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Post by Bixir on Apr 29, 2023 3:29:51 GMT
"Excuse me! Pardon me, justice-friend! July must get to class! July cannot be late!"
The spry Argonian weaved through the crowds of students, which is to say he barreled through them like a force of nature, scurrying ever forward to his objective. Most of them didn’t stand a chance against the Argonian’s uncanny brawn, either shoved completely to the floor or getting out of the way of what they knew wasn’t going to be stopped. Jal-Ei left a reckless scene wherever he went, without much to show for it. He was, after all, a new student to Big School, without the privileges of race nor class to stifle the resentment he was drawing to himself. Thankfully for July, he was too busy being attentive to his attendance record.
So busy, that he didn’t see the girl entering the classroom ahead of him. It was too late for July to realize his mistake. He had darted at an angle, which put him snugly between her and the doorway that she had just opened.
"July apologizes!"
Was all Jal-Ei could muster before finishing slithering into the room of home where July’s new companions were waiting… including the nice girl that he had so rudely interrupted. Hopefully she was not a girl who held grudges. July was certain she would understand.
Meanwhile, July tried looking for an open seat. Hopefully July could sit in the front row! That was where the best students sat, and July wanted to be one of them!
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Post by PhantomBrogade on May 8, 2023 17:12:48 GMT
The girl remained silent, arching an eyebrow at the being that tried to slide in. Rather than anger though, there was bemusement in her features, and she motioned for him to enter, a bit too late for the argonian having already moved on. Inside, there were already a few students seated all dressed in the uniform but with a red vest over the black vest over the top.
"Good, you're here" a woman at the front of the room said, amber eyes and wide smile welcoming the two newest arrivals. "Pick a desk with a vest, put it on, and we'll get started. Not everyone is here yet but we got a schedule to keep. The girl behind July moved past him quickly, cutting off any attempt to speak first and bowed in greeting and walked over to the desk that sat in the front middle, placing the vest over her uniform and turning to face the rest of the class.
"I am Edelgard von Hresvalg, Imperial Princess of Adrestia. I bid you all greetings" she said, bowing her head in greeting again. In the chair beside her a boy with white spiky hair leaned back and whistled, earning him a glare from the young woman before she sat and motioned for July to take the seat on the other side of her.
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Post by Bixir on May 8, 2023 17:34:31 GMT
July made no attempt to follow up on communication with the girl that he had so rudely interrupted upon his entrance into the classroom. July knew that he was not the most welcome here, and July wanted to make the best impression he could... in spite of the error that he had just made. With the time that he had, he bowed quickly in her direction, hoping that he had not made a powerful enemy.
To his dismay, that seemed to be the case. After the girl had made her introduction, the Argonian boy paled. His legs rooted him to the spot like a deer in headlights. He only broke out of this fugue state when he noticed that she had gestured him over. To sit by her! Perhaps July had a chance after all!
"Y-Yes, ma'am." Once he made sure that he had his things, July held them close to his chest and walked over He kept his head down, careful not to make eye contact with Miss Majesty Hresvelg or anyone else unless they asked it of him... though his tail swished back and forth with anticipation. Once July reached his desk, he set his bag down and slipped the vest on with no fanfare and promptly sat down. He kept his eyes down, keeping his hands busy with arranging the materials on the desk. Remember what New Mother said. Do as you are told. Do not be problem. Problems do not get to be knights.
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Post by PhantomBrogade on May 8, 2023 19:16:06 GMT
If Edelgard noticed July's worries, she made no sign of it, instead focusing ahead on the woman at the front of the room, who had started to lean on the lectern she stood behind. "Alright class, I'm your provisional Instructor Sara Valestein and welcome everyone to Thors Military Academy, here you will learn what it is to be a leader, an officer, and blah blah you know the drill so I won't bore you with the opening speech. While its true that this is a military academy, only around one in ten graduates take up a path in the army. So, why are you here? It's because we're one of the best educational institutes in the nation. Garreg Mach might have the prestige of being the biggest, but Thors has been doing this for much longer." She smirked, obviously pleased with that fact. A girl in the back of the room raised her hand, prompting Sara to stop her spiel and respond. "Yes, Isara wasn't it?"The girl nodded, standing. She was small, by the room's standards, and her blue eyes and dark hair wouldn't help her stand out much, but the brown shawl cloaked over her uniform and vest solved that issue. "Yes, you said Provisional Instructor. Does that mean we'll have someone else when the classes begin?"Sara beamed, happy that someone picked up on it. "That's right, I'm your instructor for now, until the official one arrives. Don't worry, I'm an awesome teach. You'll be acing those classes."
