SilverPaw

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Third Trial Collab - Part 2

"Ayo get your armpit out of my face!" Ludo shouted as he pushed through the flailing cluster of limbs and bodies. An errant hand punched the back of his head, and he could only grit his teeth and bear it. He could only move forward. The moment he looked back he would've been swallowed by the stampede, so he could only just push onward.

After what felt like ages, he stumbled out of the conglomerate and for the first time to check on his competition and saw that Solveig was almost out. He stretched his hand out to grab hers before he pulled her out of the narrow ditch. "It ain't a race if I run away with it." He said before he turned to look at the field of barbwire and mud.

With a surprised smile, Solveig accepted the hand up. "Thanks," she huffed. "That's more sportsmanship than I thought you'd show." She realized as soon as she said it that sounded rude. "Uhh, no offense. I figured you might focus on getting ahead. I might have," she admitted. "But, well...We have a good start now. Let's not waste it, hm?" That said, she jogged to the start of the wires, and lowered herself onto her front with a grimace. She began crawling, feeling awfully like a worm. Then there were those damn magical projectile going off here and there. Crawling as she was there was really no avoiding them, just hoping for the best. The good thing was, that as a swordswoman, her physical conditioning was decent, and her core was up to the challenge. Even so, she'd never done exercise like this, so while she did best than most, there were certainly still people better out there.

Ludo was going to have to put a pin on whether or not he should've been insulted lest he fell behind Solveig. He ran towards the field of mud and angry wire and lowered himself. Mud coated the front of his body, clinging to his clothes in thicker and thicker layers while clumps splashed up to his face. This was awful. Everything about this was awful. Sure, he wasn't unfit. He was a commoner, of course he did manual labor, but he wasn't fit in this way. Even with what he thought was a decent core felt like his abs were screaming at him to stop making them work so hard. The only consolation that he had was if he was doing this then Isvelt was suffering even worse than him.

Eventually, Ludo and Solveig pulled themselves from out under the wires and climbed back up on their feet. Between pants Ludo said, "I taste... so much mud. It's gross."

She was trying not to spit out the aftertaste; it would be unbecoming of a lady. Solveig brushed herself off as much as she could. "Best not to fall in there, then," she nodded at a long set of bars set over a deep mud pit. Those participants who were ahead of them had muddied the bars already. A few unfortunate victims had fallen into the pit, and were waddling out very, very slowly. Bracing herself for the trials, Solveig climbed up the starting ladder, and once her hands were positioned at the first rail, swung herself across onto the next one. She wasn't looking down, only straight ahead. Rail by rail, she progressed. Her arms were burning, her abs protesting with the occasional spasm, but she made it to the end without falling in. Seeing the next obstacle, however, she groaned. "Not another climbing task," she complained. She took a moment to study the handholds, seeking the easiest path up the wall. Each section seemed to hold its own challenges however. Still, she observed the wall until she had a route planned - the break also serving as a rest for her arms - then begun the ascent.

Ludo was not far behind. He swung his arms to each bar wracked by the sensation that gravity was going to pull his arms out of his sockets. His palms burned as the bars dug into his skin while his core began to radiate with a hollow ache. Near the end, his grip on one of the bars faltered due to the slick mud that caked it and slipped off. He held himself up with one tired arm, gasping for breath while he watched Solveig get ahead of him. "Maybe chivalry should die," he muttered to himself. The commoner forced his body to swing forward and catch the next bar before he quickly made contact with solid ground again.

To his abject frustrations, he looked up at the wall with disgust. "Oh fuck me." Ludo walked around, looking for the best path of least resistance or really the best options out of multiple bad ones. Biting the bullet, Ludo started to climb. It was uncomfortable to say the least. His wrist and ankles twisted in strange angles; the tips of his fingers gripped the holdings to get what little leverage he could get. All the while, he had to avoid getting his fingers stepped on by other contestants climbing the wall. However, despite the efforts of the captains to give them hell, Ludo was almost at the top of the bouldering wall, except he felt his foot slip. Quickly, he grabbed onto a rock with one arm and dangled there while he looked around for a way to get out though he needed to be quick because his grip was beginning to give out.

Fortunately, his newly minted rival had just managed to drag herself onto the top of the wall with a heaving grunt while he was still hanging there. Not seeing her competitor in front of her, she looked back down. "Oh, shi-" she almost cursed as she saw him hanging one-armed near the top a few paces away. Though all she really wanted to do was lie down to rest, she hurried to position herself at the top of the wall, and stretched one arm down. "Can you grab onto me?" she called.

