>>40717330

You, though? If you weren’t as good at hiding your emotions as you are, you would be swearing up a fucking storm loud enough to attract the ears of everyone on the entire fucking airship.
Fortunately, you are pretty good at hiding behind a blank mask of apathetic indifference, so instead you just look mildly disgruntled.
You fucking swear, you had that terrorist in your grasp. If you had only fired that mana lance, they’d be bleeding out onto the ground right about now-

Your thoughts run to a halt when the door swings open, knocking against the wall with a resounding crash. You think the wall might have cracked a little. Your eyes flick over in the direction of the sound.

A tall man stands at the doorway. He’s wearing a large lilac waistcoat, most of the buttons undone except for a few across his chest and waist. Under that, he seems to be wearing a black undershirt and brown trousers, the latter closely fit. The ensemble covers most of his arms and legs, though it’s probable that he has a great deal of lean muscle underneath. The only piece of jewelry he’s wearing is a silver wedding ring on his right hand, inlaid with a ruby.

His face is sharp and angular, his chin littered with stubble. His eyes, strangely enough, seem to be just as sharp and narrow, and are colored some shade of gold. They’re almost reptilian, if you needed a word for them.
The only feature of his that betrays his age is his salt and pepper hair. Much of it is either swept to the back or cut short. He runs a hand through it with a sigh, and closes the door behind him with a click of finality.
Well. It seems that your captor, the same annoyed faculty member on the phone from earlier, came to pay you two a visit.
A beat passes as his eyes silently sweep the room, carefully inspecting every inch. The bluenette looks down at the floor when his eyes pass over hers. Eventually his gaze lands on you.

>Stare back.
>Look away.

>>40717339
>Continue looking in his general direction.
APATHETIC.
INDIFFERENCE.

>>40717366
>>40717339
I suppose this is good enough

>>40717366
>>40717339
Yep this

>>40717366
>>40717381
>>40717408

APATHETIC INDIFFERENCE TIME
Writing.

>>40717339
Instead of meeting his challenge, you allow your eyes to glaze over in a show of boredom. You keep your face solidly stoic, betraying not a single ounce of the self-directed rage inside you. Your posture slouches a little, and your entire demeanor quickly changes to that of the average, bored teenaged civilian.

…That IS how most civilians your age act, right? Not that you’d know.

Thankfully, your act seems to have worked. After a few more seconds of staring at you, the faculty snorts, and walks over to one of the many myriad tables in the room. He motions the two of you to follow.

You and the blue-haired girl sit down across from the man. Another beat passes as he starts rifling through his waistcoat. He pulls out a pair of manila folders. He opens both of them up.

“These,” he says, “are the files that we’ve compiled on the incident in the engine room.
“There was only one other eyewitness to the events, and he had fled before most of the fighting started.” Kanji, you think. Definitely Kanji. “As a result, we will have to get a report from the two of you of the events leading up to and including the confrontation with our terrorist.

“First, of course, I need your names. Your country of origin as well, if only to add to your files.”

The blue-haired girl speaks up first. “Clara LeDormeur, Sir.” She says formally. “I am from the Old Continent, of course, and have citizenship in the country of Central Gallia.”

“That far? Interesting. And you?” He says, looking at your blank face.

“William. No surname. I am from the Ravaged Continent, and have citizenship in the city-state of Itinere Superior.”

“Immigrant?”

“No. Born and raised there, sir.”

The man hums, pulling out a small notepad and pen from his coat, jotting down the information.
“Right, then. Who would like to go first?”

>Speak up. (Specify if you want to keep something secret/say something in particular.)
>Let Clara go first.

>>40717823
>>Let Clara go first.

>>40717823
>Let Clara go first.

>>40717923
>>40717946
Ladies first! What a gentleman you are.

>>40717823
>Let Clara go first.
We're not sure if she's the type who'd never lie about anything, even if it disadvantages her. Best let her go first and then run damage control rather than speak up and have her contradict us.

That said, is there anything in particular we need to keep secret, apart from the nature of our powers? I honestly can't remember last thread too clearly right now.

Rolled 2, 2, 6 = 10 (3d10)

>>40717977
Rolling to tip fedora, m'lady

>>40717823
“I will, Sir, if you don’t mind.” The faculty member nods once. Clara clears her throat, and begins to speak.

“At first, I was merely heading downstairs to the galley after spending some time on the top deck, outside. I needed some fresh air after the storm, and was up rather early. Of course, when I got there, several rumors had spread of a thief that was terrorizing the ship. Worried of the state of my own belongings, I returned to my cubicle. Thankfully, nothing of mine had been stolen, though there were many others close to my cubicle complaining.

“If you don’t mind Sir, may I ask of the whereabouts of the actual thief? I assume they go uncaught seeing as you are dealing with this mess, however-“

The man raises a hand to interrupt. “You can learn of the results of that investigation after we’re done here. For now, continue.”

“Understood. After I finished inspecting my own belongings, I ate the breakfast that was provided to me in the galley, locked up my cubicle, deciding to go back up to the deck. Walking outside of my cubicle, I saw a suspicious figure dart into the lower decks; I assume they managed to bypass the security wards, somehow?”

The faculty member nods. “You would be correct. After investigation, the security wards, along with the emergency failsafes, had been completely shattered. We are currently repairing them, though their current state suggests that whoever had managed to destroy them in the first place was very skilled at ward-breaking. Quite troubling.”

Clara hums in agreement. “Yes, Sir. That is very troubling. May I continue?” He nods. “Okay. After seeing the figure, I contemplated alerting a staff member, but could find none close-by. I did not know you were on the top deck, Sir.

“At any rate, I decided to give chase. My personal sense of justice could not allow such a person to take off without retaliation or questioning.”

(1/?)

>>40718673

At her words, the man raises an eyebrow, suspicious. “Your ‘sense of justice?’”

“My parents raised me very well, Sir.”

He shakes his head. “Very well. Continue.”

“I shadowed the figure quietly, careful to keep them from noticing. They led me deep into the ship, though I lost track of them after a short while.
“Thankfully, or perhaps not quite so thankfully, there was a very conspicuous trail left by the perpetrator.”

