This is a sci-fi/fantasy RP. The Players are young Mages who have been brought to the Academy in order to develop their magical talent and protect their city. They will fight monsters that roam in the wilderness, investigate nefarious plots against King and Country, and so on. But that is all in their future. For now, after a bit of general plot setup, let us have the characters meet up, get to know one another, etc. We can feed them to monsters later.
The plot so far:
The students meet their teacher, Professor Yuki Okamoto, and have their first few days of instruction.
About a week into their Academy life, they are unexpectedly sent out on a mission to investigate the town of Normaden. They learn that a Witch, a powerful monster that sometimes grows from humans with magical potential, has developed in the region. Their Professor takes on the role of exterminating the Witch itself, leaving the students to handle some of its Familiars. During the students' fight, though, they are unexpectedly brought face to face with an Angel. After a fierce fight, the students are victorious and return to their homes safely.
Back in Uruk, the plots grow thicker. A massive force of Angels has gathered near Babylon, and the head honchos discuss plans of how to deal with the threat. The Academy's Headmaster learns that the Angel that the students encountered was sent by the Chief of the Galileians. What could Chief Herschel be plotting, and why involve these young Mages?
Completely unaware of these plots, the students are assigned another mission: to resolve an incident over who should possess a valuable research subject. They will be escorted and monitored by Essence Parker, one of the academy's Student Council members...
To chat, give feedback, watch us fool around OOC, etc, please join the Discord
For a brief bit of worldbuilding or to create a character, please refer to the OOC thread
This club prides itself on having a very detailed combat and character system. For more information on said system, please refer to the System Info/Extra Lore thread.
To see a list of some detailed NPC sheets, please view this thread.
Pressing her back against the bark Lavi rubbed her forehead repeatedly, applying a soft pressure onto it as she did. Her eyes only wandered towards Almeida as she began to shorten the distance between them after she had separated herself slightly from the rest and been listening in onto the conversation for the most part.
Her head turned to face Almeida. Her gaze was a tired one, but her eyes looked directly at hers. ''Huh!?'' were her first words as she pushed the bridge of her nose on its left side. Blowing out a bit of air from inside. ''Uuh Almeida, yes? Yeah I am good. I don't know what got into me back there, but I am fine.'' She said as she pulled up her shoulders as she raised a single sided smile on her right side, raised the eyebrows above her slightly closed eyes and shook her head for a small moment.
Her eyes took a different turn and looked towards the others before she spoke up once again, though it seemed to be directed at her it seemed less personal and more with intent to the group as a collective. ''Its been a while since I have been in a forest. Sad I can't play here for a little longer. We heading back soon?''
Finding herself standing there bored, she even began to scratch the insides of her right ear with her pinkie. Before blowing it off. If they made their way back, it would seem that Lavi did not transform back even after their arrival back in Normaden.
STRENGTH: E
VITALITY: E
WILLPOWER: E
RESISTANCE: D
SPEED: E
AGILITY: E
PERCEPTION: E
RECOVERY: E
Almeida told Hibiscus to not kill herself to death with the healing, and Hibiscus nodded in reply, "S-Sorry. I just wanted to make sure you guys are ok and not hurt..."
But other than that, Hibiscus had nothing to say. The angel cleanup was going to be handled by someone else, so unfortunately they couldn't keep the wings it seemed. Maybe on the way back, Hibiscus could see those idols. Maybe they were long gone by then.... Hibiscus sighed, she was really looking forward to meeting some celebraties.
But all that was said and done, so Hibiscus had nothing to do but rest until they left back to the school. Once they got back to the school, Hibiscus immediately excused herself to go to her room and rest, as she had a loooong day...
Strength - E Vitality - E Willpower - E Resistance - E Speed - C Agility - D Perception - E Recovery - E
After recovering from his painful attempt to reach the angel, Ryan looked around. Everyone seemed fine, though Londo cut it too close for comfort. Everyone seemed busy, so Ryan remained silent until they returned to the town. After the group returned to Normanden, Ryan went to silently meditate on his room, trying to clear his mind from the fear and absorbing the determination he accumulated during the fight.
The next day, Ryan said little on their return trip. But Londo seemed excessively hyper, as if ready for something. This was confirmed once he blasted off the ship, Ryan pondered on what exactly had him so eager, but shrugged the thought off, he can ask later.
Attributes
Strength - C
Vitality - E
Willpower - E
Resistance - E
Speed - D
Agility - D
Perception - E
Recovery - E
Effect: Inflict a Normal Level 2 Strength Debuff upon a single target. Inflict 10 Damage. Cost: 40 Stamina Duration: 1 Phase Attribute Modifier: Strength
"I'm not too tired."
As if to demonstrate, Suilen pushed herself back up again, supporting her left leg with her spear. Drafi rolled his head in exasperation. The Witch was dead. In time, her physical and spiritual abilities would recover. Her Aura was untouched, still in perfect shape. It was fine. The girl nodded towards Professor Okamoto, waved at the others, and strode off into the woods, her spectral hawk flying ahead of her.
She knew where she wanted to go. It was good that no one followed.
The journey was a calm one. With the demise of the Witch, it appeared that what familiars it had became either scattered or disorganized. Perhaps Professor Okamoto slew the majority of them. Perhaps the six that the students encountered were the main group, the only group worth mentioning. As she stepped over fallen logs and through thick underbrush, Suilen's breath slowly began to calm. Drafi followed with, until the Owl Spirit had to clamber over one too many trees. He hopped into the Spirit Core after a grinding of his peak, and soon, there was nothing but Suilen and the unknown.
Nature resounded, a thoughtful, gentle tranquility marked by the swaying of branches, the evasion of critters. Only the wingbeats of her Preying Bird sounded regularly, and even that was distant, its intermittent cries directing her further down the path she desired. Minutes gradated into hours; before the mountain range that had looked so far away when she started her hike finally loomed up close, foreboding in its size. The hawk had returned, and as it landed upon her shoulder, Suilen took in a deep breath.
Like a sword, the smell of blood and fire cut through all the forest's calming verdure.
There was a cave within the mountain, and even at its entrance, blood was splattered everywhere. Okamoto did work, didn't she? The young Mage drew in another breath, tapping the Spirit Core. Drafi popped out again, click-clacking his beak in discontent.
"Spooked?"
Suilen didn't respond for a moment, but then shook her head.
"Good."
The blood that coated the walls got thicker the deeper she went, her AMB providing enough light to capture all the grisly details, all signs of a violent, one-sided battle. Explosions left craters in the walls that traced all the way to the back of the cave, and the smell of soot and burnt blood made Suilen dizzy. At the end of the trail, she found the remains of someone's bed, the only other thing of note being bones and eating utensils. A boring existence. A sad one. Even on a hospital bed, Suilen at least had a window. This Witch?
"Bad food." Drafi's eyes gleamed in the darkness.
"Huh?"
"Humans taste bad."
"Do they now?"
"Squirrels are better."
"Suppose so."
There was a grave, hastily dug, some distance away from the cave. She squatted before it. Okamoto was strong. She also wasn't stupid. A shallow grave like this would just be dug up by a bear, its contents chewed up and turned into shit. Probably would've been able to dig a proper one if it wasn't for that Angel.
Made it easier for Suilen, at least.
She hefted up her spear, and began to dig up the grave.
"Scavenging?"
"No, this is going on my Instagram."
"Can't eat pictures."
"Yeah, but they're nice."
A collection of heads, torsos, and limbs, scattered haphazardly. She didn't recognize the faces, but they all looked as if they were in pain when they died. Laid upon that bed of body parts was a girl, a couple years younger than Suilen. There was a hole where her heart was. The Witch. In death, she looked human. Looked just like a human child. There were some nice horror vibes here. Suilen felt like she could go for a good retch here. Maybe cry a little. But she pulled out her phone and snapped a couple pictures instead, while Drafi hopped down to snag a juicy looking ear.
"Yup," the Spirit said. "Humans taste bad."
"Go chase a squirrel then."
She marked the location on her Explorer Module with a pin. She pushed the mound of dirt back into the grave. She massaged the bridge of her nose. The sun was setting. In the forest, night falls in an instant.
Yuki stopped by her favorite tavern on her way home from work. Yesterday had been taken up with the mission, and much of today had been spent on filing paperwork and giving reports. And last night had been a pain and a half too. To top it all off, her younger siblings were on a field trip, so she wouldn't even be able to see them tonight. All of this meant one thing: she really needed a drink.
"Oi, Yakaj. Manhattan. No, two Manhattans. And get me a pint of the good stuff." Yuki plopped down on one of the bar stools, head dropping onto her arms, which in turn rested on the bar itself.
"Kids out of town tonight?" The bartender cheerfully asked as he set about preparing her order.
"Yeah, my cute little siblings are on a field trip to Babylon. They won't be home until tomorrow night."
"I'll schedule your cab then."
"Please do."
Glass clinked as two identical drinks were set down in front of Yuki, followed by a dull thump as he set down her pint - of Ren & Terry's Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream.
Ozymandius was on a bit of a trip. He had made it a habit of trying local places to eat and drink after his nightly workout, and tonight he had decided to stop in some place he could get something a bit stronger than a soda. It was probably the one place thing he didn't mind doing with Exceritus as she usually was very quiet during meals. Given that, he strode into the Golden Deer with his spirit in tow. He was surprised to see professor Okamoto there, but didn't let it phase him. Still, spying the pair of empty bar stools next to her, he took a seat and then caught the bar tender's attention. "A long island for me, and water for her. A menu would be nice too, if your kitchen is still open of course." He turned to the professor beside him. "Evening Professor Okamoto, didn't expect to see you here."
"Comin' right up!" Two menus were pulled out and set down in front of Ozy and Exceritus. The options listed were hardly high-class dining, but the quality was assured. A water on the rocks was set before the girl a moment later, and Ozy's Long Island was ready shortly after. "If the Miss wants anything harder, just holler."
"Ah, Mister Jorgenson. What brings you here?" Yuki spoke between spoonfuls of her ice cream. So much for a relaxing evening with no work. Though, it wasn't necessarily a crime for an acquaintance to say hello.
Ozy almost laughed at the thought of Exceritus ordering liquor. He didn't relish the thought of what the spirit would act like if she could even get drunk. "Oh, just here after the evening workout. It's hard to get out of the habit since uh…. Well since I started being a mage." He didn't mention the fact that he was dragged out of bed every morning by Exceritus so it was basically impossible to break the habit. He caught the attention of the barkeep again "I'll do the soup please." Exceritus sat down her menu right after he finished. "And I will have your fish and chips." He returned his attention to Okamoto. "What about yourself?"
