was kind of curious to see how this guy would do now. But because she did want to find out if the adverse affects of an artificial mana enhancer were too severe to ignore, she approached the neareast free official. "Say, I thought I saw someone using one of those shady mana increasing potions. Any chance those could have a life-threatening, maiming, or other permanent negative effect?"

The official looked at her with a raised eyebrow, then craned his head down the street. The vendor yelling about his "miracle potions" was still at it, though even fewer than before were paying him any attention.

"What, that guy? He's done this before--last year it was some watered down hooch with a little food dye or something, they tell me. The worst it'll do is make someone puke, I guess...but, what're ya gonna do?" He sighed and went back to his clipboard and paperwork. It looked like the line in front of his tent had all received their badges and moved on, so it must be close to starting time. "Fools and their money are easily parted..."

The man's words placated her. "If you're sure. Maybe give the guards and the infirmary a headsup in case something weird happens." Really, though, this little detour had taken more time than she'd thought. Seeing how almost all the contestants had proceeded onwards, an eager glint entered Solveig's eyes.

"Thank you! I have to go now!" she exclaimed, and took off at a run. She didn't need to hurry to be in time; the excitement mounting within her was simply uncontainable, and didn't lend itself to moving at a steady, sedate pace. Her focus was now entirely on the challenges she'd soon meet with, any and all thoughts of potions, cheating, and even her most recent acquaintance were all summarily shoved into the back of her mind.