“The bodies.” Says the man, frowning.

“Yes. The bodies.“

“You know that most of the bodies were victims of ice magic, correct?”

“Yes, Sir. And I realize that this makes me rather suspect. However, if you would allow me to continue?

“Following the trail of blood, I found the terrorist, as was obvious by then, within the Observation Room of the reactor. They appeared to be carefully writing a glyph, likely an explosive attack of some sort. It was aimed at the reactor core. I am thankful I managed to interrupt them before they could finish their work."

"And the battle?"

"Getting to that, sir."

>>40718716
“While confronting them, I was shocked to find that they had access to very similar magic to my own. Ice, as a secondary element and combination of water and wind, is understandably quite rare.
"We exchanged a few blows, and I learned that even their weapon set was quite similar, seeing as they used firearms as a focus for their aura.

“The rest is as you can imagine. We traded a few more shots, neither of us really managing a decisive blow. I however, was clearly outclassed in the endurance department. By the time this man- William, was it?- intervened, I was forced to tap into my secondary reserves.

“The two of us together managed to overpower the figure. However, when we were about to finish them off...” She trails off, a frustrated frown marring her face.

“They escaped, using some form of magic neither of you could identify.”

She nods. “Well,” grumbles the man, “that was wholly unhelpful. Your story is still entirely suspect, and we have come no closer to having an identity for our perpetrator. Did you see no identifying marks of any kind on the figure? Did you catch a glimpse of their face, skin color, something?”

“Nothing, Sir.”

He sighs again, kneading his forehead in frustration. He turns to you. “Well? Do you have anything to add? Anything to corroborate her story?”

>”Nothing, sir. Haven’t seen her before today.”
>”Well…” (Write In?)

>>40718759
>”Well…” (Write In?)
Report our short investigation on the thief/terrorist with our companions/friends and then our race to both the armory and the engine room, as we had heard of a bomb.

That is tell him everything I suppose?

>>40718815
>>40718759
yep spill them beans

>>40718815
>That is tell him everything I suppose
I guess. I'm sure OP can exercise his own discretion to write in-character and conceal any information which would lead to inconvenient questions. It sounds like this isn't the first time Will has been in an interrogation.

>>40718815
>>40718874
>>40718887

The truth shall set thee free!
Writing.

>>40718759

“Well, I guess I do have a couple of things to say.” You shrug.

Clearing your throat, you begin talking about how your own day on the ship had gone. You first talk about going to the deck of the ship, confirming that you did see Clara earlier on the deck, though she was gone by the time you had finished chatting up Katherine.

You recount your short tale of how you met with the rest of your companions, saying that Kanji was the one who had told you of the thief earlier, mentioning that apparently Kanji and Danny were both victims of theft.

You stealthily neglect to mention the body concealed within an invisibility ward and how you had managed to break the ward quite easily. Saying you’re a ward-breaker is already grounds for suspicion in normal circumstances; saying it here would practically be suicide.
Finally, you talk about your part in the battle, saying that you did see Clara and the mysterious figure.

“So, in short, you can confirm that Clara was on the top deck this morning, and was later confronting the perpetrator within the engine room?”

“Yep.”

“Meanwhile, the other two of your companions had decided to search the armory for the thief.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I suppose that would explain why three other students were found skulking around in the armory.”

You blink. “Three, sir?”

(1/?)

>>40719449

“Two of them were your friends, and the last was our illustrious thief.” Ah. So they did manage to find the thief in the armory, whoever it was. Good for them.

“They’re in the galley, in case you’re wondering. We questioned them as well.” The man finishes scribbling into his notepad, and stows away it and the pen. He searches around in his coat again, slipping out a small steel key. Briefly, you wonder if the coat was enchanted with hammerspace, or just had really large pockets.

“Welp, hold out your hands. Both of you.” You and Clara comply, bringing out your cuffs. However, rather than inserting the key into a keyhole as you expected, he simply taps each of the cuffs twice with the key. The cuffs detach with a soft click.

Huh. That’s pretty useful, you think. “The two of you are free to go. Try not to cause any more trouble.” He flaps a hand at you, tapping away at a smartphone that he had brought out of his coat’s pockets. “I swear, I’m getting too old for this. I’m only fifty-seven, for heaven’s sake…”
His grumbling trails off.

You and Clara sit there for a moment in silence at the sudden dismissal. “Well,” you whisper, “I guess we should go?”

Clara blinks, snapping herself out of a trance. “…I suppose so, yes.”

The two of you walk out of the lounge. Seems like you get to live free for another day!
Stepping out of the lounge, you bring out the map you had snatched from the body earlier.

You quickly check the time, finding that you’ll only have about two hours before everyone is forced to head back into their cubicles for landing.

What should you do?

>Find your companions. They might be worried about you, maybe.
>Head back to your cubicle. You’ve had enough of people for a day.
>Something else?

>>40719490
>Find your companions. They might be worried about you, maybe.

>>40719490
>Find your companions. They might be worried about you, maybe.
Weird, can't post my reaction image

>>40719490
>Something else?
Properly introduce yourself to Clara before anything else.

It'll only take a minute, and it's only polite.

>>40719708
>>40719490
>>40719646
Changing vote to introduce actually

>>40719708
>>40719646
>>40719548
>>40719708

Seems you're finding your not-quite-your-friends and introducing yourself to Clara.

Writing.

>>40719490

You suppose you should go and find your little patchwork ensemble before you head back to your cubicle. They might be worried about you, who knows? Before that, though…

“Hey.” You say, nodding at the bluenette next to you. She turns to you. “Clara, right?” You hold out your hand. “Pleased to meet you. I’m William, as you heard. Again, no surname.”

She glances at your hand for a split second before she grasps it, giving you firm shake. “Likewise,” she says. “Clara LeDormeur. I suppose you will be heading to the galley to visit your friends?”

“Well, I wouldn’t precisely call them my friends. I only met them today, on this very ship.”
“Yet you decided to help them with their problems, despite them practically being strangers. How admirable.” She gives you a sincere smile.

