SilverPaw

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

For sure ready to move forward, yup.

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

	Location: Kikka, in the Coliseum Interactions: @Xaltwind Nephertys Mentions: /

Solveig’s moment of grim determination lasted but a few minutes. As she flew loops around the battlefield, exhilaration crept in, and a grin spread across her features. The fight with Alwin had been epic; she’d been too busy thinking about capturing her target in the moment to fully appreciate it, but looking back on it, a shiver of thrill ran down her spine. She’d been free falling! Even in mid-air, she’d pulled off a maneuver she’d never tried before. And she’d succeeded!

She cheered herself on silently, performing a corkscrew spin with her broom for the sheer fun of it. Solveig knew the fight was far from over. But who had ever said that taking it fully serious meant she couldn’t have fun with it? She didn’t want to be someone who lost the ability to enjoy life, like her dad had. She believed a love and joy for life was, in fact, exactly what would propel her ever onwards. If she could appreciate the good times, then she was sure to fight with rabid ferocity to ensure that others could experience that too.

Around her, a brutal mid-air brawl was taking place, and it wasn’t long before Solveig, who had secured her sphere became a target for a few of the sphere-less individuals. By now, the participants scarcely had a choice but to steal targets from others, and many had teamed up to increase their chances.

A team of three came at her. There was a heavyset girl with a tanned complexion and choppy dirt blonde locks wielding a spear of iron in her left hand. She’d crafted a helmet and a breastplate from her magic; the helmet lent her the appearance of a fierce sabertooth tiger, and for brief moment, Solveig marveled at the detailed creation her opponent had crafted. Flying by her left side and slightly to the back was a boy with a dark bronze complexion whose black hair framed a handsome face bearing a bloodthirsty grin. He wielded a saber, however Solveig couldn’t determine his magic type at first glance. To the right of the blonde was a nervous girl as thin as a twig and pale as a ghost, who had most of her face obscured by long ashen hair. She had numerous bubbles of differently coloured liquid surrounding her.

The first to charge was the Iron Tigress, as Sol had nicknamed the spearwoman. “HrraAAARRGH!” she yelled, flying straight at her. Focused as she was on the yelling amazon, Solveig didn’t notice the boy by her side whispering something. So, she was slightly caught off guard when the blonde’s yell resonated and echoed strangely, as if amplified by something. She figured the effect must have been caused by the boy, whose magic she hadn’t been able to discern visually. However, the von Brandt was immediately threatened by the spear wielder, so the aim of the Sound Sabreur (as she now called the boy) wasn’t readily apparent to her at first.

The spear point was advancing towards her. While the opponent’s weapon had longer reach, that advantage was more easily dealt with midair than on the ground. When Solveig flew up, the straight weapon couldn’t curve to follow her, so the Iron Tigress could either draw it back to follow with a stab in a different direction or she could lift it above her head so as to try and smack Sol with the length of its handle. Iron Tigress picked the latter, to which Solveig responded by whirling around, blocking with her sword, and letting the force of the hit carry her behind the blonde.

“360° Spears!” the Tigress shouted, and multiple spears appeared all around Solveig, aimed right at her. However, since Solveig was so closely positioned to her opponent, there was a human shaped gap right in front of her, where the enemy team’s leader herself was. Which did not stop the Tigress from reversing the grip on the spear she wielded and aiming an attack behind her. The noble heiress was in the middle of parrying Tigress’s weapon while trying to outmaneuver her concurrent magical spear attack, when that weird echo reached her again.

It persisted, and the sound caused an uncomfortable throbbing in her head. A spell of dizziness hit her, and Solveig suddenly felt nauseous. “F-fuck,” she muttered as she wobbled on her broom. Her parrying and flying became somewhat shakier, and arguably, she avoided some of the spears only because she dropped down to sit on her broom. Three spears flew by her so close they gave her glancing blows, partially breaking through her reinforcement magic, and leaving her with shallow bleeding lines on her left shoulder, right thigh, and left ankle.

However, Solveig was still flying near the Iron Tigress, and so was able to retaliate with a slash to the girl’s left elbow. While her sword did not cut, the force of her swing produced an audible crack, and the iron mage shouted in clear pain as she suffered a broken bone. Even now, when his ally was in pain and had been forced to drop the spear she’d wielded, the sound mage used their team leader’s vocalization for another attack. Sound waves crept up to Solveig’s face. They pulsated, and finally hit the right frequency to dismantle the Dragon Scales around her nose and mouth. The young noble didn’t know specifically what they trio planned, but brought her sword in a defensive position in front of her head. At the same time, a shout of “T-the Invader!” resounded all around her, originating from the second girl who’d been quietly floating somewhere off to the side so far.

