Glitter
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Post by Glitter on Apr 6, 2018 7:30:34 GMT
 Guardians of Eleste Once the world had been at war and Eleste had been several smaller nations under the thumb of an evil dictator. When an allied force defeated the villain, the small nations banded together and their union gave rise to the nation that would soon become a superpower.
Now the world looks to Eleste as an example of prosperity, it’s continued success by virtue of its diversity, thriving economy and peaceful society. Eleste has maintained a policy of neutrality for 160 years now and crime is at an all time low. At the centre of this peace are The Guardians of Eleste - powerful elite mages who act as a law enforcement agency within the city. Captain Oliver Savas Chapter One, Part One: Hit the Ground Running
“Roughly one thousand candidates applied for the written exam. Of that thousand, there are now five hundred of you.” Captain Oliver Savas said, standing firm in front of the legion of applicants, wind rippling through his sandy brown hair. “Now we move on to the practical testing. You will race from this point to the point on the opposite side of the city. You are welcome to engage each other, sabotage each other and otherwise prevent your fellow applicants from completing the race before you - or at all. The only rules are that you don’t kill anyone, you don’t interfere with anyone not in the race and you make the entire journey on foot. Any questions so far?”There were a few murmurs through the crowd, but the instructions were simple enough. Savas looked over the applicants with a critical eyed. They were young men and women, no older than twenty-five, some as young as sixteen. They stood there awaiting the toughest trial so far, displaying apprehension, excitement or determination. Many were armed, carrying melee weapons or firearms loaded with blanks. Savas could tell just by looking at some that they wouldn’t be passing. Others he could guarantee would. For the rest, only time would tell.“Only the first two hundred of you to reach the point on the other side of the city will pass part one of the practical test. You will be briefed about part two when you get there. Drones will follow you throughout part one of the test so don’t try any funny business. Go!”It took the group a moment to realise the test had abruptly began, but then they were off, climbing buildings or sprinting down the street. |
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Post by Sephear on Apr 7, 2018 4:50:33 GMT
"Go!" The instant the words left the Captain's mouth Roran launched from the starting point as if he had superhuman strength, sailing through the air for an instant lead over most of the competition with a toothy grin. While Captain Savas had been giving his speech about the race Rowan had been putting most of his brain's processing power to math, physics and his magic. He had made just the right gravity zone under his feet to launch himself with his maximum possible distance and velocity safely, leaving it dormant until the exact moment they had the go-ahead to start.
As tempting as it was to look back at the surely flabbergasted and frustrated faces of those left behind by Roran and the others with the forethought to have such an explosive start in mind, it would be a waste of energy. He chose to sacrifice his airborne chuckle and instead doublecheck his mental math to be sure he had his trajectory mapped out properly. Once he was sure where he'd land, Roran stared hard at the destined spot in the empty street, crafting another gravity zone under himself and squinting slightly at the wind buffeting his face. Seconds before he went splat Roran's descent slowed and instead of turning into a pile of fleshy goop, his movement became purely horizontal and he "slid" across the empty space just above the street as if he were on an invisible skateboard.
Roran's impromptu hoverboard trick carried him swiftly down one of the many potential paths to the finish line but he wasn't satisfied simply reaching his destination as quickly as possible. Over and over again as he continued onwards Roran continually plotted out rules, conditions in his head. Each time the specifications were realized in his mind, Roran would lean down and touch a spot on the street, a passing newspaper stand, even a wall, whatever seemed like a good spot. The further towards the shared goal of every student there the young man grew, the more gravity zones were left as deterrents for those unfortunate enough to be behind him. Invisible jump pads, areas where one would suddenly weigh multiple times as much as they normally do, even areas where the space between two buildings would be evenly split between to zones each pulling anything inside towards or away from each other.
Hopefully nobody gets seriously hurt...but they knew what they were getting into signing up for all this, can't take any chances of losing here. Roran ignored any unfortunate crashing sounds or other uncomfortable noises he heard behind him as long as they weren't too close and continued forwards resolutely.
