[System]
Age: 17
Race: Human
Nationality: Dutch / Japanese

Personality: A starry eyed youth, heart ablaze and hands layered in the callouses of constant work with the spear. She laughs easily and openly, equal parts absent and ignorant to deceit as she goes about her schooling. Enjoys physical challenges, anything she can work on with her hands appeals to her, but she finds herself averse to puzzles and trivia games. Not the brightest of people but tries to compensate with earnestness and effort. Feels a touch of envy for mages who can barely lift a tome weighing more then ten pounds but can summon phantasmal creatures to aid them, but is too consious of hurting their feelings to voice or act upon it.
Backstory:
The de Windt's have a longer history in Japan then they do with their own family name, tracing their line all the way back to the early Dutch who helped crush the Shimabara-Amakusa Rebellion and securing themselves as the sole European power still tolerated in the country till their borders were forced open two centuries later. Relations tensed in the past century given world events, but their connection of the magical side of things made surviving changing times unscathed a more reasonable affair.

The descendent of Dutch merchant marines now stands, ignorant of the blood upon her lineage and with her sights set only upon a bright shining future. As a child she played with sticks, golden hair flying wildly as she chased and was chased by boys from a sleepy countryside village, the glory of a bustling market long since given way to the twilight of after years, where all still lingered neither prospering nor failing. A haven to retire to and the breeding ground of childhood ambitions for something more, the harsh clang of steel and the burn of a wooden shaft twisting against her palms.

The young Lorelai had no word for what she sought, only that she was compelled to push herself hard and long even at the expense of more mundane studies. Times of play gave way to earnest training under the attentive eye of parents, always losing herself amidst a field of sunflowers. Tilling the land for miles with only a hoe, only to carry bags of seed and sowing by hand till her blisters wept and her hands were a mix of caked dirt and weeping scarlet. She laid the groundwork for true martial training with her own hands, surrounding herself in the flowers of her long distant homeland before every knowing the true heft of a weapon in hand.

The nameless conviction carried her far from home, the sunflowers wilting as her gaze turned to the academy of her dreams, where her heart knew she'd be a step closer to fulfillment.

---

Battle with Shinzou. 6/7/21
Stats:
END: 71 (B)
STR: 65 (C)
DEX: 60 (B)
AGI: 70 (B)
INT: 5 (F)
WIL: 5 (F)
CHR: 20 (D)
SPT: 35 (D)
LCK: 5 (F)

---

Weapons:
Worn Spear-An implement she's trained with for the last two years, knowing it's every groove and how much strain it can take. Carries it with pride and cleans the head habitually even when not used. Can support her own weight vaulting with it even in Composite Armor.
Shatter Star Fragments: Remnants of a magic canceling sword.
Gear:
Composite Armor: An armor made predominantly of leather with added plate along one arm and shoulders for protection without comprimising her agility between and in combat.
Independent:
Spirit Boost- As an Earth Human, Lorelai has a wellspring of inner power waiting to be tapped into. 40% boost to Spirit when over 50. Currently: Inactive.

De Windt Bloodline: Her birthright as a member of the De Windt family cultured over the generations and the events they played part to.

Friend of Tengu: The Tengu feather that is on her will allow her to be identified as a friend of Mt. Kurama Tengu. Ordinarily Tengu are quite pervasive about people, often staying distant, or even hostile at times. As a result of her actions also, a certain Tengu has appeared as a student on campus... This also makes her elligible to learn further Tengu Arts.
Major Skills:
Farmer's Last Resort- The spear has long been the weapon of peasentry, with a low skill barrier to use but a ceiling as distant as the stars above. To call oneself a novice is to stand firm against charging adversaries and hold your spear true. Level: 2 (6pts)

Dieter's Fields-Moving beyond tactics of the peasentry is the true spirit of combat with a spear, understanding the advantage that comes with a greater reach then a sword and learning to use the full range of motion to aspire towards heights most would never consider. Level: 1 (5 pts)

Fujiwara Shinto Exorcism Manuscript Volume 1 - A manuscript detailing standard seals for Shinto style exorcism. It's multi-purpose too being mainly focused on protection and support if it isn't a spell that's for exorcism.2 Points.

Yagyu Shingan-Ryu (Yari Spear). 2 Points.

Major Skill Points Free: 6
Minor Skills:
Iron Flesh- Level: 1 (2 pts)
Indomitable- Level: 1 (2pts)
Follow Up- Level: 2 (4pts)
Dragon Rage- Level: 2 (4pts)
Second Wind- Level: 1 (2pts)
Signature Move: Ride the Wind- Level: 1 (2pts)

Forms:Farmer's Last Resort:
Form One - Forward March
Execution: Lunge forward, thrusting forward with both hands on the spear before returning to starting position.
Principle: The simplest way to attack. Power comes from the force of movement making even frail arms provide lethal force.

Form Two - Shield Wall
Execution: Hold an arm out and across your chest, bracing the spear atop it as though you were holding a shield. Thrust forward, sliding over the arm for a quick jab. Mastery requires using your 'shield' to redirect a misaligned thrust into a true strike as it passed over.
Principle: An aided strike that develops arm strength in thrusts without heavy dependence on personal skill. A foundation in controlling the spear without both hands upon it.

Form Three - Breaching The Wall
Execution: Grasping the spear with both hands and positioning it overhead, thrusting at an angle as though going over a barrier to reach it.
Principle: Trains the arms to support the spear without any aid and cements the users balance.
Dieter's Fields:
Form One - Quench the Thorns
Execution: Performing a standard thrust at such speed so as to look to have not moved. Done with a firm stance rooted to the ground for superior handling.
Principle: The basis for all spear fighting, connecting the stolid base of a Novice to the more fluid Journeyman. Teaches speed and coordination with the spear.

Form Two - Sow the Land
Execution: Perform a wide slash with the spear, shifting hands down a palm length before swinging back around, continueing till they've gone both ways along the shaft.
Principle: Understands a fuller range of motion and acclimates the hand to gripping the spear at any length with reasonable surety.

Form Three - Break the Frost
Execution: A heavy handed swing against a training target that bounces off, rotates fully around the user and transitions into a thrust.
Principle: Introduces power into the techniques and creates a flow between prior forms.

Form Four - Exalt the Harvest
Execution:Steps forward sharply, putting weight on the lead foot as the spear is raised from behind, overhead, and slammed down in a crescent arc.
Principle: An aggressive helm splitter that further develops power based on where the shaft is held to extend or shorten the arc.

Technique:
Ride the Wind: A stationary leap upwards from a crouch, grasping the spear firmly in both hands before driving it downwards tip first as you land upon and stab through an enemy. Lorelai throws the entirety of her being into the attack, sacrificing footing for the added power of crashing upon them.

[User]
Minazuki

Morning came, and still, Koyuki wasn't in the room.

Otis stretched his neck as he turned on the hotel's TV, feeling his spine crick and crack this way and that. It had been another long night; after the encounter with that incomprehensibly nimble assassin, the Strigidae had devoted himself to the theorycrafting of new bullets. A successor of the Fairy Bolts series, one that could home in without having a previous mark set up, or perhaps a gravity bullet that subjectively weighed down the one who's in its range. If he had his gun, the whole encounter would've changed for the better, that much was clear. So maybe this time...

His amber eyes centered on the lovingly crafted firearm, before Otis nodded. It was stuffed into his backpack immediately afterwards, folded up with a bunch of other metal objects. So long as he didn't go through an airport or something like that, it should be fine. After all, yesterday he had toured a bunch of places with razor-sharp wakizashis in his pack. Police were probably more interested in his passport than the contents of his pack. Probably.

Otis was willing to gamble on that ambiguous probability. More importantly, however, he had a teacher to catch.

Hitching up his backpack and making sure the straps of his belt pouch were done well, Otis refilled his water bag with tap water, jammed a couple slices of lemon into it to offset that plastic-y taste, and headed downstairs to find Kuuto. There was only one question that needed to be asked of the teacher, after all.

"Two days now, and no sign. Where is Koyuki, Kuuto?"

[Assistant]
Aurelius Pendragon

Aurelius stared sternly as the man began to make fun of him. It hurt his pride a bit to beaten by someone only wielding a stick. Those movements, they were something he had never seen before. Before he could open his mouth to rebuttal, the experienced swordsman began to explain why Aurelius had lost, his ear perked up to take in everything the man said; the words cut through him like the sword he was holding. Suddenly he became further interested as the man spoke about training. This could be his ticket to learning to hone his abilities and finally avenge his mother.

"I accept your offer of training." Aurelius spoke calmly as he stood, dusting himself off.

[User]
Ultana Whelen

As Morning came around, Ultana awoke from her slumber. Still half-asleep, she lazily began to stretch while resisting the urge to fall back asleep. Slowly gazing around the room, she could see that Asta wasn't there and was probably already up and about. Given the time, no surprise really. As Ultana got ready and was about to head out, overheard some commotion with the other students about how some of them didn't make it back to the hotel. Did they sneak out? We are in Kyoto after all, with this citys history of course you'd try to have some fun. .....Unless something happened to them. I wonder....if we were attacked yesterday....Though, if something did, the teachers would say something, yea?

After some thought, she decided to leave the matter to the teachers. Besides, there was something she was still curious about. Last night, there was that assassin that came after Seirin. As surprising as it was to find out who she was and her family, it was the style that assassin used that really caught her attention. Fujiwara Discreet Arts....didn't see nothing like that at the shrine. To find out more, Ultana would need to find a place where she might learn more about it. While she'd like to ask their exorcism teacher Kuuto, considering this was something he refused to talk about, she can't exactly go to him about it. Hmm...I wonder if a library would have what I need...

Heading downstairs, she could see Otis looking for their teacher Kuuto but it seemed like he hasn't returned to the hotel yet. But their other teacher, Utsumi Shichimori, was there. Maybe he'll know? Walking up to him, "Excuse me... Mr. Shichimori, would you happen to know of a library that would have something on Excorcism?"

