*COMPLETED* Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Kurui felt a small pang of guilt at Sienna's reluctance to come along, but at the same time the alternative was worse. “Sorry Sienna, I know you hate them, but what do you really expect me to do, let them have their way with the new girl? You don't have to come if you don't want, but I'm not running from these losers.” She wasn't sure if Sienna was listening or not though as she kept rambling and making comments that would be... hard to explain to the lightning major there with them. Still, Kurui found herself trying to play it off. “I can't get rid of them for you, but this might be a chance to do it yourself, they leave me alone because I stand up to them, if they try to fight us send a few of them out of here on the end of a whirlwind and they'll leave you alone too.”

Luckily it appeared their new group member was a lot more willing to stand up to crowd. Though Kurui couldn't remember having ever seen the lightning major ever fight or anything, she seemed to be pretty calm about the whole thing, she had to have some measure of skill to be acting like this... then again the comments about how her boyfriend could fight them all himself sounded like a lot of empty talk... or warped perceptions. “Yeah, real tough guy, I bet. Am I supposed to be jelous? Sienna was so wrong about us being alike... but I suppose I can't get mad someone who wants to help.”

Rythe's support seemed to be the push Sienna needed to come along without any more argument, though Kurui was sure Sienna would've followed anyway if she just started walking, it happened before when she plowed through Teague's group a few days ago, although she would feel bad dragging the wind major around like that again. Unfortunately the lack of serious protest didn't mean Sienna would be quiet, as it seemed to be a way of coping with stress for her. This was fine with Kurui, although she froze and gritted her teeth when Sienna mentioned Teague being gone. “Nice one Sienna, are you trying to get me kicked out of here. I mean... I didn't do anything, it was all Concepta anyway, but geeze, this isn't exactly the easiest thing to have to explain or play down!”
She wasn't sure if she flinched or if something showed on her face or if Rythe just caught onto the detail itself, but it didn't go by without notice. Sienna's attempt to shrug it off was almost bad enough to make Kurui facepalm, anyone halfway paying attention could've told Sienna was lying or hiding something. For the moment though it appeared she had a stroke of good of good luck, and the lightning major seemed to treat the whole thing as little more than a mildly interesting scrap of news, not even worth asking further about.

“Yes, lets go now before we miss our chance. The goonies aren't going to give up their chase and come back to have a pleasant conversation with us just cause we're still talking.”
It didn't take them long to find the group, they wern't exactly being quiet or stealthy in any way. Still, in the time it took them to catch up it seemed they had corned the fire major from earlier, although she was still yelling defiant insults at them so it was clear they hadn't hurt her or done anything too bad yet. This was the perfect chance for Kurui and her own group to get in some good sneak attacks, but she still knew better than to start fights that the Academy probably wouldn't look too kindly upon... although if they attacked first, self defense would be easier to make a case for. “These guys are cowards anyway, I swear they'll probably run at the first sign of a real challenge.” It was probably smarter to try and find out what was going on first, or at least ask the new girl if she wanted help before butting in, but she had just about reached her limit with these guys.

“Hey, assholes!” She called it out in a confrontational, angry voice “You think you're all tough guys or something? How come every time I see you all you're ever doing is trying to threaten girls? Not that you've ever had the spine to do anything when they stand up to you. Six of you guys teamed up against one girl, thats fair, right? Nah, that's an insult to her, how about you go get a few more guys and then MAYBE you'll be tough enough to take on a slime. She's not alone anymore anyway, so you might as well piss off right now and find a different way to shame your Y chromosomes. Your leader Teague was pretty at good at that.”

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Kurui's outspoken taunt saw mixed reactions; expectedly, the gang of male students turned with shocked, angry looks. Their potential victim, however, was considerably more pleased to see the trio's sudden arrival.

"Ooh, finally someone with bollocks!" exclaimed the orange-haired girl, her eyes widened slightly with a big, confident grin forming upon her face. "And I'm definitely not talkin' about da lot o' ye," she added while glancing around at the six delinquents surrounding her, apparently retaining the nerve to mock her assailants. "I was wonderin' where all da monitors went. Me first day at dis school and da hall monitors just disappear or sum'in'--I thought dis was some kinda conspiracy! Soh, you fucks gonna run yet? Dis' hardly a fair fight now!"

Her continued provocations succeeded in getting three of them to turn around and actually do something, for once, as they moved in to tackle her. However, she did manage to kick one in the face, which sent him reeling with a bloody nose, and shove another, who quickly fell to the ground, before being grappled by the third. The last one facing her looked absolutely furious as he clinched with her, growling. "Grrr... what kinda mage just... kicks someone in the face?!" She was doing pretty well in struggling against him, given her natural proportions, but one of the other boys quickly regrouped and managed to actually help in holding her down. Flailing, she tried her best to swing, punch and claw her way to freedom, aiming for their vitals, and having mixed success. "Aw, you fucks! Bring it! I'll bite each and every one of ye if I haf ta!"

As the fourth member jumped into the task of subduing her, the other two began to close in on Sienna, Kurui, and Rythe. "Damnit, where the hell is Teague anyway? And why is it now that we have to get mobbed by the crazy ex club?!" groaned one of them, his focus zooming in on the dark-haired girl.

Rythe narrowed her eyes and muttered, "No one's going to help her if we don't, so start casting, Sienna, Kurui!" She was given a hesitant look by the Wind Major at first before the blonde finally nodded and began chanting under her breath, eyes half-closed. "And aim for the group at level 2 magnitude, Rending Gale and Blue Riptide," she added, citing the appropriate Wind and Water element spells respectively, strafing off to the side to divert the attention of the one to the left.

Even with her distracting him and Sienna aiming her spell at the group, the second delinquent made a straight line towards Kurui. She still had plenty of options at this point, some of which included moving away from the blonde's side, or trying to get a quicker cast in edgewise; it was up to her.

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

The gang's reaction, at least for the moment, was about what Kurui expected. The reaction of their victim was surprisingly enthusiastic and receptive though, without any questions or apparent protests, seemingly more concerned about the lack of monitors than about her and her friends being here. “Balls... thanks for that um... total compliment there. The lack of monitors IS weird though. I know some were going on the mine trip tomorrow, but there were really none on the whole chase down here? *Sigh* They're probably ALL being briefed on tomorrow or something, even if only a few are coming. Geeze though, one day without with supervision and the school is turning into a bunch of savages. The peasant farmers back home had their crap together better than this. Hell, those exaggerated “Syndicate” criminal gangs the people in the city tell boogeyman stories about probably have their crap together better than some of the delinquents they let in this academy...”

