((@RedJive, At the time of this update, I didn't know that you're submitted your progress action. Don't worry, I'll update with them later.))
Jun set her jaw. She was no stranger to insults, but that comment about her parents hit a nerve. She makes a mental note to kick her ass... At a later date. She was impulsive, but she wasn't dumb, and judging by the size of that group and the fancy equipment they were toting, she didn't have great odds.
Instead, Jun stays quiet and stares her down.
“You look as if you want to kick my ass, duuude,” Melissa sneered.
“However, such a thing is easily said than done. It takes more than rushing headlong into battle to defeat me or anyone else like me. Get stronger, faster, smarter, and more durable in your fights against the Contorted and maybe someday you'd actually stand a chance against me. Of course, if you and your friends actually managed to defeat me and my clique, I'd eat my own bees. Now go and simmer on that, ...'bitch'!With that, Melissa snapped her fingers at you derisively before moving on to the next student.
Roland sighed heavily. This one was a piece of work alright.
"From one metalshine to another, I should tell you that endless bloviating like that won't get you anywhere. Nice ability work though, solid stuff, I'll admit that much.
I know I committed some grave sins in my past, but that doesn't matter now. God watches over me and mine. This, I know. Other than that, all that matters is that we will fight evil wherever we find it. We will fight, and win, or fight and die. Everything else is window dressing.
Now then, will you let us ply our trade in peace, or do you have more bile to spew before we get on to business?"
“I assure you, 'warrior of God', that I don't fancy empty talk either. After all, the best types of speech are those that you can back up with action.” Melissa paused for a second.
“But I concur: you and the other newbies do have business to attend to, some of which probably doesn't actually involve dying horribly.”Turning to leave, Melissa paused before looking over her shoulder at you.
“You would make a great Metalshine. Just take care that whatever heavy-handed, narrow-minded dogmatism you possess never gets the better of you.”Saying that, Melissa went to the next person.
Roland suddenly gets the idea to create a mod that can render one immune to bee stings. Who knows where it comes from.
Mmm, delicious bees.
As a Familiar, you passed the idea of protection against bee stings to Roland via the mind link you two shared. Of course it is up to him to decided whether it's useful at this time. In the meantime, the bees were unsummoned by Melissa just as you begin savoring them. Even if they have stayed a bit longer and you gave in to your urge to eat them, Melissa certainly wouldn't be happy about it.
"The Japanese do produce very well-designed toys."
While THE WALL could not shield their mind from this woman, they could sure as hell deny her the satisfaction. She was a fool, obviously, if she thinks that Japanese construction was superior to German, but there were merits in it that could be incorporated into the german style while maintaining its longevity and strength. And they were very good at making toys.
“Well it would be interesting to see how someone like you would fare in battle, little 'girl',” Melissa continued as she stood back up.
“Perhaps you would scare the Contorted by threatening to call your nanny… or you would surprise everyone. Heh, a wall would stand a better chance!”With that, Melissa went on to the next student.
Metz would be fuming, and everyone around him would see his finger moving to the trigger with anticipation.
”I’ll admit that I’m nothing special, that i’m not as smart or gifted as others, but you damn well better remember that you’re human too, and that you’re far from perfect yourself, you stuck up bitch.
If I were any other man, i’d have lost my temper and have started shooting at you for treatin’ us like shit, specially since this is our first time out and about. That said, I damn well want to take some shots at you and maybe put you in your place, one on one. You got the guts to back the venom you’re spewing?”
Seeing the movement, Melissa's clique morphed their weapons into their ranged modes and leveled them at you. Students nearby instinctively readied their weapon, some even preparing to dodge. Holding up a hand, Melissa motioned for her followers to stand down, which they did.
With a wild grin, Melissa unsummoned her rapier-rifle. Taking a few delicate steps toward you, Melissa grabbed the barrel of your rifle between her index and middle fingers the same way one would hold a cigarette and, with one quick, fluid motion, removed the bayonet before pressing the muzzle against her heart. The nearby students gasped as Melissa leaned toward you.
