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Post by cmd1095 on Aug 3, 2023 21:43:26 GMT
Serena and Alain trading blows had to have been an interesting sight to any outside observer indeed, as their blows didn't seem to be harming each other at all despite each one becoming more intense until they were both at their limits. Unlike Alain though Serena's top capacity wasn't as visually noticeable, though the chill in the air surrounding her vanished as she stopped pulling in ambient heat.
While waiting her turns, she kept an eye on Alain's and Atsushi's performances. It was great to see Atsushi putting in real effort this year and using his quirk so fluidly. She was proud of his progress, and happy to see him moving forward instead of being so wishy-washy like he was last year.
Now though, it was time for her to show the fruits of her own labor.
Ball Toss
Alain's showing had been impressive, and Serena knew she couldn't match his raw power. This was a test he'd probably always have the advantage over her in unless her top capacity improved. But that's not where she excelled. Alain could get exponential returns on his kinetic energy absorption, but he could only amplify his muscles. Serena could manipulate her energy reserves however she pleased, more efficiently, more fluidly... she had her own routes to power.
Last year she'd been all about power, she'd lost the sports festival in large part because she'd been trying to be like Alain. Her final clash with Ryoken had forced her to confront the flaw in that though. She'd thrown more energy than she'd ever handled before at Ryoken's defenses... and been stopped completely. She could wield even more energy than that now after training for the remainder of the school year sure, but it was sobering. She wasn't Alain, she couldn't match his explosive power... and so she'd explored the other aspects of her quirk, working to master the nuances of it.
So as she wound up her throw, Serena didn't amplify her muscles directly, instead pooling the energy in her hand to wind up, and then imbuing it directly into the baseball as she threw... or the radar ring encasing it anyway, that was far more durable and could handle the energy. The baseball would rocket out of her hand, not quite as fast as Alain's throw, but still fast enough to create a shockwave around it as it soared away. Her imbuing the energy directly let her control the spin and direction of the ball precisely, getting the maximum bang for her buck she could.
Still even with maximum efficiency, the ball fell short of Alain's, she just couldn't match his output, and the fruits of her training wouldn't be fully visible in this nearly pure strength test
"765 meters!"
Nearly 100 behind her rival... that was fine, she'd be able to show her growth better in the coming tests...
Sidesteps
Like this one... this one was going to be a perfect way to demonstrate her newfound skill with her quirk. Alain was impressive as expected, his muscle strength letting him zip back and forth between the markers in a blur. But he was still propelling himself with muscle movements, he could only move as fast as his reflexes would allow him to make the motion to kick off with his legs, and he had to control his strength to not vastly overshoot.
She had no such challenges. When the starting signal sounded she began zipping back and forth with barely any muscle movement at all. Instantly becoming a blur as she directly manipulated her body with kinetic energy, dragging her back and forth precisely as far as she needed, and without the same challenges Alain faced. Once again efficiency was the name of the game, no wasted movement or energy, just speed and control.
As a side effect of this, Serena did a lot less damage to the ground than her beefy rival, though she did kick up quite a bit of dust just from the air displaced by her rapid movements
"1243 steps!"
Serena walked away from this test out of breath, but grinning widely. Now THAT was a proper showcase. It was exhilarating finally outperforming Alain and proving her own worth. Not just a pale imitation of her superior classmate, but a threat in her own right with her own strengths. She'd never admit out loud how much it had bugged her, being seen as just a weaker version of Alain but with this she could finally shut some of those voices and nagging doubts up for a bit.
50m swim
Coming up to the last test, she saw Atsushi hesitating and wavering as she approached the pool herself
"Come on man, you've got this, you're doing great today!" Serena said, giving Atsushi a friendly slap on the back, though at the last moment she pulled back the force a bit so as to not accidentally shove him into the pool, the impact might still startle him regardless "if you wuss out at the swim test of all things I'm not letting up on the cat jokes for even a moment you hear? Very catlike, avoiding water, you don't wanna give me that ammo do you?"