She had started to go a mental rant for a moment before more movement had caught her attention and jostled her out of it. She caught them trying to tackle the new girl before she sent one of them back with a bloody nose. She would've laughed at the whole thing, but they had their victim outnumbered and still managed to grab her a few seconds later. That matter taking care of, Kurui noticed the group turning their attention to her, Sienna, and Rythe.
“Oh crap... they're not running...”
Despite her earlier enthusiasm to fight them, she didn't actually expect it to happen without Teague around, and the realization left her thrown off for a second. She also didn't expect such weird teamings. While she could probably take on any one of them by herself, there were more than one, and she wasn't sure how good either Rythe or Sienna would be in a fight. Luckily Rythe was showing some apparent amount of reliablity and hearing her calmly giving directions and trying to make them more effective as a team snapped her out of it.
“Blue Riptide, Rending Gale” Kurui recognized these as names given to given to area attacks in their respective elements. They were more difficult to pull off than simpler regular one-target attacks and took more energy, but they sounded like smart choices that could wrap up this fight quickly if they worked. She started to chant her spell, even as one of the delinquents made a rush towards her. She thought she had a good chance of finishing her spell quicker than he could reach her, experience from the academy's practice magic duels keeping her calm and gave her a good guage of her own skills... however she wasn't sure if Sienna could manage that level of skill quite as well as her.
“Damnit...”
She breaks off her spell at the last second, at least partially. She tries to hold onto the focus and continue chanting, but makes a lunge to side at the same time. It would be harder to focus and take a bit longer to get the spell off while moving, but if her attacker kept following her it would keep pressure off Seinna while she kept preparing her spell. She couldn't stop her chanting to taunt the attacker, but as she started moving away from the wind mage she sent the message by using one of her hands to flip him off, hoping it was enough to work and that he wouldn't see her plan or catch up to her too fast. She made a final glance at Sienna, as if to say “I'm counting on you” and to show a measure of trust in her friends new lack of helplessness these last few days.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Spoiler

Rythe vs. Delinquent A: Success.
Kurui vs. Delinquent B: Failure.
??? vs. Delinquent C: Tie.
Sienna's cast is successful thanks to Kurui's heroic efforts.

Kurui's strategy to draw the young man's attention away from her friend proved successful, as he seemed dead-set on taking her down anyway. Unfortunately for her, he was much faster than she expected, and shot forward before she could finish her spell, tackling her to the ground. The impact of her back hitting the dirt broke any concentration she might have had, and her attacker pinning her to the ground by mounting her didn't help either. Grabbing at her wrists, he tried his best to keep her subdued, perhaps hoping that his other friend would take out Rythe and then Sienna in short order. While stronger than the Water Major, he wasn't quite as strong as Teague, however, and she could still manage to put up a bit of a fight. He was growling, yelling at her as he tried to restrain her, but clearly wasn't the best grappler of his group--which was almost to be expected from any RMA student. If she kept focused, however, Kurui did have a window of opportunity to apply a small, palm-sized gate of water from her hands with a quick line or two of spoken spellwork, as that was all she had the time to do--the question would be where she would aim the powerful jet. "Rrrrgh, hold still, damnit! You really wanna do this, huh?!"

Rythe, on the other hand, hadn't pulled her attacker too far away from the blonde, but as she wasn't preoccupied with the burden of attempting a larger area of effect, the Lightning Major opened her palm just inches away from the pursuing youth's face, sending a powerful but quick shock to his nerves that caused him to collapse, clutching his face in pain. The overall effect was akin to a stun gun, though she still had to pry his hand off her skirt as he desperately tried to grab for it on his way down.

Meanwhile, due to Kurui's diversion proving successful, it was only several seconds later before Sienna completed her own casting, and a whirlwind formed around the group, with the mysterious girl at its calm center. Cutting winds tore her assailants away from her, and while she did sustain some damage, the orange-haired student was far better off than the guys that had her surrounded, who now mostly lay strewn about the ground writhing in pain, with visible gashes having made it through their clothing. Some were even tossed about several yards away, but the vast majority of them were down, and the very physical, fiery-haired girl was left wrestling with one last guy, who had somehow managed to stay upright despite the galeforce wind that blew away the rest of his buddies.

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Though Kurui was aware of the charging student before he hit her, there wasn't much she could do about it when he turned out faster than expected. Moving backwards was nowhere near fast enough to outspeed someone running forward. Turning around might have worked, but it meant not having a way to aim her own spell... and letting an opponent get a shot from behind was risky in itself if he decided to use magic of his own.
“Ooof! Get off!” The tackle connected perfectly before she could finish her spell or dodge it. It was almost a bit scary how quickly she felt herself go down, it made it her feel... light. It didn't improve things much that once they were down she found him on top of her only a few seconds later. It only took a few seconds of thrashing and squirming to show her that she was at the disadvantage here. Her assailant being in such a... dominating... position made him almost seem... impressive... if she didn't want to gouge his eyes out right now. Unfortunately with him grasping at her wrists that wouldn't be easy, her skinny arms didn't really have the strength to wretch away from his grip too easily. They were stuck in an almost weird stalemate. She wouldn't be able to concentrate well enough to get any big spells off and wasn't strong enough to fight back physically, but her attacker couldn't focus any big spells of his own either and his hands were too busy keeping her pinned to focus lesser spells of his own or hit her.
“What kind of mage just TACKLES people! Throw a fireball or something!” She yelled back in frustration, mirroring one of their comments from earlier. It was at that moment that Sienna spell from earlier went off with a loud uproar of noise and wind. “Distraction! This is my chance!” She hated to admit it, but her attacker WAS stronger than her, even with a distraction it would be hard to slip away with just that. It did giver her a chance to do a bit more though. She wretched one of her hands into position to have a perfect line of sight with his face. A small spell would be easy to focus through one of her hands with far less chanting than a big one.
“~~~~~~~~” She started to chant, hoping she was right about him not being able to do anything to interrupt her, or hoping Sienna's spell was enough of a distraction that he wouldn't notice the quick chant in time. Kurui knew any of her own spells cast in such a way wouldn't have much power behind them, so this time she would opt for ice over water. A water jet wouldn't hit very hard... but ice done right, focused through a spell gate to come out as a fine almost mist-like cloud of crystals, might hurt enough to disable her attacker just enough for her to get away even with his physical advantage. Admittedly it wouldn't do much much damage, and normally such a spell wouldn't go farther than a few feet, but she didn't need range right now and so much cold on a soft area like the face and eyes would feel like a horrible burn, even if it didn't do more than damage than reddening the skin a bit. She could worry about more serious spells later after she got back up and managed to get her bearings and see how Sienna and Rythe were doing... that was, if this actually worked.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Like I'm gonna do that against you guys!" retorted the Water Major's assailant as he wrestled for control, still unable to keep her fully restrained despite being in the dominant position. He did have a point; none of these guys were even near the top portion of the class, and as such, their cast speeds and overall ability when it came to spells just wasn't as impressive. Having squandered their educational opportunities, at least for the most part, delinquents like him would either drop out at some point or wind up with a lower-paying profession, such as a spellcasting mercenary; far from the prestigious and comfy jobs that lecturers at the Academy, or nobly appointed Archmages enjoyed. With smart girls like Kurui and Rythe in the group, ones who actually had that kind of future to look forward to, the boys simply wouldn't have stood a chance in a traditional spell duel.

While these 'lesser' students were smarter than the average commoner, in comparison to the top portion of the class, they could only really rely on their brawn, such as the one who was attacking Kurui. Judging from his attire, she could tell that he was a Water Major, just like herself--but he simply didn't have the level of understanding and focus that the dark-haired girl possessed, skills that allowed her to open the 'gate' to the Water Plane from her hand. But it wasn't water that came flowing out from the gate--it was a biting torrent of frost. In order to accomplish such a feat, one needed to study the maps of the plane extensively, knowing like the back of their hand where the icy parts lay, specifically on the Inner Layer, if her texts were correct. And they were, as Kurui's cantrip ultimately blasted the youth in the face, causing him to topple over and fall off of her, giving her time to regain her footing. He clutched at his face, the chill having hit him in his eyes from the looks of it. "Guuuh!"