"Soup of the day, and fish and chips, aye." The soup would be out quite quickly, while the fish and chips would take a bit longer.
"Me? I'm just here to relax. My siblings are out of town, so I'm free to enjoy the night out."
"Seems like a nice place to relax at…" Ozymandius grew quiet and sipped his drink as he waited for his soup. When it finally came out, he looked at it for a while before speaking. "Professor… there's been something i've been thinking on for a while now. Have you read my final report to the military?"
Looked like they'd be talking shop after all. Well, that was the lot of a Mage after all. Work never ends; you just get extended meal breaks. "Not entirely, just a basic summary. Why do you ask?"
"I have been looking through all the bestiaries in the school for a while now and well… I can't find the creature that attacked my squad the day they were killed. We were never informed of a witch in the area going rogue too, so I don't think it was a familiar." He drummed his fingers along the table. "You wouldn't happen to know what that creature was would you?"
"An unknown creature?" Yuki tried to recollect what had been written on them in the summary she read, but either she'd forgotten it or a description hadn't been provided. "I don't really remember what the summary said on it. Mind describing it?" Hopefully, describing it wouldn't trigger his PTSD again, but there wasn't much she could say about it with no info.
Ozymandius took a deep drink of his long island before answering. "Pale white humanoid with six legs. Two arms. Feet had two claws on each feet while the hands had five. Mouth separated into four different parts with teeth like a sharks. It spit some kind of liquid that burned like an acid. Oh, and it had some sort of blue growth off it's back. Ring any bells?"
Yuki pondered for a moment, racking her brain for all the many monsters she'd cut down in her time. "No, I can't say it does. Hey Yakaj, you know this monster?" As the bartender returned, Yuki repeated the description given by Ozymandius.
"Oh, those guys. Nasty little buggers. They were usually down south of Kamna Village, way at the edge of Uruk's land. Locals called them Wraiths. Why do you ask?"
"Jorgenson here had an encounter with some."
"That so? You down from Kamna pal?"
Ozy shook his head. "Never heard of the place. Besides, we were on a patrol from the wall in Uruk when it attacked. If they usually stay down south, why would they come all the way up here like that?"
"Couldn't say. Maybe something else knocked them off their turf? Or it's a new colony or something. They were hive animals if I recall, so they could've gotten too big for their old home. Though if they're up here, you'll probably want to take care of them sooner than later Yuki."
"Yeah, I'll have to speak to the Headmaster about it. How'd you deal with them?"
"They aren't too bad individually. 'Bout as sturdy as an Angel, but weaker otherwise. If you mean how did we remove the threat though, we didn't. Brass decided their colony was too far out to devote resources to locating and exterminating." Someone farther down the bar called out, so Yakaj excused himself again to go take care of them.
Ozy looked pale as the man spoke and Okamoto replied. Hive animals? How many were in a hive? He returned his attention to Okamoto. "Professor you don't think they would send our class in after a hive like that do you?"
"Well, we might be sent, but certainly not alone. If we were trying to attack something like their hive directly, we'd bring a lot more firepower than just one fairly new class and their teacher." Well, she at least hoped they'd send more firepower. Then again, no other class had been sent on a mission in their first week. There was no telling what the Headmaster was thinking sometimes. Having finished her first drink during the conversation, Yuki started on her second. "And I'm off work right now. Just Yuki, or Okamoto, is fine."
"Ah, I see… no problem then Yuki…" Ozy appeared suddenly lost in thought, staring at his soup. Exceritus beside him finished her food and drink, before catching Ozy's attention and pointing out the door. Ozy paid for the food and then stood up. "Well Yuki I'll leave you to it then, I'm heading back to the dorms now. Thanks for talking with me." He'd wait for her response and then leave.
It seemed like the metaphorical pants in the relationship between Ozymandius and his Spirit were decidedly not worn by the human. Well, if he needed to be directed by his spirit, at least he had a cute one to do it. Some spirits could be quite… rough on the eyes at times, though humanoid ones usually did fine. Anyway, "Mm, have a good night."
After Ozymandius had seen himself out, Yuki breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't what you would call a heavyweight drinker by any means, and she was starting to feel the booze. She may not have been overly concerned about the formality of being called Professor while off duty, but being seen while hammered was hardly ideal for maintaining her dignity. Thankfully, she had kept it more or less together while he was there, even if it meant drinking slower than usual. Now that he was gone though: "Yakaj, another round!" The night was still young.
Rather than going straight back after some personal training, Almeida decided to stick around a bit more. 'I'm surprised I got that much faster and stronger in just a few days… Being a mage really has its advantages, even without being able to use magic.' Well, she could transform and wield a Spirit as a weapon, so she was pretty magical girl enough in that regard.
She was testing her new strength and speeds by going with a classic. Boxing. Despite normally using an oversized weapon, she was now pummelling away at a boxing ball alternating left hooks with right hooks and putting in a high knee-hit ever fifth strike. Valerius was standing in the corner, being quite neglected for the moment.
___
After a long day yesterday, Hibiscus had taken it easy, but today she had to put in more work. Like Almeida, Hibiscus decided to train a bit, having Londo help her with some training. She hadn't noticed any favourable results for her magic earlier, almost as if nothing had changed for her. Almeida had gotten faster and stronger, Ryan's summons had gotten a boost, and even Londo had gotten stronger through the blessing he claimed he got, even if the training he did didn't show it. Hibiscus had gotten nothing, from what she saw anyways.
She tried everything she could think of: healing someone to see if the healing had gotten stronger… Well that was pretty much it. Her power didn't allow for much in the way of doing things. From what she could tell, she was only able to heal, and Lyka didn't seem to have gained anything new at all.
For the moment she was untransformed, but if she actually wanted to get stronger she'd have to transform. However, that was a problem in itself. Hibiscus didn't like the way she acted in her transformation, even if it was inevitably linked to Lyka. Lyka had a theory that it was because Hibiscus was still unused to her power, and that the only way to change it would be to train, but Hibiscus still felt as if she couldn't accomplish that, or how.
So Hibiscus decided that maybe a more experienced mind could help her, someone like Almeida. However, Hibiscus didn't know how to go about this. So she just watched Almeida for the time being until she finally took a break…
__
Almeida taking a break? Hah! Preposterous. She'd still had a few hours of routine to go through, now that she was getting into it. The boxball disagreed, however, as her latest full-on hook actually managed to tear through the leather… 'I doubt I've gotten that strong… probably just a bad quality boxball.' Well, it turned out a break was in order after all, be it only semi-voluntarily. It was then that she noticed Hibby was watching her. "Ah, Hibby! I didn't notice you were also sticking around~ What's up?"
__
Hibiscus watched as Almeida tore right through the leather as if it were paper mache… or Raditz. Shock covered Hibiscus's face as Almeida walked up to Hibby wondering what was up. "O-Oh. Uh..m." Hibiscus said nervously, fidgeting, Just ask her! She silently told herself.
"I-I was wondering if you could help me with, uh, with my transformation…" She said silently, "I… I don't like how I get during my transformation, where Lyka and I swap personalities. I was hoping that maybe someone like you could help… Lyka said it might be because I'm not that good of a mage and I just need practice but I have no idea where to begin and I thought you might be able to help me because I don't want to ask my father because he still gets worried about me being a mage and doesn't want to help because if he does then he'll tell himself that I might be in danger and I don't want him to worry and I just need your help!" Hibiscus said, all in one breath. Gasping for air, Hibiscus calmed down, then asked, "P-Please…"
___
Almeida was baffled when she got the request to help with a transformation. Her first instinct was to say; 'You do realise the best I can do is have small parts of my clothes glow a different colour, right?' Luckily enough, Almeida remained silent for long enough to allow Hibby to clear things up, well, for as far as that long-winded ramble cleared anything up… "Right."
Well, things weren't exactly right… "So… you want to stop your personality from changing, right?" That's most of what Almeida got from the rambling. "I guess we're polar opposites in that regard. I barely change at all, you change both in appearance and personality. I always thought I was barely changing due to being weak at magic, so I'm not sure if you could also change too much due to it." Well, that wasn't the most pressing matter. "In either scenario, you're still willing to hurt yourself to help others, so I don't think the core of whom you are changes, if that makes sense."
She looked over at Valerius. "You got any ideas, Valerius?""If she doesn't like taking on the Lyka's personality, why not just try to get Lyka to act nicer?" Coming from a pickaxe, the idea wasn't even that terrible. "It doesn't sound like a permanent solution, but it might be worth a shot, what do you think, Hibby?"
__
Hibiscus was about to respond to Almeida, but Lyka spoke up before Hibiscus could do so, "The hell you mean by that?! I'll have you know that it's not my fault I'm this way. In fact, I was a really good girl before I met Hibby. But then Hibby kinda rubbed off on me. So I gotta say it's Hibby that caused my sudden shift in personality!" To which Hibiscus replied, "T-That's mean Lyka! Can't you TRY to act nicer?" Hibiscus asked, to which dead silence was met from Lyka.
Hibiscus sighed, "Maybe that could work, thank you Valerius. But how do we go about doing this? I don't know how to get someone else to act another way… Would it be accomplished with more mage training? Or more of a mental training?"
Hibiscus didn't know either way, but instead put her head in her hands to think, "Uuuuuu, this is hard to think about…"
___
Well, it seemed like trying to change Lyka's personality wasn't going to be easy, considering how she reacted. Valerius didn't seem to have an answer to Hibby's question either, but Almeida did catch on to something. "Wait, Lyka, hold up, so you're saying it's not your original personality, but something that happened to the both of you after bonding?" That was something worth thinking about. "If so, it might not be just the transformation that switches your personality, but something that happened due to bonding. If we find out what might've caused the eh… more negative personality traits to arise, so to say, we'd also know what to try working on to stop it from happening. Was there any specific about the bonding between the two of you that might've caused negative emotions to be strengthened? Or maybe something that just tempered with it all in general… I know I'm not clear, but anything that comes to mind might help."
