Arcane Inquisition

To say that the previous day's announcement had filled Olivia with hope would be the farthest cry from the truth anyone had ever spoken. Quite the contrary, and to make it ubiquitously clear, the previous day's announcement held little of anything for the Thaumaturgist, least of all the weaklings' hope. No. The training requirements and militarization of the people claiming this curse of magick held no such pitiable dream; rather, this forced activity provided an opportunity for both the pangs of glory and demonstration. Of all the men and women of Olivia's ilk, none surpassed her natural talent and execution – none but the Archmage. And in his case, the Thaumaturgist believed wholeheartedly that a day would come when she could wield power enough to overwhelm him if the need arose. After all, she was a first-rate magician. Nothing less.

She had but one qualm with the system their leader had set in place. Her supposed teammates. Truth be told, she had not met any of them face-to-face in her life. Therein lay the problem. Nobodies, every last one of them, she had thought bitterly upon receiving the news. Unknown faces bearing unknown names could not achieve anything more than mediocrity. Had Olivia believed herself powerful enough to fight against the Archmage's decision, she would have. But alas, had she the power to fight his decision, their kind would not be hunted so. It was with that very thought in mind that she swallowed her pride and agreed to take these faceless mages upon herself – under her wings, all would rise to join her on the level she had currently achieved. She would be the leader of a perfect squadron!

It took all she had to hide the disgust on her face when she finally laid eyes upon two of her potential training partners. A half-cyborg glowing with mana-infused attachments and a young Asian woman cloaked in red garments. She had watched their movements carefully and paid sharp attention to the discussion – if it could even be called that – that took place between them. A frown formed on her angular face – blood red lips arching downward harshly. "A bucket of bolts with an attitude problem and a lamentably pedestrian firestarter," she muttered to herself, "how wonderful for me." She remained perfectly poised, awaiting the official announcement of her future subordinates.

– – – – –

Okay, a younger, violet-haired girl standing none-to-far from Olivia thought to herself, shouldn't be much longer now. Her fingers tightened nervously around the hilt of the blade at her side. Combat she could do. She had trained specifically to conquer and vanquish those deemed her targets – there was little doubt in her mind that she could manage to take on most anything in a fight. Waiting around, however, proved to show quite the opposite personality.

Evelyn hated waiting. It wasn't so much out of a need to hit something as it was the desire to be doing anything productive. Sitting around aimlessly meant wasted time and if there was one thing Evelyn hated more than waiting, it was wasting time. "Hurry up already," she whispered to herself, looking around subtly to check on her allies also in disguise. The sooner they make the announcement the sooner I know my targets...

 

It was the dawn of a new age.

Her father had told her as much, but it wasn't something she needed to be told. It was apparent on the face of every passersby as she strode down the streets; the shine of determination in people's eyes, and the expressions which were set and steadfast visages of hope, owing to the Archmage's speech the past day. Elicia shared in their excitement, and felt a burning eagerness throughout her body at the prospect of helping the new nation she belonged to. She could feel the future with near certainty: she would help lead her people out from under the blanket of oppression which the rest of the world seemed intent on keeping them under, and all together they would make everyone else realize the truth.

Mages were destined to be the dominant species of Earth-- the next evolutionary step beyond normal humans.

Elicia enjoyed playing with that fact in her head as she made her way into the building which housed her destination. It was almost pitiful how the humans resisted them so zealously, only to be stamped down and reminded of the futility of their race. It were as if all the monkeys in the world tried to rebel against humans-- the lesser primates would stand no chance against the more highly-evolved species, and as monkeys were to humans, humans were to mages. There was no point in denying progress. There was no point in trying to wage war against fate, but if the humans insisted, Elicia was more than happy to be given the opportunity to beat them back down. Delivering destiny's verdict would be fun-- Elicia would get to show off her aptitude for combat. For years already, she had been practicing her battle-readiness; she and Calastion knew exactly what to do in a fight. Thinking about it made her impatient-- made her want to summon him already. She picked up her pace a bit, hands clasped behind her back. Green eyes scanned the doors and hallways as they went by, until she spotted the objective.

