"A challenge?" I repeat to myself at the group of smiling people. A man and his friends that all came here to me with Rose-sweerui when I was on my way to meet her about something. I don't know what exactly, she just said she wanted me to meet her over something. Her directions were quite nice, too, the path here was... Peaceful.
"Rose'lhia here mentioned that you've been having some trouble with your magic?" the lead man asks, his green-tinted blond hair catching my eyes for the moment. Thoughts about the specifics of the colour not bothering me for the moment.
"I... I have..." I answer timidly, not liking the feel of their auras. They're not overbearing with it, but, from what I've learned about Thrurstradtur and the way it manages itself... I'm basically caught in the draft of theirs being taken in by it. They're all powerful. Very much so.
Exceptional House?
"See, that right there. I can help with that. You and me, in there. Magic duel, you in?" he says, a welcoming smile on his lips as he gestures to the ginormous building to our right. Something that just screams arena... Colosseum. That was a word I heard on the Vightorhian. Like how a hill becomes a mountain, a lump of dirt a hill... A fighting pit makes its way to something like this.
A colossal... Eum.
I shake my head, focusing back on the group as I find myself distrustful of them. I know enough about people to know smiles can be used deceptively. Cruelly. A smile is not just happy. Still... Rose is here... And... I've saved her life. She trusts me completely and she wouldn't lie to me at all.
"Rose-sweerui... A minute?" I go, gesturing for her closeness as the blond man respects my choice, the group of them step back. The voices going off about another topic clearly with no snickering, laughter or anything of any kind.
I look back to Rose-sweerui, "Yes?"
"Do you object?" I ask her, trying to consider the costs and benefits of this offer. With how my stay at Suhurlodst has been, I'm very cautious about it all. But, with how Rose-sweerui is involved, this might be a rare group. Maturity in a sea of blind hate.
Much as I don't want to compare it, either... A molten sea of blind hate...
"Blegh..." I go, the comparison to a holy site making my thoughts become vocal.
"I have no issues with this at all, Nin," she explains, shaking her head with closed eyes as her bulbs light up for another reason altogether. I watch the lights, following them without a clue as she seems awfully bright about it. The blond notices, coming up to me with a smile, his hand only one offer of my claw away from a firm, respectful shake.
Tentatively, I reach out and accept the offer, finding myself smiling as a strange feeling overcomes me. My chitters louden, becoming noticeably happy, and a chuckle spreads through them all. My chitters seem unaffecting by their actions, but I'm a little uneasy about the laughter even with... I...
"Nin, was it?" the blond asks.
"Yeah." I answer with a nod.
"Look, mate, I get it, we all do." he explains, looking back to his friends as they seemingly snarl at someone in the distance as he hollers a word that's clear even with the distance. Freak.
"For the right reasons?" I ask, letting his hand go as my claws flex as if fists will form.
"Nin, Nin. We get it. You've been treated horribly since coming here. We're not laughing at you, we know you're not like the other osibindah. It's just... You know, you only hear so much about something one way and it settles in, you know? Hearing a happy noise... Is, well, it's a welcome surprise!" he chuckles, his actions respecting my physical boundaries even as he seems to be overwhelmed by a want to reassure me like a father might do with their son. Something that lasts, like a bruise that makes people happy.
"Yeah, Nin, trust us, we get it. All of us in Exceptional House get it. When it comes to those in Traditional House, they can get quite nasty. Especially when all of us are so naturally gifted in a way we can't really explain or justify. People scare easily, even more in a group." one of the boys explains, a certain familiarity to be had in his experiences.
"Yeah... Everyone else just kind of... Forces themselves onto me with as much violence they can. But, you lot have been respectful enough. I know I'm still subject to being a person... You know, you might not end up liking my personality at all, but, the kindness is appreciated. Even if it's just basic... Human... Decency." I go, my sentence not rolling off the tongue all that well. Does the term 'human decency' even exist up here or is it something else considering the different races...?
A mental question that is amusingly timed with how a group of kelbalid students are galloping to the arena building.
"Yeah, yeah. You want to show yourself as more than this bug everyone keeps calling you?" the blond goes and I nod. Hoping very much so I do actually get that opportunity, far away and impossible as it seems.
"Nin, you should take them up on their offer." Rose-sweerui goes, her voice a little shakey, but, given the way things have been since coming here, I'm not surprised. Still, this is an... Odd thing. She's using my name an awful lot and with how this school is mostly made up of girls and women... She's not exactly staking her claim as she previously has made a habit of.