"Yeah, I think so," Ludo called back. He stretched his dangling arm up towards her while his fingers gripped the rock as tight as he could.

Solveig lowered as much of her upper body down as she dared while still keeping most of her weight on the solid surface. Her fingertips stretched, brushed Ludo's wrist - and grabbed.

Suddenly finding herself weighted down with almost half of his weight, she felt herself starting to slip from the top. "I swear to God, if you make us crash down-!" She desperately braced herself with her free arm, digging into the ground with her legs, doing a slow back-crawl while dragging Ludo just far enough until he could get himself up top. When they were both safely on the ground above, Solveig remained sprawled out on the ground "I want a bath," she whined.

"I'll never take my magic for granted again," groaned out Ludo who laid on the ground like a sack of potatoes.

Just then, one of those magical projectiles flew straight at her, and she barely avoided it by rolling over. "Damn whoever came up with this," she muttered. She felt like an overcooked noodle, but managed to stand up. She was literally trembling for the effort, and they were what, midway? "I wish I knew how much time has passed already." Since she did not, however, there was only one option remaining - move forward, as fast as possible.

The two newly minted rivals walked up to the pit which awaited them shortly after the rock wall. "I believe I can manage jumping," she commented. "The logs better not fall over," she frowned. With a deep inhale, Solveig made the first jump. Afterwards, she continued hopping onwards, unafraid of the deep drop below. She was confident in her balance, and her legs weren't as tired. Of course, she still had to be attentive to the task at hand. At the very least, the logs did not appear at risk of toppling.

Ludo followed beside Solveig for he was certainly not going to get left behind by her. "This isn't so-" As if the universe knew what he was about to say, he watched as one of those nondescript projectiles crash into someone and flung them off the log they were balancing on into abyss below. "Okay, it's pretty bad," he corrected himself. It was very soon that Ludo was watching out for errant projectiles, jumping when it was clear and ducking and weaving with as much space as he was afforded on the wooden pillars. By the time he was back on solid ground, he could feel his calves, quads, and hamstrings begin to feel like they were ripping and to his horror it wasn't even over yet.

"More mud?! And what the fuck is that cartoony nonsense?!" He gestured incredulously at the literal punching gloves spun around by a contraption in the ditch of mud. Ludo watched as some poor soul got bounced around by the gloves like some demented game of pinball. "Clearly someone had way too much fun making this." Well, there was only one way. Back into the mud Ludo and Solveig went. While he was not a trained swordsman, what he was, was a brawler. Ludo held his arms up in a boxing stance and waded through the mud slowly, taking his time as he eyed the spinning punching bags. A glove was blocked, another was ducked. One gut checked him so hard that he felt the air flee his body in a rush and he held his stomach in place before he forced himself to move forward. Slowly, yet surely, he waded through the mud as he adapted to the rhythm of the spinning contraptions.

"If anyone ever tries convincing me that mud baths are healthy again..." She huffed. Solveig was a swordswoman, and had her sword with her, but did not expect this would be anything like sparring or combat. Even so, she unsheathed her weapon, standing at the beginning of the path with narrowed eyes. She was focused on trying to predict the speed of the constructs' spinning, the timing she would need, the force she might be hit with if she failed. She inhaled deeply, braced herself for what might come, and marched onto the path.

One glove was ducked, another, she barely jumped over, one was parried. One hit her in her back, but whether by sheer luck or reflexes, she ended up being propelled forwards rather than into the mud wallow. She weaved through, blocked, slid under, clambered over, parried, evaded, and emerged at the other end with only an aching back as far as injuries went. Her muscles were pulsating in pain by now, waves of it spreading throughout her whole body. But finally, they were at the last obstacle.

A vertical ramp covered in oil.

"That is pure evil," she glared at it. "Any clever ideas how to get up?"

Ludo watched their rivals dash up the greased ramp only to flop over and slide back down to the base. He took his jacket off and gave it a strong flap, flinging off wet and dried off earth. The jacket was slung over his shoulder. "Hand me your sword." He held his hand out. "I'm not going to do anything weird. Just give it to me." Solveig passed over the weapon, and watched him create makeshift bandages.

Once the sword was in his hand, he held the edge against the old black jacket without a second thought and began to slice off swaths of cloth that had the least amount of mud before he handed the sword back to her. "Not an elegant solution, but a solution." Ludo said while he sat down and tied the cloth around his boots and then around his palms before he tossed the remaining scraps at Solveig. He stood there rolling sleeves up as he waited for Solveig to do the same. First she took her blade back. Next, Solveig dubiously began wrapping the torn leather strips around her hands and booted feet.

