Highwind
To Rise From The Ashes
- Location
- Brazil
I'm not on the Discord server, so that's news to me.
...it does mess with my theory, but depending on how the ability was worded it might still fit? Maybe?
I'll have to think on it.
God A Sword (CWMGQ Spin off #64)
- Thread starter InfiniteDaze
- Start date
...it does mess with my theory, but depending on how the ability was worded it might still fit? Maybe?
I'll have to think on it.
- Pronouns
- They/Them/Their
I'm going to throw out a theory that, if Hong had acquired the Muscle Affinity Shard from defeating Rhino Guildy, it would have interacted with Tail March. Tail March controls Health for Tail Red, and Rhino Guildy's Pumping Iron notably boosted his Base Damage and Health, but not his Resilience.
In addition, Muscle in the first affinity on a Guildy (that I recall) that is linked to the physical ability of the human body, among those that Hong has faced. Not sure what the effect would be, but it would make sense for Muscle to interact with at least one of Tail March and Tail Assault.
In addition, Muscle in the first affinity on a Guildy (that I recall) that is linked to the physical ability of the human body, among those that Hong has faced. Not sure what the effect would be, but it would make sense for Muscle to interact with at least one of Tail March and Tail Assault.
- Location
- Earth
Basically the second quote, yes. Most of the time, if a character is designed with Skilled, they also get a way to meaningfully leverage that somehow. It does not make much sense to give them a way to survive longer but no means to use it.
- Location
- Ekaterinburg, Russia
... Actually you didn't. If we check the discussion after this update then here are the
1) Comet Tail (veekie's first spell idea that was probably subsumed into Ignition Rush) - you told him that we would need to buy Sprint first.
Comet Tail. Spawns twin rocket thrusters around the user's
2) The following is the exchange between you and veekie, that eventually resulted in a different spell:
V: ...would one of those freeze frame -> a dozen slashes things work?
L: something along that vein would work yeah.
Split Tail. Performs a frenzied flurry of slashes, which carves a silhouette of twintails onto a target
3) another spell that was probably somewhat subsumed into Ignition Rush:
Blazing Kick! (A Rider Kick with added fire and using those thrusters Tail Red apparently has for more power. Because you can't go wrong with the classics.)
Your reaction to it was:
4) Twintail Assault (the option that won)...
5-6) And a few more spells that didn't get much attention at all and were not commented on by you. Crys's shitpost with throwing a sword, and a spell to focus magic on the tip of the Blazer Blade... Or something along those lines.
The healing spell was an example that kelllogo suggested sometime later, that is several updates later. It was not commented on seriously by you.
And then you dropped this gem and the discussion veered away.
SCHOOL VALHALLA REDUX
InfiniteDaze
Too lazy to leave the house
- Location
- I wish I could stay
Despite how chaotic the day had been, the night was unnervingly quiet. Just like every other time the sun had set, once the sun went down and everyone had gone to bed, the only noise that could be heard was the faint sound of cars and the humble buzz of city life.
I opened the door to my room and stepped out onto the balcony. The winter air slapped me in the face and made me wish I had worn a coat, but I bore the brunt of it by stepping on to the metal railing and leaping across the gap. It wasn't long before I landed with a small thud on Lan's balcony without a scratch, though I did give a glance down at the drop below.
"How does she do that so often…?" I muttered. If I had tried doing that two months ago I would've broken my arm. That was a guarantee, because I had already broken a bone trying to attempt that stunt. With a shiver at the passing memories, I quickly walked up to the door of my friend's house and gave it a light knock.
"Huh?" I heard her mutter as she opened her own sliding door. With a yawn, the blue haired girl turned to greet me. "Oh, it's you."
Lan was dressed in only a pair of orange and white striped pajamas as she rubbed her eyes. The twintail's that normally ordained her hair had been untied, which was unnerving to say the least. I could barely even recognize her-
The blue haired girl rolled her eyes and shut the door. "Give me a second."
A literal second later she opened the door again, hair already tied up in twintails. I blinked. "That was fast."
Even I knew the limit of human speed and it was almost impossible to maintain good twintails when you're going that fast, but somehow, the girl in front of me had done it in under a second.
"I've had a lot of practice," she casually waved off before leaning on the door frame. "So, did you need anything?"
"Actually I was going to ask if you need anything." The reply left my lips quicker than I could think. "After you know, everything that happened today…"
There was a moment of silence between us before Lan sighed, opening the door wider as she walked back into her room. "Yeah, sure. Hurry up and come on in, you're going to catch a cold if you stay outside dressed like that."
"Weren't you the one who said a twintail idiot like me couldn't get sick?" I retorted as I stepped inside the—thankfully warm—room and shut the door behind me.
"And I also said that didn't mean you had to take it as a challenge," my blue haired friend shot back before going to the door. "You want me to make some tea?"
"Nah, I don't think I'll be here that long," I replied, taking my usual seat on the floor with my back pressed against Lan's bed.
The girl rolled her eyes. "I keep telling you, you can sit on the bed."
"I've told you before, I'm fine right here." I shifted my shoulders. "If I sit on your bed I'm just going to fall asleep on it."
She glanced away before speaking up, quietly. "...You can stay over if you like."
"Can't." I shook my head. "I gotta help Grasper and Phoenix get ready for school tomorrow. Those two were panicking like it was the end of the world."
"Right. Yeah. I guess that makes sense." Lan sighed, before taking her spot right next to me. I could feel the warmth of her body as she curled her legs up and turned to face me. Her eyes though, were looking at anywhere but mine. "About the fight today… Thank you."
"It was nothing." I shook my head. "I just couldn't let it happen. I wouldn't. Even if it's a hypocrisy, I hated the look in your eyes when you were about to kill again and… I hated how much we both knew it was going to hurt you."
The girl fell silent for a few seconds before with a frustrated groan, buried her head into her knees. "This is so unfair. How can someone like you remain so strong but I always feel so fragile?"
"Strong? Me?" A laugh almost escaped my lips but I kept it in. "After the showing that you did today?"
"I've said this before and I'll say it again. A fighter needs to have harmony in both Body, Mind, and Spirit." Lan lectured. "You… three weeks ago you were a complete wreck after your fight with Drag. It hurt you so much and yet here you are now, having completely bounced back."
"...I wouldn't say I've bounced back." I muttered.
"No, Hong, you did. Sure the experience scarred you, but you've also grown stronger in ways you haven't even realized." Lan countered with a sigh. "You're not smart at all, you have no talent for anything, but you're also the stubbornest idiot I know. You're able to get back up and keep fighting no matter how many times life puts you down. Never giving up on your convictions, the kind of person that… a magical girl needs to be."
Slowly, ever so slowly, the girl pulled her head out of her knees before turning to face me. Her eyes were blue oceans of sadness and self-loathing but the way she looked at me also had a trace of something else. "That kind of dumb, foolhearty, idiocy is… something that I've always envied you for."
I sat there, slack jawed. Lan? Envied me? I'd have dismissed it as a flat lie if the girl herself wasn't telling it to my face.
My childhood friend continued on as she turned to stare up at the ceiling of her room. "Hey Hong… I… Never told you how Erina died huh?"
"Was it not at Hope?" I blinked before kicking myself. No, that was only a place, the where of how she died. Not the how. I didn't even know that Lan was a magical girl until four years after Erina's death.
"That was only where the boiling point was." Lan's words came out slowly, wavery, fragile. I can see in her eyes the memories coming back to her and it looked like she was about to break but my friend clenched her fist and kept going. "Back when we were local magical girls, Erina, that is to say Magical Girl Tail Yellow, had a rather special ability. Whereas I could copy any weapon I saw, Tail Yellow could become impervious to any attack as long as she survived it once."
I blinked. "That's…"
"Ridiculous. I know." She completed with a bitter laugh. "From the most fatal of knife wounds to being lit entirely on fire, Tail Yellow could survive it all. And as the years went on, she only kept growing more and more absurd. Eventually it reached the point where it felt like I couldn't even touch her. I was envious, jealous, angry, frustrated, probably about every negative emotion you could name."
Lan's eyes glanced downwards. "But I… Didn't want to sacrifice my friendship with Erina, so I kept it all under the surface. That was probably my biggest mistake. The emotions didn't go away. In fact they just kept growing more intense until eventually on that day at Hope- they finally exploded."
I almost couldn't believe my ears. My memories of that time had always portrayed us as the best of friends but then again… considering just what kind of person that I was back then, it shouldn't have been that surprising that there was something I missed.
The girl continued on, oblivious to my own inner turmoil. "We had an argument that day. A nasty one. It's so vivid in my mind, but I don't remember what happened. All I could recall is a haze of anger before I said something I shouldn't have said before running away from the place we were staying at."
"And…" I gulped. "And then?"
"You can already guess what happened then." Lan replied. "It wasn't long after that Hope was assaulted by the forces of darkness. I was already regretting what I had said, but in the chaos that followed, I had to fight my damndest to survive. I kept looking though, but by the time I finally found her she…"
The girl didn't say anything more. She didn't have to.
By the time that Lan had found her, Tail Yellow was already dead.
"...I thought she was invincible." Her eyes were dark, but despite that there were no tears. They had already long since dried, leaving behind wet trails that only I could see. "Untouchable. Undefeatable. I was wrong. It only took one wrong blow, one attack that she couldn't survive. Just one…"
Her fist clenched so hard that her knuckles were turning white. "I should've been there for her. I shouldn't have abandoned her. If I had just stayed by her side then maybe she could still have survived. But I was a frog in a well, not realizing that the ocean was made of blood and tears. The only thing I could do was take revenge and refuse to leave her corpse behind. It was hard, a hell I wouldn't wish on anybody, but eventually I managed to make it back."
But back to where?
Back home?
To me, the aftermath wasn't Lan returning. Physically she was present, but mentally she was still stuck on that day. I could see that now. And part of her still is.
Lan's body shifted as she turned to face me again. A resigned, hollow laugh escaping her lips. "So now you know… what kind of awful person I am."
My reply was immediate. "You're not-"
Her eyes flashed at me. "Don't-!"
"You're not an awful person Lan," I finished anyway. "I don't know who Tail Blue is, but I do know who Lan Yu is. The person who was always by my side. That's why I can say with confidence that even if you've given up on yourself, I will never give up on you."
Slowly, agonizingly slowly, a small smile blossomed on her face. In the moonlight, it was ephemeral. Invincible. Untouchable. Undefeatable. "...Thank you."
We sat close enough together that we could feel the warmth of our bodies. I'm sure that she could even hear my heart beat but I couldn't hear hers. Lan sat right next to me, but it felt like we were light years apart from each other.
Did my words reach her?
On that night-
That was the one thing I wished I knew.
Some days I wished I never woke up.
"Gah!" Phoenix screamed as she clung to my body. "You gotta help me Hong! I can't go to school! I've never been to school! I'm as dumb as a rock!"
"Just accept it already- And finish putting on your uniform!" Grasper scolded. "You at least know how to do that right?!"
"Ah- Yep! Yep!" Phoenix jumped up as she quickly began to button her shirt up before proceeding to fumble with her ribbon. "Just, just give me a bit! A long bit!"
"Mmph," I grunted out as I quickly gulped down my breakfast. My hands quickly darted towards the piece of cloth and tied it up in the standard bow of the uniform. "There."
"Thanks- Wait no crap ah!" The ponytail guildy began to run around the dining room and through the halls in a flurry panic. "What do I need?! How do I school?! Books?! They read books right?!"
"Agh, seriously…" Grasper groaned before turning to face me with two identical pairs of glasses in her hands. "Hey Hong, which one should I go with?"
"Um…" I blinked before squinting. Mmmh, nope. "Is there a difference?"
"Of course there's a difference." She rolled her eyes before pointing at the lens in the first pair. "These glasses have about a .005% damage in the lens which will hinder social interactions by 0.07%. Meanwhile the other pair of glasses have 0.3% damage to the frames, making them just uncomfortable enough to wear that my head will automatically move to support them, preventing eye contact for longer than 6.43 seconds."
"That is-" I don't exactly know much about glasses but I'm pretty sure that's not how they work. "Wait a minute, are you trying to be bad at socialising?"
"Of course!" Grasper shouted, as she placed one of the frames in her eyes. "Anko Isuna has thousands of fans you know?! The ramifications of if someone were to connect the dots and find out about my secret identity would be a disaster! I need to tailor every aspect of my body movements and outfit to be as much of a plain, ordinary, unnoticeable girl as possible!"
"Just act like yourself, you're already a super shut-in anyways!" Phoenix called from the hallways.
The glasses-wearing girl whipped her head around to shout back. "Oh shut up! This is a matter of life and death here! I can't buy any games if I run out of simp money okay?!"
The panicking avian poked her head back into the hallways to give a mocking grin at the other girl. "Sure, and this definitely isn't an excuse to act out some nerd game of yours."
"Wha- This has nothing to do with Megane Senko from 'The Mob Girl In My Class Is Secretly A Heart-Pounding Idol?!'!"
"You're the one who said it, not me!"
"Why you! Come here Phoenix, I'll drill algebra so hard into your head you'll be speaking in formulas when we finally get to school!"
"Hey, come on!" I shouted as I grabbed the petite black haired girl. She struggled, pounding and kicking my shins, though there wasn't much power behind it. Phoenix for her part, just let out a peal of mocking laughter before beginning to raid our fridge. "Stop fighting guys! We need to get to school early so you can meet Mrs. Huang before classes start!"
"Ah- Her." Grasper muttered as she calmed down. I quickly let the girl go down and she began to flatten out the wrinkles in her skirt. "I still can't believe I ended up going to her school anyways…"
"Well, if it's any consolation," I said as I patted the black haired girl on the shoulder, "there's little that Mrs. Huang can't get if she sets her mind to it."
"Still, this is a bit overkill isn't it? Being able to casually accept two new students with no identification on a whim? That's suspicious as hell." Phoenix grabbed a cold soda before proceeding to down the beverage. "Be real with me Hong, does she have some sort of super power or something?"
"Yeah." I nodded as seriously as I could. "The super power of money."
"Pfft-!" The red haired girl spat out her drink in shock and I automatically started moving to clean up her mess. "M-Money?! How much are we talking here?! Thousands of credits?!"
"That's pocket change for her. Think more in the millions." I paused as the paper towel soaked up the soda. "Maybe in the billions, I never actually bothered to ask about her string value."
Grasper rolled her eyes. "You mean net worth."
Yeah that.
"To think we were going to be meeting someone so important…" Phoenix's hands shook as she looked at her outfit before panicking and trying to tear it off. "This outfit isn't good enough! I need a shiny dress! And champagne! And 1920s american jazz music!"
"The hell is up with that specific description?! Stop trying to use every excuse you can to avoid going to school!" Grasper shouted as she leaped up to prevent the guildy from stripping entirely. "Hong help!"
"On it! On it!"
It took about five more minutes, but eventually we managed to calm Phoenix down enough that we were able to actually go outside where Lan was waiting for us with an impatient tapping of her feet.
"So." She muttered, glancing at the despondent bird. "What's up with her?"
"Millionaire, school, rich school, money…" The ponytail girl rattled off a looping list as she clutched her school bag tightly. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this."
"She'll be fine." The glasses-wearing girl deadpanned, but from the way the light shone from her lens I couldn't see her eyes. "Just a bit of… Culture shock?"
