Fantasy Godsword - Fate of Naedria [CLOSED]

[Fred Colon]

Gunter enjoyed the sparring experience. He always enjoyed a good scrum, it afforded him a chance to show off. Even better, nobody here was a slouch when it came to combat, which made it all the sweeter. It was pathetic doing flashy moves against an opponent you outclassed, like a desperate cry for attention. Gunter preferred his cries for attention to be a bit more jocular and self confident, rather than desperate.

His first fight against Weiss was a success, if only because his foolish gambit paid off. Shouting in the other boys face seemed to have rattled Weisse a little, and Gunter wasn't run through like he should have been for not defending himself. It had been cool, if he did say so himself. He'd lost a few feathers in his hat to Weiss's flames, but sacrifices had to be made in the name of style. The fight after that was brief, Weiss ended it, looking as if he was having trouble with controlling his flames. Gunter would have liked it to go on a little longer. He was happy with his little trick, but he had also wanted to test himself against Weiss' reputed sword skills. Skills that seemed to definitely exist, and in a surplus, if Weiss' next fights were any indication.

Gunter asked Leanne if he could replace his hat before his next fight, but Leanne had just cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Right, right, fine. Ah. I feel naked." He said, taking his singed hat off and tossing it to the side, before stepping onto the field of battle opposite Jaro.

Gunter had to rapidly re-calibrate himself as the fight started. Jaro was much different kind of fighter than Weiss. He was quick, punchy, and daring. Gunter found himself having to try to avoid having his polearm snatched by the other fighter rather than launching a counter attack. He didn't like his chances if Jaro was able to get his weapon out of his hand and they had to fight hand to hand. Gunter was bigger than Jaro, but Jaro was a hand to hand fighter, Gunter wouldn't stand a chance. The one time Jaro managed to grab the Polearm, Gunter was fortunately in a position that allowed him to move his weapon like a lever, and toss Jaro into the dirt, but the other boy got to his feet quickly, and the fight continued.

Milly was his favorite fight. He didn't know if it was the closest match up, or if their skills matched up or any of that nonesense. It was his favorite fight because she played along. Gunter was fond of big booms and flashy movements. Gunter liked fights to be a dance. After the first few moments of the fight, it seemed like Milly got it, and started joining in Gunters private music. While they were still certainly trying to beat the other in combat, Gunter spent a little extra effort, and a little extra mental power to ensure his bursts of sound complimented the 'booms' of Milly's gauntlets while also trying to one up the volume, his movements becoming more fluid, less aggressive, as he let himself fall into a 'parry, parry, thrust' pattern that, while not practical, felt good and was aesthetically pleasing to his mind.

Valerie was a bad match up, Gunter could tell from the start. He wasn't sure how, but his vibrations messed up her ability to 'see'. Gunter decided not to use his powers, to make the fight more fair.

This turned out to be a mistake, and quite arrogant, even for his high standards of arrogance. Without his powers Valerie was far more than a match for him with her illusions and skillful blade-work. She was simply too fast and too clever with her magic for Gunter to stand a chance with just his martial prowess. So very quickly she forced him to use his magic, and while the tides turned swiftly, then, when the fight was over, the expression on Valerie's face told Gunter that she thought she did worse than she had. Gunters heart was racing from the close calls he'd had with that rapier of hers. He reached on to the top of his head, to sweep of his hat in respect, realized it wasn't there, and instead dipped into a bow. Not his smoothest move. He'd need to get fireproof hats if he was going to spar with Weiss any more than this.

Leanne was going to be a loss, one way or the other. Gunter didn't have any illusions about that, so he did his best to make it look good, and, if he was lucky, annoy Leanne a little.

