Kenny quickly looked in the direction Chen was looking and hands down agreed with him. "Judging from that it had to be some sort of summoning spell." He said looking at the vines form a hand to cup the small girl. Kenny looked at Chen. "We definitely have to interrogate her later...she could probably help me with my summoning skills." Kenny said keeping that in mind for later. "Cya around Ava!!" He replied pointing his gun at her as she walked away smiling as he did so. "Bang!" Kenny whispered to himself.
Ava ponders and begins studying the people around her again. I bet they all all a unique talent. Some maybe stronger than others, But still, real strength comes from knowing how to use your powers to you advantage. Ava then turns her attention to the girl@yukisaa at the podium. Ava listens in and watches Nova return to her seat where her cat companion was waiting. I bet there's more to that cat that catches the eye, maybe a doppelganger or shape-shifter under the command of it's master. She continued to study the duo from a distance, after all a hunter watches and studies potential enemies or allies to fully understand them.
Apollo arrived at where Meruin was standing, and talking to Arcadius. He scanned both of them by reaading their Auras carefully. He then, after finishing scanning Meruin, he was shaking. She was quite powerful and held lots of potential. He then knew that this was the best person to ask about this matter. "Hello Miss Meruin, Mister Arcadius, If I may, can I speak to her for a second, it's important." Apollo said stressing the word importance.
Apollo then wondered how this person was able to get so strong and have such potential in them. Their full-power not even released yet. She was some one to be wary of, and he should stick to her good side.
After scanning her for a while he realised something which made him jump backwards and close his eyes. He then pointed at Meruin. "Miss Meruin, your c- clothes...p-please put them on...." Apollo said with his eyes closed backing a bit further back.
@olcharlieboi That's... Interesting but hey you know your own magic better than anyone else" Aleksandra said with a small smile. She felt the tension slipping away from their conversation which made her relax slightly be she was still keeping an eye out for any trouble. "well I hope that you enjoy your time here at the school Charles" she stated before readjusting her gloves and tightening the latches on her black combat boots, she looked ready for war and this suited her perfectly.
he nodded some "um.. thank you.." he says, as he rubs his stone bracelets, them along with the rib cage on his outfit was all stone he was wearing. "....looks like you really want a fight.." he says as his horns change, smoothing themselves, turning from the curved horns into straight pointing out ones, and turning a black color "... to me it's strange.. to see someone so ready and almost wanting a fight" he tells her, before taking a glance around.... his face turning red when he sees what is happening in another conversation.
@TheHangedMan Chen shrugged as he looked around. His eyes passed over Meruin and moved onto Arcadius. He seemed to be having a nice enough conversation with Meruin who was in the process of stripping. They were having a conversation about seals or something. "You are obsessed with interrogating people. I seriously doubt that she- wait what." It was in that exact moment that he realized that Meruin was stripping. "Uhh..." Chen considered taking off his jacket and throwing it to Meruin to cover up, but he decided to take the route that let him cover up his own skin more. He walked over to her and picked up her blouse to hand it to her. "I'm pretty sure public stripping is illegal. Please put your clothes back on." Before handing her blouse though, he silently activated The Hierophant so he could remember this moment forever. His eyes glowed an eerie blue as he did this. Life was good with ancient magic.
An elderly man stepped forward and took his place on the podium, tapping the speaker a few times to get everyone's attention, "Well now that introductions are out of way and you've all had a chance to mingle the first thing that needs to happen is you all need your bracelets." A rune on the floor, previously hidden, flared into life, glowing brilliantly for a moment. As the light faded the students would notice that they now had a new accessory on their left arms. "These will be how we keep you safe and monitor you for safety reasons. You will find the bracers, while weightless, will not come off without teacher approval. They are also a sort of assistance unit of sorts, they will give you any information regarding you school time activities you need as well as storing your soon to be determined rank.
He took a deep breath and continued, "The most important features of the gauntlets however is that you are perfectly safe at all times while wearing them. If you are ever in danger of death the gauntlets will protect you regardless of the source. On that note we will be heading to the Labyrinth of Hope where your entrance exams will take place. Please stand still for a moment." He said calmly as another two runes appeared with notably different configurations than those before, for those paying attention, one below them and one above. Seconds later the runes vanished and in the blink of an eye the students found themselves seemingly alone standing just outside the mouth of a cave. A disembodied voice echoed through the air, "Please enter the cave to begin testing, remember this is no fear of death here, simply preform as quickly and effectively as possible."
Azrael blinked a couple times as the disorientation settled. There had barely been a whisper of magic from those runes! It wasn't often that Az was taken by complete surprise. It was even more impressive that they had sent the candidates to separate locations simultaneously. There had been quite a few!
