With These Hands (Reaching Heaven through Televised Violence)

"Hey," you say, giving an easy smile.

The stonekin man blinks, looking up from his work. "Oh. Hello. Did you need something?"

You shake your head. "Nah! I just wanted to say hi to a future classmate." You offer him your hand. "Tirea Azokali, nice to meet you."

"Uh." He blinks, then flicks the panel on his bracer shut, then reaches out to clasp your wrist in a warrior's greeting. "Karst Woodweaver."

You smile, giving him a polite squeeze before releasing his arm. "Was I interrupting? I don't mind if you work." You gesture at his bracer.

"Not really," he admits sheepishly. "Just a nervous habit to go over my gear. This whole place is... a lot." He waves a hand at the courtyard.

"It's pretty packed," you agree. "It'll clear out by a lot after the practical, though." He shifts uncomfortably, and you cock your head. "Nervous about that too?"

He nods. "I don't... want to mess up at the last minute, you know?" He pauses. "Wait, are you not nervous?"

"Not really." You shrug and lace your fingers behind your head, leaning against the wall. "I'll pass just fine."

[My my, such hubris~]

[Psh, it's only hubris if you're overestimating yourself.]

He looks at you, confusion and awe intermingling. "How can you be so sure?"

[I'm... rather certain that's not how it works, Rae.]

[Ah, but riddle me this. Who are the experts on doing a hubris, Ars?]

"I've been training for this since I was..." you frown. "Ten?"

[Mortals...?]

[Exactly. Therefore, as a mortal, I'm more qualified to define it!]

Karst blinks. "Wait, are you like, a generational Vindicator or something? Parents raise you for this?"

She snorts. [You're impossible.]

[Why thank you.]

Your answer to that question is prepared already, of course. It's true, insofar as it goes, but you're not going to spill your whole life story here either.

[ ] [Training] You're almost fully self-taught.
[ ] [Training] Your parents were also Vindicators, yeah. They trained you once you decided it was your goal.
[ ] [Training] No, but a family friend was, and he showed you the ropes.
[ ] [Training] Older sibling, actually.
[ ] [Training] No, you were apprenticed to a master.

[ ] [Parents] You're an orphan. (If parents taught you, they have since died)
[ ] [Parents] You're an orphan, but someone else took you in and raised you with love and care. (If parents taught you, they have since died)
[ ] [Parents] Your parents are alive and well.
not
[ ] [Family] You're an only child. (If older sibling taught you, they have since died)
[ ] [Family] You have a twin sibling (If older sibling taught you, they have since died)
[ ] [Family] You're one of many siblings.

"Oh... I see." He trails off, a bit awkwardly. "Um... do you have any advice for me, then?"

You look at him thoughtfully. "Well, what can you do? I'm guessing you're Altebran, but what's your Aspect? Fighting style?"

"Oh, right." He nods and clacks his bracers together, at which point they unfurl into full gauntlets, energy channels pulsing through them. "I'm a crafter type by inclination, but my main Aspect is... I guess the best way to put it is Adaptation? So I fight unarmed, but these have a lot of built-in functions to respond to any situation. And I can add more on the fly, at least a bit."

"Hm." You take a step back, letting your hands fall to the side. "Block."

"Huh?"

You step in, snapping a fist out towards his face.

His eyes widen, and he crosses his arms in an unnaturally rapid movement, meeting your fist with the gauntlets. Hexagonal barriers shimmer along them, holding your hand back. You nod and drop your hands to your pockets, considering. You catch a few looks from other applicants, but they lose interest when you don't seem about to keep attacking.

"What was that!?" he demands.

You wave a hand dismissively. "Just checking something."

His footwork is sloppy. He's an... acceptable fighter, but you suspect he'd be in the bottom quarter of the class on skill alone. The way his arms moved to block, though... his reaction speed is odd. "Do you have some kind of auto-guard functionality in those?"

"What? Uh, yeah."

That makes sense, then. He's invested most of his training time into his tools. He'll likely make a decent showing if he can leverage those advantages, but will it really stand out?

He definitely needs work, but there are three main areas you can give him quick advice on. Tactics, showmanship, and uniqueness.

[ ] [Advice] Give him some quick tactics pointers. His fundamentals are weak, so he's going to need to stall out opponents so his tools can take effect, and keep them guessing. This will help him actually pull out a win, which isn't exactly required to pass, but rarely hurts.

[ ] [Advice] Give him some tips on showmanship. He may have a lot of tools packed in those gauntlets, but he wants to not just pick the best ones to win, but the ones that entertain the most. Boring counters have their place, but for something like this he wants to be flashy. Moreover, he wants to actually let his opponent show their stuff off, so that he can show off by countering it in turn. The best matches are always ones with a good back-and-forth rhythm.

[ ] [Advice] Give him some tips on uniqueness. Gadgety types are rare, so have him focus on that. Make sure the gauntlets are prominently displayed, use his more esoteric techniques. Make the gauntlets form-change if possible, those always catch peoples' eyes. His skills are not top of the pack, so he'll need to be memorable in some other way.

---

"Hm... that's a lot to think about, but that makes a lot of sense." He frowns. "Oh. How do you fight, by the way? I can't really pin down your Pantheon or Aspect. At least not without blatant stereotyping..."

You chuckle. "Yeah, that's fair. I'm Darigate," you sketch a light rune in the air, with a modifier for it to last only a few seconds. "And my main Aspect is Journeys. As far as fighting goes, though..."

[ ] [Weapon] You fight unarmed.
[ ] [Weapon] You're a spearmaster.
[ ] [Weapon] You're a swordmaster.
[ ] [Weapon] You fight with throwing weapons.
[ ] [Weapon] You're an archer.
[ ] [Weapon] You're a gunslinger.
[ ] [Weapon] Something else? Write in.