“Oh I do have guts, my dear hunter,” Melissa mused, playfully stroking your weapon with her other hand.
“In fact, they were spilled more times than I'd cared to count during my first few weeks here. However, I'd learned from my mistakes and often changed how I'd approached the situations I'd face. Now I'm here, 'leagues' ahead of you and your little green band.”Melissa then moved the barrel of your gun upward until the muzzle was pressed against her forehead.
“It's a shame that your guts are bigger than your common sense, Metz. Did you know that your weapon, being bonded to your soul, is only as powerful as you are? In the universes of the living, a rifle like this would kill my living self in a single shot, regardless of our disparity in combat experiences or training. In Aetheria; however, even a shot to the head or to the heart would barely scratch me because you're too weak. Doesn't make sense, does it? Well, welcome to the afterlife, where real world logic goes to die. Despite that, you still look as if you really wanted to kill me sooooo badly. Unfortunately, the best thing you can do now is to fight the Contorted. Perhaps you'll imagine that every one of them are wearing my face so that you can play out your hillbilly murderer fantasies. Perhaps one day, you'll get strong enough to challenge me to a duel or whatever. In that case, I'll be waiting.”Turning your bayonet over so that the blade is facing upward, Melissa ran her thumb over the edge until she drew blood. She then reattached the bayonet to the barrel of your gun before letting go.
“Your blade has now tasted my blood. We will see if it gets a chance to taste some more.”With that, Melissa turned on a heel with a haughty grunt before walking over to the next student.
Calm.. Calm..
I'll just have to show her at some point. The Multiverse is pretty large, and I've seen a Shimigami before.
Brother...
Look at the weapons and equipment of the rest of her cliche.
You glanced at the weapons and equipment of the student's in Melissa's clique. There were scars and tiny dents on the surfaces of each student's weapon, indicating that they have had seen some heavy, if not just lengthy, use. Most of the students carried an assortment of handcrafted items and potions, with some of the more ranged-oriented students carrying special ammo. You don't know how long they'd been fighting the Contorted but you had a feeling that they're no slouches. Perhaps they combat experience is matched only by their arrogance. If you ever plan to knock them off their high horses, it won't be anytime soon.
“Enjoy being Contorted food, sweetie,” Melissa continued, sticking out her tongue.
“Your brother wouldn't have it any other way.”With that, the haughty student veered off to the next student, a teenager who was reading a book at a table.
Earlier…
After examining Toby using her caste ability, Melissa gave a light chuckle.
“Oh Tobias, you are truly a character! A street performer who'd wasted his life playing for people who only cared about what rubbish you forced into their ears! It's no surprise that no one was around when your murderers looted your body; your death must have felt like relief for their eardrums! Do you have other talents besides serenading people with musical torture?”During most of Melissa's monologue, Toby is sat on a table reading a book, ignoring her. When she walks over to him, he carefully marks his page and puts the book in one of his pockets, and stands up to accept the tongue-lashing. By the end of the stream of insults, Toby is in a relaxed pose, leaning on his staff with one hand, and adjusting his goggles on top of his head with the other. Inside he is quaking with anger, but on the outside he seems only moderately offended.
"Well then, who the fuck are you to judge me, wannabe queen bee lookin' headass bitch? I will admit my rifle skills leave something to be desired, and dancing certainly isn't my strong point, but I doubt you even know the first thing about music. I bet you don't even know what a damper pedal is. You can take your insults, turn 'em into bees and shove 'em up your gigantic nose."
*Toby pauses to inhale*
"I will admit I'm probably screwed in terms of combat, and that you certainly terrify me. Still though, fuck you, fuck your insults, and fuck your attitude. Good day."
Some students nearby cheered you on, directing their own 'fuck yous” at Melissa and her coterie. However, the queen bee's smile didn't even waver from her face. Instead, she gave a long whistle and held up both hands in mock surrender.
“Oh my word!” she exclaimed.
