ToG In Character Chat

[Rantos]

Illiam Herlaa​

So, Illiam's first pet was displeased with him, that was disheartening. After Selicity declared Illiam's fight as lame, which was a rating Illiam could agree with, she up and left. Illiam watched her leave with a blank stare, he wasn't quite sure how to feel about her discontentment with Illiam and his fight. Who was to blame for the poor show after all, Areum for hardly fighting back or Illiam for giving up? It was a hard discernment to make, who was truly at fault and was Selicity's dissatisfaction justified? Illiam dared not to ponder the question a second further. Seefi began talking, and Illiam gave his ear. She began singing his praises, which Illiam appreciated greatly. It was nice to see that at least one person still did not hate Illiam after the match. There was a pause in the conversation, a silence that Illiam did not feel like filling, a silence that was shortly interrupted by Seefi putting her hand atop Illiam's head.

'Is she trying to comfort me?'

Because if so then it was working, if only a little. It was a strange gesture that was foreign to Illiam, but he could tell the intent behind it. Illiam even started enjoying it too, at least until Seefi pulled her hand away and mentioned getting lunch. "Before we do that." Illiam returned the gesture in kind, putting his hand on her head, and giving one of her ears a light tug. "Ahhhhh... so soft..." The boy trembled where he stood as he seemingly melted into a wave of pleasure. "Okay, ready now!" Illiam then quite literally dragged Seefi by the hand back to the mess hall. All the while he began talking, practically rambling, about how he couldn't wait to eat and all the foods he wishes were there. Bright eyed and talking about food, Illiam for a moment looked like a kid in his excitement. By the time they got gotten to the mess hall Illiam released Seefi's hand and pointed at a table near the corner of the room.

"Meet back there in five minutes, whoever can fit the most food on their plate wins. GO!" With that, Illiam ran off.

In five minutes Illiam would be back at the table just as he promised with a plate piled impossibly high with carbs in their many forms. His palate seemed to be leaning more towards meat, so that is what filled the majority of his plate. Illiam wasn't one to use utensils, so he would eat with nothing but his hands and a solitary napkin.
The One Eyed Bandit

 

[Azure Sky]

Ningor, Introducing New Member: Carmen Shade​

Ningor looked at Aerum with his usual poker face, and maybe a tiny amount of pity in his eyes. "Such a shame. A warrior who lost his interest, and one who couldn't contain her rage. Although the latter was also childish and pathetic." was what he thought. As soon as Aerum approached her team, however, Ningor didn't feel the need to express his oppinion in regard to the match, there was something else that he wanted to say.

"Orin and two other people decided to quit, so we have a new member in our team." with that said, he looked towards their new team mate, Carmen Shade.

Tok
​

"That was...disappointing" was the only review Tok could give regarding the...fight. Honestly, he expected to see more, a lot more. On the other hand, he has curious what made the black snail become uninterested in the fight so suddenly. Was it intentional? Was it a provocation? Was he smart? Was he an idiot? Tok continued to ponder.

The One Eyed Bandit The Suspicious Eye OverconfidentMagi

 

[The Suspicious Eye]

Carmen ShadeCarmen gently licked what was left of the red sticky substance from her fingers as she followed her new partner. She wasn't very worried about following strangers around especially handsome ones like Ningor. Looking at the last bit of the delicious red liquid on her hand she lifted her hand to her lips and licked. What a waste of perfectly good cherry Sangria, I'm glad those two quit. Finishing off the last drop she licked the tip of her index finger and looked over to the others. Having not paid much mind to them she only paid attention to the end of the supposedly exciting battle. Raising a eyebrow at the two combatants she lowered her hand to rest to her side. Tilting her shead she watched one of them seemingly give up before a real fight had begun and the other pout like a arrogant child. It is certainly amusing here. Much more than on the streets. I think I'll have fun here.

As she followed behind Ningor she noticed the small amount of sadness in his eyes. Yet she stayed quiet and as he introduced her she smiled and stepped forward. "Hello, it's nice to meet you all. My name is Carmen Shade I'm a wave controller." She gave a slight bow out of respect. "I hope I can be of assistance to you all in the future." Although she knew at one point or another she would have to fight them, she'd keep a pleasant persona for now. Looking at who was left to hear her introduction she wondered how they arrived here and what wish they wanted to have granted. Something to look forward to uncovering later on. Glancing up at Ningor she wasn't sure what else to do, or who would be the other members of their team.

The One Eyed Bandit OverconfidentMagi Azure Sky

 

[Azure Sky]

Tok and an unexpected challenge: the unusual Exnor​

Tok was about to leave, but someone stood in his way. A young man of above-average height, with messy blonde hair, and golden eyes with slit-shaped pupils. He didn't wear a shirt, but had quite the impressive tattoos. He had a rather athletic build, but nothing overly impressive, at least from Tok's point of view.

"Do you want something?"
"I'd like to challenge you to a fight. I bet 150 Points."

That was sudden. The Regular didn't catch Tok's attention during Keylow's test, and during the Aquatic Wildcat challenge he didn't seem very impressive either. Yet, there he was, challenging Tok to a battle. The accel-turle wasn't one to back down so...

"I accept."
__________________________________________________

"Since we have the arena ready, and still intact, you can start right now if you wish" was what Weiss said. Both Regulars agreed. The fight between Tok Stonebreaker and Lo Po Bia Exnor would soon begin.

"Oh this one's so predictable."
"Yeah, the turtle guy is a bloody monster."
"It's impossible for the blondie to win. What was he thinking?"
"This will be an easy victory for that oversized macho turtle."
"I wouldn't be so sure,"
"Why so?"
"That guy...his family name is Lo Po Bia...He's a member of one of the Ten Great Families,"
"What? B-but...he didn't seem that strong during that test against those damn beasts."
"Lo Po Bia are infamous for subjugating and controlling powerful creatures. He probably pretends to be weak. He's most likely a powerful Anima in disguise."

A bunch of Regulars where discussing about Tok and Exnor. Initially almost all of them wanted to bet on Tok, but after hearing that one guy talk about the Lo Po Bia Family, many of them changed their mind.

Tok Stonebreaker vs Lo Po Bia Exnor​

Tok didn't waste any time. He used Shinsoo to enhance his speed and moved rapidly towards his opponent. He brought out his daggers and was ready to strike, but...

Pow!

Exnor had already punched Tok in the gut, while using Shinsoo to strengthen his body. Tok was sent two meters back. He fell on his knees and was gasping for air, while also letting go of his daggers.

"Interesting. Most people would have been sent flying. You're still weaker than I expected, though,"

Tok looked up, to see the face of his opponent, but...by the time Exnor was talking, he also gathered Shinsoo within his right hand, and pointed it, palm-open, towards the accel-turtle.

Smite!

A big blast of Shinsoo, akin to a blaze, hit Tok at point-blank range. The accel-turtle looked roasted. It was incredibly painful, but compared to the pain he felt that day, this was nothing. He tried to get hold of his daggers, but before he could do so, a Shinsoo-enhanced kick made him fall backwards.

The accel turtle was angry. He wanted to get up, but as he tried to do so, yellow, glowing chains of Shinsoo where wrapped around his body, binding him. "Just give up," was what Exnor said, on a neutral tone.

"Just...give up?" the words resonated within Tok's mind, enraging him. He enhanced his physical strength with Shinsoo and used all his might to break the chains. He eventually did, but he couldn't catch a break even then... as he was caught in a fury of punches from Exnor, who wrapped the chains around his hands to use them as makeshift brass knuckles.

"Fall." said Exnor, but within that moment...

Pow!

Tok tanked his attacks, and when he saw the right moment, the accel-turtle punched him in the face with all his might, sending him flying quite a few meters away. Exnor performed a few acrobacies mid-air, and landed on his feet, but lost balance. "This guy is tough as hell" was what he thought. It was a good thing that he strengthened his body with Shinsoo, and slightly moved his head before the impact, or else it would have been bad. Exnor was smiling. It could actually be a great fight. The unusual member of the Lo Po Bia Family was about to strike again, but...

"The fight is over. Tok Stonebreaker can no longer fight. Lo Po Bia Exnor is the winner," announced Weiss.
"Wait, what do you mean he can't fight? He's still standing!" said Exnor, on an angry tone.
"He fainted." was Weiss's reply.

Exnor stood there slient, for a few seconds. "What?" he asked, in disbelief. As he got closer to the accel-turtle, he realised that Weiss was right. Tok Stonebreaker fainted, while standing.

It was shocking for most of the other Regulars as well.

Exnor sighed and eventually left the arena. He knew Tok couldn't hear him but...

"When you get stronger...I'd like a rematch."
__________________________________________________

Exnor: 650 Points
Tok:350 Points
__________________________________________________

OverconfidentMagi The Suspicious Eye St. Boethius QuirkyAngel Rantos The One Eyed Bandit

 

[The One Eyed Bandit]

Areum Eurasia​

Lord, how many times were they going to reshuffle her team? Fresh out of being cheated by Weiss, Areum found herself in no mood for this sort of thing. Locking eyes with her newfound charge, the girl shot the other a glare and a scan. Frustrating looking, definitely. Probably whiny. Probably the kind that thinks they're cute. Maybe it was just because she was in a bad mood, or maybe it was just because she was naturally a bitter asshole, but she didn't like her.

"Tch." She didn't bother to speak a word, only clicking her tongue and pushing past her to leave the arena. Then-

Another match begun, and a familiar name was sung. Lo Po Bia.

And damn it. She definitely just wanted to go back to her room and... Break something, probably... But this wasn't something that she could let slide. Another member of the Ten Families here? Ready to fight, too? She wasn't angry enough to just abandon this and amuse her infuriated whims... Anymore, at least.

It wasn't like she'd need to stick around for long, anyway. Short and sweet was the perfect way to describe it. Her match had hardly been satisfying, but this, the crushing victory, the fear of being put back into the Ten Family's names as that would-be strongman of a turtle was put into his place, it put her in a better mood, to be sure. Lo Po Bia Exnor, a name to remember. Maybe she'd be able to hear some sense out of him, since it'd been so damn lacking in any of the milk drinking common folk hanging around here. Or maybe he'd just be the stereotypical strong armed brute without any brain behind his brawn that the Families were unfortunate enough to cough up every now and again.

A good ally or a good underling, the way she saw it. In the worst case, a good stepping stone to replace that coward.

Shit. Just thinking about him was souring her mood again.

