BGM Set
[X] Watch the knights practicing in the yard.
[X] Practice your 'body arts' - Healing and Decay, Nerve Control.
"Nyaaa."
Saber mews plaintively at you when you flinch from your self-inflicted wound. You erase the pain quickly, breathing out a sigh of relief when the pain goes away. You scratch under your kitty's chin as you speak.
"I'm fine, Saber. It doesn't hurt, see?" You hold up your arm. There is an impressive bruise swelling on your skin, but you can poke it without any reaction.
"Nya.." Saber doesn't seem impressed. Rather, her expression says, 'What the heck are you doing?" At least, that's what you'd like to think.
"Go play with your sisters. Shoo~" You scoot her away with your hands, shoving her toward where Lily and Nero are wrestling exuberantly so that you can practice without interruption.
Over the next few months, you improve the speed at which you can use your ability. You fall into the habit of healing minor wounds reflexively; indeed, sometimes you have to remember that people might find it off-putting if a cut disappears moments after you receive it. You've caught a mutter of 'simply unnatural..' from a servant or two who thought you couldn't hear.
Your abilities aren't unnatural to you. You've had them for so long you can't remember not being able to do these things. You can't really see how it's any different from the water magic the palace healers use. It seems that it's enough that it's different. It's depressing.
Skill improved: Healing and Decay E-
You wile away your free time taking a peek at the palace knights practicing out in the yard. They are generally consummate professionals, but even they are thrown off when you pay a visit. You can tell they're distracted the entire time you're watching.
You want to watch them practice naturally, so you instead start observing more discreetly. They have a regimen that they repeat without fail every single day to keep in shape and sharpen their skills. They all wield a wand shaped like a blade, and you can see that they keep their swordsmanship polished alongside their magic. You'd hoped you could see some flashy displays of magic, but the only magic they do seems to be a boring meditative type depending on their element. Some of them sit cross-legged on the earth, others weave gusts of air or sparks of flame into their sword-fighting routines, but nobody actually casts an impressive piece of magic like you saw your mother do with that homicidal servant. It's a little disappointing.
As if in answer to your disappointment, the people in the practice yard are younger than usual today. They're all boys, and you don't think any of them are older than 15 or 16. They're all wearing similar clothing; a uniform of some kind. They're a lot more rowdy than the usual crowd. One of them slings an arm around another boy, but it doesn't seem like a friendly gesture.
"Yo, David, why don't you match up against.. Victor?"
The boy, David, stiffens but doesn't say anything. A round of laughter echoes throughout the courtyard. The one who must be Victor replies, "..Don't bring me into this."
David recovers and shakes his head insistently. "No, it's fine."
The initial speaker looks at Victor in challenge. "Come on, man, don't tell me you're afraid. Look, even limp-dick wants to have a go." He points a finger backward at David, who glares at him.
Victor narrows his eyes at his companion. "Tch, fine."
The two square off about twenty feet apart in the designated sparring area. "Sorry," Victor says quietly. He brandishes his wand while his opponent simply stares back at him.
When the signal to begin comes, David places both palms on the ground, and a red light emits forth from beneath his outstretched hands, seeping into the ground. He grits out an incantation as he concentrates heavily. His opponent seems content to simply let him finish playing out his hand, waiting to see what his spell will do. "Scorched.. Earth!"
The ground all around Victor begins losing its coherence, causing him to lose his footing momentarily. A look of surprise flicks across his face, but he reacts quickly. Before he can sink into the melting earth, he supercharges an incredibly strong wall of air 360 degrees around himself. "..! Wind Shield!" The spells collide, the wind blasting right up against the molten dirt, trying to cool it before it can liquefy. A cloud of steam and dust rises up from the confrontation.
David is heavily panting, squinting heavily at the cloud kicked up by his spell. It looks like he's gambled everything on this single attack. His worried expression becomes dawning horror as Victor steps out, his uniform still unblemished.
"That's it..?" He brushes himself off. He actually seems disappointed, like he was expecting something more. His opponent is all but spent; it seems like he can barely stand, even though he's completely untouched.
One of the other boys chimes in rudely, "Haha, you really don't have any stamina.. what a faggot!"
Victor looks to the side in annoyance, but returns his gaze to the hunched figure of David, a look of pity gracing his features. He raises his wand and forms a cone of rushing wind. It looks like he wants to end this quickly.
"Wind Spear."
It slams into David, tossing him backward onto the ground in a heap. Even if he wasn't exhausted, the projectile was just too fast for him to dodge. It hit him square in the chest. Rather than piercing as the name would suggest, the spear simply projected a large amount of force. Victor bows customarily after the spar, and walks off quickly, not wanting to stay around.
The other boys laugh heartily at the fallen David. "Geez, how embarrasing!" "Pathetic.." "Later, loser." They start up an unrelated chat as they walk off, forgetting about their victim entirely.
"..." Victor casts one last glance at his defeated opponent before following his friends out.
David is left alone in the clearing. He slams a fist against the ground, muttering. "Damnit, damnit, damnit.."
He looks like he's in a great deal of pain. You can see a few tears streaming down his face.
What do you do? You've remained unobserved throughout this entire exchange.
[ ] Walk up to him, take off your gloves, and heal him.
[ ] Approach him cautiously, calling out to signal your presence. Ask if he wants healing.
[ ] Follow after the ones who just left.
[ ] This isn't something you should get involved in.
[ ] Something else. (Write-in.)
Ye gods, OCs. Sorry, but there just aren't enough canon characters to work with at the moment. Ditch them if they're annoying.