"Would sound more convincing if I didn't see you hitting up the bar last night" the boy besides Edelgard interrupted, chuckling to himself. and pushing his hair back as he slipped a bandana he had been fiddling with onto his forehead. "I'm just going to ignore you from now on, OK? ☆" Sara replied, the smile turning cold for a moment before warming up again as she looked at the notes in front of her. "Alright, I'm just gonna, skip a lot of this here. Let's get straight to introductions between each other. We already had Miss Von here" - Edelgard scoffed at the choice of naming - "so we'll go down the list. When I say your name answer with your preferred name. Miss Isara Gunther."
"Isara is fine."
"Crow Armbrust"
"Handsom- ow" Crow rubbed his head, a piece of chalk landing nearby from where Sara had pelted him with it. "Crow, jeez Sara you'd think we'd be past that by now."
"Not a chance. Jal-ei?"
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Post by Bixir on May 8, 2023 20:41:37 GMT
When Miss Provisional Instructor began speaking, July's heart sank. One in ten? Those were not good odds! July had fought so hard to make it to Big School. That was already very unlikely. Could he get lucky twice? July was no good at normal school. Suddenly, this did not feel like such a good idea. By the time his name was called, July was trying his best to put on a brave face. He could not look weak. He could never look weak.
The boy raised his head, doing his best to focus on the teacher rather than the rest of the class that was staring at him. "J... July, July is my name, Miss Valestein, ma'am." July swallowed, smiling. Yes, that was his name. Not Jal-Ei. New Mother would be proud.
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Post by PhantomBrogade on May 14, 2023 5:49:34 GMT
Sara smiled. "No need to be shy here, July. we're all in this together, and I'm sure the others have some nerves they just aren't showing right now." From the other side of Edelgard, Crow gave a thumbs up and the girl herself gave a small nod. "Alright, next up we have... Ember?" Sare looked up and peered around, and no response came. "Hmm, not here yet, and it doesn't look like that boy is here either. Alright, moving on down the list. Sophie Neuenmuller?"
"Ah, yes, here!" A tall girl stood up from the corner of a room, her uniform under a thick blue coat covered in pouches. "Uh, I mean, Sophie is fine, miss."
Sara coninued to go down the list, naming five other students who were clustered around the window on the other side of the room from the entrance. "So, with introductions out of the way" Sara said as she tossed some paper to the side now that she was done with it. "Next thing is for the mandatory dungeon clear!"
"Wait wha-" Edelgard blurted out, as blue light began to envelop everyone in the room. Suddenly a flash, and all was dark.
"H-hello?" a girl asked - Sophie - and her hand waved around in front of her and met resistance in the form of July's head.
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Post by Bixir on May 14, 2023 7:05:49 GMT
July smiled sheepishly. He was not expecting them to be so kind. Many people in Big City were not so kind to July. And these were military! Big School! They made him feel comfortable here. This would not be so bad, after all.
As Miss Valestein continued going through the rest of the class, July's attention... well, he checked out. There was not much going on. Nothing exciting. School was about to start. Not the fun kind. They were in a stuffy room. July wanted to be outside! July wante to see new things, fight-!!
July only had time to blink. In the next blink, he could not see anything at all. His neck was suddenly warm. He reached for his pendant, feeling its sudden heat in his palm before it receded into the cold embrace of the gem inlay. Before he could inquire further, July felt something touching the top of his head, just shy of grazing his head frills. He froze, then after hearing the voice, slowly raised his head up to where he guessed hers would be. July must have fallen down when the lights went out. How embarrassing!