With a teasing grin, Serena took her spot at the start of the pool, watching Alain dive into the water and shoot through it like a topedo, and soaking all of them waiting their turns at the staring lines... including her, She couldn't even shield herself from the wave cause she was already at a full charge, leaving her soaked and literally steaming as the water began evaporating from contact with her heated up body. He was fast, but she had to wonder why he bothered swimming at all? She KNEW he had enough physical power to just clear the pool entirely... maybe he was worried about destroying the other side?
She had no intention of holding back like that though. If he wanted to slow himself down swimming when it wasn't needed, she'd take the advantage. She'd experimented with swimming with her quirk before, it did give her some serious advantages in the water, but it wasn't as fast as simply....
Signaled to go, Serena sprang across the length of the pool, the shockwave from her feet kicking up quite a bit of wind, twisting in midair and landing on the edge of the other side of the pool, using the impact at top speed to recharge much of her expended energy, then using it to launch herself through the air to hit the button on the starting side without once entering the water and letting it slow her down.
"3 seconds!"
Serena was sweating after that exertion, on the surface it had looked like a display of strength, but the number of precise adjustments she'd needed to control herself in midair, land precisely where she needed to, recapture as much energy as she could, and shoot back across the pool all in split seconds... she'd been pushing her control more than her power here. If she'd tried this last year she'd have probably just cracked her skull on the wall of the pool and sank into the water in a daze.
She grinned at Alain "Don't go thinking this will be a blowout like last year. I'm NOT your inferior copy anymore and don't you forget it!" she said confidently.
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Post by Kogashi on Aug 3, 2023 21:59:40 GMT
Atsushi, still paying too much attention thinking, felt his balance thrown off by Serena's friendly back slap. It took him a few seconds of limb waving and body rotating to find any kind of balance... only to be then knocked right off his balance by the force of Serena's and Alain's swimming exploits.
There was a large splash as Atsushi fell into the water, larger than one might expect from his general weight and how close the water was. Adding to some confusing was Atsushi did not instantly come up from the fall, but was clearly moving underneath. The water rippled heavily as a form shot from one end to the other. After 5 seconds, a large white paw finally came out from the end of the pool, along with it a VERY large, drenched white tiger covered with black stripes. Atsushi let out a low growl of a grumble, the drenched fur giving the clear air of displeasure more weight. He stomped off to a shake itself at least partly dry, slumping on the ground to wait for the next set of tests. He didn't expect to show a full transformation today, first time outside the intense training last year he's really pulled it off... He rather liked things being mentally simpler. Just, grumpy and relaxed.
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Post by Subtleknifewielder on Aug 4, 2023 17:29:54 GMT
On second thought, he added the jetpack back in with a couple modifications that would hopefully add some safety margins--it might help in the jumps after all, but beyond that, he didn't have any other major ideas for helping with different tests, aside from maybe the prosthetic aid could help with the throw, not just the grip later? He gave that some thought before his turn came up for the first test, and then tucked the notebook under one arm, ready for use but out of the way when not needed.
Ball Toss
Hal wished he had a cool move name for any of this, but honestly, he wanted to be sure his new ideas worked first. He didn't even have to open the notebook, though, to know exactly what thing from it he was going to manifest. He did tap it, some kind of contact with the source still needed if only from a psychological standpoint, when the metallic pieces formed around his right arm, whirring with a bit of hydraulics to add some power to each movement. Very carefully, he picked the ball up in that hand, pulled his arm back, and let fly.
Immediately pain exploded in his shoulder and he winced, very nearly biting his tongue, the manifestation disappearing a few seconds later as he clapped his good hand over the hurt shoulder. A quick examination would prove that there had been no overt damage done to his arm, the shoulder had just been dislocated due to him misjudging the power added by the prosthetic aid, but damn it still hurt, and he had to deal with a sore arm for a bit after it had been put back into place. He could say the ball went a pretty damn decent distance though. Not as far as Serena's throw but much further than his own throw last year. It looked like he had landed roughly in the same area as Atsushi and Ryoken, but he was more chagrined at how he had miscalculated and less focused on finding out his exact score.