___
Hibiscus thought about it a bit, "Hmmm. The only thing that comes to mind is…!" Hibiscus had thought for a moment, but suddenly perked up, "Oh! I told you about how my blood fell onto Lyka right? What if that has something to do with it! When I fell into the rose bush, what if the feelings I had affected Lyka? I felt… Angry at myself for falling into the bushes, and pain from being scratched… Do you think that could have done something to Lyka?" Hibiscus asked.
___
"It might. If you bonded with those feelings, and those feelings were what awoke Lyka… It might be something that came across really strong when bonding with her, so to say. It would also explain why you'd change when transformed, as the feelings that were originally yours would be bounced back to you, so to say, when you transform thanks to now being bonded with Lyka." Almeida pondered over it for a bit, then figured she'd need a second opinion from Lyka. "Hibby, could you transform? Lyka, could you describe your emotions when it happens?" If Lyka were to feel like some sort of anger was ebbing away, or something similar to it, they'd really be onto something here.
__
Hibiscus nodded, as Lyka complained, "The hell? I don't care about any of this stuff-" "Transform!" "But I think there is a bit to say about it… Ok I'll let you know. I uh… I'm sorry Almeida, the feelings already passed… I can't really tell you anything..." "Huh, so you already forgot something that happened a few seconds ago? This was a waste of time..." Hibiscus ended off, crossing her arms, "Do you want me to transform back to normal or what?"
---
Well, that didn't help a whole lot. Well, there were a few more things they could try to figure out. "Not yet, I'd like to ask you a few things. For example, why do you heal people?" With some luck, the answer would give a bit of insight into how much of the original Hibby was still in the transformed Hibby. There was another thing Almeida wished to test, which was transformed Hibby's reaction to the following statement. "You know, I can't seem to dislike you or like you less, whether you are transformed or not." It was mostly true, because while being more difficult to deal with, transformed Hibby had proven herself to be a very useful healer willing to nearly heal herself to death to help others. "Oh, and Lyka, would you say you're feeling more like yourself when Hibby is transformed, less like yourself, or doesn't it really feel different, other than a change in personality?" If Lyka was truly affected by Hibby's emotions, it might have changed more than personality, even reaching the underlying sense of self.
___
Hibiscus was confused at Almeida's question, "Why?... Because I have the power to." As for the next statement, "I really don't care. We don't have to like each other as long as we keep each other alive."
Lyka's question was harder to pin down, "Uuuuu… I'm sorry Almeida, I don't really know. I don't know anything. I was lying earlier when I said I was a good girl before meeting Hibby, I just didn't like you yelling at me." Lyka said, and if anyone could see what people looked like in their spirit cores, they could see that Lyka was pouting, "It hurts when people yell at me you know…" "Noone was yelling at you, idiot." "Uuuuuu…"
---
Well… so much for being onto something. Hibby was replying in all her teenage angst and edge-filled glory, while Lyka straight up admitted to lying. 'This is getting us nowhere…' Then again, it wasn't like they seemed to really trade personality. In their 'nasty' personality, Hibby was more of an angsty teenager going through their rebellious phase, while Lyka just seemed to be uninterested in everything. On the other hand, in their 'nice' personality, Hibby was actually pretty nice, while Lyka just seemed to be an insecure and whiny. Almeida figured she'd bring it up. "Did the both of you ever consider that you might not actually be swapping personalities, but that you're just changing them? Neither your 'nice' nor your eh… less nice personalities seem to really be perfect copies of each-other, so to say."
There was another thing worth testing. "Which reminds me, is it more that changes than just personality? Things like eh…" Almeida took a moment to come up with a few things. "Favourite colour, favourite animals, likes and dislikes for food, hobbies, and other kinds of things like that. Does that change as well?"
It seemed like Valerius had his own question to add. "Do you still desire to change your personality, Hibiscus?" Although there was a fair chance that the answer was 'no' while she was like this, it was still worth confirming, and it'd be all the more interesting if the answer turned out to be a 'yes' instead.
___
Hibiscus tilted her head in confusion, "Changing personalities?..." Although it was hard to think of, that may have been true. Hibiscus was not that uninterested in things as Lyka was, and Lyka was more rude rather than angsty, "Maybe it really is just a poor control on my power." while Lyka replied, "My favourite color is purple! Because it's Hibby's hair!" To which Hibiscus sighed, "My favourite Hobby is nothing. I don't really do much. I don't really have a favourite color. My favourite food is ramen. My favourite animal is… The pig… I don't really care about switching my personality either. This is fine, I don't need to be nice to do my job."
Hibiscus then wondered if her results were the exact same while untransformed, so Hibiscus then untransformed, and nervously looked down, while Lyka said, "My favourite color is red, the color of blood, it's hardcore!" While Hibiscus nervously stammered out, "My favourite Hobby… I-It's watching tv. I like watching Idols because they're cute and I wanted to be one when I was younger, but that didn't work out right… My favourite color is white, because it can be anything. My favourite food is Spaghetti. My favourite animal is the pig, because they're so cute! And of course I care about changing my personality! That's why I came to you in the first place!" Hibiscus said, then sighed, "It's no use. The answers are the exact same… I'm sorry to have wasted your time again, Almeida."
___
Talking about a show… Almeida and Valerius had front-row seats to whatever was playing out in front of them. The ending, however, was the biggest surprise. Apparently Hibby wasn't aware that she'd been saying totally different things. "Yeah, about that… The only answer that was the same was about liking pigs, and I'm not quite sure if your transformed form likes them for the same reasons as the ones for which you're liking them now. It seems like it's more than just your mood and emotions that are changing." Almeida pondered over it for a moment.
"So between lacking a hobby rather than watching tv, not having a favourite colour instead of liking white, not caring about your personality switching instead of asking me to help you prevent it and liking ramen rather than spaghetti… I'm kind-of curious how far this goes. What if it even affects your taste or scent as well?" For some or other reason, Almeida was actually getting a bit fired up here. "Oh, how about we go to the cafeteria and find out? Try some foods you really hate and some really love, to see if your transformed-self thinks about them in the same way. I've once read that only a part of your taste is subjective, but that the way your tongue works predetermines a fair few things."
As for Lyka, Almeida had a growing suspicion that she was only that much more likely to lie when Hibby wasn't transformed, so she wasn't to be taken too seriously. At least the transformed Hibby seemed professional enough not to lie too much, for as far as Almeida could tell. Anyhow, if Hibby was on board, they'd head over to the cafeteria next.
___
Hibiscus wore a shocked expression when Almeida explained how Hibiscus's likes were different from each other, How do I get different likes?! And what do I think of pigs when I'm transformed?!
Almeida seemed to want to check if Hibiscus's taste for food actually changed when she was transformed, and Hibiscus smiled and laughed nervously, "Haha… Ok sure… Let's go to the cafeteria then…" Although Hibiscus was slightly afraid of how much food Almeida was going to make her consume in this test, Hibiscus still wanted to test it as well.
Lyka perked up with the mention of food as well, "Food? Yea i was getting hungry as well! I'm starved! You better watch your weight Hibby, ahaha!" Lyka said, poking fun at Hibiscus while Hibiscus held her tummy, "L-Let's just go!" She said in a hurry, and made her way to the cafeteria with Almeida, letting her decide what Hibiscus should eat and everything, as Hibiscus had no idea what kind of things to try out for.
___
Considering how shocked Hibby was that her likes and dislike weren't the same, Almeida was glad that she was still up for more testing. It seemed like Hibiscus was quite worried about her weight, so Almeida figured she'd give some advice that always seemed to have worked for herself. "Whenever I fear I'm going to gain weight, I just train more to make up for it. It's a lot easier than worrying about it all that time~"
Well, with that advice, they were off to the cafeteria. For some reason, Hibiscus didn't feel like talking about what she liked or disliked, so Almeida figured that going with a few 'particular' flavours would be best. "Okay, so I think that going with flavours that stand out would be the best way to test this… Let's see, what do we have…"
A somewhat mischievous grin adorned Almeida's face, as she started ordering quite the selection of food and drinks. It wasn't long before she had gathered, among other things, and for as far as Alatar won't want it to be retconned out of the cafeteria's existence, a durian fruit, blond beer (which, of course, would only be given to Hibby in sips), coffee, salty liquorice, a piece of toast with Vegemite, bitter green tea, unsweetened chocolate and, to top things off, a dish that seemed to house enough spices to scare off a Rhino. Of course, considering Almeida wasn't evil, she had also brought a big jug of water and a glass, as well as some milk, the first to cleanse the palate and the second to reduce the heat that'd come from the spices.
"Alright, all of this stuff is acquired taste, meaning that some people hate it, while others love it, depending on whether they were able to get used to the taste and smell." She herself, for one, already felt sick from the smell of that durian fruit. If this wasn't for a good cause, she'd never be mean enough to get Hibby to try and eat it. "So now it's up to trying them, tell me what you think, transform, try them again, and tell me what you think again." There was, however, another important component. "Oh, and it would really help if Lyka joined you. That way, we can see whether or not likes and dislikes change around between the both of you."
__
Hibiscus's face grew paler as she watched Almeida stack up the food one by one. It looked like a lot of food that Hibiscus wouldn't enjoy, but at least Almeida put some chocolate on there, so it might be just a bit enjoyable. After Almeida told Lyka to come out and taste the food as well, Lyka jumped out of her core
Lyka mischievously grinned after looking at the dishes, "Wow, you got the whole shebang! You even got some beer! Time for some underage drinking!" To which Hibiscus panicked, "A-Almeida! You can't expect us to drink alcohol?! I'm not even able to drive a car yet! I-I can't drink that!"
"Oh relaaaax Hibby! This is a real good chance to really get to know yourself. They say your true colors come out when you drink, you know?" Lyka said, starting to tip the glass of beer so she could gulp it down.
___
Ah, yes, Almeida's evil witchcraft had come together perfectly. Soon, very soon, Hibby's innocent sense of flavours would be taken as her taste buds would be virgin to strong flavours no more. As for the alcohol, it seemed like further corrupting this young mind was needed. "You just have to taste it, a sip barely counts, and it's for important reasons." On that regard; "Oi, Lyka, save some for Hibby, and make sure to also try it when she's transformed." Having the spirit get drunk before they were even starting to get serious would be an issue. "Why don't you try with something more simple instead, like the tea?"
___
Hibiscus didn't really trust what Almeida was saying about how a sip didn't count, and she also tried to stop Lyka from drinking it all by gently grabbing her around the waist and pulling her away from it, "Oh man! That was the good stuff!" Lyka said, picking at the other types of food to see what to try next.