Meanwhile, the orange-haired girl had just finished off her own attacker, albeit with a less cerebral approach, and one more akin to those that Teague's group employed. She had kneed him in the face, pulling his hair and yanking his head downward to help add force to the blow. The unfortunate delinquent collapsed almost immediately, having taken quite a hit. "Ugh! Fuckin' arsehole..." Panting, she looked up at the others.

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Chanting even a simple small spell like this seemed to take forever under these stressful conditions, but the by some miracle of distraction... or perhaps her attacker being too “slow” to realize her mumbling was actually a spell, she managed to pull it off. She was tempted to believe the second, as he didn't seem to think anything of her thrashing to get her hand in position for the perfect shot, as if he didn't consider the possibility of it firing off magic.
“Get off you fucking hump-zombie!”

She wasn't sure how much effect a weak spell like this would have, but she certainly didn't hold back on it at all and felt no remorse or sense of “cheap-shot” methods by aiming for the eyes. “He's too stupid to even catch this as a spell, he deserve this. Stupid enough to get on top of me, he DEFINITELY deserves this!” The results seemed to favor this choice, as the blast of frost not only stunned and distracted her target, but sent him back reeling, drastically lessening his “pin” on her. It took her only a second to scurry away, although it wasn't exactly the most graceful thing until she got back to her feet.
Once she was back up, she didn't attack again right away, but instead took a look around to see how the others had done. Rhythe proved capable of taking care of herself it seemed, although she expected that much from the start. She was still worried about Sienna, but a quick glance at the pile of windsheared students in front of her came as something of a huge -but welcome- surprise. “Wow... I'm glad she wasn't angry at ME earlier over the whole crystal thing.” Glancing in that same direction she also caught the new fire major girl finishing off the last of her assailants... although in a far less "elegant" manner. All positive results though, now back up to speed she focused her attention back on the one she just blinded.
“Geeze, look what you did, making me look bad in front of everyone. Now I HAVE to show off some big magic just to look halfway comparable. Thanks a lot, asshole. ~~~~~~~~”
Free of any other immediate threats she started chanting a spell for what was often called “Aqua Blast”. It loosely referred to any water attack focused on a single target, and while it wouldn't be quite as impressive as Sienna's Rending Gale, it would get the job done and let her focus her frustrations on this one target.... mostly. She positioned herself so that she was between him and the pile of his buddies that Sienna made. When she let loose her spell the water jet sent him right into the pile. She made the spell more powerful than she should have, if he hat hit a wall or something he might've been seriously hurt, but this way the “cushion” she was aiming at could take some of the hit too, even if she was going overboard.
“Phew, that felt good.” She stopped for a second to brush some her hair back out of her face and look somewhat collected before facing the others, as getting knocked down didn't exactly leave her looking the best in the group. “They're not dead... but maybe you should shock them again just to make sure they don't try to hit us in the back as soon as we turn around.” She mentioned in a slightly sarcastic tone facing Rythe “They're all wet now, you only have to hit one and it will conduct between all of them.” She went on, her tone implying she wanted to see it more because she was angry than because it was actually necessary. It only lasted for that moment before she calmed herself and started thinking smart again though. “We should get out of here before anyone catches us. I don't think they'll humiliate themselves by trying to tell anyone what we did and having to admit they got beaten by a bunch of girls, but it wont look good if we just stand here all day and someone catches us. Come on, let's go.” She turned her head at the new girl as she said the last part, as if to say “you too” and hoped she would get the message. Kurui still had some questions about this whole thing that she wanted answered about this whole thing and what was going on now, especially after going through all this trouble...

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Huuuuwuuughhh..." groaned the temporarily blinded student, still rocking about on the floor from the agony caused by the Water Major's cantrip. He did manage to get his eyes open just in time to witness her Aqua Blast nailing him in the trunk, causing the delinquent to fly into the loosely scattered group, his fall indeed softened by the bodies of his cohorts.

Sienna let out a low whistle, looking upon the pile of defeated boys with a most relieved expression. "Whew! Nice one, Kurui! We did it! ...Right?"

"I'd say the results speak for themselves," commented Rythe. "But Kurui is correct--we should leave here before they attempt to pin the blame on us. Not that they'd be very successful with it, considering that pride issue combined with their poor disciplinary records, but just to be safe." Even going so far as to motion with a hand for the orange-haired stranger to follow them, she grabbed Sienna by the arm and hurried after Kurui, with the apparent Fire Major trailing them.

~~~~~​

They made it back to the more populated end of campus in just a few more minutes, straightening themselves so as to look less incriminating, save for the fiery-haired one. She turned to the others, a hand behind her head, and gave them a grin. "Eh... tanks, oi guess. Fehrst day heere and oi woohnd up late for pretty much e'ery class. Soh much for me new beginning here," said the somewhat tall girl with a sigh. "Anyway, me name's Ciley. Oim from class tree-see."

"3-C? Oh, right. I'm Rythe," replied the brown-haired girl calmly. "And I'm Sienna!" chimed in the bubbly one, as expected. Kurui was, of course, given a chance to introduce herself as well, if she so chose to.

"Good ta knoh. Guess oi owe ye one! I didn' tink nerds like dose guys would have dat much... well, nerve. Why da hell did dey clog da hall like dat anywhey? Oi hope dis crap in't somethin' dey do e'eryday, or we'll be havin' ta do dis more oft'n. But, I oughtta go and foind the seven'd tower for me major fohcus class, so ah... oi'll see ye late'rr?"

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Kurui wanted to get out of here as soon as possible and was glad to see Rythe on the same page and by relation Sienna, as she seemed to follow the group anyway. More importantly it seemed the orange-haired girl was playing along too. “Good, nice and easy. No tugging anyone along, no one staying here wanting to get the monitors or instructors involved.” She hurried away from the area with no real idea where she was leading everyone else, but it didn't matter, in a few minutes they were in a completely different area of the academy as if nothing had happened and everyone finally had a chance to talk and introduce each other.

The fire major had already started her introduction by the time Kurui focused her attention back to the group, and the others were quick to follow until it was her turn.
“I'm Kurui from umm...” she didn't remember the number, she hadn't remembered using numbers since like her first days here, she just knew where everything was without them now. “Well, it doesn't matter, my home class is Mr. Black's, you'll learn the instructors quick enough.” She paused for a second to take in what she could from the new girl's intro. “It seems she really is new, nothing big or scandalous she did to Teague's group to make them hostile. I was kind of hoping she gave them something they deserved, oh well. Hmm, the way she fought... I wonder if she can even use magic yet. Maybe she's not even a fire major and that's just the uniform they gave her until they figure out what she's good at. Oh well, it's not polite of me to pry, but geeze that attitude of hers is going to get her into trouble if she can't even use magic yet....” she was listening in on the conversation while thinking, though it took her a second to recall it all when she was done.
“I'm afraid it's something they do a lot. They're not much to worry about, but there's a lot of them, it might be best to stick around the busier areas until the monitors stop being AWOL. The guys here aren't the brightest, but they're not all like that, if you stick to where there are a few others around I'm sure they'd come running to help the cute new girl.” she teased, trying to sound somewhat serious at the same time. “Anyway, we can show you where the class is today if you want...” she offered, but then quickly turned to Rhythe and Sienna. “Um, I think so anyway, I didn't have anything else to do. I don't want to keep you two busy if you have anything else to do today, especially after the fun times that seem to follow me around.” She said half apologetically to Sienna and Rythe. “Note to self, thank them each for the help after this... or on the way there if they come, especially Sienna.” She chastised herself mentally, suddenly feeling disrespectful for having not done it right away.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Crooey? From... Mr. Black's class. Got eht. Heh... callin' me cute already, ah? Didn't know ye swung that way." Ciley gave Kurui a wink, though her level of seriousness in return to the Water Major's jest was difficult to discern, at least immediately. "Oi'm no pushover meself, aldough uh, oi might not be quite as good at all of dat spellslingin' like you lot are. Oi guess oi'm... s'posed ta be a freshman 'ere." She shrugged, then considered Kurui's offer.

"Uh, well... yeah, sure, why not? Oi'm already late sooh, screw it, I figure et'll be noice ta 'ave someone 'round here who knows what da hell dey're doin' show me how to navigate dis damn campus. It's almost loike ye got ta be a scholar just to find yer way 'round dis place, y'know? Eesh..."

"I know, right?" replied Sienna cheerfully. "I was confused as heck when I first started here too. But don't worry, you'll get used to it! And yah, I don't got too much to do after this, soo why not?"

"Did you say the... 7th Tower?" Rythe chimed in with an almost curious tone, despite visually maintaining a relatively indifferent look. "That would be to the north. We'll show you."