He made sure his swordbelt was tight and gave no slack, the same for his backpack filled with odds and ends. His Masters had taught him how to make basic talismans that activated with the touch of his magick, to better conserve what energy he had. This was the moment all his training had been for! He excitedly began to walk into the cave mouth, feeling the difference in temperature immediately as the sunlight was left behind. He loosened his sword in its sheath and calmed his heartbeat with breath pacing. Azrael felt as though his body was abuzz with energy as he waited for the beginning of the exam.
Charles would be surprised snapping out of what he was watching when he suddenly appeared infront of the cave he'd look around at first un-sure how they accomplished what they did, sense his knowledge of magic was low. he looked towards the cave and gulped before taking a deep breath and heads in.
Aleksandra stood at the entrance of the cave speechless at how suddenly the scenery had changed as well as the bright light of the sun, "This is different than what I had expected" she thought seconds before the voice spoke of not fearing death. "I shall not need to worry about breaking things then, yes?" She asked herself giving a ravenous grin as she looked into the cave mouth like she was staring down the darkness itself. Aleksandra activated a portion of her fire Magic and lit her hand ablaze with a gold and red flame which she held up high as she walked into the cave, her heavy combat boots lightly thumping on the ground. She was excited about the first test and the fact that it was called "The Labyrinth of Hope".
@TheHangedManArcadius simply nodded in response to her 'challenge'. "Very well, we will study it later then." He replied.
He arched a brow when she created a small miasma fire on top of his book, even more perplexed when he finger was smoking. He opened his mouth to speak and tell her about her finger being partially on fire, but shortly after she began stripping. "Why are you.." he trailed off, torn between looking away yet curious to see why the hell she'd decided to begin stripping in the middle of everyone.
Then he noticed the symbol, a magical brand, a contract. Hearing the explanation and her reasoning behind her stripping off in the middle of everyone, he relaxed a little and nodded. "I..see. Had you not been a member of the school, I most likely would have. But it's relatively easy to monitor the students here..being confined to the grounds unless a special occassion and what not." He told her.
Soon they were joined by the boy named Apollo, out of reflex he grabbed his Grimoire and placed it on his lap. "By all means." He told him, gesturing to her, halfway resuming his reading. He wondered how long it'd take him to realize Meruin was half naked, and it didn't take long.
It was rather amusing to see him clamor about at the realization of that fact, Arcadius chuckled. "Yes, please do put your clothes back on. You might offend the sensitivities of the rest of the room as you did to poor Apollo." He spoke, not looking up from his book.
The situation got even funnier when Chen decided to come over, stating that public stripping was illegal and handing Meruin her blouse. The whole situation was the most interesting thing that'd happened during introductions so far aside from the agreement between himself and Meruin.
Shortly after a old man stepped up to the podium and began speaking about the bracers and such, so, the fun part was finally beginning. Good.
Upon the request to stand still, Arcadius stood staff in one hand and Grimoire in the other. He nodded towards the three, "Good luck" he told them. Shortly after they were all transported to different parts of the cave.
Chanting a few words he staff lit up shining brightly, illuminating the entrance. He entered the cave shortly after the voice spoke, a new test again this year it seemed. Good, he disliked being repetitive.
Kieran examined the gauntlet on his arm with growing panic when the man at the podium explained that it would monster them, the thought running through his head were 'moniter, could it...could it tell that i'm?' he missed the sudden move to the front of the cave, saying "no...no, it couldn't possibly" before he looked up and realized where he was just in time for a voice to say that this was their first test. he took a breath"well, here we go" his four handles floated out behind him, a different blade forming on each of them. the keep floating along behind him as he walked into the cave.
As the bracelet formed he looked down at it in irritation privatly thinking to himself: well ill definately be finding a way to take that off. Then the world spun disorientating him. After the instructions he looked into the dark and walked in, except for thr fact it wasnt dark for him as he can see in the dark, whistling a tune as the outside world vanished from sight.
Ava chuckled to herself. "Well looks like the fun is about to begin." she said, standing up. She flicked both of her wrists and she began making er way towards the newly emerged cave. "Sweet darkness, let your child embrace your shadows." She said, drawing her knives and smirking as she walks into the cave.