"Verily!" Gunter shouted, attempting to use his sound waves to push Leanne off guard. The nice things about his power was that he just needed to make noise. He could banter while he fought! "Thou striketh true, Milady!" He barely countered a blow, and staggered forward to try to press her back. "But despite your righteous cause, you are simply no match for me, the Duke of Algabad! My plan for world domination will come to fruition and there is nothing you can do about it!" He was quoting lines from a play he'd seen back home, where the main villain and heroine would frequently talk while they fought. Leanne didn't respond, which was a little rude. He bet she knew the words, it was a well known play. He supplied the words from her side of the script in his head. "Friends? They are not coming! I should know, for I slew them all! Mwahahaha!" When the fight was reaching its inevitable conclusion, Gunter skipped a few lines to get to the end. He'd hoped he'd had more time, to get through the rest of the play. "Impossible! Such power? It comes from the strength of your friendship?! No! Nooooooo!" Gunter dropped his halberd as Leanne tapped him on the forehead with her sword. Gunter fell to his knees, hand on his heart and pretended to be run through, making choking noises before slumping to the ground, ostensibly dead. After a moment he leapt back to his feet, scooping up his weapon.

"Why the forehead? The play ends with the villainous Duke of Algabad being run through the heart!"



After the sparring, Gunter bid the others give him a moment, and rushed off to find a new hat and to wash his sweaty face, before returning. As he left, wincing at the bruises he'd accrued, he couldn't help but feel good about all of this. Everyone was talented. That meant this was a team with potential, a lot of potential. He didn't mind sharing the spotlight, much, so long as there was a spotlight. He had a feeling that lots of people would be looking to their little group soon. How could they not? With talents like Jaro, Weiss, Valerie, Milly and himself, of course.

 

[Shadowfall]

After regaining her bearings from the last fight, Valerie found herself leaning on a wall, trying to regain her balance. Her head throbbed, her legs were shaky. She almost felt like throwing up. Did Gunter really throw her off that much? She untied her soaked blindfold and tied it around her arm. Fighting was done for the day, officially at least. She'd have to make plans with Gunter at some point in the future to train just in case they come across an enemy that had studied them, or if she happened to be too close to him while he did his thing. She opened her eyes for the first time in hours, and she had to blink more than a few times as her eyelids unstuck themselves from her face.

Leanna had gathered everyone's attention as everything was winding down. A ceremony, and a new knight to join their ranks. She drank all of this in as quickly as she drank her now nearly empty flask of water. New knight? Complicated allegiances? In her early years, she had learned very quickly that the words "complicated allegiances" and "name you might recognize" usually meant politics and ego. She must be some silver-tongued succubus with the skill the prove it if she's trying to become an artifice knight as well.

Her gloved hand found the knobby wooden sheathe of her sword, and once again, her sword was her cane. Maybe she was overreacting again? She probably was just like any of them, looking to start anew and prove something to the world. After all, she was doing exactly that. So was Jaro, Gunter, Weisse, and Millia. All of them were looking to prove something, it was more than clear. Plus, Leanna told them specifically not to meet whomever she is with any prejudice, so for now, Valerie mentally held back whatever thoughts she might've had about who this person potentially was, and returned her thoughts to what she planned to do for the night.

1. Peel off stuffy cuirass and take a bath. (20-30 minutes)
2. Apologize to the kitchen staff on the behalf of the entire group, and try to get something quick. Eggs and... Something else. Bread? Sausage? Second breakfast. (15 minutes MAXIMUM)
3. Try and talk to Gunter about one-on-one training after the ceremony. (2 minutes if Gunter doesn't want to talk.)
4. Attempt socialization. (An amount of time that cannot be helped by alcohol.)
5. Ceremony. (A few hours?)
6. Training. (1 hour without Gunter, 3 with.)