~~~~~​

Before long, the group made their way towards Ciley's supposed destination, with Rythe primarily leading the way.

"Sooo, you're like, a Fire Major, right? Are you from Elynsor? I just don't see a lotta girls that are um.... as tall as you. No offense or anything! I'm just saying."

"Nah, none taken. Oi'm from Rydale Fiefdom, if ye couldn't already tell from de accent. Kinda... to the nordwest, ish. Not gonna lie, me family was poor as hell, and oi was gonna be drahfted 'nto de military. Dat is, 'til... me sister got sick, and we fell into eeben worse debt ta where we couldn't pay our taxes. Some o' de arsehole lord's goons started tryin' ta get rough wid me mum, and oi just... lost it. Oi wake up later and dere's dis scholar who says he'll pay off me family's debt if oi come ta learn magic under him at dis one Academy. Magic! Me! Ye know? Hah! Soh oi told him, yer kiddin' me, roight... oi mean, oi'm way better wid a sword err ah spear an' too many books an' maps make me head hurt. But he tohld me dat when oi had me liddle episode, oi burnt da two hired sords to a crisp! Funny ting is, oi don't remember anyting about it, so dis could still be a hoax for all I know. But if it really helps me family get out of debt, den I don't mind. Plus, it's koinda nice to run inta people who aren't ALL stuck-up rich noble bitches. Err... well... y'know what oi mean. But anywhey, oi just hope oi can actually learn all o' deese tings, cause da guy who got me int'a da school is just riding on dat ONE time oi supposedly conjured some kind of foire gate or whatever..."

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

“What? No I-Um-don't roll-uh...” she stammered out in a fluster, trying not to show too much of an embarassed blush at Ciley's “blunt” suggestion and the wink to go with it. “Geeze... awkward.”
Since Rhythe seemed to be taking point with Ciley close behind, Kurui let herself slip back with Sienna to give the awkward moment some time to pass. She remebered she still had thanking to do anyway.
“Hey, you were great back there Sienna! That was amazing, I didn't even know you could do that!” she chipped in enthusiastically before becoming a little more casual again “You kinda save me you know, I'd be in a tight spot if more of them had gotten the chance to grab me. You took more of them out than any of the rest of us anyway. I'm sure they wont try to mess with you after THAT.” She was planning on talking about the fight a bit more, but Sienna still seemed interested in knowing more more about the new girl so she cut herself short and stopped after the compliment. To be fair she too wanted to know about the new girl, and after the awkward moment earlier she was more than willing to let Sienna handle the asking.

Ciley was more than willing to come forward with answers now, and they made a lot of sense... yet in their own way they were confusing to Kurui and she felt herself fall into a weird awkward silence as they walked along. She didn't exactly find any of it unbelievable or suspect Ciley of lying... but... certain parts of it still felt off and stood out.
One of these moments was hearing the fire major say “stuck-up rich noble bitches” aloud. Kurui's own parents had been retainers for the nobles that ruled her province. From a very early age she was taught to never say anything bad about them aloud, how bad it would have reflected on her parents was almost unthinkable. It was true she didn't always think the best of nobles, she especially hated some of the students at the academy from noble families and even made mental jokes about Black... but she still never said anything aloud, and in a weird way had been ingrained with the belief that the noble families were the ones who did everything important, that they were the reason the country was so strong and progressive and that without them everyone would probably be being sold off in the slave markets of foreign invaders right now. It was hard to imagine any important nobles actually doing anything bad. After all, they took good care of her family. Kurui had never had to worry about going poor or starving, whenever she got sick or hurt there was always enough money go see one of the priests and pay them to heal it with their light magic or put together a potion to make her better. Yet here was someone who said a noble had sent hired thugs after her family over stupid taxes. It was like Teague and his groupies taken to a whole more serious level. Here was someone who's family didn't have enough to look after a sick sibling. It all felt so... foreign of a concept. There had been a share of poor peasants back home too, but Kurui had found it easy for so long to dismiss them all as lazy and uneducated or bad people who brought it on themselves... but it was hard to think the same things about the girl before her now, she wasn't sure how to react to any of it.

There were other things that stood out, but none as big as this at the moment, and she didn't have time to think them over right now. They would be where they were going in just a few moments now.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Sienna appeared somewhat more excited than she should have upon receiving her friend's compliment, responding with a cheerful smile. "Huhu, really? Aw, geez... thanks, Kurui! That means a lot coming from you! I just never actually thought about how devastating that stuff can be when used on actual people, y'know?! Kinda makes me wonder what I'll be doing like 5 years from now. Maybe not a lecturer or archmage like you and Rythe might be, but I definitely won't be a flunkie like those jerks we just took care of. Besides, you two messed those guys up without even needing to actually, y'know, cast! I'd prolly have panicked... ehehe."

"Rydale..." echoed Rythe, almost immediately after the firey-haired lass mentioned it. Her look straightened, as if it were not solemn enough already, and she raised a hand to her chin.

The Wind Major, on the other hand, seemed a little more convinced by Ciley's story, responding with wide eyes and a gawking expression. "Wow, that's pretty crazy! So you've got like some kinda hidden, untapped potential that they're workin' on making you realize, huh?! It's like all of the other girls here are soooo much more talented than I am, what's up with that?!"

"Talent? If ye wanna call it dat. Now if any o' deese chumps would take me one-on-one and fight me dat whey, oi wouldn't complain! Damn mage boys. Where oi'm from, if ye can't sett'l tings in a single duel, yer not considered a REAL man!"

"Hum. I wouldn't go that far, Sienna," commented Rythe. "You tend to downplay your capabilities more than you should."