The large door made a satisfying sound as it opened, and Elicia was pleased to see the room was extremely spacious. Several people had already gathered, but they didn't matter. Eager, she let the Mana inside her flow and beckon her summon. "Hey everyone," she said, introducing herself nonchalantly. "I'm Elicia. Last name's Farcourt." The air beside her was visibly churning with energy as she stepped forward, blue wisps that looked like cerulean smoke distending and warping the space. In an instant, a figure suddenly broke through the floating anomaly-- first a head, angular and shining, followed quickly by a strong foreleg with immense claws, and then a long, low body that looked as tough as stone. Before a single second elapsed, the creature was entirely in the room, quadrupedal and adorned all over its bulky, muscular frame by sharp crests and thick, luminescent lines which were laid into its steely blue skin. It held itself like a predatory cat, but looked like it had more strength and durability than a rhinoceros on steroids. The teenaged girl regarded it as one would a domesticated pet. "And this," she continued, smoothly hoisting herself onto the beast by grabbing a spire which protruded from its shoulder and pushing off its haunch with her leg, "is Calastion." In a moment, she was comfortably situated on the monster's back, and flashed her new teammates an encouraging smile.

 

Black polyurethane gloves slid with conviction over black skin. Corneil Turstone was making his final preparations before reporting for his first day of "training" on Arcanian soil.

He looked himself in the mirror -- he had to admit, he looked a little worse for wear. The last night of sleep had not been kind to him. Groggy eyes were reflected in the mirror framing his brown eyes. They appeared to be almost sunken into his skin. The living arrangements were pretty par for the course, as far as Corneil was concerned. After all, Arcania was essentially a government-funded project. He shouldn't have expected anything better than the barest of necessities, and the bed was without a doubt nothing special. Examining the room behind him in the mirror over his sink, he could pretty much see all of it. A tangled mess of sheets in a single bed several sizes too small for him. Walls that looked like they had been freshly sterilized in a hospital. A walk-in shower designed for human beings decidedly smaller than him. European-made, to be sure.

Yup. Par for the course.

As an American deployed to keep tabs on Arcania, Corneil felt rather out of place. It wasn't so much that he was worried about being exposed as an interloper; an Inquisition spy deployed to keep a low profile and absorb information about the Mages. The speech given by the Archmage the day before, the one about freedom and liberation, had amused him... although he was otherwise rather ambivalent towards the plight of the Mages. No, Corneil had no doubt that he and the rest of the world would be able to weather the proverbial storm from these Mages. Buncha feeble science freaks wouldn't be able to deter him. The aspect of the mission that concerned him directly was knowing who was friend and who was foe. You could really never tell with these weird international coalitions.

And fucking up on day one. Nobody wants to be that guy.

In his line of sight, Corneil could see his hammer. Ol' faithful thing that she was, she was decidedly showing some wear and tear after the flight over from his home back in the States. The man had been nothing short of livid to see his baby beaten up like that, and he had made a mental note to himself to let the Chief know "to let those buffoons over at the TSA know not to FUCK with" his stuff. If there was one thing -- aside from his duty to his country -- that he was passionate about, it was his personal belongings. Corneil did not like people touching his stuff.

Nevertheless, he was ready to face the day. Stepping out of the bathroom, he slipped on his armour. Still felt rather advanced to him, what with its plating glistening in silvers and chromes against the fluorescent lighting of the apartment he was occupying. Like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. It had some weight to it, he had to admit, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. Corneil had been training almost his entire life for situations just like this. He was classified as an "Interceptor" by profession; tasked to keep the attention off of his squad mates and intended to absorb the brunt of the force. This suited him just fine. He'd been raised with older brothers, he'd played football in high school. He knew what it took to hold his own.

With everything in place, he scanned the room one more time. There was no sense in turning out the lights or adjusting anything. Corneil was never one to waste, but he figured that the resources on the new continent could stand to be drained. Still... it took a lot for him to not flick the light switch to a resting "OFF" position. A lot for him to not automatically make his bed to satisfactory quality.