"You two play date or whatever. I'm going back to our room. If you wanna do me a favor, then stay scarce for the next hour." Her mood was on the rise, but it needed time to stew. Unwind. Not to mention, she was still bloody as hell after taking those beatings.
Azure Sky
The Suspicious Eye​

 

[The One Eyed Bandit]

Seefi Grasshider​

Wasteful, she was sure. Intrusive, even more so. But she was proud of him, Illiam, for taking the high road, so some overeating and the invasion of her personal space was something she could overlook. She'd been the first to make a move, too, so she could hardly complain about his reciprocation.

It was a good thing she didn't say that out loud.

In contrast to Illiam's, Seefi's own plate was a dwarf, though her diet was just as carnivorous. As was her table manners. The odd sight of a mismatched pair of a newly-branded coward, and a dull looking country hick certainly drew a gaze or two, but none dared approach. Maybe because they were afraid of the pair tearing into them as they were their food, or maybe just because it was more fun to gossip behind their backs. Their way, at least half of the pair paid them no head, working away at her meal and making the odd piece of small talk as Illiam did the same.

"I have to ask-" Setting her emptied plate to the side once she'd finished her meal, Seefi licked her fingertips clean and regarded Illiam seriously. There was something she wanted to know. "-I've been listening around lately, and people have been saying some... Hurtful... Things about you. None of it true, I know, but... Doesn't any of it bother you?" Her ears attentive and eyes concerned, the young woman looked dissimilar to the lost, fish out of water teammate Illiam knew. The eldest of nine, protective instincts came easy to her, she'd hardly known him as long as those siblings of hers, but in a way he reminded her him them. Rowdy and passionate, the kind to always jump in to help and though she hardly thought she knew him well enough to know for sure, he'd maybe be the kind to never ask for help, either. Though, that was all assuming she wasn't just doting.

Rantos

 

[Rantos]

Illiam Herlaa​

Illiam should have known, the winner was decided long before the match had begun. No mere mortal being that could dare rival his Godly apatite. In retrospect Illiam should have taken it easy on the girl, but it was too late now, the victor had been chosen. Although Illiam did feel the need to give Seefi some of his food, after all her plate paled in comparison to his own mountain of meat. A little extra meat never hurt anyone and Seefi looked as though she could use the extra meat on her bones. Truth be told many of the people Illiam had seen so far could use a little more thickness, Illiam included. Seefi did however stack her plate with meat, as little as there was, and Illiam could respect a woman with good tastes.

Illiam kept chowing down, obliterating the tower of meat before him and occasionally stealing a glance at Seefi to check on her progress. She looked to be finished meanwhile Illiam was still working on his plate, when Seefi began to speak Illiam gave her his attention. Her eyes, they shone through with an emotion that Illiam had yet to see from Seefi. Seeing this alone was enough to cause Illiam to stop eating and focus whole heatedly on what she had to say. She asked her question, and Illiam had to think about what kind of answer he would give in response. Seefi seemed genuinely worried about him, which was something that genuinely surprised Illiam.

"Well... I guess I kinda just ignore it. Honestly they can say what they want, I'm not here to please them so I don't see why I should care about what they say. They mean nothing, ergo, their words mean nothing too. Besides, I'm no stranger to hurtful words. They lose their effect after a while." Illiam let his answer sink in as he took another bite from some more of his mystery meat. Before Seefi could utter another word Illiam would follow up with one more comment.

"But if anyone's words hurt you Seefi, then tell me. I'm not that useful, but I can make sure they stop." 'Even if the means ripping out their tongues.' The two had only just met but Illiam had decided that, from this moment onward, Seefi would be his. Words did little to sway or effect Illiam, but if Seefi found words harmful then it wouldn't do to let those words continue.

Jun Lun​

Jun had been watching the battle between her faithful partner: Exnor and the mysterious turtle: Tok. It was an exciting battle indeed, but one that Jun did not make a bet one. She held plenty of respect for her partner but found it risky to bet. She hopped that Exnor did not think less of her for having little faith in his victory. Maybe he would think her unfaithful, maybe he would leave just like their last partner. Jun hoped that wouldn't be the case. After all Exnor was a great fighter, wonderful partner and had a fantastic body to boot. With abs as sharp as his Jun wondered if she could grate cheese on them. She would have to test her theory later on that later.

When Exnor finally left the arena, victorious, Jun would be standing by the entrance, clapping as he approached her and once he was close enough Jun would offer him a high five. "That was exciting!" she began. "So what do you think, does he seem like the kind of guy you would befriend? Take out to dinner maybe? Or maybe a movie?" Jun started to become excited, listing off all the possible outcomes of Exnor and Tok's friendship, each outcome becoming more, intense than the last.
The One Eyed Bandit Azure Sky

 

[OverconfidentMagi]

Nyra​

Nyra wasn't sure how Oisin had gotten into his head the idea that she liked cute things. She much preferred big and full of teeth over cute and useless. But correcting him didn't seem worth the effort, so she let him think whatever he wanted about her tastes. She followed Oisin as he moved closer to watch the fight play out.


Nyra's golden eyes went wide with surprise as the person she'd bet on forfeited the fight, and then upon hearing his reason, narrowed with silent anger towards him. She thought she was good at reading people, and that she'd been so incredibly wrong about Illiam had made her upset. Ullyr rubbed his head against her arm as if to calm her down. It appeared that the one Illiam had been "fighting" was also an idiot though, which worked out well for Nyra, meaning she didn't lose the points she'd bet on Illiam.

"That was...disappointing," she heard Tok say.

Disappointing was certainly one way of describing it, but Nyra felt it might be a little weak. That "fight" had been more than simply disappointing. It had been closer to... super extreme stupid disappointing. Yeah, that was how disappointing it had been.

"Do you want something?"

Nyra turned her head to see Tok was talking to someone. She didn't recognize him, but something about him seemed familiar. She couldn't quite figure out what though.

"I'd like to challenge you to a fight. I bet 150 Points."

The person wanted to fight Tok? Why though? Tok was a monster when if came to fighting, and most of the other regulars had already picked up on that. Nyra was secretly quite glad he was on her team. No way did she want to have to fight him. But this person was going out of his way to pick a fight against him. Was he stupid? Was every regular here somehow an idiot?

"I accept."

Of course. A free win was a free win. If possible he should try to win quickly though, and not go all out. That way he could still have some tricks for other opponents. Oh, maybe she should have said that to Tok, but he was already walking forward with the guy who'd issued the challenge. Well whatever, it shouldn't matter too much. Tok was strong and smart, he'd be fine either way. The other regulars were already starting to talk about the fight.

"Oh this one's so predictable."
"Yeah, the turtle guy is a bloody monster."
"It's impossible for the blondie to win. What was he thinking?"
"This will be an easy victory for that oversized macho turtle."

Everyone else seemed to be thinking the same way Nyra was. The other guy didn't have a chance against Tok. The turtle was just too strong to lose to some nobody.

"I wouldn't be so sure," someone said.
"Why so?"
"That guy...his family name is Lo Po Bia."

Nyra turned to listen in on this conversation. Lo Po Bia? The way they said ti made it sound important, but Nyra didn't care about the important families and had never bothered learning which was which. For all she knew, Lo Po Bia was the family in charge of cleaning every bathroom in the tower.

"...He's a member of one of the Ten Great Families."

"What?" Nyra turned, but then turned back to looking at the fight. She didn't want the other regulars thinking she was eavesdropping... even though she was. One of the Ten Great Families... "Good luck turtle," she whispered under her breath.

"What? B-but...he didn't seem that strong during that test against those damn beasts."
"Lo Po Bia are infamous for subjugating and controlling powerful creatures. He probably pretends to be weak. He's most likely a powerful Anima in disguise."

There was that word again. Anima. That was what people kept calling her. So he was like her then. Nyra got as close to the fight as she could, Ullyr growling at regulars to make them move out of her way. She'd never seen an Anima fight before. Of course she still wanted Tok to win, but hopefully the other guy lasted long enough for her to learn something about how he fought.

But nothing played out how she'd expected. Instead of waiting for the anima guy to attack, Tok made the first move, and was knocked right back. Tok wasn't allowed to recover. Instead of using Shinheuh, the other regular just kept attacking with direct hits and Shinsoo. Was this guy really an anima? Tok was able to land a single good counter blow, but...

"The fight is over. Tok Stonebreaker can no longer fight. Lo Po Bia Exnor is the winner," announced Weiss.

He'd been knocked out. Tok had been completely beaten by this golden-eyed regular. Exnor. Lo Po Bia Exnor. Nyra had figured out why he'd seemed familiar to her. The way he carried himself, his attitude, even the way he'd decided to fight. All of that and the bright golden eyes had reminded her of Arsean. She watched him as he walked away.

"Oisin can you make sure Tok is okay? I'll be right back." She slipped through the crowd towards that regular. Ullyr chased right behind. With everyone looking towards the regular who'd just beaten Tok, it wasn't exactly difficult to track him down.

"Lo Po Bia Exnor!" She walked right up to him. "Why did you hold back against Tok! Why didn't you fight with your Shinheuh?"

Azure Sky The One Eyed Bandit

 

[Azure Sky]

Exnor- The Man Who Attracts Peculiar Women​

Jun, Exnor's only team mate, was great. She knew how to use Shinsoo, and was a valuable long range attacker and support. A truly fantastic Wave Controller for the 2nd Floor. But...

"So what do you think, does he seem like the kind of guy you would befriend? Take out to dinner maybe? Or maybe a movie?" and then she went on and on about different scenarios, each one crazier than the other. There were indeed women like these, weren't there? They'd deserve a specific term, but Exnor would leave that to the linguistic experts. This part of Jun was peculiar to say the least, but Exnor didn't think any less of her because of it.

"He seems like'd make a great rival. Also, I belive that, if you were to write books, or comics, you would be incredibly popular with a certain group of women." was his reply. He didn't want to into any possible psychological trap. It'd only fuel more of Jun's fantasies.

"Lo Po Bia Exnor!" suddenly someone shouted his name. It was a female voice. Exnor turned around to face the one who called out to him: a girl covered in bandages, with big, golden eyes. Exnor recognized her. The girl who calmed down the Aquatic Wild Cat, and, without a doubt, the one who was assigned the Anima postion: Nyra Carciphi. She also one of Tok Stonebreaker's team mates.

"Why did you hold back against Tok? Why didn't you fight with your Shinheuh?"

Ah yes, that question. A question that other Regulars who saw the fight wanted to ask, but didn't have the guts to do so.

