SilverPaw

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

@SilverPaw
Should we try again and have Sol and Ludo interact with each other?

@Remram

I'd be up for it, yeah! Collab? Solo posts? For the free time or the last trial?

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Heh, I had thought we might get an obstacle course for the first trial, but looks like it's the last, and no magic, that is a neat addition (I'm sure the captains have had enough of them murdering each other...but I still foresee people kicking others down, using them for body shields etc.). Let the games begin~

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Oh, so it'll surprisingly *not* be a (1v1) combat trial? Intriguing.

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Nephertys, Solveig & Isvelt

Collab with @Xaltwind and @Zeroth, ft. NPC from @Remram

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A crowd surrounded them, a crowd resembling sharks who’d grown frenzied at the scent of blood. However, there was also a noble offering an alliance. “How come you don’t have a sphere yet?” Solveig called out to him. If he was so confident, it was a bit strange. Then he demonstrated his magic, and she considered the possibility that he only had defensive magic. She was unsure the deal was worth it, but it would be simpler to work with him. “What do you think, Nephertys? I don’t really like him, but cooperating would be to our advantage.”

The star mage expressed her enthusiastic agreement, to which Solveig nodded. Briefly, she used her new friend to cover her front from the enemies’ sight. Carefully, she lodged the Angel Sphere^TM underneath her breastplate, then reinforced her Dragon Scales with another boost of magic. She extended the layer of magical protection over her armour, sword – and with an additional effort of will, around her broom too. It had taken practice, but as long as she considered the object a part of her, she could do it, though it was much easier and more efficient for objects she used daily, such as her sword.

“I suggest you hide your sphere,” she whispered to Nephertys. “Let’s try herding the opponents close together. I will need a bit to use long ranged magic, so I will resort to melee and flying for now. If I see anyone trying to come to you from your back, I’ll still protect you,” she relayed as quickly as she could.

"Very well! But... Hide it....?" Nephertys replied, then looked down at herself. She... Didn't really have anywhere to hide the sphere, did she? Well... There was one place but... She hesitated for a bit. Then took a deep breath and then...

Plo-boing~!

The dark skinned girl forcefully shoved her hand, with the winged little ball, down in-between her breasts - trying to mimic Solveig... Sadly, when you don't have a breastplate or some restrictive material, and just soft and squishy angel pillows, you're not really gonna be able to --

"Aah... Ahh-- Hawawawawawa, n-no, this isn't... This isn't quite working, Lady Von Bran-- Ahn..." The girl's voice was interrupted by a lot of.... Peculiar sounds... And her chest was visibly being affected by the little golden rascal, who was desperately trying to escape its new holding cell. After only a few moments, Nephy was forced to retrieve and remove the tiny orb, both because it was distracting - and probably not just to herself - but also because it was clear that, while impressive, her chest wouldn't be able to keep the small fellow in place if left alone.

"T-those wings really do tickle..." she commented, cheeks flushed while now holding the sphere in her hand again.

Then a barrage of spells came their way, and Solveig braced as the force of two icicles hit her side, a wind blast tried to disbalance her, and a lightning strike was drawn to her sword and channeled into her body, leaving her with tingles all over. She gritted her teeth through the resulting pain, but aside from channeling enough power into her defensive spell to keep it up, she didn’t actively cast any other magic. The existent flames around her left hand sizzled and hissed, growing brighter and larger as they drew on the ambient magic.

“Alright, you lot! See if you can come and get this!” Solveig shouted, raising her balled hand high in the air. However, with the shimmering scales and crimson flames surrounding it, no one could be the wiser that her left hand was now empty.

Suddenly, the fiery noble dropped down onto her broom, almost lying down on it. She clung to it with both legs and her left forearm, while she held her sword at the ready in her right. “Hey, player boy!” she called out to Isvelt. “Game on! You better know how to bowl, because we are aiming for perfect!” Saying so, she suddenly accelerated, shooting off in the direction of his golden coin. “AIM!” she yelled as she flew straight toward it. She twisted and turned in the air, positioning just so.

Her sword extended, struck the coin—

the coin flipped around with a resounding cling of metal striking metal—

one moment, she was facing Isvelt, in the next, the direction opposite of him—

“FIRE!!” she shouted at the top of her lungs.