In the end, Roran hadn't really run into any direct competition throughout the test. Sure, he had to avoid a few obstacles here or there but his opening gambit seemed to have assured that the only other students who could really keep up with him either had enough raw speed or were roundabout enough for them to not even really counter each other. Everything remained overall uneventful until he came skidding to a stop at the marked point in the city, slightly disappointed that he saw a small number of students already there. He even outwardly groaned when he saw a device with what were obviously thrusters fold up and disappear into a small compartment on the back of one of the other students. "Jetpacks? Now that's just not fair...dang techies and their superbrains..."
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Synth
Playwriter
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Post by Synth on Apr 10, 2018 14:00:28 GMT
Ryoko groaned inwardly when she realised that the physical portion of the entrance exam really was going to be physical - why couldn't they have just taken another written test or had some sort of display of their abilities that didn't involve running around? She was never going to be as physically fit as the rest of the candidates and her magic wouldn't help her rocket around the course either. She was just going to have to do her best and do what she could to sabotage as many of the others as possible, that was at least one thing her powers were good for... She channelled her magic inwards once the signal was given and set off at a speed that made a normal persons run look like a leisurely stroll - but it was still a lot slower than what some of the others were capable of. One guy even started flying and hovering around which she was pretty sure was against the rules! Still, he was clearly going to be so far ahead of her that it wasn't worth worrying about. It made sense that if someone displayed that much skill they'd be given a pass on their potential alone.
She made a point to avoid the most obvious route through the course, the people faster than her might be relying on their speed but that didn't mean they might not lay traps behind them as well. As she raced through the city she took every available opportunity to interfere with any other candidate she could see. They came to a halt as imaginary walls sprang up in their path, took a detour as another racer seemed to collapse a building in front of them... one guy even flat out fainted when she swarmed his path with cat sized spiders chanting for equal rights, something she'd meant to just freak him out enough to go a less direct way.
She stumbled to the end of the course, nearly losing her footing as she gasped for breath, although anyone looking at her might find it odd that she didn't seem to be sweating at all. She was pretty sure she'd made the cut, if only barely, and now had to hope the next part of the test was something she could handle a little better. It was far easier to craft her illusions when she could take the time to do it properly, a lot of what she'd thrown up during the run had been really sloppy. It was a good thing the other runners had been moving too fast to really examine them otherwise most of them probably wouldn't have worked.
She wiped the sweat from her brow that no one could see and looked around, trying to get a measure of the other people here. The flashy guy from the start was there, she guessed that he was able to alter his velocity somehow. He looked like he'd found the run a breeze!
Must be nice to have magic that can actually DO something...
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Glitter
Administrator
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Post by Glitter on Apr 14, 2018 9:43:40 GMT
Clarence King 
Entrance Exam - Part One: The Race
Clarence was one of the quicker ones to react to the abrupt commencement of the race, but he was still slow enough that he saw several other applicants rushing ahead. A technopath used his magic to produce a jetpack and take off in the lead. Not far behind him, another used some sort of propulsion to fire themselves into the sky. A woman with a broom was riding the cleaning tool like a witch from a story. It was clear the competition would be fierce.
Not too far behind that initial group of front-runners, Clarence took off at a run. He needed to be free of obstacle, which meant he needed to go up to avoid civilians and other competitors who were stuck on the ground. He couldn’t afford to waste time moving directly up though, so he took a more staggered approach. He ran forward, channeling magic through his body to enhance his physical abilities. He was far faster now than the average runner and possessed the strength he needed to reach the roof of a small building.
Clarence used his enhanced prowess to climb higher and higher, moving up the buildings like they were an oversized staircase. He was beginning to reach those of a size he couldn’t climb with that kind of ease. He withdrew the first of his coins. He drew back his arm and hurled the disc into the air, a second coin was tossed lightly in front of him with his other hand. In an instant both flashed to life, expanding into glowing blue portals. He ran through the second and came flying out the second onto the roof of a skyscraper. He snagged the coin out of the air as it reformed and continued his run forward. Suddenly though he found himself pulled down with a great force. He hit the surface of the roof, finding himself looking directly at a small metal ball.
“What?!” he grunted under the strain, it was as though gravity itself had magnified. He’d been expecting traps but the nature of this one had completely caught him by surprise. “Not going to let this stop me!” he resolved.