"I have no Shinheuh," he paused, and looked at Nyra with a serious expression. His gaze was intense. He spoke loud enough so that other Regulars who were around could hear him as well. "I will also never have any Shinheuh, because I do not want to go down the Anima path, I want to go against it," he smiled, full of confidence "And become this Tower's first Anti-Anima!" with that said, he stopped speaking louder, this time addressing himself only to Nyra: "Nyra Carciphi, you are the one I'd like to test my skills against the most. But not how you are right now. From the fight against the Aquatic Wild Cat, there were three things that I understood: first is that you're very kind, second is that you're very soft, third is that you are incredibly unprepared," he looked behind her, at Ullyr "Your natural ability as an Anima is not enough, not by itself. You seem to care about your pets, or shoud I say...companions? They will fight for you, suffer for you, and maybe even die for you...But in turn, dear kind Anima, I ask you this: what can you do for them? They cannot protect you forever, so if you wish to survive longer, I suggest you pick up some useful skills." with that said, Exnor walked away, wanting to go to the cafeteria. He might of seemed rude, but he was simply giving advice, in his own way. Jun would have probably followed him.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Meanwhile, the big screen in the cafeteria would have displayed the short fight between Illiam and Aerum, followed by the one between Tok and Exnor.

OverconfidentMagi Rantos The One Eyed Bandit QuirkyAngel
The Suspicious Eye

 

[The One Eyed Bandit]

Oisin Ha'raa​

Okay? After a being beaten to the point of passing out? Part of Oisin wished that people would stop asking stupid things of him like this. Another told him to just keep listening to the rest of him that kept telling him to just enjoy it all. Intruding onto the stage and approaching his statue of a teammate with a merry hop, he elected to do as he always did.

"Mmm... Tough fight, huh? It was even more surprising than Illiam giving up! Though, much less exciting, admittedly..." Giving Tok a quick inspection, though the medical field was hardly his specialty, Oisin rattled off his thoughts into quickly draining arena, his words lost in the ruckus of the crowds. "Looks like you aren't dying or anything. Dunno about the pride, though. Can't tell if you're the kind of guy to get bitter about getting shown his place or the sort that gets excited. I'd be fine with either, by the by, so no pressure to impress."

Not much to do, not much to do at all... Egh. Er. Ah! Maybe this could be a useful opportunity. Those daggers of his, they weren't really his style... Somehow, he got the feeling that they might come in handy. Tok wouldn't miss one too much, right? If they were important, he could just push the blame onto Exnor, anyway. So after a quick rummage around the arena, into his trust bag one of them went. He'd be sure to return it before they parted ways. Probably.

"Anyway! We should probably get you checked up properly, huh!" Giving him a friendly nudge on the chest, Oisin had a swarm of the bots that filled the building converge upon his victi- er, teammate, ferrying him off to the sweet embrace of bedrest until he'd awake, and he'd leave him be, making his way back over to the cafeteria for a nice bit of brunch.

Azure Sky

 

[The One Eyed Bandit]

Seefi Grasshider​

"That hardly seems necessary... But I appreciate it." Despite her concerns for the boy, Seefi had to admit, he could sometimes seem a bit... Extreme. The way he talked about protecting her, it didn't exactly remind her of the warm promises of safety her father had once made her. Instead, he resembled a predator. She wasn't sure what to make of it, but if she hadn't already placed her trust in him, this side of Illiam would have worried her. But she had, and it was important that she kept it that way.

"You don't need to worry about me. Despite appearances, I've quite a bit of worldliness behind myself too, if you'll believe it. I can't say I ever had to worry about angry tree girls hounding me down, though!" Was that awkward? Funny had never been her forte, but there was definitely a mood that needed brightening here. "Well, once you're finished eating, how about we go find Sel? We can't have you guys fighting when we get our next test, you know?" Besides that, there was another niggling thought at the back of her mind. That girl he'd fought, it'd be good if he could make up with her, too. Her concerns about her just wouldn't die down, especially not after than display she'd given at the end of their battle.

"Don't rush yourself though! I'm sure Sel is busy... Thinking of what to say when you to speak next... Probably... So we can take all the time we need, okay?"

 

[Rantos]

Jun Lun
A great rival indeed. Jun was looking forward to seeing how their relationship developed in the coming days. Surely they would start as sparing partners and nothing more. Soon though one of them, Jun would wager the turtle, would ask to get to know the other better. The two would spend time together, scarcely at first, and as time went on they would become closer and closer and what started as rivals would grow into something more. The two would spend time together, scarcely at first, and as time went on they would become closer and closer and what started as rivals would grow into something more. This would all lead to a passionate night filled with

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and

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followed by

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That would soon lead into

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and one more

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Raw

Jun did not realize it, but she was very clearly drooling while lost in her not so private fantasy. She vaguely made out Exnor's comment about writing a book, which was an idea that sounded all too tempting to Jun. She made a mental note to start that project later tonight. Soon Jun was taken out of her trance by the sound of a close and unfamiliar voice. A girl with a bandaged face seemed to require Exnor's attention. Poor thing, Jun thought, she must have had a pretty disfigured face. The two began talking in terms that were somewhat foreign to Jun, but she could make out the gist of the conversation. Whatever they two were debating, Exnor seemed pretty adamantly against being an Anima. Within Exnor Jun saw a passion she could admire, he had his goal, and seemed dead set on it too. As he began walking Jun followed.

"If that is your goal then I would love to assist you. So long as you are willing to assist me in kind. I scratch your back and you scratch mine?" Jun wasn't exactly sure what she could do to help further the boy's ideal, but she figured it would be good for the both of them to form that deal now. The Tower was dangerous after all, it's going to be a hard climb to make alone. "So I assume lunch is on you Mr.Winner? I'm not picky when it comes to what I eat. But if it's meat make sure it's undercooked, I like it raw."

Illiam Herlaa
'I wonder who that handsome stud conceding in the middle of a fight is'

Illiam has chosen a seat far away from the screen that had been replaying the fight between himself and Areum. Illiam found it tough to make out who exactly was fighting, at least until one lashed out at the other in a show of poor taste, then Illiam had no problem telling who was fighting. HIs eyes constantly switched between watching Seefi and the screen. Most of his attention was on Seefi, however he could not hide his curiosity towards the battles on screen. Even though Illiam was truly only paying half attention he could tell Seefi's aversion towards Illiam's more barbaric ideals. She seemed to have more morality in her than Illiam had seen in others so far. He had to try hard to not associate that kindness with weakness, he was sure Seefi was strong in her own right. This did however bring up the problem of what is to happen in the future, he could only hold himself back for so long.

It was clear there was something on Illiam's mind, Occasionally his mouth would open as if to talk yet no words would come fourth. He had a few questions, yet did not know how exactly to ask. His eyes began switching from the screen to Seefi more frequently now. There was a long pause, nothing but silence and the apparent need from Illiam to say something, anything. Illiam couldn't think of what to say, and after a painfully long time passed were Illiam was unable to speak the victor of the match after his own entered the cafeteria. Illiam called out to the Regular.

"Oi! That was a good match against the turtle. Congratulations on your victory." From what Illiam saw of the match, the Regular Exnor did a find job, and Illiam gave credit where credit was due. Now his attention was back towards Seefi, yet still Illiam could not find the words, but he would not stay a moment longer in silence. So Illiam took his leave.

"Thanks for getting lunch with me. I'll see you later Seefi." Illiam cleaned up after himself and left without another word, without even one last glance at Seefi. Illiam's burning question, it was a question that would have to wait. The fight with Areum had shaken Illiam admittedly, she was durable and had a few tools that Illiam had certainly never seen before. He would never say it to the girl's face, but Areum was a challenge, and one that Illiam felt he couldn't completely beat. So Illiam did the only thing he could do, he sought out his new grandmother, Yaga. It didn't take long for Illiam to find the intimidating old lady walking though the halls.

"Nana!" He called out as he caught up with her. "Nana I need your help! Help train me please!" Illiam wasn't one to bow, but he bent himself halfway to get the point across that he was serious. "I need you to bring me to my knees though any means you deem necessary as fast as you can." Basically, Illiam needed her to punch him really, really hard. The point was for Illiam to last for two seconds, then tomorrow he would last for four, and the next day after that he would last for six, so on and so forth. Everyday he would last longer than the last, this was his own personal promise to himself.

Azure Sky The One Eyed Bandit

 

[Azure Sky]

Ningor Frostnova- The Disappointing Aerum & Shocking Events​

Ningor squinted as he saw Aerum's reaction to their new team mate, Carmen, and he was about to comment on how pathetic he found her in that particular moment, but then something else caught his attention: the accel-turtle was about to fight. He had to see this. Tok was one of the people he respected among Regulars and he expected him to show an excellent display of skill, but...

He didn't expect this. Ningor would have never belived that Tok could be so easily defeated. Such a one-sided fight. That man, Exnor, was incredible. Such skill, such power, such speed, and...a new target. Ningor definetly wanted to fight him. "So, you were hiding your power until now, huh?" as he asked himself that question, Ningor came to a realization: there might be more like Exnor, who hid their power. For the albion, this merely meant that a treasure hunt would begin, and he'd definetly find the hidden gems.

But...what about Carmen?

"Don't worry about Aerum. She's a spoiled brat apparently," he shifted his attention back at Carmen and looked at her with an intese gaze. "Since we will be team mates, I'd like to know something. Did you hide your true skill until now?" asked Ningor, genuinely curious.

The Suspicious Eye
____________________________________________________________________

Exnor​

"Interesting proposal, Jun." said Exnor as he was walking towards the cafeteria. Once he reached it, a certain Regular congratulated him on his match. "Thanks." was all that Exnor said in reply. Eventually, he reached the counter and brought food for both himself and Jun. "As you desired, my treat. Now then, Jun, if I may ask, what is your goal exactly?"
------

Yaga​

"As you wish, brat," and with that, in the split of a second, Yaga gave Illiam a "gentle touch" in the solar plexus. "Don't be impatient. You shall be trained starting tomorrow regardless." she said, as she walked away. She saw many Regulars come and go, so the Ranker somewhat understood what Illiam wanted, but he needed to demonstrate more, before he could actually receive his true "reward".

Rantos
________________________________________________________________________

TIME SKIP- NEXT DAY; TRAINING STARTS​

"As promised, your lessons and training will begin today. I'd like to introduce two new members of the staff: Cerberus, which, as I mentioned yesterday will be the Wave Control teacher, and Moto, who...is a butler." said Yu Han Sung.

Meanwhile, Hex arrived at the destination with Hyeon. "It took a while, but welcome to the 2nd Floor, Hyeon!" he said, full of joy, watching things from a higher place. "If you look downward, you will see a bunch of newbies who are ready to start lesson...I mean enter the first stage of hell."