Sidesteps
He had no fancy tricks for this, simple, pure, athletic practice. He did have a few breathing exercises to help him keep his body coordinated, but in the end he didn't really do much better than Ryoken, at a perfectly even 110 steps. Just a bit over one per second, not bad at all! That was half again as well as he did the first year, and he grinned, quite proud of himself!
50m swim
This time, he had one trick, albeit a small one, manifesting a pair of...swimming flippers on his feet as he lined up for his turn--though he had to quickly turn and shield his notebook from getting splashed by Alain's showboating. He glared at Alain for a few seconds, set the notebook back well away out of any further splash zones, then returned to the pool, rolling his shoulder one more time, most of the pain gone by this point but the reminder to not get cocky still lingering in his thoughts. And then he executed a flawless dive that also leveraged kicking off the edge of the pool to give him a bit of extra propulsion. He was nowhere as good as those who could use their quirks to directly aid them, but he did manage an extremely respectable 29 seconds. He was proud of his athleticism, and the fact he had practiced using flippers before just for fun, as well, meant he knew how to use them efficiently. A professional, competitive swimmer who had no quirk to aid them would be proud of this result, and so was he! He emerged from the pool giving a fist pump of triumph!
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Post by ultralilly on Aug 17, 2023 0:31:17 GMT
These tests were making her nervous but maybe that was a good thing. Seeing everyone's eyes on her was sure to light some kind of fire beneath her. Just hopefully not the kind of fire that would burn her. The swimming part was something she dreaded. She was no good with it. I wasn't that she couldn't swim, it was the fact that she tended to flail helplessly in it to go from one side of the pool to another. She could certainly float, however. She knew that much.
For now, focus on the ball and only the ball. She held it in the palm of her regular human hand. She was certain if she had held it with her other limb, it'd get too stuck. Being durable...would it be enough to go above and beyond? The plus ultra way? No doubting herself. Action was needed. Her antennae twitched as she stood up straight with ball in hand. Her eyes opened wide with firm determination. Throw the ball as hard as you can, as far as you can. She gripped tighter. Is there someone here you want to impress? There certainly was. Whether they knew it or not, Mei was going to show them the fruits of her training!
Her entire arm tightened as she took a wide stance and lightly pulled her entire body to one side. Then like a rubberband, unleashed her stance to let the ball sail from her hands and up toward the sky at a diagonal angle. The speed at which it took off made Mei gasp lightly as it was stronger than she had realized. It traveled a good distance. Reaching a result of 240 meters according to the bot. Was it better than her fellow classmates? Probably not. Was it better than the average person? By a wide margin. All that mattered though was that she did better than last year. SHe was left shaking a little from the muscles she'd used to throw. A proud if not slightly teary smile crossed her face. That was good enough for her.
Sidesteps. Sidesteps would have her reveal some limbs she'd kept hidden for awhile now. She sighed and lightly pulled up the back of her shirt and let down a bit of her shorts so that a pair of legs could unfold and safely emerge. They were shaped like farming scythes but more broad and segmented. They stabbed the ground to ensure they were stable. Alongside her regular human legs, this gave Mei a bit more speed she felt. The moment the time began, she knew she'd be performing much better than she originally would have thought. The backlegs swung with unnatural grace as they wound up doing the majority of her work and her human legs barely got a chance to move. It allowed her to make a record amount of sidesteps. Was it because the muscles she had built up were acting on memory? Or maybe they were always this strong and had never really given them a chance to shine like this? With every motion of her back legs, the thick sound of something piercing the dirt beneath would follow. The sounds began to blend into one another until it became fast enough to sound like a thresher where Mei was moving.