Sol shrugged nonchalantly and and silently walked into the cave, an impressive display of magic, he wondered how well he could block attacks with the gauntlet. This should be interesting, the possibilities of what awaited him were endless. Especially in a place called the labyrinth of hope. He grabbed his sword and held in a seemingly lazy grip as he walked forward. @Minimum
"Olderson? We haven't had one of you in a few years, good to see you're still around. Well your entrance exam shouldn't be too difficult." A voice echoed throughout the cave as Max came into a nearly blindingly white room. If he looked behind himself he would only see another wall, the room didn't seem to have another other exits. "Escape." was all the voice said, and Max could feel a slight tugging sensation as his magic was sapped very, very, slowly away from him. A mouth appeared on of the walls, "Are you going to try to escape? No magic can escape from this room, and nothing with magic can leave this place unharmed..." The mouth talked slowly, in a sort of sleepy fashion.
"Ah Charles the shapeshifter. Your entrance exam will be relatively simple." a voice echoed out and the cave briefly become totally dark before glowing with some strange sort of green light, clearly illuminating what as in front of him. "An obstacle course, all you need to do is get through by any means necessary, if you determine that you can in fact not pass an obstacle simply call out 'Pass' and the obstacle will be removed and you will be presented with the next one. This will of course affect your score accordingly, please begin when ready Mr. McCloud." It seemed the first obstacle was relatively simply, just a hallway long trench in the ground that led to unknown depths instead of a floor. The walls were close enough that if Charles stretched his arms out he could touch both sides with his fingers. The hall wasn't very long, only about 10 yards.
Agatha watched a few others go inside the cave before she decided that it was her turn to go in. She resolved herself to remain calm and to think before allowing her weather abilities to do what she had the need for them to do.....
She went inside dark cave. The further she went inside the darker it was. She was debating as to what to do. Should she try to make a small ball of light like she would have when she was in a mischievous mood? She was starting to feel mischievous anyways. It would be fun to see what she could do. She concentrated on mischievous things that she could do and a small light ball formed above her head. It glow with a pale yellow light since it was being pushed out which also meant that the light did not give off much light, only about 2 feet surrounding Agatha's body.
@Eklispe Charles looked at the trench then at the walls "...far enough away so i can't shimmy my way across... but not enough room for some things like wings.. at lest there is light for the moment so i don't need to create any night vision for myself.." he says talking to himself "...maybe spider legs.... or some other kind of wing that doesn't require flying.." he rubs his chin "I know I can't simply elongate my body and stretch across.. that's to far distance.. would hurt and i'd probably fall half way..." he thinks then nods "..alright lets try these..." he crouches forward slightly and groans, as 8 little spots on his back seem to move and bubble... before 8 arachnid legs busts out the back of his shirt ripping it some. yet two of the legs have some extra things on them almost like spikes, incase for any reason he falls he can use those spikes to pierce the walls and stop himself. he'd pant for a few moments before stretching the new limbs and tries to get use to them quickly before he presses them against the wall and ceiling lifting himself up attached lie a spider would, before starting to make his way across. watching out incase there was any surprises he wasn't told about.
@floodtalon & @TheUltimatum & @Shikaru Meruin blinked. There was suddenly quite a lot of people around her. Somehow she had gained their attention, which puzzled her - asides from the shrub she had created, she didn't recall doing anything particularly note worthy. Tilting her head, her brows raised as she discovered exactly how she had captured their eyes. Casually, she clothed herself, not so much bothered by the fact that she was half-naked than by the fact that other people seemed to be staring at her because of it. Meruin thought it strange that she had attracted so much attention by just taking off her clothing and resolved to do more research on this later.
"Thank you for reminding me," Meruin stated evenly. She was grateful of being reminded, but that gratitude was hampered by her own lack of concern for her state of dress. Turning to Arcadius, she gestured towards Apollo. "If you'll excuse me for a moment, I think that man has business with me. Let's continue or discussion some other time."
Approaching Apollo with confusion on her face, Meruin once again thought of how strange people acted. The young man was covering his face, looking away from her and hadn't even noticed her approached because of it. Just as she was about to open her mouth to greet him, a wizened voice echoed throughout the auditorium.
Meruin's eyes went wide as the floor beneath them lit up, revealing a rune that delivered the trademark school gauntlets directly unto their wrists. She had heard about these gauntlets from Master Reina - she had helped design it, and that the gauntlets held mysteries far beyond their unassuming looks. Their uses also expanded wider than what the staff told the students, however, as her Master only designed part of the gauntlet, she couldn't be sure what those other uses were. Most likely no single person did.
What had truly caught her attention, however, was the rune beneath them. She hadn't even sensed it there, despite how large it was. Truly the Mana-Script lived up to its reputation as the premier magic academy in the world.
Turning in a way were she could see those nearby, Meruin gave a small curtsy, her traditional way of greeting someone good-bye, and shortly afterwards found herself in front of the Labyrinth of Hope; an auspicious name for an intimidating location. Without any preamble, Meruin entered the cave, as composed as ever and ready for her trial to come.
