[h2][center]Training Squad[/center][/h2]
[center][@MULTI_MEDIA_MAN]’s Geralt, [@Archmage MC]’s Roland, Blazermate, Sectonia[/center]
[center]Words: 3,397 (+4 EXP)[/center]
[center]Rapport: 1[/center]

Having left the Spirit Chamber, Geralt made his way straight to the training center. He wanted to try to get an idea of what had changed before going out into battle again. While being a bit later, Roland would end up joining Geralt, as well as Blazermate although the latter came more to make sure people weren’t getting hurt with their new training. 

First, Geralt transformed into his Ardor Blossom identity to see how much the dragon Spirits had affected him. The first thing he noticed was that he was quite a bit larger, probably about 7 and a half feet tall. His skin was darker, and felt rough to the touch, like scales. He was still unarmored in this form, though he wondered if his skin would mitigate damage in this form. He could feel horns growing out of his head and wings on his back, and he noticed that his hands were once again clawed, like when he had originally fused with the Harbor Water Demon.

“Not bad.” He nodded, before a ball of flame appeared in his hand and was launched at a target, scorching it. “Seems to function about the same as before. Just to see what those dragons gave me.” After throwing a few more fireballs to get a feel for his new body shape, Geralt followed a newfound instinct and lifted his leg, stomping harshly onto the ground. When his foot impacted the floor of the training center, a series of dark explosions burst forth, knocking out a wide swathe of targets. “Oh.” He simply exhaled, blinking. “That feels like the power of a dragon, alright. At least, what a human could handle of one’s power.”

A few moments after, Geralt suddenly returned to his normal form, a grunt of confusion escaping him. “Huh?” He questioned, focusing on Ishmael’s transformative ability with no result. “Oh, don’t tell me…” He sighed, looking up at the ceiling above him. Could he only handle so much power in his Identities now? Trying the LCCB Assistant Manager Identity, he was pleasantly surprised to see that that transformation still worked.

It didn’t look or feel terribly different from how it had before, though that was to be expected. He fired off a few shots of his pistol to get a feel for how to use the weapon properly, before deciding to take another minute or two to get some target practice in. He wasn’t quite as accurate as he’d have hoped, but his skill with the hand crossbow translated somewhat well to the pistol. He had to adjust his aim lower, as the bullets traveled much faster than even the quarrels of his over-tuned hand crossbow, but otherwise it wasn’t terribly dissimilar.
 
At around this time Roland and Blazermate came in, with Sectonia instead touring the ship to let others bask in her platinum splendor. Roland had been watching Geralt for a bit of the tail end of his little transformation and skill work, before silently deciding to join him and practice his own new tricks. Granted, unlike Geralt, he didn’t have too many new things to try with his new, blue skinned physique. Blazermate waited until the two boys were done with their fun, since she’d need them to kinda… fight each other a little bit to test out her things.
With some time having passed, Geralt transformed into Ardor Blossom again, breathing a sigh of relief when the transformation occurred without a hitch. “Didn’t take too long to come back, at least.” He muttered, before stomping once more to see if that was the trigger. This time, however, nothing happened. Taking a deep breath to exhale his building frustration, Geralt paused and thought on it. How did that ability work? Last time, he did it after feeling the instinctual desire to do so, though that hadn’t appeared until after he’d scorched a few targets with fireballs. Was that the key? Damaging something, even something as simple as a practice target?
 
Roland meanwhile tried his new Ink powers. Well, the first one that involved summoning a spirit. What he wasn’t expecting was the spirit to look like Angelica. He did read in that book about Grimstroke’s sorrow over losing his wife, but he wasn’t expecting it to morph to match Roland’s trauma. Although this spirit was more… corrupt wasn’t the right word. Dripping with ink was more accurate. That and just being some sort of ‘summon’. He’d have to get used to something like this, but he for sure wasn’t going to mention anything about what this spirit represented.