He took the elevator down to the main floor. He figured he probably cut a pretty intimidating figure with his burly armour and sightly hammer. But it was nothing compared to what he observed as he stepped outside. He had been out and about exploring his new stomping grounds following the conclusion of the Archmage's speech, but what he hadn't yet seen were the regiments of trainees making their way off to their missions. Guns, spears, other weaponry... it was all in abundance here. Corneil raised an eyebrow; maybe the science freaks on the newfound continent weren't going to be such a pushover, after all.

Corneil did his best to stay out of the way of the solidified groups. He knew better than to get in their way -- there was a discipline about them that made him smile. Turning his back on the travelling group, Corneil gave his hammer a good shake as it rested on his shoulders. Its weight encouraged him.

He made his way over to the training facility he had been assigned to. It was an impressive facility, he had to admit. But then again, the leeches here in the city of Arcania were just sponging off of the money of governments all over the world. Corneil found it difficult to remain impressed with that in mind, but it wasn't as though he could vocalize such thoughts in a way that wouldn't end up exposing himself.

Whatever. Musings for another time.

Descending down, Corneil took in the facility air. A great big waft of the stuff, practically dying right in his nostrils. He was used to the staleness -- the obsessive cleanliness was not so far off from what he was used to, back home. But he had to admit that it felt somewhat... foreboding. He could almost hear the Chief screaming right in his ears to be alert, be ready, and not to risk compromising his position. He wouldn't be the first to let himself get exposed, if he could help it.

Stepping forward into what he assumed was the training room, he finally let his hammer rest on the floor with a great, unceremonial THUD.

"Alright, what's the hold up?"

 

Corneil gawked for a second as the bouncing Asian girl made her rounds. She was a bubbly, petite little thing, and she had a spring in her step that had her skipping all around, silvery hair glinting in the fluorescence of the lights above. He hadn't even been here for five minutes, and already the Mages had caught him off-guard.

Introductions. Right, he had been trained for this.

Regaining his composure for long enough to shut his mouth by the time the girl made her way to shake his hand, Corneil locked eyes with the smaller girl. Lily Fukushima. She flashed him an admittedly dazzling smile, but Corneil was not here to exchange nor entertain such pleasantries. He extended a hand as though he were on clockwork. With a similar-seeming impassive automation, his mouth recited words that had been grilled into him before he was deployed. "Emerson Simmons, pleasure to meet you ma'am." It wasn't his real name, naturally. His identity had to be concealed for the time being; he had no way of identifying whether Ms. Fukushima was an Inquisition operative placed here like himself, or if she was truly a Mage.

As Lily bounded away from him, Corneil turned his gaze to the rest of the group. He had been a little slow on the draw when it came to the analysis of the assembled squad, but now he had a chance to size them up. Especially since it seemed like combat wasn't an urgent priority for them at this point. Unfortunate. He had been wanting to feel the satisfying swing of his hammer. It had been a while, and he was a little rusty, but he had that itch that he got from being away from combat situations for so long.

For now, though, he had to be patient and observe.

The most impressive thing in the room? He had to admit it was the quadrupedal... entity with a female riding atop it. This one was obvious -- he had no doubt that she was some sort of Mage. Seemed to be a rather precocious one at that, what with that self-satisfied smirk plastered on her face. He caught what he presumed to be her name from Ms. Fukushima repeating it back to her -- Elisia. And Corneil could only assume that the abomination she was sitting atop was to be addressed as "Calastion." Whether that was a species name or a given name was yet to be seen. He nodded at her slowly, as though approvingly and affirmatively. But if she met his eyes, they might betray the slightest hint of wariness.

Another fellow who seemed to be of note was a man who radiated a pale, unnatural blue from his metal limbs. He was fairly non-descript as far as appearances went aside from that, seemed like an average enough white dude who either lacked social skills or the discipline to stay at the ready. No, he seemed like your average American teenager, barring the whole metallic exoskeleton situation. Too ready to slink off away, too conditioned to shy back when faced with a new situation. Shouldn't be too much of a threat, Corneil surmised of his mannerisms, as the younger man approached the violet-haired girl off to the side. Just need to make sure that those augmentations don't pack a punch.