Straining under the extra weight he now carried, he morphed the coin in his hand into a small portal. Then, he lowered it over the ball. In the next instant, the effect vanished, instead occupying a pocket dimension. Clarence closed the portal and hurled the coin across to a lower rooftop where he’d seen another applicant out the corner of his eye. As the coin reached the space above the competition, Clarence opened the portal again and the gravity trap dropped from it. The other guardian-hopeful dropped like a stone as the trap’s effect took hold on his area. Now free of the gravity trap’s influence, Clarence kept moving.
He soon came to the conclusion that whoever was setting those traps had taken the same general direction that he had. Clarence found himself caught a second time, this time floating up and away from the Earth. He tossed a coin into the air and floated straight through the portal he made, re-emerging at a checkpoint he’d left on a previous rooftop. He collected the checkpoint coin and moved ahead, snagging the second trap in a pocket dimension as he made his way past it once more. Like the before, he sprung it on another competitor. He watched as another young man floated into the air until he was out of range of the sphere. Then he plummeted down until he was caught again and the cycle continued. There was definitely some formidable competition. However, the end was in sight for Clarence. He’d reached the central station and dropped from a ledge onto the top of a train.
The vehicle hurtled forward in the general direction Clarence was heading. From his position atop it, Clarence made use of a few more of his portals to hinder any competition he saw. A woman found herself running through a portal loop, unable to stop her momentum enough to avoid the closely placed coins, a man found himself falling through another portal and ended up dangling from a window sill and a third applicant ran headfirst into a building and knocked themselves out.
Clarence dismounted the train and made the rest of the way to his target destination on foot. It seemed he wasn’t a part of a larger group like he expected he would be, reaching the finish line alone. A small group had already assembled there, he noted that it included the front-runner he’d seen earlier. He suspected that they’d never lost ground. He also wondered which one of them had been leaving those annoying traps behind. He nodded confidently at a small cluster of his fellows. The first practical assignment hadn’t been so bad.
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Post by aeternum on Apr 17, 2018 18:47:52 GMT
Gordon sat back for a second and watched as the other candidates scrambled to get started. Some began climbing over one and other while others ignored their competition completely.
Regardless of which way he went about it, this physical exam would be a cakewalk for Gordon. He could completely avoid the others, or he could take each and every one of them out as he went. The only limitations he faced was the inability to kill - which would have only made it that much easier.
'I wonder... just how far could I go with this?' He thought to himself. At what point would they begin to think less of him? At what point would his true colors begin to shine through?
"That's it then." Gordon pulled the knife - his talisman - from his jacket pocket and plunged it into his arm, absorbing it into his body and causing his form to rapidly change. "Speed is the safest strategy. Speed... I need... speed..."
The man's entire body warped around, bringing him down to all fours. The bones in his hands shattered apart and reformed into additional feet while the rest of his body slimmed down and elongated. After it was finished, he almost looked like an arrow with legs.
A handful of other candidates were struggling to gain tractiom and were still only a few feet from the starting line. Gordon smirked wickedly as he saw an opportunity. The man bolted forward, making full use of his new more aerodynamic form.
"Crippling you is well within my abilities in this competition." Gordon chuckled as he crashed headfirst into one of the candidates, fusing their bodies together momentarily before separating and continuing on his way.
"Aaaaah! Fuck!" The man who Gordon had passed through screamed out as he fell to the ground. His arms had been torn off at his shoulder, leaving him with small intentions into his chest where they used to be connected.
Gordon lurched forward to the next victim, the last candidate having given him a small boost in speed from their collision. Gordon repositioned the stolen arms to beneath his body, once more destroying the bones within them as he reformed them into feet more suitable for his current form.
The man preyed on candidate to candidate, looking off into the city as he watched others fall into traps and set ones of their own. He laughed quietly to himself, knowing that regardless of what they did they would never be able to catch him with their antics if he stuck to the streets that he doubted that anyone knew the city's darkest places like he did... and some of it's darkest alleys were some of it quickest shortcuts, especially with the numerous pedestrians out and about the main roads.
Gordon slipped into one of those very alleyways after having stolen the arms from nearly forty hopeful candidates. The man snaked his way around the darkened paths, kicking off of walls, doors and dumpsters in an attempt to propel himself toward faster.
The alleys were relatively peaceful compared to the rest of the city today. It seemed that the usual nefarious men and women had opted to stay inside when so many guardian hopefuls and cameras were out. Only a building over, Gordon could hear the chaos that was ensuing due to the other candidates' interactions.