[Assistant]
Time flows on, and Lorelai's ire had dulled to a determination to see herself pushed even harder to improve herself, lest she repeat the poor performance that saw her all but useless against the assailant. By all accounts they'd not see her or Seirin again, the heiress' importance crystal clear even to the oblivious blonde, but that was no excuse not to better herself. A grueling physical regime would normally be her chosen recourse, but seeing as they were in Kyoto, she had other resources to call upon.

With her knew spear still in the works, it seemed only appropriate to learn a new art to pair alongside it. Her own styles, while effective, were more...utilitarian, then measures of skill. They brought brute force to bare and let her exert the fullness of her strength, but they didn't leverage much beyond that. That had seen her learning the arts of a man long past, one whose teaching would normally demand a cooler head, but the Dutch-Japanese could be doggedly single minded in her pursuit of a physical achievement.

Inner peace? Not by a long shot. But putting her body and mind into a single action wasn't that far off from her usual single minded approach.

Hmm, why do I feel like Munemori-San is rolling in his grave... The blonde thought, the groans of ancestral spirits ringing ominously over head as she took a moment to quirk her head mid-kata, only to resume when the dojo's sensei cast her a recriminating look. Eh, can't be more important this.


[System]
The Mundane
Age:
 16

Sanctum City:
 Norba

Description:
 Crystal stands at 5 feet 7 inches and weighs 143 pounds. She has above-average musculature, built from good genes and rather extreme physical training. She has black hair usually tied in twintails and hazel eyes that seem to pierce through what they look at. She tends to be slouched somewhat when she's not taking something seriously, which is most of the time.

Personality:
 Crystal is a mixed-bag of personality traits, according to the psychologist she visits on a monthly basis. She is not shy, but is quiet and keeps to herself. She is not outgoing, but can become overexcited by the things she enjoys. She is usually calm, and often confident, but the times when she's not she tends to reach the other extreme of hyperactive or pessimistic, respectively. She tends to spend her free time drawing or reading, often both being based around manga, though she also enjoys drawing more realistic styles as well. She is also almost always preoccupied with writing stories to go with her art.
 Crystal has the bad habits of chewing gum and, strangely, blowing air up from her mouth towards her forehead, usually messing up her bangs. She has the affliction of obsessive compulsive disorder, though with her medication one would never know it. When she is unable to take them, however, she becomes a nervous wreck and her habits explode in severity.

Background:
 Crystal von Caelestis is a part of the extended family of the Jupiter family of the Duodecim. That is to say, she is a cousin of the heir to the family. Or rather, she would be if her uncle had a child. As it stands, she and her cousins are all later in line than a nonexistent relative for purposes of succession. Once her uncle marries and has children, they will be the next generation of the Jupiter family line. As such, she was raised in a very noble-esque environment in which she was given great freedom to pursue her interests while also being taught and trained at a higher level than most. She is skilled in the arts not because she wished to be, but because she must be in order to properly represent the Caelestis family. She is in good physical shape and skilled with weapons not because she has passion for it, but because she must be able to defend herself and others if necessary.
 She only recently discovered that she has access to magic, and was very quickly enrolled in Nova Lux Academy. As such, she feels rushed and out of place.

The Magical

Armgaus Name:
 Frozen Blue Sapphire

Gladius:

Parma:

Elementum:
 Ice

Elementum Abilities:
 Crystal can both form ice from nowhere and remove heat from an area, causing coldness to form. She is able to freeze things with a touch, or with some effort do so without physical contact. While she cannot do things like throwing spears of ice telepathically, she can certainly create them in such a way as to pierce a target without needing to be moved. Her ability to remove heat from an area usually manifests as control of the temperature surrounding her, and a distaste of heat means that she often uses this trick when she is able to use magic at all to help keep her cooled off. Somewhat strangely, her magic has minor purifying properties; freezing water with her magic will also remove most impurities from it.

[User]
---

Aoife stood outside of the room in which she'd been debriefed for some time before continuing on with what was life now. The small popsicle she'd swindled from support staff had mostly melted, as she finished it off with a big bite. She thought about how she'd answered the questions they asked. About how she felt, when dealing the finishing blows to the void they'd all fought. Amongst the ruins of what life once was, to take a stand on the side of existence itself.

Aoife shivered as she felt an inkling of that anticipation creep through her once more. Her grin turned acrid as she supressed a chuckle. It was all too much to bear, and yet.

"I'm excited to get another opportunity to prove myself to you all," she had said. As if describing Everest as that small protrusion from the Earth near Kathmandu, or what once was.

"Ms. Stuurmgard, do you need anything?" A hall monitor doing his diligence asked of her. Aoife almost didn't hear the words through the euphoric buzz that permeated her skull likes millions of swarming bees. She didn't even really know what she responded with, other than the sentiment being largely, no.

Aoife buried the sensation, storing it for when she would need it. For now, it was time to eat.

The cafeteria bustled, no doubt some of the excitement was part in parcel to the actions of Aoife and her fellow Ars Magi. Aoife hopped along the line to procure food, a small drink and eventually locate a table with the mountainous woman and her fiery compatriot. Aoife smiled at them as she plopped down across form them, immediately digging in and speaking at the same time.

"I wanted to say," she shoved some food into her mouth. "You guysh were 'eally impressive," she swallowed. "I think you would've got on alright even if I hadn't come!"

Before long another girl came and sat at the table. Aoife recognized her as the girl who was most injured during the skirmish. It was too bad, Aoife thought. She looked as though she was managing it well, however.

Aoife heard the thanks offered to her and offered a toothy grin in return. "You're quite welcome!"

"I saw your handiwork up close Chie; I think you could've handled that void all by yourself if you were pressed enough." Aoife's voice had taken a turn to the thoughtful, as she really seemed to believe what she was saying was true.

"Earlier, they told me I cleared my test. I'm... no, we're Ars Magi now. It's almost a little surreal how fast it all went." Chie remarked. "I'm still having trouble accepting it."

Aoife carefully considered what the other Ars Magi was saying, but she couldn't really relate. As soon as Aoife had begun her first transformation, everything in the universe seemed to shift ever so slightly into place. It all made sense to her. The thought of none of this making any sense was troubling, even to a rather carefree spirit such as herself.

She cleared her throat, her demeanor once more shifting. "Think of it like this. If you weren't right for this role, you'd be dead, not sore," she untactfully offered. "If you're still having reservations, I'd consider speaking to a professional about it, you'll only get yourself and others hurt by hesitating." Aoife's gaze trailed across Chie's form before the seriousness drained from her expression entirely and she went back to scarfing down her meal. "We'll be dealing wif wursh than that!" she excitedly remarked, mouth still full.

[Assistant]
---

"S'right," came the reply from the verdant monolith seated to the right of the pair, opposite Crystal and Rivka. A small bandage had graced her brow in the whirlwind aftermath of their initiation testing, a result of the otherwise sterling medical examination. It was telling of their newfound potential that the practitioners weren't terribly surprised that a scrape and some bruising was all she had earned for her meteoric descent— Selma had to admit, even she was a bit concerned after she'd felt her bones shake a little with the impact. "We just took our first steps today. Only goin' up the mountain from here."

Biting deep and heartily into a drumstick, her emerald eyes slid over to regard the two newer arrivals as she mulled over their conversations a while longer. Rivka and Crystal weren't always terribly much for idle chatter, but she'd managed to pull them into some friendly nonsense before they'd showed up— and it had stepped away from the forefront after this had taken root. for her part, she hadn't really given too much thought to whether or not she was really ready to acknowledge herself as Ars Magi...

How did it feel to use your powers, Miss Rosmarie?

"It rocked. I wanna do it again. I felt like I was invincible, unstoppable. Nothing in the world could beat me."

"But, hey, we did just start being 'em. They'll still be training us, y'know? It'll probably sink in more once we really put our noses to the grindstone on it. It's like, uh..."

She paused momentarily, eyes floating between the two girls as she searched for the comparison.

And do you, now, feel differently about yourself since the transformation?

"I'm trying not to. But I gotta say, it does feel like I'm a lot closer to what I've always wanted."

That being?

"Protect people from the Voids. Take back home. That kinda stuff. But aside from that I wanna make sure I stay the same ol' me."

Inspiration flashed as the memory faded back out, and as she swallowed, she raised the bone aloft as though a pointer finger, the classic gesture of "Eureka!"

"It's like dancing. You don't really feel like a dancer after you first shuffle to a nice beat, but if you keep working at it and learning how it all works, it starts to feel right."

The bone unceremoniously clattered back to the plate as she wiped her fingers. That made sense, right? It did to her— it should to the other ladies, then. For all their personal misgivings with themselves, all their uncertainties, all their needs of a good solid hug every now and again, Selma was pretty sure that if she could grok something, they could grok it too. They seemed smart. Surely they'd also needed to train stuff from the ground up before— and they probably didn't need to fight stuff like a gangly build, but the point remained.

She made to clap Chie on the back, good-natured and fraternal as ever—

How did you feel your peers performed, in that case?

"I'm glad everyone's okay. It got a li'l touch 'n' go at the end there, but poor Chie still gritted her teeth and fought through her injury like a champ."

And decided instead to venture north, tousling the smaller girl's long brunette locks in between bites of food, favoring her with a confident smile. After a moment, it graced the rest of the table in turn— Aoife, Crystal, Rivka. They'd been through a lot together in the past three days, nobody could deny them such. They'd faced the fire head on even when they weren't meant to— nobody could have predicted that train station going the way it had— and always come out swinging for the fences, even if it wasn't the perfect concertos someone like Sokolov had expected of herself. They'd always found a way.

And for her, their hard work was gonna be a badge of pride.

So regarding your encounter with the Void...

"Heh heh heh. Kicking them around for a change was fun."

That'll be all, Miss Rosmarie.

Congratulations, cadet. Today,

"Just watch. If we could handle all this before we start learning from the best in the business? Before you know it, we're all gonna be cracking their masks like old pros. They shoulda got us on that train when they had the chance."

Her grin passed confident and into wolfish, as she returned to her food with redoubled vigor. Payback Time was a-comin', and she'd long set her clock.

You are an Ars Magi.