“Well, I couldn’t exactly leave them out in the dust, could I?”

“I’m sure you could have. No one would have called you the worst for it, seeing as the first young man you assisted knocked you out earlier, and the second was not what you would call, hm, pleasant.”

“You mean a lecherous ass? Yeah.” You shrug. “I guess when you say it like that, it makes me look like some kind of perfectly selfless guy, or something.”

Clara hums in agreement. “Well, if you are so selfless, you wouldn’t mind leading me around, do you? I don’t have a map, and the one posted on the top deck is completely incorrect.”

“I suppose I could do that. You’re just heading back to your cubicle, aren’t you?”

She hesitates before answering. “Yes, I suppose so.”

>Ignore it.
>”Did you want to come along?”

>>40720319
>”Did you want to come along?”
Inb4
"yes to - your - cubicle"

>>40720417
>>40720319
this

>>40720526
>>40720319
nevermind misreading it
>”Did you want to come along?”

>>40720417
>>40720549

FRIENDS FOR THE FRIEND GOD
Will isn't suave enough to pull off pick-up lines decently anyway.

>>40720573
>isn't suave
YET

>>40720319
“Did you want to come along?” You ask, a knowing smile plastering itself to your lips.

Clara blinks, surprised, then chuckles in embarrassment. “Was I really that transparent?”

“As soon as you hesitated, you gave yourself away. And at any rate, I’m sure no one would mind if I brought you along. Come on, let’s go.”
***
Your second time finding your way below-decks is far more pleasant than the first, if only thanks to the fact that you actually have a usable map.

You note that Clara doesn’t really seem to be the talkative type. Instead, she just silently follows you. The walk is rather pleasant.

In time, the silence ends as the two of you climb upwards, the sound of the crowd of students making its way into your ears.

Following the map, you find a pair of large steel doors with the word GALLEY printed over the doorway in large, easy-to-see block letters.

“Welp, we’re here,” you say as you punch the button next to the door.

A symphony of sounds and smells immediately assaults your senses. You can barely hear yourself think amongst the noise; it seems that anyone who wasn’t up on the deck or in their cubicles was down here.

You look over at Clara to see if she’s even half as pained by the noise, but she seems to have slipped on a pair of large earphones while you weren’t looking.

Ignoring your pained ears, you send out a pulse of mana, and quickly find the distinctive mana signatures of your maybe-friends. Or rather, you find two of them, nestled into the corner of the galley where there are thankfully less people.

Curious, you motion to Clara to follow you.

(1/2)

>>40721187
Kat notices your approach, turning in your direction. She waves you and Clara over.

“Hey.” You say as you sit down. “

“’Sup.” Says Kanji.

“Yo! Who’s this?” Greets Kat, glancing at Clara.

Clara introduces herself, exchanging pleasantries with Kat and Kanji. The three of them seem to get along fairly well. You quickly explain that she was the girl who was fighting the terrorist before you and Kanji had stepped in.

“Huh, is that so? Pleased to meet you!” Kat smiles.

“Likewise. You are Katherine, yes? And I assume you are Kanji?” Clara nods at them in turn.

The four of you exchange a bit of extra small talk before you decide to cut to the chase.

>”What happened to the thief?”
>”Where’s Danny? Did he finally decide to ditch you guys?”
>Something else?

Fuck that took way too long to write. Was sidetracked a little guys, sorry.

>>40721223
>”What happened to the thief?”
>”Where’s Danny? Did you guys ditch him?"
>"How did the interrogation go?"

>>40721223
>”What happened to the thief?”
>”Where’s Danny? Did he finally decide to ditch you guys?”
no worries man

>>40721317
>>40721365
Seems you're asking both things. Writing.

>>40721223

“First of all, what happened to the thief? And where’s Danny?” You add the latter in as an afterthought.

At your question, Kat’s expression changes into a grimace. She sighs. “Yeah, about that. Do I really have to talk about it?"

Curious, you nod your head. What could have happened?

“...Fine. Lemme start when we separated. So, when we walked into the armory, it was pitch black. Couldn’t see anything beyond a couple of feet in front of us. We couldn’t hear anything, either. You were totally on point when it came to the Darkness mage thing. Hell, Danny had to conjure up some fire in his palm to make sure we could see each other. He hit on me, by the way, though thankfully I couldn’t hear his crappy pick-up lines.

“Anyway, we were walking in there for what seemed like hours; every so often, we’d trip over something, and we’d hear something giggle all the way in the distance. It was actually pretty creepy.

“Eventually, we wised up, and just stopped moving. We figured that whoever the thief was couldn’t keep something like that up forever, since it seemed like a pretty complex spell to use.

“Sure enough, they got impatient. Slowly, bit by bit, the spell was lifted until we could see the entire room, though the entire place was still dim.

“Unfortunately, Danny got impatient too. He wanted to, and I quote, ‘Bash that chucklefuck’s head in already, seriously, man,’ and promptly set half the floor on fire, figuring that if he lit everything up, there wouldn’t be any more darkness for the thief to manipulate. I’m going to let that sink in for a bit. Danny lit an ARMORY on FIRE. An ARMORY that likely had EXPLOSIVES in it.”

You blink. “That’s…” You struggle to find a way to describe how ridiculously stupid that sort of decision was. “…absurdly fucking stupid.” You shake your head. “What happened next?” you ask in morbid curiosity.

“Go ahead, guess.”

“…You blew up?” you ask in jest.

>>40722330

“We blew up!"Cries Kat in unbottled anger and frustration. "As in, we had-to-run-the-fuck-away-from-the-explosion level blew up. By the time it was over, the entire armory was up in flames! And you know the worst part?”

“I shudder to ask.” You say.

“That complete fucking moron had the audacity to say that it was, and I quote ‘fucking awesome, like in the action movies.’”

You, Kanji and Clara sit there in complete shocked silence. Heavens, you think, was Danny just suicidally stupid?
Kat just sits there, steaming.

“Er, what happened to Danny, then?” You ask, now a little fearful that Kat may have committed murder.