The One Eyed Bandit OverconfidentMagi QuirkyAngel
Mentioned again: Rantos The Suspicious Eye

 

[The Suspicious Eye]

Carmen ShadeWhat a rude girl. She must come from wealth. Only the wealthy are that stuck up. Let it be known that Carmen was not a fan of this girl's first impression. She'd done no wrong and was treated so poorly. Not like that was anything new to her, yet it still rubbed her the wrong way. Taking a mental note of the girl Carmen watched as the others's attention was pulled to another battle. Having come in late Carmen didn't know much or for that matter care about who would come out on top. However, seeing the disappointment and surprise on some of the other's faces, she assumed that the outcome was unfavorable. Tugging at a strand of her hair she pondered deeply, I need to gather as much information as I can about the individuals here. To be left in the dark would be a grave mistake, especially regarding my skills. To waste them would be a mistake.

Tossing her hair as the rude girl had left, Carmen decided that she wasn't done with that girl. When she was settled in Carmen would like to get to know the rude girl, before she crushed her. What was her name?.... Aerum? Yes. I'll have my fun with her later, for now it's time to learn. That is why I am here after all. Well at least part of why I am here. Ningor's voice pulled her out from her thoughts. "It certainly seems that way," Carmen replied, doing her best not to sound too perturbed. Turning her head she looked up to match his surprisingly intense gaze. She wondered what brought this on, but stayed calm in the face of it. Not sure what he meant by such a question Carmen had to think for a moment.

Tapping her finger against her chin she pondered the question before answering. Of course she held back, to say that the trails so far were a serious challenge for her was a laughing matter. Still as a wave controller she wanted to take care of her teammates and would of course happily tell Ningor all of her abilities, but what's the fun in that? "Well I certainly didn't show all my cards." Smiling up at him she continued, "But buy me a drink or three and I'll show you all I can do. You'll have to drink too, It's just depressing to drink alone, don't you think?" Best way to get to know someone is when they are drunk.

Time Skip: Training Starts
Carmen made her way towards the others, happy to start her training. Smiling she waved to her partner and stood at attention as Yung Han Sung spoke. Looking at Cerberus, she was curious to see what she could learn from such a intriguing person. Tossing her hair she smiled as her eyes flashed their signature blue and emerald. Regardless of how I started, I am looking forwards to this. Let's see what I will learn from this new teacher.

The One Eyed Bandit OverconfidentMagi Azure Sky QuirkyAngel

 

[Rantos]

Ran Graves
Introduction master
On the way down to the second floor Ran found himself worrying that this batch of Regulars would be devoid of cute males ripe for the picking. If nothing else, Ran always enjoyed scoping out each new batch for potential candidates to recruit for his Cute Boy Harem. The past few batches of Regulars have been all but plentiful. The last batch had only one male worthy of the harem and the one before that was all females! If the pattern repeated then Ran would have to suffer the third batch in a row devoid of any potential males. However Ran was glad his worrying was all for naught in the end. This batch was filled aplenty, so many options and good options non the less! Once Ran had gotten to the second floor the first thing he did was rate the men he saw from one to ten. Anyone with a grade of five and above was allowed into his harem, so Ran was elated when he saw the floor was filled with sevens and eights and nines oh my!

The whole trip down Ran had been indulging himself in his desires, much to Moto's dismay, and needed his butler's help in order to climb up into the podium Yu Han. Once he was up Ran began his introduction.

"Hellooooo boys! And to a lesser extent *hic* females too..." The slightly intoxicated man then began speaking quietly to Moto so that the others couldn't hear. However those Regulars in the first row could hear Ran clearly as he asked Moto to remind him where exactly he was and what he was doing.

"I'ma teach ya how to fight! This is Moto, feel free to give his bum a little slap if you feel the need. I know I will~" To drive the point home Ran then tried to slap Moto's rear several times but missed the mark every time. "Les get dis show on the road! Moto, awaaaaaay!" Then, just as sluggishly as they got into the raised stage, Moto carried Ran off and away.

 

[The One Eyed Bandit]

Hyeon Sagi​

"Hell, huh..." High above the unaware crowd of soon-to-be students, a pair of vibrantly red eyes contrasted the yellow ones that guided them. Hyeon, uncharacteristically, was calm. For once, the straight man. It was difficult for even someone like her to get excited when she had no real idea as to the reason why she was here, at least beyond the ones she didn't care about. To tell the truth, she was tempted to just jump down there and say hi. Watching from up high wasn't particularly invigorating, but getting mixed up in the thick of things on the other hand...

But, submitting to her better judgment, she kept put. Until Hex gave her a tell, she'd keep her rowdiness at bay.

"Well, if it's hell they're getting into, why do you sound so excited about it? Sadist, or just jealous~?" If he were to ask her the same question, her answer would deftly be a latter. "I'm glad that we made it here in one piece and all, but what even were those 'interesting things' you were talking about? Are they things we need to sit up here waiting for, because watching is rrreeaaallllyyyy tiring me out. I don't think I was built to sit still like this." Her eyes glanced across the crowd again, chatting amongst itself. One of them might know who she is. One of them might be Hex's interesting 'thing'. Yet still, despite her restlessness, neither of those things excited her. So where her urge to move forward came from, she wasn't sure.

Azure Sky

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Selicity Fars - The Night Before Training Started.

Humming, with a self-satisfied expression on her face, Selicity Fars left the arena feeling much better than she did before she had entered. Her iris, currently verdant, was proof of her cheerful mood. Thus was the nature of her kind—their eyes an open window into their soul. Giving Athlene one final twirl, Selicity slipped her bladed hook back into its usual resting spot in her Arms Inventory. Reeling in her prey had taken longer than she’d expected, cowards that they were. Still, Sel had managed it, and ensured that the ones who insulted her friend wouldn’t be able to move, let alone participate in training for a while.

And if they don’t grow strong enough to obtain points for their meals, well that’s too bad~

Armored hand raised to cover her mouth, the silver haired girl snickered to herself before making her way to the cafeteria. She didn’t think anyone would still be there at the current hour. It was unfortunate, that she’d missed out on eating with her teammates, but it was probably for the best. She didn’t want them to see her like she was like that. “I wonder if—ooof!”

“Ah! Sorry, sorry!”

Suddenly finding herself on the floor, Selicity groaned, rubbing the back of her head. “What the hell was that?”

Peering up, she could see what appeared to be a cloaked figure, clutching an empty cage. Selicity couldn’t make out anything about the black wrapped person, besides a bit of pink hair and the scent of lavender. The one who knocked seemed rather nervous, gaze flickering from Selicity, to the cafeteria, back to Selicity, then down the hall before abruptly running away without replying to her question. Selicity blinked, staring confusedly after the person for a moment. Then she stuck out her tongue. “Rude!”

Still, Selicity was in a good mood and didn’t feel like giving a chase. Shrugging her shoulders, Selicity entered the cafeteria. Thankfully, it wasn’t closed…just yet. Sel managed to purchase herself some fish before making her way back to the residential area, following the scents of her teammates. Along the way, she caught other scents she recognized—one of which was the distinct scent Areum Eurasia’s perfume. She could understand the rage that came with her opponent walking away from a fight. Of being looked down upon in such a manner.

Better things to do?

It was no wonder Areum had given into her anger. Selicity sighed. She could sympathize. A love for battle. A tendency towards violence. Occasional moments of going berserk.Those were all the things that made her an outcast among the her fellow Cat Sidhe. The snide voice of the human who had stolen her eye telling her she lacked emotional control was still fresh in her mind. It was true. She had given into her rage back then, let him goad her eyes into turning purple, and, as a result, lost what was precious to her. Even now she'd let the insult of some nobodies get to her. Granted, it was only for a brief moment, but still...

Can I get my eye back the way I am now?

That was the only reason she'd entered the tower. To reclaim what was hers. Shaking her head, to free herself of depressing thoughts, Selicity put a fish just outside of the green haired girl’s team’s door—along with a simple note that simply said ‘To Areum’ ( The One Eyed Bandit ). Fish always made Selicity feel better.

Remembering another person who interested her among the regulars, Selicity morphed into her cat form and, following the scent of oil, left a fish outside of the bandaged girl’s team’s door as well. However, unlike Areum, Selicity didn’t know the Sea Wraith’s name. Therefore, the note contained a simple message: ‘Cats appreciate kindness.’ ( OverconfidentMagi )

Selicity had seen the video and heard the Aquatic Wildcat’s feelings loud and clear. The brutality of the Tower was something she’d well known, having been forewarned by the village elder, therefore she’d been surprised to find someone who cared of the treatment of cats among the regulars. It pleased her. Selicity couldn’t help thinking that if such a person were to get their wishes granted, the cats living in the tower would have much better lives.

Wouldn’t that be nice?

With the bag of fish she’d bought secured comfortably around her neck, the kitten dashed her way back to her own room and, after munching on some of the fish, curled herself on the sofa to take a nap in preparation for the next day.

Points: 600 ( + 100, - 5)

The next day
Examiner Blink

Sitting on a chair, with her small arms folded across her chest, Blink’s mood was apparent to any who bothered to look at the Light Bearer teacher. Blink wasn’t happy. But then, Evankhell’s Secretary wasn’t happy with anything Yu Han Sung did. The two new staff members seemed rather shady to her…though she couldn’t give a solid reason as to why. It might have been purely paranoia on her part. After receiving the mysterious note, warning her that FUG was on the move, she’d noticed many odd things happening. The disappearance of one of teams to receive ‘advanced training’…or so Yu Han Sung said…was one of them.

Bullsh*t.

Since when did the Floor Test start favoring regulars? For those intending to climb the Tower, the Second Floor, where she lived, was sacred. It was designed to train and test those who had the potential to continue. Not cater to FUG, the Ten Families, or any such groups. Yet it wasn’t beyond the daemon’s notice that outside parties were attempting to interfere in the selection. Blink narrowed her eyes, scanning the crowd of regulars, and spotted the Cat-girl—that was on the same team as the one Yaga was interested in—lazing in the back, her shoulders her against the wall as she adjusted her eyepatch.

A bloodthirsty batch this time around.

Blink sighed, popping a piece of candy in her mouth and chewed. Fools that got themselves too injured, before training even started, were only hampering their chances of passing. The black haired kid who broke his door down like an idiot made a smart move by giving up the fight…surprisingly. Of course, refusing Eurasia’s foolishness would’ve been much smarter. Points lost could be regained, but time and life couldn’t. There were no rules that said Regulars couldn’t kill each other in one-on-one combat. And Blink had little doubt there would be those taking advantage of that fact to eliminate the competition. That was simply how games in the Tower worked.