Her broom flew past the coin. As she passed it by, Solveig caught one edge of the still-rotating coin with her feet, and pushed herself off of it, generating additional force. Hopefully, the golden mage had actually managed to aim her at their enemies, because Solveig could hardly change her direction now.

Meanwhile, Nephy was brought back to reality as a bolt of lightning suddenly slammed into her bulwark, causing an unpleasant, crackling and fizzing sound as the magic shield both took and dispersed the incoming energy of the attack. Unlike with the Iron Tigress though, the Setet girl wasn't flung or pushed away this time, as there wasn't any kinetic energy travelling with the spell. Lightning, after all, didn't exactly have any mass with weight.

Still, this attack had damaged her defenses, and more were incoming! Plus, she needed to aid and keep track of her ally and the gentleman who'd arrived to offer them assistance when this group of poachers had shown up. Doing a quick left-to-right, then right-to-left sway on her broom, Nephertys regained her composure and focus. It seemed like her fiery friend was frantically flying forwards to face their foes, which meant that there was only one thing for Nephy to do!

Offer support and cover! After all, the dragon mage had told her that they should try and herd their opponents.

"Stellar Photon!" Nephy's voice called out, and almost instantly, six little star clusters were spawned from nowhere, hovering in pairs of three slightly above the star mage's shoulders. She narrowed her eyes, as yet another magic spell slammed into her bulwark and damaged it - a small collection of fireballs. She could tell that if the icicles and air funnel hadn't been aimed at Solveig, she would've lost her barrier by now, it was already taking quite a beating...

But... That didn't matter!

With mental visualization and command, the six stars at her side sparked to life, and soon followed a barrage of luminous little beams, streaking towards the collective that was their opponents. She was aiming for the ones at the ends, trying to making them dodge in closer towards their peers, and hopefully she could start driving them in one direction by laying down a bunch of curtain-fire on their flanks.

As both girls simultaneously enacted their strategies, their opponents split up--roughly half tried to keep track of Solveig, while the others had to evade or defend themselves from Nephertys. The multiple star turrets, firing separately, succeeded in driving them in the safest direction--which, they realized too late, had them almost crashing into the other group!

"Shields up--!" shouted one mage, but only a handful of barriers and other defensive magics had time to cast before Solveig, enhanced by the redirection effect of Isvelt's coin, smashed through the crowd! Like a draconic comet surrounded by shards of shattering stained glass, she sent the majority of their opponents spiraling out of control, some losing their brooms entirely.

However, as her fiery scales began breaking and peeling away, Solveig would feel exhaustion creeping over her--covering her entire body like that, while maintaining both spells and putting so much effort into that attack, had been costly even for the reserves of nobility. Luckily, as her broom dipped, those that hadn't been bested by the crashing chaos had scattered to re-assess their chances.

"Well done, well done! Quite a show there, ladies!" Isvelt chuckled as he drifted closer. "Now, if I can assume a deal's a deal?" He held out a helping hand to Solveig, while looking towards Nephy. "I've already spied a few targets---that chubby girl over there, with the magnet, happens to be one of them!" He pointed as the rotund young woman with pink hair happened to be drifting at the edge of the arena, her back turned to them as she looked around at other applicants.

"As would be that fellow with...what I REALLY hope is some sort of confectionary magic..." He nodded his head towards another applicant who was down below them, trying to stay under the fighting which seemed to be taking place more towards the coliseum's open-air. It was the morose looking young man in all black, who had conjured up something round and brown in his hand that he took a bite out of. However, this one noticed Isvelt's gaze, and his pale face began to sweat as he looked for another hiding place.

"Solveig von Brandt," she introduced herself. Temporarily, she sheated her sword to take and shake boy's hand, nodding to confirm that their deal was indeed a deal. She had to take a bit of a breather, letting her defensive spell dissipate. The fire around her left hand had spread up her whole arm, simply due to having picked up extraneous magical energy throughout the fight. She did not appreciate that she'd let herself run so low on reserves, however. She had severly underestimated how much it would take to cover her whole body with Dragon Scales, because she usually did not.

But what was done was done. "I would pick the chocolate boy. The magnet girl might use her magic to interfere with my swordsmanship and with your gold magic, depending on what she does. Even if the boy's magic relates to food, he is not to be underestimated, however...I faced a girl with liquor magic just before, and it was...unpleasant." She tilted her head, as she considered something. "However, we could ambush the magnet girl. Any preferences?" she questioned the other two.