“Well, after that complete disaster, the thief, she’s a girl by the way, apparently survived. The three of us were questioned about the explosion and the incident in the reactor, and somehow, SOMEHOW, we managed to get away scot-free.

"After that, The thief and that moron hit it off real well, despite the fact she stole his precious fucking scarf, and they went up to the deck to talk. I decided to have something to eat, and Kanji found me here.” After finishing her story, Kat begins sipping at the thermos of tea she had bought. She still seems completely furious.

Maybe you should change the subject…

>Talk about the Entrance Exam.
>Talk about the incident in the reactor.
>Ask for more details about their interrogation.
>On second thought, maybe you’ll just grab something to eat…
>Something Else?

>>40722373
>Talk about the incident in the reactor.
>Ask for more details about their interrogation.
I was 'aving dinner, mate.

>>40722557
I-I apologize for interrupting your meal anon-senpai-sama-sensei-dono...

Also, nobody else?

>>40722599
I was just meaning to say I didn't see you post because of dinner so I couldn't post, hahaha.
Like, apologizing for taking too long.

>>40722373
>>40722373
>Talk about the Entrance Exam.
>Talk about the incident in the reactor.
>Ask for more details about their interrogation.

>>40722640
It's fine, anon, I update slowly anyway.
>>40722642
>>40722557
I'll take reactor and interrogation for now. You'll be able to talk about the Entrance Exam after you land. Writing.

>>40722373
“Well,” you say, plastering fake smile to your face, “why don’t we talk about something other than complete and utter morons with no regards for their safety?”
Kanji and Clara agree that that’s probably a good idea.

“Why don’t Clara and I tell you about how we kicked a terrorist’s ass? I’m sure that’s a much better topic to focus on!” you say, nudging Kat with your arm. She still looks pissed, but she at least looks back up in interest.

…Heavens, you’re terrible at this cheering-people-up thing. What would you do if someone actually went and broke out into tears in front of you? Question for another day.

For now, you excitedly talk about your and Kanji’s heroic intervention in the fusion reactor. You stealthily leave out the fact that Kanji basically did nothing but provide a sharpened flashlight for the two of you to use, and instead talk about the mysterious figure and their myriad weapons.

“Huh. So they basically had an entire arsenal of weapons stowed into their cloak?” Asks Kat, interested. “That seems pretty improbable.”

“Improbable doesn’t mean impossible,” you counter. “They could have easily had a hammerspaced cloak and just stored a million weapons in there. That, or maybe their firearms were the collective form of their aura weapon, though that’s doubtful seeing as I didn’t hear a chant.”

“A shapeshifting firearm for an aura weapon?” says Kanji, cutting in. “Next, you’re gonna tell me they can use a Reality Rift or som’n. ‘Sides, I haven’t heard of any legendary guns."

“A Reality Rift?” you ask, taking Kanji’s proposal seriously for a second. You immediately throw it away. “Nah, you’re right about that. Reality Rifts generally do a lot more than just provide a couple extra weapons. An actual Reality Rift would’ve taken a decent amount of time to set up, and would have transported us into some huge battlefield, or something.”

(1/?)

>>40723474

“Are you so sure?” pipes up Clara. “A Reality Rift, especially one that specialized in transportation, would have explained how they managed to escape so easily.”

“It’s incredibly unlikely. And yes, I realize I’m being a tad hypocritical seeing as I just said ‘improbable doesn’t mean impossible’ a second earlier, but let’s be honest here. How many Reality Rift users are actually in existence? Less than a thousand all over the globe, the vast majority of whom haven’t even reached that level of potential and likely never will, since being able to use a Reality Rift isn’t exactly the first thing that comes to mind when you aren’t good at regular magic.”

“Well Professor,” taunts Kat, raising an eyebrow, “how did YOU learn to use your magic, then? From what Clara said, you don’t exactly use the average aura manipulation techniques. Not to mention the fact that you managed to break that wa-“The rest of her words come out in a surprised muffle as you slap your palm over her mouth.

Kat turns away, rubbing her mouth. “What was that for Will? Kanji and I both saw what you did, and I’m sure it can’t be that bad to be a-“

You cut her off again, this time whispering in her ear. “You’d be VERY surprised at how much a warding expert can make these days, Kat. You’d be doubly surprised at how much people pay to have those same wards cracked by those same experts. I’d really rather have that sort of information on the Dee-Ell, okay?” Kat nods, though confused at your knee-jerk reaction.

Clara, on the other hand, just seems confused. “What happened? What kind of magic do you practice, William? Besides the mana arrows, I mean.”

You sigh, and start kneading your forehead. “I suppose I can tell you all a little about my craft later, when we’re on the ground, and somewhere more secure. For now, can you all just keep quiet?”

(2/?)

>>40723508

The three of them look at you, but eventually shrug and acquiesce.

“Anyway, speaking of security, Clara and I were interrogated by one of the surviving the staff members on this ship. Kat, you mentioned that you, Danny, and the thief had all been interrogated, as well?”

You figured that Kat had cooled down at least a little. It seems you were at least a little right, and instead of outright venting, her face just contorts in distaste. “Well, you know, I’d rather not, but...”

“Er, I was questioned too. If you guys wanna hear about that.” Says Kanji. Kat shoots him a grateful glance.

>Let Kanji go first. It’s clear Kat doesn’t want to talk about the thief or Danny at all.
>Make Kat talk about it. It’s probably better if she vents now, rather than later.

>>40723538
>Let Kanji go first. It’s clear Kat doesn’t want to talk about the thief or Danny at all.
If it's troublesome for you, you don't need to say it, nobody's gonna push

>>40723561
Taking this. Writing.

>>40723538
>Make Kat talk about it. It’s probably better if she vents now, rather than later.
please tell Kitty Kat

>>40723538
“Hey,” you say, attempting to sound as gentle as possible, “if it’s still bothering you, you don’t have to talk about it. Just make sure not to explode at them the first chance you get, yeah?”

Kat looks at you as you speak, and lets a small smile grace her lips. “Thanks, Will. I’ll try not to.” She looks at Kanji. “As you were saying, Kanji?”