As soon as Cerberus and the butler left, Blink swallowed and opened her mouth. A pink cube appeared in front of her, displaying a map. “All those assigned to the Light Bearer position will meet in Room 321 at 11 o’clock sharp, where I’ll be explaining the many functions of a lighthouse, its various uses, and how to properly control one using shinsoo. There will be absolutely no fighting within my classroom,though there may be certain challenges you’ll be asked to overcome. Don’t like it? Tough. I’m not here to appease any bloodthirsty tendencies. Miss out on my first class and you’ll miss out on the free E-grade Lighthouses offered to newbies. If that happens, or your Lighthouse somehow ends up getting destroyed, you better hope you somehow manage to scrounge up the points to buy yourself a new one because you aren’t getting another one from me. Lighthouses, with a decent level of suspendium, don’t grow on trees.”

With that said, the child-like figure wearing a demon costume popped another piece of candy into her mouth before teleporting away.

The One Eyed Bandit
Azure Sky
Rantos
The Suspicious Eye



Meanwhile, somewhere in the 2nd floor Middle Area...
Evelyn Wicker

Green here. Green there. Green everywhere…and lots of smaller green floating cubes. That was what the inside of Evelyn’s Lighthouse looked like. The many visual display cubes showed the events of the Second Floor Exam for Argeus to see. Evelyn’s eyebrow arched when he saw that Ran and Moto were introduced as teachers…but not terribly surprised, given what he knew of the Submerged Fish’s affiliations. Evelyn smirked.

“Recognize your drinking buddy? Looks like the Mad Dog of FUG’s a Wave Controller teacher now. Life’s full of coincidences, don’t you think~?”

Humming, Evelyn typed away at the keyboard, enlarging the image of Illiam. “This is the Irregular I was talking about. There was another one, but it looks like he’s already fallen into FUG’s hands. Don’t worry about that one for now. Once I find his whereabouts, I’ll let you know. Though, given his friends, I doubt he’d make a very good ally.” The Galleon's voice was laced with with amusement. “If you just wanted to watch them from a safe distance, you could just stay here with me. Hacking the observers and lighthouses of the examiners isn’t particularly difficult for someone of my talents,” Evelyn winked. “But that defeats the whole purpose of climbing all those stairs back to the second floor, no?”

He pulled up a map of the entire testing ground. “We’re currently in the Middle Area of the 2nd floor. The Inner Tower is where the exam is taking place. I’ve already sent an associate of mine to deliver the fairy, so you don't have to worry about that. If you want to plant your tree in the Middle Area you should do so now. Once I teleport you into the Inner Tower, assuming that's where you want to go, you’ll be on your own. Well, not completely…I’ll be watching of course.”

Reaching into the pocket of his jacket, Evelyn pulled out a small black orb with bat-like wings, which fluttered over to Argeus’s shoulder as soon as it was released.

“My customized observer. It comes with various functions, which I won’t bother explaining, since there are too many~. Keep it with you. It’s linked to my Lighthouse so I’ll be able to support and supply you with information from where I am. It’s also your easy ticket out whenever you’re finished with whatever it is you want to do…so don’t let it get destroyed. Otherwise, I’ll have to come and pick you up myself and that might get…a little annoying.” Evelyn grinned at Argeus. “It’s not my first time climbing down to the second floor to play with the hopeful test takers, you see. Evankhell doesn’t like me. His secretary even less so. I'd rather not run into them if I can help it.” That was all the explanation Argeus was going to get. Returning his attention to the visual cubes, his fingers once again dancing across the keyboard, Evelyn said simply. “Let me know when you’re ready.”

St. Boethius

 

[Rantos]

Ran Graves
Featuring special guest star Jun Lun!
Ran still regretted not telling the Regulars where his class would take place during his introduction, a huge oversight on his part. After the tipsy Ranker had gotten a better baring on the situation he asked Moto to find all of his Regulars and tell them where exactly class was to take place, Ran only hoped Moto got to all of them in time. The room was number 322, and as the Regulars came in they would find Ran already inside sitting at his desk, with his feet up on the table, reading a small worn journal of sorts. On the cover it read "Zeharr's teachings!" and featured a cartoonish drawing of Ran and another female with notably pale skin.

Ran watched each as each of his students entered the room, as they entered he would give them a quick glance before returning to his book. Slowly the room began to fill more and more, most students took their seats but a few stragglers were out of their seats and talking, waiting for class to start. Once the room was filled enough Ran closed his book and stood, most of the students took this as a sign to stop talking and pay attention. "Well, I can already say I am disappointed." It wasn't like Ran to start a dialogue with such a somber tone, but their was something weighing down on him. This batch of Regulars was filled to the brim with potential candidates for his harem. It was a variable cornucopia of cute boys! But right as Ran thought that his cup would runneth over the world decided it had other plans for him. As Ran gazed upon his class of many students it was painfully obvious that not even a single one of them was a boy. All of Ran's dreams of class time flirting and teasing were broken, discarded into the wind. Yet Ran knew he would have to soldier on.

"Welcome to my class plebs and scrubs alike. My name is Ran Graves, Dr. Ran Graves. But you may call me Mr Dr Ran Graves." Ran took this time to write his name on the chalk bored behind him. He made sure to empathize the Dr by making the letters in Dr just a tad bit bigger than the rest of the letters.

"I'm in charge of teaching you how to be a Wave Controller, and let me start by saying, you made the right choice in career path. We Wave Controllers play the pinnacle role in this Tower! We control the very fabric of this Tower, also known as Shinsoo." Ran wasn't the type to keep still, so as he gave his opening speech he moved to and fro, moving his arms to accentuate points and talking in a very animated voice.

"Shinsoo is the very life force of this Tower, it ebbs and flows like waves and we are the ones who direct, redirect and control those waves. The stuff is all around us and can use used for a myriad of, things!" Then, as an example, five red orbs about as big as a head appeared around Ran. With a flick of his wrist the orbs began to dance their way around the class room, occasionally brushing around students. The orbs themselves seemed to glow and radiate a light warmth. Once Ran was finished with his example the orbs faded as fast as they appeared. "Cool right?"

"But that's not all, not even close! You can also use Shinsoo to blow stuff up!" Ran walked to the front row and grabbed an empty chair. He threw the chair into the air and before it could hit the ceiling snapped his fingers. In time with the snap of his fingers the chair erupted in a show of spontaneous combustion. It hit the ground in pieces and not longer after that the chair faded into nothing more than ash. "Isn't that awesome? And all of this is only the bottom of the barrel! You will find a detailed list of most of the things one can do with Shinsoo in your handy pocket book located on every desk." On every desk was a small bound book titled "Ran's neat tips and tricks for the Shinsoo savvy." The book itself was filled with pages of helpful hints and applications as well as many drawings of Ran doing what was on the page for the visual learners.

"But we will start with the simple stuff. We won't go blowing up everything just yet, let's save that for tomorrows class. First, I want you to make this." Ran showed his palm to the class and in it was another orb, this time much smaller. "If you can leave today being able to make and maintain a Shinsoo orb you're in good shape. It can be a bit hard at first but when I was taught I was told to picture the very essence of the world as water. Watch the water ebb and flow though and around you, then picture were you want the orb as a gathering place for the water, make the water flow into a single point. Begin." Ran would let the Regulars try that for a while, about seven minutes, before piping up again.

"Oh, and those who can hit me with a Shinsoo based attack pass my class immediately. This will be effective starting-" Ran found it hard to finish his sentence, as before he could get out the last few words three quick Shinsoo projectiles were fired at Ran. The Ranker had no problem dodging them however after those three missed Ran was met with seven more. The perpetrator, the one who had attacked him, was non other than Jun Lun who had stationed herself in the back of the class. She was standing on her desk and getting ready to fire another volley. This time eleven Shinsoo bullets appeared above her but before she could fire them their was a sudden explosion from directly behind her. The blast sent the girl careening into the front of the class where Ran was waiting. He caught Jun, if only to deliver a swift punch to her face that then caused her to go limp in his arms and caused a little blood to run from her nose. Ran dropped the unconscious Jun onto the floor and continued from where he left off.

"This rule will be effective starting tomorrow. But be warned, if you attack me and it missed I have full rights to retaliate. Don't worry about it too much though, at worse you may just lose to tooth." Ran said this as he walked back to his desk, slightly tripping over Jun's body in the process. "Could someone also take this girl to the infirmary please? If anyone has any questions I will be reading in the front."
The One Eyed Bandit
The Suspicious Eye
Azure Sky

 

[St. Boethius]

Argeus was... surprised by the amount of detail that his guide had put into coming down here. What surprised him even more was that he knew Argeus was planting his Shinsoo trees on each level to slowly build up power as they mature, though the more he thought about Evelyn and what he had observed of him during their travel together Argeus would be disappointed in him otherwise. Argeus nodded and looked the strange bat like device over, " I appreciate what you've done for me Evelyn. I will make sure you get a return on your investment. It'll take me a little bit to find the proper place to plant my tree, but when I do I will let you know." With that said the Satyr left the green lighthouse for the Middle Area of the 2nd floor.

As Argeus stepped out he was flooded with memories of his comrades and of a time before he knew what FUG was. Argeus allowed himself a moment to reminisce before changing from his more humanoid form to his actual Satyr self. This form, among other things, allowed him to better read the Shinsoo in an area and find the place where it concentrates most. It was there that Argeus planted his seedlings so that he could gain maximum returns from his Shinsoo. The pursuit of finding the heaviest concentration of Shinsoo took rough 30 minutesband as he went by Argeus took the opportunity to think about what it was that wanted to accomplish here. Was it simply to infiltrate this batch of regulars and plant his seeds as they went? With Ran there he doubted there was Mich he could actually do. Not to mention that he would have to somehow convince the Regulars to join him in his cause to take down FUG. There was so much swirling around in Argeus's mind as he searched he almost walked straight past what he was looking for. After 5 minutes of concentrating his Shinsoo and planting it his first objective was done and Argeus looked over to the Observer and said, " Ready for transport."
QuirkyAngel

 

[Azure Sky]

Tok Stonebreaker, Alfa Quake and "The Nurse"- The Night Before the Lessons Began​

"Wake up, boring turtle!" a voice resonated through Tok's head. The accel-turtle woke up in the medical area of the facility. His whole body hurt. He had bandages here and there, as well as...band aids. Pink, heart-shaped band aids were around his body.

"Oh, you woke up, big guy."

"Who are you?"
"I'm the nurse, darling."
"Why do I have these hear-shaped band aids on me?"
"You should be thankful. Those are special items that accelerate healing speed."
"I see...Thank you."
"You're welcome."