"Hah!?" Phoenix screeched. "You try being homeless for six months and see how you like it!"
Grasper's eyes twitched. "We grew up on the streets!"
Lan's eyes met mine and she gave a resigned sigh. "The school will suck you dry anyways, so don't worry too much about it."
Both of the newcomers to hell looked at me and I quickly averted my eyes. I tried to whistle innocently, but since I was terrible at whistling it came out as more of a breathy splutter. "Let's just go to school alright?"
And thus, all five of us high school students made their way- Wait, five?
Almost instantly, we all turned to face the newcomer who waved in response. I knew who she was- I didn't want to though. I really didn't want to. Even though she wore our high school uniform, I could say with absolute certainty that she didn't go to my school. Why? Because-
"Teehee." Mom let out cutely as she knocked a knuckle on her head and stuck out her tongue. "Sorry for making you wait guys! I'm a bit clumsy at times! Haha!"
Visceral Psychic Damage: 700 Base Damage + N/A Dice = 700 Total Damage
Hong's Mental Defense: 500 Base Resilience + N/A Dice = 500 Total Reduction
700 - 500 = 200 End Damage
Hong's Sanity: 1000 - 200 = 800 Sanity Remaining
The vicious assault immediately knocked me off my face. My face went a deathly pale, and it felt like I spat blood as Lan quickly moved to catch me. "Hong?! Hong!"
"I-Isn't she 35?" Phoenix asked as she took a step back. "How the hell does she make that outfit look so natural on her?"
"No make up, no cosmetics, just the cosplay outfit." Grasper calculated before bowing her head. "I am in shock and awe. The high school girl look, it- It just works."
Feeling faint, I shakily lifted up my hand and pointed it at the cosplaying lady. Only one word was able to escape my lips. "W-Why?"
"Aww come on, don't be mean Hong." Mom smiled as she ran a hand through her hair and did a quick twirl. "Since I had to go see Emu to help finalize Grasper-chan and Phoenix-chan's enrollment, I decided to put on the uniform for old times sake. What do you think, looks good right?"
Visceral Psychic Damage: 700 Base Damage + N/A Dice = 700 Total Damage
Hong's Mental Defense: 500 Base Resilience + N/A Dice = 500 Total Reduction
700 - 500 = 200 End Damage
Hong's Sanity: 800 - 200 = 600 Sanity Remaining
"Quick!" I heard Grasper shout as she dashed over to me and covered my eyes. "Cover his ears as well! He only has 600 sanity remaining! Three more hits and he's going to go insane!"
"R-Right!" Lan quickly replied, and my world was engulfed in sweet nothingness. A black void, devoid of sight and sound. It was safe, comforting, and I could convince myself that my memories were nothing more than a sleep deprived delusion.
"You're going to have to come out of there eventually." Phoenix, the backstabber, shot at me.
I growled in response. "Shut up and let me have this!"
Unfortunately, it turned out to be entirely unsafe to walk the streets of China deaf and blind. That, and Grasper had neither the stamina nor the willpower to keep it up, so I was unfortunately forced to face the reality in front of me as we walked into the school gates.
Death would have been a more preferable fate.
Visceral Psychic Damage: 700 Base Damage + N/A Dice = 700 Total Damage
Hong's Mental Defense: 500 Base Resilience + N/A Dice = 500 Total Reduction
700 - 500 = 200 End Damage
Hong's Sanity: 600 - 200 = 400 Sanity Remaining
On a typical school morning, I wouldn't have to care much about the people around me. Now though? Now I was hyper aware of it. I could feel the gazes of the other students like knives. Every hushed whisper sent a shiver down my spine. My head was bent down, unable to face forward, face so hot you'd think I already transformed into Tail Red.
I tried to convince her not to go through with this. I really did. Begged and pleaded. But while Mrs. Huang could always get what she wanted, my mom would never stop once she set her mind to something. I just wished what she had decided this time wasn't an elaborate murder plot via public embaressment!
"Are those girls new students?" I heard someone whisper in the background. "Damn those redheads are looking fine."
My head whipped around like lightning, gaze seeking out whoever had said that. He flinched backwards.
"Hong." Mom knocked on my head. "No murder in school."
"I wasn't going to murder him…" I grumbled, my fists instinctively trying to grasp the handle of the Blazer Blades only to clench at empty air. With all the strength I could muster, I turned towards the last person I could trust.
Lan gave me a look of pity. Then her lips twitched. Her gaze was an open book for me. 'I know how much you're suffering, but also this is hilarious.'
'I thought we were friends.'
'Best friends.'
'We were the bestest of friends and you left me to die.'
'That's how friendship works Hong,' Mom chimed in as she turned back to face the two of us. 'Remember the Liang family motto, having face is such a waste!'
'Actually,' Grasper adjusted her glasses. 'There's a 53.47% likelihood that if the relation between the two of you were to be discovered, Hong's chance of gaining a male friend would sky rocket.'
I glared at Gasper. 'As if I want to make friends like this!'
"Uh." Phoenix spoke up. "Are, are you people seriously having a conversation entirely through eye contact and facial expressions?"
'Yes.'
'Yeah.'
'Yep.'
'Affirmative.'
"Hey hey! Don't just look at me like that!" the ponytailed girl shouted. "I'm not telepathic you know?!"
Attracted by the sound, one of the older teacher's came around the corner with a tired sigh and a stack of papers in his hands. "Don't shout in the… halls…."
The poor man paused, glancing towards me before his eyes settled down on my mom, who gave him a friendly wave. "Hiya teach!"
Instantly, his face paled. I quickly dodged out of the way as the man threw his papers at us and with more life in him then I expected for his age, immediately let out a high pitched shriek before sprinting down the halls while screaming at the top of his lungs. "No no no no no! She's back! Oh merciful heavens, why have you forsaken me?!"
We all turned to face the actually-in-her-30s cosplaying highschool student who just rubbed the back of her head and gave an embarrassed laugh. "Haha, I guess they still remember me huh?"
"Just." I gulped. "Just what did you do?"
"Oh you know, this and that." Mom gestured vaguely. "Not much really, I was a model student if I'm being honest."
That was a bald faced lie, but I couldn't exactly call her out on it without anyone around us eavesdropping, so the only thing I could do was keep silent as my mother skipped ahead, guiding us through the hallways until finally we arrived at the doors to the headmistress' office.
"Yo! Emu!" Mom called, bursting the wooden doors open as she cheerfully walked into the room without a care in the world. "I brought the girls! Trust me, I really think you'll like them!"
"Good morning Mrs. Huan-" I began, only for my smile to fracture.
Visceral Psychic Damage: 700 Base Damage + N/A Dice = 700 Total Damage
Hong's Mental Defense: 500 Base Resilience + N/A Dice = 500 Total Reduction
700 - 500 = 200 End Damage
Hong's Sanity: 400 - 200 = 200 Sanity Remaining
"A fine morning to you, Hong." Emu replied, hiding the bottom of her face with her fan. It would've been perfectly normal, except instead of the Japanese kimono the blonde usually wore, it was instead replaced with the school uniform once more!
"Why!" I screamed, putting my hand to my face. "Oh god."
"...Yeah alright, this is too weird for me." Lan declared, taking a step back from the office. With a pitying gaze, the person who I thought was my best friend patted me on the shoulders. "Good luck with whatever this is, I'm going to head to class."
Wait a minute, this was an opportunity! Lan I take back everything I've thought about you in the past twenty minutes, you're truly unmatched under the heavens both physically and mentally!
"Actually!" I exclaimed a bit too forcibly as I began to follow after her. "Come to think of it, I should head to class as well- Urk!"
"Ah ah ah." Mom's smile looked like the devil as she grabbed me by the collar and began to pull me back into the room. "You really need to be here as well. After all, you're the reason these girls are living with us in the first place, so you need to take responsibility alright?"
And with that, the door to my salvation closed with a loud bang. The red haired woman quickly dragged me over to a nearby couch, arm wrapped around my shoulder as she forced me to sit down. Phoenix and Grasper, on the other hand, were quietly gestured to sit at the two chairs in front of Emu's desk by a wave of the blonde woman's fan. "Responsibility, hm? I wonder if someone who wastes so much money on gacha games has any right to say such things."
"Well, you know me! No matter how much of a mess I make, I always clean up in the end!" Mom gave the other cosplaying woman a thumbs up before grinning. "I got to say though, I didn't expect you to be dressed up as well though Emu. It was supposed to be a surprise!"
"The worst surprise of my life." I muttered.
"You're not that unpredictable Yuan," the headmistress sighed. "I had a feeling you'd pull off something like this, and it just so happened that my guess was correct. I must say though, it really is nostalgic to be wearing a school uniform once more. However!"
Her fan was shut closed with an audible crash as she pointed at the two girls in front of her. "Idle reminiscence of the past is not why we've gathered here today. It is instead the future we must talk about."
With what had to be a practice gesture, Mrs.Huan gracefully bowed her head. "In that regard, introductions are in order. I am Emu Huang, head of the Huang family, leader of the Yellow Feather cooperation, and also the headmaster at this academy. My skills are numerous, and my businesses profitable. Though I've met one of you in the past before, this is the first time we're meeting face to face. Now then, please follow my example and introduce yourselves."
The two girls suddenly froze up, giving each other a nervous glance before the short one spoke up first. "...They call me Dark Grasper, and I was the former information specialist and designer of the Guildys-"
"Stop right there," Emu ordered. "I said to introduce yourself. Don't think I don't see how you're deliberately hindering yourself. Start over from the beginning, and this time be honest about it."
The black haired girl nodded quietly for a bit before sighing and jumping out of her chair. "Hahaha! I am Dark Grasper! My ability INTO THE ABYSS allows me to calculate all things, nothing escapes these eyes of mine! When it comes to science and numbers, none surpass me!"
I blinked. "What about Twirl?"
"Twirl doesn't count!" Grasper hissed before spinning around and adjusting her glasses. "They also call me Anko Isuna, the star of the youtube idol world! Ah, I've already calculated what you're thinking and that's why I brought this!"
Reaching into her pocket, Grasper pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the headmistress. "These are my latest earnings for the past quarter! I, I kind of lost most of my equipment when I left the Guildys so um, if you could sponsor me that would be great…"
"Isn't this supposed to be a school interview?" Phoenix stage-whispered to me, only for Grasper to quickly turn around and kick the girl in the shins. "Ow! Watch it nerd!"
"Hm, interesting…" Emu ignored the two girls as she glanced at the paper and nodded. "I'll consider your proposal for now. I'm under the impression that you enrolled in our data banks as one 'Hei Jing', correct?"
"Ah, that would be my 'official' alias." Grasper quickly explained. "Hei for Black, Jing for lens. Dark Grasper is my actual name, but no one would accept someone with a name like that so the Guildys and I came up with names that help us blend in more with society."
"And I suppose that brings us to the Guildy in the room." The fan was quickly pointed towards the guildy in question, who quickly straightened up as if her spine had been replaced with an iron rod.
"Uh yes! They call me Jin Ming, but my real name is Phoenix Guildy! Former Vice Commander of the Azure Wing unit until I was betrayed by the ones who I used to call my comrades!" With a fiery passion, the girl punched her fist into the air. "I swore on the day that my best friend Pegasus Guildy was killed before my eyes, that I wouldn't stop until I've gotten my revenge! Not even death can hold me back! I'm the Eternal Hero, Phoenix Guildy of the Ponytail Affinity!"
"Wasn't that nickname something used to mock you?" Grasper commented as she sat back down.
"It's all just a matter of how you see it!" The ponytail girl exclaimed before giving the other girl a look. "And isn't it kind of rude to interrupt someone's introduction?"
"You did the same thing to me!"
"That's enough." Emu's fan snapped open as she gently waved it back and forth, silencing the two girls instantly. "Hm, I see I see… Yes, I've come to the conclusion that you girls are most definitely interesting people."
"Ahahaha…" Mom laughed as she leaned into my ear. "Emu's bad habit is kicking in again."
"Grasper-chan, or should I call you Hei for now? I've heard about your inventions, particularly these Guildy Gears of yours." The blonde woman declared as Grasper nervously began to fidget. Stark blue eyes turned their gaze towards me and I nodded, releasing the magic keeping the Tail Gear hidden and revealing the device for everyone in the room to look at. Emu nodded approvingly. "A marvel of both magic and engineering. Functioning both as a transformation device and as a communicator. Truthfully, I didn't think there was anyone who could rival the combined efforts of Twirl-chan and Moonlight-chan, but I suppose there's still surprise in this world left for me. Frankly, I want to buy the patents off you right now."
"...Sorry, but those aren't for sale." The black haired girl spoke with steel in her voice as she adjusted her glasses. "Both from a practical and moral standpoint. Practically, most Guildy Gears only function because of the unique physiology of Guildys combined with my ability being used to draw out every inch of their potential. Each gear is tailor made, bespoke work that requires a significant amount of fine tuning until they're combat ready."
A dark flame burned in the petite girl's eyes as she met Mrs. Huang's stern gaze head on. "Morally speaking, they're dangerous weapons. They were created for only one purpose: self defense. No matter what you say, you're not going to convince me to suddenly become an arms dealer."
Sparks flew through the air before the headmistress lips twitched upwards and a small smile bloomed on her face. The woman gave the girl a few slow claps as she spoke. "Bravo, an excellent resolve. I see you're not the type to take technological advancements lightly. I've personally seen too many tragedies occur in the past few years due to foolish arrogance. While the transformation features would've been nice, I would have purchased the rights from you for the communications technology alone. It would be a good shock to the current attempts at trends in the market."
"Mmh, I've seen them." Grasper nodded knowingly. "The Counter Force has been hoarding most of the technology for their Data Mines and leaving the civilian consumer base to stagnate. Yes, if I were to add a more user-friendly interface then… Ah sorry, I started calculating on accident."
"That is fine. Now then, moving on." Mrs. Huang turned towards Phoenix before pausing. "While Grasper is a sure bet for a scholarship, 'Jin-chan' here is more of a risk factor. Ignoring your origins as a Guildy, what would you say your physical performance is like?"
Before the ponytail girl could answer, the mathematician stepped in. "Right now, without the Guildy Gear supporting her, Phoenix's physical strength is about 40 points. Even the healthiest adult only registers around 20 on the scale, so for the most part, she's got double the strength of the average human."
"While your ability to calculate is interesting, Grasper-chan, I would prefer to hear it from the girl herself." The blonde waved her fan at the avian guildy. "Well?"
"Um, well." Phoenix rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, her ponytail bobbing in response. "Grasper could tell you it better but yeah, physically I'm stronger than most of the people around me- Or so I thought until I started to live with monsters like Hong. Technique wise my only real skill that I learned to do is fighting and stunts, and I thought I was okay at that until Lan kicked my ass again. And again. And again."
"Yes, she does have a way of humbling people. You're far from the first in that regard, and far from the last either." Mrs.Huang nodded before pausing to press the fan against her chin. "Hm, I suppose with all that being said, I can get you in on one of our more general scholarships for now, though it won't be covering all of your admission fees. We can upgrade to a full scholarship if you manage to prove yourself."
The red haired girl opened her mouth to say something, only to be shut silent by Grasper jamming her elbow into the girl's side and hissing at her. "Just take it."
"Fine! Alright! Jeez!" Phoenix cried before pausing. "Wait I'm not paying for this am I?!"