[hider=For Roland]
Phantom's Embrace: Roland summons a phantom that quickly moves towards a target of his choice within 10m, latching onto it when she arrives. Once latched the phantom damages and silences the target while attached. If the phantom lasts its full 5 second duration, she deals heavy damage as she rends the target and returns to Roland, resetting the cooldown of this ability. Enemies can attack and destroy the phantom, ending the effect on them if they manage to kill it. Notable spirits and above deal triple damage to the phantom. It takes 9 attacks to destroy the phantom. 36 second cooldown. 
[/hider]

[i]Now’s the time to test these things,[/i] Geralt thought, tossing out a few fireballs to scorch up a series of targets. After hitting about five, he followed through on another new feeling, and this new attack summoned a swarm of 14 shurikens, which flew threw the air and knocked over a large swathe of targets. “Huh. Not bad.” On top of that, he somehow felt invigorated, as though he’d had a good meditation session. He didn’t quite know what that was about, but he continued his testing, firing off more fireballs before he suddenly returned to normal once more. “That was about twenty-five to thirty seconds. Must be time related, then.” He surmised, though it wasn’t exactly a well-tested idea. He only had so much time before he needed to be on the Bridge, though, so it’d have to do.

Drawing his steel sword, Geralt twirled it with a flourish before slashing the blade, sparks emitting as it just barely touched the ground, and a battle cry escaped his lips. “Demon Fang!” He cried, and a burst of blue energy travelled along the ground, crashing into another target and sending it crashing back to the ground. “What.” Geralt simply uttered, before scrunching up his face. “Did I just [i]call out[/i] an attack? What kind of weirdo did I fuse with?!” He complained.

Still, it didn’t seem to be a bad attack. He attempted to do it again, though this time the irrepressible urge to shout the name of the attack did not come, and he hummed. That could be worse, he supposed.

[hider=For Geralt]
New Ability/Power: [b]Basic Spells[/b] (Paladin) - Grants two basic spells, First Aid and Luminant Scythe. Each spell requires two seconds of uninterrupted channeling to cast, and require about as much stamina as casting a Sign. [b]First Aid[/b] heals an ally for 25% of their maximum HP, while [b]Luminant Scythe[/b] summons two angled rings of light to surround an enemy, along with four orbs of light which all crash into an enemy, dealing medium holy-aspected damage.[/hider]

Lifting his sword, Geralt began to channel energy, a circle of light emanating from his feet, and he uttered a chant. “Come forth, sacred spirits! Luminant Scythe!” As he finished the name of the spell, he swung his sword until it was parallel to the ground, and a [url=https://youtu.be/8pCDOhohU0w?si=Px15T4-YJco8CMN1&t=253]veritable light show[/url] appeared around the target he pointed his sword at, battering it with energy until it was violently blasted back to the ground, clattering loudly against the floor. “Oh. Oh, that was…actually powerful magic.” He wondered what Yen would say to that. At least he didn’t have to face her as a woman. 

Roland meanwhile was trying his other inky attack, a swelling of ink around him that… didn’t seem to do much of anything. He’d have to wait for Geralt to back off the training dummy before he went to see what this move did with some ‘targets’ around. It was pretty clear at that point though what this move did, it sucked the life out of whatever enemy was near the ink, causing it to grow and eventually explode in a shower of ink.

Geralt stepped back, giving Roland a nod and a gesture to let him know that he had the floor. “Looks like ink off a quill.” He commented about Roland’s new abilities. “Blazermate. Came here to test your fusions as well?” The Witcher inquired, giving the Medabot a glance up and down.

[color=0072bc]”Uh huh! Well, that and also making sure people don’t get hurt in here. You never know with these powers and all that.”[/color] Blazermate said [color=0072bc]”So it seems yours went well. I wanna try mine, but I think mine are more support based so uh… Might need you two to hit each other a little bit.”[/color] She continued, looking at the gemstone emitting a warming light from her right hand. 

Geralt hummed, nodding in reply. “Makes sense enough, I suppose. With how much I’ve been fighting lately, it’s almost like I’m on the Path again. Or a Skelliger, given how many friendly spars we’ve had so far.” And some of those spars were just as bloody as they were for Skelligers. The only thing he hadn’t done yet was go fisticuffs with somebody, though given how tough the Seekers were, he wouldn’t be an easy champion like he was on the continents. “Roland, when you get a minute, Blazermate wants us to fight so she can try out what she has.” He announced, solidly throwing Blazermate under the proverbial bus, with a [color=0072bc]”Hey!...”[/color] from the bot.

