>>959455
"I bet I can bench press your mom."

>>959455
Another challenge to overcome. I think we should prioritize swords and throwing as primary skills.

You're looking a little frustrated, normal to feel. It's a feeling that either pushes people to do better or it pushes people away from their goals as well as other things.

>>959500
Yeah, lets start small.

Practice makes perfect. Go somewhere private and repeat these exercises in your natural, slimey form.

Update Emils 2020/03/28(Sat)08:38 No. 959912 ID: e7703b
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“Not everyone is good at everything.” I respond, while looking Lily in the eyes.
She breaks eye contact first, frowning. “Hello Lily, Mark.” I greet the two as they come closer.
“Uh, Emily right?”
“Emils.”
“Right. I’m sorry about Lily. She’s just upset about the last test. She’s a lot friendly otherwise.”
I set the spear aside, “It’s fine, besides, there is nothing wrong with finding out what I can and can’t do. While I am better at the sword, it’s a short range tool. I just need something with a longer reach instead.”
“Ha, nothing beats magic in terms of distance,
Frustration. Another emotion. Easier to remove, but quick to come back.
Annoying. Frustration begets frustration.

“Oh, it’s you kids.” Terra notices, “Since most of you guys are here, I guess I can tell you ahead of time. Your next exam will be a written one, before you get your F ranks.”
Lily instantly latches onto Terras words, “oh, any hint on what it’ll be?”
“Eh. Just standard identification of stuff, strategy making, and guild rules. You’ll find about most of it in the library, but I can’t tell you where. Everyone goes though it, so don’t worry about it.”
“Oh.” Mark looks a bit worried, “I’m not all that good at remembering stuff.”
“Don’t worry to hard, it’s not scored. We just wanna look at how well everyone does at different situations. You won’t believe at how many people start off without knowing how to read. Test should be tomorrow afternoon, come in whenever, you don’t need to be together when it happens. Helps deter cheating.”

Terra gives us a few pointers before leaving.
It’s going to be late afternoon.

> There seems to be a misunderstanding. I gain more from consuming a living core. I can only copy something from scanning someone.
I had gained most of my abilities from consuming the cores of others.

> Adjusting my body density is a concept I have not considered.
Reducing the mass in my arm, I grab a nearby throwing knife to throw at the range, but it misses. It might just be that I am not good at this.

“Your technique seems fine,” Mark notes, “maybe try some other tools. Sand and stones for example. Doesn’t have to be knives.” He picks one up and throws it perfectly into the bulls eye.
“Or magic.” Lily adds, quickly flicking her wrist at the range while muttering a quick chant. Something about a wind needle. The air flutters and an invisible impact hits the paper target.
“With your aim, maybe throw a bunch of stuff instead. Some of them is bound to hit.” Lily comments.
“We’re planning to head up to the library to look up what to study. Would you like to join us?” Mark asks.

>>959912
actaully turning a bunch of rock into shotgun bullets seems pretty effective to me, that would be devastating

Hmm yeah throwing a bunch of slingshot bullets at something would work.
Go study with these two. If anything, it'll be good to practice handling annoyance.

>>959921
Agreed.

Just not being good at something doesn't exist, with a few thousand hours of practice you should be able to this the bullseye every time.

Yes, go to the library. Maybe they have some interesting novels there.

Nah. Go practice your throwing more, in private.

We have studied being a magical girl extensively. I'm sure it will be fine.

We should go investigate the criminals who were bothering that Rabbold boy. If we leave to go to a fancy magic school, we should deal with them first.

>>959912
Private time. Let's go find a core to munch.

I like this scattershot idea Lily is suggesting

Ask her to teach you that spell she just did, it seems really usefull.

>>959921
Do this.

>>960047
I’m pretty sure she’s going to refuse because she doesn’t like us.

Throwing a bunch of stones or even bits of metal might actually be a good idea with your strength overcoming the bluntness of them. Something to practice, it could be even better than a single knife if you get good at it.

For now, studying is probably smart, since passing that test isn't going to need a ranged attack.

Learn to fire bone darts out of your hands. When you're on your own, of course.
Join them in the library.

Update Emils 2020/04/04(Sat)09:36 No. 960716 ID: e7703b
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“I agree. But first, could you tell me about your spell?” I ask Lily.
“Oh. It’s something my grandmother taught me. She had me training visualizing for days before she let me cast it proper.” She sighs.
Lily raises a hand as she begins casting, “{Contain:atmosphere:[shape]; velocity:[direction]; scale:[1%]; initiate;}”
With another flick of her hand, an invisible force pulses out of her hand and at the target. Another thud, at the center this time.
“It takes a lot of practice for me to shoot out one of these at the right direction.” Lily comments, “grandma could fire a bunch of these at a time, without having to flick her arm.”
“The looks of people who are suddenly hit by one of those is great.” Mark adds. “Not so fun to be on the receiving one of those, but they’re good for distraction.”
I repeat the action, following the cast and flick my wrist. Nothing happens.

Lily looks at me amused, “Just because you know how to cast a spell doesn’t mean you can cast one. There’s a bunch stuff to take note of, like if you’re compatible with the spell, if you have the right mana veins to cast it, and a bunch of training just-“
I think for a moment before swapping out part of the spell.
“{Contain:fireball:[shape]; velocity:[direction]; scale:[1%]; initiate;}”
A needle sized compressed fireball erupts from my chest and shoots towards the target.
The wall off target erupts in a small explosion that chars the wall.