[User]
Crystal sat, once again silent after the last two joined, and ate. She was paying much less attention to her food than the other girls, which led to her wincing slightly when Selma clapped Chie on the back. However good natured, that must have hurt. Once Selma had finished talking, however...

"Aoife is right, though, Chie. Though I wouldn't base it on your survivability, it's still entirely possible that any number of us sitting here aren't actually cut out to be Ars Magi." She gestured around the room as she said this. "Just because we passed our first test doesn't make us invincible, and the mental side of things is the worst of it. If you have any doubts, now is the time to talk it over with professionals in the field of your concerns, trust me, you don't want to let it slide and have to deal with it later." Perhaps uncharacteristically talkative, but Crystal knew what a shaky mind could lead to. And in their case especially, she didn't want anything that could lead to further harm, or even death, to poke its head up.

She just finished eating when she finally parsed Selma's statement and smiled. "That's right. Though that makes me wonder... Have any of you been told anything further about that incident? I almost doubt that they'll inform us unless it just so happens that we go up against the same group as part of our duties. Even so, I'd hope they'd tell us if they learn more about those things."

With that, she popped in a piece of sugarfree gum. No special codeword or passphrase this time, just simple spearmint for after a meal to get any food flecks out of her teeth. She offered a piece to each of the other four girls as well.

---

'How did it feel to use your powers for the first time?'
"... As well as expected, I'd think. It felt freeing. It felt like I could handle whatever was thrown at me."

'Do you feel any different since your transformation?'
"No different, really. I do like the idea that I can go back into that state of freedom at will now, though."

'What are your thoughts about your encounter with the Void?'
"I think that it's a lot easier to deal with them as an Ars Magi than it would be otherwise."

'What are your thoughts on how your teammates preformed?'
There was a moment of silence as she thought about it. Finally, she grinned slightly. "They're fantastic."


[System]
Age: 14
Gender: Male
Appearance:

Bio: The only thing Zero understood about himself from birth was how much he was not what his family expected him to be. Although born in Japan, his dad was not, and was never accepted by the majority of his mother's side of the family. His dad, a fireofficer by trait, died when he was young when a gas explosion downtown nearly set the city alight. He looked different and kids in school and even family at home never let him forget it. He had an older cousin, Kamina, 15 years old, who was Kazero's only friend. Kamina was everything Kazero wasn't; popular, well respect - a natural born leader. Kazero wanted to be like Kamina but never felt the need to because Kamina was always around.
Personality/Traits: Kazero is brave, open-minded and patient; all characteristics born from his lack of self-esteem and pride. Kazero is so wrapped up in making a good impression and being accepted he is willing to go through all manners of negativity so long as he can achieve it.
Digimon: Punimon, Tsunomon, Strabimon, Lobomon, BeoWolfmon, MagnaGarurumon(Biomerge)
Digivice: Grey

[User] "Oh well...this is a thing then...fighting a losing fight against people bigger guys than us can't take down? I guess we're the last reserves. I don't like this but...but I'll try I have to I guess I can't go home otherwise...even if I could I would feel pretty dirty leaving you guys alone. I..just don't know where we're going to start. This big war...this big chess match. It's all new to me and I don't think Kapurimon here is all too different from me. I won't let you guys down though if all possible." Derrick said with conviction as Kapurimon looked over to the bickering duo. "Would you two let it off? He's your partner that's the end of the question. Even if he is or is not digidestined there is still the fact that we need all the help we can get. Derrick is not the ideal partner himself from what i've seen. He's cowardly and too focused on his own personal interests. But he is offering the help he can and that's good enough for me. I don't intend to see us fail. So please put down your differences and listen to our friends here and let's work together for the betterment of our world and theirs. If we fight one another we only gain more handicaps against the evil ones." Kapurimon stated firmly and loudly too them all. Derrick couldn't contest that his actions so far were not cowardly but he knew he wasn't no coward. "Yeah what the puff ball said."

[Assistant]
"You all have very good questions and thoughts about the current state of affairs in our world, and quite justified they are. I, however, shall answer all of them in person."

The voice came out of nowhere, it surprised everyone, the Digimon more than us. The voice, it seemed so familiar, he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was... then it hit him, it was the same voice he heard when he picked up the Digivice thing!

"Lord Azulongmon! It... it is an honor, but why do you want to speak to them personally?"

"There are a few things I must clear up, mistakes I have made both in the past and present. I wish to make up for them here."

Azulongmon. From the sound of him he seemed to be like a god of the Digital World. But Nonna had raised a solid point: why does he do nothing as the Digital World suffers?

"Firstly, to you, Nonna Ivanova, you have a good point in our flaw. Although I and the other Sovereigns have the power to end this suffering, we are powerless in almost all aspects of this world's fate. We are merely the watchers, we do not interfere unless it is something only we can bring about, such as those devices you now carry. Only we could create those, as we have over many generations."

I kind of understood what he meant, that they were only to observe unless their power was absolutely necessary, meaning there was hope for this world after all.

"To you, Daniel Stone, the process of Digivolution is normally a natural but painstaking process for Digimon. You humans have gained the power to help your Digimon digivolve instantaneously however. It is much simpler than many believe, it requires only a strong bond with your Digimon Partner. I know Brent Toruya has already accomplished this feat, which is impressive for the short time they had been together. It will be something you will discover in time, some quicker than others."

Brent seemed moderately surprised by this, thinking this was something that anyone with a Digivice could do anytime. Turns out it was deeper than he thought. The voice continued.

"Derrick Quinn, you are correct. In your current states, you will not fare well against the Council. As I stated before, however, the process of Digivolution is something that will come to you naturally, and there are more forms that you can discover together with your partners, especially through the Digital Memories, which are scattered, hidden across the Digital World, often in plain sight."

Those Digital Memories again, apparently many Digimon have them, even ours. And more forms, the ones he's heard of so far are Rookie and Champion, he knows that there is at least one lower than Rookie, maybe too by the look of that one girls Digimon.

"And lastly, Kazero Tu'rok, I sincerely apologize, but not for the reason you think. You see, it appears that both you and your cousin, Kamina, were to be Digidestined. The Digivices, however, aren't the smartest things in the Digital World, and probably confused your DNA, attaching themselves to the wrong people. However, there is nothing we can do about that now, but I can say one thing. The DNA that you and Kamina share should be strong enough to allow you to use the Digivice along with Tsunomon, and hopefully you can sort this out when you find your cousin."

"On that note, I would like to let this out: Ten Digivices were sent out, and all ten Digidestined were brought to the Digital World. Eight stand before me, one is still out there somewhere, and one has gone black..."

So there were two more Digidestined still out there, one a Cousin to the one called Kazero. His Digimon "Partner" still didn't seem to pleased with this news, but Kazero seemd more optimistic.

"I'm afraid that is all I can tell you for now, other matters call me back to the other Sovereigns. Digidestined, the fate of this world and yours rests in your hands, good luck."

After that there was silence, everyone's questions having been somewhat answered by the voice who identified as Azulongmon, a "Sovereign" of the Digital World as he called himself. There were still a few things I was unsure of, but It was already too late to ask him.

---

Somewhere in the Digital World stands the fortress of the Council of Five. Standing over all of the Digital World, the Council reigns supreme over the Digimon. After the brief argument the council endured earlier, they have regained their senses and are once again formulating a plan to end this "Resistance" that calls themselves the Defenders of the Light. Diaboromon had not yet returned from his self appointed mission, so the council held a meeting without him. They were just about to begin when one of their minions returned with something.

"My masters, I return from the realm of the humans to report a partial failure. I attacked them as planned, but one escaped. The other, however..."

The council saw what he had returned with now, and this brought a smile to even their faces. Now they have the absolute power to defeat the resistance once and for all.

@vancexentan @Duthguy @Decker126 @Shikaru @Xan the G @Pyromania99

[User] "While Nonna is right about some things namely that this isn't our fight and we are in fact in more danger then the Digimon seeing as we don't get reborn, I agree with what Derrick said." If Danny was entirely honest with himself he had made his decision the second he heard the explosion, cause it was that point that he realized that digital or not Digimon were still living creatures.  "That said I disagree with the Sovereigns' decision not too get involved. I understand that you can't help out with every little thing, but this is a serious matter."

[Assistant]
"I know many a legend where the godlike being fell oblivious to the world and someone eventually rose to be equal enough to them to threaten them, and by that point it was far too late. I hope these Soveregins are very vigilant in their watching. But waiting that long will not quite cut it, nor will ten people with strange phones. If you want to be free, you have to fight for it. I'm Russian and I know my history, I understand these things... Both from the oppressed and oppressor point of view." Nonna said somewhat less angrily, withdrawing a little to whisper something to Kapurimon.

The duet rose and left to discuss something out of earshot. "Are you happy with this?" Nonna asked Kapurimon. The digimon frowned and thought for a healthy while. "No." she said eventually, "I left with the intention of finding a new queen for our empire! Either we will defeat our enemy on our own, or our kingdom shall perish among the weak!" she said bravely, "And now that I found you-" she added with a faint smile, "-I can become our new queen, and lead my people to triumph. And then, the Chessmon will be revered as the shield that protects the people!"

Nonna blinked once, and then a chuckled. The laughter was born somewhere in her heel and before it got through to her lips, it picked up quite a lot of strength. She raised the fuzzy digimon in front of her, looking her in the eyes, "And I will rather work on my own than to follow any of them. Oh, We are going to get along nicely, you and I. Is it decided then? We will remake the world to suit our ideals?" she asked, feeling a little strange. Sure, this was a dangerous game. They could very well kill her, and honestly even believing anything of this was actually real was probably just insanity raging in her head. But she has never felt this excited about something. On that sliver of a chance this was reality, she allowed herself to believe that she might - just might - have been destined to come here, and meet this digimon as her partner.

"We shall!" Kapurimon cheered, and was surrounded by a golden glow. Nonna noticed the digivice strapped to her belt beeping and glowing and promptly nearly dropped her as she digivolved into Pawnchessmon again, along with gaining considerable weight. Setting the digimon down on the ground, the Russian smiled: "I see you have your fighting spirit back. Good." the girl smiled. "But... How do we do?" Pawnchessmon asked, scratching her helmeted head. "No we're just a pawn on a very big board. We need more mon!"

