[OPENING] magical training log

[spellslash]

Who: Brie, whichever newbies want to show up.
Where: The beach.
When: Day 4
Open/Closed: OTA

[It's about noon on the island, based on the position of the sun. The newbies have had a few days to settle in, but that doesn't mean they've fully mastered their newfound abilities.

As much stock as Genette puts into telepathy, Brie is more concerned about their other newfound gifts. She's aggressively tried to wrangle as many newbies as possible onto the sandy shores of the beachfront area for some magic practice.

She's got a list of everyone's magic -- only a few vague notes, limitations are for you to discover -- and she's handing out missions for magic training. If you want to participate? Feel free. If you don't? Suit yourself.

But understanding your magic isn't just an activity that benefits the group. Learning your magic's abilities may be what stands between you and survival, which is something she makes perfectly clear.]

Comments

[teratias]

Waver hadn't been sure what to make of his assignment. Manipulating smoke into the answers to three short-answer questions, provided by other newbies. The first part made sense, learn to get a better handle on things, but the rest? How was he supposed to gather questions? Conduct an informal survey?

A
The first part was straight forward. He had to conjure the smoke, and be able to do it seamlessly. Waver found himself an area downwind from everyone else, and positioned himself with his back towards the wind.

Quietly, he tried to figure out the mechanism. A wiggle of his fingers. A twitch of his nose. A stomp on the ground. The thought of smoke itself. Words, short and direct or else a bullshited lengthy incantation.

It is the last one that sends him the ability, and from the tips of Waver's fingers, clouds of thick, white smoke begin to form. They stream off, dissipating into the air, and when Waver imagines the clouds stopping, they do so.

"So that's the trick?" he muttered out loud. In the back of his mind, it also occurred to him that he had not activated any of his magic circuits.

So he stood there in his little section, practically a fog machine turning itself on and off.

B
With the mechanism down pat after a half an hour's experimenting, the next part was manipulation. Waver suspected that it might be a whole body thing, but he also knew no one wanted a sudden cloud of smoke in their face.

So he kept it simple. He wiggled a finger and the thin whisps of smoke coming forward wiggled too. Wiggling both hands created a larger wave. There was a logic to it.

"Right," he said to himself, and as he did so, Waver put both of his hands in front of him and turned to his left. He didn't know if the smoke was moving with him because of the wind, because of his hands, or because he was also trying to will it into doing so, but it moved all the same.

There was a moment of silence, and Waver's hands hung at his side. Not visible, since he now faced away from the others, was the grin on his face. He was doing something that his lineage in magecraft wouldn't allow for. That? That was exhilarating.

C
With the mechanics figured out, Waver sat himself down in the sand to do the actual assignment. As much as he could figure out the wording, he was supposed to make this stuff into exact shapes and then control it. Puppet shows came to mind.

He tried to make basic shapes first. Circle. Squares. Pentagons. Flat first, then three-dimensional. It took more time than Waver liked to get those functional, but by five o'clock, he could manage it.

"Now how am I supposed to get the damn questions I'm supposed to answer?"

C

[burnblonde]

Some might say it was fate that brought them together again. However, that was hardly the case...it was mostly that Yang was doing another circuit of the beach to check out the huts and see who was occupying which ones. However, she'd been noticing smoke for some time and had finally gotten around to investigating it -- thinking one of the huts might actually be on fire and wouldn't that be neat to make explode.

But, no, it was just smoke signals being generated by Waver. She was coming up from behind him so he might not have noticed her yet. Although he wouldn't have to wait long for her to make her presence known, "What kind of questions do you need answered?"

[teratias]

Waver nearly jumped at hearing a voice from behind, and the whole effect was reflected in the smoke as well. It went in spikes, like a heart rate monitor, before Waver re-asserted control.

He shifted, looking at Yang over his shoulder. The smoke hovered in a little cloud, looking like a child's drawing of what clouds resemble.

"All the assignment said was short answers. Nothing else."

[burnblonde]

Well that was certainly interesting, his smoke reacted to his emotions. She hadn't expected that at all. She stepped closer, resisting the urge to poke at the smoke. She wasn't sure how the smoke was connected to Waver and it might be rude to wave it away or something.

"How does that relate to your smoke exactly?"

[teratias]

"Uh," Waver paused, before going through a number of complicated hand gestures. The final result was a floating sphere, about the size of a basketball. "In theory, I can make the smoke take whatever shape I want. As far as I can understand it, the questions should result in figures that answer the question, or something akin to a puppet show that does the same."

That had been his interpretation, at least.

[burnblonde]

Yang watches as the smoke condenses and changes into an orb. It looks like he can really only do simple shapes so far--but clearly he's making progress. "So you need someone to ask you questions and respond with the right shape. It's like a game then," Yang figures, gesturing at the smoke-ball. "So? Want me to ask you some questions or do you need me to round up some other people for you?" She would be good for either.

[teratias]

Waver hadn't thought of it as a game, but Yang wasn't wrong. He was just bad at the concept of fun.

