Shin'za held his shot when the War God was pressed by the Spirit Caller and the War Queen.
He held his shot when the War God gained the upper hand.
He held his shot when the War God disengaged.
He almost pressed the trigger when he was engulfed in an explosion of fire.
But he held his shot when the illusion was revealed and the God Slayer was stabbed.
It was only when the chains finished restricting the War God's body that he let his new weapon sing.
Time seemed to slow down as his eyes tracked the bullet, it was deceptively small for something that packed as much power as he had seen but even with the destruction he knew it could cause it wouldn't be enough to seriously damage a God as powerful as this Hachiman had proven to be, even with the contempt he felt comparing him to his Lord he could see the similarities in endurance that they both possessed, the sturdiness that wouldn't allow them to die by a measly bullet of this caliber.
...That is why he didn't target the God's body
Finally after what felt like an eternity, his bullet connected with the helmeted head of the War God, the strength of the shot blowing his head back and getting rid of his helmet completely, the small blast managing to snap the straps holding it in place even as it failed to perforate the God's skull.
But that didn't matter.
The War Queen was in range... and the War God's neck was completely exposed.
Day 1 ◈ Time: Dusk/Evening ◈ Weather: Light Rain ◈ Location: Harold's Academy, Main Ballroom ◈ Participants: Myrion Stevar @Teyao
◈ Mentioned: Anastasia Arslan @Ti, Kaspaan Mustaven @Deja, Fasha Sumbul @jasbraq Myrion observed as the younger student disappeared into the crowd, his eyebrows narrowed at his parting words, not because he disagreed with the sentiment but more because...
"Who says 'gum under the table'? Wouldn't that mean someone had to clean it afterward?"
Whatever, odd saying aside he had gotten more or less what he wanted, and as a plus, he had obtained a look at Walter Ozyward's personality, not the most difficult he had encountered by a long shot. Turning he began to move just in time to see Wolfg- Mr. Weiß giving the announcement this year, he held his breath as Lady Upperton gave the signal to the band and exhaled in relief when they didn't fumble it, he knew that the chances of that were so minuscule that it was insulting to them but even so he couldn't help the silver of worry that had crept up his spine.
But thankfully everything had gone more or less according to plan... which brought back the doubt of what to do next. Anastasia seemed to be taking care of the students playing with the decorations so it wasn't like- no two people were approaching her, if he was to guess they likely were trying to get her to dance with one of them.
...This was his opportunity.
Approaching the newly formed trio he listened as both Mr. Mustaven and his fellow Illuminaire Fasha Sumbul invited Anastasia to dance and internally wondered what her response would be, the first year or the fifth year? Or perhaps she would attempt to throw a curve ball and say that she was too busy focusing on the decorations to dance? Not that the third option would really be an option if he had his way.
Getting close to them he decided to not let the chance of more work escape him "Mr. Mustaven is quite right Anastasia, I am more than apt enough to take care of the event for a few hours, so if you want I could do that while you enjoy dancing with one of our fellow students" He gave a tilt of the head towards both the students waiting for her response.
It didn't matter who she chose to dance with as long as he could get something to do.
James cracked a grin at Lucy's stories of young Barracker, they were surprisingly... 'wholesome' was the word he wanted to use but taking into account that they wanted to 'give a lift' to some orcs perhaps it was not the most appropriate word, still, he could almost imagine tall and broody by his side and his little gaggle of friends asking those same questions.
"Ya know? It is reassuring that you vouch for him so much, we already had accepted him but getting the guild master's approval is a hell of a recommendation." Turning towards his quiet companion he extended a hand "Well Barracker, welcome officially to Second Chance, hope you love your stay" Looking once more at the Guild Master he bid his goodbyes "Welp, thanks for everything Lucy, I will get our of your hair now, see you later"
“So, what's the next mission?”
"Right you still don't know" He mulled the words on his mind for a second "We are trying to rank up to Silver as quick as possible so we were given a choice between several options, we after careful instrospection we setled on a Gold contract, we leave in a couple of days towards the Temple of Hades to kill the Greater Wraith thas has nested there so if you need to make any preparations I suggest you use these days to do it" Saying so he decided to say something semisirius for once, laying a hand agaisnt the taller man's shoulder he started "Thank you for joining us Barracker, truthfully I feel more at ease knowing we have another able person on the party" He patted the other man a few times before retracting his hand "Well I am going back to The Mended Drum if you wanna meet the party or just hang with us you know where to find us"
Satisfied with his interpersonal interaction he started walking towards the inn before a thought crossed his mind, he... had forgotten to tell Barracker about the fact that they were from another world which was a HUUGEEE oversight if he was being honest, best to take care of that before doing anything else.