"Ridiculous." Gordon shook his head as he burst out from the maze of alleys and shot over to the finish line. "Hmph, just about as I'd predicted."
He had finished nowhere near first, having limited himself to only stealing the arms of the other candidates, but he wasn't even close to the cutoff mark either. If he'd gone all out though... Well, there was always the next part of the test anyways.
"I suppose it's only fair that they get these back now, seeing as how I have no use for them anymore anyways." Gordon sat upright, his body towering over the trees and the other candidates. With a grunt, the arms and excess skin began to pour out of his body from his chest, stomach and mouth as he reverted back to a more regular human form. "There. Much better." Gordon pulled his knife free from his chest where it had begun to protrude and stretched himself out, popping the various bones in his body as his magic dispersed itself.
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Post by Mythic on Apr 18, 2018 20:42:39 GMT
Lyle Dunne Murphy- Another Day, Another Trial
Tests. Everything always ends in some test. Even if you feel like there is no way whatever you are doing couldn’t possibly involve a test, it somehow becomes a test. Life, itself, in a way, is little more than a series of trials. Even so, Lyle did not imagine that so many literal exams stood in his way of becoming accepted in to the Guardian Academy. The written exam was enough a drag, with Lyle squeaking by admittedly. He was never the best test taker, but he took enough standardized exams that a little bit of strategy helped him well enough, even if he didn’t know the answer. At least, the practical exam, Lyle could show his stuff.
Or not.
He didn’t pay much attention to the barking orders of Captain Savas, mostly taking in the atmosphere and competition. Most of the applicants were about Lyle’s age; young adults with either chips on their shoulders or large ambitions. It was a real shame that he knew what most of them were going to do: go all out and fail anyway. None of them probably realized that it was not the fast and dangerous that would win, or the slow and steady, but rather the patient and consistent. Lyle, therefore, tried to piece together a plan: one simple yet flexible; efficient yet effective.
The word “Go!” carried through the wind, as a young man bolted forward with unnatural momentum. Others flew forward or sidestepped the crowd. Lyle, deduced that any plan he did have wasn’t going to work. He couldn’t fly, teleport or run super fast. Lyle could, however, out muscle the rest of the crowd. Activating his talisman, and rubbing his hand against the concrete, Lyle embodied the substance, becoming far stronger than he was before. With his increased strength, Lyle plowed through the bulk of the crowd, literally shrugging off any retaliation from the competition while hurling the less adept at fighting.
As most of the stranglers were left in bruised heaps of muscle and bone, Lyle needed something more nimble to navigate the crevices of the city a bit easier. Using his enhanced concrete strength, Lyle tore apart a fire hydrant, and used another hand to absorb the properties of earth and water, to adapt the property of mud. Becoming a mud man, Lyle weaved through the various fences, alleys and cracks of the city. Using this strategy, Lyle literally squeaked back into the contention.
Slithering to the end of the race, Lyle noticed numerous people on the horizon. Lyle became concerned, and used a burst of mud to coat a significant crowd of competition. With the prospects slowed, Lyle abandoned the mud properties and sprinted past the finish line, noticing many of the people who stuck out early, including those who blasted out and those who held back.
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Glitter
Administrator
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Post by Glitter on Apr 19, 2018 5:14:49 GMT
Captain Oliver Savas Chapter One, Part Two: Keep on Forward
“That makes two hundred sir” Savas’ assistant said quietly from his place next to the Captain. Savas nodded without taking his eyes off of the group. He took note of the people who were standouts - the ones who showed exceptional skill or power, who were overzealous or who were less able than their peers. Many of the frontrunners he classified in the former group, the woman who manipulated wind, the technopath and the man with the gravity magic among that lucky few. Then there were those with weaker powers who had shown skill and tenacity like the woman with the illusion-based abilities. He saw some who were causes for concern as well, the biokinetic who had grievously maimed some of his fellow applicants and a female student with electrokinetic magic that hadn’t regulated her power enough and sent several more to the emergency department. From what he could tell, nobody made this batch anything particularly special. They were slightly more able than the previous year group, but that was all.