This could be done for awhile as far as Mei felt. While it was true she was feeling tired, her limbs were moving all on their own. Like a perpetual motion machine. But there would be a limit as the timer was nearly done. More. faster. SHe grunted with effort to push out a few extra hundred in these last moments and.... 513 steps. Shaking, she dropped down and panted heavily. Her legs twitched but didn't feel as sore if she had done this last year. Once again, better than last.
The 50m swim was something of her bane. She'd have to skim the water. Just looking at the surface and her mirrored reflection of anxiety made her wish she'd been better built for water. But a voice in the back of her head was telling her it'd be just fine. Blaze forward. Time to begin. Her back legs and her own would push her forward at the start. In the blink of an eye, her wings came bursting out to propel her even quicker across the water. They thrummed rapidly as her toes glided across the water followed by the slicing of her back legs, causing a wake to form. In record time, she crossed the water while keeping in contact with it and cleared it in five seconds flat. She didn't even stop at the edge but merely a few feet away from it so as to ensure she was clear of the water. No one wanted to see her flail in the water. That would be too embarrassing. On that same note, she turn to face Emily with a thumbs up. Eh? Why Emily again? Was it a knee-jerk reaction? Maybe so. But she feltlike it was the right move in the end. After all, she admired her for one reason or another.
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Post by azureentity on Aug 29, 2023 15:15:43 GMT
[Ball Toss]
Morgan was already prepared for her first activity, having already adopted a partial strength form. Her body wriggled as the fibers that made up her quirk shifted into full strength mode, making it appear as if her muscles expanded. She grabbed the ball with one hand, hefting it for weight. She used to play a little baseball back in the states, so this was probably the easiest of the tests for her. Morgan took up a pitching stance, firmly grasping the ball. Morgan rolled it around in her fingers for a moment, getting a feel for the resistance of the ball's material as she moved her feet for the stance. A deep exhale, her feet grinding into the ground as they twisted slightly. Inhale, Morgan eyed the sky ahead of her, her grip tightening on the ball. With a grunt of effort she slammed one of her feet forward as she wailed the ball into the distance.
[Sidestep]
Not wasting any time to read her results of the ball toss, Morgan's body quickly began to change again. This time her focus on being speed as her her quirk smoothed out over her natural figure, though her legs appeared be somewhat enlarged still. Not wasting a beat, she started sidestepping at rapid speed, kicking up a bit of debris as she do so. What mattered to her was the results for this test, not a little damage to the area. As soon as the timer stopped, she bolted over to the swim area at top speed, kicking up a bit of dust.
[50 Swim]
A clear helmet looking like a bioplastic film quickly closed over her head as she neared the pool. Morgan skidded to a halt just on the edge of the pool for a short pause, then dove straight in. Her sleek hydrophobic quirk combined speed mode aided her in quickly clearing the water in under a few seconds. When she reached the other side, Morgan vaulted over the edge and retracted her "helmet" back inside of her. She let out a slight breath of exasperation, taking a moment to shake the water off of herself.
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Post by notdomino on Sept 6, 2023 23:24:19 GMT
Benkei arrived only a few seconds after Mio, mainly because he had no clue this was a thing until a few minutes ago. He'd been direct by other staff to make over to the fields, which was fine, but he was a bit flabberghasted seeing some of the performances. "They do this every year?" Interesting how he still didn't recognize himself as a hero... -he, too, was included in they. Brine would nod to both Yo and Benkei. 2a was just as eccentric as 1a, but at least they weren't a bother like the first years. The good doctor would tend to those who needed help and explain to Benkei what needed to be done since it was his first time. "Got it! So just use my quirk to do my best. Shouldn't be so hard..."
After giving a shy wave to Serena, Ben would put his game face on and begin.
He jumped from one foot to the next without relenting. It wasn't a foreign movement, it was just as easy as getting loose for training at the dojo. Much like jump rope, if one kept a good rhythm, they'd rack up steps.
"314" The robo called out.
Next up was the swim, or well... -he was told to use his quirk, so he would. "Aligning Star!" He'd back up a few steps, before making a full sprint to the pool's edge. Solidified star constructs would appear beneath his feet as footholds as he easily leaped across. He'd clear the entire pool in two long jumps.