"Nope! That would be me~!" Mom laughed as she pulled her wallet out of a pouch in the school blazer and casually tossed it across the room. It soared through the air before the headmistress' hand shot out of her kimono like a snake, snatching it before placing in on her desk. "I was hoping to avoid having to pay for much since the two of you are kind of unique cases, but I guess that didn't work out huh? You sure Phoenix's magical traits won't get her anything?"
"While I do have some practitioners as scholarship holders, it is because of what they do with their abilities. Those who awaken to magic and do nothing are worse than those who have no magic and put in effort. Simply awakening to magic isn't good enough." And with that, her gaze turned past everyone else in the room and those clear blue eyes fell solely on me. "That is something you should burn into your mind Hong. Though that does bring us to the crux of the matter here. Since you're fighting so hard against the Guildys, what is your opinion on all of this?"
"My opinion?" I paused before thinking about it. "Well… Truthfully I'm not entirely sure what to say. It's entirely up to Grasper and Phoenix regarding this. The only thing I'm worried about is… How long they'll be in school honestly."
A sigh escaped my lips. "The past few weeks have hammered home just how easily people can die and frankly, what we're doing is dangerous. The Guildys we're facing are only growing stronger and stronger. One day things might go horribly wrong. But even if that day does come, I'm still willing to fight. That's really all I have to say on the matter."
Mrs. Huang paused, assessing me for a second before her smile widened. "You've gotten one step closer to becoming a real man Hong, though you've still got room to grow. Very well, on that consideration, I will consider Jin Ming and Hei Jing to be officially enrolled."
"Yeah!" Phoenix shouted before pausing and turning to Grasper. "Wait this is a good thing right?"
"That all depends on the effort that you put in." Mrs.Huang snapped her fan shut before nodding towards mom. "Now, since Yuan is already here and is familiar with how the school operates, she can act as your supervisor for today."
Visceral Psychic Damage-
"No!" I shouted, jumping up from the couch and over to the chairs and yanking the two girls up by their arms. "I'll do it! Leave it to me!"
"Eh? Really?" Mom let out a disappointed whine but her face held a wide, cheery smile. In fact, both of the cosplaying women had smiles on their faces, though it was Mrs. Huang's smile that really clued me in on what's going on. After all, that was the look that only a pure, utter sadist would ever give someone.
These women knew what they were doing to me. They were abusing their positions of power just to embarrass me. Is this what bullying is like?
"Come on come on-!" I cried, dragging the two girls behind me as I walked to the door.
"Ow!"
"Dammit Hong that hurts!"
"You'll be fine!" The longer I stay in this room the more likely they were to come up with something worse. I quickly glanced around before shouting at the headmaster. "Which class are they in?"
The blonde woman let out a sigh, though her smile didn't change. "I've had them placed in yours, of course."
"Great! Perfect!" With no respect for property whatsoever, I kicked open the door and watched it fly off its hinges before it crashed into the ground with a rumbling thud. "Come on guys, let's welcome you to school!"
"Good luck!" Mom waved cheerily. "And I'm taking the repair costs out of your paycheck!"
"It's basically your money anyways!" I shouted back before shivering.
At the very least, my day could only go up from here.
Let's just say that the rest of the day wasn't uneventful.
"And if you use this formula…" Grasper stated as she continued to draw math on the smart board. "Then you arrive at the answer like this."
"Uh, thank you Hei." The math teacher said nervously. "Now could anyone else-"
"Hei~!" Someone whined in the background. "I don't get how to do the problem after that!"
"Huh? That should be simple." The girl adjusted her glasses before picking up the textbook and pausing. Slowly she turned back to the teacher. "Hey, what's with this outdated, roundabout formula?"
"Um, that is-"
"You don't know do you?" She sighed in frustration. "56.7% of your classes have just been blindly following the textbook, haven't they? And this book was written in… Hm, it's only a few years out of date so I can't fault you there but really, there's better ways to calculate things. For example…"
Grasper's eyes met mine as she continued to steal the job of our math teacher and wrote simple, easy to follow math even for an idiot like me on the board.
'I thought you didn't want to stand out?' I blinked.
'I underestimated how painful high school math classes were.' The black haired girl replied even as she continued talking. Ah yeah, I did notice her visibly twitching since the lesson began and ever since she got up on the board, she was slowly taking control of the class away from the actual teacher. The poor guy was just hiding in a corner now, probably fearing for his job or something. Grasper continued to teach, though at one point she tilted her head and I turned to see Phoenix…
Sleeping right next to me. I sighed and gently gave the girl a kick before whispering in her ear. "Hey, wake up."
"Mmh?" The ponytail girl mumbled before yawning. "Why'd you wake me up? Is class over yet?"
The mathmagician's eye twitched as she turned to glare at the girl. "You of all people are the last person who should be sleeping in class!"
"Huh?" Phoenix grumbled. "But it's so boring…"
The glasses-wearing girl angrily grabbed one of the other smartpens before tossing it across the room straight at her face. Though it wasn't a particularly strong throw, Phoenix still kicked the back of her desk and leaned her chair back dodging the pen before snatching it in the air. Despite living on the edge, the guildy's chair kept perfect balance as she gave a cheeky grin at Grasper. "Gonna have to try better than that nerd!"
The class was suddenly a buzz of activity. Hushed whispers filled the room as people began to take out their phones and take pictures.
"Um…" The teacher spoke up. "Don't fight in the classroom-"
"Hah?" Grasper glared at him and he flinched. With an angry huff, she stomped back to the smartboard before turning to point out a specific student. "You! You have a problem with page 198 right?!"
"H-How did you-"
"Use this formula here! And you two in the back, stop playing gacha games on your phone!"
"Yes ma'am! Sorry ma'am!"
"I feel like something dangerous is awakening in this classroom…" I mumbled to myself as Grasper turned to face me.
"Hong! If you can't solve this problem by the end of class I'm assigning extra homework for you!"
Wha- That is so unfair!
"Um, Hei, You don't have that kind of pow-" The teacher came to my defense only to flinch back as the former guildy engineer turned to glare at him.
"Oh just shut up and continue to think about how that girl you went on a date with hasn't returned your text in a week!"
The teacher's face paled and laughter rang throughout the classroom- Only to be silenced as Grasper angrily glared at the other students.
I think this was the first time school taught us a valuable lesson. Don't piss off Grasper.
Meanwhile PE was a different beast all together.
"Hahaha!" Phoenix laughed as she slid through the grass and stole the soccer ball from the worn out high schoolers. Her Ponytail blew in the wind as she made a mad dash for the goal, kicking up dirt behind her. "You really think that's going to stop me?!"
The Guildy was, frankly, a monster on the field. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger than anyone else in the class, she had utterly dominated the game ever since the match had begun. Despite the sun burning into our backs, Phoenix had barely let out a sweat. All of this would have been great if it wasn't for the fact that the ponytail girl wasn't on my team. It was like facing Lan in a sparring match, losing seemed to be inevitable. The only thing that gave my team a semblance of victory was-
"Woah!" Phoenix cried as she lost control of the ball once more.
"Now!" With a courageous roar, some brave soul dashed in and stole the ball back. "Go go go!"
-Was the fact that Phoenix was utterly terrible at soccer.
"Hm, if she was trained a bit more in technique then the other schools wouldn't even stand a chance." The guy next to me muttered as he rubbed his chin. "She has great potential as a Striker… Ah, the same can be said about you too Hong."
"Not that I really care, but…" I patted my gloved hands while looking forward. "Why'd you make me the goalie again? You saw how the others complained."
"Eh, who cares about the naysayers!" he laughed with a smile. "I saw how much talent you have! Don't you remember? I'm the guy who tried to recruit you for the soccer club a few weeks ago!"
"Oh right, that did happen." Now that I looked at his face, he did look kind of familiar… "Sorry I was going through some stuff back then. Still busy, same goes with Ph- Er, Jin."
"Hm, is that so…" The boy paused before giving me a grin and thumbs up. "But don't think I'll give up that easily! In this world, there's nothing more fun than Soccer!"
"I can think of several things that are…" Grasper muttered as she stumbled forward, uncomfortably fidgeting her glasses as she pulled the hem of her gym clothes. Unlike the guildy, Grasper physically looked like she was dying. "One of which is losing, which is 80.5% probable to happen if we keep this up."
"Oh?" The boy asked as we turned to watch Phoenix snatch the ball back and continue on forward once more. "The other side's teamwork is a mess, they've all just given up and are relying on Jin to carry them. They don't have any soccer spirit!"
"We don't either." The black haired girl declared with all seriousness before pointing at our teammates. "She's wearing us out, and badly at that. Eventually we'll be too exhausted and she'll just steamroll all over us. But it's not like I haven't thought of any countermeasures."
"Alright!" The boy wrapped his arm over Grasper who suddenly looked very uncomfortable at the amount of sweat he was dripping. "Let's hear it!"
Grapser quickly told him her plan and the both of us guys blinked as we contemplated what she was suggesting.
"And you think this will work?" The boy mumbled.
"At the very least, it'll stall her enough that we can regain our stamina." The girl quickly adjusted her glasses. "Jin's greatest weakness is her lack of control over the ball. Even if she tries to take advantage of the gaps, they'll be narrow enough that we can take back the ball easily enough."
"That does sound plausible..." The boy paused before nodding. "You're joining in right Hei?"
"I'm the weakest one here physically, and Jin knows that." She gave a bitter laugh. "She'll just exploit me being the weakest link to blow right past me. Go and get everyone who still has stamina."
"Alright! Then I'm off to incorporate the plan!" The boy laughed before dashing off with a wave. "You have a lot of soccer spirit as well Hei! I'll definitely get you to join the team later!"
"Please don't," Grasper muttered before letting out a breath the moment the soccer player had gotten far enough away from us. "Oh thank Gaia he's gone. That should keep the game occupied for a while."
"You don't sound too enthusiastic about this." I said as the girl slumped over by the goal.
"Trust me Hong, I'd rather be sitting on the bench then actually playing soccer." The black haired girl complained as she pointed forward. "Physical exercise is my critical weakness, and I'm definitely not going to compete against Phoenix. Regular people like us can't compare to the monsters that play Guildy Soccer."
I blinked. "Guildy Soccer?"
Grasper nodded gravely. "It's one of the main ways Guildy units settle their differences. An anything-goes-match where Guildy Gears, Spells, and Abilities are perfectly legal. They call it hot blooded and heart pounding, I'm just surprised by how little I have to patch them up after it."
She sighed before shaking her head. "Guildy Soccer can barely even be called Soccer. In fact, it's frankly not soccer. That's why it'd be more accurate to call it something like… Football."
"That sounds… terrifying." Is that why Rabbit Guildy was so good at kicking a soccer ball around? "Ah, looks like they're putting your plan into action."
"Alright team! Let's show them what we're made of!" The soccer boy cried as everyone on the team shouted in agreement, lining up side by side until they were a big horizontal line stretching from one end of the field to the other. "Team Formation: THE GREAT WALL!"
I glanced towards the black haired girl who looked away to the side. "That was all on him."
"Oh come on!" Phoenix cried as she looked at the wall before shouting forward. "This is all your doing isn't it, Hei?!"
"You can't prove that!" Grasper shot back.
"Bullshit, I recognize your cheap strategies!" The ponytailed girl put her foot on the ball before smirking. "But I'm not going to be defeated by something like this!"
Her leg cocked back and suddenly Grasper tensed up. "Wait no, stop! You idiot! Moron! Birdbrain!"
"BREAK RELEASE!" The guildy cried as she kicked the ball into the sky at full power. "It's not burning but it'll have to do! Let's go, PHOENIX KICK!" She said, leaping into the air after it
"That's cheating! That is so cheating!" The black haired girl cried as Phoenix rose to meet the falling ball, her back silhouetted against the sun. "Is she trying to get us exposed?!"
"Uh." I blinked as Phoenix tucked into a flip, smashing the ball with a spinning axe kick. "I think we're going to have bigger problems soon."
"Agh, whatever! Hong!" Grasper pointed at me as she began to run away as fast as she could. "Use your full power and don't hold back!"
"That's right!" The ponytailed girl shouted as the ball hurtled toward me. "Don't hold back and show me what you got Red!"
"Um, alright? Let's see… Break Release!" I said, more as a mnemonic then anything as I got into a stance drilled into me. As the ball drew closer, I pulled my fist back. The moment it crossed into my absolute territory, I struck. "RED PUNCH!"
Bang. The wind blew back in my face as I poured all my power into the punch. Ball met Fist, the whirling black and white blurring together as between as the two forces fought for dominance. Sweat dripped down my brow. Seconds seemed to last for eternity. I could feel the flames that were only metaphorical because Phoenix wasn't going all out. And then-
The ball deflected, bouncing upward to smash into the rim of the goal before exploding into a cloud of dust and scraps. Phoenix, having been falling back to earth in the meantime, let out a yelp as she landed on top of one of the players forming the defensive line. They both tumbled to the ground and groaned as the PE teacher finally stepped in and blew their whistle.
"Foul!" They declared, pointing at Phoenix. "Don't kick your classmates in the face! And someone grab the replacement ball!"
"Sorry, sorry!" We both cried. Phoenix's face, however, was a wide grin as she stood up she gave me a wink. "Maybe going to school really was worth it!"
"That's great, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to visit the infirmary because of you." I grumbled as I nursed my sore knuckles, causing the avian guildy to laugh.
"Oh just walk it off, you're tougher than that!"
"It still hurt you know!"
School ended peacefully.
Okay, that was a lie.
The moment the final bell rang there was a deep silence throughout the classroom before eventually half the students in the class proceeded to stand up in unison. A spark shot thorugh the room as they all glared at each other before immediately rushing over to Hei and Jin's desk, swarming them in a mob.
Phoenix gave a carefree laugh as the more athletic students in the class proceeded to begin shoving each other in an attempt to talk to her first.
"JIN! OVER HERE!"
"Oi you bastard I was talking to her first!"
"Well the basketball team can fuck off!"
Grasper on the contrary, immediately let out a shriek as people began to pull on her arms. "H-Hey!"
She gave me a panicked look and I immediately shot from my chair and tried to get closer to her. Tried being the keyword there, as the amount of people between me and her began to grow and grow.
It took me a few seconds to realize that this wasn't just limited to students from my class either. No, the school was rumbling like an earthquake. The sound of footsteps growing louder before someone kicked down the door with a violent slam. "WHERE'S THE SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS?!"
It didn't take long for them to find their targets and more and more people began to flood in, all shouting as loud as they could with Grasper and Phoenix at the sentence of their attention. I swear we had an entire grade of the school packed into the classroom as the sounds of argument and fighting began to fill my ears.
"You stay out of this Magic Division!" A group of students in goggles and lab coats roared at the cosplaying wizards. "Us, the Real Science Division, are taking the scholarship student for ourselves!"
"You still dare call yourself 'Real Science' Division?!" The leader of the wizards yelled back. "We're the ones who got the engineering rewards last year!"
"You're only able to operate because of the practitioners you forced into your clubs!" The Real Science Division(?) shot back. "Our prized robotics club has been preparing three years for our latest reveal! Once that happens, you'll be nothing more then dog meat!"
"Ha, it's probably nothing more than an advanced lego set! Face it, without us, you're nothing more then old fossils!"