And then the conversation stopped. There was complete, awkward silence. At least on the outside.

Boring turtle, we have a problem. Omega is gone.
What? Did my opponent take him after I was defeated?
I doubt it. I was forced to sleep when our ignition was disrupted. But I could feel a person with a familiar aura took Omega away.
Familiar? On this floor apart from me...Osin!

Tok gave his daggers to Osin before, during the Aquatic Wild Cat test, but the antler snail didn't use them. Nonetheless, he was the ony one who could fit the "familiar aura" description. He stole one of Tok's daggers? For what purpose? The accel-turtle was in disbelief, but he had to accept it: he didn't know anything about Osin. The guy was an enigma, but at the very least Tok understood that he couldn't be trusted.

Later, Tok walked back into the room of his team. Initially he didn't say anything. He merely walked near Osin and stopped 1 meter away from him. Tok looked at him as if he was looking at trash.

"Omega and Alfa Quake are twin Ignition Weapons. They can only be ignited together." with that said Tok threw Alfa at Osin. "Now you have both of them. Use them well, garbage snail." he added, then he went to bed.

Ningor- Drinking with Carmen, the Night Before the Lessons Began​

Ningor wasn't very different when he was drunk. In fact, he kept the same poker face, his cheeks were just slightly red, and he spoke in the same manner. The only difference was that he kept less to himself.

"Aerum Eurasia was one of the people I really wanted to fight, but frankly she's underwhelming. If those Shinsoo shields are her only skill, I belive she should tone down on the arrogance, for her own sake. On a different note, the fight between Lo Po Bia Exnor and Tok Stonebreaker had quite the unexpected outcome. I still desire to fight both of them. On another different note, while you are not my type, I find you quite pretty. With those big, clear eyes of yours, that fair skin, silky hair and plesant voice, I'm quite sure you'd manage to charm many people."

Lesson Time​

Hex & Hyeon
-Before Watching Ran Teach-

"Well, if it's hell they're getting into, why do you sound so excited about it? Sadist, or just jealous~?"

"I'm a sadist, obviously." said Hex, radiating with joy.

"Ok, Hyeon, we shall move on, and watch the lesson of the Wave Controllers. I've already spoken with Yu Han Sung about it. As long as we merely watch it is fine. Also we need to cover our own expenses, but that is not a problem." he said as he descended. "Cerberus is a High Ranker, his lessons should be interesting to watch. And you may remember some things."

-After Watching Ran Teach-

"That was...different from what I expected." said Hex with a poker face. Now that was a sight to behold: Hex not smiling. "What did you think?" he asked, as his smiley face returned.

Fishermen- Keylow ​

"Greetings newbies. You have all been selected as Fishermen. You are the main offence of your team and where chosen for this Position because of your destructive power in man-to-man fights. Many call this the greatest position of them all, but don't let that get to your heads. You're just as disposable as anyone else. I've seen that some of you already have Shinsoo skills and that is great. But you need to develop them." after he said all that, Keylow pushed a button and the wall behind his back disappeared, making another room visible. A blue training area, dubbed the "Azure Room".

"Anyways, all things at a time. For today, we'll do some combat training.You will all fight against me, while I only use Shinsoo for limited physical enhancement and no item whatsoever. Prepare your pie holes." he said, making a scary smile.

Spear Bearers- Weiss (Deltron)​

"As Spear Bearers, you generally act as the snipers of your team. But bear in mind that most of you will only have one spear and you cannot lose it. It should only be thrown at a crucial moment, thus you would likely need to engage in close-quarter-combat most of the time. Nonetheless, today we will be doing target practice. Accuracy is vital for a spear bearer." with that said, Weiss prepared himself for a demonstration.

Multiple targets suddenly appeared and started moving hecticly in all directions. Weiss prepared some spears and threw them one-by-one, hitting the bullseye on multiple targets, which then vanished, and the spears teleported back at Weiss. "In a real situation, your spear won't teleport back, unless it's some sort of high-grade weapon, but obtaining such a weapon is highly improbable, so keep that in mind. Also, each time you hit the bullseye, you get 1 Point. You will only get a chance at these types of targets on two lessons: this one and the last one."

One Spear Bearer, a young woman with long hair, didn't take a spear for practice. Weiss watched her without saying anything. He knew she didn't need a spear. Her name was Yeon Minerva, and all she truly needed was Shinsoo. While she acted as if she struggled during Keylow's barrier test, and kept her abilities hidden well during the Aquatic Wild Cat test, the truth was she had great talent in Shinsoo control. Like all members of her family, she was "flame" itself.

Minerva created a fire spear through her Shinsoo control, and threw it at one target. Initially it didn't hit the bullseye, but soon the whole target was set abalze and disappeared. In theory, she hit the bullseye, so she got 1 Point.

"Miss Yeon, make sure not to overuse your Shinsoo skills." said Weiss on his usual neutral tone. "Naturally, teacher." was her reply.

Scouts- Yaga​

"Greetings, brats. I expect discipline in my class. Also feel free to ask questions, as long as they are pertinent." was Yaga's first line as her class started. "You were given the Scout Position. As such you will usually run ahead and investigate enemy forces for info, then return and deliver the information to the Light Bearers. You will also help the Fishermen with offense." with that said Yaga guided her students to a training area, in front of a dark cave. "For today, I want you to enter this cave and try to reach the other side, activating as few traps as possible, by moving as swiftly and stealthy as possible. Once you enter, you will all be transported on a different path and will need to fend for yourselves. All paths, however, lead to one single exit. I will watch you all with my Observers, from the other side. Also, mister Herlaa here needs a different type of training compared to the rest. As far as skill is concerned, he is lacking compared to the rest of you. On the other hand, he has great natural talent, that needs to be polished, otherwise it is useless. Therefore, he'll come with me." said Yaga, then she took Illiam, entered the cave, and disappeared from sight.

Anima- Yu Han Sung talking to Nyra​

"While you have the gifts to be an Anima, you need more. Simply taking control of Shinheuh is not enough. So you should thing of a secondary Position from the basic ones. Which one will you choose?" he asked Nyra.

Defender's day- Aerum​

For her first day of training Aerum had to defend herself against multiple Androids with power comparable to an average F-rank Regular, while also watching live videos of the other classes, except Yu Han Sung's one.

Later that day, after the lessons finished...

Announcement from Yu Han Sung, appearing on all screens in the Regular Area:

"Hello Regulars. I know this may be sudden, but I wanted to give you an opportunity. There is one more Regular apart from you all on this floor, but because of her level of power, which is way beyond yours, we chose to give her a different, more difficult set of tests, which she managed to pass. She will leave for the 3rd Floor in two days. Her name is Silentia, and she is one of Zahard's Princesses." as he said that, an image of Silentia appeared on the screen. "But as I mentioned before, I desire to give you an opportunity: if in these two days, you manage to have a decent fight against her one-on-one, you will also get a chance to climb towards the 3rd Floor in two days. To understand who exactly you would fight against, I have have a registration of her durring the difficult tests I mentioned before." once he finished speaking, the video of Silentia Zahard's tests would begin.
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Silentia Zahard- Overwhelming

Silentia's tests actually came one after the other.

First she had to defeat a powerful, 5-meter tall predator of the Second Floor, the Sharkoid, without using Shinsoo, under water.

Then she had to get out of the water, go to the next room and face a group of 100 sword bots, each comparable in power to an average E-Rank Regular. They could generate and fight with an indefinite amount of blades. Silentia also had to find the key to the next room, hidden in one of the bots, and defeat all of them in 4 minutes.

After that she'd have to go to the next room for her third test, and face a creepy creature with cybernetic implants, while also defending herself against a combat bot hidden in the shadows, which had a C-rank gun. The creepy creature was quite resistant to Shinsoo attacks, strong and very agile for its size. Even a group formed of the strongest E-rank Regulars would have dificulties in defeating it.

For her final test she had to fight Keylow, who was not allowed to use Shinsoo in any way, and try not to get knocked out for 15 minutes.

TEST START

Silentia went into the water, and as soon as the Sharkoid got close to her, she punched it with a high amount of force, causing ripples on the water's surface. The Shinheuh was sent to the other side of the tank and fainted. She then went on to the next stage. The sword bots launched their attack, and the timer started. Some of them engaged in close quarter combat, while others threw their blades at Silentia, but...

Silentia already disappeared from her initial position and punched one of the bots, sending its head flying. Afterwards she generated spiked bone protusions from her forearms and threw them in various directions, defeating several bots in the process. She then proceeded with making her Arms Inventory visible and taking out her special bone hook, which she called Marrow Rex. Silentia decompressed her weapon, which became 10 meters long. As she swung it several times with great force, speed, and precision, the fight was over in 1 minute and a half. She took the key from one of the bots and entered the next stage.

As soon as she reached the thrid stage, she was greeted by an energy blast, caused by the C-rank gun owned by the hidden robot, and an attempted claw strike by the cybernetic monster. She enhanced Marrow Rex with Shinsoo and used it in such a way that it danced around her body in a circular motion, protecting her from both the blast and the monster's strike. She didn't engage in any form of combat with the cyber-creature. Instead she hid in the shadows. The creature couldn't detect her, so it tried to search for its "prey" but...

Pow

Pow

Silentia hid in the shadows to search for the bot, which she eventually killed an took its weapon, with which she fired two blasts at the monster's head. It fell on its knees, but didn't collapse. The monster let out a roar and was enraged. Silentia simply jumped from where she was stranding, at high speed, and kicked the monster in the head wth her left leg, which caused the creature to collapse, but she also punched it twice, with both of her fists, afterwards, making the ground crumble in the process. She wanted to be sure it stayed down. And it did. All that was left was to fight Keylow.

Final test- Silentia confronts Keylow

While Keylow was not allowed to use Shinsoo, it was still an outrageous task for an F-rank Regular. Keylow was still a Ranker, and trying to last against for 15 minutes in one-on-one combat was simply ridiculous. Then again, Silentia Zahard was no ordinary Regular.

"Mister Ranker, do you, by chance have a pillow in your Arms Inventory?"
"Uh...no. Why?"
"Oh, nothing much. I was going to ask you to bite it."

Silentia, who up at that point seemed bored, or uninterested, had bright eyes and smiled for the first time. Before Keylow could ask what she meant by that last line, Silentia closed in the gap between them and attempted to throw a punch at the Ranker's solar plexus. Keylow blocked it, but...he was pushed back, about 2 meters. "Such incredible strength!" he thought. Silentia was about to throw another punch, and Keylow had a bad feeling, so he dodged it instead. As soon as he did, bone claws popped up from the spaces between her knuckles.