Satisfied with her mental to-do for the rest of the day, she found herself undoing the clasps on her vambrace without thinking. It was time to follow along with her plans.

~~~

By the time she had gotten back from her bath, which altogether took 14 minutes with her undressing, she found her armor was politely whisked away by who she assumed to be the stewards she had asked to clean it before the ceremony. There was something about ordering servants that she didn't know she missed until now. How they always responded with an "Of course" and acted invisibly the second you looked away.

Once she had her chosen attire on, a simple long-sleeved shirt and men's pair of loose-fitting pants, she made her way to the kitchen. As she was halfway down the flight of stairs, she realized that she probably could've talked to Gunter, and then gone to feed herself, or even brought Gunter along to eat since he probably was hungry as well after practice. Right? She saw Jaro smuggle some treats into his room, what's to say that Gunter and Millia didn't do the same? She groaned as she turned around and went back up the stairs, and tapped the bottom of her cane against Gunter's door.

"Hey! Big guy! I need to talk to you! Come on out, I'm heading to the kitchen and I know you're hungry."

 

[King Crimson]

Millia Jamrock
Current location: Artifice Knight Dorms​

With the setting of the summer sun, the excitement of the day's events began to dwindle, leaving Milly, with naught but excitement the night's later ceremonies would bring, and the lingering aches and pains her training had brought her, as she trudged her battered body up to her room.
Among the group, she was among one of the worse for wear; she'd taken quite a few hits that she shouldn't have, gotten back up at points when she should have stayed down.
But that was all nothing new to her. After all, what are a few bumps on the path to progress?
A nice long soak in the hot bath worked well to ease the welts, bruises and grime that she'd amassed, and a short-lived soak in some cold, crisp water soothed the stinging splotches of pale, scarred, burned skin on her arms.
The bath also gave her time to relax her mind, reflect on all that she'd learned, and think on what more the night had in store.
Eventually, she emerged from her personal bathroom, for the most part rejuvenated, though some of her wounds still stubbornly nagged at her.
Hm...Maybe I should go visit Jaro, she mused to herself, carefully working her sore body into a simple, plain fabric jerkin and a pair of pants, and reapplying a few of the bandages she had needed for some of her more concerning injuries.
To her surprise, the armor she'd left lying on her bed was nowhere to be found, collected to be tended to by the academy stewards, if she had to guess.
It still felt strange for her, to have others weigh on such things as her laundry.
She ought to do it herself next time, save those kind people the trouble.

Bursting out from her room, the thing that first caught Milly's attention was that blank nameplate, directly to the left of her.
Soon it would be filled with a new topsider neighbor name, a new neighbor to speak with, to befriend, to learn from.
The prospect excited her, and she turned away with a small skip in her step as she shuffled towards the mess hall.
On her way, she encountered a familiar sight; Casanova knocking impatiently upon Gunther's door.
The first time Milly had met the blind noble, she had seemed so harsh, so intimidating, so impossible to approach.
Strangely, however, after facing against her and her formidable swordsmanship, something about her seemed far less menacing now, holding an equally unthreatening cane in her hand.
Perhaps her, the new girl, and Valerie could get together, read some interesting books, and have one of those mythical "girl talks" those other topsider girls had told her about.
But that would have to wait another time. From the looks of things, she seemed rather urgent.
...Why someone like her would be so urgent to talk Gunther, of all people, was one of the few mysteries Milly had no interest in solving.
---
"Jaro!" Milly called, pushing past the large cafeteria doors, "You in here!? I was hoping to bother you for a little bit of--woah..."
Once she had the opportunity to process the scene before her, her attention snapped immediately to the rather intense-looking glow emanating from the fiery nobleman sitting pensively at the head of the table, before snapping towards healer she had been looking for, casually eating next to him.
"Uhm...Is this a bad time?" Milly hesitantly asked, uneasily scratching her head as she soaked in the unexpectedly awkward atmosphere she'd just walked into.

 

[Shadowfall]

Gunter and Valerie
By Fred Colon and Shadowfall ​

Gunter heard the knock on his door.

"Hey! Big guy! I need to talk to you! Come on out, I'm heading to the kitchen and I know you're hungry."