“Turns out I was only slightly wrong! Apparently, cussing out someone who can easily make you play a different tune entirely is another of your talents. You certainly have guts, Tobias! No doubt the Contorted will enjoy ripping them out of your abdominal cavity. Of course, that's not what you're thinking of right now. You either want me to leave you the hell alone or you really want to kill me like Mr. Metz before you. You may even want to play a funerary dirge over my mangled corpse. Well, until you get stronger and smarter than a typical street performer, that will remain a distance dream for those of your ilk so you can take those musical notes and cram them up 'your' nose.”With that, Melissa turned on a heel and went on to Lemmy.
After having my first two ideas shot down for various reasons, (pickpocketing, stacking perception checks), I have a third idea.
"Yes, I'm the one responsable for that. Thank you for asking me about it, though. There are few people here who seem interested in what goes on around here, with the majority simply sitting in their classes doing little but navel gazing, and waiting for the world to deliver them what they want. You're a rare person, actually going out and asking questions." "I'm sorry, of course, if it caused you any inconvienence, I'm just trying to investigate some odd things about here, and myself."
"As for your second question, well, it seems there is something odd going on. Here, everyone seems to have special abilities, such as the ability to spark fire from the fingertips, the ability to fly unaided, a thousand and one different things, it all followed a pattern. Everyone came here before being able to do these things.
Myself, on the other hand, had an ability before coming here. I could look at objects, people, landscapes, even situations sometimes, and tell you a large number of things about what happened to it in the past. I could look at a horsewhip and know how many times it was rained on, I could touch it and feel how many more months the tight weave would hold it together, and how much time was lost when it was struck against that rock just then. I could raise a pitchfork and tell from the balance of the metal if it was made from new ore or recycled metal, and could sometimes work out where and when it was made, to perhaps the specific week twenty years ago."
"With people it was a bit different. I could look at their hands, examine them in detail and make guesses from similarly tiny things that would turn out to be right. I could see what labour someone engaged in, if they ran to fat or lean, what sorts of thing a person eats, from the slight variations in tone and feel I could see storms which have been weathered, or sunny days enjoyed."
"What you may have noticed is that I used it to get up to mischief. I could know that a certain wine bottle, left to breath, could be moved just so such that it falls down, and miraculously lands neck down flat on the floor, leaving the drinker flummoxed at how to save the wine from such an odd predicament."
"But here, all that is different. There are many theories as to why. Time is different, so that maybe it's because a minute for one is six weeks for another, and thus everything is all jumbled from that. Maybe it's because everything is magic, and thus the signs would be clear as day if only I read magic instead of physical objects. Maybe I lived my life in reverse, say, and the ability that I would have had here instead showed up in my first life, leaving me naked and powerless in the afterlife. Perhaps all of us, creatures, objects, and structures are created anew every moment, leaving nothing for me to know by mind or sight or touch."
"What I do know is that my ability is not to make pranks and mischief. I thought that might be the case, where my ability was simply an ability for great proficiency with such things, but that is not the case. I did nothing that anyone else could not have done, simply took a few tools from the storeroom and using the fact they return to the storeroom after a given time."
"That said, if you are willing to forgive me for slighting you, you would be doing me a great service if you would co-operate. All these others here, around me, are new to this world, having only arrived a brief period ago. They may be too young and inexperienced to show such marks on their bodies which I could then read. If I could have a moment of your time, I could perhaps learn a piece of the truth about myself, as you seem to be highly experienced and accomplished at what you do, and your adventures and successes may have left marks on your body which would not be present on these others."
(If she refuses)
"Come on. You've been insulting my friends and comrades around here, and I'm ignoring that to extend you every courtesy because you might be the one person here who can help me answer a question about myself. Not only that, should I leave this place, it will be one question left open for you, one chance that may never again occur. You said that you've never seen someone like myself before, and this might never happen again. Are you really passing that up?"
(Again refuses)
"Is it fear then? Is the royal, here in public court, fully armed and surrounded by her fellows, unwilling to spend a few minutes in the presence of the weakest person in the entire academy? I saw that you were genuinely suprised for a few minutes while trying to read me, and I was hoping that meant you'd be willing to help me with this problem. You know I have nothing that can hurt you, no weapon, no armour, no items, save for a discarded weapon mod I found the other day and tried to read to no avail. I wasn't able to grasp a thing about its owner even though the item is engraved with his name!"