"Ask me one, and then get a few other people as well."

There was a logic in that suggestion. Waver didn't want to lose face in front of multiple people. Starting with just Yang minimized any shame of messing up in trying to answer whatever question she came up with.

[burnblonde]

Okay, so she needed to come up with a question that he could turn into a shape answer. The hard part was that they were from different worlds so it was possible that she could ask something and he wouldn't know what she was talking about. However, they'd seen a number of things since being here so maybe she should stick to a question related to this world.

"What items did you pick up from Genette yesterday?

C

[secrowtary]

Hibiki's attention had been drawn to a youth playing with the smoke a little while before he overheard the question about, well, questions. In the end, he decided to come closer and satisfy his curiosity.

"Is it a part of your training? Answering questions?"

How is it connected to Waver's power which he had just seen, however, he couldn't quite understand.

[teratias]

Waver nods in confirmation, holding his hands shoulder length apart. A small chamber of smoke hovered between them, clouds circling but nothing forming at all.

"Yeah."

[secrowtary]

"That's bizarre. Could it be that Brie is running out of ideas? Or is it the opposite...?"

He's muttering to himself for a while here, not really expecting an answer to these questions and not even sure what Waver has to achieve with responding to random inquiries.

[teratias]

Waver paused, and almost tried to shape a rude gesture for that comment. He managed to restrain himself, and simply bristled instead.

"If you're going to wonder stuff like that, go do it elsewhere." His tone was sharp and clipped, feeling offended on behalf of his new ability. Sure, it was weird, but the assignment made perfect sense to Waver.

[secrowtary]

"Oh, here's no need to be rude," Surprised to hear that in answer, Hibiki raises his brows. Is he deterred, though? Not at all. Tapping his foot a few times, he crosses arms on his chest still keeping his eyes on Waver. "Or is it your usual attitude towards people who offer their help?"

[teratias]

"I'm pretty sure I didn't hear anything like the word help in those three sentences," Waver counters, frown deep on his face. "I just heard you wondering out loud if what I was doing indicated someone ran out of ideas."

Which was why Waver was bristling as much as he was. He felt that he had also given a rather neat explanation, but if it was bought? Different story all together.

[secrowtary]

"Forgive me, I had no idea that I'm obliged to inform you of all my intentions that clearly," Hibiki seems to be amused by the whole situation, actually. "What is your name, by the way?"

A!

[puddingemote]

Tamaki spies him after a bit; ah, the smoking guy. He can't help but come closer, though still staying upwind.

"Are you doing it on purpose this time?"

He feels like this is a relevant question, considering what happened last time.

[teratias]

Waver jumps a little when he hears Tamaki's voice. He was concentrating, and now the smoke just fades up and out into the air. Flushing, Waver nods in affirmation.

"Yeah, I am, don't worry."

Damnit, was that going to be his reputation here? The guy who everyone thought was on fire?

[puddingemote]

At least as far as Tamaki is concerned, yes, probably.

"So you're practicing?" That much is obvious, at least. "I have to practice, too."

The whole thing feels like homework, but it is good to know how their magic works, especially since it seems Waver's could suffocate him.

[teratias]

"What did you get told to do?"

Waver is trying to be polite and curious, but in truth, he wants to get back to work. He's enjoying teaching himself, and doing so without having anyone towering over him and telling him he's wrong.

[puddingemote]

Unfortunately, Tamaki is interested in bothering him.

"Cure someone who ate the crab."

Most people seem pretty wary of it at this point, and haven't been going near it, but he's hoping at least one person was hungry enough (or sick of boar) enough to try it again.

"It didn't make me sick but I guess other people had food poisoning."

[teratias]

"Lucky you that you didn't," Waver said. He was now on an all-boar diet after the near fire and whatnot. A small frown etched itself onto Waver's face.

"That's related to your magic?"

[puddingemote]

"Yeah. I can heal illnesses."

He's met a few people who can heal injuries (a friend from home included), but he's the only one he knows so far who can do this sort of thing. It's certainly useful for the crab food poisoning.

B

[andsobelow]

She pauses on the periphery of his practice area, her eyes heavy-lidded and narrow. She is acclimating to being in the light slowly, but she still finds herself squinting against it more often than not. It really doesn't help her to look less imposing, not that she has tried to be so even for a second since coming to this place.

"Don't look so pleased with yourself," she deadpans.

[teratias]

"Hey!"

Waver whipped around, his entire body bristling. No one was supposed to see that, and he didn't need commentary on the fact he was still learning. He had gotten plenty of that back home from himself and from teachers over the years.

He scowled when he saw the speaker though, and let out a tired sigh.

"I don't need any comments."

[andsobelow]

Oddly, of the many powers she's seen today, his doesn't offend her as much as it could. She seems something practical in it, and something almost alchemical -- scientific -- in the clear reaction going on: water and air being changed into smoke. It tempers her tone, a little.

"It's no use at that size."

Still not the most tactful, but from her use is tacit to approval.