towerofanimus | [open; dated 4/20] // dream fades before dawn

Characters: Waver and open!
Setting: Floor 25
Format: Action, but I will try to match.
Summary: Someone doesn't cope well with screwing up.
Warnings: None yet.

[Since his revival, Waver hadn't slept. He certainly hadn't eaten, considering the miserable state of the cafeteria's choices. Not that he thought it mattered; there were more important things to do.]

[Twice, twice now he'd failed and gotten himself killed. This time it wasn't the death itself that bothered him (though painful, it had at least been quick) so much as it was the circumstances surrounding it. If he hadn't hesitated, if he hadn't faltered, if he hadn't been terrible with one of the most basic forms of magecraft...a thousand 'if' possibilities had run through his head countless times over by now.]

[Waver could be found sitting in the meadow on the twenty-fifth floor, and in time he'd surrounded himself with scattered and discarded notebook pages--upon which were drawn sigils both magical and alchemical in nature. It was clear he'd spent hours there (if not a day or two) doing...what was he doing? There was a small knife in his left hand, which Waver seemed to be using to cut various parts off flowers; sometimes focusing on only one, and occasionally several at a time.]

[However many he'd damaged, the green-suited magus would then hold out his hand and appear to be in deep concentration. If he was lucky, a pale green light would flicker and crackle around his hand, and the flowers would appear to slowly repair themselves.]

[...But he usually wasn't lucky. Waver estimated that even after endless hours' practice, his healing magecraft would only work approximately five times out of ten, and would only heal effectively three out of those five. No matter; he had absolutely no intention of leaving this floor until he got it right. What had begun as a harsh realization of the need for practice had rapidly spiraled downward into an obsessive task of repeated motions and stubborn fixation.]

[For him, healing was a difficult thing, one which all his thoughts had to be focused on. Unfortunately, he was thinking of far too many more troubling things; his obsessive practice had turned to an exercise in futility.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

To be substandard, you would have to have no magical aptitude. You would achieve no results or very uneven results. You would have less control, and it could be dangerous.

And how does one measure magical aptitude in your world?

Through Materia use. It is the only way humans can use magic.

A trial and error sort of thing, then.

There is no way to measure magical aptitude other than magical performance.

There are other forms of unusual energy usage. It is unknown whether these are magical in nature. Those with magical aptitude are more likely to be capable of them.

I have various energy attacks.

Would you show me? I can't say I even know how to classify such a thing if not magic.

[Oh. Did you just ask him to do one of his energy attacks? Because he loves to perform them.

Sephiroth wasn't in the best of moods previously, but he visibly brightens.]

I will show you.

[He gets right on it. He moves a safe distance away from Waver first, then, without further preamble, leaps up into the air, raising his arms. Immediately, four globes of what can only be described as glowing darkness appear around him, and Sephiroth lowers his arms, sharply. As he directs it, the darkness converges on one spot, the globes striking the earth with a great impact that sends grass and soil flying, destroys flowers and chars the ground.

Sephiroth lands, looking pleased with himself.]

...Er...

[Hoooo-lee shite.]

That is Shadow Flare. [Yay.] Would you like to see another?

You know what, sure. Why the hell not?

Then I will execute Heartless Angel.

[He moves further away, as this attack is more powerful. He leaps up again, and this time he is surrounded by a globe of light, as a brighter, almost blinding light appears over his head, the "angel". Again, he drives the attack and all the light down into the ground instead of an opponent, sending even more soil flying this time, cutting a swath of devastation through the flowers.

Once he's done, he looks to Waver again, almost smiling now.]

I...wh...how?

[The logistics of this were giving him one hell of a headache.]

Edited 2013-04-22 04:36 (UTC)

[Sephiroth is going to take this as approval. He likes approval. ~~Grumpy professors so rarely show him approval.~~]

I am enhanced. I have speed, strength and skill far beyond that of the average human. It is the result of science.

[Magical science.]

But you don't call those techniques magic? How do you do it, then?

[Sephiroth is a bit winded. Energy attacks are hard work! But he had wanted to show Waver.

Catching his breath, he thinks about Waver's question. It's not entirely easy to answer.]

No, they are not called magic. Most people cannot do these things, so they are not clearly defined. They are very rare.

I am able to do these things because of my exposure to mako radiation and certain chemicals. [He really doesn't know what was done to him.] To do them, I concentrate. It is hard to explain. I move the energy.

Hm...an extended form of martial arts, almost? Actually, I'm not sure I can think of any way to explain it. That really is fascinating.

Yes, it is an extension of my fighting.

[Sephiroth feels pleased by this extra approval.]

My primary purpose is combat.

Right...I think you mentioned that once before, didn't you? I wouldn't have guessed you were skilled to quite this extent.

Yes. [He probably did. He likes to mention it. He thinks for a moment. He remembers what Angra had said about him becoming a robot.] Maybe it is not my primary purpose anymore. Technically, I am no longer allowed to fight in combat, but I have been fighting here. [Because he does what he wants.]

I am very skilled. There are few people as strong in my world. [He says this simply, not arrogantly.] I have been trained for as long as I can remember.

So then, could I ask just what you were supposed to fight?

I was going to fight in the army, in SOLDIER. I would have been fighting other people in war, and fighting monsters that threaten the populace.

I will still do that, when I'm older. I am going to be a hero.

SOLDIER? That's an odd name for an organization...What kind of monsters?

SOLDIER is now disbanded. It was a group of the greatest soldiers in the world, all of them enhanced like me. Now I am going to fight for the WRO--the World Regenesis Organization.

There are many kinds of monsters. It would take time to list them. They are dangerous creatures that roam the wilderness, and some of them have magical attacks. They will attack humans.

Where do they come from--the monsters, I mean. I have to say my world's a little lacking in those, unless you count vampires or summoned creatures.

We have summoned creatures, too, but I would need the right Materia to summon one.

Monsters are like any other animal, but more harmful. Most of them evolved over time. They are born and die. Sometimes they are affected by mako radiation, and they become more dangerous.

(no subject)

fionnuisce - 2013-04-24 01:18 (UTC) - Expand

pinnaculum - 2013-04-24 03:20 (UTC) - Expand