"Hello? Yes, hello, person touching my head. July would greet you properly, but it is very dark!"
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Post by PhantomBrogade on May 19, 2023 20:14:39 GMT
"Ah, sorry, sorry!" Sophie cried, quickly withdrawing her hand. "Just, give me a-" there was the noise of a bag being opened, then the sound of someone digging through belongings. "There, hup!" she exclaimed as she withdrew an orb from the bag and tossed it into the air, the crystals embedded in it beginning to glow and illuminating the room in a soft blue light. They appeared to be in a hallway, the floor below them cobblestone whilst the walls and roof made up of at a glance looked like granite blocks. "Creepy" Sophie noted, her eyes wandering across the surfaces. As if the return of sight triggered something, the noise of water trickling down from above reached the two. "I don't think we're still on school grounds."
Sophie turned back to July, and held out a hand to help him up. "Sorry again, I'm not good with surprises like that on my own. Usually I have a friend with me but she's..." she paused, looking for the word "...a little bound up, the last I saw."
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Post by Bixir on May 20, 2023 3:47:35 GMT
July paused, waiting for Girl-In-Shadow to become Girl-In-Light. He did not have to wait long. His eyes widened as he recognized from the classroom. The voice had been familiar, but July did not want to leap to conclusions. Unfortunately for her, July's attention was quickly stolen by the orb she had thrown up into the air... the orb that did not come back down. Though July took Sophie's hand to help him to his feet, his eyes remained fixated on the wondrous sphere. It was... well, wondrous!
The girl's words flew over the Argonian's head. The surroundings themelves did not seem to bother him, either. July had been in places like this before. It reminded him of home. Old home. July poked the orb, hoping to get some kind of reaction. "This is fascinating thing, student-friend. July has never seen anything like it before... will orb-friend come with us?"
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Post by PhantomBrogade on Jan 18, 2024 13:30:34 GMT
The orb seemed to respond to July's touch, shifting from floating between the two to floating just over the argonian's shoulder. "Oh! I was wondering if that would work. Recipes tend to be vague about results until they happen." Sophie exclaimed, clapping her hands together with a smile. "Looks like it didn't get the colour changing property though. Maybe black Puni jelly next time? But Red is what gives it the..." she trailed off before shaking her head. "Another time. Which way should we go? I think the orb has chosen you as the leader. Besides I'm not good with being in the front if we get in a fight..."
Sophie pulled a staff from her backpack - really, it seemed near impossible how it fit in it - and twirled it. "But if you need some magic or items then I'm your alchemist!"
====
In another room, three students found themselves in a brightly lit dining room, the long table devoid of anything atop it and a roaring fire going in a nearby fireplace. Crow cracked his neck and plopped down into one of the chairs, popping his feet up on the table. "Damn Sara, you could've warned us about the magic. You two alright?"
The other occupant shook her head as she leaned over, catching her breath as she tried not to throw up. Crow turned to the final member of the trio. "And you?"
(Enter Nudge!)
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Post by Bixir on Jan 18, 2024 20:03:36 GMT
July smiled, watching the orb move over to him. This was fascinating! July had never seen such a thing before. It did not even occur to him that this might be magic. No, this was something quite different. Yes, it was different. Different in a good way. At the sound of being referred to as a leader, July perked up. He puffed out his chest and strained to make himself a little taller by stretching his legs and touting his head frills. July was ready to be a leader! July-
”M-Magic?” The Argonian froze, staring at Sophie like she had just said a naughty word. Worse, the naughty word. But, they were alone. Maybe that made it okay. July turned away from her, clutching the pendant against his neck. It was warm again. There was no mistaking it now. “Alchemy”, whatever that was, was magic.
The boy cleared his throat. Looking around, there were only two directions to go. July didn’t deliberate long before he started walking down one of those directions. ”Come along, Sophie-friend! We will go this way!”