"How dare you! You're courting death!"
Thankfully the more physically inclined members of the school were engaged in less shouting and more intense glaring and begging. It probably helped that Phoenix seemed to be at the very least willing to engage with the people around her. I had lost sight of Grasper, actually I had lost sight of everyone and had to stand up on my desk to find the poor girl having slipped from the club members grasp, hiding under her desk. I was tempted to jump over the mob between us and rescue the girl but before I could, someone shouted from outside the classroom. "THE PRINCESS IS COMING!"
A hushed silence fell over all the students as the hair on the back of our necks stood on end. There was only the sound of footsteps before slowly, like water, the students parted and made the path into the classroom clear. A sense of deja vu suddenly hit me and suddenly I was reminded of yesterday as she walked into the classroom.
Everyone turned to look at Lan. Her eyes, far from the cold stare she had as Tail Blue, were currently burning a low flame as she slung her bag over her shoulder. The blue haired girl gave an annoyed sigh before speaking. "Bring those two in front of me, now. And Hong get off the desk, you're going to hurt someone."
"Ahaha, sorry Lan." I laughed nervously as the students quickly moved to clear the way for Lan and push the two students in front of the girl. Phoenix and Grasper nervously followed Lan to the classroom wall, clutching at their belongings as I trailed behind after them. Slowly, my best friend reached over to the window before-
Click.
Throwing the thing wide open and shouting at us. "Okay we're escaping now run!"
Instantly the classroom was filled with a burning anger. Cries of 'Bullshit!', 'That's unfair Lan!', and most prominently… "Get them!"
"GO GO GO!" Lan cried as she jumped out the window, uncaring that we were on the second floor as she took to the air in a flying leap.
"Well, see ya'll tomorrow!" Phoenix cried as she gave the students a salute before proceeding to brazenly do a backflip out the window.
Grasper however, gave a nervous look before taking a step back. "I, I don't think I can-"
"I gotcha." I declared as I quickly picked the petite girl up and dashed towards the window. "Hold on tight!"
"Wait Hong don't- AHHHHH!"
It took us, somehow, an entire half an hour to eventually escape from the school. It was almost like the entire campus was searching for us, in fact I'm pretty sure the entire school was. Luckily, with Grasper's help, we managed to sneak past them all and into the streets where we could breathe easy.
"What the hell was that all about?!" The glasses-wearing girl cried. "I've watched anime! I know what schools are like and they aren't supposed to be like anime!"
"Usually that would be true but- Mrs. Huang runs the school." Lan sighed as we power walked through the streets. "I mean, you saw what the MG club was like before right? Most of the school is like that, really. The fact that you two are scholarship students probably doesn't help."
"Eh? Is it really that rare?" Phoenix asked, hands casually behind her head.
"It's less rare and more special." The twintailed girl explained with a sigh. "It's a bit hard to explain but our school has always been a bit prestigious. Then Mrs. Huang came in and she started a nationwide hunt for talented and unique people. In fact, she actively encourages to be as unique as possible."
"Unique is a polite way of putting it." Grasper muttered. "Who wears wizard clothes to school?"
"Sad to say, there's barely any normal students left in the school. All I can really tell you is that you get used to it." Lan shrugged. "The population is basically divided into three classifications of students. There's the first type of students which are the normal population. Then you have the second type of student being those who are skilled or talented enough to earn a full scholarship. The crazy geniuses who everyone wants to join their club so they can bring it to new heights."
The girl paused her explanation, fidgeting nervously. "And then there's a third type of student but... everyone either knows who they are or thinks they're a regular student. It's not something you should really bring up."
"Ah." I let out. "That would be me right?"
"Yeah. You're one of the known Type 3s." Lan sighed. "Those who gained their scholarships because they are the survivors of some tragedy."
"Well, you guys don't really have to worry too much about it." I shrugged. "Scholarships and what not, it doesn't really come up too often so you should be fine."
"That's because you don't pay attention to anything!" Lan shouted as she knocked on my head. "I'm the one who has to deal with all of this! And you better start paying attention because everyone wants an unaligned Type-2!"
"We're still talking about high school here right?" The black haired girl whispered to Phoenix as I pulled Lan's hand off me.
"I get it! Alright! I'll keep an eye on them!" I cried. "Just give everyone a few weeks to calm down, things'll get to a normal level then."
The four of us spent the rest of the walk home from school idly talking. Well some of it was idly talking, most of it was going over counter measures on how to avoid forced recruitment or something.
I was paying as much attention as I could, but honestly I was beginning to space out when I felt someone tap my leg from a nearby alley. "Oh sorr-y?"
I glanced downwards. Right at my feet was… some kind of creature. I wasn't sure what it was to be honest. It had green fur and looked to be some kind of mammal but it had a beaver tail and a bill. I blinked at the thing as it poked my leg again. "What is this?"
"Nrrrr." It gurgled, teeth chattering.
"Huh?" Phoenix let out as everyone stopped to crowd over the thing.
"A platypus?" Grasper muttered before her eyes widened and she stepped back and began to shout. "No wait that's-!"
She didn't have any time to finish before thing leapt up at me, smacking me in the face with it's tiny fists. I flew backwards as the Platypus stood up on it's legs and a tiny fedora materialized itself on it's head. Phoenix gasped and the two girls cried it's name in unison. "PLATYPUS GUILDY?!"
"Ahahaha! That's right!" A nasal-y voice called out as a humanoid wolf looked down on the alley from atop the building. "Did you really think that you could hide from High Valhallah that easily?!"
"Fenrir!" Phoenix ground. "You slimy bastard! What the hell is Platypus doing here?!"
"Surprised?" The wolf gave a clear grin. "As it just so happens, Platypus Guildy actually works for High Valhallah! He's a double agent!"
"That can't possibly be true!" Grasper cried. "He's the vice commander of Deadly Venom! There's no way any of those jerks would work for Yggdrasil!"
"Agh." I groaned as I pulled myself to my feet. "We're having a guildy fight!? Now?!"
Phoenix whipped out her Guildy Gear before throwing a fist in the air "How'd you even find us you bastards!"
"I'm glad you asked!" The Guildy, Fenrir cackled as he pulled out his phone. It was hard to see at this distance but I thought I saw a picture of… Us? "The answer is- Social Media! You've been enjoying yourselves at school I see, but now your life ends here!"
"...Yeah that checks out." Grasper muttered. "Dammit, I didn't think going to school would cause so much of a commotion."
"If you're looking for a fight then I won't hesitate to fight back! Come on guys, let's go! TAIL ON!" Fire burned through my body as I transformed once more. "I am, Magical Girl Tail Red!"
"So, Tail Red was here too! Perfect, excellent!" The enemy guildy cackled. "But there's no way you can defeat me when I combine my powers with Platypus Guildy!"
"Um, excuse me." Lan interrupted as she raised her hand. "I'm just a normal high school girl, can I go home?"
Fenrir's cackling paused as the wolf awkwardly exchanged a glance with the platypus before nodding slowly. "You're excused."
"Thanks. See you guys later." Lan said with a casual wave of her hands as she walked down the street.
Grasper perked up. "Actually-"
"No." Fenrir said flatly.
"Dammit," The glasses affinity user cursed before turning to me. "Listen Tail Red, don't be fooled. Despite their feeble appearances, these two are actually quite strong. Platypus's dance affinity has defeated many foes before you."
"And Fenrir is just a chump who has the Envy affinity!" Phoenix Growled. "Ponytail Gear, Ignite!"
Magic circles formed between the girl as her transformation sequence started. Meanwhile I summoned the Blazer Blades to my hands and stared at the Platypus. The bipedal mammal silently extended one hand and made a gesture universal in all languages.
'Come at me.'
As if I would back down here!
The third fight with High Valhallah, let's go!
[] Dance, dance, revolution!
[] Fenrir is annoying, focus on him!
[] Write In
+30 EXP Raising them Lan-route flags, RIP
+6 EXP Hong's Mom is a total MILF
-6 EXP [VISCERAL PSYCHIC DAMAGE]
+15 EXP MATH IS MATH! MATH IS MATH!
+30 EXP Soccer, sort of.
+180 EXP Double Encounter, Fenrir and Platypus!
14 + 255 = 269 EXP
AN: This update was really getting out of hand, so we had to cut it in hal- I mean LOOK OVER THERE! A GUILDY!
I opened the door to my room and stepped out onto the balcony. The winter air slapped me in the face and made me wish I had worn a coat, but I bore the brunt of it by stepping on to the metal railing and leaping across the gap. It wasn't long before I landed with a small thud on Lan's balcony without a scratch, though I did give a glance down at the drop below.
"How does she do that so often…?" I muttered. If I had tried doing that two months ago I would've broken my arm. That was a guarantee, because I had already broken a bone trying to attempt that stunt. With a shiver at the passing memories, I quickly walked up to the door of my friend's house and gave it a light knock.
"Huh?" I heard her mutter as she opened her own sliding door. With a yawn, the blue haired girl turned to greet me. "Oh, it's you."
Lan was dressed in only a pair of orange and white striped pajamas as she rubbed her eyes. The twintail's that normally ordained her hair had been untied, which was unnerving to say the least. I could barely even recognize her-
The blue haired girl rolled her eyes and shut the door. "Give me a second."
A literal second later she opened the door again, hair already tied up in twintails. I blinked. "That was fast."
Even I knew the limit of human speed and it was almost impossible to maintain good twintails when you're going that fast, but somehow, the girl in front of me had done it in under a second.
"I've had a lot of practice," she casually waved off before leaning on the door frame. "So, did you need anything?"
"Actually I was going to ask if you need anything." The reply left my lips quicker than I could think. "After you know, everything that happened today…"
There was a moment of silence between us before Lan sighed, opening the door wider as she walked back into her room. "Yeah, sure. Hurry up and come on in, you're going to catch a cold if you stay outside dressed like that."
"Weren't you the one who said a twintail idiot like me couldn't get sick?" I retorted as I stepped inside the—thankfully warm—room and shut the door behind me.
"And I also said that didn't mean you had to take it as a challenge," my blue haired friend shot back before going to the door. "You want me to make some tea?"
"Nah, I don't think I'll be here that long," I replied, taking my usual seat on the floor with my back pressed against Lan's bed.
The girl rolled her eyes. "I keep telling you, you can sit on the bed."
"I've told you before, I'm fine right here." I shifted my shoulders. "If I sit on your bed I'm just going to fall asleep on it."
She glanced away before speaking up, quietly. "...You can stay over if you like."
"Can't." I shook my head. "I gotta help Grasper and Phoenix get ready for school tomorrow. Those two were panicking like it was the end of the world."
"Right. Yeah. I guess that makes sense." Lan sighed, before taking her spot right next to me. I could feel the warmth of her body as she curled her legs up and turned to face me. Her eyes though, were looking at anywhere but mine. "About the fight today… Thank you."
"It was nothing." I shook my head. "I just couldn't let it happen. I wouldn't. Even if it's a hypocrisy, I hated the look in your eyes when you were about to kill again and… I hated how much we both knew it was going to hurt you."
The girl fell silent for a few seconds before with a frustrated groan, buried her head into her knees. "This is so unfair. How can someone like you remain so strong but I always feel so fragile?"
"Strong? Me?" A laugh almost escaped my lips but I kept it in. "After the showing that you did today?"
"I've said this before and I'll say it again. A fighter needs to have harmony in both Body, Mind, and Spirit." Lan lectured. "You… three weeks ago you were a complete wreck after your fight with Drag. It hurt you so much and yet here you are now, having completely bounced back."
"...I wouldn't say I've bounced back." I muttered.
"No, Hong, you did. Sure the experience scarred you, but you've also grown stronger in ways you haven't even realized." Lan countered with a sigh. "You're not smart at all, you have no talent for anything, but you're also the stubbornest idiot I know. You're able to get back up and keep fighting no matter how many times life puts you down. Never giving up on your convictions, the kind of person that… a magical girl needs to be."
Slowly, ever so slowly, the girl pulled her head out of her knees before turning to face me. Her eyes were blue oceans of sadness and self-loathing but the way she looked at me also had a trace of something else. "That kind of dumb, foolhearty, idiocy is… something that I've always envied you for."
I sat there, slack jawed. Lan? Envied me? I'd have dismissed it as a flat lie if the girl herself wasn't telling it to my face.
My childhood friend continued on as she turned to stare up at the ceiling of her room. "Hey Hong… I… Never told you how Erina died huh?"
"Was it not at Hope?" I blinked before kicking myself. No, that was only a place, the where of how she died. Not the how. I didn't even know that Lan was a magical girl until four years after Erina's death.
"That was only where the boiling point was." Lan's words came out slowly, wavery, fragile. I can see in her eyes the memories coming back to her and it looked like she was about to break but my friend clenched her fist and kept going. "Back when we were local magical girls, Erina, that is to say Magical Girl Tail Yellow, had a rather special ability. Whereas I could copy any weapon I saw, Tail Yellow could become impervious to any attack as long as she survived it once."
I blinked. "That's…"
"Ridiculous. I know." She completed with a bitter laugh. "From the most fatal of knife wounds to being lit entirely on fire, Tail Yellow could survive it all. And as the years went on, she only kept growing more and more absurd. Eventually it reached the point where it felt like I couldn't even touch her. I was envious, jealous, angry, frustrated, probably about every negative emotion you could name."
Lan's eyes glanced downwards. "But I… Didn't want to sacrifice my friendship with Erina, so I kept it all under the surface. That was probably my biggest mistake. The emotions didn't go away. In fact they just kept growing more intense until eventually on that day at Hope- they finally exploded."
I almost couldn't believe my ears. My memories of that time had always portrayed us as the best of friends but then again… considering just what kind of person that I was back then, it shouldn't have been that surprising that there was something I missed.
The girl continued on, oblivious to my own inner turmoil. "We had an argument that day. A nasty one. It's so vivid in my mind, but I don't remember what happened. All I could recall is a haze of anger before I said something I shouldn't have said before running away from the place we were staying at."
"And…" I gulped. "And then?"
"You can already guess what happened then." Lan replied. "It wasn't long after that Hope was assaulted by the forces of darkness. I was already regretting what I had said, but in the chaos that followed, I had to fight my damndest to survive. I kept looking though, but by the time I finally found her she…"
The girl didn't say anything more. She didn't have to.
By the time that Lan had found her, Tail Yellow was already dead.
"...I thought she was invincible." Her eyes were dark, but despite that there were no tears. They had already long since dried, leaving behind wet trails that only I could see. "Untouchable. Undefeatable. I was wrong. It only took one wrong blow, one attack that she couldn't survive. Just one…"
Her fist clenched so hard that her knuckles were turning white. "I should've been there for her. I shouldn't have abandoned her. If I had just stayed by her side then maybe she could still have survived. But I was a frog in a well, not realizing that the ocean was made of blood and tears. The only thing I could do was take revenge and refuse to leave her corpse behind. It was hard, a hell I wouldn't wish on anybody, but eventually I managed to make it back."
But back to where?
Back home?
To me, the aftermath wasn't Lan returning. Physically she was present, but mentally she was still stuck on that day. I could see that now. And part of her still is.
Lan's body shifted as she turned to face me again. A resigned, hollow laugh escaping her lips. "So now you know… what kind of awful person I am."
My reply was immediate. "You're not-"
Her eyes flashed at me. "Don't-!"