"Only 'cause I'm surrounded by total geniuses like you and Kurui! Not to mention having girls like Lanie, Nebula and Concepta around just makes it super hard to think I'm anything but some second-rate mage. Siiiiiigh..."

"Still know a whole lot more den me. At dis rate, pretty much any schmuck in dis school could teach me a ting err tooh 'bout magic. Spellcastin' isn't really looked highly upon in Rydale. So ah... where ye from, anyway?"

"Here in Elynsor City," replied Rythe flatly.

Sienna had considerably more to say about herself, or at least was more willing to than her dark-haired friend. "I'm actually from Aelwyck Fiefdom. My parents are retainers to the lord there, y'know, Vandar dol Telcroft. It's really a great place! I've got two sisters and two brothers. One of my sisters, Sytha, is like a super-important mage and graduate of this school. So I'm pretty much here because it's more or less something they expect out of all the women in my family. Lame, huh..."

Ciley shrugged. "Nah. Oi mean, well, oi guess you're kinda lucky ta have da connections like that." She seemed somewhat less animated after hearing of Sienna's background. A distant look appeared in her eyes, though she said nothing more on that particular topic. The 7th Tower was now visible, with the group only being several meters away from the entrance.

"Looks like we're here," announced the Lightning Major before motioning to the building in front of them. "Do you need us to show you where the proper room is? What does your schedule say?"

"Eh, don't e'en worry 'bout it. Ye gals helped me enough today already. Oi'll figure 'et out," reassured Ciley, before hurrying into the tower. "Alroight, see ye late'r!"

The tall girl was gone from sight in a matter of moments, which left the three to themselves once again.

"She seemed pretty cool!" exclaimed Sienna. "If a little hard to understand. What do you guys think?"

Rythe still had a thoughtful look about her. "I suppose so. Although it's somewhat troubling that she's from Rydale--for the most part, the only people from that fiefdom who come to Elynsor City are for the purposes of appearing on trial for crimes committed against the Kingdom. All I hear nowadays out of that particular area is just civil unrest, and a great deal of it at that. I can't help but wonder which lecturer from the Academy would just take her in like that."

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Kurui still felt a little subdued from the awkward silence of earlier, but tried not to be completely silent and anti-social.
“Blowing up two people without knowing anything about magic certainly is some potential.” Kurui knew such a thing was *almost* impossible actually, without knowing incantations and the right ways to focus the energy, magic was usually a wasted effort. It wasn't completely impossible though, incantations held no power on their own, they were merely focusing tools that set off certain mental processes for the caster. Emotion could theoretically do the same thing... although it seemed a one-in-a-million incident.
“Anyway Sienna, don't worry too much. You've got plenty of potential and know it runs in your family and stuff. I didn't even think I could do magic at first, it took me months before I could manage to summon up a small puddle's worth of water before I joined the Academy. I thought it was broken for me or something. I'm glad I stuck with it and got myself accepted here, but natural talent doesn't really seem to like me all that much.” She went on, meaning it both as a compliment to Ciley and a reassurance to Sienna.

The short bit of warming up and easy conversation wasn't to last though. Soon after the topic jumped to home provinces and background.
“Veltria.” Kurui answered quickly, soon to be followed by Rhythe's quick answer. She had kept her answer short on purpose out of fear of how her comparatively “soft and easy” life might make Ciley feel, and she wondered if Rythe was doing the same. She didn't exactly know much about Rhythe, but the Capitol City was an expensive place to live outside the outer slums, and Rythe didn't seem the type to be from there, although she didn't know for sure.
“Either way, it's not like I know much about swords or fighting or anything we could really talk about that would be interesting.” She thought to herself. She remembered back home she actually had tried swinging a sword once. One she had “persuaded” a boy into “borrowing” for her from one of the guard stations one day when she was really bored. Stories were going around at the time of some dual wielding female swordsman named Emilia who had gotten into the well-known Order of St. Lisle for her self-taught skills. Supposedly she was good enough to fight orcs on her own. “I remember how cool I thought that was, and how easy I thought it would be to learn... then I tried to hit a tree and almost broke my wrists! Freakin swords, being good is probably all luck anyway. A drunk half-asleep bandit with a dagger could probably beat an expert at this stupid “art” if they got lucky enough.” She knew that story probably wasn't likely to go over well though, and the rest of her childhood had been things even less relate-able to someone from the lower classes.

Kurui cringed a little a moment later when Sienna gave her answer, and in typical Sienna fashion went on a long ramble about it. She knew her friend had a childhood much like her own, growing up in the “middle class” with a family serving the nobles of a fiefdom, it's part of why they got along when they first became friends. However right now it seemed to have exactly the effect on Ciley that Kurui feared it would. It was made even worse by Sienna's family having a history with magic and the academy, something Kurui herself was jealous of sometimes as her family had none before her. She felt herself fall back into an awkwardly guilty silence again. Luckily it wasn't long before they finally reached their destination and parted ways with the fire major.

There was a moment of relief a second later when Ciley was out of sight. She wasn't sure if Sienna had picked up on any of the atmosphere, as she was quick to keep talking about it, but it looked like Rhythe had picked up on something. At first Kurui thought it was the awkwardness as well, but when the lightning major mentioned Rydale she almost slapped herself for not having recognized the name earlier.
“That... well... that certainly explains some things about how she's acting and some of her “interests”. That's... I'm not sure.” She really didn't have much of an idea what to make of it all. Her voice had tones of sympathy in it, but also resignation, as if they were talking about a lost cause. “She shouldn't even be here, she probably doesn't even WANT to be HERE of all places... It's probably a 100 times better than Rydale, but I doubt she sees it that way. It seems almost like a cruel joke that anyone from the Academy would do this. It's like they wanted a personal pet project that's easy to manipulate. Then again she did kill two people and her family broke the law in an area the Kingdom already struggling with, maybe whoever it was actually wants to help and bring some enlightenment to the area. Hopefully they'll actually watch out for her and help her get the hang of things here.” The last bit seemed a little too optimistic to be believable for some reason. “I guess we'll see what's happening in a few days, it's not like there's anything we could do even if it were our business.” And with that she dismissed the whole thing and shoved it away mentally, having a much happier tone the next time she spoke. “I should probably head back soon, it's getting kind of late. But thanks for the help earlier, Rythe. I didn't mean to draw you into something that got so dangerously out of control like that. If we're in the same group for Black's trip tomorrow, I promise I'll try not to get you in trouble again, although the way you handled yourself earlier doesn't make it look like you have much to worry about anyway.”

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Veltria, Elynsor and Aelwyck, huh... lucky you," mumbled the orange-haired student. She didn't sound any more enthusiastic about the other girls' origins.

"You really think so?!" Sienna exclaimed in response to the Water Major's assessment of her 'potential'. "Aw, shucks... I think you're just bein' nice, though. I mean, I've never even gotten close to your scores, even during the live casting exams."

"Well, ye still got one up on me, since oi don't e'en know what the hell dose are," interrupted Ciley.

"Live casting is when all of the magical theory is put to the test and applied by way of actual casts in front of everyone else," explained Rythe. "It's definitely the hardest and yet most practical facet of Academy curriculum."