"3 seconds!"
Last was the ball toss apparently. He took note of the few performances he'd seen and figured out a game plan of his own. He'd chuck the ball a fair amount before sprinting after it. He went for height to assure that he could "catch it" or rather juggle it. This throw wasn't about throwing the ball into space but, getting it across distance in general. As the ball got close to his, he'd shield his knuckles with a large star, "Shield Constellation, Seiken!" With this powerful shield bash of a punch, the ball would blast back into the air and cover more distance. He'd repeat this until the ball couldn't be reached.
"691 meters!"
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Post by Beriadan on Sept 28, 2023 19:01:47 GMT
Yo had watched her classmates with a slightly foggy look. It wasn't unusual for her to seem tired, slightly distant, but she made sure she gave everyone a thumbs up and a smile as they finished. She wanted to seem likable, and her classmates were all good people. Yo paused as it was her term. How good had she become in a year? Time to find out!
The ball throw was better than last year, but her quirk couldn't help. So it wasn't anywhere close to the quirk-fueled throws of her peers, but Yo was happy with it none the less.
The sidesteps... well, all it took was Yo crouching, placing both hands on the ground and creating a small localised vibration around her. Her body shook, on top of a loosened piece of ground that shuddered fast from side to side and left her feeling dizzy. Still, her number was high! Yo had to take a moment, shaking off her shakenness and finding her place by the pool.
Yo placed her hand by the side of the pool. She concentrated...
"Focus Fault!"
A directed vibration shot out from her fingertips, blasting through the water and splitting it down the middle. Swiftly, Yo leapt in, sprinting as fast as she could, stopping a few times to place her hand on the ground and vibrate the water away again. She leapt out as the water closed in behind her, breathing out. It was slower than her 50m dash, but she was dry, at least!
On her way back, Yo smiled at Benkei, a new kid who had yet to make friends. She felt like perhaps she could be open enough in her second year... maybe she could add one more to her growing list of friends!
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Post by Bixir on Sept 29, 2023 6:25:23 GMT
Emily watched each of her classmates go before her, one by one, one by one... by one, and so on. Why hadn't she gone yet? What was holding her back? It was hard to tell if that was her own voice asking her that, or her Gramps. She never would've froze like this while on one of his patrols! She just, needed to get it over with! That was it! It's not like there was pressure for this... right?
"Bugger me..."
There was nothing for it but to step forward. Many of these challenges wouldn't be much challenges at all. Emily knew that. That didn't make the lead-up any less difficult. Just do it. Just... be a Hero. Easy, right?
Running came naturally to Emily. She was a born athlete, and even when she wasn't in Bulwark, her Quirk had given her body significantly enhanced strength and fortitude. As such, her dash was head and shoulders over many of her peers. There were those like Alain, granted, but ever since the Sports Festival last year, they were always going to be rivals. When it came time for the jump, Emily's Quirk came into action, if only for a moment. Her running shoes spontaneously turned into heavyset metal boots. She dug her new heels into the patch of earth mid-dash, and quite literally sprung herself up and over the high bar like it was nothing. Emily went so far as to do a gymnast's twirl at the crest of her jump, then landed with perfect grace, no longer burdened her her Quirk's boots.
The strength tests went even better. Sit-ups had been Emily's bread and butter back when she played basketball back at home, and she hadn't stopped when she came to Japan. She did them naturally, and proudly at that. It was important to be able to perform without using your Quirks if for whateer reason you couldn't rely on your powers. The push-ups and grip test, on the other hand, were done with Bulwark, if only to emphasize her full strength in these areas. It was easy to assume that Emily may not perform well in those departments relative to the more outwardly physical students. As far as she was concerned, she was (hopefully) among the best of the best.
Coordination... was not too coordinated. Emily gave it her all, but throws and agile movement were far from her strong suits. She knew her throw with Bulwark was more than strong enough, but it was probably too much power - she lost track of the ball almost as soon as it had left her grasp. The sidesteps... the less said about that, the better. At least Gramps wasn't here to watch... yet.