"You're not an awful person Lan," I finished anyway. "I don't know who Tail Blue is, but I do know who Lan Yu is. The person who was always by my side. That's why I can say with confidence that even if you've given up on yourself, I will never give up on you."
Slowly, agonizingly slowly, a small smile blossomed on her face. In the moonlight, it was ephemeral. Invincible. Untouchable. Undefeatable. "...Thank you."
We sat close enough together that we could feel the warmth of our bodies. I'm sure that she could even hear my heart beat but I couldn't hear hers. Lan sat right next to me, but it felt like we were light years apart from each other.
Did my words reach her?
On that night-
That was the one thing I wished I knew.
Some days I wished I never woke up.
"Gah!" Phoenix screamed as she clung to my body. "You gotta help me Hong! I can't go to school! I've never been to school! I'm as dumb as a rock!"
"Just accept it already- And finish putting on your uniform!" Grasper scolded. "You at least know how to do that right?!"
"Ah- Yep! Yep!" Phoenix jumped up as she quickly began to button her shirt up before proceeding to fumble with her ribbon. "Just, just give me a bit! A long bit!"
"Mmph," I grunted out as I quickly gulped down my breakfast. My hands quickly darted towards the piece of cloth and tied it up in the standard bow of the uniform. "There."
"Thanks- Wait no crap ah!" The ponytail guildy began to run around the dining room and through the halls in a flurry panic. "What do I need?! How do I school?! Books?! They read books right?!"
"Agh, seriously…" Grasper groaned before turning to face me with two identical pairs of glasses in her hands. "Hey Hong, which one should I go with?"
"Um…" I blinked before squinting. Mmmh, nope. "Is there a difference?"
"Of course there's a difference." She rolled her eyes before pointing at the lens in the first pair. "These glasses have about a .005% damage in the lens which will hinder social interactions by 0.07%. Meanwhile the other pair of glasses have 0.3% damage to the frames, making them just uncomfortable enough to wear that my head will automatically move to support them, preventing eye contact for longer than 6.43 seconds."
"That is-" I don't exactly know much about glasses but I'm pretty sure that's not how they work. "Wait a minute, are you trying to be bad at socialising?"
"Of course!" Grasper shouted, as she placed one of the frames in her eyes. "Anko Isuna has thousands of fans you know?! The ramifications of if someone were to connect the dots and find out about my secret identity would be a disaster! I need to tailor every aspect of my body movements and outfit to be as much of a plain, ordinary, unnoticeable girl as possible!"
"Just act like yourself, you're already a super shut-in anyways!" Phoenix called from the hallways.
The glasses-wearing girl whipped her head around to shout back. "Oh shut up! This is a matter of life and death here! I can't buy any games if I run out of simp money okay?!"
The panicking avian poked her head back into the hallways to give a mocking grin at the other girl. "Sure, and this definitely isn't an excuse to act out some nerd game of yours."
"Wha- This has nothing to do with Megane Senko from 'The Mob Girl In My Class Is Secretly A Heart-Pounding Idol?!'!"
"You're the one who said it, not me!"
"Why you! Come here Phoenix, I'll drill algebra so hard into your head you'll be speaking in formulas when we finally get to school!"
"Hey, come on!" I shouted as I grabbed the petite black haired girl. She struggled, pounding and kicking my shins, though there wasn't much power behind it. Phoenix for her part, just let out a peal of mocking laughter before beginning to raid our fridge. "Stop fighting guys! We need to get to school early so you can meet Mrs. Huang before classes start!"
"Ah- Her." Grasper muttered as she calmed down. I quickly let the girl go down and she began to flatten out the wrinkles in her skirt. "I still can't believe I ended up going to her school anyways…"
"Well, if it's any consolation," I said as I patted the black haired girl on the shoulder, "there's little that Mrs. Huang can't get if she sets her mind to it."
"Still, this is a bit overkill isn't it? Being able to casually accept two new students with no identification on a whim? That's suspicious as hell." Phoenix grabbed a cold soda before proceeding to down the beverage. "Be real with me Hong, does she have some sort of super power or something?"
"Yeah." I nodded as seriously as I could. "The super power of money."
"Pfft-!" The red haired girl spat out her drink in shock and I automatically started moving to clean up her mess. "M-Money?! How much are we talking here?! Thousands of credits?!"
"That's pocket change for her. Think more in the millions." I paused as the paper towel soaked up the soda. "Maybe in the billions, I never actually bothered to ask about her string value."
Grasper rolled her eyes. "You mean net worth."
Yeah that.
"To think we were going to be meeting someone so important…" Phoenix's hands shook as she looked at her outfit before panicking and trying to tear it off. "This outfit isn't good enough! I need a shiny dress! And champagne! And 1920s american jazz music!"
"The hell is up with that specific description?! Stop trying to use every excuse you can to avoid going to school!" Grasper shouted as she leaped up to prevent the guildy from stripping entirely. "Hong help!"
"On it! On it!"
It took about five more minutes, but eventually we managed to calm Phoenix down enough that we were able to actually go outside where Lan was waiting for us with an impatient tapping of her feet.
"So." She muttered, glancing at the despondent bird. "What's up with her?"
"Millionaire, school, rich school, money…" The ponytail girl rattled off a looping list as she clutched her school bag tightly. "I can't believe I'm actually doing this."
"She'll be fine." The glasses-wearing girl deadpanned, but from the way the light shone from her lens I couldn't see her eyes. "Just a bit of… Culture shock?"
"Hah!?" Phoenix screeched. "You try being homeless for six months and see how you like it!"
Grasper's eyes twitched. "We grew up on the streets!"
Lan's eyes met mine and she gave a resigned sigh. "The school will suck you dry anyways, so don't worry too much about it."
Both of the newcomers to hell looked at me and I quickly averted my eyes. I tried to whistle innocently, but since I was terrible at whistling it came out as more of a breathy splutter. "Let's just go to school alright?"
And thus, all five of us high school students made their way- Wait, five?
Almost instantly, we all turned to face the newcomer who waved in response. I knew who she was- I didn't want to though. I really didn't want to. Even though she wore our high school uniform, I could say with absolute certainty that she didn't go to my school. Why? Because-
"Teehee." Mom let out cutely as she knocked a knuckle on her head and stuck out her tongue. "Sorry for making you wait guys! I'm a bit clumsy at times! Haha!"
Visceral Psychic Damage: 700 Base Damage + N/A Dice = 700 Total Damage
Hong's Mental Defense: 500 Base Resilience + N/A Dice = 500 Total Reduction
700 - 500 = 200 End Damage
Hong's Sanity: 1000 - 200 = 800 Sanity Remaining
The vicious assault immediately knocked me off my face. My face went a deathly pale, and it felt like I spat blood as Lan quickly moved to catch me. "Hong?! Hong!"
"I-Isn't she 35?" Phoenix asked as she took a step back. "How the hell does she make that outfit look so natural on her?"
"No make up, no cosmetics, just the cosplay outfit." Grasper calculated before bowing her head. "I am in shock and awe. The high school girl look, it- It just works."
Feeling faint, I shakily lifted up my hand and pointed it at the cosplaying lady. Only one word was able to escape my lips. "W-Why?"
"Aww come on, don't be mean Hong." Mom smiled as she ran a hand through her hair and did a quick twirl. "Since I had to go see Emu to help finalize Grasper-chan and Phoenix-chan's enrollment, I decided to put on the uniform for old times sake. What do you think, looks good right?"
Visceral Psychic Damage: 700 Base Damage + N/A Dice = 700 Total Damage
Hong's Mental Defense: 500 Base Resilience + N/A Dice = 500 Total Reduction
700 - 500 = 200 End Damage
Hong's Sanity: 800 - 200 = 600 Sanity Remaining
"Quick!" I heard Grasper shout as she dashed over to me and covered my eyes. "Cover his ears as well! He only has 600 sanity remaining! Three more hits and he's going to go insane!"
"R-Right!" Lan quickly replied, and my world was engulfed in sweet nothingness. A black void, devoid of sight and sound. It was safe, comforting, and I could convince myself that my memories were nothing more than a sleep deprived delusion.
"You're going to have to come out of there eventually." Phoenix, the backstabber, shot at me.
I growled in response. "Shut up and let me have this!"
Unfortunately, it turned out to be entirely unsafe to walk the streets of China deaf and blind. That, and Grasper had neither the stamina nor the willpower to keep it up, so I was unfortunately forced to face the reality in front of me as we walked into the school gates.
Death would have been a more preferable fate.
Visceral Psychic Damage: 700 Base Damage + N/A Dice = 700 Total Damage
Hong's Mental Defense: 500 Base Resilience + N/A Dice = 500 Total Reduction
700 - 500 = 200 End Damage
Hong's Sanity: 600 - 200 = 400 Sanity Remaining
On a typical school morning, I wouldn't have to care much about the people around me. Now though? Now I was hyper aware of it. I could feel the gazes of the other students like knives. Every hushed whisper sent a shiver down my spine. My head was bent down, unable to face forward, face so hot you'd think I already transformed into Tail Red.
I tried to convince her not to go through with this. I really did. Begged and pleaded. But while Mrs. Huang could always get what she wanted, my mom would never stop once she set her mind to something. I just wished what she had decided this time wasn't an elaborate murder plot via public embaressment!
"Are those girls new students?" I heard someone whisper in the background. "Damn those redheads are looking fine."
My head whipped around like lightning, gaze seeking out whoever had said that. He flinched backwards.
"Hong." Mom knocked on my head. "No murder in school."
"I wasn't going to murder him…" I grumbled, my fists instinctively trying to grasp the handle of the Blazer Blades only to clench at empty air. With all the strength I could muster, I turned towards the last person I could trust.
Lan gave me a look of pity. Then her lips twitched. Her gaze was an open book for me. 'I know how much you're suffering, but also this is hilarious.'
'I thought we were friends.'
'Best friends.'
'We were the bestest of friends and you left me to die.'
'That's how friendship works Hong,' Mom chimed in as she turned back to face the two of us. 'Remember the Liang family motto, having face is such a waste!'
'Actually,' Grasper adjusted her glasses. 'There's a 53.47% likelihood that if the relation between the two of you were to be discovered, Hong's chance of gaining a male friend would sky rocket.'
I glared at Gasper. 'As if I want to make friends like this!'
"Uh." Phoenix spoke up. "Are, are you people seriously having a conversation entirely through eye contact and facial expressions?"
'Yes.'
'Yeah.'
'Yep.'
'Affirmative.'
"Hey hey! Don't just look at me like that!" the ponytailed girl shouted. "I'm not telepathic you know?!"
Attracted by the sound, one of the older teacher's came around the corner with a tired sigh and a stack of papers in his hands. "Don't shout in the… halls…."
The poor man paused, glancing towards me before his eyes settled down on my mom, who gave him a friendly wave. "Hiya teach!"
Instantly, his face paled. I quickly dodged out of the way as the man threw his papers at us and with more life in him then I expected for his age, immediately let out a high pitched shriek before sprinting down the halls while screaming at the top of his lungs. "No no no no no! She's back! Oh merciful heavens, why have you forsaken me?!"
We all turned to face the actually-in-her-30s cosplaying highschool student who just rubbed the back of her head and gave an embarrassed laugh. "Haha, I guess they still remember me huh?"
"Just." I gulped. "Just what did you do?"
"Oh you know, this and that." Mom gestured vaguely. "Not much really, I was a model student if I'm being honest."
That was a bald faced lie, but I couldn't exactly call her out on it without anyone around us eavesdropping, so the only thing I could do was keep silent as my mother skipped ahead, guiding us through the hallways until finally we arrived at the doors to the headmistress' office.
"Yo! Emu!" Mom called, bursting the wooden doors open as she cheerfully walked into the room without a care in the world. "I brought the girls! Trust me, I really think you'll like them!"
"Good morning Mrs. Huan-" I began, only for my smile to fracture.
Visceral Psychic Damage: 700 Base Damage + N/A Dice = 700 Total Damage
Hong's Mental Defense: 500 Base Resilience + N/A Dice = 500 Total Reduction
700 - 500 = 200 End Damage
Hong's Sanity: 400 - 200 = 200 Sanity Remaining
"A fine morning to you, Hong." Emu replied, hiding the bottom of her face with her fan. It would've been perfectly normal, except instead of the Japanese kimono the blonde usually wore, it was instead replaced with the school uniform once more!
"Why!" I screamed, putting my hand to my face. "Oh god."
"...Yeah alright, this is too weird for me." Lan declared, taking a step back from the office. With a pitying gaze, the person who I thought was my best friend patted me on the shoulders. "Good luck with whatever this is, I'm going to head to class."
Wait a minute, this was an opportunity! Lan I take back everything I've thought about you in the past twenty minutes, you're truly unmatched under the heavens both physically and mentally!
"Actually!" I exclaimed a bit too forcibly as I began to follow after her. "Come to think of it, I should head to class as well- Urk!"
"Ah ah ah." Mom's smile looked like the devil as she grabbed me by the collar and began to pull me back into the room. "You really need to be here as well. After all, you're the reason these girls are living with us in the first place, so you need to take responsibility alright?"
And with that, the door to my salvation closed with a loud bang. The red haired woman quickly dragged me over to a nearby couch, arm wrapped around my shoulder as she forced me to sit down. Phoenix and Grasper, on the other hand, were quietly gestured to sit at the two chairs in front of Emu's desk by a wave of the blonde woman's fan. "Responsibility, hm? I wonder if someone who wastes so much money on gacha games has any right to say such things."
"Well, you know me! No matter how much of a mess I make, I always clean up in the end!" Mom gave the other cosplaying woman a thumbs up before grinning. "I got to say though, I didn't expect you to be dressed up as well though Emu. It was supposed to be a surprise!"
"The worst surprise of my life." I muttered.
"You're not that unpredictable Yuan," the headmistress sighed. "I had a feeling you'd pull off something like this, and it just so happened that my guess was correct. I must say though, it really is nostalgic to be wearing a school uniform once more. However!"
Her fan was shut closed with an audible crash as she pointed at the two girls in front of her. "Idle reminiscence of the past is not why we've gathered here today. It is instead the future we must talk about."
With what had to be a practice gesture, Mrs.Huan gracefully bowed her head. "In that regard, introductions are in order. I am Emu Huang, head of the Huang family, leader of the Yellow Feather cooperation, and also the headmaster at this academy. My skills are numerous, and my businesses profitable. Though I've met one of you in the past before, this is the first time we're meeting face to face. Now then, please follow my example and introduce yourselves."
The two girls suddenly froze up, giving each other a nervous glance before the short one spoke up first. "...They call me Dark Grasper, and I was the former information specialist and designer of the Guildys-"
"Stop right there," Emu ordered. "I said to introduce yourself. Don't think I don't see how you're deliberately hindering yourself. Start over from the beginning, and this time be honest about it."
The black haired girl nodded quietly for a bit before sighing and jumping out of her chair. "Hahaha! I am Dark Grasper! My ability INTO THE ABYSS allows me to calculate all things, nothing escapes these eyes of mine! When it comes to science and numbers, none surpass me!"
I blinked. "What about Twirl?"
"Twirl doesn't count!" Grasper hissed before spinning around and adjusting her glasses. "They also call me Anko Isuna, the star of the youtube idol world! Ah, I've already calculated what you're thinking and that's why I brought this!"