The Invader? The heck’s up with that name? Solveig scrunched her nose, flying more carefully given the recurrent headaches and dizziness. Bubbles of liquid sluggishly flew towards her, trembling from the caster’s effort to direct them. Despite the sound mage’s efforts, and even with the Iron Tigress trying to get back into the game, Sol easily slashed through the bubbles. However, that seemed to work against her as the liquid particles suddenly sped up and splashed her in the face. Solveig spluttered and coughed but inevitably ingested a mouthful or two.

It was a bitingly sharp, stinging sort of taste. The scent was distinct, and after a moment of surprise, the noble recognized it.

Alcohol?!

It must have been quite potent and fast acting, because the von Brandt heiress was almost immediately affected by it. Her body felt looser, and it was only the strength of her will that made her clench her hand around her captured sphere. A flush coloured her cheeks, and she hummed joyfully as she looked at the three youths surrounding her.

The poor dears did seem as if they could use some relaxation.

Solveig giggled at the constipated grimace on blondie’s face. She had a siege engine sized spear floating next to her which was rotating slowly but picking up in speed. “Thaaa’sss a big drill!” she laughed gaily, swaying on her broom as she flew here and there erratically. Whether intentional or not, she evaded blondie, her flight path taking her right above Ghost girl.

“Eeeep!” the poor pet shrieked, closing her eyes and covering her face as Solveig raised her sword above her head. “S-sorry!” she was trying to say something but the noble shook her head sadly. Really, a small scared rabbit like that had no place here. It was best if she was sent down below, where she’d be out of reach of all the chaos. The noble’s arming sword came swinging down, breaking ghostie’s broom in two. The ashen haired girl screeched as she fell down, but her screams cut off when she fainted. Sol peered after her, then nodded firmly to herself when she saw her being safely caught in the netting placed below the field. “Sweet dreams!” she shouted after her even though she couldn’t hear.

An annoying machine buzz approached. “Nuh-uh,” the noble refuted the rotating spear, flying this way and that even as the spell kept following. Sound was still scrambled, but in her semi-drunk state, Sol didn’t even notice. Sabre boy came within range, frustrated his harassment from afar had no effect. “Up left, slice right, ooh, stab,” she garbled several of his upcoming moves to the boy’s visible annoyance.

Then, the machine noise was there again, and saber boy whirled on it in surprise. Meanwhile, the noble did the first thing to occur to her to her addled mind, which was to hook her legs around her broom, and turn upside down. The spear left another gash below each knee, but Sol was distracted by something big, shiny, and round in the near distance. “Oooh!” she marveled.

Meanwhile sabre boy ate most of the spear attack, and fell down. The young noble waved at him, but only got an enraged scream in return. It was another sound attack, which in her state, gave her such powerful nausea she threw up a bit. The bile flew right down, away from her, and floating down in the general direction of sabre boy. Hmm, that wouldn’t be fun to get hit by! She hoped he could avoid it.

The spear’s whirring closed in again.

Solveig wasn’t sure why, but she started feeling awful.

Was it because she was still facing upside down?

“Urgh…” she squeezed her left palm. Good, she hadn’t let go of the thingamajig.

She glanced at the big gleaming sphere in the distance, and awkwardly zig-zagged her way there. Her broom wasn’t entirely convinced to turn her the right way up. It shook itself like a dog drying off wet fur, then accelerated towards the unknown, exotic looking mage.

“INCOMING!” Solveig warned. While she made the sharp turn at the last second, curving around the girl’s barrier, the humongous drilling spear was heading straight at the girl’s protective bubble.

🗡 Roses and Daggers 🎕

	Attire: A toga (over a tunic) and sandals Date and Time: Sola 24th, Morning, following his chat with Edin Location: His office Mention(s): Interaction(s):

After their discussion at The Royal Curd, father and son had left for the castle. They separated shortly after entering the fortress, and Wulfric retreated into his office. As soon as he closed the door behind himself, the dam on his underlying raging abhorrence finally cracked. He felt his expression morph into a grimace of loathing, facial muscles straining from the intensity. His body literally shook with outrage as his breathing sped up. If he’d been alone on a cliffside somewhere, he might have screamed his throat sore.