Hibiscus however, decided to follow what Almeida said, and took the tea, taking a sip, "ugh, BLEH." She said, but still swallowed what she had, "That's so bitter…" Even if it was bitter, Hibiscus still swallowed. Lyka also tried the tea and spit it onto the tea, "Ah! Damn you call that tea? That's an abomination!"
Next, Hibiscus tried the coffee, and while it was bitter like the tea, it had some sort of good taste, "Oh, this taste ok!" "NEXT!"
Next was the Durian. Hibiscus wrinkled her nose and winced with how it smelled, and Lyka started gagging, but they both ate it anyways, "Oh! The taste is nothing like the smell! It tastes yummy and sweet!" "Smells like Sewage, but tastes great!"
Then the beer. Since Lyka had already drank a considerable amount, Hibiscus told her, "Y-You probably shouldn't have any more, you'll get sick…" While Lyka pouted. Hibiscus took a sip of the beer and set it back down, licking her lips to try and get the taste out, "It… Doesn't really taste like muc-" Then the aftertaste hit her mouth, "Uuuuuu" She pouted, then drank some water, "I don't like the aftertaste…"
For the next set of things: The toast with vegemite, unsweetened chocolate, and the salty licorice, Hibiscus didn't really like the taste of any. She had looked forward to the chocolate, but was disappointed in how it didn't taste sweet. Lyka stopped eating after Hibiscus stopped letting her have beer…
As for the spice dish, Lyka took one look at it and said, "I don't think we should touch that. That thing looks dangerous and will kill us."
Hibiscus looked at Lyka with a worrying pout, "Well, we have to try… Almeida wants us to test this."
"Ha, your funeral"
Hibiscus took a spoon, and then a small bite of the spicy thing, then immediately went for the milk, "I-I-It's way too spicy!" She Cried Out,spilling some milk trying to drink it.
___
Considering the large amount of stuff there was to taste, Almeida figured she'd actually do well to take notes of the likes and dislikes here. She would feel a bit bad if she'd made Hibby try all sorts of horrible stuff without trying her best to see if they could learn anything from it.
Untransformed Hibby, bitter green tea; hate
Untransformed Lyka, bitter green tea; hate
Untransformed Hibby, coffee; okay
Untransformed Lyka, coffee; ?
Untransformed Hibby, durian; hate the smell, love the taste
Untransformed Lyka, durian; hate the smell, love the taste
Untransformed Hibby, blond beer; okay until the aftertaste, then hate
"Alright, I've got it all noted down, for as far as I actually got results." While saying the latter, she glared over at Lyka, whom was seriously endangering the accuracy of their test results here by being too uncooperative. With some luck, transformed Hibby would be a bit more willing, otherwise Almeida would have to come up with ways to buy her into cooperating or something.
"You're doing great though, now it's just a matter of trying again while transformed! Good luck~" Almeida said, with a thumbs up of encouragement.
___
Hibiscus sighed, thinking of the prospect of eating all the bad food again, "T-Transform!" She said, then returned to her transformed state, "So I just have to eat and tell you what I think… Got it." While Lyka had already started eating the food.
After a bit of eating, and actual cooperation, Lyka listed out her likes and dislikes of the foods. Her reactions were exactly the same as untransformed Hibby, except with Lyka actually liking the salty Licorice. As for Hibiscus…
She was happily eating the spicy food, "It's pretty good."
The Vegemite, "Don't really like the taste."
Salty Licorice, "It's okay."
The beer, "I'm not a fan of alcohol."
The chocolate, "I like it; It's not too sweet."
Bitter green tea, "It's comforting, I like it."
Coffee, "Needs less sugar and creamer."
And as for the durian, Hibiscus didn't seem to mind the smell, "I think it smells appetizing." But when she took a bite, she gagged, "Ugh, that's way too sweet."
Hibiscus wiped her mouth, then looked at Almeida, "How are the results?"
___
To Almeida's surprise, Hibby was pretty cooperative, even when transformed. Although Almeida was casually taking notes, there was one thing that she just couldn't casually let pass by… 'Is it really possible for someone not to be bothered by the smell of that thing..?' Transformed Hibby didn't seem to be lying at least, although it was pretty freaking odd. When Hibby asked for the results, Almeida showed her notes; "Here it is."
Untransformed Hibby, bitter green tea; hate Transformed Hibby; like
Untransformed Lyka, bitter green tea; hate Transformed Lyka; hate
Untransformed Hibby, spices; dislike Transformed Hibby; like
Untransformed Lyka,; ?. Transformed Lyka; dislike
"It seems like most of the stronger flavours that you didn't like untransformed don't bother you anymore, with some exceptions. All in all, it's safe to say that it's not just on an emotional level that things change, but even your taste changes. In fact, I'm pretty sure that something like liking a spice dish like that might even require some physical changes, as spices require you to build up some sort of resistance to them for you to be able to enjoy them, which you didn't seem to have when untransformed. It's quite remarkable…"
Almeida was already debating how to push this further. Maybe making Hibby try listening to different kinds of music would be interesting… Then again, the results would likely be similar. Suddenly, something struck her. "Intelligence tests!" That would definitely be worth testing. "Although not entirely, intelligence is at least partially integrated with personality. We could find one of the teachers and ask them for a few simple intelligence test to see whether or not your transformed and untransformed self somehow show any significant differences in results."
__
Hibiscus stared the results with some interest, "How is all of this different…" While Lyka looked as well, "Uuu, I wanted to see what else I liked, and how can anyone like that beer, it's gross and nasty!"
Hibiscus thought about it, "If my tastes change, then maybe my intelligence will as well. Alright, let's look for a teacher, I guess." "Do I HAVE to do it? I don't wanna. I'm tired." "Lyka, let's just try it… Not like I have anything better to do."
___
Getting some simple IQ tests turned out to be easier than expected. The only real problem when obtaining them was trying to avoid getting dizzy, as the spirit-teacher that gave them the tests kept spinning in place for whatever reason. Almeida could only hope they'd never have to be taught by her, but it seemed like she was a professor for the upper classes, teaching some advanced theoretical thaumaturgical physics or whatnot. To that extent, Almeida checked the IQ tests to make sure they would even be doable, which they were, luckily enough. Well, maybe someone like Londo would have issues with answering as much as a single question on it, but Hibby should be able to get at least 40/100 questions correct for these ones. Or so Almeida hoped. "Alright, now that we've got a few of them, we can give it a try. The more you make, the more accurate the result. Maybe you can start by making one when transformed, then the next when untransformed, then one when transformed again, and so on, until you're giving up or until we're out of tests. I'll score them in the meantime." If Hibby would agree, Almeida would give her the total of six tests to solve in turn. They were, by all means, pretty average IQ tests, which might be a tad bit difficult for Hibby's age, but definitely not so much that she wouldn't know any of it, unless she had some severe learning disabilities.
___
Hibiscus, still being a bit dizzy from the spirit, nodded lazily. She was still transformed, so she tried her best to not show that she was super dizzy. Hibiscus took a pencil, which she got from somewhere, and started filling them out one by one, transformed, untransformed, so on.
Halfway through the first test, Hibiscus got frustrated, "Why does this damn test have to be so stupid." Then while untransformed, "I really don't like this test…" And when Hibiscus transformed back, she put her pencil back onto the paper, then kept the pencil still for a moment.
Hibiscus then sighed and said, "Yea, no… I'm not going through that again. What do the grades say so far."
Once Almeida graded them, she would find that the scores only varied slightly with the second test having one more correct answer.
___
As Almeida finished up grading the second test and adding the score, she sighed. "Forty and forty-one. No noticeable differences per subject either. I guess your intelligence doesn't really change, although just two tests aren't exactly statistically sound evidence, being as close as this is a strong indicator." Well, it wasn't entirely unexpected. "So there seem to be limits to what changes and what doesn't." She wondered if there was more that was worth testing. "Maybe we could try testing reaction time? I don't know." However, looking over at Hibby, she realised she had exhausted the kid. "Ah, but don't worry, we should call it quits for today. I think we've already found out a lot of interesting things, right?"
___
"Yea…" Hibiscus replied, and transformed back to normal. While she wasn't physically exhausted, she was pretty mentally exhausted, "M-Maybe we can try another time. I'm pretty tired right now. I do have a question though. How will this help with my transformed personality?"
___
Almeida's guess had been quite on the mark, Hibby was quite through with things, but there was one last question that needed answering, this time by Almeida. "We're working our way backwards. The more we know about which things change and which don't, the more information we can use on trying to find out what causes or what caused these changes, and once we know what caused it, we can figure out what to do about. So far, we only know it might've been something about your mood and blood at the time of the bonding, but what we've done so far suggests it wasn't strong enough to affect changes to your intelligence, but still strong enough to even affect even your sense of taste. I think that means that there might be more to it than you just having felt negative emotions, but we'll have to see."
___
Hibiscus smiled at Almeida, "Ok then. It looks like it'll be a while before we get to the bottom of this… Haha…" Hibiscus laughed nervously, then sighed, "Thank you for everything today, I need to take a break…" She said, giving Almeida a small wave before she took off.
The Dancing Boar, Normaden, July 26, 199 NWC, Night
The Dancing Boar was easily Normaden's most famous "watering hole". Of course, depending on who you asked, "infamous" might have been a better choice of word. While most of Normaden was a nice, peaceful town, the Dancing Boar was known for having a slightly more rough-and-tumble atmosphere appreciated by those who found themselves out of place in "civilized" society. No matter how many laws had been made on the matter or how civilization had advanced, people were still often quick to judge based on appearances. If you were shunned from the rest of society in the region, the Dancing Boar would always be ready to welcome you in with open arms and a roaring fire. And if you needed the assistance of less savory types, then this was your first stop.
Valerie Blossom had been enjoying herself for quite a while. The food was good and her wallet was still mostly full thanks to her latest job. She was living the life. But as any reasonable person could tell you, the higher you're flying, the more likely something is going to come along and bring you down. For Valerie, said thing came in the form of a katana-toting woman.
"Evening, Valerie." Yuki slid into the chair on the opposite end of Valerie's table, her abrupt appearance causing Valerie to sputter on her drink that she had just taken a swig of.
"Ahaha. Hey there, Yuki. How's business doing for you?"
"Oh, can't complain, can't complain. Just got assigned a class of trainees the other day, and took them out for a nature walk today. Beautiful scenery up there on Mount Hubert. Almost.. angelic."