“Well done to you, the two hundred who have passed this stage!” he said said, just loudly enough to make sure everyone heard “We now move immediately on to the second half of the practical exam - there’s not always time to rest in the field.”
Several of the assembled applicants groaned, Savas made a mental note of the ones he caught among them. Few people realised it, but there were times that being a Guardian was truly grueling. Sure, there hadn’t been a war in well over a hundred years but there were still all kinds of threats domestic and foreign that needed to be kept at bay to allow for that peace to continue. Savas wasn’t the sort to have much faith - or kindness - towards those who were already complaining.
“We’re moving to the academy for this one, on foot again obviously, but this isn’t a race. Follow me.” Savas set out in the direction of the academy, a long walk. He left his aide behind to turn back the applicants who had failed. He could see a handful were about to arrive. As he walked, he explained the next part of the test. “When we get to the academy, we’ll move to the outdoor training grounds. There are eight battlefields set up there. You will be randomly assigned a partner who you will engage in one on one combat. Winning is not what determines whether or not you pass however. You will be being graded by academy staff, one of whom is watching each battlefield. Of the two hundred of you still here, only the hundred highest scorers will be accepted.” |
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Glitter
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Post by Glitter on Apr 30, 2018 14:02:57 GMT
Clarence King and Roran Askell Entrance Exam - Part Two: The Standoff
A sharp, light whistle could be heard from near the front of the procession of students, belonging to one Roran Askéll. The noise annoyed some, set others more properly on alert for the trial ahead, Roran paid no particular mind to any of them as far as they could tell. "This place really is high class." He said to nobody specific. His blood began to heat up as they neared the arenas they would be using for the test. He was glad to have another chance to try showing the staff at the academy what he could do, even if - much to his disappointment - he could only imagine Savas would be strolling around checking all the combatants. It would be nice to have all of his attention but oh well, them's the breaks.
Clarence ignored the whistle, he didn't share his classmate's enthusiasm for the elegant building. The architecture was stunning yes, stone and marble and in many places even precious metals made for an elegant and iposing interior. Clarence had grown up surrounded by decadance and splendour though, it was nothing new to him. Just people showing off their wealth and power, or their importance, with a display. Instead he focused on strategising as best he could. He couldn't predict who he might face, but he could prepare some tricks in his mind that would work on any average opponent. So it was that Clarence was plotting and planning, as were many of the other students, when they passed outside again, finding themselves in an open field where eight dirt rectangles were set up. There was no ceiling overhead, the atrium open to the elements if not for the stone walls of the academy surrounding it. Doors leading to locker rooms or other areas of the premises lay unused around them. It seemed that this was a private affair.
Seven people were waiting for them, three men and four women. The other ajudicators it seemed, in addition to Savas. Several of them peeled off and began bringing old-fashioned balot boxes around to the students as they filtered in. Clarence was quick to receive a number being relatively close to the front of the group. He reached into the box and withdrew a slip of paper numbered with a twelve. Roran followed shortly after, drawing eleven and finding a good spot to watch the matches from.
"Numbers one through eight," one of the female proctors spoke "pair up with your matching number on one of the battlefields and commence when instructed. The rules are much the same as the first part of the examination, as long as you avoid causing permanent injury or death, you should be fine. Keep in mind that we are evaluating your power and skill, but also your suitability for the task at hand. Going overboard may result in immediate disqualification."
There may have been eight matches about to go on at once but as much as Roran wanted to observe them all to learn as much as possible his eyes were immediately drawn and then glued to one particular pair. In the second arena - the same one he would be fighting in soon - stood a brick house of a man with bulging muscles, bronzed skin and short, black hair in a simple black tanktop and blue-jeans. Staring the bulk was an equally easy-to-notice girl, six feet tall exactly. Her hair was long, blue and mostly straight, trailing down to below the small of her back and ending in wavy curls like the sea about to break upon the shore. Her sharp eyes were a dazzling gold like bright light shining through amber, her skin was perfectly tanned and her clothes stood out as much as the rest of her. The girl wore a black, slightly tight-fitting T-shirt with cutoff sleeves and a graphic from some obscure punk band and blue jean shorts that stopped halfway to her knees in favor of very dark green leggings covering the rest of her legs down to white sneakers. The girl was lithe and her curves were fittingly subtle to match but just enough to compliment her otherwise lanky physique. The most interesting detail of all about this girl? She was one of that tiny group of students that had beat Roran to the goal, he even suspected she might have been the first one to finish the race overall. The only sign of a weapon was - of course - the broom which she seemed to have ridden to victory on earlier, now rested lazily against her right shoulder by the matching hand.