"You...are quite terrifying."
"You flatter me."

The fight went on for 5 minutes, with Silentia being on the offensive, making various combinations of her combat, biological, and Shinsoo skills, while Keylow was on the defensive. He wasn't pressuring her one bit. Another 10 minutes needed to pass, but the fight was interrupted by Yu Han Sung.

"Enough, it is clear that resisting in combat against Keylow without Shinsoo isn't even a problem for you. So how about this? Keylow, you are authorized to use one Baang. Do you have a problem with that, Miss Silentia Zahard?" he asked, calmly. Keylow was the one that wanted to object, but Silentia replied before he could say anything: "I am fine with it."

Thus the fight resumed. 10 minutes remained, in which Silentia had to resist fighting against Keylow, who was now allowed to utilize one Baang. And things truly changed...

With precise and power blasts, one after another, Keylow managed to pressure Silentia and force her to draw back. Keylow wasn't too happy with this. He considered that the Director exaggerated. Silentia already proved that she was more than qualified to climb further up the Tower. There was no need to increase the difficulty of her test. But she managed to hold her ground even in such a situation, which impressed Keylow even more. But the most impressive thing was that, up until that point in their fight, Silentia didn't use Shinsoo even once.

"My turn." with that said, Silentia used one of her Bone Mania techniques, Vanguard, to create a Shinsoo-based bone shiled, which she equiped on her left arm. Then she made a bone pop from her right palm, which she removed afterwards. She changed the shape of the bone into that of a short sword with no guard, and by using another Bone Mania technique, Electro Blade, she gave it an electrical effect, by amplifying the piezoelectricity within the bone. "I've never seen such a technique before" thought Keylow.

The fight continued. After constantly getting her purely Shinsoo-based bone shields destroyed by Keylow's blasts, Silentia changed her tactic and made another electro-bone blade. With both blades she managed to deflect and sometimes even cut Keylow's blasts, but her blades eventually shattered. She couldn't keep up the electrical enhancement forever, and her blades where damaged at a constat rate, so it was understandable. Keylow obviously also engaged in close quarter combat and incorporated his Baang blasts into his attacks. He didn't want to let Silentia create any more weapons from her bones. But she still managed to make spiked protusions around her forearms and knuckle guards, to use for both offence and defence. She also enhanced her whole body with Shinsoo, something she rarely did.

Only 30 seconds remained, and it looked like she'd handle it. But Keylow eventually managed to hit her at point blank range with a Shinsoo blast. The only thing Silentia could do at that point was to block it with her arms.

Gong

The time was up. Given her body reinforcement and high Shinsoo resistance, Silentia didn't suffer any serious injuries and healed incredibly fast.

"Congratulations, Silentia Zahard. You passed." announced Yu Han Sung. Then the video ended.
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Hex & Hyeon Again- Watching the Video

"Fresh! Such interesting Shinsoo skills and techniques." said Hex in regard to Silentia.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

OverconfidentMagi Rantos The One Eyed Bandit QuirkyAngel
The Suspicious Eye St. Boethius

 

[QuirkyAngel]

Scout Lesson - Selicity Fars

“Natural talent?” Selicity questioned curiously, a slight tilt in her head. Though Selicity’s question clearly went unheard since the scout instructor simply took her teammate and entered the cave, disappearing from sight. Any questions she might have had would have to wait. Hand on chin, Selicity pondered the mystery a bit before ultimately shrugging. Illiam was Illiam. Whether he was different from them or not mattered little to her. “Meh. He’s always been a bit of weirdo. He’ll be fine.”

Illiam was strong. She’d known that much by the ease of which passed the shinsoo barrier and handled the Wildcat…strange though his methods. The barrier hadn’t even fazed him! Therefore hearing Yaga call Illiam unskilled was a little odd to her. Fixing her spiked armored gloves, she glanced at the pale guy with the neat-o ice sword who was on Areum’s team. It took her a moment to remember his name.


“Ningor. Ningor~” Selicity cat-called, stepping up beside the white-haired male. There was a frigid air about him. It was a shame that Illiam’s training was different from theirs. Despite herself, she’d been quite pleased when she learned that she’d be taking classes with a teammate. She’d been looking forward to playing with him. Though, if he gave up on her, like he’d given up on Areum, she’d sock him a new one.


Maybe this is for the best.

“How about a race? First to clear their particular cave wins. Not for points or anything. Just fun and games~”

Whether he accepted or not didn’t particularly matter to Selicity. She just needed to distract herself. To clear her mind of the horrible nightmare that she had the night before.

Azure Sky
Into the Cave!
Selicity used her cat senses, her ears, her nose, and even he instincts to nimbly maneuver through the dark cavern without triggering too many traps. Darkness didn’t slow her down. Selicity’s vision was arguably better at night than during the day. Still, that didn’t mean Selicity avoided triggering all of them…

“Whoops,” Stepping on a piece of earth, that lowered like a panel, Selicity rolled to the side to avoid the large spikes that protruded from the ground, pushed into the air to dodge the stakes flying in her direction, and shape-shifted to a small cat as a hail of spikes descended from the ceiling. Curling into a ball to narrowly escape the incoming danger, the kitten kicked off one of the pointy rods with its hind paws, finally landing itself on all fours in a safe area. She peered back at all the spikes and sweat-dropped “Close one. Close one.”

Yaga was more vicious than she appeared. It was only the first lesson and they had a chance of being killed. Then again, with Illiam returning back to their room last night, looking like he’d been punched hard, she shouldn’t have been surprised. Changing back into her human form, Selicity continued to run nimbly avoiding pit traps and quicksand. It wasn’t until Selicity found a fork in the road that the young Cat Sidhe stopped and groaned. Mazes weren’t Selicity’s specialty, though cats were supposed to have a good sense of direction…at least according to the Village Leader. She huffed.


Yet another thing that makes me a little different from my people.

Trying to sniff out where the air was coming from, Selicity chose a path, hopping it was the right one. Backtracking would be a pain. Fortunately for her , it was.


Finish time: 14 min 30secs

After Scout Class
With classes over, after a quick shower, Selicity found herself relaxing in one of the point gambling areas, fiddling with the fun machines when Yu Han Sung’s announcement appeared on a screen overhead . An amazing opportunity to prove oneself. A chance to skip further testing and climb to the next floor with a Princess of Zahard, possibly even form a team with her. It sounded all very amazing to some, but for Selicity it was….eh. Part of the reason was because she didn’t know very much about the Zarhard princesses, other than they were the daughters of the King of Tower, and the other part had to do with the fact that she was in no particular hurry to climb if her friends weren’t with her. Watching the princess complete pass her tests with very little problems, it was questionable whether she could even put up decent fight—even if she were at her best.


Unlikely. Two days isn’t a lot of time…at all.

Almost like an impossible challenge. Still. Opportunities to skip to the next floor didn’t come everyday. Riding on the coattails of a princess didn’t particularly appeal to Selicity, but a chance to go one on one with someone strong was…a little tempting.

A regular like us breezing her way through the second floor like it was nothing...

She wondered what her teammates thought. That in mind, Selicity contacted Illiam and Seefie using her pocket.


“Hey, hey. Did you guys see the announcement?”

Selicity pulled the stick on the slot machine, watching her dice appear.

“None of you are crazy enough to try, right?”

Points: 598 ( +3 gambling, -5 daily meal)

Rantos
The One Eyed Bandit

 

[OverconfidentMagi]

Nyra​

Nyra sat on the floor of the room she shared with Oisin and Tok, her arms wrapped around her knees as she stared deeply into the compressed bowl that held Yazi and Siri, thinking about various things. Tok wasn't there. His injuries from the fight had needed treatment, and she had no idea how long that might take. So for that there was nothing to do but wait. She didn't care about Tok, not really. She'd only joined with him and Oisin out of necessity. Oisin was... well odd, but Tok at least she'd thought strong. But if other regulars were much stronger, then... there was no reason for her to stay with her teammates. They would be as useless to her as she was to them.

...But in turn, dear kind Anima, I ask you this: what can you do for them?

... what can you do for them?

Nothing, of course. Nyra knew that she was weak. If not for her being loved by the Shinheuh, she'd likely never have been given the chance to climb the tower in the first place. She was too weak to fight, too stupid to strategize, and had no skill whatsoever with Shinsoo. Even the low concentration on the Testing Floor had made her lightheaded and feel like she might be sick. She knew how worthless she was without Yazi and Siri. Lo Po Bia Exnor didn't need to point it out.

Nyra was pulled back from her well of dark thoughts by the sound of the door opening. "Welcome back Tok," she started to say, but seeing his face the words died unspoken on her tongue. Her golden eyes traced the path through the space between Tok and Oisin. What had happened between these two? Why was Tok looking at Oisin like he suddenly hated him?

"Omega and Alfa Quake are twin Ignition Weapons. They can only be ignited together." Tok threw something at Oisin. A dagger? "Now you have both of them. Use them well, garbage snail." Tok didn't say anything more, he just climbed into his bed and was silent.

Nyra stared at Oisin, not confused staring, or accusing or anything like that. Just... staring. her thoughts had retreated back to darker spaces. She didn't know what had happened exactly, but one thing was clear. This team wasn't going to work.

Ullyr had gotten up from where he'd been sleeping and was pacing in front of the door. The cat let out something between a yawn and a whine to get Nyra's attention. She unfolded herself and stood up, picked up her eels' container, and without saying anything to Oisin walked out the door.

The wildcat was sniffing something right outside the door. Nyra reached down to pick it up. A fish? There was a note. ‘Cats appreciate kindness.’ She took the fish, and the note, with her as she walked away from her room. She snuck silently into the cafeteria and reemerged with a small knife, and then continued walking until she finally stopped on an open area that resembled a balcony. In truth she hadn't had a destination in mind, she'd come upon this place for the first time just now.

The girl laid the fish on the floor and cut it open with an almost surgical slice. That done, she brought the blade to her mouth and tasted it. It seemed safe. She finished cutting the fish cleanly into three sections and let Ullyr start chewing on one before calling out Siri and Yazi. The remaining two pieces of fish simply disappeared into the eels' gaping maws.

She laid her palm against Xir'ain's head. "We'll climb this tower together, no matter what." Yazir'el had uncoiled to stretch her body out as tall as it could reach. "I don't care if I'm useless to everyone else. I'll do whatever it takes to be useful to you."

Nyra stayed there with Siri and Yazi coiled protectively around her for most of the night, only returning back to her team's room in the early morning hours.