"Oi uh... guess oi'll figure it out late'r, heh," replied the firey-haired one, scratching the back of her head. Afterwards, she headed into the building.

~~~~~​

Once the three were left to their own devices, Sienna mustered a nervous laugh before moving back to the topic of Ciley's story. "Y-Yeah... ahehe, I guess you're right. I mean, I read about the whole temperaments thing too, but those are supposed to have only like, a tiny effect on one's elemental alignments or something, aren't they?"

Rythe, as usual, was the first to respond. "That's correct. The temperaments--like the characteristic passion of a Fire-aligned mage or the flightiness of a Wind-aligned caster, tend to supplement the person in question marginally at best. For someone to be able to actually manage a spell that potent off of emotion alone is no doubt something of an outrageous claim. But on the other hand, she certainly doesn't appear to be lying about a lack of magical aptitude, so I don't think there's much reason to be incredibly skeptical about what she said. It's still odd, mind you--but I think the questions would be best saved for the teacher that scouted her. To be honest... I'm almost tempted to spy a bit, to see exactly who it is she's working with for her Major Focus class. Surely, it has to be the same mage that picked her up from Rydale."

"Wuh? What if we get caught, though? I mean... we already got off to a pretty good start, and I don't wanna ruin it already..." Sienna trailed off, a worried look on her face.

"Mind you, I'm not 100% set on that, just yet. I'm merely saying that I'm considering it, since this is fairly unusual on the Academy's part. Completely untalented individuals from privileged families can make it in here, that's no surprise. But a peasant from Rydale who can supposedly kill two people with a single cast out of pure emotion? Now, that's not something seen every day."

"I... I guess... but um... I got my own Major Focus class comin' up in like, half an hour, so even if you guys wind up doin' something crazy like that, I'm gonna get goin'. Well uh, see you two later, 'kay? Stay outta trouble and stuffs."

Sienna gave them a wave before heading off, provided Kurui had nothing else to say to her. Rythe simply responded with a nod and a similar gesture.

Afterwards, it was down to just the Lightning and Water majors, the former of which still looked deep in thought. "Hmm? Oh, don't even mention it. If anything, it's important to learn how to cast under pressure anyway, since this is very relevant to our future careers. I'm actually still wondering about Ciley... although I just might be overthinking this. Perhaps I won't go, after all--she seems harmless enough, for now. I should probably be reviewing the various minerals for the trip tomorrow instead. We can head to the library, if you'd like," she suggested.

From here, Kurui could do several things. She could take Rythe's advice and review the different stones they might encounter in the mines in order to prepare themselves for tomorrow's 'field trip', or even try to convince her to enter the 7th Tower and spy on Ciley. Alternatively, the meal hall was serving afternoon snacks, and of course Nebula's group hung out near the silverblossom trees on the campus' west side around this time, as well. With it being late afternoon, she could also turn in early if she simply wanted to unwind in her dorm for a few extra hours.

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

“I have to lean towards Sienna's side this time... we can ask her later when she's not so new here, we know when she has one of her classes now anyway.” Kurui answered in response to the suggestion of spying on Ciley, although she waited until Sienna had left before defending her reasoning, as she didn't want it sound “depressing” around the wind major or anything. “Sorry Rythe, I'm really curious too, but … you saw how she reacted when we were talking about ourselves. I'm not sure she likes us too much as it is, let alone if she catches us stalking her like she's some kind of pariah. She probably just wants to be left alone right now.” The last part came out with an almost tired twinge to it, Kurui already knew too well what it was like to not want anyone else around sometimes. “*sigh* I suck at this whole social thing, don't I? Ok, time to NOT be my normal standoff-ish self.”

She took a second to clear her voice and get back to a more positive tone. “Hey Rythe, the library sounds kind of boring. Everything around here kind of does actually, and I already spent like an hour studying before Black's class. Want to go into the city and do something instead?” She wasn't sure if the lightning major was much of one for “fun”, but she was one of Sienna's friends so she couldn't be TOTALLY boring. This was the perfect chance to get to know her a bit more if it worked. Kurui felt a bit of an irresponsible pang of guilt trying to tear her away from preparing for such a big important project. Even if she was sure the lightning major was plenty well prepared, if the trip went badly tomorrow it could possibly be blamed as her fault... until she had an idea that sounded a little less irresponsible.
“We should go look in some of the shops in town and see if they have crystals. I'm not saying we buy any and try to cheat or anything! I'm sure enough of them have connections with the Academy that we'd get caught anyway. I'm just saying seeing some REAL crystals might help us more than some pictures in the book. Who knows, they might even have some unrefined ones still in the rock and stuff, maybe even from the area we're going to for our trip. I didn't grow up here like you did so I don't much for sure about all the shops, but back in Veltria most the shop keepers were fine with letting you look at stuff and even hold it if they didn't think you looked like you were gonna steal it, so I think it's worth a try. I mean... if you want to study go right ahead, don't let me keep you busy and make you fail or anything, but I think I've gotten about all I can get out of the book.” her voice lowered a little although didn't become hostile or negative “Besides, between the fight and stuff with Ciley today, I kind of want a break from this place for a bit anyway...”

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

"Hmm... and yes, I suppose you're right. It would definitely be a bad thing on multiple levels if either of us were to be caught by her. Being from Rydale, I'm sure she'd draw enough suspicion from everyone else regardless." Rythe nodded in agreement after taking a moment to consider Kurui's words. "I apologize--my curiosity is strong at times. Especially when it comes to matters that I feel are relevant to our magical studies, at least. After all, if there is a method in which the proper use or adjustment of temperament can better supplement my casting, I'd be fairly interested..." she trailed off, before shaking it off. "A-Anyway."

The brunette raised a brow when 'library' was equated with 'boring'; perhaps she simply couldn't process the thought. However, when the suggestion was made to find crystals for reference, she appeared considerably more keen on the idea. "That's actually not a terrible idea--provided, crystals aren't cheap, but if anything, simply browsing them should give us a more tangible reference as opposed to textbook diagrams. It would be nice if I could find a pure, high-quality crystal, preferably Eronium. I'd imagine you'd want a good-sized shard of Falenium, since you are a Water Major. Seems like the Earth Majors have it the worst, as Netaldum isn't a particularly easy find. All in all, it really can't be that difficult of a project, but I'm looking on the bright side and seeing it as an opportunity by which to gain some cash. If I recall correctly, he did say that we could keep what we found. Depending on the purity of the mineral, we could be making gold in the thousands."

Stopping to take a look at Kurui, perhaps to see if she was still listening to her rambling, Rythe gave her an apologetic look, then cleared her throat. "Ahem... well, I'll accompany you to the city, then. It's not a bad thing to go out every once in a while."

The two girls headed off campus, which required passage through a fancy-looking steel gate; otherwise, entry or exit to the school grounds was blocked by a relatively tall stone wall, which encircled the Academy's perimeter. The main gate was guarded by none other than monitors, accomplished mages and alumni of the RMA, while in the mornings and afternoons, student council members occasionally stood nearby to provide directions or tours to new students or visitors. The one who was up at this time was Reen, a clean-cut Water Major known for his good looks and polite demeanor--but also for waiting on Lanie hand and foot, though she treated him as nothing more than a friend. The monitors simply gave the pair nods of acknowledgement as they left the Academy and made their way into Elynsor City. Reen actually flashed them a smile, saying, "Be careful now!"