"Ahyahyahya~! You're pretty interesting for a student! Or do you perhaps not consider yourself a student? You Eldritch Abominations always have unusual ways of thinking. I wonder if that's the case with you?"
A high pitched and gleeful voice rang through the cave - or what was once the cave. Now the scenery had changed: all around Kieran was darkness that seemed to move about, as if it were alive. Even deeper into the darkness was something else - were something else; creatures of many forms, and some that were as formless as the void that filled the space in between the stars. Dark, insane creatures that moved purposefully without purpose. Simply staring at them could give a normal human a headache - they were simply not creatures that could be understood by any of the current students at Mana-Script.
Except perhaps, for the one that stood among them.
"I think it's kind of weird that something like you has yet to break free from that mortal shell, but who knows what you could be plotting?" The owner of the voice came to light, literally illuminating the darkness around them. She was a small thing, barely larger than the palm of a grown man, with fragile features. She was not wearing any clothes, however, nothing of her was exposed due to the light she radiated, as if she had adorned a dress made from purest light. Thin, willowy wings protruded from her back that twitched every now and then.
"Well, it's not my place to question students; I'm just a simple test administer after all. So welcome, Mister Kieran Altaaya, or at least the being that continues to go by that name, I am Fo, the one in charge of your examination."
Just as she finished speaking, a large wooden double door phased into existence behind her. The small fairy flew towards the handle and sat on it daintily.
"In any case, your exam begins now; your objective is simply this: find a way to open this door, for behind it lies the entrance to the true Academy."
"Greetings, Arcana, are you ready to begin your exam?"
Inside the cave, the world had completely changed. The sky was a reddish brown, and bright green streaks of electricity shot through it's dark blue clouds. At the Mage's feet was living grass of deep, black color. Yellow trees with orange leaves dotted the area, forming a large circle.
At the very center of that circle stood a creature. Staring at Arcadius with black, pupil-less eyes, it had an ugly, grotesque face maligned with warts and moles. It's hooked nose was as big as a pear, and far too large for it's small, wrinkled head. The creature had short, pointed ears with elongated earlobes and a set of terrible teeth that were poorly aligned, and very, very sharp looking. The creature had a permanent scowl on to complete it's hideous persona.
In it's hand was a gnarled staff made of wood that seemed to pulse and beat, as though blood was flowing through it. The creature was also dressed in animal skin, however, asides from a few, most of them were unrecognizable.
"I am Garroothilchivmadrogo, though in your tongue, that would mean Root of Death and Rebirth, and I am the one in charge of your exam," it spoke with a deep, gravelly baritone. "I am not fond of engaging in pointless talking, so I will begin your exam here."
Garrooth tapped the end of his staff into the ground. Suddenly, the ground rumbled and shook, and from it, emerged a Golem made of polished black stone. It was as large as a small apartment, with very little human features. In fact, it looked closer to gorilla than it did a human.
With a huff, the one who summoned it suddenly turned into soil. It's skin dried up in a second, leaving cracks on its visage. In a few seconds, Garrooth had turned into a sculpture made of dirt.
Garrooth's voice, however, boomed from the sky: "Your task is simple: defeat the Golem and eat it's core. Be warned, however, that your trial does not end there - by devouring it's core you shall be transported into an arena to face a fellow examinee. I do not have to tell you what should happen should you expend too much energy in defeating this Golem."
And with that, the Golem reared up it's arms, and began barreling towards Azrael.
Laughter. Everywhere around Ava was laughter. High pitched, girly laughter that grated on the ears. All around her flew hundreds upon hundreds of pixies. Each of them were smaller than the palm of a hand, yet each of them glowed as bright as a star, illuminating the cavern that Ava was in, eliminating nearly all of the shadows around them. They were adorable, yet mischievous looking things, with long pointed ears and beady blue eyes that couldn't stop moving about. From their backs fluttered wings that vaguely resembled a dragonflies, although they were bigger.
They all spoke at once, their voices multiplying as the sound echoed and bounced around the cave.
"Hello Ava! We are the Thinth Tribe! We are your Examiners! You no can get out of cave unless you win games!"
Suddenly, they all giggled, and began flying around even faster: they were like large, glowing flies, with the way they darted all over the place. The giggling died down, and they began talking again.
"We decided! You have to play Hide-and-Tag with us!"
The pixies gathered into the shape of a person. "You Hide!" A small pixie approached the human pixie formation excitedly. "And we Tag!" The small pixie touched the human formation, and suddenly, it lit on fire. The pixies had ignited themselves to make a human bonfire, however, they were giggling excitedly as they did so. Other than becoming more active, they were otherwise unaffected by the heat.