Instead, he channeled that frustration into a power walk to his bureau, where he slammed his fists onto the solid wooden surface. Everywhere he looked – the desk, the coffee table, the couches, the cork pinboard – documents on the Black Rose still littered the room. Each and every single one was a bitter reminder of the reality of the situation.

As if beckoned by his negative emotions, fragments of past memories emerged.

He had been a child, 8 years of age. He was interested in all sorts of puzzles back then, and was keen on mysteries, adventure, and exploration. One thing had led to another, and he had found a way to break into his father’s office. He was rummaging around, not looking for anything in particular, when the guards he’d previously distracted finally noticed something amiss and informed Edin.

His father was enraged, but his younger self hadn’t thought it was a big deal. He’d proudly told his father how he’d snuck in, had even said something along the lines of ‘Wasn’t that clever of me?’ He had expected to be praised for his feat. What he received was a stinging slap to the cheek. His father was shouting things, awful, mean things. Told him he needed to be punished. Next thing he knew, his hands were being switched bloody.

I haven’t raised a criminal! was a sentence he could still clearly recall from then.

That had been the first significant fracture in the trust and admiration he’d held for his father. Several years later came the final shattering, when even the few remaining speck-sized kernels of positive regard had been completely annihilated.

I will not stand for this– this corruption!

He couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. Though, to call that which bubbled forth from his lips a laugh was as faithful as likening muck to clear spring water. It went on and on, turning into wheezing, choking half-gasps. He had to stop when the contractions caused a physical strain in his ribs and chest. Finally, the last few coughs escaped.

“H-hah!”

After the king had executed the one person he shouldn’t have, Wulfric had been fully intent on killing him as soon as he came of age. He’d been stopped by his mentor, though, and had been shipped off to Alidasht for a year.

“Damn you,” he cursed, and took to pacing his office. He had long since realized his old teacher had done what he had primarily out of a concern for him. Regardless of the hows or whys, it had ultimately been his own decision not to act. To wait for the legitimate transferal of royal power from father to son.

One of his main concerns had been what removing the stabilizing force of an established ruler – however shoddy of a ruler he was – would do to the kingdom. When he had expressed his wish to see Edin dead to Alibeth and Auguste, their worry, too, was balance.

It was exactly what his father had said about Marek Delronzo.

The Black Rose has been a significant force in maintaining the balance of power within our kingdom.

“Balance?” he hissed under his breath as he paced across his office. “A balance of crime, corruption, evil,” he spat. He didn’t use the word ‘evil’ lightly; few things were so absolute, so black-and-white. But this? A pretense of keeping order while a crime syndicate was running rampant throughout the country and beyond? Allying with Marek’s ilk so they could ‘help’ keep in check certain elements, as his father had put it? As far as he could see, what the Black Rose kept in check was the whole damn kingdom!

“No.” This one thing, he would never do. Ally with Black Rose? Support and profit from organized crime?

Watch and stand by as such atrocities were committed? “Not anymore,” he promised quietly.

Doing otherwise will significantly endanger… the very throne you sit on.

He scoffed as he recalled those words. The throne? He sneered. “What an utterly worthless thing, if it can’t protect our people,” he seethed.

No. It was high time to do away with such a treacherous influence. Still…his father did possess valuable information.

It curdled his stomach, it ignited the blood in his veins, it permeated bitterness throughout his mouth, but he had too many questions left to dispose of Edin outright. He needed to know how this state of affairs had come to be. Who had first tied in their family with the criminal underworld? Edin himself or a predecessor? Why? To oppose mages? To control the populace through fear?

And what did Delronzo have on them? Did Edin have anything on the man at all, or was he merely Marek’s king-puppet? It would be useful if he managed to find a way to turn the two against each other.

First, he had to at least explore that option. But if it seemed like trying to get through to Edin would yield no results in a reasonable time, then soon–!

If only he had a justification which would be easily accepted by the public–

He stopped mid-step when he was hit by an idea as swift and powerful as a strike of lightning.

If you actually care, find out for yourself. And when you do, swear to me you’d publicly reveal what your family has done in order to stay in power. Every last one.

“That,” he realized with sudden zeal, pacing some more. “What a brilliant stratagem that could make for,” he marveled.

There were so many things he had to do, now.

Strengthen existing alliances, consolidate his base of power, extend his reach where it was weak or nonexistent…Find out who Marek’s allies were, convert those who could be, and eliminate those who refused to change their ways.