"That so? I might have to check it out sometime, haha." If she were capable of sweating, Valerie would probably have started flooding the room by now.
Whatever fears Valerie may have had were soon confirmed when Yuki's hand shot across the table and slammed Valerie's head down into said table. "I'm not in a good mood tonight. My students were attacked by an Angel, and I'm pretty sure you know why. At the very least, you knew it was up there and didn't warn us. At worst, you actively led the Angel to them. So which will it be? Will you talk? Or do I have to start my lifelong dream of becoming a florist?"
"Wait wait wait wait! I'll talk!" As Yuki didn't seem to be continuing with drawing her weapon, Valerie took a couple quick, nervous breaths before continuing. "You're right, it wasn't random. I got paid a huge amount of money to lead an Angel to your group. I don't know how they got an Angel, but it was at the spot they said it would be at, and the money was too good to pass up!"
"Give me names."
"I don't have any. They just handed me two grand, gave me instructions, and promised another eight when I was done." Yuki began to press Valerie's head down into the table even more vigorously. "T-t-they were a dude with kinda long purple hair, and a little girl with orange hair, but that's all I know, I swear!"
Yuki finally released Valerie, letting her breathe a sigh of relief and catch her breath before Yuki spoke further. "Your cooperation is greatly appreciated. And if you ever try to do something that might hurt me or my students again, I might just try making a bouquet." Yuki got up and left without saying another word.
"Damn Mage, thinking you're so much better than everyone," Valerie muttered after Yuki had departed. Of course, insulting someone was considerably less impressive when they weren't even in the same room anymore, but it still made her feel better. Looking at her overflowing wallet also helped.
Outside, Yuki's head was whirling. She had been fairly confident that Valerie had been put up to the job. Valerie wasn't exactly the type to try doing something like that on her own, after all. But the interrogation had only produced more questions. Why was someone paying that much money just to send a single Angel at a group of novice Mages? What sort of benefit did they gain? Even if the Angel had killed them, Yuki was more than capable of taking out a single Angel, and the students could be resurrected anyway. And just who were these mysterious individuals anyway? Too many questions, and no chance for further answers right now, Yuki returned to her hotel for the night...
Attributes
Strength - C
Vitality - E
Willpower - E
Resistance - E
Speed - D
Agility - D
Perception - E
Recovery - E
Effect: Inflict a Normal Level 2 Strength Debuff upon a single target. Inflict 10 Damage. Cost: 40 Stamina Duration: 1 Phase Attribute Modifier: Strength
Mayor's Office, Normaden, July 26th, 199 NWC, Evening
Upon arriving at the City Hall, Suilen would find most of the staff missing; presumably having gone home for the day. The lack of employees wasn't an issue for her though, as the path to the Mayor's Office was well-signed and the doors were still unlocked. Stopping just outside the office itself, she would hear the rather distinct sounds of a grown man sobbing.
---
Uwah, this was going to be awkward. Suilen tapped Drafi with her spear and the Spirit obliged, uninterested in snarking about food during human drama. "Knock knock," the girl said, before knocking physically on the door.
---
Upon the physical knock on the door sounding throughout the area, the blubbering from within cut out momentarily. "Come in!" a man's voice called from within. The room was fairly well organized, save for the man slumped in his chair with tears streaking down his ruddy face, the glass and half-empty bottle of brandy on the desk, and the box of tissues sitting on top of some papers. "H-how can I help you, Miss?" the Mayor mumbled through tears.
---
Suilen's nose crinkled. She could smell the alcohol even at this distance, and it reminded her of the alcohol they used to sterilize the hospital, that sharp stench that seemed to get into everything. Still, she approached the mayor, pulling back a seat so she could sit.
"Suilen," she said, pointing at herself. "Who was the Witch to you?"
---
A girl entered the room. A teenager. Not that much older than… The Mayor stopped his thoughts there; he had to try to be professional. But then she spoke. A simple self introduction, and then a question that brought it all back. "M-my grand-niece. Brother's granddaughter. She-" What little self restraint he still possessed failed him, and the sobs returned full-force. Through the noise, Suilen would be able to make out something resembling: "She was only twelve! She had her whole life ahead of her! What did she do to deserve this?"
---
The girl narrowed her eyes. Just like tearing a band-aid off a scab.
"I don't know. I'm 15."
Suilen placed her hand on the table, pushing aside the brandy and the glass. From her AMB, a holographic map of Normaden Forest beamed up with a red pin pulsed a little ways away from the cave. "She's there. You have anyone in that area?"
---
The girl - Suilen - didn't particularly seem interested in comforting the Mayor during his breakdown. Well, she had a point about her age. Wasn't he supposed to be the adult here? He grabbed a tissue and blew his nose for a moment before replying. "I'm sorry you have to see this. Yes, I can get a team of guards sent over there. Thank you."
---
"Don't worry about it. Just get there before the wildlife does," Suilen replied, bringing her hand off the table and leaning against the chair. "There's other people too, in the grave. Only parts though. Who are they?"
---
The Mayor sighed, though (likely to Suilen's relief) he didn't break down again. "Ah. Probably my brother and his family. They were never much for the city life. Had a small farm up the mountain. Haven't heard from them since all this began."
---
Suilen raised her brows. Nasty business. "Least they can be buried together," she said, leaning forward slightly. "What was she like? Your grand-niece."
--- "A sweet girl. Loved the forest and its animals. She'd go out and explore while gathering herbs and fruit for their meals, and when her siblings went out to find her, they'd find her frolicking with all manner of squirrels and birds. You'd be hard pressed to find a sweeter child anywhere. Ah, I mean no offense."
---
"What offense?"
Suilen tried for a smile, but it fell away soon enough. She closed her eyes briefly. The girl sounded like a princess, didn't she? A princess cast away to live in the forest, like those movies she used to watch when she was younger. Must have had a happy time then. Must have had only a single misfortune, which tumbled on into a tragedy.
"Her name?"
---
"Megan Elena Anderson." The Mayor wore a sad sort of half-smile as he reminisced. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to keep you here while I go on. Was there anything else you needed help with?"
---
"No. It's fine. I like learning things."
Suilen tapped the glass with her index finger, a thoughtful look on her face.
"Can you tell me more? About what happened and what changed. She still looked like a girl, y'know. At the cave."
---
"I'm afraid I don't know much about what happened. She's always had some magical talent. Probably part of why she was so good with animals. And they - her parents, that is - never wanted her to go to the Academy. Again, no offense, but they didn't expect a child like her to be able to endure. Something happened, I don't know what, but they realized her powers were awakening. They took her and fled to hide so that they could try to escape the Spectres. That's the last I heard from them."
---
Suilen narrowed her eyes. The Specters weren't able to track her down? Megan did what that ridiculously rich girl couldn't? Her brow furrowed. More questions to be gnawed, huh. But she could agree with the Mayor on one thing.
Ozymandias, Londo, Ryan, Hibiscus, Almeida, Lavi, Elisa. They all had their issues and hang ups, and Suilen could tell that just from her first day with them.
"I think your brother made… a good decision. Someone happy with their life shouldn't become a Mage." She looked down at her legs, tensing and relaxing the muscles in her calves. "Probably."
---
"Well, I hope they felt that way too. If that grave has them, then that choice may have cost them their lives. And, of course, Megan's too. No matter how hard Academy life might be, if she had been sent there, she might still be alive. To live a Mage, or to die a Witch."
---
Suilen couldn't help but grin
"You die as a Mage too, y'know. Just that you can do it over and over again." She tapped her finger against the glass. "Can I get a drink?"
---
The Mayor looked at Suilen suspiciously. "I am still a public servant. I'm afraid I can't give a minor alcohol." Well, he really shouldn't be drinking like this in the office in general, but that wasn't technically illegal.
---
"So I can die but I can't drink." Suilen giggled, shaking her head at the relief that absurdity gave. Wiping her eyes with the palm of her hand, she stood up from her chair, pushing it back to place.
"Glad to see you remember your responsibilities though." She paused, then scratched her head. "Dunno if it's much help, but maybe one of the Gods of the Dead can do something for Megan. Put her in the same place as her family, at least."
---
"Perhaps. I'll make an offering later regardless. Its the least I can do."
---
"And after that, do more."
Suilen turned, picked up her spear, and strode away.
"Goodnight, Mayor. Tell me how it went, when you get to it."
---
"Yes, you have a good night as well," the Mayor replied as she left. It was getting late. The Mayor cleaned himself up a little, made a few calls, and then headed home for the night.
Description: The gunner has 30 prana, 10 stamina, and 11 aura. The gunner has D rank vitality, C rank perception, C rank Dexterity, and E rank for every other stat. The gun is allowed to fire 3 times per phase with 4 bullets fired per shot in a cone. The bullets travel at C rank speed.
Description: Each rifleman is armed with an M16A4 Assault Rifle, they may spend 3 prana to fire the rifle. Every time it fires, it shoots 3 shots in a burst that travels in a straight line at C rank Speed. It may fire once per phase. The rifle has 1 durability. Each Rifleman has E rank stats.
Ozymandius slowed down as he finished his run. He had left Exceritus behind tonight, she had made some excuse about wanting to get some rest or something. Which was nice because it meant he could take a run around the town and explore a bit without her breathing down his neck. He had ended up near a park at the center of the town, a few benches were nearby in the waning evening sun. The streets were emptying as people found their way to families. Making his way over to one of the benches Ozymandius had a seat.
Despite having had quite some exercise in the forest earlier today, Almeida figured she'd try to go for endurance practice, such as by jogging around town. It was also a great excuse to not be surrounded by kids for a while, for that matter. Upon hearing there was a park nearby, she figured she'd go check it out. To her surprise, she noticed Ozy had gotten the same idea. Waving at him, she'd jog up to him. "Hello! It's seems like we've had the same idea about going for a run~"
Ozymandius flashed her a small smile. "So it'd seem. Must be nice not to be looking after the younger ones for a moment. I actually just finished my run though. I was fortunate enough to get away early."
Almeida gave a sigh of relief as she found her soulmate in child-bound fate, which, come to think of it, would sound a lot more like a love comedy or marriage than her actual situation. "You wouldn't know the half of it…" Between Elisa being plain weird, Londo being a tiresome weirdo, Lavi being another flavour of problem child, and Suilen seeming to be in a rebellious phase, the only one that wouldn't be as tiresome was Ryan. The again… "I think they're all good kids though, despite how tiresome they can be. I just wish Londo could keep it down a bit, he's almost more tiresome than the Academy's headmaster."