Kanji nods. “A’ight. So, lemme ask, first of all: What’d the guy who was interrogatin’ ya look like? Did he have this big purple waistcoat on? Black and grey hair?”

You nod. “Tanned-looking skin, intense stare, complained about his age?”

“Yeah, that’s the one! Seems like we had the same guy. Anyway, he asked me a ton of questions about where I was, what I was doin’, that sorta’ thing. I told him I was lookin’ for the thief that was takin’ all of our stuff, but that we found a terrorist instead. When I said that, he was pretty curious, so he asked me exactly what I did.

“I, uh, told him the truth, heh.” At this, Kanji lets out an embarrassed laugh, flushing. “I sorta told him I was too big of a wuss , and ended up runnin’ away. He wasn’t all too impressed with that.” Kanji glances at you. “Sorry ‘bout ditchin’ you by the way. I’m not exactly the best in a fight, ya know, despite the fact I apparently have this sword…”

“Sword?” Asks Kat., tilting her head in curiosity.

“I, too, would like to learn about this ‘sword’ of yours, Kanji.” Says Clara, raising an eyebrow.

…You vaguely feel like making a joke here...

(1/?)

File: NiceSword.png (201 KB, 850x850)

201 KB PNG

>>40724743

“Yes, Kanji!” You say, smiling. “Why don’t you show these lovely ladies your sword? If I recall correctly, it was certainly VERY impressive!”

“Er, I, uhm. I-it wasn’t that-“ Kanji stammers, his face somehow reddening further. You have to say, it’s absolutely comical seeing a big guy like Kanji just shut down after a single dick joke.

“No, no! To have such an incredible tool at your disposable at your age is most certainly an accomplishment!” Kanji tries to ignore your efforts by munching on his peas.

“Why, I’m sure that anyone, if they could even catch a glimpse of your sword, would just fall head-over-heels for you!” You say pressing forward. At this, Kanji coughs up his peas and punches himself in the chest.

“G-Geez, man! S-stop sayin’ it like that!” He says. “It’s just a sword! It’s not like it’s my di-“

“Wait, wait, wait.” Interrupts Kat. “We ARE talking about actual weapons here, not, uhm…”

“Penises? I’m unsure about you, Katherine, but I certainly know what I was speaking of…” says Clara, her lips upturned in a sultry smile.

…Which is immediately demolished as she breaks out into raucous laughter. It’s infectious, and the three of you quickly end up laughing your asses off.

“Ah… Dick jokes…” You say, chuckling. “So, so simple, yet they can get a laugh out of just about anyone.” As my Bro always said, ‘Everytime is appropriate for a dick joke, if you try HARD enough.’”

Kanji manages to stop laughing. “Hah. Your brother must be a friggin’ well of wisdom, huh?”

You smile. “I suppose he is.” Or was, you think. “At any rate, now that the tension’s all gone, mind continuing with your story, Kanji?”

Kanji smiles, and begins talking again, far more confidently. He speaks about how the faculty member was actually nice to him, and even told him that Kanji’s decision to run away was perfectly logical, and that no one should begrudge him for it.

>>40724836

“I mean,” says Kanji, ”I guess I kinda get what he was sayin’. I was up against an enemy I knew nothin’ about, I was scared almost outta my mind, and even if I’m talented enough to summon my aura weapon, I prolly still wouldn’t have done nothin’ but be a burden.” He slumps a little, and sighs in disappointment. “I’m still really sorry about that, though. I wanted to, ya know, DO somethin’.”

You smile at Kanji and shrug. “It’s fine, Kanji. I’m sure you’ll improve, and at any rate, the very fact that you ended up on this airship means you’re at least somewhat talented for your age.”

Kanji sighs again, but manages to smile. “I guess you’re right. Anyway, you two,” he nods at Clara and Katherine, “prolly have a question or two about my aura weapon, right? Shoot.”

You smile as the two girls pepper Kanji with questions, such as what kind of sword it was, when he got it, its elemental affinity… You listen to them halfheartedly.

You know, you think you could get used to this ‘having friends’ thing. It’s rather pleasant.
***
After a while, the conversation dissolves into small talk. Favorite color, favorite TV show, video games, that sort of thing. You don’t really participate, though that’s mostly because you don’t really have a clue about TV shows or video games. Life in what amounted to a military facility was certainly different, now that you have something to actually compare yourself to.

Eventually, the conversation wraps back around to magic.
Should you cut in?

>Ask about everyone’s elemental affinity.
>Ask about what weapons everyone uses.
>Ask about something else?

(3/3)

>>40724880
>Ask about everyone’s elemental affinity.
>Ask about what weapons everyone uses.
>Ask about something else?
How did they learn their craft?

>>40724880
>Ask about everyone’s elemental affinity.
>Ask about what weapons everyone uses.

>>40725076
meh this as well maybe

Rolled 75 (1d100)

>>40725076

Rolled 64 (1d100)

>>40725176
O-okay, y-you too"

>>40725076
>>40725146
Writin'!

bumperoni

>>40724880
“Well, if you’re a chronomancer, wouldn’t you still be vulnerable to, well, everything?” asks Kat.

“Well, yes, but the point isn’t that you’d be invincible, it’s that you just gave yourself an incredible advantage in terms of positioning, tactical thinking, reaction time… everything, really! Even just Accelerating your body could easily allow you to have hours of extra free time to think and react! There are reasons chronomancy was outright forbidden during the Second Great Magical War.” Argues Clara.

“And I believe the single greatest reason was the Retroactive Continuity problems, not their actual battle efficiency.” You say, cutting in. “At any rate, this whole chronomancy versus modern mages argument is pointless because, as you mentioned, chronomancy was outright forbidden during the Second Great Magical War.

All of the living chronomancers were slaughtered and any information on the discipline is destroyed or otherwise under very heavy guard in the Old Continent. There’s practically no point in talking about these ‘what-if’ scenarios if they’re never going to happen.”

Both Katherine and Clara pout at you for cutting off their argument. Both of them look absolutely adorable, but you resist the temptation to apologize profusely and stand your ground.