Emily knew that the swimming was going to be her most daunting task out of all the tests today. She wasn't a great swimmer on her own, and she was bound to sink like a stone in her armor if she so much as touched the water. She started a long distance away from the pool, kitted in her Quirk's armor. She started with a march, then quickly broke into a mad dash for the pool. The ground shook with increasing intensity as she got closer. At the very last moment, Emily thrust her baton-turned-axe into the ground with a mighty swing. Metal shrill against earth, Emily's enlarged form soared into the air. As it was, she most certainly wouldn't have gotten far... which was why she transformed back into her normal self. The overwhelming momentum from Bulwark translated seamlessly into her lighter frame. As a result, Emily catapulted herself well across the pool. Her landing wasn't as nice as her high jump, but it was a landing, and a dry one at that.
Once Emily got her bearings back, she looked around at the crowd, hands on her hips and giving her characteristic smile. She didn't know if that was going to work... but it did! She just needed to believe in herself!... and it wasn't corny to say that. It wasn't. But more importantly...
Was anyone watching?
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Post by notdomino on Dec 9, 2023 23:13:12 GMT
OOC: As bix accidentally placed all his exercises in one post, I'll rank him as we go along side you guys. Next up is strength tests. Push ups, Sits Up, device to test grip strength, and Giant cement block break. _____________________________ Names flickered across a scoreboard to denote where the students ranked among one another regarding Coordination. Coordination Rankings 1. Alain 2.Serena 3.Morgan Tied 4.Mei 4. Benkei
5. Ryoken Tied 6. Yo 6. Emily 7. Atsushi 8.Haldor Brine nodded. These kids were doing well compared to their young counterparts. There was much less of a mixed bag when it came to results, as each student had a preferred strong suit, but tried their hardest not to slouch in other areas. He gathered the materials and directed the Radar Robos to get to work in getting the next line of exercises ready. With each broken cement block, a robo would bring in another to replace as each student stepped up in line. "Alright, alright time for strength." Brine gave a tiny breather but didn't waste too much time in alert the students to the next go around. ____________________________ Benkei gave a subtle half-bow to Yo who seemed nice enough. Hmmm, counting Serena, maybe he could make friends with her too. Maybe this hero course wouldn't be so lonely after all. The boy would think about his action. The whole point of this was to use his quirk... In these exercises, the question was... how? He'd get into push up position and create a star to sit under his chest. "Aligning star." This star would act as a handicap to propel him up instead of actually using his arm strength and getting tuckered out. He'd put that exact same idea to sit-ups, seating a star right under his back as he forced himself far into the triple digits. Push Ups - "522"Sit ups - "540"
As for the grip test. There was no real way to finesse his Star Maker quirk into the equation. Strong but not that impressive. When it came to cement block break, well... if ain't broke don't fix it. "Shield Constellation: Seiken!" He'd punch a star shaped hole through the block, before it caved in on itself completely. "CLEAN BREAK." |
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Post by Kogashi on Dec 18, 2023 8:52:58 GMT
Atsushi returned, back to his human form and toweled dried, as the new set of tests were being set up. He generally knew how he planned to handle most of the new test, and really looked forward to showing off, or at least doing better than he did before. But as he thought about how he would approach the tests, a fresh, new, troubling thought hit him. wait... how... does a tiger paw hold, a grip test device?. After about a minute of thought, he finally gave the grip tester an attempt, hold in his hand, normally, and transform it as he tried to grip it. The sound of the device being sliced through was rather silent compared to the clatter of the pieces falling to the ground, much to Atsushi's momentary embarrassment. He had the sense that he should have, instead, just gone with his plan B of laying on the floor and stepping on it with a transformed limb.
