With These Hands (Reaching Heaven through Televised Violence)

The inner courtyard is emptier than you had expected, with what you're pretty sure are fewer people within it than had been called already. Maybe they're doing the next stage in groups? As far as you're aware, there should be a practical test next, which will decide whether they think you're worth interviewing.

It will also serve as your debut.

You've had Adjudicated matches before, of course -- basically everyone has had at least one, it's a classic dumb kid challenge whether or not you're interested in combat -- but that kind of match has effectively zero viewership. You know it's not actually zero, but you don't count Arstitia. She's your goddess, not your fan.

Well, okay, she's also kind of your fan. But counting her would be defeating the purpose.

But the Summit practical is an entirely different matter. Sure, the viewership for those is smaller than a high-profile match, but Summit is a world-class school for aspiring Vindicators, and there are always those on the lookout for rising talent.

They mix up the practical a bit every year, to keep people from over-preparing, but it's likely to involve a one-on-one Adjudicated match with another person. Maybe another applicant, maybe a student, maybe a teacher. They've done matches against monsters and Corrupted in the past, but not commonly. You expect that's because you can't use the normal Adjudication process for those, since there aren't two valid Vindicators, making the logistics more complicated.

"And how long is that going to take?" the voice is sharp, haughty, and offended.

You refocus and find a beastkin woman, with long blonde hair that turns into a giant ringlet, confronting an older forestkin with a clipboard.

"About twenty minutes, miss," he answers calmly. "Perhaps more or less, if there are unusual circumstances for the practicals in question."

"Twenty--" she seems about to object when another beastkin, a blonde boy, puts a calming hand on her shoulder and whispers something. "I understand," she grits out, before stalking away.

[They're cute!]

You make sure you're facing away from the pair before you smile at the comment. [Says someone who doesn't have to interact with them. Assholes like that make everyone's life harder, better to avoid.]

[Nah, 100% she's a tsundere. Interact enough and you'll find the soft chewy center.] she declares smugly.

[100%? Come on, you can't know that. She's just an arrogant noble.]

[And which one of us has talked to more arrogant nobles?]

...damn, she's got you there.

[Okay, I can't argue with that. But still, I don't see it.]

[Okay, putting that aside! Who else is catching your interest here? These are your potential classmates, after all!]

You sigh, glancing through the crowd, then, hand in your pocket, sketch a rune and tap into your Aspect.

Most people, when you mention your Aspect, think of it as an off-brand 'speed' Aspect. A convoluted way to go a bit faster.

But that's an attempt to force a nebulous concept into something concrete and simple, and a foolish one at that.

The issue comes up the moment you really try to pin down the concept. If you walk from town A to town B and then town C, which is your journey?

There isn't a wrong answer to the question, but there are better and worse answers to it. And the quality of those answers is simple, if hard for some people to wrap their heads around: narrative. A journey is a story of travel, whether physical or metaphorical. The clearer the story, the stronger the journey, and the easier it is for you to tap into.

Your Aspect sings as the rune takes effect, and you grit your teeth at the sudden flood of information, a thousand-thousand paths stretching out before you.

You only figured out this trick recently, and you're not very good at it yet. But if a journey is a narrative, and some narratives are stronger than others, then you can sift through that information and figure out which journeys are the most distinct. So you focus, and let the countless indistinct paths fade into the background, then strip out the obviously absurd ones like "just turning and leaving Summit," until you're left with only the richest ones. Rich with what? You're not sure. But you know which paths are most likely to be... something.

The blonde duo from before, now sitting on a bench quietly.

A person in jeans and a hoodie, sitting in one corner quietly. You catch a glimpse of dark hair.

A human man with scruffy brown hair, worrying at the pommel of his sword with one thumb in a clear nervous tic.

A red-haired flamekin woman with a staff, capped at both ends with brass, reading a book.

A blue-haired forestkin, in light armor obviously intended to evoke a knight, meditating.

A brown-haired stonekin man, fiddling with some sort of mechanical bracers on his forearms.

A duo of white-haired beastkin, nearly identical in appearance, leaning against one another in a nap.

You have no doubt you'll have a chance to see all of them again in the future but your gut tells you that what you choose here will affect how that happens.

Who do you approach?
[ ] Rich beastkin duo
[ ] Hooded person
[ ] Nervous human
[ ] Flamekin reader
[ ] Forestkin knight
[ ] Stonekin tinkerer
[ ] Napping beastkin twins