~~~~~​

While the Royal Magic Academy was technically located in Elynsor's 'inner limits', it was still near the boundary between those and the 'outer' ring, where the inhabitants tended to be less nobility and more commoner or artisan. These locales were still just about a ten minute walk away, if Kurui was interested for one reason or another, but the closest establishments were generally taverns, cobblers shops, blacksmiths' forges, and the like. Towards the center of Elynsor, where the upper crust awaited, were different specialized shops, dealing in fine clothing, trinkets, accessories, potions, and of course magical items. Unless Kurui put up much of an argument, Rythe would lead her directly to a shop titled 'Silvermoon Minerals'. Inside was a vast assortment of stones, though they were under the watchful eye of an older, purple-haired lady in mage's robes. "Welcome," she greeted, taking note of the girls' uniforms. "Are we looking for anything in particular?"

"Oh, uh... just browsing, for now," replied Rythe, before homing in on a shelf with tiny, refined Eronium stones--kept behind glass, of course. "So these are what they look like! Pretty much exactly how they're described in the books... but, these are all refined and polished."

"Naturally," interrupted the clerk. "We only keep the finest quality gems in stock," she explained proudly.

"Hmm... Do you have any less 'pure' stones, or rather, ones that aren't processed, for cheaper? I just want to see what they look like in ore."

The lady raised a brow at this, as if it were an incredibly unreasonable request. "Pardon me, but why would we? Any mage worth their salt would have as much use for an unrefined stone as they would a pile of dirt!"

"Ah...well... I apologize. It's mainly for educational purposes, I guess."

"I see. By the looks of your uniform, I'd say you are a Lightning Major? We actually do have some larger Eronium crystals, starting at only 9500 gold. I'm sure an aspiring mage such as yourself could make good use of one."

Rythe grimaced at the price. "I... think I'll just look around a little bit longer..."

As the two went back and forth, Kurui would spot a boy towards the back of the shop, eyeing one of the glass-covered shelves intently. She would recognize him as the stuttering one from her homeroom class, though he didn't appear aware of her presence just yet.

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Kurui was glad when the lightning major didn't seem against the idea of going into the city. Truth be told, Kurui really didn't want to go by herself. The parts of the city where she wanted to go weren’t necessarily dangerous, but the Academy wasn't supposed to be either and she did get attacked today so it left her a bit shaken and not wanting to be alone. There was no point to going alone anyway, she didn't even care THAT much about seeing crystals, she just wanted something to do and suggested it so Rythe would come along. Luckily Rythe wasn't turning out to be as much of a book worm as she first came off as. When she started letting a ramble slip, Kurui could start to understand how the brunette had become Sienna's friend. In a strange way it was almost cute to see her stop herself, although a bit disappointing since Kurui was listening intently to every bit to pick things up. “Sell the extra crystals for money? I have to admit, thats something I didn't think I'd ever hear from you. Not that having some extra funds to have fun with sounds like a bad idea or anything.” Kurui remarked, suddenly grateful she didn't offer any crystals to Concepta earlier as part of their deal. “I do wonder what kinda strings Black had to pull to afford us this though. If all of us find even one crystal thats a couple tens of thousands of gold the mine loses out on. That seems like a pretty steep price just to help some random students like us. I mean I'm not a money expert or anything but it still seems strange, right? Maybe I'm just thinking about it too much.”

As they made their way out of the academy and into the city, Kurui was content to let Rythe take point. Though they passed a few interesting looking places along the way, she didn't want to interrupt her new guide who probably knew more about the city than her. “Oh well, I can always hit them on the way back... or maybe on another day.”
It didn't take them long to reach a magic shop specializing in crystals, confirming for Kurui that Rythe did indeed know more about the city that her. Kurui had been to the city enough in the past for supplies and a bit of time away from the Academy that the whole place wasn't alien to her or anything, but she would never know how to find any of these specialty shops so quickly without asking around first. It seemed Rythe had picked a good one too, as a large variety of crystals in display cases was visible as soon as they entered. They were greeted almost as soon as they entered, but Rythe was quick to pick up on answering, which was fine by Kurui as she was fascinated by all the varieties of magical crystal in one place like this. They weren’t particularly uncommon at the academy or anything, but this was still like walking into a treasure vault and made a much bigger draw for her attention than the shopkeeper so she started browsing while Rythe handled that boring stuff, only catching bits of it in between her first few minutes of browsing. She caught enough of the conversation to know the shopkeeper was too set on pushing a sale to be much help, and wasn't sure whether to roll her eyes or be surprised when the mention of “starting at ONLY 9,500 gold” came up. “Geeze, we're just students you know! Not EVERYONE who goes to the academy is from some super rich noble family or some graduating mage with a cushy advising job already.” It didn't seem to take Rythe too long to work her way away from the pushy keeper after that.

Kurui gave Rythe a few minutes to catch up on browsing, but was then about to suggest trying somewhere else unless Rythe was REALLY convinced they had some less refined stuff in the back. Before she could make the suggestion though, she caught sight of another academy uniform in the shop. She quickly ducked away and pointed him out to Rythe, keeping her voice down the entire time.
“Hey, don't we like... know him from our class? I wonder, do you think he had the same idea we did?” she asked suspiciously before her voice became even more doubtful “Or do you think he's here to buy something and try to cheat with it? I mean it's not like one of these polished things would be anywhere near convincing... but that doesn't mean I don't expect someone to try it anyway. I don't want to get grouped with a cheater. I mean maybe he's not, but this still seems awfully coincidental to me.” She continued on, grabbing Rythe and trying to get a better angle to get a look at what the student was doing without giving herself away.

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

When Kurui made her comment about Rythe selling the crystals, the Lightning Major smiled somewhat slyly before responding. "I don't strike you as the frugal type? Well, the crystals certainly aren't cheap, and if there's some extra profit to be made, I'd be all for it, especially considering the price of tuition nowadays. It would be a little silly of me to just be satisfied once I find a single shard of Falenium, especially if we still have time to kill. Not to mention, Black specified that we could keep anything else we found, if I recall correctly. But now that you mention it, it IS a little strange that we'd be sent to a mine with that much golds' worth of untapped resources. And for us to just have like that... no, I think you could be on to something. I don't want to go so far as to deduct some kind of conspiracy, but you are right in that it is... unusual."

By the time that Kurui had spotted the other student from her homeroom class in one of the aisles, Rythe had just wrapped up her conversation with the shopkeeper--which mainly involved the older lady attempting to make more offers, all of which were politely shot down by the Academy student. Making her way back to the Water Major, the brunette raised a brow, her eyes shifting in the direction of the nervous-looking boy for just a moment before hearing her friend's concern. "Yes, he's definitely from our class," she whispered back. "I can only hazard a guess as to why he's here, but for his sake, I pray that the reasoning behind his visit is along similar lines to our own idea."

The skittish youth turned to look in their general direction, even though the two girls were behind one of the shelves by then. "I-I-I wasn't trying to cheat, I swear! I was just...uhhh, g-getting ideas... Don't tell on me!"

Rythe sighed, shaking her head, and stepped out from behind their cover. "Relax, would you? I seriously hope you aren't looking to purchase a crystal just for the purpose of passing the course. After all, there should be more than enough for everyone in the class, if what I read about the mines holds true."