Most importantly, he had to act.

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

@Zeroth @imia If either of you felt it would have been needed, Solveig would have helped stabilize their brooms from afar. For Parin cause she helped her not-quite-acquaintance, for Edward cause she's worried what would happen if the doped up dude lost control of his magic.

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

	Location: Kikka, by the Coliseum Interactions: / Mentions: COLLAB WITH @Zeroth

In between one breath and the next, when Solveig was in the middle of introducing herself to the poison mage, a potent gust of wind knocked into her back, stealing away her capacity for speaking, and shoving her off of her broom.

Shit.

That's what she got for not paying attention on a battlefield. Oh, how vividly she could hear her father scolding her!

She tumbled ass over teakettle, a dizzying moment where up was below, brown smudged with blue, streaks of red spiraling down with her.

After one or two turns, she stabilized, facing upwards while her body was still hurtling down to the ground. Alwin was there, because of course it was him. With pinpoint accuracy, his attack aimed at the gap where her magically-reinforced thumb and pointer finger met around the Angel Sphere^TM, dislodging the ball from her grasp with a spell faster than the speed of sound.

Then he left her behind in her free fall, chasing after his prize. It was just like how she'd dismissed that cannonball of a boy after she'd pushed him away.

However.

She visually located Alwin, his broom, her broom, and the target both he and she wanted. As the other noble fell, Solveig saw his free hand reach out to empty air. A silvery-blue glow overtook his broom, as it changed course to try and get beneath him--he was aiming to try and catch the sphere, then land on his getaway! To have that much control over a broom from a distance though, was even more evidence that he wouldn't be a pushover.

Even so, Solveig wasn't out of options. Her fire whips were still with her. So was her sword. Her spell might have unraveled into individual whips again, but it was still there. If anything, the rivulets of flame were now thicker, more potent, having had fed in barely noticeable increments since the beginning of the third test.

Solveig gathered her fire in front of her. The vortexes hissed and sizzled, an angry sound resembling a pit of snakes which had been poked into with a stick. She angled her body just so, trying to position herself in the direction of her Angel Sphere^TM. Then, she released all that energy, shooting the burning currents away, sending them off in the exact opposite direction she wanted to get to.

Having nothing to brace against mid-air, her body was blasted off away from the gushing stream of fire and towards the ball, which was also where Alwin happened to be heading. Multiple pressurized streams of fire twisted and turned around each other as they were fired off. But just as it looked like the spell might continue straight onwards, Solveig exerted the hold she still had on it, forcing it into a turn.

Now, she was catapulting toward Alwin from one direction, while a flaming tide approached him from another in a wild pincer maneuver! For an instant she saw his eyes hesitate--to grab the sphere, or to defend himself?--and he made his choice with an angry roar. His free hand released another blast of wind just like the one that had knocked her down--

"Gale Burst!"

And his sword arm, along with the rest of his body, wheeled to face her. His spell blasted into the trail of fire she had sent after him, causing an explosion as the two powers met. Meanwhile, he defended against her direct attack blade to blade. As the two of them clashed, their trajectory altered!

"Damn you!" Alwin cursed, as they were now falling away from the ball. He kicked out, managing to drive his foot into Solveig's hip among the tumble and pushing her away from him.

But, in that time, someone else had swooped into the fray--a gangly blonde boy, licking his lips as if in anticipation of a meal, came flying in from below! With one long arm he snagged the Angel Sphere^TM, and looked back to smirk at the two nobles.

"You high-class types, all mana and no brains!" Bryant cackled. However, as Alwin glared at him with those narrow eyes, the blonde boy didn't see the glowing broom coming at his head like a missile from behind.

Solveig, on the other hand, did see it, and sensed an opportunity. She took the split-second to look around, just in case anyone or anything else was in their area which she should be aware of.

"Dragon Scales," she intoned, glancing from Alwin to Bryant. The crimson scaled gauntlet around her left forearm shimmered, and spread out to the rest of her body. As magic empowered the spell, the colour leeched from the scales which became brighter. A nearly pearlescent layer of magic extended over her whole form now.

But what had she intended to achieve with this spell?

While one or both of the boys might have thought an attack would follow, it had been a distraction and a preparation in one. If either of her opponents wasted time wondering what she was doing, they weren't attacking her. Now, with the additional protection, magic would be less affective against her.