The combatants stepped up to each other and appeared to exchange a few words the onlookers couldn't hear. Muscleman held his hand out for a shake but punk girl smirked, curled his fingers and bumped his knuckles with hers instead before stepping back. The big fella backpedaled the proper distance and both waited for the cue to begin. At the signal from their adjudicator the pain-train sprung at his opponent with surprising speed, going for a nice simple haymaker only to be swatted away by that broom, a massive blast of air coming from it as if it were some ancient mystical fan and sending the guy flying. It appeared to be an easy and simple ring-out but the first and only time the hulking hopeful's feet touched the ground after the attack he sprang straight back at the girl even faster than before and without the slighest bit of skidding in utter defiance of basic physics. This time he swung a wide, deadly punch faster than she could counter, forcing her to duck under it and remain on the defensive as a flurry of attacks came her way.
The Jugger-not never stopped moving for a second, each strike going faster and apparently harder until his missed punches were making gusts of wind much like his target's. Still the punk girl continued to dodge, even making it look easy, as if the faster he moved the faster she was able to move to match it. Finally came an uppercut so fast that the big guy's arm was a blur. The girl bent backwards with impossible flexibility and even as her enemy's knuckle scraped the tip of her nose she curved herself like a reed bending in the wind and flew between the lug's legs as if being dragged by her feet. She held her broom like it was a limbo stick and swept the would-be student's legs as she darted underneath hum, straightening herself up behind him even as he flipped cartoonishly in place. As soon as his feet were off the ground more wind roared into being, first keeping him in the air so he could find no purchase to maintain his momentum, then rotating around him faster and faster until he was trapped in a sort of air-cage. The poor guy couldn't seem to move much within the wind sphere and he quickly began to scrabble desperately at its edges, eyes beginning to bulge.
Seconds later, the male combatant dropped to the floor outside of the ring gasping for air and resting an arm in relief upon solid ground as he regained his breath. Apparently the cage he was in had not only been precise and far too strong to break, but was a vacuum, truly a terrifying combination.
Roran had watched the entire ordeal with rapt attention, eyes practically sparkling at the violent artistry on display. He'd been drawn to the girl's looks and sense of style right away but none of that compared to her skill and power. He actually cheered a bit as wind girl strolled casually outside of the ring and swept her hair to one side as if dislodging dust she'd accrued during the match, smiling mostly innocently at the staff member who'd been watching her match.
Clarence gave the wind user a stiff nod as she passed, then turned his attention to the man who had broken into a cheer. While it was true that the woman had shown tremendous skill, the outburst gave Clarence the opinion that this was a man who didn't take the responsibility of being a guardian seriously. It was like he was more interested in spectating or was there for a cheap thrill. He couldn't help but disapprove of such an irresponsible and childish attitude, he'd seen it too many times among the aquaintences of his relatives. The idea that for whatever reason you didn't have to take the serious work of others seriously because it wasn't work for you.
"Eleven and twelve!" the adjudicator called, prompting Clarence to snap out of his thoughts. Unpleasant memories weren't going to help him here. He moved onto the battlefield and took his place, pulling a pair of coins from his pocket and holding them tightly clenched in his fist. Turning to face his opponent, he smirked. On the opposite side of the battlefield stood the very same applicant that had been bothering him since they arrived. This was the perfect opportunity to show people what he was made of, that he wasn't like that.
Those numbers were an interesting coincidence. Roran could have sworn the very same guy he was up to fight had given him a stink eye for just a second. He brushed it off, however. Even if his instinct was right there would be time for impressions after he made it into the academy. As long as everyone was competition, the less they understood him, the better.
"Best of luck" Clarence said.
"To you as well." Roran replied. "It may not matter much since you look like stiff enough competition, but it's a relief to me we aren't fighting to eliminate each other. So why don't we put on a good show?" As the pair stood equidistant from the center of the ring and awaited their adjudicator's signal Roran was staring hard at the face of the other young man, taking note of it and the soace behind it, all the way to the wall, trying to do the math in his head as quickly as possible.