The boy's mouth crinkled, his expression actually growing more fearful despite his classmate's calm words. "Y... You don't understand! If I get anything at all, t-those guys... they'll t-take whatever I have!"

The Lightning Major blinked at him, tilting her head. "Who are you talking about?"

"Donson and his p-pals! He's o-one... of Teague's friends. You don't understand--they're absolute b-b-brutes! If I could just hide a c-crystal away for now and retrieve it before Mr. Black reviews our findings, then I'd at l-least have something to, to show for it..."

"If you mean the idiots who usually stand out in the hall of our homeroom building, they're... taken care of for now, I'd say. At any rate, if you want to waste your money because of something like that, then it's your prerogative."

The boy whimpered. "Taken... care of? B-But if they're not expelled, then they'll just be back..." He seemed pathetic, as he usually appeared in class, but Rythe remained indifferent, shrugging at him. "I don't know what else to tell you, other than how unattractive that attitude is. But I wish you the best of luck on the trip tomorrow, if only for your sake and that of your group. Now, if you'll excuse us. I've already seen everything there is to see here, anyway." Urging her friend to come with her, Rythe motioned towards the exit, and would make her way out of the shop if the dark-haired girl had nothing more to add, triggering a slight frown from the clerk.

Once they were back outside, she took a deep breath, making her way down the alley, occasionally browsing through the windows of the other shops. "I just hope I'm not stuck with him when it comes to the group selection, come the morning. Or any other delinquents, for that matter. This is far too good of an opportunity for us to be hassled with these types, you know?"

As they walked along, they passed by some other stores, many of which Kurui could easily stop her friend if she wanted to take a look at something. There was a potion shop, an enchanter, and a bookstore, amongst others.

"If we were paired together, then I at least think the project would go considerably smoother than with others..." She swallowed, trying to remain straight-faced, but considering Rythe's usual demeanor, it could easily have been taken as her way of verbally expressing her hopes with regards to the field trip.

 

[Kat]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

“Oh geeze, way to be stealthy there Rythe.” Kurui found herself thinking with a twinge of annoyance over having been seen “Even Stutters the Great managed to catch us, not that I should probably be worried at all or anything.”
Kurui's guess not to be too worried seemed well founded, as the youth didn't even try to hide what he was attempting to do, and when confronted by Rythe a moment later was quick to share even more details. Kurui felt a smug bit of pride in her instincts to have guessed what he was up to, but his story and general attitude was beyond unimpressive.
“I swear, I'm so sick of hearing about Teague and his groupies, what does it take to make them go away and stay away? Someone could throw them all in a Void rift and they'd still find a way to be asses about it.” She huffed to nobody in particular while Rythe kept grilling the boy. “I should've told Teague I was interested in an orgy, had the whole lot of them taken care of that night with Concepta's trap.” She thought sarcastically, although was smart enough to avoid voicing around Rythe.

It was true Kurui was completely unimpressed by the boy's attitude, and was already thinking about what losers all the guys at the academy were, but before she could voice any of it, Rythe had already openly called it unattractive. Hearing it from someone besides herself made it sound a lot harsher than she thought it would, maybe it was Rythe's way of being so calm about it, as if it we so obvious that stating it wasn't even worth annoyance. “Wow, harsh Rythe. He's probably going to go back to the Academy and cry about how we're all mean to the “nice guys” like him. Although you're completely right.” She turned to follow Rythe out, not voicing anything until they were already on their way. “Do whatever you want, but if you're in my group I'm going to smash it. For your own sake know something as polished and refined as these are going to be obvious to like any of the instructors, let alone an inventor like Black who probably works with them all the time. I'd rather fail than get caught trying to pull one over on Mr. Strict and Serious.” she finished up trying to sound somewhat helpful, but wasn't completely effective at hiding a bit of sarcastic disdain in her voice. Whether it was because of who she speaking to or because she had mentioned Black wasn't completely obvious, although it was probably more likely the first.

Once they had left the shop it didn't take long for Kurui to notice Rythe's un-ease over the whole thing, even though the lightning major was trying not to show it too much. It was a lot easier to be sympathetic now though, now that Kurui had seen sides of her that wern't just the obnoxious know-it-all bookworm parts.
“I'd rather be grouped with you then him too, but don't worry about it too much. Even if you ARE grouped with someone like him, it's not like he's going to be much of a distraction or anything, considering you could probably scare him off and keep him out of your way with a glare.” She said trying to sound encouraging and brush the whole thing off, although she now became aware of the possibility of being grouped with Donson. That one was a lot harder to dismiss. After everything happening recently, she didn't like the idea of being in a mine alone with one of Teague's groupies, at least not unless she had someone worth trusting like Rythe with her.
“Anyway...” she went on hiding the worry from the thought “Sorry the crystal shop didn't have anything useful. We can head back if you want to study some more instead... or we could try the enchanter. I mean I know we already know magic, but maybe there will be some cheap bits of crystal in the tacky charms they sell to travelers touring the capital and stuff with way too much money to spend on stupid stuff. It's up to you I guess, but either way, thanks for coming with me.”

 

[Takimaru]

Re: Elynsor's Royal Magic Academy (Kat) GMed by Takimaru

Kurui's words to her meek classmate only caused him to look more downtrodden, which surprised Rythe somewhat in seeing that such a thing was even possible. He could be seen with his gaze stuck to the ground as the pair left him in the shop, with the clerk curiously eyeing him--perhaps in the hopes of getting some kind of sale out of the whole incident. Thanks to the girls' responses towards him, however, the youth seemed conflicted, and remained silent long after the others left the scene.

"Well... yes, he certainly isn't the most intimidating type. Boys like him are so hard to deal with. It's not like I outright want to earn his ire behind my back, especially seeing we could be stuck in a group together. But on the other hand, I hate to get overly friendly with those types, provided how easily they tend to get the wrong idea. Some girls like Lanie have gotten their fair share of stalkers that way, after all." The Lightning Major shook her head in response to her friend's apology, before adding, "No, that certainly wasn't your fault. As for the enchanter... well, it could be worth a shot. Let's take a look."

With that, they headed into the enchanter's establishment, which was, at least visually, a considerably less orderly place than the crystal store. Countless curios, rusty trinkets, and various other items were strewn about and hung from the walls and ceilings, such that not a single bit of the building's actual structure could easily be seen. The shop had a slightly musty smell from within, reeking of old wood, incense, and other unnamable odors. In a way, it was a veritable treasure trove of... well, things. Some items actually looked to be in good taste, at least to that of Elynsor's younger populace; others less so.

The clerk waiting behind the counter was a man of tanned skin, jet-black hair, and grey eyes, with gratuitous stubble upon his traveled face. "Welcome, ladies! Academy students, are we? I'm sure that there is still plenty I can interest you in," he greeted with a smile. Despite his appearance, the tone in which he spoke was rather charming, albeit in a somewhat cheesy way. "Perhaps you'd fancy a compass that traces Voidic energy? A handkerchief that cures shallow wounds? A brooch that draws out heat from practically any source, or even a piece of elemental mineral ore that carries a charge of any single-target spell you desire? If none of those interest you, I've also an enchanted fountain pen that will record up to an hour of any sound--perfect for those less-than-exciting lectures, I'm sure!"