[@Estylwen][@Psyker Landshark][@ERode][@AThousandCurses][@Sifr]

[b][h3]ASCENDIA, ROOM 103 FOUNTAIN[/h3][/b]

The duo of Kiimos Trelle were dispatched quickly following a sadistic but brief imprisonment while writhing in agony that seemed almost human - they struggled at first, throwing cusses at Ciara as they attempted to find freedom, but eventually succumbed to despair amidst restraint. The trio that rushed Iraleth and sank into their muddy graves, meanwhile, rang completely silent and accepting of this fate even as they put in token effort to escape it; this effort ended when rays of light skewered each, sending them lifeless beneath the murky abyss. The archer, meanwhile, scrambled to evade but couldn't do so in time. The first shot that made contact turned its barrier into an unfocused haze, and the second pierced clean through to deal the kill shot. Finally, the mannekin rushing at Hildegunde was intercepted by Rio who sprinted directly at it. The wooden warrior would deliver a dropkick which was blocked by Rio, who grabbed the doll's leg midair and slammed its body against a nearby tree, shattering its barrier and its outer shell in one hit.

Chloe would skid to a stop just before she reached the quicksand, letting out a small shriek at its sudden appearance. Looking ahead towards Iraleth as she moved, Chloe would give a small thumbs up with a feeble, "Y-You've got it," before returning to the group near Alto. Rio would also return, dragging the broken mannekin by its leg and tossing it at Alto's feet as he rejoined near Otis. "Give us something better next time," he would declare with a smirk.

Alto would be preoccupied, however. He stared down at his right knee, where a bullet was drilling against his Personal Barrier. It didn't lose momentum on impact, but continued to spin towards him while being repelled by the shield of wind around that area. Hand cupped chin as he stared at it, and then at Hildegunde, the sound of her bullet against his barrier giving off the screech of metal grinding against metal. "Your Ethos? I'm impressed. It appears it'll keep going like this, until either it breaks through, I let it through, or I deflect it. But in the time it'd take to remove it, it could be just the second needed to find an opening in my perception. Attempting to deflect could, maybe, be worse than letting it dig through my essence."

The instructor's eyes darted about as various individuals moved, curious what the plan would be. "At the same time, though, you can't count on winning an endurance match here. The leyline is mine right now, after all."

The sound of upturned soil and breaking roots and wood echoed from behind Hildegunde, and if she were to look back, she would see a tree suddenly toppling down towards her. A second tree, at the same time, would follow suit in the same way from near Otis and Davil, aiming to similarly crush them. "If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it make a sound? By that same notion, are these falling trees a silent cast of the primal conduit, or a facet of my prime essence?"

"Waaaagh!" Davil screamed in terror as he rolled away from the tree backwards, landing on his feet with his broken arms flailing about like loose flesh. The tree would create a divide such that it would block sight from Alto, should Otis choose to move in a direction away from Alto rather than towards.

While that chaos ensued, the professor looked towards Chunji. "And you. You can see things, yeah? That's a very useful ability to have. And so inquisitive, too." The bullet continued to drill against his barrier even as he spoke, and yet his attention was focused towards the diligent student asking a question. "The simplest method that people have attempted is raw power, but that's of no interest to this. PBs are so efficient because of how few ways there are to truly bypass one without overpowering it. There are surely Ethos-based abilities out there that can do so, sure, but outside of that? I suppose you could disrupt it by making direct contact with another's barrier and attempting to dilute the concentrated essence with your own. It would require several seconds of unbroken physical contact, however, which is an eternity in situations like this."

The whole time while speaking, his focus was still very much on his environment, willing to cut off his own monologue at any point that anyone tried something on him - or to keep speaking while evading, if it didn't prove to be troublesome to do so. "I'm sure there are other methods, though, but I only know the basics! History, specific practices of the conduits, master manipulators... all that goes right over my head, young man."

Alto's sword remained gripped in his right hand as he awaited the next moves of these students. Despite his laidback attitude, he was focused and ready to react to approaches.