(Stop if refused again at that moment.)
(Accepted)
"Thank you. This won't take very long. Can you come a bit closer, and draw your weapon and come to a ready position? One of the few things that seems to be the same between my world and this one is that people skilled in weapons need to engage in regular practice. I'm going to move to the side here, and watch how you move." After doing so, ask her to perform something that would be part of her practice or training routines, something she knows well and has done many times. If it takes only a few moments, ask her to repeat. If it takes five to ten seconds, that's fine. If it goes longer than about ten seconds, ask her to stop. In any case, shake my head and say that I'm seeing nothing, it's time to move on to something else.
"Can you remove one of your gloves, please? I need to take a close look at the skin on your hand, and observe how the muscles in it move up close."
After that happens, ask her to bend that arm at the elbow, and hold the hand in front of her, palm up. Then move forward, support said hand from below, and continue talking.
Take one finger and trace over the lines of the palm, and talk about how I used to be able to read that a knob of built up skin meant this person did this sport, as this place would hold the bat for the swing. And how certain tools would leave certain marks. And that I can't read anything, all I see is a roadmap with no signs, no buildings, and no people. Do try to let some sadness seep through. Move on to the fingers, and show how they would define the arts, be it use of instruments, paintbrushes, various performing arts and such.
Include feeling the brachial artery, the one that runs through the elbow. Talk about how reading the heart tells a lot about a person, as it's the most important muscle in the body, and many things about lifestyle and overall fitness would show through it. Do try to pinch it and ask her to describe if her hand and arm get numb. This is genuinely important, as it'll tell Lemmy if there is any point to fighting. It should show him if he is capable of affecting a creature much more powerful than him, given a very advantagous position.
At the end, disappointed from feeling and knowing nothing, Lemmy is going to ask her to do one last thing, after manuvering them so that Melissa is facing about 90 degrees from her coterie, with the arm being manipulated on the side facing her followers. Lemmy is going to have her start pivoting, very slowly with her arm out, towards the group, while he goes through moving the fingers one last time. He'll stop her with a raised middle finger, facing her group, and move his hands away with her in that position, ordering her to freeze like that.
"I'm happy to forgive people for doing stuff to me, Melissa, it's not always a big deal, but I'm not dumb enough to forget all your bad behavior since you walked in here. And now you can be the person who was gotten not once but twice by the weakest person in the Academy."
((Your action smells of epicness, Devastator. I'm just going to let her fall for it, hook, line, and sinker!))
Though a frown crept over her face, Melissa allowed herself to be talked into your little scheme. Like the sucker she is, the self-proclaimed 'Queen Bee' was being played by the one who is the least threatening to her in Altera Vita Academy as she bought your story, never thinking to approach it with the skepticism it deserved. Of course, given that your lack of a Psyche may have had something to do with her inability to read you like a book, such unrestrained curiosity is a bit understandable. You conducted your brachial artery test with her and, to the best of your knowledge, the result seemed to be indicative of someone who is extremely athletic which, given that you're the only one here with a normal human physiology, is a
huge educated guess. Nevertheless, you continued with your ploy.
Finally, to put the cherry on the cake named '
Bullshitting a Really Powerful Student', you guided Melissa through some steps, making her inadvertently flip off her own clique. The realization dawned on everyone present as soon as you finished talking. Soon, laughter erupted from your fellow students as Melissa's clique looked on, stunned beyond belief. Realizing just how much of a fool she'd be made out to be and by the weakest student in Altera Vita no less, Melissa face turned a deep red. Soon, her embarrassed expression gave way to a mask of barely contained fury and she gave you a death glare for a few seconds before turning to leave.
“Come Bees, we are done here.” she said tensely before walking briskly pass jeering students with her followers in tow. Reaching the door, Melissa pushed pass Madeline just as the latter was just arriving. After Melissa and Co. left, Madeline looked around the room in confusion.
“So, what did I miss?”
))