The others... it would be a bit of a toss-up. The others didn't have any outward physical traits that had Corneil peg them as Magelike. But still, it was no time to let his guard down. From his training he knew that even two Mages to four Inquisition members could just as well be skewed in the favour of the Mages, which worried him just a bit. And after that, who knew? Maybe he was the only Inquisition placement into a platoon full of Mages? He had to keep a low profile and fend for himself. At least for now.

 

DeVa woke up to a ringing in her ear and a feeling like the side of her head was being beaten with a mallet. A glance to the clock would give her pause - she was late. Of course she was. How could they have expected her to adjust in a single day after flying halfway across the globe? She could only spare one glance in the mirror. Her hair was a complete and utter mess, her eyes were bloodshot, and her entire expression looked like she had just crawled out of her own grave, which was in all honesty true, figuratively speaking.

As she went about her morning routine, her eyes scanned across her room, making sure to locate everything she needed for the day. Up until a year ago those things would have been some nice clothes, a guitar, and a mic. Now they were an armored bodysuit, goggles, and a rifle. A grim smile settled onto DeVa's lips as she tore through a knot in her hair - she found it humorous, how her life could change so quickly without any way for her to control it. Back when she was a child if someone asked what she saw herself doing in ten years, she sure as hell wouldn't have answered "to become a secret government agent tasked with the suppression of an entire people" but here she was. For a moment she even felt a bit sympathetic for the mages for sharing a similar situation. Most of them probably didn't imagine themselves growing up only to be forcibly drafted into this militarized state.

That feeling quickly passed, however, as she once again surveyed her excuse of a room. Donning her suit and grabbing the rifle she stepped out and made her way toward the training grounds. The sooner she finished her task, the sooner she could get back to her old life.

She didn't bother to run or even jog, as she watched some of the already formed groups out and about, marching and training. A straggler like her already stuck out like a sore thumb, she didn't need to make it even more obvious and draw more attention to herself. But there was another reason why she didn't want to exert herself - her headache. It still hadn't gone away and she did not want to make it any worse. After all, it was a headache that got her into this situation in the first place. Instead she made her way into the training facility, taking a moment to locate the room which her group would be meeting in. As expected, everyone else seemed to have already arrived for some time, as they were starting to introduce themselves and converse with one another.

"I'm sorry for being late." She called out, her expression softening into a smile. Dealing with the headache can wait, it would be better for her to make a good first impression. "My name is December Valentine, pleased to meet you all."

 

Evelyn's gaze shifted to the half-cyborg-half-man glowing with the essence of mana. No doubt he would be one of her targets – time to remember her training and put it into use. "I just really want to get a move on," she admitted in confident albeit low-toned voice. "I hate waiting around and doing nothing." Her nerves eased slightly. Saying that out loud meant something might get done soon enough; it meant that maybe just maybe she could start scoping out power levels and finding the friends around her in this sea of enemies. She took a breath and removed her hand from around the hilt of her weapon, offering it to the cyborg. "Jacquelyn Summers," she added, "my friends call me Lyn." Evelyn certainly hoped that would be satisfactory.

– – – – –

Bubbly optimism? Gah! "All right, all right, enough of that," Olivia sneered, blood red lips stuck in their downward arch. "This is war, little girl, not a picnic. You wanna frolic? Go find a meadow somewhere." The nerve of the Archmage to pair her with someone like this! Even a mage as powerful and disciplined as herself could not hope to mold this girl if she held on to such a carefree and amiable nature. Magic required strict training and focus. This girl would fall in an instant if she remained as she was. Amber-colored eyes surveyed the rest of the group. "My name is Olivia and though I am not officially your commander, I'd suggest all of you treat this situation for what it is. We are at war and I will not tolerate treating any encounters with members of the opposition as a game. There's too much at stake and I don't have time to baby anyone." Her eyes fell back to the firestarter. "Is that clear?"