Valerie. Interesting. What could she want from him. He opened the door, though he wasn’t wearing a hat. He hadn’t decided whether he was going to use tomorrow's scheduled hat today and mix up his whole schedule or bring out one of the hats he wasn’t particularly fond of as a holdover.

“What can I do for you, dear Valerie?” Gunter asked, smiling reflexively, even though she couldn’t see it. “I am most certainly hungry. I’m usually a little hungry, but after a workout like that?” He stepped out of his room and shut the door. “What did you need to talk about? Or was the food what you wanted to talk about?”

The duelist considered her words carefully. After all, she felt that she didn’t want to give off the wrong impression of their sparring session earlier. “I just wanted to discuss potentially sparring together, after the ceremony.” She looked down the hall as if their conversation was meant to be had behind closed doors, jostling him to follow. “We’ll walk and talk. Come along.”

“Sparring together? As in, extra sparring sessions?” Hm. That might cut into Gunther's leisure activities, but she seemed so serious. He followed her down the stairs, to the kitchens. “Well. I suppose I don’t mind. What brought this on? Have you asked the others?”

The two walked, at a rather relaxed pace, towards the kitchen, slowly going down the stairs, every other step the two took was accompanied with the rhythmic sound of Valerie’s fragment tapping the steps as they walked. “I haven’t asked any of the others. Not yet. I just found that your abilities interfered with mine. I want to practice dealing with your soundwaves so I have a better chance of dealing with it just in case some enemy in the future uses something similar against us.” She paused and considered her next words. “Also because I want to beat you.” She nodded to herself. “I really want to beat you.”

Gunter’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline. He felt something akin to jealousy. She was devoted. Devoted to learning, devoted to the cause, to something. He didn’t know what, specifically, but something was driving her. It could even have been her infirmity that drove her so hard, though Gunter felt she had proven herself more than capable eyes or no.

Gunter, at heart, loved the dramatic, and there was something so deliciously dramatic about Valerie’s resolution. Quite aside from that, it made Gunter want to train more. She may want to beat him, but he wanted to beat her, too. In a fair fight, where they’d both had time to get a handle on one another's abilities.

“Well, that last part moved my stoney heart. Never mind all that logic about ‘being prepared’. But if you put it like that, with such emotion ... How can I refuse? It would be an honor to spar with you. I don’t particularly want to be beaten, though, I must warn you.”

The ends of Valerie’s lips curled into a smile. Steel sharpens steel, or so they say. She was glad to finally have a willing sparring partner again, and one who had an edge on her. The challenge always made her excited to raise her blade again and again. “Good, I’m glad you’ve accepted that I’m going to beat you, because we’re not going to stop training tonight until I do.”

At this point, the pair had made their way down the winding halls to the kitchen, where no doubt there would be wonderful things to eat and mildly peeved cooks to soothe for some of the knight’s actions the night before. However, from the gathering that appeared in the cafeteria and the blue glow that washed over it, they weren’t going to be alone.

The duelist grasped Gunter’s arm firmly before they entered the cafeteria. “You go in first, then I’ll follow in a second.” She whispered to Gunter. “I don’t want to… Have anyone make any assumptions. Go, go.” She shooed.

“Assumptions! Heavens no! No one can know about our sordid trysts! You are a royal and I, a commoner! It would be too much of a scandal!” Gunter said in a too loud voice. “A shame that our love can never be, my dear, sweet Valerie!” He put a hand to his heart, and then made a show of stumbling into the kitchen, as if smitten by ‘heartache’. He wasn’t one hundred percent sure if that was the ‘assumption’ she was talking about, but a good way to ensure no one thought a certain way was to make a big joke out of it.

But as he stumbled into the kitchen, he wondered if he had gotten himself in trouble. Not for the joke he was making, but for agreeing to be her sparring partner. Sparring all night until she won? He had no idea how long that would take, and he was already tired from sparring today! Where were her energy reserves coming from?

He found Jaro, Milly and Weisse in the kitchen.