Of most immediate importance, Bryant hadn't noticed what was behind his head. Solveig gathered mana in her left hand--

Alwin's broom slammed into the blonde's head!--

--and the young noble lady unleashed her mana faster than she'd ever had, wrapping it around the commoner's broom, and pulling it right to her! She hijacked her opponent's broom, gaze flicking from Alwin to Bryant before zeroing in on the contested flying object. She readied mounted her new broom, a renewed zeal fueling her as she was determined to fight it out over the Angel Sphere^TM.

Alwin retrieved his own broom as it tumbled through the air after the impact, grabbing it with one hand and holding on as it steadied itself. With his rapier in the other hand, he too appeared to be ready to race after the sphere once more--but, just then, another winged ball whizzed between both of the mages. Alwin gave Solveig a look that said he wouldn't soon forget this, but as he pulled himself back onto his broom he went after the closer target. Behind him, however, two more applicants were already coming in hot!

As Solveig closed in on her own target, the whirling cloud of applicants was only raging all the harder around her. Down below, many of those who'd fallen from their brooms had managed to get back on after untangling themselves from the officials' nets and moved to rejoin the fray. There were many who'd managed to stay aloft the whole time, and more than a few had now moved from chasing down an Angel Sphere^TM to actively defending a caught one, trying to maintain their leads.

Inhaling and exhaling, Solveig steadied herself on her stolen broom, and directed it towards the unconscious blonde boy. With one strike of her sword to the boy’s hand, she freed the ball. Before it could escape, she grabbed it, once again snatching it out of the air. This time, she adjusted her grip on it in such a way that even someone like Alwin would have a hard time finding a gap to strike at it directly. She held the ball close to her left hip, taking on a duelist’s stance as she weaved in here and there throughout the battlefield.

If this had been a real battle, you’d have died, she could hear his voice even if he wasn’t there to watch her. Her father, Cináed von Brandt, the head of their family.

I know, father.

Then act like it. He almost always had that strict expression, now. The haunted look had never quite left his eyes. Eyes which had grown cool and detached, the once warm and kindly amber irises seemingly having changed into a cold piercing gold.

But she knew it wasn’t anger, nor disappointment, nor innate high expectations which were at the essence of why he pushed her so much.

No.

It was fear.

And that’s why she wanted to show him how strong she was. So that he wouldn’t have to worry about her. So that he wouldn’t have to protect her – so that he wouldn’t die because he had to protect her.

That’s right…even if this was practice today, she would soon be experiencing real combat. As a magic knight, life-risking missions were a given.

I know. I’ll do better.

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

@Xaltwind Sup, Sol's still in the game (for now), so I'll see it through with Zeroth first. Sorry, but no snatching falling young maidens from the air just yet!

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

I'm fine with that. :)

EDIT:

Also, this is the music playing while Solveig's falling through the air, right?

@Xaltwind

Let's just say...what she tried to do was pull off an a-la Bakugo, just instead with one stream of fire instead of with multiple explosions XD

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

@SilverPaw
A beautiful young maiden is falling from the heavens!? Time for a perfectly convenient swoop-in, arms-open and princess-carry catch moment! From Milla, of course. She gotta get friendly with all the other girls~ :3

@Xaltwind

Sent a response to zeroth already! But hmm..if he and you don't mind, we could try a three-party collab...?

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

<Snipped quote by Zeroth>

So it's not absorption. Oh Edward is so fucked.

@Remram

Hah, well, either way, no time for a chat rn :p Let's do it some other time, but for the lolz feel free to imagine Sol getting knocked off mid-intro XD

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Ah, alright.

Well, anyways... I dunno if there'll be any culling. I mean, in the original series, the only person who wasn't picked by a knight squadron - as far as we know - was Asta. But he man-childedly stubborned his way into the Black Bulls by not leaving when nobody raised their hand for him.

So, unless the Magic Knights in this 150 year future are waaaaaaaay too overstaffed, I don't imagine the 250~ something peeps who don't get their hands on a flying gold ball will just get tossed to the curb and get a participation medal. xD

EDIT:

Then again, given what the announcenrs and master of ceremony said, I fully imagine there'll be some applicants who don't make the final cut, and that's is less of a "Haha, you loser!"-deal these days then it was back in Asta & Co's time.

@Xaltwind

I mean, in the manga it was pretty clear there are people who no one chooses. Given Asta was the only newcomer for his squad, Yuno for his, and in general there only seeming to be a handful of trainees from what I've been able to tell so far...I don't think a culling is unusual?