Ozy rubbed his chin thoughtfully, the beginnings of stubble were appearing there, he had neglected to keep his usual clean shaven appearance up. "Good kids…. Shame they got caught up in all of this though. This duty is something for adults, not really something a child should be involved in or raised in. Doesn't seem there is much we can do about that though. I wasn't exactly happy they decided to stay behind and help today."
"Oh, believe me, I know." Having talked to whatever passed as a Headmaster, she knew how hopeless it was to try to get the kids out of the frontline in mage battles. "I can't help feeling like the Headmaster goes out of his way to villainise himself though, I'm pretty sure the bastard is hiding quite a lot of stuff from us. Probably even from Okamoto." Truth be told, for as much as she had also wished
to see them run, she did have to give credit where credit was due. "Well, the fact that they didn't run did mean we got to bring down an angel without anyone dying. It wasn't ideal, but I'm afraid we've delivered good enough results to prove the Headmasters methods might work. I mean, first year students bringing down an actual angel on their first mission? We've pretty much solidified the idea that it was the best thing ever to send kids out into the field. After all, the guy only cares about results, not about the long term effects this has on those kids." For as frustrating as the latter might be, the results didn't lie.
"Like I said, not much we can do about it." He sighed. "The mage program seems to be one thing that Uruk considers invaluable. Trying to stop them from getting recruits from it is akin to stopping an avalanche." Ozy stood up. "If we're going to talk why don't I walk with you? It's a nice night after all."
Ozy suggest to walk with her, which seemed like a bit of an odd thing. She hadn't expected the shell-shocked quite guy to be this straightforward. Ah well, there was little harm to it. "Alright, let's see what the rest of this park is about~" First, she debated asking him about how he ended up with his spirit, but knowing she wasn't eager to answer the inevitable return question, she decided not to do so. Then, she debated asking him what his summons were based on, but knowing she might trigger his trauma's, she figured that wasn't an option either. Talking about the others in class was also depressing, seeing how they were all child soldiers. 'What the fuck would I talk about with this dude?' Walking in awkward silence wouldn't be ideal either. She figured she'd just go by something utterly harmless and plain. "So, other than running away from the kids back at the academy, do you have any hobbies?"
"I draw when I have time for it. Not many opportunities for it nowadays. I'm always running off to one place or another, if not by the teacher then by my spirit. Not like when I was in the army. What about yourself?" He asked while they walked through the rest of the park.
Drawing. That one was fairly unexpected. "Oh, what kind of things do you draw? Landscapes, portraits, or something else? I'm an architect, well, someone who might've been an actual architect by now weren't it for the army days taking longer and the entire deal of becoming a mage. I still like to take pictures of interesting buildings whenever I see them and redesign them into what I think would be their most optimal form."
"Oh, nothing super interesting. Just portraits and landscapes I think look nice. I mostly draw from memory." He replied as they passed by a simple stone fountain "Well it sucks that you got caught up in this if you were planning to be an architect. You should show me some of your designs some time though." He fell silent as he considered broaching the topic of how they both got caught up in it, but put it off. He didn't want to revisit those memories just yet.
She was a bit surprised that Ozy was interested in seeing her designs, but didn't object to the idea, on one condition. "Only if you show me some of things you've drawn~" She didn't reply to the other part of his suggestion. "Well, it was nice talking to you, but I'm gonna up the pace again. See you later~" It was pretty clear she wanted to run off, literally and figuratively, so she'd soon be out of sight if she wasn't stopped for some reason.
Ozy nodded. "Agreed. See you later." Ozy stopped as she ran off and turned around, starting to head back towards his hotel room.
Almeida sighed to herself. It seemed like their class was quite full of troubled kids, and somehow, she had elected herself as the 'class mom' or something along those lines. On the topic of troubled kids, she was pretty sure that Lavi was acting odd. It hadn't just been on the return trip from Normadean, but even today she'd been off. Between dressing like a loli-milf differently and acting indifferent towards the others, she'd changed about as much as Hibby did when transforming, just a whole lot more permanent. Now, normally, Almeida wouldn't stick her nose where it didn't belong, but being put in the onee-san role, she felt like she should at least figure out what was up. Luck, however, hadn't really been on her side. She'd been hoping to catch Phoebe alone, as surely the spirit would know more, but there had been no successes. Until now, that was, as Almeida ran into Phoebe in the hallways of the dorm. "Ah, Phoebe, good evening~" Almeida greeted her. "Say, do you have a moment?"
Wandering through the halls Phoebe let out a small yawn, going forwards at a slow pace her paws stopped within their tracks. As a chance encounter was met with Almeida, whom was close by to the student rooms. The neck twisted slowly and gracefully as eye contact was made with Almeida. A small smile, with curled lips showing amusement or mayhaps a relaxed happiness. ''Oh a wonderful evening to you as well Almeida.'' she said in a calming voice. ''Well, I would like to have my beauty sleep in a couple of minutes. But that may wait a few seconds.''
"Great~" Keeping Phoebe from her beauty sleep was a necessary sacrifice that Almeida was willing to make. "I noticed Lavi was acting different ever she transformed, and I was wondering what was up with that." Considering they were still on a time limit, of sorts, Almeida figured she'd be direct.
Phoebe's head would nod several times, seeming to show attention and consideration of Almeida's words as she spoke. There was a slight pause, a silence that lasted for a but more than a second. As it would seem, that this conversation may prove to be a bit more than a few seconds of her beauty sleep. ''Quite perceptive Almeida. Though if I might comment, I would not wish to say something that should be said by Lavi. That would be breaking her privacy.'' She replied, as a pause began once more though short this time. ''However, I understand your worry Almeida. We have only been partners for a short time, so my knowledge is but little, I have only seen it occur once before.''
The compliments weren't exactly warranted, as the changes weren't exactly subtle. Even the way Lavi had replied immediately after the battle, when Almeida complimented her on transforming, had already been totally different from what Almeida expected. That said, Phoebe didn't exactly give much info there. "I understand, but I'd at least like to know if it's something that needs worrying. From what you're saying though, it sounds like she'll fade out of it again over time, is that correct?"
''Almeida, you ask some peculiar questions, don't you?'' she said in a slightly joking tone, giving a brisk and suppressed chuckle. An attempt to give more air to the conversation which was feeling a bit tense. ''I cannot say when it may pass, so my supportive advice would be adjusting to the situation. And if your unease comes from the reckless behaviour, I can vouch that will be fine.''
Although Almeida sighed, she figured it would be best to abide by the spirit's advice. "Alright, that's good to know, thank you." After a short moment of silence, Almeida followed it up; "Maybe I'll ask Lavi herself about it at some point, but until then I'll go with your advice." Almeida yawned. Having worked out during almost the entire day had gotten to her. "Well, thanks again, I'll no longer keep you from you beauty sleep, good night~" With that, Almeida waved goodbye and headed to her own room. She'd probably still spent a fair amount of time staring at the screen of her phone, but she had had enough interactions for the day.
Back in the town of Uruk, Ryan had just gotten back from the airship that had dropped him off and now he was following his habit of meditating.
A few hours passed, and feeling refreshed enough, Ryan decided to go for a walk. Who knows, maybe something interesting would occur. Surely enough, an event interesting enough came. As while Ryan was taking a walk around the school campus, enjoying the greenery surrounding the imposing building, he saw Londo returning as he was nearing the main gates. With his curiosity piqued, he waved at Londo as he approached him. "Yo! Londo"
___
After Londo's success with Cadwgan, he really felt like flaunting his wealth. He also felt like training and doing something fun! However, he could not do that, as he was still pretty hurt from the God's blow. Hmm, what to do what to do. Maybe he could write another letter to his parents saying how Glorious he was in succeeding to get Cadwgan's blessing!
While Londo thought how best to proceed with today, Alice was in deep thought. Just who was that "He" That the God had talked about? Just how much exactly did he know about something. Did Londo meet someone important before becoming a mage and he just neglected to mention it?... Doubtful, but still a possibility.
While Alice was pondering, and Londo was wandering, a pandering voice called out to Londo as he finally got back to the schools. It was Ryan! Londo smirked, and strutted back up to Ryan, "Yoooo, Ryan! Guess who just got gloriously accepted by the God of Glory himself? It's me! I got accepted. He gave me this sweet badge in response!" Londo said, showing off his new bling that proved him to be a disciple of Glory. A gold and red lion was on the pendant, and it looked amazing!
___
The energetic boy seemed to be rather proud about something, other than his usual self glorification. Of course, Ryan didn't even need to ask for him to spill the beans. As Londo explained it right away. Ryan's expression went from calm, to shocked in awe while he listened.
At first, Ryan had his doubts, but upon seeing the beautiful medallion, he had no choice but to believe. The medallion had an aura of, for a lack of a better term, glory, emanating from it. "That is… awesome!" seeing the mark of a god brought some curiosity to Ryan, who started by asking "Say, Londo, how did you convince him of taking you on?"
___
Londo smiled smugly once again, "Easy! I told him I was glorious and that he should give me a blessing!"
Alice perked up, "That!-... Actually… That's true… Yea he did basically do that. Then Cadwgan punched him and gave him that medallion."
Londo pointed towards himself, then the medallion, "Yup! I gained a new power because of it! You'll get to see it next time the fights come around! It'll show off in full glory!"
___
Ryan's amazement suddenly had a hint of confusion. Was it really that easy to get the blessing of a god? And the god of Glory no less… He was about to ask if that's exactly what happened, when Londo's spirit, Alice if he recalled correctly, chimed in… Only to confirm what Londo said. Ryan was silently stunned, only another question managed to get through, "A god… punched you!? You look alright, but that still sounds… awful" he said, while looking up and down Londo's body, looking for a sign of damage.
___
Londo laughed with a hearty sound, "Of course you'd think that! But with the god's blessing I now have a power beyond your comprehension! I am now able to recover from a death blow with increased hardness! I can show it to you if you want!" Londo said, proudly holding out his chest.
"Actually, Londo, It has a sort of cooldown. You have to wait 3 days for it to recharge."
Londo stared blankly at the source of Alice's voice, "... Wait, how do you know that/"
"Reasons."
"Ok whatever! I can't show you now, but maybe next time Ryan!"