Roland pulled back from trying out his new ink powers, something that reminded him a bit of what some gangs used for enhancements back in the City, and said simply. [color=d7d7d7]”Well, if the little schoolgirl wants to see two men fight for her amusement…”[/color] Roland said, giving Blazermate all sorts of sass due to her request, seeing if that’d make the bot a bit embarrassed. It did a bit, but seeing blush on a bot was basically impossible so he let that sit a bit before saying [color=d7d7d7]”Yeah. I guess we can do something light. Although we shouldn’t go too hard. Who knows then that Consul Z will jump us again.”[/color]

[color=0072bc]”Hey, you know it's kinda hard to test what healing abilities do if people don’t get hurt you know!”[/color] Blazermate said, retorting at last. Roland waved her with a “yes yes” sorta gesture before agreeing to do a little bit with Geralt. 

“Alright, then. Just something simple, rough each other up a bit, then let her do her thing.” Geralt said, rolling his arms. “I’ve got a few things I could try out, but it seems like some of them take a few seconds to do. I’ll stick to the quicker stuff right now.” Once they were both in position, rapidly crossed his arms in front of his chest and swung them apart, a blade of Hydro energy appearing in each hand as he launched forward into a flurry of rapid blows, fusing them into a large twinblade mid-flurry.

Roland followed in kind, conjuring his twin swords to meet Geralt’s hydro blades. It was clear right away Roland’s new physique made him a bit slower, with him losing a few of his clashes with Geralt. The rapid slashes he could match with, but once the blade was fused that caused him to get hit. He felt like he got hurt more on top of that, but without having fought Geralt before, he wasn’t sure of that. He followed up though by pulling out his hammer and giving Geralt a few defensive swipes with it. It was around this time he noticed himself getting a bit faster, as if his new body just needed to warm up when entering a battle. A bit annoying, but it couldn’t be helped. On his last defensive smash, Roland decided to use another of his new abilities, empowering the attack and bashing through Geralt’s guard to deal some damage. Only Geralt and Blazermate could see the attack was infused with magic, with Roland unaware of that fact.

Well, with the two guys hurt, Blazermate tried her first new move, Divine Star. She shot a holy bolt out at the two which didn’t seem to do anything. However once it reached down the shooting range and came back, it had grown into a giant light wave that washed over the two boys and herself. The healing was stronger than her medigun, but it was more in a burst instead. Seeing that Roland was on the losing end of the exchange, since he tended to take some time to wind up, Blazermate tried another trick of hers and as Geralt went for another blow, she used Disruption on him. Roland now being suspended in a weird black bubble and Geralt’s attack completely missing him. This bubble lasted for 3 seconds before Roland came back, but instead of 1, there were 3 Rolands all going after Geralt now. Two of them were illusions, but they did do real damage. Roland was as surprised as the other two about the illusions, but shrugged. 

The Hydro blades were rather quick, but once Roland got back up to speed and pulled out his hammer, Geralt was put on the back foot instead, taking a powerful, magically-enhanced blow to end the exchange before Blazermate intervened with a heal. Once Geralt saw the bubble of energy protecting Roland, he backed off a little, shocked to see three come out, and he dismissed the Hydro blades in favor of his lightning-infused katana. Skirting the blade along the ground, he shot out a pair of Demon Fangs before rushing in, hefting the sword and plunging it into the ground just before the three Rolands were on him, crying out “Guardian Field!” as a [url=https://youtu.be/8pCDOhohU0w?si=Nw4clcR1-2NajJ52&t=150]field of blue energy[/url] appeared to give Geralt some extra healing while keeping the Rolands back with the threat of punishment.