In other words, you divert their conversation entirely! “So, magic! I'm quite curious as to where you all learned the discipline."

Kanji decides to step up to bat first. “Well,” he begins,”I actually learned some magic pretty early on, when I was a little kid. I think I was about six when I first asked my mom to teach me.” He smiles nostalgically. “She was a little harsh when it came to teaching; she always demanded that I do everything perfectly before I can move on. Helped me make some good habits, though.

(1/?)

>>40726199

“She started me off on glyphs, mostly. Said that since anyone could cast ‘em, that I should be able to too. Oh yeah, and basic Reinforcement exercises. You know, to make sure that my aura’d grow steadily. The normal stuff.

“My dad was completely against all of this, though. He said he didn’t want me to be a battlemage. Said it was dangerous.”

“So you ran off?” Asks Katherine.

Kanji nods. “Yeah, basically. I was doin’ really good in school, so I was sent this invitation to be apprenticed to this famous swordsman in the Old Continent. I managed to send ‘em the acceptance letter without either of my parents knowin’, and I was whisked away to be trained when I was twelve.”

“That sounds rather risky, though, doesn’t it? Just letting yourself be carried off to some guy you don’t know to be trained for a couple years?”

“Well, that’s the thing. Apparently him and my dad were buddies back in the War, so it wasn’t like he was a total stranger. And anyway, I made sure to call my parents whenever I could.

“Teach was pretty strict, kinda like my mom. He always tested my reaction time, positioning, stance, everything, though he wasn’t as much of a hardass about me doing everything perfect.

“By the time I left, I was one of his best students, and the reason I left was so that I could actually go and prove that I was stronger than I was before. I kinda failed in that though…” Kanji trails off, his expression souring.

“A-anyway! I summoned my aura weapon about a year ago, now, when I was off traveling in the Old Continent after leaving. It’s kinda private, so I’d rather not talk about it, if that’s okay with you guys?” Kanji smiles nervously.

>>40726259
“Sure, sure. You don’t have to talk about anything you don’t want to. That goes for you two, also.” You say the last part to Katherine and Clara.

“Thanks, man. Anyway, all of you know that Caliburn’s light affinity, like me. It’s pretty sharp, and I can fire blasts of light aura out of it if I focus hard enough. Like I said, it’s not really all too impressive. What about you guys? Where’d you learn magic?”

Well, Kanji’s poured out his life-story to you.
Who should go next?

>Volunteer Clara.
>Volunteer Kat.
>Volunteer yourself.

>>40726301
>Volunteer yourself.
Maybe colour it a bit less militaristic for them?

>>40726301
>Volunteer Kat.
tease her too, that airhead

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>>40724836
also gotta say
dick jokes man
top kek

Rolled 1 (1d2)

>>40726329
>>40726428
Coin-flip time!
1 for you, 2 for Kat.

>>40726531
Seems you'll be talking about yourself a little!
Writing.

>>40726511
Your Bro was the coolest guy, anon!Except when hit you with that shitty katana of his during spars, but that's like the ONE exception.

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16 KB PNG

>>40726531
noice

>>40726589
i don't doubt it but did he say psh nothing personel kid

>>40726633
Of course he did, anon! That's what pissed off your little 8-year old self the most, seeing as you were NOT a kid, nope! You're DEFINITELY an adult, and you should be treated like one! Humph! *Pouting intensifies*

>>40726783
realistic kid behavior

Update will be delayed even more than it usually is. Have to do some quick some stuff.
I'm so sorry

>>40726948
No problem mate.

>>40726948
i-is it lewd stuff

>>40726948
Back, and writing!

>>40726301
“May I volunteer my own story?” You ask. The girls blink in surprise. “Yes, yes, I just said that I’ll be keeping most of my skills away from prying ears. That won’t change. We’re just sharing stories, aren’t we? I’ll mostly just be talking about my mana arrows and things like that. Now, let’s see…”

You frown. Most of your memories from early childhood were actually quite brutal, judging by how Kat and Kanji reacted to the dead-body looting earlier, and would probably creep them out a little if you tell them completely uncensored.

Thankfully, you’ve got quite a few memories from before then. That’s when you actually first learned magic, after all.

“Well, I suppose I first started learning about magic when I was about four years old…”
***

Your name is William! You’re 4 years old since your birthday in January, and you’re like, the smartest four-year-old you know!

Of course, none of your brains really count for much when you can’t even produce a couple measly little sparks without knocking yourself out.

Well, guess what! You’ll show those dumb bullies! Sure, they’re older than you, but you’re sure you’ll be able to beat ‘em up when you’re done with your SUPER-SPECIAL TRAINING REGIMEN!

You turn and focus on your opponent. He stares stoically back at you, unmoving, taunting you.

How DARE that tree taunt you! You’ll show it!
Your four-year-old arm darts out, punching the dumb tree right where it hurts!

"Ow!"

>>40727423

“Ow!”

Unfortunately, it’s right where you hurt, too. You step back with a whine, rubbing your stinging knuckles.

Well, no pain, no gain, right? Besides, this is how lots of people get strong! The storybook in your room told you so! Punch trees, and maybe you’ll be able to punch mountains someday, they said!

Yeah, that’s right, you think! You just have to keep punching trees, and then you’ll be able to punch those dumb bullies too!

You look back up at your opponent. Just you watch, tree! You’re up next on the chopping block!

…Heh. Tree. Chopping block. Your four-year-old brain registers the pun as possibly the most brilliant joke you’ve ever heard. Truly, you’re a genius!

***
Sometime later, you’re lying on your back, dead tired. Your lungs are burning, your knuckles are bleeding, and your legs feel like they’re about to melt away.

After punching the Dumb Tree until your hands really started hurting, you decided to go and do 100-push ups. Those are important for endurance, right?

You think you stopped at around five. You’re not entirely sure if you were doing them right, either.

Anyway, after taking a breath, you decided to try a 100 kilometer run through the forest, but your legs started giving out on you after a short while. You tried to push through it, but it was simply too much, and you collapsed.