Maybe she's a little more mindful of how annoyed I've been? She's actually taking my preferences seriously for the moment? Well, it's thoughtful if it is, a little odd, though. If only because being called... Well, 'My Love' in a time like this would be very comforting as I could be close to a lie.
"A-Alright!" I say with a small smile, "When does it start?"
The group cheer, their smiles growing as they each put on a little display of their magic and their spells and their skill with them. All but the lead blond.
"Now, if you're up for it?" he says with a kind, confident smirk as he pats me along towards the building, it coming off as a lot less daunting with him here like that.
"Yeah- Yeah." I repeat, coughing as I find a straightness to my back I've not been used to for the moment.
"Excellent! Let's go." he goes, patting my back some more and jogging ahead as if he's an excited child. I chuckle at his actions, the man having no issues at all with almost circus-like acts of athleticism. A confidence that comes from being able to make others happy with the effort he's put into his body.
I rush ahead slightly, "So... What will we be doing in this duel exactly?"
My uncertainty clear as that word lingers in my throat. It's an odd word, 'duel' usaully means with a weapon. It's a very aggressive word... Whatever word it was he used. It's not one that usually has good implications even if he seems to mean well. Besides, I get the point of it, magic just seems to be easier to learn if it's... Physical for me, I guess.
I don't know how to use any weapons well, human or osibindah. Doesn't matter, I'm not trained in them. But, given the nature of the school, this should be a magic duel? So maybe *we* are the weapons to be used in the duel? I can at least throw punches and kicks if that's something he's on about.
"Just letting off a few spells and so on, nothing fancy, just to see what you got. You know? So I can get my bearings and help you well. So we can all *help* you. We know you've got a lot on your plate and not a whole lot of time. You're going to need some kind of professional sports team or something like a professional athlete!" the blond goes.
One of his friends chuckles, "That... That still confuses me and we're all natives here. How in All-That-Remains do you get a professional athlete separate from a proper witch?"
The blond waves his hand, "Oh, you know. Everyone's a witch. Technically. We all train our magic in different ways and most people here just... Train to cast spells like we all imagined it as children. As ancient heroes like Thunder fighting the red-scaled monsters."
"Striking three times and scoring for the home team?" I try to chuckle, if only to get involved. The lot of them appreciate the effort, even if I can't quite muster the right energy that they have.
"Exactly! We get some confidence and self-esteem back into you and you'll flourish. I can already feel that you're basically an Oddity House Exceptional even with the lack of tact and finesse." he goes, loudly at first before he whispers the last part, giving me a knowing nudge. I huff at it, smiling as I look back to Rose-sweerui as she seems out of it. Lost in the glow of her own lights.
Still, it's nice to hear someone believing in me because they can clearly see it. Vapooliar was like that back when I last saw her. She certainly took this power I have as something to be built on. Upon. It's all around me, this magic I've yet to learn how to control.
They're all impressed by it, like how Rose-sweerui and the aelenvari were. They're all genuinely enthusiastic about it. At least, that's how their reactions are about it. Seemingly.
"Well, alright, I'll see what I can do." I try to say back to the lot of them with an equal enthusiasm. Yet, as I try to do so, I find myself bogged down in my thoughts. What can I even do? I don't know any spells of real note, nor have I really expanded upon what I've learned previously. Perhaps that is the point of this? To see what I can learn on the fly and adapt based on what I know?
I've not really got the means to tell how experience I am relative to any of them. So, hopefully, it will just be a small and short thing, a taster session in the same way a nibble of a slice of cake is. Or a worse kind, like liver... Ew.
Something good, helping. Something like two inexperienced starter-uppers have a sporty go at each other to see how good they actually are. Testing the pressure before easing or unlocking the valve completely. A means to learn where either can improve. A baseline to establish what they can do better next time.
"That's the spirit! C'mon, if you haven't been in here before, you are *going to love* it!" the blond goes, his love of this place certainly not hard to figure out at all. He and his friends run ahead, almost too quickly as their laughter echoes about the lengthy cavern of a hall. I stay behind, with Rose-sweerui as I catch my bearings.
"So, shall we-" I try to ask, a wave of magic interrupting.
"Hurry up, Rose!" echoes on the magic, the blond man's voice clear as if he was here. Rose perks up awkwardly at it, skittering along with an odd posture to her and I watch her head on. None of that usual sashaying she might have if I linger behind her.
"Rose-sweerui...?" I go, not sure what to make of it and she shivers in... Disgust..? It's... It's hard to say.