Reaching into her pocket, Grasper pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to the headmistress. "These are my latest earnings for the past quarter! I, I kind of lost most of my equipment when I left the Guildys so um, if you could sponsor me that would be great…"
"Isn't this supposed to be a school interview?" Phoenix stage-whispered to me, only for Grasper to quickly turn around and kick the girl in the shins. "Ow! Watch it nerd!"
"Hm, interesting…" Emu ignored the two girls as she glanced at the paper and nodded. "I'll consider your proposal for now. I'm under the impression that you enrolled in our data banks as one 'Hei Jing', correct?"
"Ah, that would be my 'official' alias." Grasper quickly explained. "Hei for Black, Jing for lens. Dark Grasper is my actual name, but no one would accept someone with a name like that so the Guildys and I came up with names that help us blend in more with society."
"And I suppose that brings us to the Guildy in the room." The fan was quickly pointed towards the guildy in question, who quickly straightened up as if her spine had been replaced with an iron rod.
"Uh yes! They call me Jin Ming, but my real name is Phoenix Guildy! Former Vice Commander of the Azure Wing unit until I was betrayed by the ones who I used to call my comrades!" With a fiery passion, the girl punched her fist into the air. "I swore on the day that my best friend Pegasus Guildy was killed before my eyes, that I wouldn't stop until I've gotten my revenge! Not even death can hold me back! I'm the Eternal Hero, Phoenix Guildy of the Ponytail Affinity!"
"Wasn't that nickname something used to mock you?" Grasper commented as she sat back down.
"It's all just a matter of how you see it!" The ponytail girl exclaimed before giving the other girl a look. "And isn't it kind of rude to interrupt someone's introduction?"
"You did the same thing to me!"
"That's enough." Emu's fan snapped open as she gently waved it back and forth, silencing the two girls instantly. "Hm, I see I see… Yes, I've come to the conclusion that you girls are most definitely interesting people."
"Ahahaha…" Mom laughed as she leaned into my ear. "Emu's bad habit is kicking in again."
"Grasper-chan, or should I call you Hei for now? I've heard about your inventions, particularly these Guildy Gears of yours." The blonde woman declared as Grasper nervously began to fidget. Stark blue eyes turned their gaze towards me and I nodded, releasing the magic keeping the Tail Gear hidden and revealing the device for everyone in the room to look at. Emu nodded approvingly. "A marvel of both magic and engineering. Functioning both as a transformation device and as a communicator. Truthfully, I didn't think there was anyone who could rival the combined efforts of Twirl-chan and Moonlight-chan, but I suppose there's still surprise in this world left for me. Frankly, I want to buy the patents off you right now."
"...Sorry, but those aren't for sale." The black haired girl spoke with steel in her voice as she adjusted her glasses. "Both from a practical and moral standpoint. Practically, most Guildy Gears only function because of the unique physiology of Guildys combined with my ability being used to draw out every inch of their potential. Each gear is tailor made, bespoke work that requires a significant amount of fine tuning until they're combat ready."
A dark flame burned in the petite girl's eyes as she met Mrs. Huang's stern gaze head on. "Morally speaking, they're dangerous weapons. They were created for only one purpose: self defense. No matter what you say, you're not going to convince me to suddenly become an arms dealer."
Sparks flew through the air before the headmistress lips twitched upwards and a small smile bloomed on her face. The woman gave the girl a few slow claps as she spoke. "Bravo, an excellent resolve. I see you're not the type to take technological advancements lightly. I've personally seen too many tragedies occur in the past few years due to foolish arrogance. While the transformation features would've been nice, I would have purchased the rights from you for the communications technology alone. It would be a good shock to the current attempts at trends in the market."
"Mmh, I've seen them." Grasper nodded knowingly. "The Counter Force has been hoarding most of the technology for their Data Mines and leaving the civilian consumer base to stagnate. Yes, if I were to add a more user-friendly interface then… Ah sorry, I started calculating on accident."
"That is fine. Now then, moving on." Mrs. Huang turned towards Phoenix before pausing. "While Grasper is a sure bet for a scholarship, 'Jin-chan' here is more of a risk factor. Ignoring your origins as a Guildy, what would you say your physical performance is like?"
Before the ponytail girl could answer, the mathematician stepped in. "Right now, without the Guildy Gear supporting her, Phoenix's physical strength is about 40 points. Even the healthiest adult only registers around 20 on the scale, so for the most part, she's got double the strength of the average human."
"While your ability to calculate is interesting, Grasper-chan, I would prefer to hear it from the girl herself." The blonde waved her fan at the avian guildy. "Well?"
"Um, well." Phoenix rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, her ponytail bobbing in response. "Grasper could tell you it better but yeah, physically I'm stronger than most of the people around me- Or so I thought until I started to live with monsters like Hong. Technique wise my only real skill that I learned to do is fighting and stunts, and I thought I was okay at that until Lan kicked my ass again. And again. And again."
"Yes, she does have a way of humbling people. You're far from the first in that regard, and far from the last either." Mrs.Huang nodded before pausing to press the fan against her chin. "Hm, I suppose with all that being said, I can get you in on one of our more general scholarships for now, though it won't be covering all of your admission fees. We can upgrade to a full scholarship if you manage to prove yourself."
The red haired girl opened her mouth to say something, only to be shut silent by Grasper jamming her elbow into the girl's side and hissing at her. "Just take it."
"Fine! Alright! Jeez!" Phoenix cried before pausing. "Wait I'm not paying for this am I?!"
"Nope! That would be me~!" Mom laughed as she pulled her wallet out of a pouch in the school blazer and casually tossed it across the room. It soared through the air before the headmistress' hand shot out of her kimono like a snake, snatching it before placing in on her desk. "I was hoping to avoid having to pay for much since the two of you are kind of unique cases, but I guess that didn't work out huh? You sure Phoenix's magical traits won't get her anything?"
"While I do have some practitioners as scholarship holders, it is because of what they do with their abilities. Those who awaken to magic and do nothing are worse than those who have no magic and put in effort. Simply awakening to magic isn't good enough." And with that, her gaze turned past everyone else in the room and those clear blue eyes fell solely on me. "That is something you should burn into your mind Hong. Though that does bring us to the crux of the matter here. Since you're fighting so hard against the Guildys, what is your opinion on all of this?"
"My opinion?" I paused before thinking about it. "Well… Truthfully I'm not entirely sure what to say. It's entirely up to Grasper and Phoenix regarding this. The only thing I'm worried about is… How long they'll be in school honestly."
A sigh escaped my lips. "The past few weeks have hammered home just how easily people can die and frankly, what we're doing is dangerous. The Guildys we're facing are only growing stronger and stronger. One day things might go horribly wrong. But even if that day does come, I'm still willing to fight. That's really all I have to say on the matter."
Mrs. Huang paused, assessing me for a second before her smile widened. "You've gotten one step closer to becoming a real man Hong, though you've still got room to grow. Very well, on that consideration, I will consider Jin Ming and Hei Jing to be officially enrolled."
"Yeah!" Phoenix shouted before pausing and turning to Grasper. "Wait this is a good thing right?"
"That all depends on the effort that you put in." Mrs.Huang snapped her fan shut before nodding towards mom. "Now, since Yuan is already here and is familiar with how the school operates, she can act as your supervisor for today."
Visceral Psychic Damage-
"No!" I shouted, jumping up from the couch and over to the chairs and yanking the two girls up by their arms. "I'll do it! Leave it to me!"
"Eh? Really?" Mom let out a disappointed whine but her face held a wide, cheery smile. In fact, both of the cosplaying women had smiles on their faces, though it was Mrs. Huang's smile that really clued me in on what's going on. After all, that was the look that only a pure, utter sadist would ever give someone.
These women knew what they were doing to me. They were abusing their positions of power just to embarrass me. Is this what bullying is like?
"Come on come on-!" I cried, dragging the two girls behind me as I walked to the door.
"Ow!"
"Dammit Hong that hurts!"
"You'll be fine!" The longer I stay in this room the more likely they were to come up with something worse. I quickly glanced around before shouting at the headmaster. "Which class are they in?"
The blonde woman let out a sigh, though her smile didn't change. "I've had them placed in yours, of course."
"Great! Perfect!" With no respect for property whatsoever, I kicked open the door and watched it fly off its hinges before it crashed into the ground with a rumbling thud. "Come on guys, let's welcome you to school!"
"Good luck!" Mom waved cheerily. "And I'm taking the repair costs out of your paycheck!"
"It's basically your money anyways!" I shouted back before shivering.
At the very least, my day could only go up from here.
Let's just say that the rest of the day wasn't uneventful.
"And if you use this formula…" Grasper stated as she continued to draw math on the smart board. "Then you arrive at the answer like this."
"Uh, thank you Hei." The math teacher said nervously. "Now could anyone else-"
"Hei~!" Someone whined in the background. "I don't get how to do the problem after that!"
"Huh? That should be simple." The girl adjusted her glasses before picking up the textbook and pausing. Slowly she turned back to the teacher. "Hey, what's with this outdated, roundabout formula?"
"Um, that is-"
"You don't know do you?" She sighed in frustration. "56.7% of your classes have just been blindly following the textbook, haven't they? And this book was written in… Hm, it's only a few years out of date so I can't fault you there but really, there's better ways to calculate things. For example…"
Grasper's eyes met mine as she continued to steal the job of our math teacher and wrote simple, easy to follow math even for an idiot like me on the board.
'I thought you didn't want to stand out?' I blinked.
'I underestimated how painful high school math classes were.' The black haired girl replied even as she continued talking. Ah yeah, I did notice her visibly twitching since the lesson began and ever since she got up on the board, she was slowly taking control of the class away from the actual teacher. The poor guy was just hiding in a corner now, probably fearing for his job or something. Grasper continued to teach, though at one point she tilted her head and I turned to see Phoenix…
Sleeping right next to me. I sighed and gently gave the girl a kick before whispering in her ear. "Hey, wake up."
"Mmh?" The ponytail girl mumbled before yawning. "Why'd you wake me up? Is class over yet?"
The mathmagician's eye twitched as she turned to glare at the girl. "You of all people are the last person who should be sleeping in class!"
"Huh?" Phoenix grumbled. "But it's so boring…"
The glasses-wearing girl angrily grabbed one of the other smartpens before tossing it across the room straight at her face. Though it wasn't a particularly strong throw, Phoenix still kicked the back of her desk and leaned her chair back dodging the pen before snatching it in the air. Despite living on the edge, the guildy's chair kept perfect balance as she gave a cheeky grin at Grasper. "Gonna have to try better than that nerd!"
The class was suddenly a buzz of activity. Hushed whispers filled the room as people began to take out their phones and take pictures.
"Um…" The teacher spoke up. "Don't fight in the classroom-"
"Hah?" Grasper glared at him and he flinched. With an angry huff, she stomped back to the smartboard before turning to point out a specific student. "You! You have a problem with page 198 right?!"
"H-How did you-"
"Use this formula here! And you two in the back, stop playing gacha games on your phone!"
"Yes ma'am! Sorry ma'am!"
"I feel like something dangerous is awakening in this classroom…" I mumbled to myself as Grasper turned to face me.
"Hong! If you can't solve this problem by the end of class I'm assigning extra homework for you!"
Wha- That is so unfair!
"Um, Hei, You don't have that kind of pow-" The teacher came to my defense only to flinch back as the former guildy engineer turned to glare at him.
"Oh just shut up and continue to think about how that girl you went on a date with hasn't returned your text in a week!"
The teacher's face paled and laughter rang throughout the classroom- Only to be silenced as Grasper angrily glared at the other students.
I think this was the first time school taught us a valuable lesson. Don't piss off Grasper.
Meanwhile PE was a different beast all together.
"Hahaha!" Phoenix laughed as she slid through the grass and stole the soccer ball from the worn out high schoolers. Her Ponytail blew in the wind as she made a mad dash for the goal, kicking up dirt behind her. "You really think that's going to stop me?!"
The Guildy was, frankly, a monster on the field. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger than anyone else in the class, she had utterly dominated the game ever since the match had begun. Despite the sun burning into our backs, Phoenix had barely let out a sweat. All of this would have been great if it wasn't for the fact that the ponytail girl wasn't on my team. It was like facing Lan in a sparring match, losing seemed to be inevitable. The only thing that gave my team a semblance of victory was-
"Woah!" Phoenix cried as she lost control of the ball once more.
"Now!" With a courageous roar, some brave soul dashed in and stole the ball back. "Go go go!"
-Was the fact that Phoenix was utterly terrible at soccer.
"Hm, if she was trained a bit more in technique then the other schools wouldn't even stand a chance." The guy next to me muttered as he rubbed his chin. "She has great potential as a Striker… Ah, the same can be said about you too Hong."
"Not that I really care, but…" I patted my gloved hands while looking forward. "Why'd you make me the goalie again? You saw how the others complained."
"Eh, who cares about the naysayers!" he laughed with a smile. "I saw how much talent you have! Don't you remember? I'm the guy who tried to recruit you for the soccer club a few weeks ago!"
"Oh right, that did happen." Now that I looked at his face, he did look kind of familiar… "Sorry I was going through some stuff back then. Still busy, same goes with Ph- Er, Jin."
"Hm, is that so…" The boy paused before giving me a grin and thumbs up. "But don't think I'll give up that easily! In this world, there's nothing more fun than Soccer!"
"I can think of several things that are…" Grasper muttered as she stumbled forward, uncomfortably fidgeting her glasses as she pulled the hem of her gym clothes. Unlike the guildy, Grasper physically looked like she was dying. "One of which is losing, which is 80.5% probable to happen if we keep this up."
"Oh?" The boy asked as we turned to watch Phoenix snatch the ball back and continue on forward once more. "The other side's teamwork is a mess, they've all just given up and are relying on Jin to carry them. They don't have any soccer spirit!"
"We don't either." The black haired girl declared with all seriousness before pointing at our teammates. "She's wearing us out, and badly at that. Eventually we'll be too exhausted and she'll just steamroll all over us. But it's not like I haven't thought of any countermeasures."
"Alright!" The boy wrapped his arm over Grasper who suddenly looked very uncomfortable at the amount of sweat he was dripping. "Let's hear it!"
Grapser quickly told him her plan and the both of us guys blinked as we contemplated what she was suggesting.
"And you think this will work?" The boy mumbled.
"At the very least, it'll stall her enough that we can regain our stamina." The girl quickly adjusted her glasses. "Jin's greatest weakness is her lack of control over the ball. Even if she tries to take advantage of the gaps, they'll be narrow enough that we can take back the ball easily enough."
"That does sound plausible..." The boy paused before nodding. "You're joining in right Hei?"
"I'm the weakest one here physically, and Jin knows that." She gave a bitter laugh. "She'll just exploit me being the weakest link to blow right past me. Go and get everyone who still has stamina."
"Alright! Then I'm off to incorporate the plan!" The boy laughed before dashing off with a wave. "You have a lot of soccer spirit as well Hei! I'll definitely get you to join the team later!"
"Please don't," Grasper muttered before letting out a breath the moment the soccer player had gotten far enough away from us. "Oh thank Gaia he's gone. That should keep the game occupied for a while."
"You don't sound too enthusiastic about this." I said as the girl slumped over by the goal.