This ‘training’ thing is REALLY hard, you think. You don’t know how all of the people in your storybooks could do stuff like this without breaking a sweat!

You sigh miserably. Everything hurts now, and you really don’t feel like getting back up…

>Get back up anyway! This is how HEROES are made, right?
>Take a short nap. You’ll get right back to training when you wake up, you swear!

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>>40727443

>Get back up anyway! This is how HEROES are made, right?

>>40727443
>Get back up anyway! This is how HEROES are made, right?

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46 KB JPG

>>40727555

>>40727555
>>40727595
>>40727624

Seems you're gonna keep on trekking. Writing!
Capcha says there'll be cake at the end!

File: 1428088050562.jpg (10 KB, 255x200)

10 KB JPG

>>40727647
You're not fooling me GLaDOS

>>40727443
noirefusetogiveup

N-no! You’re gonna keep going! Sure, it’ll hurt now, but eventually, it’s gotta STOP hurting, right? Yeah, of course!

Placing your hands at either side, you slowly begin bringing yourself back up to a sitting position. Your muscles burn in pain, but you ignore them. This? This is nothing! Hah!

“Nnnngh…” You groan out. Well, step one is over. Now it’s time for step two: Standing back up!
It takes every modicum of effort inside your four-year-old body, but you finally manage to stand. Your breathing is ragged and every single part of your body aches, but you did it! You got right back up!

You decide that you’re never going to end up like that ever again. Lying down on the floor,almost giving in to despair… No way! Never again!

You limp back over to your Old Enemy: The Tree. You rear back a fist.
You’ll keep on training. No matter what.

***
You blink up blearily. You feel different. Nothing seems to hurt as much anymore…
No, actually, nothing hurts at all. You feel great!

Did you do it? Did you finally become the Ultimate Hero after you finished your SUPER-SPECIAL TRAINING REGIMEN?

(1/2)

>>40728118

You look around excitedly, spying a roaring campfire only a foot or two away.

You stare into its flames, and concentrate really, really hard. You’ve seen some of the other kids do this; if you’ve become the Ultimate Hero like you think you have, you’ll definitely be able to do it too!

You concentrate, trying to FEEL the heat and power inside the flames, and slowly, carefully, reach out with your aura…

You flinch back, feeling the sudden heat deep inside you, and pull your aura far away from the flames. You sigh. Of course. This always happens…

Fire burns you. Water drowns you. Wind cuts you. Earth suffocates you. And Light and Darkness just feel wrong. None of the six standard elements have ever listened to you, and you have no clue as to why!

Whenever you try to manipulate anything with what little aura you have, it always ends up doing nothing at the best of times, or outright causing pain at the worst.

“You alright there?” Rasps a voice from behind you.

Standing there is a man. He’s really old, judging by his grey beard and bald head. He’s wearing what looks like basic cloth clothing and a few pieces of leather to protect the more important bits. On his back he carries a stick, on which is tied a bundle of who knows what. He’s very muscular.

Overall, he looks really weird for an old man. Aren’t old people supposed to waste their time at home, or something? This guy looks like he travels a lot. You don’t trust him.

What do you say?
>”I was told never to talk to strangers.”
>”Why? What’s it to you?”
>”I dunno, really…”
>Something Else?

capcha that's a ham sandwich not a friggin burger

>>40728153
>Something Else?
Trying to become stronger, but it's really hard, and we can't do magic well.

>>40728153
>”I dunno, really…”
dunno how to train and become the ULTIMATE HERO (tm)

>>40728275
>>40728327
With the power of spaghetti and mountain dew, I WRITE THEE!

in other words, writing.

>>40728461
I am the flour of my spaghetti
Pasta is my body and sauce is my blood
I have created over a thousand spaghetti
Unaware of lasagna, Nor aware of calzoni
Withstood pain to create food, waiting for one’s arrival
I have no regrets. This is the only path
My whole life was unlimited spaghetti works

>>40728153
You sigh, looking down at your feet. You remember being told never to talk to strangers, but…
“I dunno, really. I’ve been training really hard all today, and yesterday, and even the day before that, but I just feel like I’m not, uhm, how do you say it…?”

“Progressing?”

“Yeah! That. See, I can’t do magic well at all, and I don’t even have a lot of aura to use it, so in the end, I tried to get stronger physically instead like all of my storybooks tell me to do, but that hasn’t worked either! In the end, I just get hurt a little, or sometimes a lot, and I just…” You’re not sniffling. You aren’t! Honest!

“I just, I don’t know how to train! At all. Nothing seems to work. Whenever I try to train my aura up a little with those dumb exercises I read about in books, I end up falling asleep from aura exhaustion and I can’t move for days. If I try to train my body, I end up fainting anyway! I don’t know what to do!” You rant and rave, waving your arms everywhere.

…You aren’t having a tantrum though. Those are for babies. And you aren’t a baby, not by a long shot.

“I end up hurting myself when I try elemental magic too! Just the other day, I tried playing around with some water while I was taking a bath, and I almost drowned! I didn’t even know when the water just rose up all over me, and some of the other elements are even worse!

“This is just… I hate this. All of this. How am I supposed to get better if I can’t even make a couple tiny sparks?” You ask to the air.

The old man is silent, stoking the fire with the stick he was carrying. He’s kneeling down now. He looks as if he hadn’t even heard you.
…Well that’s just fine! You didn’t need anyone to talk to anyway! You can handle your problems your way, by yourself!
You plop yourself on the ground, huddling a little closer to the heat. It’s still winter; your birthday passed about two weeks ago.

(1/?)

>>40729136

January Eleventh. One-slash-one-one. That’s your birthday. You were really proud to have turned four, but in the end, it all just became a hassle.

“So, from what I can tell,” grumbles out the old man, sounding nothing like before, “you’re angry at yourself because you’re not seeing results after only three days of training?”

…

“Let me tell you something, kid. You’re not going to see results that quickly. Almost no one sees results that quickly. You have to work for what you want, and even sometimes, you may not get what you actually WANT.”