A grin flashed over Nonna's face. "Yes, I do intend to present our reason for leaving as such. And of course, that will be the first thing we try to do. It is a lesson the digimon will have to learn sooner or later, or in the end, this will happen again as soon as another digimon climbs to power. However, there are other options... But we can talk about that later. I need to think on it a little myself before sharing. Let us go tell our hosts." Nodding, the mon and the girl turned back to return to their audience.

Nonna didn't quite know whether she was still sane. Not with the scheme that has been forming in her head. But whether it was a sign of confidence or insanity, she was smiling. Because, she was about to start the greatest strategy game of her life.

"We have come to inform you, that we will not be joining up with you. As Azulongmon said, the digidestined had to have been called many times before, and if nothing changes, we would not be the last ones either." And I will not be just one of the many. she thought, "So we will chose a different approach." she said instead, "We intend to rally the digimon, create a proper resistance by the definition of the word, none of this... religious belief in prophecies that are stopgap and temporary measure at best."

Nonna finished delivering their decision, and was a little surprised when Pawnchessmon spoke up as well: "Follow us if you wish, we won't stop you. Leaders can't be appointed or foretold - they are chosen." the chessmon said and the two of them turned on their heels, walking out the way they came.

[User]
Recovering from Tsunomon's headbutt, Kazero was a little addled. He didn't quite catch everything else that was said specifically until Azulongmon appeared and everyone went silent. When Azulongmon spoke directly to him, Kazero became inspired by Azulongmon's words. He smiled at first but then instantly exhaled. He was relieved that Azulongmon had justified his words from his outburst. Kazero knew he was pretty much talking out of his ass, making logic leaps and bold statement he couldn't back up. It didn't quite explain everything, but from Kazero's understanding, he could still work as a digidestined even if Kamina was the one selected. He made the mistake of looking over at Tsunomon, whose silent, intense, pensive stare was beaming a message straight into Kazero's brain that went something along the lines of 'Don't think this makes everything okay.' Kazero sighed.

"Look man. You already headbutted me and I stood back up. I didn't even cry. Azulongmon said that I even count as a digidestined!" appealed Kazero.

"The digidestined tamers and their partner digimon have a bond. It's how I knew from the very moment I met you that you were not the one I was waiting for. Being a digidestined does not mean you were called for the task at hand. If you were, then where is your own digimon partner and digivice?" replied Tsunomon. Kazero open his mouth, but realised he had not rebuttal for that. But then he thought a little harder.

"I don't have one." replied Kazero, with a seemingly unwarranted confidence and pride. "Because my role wasn't be here. My role was to be here in case Kamina couldn't. If Kamina was ever in a position where he couldn't make it to the digital world, I bet I'd be called as a reserve. That's my digi-destiny."

"I see. So you believe that it wasn't simply an accident that transported you here, but that you were meant to carry on in the place of my true tamer?" parroted Tsunomon in disbelief. Kazero shrugged his shoulders with a modest nod, not sure where Tsunomon was going with this. "Digivolve." Kazero looked left and right hoping the answer might be hanging around the conference room. "You heard my proposal. If you can use the digivice to restore my power back to a Gabumon, I will accept you as my substitute tamer and it will be the last thing I ever say on the matter."

"Oh, is that it. Okay then!" replied Kazero upbeat. He fished into his pocket to take out the digivice and pointed it at Tsunomon. "Digivolve!" he commanded, with nothing happening. Kazero put up his index finger to ask Tsunomon for a moment. He chanted under his breath, making a prayer to the gods before shaking the digivice in his hand like he was rolling dice. "Digivolve!" again nothing happened. Tsunomon turn his back and walked off into one of the other rooms within the faculty. "W-w-wait! I've almost got it I swear!" persisted Kazero running after him.


[System]
Age: 10
Appearance:
Faction: Omnibus Scientia

Personality/Backstory: Long story short, Alice is a genius. At the age of six, she was zooming through advanced calculus problems at a pace that made her father's college students quiver with insecurity. However, because of her high intelligence, she was always something of a loner - children her age were so stupid it was obnoxious, and adults never understood her idea of fun. As a result, Alice grew distant from others, viewed them as inferior. They treated her like the outcast she was, and soon, Alice learned that cruelty was the only way to protect herself from the ridicule of others. After the plague wiped out her entire family, Alice decided to make a change - she would project a kind, bubbly image to the world, to endear herself to others, for she could not survive on her own. Her ruse worked all too well; before long, the marriage of her feigned innocence and ruthless intellect had given birth to companions, and, with the help of a few well placed lies designed to revive the dashed hopes of the unsuspecting, Alice turned her companions into followers, and Omnibus Scientia was formed. And, oh, the fools kept joining and joining...

Other: Alice's greatest tool is her intellect. She is useless in a fight, and relies on her followers to defend her. However, Alice does have a talent for hiding herself, when she must. She is very paranoid about what she eats and drinks out of a fear of assassins. Nonetheless, on rare occasions, she may let down her guard if offered chocolate chip cookies.

[User]
"Well, I suppose bringing the internet back is impossible," said Drake. He chuckled. "So getting yuri doujins is probably out of the question." He started back towards the shop. "Life goes on, Abe. And as much as I miss the internet and Xbox Live, I'm glad in a way.

"Not that I approve of billions of people dying, but the government we had was screwed up. What was wrong was the people on the far right, and far left. Nobody got anything done. Just politicians with fat wallets and their thumbs up their asses, being elected by morons. Garbage in, garbage out."

[Assistant]
Abel laughed, and he trailed barely behind Drake as they walked to the shop. "I know. We have to keep going. Personally, I wasn't very attached to the way things were, either. I just try to salvage the good things that I can. And even then, I just want to feel close to someone again." That was only as close as Abel ever got to talking about depression. He was numb, hollow, and without purpose.

The blond put his hands back into his pockets as he and Drake stepped into the pawn shop. "Yeah." He accidentally stepped on the back of one of Drake's shoes. "Sorry." Abel went quiet after that, and he waited for something new to come up, to distract him from his thoughts.

[User]
Alice flinched as the madman before her started yelling. How dare he yell at her? He deserved to die several times over now, but... those samples might not be a bluff...

Without realizing it, Alice began chewing on her lip. She looked weak right now - she knew she did! But what was she supposed to do when her own life was being threatened? She didn't want to die... the guards weren't supposed to have allowed anything so suspect in...!

"Oracle," whispered a soft voice. Alice jumped a little, but turned to find Katie, a nineteen year old blonde girl who was among her loyalest, longest-standing servants. "It's not safe for you here - nor is it prudent to dispose of a medic. Please, retreat to safety and allow me to handle this. I will not fail you, I swear."

Safety? When was the last time Alice had really been safe in this messed up world? She was always putting herself in danger... it was ludicrous to expect one of her followers to be able to protect her from doing so! But, still...

An image flashed before her eyes; water surrounded her on all sides, and her arms flailed weakly, uselessly, as the last of her breath left her. Then, as if from nowhere, a woman's face - her mother's - emerged from the blue, and she wrapped her arms around Alice, pulling her...

Katie. She was like Mama.

"F-fine," said Alice, hopping to her feet. She allowed two armed guards to escort her toward quarters; there, she would be able to observe the scene from a safe distance. As she hurried through the door, she heard Katie ask, "Now, Charon, you have shown disrespect our Oracle, chosen by the Highest, and by extension, you have insulted us all. Do you have anything to say in your defense?"

[Assistant]
Charon stopped his rant and lowered his arms, his head tilted so slightly. When it was clear that he wasn't going to be immediatly shot, his awful visage of madness relaxed quite a bit. "Defense? Girl, You can't be serious. 10 year olds should be able to fool around and play, not be God-Queens of a cult. I tried to play by the rules and civility. Then I tried to offer both the opportunity to hone her mind even further, and even perhaps fool around in the last remnants of her already ruined childhood."

He folded his arms. "There was no harm intended. Haa, I tire of this rethoric." Charon took his glasses off and began cleaning them, sighing loudly. "Truth to be told I thought she was like my kid sister. Little cute loud 10 year old thing. And then she puked blood on me and died on my arms. The usual story." Charon's voice didn't waver the slightlest when saying it.

"Alongside three hundred odd patients which also died on my arms back then." He added his eyes glaring at Katie. "And 12 accidental infections, plus having to forcibly learn 5 years of medicine in just two because all the good doctors kept dying." He paused.

"Not only the doctors, but pretty much everyone. I had become, at age 19, the world's last adult, in theory. But I'm rambling aren't I? My bad." He then snapped his finger. "Chosen of the Highest, too! Might as well, cause otherwise I can't understand why my life has been a shitty hell of death and impotence." He put his glasses back on.

"So stop wasting my time. Kill me, evict me, or let me read those goddamn books." He finished snarling. "I don't like posturing nor self-entitlement."

[User]
Kin stopped crying. His grief hadn't passed yet, but its sting felt weaker than it did before, weak enough that Kin could try to start pulling himself together. He sat up leaning against the wall and opened his bloodshot eyes to the world. The light of the sunset burned his eyes, and he had to blink several times before his vision returned to him. He felt numb and tired, but mostly just tired. From the shouting, gunfire and fighting from the raid, and moving the bodies of his once-friends to the graveyard, Kim was drained.

While he had been crying, Kim had sat next to him, keeping him company. Kim wasn't the type of person to pressure him into talking, and Kin was thankful for that. He really couldn't summon the energy needed for a conversation, and besides that, her mere presence was kindness enough anyways.

It felt like he had been crying for an age, and yet the sun was still crossing the horizon. For a while, Kin sat there, motionless, staring at the sky watching it gradually change color from amber to red, his mind calming. The home of the Forgotten stood before him, engulfed in a bright orange light like a bonfire. Somewhere within were seven empty spaces where people used to be. In the back of his mind, he remembered that the Vikings used to place their dead on a burning boat.