With their opponents soundly thrashed and on the retreat, Nephy allowed herself to float forward on her broom and join Solveig and Isvelt as they began their conversation about how and who to target and claim a sphere from next.

... Mag... net...? What's that...? Is... Is it some kind of magic item? Ah! That must be what these heartlanders call a magical net, yes, of course! On of those... Abra-vations or whatever they call them! Good thing I figured that out and didn't just ask, I could've looked quite the fool to my new allies and revealed my own ignorance.

... Was what Nephy was mistakenly thinking when the topic of the chubby girl with the big ol' manget was brought up. When the mention of the boy - who was snacking on something was brought up though - Nephertys looked around a bit before spotting him down below the trio. She gave him a careful look.

"Hmm, he must be quite the warrior, covered in war paint like that. Could be a most worthy opponent!" She stated with enthusiasm and a sage-nod... Apparently missing completely that the guy was sweating bullets and his eyes had gone wide like a deer's caught in the headlights of a charging truck-kun.

"The chocolate boy it is," Solveig acknowledged, because she did not think Isvelt frankly cared as long as he got a sphere of his own. As soon as he saw the three mages looking in his direction begin to move in concert, the young man in guyliner made a panicked expression and started to make a beeline away from them! The pursuit began; Solveig shot straight ahead as Isvelt veered to one side. She let her broom drop down, and once she was low enough not to risk injury, released her magical hold on it, letting gravity do the rest of the work. She was aiming to land straight on top of the boy in all black, aiming a drop kick at his head!

Looking back over his shoulder, her target threw out one pale palm: "Choco-Drizzle Spiderweb!" Strings made of dripping, liquid chocolate shot out in weaving octagonal patterns, ensnaring Solveig mid-air! The puttering flames left in her hand would be enough to melt her out without spending too much of her mana, but if she didn't call her broom back she'd fall to the nets below---her low reserves wouldn't let her pull off that fancy flight trick she'd tried with Alwin again.

"Raining Wealth!" Isvelt cast, producing a literal handful of golden coins that were magically thrown at their opponent. As if each small, but heavy disc of metal had been launched from a professional's slingshot, they peppered the chocolate-magic user's back as he retreated.

"Owch owch owch yeeeeeoooowch!" The boy zigged and zagged, slowing him down enough for Nephertys to follow up her allies' attacks--!

Nephy watched one of her allies gallantly leap off broom in midair to deliver a foot-full-of-force to their target - even if it had resulted in Solveig getting tangled up in what was hopefully, a spider-web of gooey chocolate, and her other ally giving chase to the boy in makeup, peppering the latter's back with money. How curious, she'd never thought to use coins in that way before... But perhaps it was a good idea, after all, if you had the coin to spend, why not!?

"I won't be outshined, hah!" Nephertys announced, in a strangely competitive way, before giving her broom a wave of magic juice, causing the star mage to propel forward.

Like Isvelt, she gave chase to the chocolatier, rather than do what Solveig had done and tempt fate by performing aerial acrobatics that did not involve her broom. Instead, as the black-clad emo lad focused all his attention on preventing Solveig from reaching him, and being harassed by their male companion, Nephy took the opportunity to speed on ahead, positioning herself at a distance to the right of their mark, though slightly above in the air. Her shield was still holding up, though damaged by their earlier scuffle, the girl seemed to have confidence that it'd last long enough to see her through this final push.

"Stellar Photon, dual fusion!" With this chant, four of the tiny star clusters appeared next to Nephy, before first merging once, creating a pair, and then merged again to form a single, larger star. Taking care with this Big Boy, she began aiming and leading her shot, watching as the zig-zagging black rabbit tied his best to avoid the assaults' of their gold magic-using fellow. The goal? Well, either she'd hit him directly and hopefully knock him, or at least the sphere, off their broom and/or grasp, or she'd at least force him to perform a sudden turn or dive/pull up, which would give her allies more time to close the gap!

"AAAAAND, FIREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!"

ZA-PEW!

The sudden, oncoming light reminiscent of being chased down by an anachronistic truck-kun caused the choco-mancer to turn his head, his mouth turning into a black-lined O as a high pitched scream began. Desperately he cast another spell, his grimoire glowing with a creamy amber light as he seemed to be putting quite a bit of mana into it.

