week zero: mingle

[cyclists]

Week Zero
32 in Competition

On Monday morning, the sun rises on the sleepy village, and when the first ray of light touches the gates at each corner of the village, the previously tightly sealed doors open.

The barriers around the village fall, and leave it entirely open. Each cardinal direction will have a path exiting the village, taking the curious explorers who follow it on an adventure to new territories to be explored. They’ll find that each location that they arrive in appears to be associated with one of the elements. As the Signs had explained the day before, each of the participants in the game possesses an elemental assignment, whether they are aware of it or not.

When they approach the elemental areas, they’ll find themselves more in tune with their new powerset, as if the location invites them to take them out for a spin. The new areas appear to be perfect for training and learning how to use the new skills, or maybe if you’re curious you can discover which of those listed powers you’ve been granted.

Just try not to hurt yourself while you’re out there.

In addition, it seems now that more pieces of the core are being revealed, the river that runs through the village will begin to be dotted with small lanterns floating on the water. Some of them seem to be holding small notes. Try as you might to grab one, they’ll always just barely float out of reach.

Perhaps try sending one yourself and see what results you might get?

Occasionally in the village, you might hear the sound of drums and flutes - is that festival music? - though no matter how you search, you can’t find the source… yet.



Welcome to your tutorial week mingle log! Please see all the links within the log to check out the new updates. In addition, your status page has been updated. In case you missed it, please report all item theft to this top-level where all comments are screened. Private conversations are also open and should be reported under the Week 0 top-level.

A mini-event will also be posted on Wednesday, June 5th, so please keep an eye out for that!

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Comments

[twinsightful]

And how do you think we're supposed to learn? [A somewhat bratty question but also kind of real.] It didn't look like you were completely in control yesterday either.

[Swords are one thing but magic? Totally different.]

[unfriendliest]

Practice.

[ Duh. Not that he has any real clue on how to do that, and frankly he'd be more comfortable just using his sword, but nothing's more comfortable than that, really. This power is just another he'll have to learn - it'll be kind of like adjusting to a human body, right? (no)

There's no acknowledgement for snide remarks about yesterday - but Ookurikara does gradually come to a stop, staring down at his hand thoughtfully. Fire suits a dragon, he supposes, but how does he use it? Lili's would-be lesson in magic is still echoing in his mind, so maybe if he just thinks about Munemura, it'll work...?

He closes his eyes, concentrates for a moment, and opens them. Nothing.

Oh, yeah. This is going to be annoying. ]

[twinsightful]

[Kaoru, meanwhile, is still perched on a stone platform just above Ookurikara's head solely so that he can watch and also be out of the way and retreat if he has to. He's not making it a secret that he's trying to see how he fares in his attempts, but he also doesn't laugh or make any sort of snarky remark.

He's fairly calm, actually, and seems to be debating something.]

I haven't had much luck getting mine to work since the first day we got here [It's not exactly sympathy, but a fact.] Supposedly there are ways to get it to work when you're first starting out, but they're not the greatest options.

[unfriendliest]

[ He gives a short huff. ]

She told me to use anger.

[ Which isn't hard, but... it's also not the most efficient way, if he's going to need it in a fight. Ookurikara needs to be able to stay levelheaded, or he won't fight as well, and this power could get out of control again. That may not be a risk he can afford here. ]

Are there other ways?

[twinsightful]

Supposedly visualization helps, but are we going to have time to sit around and think about how to make it work? [He doesn't even ask who "she" is because it's the same she who told him the same thing. He thinks. He assumes. Or there's two shes running around.]

The one question I have is if we're fireproof. If we are, we can start there.

[unfriendliest]

It's not like we're that busy.

[ Well. Most of us aren't. Someone has to cook for all of you, so.

Visualization, huh... So he just has to picture fire in his hand? It doesn't seem like it should be that easy. But instead of trying it out, he just raises an eyebrow at Kaoru. ]

There's plenty of fire around for you to figure that out.

[ go forth and burn i guess ]

[twinsightful]

[Thank you for your service. But also. He raises an eyebrow back.]

I already burned my hands once, I'm not trying it again. [That was an entirely different circumstances though.]

[unfriendliest]

Then it sounds like you aren't going to find out.

[ Ookurikara sure as hell isn't going to be your guinea pig. So he'll try that visualization thing now instead - frowning deeply at his left hand and thinking of the sparks he'd seen there the other day.

But they still don't come, so he lets that hand drop back to his side. ]

And they say they wanted to help us?

[twinsightful]

Pretty sure they meant they want us to help them. [How annoying. He's going to settle to sit on the platform, looking at his own hands and even snapping his fingers to try and get the fire going.] Everything they told us doesn't really make a lot of sense anyway.