Kin took a jagged breath, the fresh air displacing the clammy air inside his lungs. The dead were still in the front of his mind. Some time after the sun sets, he would stand up and walk back to his room. He would wash his face in the sink. He would get in bed, and lay there awake for God knows how long until exhaustion finally carted him away to a restless sleep. This happened every time they lost somebody. For now though, the sky was turning a dark rust color.

[Assistant]
Alphonsé Akiyama
The Forgotten Base of Operations

@MissCapnCrunch @Jangel13

---

As soon as the stench of dead human reached him, Rōnin froze in place. Warning sirens rang in his head, telling him to run as far as he could. His senses dulled, a tingling sensation waking in his mind. It was not the 22 year old "Wandering Priest" anymore. It was the fourteen year old 8th Street runaway, firing blindly into the hideout of a rival gang. Memories fired at him, flashes of blood and murder festering in the dark places of his brain. Frail, willow voices howled at him, emotions dropping and falling like a wave.

'You think you can run from me, fool? You thought wrong!' Alphonsé felt as he lost control of his body, feeling being lost everywhere. His rage grew as his Inner took control of his body. 'NO! YOU WILL NOT CONTROL ME TODAY NOR EVER AGAIN!' He bit back, his body twitching wildly as the two fought for control. Using his mental strength, he overpowered the voice in his head was beating it into the corners of his mind.

Rōnin strained to look back at the pawn shop and walked back. He was using this to show defiance against Inner, showing who was the boss of his body. The smell was getting more powerful as he walked further and as he reached the door, he thought about what he was doing. He has always been alone, his certain "tendencies" made sure of that fact. Maybe this was a change, the possibility of some sort of therapy around comrades. 'This won't work if you don't even get through the damn door!'

Alphonsé agreed and opened it, looking at the interior of the pawn shop. The man who carried the corpses and immediately recognised him. Fox was one of the stragglers he often came across and was one of the few people that knew his true name. He nodded in his direction before going up to the counter. He looked up at the shopkeeper's eyes and said, voice straining "How can I join The Forgotten?" The silence was deafening.

[User]
The Cyclops

Scope and Spy

---

Matted blood-red hair, one piercing green eye, and two steel-booted feet. The small figure watching from under a hat the slopped down her head, wasn't all that imposing. In fact she was passably ignorable. She counted at least five fresh graves among the Fallen Forgotten's quaint cemetery. It was almost funny. The world crumbles and what do people do? They just make it worse. If there was a God, then this was one sick and twisted way of destroying his little mortal toys.

Nah. There was no such thing as the Christian God. To say there was bordered between delusional and complete insanity. But whatever helped those kids sleep at night, Cy thought. A tall figure, dressed in what she considered pretty odd attire, caught her attention. The short nineteen year old frowned in distain. Looked like someone older than her. Great. Well, if they thought that made them better than anyone else, she'd give them a nice punch in the gut, no charge.

Cy still wore the patch of the Gamers on the sleeve of her jacket, realizing that it kept most people off her tail, so as long as they weren't Scorp Scum. The territory battles between the Gamers and the Scorps were getting worse by the day, and she didn't need to get involved in any of that. She already had more than a few people breathing down her neck.

Tailing the tall samurai-looking guy, she kept her distance, but watched intently. What made Creepy McSlinker over there sudden turn tail and dart back to the pawn shop. Nothing against the Forgotten or whatever, but they weren't exactly the most respected gang around. In fact they were more like a big version of one of the pathetic groups that organized to keep their hearts beating. Okay, that was a bit harsh. Everyone deserved a chance at life. But then again, tell that to the quickly decaying world.

Peering through her treasured binoculars, Cy frowned again. The ex-Cyote was in there too? Well, well, maybe she had underestimated the Forgotten. They got Mister Tall McSlinker and a rouge Cyote inside their walls, they were a bit stronger than the last time she had come around to gather info. What, were they hiding an O.S. doctor in there too? Smirking, she put away her binoculars and started her own approach to the pawn shop, booted feet trudging forwards in a mockingly languid saunter.

[Assistant]
Alice slammed the door of her room shut, locking it behind her before turning on the monitor at her short desk. The video feed loaded just in time for her to hear that stupid Charon compare her to his little sister. She folded her arms angrily. She was nothing like that dumb girl must have been - she had lived, after all!

Katie, who was standing next to Alice's now vacant seat, responded calmly to the medic's criticisms.

"Regardless of your feelings about the Oracle, she was sent to us by the Highest. Yes, she is a girl in stature, but most of the living would be considered children by old world standards. The Oracle founded an organization of hundreds, one that is doing its utmost to find a cure for the virus. That's more than you can say for yourself."

Alice nodded, though she didn't expect an idiot like Charon to understand Katie's reasoning. He was blinded, and would probably just continue to judge her by age alone.

"Now," said Katie, "I would prefer not to have to kill you, so I will give you two options. You can either die now, or you can read your books and join us in our cause. If it's your intention to abandon the noble cause of this world's redemption, then there's little point in leaving you alive."

Alice frowned, amusement battling annoyance. This dumb doctor really did deserve to die, but she couldn't deny the value in holding the services of a medic for however many months he had left. Of course, the point was hardly to redeem the world - the Highest was just something she made up to convince people to obey her. No, Charon's purpose would be to preserve the lives of her silly followers for as long as possible. After all, without them, she would be just as vulnerable as Charon's dead sister. She needed them!


[System]
Frost

"Why don't you take a chill pill?"

Vitals
Age: 29

Sex: Male

Date of birth: 22nd May, 1986

Lineage: -

Class/Major: Rogue

Class/Minor: Mage

Occupation: Detective

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Marital Status: Widower

Birthplace: New York, New York

Blood Type: B+

Eye Color: Blue

Height: 6'

Weight: 177 lbs

Hair Color/Style: Snow white, waist length hair tied into a long, thin ponytail.

General Appearance: Anthropomorphic wolf. Normally wears a thick hoodie over a shirt, a grey square cap on his head, jeans and sneakers. His hands are usually adorned with a pair of plain black fingerless gloves.

Skin Tone/Condition: Normal grey wolf fur colours.

Markings: Two sky blue arrows that start on his cheeks, pointing towards his eyes. The other ends of the arrows travels as stripes down his neck, shoulders and onto his arms, where they end as arrows again on the tops of his hands. These markings glow a pale blue.

Combat Stats

Dominant Hand: Right

Equipment:

-Upper Body: Nil

-Lower Body: Nil

Weapons
* Black Blade - A standard length katana with a wholly black blade, the sword is Daniel's power focus. He can channel his ice energy into it to make it flash freeze anything he hits, and it is also bound to him; he can summon it anywhere he chooses to. Its blade is razor sharp, able to cut through most sturdy materials like wood or stone with ease, metal less so because of its strength against a cutting force, but with a substantial effort, yes he can cut blades with his sword.
* Eagles - Two IMI Desert Eagle pistols with engraved grips. These pistols, born from magical energy, do not run out of ammunition, instead shooting bullets of compressed magic. In turn, Daniel can channel his ice into the guns to make them shoot ice bullets that freeze their targets solid.

Abilities
* Super Speed
* Enhanced Strength
* Enhanced Reflexes
* Heightened Senses

Magic
* Ice Elemental - Daniel, once flesh and bone, is now a being wholly made of ice. His intensive training with the element has made him so in tune with it that he has become one with the cold. As such, basic physical attacks to his body cannot harm him, as he will simply refreeze any injuries he suffers. He is also highly skilled in the use of ice magicks. Magical attacks, however, will cut past the ice that once was his flesh and injure his inner being, making him bleed in that sense.
* Mark of the Rogue - Representing the Rogue, Daniel is able to travel at speeds faster than the naked eye can follow, along with being able to easily navigate terrain, staying out of sight and being a very fast attacker. All this emphasis on speed does reduce his ability to hit harder than he's normally able to.

Bio

Voice: Deep, raspy, compelling.

Personality: Cool and collected, cunning and lethal, Daniel makes it a point to let everyone know that he means business and that if you cross him, bad things will happen to you. That being said, he treats his friends with the utmost care and concern; if you are on his good side, you are a best friend to him. Acquaintances that have likewise earned his trust and respect are people whom he will also treat very well.

Backstory: Born in New York City, Daniel Anderson took into his father's footsteps by enrolling in the NYPD and becoming an officer. With hard work and determination, he took up his late dad's desk as a detective and began a long, hard career in the service.

Near his fifth year in the office he was taken over by a powerful celestial force known as the Protectorate, and was transformed into a Protector; a powerful demigod whose sole purpose was to ensure the safety of the world. He trained with the best and made many friends around the world, demigods one and all. Together he and his Guardians went on many an adventure, with the safety of the planet often hanging in the balance.

After several decades, Earth began to decay. Society collapsed, the environment ran rampant and turned the world into a wasteland. Still he persevered, though the more years he spent on the earth, the more of his Guardians fell to the ravages of time, age and injury. It was then that he realised that the world didn't need him any more; it was dying, and soon it would be time for the demigod, now nearly a full god in terms of power, to leave for greener pastures. One of the remaining Guardians suggested that he venture into the multiverse; a plane where worlds and universes collided, an interdimensional highway, so to speak. An endless amount of possibilities lay within, and the promise of more power. So he went, leaving the ailing Earth to the care of the remaining Guardians, and entered the multiverse as a wanderer.

Now Daniel is no longer a god. He considers himself more of an elemental than anything else. His wanderings have brought him far and wide, though recognition is sparse. A run-in with a Dreamer ages ago was the closest he'd been to making a friend in the multiverse.

[User]
"Nope. Not in the slightest. Honest. But...I was looking for a rematch. After all that chaos happened I kinda lost you back there, in the Nexus. Our match did end by time limit, by the by, and I thought a time limit was too short for our little duel."

Daniel shrugged and took a drag from his cigarette.

"Look pal, honestly I don't give a shit whether you believe me or not. I did just stumble on this world while trying to find you for a rematch. So...yeah. Take that as you will. I'm just here to get my rematch, then I'll be out of your hair."