___
Londo was once again boasting about his greatness, and moreover, his blessing. He even dared Ryan to test it himself, with what Ryan imagined was a dare to hit him. Ryan wasn't comfortable with that, despite believing in Londo. His body must've had more than enough with the god's punch for now… which Alice confirmed, as she intervened once again. "No worries, Londo. I'm sure it'll be put to great use… once you can actually use it again" Ryan answered, along with a friendly pat on the shoulder. He'd try to console him further… but being down was definitely absent in Londo, so there was no need for it. Which is great, because he wouldn't know how to console him, or any person for that matter.
___
Londo put his hands on his hips then laughed, "Hahaha! Of course! I shall be glorious in the next battle for sure! Just you wait and see! For now, I must go to my room and rest, and read up on Angels again. I messed up while fighting it, because I thought the lightning would arc to my gauntlet, but I shall not make that mistake again!" Londo said, giving a small wave, before heading to to dorms to write some letters and read up on baddies.
___
Ryan was once again shocked by Londo's determination to be a great warrior with such an age he never met a chuuni until now, after all. Since he had not much else to say himself, Ryan brought a small smile to his face as he waved goodbye to Londo and Alice. With not much else in mind, Ryan resumed his walk around campus.
Council Room, Royal Palace, Uruk. July 27th, 199 NWC. Night
"That concludes the Academy's report on the situation in Normaden." Headmaster Miyamoto leaned back in his chair as he finished speaking.
"I still can't believe you sent a bunch of novices out on a mission like this." Prime Minister Sanna muttered in reply. She often questioned Headmaster Miyamoto's choices as being too cruel and inhumane, but the latest developments were taking the cake, as it were.
"Now now, don't be like that. They did better than even I expected. Their Professor reported that they had even brought down a stray Angel on their own. In fact, they did so well that we're considering giving them another mission right away."
"You're a monster."
"My my. And are you going to slay this monster, Miss Hero?"
"Both of you, stop this at once!" Grand General Tekin shouted at the two, face red with a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "We are in the presence of His Majesty."
"Our apologies, My King.""Forgive me, Your Majesty."
"No matter." King Gilgamesh dismissed the situation with a simple wave of his hand. "Let us move on. Grand General, report."
"Yes, Your Majesty." Grand General Tekin stood and saluted before giving his report, earning a scoff and eye roll from the Prime Minister next to him. "Reallocation of forces to Babylon is proceeding smoothly. We expect to complete our movements this week. Reports from the region indicate no significant change in Angel population or actions by them."
"Excellent. Keep up the good work."
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Another salute and another eye roll later, Grand General Tekin took his seat again. As if having been cued by Grand General Tekin's posterior touching down, the doors to the Council Room slammed open, admitting a purple-haired man in a lab coat.
Despite the bold entrance, though, nobody tried to stop him. A maid outside closed the doors behind him as he strode across the room. Vice-Chief Yamaguchi breathed a sigh of relief as she stood up and let the newcomer take her seat, which he did after taking an extremely excessive bow.
"Your Majesty, as Chief of the Galileians, it is my pleasure to inform you that Project Gravigigas has made massive strides forward. We will be ready for deployment within a mere two weeks."
"Oh? How excellent. Then let us plan to launch our strike on the Angel army in two weeks time, when the Gravigigas is prepared. Grand General, Headmaster, prepare your forces accordingly."
While Headmaster Miyamoto and Grand General Tekin were respectively acknowledging their orders with a nod and a salute, the slightly pudgy man to King Gilgamesh's left spoke up. "Your Majesty, I must once again advise against relocating too much force away from Uruk. While I do not deny the importance of supporting Babylon or bringing down a sizable host of Angels, we cannot let our zeal to accomplish those goals lead us to abandoning the defense of An Chéad Toshi."
"Not to worry, old man," Chief Heinrich Herschel nonchalantly declared as he lounged in his chair.
"O-old man?" Pontifex Maximus Cirillo sputtered in reply, face turning a reddish-purple with indignation. "I'll have you know that I am only in my forties!" It seemed that his age was a somewhat sensitive topic.
"Oh really? Well then, better not get worked up like that, unless you want the grey to come in even faster. Anyway," Chief Herschel quickly cut off any angry retort Leucon might've been devising, "as I was about to say, since the Gravigigas will be participating in this mission, we will need far fewer Mages than we might otherwise require. I'm sure Kazuya will be able to strike the perfect balance of forces dispatched and left on guard duty to protect your cowardly self."
Since Leucon Cirillo looked like he was about to suffer from apoplexy, King Gilgamesh swiftly stepped in to regain control over the situation. "Enough. Heinrich, stop provoking him. Kazuya, make it so."
"If my liege commands it.""It will be done."
"It is good to hear of Project Gravigigas's progress. Do the Galileians have anything else to report?
"Hah. Next to Project Gravigigas, all their efforts pale in comparison. Why should we concern ourselves with them?" Department elitism was evidently not much of a concern for the Galileian Chief selection process. Of course, that's where Vice-Chiefs came in handy, as Elise Yamaguchi coughed gently before speaking up.
"There is actually one more thing I'd like to bring up. Our Lacertan Research Division has an expedition in southern Uruk. The expedition's lead scientist and a collaborating Mage from the Thaumaturgical Society recently made a discovery of significant value, but are now arguing over who should possess the rights as initial finder. We would greatly appreciate if an investigative team could be sent from the Academy."
The Vice-Chief vowed slightly towards Headmaster Miyamoto as she finished her request. In return, he smiled slightly as he replied. "Of course. And I believe I have the perfect team in mind."
"Now that that is taken care of, is there any more business for tonight? Nobody spoke up, so King Gilgamesh moved on. "Then let us adjourn for the night."
As the King rose to depart, so did everyone else. The small group filed out one by one, though Headmaster Miyamoto called out to Chief Herschel as the room emptied. "Heinrich, a moment."
"Naturally, Kazuya. Elise, go on ahead." The Vice-Chief nodded in confirmation and left the two men to their conversation. "What can I do for you?"
"I've heard that a man with purple hair and a young girl with orange hair were taking part in some, how shall we say, less savory endeavors. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
"Come now, Kazuya," Heinrich scoffed as he leaned against the corridor wall. "You know me too well to be asking stupid questions."
"I can always hope you've changed your ways."
"A futile hope, as you know. I can no sooner change my tendencies than you can yours. And since I'm sure your next line will be 'Can I at least get a reason?', I'll tell you: we just wanted to see what these new students could do. We've established their current strength. Now both of us must simply wait and see where their destinies lead them. Will they follow Order, or Chaos?" Heinrich strode away after asking his question, leaving Kazuya to ponder his answer in silence…
Classroom 107, The Academy, Uruk. July 28th, 199 NWC, ~8:20 AM
Professor Roland Steele
It had been two nights since the students' battle in the Forest of Normaden. They had traveled back to Uruk on the morning of the 27th and had the rest of the day off. As they came to class on the morning of the 28th, though, they'd find a sight different from what they expected. Not only was their professor in class decidedly early, their professor had evidently gotten gender reassignment surgery overnight. Or, more likely, they had a substitute today. Regardless, there was a dapper man with golden hair at the podium today, scribbling away on sheets of paper with a quill pen.
Elisa lied on her bed. For the second night she had had a good night of rest. Something bizarre and alien for her. She stared at the ceiling and checked the back of her head. There was a small bandage that was covered by her hair. She touched it and the small bump that it covered. So I hit my head yesterday. That really did happen... I woke up from a nightmare. We were in a forest. Did that really happen? I think it did. At least according to that pretty trinket. It does track footsteps, so did I actually sleep-walk back? No not only that. I feel somehow much more calm about it...
Elisa reached her hand towards the ceiling and briefly transformed her hand. She played with it a little. And her small experiment was almost fracturing the hand according to her own volition. She then stopped doing so. I could perhaps conclude that I am not a witch. I am not a mage either. So what am I? A dreamer?-- That simple thought gave her a flashback and Elisa cast a phantasmal reflection above her. The illusion formed from a recollection of her memory. Of a girl that should have died, skewered in glass. That is me... As much I can tell. That probably also did happen. So I suppose it is like an impossible thing. Impossible thing? That reminds me of that very old story...
Elisa closed her eyes. "Sometimes I believe in as many as six impossible things before breakfast. [1] There is a school for mages. [2] There is a girl that can cast magic without a spirit. [3] There are things beyond this reality. [4] That girl on the reflection is me. [5] Sometimes I can sleep without having a nightmare. [6] ..." Elisa was interrupted by the alarm clock. She shut it down on it's first alert and defused the plethora of snooze timers that would have followed.
"Right, shower and breakfast." . . . Elisa went on to take a shower, change her clothes and then grab a breakfast. She was very early. As a matter of fact -- 2 hours early. And her eyes were dazzling radiantly and she had no dark eye-lines. After having eaten everything, she would go to the class, if the door was unlocked she would go inside and take her seat. Otherwise she would lean against the wall by the door and play with her observer module, getting further into depth what she could achieve with this technology.
She would say; "Good morning." when she spotted the teacher and then proceed scribbling her own memos. Naming one of her notebooks as Elisa in Wonderland, and she started to write up her own thoughts about her magic. The notes would appear seemingly normal for a page or two. However as time went by the letters started to become distorted and twisted. And eventually they were not letters at all. Alien glyphs and sigils at best, messy scribble at worst. Regardless Elisa still thought that she was writing coherently as she was trying to write-down her experiences with magic. She was merrily on her way to author Necronomicon vol. II with both it's paradoxical title and the medium of being a school notebook.
STRENGTH: E
VITALITY: E
WILLPOWER: D
RESISTANCE: D
SPEED: E
AGILITY: E
PERCEPTION: E
RECOVERY: E
Hibiscus's sleep was nothing special. She woke up the same as usual, just a bit more tired maybe because of the brutal training that Almeida put her through yesterday. Her mouth felt a bit weird, but other than that she was perfectly fine physically. Hibiscus got up, brushed her teeth, put on her clothes, then left her room. She had taken a shower the prvious night, as per usual, because sleeping while dirty felt wrong. She didn't know how people did it, although some managed to.
She sleepily found her way to the classroom, yawned, and wiped her eyes as she entered it, "Good morning miss Okamoto..." Hibiscus said, wiping her eyes and settling into her seat, looking to the front of class afterwards. wait... That isn't Miss Okamoto...