Stopping his walk he turned his torso towards the Vampiric Paladin "Oh right, another tiny, almost insignificant detail I forgot to add... We Second Chance come from another world" He waited for barely a second before giving a wave with the hand and resuming his walk "Till later dude!"
Nailed it.
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Returning towards The Mended Drum might not have been the most Logistical sound decision but in his defense the journey to the Guild and back was halfway through the city so he felt justified in taking a breather on a familiar location before setting off again.
Entering the establishment he noticed a distinct lack of his party members.
Shrugging his shoulders he went to Frederick the innkeeper and sorted his meal, before long he was seated and about to gulf down a hearty mix of eggs and bread with some meat he guessed was beef thrown in. The only thing stopping him was the figure of Adam going coming down the stairs, this was a prime opportunity to talk with the younger man, the second person he really need to talk more to (Fenna was the first) "Hey Adam! Here! Wanna join?"
Day 1 ◈ Time: Dusk/Evening ◈ Weather: Light Rain ◈ Location: Harold's Academy, Main Ballroom ◈ Participants: Myrion Stevar @Teyao, Walter Ozwyrd@A Lowly Wretch
Myrion watched as the new student delivered his ultimatum with a raised eyebrow, he had to admit it, barring some very select people he couldn't imagine anyone acting like this on their first ball, and were he a normal student he would be just amused but as a newly appointed Illuminiare he couldn't help but think about the problems this student might get himself into, still about his threat...
He snorted
"A very clever idea Mr. Ozyward but before you go let me ask you a question, how many students do you think have assisted to the ball since the academy was founded?" A small smile etched itself on his face "Now I want you to contemplate exactly how many of those students had the 'bright' idea of spiking the punch?" He waited a couple of seconds for the first year to come to terms with his words "There are measures to prevent such things from happening Mr. Ozyward, such as there being several punches with different drinks -fruit juice and alcoholic both- offered by the catering service, Mr. Olimer that was hired to use his Gift and prevent tempering with the fruit punches and the teachers who keep a watchful eye when they can"
And thank goodness for that, he was already stressed enough just expecting something would go wrong with any of the plans that were prepared in advance. Also, it was better to extend an olive branch to the younger man, just because he was not of his house there was no reason to be rude to each other (the boy was not Taegan after all).
"I was not here to shut down your little project Mr. Ozyward, the Headmistress may be strict but she allows students more freedom than you may think, I just wanted to set a couple of rules such as no servicing alcohol to minors and notifying the student council when you wish to persue such avenues, we prefer when the student body cooperates with us rather than against us" he consciously relaxed his body language, his 'mentor' had once told him that he tended to close himself off with his body language "Tell me Mr. Ozyward do you accept such considerations in exchange for continuing with your stall?"
There, brach extended, now he just needed to wait for a response.
There was a small worry on his heart as they made their way to the guild, that maybe this was their version of Sunday -Note to self: Investigate the calendar these people used- but maybe luck was on his side for one, now it was just a matter of registering Barracker and then they could be on their merry way, him on the next item of his list and Barracker to do Barracker things.
“James, wait…” Barracker paused briefly. “I live with the affliction of vampirism.” He looked for a reaction. “You are not in any danger, I can assure you. I just thought you should be aware. People generally don’t take too kindly to my condition.”
Hearing Barracker's question left James confused for a second, worried for another, and bemused for a third. Though not for the reasons that should be expected.
"Wait! Are these guys like, racist?"
He couldn't discount the possibility but on the flip side it could be more simple like vampirism=bad/dangerous, something closer to home, at least on the aspect of fearing someone based on their condition "I am going to be honest with you dude, up to this point I had never seen a real vampire and just assumed you were of a different race" Honesty was the way to go in his opinion "But still, if you say your condition is under control I have no reason to doubt you" Better to throw a disclaimer to avoid further misunderstandings "I should also mention, my- well I guess I should say our party members and me come from very far away, to the point that many things around here are really strange to us, other races being one of them. But still don't worry about being judged early and for no reason" A thought crossed his mind and he let out a chuckle "Fuck, I mean, realistically just based on the history of our respective homes with each other Mac and I should dislike each other, Adam and Lilly should hate Joji and viceversa and everyone should be plotting on killing Zell, so don't worry too hard 'kay?"
Sayings so he reached and opened the doors to the guild, before looking back at the Paladin "You coming?"
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Moving to the second floor again he knocked on the Guild Master door until he was given permission to enter and once inside didn't waste a second to explain the situation.
"Hey there Lucy, sorry if this is not the correct process but I would like to register a new member for our party please"