“Gangs all here, it seems!” Before noticing that Weiss was glowing with a faint blue light. “Ah. Are you supposed to be doing that, Weiss? Should we call a doctor?” Those didn’t look like the flames that he’d shot at Gunter’s poor hat earlier. They were much softer, warmer without being hotter. “Valerie might be able to help. She’ll be in in a moment. She wanted to come in separately so you didn’t realize that we’re secret lovers.”

In the doorway stood Valerie, her cheeks a bright red from Gunter’s theatrics. ‘Next time, make up an excuse instead of telling Gunter anything directly, or else something like this will happen’ she noted to herself. She considered turning around and polishing her armor herself. Food wasn’t a real necessity anyways, not with all the chefs about to stare at her when she walked in.

“Deep breath in, and go.” She said to nobody in particular, pulling up her blindfold and walking with her usual air of authority, which nearly dropped when she saw that Gunter’s act was performed for the other knights. Maybe, she would have to reconsider the companionship of Gunter in the future. His flamboyance made Valerie’s skin grow red with just a few words, but she wasn’t going to just walk out now. She had to continue to show off just who she was to the other knights. Composure was everything, and the way people saw you and thought about you determined how you were treated in this world. She would ensure that her trusted companions didn’t think poorly of her, no matter what.

Her boots were muffled against the floor, each step carefully measured as she took them. The blue glow grew brighter as she came closer to the rest, and realized that it was Weisse, and he was sort of on fire. This must be normal, since the fire is contained on his body, or so she hoped. She took another deep breath, looked Gunter in the eye, and affirmed what she felt. “I think I hate you.” She said, the slightest twinge of a smile at the edge of her lips. Her face washed away any mischievousness it might’ve had as she turned her attention to the rest of the group. “Why are we waiting here? Do we have food on the way, or is this just where everyone decided to gather?”

 

[TheAmbiguousStoryteller]

Weisse saw everyone come in individually, starting with the young Jaro. Weisse chuckled at Jaro's jargon as he came in only to see Weisse glowing blue. I light blue as well. "It's complicated," Weisse said when he continued about training being over, and he didn't need to burn their quarters down. This made Weisse give a friendly smile. He was about to explain what was going on, but then Milly walked in. "This is a terrific time," Weisse said, giving her a welcoming smile gesturing to a chair for her to sit; she might as well know this too. "I am--" Gunter walked in this time.

Gunter and Valerie lovers? Weisse didn't buy it. It was such a Gunter thing to say from the time he had come to know him. But then he too noticed the glow, and He asked if he was okay. "I don't think I have a choice and I've never been better, Gunter. And I have all of you to thank for it." Weisse figured something out about himself in the sparring today. Every sparring match, he had to lead him on a journey through his own concerns and faults. Since he had sparred with his mentor and the first time he had ever encountered Leanna until now, he had to be secluded and train alone because he lacked control. But something in their training today had helped him break a barrier and get closer to controlling the phoenix fire.

Weisse, at this point, didn't bother trying to explain what was happening within him as he waited for Valerie to enter the kitchen. He wondered if she had heard about what had happened with his family estate. She was wondering why everyone had come to the kitchen. "I think the cooking staff is due any moment," Weisse said to answer Valerie. Now with everyone here, he could finally tell them without any interruptions. "as for the glow. I am what fire mages call Phoenixbourne. I was born with the spirit of the phoenix and my own spirit in the same body. That's why I glow like this and have the mark on my hand. What you all are seeing is the glow of the phoenix flame glowing from within me. It is also why my father sent me to Ivermore. I wasn't selected to go. I was sent away because I couldn't control the phoenix and burned my family estate to the ground. I cast one explosion spell, and they made me train alone until Leanna recruited me into the Artfice knights."

Weisse took a pause and looked at everyone. "But thanks to you I think I might be able to return home soon." He said with a smile. It was at that moment that Basil their chef had burst through the door with a feast carried by the rest of his kitchen staff. They encircled the table and placed the dishes presenting them before the knights. The spread was something they had cooked up knowing they trained hard today. It could be seen through the blooming group of promising knights. Weisse himself couldn't have asked for a more unique and amazing group to be a part of.