"Begin!"
At the proctor's word Roran snatched a ball bearing from his right pocket, snapped it to eye level and flicked it, surprising those watching when the small metal sphere shot towards his opponent's head like a bullet. The instant the bearing left his right hand Roran tossed a second one from his left, leaving it to roll lazily and apparently benignly in the other student-hopeful's direction.
Clarence recognised the metallic spheres immediately, amazed at his luck. He'd managed to draw an opponent with an ability he more or less knew. He didn't have time to think on it further though. He narrowly ducked the first ball, letting it soar over his head. Then, from his place on the ground, he slid one of his coins forward. Stopping just before the rolling orb, the coin expanded into a shining blue portal. Clarence flung his second coin in the direction of his opponent. Just as the ball fell into the first portal, the second portal opened directly in front of the other applicant allowing the ball to roll out at his feet as the first portal returned to coin form and was scooped back into Clarence's hand as he stood.
Thankfully, Roran hadn't triggered the ball that had been returned to him so there was no threat from it, he had even gotten a bit of information to work with thanks to the feint. Truly it felt like he had drawn one of the shortest sticks he could in this round. It may not impress the judges as much as a good fight but that didn't change what a daunting threat portals are in a fight where you can get ringed out. Roran stuck his hands in his pockets and kicked the orb by his feet back at his opponent before running after it. Along the way he withdrew another ball bearing from his right pocket and threw it straight up into the air without stopping his charge.
Clarence wasn't sticking around to stay in the way,, he dropped the coin he clutched and immediately transformed it into another portal. He let himself drop throught the doorway, reappearing out the one that remained open across from where he'd stood. He withdrew a third coin and with a bowler's action rolled it forward through the running applicant's feet, opening it just in front of his target as he whirled around, converting the portal on the ground back into coin form before kicking it out of bounds and opening it again just outside of the battlefield's edge.
The other young man jumped over the portal opening up in front of him only to see the jump itself would take him dangerously close to the edge of the ring. His eyes widened and his mind raced with split-second calculations and just before he landed his body jolted back and upwards with a suddenness that would make most people sick. Once he was a good distance above the center of the arena Roran cut off the zone that had brought him up and replaced it with one that kept him at his current altitude. The only way he could think of to beat this guy with any sort of efficiency would be to narrow his options and it didn't seem like he could fly.
Roran reached into both of his pockets and pulled out every ball bearing he had left except for one, gathered them all into one hand and threw them towards the arena in a way that caused them to scatter. It looked like his opponent could only make one portal per coin and he couldn't imagine anyone having the god like precision to throw them all perfectly to intercept all the spheres with individual portals. If the guy could make a portal the size of the entire arena floor Roran assumed the match would have been over in moments and he seemed as vulnerable to his own portals as Roran was. As soon as the bearings found their places on the floor he would activate a x3 anti-gravity zone for each one, all angled to push anyone within them out of the arena at a high velocity. It was a risky gambit for a number of reasons but there would be very little safe real estate left on the arena floor.
Whether it was his prior knowledge of Roran's abiltiies or instinct that did it Clarence couldn't say, but he realised what was happening. He wasn't out of options, he had a few different risky options available to him, however his mind was racing. He wasn't entirely sure what the best option to go with was and he had no time to decide, he could be assailed by a gravity effect at any moment. He'd been pretty passive in the match so far, relying on subtle tricks to get sneaky advantages over Roran, perhaps this time he should go on the offensive.
"If I can't go through, I'll go over." he said to himself, ensuring that he had a handful of coins at the ready as well as access to more. He had no idea exactly how many he might need with the random directions he could find himself being pulled. Mentally bracing himself for the figurative and literal headache this maneouver was likely to be, Clarence hurled a coin directly into the air, opening a portal at the peak of its trajectory. He smirked at Roran before running straight forward towards the gravity mage. Clarence knew Roran had only two choices, he could let him get close and attempt to fight a less-tired foe or he could activate his magic and set Clarence's counterplan into motion.