[unfriendliest]

[ That much is obvious, so he won't dignify it with an answer. ]

None of us can help anyone if we don't know anything.

[ Sol and Lune included. Whether or not they'd told the truth about not knowing much themselves, they hadn't offered the rest of them a lot to go off of. They're all just stuck here, wasting time when there are more important things to do. ]

They could have at least told us how to use their magic.

[twinsightful]

[And while he's here, he may as well keep asking obvious questions.]

Have you asked them? If they really know, they can't ignore us forever. Everything I've learned so far has been from other people's advice, but they're getting used to this kind of magic, too.

[unfriendliest]

[ The look he gives Kaoru says the answer to that question should be obvious. It seems like everyone saw him talking to Sol. Did it look like he asked about this? ]

[twinsightful]

[An equally leveling look.] There are two of them.

[And sometimes you have to admit that two people are not exactly the same no matter what.]

[unfriendliest]

What makes you think the other one will be any more helpful?

[twinsightful]

They seemed to be more willing to talk, at least. And anyway the likelihood of being stuck with two people who aren't helpful is pretty low. There's always one who's a little more receptive than the other, or at least one who can interpret what the other is saying.

[unfriendliest]

[ He says this like Ookurikara actually wants to talk to either of them, but. Point. ]

Did you ask?

[ He's confident that he is not the only at fault here. ]

[twinsightful]

[Well. Called out, he settles for making a face.]

No, but I've been busy with other things. And I'm getting training from someone. [Sort of. So yeah, Ookurikara's right, it's not just him but let him live.]

[unfriendliest]

How can you be getting training if this is new to all of us?

[ Not that sparring is a bad idea... or it wouldn't be, if any of them had any control over this new magic. ]

You can't even get a flame.

[ As if this judgy bitch can. ]

[twinsightful]

It's not new to everybody. There're some people here who had magic like this back home, supposedly. [But wow, Kara, that's really rude? That's really rude!! (Kaoru would say the same if their positions were swapped, but.) He's looking at his hands then, concentrating for a moment and narrowing his eyes to focus on his finger tips.]

Getting one on accident like you did doesn't count either.

[unfriendliest]

I never said it did.

[ It's not a contest, kid, shut up. ]

Sounds like they haven't been much help, either.

[ But nothing really has so far, has it. Maybe it's better if Ookurikara falls on something he knows better...? Whenever he's trying to nail a difficult maneuver, it's easier to act it out, he thinks, hand closing on the hilt of his sword. He has nothing to go on for magic, but if he's meant to fight with it, it makes the most sense to use it and his sword in tandem. The familiarity of practice drills is the only other way Kara can think of trying.

Don't mind him, Kaoru, he's gonna draw his sword and take a stance. ]

[twinsightful]

[The first thing Kaoru thinks is "cool, I'm going to die because he's mad." The second thing Kaoru thinks is that this is absolutely the reflex of someone who's practiced a lot. He leans forward, hand cupping his chin as he eyes the sword for a moment.]

...that's the thing that was waiting for you here? [He's guessing. He's poked around the armory and immediately walked back out, but the familiarity is hard to miss.]

[unfriendliest]

[ i should've mentioned he'd probably turn away from Kaoru for this but oh well. Ookurikara glances back him, mildly annoyed that he's still talking. ]

Yes.

[twinsightful]

[Fair. In that case, there's a nod and he seems to make a mental note before he actually goes quiet? He's going to watch for a bit, it seems, but he has nothing else to contribute at the moment.]

[unfriendliest]

[ Good. With that quiet granted, Ookurikara closes his eyes to take a breath before starting to move in his usual drills. It's an effortless dance, moving smoothly from one position to the next as if fighting an invisible opponent. These maneuvers are second nature and take hardly any thought, so before long, he's finished with the basic set.

Then he starts again, moving slightly slower this time. After going through those familiar moves, he thinks, maybe it'll be easier to call this magic on the second run. So he takes his time, trying to picture the flames flowing down his blade when he gores through the next slash.

...Well. It doesn't exactly do that, but after a few more moves, he does manage to create a few sparks. ]

[twinsightful]

[There's a difference between dressing up as a swordsman and actually knowing what you're doing. The moves are very well-practiced and it's enough to keep Kaoru quiet the whole time even as he starts climbing down some of the platforms to get a closer look.

This is just another reminder that he is absolutely out of his league here, but it's fine. He's still not saying anything but he continues to get about as close as he can without being too noticeable or in the way.

The sparks are a surprise though and there's an audible noise of approval. So there are other ways to make this work. That's good to know.

He wants to say something, but he's also gauging Ookurikara's mood. It's fine.]