 

Heavy, dangerous claws shifted across the floor when the dark-skinned man came in, dropping his bludgeon loudly. Despite his bulk, Calastion took a few lithe steps away from the new arrival and lowered his head subtly. Elicia glanced down disapprovingly at her mount. She leaned forward, wrapped her arms around the creature's neck, and quietly said, "Calm down, Cal. These people are friends. They won't hurt us." Her words enticed the beast out of his wary pose, but not his wary mindset. While his rider seemed perfectly content in the current environment, Calastion regarded everyone guardedly; even though his eyes could not be made out due to the sheer amount of light that radiated from within their sockets, it wasn't hard to tell-- or at least get the feeling-- that the alien animal's gaze was restless, roving over everyone in the room and just waiting for someone to make a threatening move. Elicia was grateful he stayed still when one of their new comrades approached, an excited girl who must have been around her own age, and introduced herself. "Well, I'm Lily Fukushima! It's nice to meet you!" "Likewise," Elicia replied, watching the girl for a moment as she bounced over to a different person. The teenager's energy was contagious to Elicia, who shifted atop Calastion as she grew more eager for the day's activities to begin. Another newcomer entered the room, and Elicia enjoyed the ambient buzz their group was starting to generate.

Until, that is, the blonde woman spoke up.

After only her first few sentences, Elicia soundly decided she didn't like this lady. She started scoffing as the woman continued, fervent green eyes narrowing more and more. Calastion remained motionless and nonreactive, but as Elicia gripped the spires protruding from his shoulders more tightly, some of her emotion seemed to flow into him and his large, man-crushing, body-shearing tail gave an angry whip! The second the blonde's tirade was concluded, Elicia didn't bother restraining her own tongue. "Well, Olivia, you wanna be a bitch, go back to high school. We won't get anything done with your attitude." Her tone was thoroughly vindictive, and her back was straight as steel as she spoke. From her bright hazel eyes came a leer so accusatory it was judge, jury, and executioner all at once. "And you know what? This war will be a game; we'll crush the normal humans so easily it'll look like child's play. So if you wanna baby anyone, go get yourself a diaper." She finished with a sickened scoff, and moved a hand to Calastion's stony back. The beast itself was ever unmoving, but he was almost ostensibly staring straight at Olivia, though his head was not turned to face her.

'Well, not all of them are friends,' Elicia wanted to bend down and whisper to her companion. Fancies of setting Calastion against this new teammate who she already reproached so danced across the teenage girl's mind. She knew that with a single word and a moment of intent, her summon could leap across the room and rend the woman in two.

She enjoyed playing with that fact in her head.

 

DeVa starts at cell G-2

So they would be split into teams. It was fortunate for her then that the ones who had been quarreling were not on her squad. She swung her rifle over her shoulder letting it land in her hands and she ran a finger along the barrel, to the trigger. Her eyes scanned over the sides at her 'allies' and 'opposition.' Almost all of them looked just like normal people, yet most were a danger to the rest of society. The undercover mission would not last, eventually she would be required to confront these people, to kill them. By then, would she be ready to pull the trigger?

 

{"Emerson" starts at H2}

Corneil -- or rather, "Emerson" -- stood by, watching the situation pan out before him. Evaluation was important in this type of situation. Things could easily escalate out of control, especially with the seeming no-nonsense nature of would-be Commander Olivia clashing against the youthful rebellion displayed by Elicia. And though he was trained in diffusing the exchange of pleasantries extended before him, drawing attention to himself this early on in the mission would be decidedly unwelcome.

It wasn't as though he disagreed with the sentiment put forth by the woman. After all, there were veritable children in this room. Corneil shook his head the second the younger girl opened her mouth. She clearly had grown up with no sense of discipline, and apparently her powers had done nothing to straighten her out. Corneil imagined that the concept of an 'authority figure' would be lost on her.

The other boy was quick to jump in and attempt to diffuse the situation. His uncertainty showed, despite his quick reaction. Corneil didn't expect either of the quarreling women to back down just because of some fellow trying to step in between them. As Corneil had surmised, he didn't seem like too much of a threat, but at least he was trying. The kid earned some silent kudos from Corneil in that respect.