"Trust me Hong, I'd rather be sitting on the bench then actually playing soccer." The black haired girl complained as she pointed forward. "Physical exercise is my critical weakness, and I'm definitely not going to compete against Phoenix. Regular people like us can't compare to the monsters that play Guildy Soccer."
I blinked. "Guildy Soccer?"
Grasper nodded gravely. "It's one of the main ways Guildy units settle their differences. An anything-goes-match where Guildy Gears, Spells, and Abilities are perfectly legal. They call it hot blooded and heart pounding, I'm just surprised by how little I have to patch them up after it."
She sighed before shaking her head. "Guildy Soccer can barely even be called Soccer. In fact, it's frankly not soccer. That's why it'd be more accurate to call it something like… Football."
"That sounds… terrifying." Is that why Rabbit Guildy was so good at kicking a soccer ball around? "Ah, looks like they're putting your plan into action."
"Alright team! Let's show them what we're made of!" The soccer boy cried as everyone on the team shouted in agreement, lining up side by side until they were a big horizontal line stretching from one end of the field to the other. "Team Formation: THE GREAT WALL!"
I glanced towards the black haired girl who looked away to the side. "That was all on him."
"Oh come on!" Phoenix cried as she looked at the wall before shouting forward. "This is all your doing isn't it, Hei?!"
"You can't prove that!" Grasper shot back.
"Bullshit, I recognize your cheap strategies!" The ponytailed girl put her foot on the ball before smirking. "But I'm not going to be defeated by something like this!"
Her leg cocked back and suddenly Grasper tensed up. "Wait no, stop! You idiot! Moron! Birdbrain!"
"BREAK RELEASE!" The guildy cried as she kicked the ball into the sky at full power. "It's not burning but it'll have to do! Let's go, PHOENIX KICK!" She said, leaping into the air after it
"That's cheating! That is so cheating!" The black haired girl cried as Phoenix rose to meet the falling ball, her back silhouetted against the sun. "Is she trying to get us exposed?!"
"Uh." I blinked as Phoenix tucked into a flip, smashing the ball with a spinning axe kick. "I think we're going to have bigger problems soon."
"Agh, whatever! Hong!" Grasper pointed at me as she began to run away as fast as she could. "Use your full power and don't hold back!"
"That's right!" The ponytailed girl shouted as the ball hurtled toward me. "Don't hold back and show me what you got Red!"
"Um, alright? Let's see… Break Release!" I said, more as a mnemonic then anything as I got into a stance drilled into me. As the ball drew closer, I pulled my fist back. The moment it crossed into my absolute territory, I struck. "RED PUNCH!"
Bang. The wind blew back in my face as I poured all my power into the punch. Ball met Fist, the whirling black and white blurring together as between as the two forces fought for dominance. Sweat dripped down my brow. Seconds seemed to last for eternity. I could feel the flames that were only metaphorical because Phoenix wasn't going all out. And then-
The ball deflected, bouncing upward to smash into the rim of the goal before exploding into a cloud of dust and scraps. Phoenix, having been falling back to earth in the meantime, let out a yelp as she landed on top of one of the players forming the defensive line. They both tumbled to the ground and groaned as the PE teacher finally stepped in and blew their whistle.
"Foul!" They declared, pointing at Phoenix. "Don't kick your classmates in the face! And someone grab the replacement ball!"
"Sorry, sorry!" We both cried. Phoenix's face, however, was a wide grin as she stood up she gave me a wink. "Maybe going to school really was worth it!"
"That's great, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to visit the infirmary because of you." I grumbled as I nursed my sore knuckles, causing the avian guildy to laugh.
"Oh just walk it off, you're tougher than that!"
"It still hurt you know!"
School ended peacefully.
Okay, that was a lie.
The moment the final bell rang there was a deep silence throughout the classroom before eventually half the students in the class proceeded to stand up in unison. A spark shot thorugh the room as they all glared at each other before immediately rushing over to Hei and Jin's desk, swarming them in a mob.
Phoenix gave a carefree laugh as the more athletic students in the class proceeded to begin shoving each other in an attempt to talk to her first.
"JIN! OVER HERE!"
"Oi you bastard I was talking to her first!"
"Well the basketball team can fuck off!"
Grasper on the contrary, immediately let out a shriek as people began to pull on her arms. "H-Hey!"
She gave me a panicked look and I immediately shot from my chair and tried to get closer to her. Tried being the keyword there, as the amount of people between me and her began to grow and grow.
It took me a few seconds to realize that this wasn't just limited to students from my class either. No, the school was rumbling like an earthquake. The sound of footsteps growing louder before someone kicked down the door with a violent slam. "WHERE'S THE SCHOLARSHIP STUDENTS?!"
It didn't take long for them to find their targets and more and more people began to flood in, all shouting as loud as they could with Grasper and Phoenix at the sentence of their attention. I swear we had an entire grade of the school packed into the classroom as the sounds of argument and fighting began to fill my ears.
"You stay out of this Magic Division!" A group of students in goggles and lab coats roared at the cosplaying wizards. "Us, the Real Science Division, are taking the scholarship student for ourselves!"
"You still dare call yourself 'Real Science' Division?!" The leader of the wizards yelled back. "We're the ones who got the engineering rewards last year!"
"You're only able to operate because of the practitioners you forced into your clubs!" The Real Science Division(?) shot back. "Our prized robotics club has been preparing three years for our latest reveal! Once that happens, you'll be nothing more then dog meat!"
"Ha, it's probably nothing more than an advanced lego set! Face it, without us, you're nothing more then old fossils!"
"How dare you! You're courting death!"
Thankfully the more physically inclined members of the school were engaged in less shouting and more intense glaring and begging. It probably helped that Phoenix seemed to be at the very least willing to engage with the people around her. I had lost sight of Grasper, actually I had lost sight of everyone and had to stand up on my desk to find the poor girl having slipped from the club members grasp, hiding under her desk. I was tempted to jump over the mob between us and rescue the girl but before I could, someone shouted from outside the classroom. "THE PRINCESS IS COMING!"
A hushed silence fell over all the students as the hair on the back of our necks stood on end. There was only the sound of footsteps before slowly, like water, the students parted and made the path into the classroom clear. A sense of deja vu suddenly hit me and suddenly I was reminded of yesterday as she walked into the classroom.
Everyone turned to look at Lan. Her eyes, far from the cold stare she had as Tail Blue, were currently burning a low flame as she slung her bag over her shoulder. The blue haired girl gave an annoyed sigh before speaking. "Bring those two in front of me, now. And Hong get off the desk, you're going to hurt someone."
"Ahaha, sorry Lan." I laughed nervously as the students quickly moved to clear the way for Lan and push the two students in front of the girl. Phoenix and Grasper nervously followed Lan to the classroom wall, clutching at their belongings as I trailed behind after them. Slowly, my best friend reached over to the window before-
Click.
Throwing the thing wide open and shouting at us. "Okay we're escaping now run!"
Instantly the classroom was filled with a burning anger. Cries of 'Bullshit!', 'That's unfair Lan!', and most prominently… "Get them!"
"GO GO GO!" Lan cried as she jumped out the window, uncaring that we were on the second floor as she took to the air in a flying leap.
"Well, see ya'll tomorrow!" Phoenix cried as she gave the students a salute before proceeding to brazenly do a backflip out the window.
Grasper however, gave a nervous look before taking a step back. "I, I don't think I can-"
"I gotcha." I declared as I quickly picked the petite girl up and dashed towards the window. "Hold on tight!"
"Wait Hong don't- AHHHHH!"
It took us, somehow, an entire half an hour to eventually escape from the school. It was almost like the entire campus was searching for us, in fact I'm pretty sure the entire school was. Luckily, with Grasper's help, we managed to sneak past them all and into the streets where we could breathe easy.
"What the hell was that all about?!" The glasses-wearing girl cried. "I've watched anime! I know what schools are like and they aren't supposed to be like anime!"
"Usually that would be true but- Mrs. Huang runs the school." Lan sighed as we power walked through the streets. "I mean, you saw what the MG club was like before right? Most of the school is like that, really. The fact that you two are scholarship students probably doesn't help."
"Eh? Is it really that rare?" Phoenix asked, hands casually behind her head.
"It's less rare and more special." The twintailed girl explained with a sigh. "It's a bit hard to explain but our school has always been a bit prestigious. Then Mrs. Huang came in and she started a nationwide hunt for talented and unique people. In fact, she actively encourages to be as unique as possible."
"Unique is a polite way of putting it." Grasper muttered. "Who wears wizard clothes to school?"
"Sad to say, there's barely any normal students left in the school. All I can really tell you is that you get used to it." Lan shrugged. "The population is basically divided into three classifications of students. There's the first type of students which are the normal population. Then you have the second type of student being those who are skilled or talented enough to earn a full scholarship. The crazy geniuses who everyone wants to join their club so they can bring it to new heights."
The girl paused her explanation, fidgeting nervously. "And then there's a third type of student but... everyone either knows who they are or thinks they're a regular student. It's not something you should really bring up."
"Ah." I let out. "That would be me right?"
"Yeah. You're one of the known Type 3s." Lan sighed. "Those who gained their scholarships because they are the survivors of some tragedy."
"Well, you guys don't really have to worry too much about it." I shrugged. "Scholarships and what not, it doesn't really come up too often so you should be fine."
"That's because you don't pay attention to anything!" Lan shouted as she knocked on my head. "I'm the one who has to deal with all of this! And you better start paying attention because everyone wants an unaligned Type-2!"
"We're still talking about high school here right?" The black haired girl whispered to Phoenix as I pulled Lan's hand off me.
"I get it! Alright! I'll keep an eye on them!" I cried. "Just give everyone a few weeks to calm down, things'll get to a normal level then."
The four of us spent the rest of the walk home from school idly talking. Well some of it was idly talking, most of it was going over counter measures on how to avoid forced recruitment or something.
I was paying as much attention as I could, but honestly I was beginning to space out when I felt someone tap my leg from a nearby alley. "Oh sorr-y?"
I glanced downwards. Right at my feet was… some kind of creature. I wasn't sure what it was to be honest. It had green fur and looked to be some kind of mammal but it had a beaver tail and a bill. I blinked at the thing as it poked my leg again. "What is this?"
"Nrrrr." It gurgled, teeth chattering.
"Huh?" Phoenix let out as everyone stopped to crowd over the thing.
"A platypus?" Grasper muttered before her eyes widened and she stepped back and began to shout. "No wait that's-!"
She didn't have any time to finish before thing leapt up at me, smacking me in the face with it's tiny fists. I flew backwards as the Platypus stood up on it's legs and a tiny fedora materialized itself on it's head. Phoenix gasped and the two girls cried it's name in unison. "PLATYPUS GUILDY?!"
"Ahahaha! That's right!" A nasal-y voice called out as a humanoid wolf looked down on the alley from atop the building. "Did you really think that you could hide from High Valhallah that easily?!"
"Fenrir!" Phoenix ground. "You slimy bastard! What the hell is Platypus doing here?!"
"Surprised?" The wolf gave a clear grin. "As it just so happens, Platypus Guildy actually works for High Valhallah! He's a double agent!"
"That can't possibly be true!" Grasper cried. "He's the vice commander of Deadly Venom! There's no way any of those jerks would work for Yggdrasil!"
"Agh." I groaned as I pulled myself to my feet. "We're having a guildy fight!? Now?!"
Phoenix whipped out her Guildy Gear before throwing a fist in the air "How'd you even find us you bastards!"
"I'm glad you asked!" The Guildy, Fenrir cackled as he pulled out his phone. It was hard to see at this distance but I thought I saw a picture of… Us? "The answer is- Social Media! You've been enjoying yourselves at school I see, but now your life ends here!"
"...Yeah that checks out." Grasper muttered. "Dammit, I didn't think going to school would cause so much of a commotion."
"If you're looking for a fight then I won't hesitate to fight back! Come on guys, let's go! TAIL ON!" Fire burned through my body as I transformed once more. "I am, Magical Girl Tail Red!"
"So, Tail Red was here too! Perfect, excellent!" The enemy guildy cackled. "But there's no way you can defeat me when I combine my powers with Platypus Guildy!"
"Um, excuse me." Lan interrupted as she raised her hand. "I'm just a normal high school girl, can I go home?"
Fenrir's cackling paused as the wolf awkwardly exchanged a glance with the platypus before nodding slowly. "You're excused."
"Thanks. See you guys later." Lan said with a casual wave of her hands as she walked down the street.
Grasper perked up. "Actually-"
"No." Fenrir said flatly.
"Dammit," The glasses affinity user cursed before turning to me. "Listen Tail Red, don't be fooled. Despite their feeble appearances, these two are actually quite strong. Platypus's dance affinity has defeated many foes before you."
"And Fenrir is just a chump who has the Envy affinity!" Phoenix Growled. "Ponytail Gear, Ignite!"
Magic circles formed between the girl as her transformation sequence started. Meanwhile I summoned the Blazer Blades to my hands and stared at the Platypus. The bipedal mammal silently extended one hand and made a gesture universal in all languages.
'Come at me.'
As if I would back down here!
The third fight with High Valhallah, let's go!
[] Dance, dance, revolution!
[] Fenrir is annoying, focus on him!
[] Write In
+30 EXP Raising them Lan-route flags, RIP
+6 EXP Hong's Mom is a total MILF
-6 EXP [VISCERAL PSYCHIC DAMAGE]
+15 EXP MATH IS MATH! MATH IS MATH!
+30 EXP Soccer, sort of.
+180 EXP Double Encounter, Fenrir and Platypus!
14 + 255 = 269 EXP
AN: This update was really getting out of hand, so we had to cut it in hal- I mean LOOK OVER THERE! A GUILDY!
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LostDeviljho
Flame Dragon Princess
- Location
- The glorious Pacific Northwest
- Pronouns
- Any
- (High Valhalla) Fenrir Guildy
-
Fenrir Guildy
- Stats
- Weapon
- Spells
- Abilities
- (Deadly Venom) Platypus Guildy
-
Platypus Guildy
- Stats
- Weapon
- Spells
- Abilities
InfiniteDaze
Too lazy to leave the house
- Location
- I wish I could stay
There was in fact, a Gonna Be The Twintails design for Fenrir but!
Hahaha, no way in hell we're we gonna use that.
Hahaha, no way in hell we're we gonna use that.
*Reading scene where we're talking to Lan*
*I need a Hero - Skillet cycles on my playlist* ... Not... quite the right mood.
Also, Trails. Good taste.
Off the bat, Chuuni because darkness so there's nothing for the mirror to copy? Or Liar to make him think nothing is being reflected in it. Redhead to make it impossible to copy something? Like making our blades invisible or all of our red invisible could fuck up any copying of us (or Phoenix).
Platypus is a bit harder just by the dint of not knowing what his QTEs are about. Someone following Gasper's directions to counter them might work though? Notably, one of Chuuni's exploits is called Missed A Beat? Not sure if relevant, but if we teleport suddenly and break out of the QTE it could screw him up. HUGs might be able to do the same (and possibly more effectively) if we can tag him at all.
He has unerring. Do we just have to touch for HUGs to be active or do we need to tag him? Of course that's assuming it isn't a projectile attack. Might be disco light lasers.
*I need a Hero - Skillet cycles on my playlist* ... Not... quite the right mood.
Also, Trails. Good taste.