“No, even if you work, you won’t always get what you want. Believe me, I’ve been working at something for a long time, and I damn well know I haven’t got what I really wanted quite yet, even if I’ve had a couple ‘successes’ on the way.”

“What’s the point in working then, if you can’t always get what you want? Are all of my storybooks just wrong?” You ask, somewhat bitterly.

“Well, that’s the thing.” The old man smiles, showing a number of crooked, yellowing teeth. “You may not always get what you want, but in the meantime, you’ll get what you NEED. And sometimes, that’s a little more important, don’t you think?”

You think on the old man’s words. You guess they’re true. After all, sometimes you want a cookie, and you know that your parents like cookies too, probably (Who doesn’t like cookies?), but you can’t have cookies all the time. Sometimes, you have to settle for bread and eggs, ‘cause food’s food, no matter if it’s cookies or bread or eggs.

“I guess that’s true. But…” You hesitate. You probably shouldn’t be sharing this with strangers. But hey, you’ve told the old man the rest of your problems already, so why not…?

(2/?)

>>40729184
“I actually think I NEED to learn magic.” You say quietly.

“Oh? And why’s that?”

“I-I heard my parents talking one night. They said that I was really, really sick when I was small. Smaller than I am now, I mean. They said that… that if it weren’t for magic, I probably wouldn’t be alive right now…”

“And how, precisely, does that translate into you NEEDING to learn magic, eh?”

“Well, I figure that I’m still weak now, too. I get headaches a lot, and sometimes I faint just because my aura is naturally low. I figure that maybe if I learn magic…”

“You’ll get better?”

“Yeah-huh.”

A beat passes. Then another. And another. The silence of the night, punctuated only by the crackling flames, seems to go on forever.

“Hey, kid. Look at me.” You look up from the fire, into the eyes of the old man.
“Are you sure you want to learn magic? With all your heart, body and soul? Answer me honestly, now.”

In an instant, you know your answer…
>Write In.

>>40729211
Yes
There really is no other possible answer

>>40729211
hell yeah

>>40729282
>>40729334
Writing for a resounding YES.
is that a cupcake, capcha? that's not ice cream...

>>40729211
You nod, once. “Yes. Yes, I do.”

The old man gives you another crooked grin. “What is this, a wedding? Show some enthusiasm!” He stands up to his full height. You hadn’t really noticed it before, but he’s really tall. Taller than the logger captain, even! “Go on, stand up!” He barks. You follow his order, standing up obediently. “ Now, repeat after me: HELL YES.”

“H-hell yes!” You say, your voice shuddering. You cringe.

“Wait! Lemme try again!” This time, you suck in a huge breath, and, bellowing out with the force of a bajillion four-year-olds, you say:

“HELL YES!”

***
“And that was the day I became a mage, even if I didn’t know it at the time,” you finish, smiling. You had kept out the part about you having a disease when you were younger, of course. Wouldn’t want them to know too much, after all.

The three of them stare at you in amazement. “Y-you started at the age of four?” Asks Kat. “Wow. That’s… really impressive. And you aren’t even born to any sort of aristocratic family, are you? Geez.”

“Geez man, way to make my story look like crap.” Mumbles Kanji. “That was both heartwarming and inspiring. Shit…”

Clara just shakes her head, speechless.

“W-well! Don’t just leave us hanging there!” Says Katherine. “What’d the old coot teach you?”
You scratch your head. “Eh, well. This and that. He taught me how to manipulate raw mana, shape it and fire it. That’s where I learned to make mana arrows. He taught a little about hunting and gathering too, and surviving out in the wild in general. But the most important things he taught me were probably the three Rules.

(1/?)
Kitties aren't food capcha

>>40730428

“Rule One,” you say, raising your index finger. “Never make a promise you can’t keep.

“Rule Two: Keep every promise you make.

“And Rule Three: Never give up. No matter what.”

“The Old Man taught me a lot, and he was my first teacher, besides my Bro. He taught me how to survive. I owe pretty much everything I am to him.”

“Don’t tell us you never saw him again.” Says Kat. You shrug, silent. She snorts “Of course. That’s how these things always seem to go. The cool old mentor just disappears off the edge of the earth, never to be seen again, huh?”

“Well,” you say, “I wouldn’t say that. Remember how I said, ‘never make a promise you can’t keep?’ Well, the two of us made a promise to each other.

“I promised him that I would become the greatest mage, ever. Bar none. He promised me that I would see him again, when I achieved my goal.”
***

>>40730459
After that, your table fell into a contemplative silence. You excused yourself to get some late brunch, and when you came back, the four of you went back to small talk. Still, you learned that Clara actually had a true Ice affinity with a secondary affinity for water. She had learned her trade from a Central Gallian warcollege, and was rated as the single best marksman there. She learned the basics of hand signs and other similar military applications from that same school.

From Kat, you learned that she had apparently learned magic from her mother and father, at least before the former was taken by kidnappers and the latter refused to teach her any more. Similarly to Kanji, she had decided to leave her home to study magic, and her journey was taken alongside a family friend. Unlike Kanji, however, she had actually traveled. Apparently, she decided to visit as many countries as possible to further her studies, taking trips from Eastern Gallia all the way to Equatoria, and even taking a few trips to the Ravaged Continent, though she didn’t stay very long. She’s quite knowledgeable in terms of geography.

All in all, you learned quite a bit about your new… friends, you suppose? Do you have to actually say you’re someone’s friend to make it official, or is it just a feeling you get?

Well, if it’s the latter, you’re fairly certain you could call the three your friends now.

Strangely enough, Danny and the thief never showed up to interrupt your conversation.

You’re secretly thankful for that.

You are currently in your cubicle, having retired to it after you finished your meal.

>Read a book?
>Currently own: [Magus Historia: An overview of the Great Magical Wars], [The Tale of the First Mage] ,[Glyphs and You: Using Elemental Magic Without an Affinity]
>Take a nap? (Interlude and Timeskip)
***
Welp. I'm done for the night. I'll do all of the archiving in the morning because I'm dead tiread and the dew's worn off. Fuck.

>>40730507
I archived for you.

Also
>Read [The Tale of the First Mage]