"Let's see who can get up there first." Right after he said that he dashed forward onto the ramp and clambered up the slick ramp, fueled only by adrenaline. The cloth he wrapped around his shoes and hands just absorbed enough of the oil to give him enough of a hold to climb up the ramp. His clothed hands grabbed onto the edge and pulled himself forward onto the platform, rolling onto his back panting from exhaustion. Ludo punched his hand up into the air in celebration before he looked towards the nearest attendant. "Get this fucking thing off me."

The young lady blinked once, then dashed after Ludo. It was more so like running on all fours than climbing, and she felt herself slipping with every step. She got up top a moment after Ludo, and flopped down onto the groun next to him. "Next time, I'll be first," she proclaimed, exhaustion lining her tone.

🗡 Roses and Daggers 🎕

	Attire: Party fit (one brooch only) Date and Time: Sola 25th, Morning Location: The castle -> The Edwards estate Mention(s): @Tpartywithzombi Ariella Interaction(s): @Lava Alckon Drake

After he had met with his younger siblings, Wulfric returned to his room to be readied for Drake’s party with the help of a servant. His attire was white and golden in colour, light and airy to accommodate the warm summer weather, yet appropriately resplendent. Though he tended to minimize jewelry, he selected a small jade brooch – a nod to the green theme he knew the young lord’s party would have.

He stopped at the stables to pick up Drake’s gift, and took a walk to the Edwards estate. By the time he arrived, his friend was already stationed at the main entrance. The lord’s positioning caused a slight congestion what with the guests stopping by to greet him, exchanging pleasantries and well-wishes while trying to engage in small talk. The Edwards heir and his servants did their best to usher all visitors in, yet there was still an undeniable crowd right outside.

Wulfric’s arrival at once resolved that problem, yet also worsened it. In their hurry to give way to him, people converged at the sides of the road, crowding each other as they goggled at the prince and his majestic steed. He was leading the young horse by a lead, its coat shining so brightly even gold paled in comparison. “Good morning, Drake, and a happy birthday.” The royal greeted the lord with a smile. “I decided that today is the day when you finally accept,” a hint of mischief shone in his gaze. In the past, he had offered the man his choice of a steed, but the lord had hemmed and hawed and ultimately oh-so graciously declined.

But this young colt, a palomino Thoroughbred of barely 2 years was so perfect no horse lover could possibly resist his charms. “He was sired by the famous Hyperion,” he named a well-known racing horse. “I named him Apollon, but feel free to rename him.” Finally, he extended his right hand for a handshake, still keeping ahold of the horse’s leash in his left. He drew the lord in for a half-hug. “I heard about your sister,” he whispered into Drake’s ear when he was near enough. He patted the lord’s shoulder, but when they released each other from the brief embrace, there was no hint of what he had mentioned in his expression. “May you and your family enjoy a blessed day,” was all he said.

Truthfully, the prince was curious about Ariella’s imprisonment. Callum had alluded that there had been no fine to pay, and only one night’s stay in the dungeon for her. That was odd, and Wulfric felt there was more to the story. He was aware that none of the Edwardses may wish to discuss it today, but he would endeavor to uncover what had happened.

“Now, if you do not mind, I should like to see this boy settled into his new home,” he patted the equine’s neck. “He can be rather choosy,” he commented. Indeed, Apollon was getting antsy, unused as he was to large gatherings. Wulfric did not expect Drake had the time to see to himself, though even if he had, the prince would have accompanied him. He did wish to say goodbye to the prized steed. So, he waited until a handler was called in, and followed them to the stables.

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

@SilverPaw
Neither did I, until today. And apparently when they do, they're real effing hard to pull outta yer gob... Dentist spent about an hour and a half trying to get the last bit out, but just couldn't do it. :V

@Xaltwind

Yikes. As if the regular tooth removal wasn't painful enough (been through it twice already. The second time this year, tho the tooth was split into half which did make it more difficult to remove but at least the hole is smaller)

Black Clover: Fool's Arcana

Ebil dentist was supposed to remove one of my teeth today, but they couldn't get one of the roots out 'cuz it'd fused to the jawbone... So now I gotta hope that my gums heal over it and that it doesn't get infected, otherwise I'll need to pay a nifty $600+ sum (in addition to the $100+ I already paid for today's procedure) to have it surgically treated... My moniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiis... T-T

@Xaltwind

Ooof, I didn't know a root could fuse with the jawbone.

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

---

---

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.