Off the bat, Chuuni because darkness so there's nothing for the mirror to copy? Or Liar to make him think nothing is being reflected in it. Redhead to make it impossible to copy something? Like making our blades invisible or all of our red invisible could fuck up any copying of us (or Phoenix).
Platypus is a bit harder just by the dint of not knowing what his QTEs are about. Someone following Gasper's directions to counter them might work though? Notably, one of Chuuni's exploits is called Missed A Beat? Not sure if relevant, but if we teleport suddenly and break out of the QTE it could screw him up. HUGs might be able to do the same (and possibly more effectively) if we can tag him at all.
He has unerring. Do we just have to touch for HUGs to be active or do we need to tag him? Of course that's assuming it isn't a projectile attack. Might be disco light lasers.
- Pronouns
- They/Them/Their
We don't have any of the new exploits (although Missed A Beat was used last chapter, so it's presumably known). Strategy post is in progress.
LostDeviljho
Flame Dragon Princess
- Location
- The glorious Pacific Northwest
- Pronouns
- Any
Ever played/watched Asura's Wrath?
... They really should have made that an anime, game lagged pretty badly.Ever played/watched Asura's Wrath?
I'm not sure how you're expecting us to survive that though. All I got is dumping everything into teleport, clenching our butt, and praying.
More realistically, is it that he gets QTE actions to do and we can't do anything about it or do we enter a full QTE fight where we're both going at it? Both fit the setting, but only one is fair.
Which means its probably the other one.
Also, I keep having thoughts on why Twintails and Ponytails might be so important, especially with Transient being how they manifest.
And Twintails being the other half... I think her name is Cosmos? I forget tbh.
I have no idea how to word this or if it even matters though, so have my thought spaghetti spilling out on the thread.
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- Pronouns
- They/Them/Their
Okay. So.
Platypus Guildy is insanely frightening to me. So we'll come back to him later.
Fenrir Guildy, reading his sheet, raises a few possibilities to me. Mirror Move is pretty straightforward; He'll be matching us when we do what he feels is our strongest ability. Fortunately for us, that option of his is locked out when he uses Mirror Match to overwrite his sheet with ours. As for the invisible text, I'm suspect that when it overwrites his sheet, it sets all of the levels to the lower level between Mirror Match and the copied sheet's level. He envies what he doesn't have, meaning that he doesn't have it. Then there's the two unknown abilities... And I suspect that they will kick in once Fenrir Guildy uses Mirror Match.
Platypus Guildy. So, based off the Discord conversation, Platypus Guildy is a huge problem. Without knowing what Audio, Video, Disco does, it's hard to say exactly what to consider about it, but it's likely some form of buff or debuff. Or it's a Rule Change effect, and we might be screwed. What we do know (from the Discord), is that Feel The Rhythm gives the QTEs to Platypus Guildy, and they are themed after Asura's Wrath. So, they are how he avoids Attacks. So it's likely that they are some form of Skill, Dodge, Agility, or some combination of the above if completed, and Platypus Guildy has 30 extra actions to use on them. So... We can't really even touch Platypus Guildy. Which sucks.
So, with all that in mind... Well, we only really have one good target here, and that's Fenrir. With Mirror Move being able to block basically any single attack we make, I think that we just give this our best bet, and see about figuring out how to use what's available. And heck, just because we don't have the exploits in character from the Q & A known yet...
Well, Fenrir Guildy might just give us a chance to figure them out. It's an anime trope all right, but you can't beat a copy of yourself unless you surpass what you could do when that copy was made.
Edit: I also don't think we should spend any experience right now.
Platypus Guildy is insanely frightening to me. So we'll come back to him later.
Fenrir Guildy, reading his sheet, raises a few possibilities to me. Mirror Move is pretty straightforward; He'll be matching us when we do what he feels is our strongest ability. Fortunately for us, that option of his is locked out when he uses Mirror Match to overwrite his sheet with ours. As for the invisible text, I'm suspect that when it overwrites his sheet, it sets all of the levels to the lower level between Mirror Match and the copied sheet's level. He envies what he doesn't have, meaning that he doesn't have it. Then there's the two unknown abilities... And I suspect that they will kick in once Fenrir Guildy uses Mirror Match.
Platypus Guildy. So, based off the Discord conversation, Platypus Guildy is a huge problem. Without knowing what Audio, Video, Disco does, it's hard to say exactly what to consider about it, but it's likely some form of buff or debuff. Or it's a Rule Change effect, and we might be screwed. What we do know (from the Discord), is that Feel The Rhythm gives the QTEs to Platypus Guildy, and they are themed after Asura's Wrath. So, they are how he avoids Attacks. So it's likely that they are some form of Skill, Dodge, Agility, or some combination of the above if completed, and Platypus Guildy has 30 extra actions to use on them. So... We can't really even touch Platypus Guildy. Which sucks.
So, with all that in mind... Well, we only really have one good target here, and that's Fenrir. With Mirror Move being able to block basically any single attack we make, I think that we just give this our best bet, and see about figuring out how to use what's available. And heck, just because we don't have the exploits in character from the Q & A known yet...
Well, Fenrir Guildy might just give us a chance to figure them out. It's an anime trope all right, but you can't beat a copy of yourself unless you surpass what you could do when that copy was made.
Edit: I also don't think we should spend any experience right now.
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Highwind
To Rise From The Ashes
- Location
- Brazil
*FROM THE NEW WORLD INTENSIFIES*Ever played/watched Asura's Wrath?
Oh shit.
So he should use them for... just about everything, really. Dodging, Blocking, attacking with flurries and big hits...
But they aren't absolute and just signify dramatic actions. Succeeding in a QTE that has you take the hit just means you take the hit a better, not that you evade it, and if he's going by Chakravartin rules that means he gets the QTEs but he can still fail them.
...But the Dance affinity sounds less like Asura's Wrath and more like DDR, so I don't know. I find it suspicious.
LostDeviljho
Flame Dragon Princess
- Location
- The glorious Pacific Northwest
- Pronouns
- Any
Asura's Wrath is the comparison that better conveys what it means for you, even if it's not strictly accurate to his personal perspective.*FROM THE NEW WORLD INTENSIFIES*
Oh shit.
So he should use them for... just about everything, really. Dodging, Blocking, attacking with flurries and big hits...
But they aren't absolute and just signify dramatic actions. Succeeding in a QTE that has you take the hit just means you take the hit a better, not that you evade it, and if he's going by Chakravartin rules that means he gets the QTEs but he can still fail them.
...But the Dance affinity sounds less like Asura's Wrath and more like DDR, so I don't know. I find it suspicious.
InfiniteDaze
Too lazy to leave the house
- Location
- I wish I could stay
So I figured out you can change the thread summary icon so I went ahead and did that.
The GAS logo has been siting on my harddrive for what like, two years now? Maybe just one. I never really found a place to use it until just now so hey, there you go. It and the lovely title card is @Familiar 's work so give props to him. You'd see more of his work but Jho doesn't let me use attack cut-in art so I'm only allowed to go wild with them in my other quest, Hundred Night Blade.
The GAS logo has been siting on my harddrive for what like, two years now? Maybe just one. I never really found a place to use it until just now so hey, there you go. It and the lovely title card is @Familiar 's work so give props to him. You'd see more of his work but Jho doesn't let me use attack cut-in art so I'm only allowed to go wild with them in my other quest, Hundred Night Blade.
Highwind
To Rise From The Ashes
- Location
- Brazil
That's an interesting bit of information. Whether it is also anuseful bit of information remains to be seen, but it is interesting.
It doesn't actaully change much when it comes to dealing with the QTE ability, however. Use strong, preferably multi-hit attacks and disrypt his rhythm and reactions.
REDHEAD might be very useful against him, but testing the waters might be a good idea too. Startong out using Coat against platypus to gauge how his abilities work in the first exchanges could be a good idea, maybe.
I also noticed we didn't get status screens or notifications for the effects of our EXP expenditures. Unless my memory is wrong, Grand Blazer got the Twintail Boost as a Lv. 10 upgrade which is... useful? At least it isn't as inferior to Twintail Assault as it used to be.
LostDeviljho
Flame Dragon Princess
- Location
- The glorious Pacific Northwest
- Pronouns
- Any
I have no recollection of anything resembling the spurious accusations.
LostDeviljho
Flame Dragon Princess
- Location
- The glorious Pacific Northwest
- Pronouns
- Any
she has literally never been. She's just a weeb.
Alexander89
Pet the pretty kitty? Y/N
- Location
- Italy
...I know that Platypus. I want nothing to do with it.
- Location
- Ekaterinburg, Russia
I have workshopped a simple plan to deal with Fenrir Guildy...
Unfortunately to do that we need to get to him first, and (word of discord) he is still on the roof that is 2-3 floors up, and no we cannot easily reach him. We aren't yet done with our new exploit practice so we cannot use Ignition Rush to rocket jump...
Though we probably can CHUUNIBYOU at him, or use Grand Blazer's jump instead.
Anyway. His health, damage, and resilience are comparatively pathetic, especially when comparing to his magic modifier. However, if we drop vanilla Tail Red on him?
Since he has 3 APT and we have 6, we get Speed Gap (+266) on every attack, and get Twintails Boost (+400) as well. This means his 150+d1200 defense will be steadily eroded by our own 1066+d160 damage. And his Mirror Move will only catch one attack out of six.
That's right, swording him is the most effective solution from what we currently know.
He may use Mirror Match but this will avail him not. For as long as we do not level our own Sprint we (and him) will have High Speed Combat 1. We only need to cast Ignition Rush and suddenly we are once again moving too fast for him to react, and can still sword him to pieces at high speed.
Unfortunately, Platypus Guildy is a harder nut to crack - my best idea is to switch to Trickery with Auto Grapple on Blazer Blades, flank him with Phoenix, distract him with a yell of "DEATH FROM ABOVE" and cut him with our Blades (to entangle him). Followed by switching to HUGS to get distance/freedom and yes, sword him to death.
Alternately, or afterwards, to catch him in Aura Pillar and land a hit with a Murder Grand Blazer - put his life on countdown.
Edit: Lost on Discord said that Twintail Boost is a multiplier, not additive. It boosts Speed Gap and modifier roll as well, so we begin at 1332+ damage right now. And if we spend 210 exp to boost Blazer Blades to 12, it becomes 1600.
With theoretical maximum modifier roll with Brake Release adding 960, to 2192 and 2560 respectively.
That's right, on a good roll we can and will oneshot Fenrir on a good roll. Single Slice Battle.
Edit 2: Tail Infrared will have to contend with damage of 666d480, to 800d480 per sword attack.
Unfortunately to do that we need to get to him first, and (word of discord) he is still on the roof that is 2-3 floors up, and no we cannot easily reach him. We aren't yet done with our new exploit practice so we cannot use Ignition Rush to rocket jump...
Though we probably can CHUUNIBYOU at him, or use Grand Blazer's jump instead.
Anyway. His health, damage, and resilience are comparatively pathetic, especially when comparing to his magic modifier. However, if we drop vanilla Tail Red on him?
Since he has 3 APT and we have 6, we get Speed Gap (+266) on every attack, and get Twintails Boost (+400) as well. This means his 150+d1200 defense will be steadily eroded by our own 1066+d160 damage. And his Mirror Move will only catch one attack out of six.
That's right, swording him is the most effective solution from what we currently know.
He may use Mirror Match but this will avail him not. For as long as we do not level our own Sprint we (and him) will have High Speed Combat 1. We only need to cast Ignition Rush and suddenly we are once again moving too fast for him to react, and can still sword him to pieces at high speed.
Unfortunately, Platypus Guildy is a harder nut to crack - my best idea is to switch to Trickery with Auto Grapple on Blazer Blades, flank him with Phoenix, distract him with a yell of "DEATH FROM ABOVE" and cut him with our Blades (to entangle him). Followed by switching to HUGS to get distance/freedom and yes, sword him to death.
Alternately, or afterwards, to catch him in Aura Pillar and land a hit with a Murder Grand Blazer - put his life on countdown.
Edit: Lost on Discord said that Twintail Boost is a multiplier, not additive. It boosts Speed Gap and modifier roll as well, so we begin at 1332+ damage right now. And if we spend 210 exp to boost Blazer Blades to 12, it becomes 1600.
With theoretical maximum modifier roll with Brake Release adding 960, to 2192 and 2560 respectively.
That's right, on a good roll we can and will oneshot Fenrir on a good roll. Single Slice Battle.
Edit 2: Tail Infrared will have to contend with damage of 666d480, to 800d480 per sword attack.
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Highwind
To Rise From The Ashes
- Location
- Brazil
Considering Twintail Boost is so strong, and that Fenrir can copy our entire sheet, possibly including our Affinities, it might be a good idea to start the fight with a different Affinity so he can't use twintail-boosted attacks against us as well.
Edit: For Platypus, we might have to use the greatest enemy of a DDR/Rhytm Game player: unexpected speed changes and changes in pattern. That is to say, abuse Ignition Rush and switch Affinities around.
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- Pronouns
- They/Them/Their
[X] Dance, Dance, Twintails!
- [X] Gear Shift to COAT
- [X] Don't fight them, fight back. Offer Platypus Guildy your thoughts on how Twintails look when worn while dancing. Aren't they better together than apart?
- [X] Remember when you remained in two in Twirl's lab, when using Twintail Assault? When Fenrir attacks, try doing that to avoid the attack.
- [X] Intercept attacks from Fenrir and Platypus with your Blazer Blades.
[X] Exp Plan: Spend none
It's not a great plan, and it definitely doesn't take out either in one round. But, it almost gurantees that Tail Red survives against Platypus Guildy, and the dialogue suggestion seems like something that Hong would do anyway. As for Fenrir Guildy... He has Ricochet, and Grasper is a potential victim of collateral damage. Intercept seems like our only option for protecting Grasper there.
EXP banking is so that if/when our sheet is copied, we can get an edge up on the copy by leveling.
- [X] Gear Shift to COAT
- [X] Don't fight them, fight back. Offer Platypus Guildy your thoughts on how Twintails look when worn while dancing. Aren't they better together than apart?
- [X] Remember when you remained in two in Twirl's lab, when using Twintail Assault? When Fenrir attacks, try doing that to avoid the attack.
- [X] Intercept attacks from Fenrir and Platypus with your Blazer Blades.
[X] Exp Plan: Spend none
It's not a great plan, and it definitely doesn't take out either in one round. But, it almost gurantees that Tail Red survives against Platypus Guildy, and the dialogue suggestion seems like something that Hong would do anyway. As for Fenrir Guildy... He has Ricochet, and Grasper is a potential victim of collateral damage. Intercept seems like our only option for protecting Grasper there.
EXP banking is so that if/when our sheet is copied, we can get an edge up on the copy by leveling.
- Location
- Ekaterinburg, Russia
You clearly haven't thought it through.
Fenrir would overwrite his character sheet with ours. It means he gets everything - every ability, spell, weapon, and yes, every Affinity we have.
This means that the moment he copies Tail Red - he will get the same damage potential as us, including Blazer Blades with Twintail Boost that is working so long as he is not using Gear Shift.
Whether we begin with a different Affinity active means little. Except maybe CHUUNIBYOU - since she technically has a separate character sheet from a certain point of view, he may get locked solely into the form of Tail Infrared.
I assure you that with Murder on GB, Mangle on her sword, and multiple teleports per turn, this will not be an improvement.