The wolf man stood firm. As much as he was being sincere, it was still a half truth. The mage's scent across the cosmos wasn't that hard to track and his presence here was no mere coincidence, but trying to navigate to a single world in a sea of billions was like trying to find a needle in the ocean floor. Very, very difficult.

[Assistant]
Dry laughter escaped his lips as the evening wind gusted around him, delivering that world weary intonation to whatever served as the Wolf's ears, the laughter of the slightly unhinged, but of one who is all too aware of that fact. It was not a bubbling cackle, not like that which spouted forth when he imbibed the dark stuff, oh no. The cause for such merriment? The oddity of the Wolf's purpose, nothing less.

"So you wish to fight me now?" His hand almost shifted onto the handle of his pistol, gripping tight. If he did that, it would be a fight to the death if he was not mistaken. He resisted temptation and paused, tilting his head quizzically as he thought the words over.

"Of course, I gather from what you said that you're not interested in my life, but an honest fight between two respected adversaries, a conflict between two old foes if you will?" He paused to think about it for a moment, every logical part of his body was screaming at him to turn, or to shoot, not to engage in a bout of magical fisticuffs with a creature he honestly believed to be his superior in power. His logical side was overruled, the Wolf had come a long way, give him his fight. Most damage could be repaired so long as he had mana anyway. First though, an opening gambit to adjust the scales in his favour.

"If you wish for a respectable fight, I would suggest we lay aside our weapons." He grinned that nasty grin of his, feral almost, his overly long canines on display. With a shrug, he unclipped his pistol belt and unsheathed his knife, holding them to either side with peaceful intent. Of course, should Daniel refuse to disarm he could always re-equip the weapons, but he'd also go into battle with the moral high ground if that were the case. That used to mean something once.

[User]
"Y'know I'm all for respectable, but the last time we dueled we had our weapons. But I'll go with it just this once."

Daniel found it more than a little suspicious that lean, mean Metz was offering to lay down his arms for a fist fight. He knew the vials of mana on the mage's belt were his lifeline. And last time, he'd fared comparably well with them.

But the black one... He wasn't so sure. But he'd test his limits one way or another.

He held out his hands and summoned his weapons. The ebony black blade and the shiny chrome pistol materialised in his hands with a burst of ice. The wolf held out the weapons and gestured towards the fountain.

"You count down from three, and we'll both throw our weapons into the fountain. Okay? I'm going to trust you on this one."

[Assistant]
Metz was very nearly taken aback when the Wolf agreed, but there you go, guess some people did bother with honour. Suited him just fine anyway, his shoddy pistol and knife were no match for the weapons Daniel could apparently summon out of thin air. He took a few steps back and leftward, slowly circling around the fountain that had been behind him, weapons outstretched.

"Sure, sure."

"Three, two, one." He chucked his weapons nonchalantly into the fountain, listening to them clatter down on dry stonework. Good riddance, the things wouldn't be doing him any favours against the elemental anyway. They had served him better than they would in battle by hopefully forcing Daniel to discard his own tools. Of course, he could always be tricking Metz. But he had come a long way for this fight. Was he going to cheapen his potential victory by defeating Metz while he was disadvantaged?

Had this been a fight to the death for real stakes Metz would have done just the same to Daniel in a fucking heartbeat. But that was neither here nor there. They were just two people trying to discern who was the best, or something like that. Honestly, Metz was pretty sure he was just clinging to any excuse to be powerful again, to waste his precious supply of mana in such a fight was foolish at best but addiction was a powerful motivator, and the Manaless mage was in every sense an addict. Addicted to mana, addicted to power, there were worse things to crave, but not many.

"Alright then, I'm sure you remember what happens next." Metz quipped, sweeping a blue vial off his belt and flipping off the lid. "Bottoms up!"

[User]
At the one, Daniel tossed his pistol and sword into the fountain. They clattered onto the broken marble and stone, next to Metz's kit.

As the mage took a swig from his blue mana vial, Daniel frowned. Yup, he remembered that. But to attack now would be the coward's thing to do. So he prepared himself the same way he'd done at the Nexus. He stretched out his arms, arching his back slightly, as ice grew and froze over his entire body. Then, as he finished stretching, he shook the accumulated ice off his body like an actual dog would.

The ice magic within the elemental's body swirled and flowed like blood. As he slid into a simple fighting stance, fists up and feet spread, he smirked.

"And I'm sure you remembered that."

[Assistant]
"Oh yes, I remember you are an ice elemental of sorts. You have far more sentience than those I'm familiar with though." The Mage referred to the summoning of ice elementals as servants, an ability said to be favoured by the Torm of yore. Summoning in general fell out of fashion almost thirty years ago, but Metz had seen one of the last summoners create something not unlike Daniel once. It was very nearly a living being, made entirely of an element. If Metz had not chosen to take the path he had in regards to his pillars he might very well have gone down that route instead. Still, he was getting off track.

"Still, we're not here to chat about magic are we?" Metz' grin was feral. "We're here to use it!"

Metz strafed left away from the fountain to give himself more space, his left hand held low while his right was held palm out before him as a ward. He obviously favoured a different style to Daniel, keeping his right side forward and his left hand out of reach and partially out of sight must have been a by-product of Mage combat. Most Torm spell casters used their offhand to weave the patterns of magic, it was usually a bad idea to give your enemy too good a look at that process.

After clearing about five feet from the fountain he started to move forward. They were about twenty feet apart when he started to approach, it would only take him a couple seconds to walk within six feet, just enough time to begin weaving a spell Daniel had not yet seen. A spell named Spellbreaker, as it happened.

[User]
The wolf watched Metz as he strafed away from him, and responded by doing the same. He ran backwards, coating his arms and heels in ice as he skated away from the mage. Obviously to keep his distance. He knew what the combat mage could do with his bare hands, and he didn't want to be on the receiving end of another faceful of fire.

As they separated, Daniel grew two shards of ice in his hands and flung them outwards. Not intending to hit the mage at all, the shards instead landed on the other side of the fountain as he skated around it. The shards embedded themselves in the stone floor, and ice slowly began to spread, frost expanding from the two shards as he rounded the fountain.

The broken fountain was now between him and the mage.

Daniel stopped skating and dropped one more ice shard down at his feet, the ice magic buried in it slowly spreading to the ground around him.

He smirked to himself.

But then he focused on the task at hand: how to defeat this mage. He would've surely learned new tricks in between their first bout and now.

Daniel started skating to his left, back around the other side of the fountain. The mage was walking towards him now, and he could sense the magic building in the air as the caster wove a spell. In return he wove a few smaller shards of ice, akin to shrapnel, and flung them at the mage to get a response. His throw speed wasn't that fast, but it would be fast enough to catch the combat mage and give him a few cuts if he wasn't careful.


[System]
Gale has a red ribbon wrapped around the base of his left ear.

"You're still out there, right Breeze...?"

---

Species:
Minun

Sex:
♂

Age:
Adolescent

Ability:
Minus

Moves:
Quick Attack
Growl
Tearful Look

Guild Rank:
Recruit

Equipment:
Gale carries around a scrapbook, filled with memories of him and Breeze. The pages are filled with little glued-in trinkets, doodles, and even a picture of the two of them with their adoptive parent, Hurricane.

Personality:
Far meeker than his twin sister, Breeze. Gale isn't short on courage, but he does lack a certain decisiveness. He tends to waffle and mull things over before jumping into action, which can make him come across as a bit of a coward. Gale's also a bit one-track minded, hyper-focused on whatever goal he does eventually settle on. Still, this doesn't mean Gale is completely alien to the world around him- he's a pretty good listener, all things considered, and very determined. If push came to shove, Gale pushes.

Bio:
'Gale' and 'Breeze'- an odd pair of names for a Minun and a Plusle. If they'd ever known their real parents, maybe they'd have wound up with different names. As it stands, though, the one who raised and cared for the two of them was their adoptive father, a Staraptor named Hurricane. Hurricane is a veteran of the Oblivion war, sure, but hardly enough to be called a legendary hero. No, he ended up retiring before the war had even ended, retiring after making a snap judgment to bring back two abandoned pokemon eggs to his home.

One hatched first- a girl, and a Plusle, given the name 'Breeze'. Even when she was very very young, not knowing what she was doing, Breeze would spend a lot of time near the other egg. Not long after it, too, hatched. That egg turned out to be a boy this time, the Minun that'd be called Gale. Gale and Breeze would be inseparable, doing anything and everything together, much to the dismay of their adoptive father. He wanted to teach them independence, to have each be on their own two feet. His pride, and his being a different species, made him not understand the siblings' magnetic attitude towards each-other.

Still, for a while, they didn't live a bad life, the three of them. Hurricane clearly cared for his children, adopted they may be. Thinking it was best for them, he decided to split the pair up. He made Breeze go out into the world when she was old enough to take care of herself and forced Gale to stay behind. To comfort Gale, Breeze left him their scrapbook, as well as tying a ribbon around his ear. Breeze had both a red and a blue one, so she'd take the blue one. This way, both of them had something as a reminder of the other.

Hurricane took care of Gale on his own for a little bit longer, until Gale got fed up and set out on his own as well. He wanted to find Breeze again, not be separated like they were, and so began an adventure to find her. A solitary, rough journey across a slowly healing world. He didn't have much money, or many personal belongings, but he made do, somehow. Taking an odd job here, doing a favor there. The wanderer's life wasn't much sustainable in a land as broken as this one, though. That, and no matter who he asked, nobody seemed to have a clue on who or where Breeze was. At some point, after having taken on a job, Gale heard about these "Rescue teams" being a thing. Pokemon who form teams to aid those in need, travelling all around the world to do so. Given that he needed both a steady line of work and some manner to search for his sister, Gale figured it might be something for him. So he sauntered off to Mandalay, the place he heard had the organisation's guild hall, to apply and become part of one such rescue team.

Secret:
?

[User]
Gale continued to chow down on his food. Each time both Fio and Ting took their eyes off him for a moment, he'd grabbed something else to snack on. Currently having his mouth stuffed with one of the ever-shrinking supply of omelettes, the Minun got to thinking. "Hm..." he hummed to himself as the question of their first job hung over the impromptu party's head. Making sure to swallow before speaking up this time, Gale said: "I don't think we'll be sent after a scary Pokemon yet... maybe we'll do something small like look for someone's lost item?"