"D-D-DOUBLE CRUNCH BARRED DOOR!"

An enormous, double layered chocolate bar in a shape reminiscent of some castle's huge mahogany double doors--each "square" of candy bearing meticulous decorative inscriptions--manifested between Nephy's oncoming attack and her target! With a thunderous BOOM the spells collided! As the four-in-one starbeam began to crack through the first layer, causing molten cocoa to boil up from beneath, the other mage held out both hands as he pushed futilely against Nephertys' mana.

Then, with a distinct snapping sound, the chocolate barrier was blown apart! As the light washed over him, her opponent practically threw his Angel Sphere^TM away from himself as he was blasted across the arena. Which, immediately after, Nephery's had a somewhat peculiar expression on her face for a brief moment. The critter construct spun in place for a moment before it finally got its wings under it--just in time for Isvelt to swoop in and grab it!

"Haha! And there we have it!" He grinned smugly, before floating up to Nephertys. "Quite well done, my lovely new friend!" He held out his hand to her as if he were asking for a dance. "By the way, I never did get your names, did I? I must apologize--my manservant's boorishness must be rubbing off on me." As he said that, for a single second his eyes darted somewhere else within the coliseum. A micro expression flashed across his face--but the next second he was all beaming smiles as he continued to enjoy the tanned beauty's company.

Seeing that her male companion had managed to secure his own golden ball, Nephertys smiled in a big and sunny manner, happy that she'd managed to aid in repaying the young nobleman for his help earlier. When the young sir extended his hand in such a gentlemanly fashion, Nephy's cheeks blushed a bit, as she reached out her own hand and arm to let him hold hers. She seemed to have forgotten that her barrier was still up though, but thankfully physical matter could pass through it freely.

"I am Nephertys Setet of Sankrah, good sir! I'm pleased we could repay your kindness from before. Well done, your magic was splendid!" The desert noblewoman exclaimed in a cheery and sincere voice. And she completely failed to notice the guy's sour expression as he cast a far-too-quick-for-Nephy's-sponge-brain-to-notice-glance at what was presumably his aforementioned manservant.

"As was yours, my dear!" Isvelt swiftly lowered his head to the back of Nephy's hand, delivering a quick peck. He batted his eyes at the buxom girl, but as he seemed about to say something else, Solveig interrupted them. Having summoned her broom after her failed drop-kick maneuver, the von Brandt heiress rejoined her companions.

"I introduced myself to you," Solveig raised her brows at the boy. "You still haven't, though," she commented, tilting her head to the side. Unlike Nephertys, she did notice the boy's odd demeanour, though she didn't quite catch who he was looking at. "Besides, your manners are your own." She didn't appreciate him trying to blame someone else for his own actions.

"A-ah, um, yes, of course...Lady...Solaire, wasn't it?" Isvelt backpedaled, quickly letting go of Nephy's hand so that he could wipe an awkward sheen of sweat from his brow. "H-how silly of me! I am Isvelt Quartus Kira, of Royal House Kira! It's been such a pleasure to work with you, ladies!"

"Solveig," she chuckled, "but I don't mind nicknames."

She only had one other question left for him. "Now that you have your sphere, do you want to stay teamed up with the two of us until this trial ends?" He had contributed, and one more team member would more likely deter the sphereless go-getters, especially with that one defensive spell of his. Once it did become apparent the three of them would remain a team, Solveig fetched her sphere from its hiding place, once again holding it in her left hand.

"Oh, certainly!" Isvelt sighed in relief as he seemingly recovered from that bit of awkwardness. "You know, I think both of you thus far have made quite the show of your abilities---and my status should be more than evident. With the three of us as a group, I doubt anyone here would be foolish enough to provoke our wrath!"

If they looked around, it would seem that was indeed the case. Solveig had fought off Alwin, and Nephertys had shown that her Star Magic was quite formidable in both defense and offense. Now that one of the Royals had teamed up with them, the few roaming groups of sphere-hunters left seemed to give them plenty of stinkeye, but otherwise a wide berth.

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

@Zeroth Assuming we can still deal with this on our own as long as we make it interesting? Should we check with you or with @Remram for Isvelt's reponses?

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.