[hider=For Geralt]New Power/Ability
[b]Advanced Artes[/b]: Grants two more advanced abilities, Guardian Field and Holy Lance. Each ability costs roughly the stamina required to cast two Signs in short order, slightly exhausting Geralt after use and requiring a period of roughly fifteen seconds before he uses any costly abilities again, otherwise he risks severe physical exhaustion and an even longer period before he can use abilities. [b]Guardian Field[/b] creates a ten-foot diameter field of blue light around Geralt, which damages enemies and heals himself and all allies within for 10% of their maximum HP over a period of three seconds. [b]Holy Lance[/b] requires five seconds of uninterrupted channel time, after which it summons six lances of holy light, five around the target and one above. The five lances rapidly crash into the target in succession, each stunlocking the target in place for about half a second, and the final lance strikes into the target with tremendous force, knocking them up and back.[/hider]

Roland himself hopped out of the way, making it clear to Geralt who was the real one while the Roland illusions, under the command of Blazermate, dove into Geralt’s attack and took the attack.The illusions had no fear of death, although that was more because Blazermate was testing them out to see what they did, and as such they took the whole holy field. They also didn’t swap weapons or do anything advanced, they just hit Geralt with their hammers until they finally poofed. 

[hider=For Blazermate]
Disruption: Blazermate can use this on an ally or enemy within 10m, banishing them from the battlefield for 3 seconds, making them invulnerable but unable to act. While banished, whatever is banished has their positive buff durations paused, while debuffs will still tick down. When they return, 2 illusions will spawn alongside them that last 14 seconds that deal 60% of their physical damage under Blazermate's control. Illusions take triple damage. 20 second cooldown.

Divine Star: Blazermate fires out a thin bolt of light in front of her. This bolt damages and piercest through enemies that it hits. When it goes 20m, it grows into a wave 10 times bigger than the bolt and returns back to Blazermate, homing in onto her. This heals anyone it passes by including Blazermate with how much it heals on return increased by 25% for every person that gets healed by it. 10 second cooldown.
[/hider]

Before the two could get ready for another go, Sectonia entered the room in a gesture that yelled “Gaze upon my brilliance!”. She was still in quite the good mood and from the looks of things, she had been touring the ship a bit on her way there, making it clear to everyone she was beautiful and wanting their adoration. Blazermate gave her a clap, with Roland being half and half on her posturing. He didn’t know this bee queen much besides the minigames, so he wasn’t sure how he should react to her but gave a polite clap just in case. Blazermate made sure to give the two guys a top off as Sectonia showed off, but once she was done, she said. [color=92278f]”I’m here to test these new powers now that we don’t have to test them in the field. I assume the three of you are the same?”[/color]

Geralt nodded, though he was breathing a bit heavily thanks to the beating he took from Roland and the taxing use of Guardian Field. Putting his hand up, he stood to his full height, took a deep breath, and released it, immediately looking much heartier as he regained control of his breathing. “Yes. Roland and I were sparring so that we and Blazermate could test some of her new abilities, and since so many of them revolve around healing magic, it made sense to do it all together.” 

As he started to regain some of his stamina, Geralt hummed, another instinct tugging at him. He held his sword aloft, and chanted a new spell. “Divine energy, fill me. First Aid!” As he cast the spell, restorative energy suffused him, restoring a good chunk of the damage he’d taken immediately. “And it would seem one of the people I fused with had something along those lines, as well.” 

[color=0072bc]”Hey, I had you!... but good to know you can do that. If only Big daddy B could do that.”[/color] Roland looked at Blazermate and said, a bit worried. [color=d7d7d7]”Who?”[/color] with Blazermate giving a bit of a giggle saying [color=0072bc]”Bowser. Wait til you see more of him. He likes adopting kids left and right. He even tried adopting a sea monster! It didn’t work out, but boy did he try!”[/color] 

Sectonia let out a single cough to get attention back onto her. [color=92278f]”Now then, I will give it a go if you could stand aside.”[/color] Sectonia said, fiddling with her new abilities.  At first she tried her new Reaper’s Scythe ability, but noticed upon the dummy it did barely any damage. She let out a little [color=92278f]”Huh…”[/color] when this happened, a bit unsure of what happened. She did note that, as she used the ability, the surrounding death in the area seemed to focus on the dummy so… perhaps it would be something that she couldn’t use in good conscience in a training session. She did note that the dummy was completely locked down before the scythe hit though. Her second ability she decided to try the Death Pulse, which unleashed green skulls that radiate out from her in a limited area, the skulls homing in on Roland, Geralt, and Blazermate, Sectonia just being outside the range of the attack for the dummy. 