"W-Wait... You're not Miss okamoto?!" Hibiscus said in surprise and shock. It was professor Richard of course, "Where's Miss Okamoto? Is she sick? Did the battle with the witch the other day hurt her more than she let on?!" Hibiscus was worried that the teach was way more hurt than she said she was, and she now felt sorta responsible because she didn't even check if she was ok.
Description: The gunner has 30 prana, 10 stamina, and 11 aura. The gunner has D rank vitality, C rank perception, C rank Dexterity, and E rank for every other stat. The gun is allowed to fire 3 times per phase with 4 bullets fired per shot in a cone. The bullets travel at C rank speed.
Description: Each rifleman is armed with an M16A4 Assault Rifle, they may spend 3 prana to fire the rifle. Every time it fires, it shoots 3 shots in a burst that travels in a straight line at C rank Speed. It may fire once per phase. The rifle has 1 durability. Each Rifleman has E rank stats.
Theme Music:
Ozymandius jumped up from his desk where he'd fallen asleep. Screams and the sounds of battle had awoken him. As he went to the window and looked out he saw pillars of smoke billowing out of a city lit by fire. Automatic gunfire indicated that the military was in near constant combat with some sort of enemy. He turned away from the door and ran out into the hallway, grabbing his pistol on the way out. Screams came from all over the dormitory, screams that were one by one being cut off short. Ozymandius ran towards the source of the screaming as fast as he could. He slipped several times, slamming into walls or doors in his haste to get to the source. It was coming from the gym, and he could see the door now. Out of the roof came bursting two of the creatures but Ozymandius didn't care. He summoned his soldiers and they began to engage the enemy and bullets whizzed past Ozy as he continued rushing the creatures. As he pushed forwards one of the things swiped a clawed hand at him in an attempt to grab him but it was too late. He was already passed and in the gym the door bursting open to reveal... bodies. Too many to count. Some where pinned to the walls by thick sheets of something akin to a spider's web and frozen limply in place like a puppet without a master. Others were plainly dead, their precious lifeblood pooled all over the floor. He could recognize some of the faces, Almeida, Okamoto, Suilen, Hibby, and Londo were among them. Somehow he knew that the rest of the class must have been there too. Before he could formulate any thoughts he felt a sharp jab in his back and he began to convulse, falling to the floor. At the edge of his vision he could see one of the creatures moving closer for the kill...
Ozymandius awoke from the nightmare with a start and a shout, the chair he'd been sitting in slamming into the ground with a loud crash. He'd fallen asleep at his desk while writing. Dark circles had formed under his eyes. He hadn't gotten any meaningful sleep since the day before, when he'd talked to Okamoto about the creature he'd encountered. He glanced at the clock as he stood up to begin his morning routine. 8:00 am, he'd have to skip the run today, not to mention he'd only fallen asleep about seven he guessed. He glanced over to the bed where Exceritus slept and found it empty. It was unusual, since she would typically be dragging Ozy out of bed for a run the moment she the clock hit six. It didn't matter he'd find her later. After getting ready as best he could in the short time he had Ozy made his way to the classroom. He picked his usual chair, near the back in the left corner. Even as he sat down he could feel his exhaustion calling for him to just close his eyes and rest a while...
STRENGTH: D
VITALITY: E
WILLPOWER: E
RESISTANCE: E
SPEED: E
AGILITY: E
PERCEPTION: E
RECOVERY: D
Londo had a wonderful day yesterday! Getting his blessing, reading up on angels, telling Hibby, Almeida, and Ryan about his new blessing! Hopefuly they wouldn't tell anyone, because once it was shown, he'd be an even more glorious person for holding an amazing secret!
After doing the things one does when waking up, Londo made his way to class, strutting and acting glorious all the while. Finally making it to class, Londo took a deep breath to psych himself, as this moment had to be amazing!
Right before class started, Londo strode into the class and openly boasted to his fellow students, noting that the teacher was different this time, "Oh hi, Roland! Greetings! I have had the opportunity of a lifetime! I have received a glorious blessing from Cadwgan! I have received this medal as proof!" Londo said, holding up a shiny medal with the insignia of a lion on it, and then went to his seat right before the lecture started, leaving no time for questions~!
If everyone enters the class on time, Londo will enter right before it started, if not, then he still would enter right before it started, making him the last.
Attributes
Strength - C
Vitality - E
Willpower - E
Resistance - E
Speed - D
Agility - D
Perception - E
Recovery - E
Effect: Inflict a Normal Level 2 Strength Debuff upon a single target. Inflict 10 Damage. Cost: 40 Stamina Duration: 1 Phase Attribute Modifier: Strength
"He's not the one."
"Yeah."
"Enemy?"
"Maybe."
"Hrm."
"Mmm."
Though Drafi was distrusting of random strangers substituting for a stranger that was a bit less random, Suilen couldn't really care. Or, at least, she was feeling a bit too light-headed to care. Having spent the day before 'exploring' Uruk's grand libraries and eating Angel wings, before going into bed only to scroll through the interwebs for another five hours, today definitely wasn't the sort of day where she would be arsed enough to really care. Classified information had thwarted her in every which direction, sadly. That Saul Yehoram fellow really got struck from the ledger, huh. Beyond cursory information on his existence as a Mage prior to his attempted rebellion, there wasn't much more detail on the man himself, and considering the 'kill on sight' order placed upon all Witches, it wasn't as if any survived to share eyewitness accounts or memoirs.
Suilen sighed. Looked like she'd have to be useful then. Worm her way up the Mage ranks and get higher clearances in order for her curiousity to be sated. Leaning against her chair, she absentmindedly scratched Drafi's head. The owl Spirit clicked his beak together and shifted out of the way; he was no dog, after all. Ozymandias was sleeping, Elisa was drawing, Hibiscus was the only one that showed any real interest in the teacher, and...welp there he was. Londo being Londo, showing off an ostentatious badge he got from some God.
Strength - E Vitality - E Willpower - E Resistance - E Speed - C Agility - D Perception - E Recovery - E
Ryan barely struggled to get up once his alarm went off. He had a very relaxed previous day, where he spent most of his day either meditating, or wandering around the campus after having his boots repaired/replaced. He followed his usual morning routine before class: Showering, dressing, having breakfast, brushing his teeth and heading for the now familiar classroom 107.
Upon entering, he first noticed the person behind the podium. Ryan had seen the man around campus before, so he was most likely a teacher replacing Yuki, given the context. Ryan said "Good morning" as he headed for his usual seat. Everyone already in the classroom seemed to be busy, so Ryan refrained from interrupting them, and quietly waited for class to start. Londo would arrive at the last minute as always, and bragged about his medallion to the teacher. They must have met before, was what Ryan thought as he heard their interaction. Regardless, once Londo turned and went for a seat, Ryan would give a small smile and a nod to him. Choosing to remain silent otherwise, as class was bound to start at any moment now.
Curled up she lied in bed, the sheets had been partially uncovered as she had grabbed onto it like a pillow. The time had begun to tick, but she did not seem to rouse from her sleep until an alarm echoed throughout the room. With a violent whack a pillow was thrown at the wooden cabinet which the AMB was resting in. Yet still the alarm continued for a minute, until it naturally came to an end. A sound was heard from the door as Phoebe walked in. ''Do you fancy the bed so much?'' which was responded to by Lavi whose face was caked into the sheets. ''You said it yourself, I don't get to enjoy this often. Let me.''
Phoebe chuckled at the comment, walking over to the pillow on the floor and grabbed it by her teeth as she let it feel onto Lavi's head. ''What?''''You may care little for such, but if you miss attendance the hassle will be larger.''
Lavi's face turned towards Phoebe, an eye poking out as she stood up from bed and cracked her shoulder. ''Yeah yeah.'' she said as she walked out of the room. After having had a breakfast and changed clothes she walked into the classroom, her attendance late and her hair a bit disheveled as she drunk out of a milk carton. She didn't seem to give as much as a glance to the teacher or other students as she walked to nearest seat next to the window.
Classroom 107, The Academy, Uruk. July 28th, 199 NWC, Morning
Elisa would find herself waiting outside the locked classroom for quite a while, as it wouldn't be unlocked until Professor Steele arrived, almost an hour and a half after Elisa. "Good morning, Miss," he replied as he sauntered over to the door, unlocked it, and stepped inside, all the while followed by a sizable stack of paper levitating on green wind. Upon entering, he would move over to the podium and set the stack of papers on top, dispelling the magic wind in the process. After that, he played with the door for a moment, ensuring it was unlocked, though perhaps spending a bit long for such a simple task.
Eventually, more students would enter. A few didn't seem to have anything to say, which was fine with Roland; they weren't really his type anyway. One young boy gave a polite "good morning" and received a "Good morning, young man," in return. The girl who came in and nearly had a heart attack received a gentle laugh and an explanation: "Don't worry, Yuki's ok. Her younger siblings are still out of town, which means she's almost certainly still passed out drunk on her couch. Yakaj preemptively called out sick for her last night. I'm here to cover until-" Anything further was cut off by a new arrival, one that Roland was already familiar with.
"Why, if it isn't Mister Londo! And I assume the beautiful Lady Alice is with you? Ah, but as fair as she is, you must tell me more about this Blessing of yours! For someone as young as you to receive such a power is quite extraordinary!" Roland would listen excitedly to Londo's comments, fervently nodding along and encouraging him.
When Lavi arrived, she would slide the door open and walk in late. Or, rather, she'd try to walk in, but bounce back slightly as if she had walked into a window. Upon looking around, she'd see small green sigils on either side of the inside of the door, presumably generating whatever translucent barrier had repelled her. "Now now, young Miss," Professor Steele would call out from within, "I'm sure Yuki must've previously advised her students to not be late." With an elaborate hand gesture from him, the sigils around the door faded out of existence, clearing the barrier from the doorway.
As he was doing that, his eye caught the clock on the wall. "Good heavens, is that the time already? Alright, everyone take your seats please, quickly. She'll be here soon." Who "she" was wasn't exactly clear, but Professor Steele would continue on a moment later without answering that question (if anyone asked it).
"Alright everyone, today, you will have another mission. It'll be quite different from your previous one, though. Rather than testing your combat skills, this will be more dependent on your investigative and social skills. Miss Almeida is assigned elsewhere today, so she will not be taking part in this mission with you. And neither will I, for that matter. You'll be led by, ah, I suppose I should let her do her own introduction…" Professor Steele trailed off and gestured towards the door while stepping off and away from the podium.