Weisse felt his stomach growl as the staff released the lids from the dishes laid out on the table. Fire-roasted pork and vegetables the smell of honey and char filled the air. The entire theme for the meal had been fire with roasted beef and vegetable kabobs. There was also a fresh salad with an apple cider vinegar dressing and sliced apples mixed in. Freshly baked bread. "Bon appetite." Basil bowed his way out letting the knights dig in He thought he would make them a treat baking a cherry cheesecake for when they were finished their meals.

 

[spacepirate]

The nearly ethereal blue glow emanating from the blonde royal was a rather showy sight, indeed. Jaro couldn't help but note with several tones of amusement that such a display would be mercilessly eviscerated by the scholars of the Healing Academy, torn apart as "a waste of perfectly good energy that could have been exerted towards healing another" or something else equally as droll. Vaguely, he wondered how Weisse would respond to the accusation, the curiosity of knowing how an old-order noble would converse with the new teachings nearly catching up to the months-long exodus he'd taken from his past life. Well, either way, he mused to himself, if his teammate wanted to burn some extra power on the side, Jaro was powerless to stop it- or to help, especially at the other's insistence it was 'complicated'.

"Right, whatever you say, big blue." Just as well, there were slickier slimes that needed slammin', so the popular saying went.

Turning to look at the mechanist who'd burst into the hall calling his name, Jaro couldn't help but let a small smirk ghost his still-cut lips. "Better not be asking about a fix-me-up for the fixer-upper. If I gotta look like a glamcat gored out my gobs, so do you. Hm... well, actually, if you really need a little pizzaz, I could probs whip something up." It was rather out of character for the ex-healer to freely offer service in his most hated skill, but he quickly realized that if Milly was all healed up, he'd look even more haggard in comparison to his fellow knights. Man, if the folks back home could see him now!

There wasn't much time for chatter, though, not when the rest of the team came bumbling into the room one after another. Jaro caught his treasonous tongue right as it was on the tip of telling Gunter that a doctor likely wouldn't be necessary, since the magical energy was benign, which would have been more of a scene, with him shaking his head a bit, if not for the other's jesting. Gunter and Valerie as an item? Well, he certainly wouldn't have seen it coming, but if it wasn't fighting or anything ending in -ealing, Jaro was rather clueless, so he merely nodded in appreciation. "Congrats on being not-so-secret sweeties, you two," he called to Valerie with a grin, having grown a tad more used to her presence after their fight. "And nah on waiting for the food or whatever. I ate already," he informed the noble, perhaps neglecting to mention that he'd helped himself to his personal stash.

The mirth melted rather coldly off his face as Weisse told them of his origins, however. What was surely meant as a sincere gesture was lost on the young man, who'd understood a far less favorable set of circumstances. What in the hay was a phoenixborne? And how did it relate to Weisse losing control and setting fire to the family home? Magic had always come so naturally to Jaro, and more than that, it was easier than easy to understand and hone. Splashes of colorless hues and feeling the arcana as it channeled through every cell in his body- his art was so focused on discipline and resolve that it was nearly impossible to imagine surrendering his will to the energies. What would it feel like to just let go?

Eh, probably a little boring. Being constantly surrounded by it nearly all the time, it would take more than a little magic and tragedy to brighten this ex-healer's day.

It wasn't until dinner was served and Jaro shoved his portion to the side that he decided to address some... due concerns. "So what's this about you goin' home? Are you sayin' like for good? Then why even be initiated tonight if you don't plan to stick around? I mean, would the Assembly just let us walk out?" That last question was aimed at the entire group, not only Weisse. Perhaps it was more than a little rude, but Jaro was far from judging the other young man- if there was a way out of this honor-bound order once he'd grown into this great fighter, he'd know exactly how to make his way to the rings!

 

[King Crimson]

Millia Jamrock
Current location: Artifice Knight Dorms​

"Oh, good!" Milly happily beamed in response to the ominously glowering noble, her earlier trepidation seemingly forgotten as she took a seat next to the rough-and-tumble healer that she was looking for.
"And...uh...yeah..." she nervously chuckled, running one of her hands through her tussled orange hair, the other she displays to the young boy, letting him see the numerous burns, cuts and holes she'd accumulated, adding in, "Some of these wounds actually kinda really sting!"