The other tests were, in comparison, simple enough for him to use his quirk for a better score. The cement block, which he had originally hit with his transformed arm rather lazily in his first year was now reduced to dust this year. The Push-ups he did normally until his arms started to tire, and then transformed them, recovering his strength... but also lifting him bodily off the ground for a few seconds. And sit ups... he was just rather good at doing sit ups raw, netting, even after all the rest, a solid 436 before exhausting himself.
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Post by Beriadan on Jan 28, 2024 18:21:57 GMT
Sit-ups and push-ups weren't something she could use her quirk to enhance, but she could push herself none the less. She had spent her whole teenage life training where she could, and she finished far above an average quirkless amount for both counts. Sweaty and panting, Yo grinned to herself. Better than last year by a considerable amount!
Grip strength? No problem! She held it tight, and... vibration! It shook the machine, Yo concentrating on similar waves that rippled across the surface. Each vibration increased the grip, as Yo focused, eyes shut, expression fierce. Up and up... until the machine vibrated to pieces! It was a high score that showed on the device, one that was far higher than last year, and way above an average score once again. Yo sheepishly held up the detatched handle. Well that part hadn't changed from last year!
Finally, the concrete block. Yo placed both hands on either side. Slowly at first, but with growing intensity, the whole block shook and rattled, vibrating with immense intensity until it blasted into pieces! She dusted off her hand, nodding to herself.
"Not bad!"
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Post by cmd1095 on Jan 28, 2024 18:25:06 GMT
Serena grumbled a bit as she placed behind Alain in coordination. She'd beaten him on two of the three tests and he still outdid her! Why was throwing a ball super hard in coordination instead of strength anyway? Sure he had more brute force than her but she felt she'd clearly been the winner of that category overall. But fine, she was used to being in his shadow by now... even if it irked her. If nothing else they would at least be evenly matched on this next category though, the nature of the tests, funnily enough, meant that while Alain might've had more raw power than her, that wouldn't directly translate into results
First up with the grip strength device, which Serena had a bit of a cheat code for. Her initial grip strength as she expended a bunch of kinetic energy into it was in the thousands of pounds of force, but then the number kept ticking up... and up... and up... and it didn't stop
As the grip tester pushed back against her hand, it was exerting as much force back on her as she was pushing it with, but by absorbing that it couldn't push her hand back, and she could then reapply that energy to push the thing even further, essentially making her score infinity as eventually the device itself just crumpled. It was built to withstand superstrength, not an infinite force glitch
Push ups and sit ups both went similarly, with effectively infinite scores as Serena didn't even need to exert herself, just using her quirk to push or sit herself up, then recouping the energy loss on the way back down. Combine that with her actual endurance to handle the slight energy loss, or just pulling in ambient heat to passively recharge the minimal exertion of her reserves, only needing to exert her muscles periodically and getting plenty of rest in between having to do so each time, and she could effectively do them all day. Once again Serena had to question the category names... this wasn't a strength test, it was endurance! And if there was ANY category Serena was definitively Alain's better in, it was endurance.
Lastly was the cement block, which was going to be an absolute blowout for both her and her rival, but to show off Serena walked up to the block as casual as could be, and did a one inch punch on the thing, unleashing her full kinetic reserves all at once into it and reducing the thing to cement dust in an instant. Then she yawned for effect and walked back, giving Atsushi a pat on the back as she did
"you're doing great man, sorry about knocking you over into the pool like that. But that full tiger form of yours looks mighty impressive." she said encouragingly with a smile
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Post by ultralilly on Jan 28, 2024 21:11:24 GMT
Was anyone watching?
As Emily finished up her round of assessments, she did indeed have the attention of one Meisei Tachikawa who was in awe. She always had been but had refused to say much on the matter at all. Emily was...cool. She had improved alot since last year which still felt like a blur to her. Maybe this year, she'd muster up the courage to just go ahead and let Emily know EXACTLY what she thought of her!