Gale put his paw to his chin again. "Then again... but maybe..." he started to mutter to himself, wandering off from the table for a bit. He looked really deep in thought. You'd think the Minun was considering the question seriously, but in reality, it quickly became apparent he'd just wandered off towards the pastry table to grab a few confections. Not missing a beat after returning to the now-extinct-omelette table, Gale sat down to take a bite out of a tart. "...Mhm. Delicious," he said with an approving nod.

The minun then looked up at the other two. "I think we might get the same job. Maybe it'll be like a competition."

[Assistant]
Songstream Hall, Mess Hall --> Songstream Hall, Kick's Office

---

As Ting munched on his bits of toast and omelet, he began to consider what the other two said about what their first mission would be. While Ting certainly hoped it would be something easy, given the state of the world, it likely wouldn't be that easy. Granted, this small piece of the world seemed... less affected than the rest. What was the reason for that? Was this place able to recover quicker somehow? Or did the destruction here have less of an impact? He'd store those questions for later, as he responded to his other two guildmates.

"Well, I don't exactly think we'll be beating up any baddies. We're just starting out after all. And even if we did, it would likely just be some small-time crook who would probably give up without much of a fight if they found out the guild was on their tail. As for bags, well... I don't know about that either." Ting at this point had finally finished his food, and had felt quite full. He hadn't eaten like that in quite some time. It felt nice to finally have a full belly.

"A lost item definitely sounds more like something for first timers. I just hope it doesn't require us trekking all the way to somewhere like Starfall Bay. Even by cart that would probably take a few days, maybe even a week if things don't go well." Then the idea of them all having the same job hit. Did Kick say "mission" or "missions"? A competition would be a pretty weird way to start things off. But then again it might help to see just who is capable of what. "You know, we never really did get told how party composition works here. Given that there's so few of us, solo missions seem like it would get more done, but that would also be extremely risky. Maybe Kick will tell us more? You guys finish up, I'll go wait by his office."

Ting gave a short nod, and hopped down from his seat and sauntered down the hallways, until he was back in the main hall, standing in front of the entrance to Kick's Office. The door was slightly opened, and he could see a few details inside. Kick was in there, looking over a few papers at a desk. It seemed pretty cluttered from what he could see, but from such a low angle he couldn't tell for sure. Once his other two guildmates showed up, he knocked on the door, and opened it the rest of the way, stepping inside. "Well, here we go..."

Upon stepping into the office proper, he could finally see the rest of the circular room. It seemed... kind of messy. Papers were strewn about haphazardly, along with various bags, trinkets, fabrics and boxes. A few more posters like the ones in main hall were strung up here as well, though these were smaller, and were framed. A banner was also adorned on the wall, with various colored strips of metal in a case underneath it. The banner had gold edges, a purple background color, with the center emblazoned with a large golden star with a light blue circle around it, connecting the points of the star. Was that the emblem of the guild? If so, why wasn't it anywhere else?

Kick's head turned towards the door. "Ah, my new recruits! Come in, come in. Forgive the mess, it's been a wild week." He stood up from the chair he was sitting at and stood to meet the Ting and the others. Not being up on stage made him significantly less intimidating, but the size difference still gave Ting a bit of hesitation to move forward. Still, he pushed through his minor fear and walked over to Kick.

"So, I trust you all have had a good morning thus far? Anyways, let's get down to business, eh? It's time for your first mission. I'm sure you'd all like to go on some grand adventure to rescue someone from the clutches of evil, but uh..." He looked down endearingly at the three young adventurers, before he continued speaking. "Well, before I can really send you out to do any of that in good conscience, you'll need to be a bit more experienced, and perhaps a bit more uh, 'learned' as it were." Kick let out a sigh and put his hands on his hips, it looked like he was trying to find the right words to say.

"Look, long story short, when you go out there, you're not just going out there as yourselves, but you're also going out there as representatives of both the guild and myself. You have to learn to carry yourselves a certain way in a few instances, that way people will take both you and the guild seriously. As you complete missions, I'm sure that you'll learn this through exposure, and you can even watch how a few of our more experienced members present themselves in these situations, Astram or Pandora might be a good place to start. But enough about that, it's time for your first mission." Kicked waved his hand, as to dismiss the earlier conversation, and to start a new one.

"About half a day's travel south of Mandalay, or uh..."  He leaned a little closer the trio of small pokemon. "...Maybe closer to a day with those little legs of yours. Anyways, there's a farm there called the Azure Orchards. They grow a lot of food there, and are one of many farms that provide the city with food, and in return, we provide them with protection. We've recently gotten reports from some of the merchants that their supplies have been coming up short, and the farmers have reported a series a thefts from the farm as well. Your mission will be to go to the Azure Orchards, and see if you can find any clues that may have been left behind, or see if you can establish any patters, such as what is being targeted, or why."

Kick cleared his throat before taking a couple of steps over to a bag on a nearby chair and began rifling through it. "Normally this would be something we could send out someone solo for, but given your inexperience and whatnot, I think it would be safer to send all three of you. Safety in numbers, and all that. Plus, heavens forbid you actually run into our thief or thieves, you stand a much better chance against them. Not to mention the farmers would probably be willing to lend a hand or two just out of revenge." He finished fishing through the bag and pulled out a trio of wooden medallions on red ribbons, each carved with the letter "R" on the front, and on the back, seemed to have some text, stating that they were official recruits of Kick's Guild. He handed one out to each of the three pokemon before him.

"These are your recruit rank badges. Once you complete your first mission, I'll swap these out for the bronze ones. These show that you're officially part of my guild, so don't lose them. I'd advise you get prepared in whatever way you see fit, whether that's getting supplies from Cloud Street, or getting your fortune read by Pandora, our resident seer, if you're into that. She should still be here, likely downstairs in the barracks doing someting with that crystal ball of hers. Otherwise, do you have any questions?"

---

 Interacting with/Mentioning: @Ammokkx(Gale), @The Irish Tree(Fio)

[User]
Ting left the table, shrinking the part down to two. Still munching on a pastry, Gale somewhat lazily watched the Aron waddle off. "Fyo," he addressed the Fomantis before swallowing, "Is that fruit juice any good?"

Gale's food-addled brain aside, it took surprisingly little time for him to finish the rest of his breakfast and join Ting in waiting at Kick's office. Before the Aron ever opened the door, Gale withdrew back into the recesses of his mind. He was still mulling over what their mission could look like, even far after the conversation had died down. Investigating something? Helping someone sort their storage? Looking for stray coins of poké on the floor? Maybe not that last one, but one thing's for sure: Before he knew it, both Fio and Ting had already stepped inside the office while Gale was left there, blinking. He quickly hurried inside to join them, listening in carefully to Kick's explanation.

The party was to make their way due south to a nearby orchard, anywhere from half a day to a day's walk. Find out why the stock's coming up short and report back. Sounded simple enough, even if it's not exactly any kind of handiwork gale had done before. Usually he'd had to help harvest the orchard, not go ghost hunting. Come to think of it, didn't he pass that place on his way to Mandalay...? He remembers seeing something of the sort, but couldn't recall how far off from the city it actually was. Or the direction. Gale might have been slightly bad at keeping track of both those things. Either way, first he had to-

-snap back to reality, given that Kick just shoved a small little badge in his paws. Wooden, carved with an R and with a ribbon that matched the one around his ear. Proof the three of them are a part of the guild, and all that. Kick gave the party some suggestions on what to do, asked if they had any questions and left the three of them to it. Gale didn't have anything he needed Kick to answer, so he waited until the other two were finished and thanked Kick for his time.

Once back outside the office, Gale put his paw to his chin and seemingly took initiative for a change, speaking up with: "If we're going to be travelling for a day, we might want to pick up some food for the road. But I'm also pretty curious about that fortune-telling?"

His words made it pretty evident that Gale actually didn't actually have any plans to take decisive action. "Maybe we should split up and do both? We can have our fortune read and go shopping, then meet up in town. What do you two think?"


[System]
Age: 18

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Weapon:
Two metal tonfas, Artorius and Gwenhwyfar (formerly Lawnslot). Both are identical, visually, save perhaps a few differences in internal mechanism. In the traditionally held position, the longest part of the body aligning along the forearm, the forward facing post is actually a shotgun barrel; though standard shells are the usual ammunition, dust rounds can be loaded instead. The storage area expands along the spine of the weapon. The recoil is often used for propulsion when useful. The primary length of each tonfa actually has a blade running along it, resembling one half of a sword, to be specific.

This is because both weapons are capable of combining into a large, long sword; Caledfwlch. The two weapons reconfigure in such a way as to create a long, straight two-handed sword with a straight crossguard. The shotgun barrels are reoriented as the crossguard, one pointing to the left and the other to the right, used to enhance the power behind his swings.

Artorius and Gwenhwyfar both have one other unique attribute; high capacity batteries built into their frame. Each battery continuously siphons a supply of Aura from Benjamin, building the energy up so long as they are, in some way, upon his person. This energy can be released with a button built in below the shotguns' triggers, on the handle of the combined blade, or on the handle of the smaller tonfas. The release of this energy usually is used to power his Semblance, and must be replenished over time when discharged.

Joyous Guard
Expansion Calibrated for Ultimate Resistance
B. Lloyd #8 of 7

An expansion device manufactured to work in conjunction with Artorius and Gwenhwyfar. In its default form the Joyous Guard is a tower shield, large and incredibly heavy. Two racks are integrated into its back side for holding the two tonfa when not in use. It can be held in hand, affixed to the forearm (vertically or horizontally) or stored on Benjamin's back. The top and bottom sides taper off into wedges, enabling it to be used as an offensive bludgeoning weapon when affixed horizontally to the forearm. Its connection to the forearm is carefully designed to ensure that both tonfa are compatible in use when the shield is in play, though Joyous Guard is primarily intended for use with Caletfwlch. The shield is manufactured from dense, durable metals, making it even heavier than it looks. For this reason Gravity Dust was used in its construction, making it nearly weightless in Ben's hand. Notably, however, it is Aura-coded to Ben's Aura; in the hands of anyone not on its whitelist, the Gravity Dust reverses and makes it too heavy to be lifted.