Sitting closer to him, she could see that he still carried a fair number of scars and bruises of his own, which was curious; he should have had ample ability to heal them himself.
...And come to think of it, he never used his healing abilities during sparing, there wasn't a single doubt in Milly's mind that he would have fared far better in their battle had he used them, perhaps even managing to pull out a victory.
Was he doing it intentionally? Some strange form of training, perhaps?
From his response, he seemed to be in usual, good spirits, answering her with his usual, casual aplomb, so if something was wrong with him, he certainly wasn't showing it.
She was prepared to dig further, and pick his brain on such matters, but Gunther had other plans, bursting through the door with his usual, dramatic flair.
Followed shortly by his unwilling acting partner, who was attempting to enter the room with her usual regal dignity intact, though the clear reddening on her ears and on her cheeks were defeating her efforts.
"Aww, Gunther! That's mean!" Milly playfully chided, stifling back a small giggle for Valerie's sake.
"Y'know, my first older brother used to say 'you should be careful what you do, and don't go around breaking young girls' hearts!'"
---
After some short, jovial conversation, mainly an explanation from Weisse for his current...state, a team of chefs burst into the room, with plentiful plates of food in tow for the young knights.
Milly, for her part, listened intently, attacking her share of pork and vegetables like it owed her an onze of unpaid gold ore.
"Ib feel you..." Milly attempted to say to the fiery noble, not stopping to finish her mouthfuls of delectable foods. (table manners were not entirely common within the Valley, as it happens)
With a hearty swallow she continues, "Learning high-temperature gas thermodynamics took a lot of study, and a lot more trial and error!"
After shoveling another bite into her mouth, she adds, "...Modly error..."

 

[Shadowfall]

Valerie did her best to slip into the background of the conversation after Gunter had done his usual flamboyance. It wasn't too hard either as Weisse had begun to elaborate on his burning condition to the group as she finally took a seat next to the other girl, Millia, farthest from the flamboyant son of mercenaries. At least the other girl gave her a little compassion. Weisse explained that he was what he called a 'Phoenixbourne', a person infused with the flames of a phoenix at birth, with flames destructive enough to burn an entire estate down. She privately wondered if part of the reason he was selected to become an artifice knight was because of his instability. She had to train for many months to learn how to use her magic, and due to her condition, she used it almost all the time. Was it his potential as a potent mage, or the fact that he could turn himself into a conflagration of flame and self-sacrifice if things got that dire?

Perhaps, she just needed to eat. Her eyes wandered over the plates and trays of protein-rich meats and kabobs. Nothing like the stuff at home, which was bland, or full of olives which she never liked. She decided on a smaller plate of beef and a larger bowl of colorful salad. After some trepidation from watching the very inelegant way that Millia ate, she decided that maybe she should be thankful she didn't always have to choose to see.

"But thanks to you I think I might be able to return home soon." Weisse concluded. Jaro made a pointed comment about what that exactly meant if he intended to leave everyone after the initiation, or even if the assembly would even let them leave.

"I don't think it's that important right now, to be perfectly honest. We have our own dwellings with servants and training day in, day out, with free time in between. At least that's until we start getting sent out into the field I would assume. So, what's the problem? Did you forget we're about to go to a ceremony meant for us in a few hours?" She questioned.

"...Modly error..." Her artificial eyes turned to the messy inventor.

She nudged Milly. "Swallow your food before you speak. It is unbecoming of you." She chided.

 

[Fred Colon]

Gunter gave a thumbs up to Valerie as she pointedly chose the seat farthest from him, before stacking his plate with a little bit of everything. Valerie had been right. He was hungry. He listened to Weiss with half an ear, focused on his food. He didn't really understand the pheonixborne stuff, beyond 'it let Weiss shoot fire', and didn't really try to understand. The intricacies were Weiss' business, not his. He'd prefer Weiss stay, but Gunter certainly wasn't someone to tell another how they had to live their life, and he had no idea what the answer was to Jaro's question. He was already busy enough, what with the added duty of training with Valerie and embarrassing her further by continuing to pretend they were lovers.