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Post by Beriadan on Jan 20, 2024 21:38:11 GMT
Nudge folded her arms, looking slightly annoyed. Truth was, she too eas trying to hold down her queezy feelings, but that wasn't exactly setting a good first impression, was it? If only one in ten of them was going to graduate this place, then she would be that one! No way Nudge would be getting sent back to Tarry Town. She'd rather be eaten by Lizardon!
"Yeah! I'm fine. Magic? That's not a problem for me."
She opened her eyes a bit more, looking around at their surroundings. So this was a dungeon, something she had heard plenty of from local merchants visiting her hometown. Nudge smirked as she glanced back over her shoulder, eyes sparkling with adventurous excitement.
"Name's Nudge, by the way. Are you two done hanging around, or should we get moving already?"
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Post by PhantomBrogade on Jan 30, 2024 9:37:49 GMT
"Right behind you!" Sophie cheered, falling in behind July with a stride that belied her excitement. She'd have been the brightest thing in the room had there not been an orb of light illuminating them, casting its light down their chosen path. In short order the path began to widen, eventually leading into small... cavern was probably the best word for it. Whilst the passageway had been clearly man made this seemed natural, with stalagmites jutting from the floor to match the stalactites menacing from overhead. Through them, there was just enough to make out... something, ducking in between them.
Behind July, Sophie tapped his shoulder, her voice low as she held something out for him to take. "Here, this might help. Squeeze, throw." The item looked like... an ice cube with some string sticking out of it. Utterly ridiculous in appearance but Sophie's face was one of adamant belief that it would help. ==== Crow shrugged and got up from the chair. "Sure, quicker we get this done the more time I have to laugh at all the fresh faces getting creamed by whatever's down here." He pulled two objects from his school coat - orbal firearms, a speciality of Erebonia's since being assimilated into Demacia. "I'm good to go. What about you missy?" he asked the other student. To her credit, she had recovered fairly quickly and pulled out a bow - though one clearly meant to be used from horseback. "Alright! Lead the way then, oh fearless leader" Crow continued, motioning towards Nudge. "But uh, to where? There's four doors to pick from and I'm going to bet only one would lead us out." As he pointed out, there were four doors in the the room - two on either side of the table. There was very little to differentiate them, aside from their colours. Brown, Red, Green and Blue.
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Post by Bixir on Jan 30, 2024 16:01:21 GMT
July bobbed his head to and fro as he took in the scenery. Indeed, it was very much like home indeed. He remembered exploring unders just like this one as a hatchling. One day, he would be able to return to his home. That was why July needed to do his very best here. He could not let Mother down!... or Sophie-friend! It was nice to meet someone who did not look at him like one looked at cows. Knowing that she was behind July gave the Argonian resounding confidence. Perhaps he could be a leader after all! A Big Knight!
July paused, ogling the thing in her hands. He had no idea what it was, or what it did, but Sophie seemed to know. This was alchemy? How could such a strange thing be magic? July set his doubts aside. He took the ice cube, squeezing it in his hand, then hurling it in the direction of the... well, something, just as Sophie said. It was time to see what else alchemy could do!
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Post by Beriadan on Feb 1, 2024 13:29:36 GMT
Leader, huh? Nudge grinned as she turned her attention to the conundrum ahead. Four doors, four colours, four possibilities. She pulled out her own bow, closing her eyes.
"They mean something... but without anything else to go by, the choice is just a random decision! Hmph, that's annoying. I hate random things."
Nudge opened her eyes, looking at each door in turn, then turning to the other two, shrugging. The decision would be arbitrary, but picking one by thinking alone would be inherently influenced by her own brain. Nudge didn't like the idea of taking blame if they got chased by Moblins. Then she thumped her fist into her other palm as an idea sprung to mind.
"What about we flip a coin? Heads for right, tails for left. Then we flip again to choose between the colours. Pure random, so we can't go wrong!"
Nudge smiled, then made a face of regret, embarrassment. She glanced between Crow and the as-yet unnamed student.
"Except... well, I'm kinda broke. Have either of you got a coin to flip?"
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