Atsushi was doing his best and even he was improving. Serena and Alain were as daunting and as impressive as ever. How she wished she had a modicum of their strength in her own arsenal. They were really going to shine in this next test, she thought. Morgan Mei never got a chance to acknowledge but showed a bit of interest at their results after recovering from her own test. Ryoken...she sighed. They were very good as well. Surrounded literally by talent as she eyed the results. Yo and Benkei were even more relatable goals in her eyes. They were really pushing it and that was hen Mei realized that she needed to try even harder. Much harder.
These upcoming tests, she knew she was no powerhouse like Alain or Serena. All she knew she had going for her was her nigh unbreakable defense that she had purely used just for that. Defense. The only time she got to test her strength was grappling someone and that....actually worked? It didn't work for long but it worked enough. That encounter alongside Jack had really given her that dose of confidence last year. Hanging on to that, she faced the next set of trials with that smidgen of confidence.
The grip test was the first she'd face with gusto. Okay, Mei. Envision it as them. They get away, they hurt people! She used her weaponized limb to fit into the device. They can't get away. They WON'T get away! She grunted hard and squeezed as hard as she could. The numbers climbed but she could feel like it wasn't enough. She stopped looking and focused. The measurement increased gradually as Mei thought only one thing. This one can't be let go. If they get free, bad things would happen. She focused even harder. Then, she grit her teeth and mandibles. Her limbs were now reaching a place that felt painful. She then locked that feeling into place and enforced it on the device. She had been focusing so hard, she didn't even hear the device buckle under the pressure. it was bending but not breaking. And that was enough for the girl. The end result; 735lbs of pressure max. But this clearly made it show the desperation on Mei's face to achieve this.
The pushups went by relatively...longer than she had hoped. When her humanoid arms got tired, she'd switch them for the raptorial forelimbs and kept a steady progress that made her own heart do leaps of excitement. She couldn't even believe it! This was...easier than she thought it was? She may never reach the same levels as Alain or Serena but she was scratching some type of surface with the amount she reached of 712 by which point both sets of limbs had gotten too wobbly to go any further without damaging something.
The situps were a bit rougher on her but still managed to bring herself up to a respectable number in her eyes. She didn't keep count this time nd mainly focused on just doing as many as she could before her body tired itself out. To the limit, she thought. Her upper body strength had to be impressive with how much her grip strength was, right? Her limbs kept her steady and she continued until she could do no more. 503.
Finally, the test she had been dreading. The block break. She stood before it with fearful eyes. People were watching. Her classmates were watching. But most importantly in her head, SHE was watching. Fear set in. If she couldn't show improvement, if she couldn't show that she was better than last year, would they still acknowledge her? Would they even notice? Would they even see she was still there, waiting for a hand of friendship to reach out and touch her own. Tears surfaced in the corners of her eyes. Doubt crept in full-force. She'd been unseen. Unheard. The past year felt like she hadn't done anything to shine. Most of these others had gone on to be with great heroes and study under them. Her classmates were much better than herself while she had merely remained by herself. What had she done? She walked up to the blocks and stared down at them as she shook. Nothing. No. That didn't feel right. She endured a hit from that villain. She helped. She mattered? She mattered! She reared up her head, throwing it back as she brought her forelimbs up to her face, completely shielding it. What did she do back then?! It was this. Her entire front now an unbeatable force in her head. Then it dawned on her as she felt the spring lock into place. Her head, she wanted to purge these bad thoughts.
And so, she put all the focus into her forehead and her forelimbs. Forefront. Everything up front. She'd never done this before but at this point, all she could think about was how nothing was going to get past her and that she was stronger than she realized. With a desperate cry, she'd lunge at the block with the combined force of her forehead and forelimbs vertically slamming down....and utterly destroying each and every one as the durability held up and while it did not reduce them to dust, it did create quite a bit of debris.
After, she rose her head up high, looking like she was going to cry. She wiped them away. Her teeth grit and her body tensed up. She uttered a similar cry but this one felt more triumphant. Like she had accomplished a great feat. While it would seem a simple thing to do in most circles, To her, it felt like she had just surmounted a hurdle she had been always looking to overcome.
And then she'd fall to her knees.
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