They began buzzing around quickly; at first, it seemed that they were simply flying in random directions, but eventually it became apparent that they were taking positions . . .
One group formed directly above Ava.
"You can Tag too!"
Another to her left.
"But you win only!"
Another to her right.
"If you Tag leader!"
Three formed in front of her.
"Or if we no find you!"
And two went behind her.
"When timeout time!"
Finally, the rest simply filled the gaps, flying in truly random directions and patterns.
"If win you, you go to school, YAY!"
Suddenly they all stopped flying and stared at Ava.
Aleksandra now stood inside an arena. The arena itself could easily fit thousands of people, both as fighters, and as spectators; which was good, considering what was currently occupying its center.
Standing around ten meters tall, two Titans made of dull bronze smashed into each other, beating each other, attempting to destroy each other. The ground cracked and shockwaves flew, kicking dirt up and obscuring their legs.
Aleksandra herself was currently at a safe distance, for she stood at the very back of the arena's seats. Next to her sat a woman dressed in a flowing white dress, with a neckline that plunged deep so as to show-off her chest; she was beautiful in an unearthly manner. Her face seemed to glow radiantly simply because her she was too beautiful. Even sitting down, it was apparent that she was a tall woman, and very shapely as well. Her manner of sitting squeezed her huge bosoms together in attractive way.
And yet, there was an aura of unmistakable blood-lust that permeated the air about her. She watched the two Titans clash at the center with undisguised ecstasy - the woman's breathing was heavy, and her hand twitched were she held them at her lap, as if preventing them from going any lower.
"These two, beautiful, wonderful beasts have been fighting for a year now," she said suddenly, in heavy, gasping breaths. "There's just no stopping, you see? There's a curse on them: they can't kill each other. Only an outsider can do that. And yet . . . they hate each other too much to allow anybody but themselves to bestow death upon the other."
The woman turned to face Aleksandra. "Isn't it just . . . mesmerizing? I can't think of anything more attractive than this . . ."
With a sigh, the woman shook her head. "And yet all good things must come to an end. Darling, they are your task. End one of them, and end their feud. Assist one of them in gaining victory, and you shall be brought to the true Academy. Unfortunately, do not think that they will let you simply interfere with their duel: should you do so where they can see you, expect the both of them to come after you."
Suddenly, the two titans glowed and changed colors. Where two dull, bronze colored Titans fought, there were now resplendent gold and silver ones.
"Should the both of them fall, however, you will have failed your task. They will be resurrected, and you will start from the beginning."
Attractive crimson eyes bored straight into Aleksandra's own.
"Now, begin, and hopefully, you can show me a sight even more ravishing than this . . ."
"Well, what's this. A Pendragon? Oh, but you don't look like much of a knight . . . ah, how disappointing . . ."
As soon as Agatha created a light above her head, it spread out rapidly, illuminating her entire surroundings. Now, it seemed like a wholly different area. She stood on an endless field of grass, and directly above her were massive, rusted gears that blotted out the sky. They turned, and with each turn, the sky groaned. The air was stifling and smelled terrible - like rotting flesh and rusted metal mixed together.
Sitting behind Agatha was a tall, thin, stick of a man - or at least what looked like a man. His skin was the color of copper, and his long thin face had bolts for eyes. His teeth were made of nails, and his fingers were made of small knives. Whenever he talked, his voice echoed inside of his mouth, as if his whole body was hollow and the sound bounced about inside of it.
"I had heard that Pendragons were superb knights. Just my luck that I got the Witch one." His voice was grating, and sounded like to rough pieces of metal being scraped on each other.
"Well, I am Din, known as Dun, with the given name Dylin. Little Witch Pendragon, I am your proctor. This is your exam."
He spread his arms wide, and suddenly, the gears started turning faster.
"There is a specific pattern of weather that you must meet, in order to be free from here. For every correct part of the pattern, the gears will stop moving as both a signal, and as a relief for you - take note, that you are running on a time limit: The oxygen I supplied to this world is slowly but surely thinning out, and should you fail, well . . . I suppose you won't truly die, however, I've heard that death via lack of oxygen is most terrible."
It favored Agatha with a terrible, monstrous smile made of rusted nails.
Pointing a finger at her, it continued; "Also, should you expend too much energy in this task, beware for you still have one more ahead of you once you complete this one . . ."
Clenching his hands together and resting his head on it, Dun stared at Agatha with beady, dull, bolted eyes.
Chen chuckled as he felt the gauntlet form onto his wrist and he teleported to the cave. He shrugged and activated The Justice so he could see into the cave in front of him. This was an exciting way to test him.
