Parin Kia
Coliseum Interior
To be honest, this whole exam was Parin’s first time encountering such serious magic in real life. Some of the stuff she’s seeing she’s only witnessed in books before now, and it fascinated her. She imagined what it must feel like to cast some of these spells; the type of energy surging through you, how it feels to carry and unleash it… she was sure the feeling changed not just based on the type of magic, but what the spell was doing, and that only fueled her obsession.
She pondered about how far magic could go. She’d seen several people use a wand, and that made her wonder if something like symbols could work. Or why they used the wand in the first place. What did it feel like? Did it concentrate the mana in one place, to for easier usage of large amounts of mana? If you stopped feeding mana into it, would it hold onto it or give it back. Or did the wands have their own magical properties already, and only served to enhance the abilities of the user without them needing to influence it? If wands could work, then what about symbols? Or sentences?
Parin’s line of thought was markedly ended by a huuuge portal opening up and almost dropping her jaw to the floor. The mass of brooms which surged out from it prompted a gasp from her, and sparked more questions - did it feel heavy carrying that portal around? She didn’t have time to go on another tangent before she’d been passed a broom of her own.
A broom, and she had magic. The witches she read about in books rode on brooms. So were… oh. Yes, they were meant to be flying on brooms. Maybe Parin should’ve gotten out from her rock a tad earlier, but it was too late for any of those should’ve’s and whatnots. Parin held her broom in her hand and stared at it, tilting her head. She tilted the broom. It didn’t feel magicy for anything. Maybe she just had to try it.
So, she’d straddled it, much like a nerd would compare to the others - standing on theirs, sitting sideways and doing tricks.. Yeah, alright. Parin had to make something shake. She decided to start from the top like she’d done with her previous test, by taking deep breaths and feeling her mana flow. Her eyes closed while she visualized the energy building deep within her, and she felt it swell up in her core before growing and spreading throughout her body. When the energy reached the parts in contact with her broom, it took her off-guard. It felt like bumping into someone while your head was turned away... except this guy kept standing in front of you and held his arms wide open for a hug.
Uncomfortable as it was, a part of Parin felt drawn to the sensation. Now, she doesn't recommend anyone just go around hugging random people, but this random person that was in her broom seemed pretty alright. It seemed to Parin that it was her energy, the mana, being drawn to the broom. Though it didn't feel so simple; it felt deeply personal in a way she couldn't describe.
Now, if you were to go around hugging random people, you wouldn't want to do it aggressively, right? Parin figured this was decent enough logic to apply to her broom. Not too much energy into it, but slowly and surely, give it a steady amount...
Parin felt as if she were standing on the tips of her toes. She actually had been - that is, until her feet had left the ground.
Until her feet had left the ground.
My feet left the ground!?Parin's jaw drops, and it would've hit the floor had her broom not been steadily keeping it afloat. She looked down, at the broom, and then looked to her sides to see if she could see other people. There were fortunately still those who were trying to get their bearings just as she was.
She gave herself a couple moments and found that the broom was surprisingly responsive. Which made sense. It worked with the user's mana, and mana is a unique part of the body just as much as the brain is. When she wanted to rise, the broom would rise. When she wanted to go forward, so be it. If she wanted to flip herself upside down and fly around? She could, and that's exactly what she was doing, flying herself around the crowds of people who still hadn't gotten a move on. Among those were some familiar faces! Parin had a smile to herself when she'd seen Camila again, and it grew even brighter once she recognized the other girl from the escapades outside. A good luck charm, perhaps. But a sign for her to get started for certain - she'd spent too long getting adjusted that she may have missed out on some information.
Whipping herself back upright and facing the chaos, she held a hand over her eyes and tried to analyze. As just mentioned, it was chaos. Which was a wonderful environment for a street urchin like Parin to feed in. To find success in this challenge, Parin planned to find a way to control the chaos. The simplest way to do that? Make it more chaotic! Her eyes grew starry as she picked out targets and fights to sabotage. People were already getting started, doing her work for her while she got warmed up. How sweet, she thought, slowly floating closer to the action so she'd be ready to jump in.
Her eyes immediately fell on what was brightest first. Flames, the unforgettable kind; Parin thanked herself for having paid attention during the last tests. The wielder of said flames falling through the sky broom-less in an attempt to get one of those little balls. So why'd I even waste time learning how to fly this thing in the first place? ...Is something Parin would've thought had she not seen the girl quickly steal another contestant's broom while falling through the skies, mounting it as she secured a golden ball of her own. Parin took note of her foe - another familiar face in Alwin, prompting a frown - and the two after him, a group of three after one.
And just slightly above that had been another kerfuffle. Aaaaannndddd... Parin didn't really wanna see that. Some tentacle freak was getting his fix in, is what that looked like. The prey in question didn't seem too eager about it either.
But, a spark. A pattern showed itself, and Parin hardly had to do anything. Just like in the situation with the noble's posse harassing the boy, the mage was too busy feeling good exerting his power to pay attention to the world around him. It's undeniable that he would have the Angel Sphere in the bag, had nobody interfered with his little...fight? But the lack of attention the mage was paying to the world around him made him a pathetically easy target for just about anything that anyone wanted to do to him.
On top of that, Parin also knew that causing chaos and inciting havoc was much easier in a group. So regardless of if she ended up getting her own little stress toy, she could still gain from the situation; if she didn't, she could just move on to another ball.
Parin breathed deep, noting the actively flowing mana she still had ready. She took note of the hazards about - the arrows flying from the heavens, flames galore, a strike of lightning and a host of other spells. If she wanted to get her foot in the door, she just had to do it. So there'd be no second guessing; she promptly funneled her mana into the broom and imagined herself diving for it.
The magics and contestants in sight blurred as she headed straight for the tendril-using maniac. Well, as straight as she could've made it. Stray spells and bodies flew all over the place, and the bodies weren't so much as a problem as was the spells. Reflexes saved her precious seconds that planning would have wasted - her broom curves out of the way of a fireball that was on her plane, and dips down when she instinctively ducks a stray magic bullet that beamed her way. Despite the dangers, she didn't falter. She just needed to
make it there. Whatever came after came after. So she put her focus into gripping tight, blazing forward, and making it there.
She made her way through the obstacle course of fools and succeeded in pulling herself to a screeching halt before the two. The closer inspection revealed a new detail she hadn't witnessed from afar - within the tendril held several, several snakes slithering and hissing about. That didn't matter to Parin, who already had mana flowing into her arm outstretched away from the two boys. She brought up her other elbow and stuck it out towards the mage, ready for impact.
"Jet!" Parin exclaimed. A stream of water was unleashed from her hand, propelling her directly into the side of the slimy fiend.