Joyous Guard's secondary configuration requires the use of Artorius and Gwenhwyfar. The shield unfolds, incorporating the transformation mechanisms in both tonfa to provide the necessary components for the configuration. Namely they provide part of the edges and part of the hilt of the immense two-handed sword Joyous Guard becomes. The effects of the Dust carry over in this form, ensuring that Ben can swing it almost as easily as he would Caletfwlch. In fact, due to the nature of F=ma, a swing from it will be many times as devastating with a fraction of the effort. Like Caleftwlch, the shotgun barrels incorporated into the hilt aid in granting increased force to its swings.

Finally, in a tertiary configuration, Joyous Guard can convert while affixed to Ben's forearm by splitting down the middle and orienting the magnetic racks used to hold Artorius and Lawnslot along the two horizontal halves. The Lightning Dust used to generate that magnetic field, in this form, cranks into overdrive to turn the shield into a forearm mounted electromagnetic cannon. Slow-firing, but incredibly potent in its offensive power. Artorius and Lawnslot are absolutely necessary for this configuration, as they provide the additional structural stability needed to let Joyous Guard withstand the considerable forces exerted. As a bonus, however, this makes their shotgun barrels useful in this configuration.
Specialty: Benjamin is a highly adaptable fighter. He lacks dedicated defensive capabilities, but his weapons serve very well as augmentation to forearm blocks. The lightweight nature of his weapons, however, also means that he is a highly agile fighter. His preference is to move as quickly as possible, landing strikes when opportunities present themselves and evading blows (blocking if absolutely unavoidable).

Use of both his Semblance and Caledfwlch is exceedingly rare, to the point that they have not yet been used during his career at Beacon. Both are abilities and options he keeps to himself, aces up the sleeve. Ultimately, his style permits him to act as the situation demands, though the drawback to the continuous siphoning of his Aura, as well as his lack of any dedicated defensive tools, is that his personal defenses are noticeably lower than others'.

Semblance: Deinamig: Benjamin is capable of using Aura to fuel an individual section of his body to well beyond its usual limits. Fueling his legs, for example, will drastically increase both speed and power of his legs, and fueling his arms will do much the same. This can, theoretically, be applied to any section of his body. The Aura for this is usually provided by the resevoirs built up within his weapons, but that supply is not infinite. If a situation arises where he is unable to tap into it (or it runs out) he can directly fuel his Semblance with his present Aura.

Personality: Benjamin is a friendly guy. He also, at first glance through his performance in school, nothing to write home about. Average or slightly above in all his classes, with the only oddities appearing once one takes a closer look. His homework assignments represent minimal effort, while all examination scores actually place him near the top of the grading scale. Between the two, depending on how the class is run, they average out to roughly average grades. In short, Benjamin doesn't bother to do his homework until the last minute, if at all. He conforms to a decidedly nonstandard view of what is important, and what is not. Things he views as "busy work", such as most homework assignments, are treated with at best casual disregard, while things he views as important (tests, examinations, practice, getting to know people) works at. His strange views actually are rooted in a single opinion; if it isn't something he needs to do in order to do well in his life, it doesn't really matter. People skills will be important, combat skills will be important, all of the knowledge he amasses will be important. So he takes his tests and exams seriously, but at the end of the day… Who's going to care, once he leaves Beacon, whether or not his did his vocabulary flash cards?

This practical viewpoint extends to many aspects of his life, but he will always make an effort to get to know people. His wit might be a little sarcastic at times, but anyone who he views as a friend will find that few will go to greater lengths for their friends. Aside from his practicality, which more than a few teachers might instead term "laziness", Ben has one other notable quirk. He seldom fights at full capacity. He believes it is always best to have an ace or two tucked away up the sleeve, so that if a situation ever arises where he simply can't handle it, or needs just a little more power… He has something to draw on.

Color: Steel Gray

Emblem: A single inverted sword set behind a shield emblazoned with a crown device.

Appearance: Benjamin is a few inches short of six feet, making about average height for his gender. He has an athletic build, obviously necessary given his school, but he isn't overly muscular.The fighting style he prefers requires nimble movements, mandating that he maintain both a reasonable muscle mass as well as his agility. A faint grin is his default expression, blue-gray eyes bright with life under slightly messy light brown hair. He wears the Beacon school uniform completely unmodified, though it isn't at all uncommon to see him take the coat off and carry it around. When not attending class (and thus not required to wear his uniform), he tends to default to jeans paired with a black or gray long sleeved shirt. Light but durable boots are his footwear of choice, as his usual field attire simply adds some lightweight gray armor over his torso, and perhaps greaves to his shins. Artorius and Lawsnlot are carried at his belt, one on either side.

[User]
Luke Schwarz-- Hallway Navigation.

"Math next, huh..." the raven-haired teen mumbled to himself under his breath, shaking and stretching ought the light soreness that was the paltry remainder of his injuries sustained beforehand.

Well, that worked for him. Strangely enough, Math was typically the one subject he'd always reliably kept up in-- no top scorer in the class, of course, but he held his own far more respectably than, say, that one ill-advised year of computer science.

He shuddered at the mere thought of that hellhole. Impossible to focus on and impossible to comprehend without the entirety of his focus from start-to-finish:

A catch-22 straight from the maw of Loki himself!

Slinging his bookbag over his shoulder in that typically highschoolerish, nonchalant-looking way, Luke shook the demons free from his head and filed out with the rest of the class, freely partaking in idle chatter as any of the others came up with it.

Such was his way, as we all knew by now.

[Assistant]
Gratia Mindaro - Hallway Navigation

A green-grey satchel slung across her body, her black jacket and checkerboard-grey skirt tidied up for a new semester, concentration utterly focused on a simple white booklet in her hands rather than the hallway around her, Gratia Mindaro appeared to be no less than another diligent student, familiarising herself with the mathematics curriculum one last time before she jumped in classes proper. The fact was, of course, that she had not actually found the time to read up on the semester's work until right after combat class, when she needed to distract herself from the irksome outcome of her spar. The frantic rush of arriving in a new country had been quite overwhelming as well.

Rates of change, differentiation of polynomials, integration ... so it appears there will be a focus on calculus.

That was not particularly worrying. She had touched upon the study during her time at Haven, and it was not something that she had experienced struggle with; in fact, the situation was quite the opposite - the Mistralese huntress had taken to the subject quite well. Not that it was surprising. She was superior in all aspects. That was a fact.

Gratia skillfully weaved herself around a student she would have walked into, eyes still scanning the booklet in her hands even as she stepped around the crowds moving to class. The incessant and annoying chatter of the youths were of absolutely no importance to her. There was no point in listening to what she cared nothing about, and the presence of her headphones around her head, quiet music flowing through the cans, was emblematic of her complete apathy for the unwashed, inferior masses.

She snapped the booklet shut, dropping into her satchel with a smooth motion. That was all she needed for now. Nothing more, nothing less.

[User]
Luke Schwarz-- Hall Observation

Hm?

A familiar curtain of long, straight black hair brushed past him, the slightly taller Mistralese Huntress's longer strides eating up ground more quickly than his own.

Ah. Miss Gratia.

The astute observation was very nearly followed by a tap on the shoulder to grab her attention and offer congratulations for her victory over his teammate, but the fistic hunter-to-be thought against it, for a multitude of reasons, upon further observation. She was obviously preoccupied, what with the course guidebook in her hands being voraciously devoured by her mind one last time, and the headphones wrapped around her ears, filling her immediate world with just herself and her music as opposed to a hall full of people trying to talk...

Saving the odd metaphors for English Class a few periods away, he also reminded himself that she was quite clearly--and quite understandably--annoyed with the outcome of her match against Cian. Bringing that up again and yanking her out of her own brief period of time before the next class to do it?

Poor form. Definitely poor form.

I don't want to have a hole stared through me again!

And so, he allowed the outstretched hand to drop back into his pocket, keeping on pace as normal.

It was all a matter of timing, and now wasn't the time.

[Assistant]
Emerald Felicia - Hallway Navigation -

Emerald had been resting in the stands, watching any last matches as it was announced that it was time to move onto the next period. Emerald seemed to become visibly depressed when she saw the words 'Math'. What did a huntress need math for anyway? To count how many grimm they killed? She thought it was dumb.

Still, she made her way there, though more slowly and with far less enthusiasm as she had for combat class. She decided to think about something else, like the duel she was going to have with Krysthane after classes. It would be glorious, she just knew it.

With the impending doom of math class forgotten, she became more upbeat as she skipped and dodged passed various students as she made her way down the halls. She noticed that she was quickly approaching the Luke guy who had fought against Shiro in combat class, and that Gratia was a bit further ahead...though Emmy didn't really want to get too close to Gratia she was kind of scary.

Luke though...she didn't really know much about him, other that what she'd seen when he and Shiro dueled. So she caught up to him, matched his pace and sort of just stared at him with big, curious eyes.

[User]
Sangue - Hallway

Though Sangue had lost, she was glad that she did not lose within thirty seconds of the battle. Fighting without complicated surroundings was something she definitely needed to improve upon, as she will not always have something to confuse her opponents with.

She had to wonder, however, whether "Emmy" would do something drastic to her when she enforced some sort of friendship upon her.

The Huntress quietly entered the hallway and shifted amongst others, using the people around her as a guide toward her Math class.

[Assistant]
Ben really, really didn't want to move. His body hurt, and he'd only gotten the trickle of blood wiped off his face a few moments before. But given the fact that he wasn't technically incapable of going on to his next class, he was going to have to. BASL's leader pulled himself to his feet and grabbed his bag, stepping out into the hall after Goodwitch's closing words. He spotted Sangue, not far away, and followed after her. He was pretty sure Lauren wasn't far behind him, but he hadn't seen Amy for a while.

The fight had been great, though. Even if it did hurt like hell afterwards. Calculus probably wasn't going to be anywhere near as interesting.