Mercifully, a static-infused screech emanated from the loudspeaker, cutting the interactions of the group short. It would seem that "Olivia" was nothing more than a codename, and an ill-conceived one at best. Whoever was in charge of the authoritative blonde hadn't even assigned her a surname. Amateurs.

"Unit Tau, huh?" Corneil stated to no one in particular. He wondered just how many other units the Mages were running in domes just like their own. If he had to guess, there had to be a healthy amount given the sheer volume of Mages wandering the streets early this morning. But he had to keep a low profile, for now. Maybe he could get some intel after jumping through the hoops. For now, it was time to maintain that cover.

The man moved towards the Tau-1 starting position. He made mental notes on each of those assigned to him; he'd be able to keep closer watch on them, for now. Lucan was the awkward teenager with the artificial limbs that hummed when he walked. December Valentine was the female straggler. Jacquelyn Summers was the violet-haired girl that Lucan had been chatting up. That'd do for now.

Readying his hammer by hoisting it up onto his shoulder, Corneil balanced it with a strong sense of familiarity. He turned his head towards the boy, Lucan, who seemed to be stretching. "Ya got stones, trying to break up the fight, kid," Corneil commented with a slight chuckle, "I'll give that to you. Lucky for us we won't have to help them work out their issues." He gestured vaguely with his head across the room, as Tau-2 assembled. It was amusing how the forces-that-be had both Olivia and Elicia in the same half of the unit. It'd be... interesting to see how that one played out.

 

Evelyn starts at F2!

Evelyn's hand flew back to the hilt of her blade as the fight began to boil. She almost drew the chain composed blade. Lucan, however, forced her hand to stay tightly gripped around the weapon – he acted before she could and then the static voice over the loudspeaker forced the fight away from the gathered group. Evelyn mentally sighed. She was thankful to not have to deal with the rising tension. "Unfortunately," the purple-haired woman declared to the allies in her division of the group, "Olivia is not entirely wrong. A bit forceful and totalitarian, perhaps, but not unfounded in her views." She glanced over to December and the other man, Emerson, her lilac eyes perfectly stoic. "We are at war here and the weak will be eliminated."

- - - - -

Olivia starts at D10!

Olivia's fist's tightened into balls. Her upper lip twitched. "You insolent little–" The cyborg stepped in before she could say any more than that. "Such a lack of respect! Maggots. All of you." the thaumaturge hissed under her breath, rolling her eyes as soon as Lucan had turned to scold the younger girl. It was just then that the voice bleated over the intercom. What? Her and that pest on the same team?! "You've got to be kidding– Just Olivia? Yes! Are you slow? Hmph... the nerve of some people, I swear," she ranted, ending off in grumbles. As the dummies rose from the ground, she cracked her knuckles. Nothing like taking frustration out on something that deserved it.

"Watch closely, children," she barked, eyeing Elicia particularly, "you might learn a thing or two."

 

[Calastion starts in H10]

Their quarreling provoked the cyborg boy. Elicia didn't care much to listen to his lecture-- she realized her response to Olivia wouldn't be received well by those who didn't like it when the boat rocked and swayed and situations started to become anything but placid and orderly. In short, she knew her behavior was not always 'societally acceptable', as her father liked to say. Elicia went out of her way to be the bigger person and forgive society for that, but as far as she was concerned, the boat could capsize and send all its occupants scrabbling into the sea if it meant solving a problem that needed to be solved. And so when Lucan turned his attention to Elicia and stated, "And you. You don't need to respond when someone acts shitty," her impulse was to respond, 'Yes, I do.' She was merely standing up for Lily, and herself, and all of them, really; standing against the oppression Olivia was trying to enforce over them. The second the auburn-haired man finished speaking, Elicia would have said as much, but she noticed that whenever she tried to reason with a lecturer, all they ended up doing was continuing on with a longer and even more boring scolding. Keeping this in mind usually only enticed her to stay her tongue about ten percent of the time-- another second, in fact, and she would have begun her retort, but an emission from the intercom system overhead stole her moment.