"Break a girls heart? Me? Never!" Gunter said in response to Milly. "Valerie is my one and only. Well. On Tuesdays she is, anyway. Wednesday I have Mikayla, Thursday is Marcus, Friday is open since Jocasta left me so I'll be hitting the bars that day to find another likely lover. But today is all about Valerie!"

When Valerie mentioned the ceremony, Gunter perked up, putting his knife an fork down. Gunter was a big eater, but he was also a clean one. It didn't do to make a mess on your own clothes. He really needed to have a chat with Milly.
"I am excited for that. I love ceremonies, especially if we're going to star in them." He scratched at his chin. "I wonder what exactly will happen. Who will be there. Probably some pretty important people, yes? I wish I could have gotten my mother and my aunts and uncles here in time, but they're a tad too far away, and there might be too many of them to fit in whatever room we're having the ceremony in!"

 

[TheAmbiguousStoryteller]

Weisse had picked some nice cuts of meat and vegetables, steamed and in the form of a salad. He ate delicately, savouring the taste. The cooking staff had once again outdone themselves. Even if their chef was a tad bit eccentric, they were skilled in the art of cooking. He listened to everyone waiting for a good time to reply to them. The truth was he didn't plan on going home as soon as it would have seemed from what he said. Battle, family, friends, danger, and his dear friend Artemis were all on his mind. He had wondered what the others were thinking about if they had their own internal struggles as the initiation grew closer.

"So what's this about you goin' home? Are you sayin' like for good? Then why even be initiated tonight if you don't plan to stick around? I mean, would the Assembly just let us walk out?" Weisse heard Jaro, and it seemed like genuine concern. Weisse understood the perspective and offered a reassuring smile to the young Hero. Before he answered, Valerie had spoken up as well. Partly to also question Weisse and partly to remind Milly of her table manners or lack thereof.

"I don't think it's that important right now, to be perfectly honest. We have our own dwellings with servants and training day in, day out, with free time in between. At least that's until we start getting sent out into the field, I would assume. So, what's the problem? Did you forget we're about to go to a ceremony meant for us in a few hours?" Weisse listened to Valerie before he explained what he had meant to anyone who had thought he meant to leave as soon as possible.

"I am not leaving immediately. But while you all have homes to return to, my father will not let me return until I can control the phoenix." Weisse said, and with his continuous growth in that control, the temporary exile would be lifted. "I do not need to return soon, but I do have people I would like to see once more before we enter the battlefield. Let's not forget that after our initiation, we are all deployable, and we could all be killed." Weisse wasn't naive enough to think that they were training to train. They had a purpose and duties; in those duties, at any time, any one of them could die. Weisse would like to see his mother, younger brother and Artemis, his childhood friend, once more if it could potentially be the last time he talked to any of them.

With dinner coming to a close and Weisse feeling well-fed despite eating very little. The nerves and excitement had killed his appetite; he stood up from the table. "Please excuse me." Weisse went to his room as he planned to clean up his armour from the sparring earlier. He polished each piece as he placed it back on the mantle that displayed the armour. Weisse smiled at his glossy reflection. He imagined challenging them all again to another spar, but that wasn't on his mind. For the first time in a while he didn't feel like he was going to cause things to spontaneously combust and it was a relief for him to have this calmness in him even if he glows weirdly at least he wasn't setting anything on fire.

Weisse ventured out into the training area and picked up a sword he twirled it in his hand and started doing a standard over head swing over and over. While he was doing so he was replaying each of the matches in his mind going over things he could have done better and figuring out why he lost. But he never changed his swing he just constantly replayed each fight in order. His most frustrating one was with Gunter. He would give him a proper match someday in the future. He planned to challenge everyone of them as he went over ways their abilities and skills would work with his own and how he could counter each of them. Anyone walking by would just see him swinging the sword as a basic exercise.