[hider=For Sectonia]
Heartstopper Aura: Sectonia has a passive aura that causes all enemies within 12m to lose 1.2% of their max health every second. This bypasses spell immunity, but can be reduced by spell resistance. Stronger category spirits have some innate resistance to this ability.

Reaper's Scythe: Sectonia points at an enemy within 10m and stunning for 1.5 secs, bypassing CC and magic immunity (Strong enemies are interrupted instead.). At the end of the stun, the scythe of the grim reaper comes down upon them, dealing damage based on how much health is missing. This damage can be reduced by magic resistance. 110 second cooldown.
[/hider]

Instead of causing damage though, these skulls healed the three as well as the pulse healing Sectonia herself. She’d have to wait a little bit before getting closer to the dummy, getting an idea of its limited range but finding that it did damage to her enemies, and healed herself and her allies if they were nearby. One very notable thing about these skulls was that they moved kind of slow. Still fast as a projectile, but weirdly slow at the same time as if someone who was fast enough could outrun them.

“Huh, I wouldn’t have expected that to help…” Geralt muttered when the healing skull hit him. A skull felt sinister, though it might have simply been a thematic thing with whoever that ability came from. “I think I’ve gone through everything I’ve gotten.” Geralt mentioned to the others, but he looked at Blazermate. “We didn’t get much done for you, however. What else do you need?” He asked outright. Instead of having her on the sidelines for a spar to clean up the aftermath, they could just whack each other a bit and have her heal them between, perhaps.

While Geralt was asking that, Sectonia was busy trying to figure out how her power from her dragon fusion worked. She’d try a few various poses with no success other than a faint ‘poof’ of glitter which really wasn’t something she was hoping for in an attack. She even took this opportunity to hit the dummy with this short ranged ‘glitter’, but nothing came of it. A bit annoyed, she decided to use a bit of her Radiance powers for once and blasted the dummy with rays of light and skewered it with swords of light.

Blazermate shrugged, saying. [color=0072bc]”I’ve got one more I wanna try, but it's a bit weird. I kinda don’t get it, but something tells me it's good.”[/color] Blazermate decided that, since she was going to try another support power, moved in between the two boys and behind Sectonia, who was still blowing off a bit of steam on the dummy. She channeled some of the light in her hand, then raised her hand in the air and nothing happened. She did this a couple times until she started to say [color=0072bc]”We stand together as one!”[/color]. Once she started to say this phrase a giant holy dome encased everyone and healed them for a significant amount and would make them immune to damage, although only Blazermate could notice that last part. It didn’t last long, only 3 seconds, but it looked really cool.

[hider=For Blazermate]
Holy Word : Salvation : Blazermate raises her hand to the sky and conjures a large, bright dome with a radius of 5m. Blazermate and every ally within the dome is immune to all damage while the dome is up (But no other effects such as crowd control, debuffs, or the like), and heal 30% of their hp over the dome's 3 second channeled duration. 80 second cooldown.
[/hider]

Sectonia meanwhile, after relieving herself of her frustration, decided to focus and try her attack one last time. This time however, as she had charged it up by using light attacks, instead of glitter, a large, very powerful beam of light came from her hand, dealing some heavy damage to the dummy and impacted the back wall, scorching it as the beam collided and eventually fizzled out.

[color=0072bc]”Huh… why did it only work when I said something?”[/color] Blazermate said, scratching her head. When everyone was quiet about it, Sectonia piped up. [color=92278f]”It was probably some verbal spell component. If what you did was magic.”[/color] Sectonia said, nonchalantly answering Blazermate.

“Looked pretty magical to me.” Geralt replied, somewhat sarcastically. “Though with some of you, it’s hard to tell machines from magic.” He added in admission. “Still, good progress overall, I suppose. Thank you all.” Nodding at Roland, Blazermate, and Sectonia, he gestured at the exit to the training center. “We should probably get going to that meeting, though.”