Almost everything else was put out of mind as Elicia realized their training was commencing. She wasn't eager about being put in a group with Olivia, but the thought of working with Lily gave her solace. Together, their positive energy could likely outweigh the older blonde's negative energy. Catching Erika's remark as Calastion took up a position at their group's vanguard, Elicia noted that some good vibes from their remaining teammate couldn't hurt, either. Seeing the other Tau gathered opposite their own stirred Elicia's blood and sent surges of excitement through her arms and legs. While it didn't appear they would be sparring each other at present, she was excited to test her skills against new people. Paying no mind to Olivia as she glanced sideways at her teammates, Elicia shifted restlessly atop Calastion's back and called, "Let's do this!"

 

{Corneil moves to J3 [H2 - I2 - I3 - J3]}
{Corneil uses Boneshaker on Combat Dummy D (J4)! 6 Atk Damage! Knocks Target back 2 Cells! Hits Combat Dummy E (J6)!}
<EN: 11/20>

"Strictly business, eh kid? I can respect that."

The boy was quick to leap into action. Corneil had to admit that he was proving to be full of surprises, for better or for worse. Keep it together, Corneil, he mentally chastised himself, there's no room for sympathy in your directives. Don't make any attachments. Stick to the plan. Corneil watched with a tight grip on his hammer as Lucan leaped forward into action, springing forth to land a swift kick on one of the dummies that the bouncing girl, Lily, had lit up in flames.

The sheer power commanded by these Mages certainly was something to behold. Up close and personal, Corneil recognized the threat they posed. And these are the ones in training, his lips curled into a tight grimace as he grit his teeth ever so subtly.

But now was not the time for hesitation. It was time to get back in business, himself. He charged forward with a grunt, making a beeline for the nearest combat dummy. With a great deal of momentum behind his motion and the sheer musclepower he controlled, he let loose a swing of his hammer into the dummy with a whistling WOOSH, and felt the familiar reverberations of the weapon as the force of the impact connected his target, echoed by a resounding CRACK that Corneil found oh-so-satisfying. The dummy was dislodged immediately on impact, flying off of its metal base. It hurtled towards the next dummy in the line, before crumpling and lying in a halfhearted heap.

"O-ho yeah, baby," Corneil admired his own handiwork, "we back."

 

Evelyn moves to E4!

Evelyn looked between Lucan and Corneil who had gone separate ways to assault dummies on opposite ends of the room. She supposed they could not all swarm the same group at once. It would be best to go for the closest target in reach and figure everything else out from there. With few options, Evelyn followed in Lucan's footsteps and approached the dummy closest to her.

"Doesn't seem like much training to attack things that can't hit us back," she muttered as she cracked the whip of her blade. She shrugged to herself and then, without a sliver of hesitation, lashed the body of the nearby dummy. Her chain-blade cut into it and relinked together back at the hilt as she drew back. It wasn't overly flashy, but it would do.

Evelyn attacks Dummy A! 6 Atk Damage! Chance of Stun!

- - - - -

Olivia moves to C9!

Olivia wasted no time in approaching the flaming bombardment Lily had conjured up. "Perhaps I spoke too soon," the thaumaturge admitted as her ambers eyes drank in the strategically placed circle of flame. With its position, it would harm multiple dummies at once – maybe it would not "fell" them quickly, but it was killing two birds with one stone... or roasting two with one flame, anyway.

"Eyes on me," she called out, beating her gloved fist in her open palm. A fiery surge of mana rushed to her fingertips and suddenly her hands became engulfed in flame. The thaumaturge delivered a swift jab followed by an even quicker right hook which sent another spiral of flames licking up the surface of the already burning dummy. Her mana permeated the field Lily had set up and burned with a certain magnificence. "That's how it's done, children."

Olivia casts Burn Combo on Dummy C! 2 hits! 4 Int Fire Damage per hit! Chance of Burn! If the target is successfully burned, they have their primary offensive stat reduced by 20% for the duration of the status!
Remaining MP: 12/20