"While you have the gifts to be an Anima, you need more. Simply taking control of Shinheuh is not enough. So you should thing of a secondary Position from the basic ones. Which one will you choose?" Yu Han Sung asked her. She'd thought this person was going to lecture her about how she should make Shinheuh obey her against their will. Perhaps that would be lesson two. But he was just telling her the same thing as Exnor. Just being an Anima wasn't enough.

"I can't fight," she said. "And I can't plan. Shinsoo makes me feel sick. The only role that leaves worth trying is scout. I suppose that might not be terrible. I can be quiet, and the dark isn't a problem. Yeah... I-I'll choose scout."

Azure Sky The One Eyed Bandit​

 

[Rantos]

Illiam Herlaa
Small colab post with Azure Sky
"Yeah that's right plebs, I'm special! You all enjoy your puny maze while I take on the big boy challenge!" As Illiam was dragged along by Yaga he spoke these words to his classmates. He wasn't quite sure what he did to earn a different training from the rest, but that didn't stop Illiam from riding on his egotistical high. Illiam continued to yell and holler at his classmates until they were out of sight, then he yelled a bit louder, bragging about how much more special he was compared to the rest. Natural talent. The words sounded so sweet to Illiam as he repeated them in his mind. The two went deeper into the cave, Yaga stayed silent and in the dark Illiam found himself wondering what was to come, he still had no idea what Yaga had planned for him. The two walked and walked, Illiam complained about his feet hurting, then they walked some more. Until the two came upon a large transparent cube deep within. Illiam was told to enter, and he did, cautiously, anticipating danger to leap from any corner.

He was tense when he entered but upon seeing there was nothing inherently wrong with the cube Illiam relaxed. What was the plan? He planned to ask Yaga just that but before he could even get a word out there was a sudden pressure in his stomach, as if something had rammed him. Now Illiam had never been hit by a cannonball before, but he could imagine this was what it felt like. The sudden force knocked him backwards, before he could even hit the ground he felt it again, this time in the side of his rib cage. The force sent Illiam flying towards the wall of the cube he was within, and again before he could even touch a wall he felt impact, this time from bellow, and it sent him upwards.

Everything seemed to slow, and yet Illiam still could not make out what was happening, the sudden impacts were too fast for him to trace their origin and too random to guess when the next one was coming. All Illiam could do was take it, all he could do was get knocked around like a pinball, never touching a wall, never getting a moment to rest. He couldn't think, he couldn't move, he could hardly breath and even then, each hit knocked with wind out of him without fail.

Three minutes pass
There was a moment of pause, everything was still, everything was quiet. Illiam keeled bent over, keeping himself up with both hands. His breathing was course, erratic, and his whole body trembled and shook uncontrollably. Sweat poured from his entire body, drenching his clothes. All Illaim could do was look at the ground as the searing pain coursed it's way throughout his body, his mouth opened as if to screen but only weak gasps would come. His head throbbed and his ears rang. Though the ringing Illiam could faintly make out the sounds of footsteps, slowly the boy raised his trembling head to see non other than Yaga looking down at him. She began to speak, explaining what was happening. She told Illiam that for the last three minutes it had been her causing Illiam to bounce around the cube without pause. She moved so fast, Illiam had no idea, he couldn't see her. But every hit, every bone crushing impact, was her all along. Illiam wanted to scream at the lady, he wanted to curse her with all his heart, but no words came forth. Yaga continued, she said that if Illiam wanted to give up he could give up now.

Give up, now there was something that sounded tempting, he could just give up now and no one was stopping him. Illiam didn't need to get any stronger, he was strong enough as is, is what he thought to himself. All he had to be was strong enough to protect himself, he didn't need this training. Yet, as much as Illiam wanted to give in, another thought persisted. What would happen to Selicity and Seefi if he gave up now. Illiam caught his breath, for the first time in minutes, and spoke in a ragged voice.

"W-what, will... h-happe-en to thos-e a-around me... if I'm not, s-strong enough?"

Yaga replied. "That depends from person to person brat. Some will abbandon you, some may try to help you...and some may die."

There was a pause, all motion halted, even Illiam's trembling seemed to slow. Illiam stood, his legs shook ready to give out, his vision blurred with sweat and his body still trembled uncontrollably. He couldn't speak anymore, but rather then speak he nodded his head and Yaga got the message. She vanished from sight and Illiam closed his eyes, it didn't take long till the familiar pain began rushing though his body, but it was fine. Today he would survive, and then tomorrow he would survive twice as long and the day after that even longer. The two kept at it for another 12 minutes, no stopping.

 

[The One Eyed Bandit]

Areum Eurasia​

Metal cracking.

Bodies crashing.

The room in which Areum stood rang out with the sounds of carnage itself.

Defending herself? Against useless tin cans like these, the idea of defending herself was offensive. It didn't matter how many pests were thrown at her, Areum would be sure to exterminate them, and these cheap, bottom of the line robots were no exception. This wasn't even something she'd need to use her Palisades for. Tooth and nail, she tore through the mechanical crowds, her Bulwark reinforced body more than a match for the thin metals that made up her foes. If these were real people, it would have certainly been a disgusting sight, but against these lifeless husks, it wasn't anything more than stress relief. The other classes? Why would she care about those. There surely wouldn't be anything spoken by the hacks stuck on this lowest of floors that she hadn't learned during the time before her exile.

Illiam's face on one robot. And another. And another, and the rest. Imagining that was all she needed to worry about.

It was really quite effective.

Considering the nice surprise she'd had of someone on this floor having the sense to sympathize with her after the result of her battle, by the end of it all, the pent up rage from the past day and been kicked, screamed, punched, and headbutted away into the air. Of course, wasn't forgiven. Nowhere near. But the undying fury she'd felt no longer clouded her mind. She could at least trust herself to not jump the boy the moment she spotted him roaming the building. She could bide her time, relax, and get to working her way through this bore of a floor.

For now though, she thought as she left the training room, a meal and another shower would do. Maybe she'd even put her friendly face back on and try to make nice with that insufferable-looking new teammate of hers.

That was the plan, until she strolled into the cafeteria in the midst of an announcement. Her feet had never carried her faster in her entire life. The fish she still hadn't eaten had fled from her mind, and the rage she'd relived had rushed back to color her vision redder than it ever had before. A Princess? Here? It was like she'd been sent here at this exact moment just to rub it in her face. The fact that she'd had that future stolen from her. The thought that there was some... Some bitch here, probably acting like she was the top of the world, lauding around the position that was rightfully hers... Even Illiam couldn't inspire the spite that she felt. The boy had gotten lucky, as long as that woman was on this floor, she wouldn't spare even a second to think about a small fry like him.

She didn't know where the woman was but the blonde Ranker would, and she could smell the scent of instant coffee staining the air around his office from a mile away. Bursting through the door, she gave no regard to her interuption of Nyra lesson, staring Yu Han Sung dead in the eyes as she spoke.

"Silentia. NOW."

 

[Azure Sky]

Yu Han Sung - His Office, with Nyra and Aerum + Random Girl​

The Submerged Fish started talking about the various tactics of both Scouts and Anima, while also giving Nyra advice on how to combine them in combat. She also let her watch the videos of Silentia's series of tests in his office.

"Ok, I guess ths is enough for today. You may return-"

"Silentia. Now."

Aerum just barged into his office, and demanded a fight with Silentia Zahard. Yu Han Sung had seen it before, but the young Eurasia lady sure had a temper. Actually, calling her a "lady" wouldn't have been very suitable, but he wasn't the vulgar type, so he refrained from any other denomination, even in his head. Still, what was with her attitude? Such lack of manners and crude behaviour.

"With all that ambitiousness of yours, you remind me of my good friend Hendo Lok Bloodmadder. Although he never displayed such a childish, crude, and mannerless attitude." was the first thing the High Ranker said as he looked down on Aerum, having a cold expression.

"You want to challenge Silentia? Go ahead. I was going to give you all her Pocket ID anyway. Send her a message, tell her you want to battle. I'll ask a staff member to prepare an Arena..."

"I'll do it! Me! Me!"

Suddenly another person appeared. A girl with a strange haircut, green eyes, average height, and dressed in yellow. She was very energetic. Yu Han Sung was starting to get tired.

"Sasha... I know you're trying to help, but as a new employee that lacks experience..."
"I also brought some Kimboo instant coffee!"
"On the other hand, I have faith in you. Then could you please escort the young Eurasia lady to the place?"
"Aye sir!"

Suddenly, Sasha took Aerum by the hand and bursted out of the room at full speed. Sasha was bellow average in Shinshoo manipulation, going by D-rank standards. Nonetheless she was accepted as a Regular Test Assistant. Maybe for her enthusiasm alone. Or maybe for her cooking, or cleaning skills? Nobody but Yu Han Sung knew for sure.

"I'm so excited. Are you too? Never seen such a strong F-Rank before! I admire strong people! Do you too? Oh by the way, I am Sasha. What's your name? Wait don't tell me yet. Tell me afterwards, if you survive. No use in remembering the name of a soon-to-be-dead person. I'm not trying to insult you, by the way. I have bad memory. Maybe you'll win! I want an autograph afterwards if that happens! I'm really hyper! Are you too?" she kept on talking like that while running at inhuman speed, but for some reason didn't really care if Aerum answered her or not.

Despite not being talented in Shinsoo manipulation, she had remarkable physical skills. So much that people always belived she used Body Reinforcement techniques. Aerum would feel the unusually great strength of her grip as well. And maybe nauseous from all the twits and turns, as well as Sasha's sheer speed, as they reached the zone near the Arena.

"OOOOOOOOOK. You wait here while I make an announcement. Also, you should send Silentia your message" she said to Aerum as she entered a room where only the staff had access. she activated all the devices and activated the lights around the arena. She also turned on the transmission device.

"Message to all Regulars. Silentia has been challenged. If you wish to see where the fight will take place and who the challenger is, check the info that was sent to your Pockets. Cheers!" with that said Sasha went back. "You can go to the Arena now. Silentia will be there shortly." she said cheerfully as she opened the door to the specific area. She stopped talkng for a while and started thinking about something.

"Oh right...I forgot the most important part..." she turned to Aerum and her expression changed "I will be the referee," the tone of her voice changed, and , just for the split of a second, Aerum Eurasia would have felt a monstruous amount of pressure coming from her. "Oh silly me, that wasn't important at all...nevermind!" she returned to her usual self and went inside the Arena as well.

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OverconfidentMagi Rantos The One Eyed Bandit QuirkyAngel
The Suspicious Eye St. Boethius