Roran replaced the zone holding him aloft with one that sank him slowly towards the ground, squeezed the last of the metal spheres tightly in his hand and triggered the minefield he'd made. It was only sheer practice and determination that kept Roran from losing his balance at the wave of fatigue that swept over him as the arena became one giant springboard set to shoot anyone who touched it out of bounds. Instead of leaving things up to his supposed 'final gambit' Roran's mind raced ever faster, running through every counter-tactic he could conceive that Clarence might use.
As anticipated, Clarence didn't make it more than a few steps of his dash before he was pulled violently to the side by a series of Roran's metal balls. The effect was so sudden and disorienting that he almost missed his chance to enact his counter strategy and barreled out of bounds. Thankfully, he managed to just barely lob a coin in front of himself and immediately convert it to a portal, preventing himself from experiencing an embarressing loss. Clarence flew through the portal and out the one in the air above him.
Time was even more of the essence from that point, Clarence couldn't do anything that even resembled flying and he was already plummeting downwards towards the gravity zones.- and the hard ground. He tossed several coins up and forward, opening them all and dropped another below himself, opening it into a portal just as he passed into the space it occupied. Clarence launched out of one portal and directly into another, in turn popping out of yet another. He tossed several more coins, all bursting to life as more of the glowing airborne portals even as he fell into another, only to reappear from one of the new ones. Rapidly, but painstakingly, Clarence was moving closer and closer to Roran. He'd likely only take one more repeat to reach his opponent.
Roran's eyes never left his opponent. He was plotting out rules, angles, trajectories and intensities as rapidly as his opponent darted through the air from portal to portal. Just as what he could only assume was the last portal Clarence would need to reach him opened, the conditions all added up in Roran's head and he made one last tweak to his strategy, ignoring the sweat on his brow trying to drip into his eye.
Clarence thought that his foe may expect him to appear directly in his viciity, and that wouldn't be an entirely wrong assuption, however he had a detour in mind. One more portal hop took him into position directly above Roran and as he immediately began to fall he released a rain of coins upon him. Opening one in the air between them and the others either as they hit the ground around Roran or as closely to him as time allowed. Roran was surrounded by a loose cloud of glowing blue portals as Clarence fell through the one between them. Clarence flew up and out of the portal directly in front of Roran, a tactic he'd eployed in pursuit of surprise, and delivered a hard kick in the direction of his opponent's head.
Now that was a counterattack Roran hadn't been expecting - entertained it for a split second, sure but definitely not expected - his eyes went wild in a way they hadn't for a long time and his blood roared like he was in a street brawl. He managed to raise his forearm in front of the kick just in time to save his dazzling smile but it still had all the effect it needed, the very zone making Roran so much lighter made the kick propel him extra hard. The cornered combatant stretched his other arm out as if to grab the portal mage's leg but instead opened to reveal Roran's last ball bearing. No sooner had Clarence's eyes alighted on the sphere than with a sickening lurch he was spiked like a volleyball by an invisible hand and slammed into the mage he had just kicked, flinging them into the portal together in a chaotic tangle of limbs.
Clarence felt himself land on something somewhat soft, softer than the ground that was for sure. It took a moment before he realised he was laying on top of Roran himself and climbed off of the other competitor. He wasn't completely sure what had just happened,but he'd recognised the feeling of one of Roran's gravity effects. Sure they might have tied, but that still meant that the other mage had gotten the better of him and that was as good as a defeat in Clarence's book.
"Given that Roran hit the ground first and did fall victim to Clarence's strategy, I am awarding the win to Clarence. Well done each of you, please await your results." Clarence blinked at that. Roran had gotten the advantage in the last moment. He couldn't fathom how that could be called a victory. It was almost condescending. It was a tie at best and it felt a lot more like a loss than that. He couldn't say he deserved to call it a win.
Several grunts of discomfort announced Roran standing himself up, albeit more slowly and less gracefully than Clarence had. "Woof, way too many zones all at once...really tuckers a guy out." He straightened his back with an audible crack and stepped closer to Clarence, his hand outstretched. "Congratulations on your win. I'm surprised smoke isn't blasting out of my ears after racing through so many potential scenarios where one wrong move would seal my fate. Really, thanks for the match. You've given me a lot to think about, tests like that are the best way to improve."
"Likewise" Clarence replied, forcing himself to maintain a professional and calm demeanour despite his inner disappointment. |
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