Lily is quiet.
“Hm.” Frustration is an annoying emotion.
“Huh. Took to that spell faster than you did,” Mark comments to Lily. “You should probably clean up. We’ll head up first.”

—-

Lily calls me to a table while Mark is somewhere grabbing some books.
“So, we didn’t get a good chance to talk last time. I’d like to ask about how life is here in the city? Is everyone as good as you at magic? How did you even manage to change a spell like that? I could recognize the spell as mine, but you changed something!”

> Honest
> Misdirect
> Evade
> Consume

start with trying to go for the Misdirect (ideally without outright lying) and if that is clearly not working go Honest

> Consume ?

Are you in a secure secluded location? Did you saw people on your way to this place? Was Terra aware of you hanging out with those two?
Hold on to this option for now.


> Honest

"I don't know, I'm not from around here and lack an appropriate reference to make a comparison. I don't know, I'm not from around here and lack an appropriate reference to make a comparison. You heard what I said different already, do you want me to repeat the chanting?"

>>960718
I don't think most people are as good at magic as me, because people look at me weird when I figure things out like that. I want to be able to fight WITHOUT magic if I have to, but apparently I am very bad at that.

If pressed, admit:
Spells are almost like a language, you know? I am figuring out what some of the different bits mean, so sometimes I can tweak something a little bit to make it work like something I already know. You are better at wind magic than me, but I can do fire.

Honest/Misdirect

>My spell, changed something
"You are correct. I had a thought. What if I swapped a part of the spell out for one I knew I was more compatible with? It worked without blowing me up, which is good. Thank you for showing me your spell, by the way. I still have a lot to learn about the way magic and mana works."

Look off to the side and add a cryptic

"We all do, I think."

>How life is here in the city?
"Life here is interesting. I seem to be making something called 'friends', where you spend time with others and talk about various things or do activities together. Like cooking, training... studying."

Smile faintly at Lily.

>Is everyone as good as you at magic?
"'Everyone' who? People in the city? I have been told I am a 'prodigy', so I suppose not. Then again, I am not from here. It's hard to judge how magical people can be, I just know I am a very magical girl."

>Counter Questions
"Is your grandmother a very skilled magician? Is she who made you want to be an adventurer? It's apparently not a job all parents approve of."

>>960716
Misdirect.

>>960716
Misdirect, we'll be open when she is.

Consume, failing that, misdirect.

Be brutally, directly clear about how you can do that.

I can understand languages, including magic language, and was able to swap out the [atmosphere] element for one I know, [Fireball].

Didn't we just learn Ice element?

Throw an ice element one at the charred target.

"Have you and Mark kissed before?"

>>960716
>A needle sized compressed fireball erupts from my chest and shoots towards the target.
Did that come from your core? You might need to work on getting that to come out of your hand instead of your chest.

>What do?
Misdirect

>>960729
>Throw an ice element one at the charred target.
We can’t do that since we’re at the library and not the training area right now.

>>960716
Honest.
"I have a talent for fire magic. I simply used the form of your spell to change the shape of my fire magic."

Honest, she was nice enough to show us her magic in the first place, let us be nice in return.

Honest
You changed it. You removed atmosphere and added fireball.

"Unlike archery, magic is something I'm kind of good at. I lack experience of other places, so I can't really compare life or the people here to other cities, though my classmates seem to possess some interesting magical properties"

>>960716
Be honest, but not so honest that you reveal your slimey secrets.

>>960955
This. Keep it vague.

>>960716
"I am apparently not proficient with air spells, but I can use fire ok so I swapped the air word for a fire word.
I am still learning magic, so I don't know many words. How many words do you have to know in magic to go to magic school?"

Update end Emils 2020/04/09(Thu)13:26 No. 961272 ID: e7703b
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“Magic comes easy to me.” I reply.
“I can understand chants and have been slowly learning what they do, but I am limited with what I can learn here.
I can’t seem to control the air, so what I did was replace your pressure with my fireball, and I managed to replicate your chant and spell.”

Lily looks at me wide eyed, wanting to say something, but doesn’t.
I grab a book and sit down to read.

“That... shouldn’t be possible,” Lily mumbles out after a while, “spells are supposed to be intricate and delicate. A misspoken chant, or an unstable circuit can easily cause a spell to fail.”
Lily looks at me, “It shouldn’t be that easy just to... mix and match spells like that!” She yells quietly.
I chant, snap my finger, and conjure a shard of [frost], which soon evaporates into vapors.
It seems it works with spells I’ve heard before. I probably just am incapable of casting spells I don’t have the attributes of.

Mark peeks out from a shelf, “Is something wrong?”
“Yes there’s something wrong, Emils here says she can understand chants!”
“And?.”
“That’s the most stupidest thing I’ve heard, if it was so easy just to change a spell like that, that would make you the most dangerous mage to ever exist!”

Mark walks up to the table, setting a pile of books down.
“Lily, what’s gotten you so worked up about this?”
“To be able to understand chants would mean you’d know what a mage will cast, and can bring up something to counter the spell! Emils is the perfect anti-mage!”
“So that means she could beat you in a fair fight.”
“Ye-“ Lily’s face grows red, “fine. yeah.”
Mark pats Lily’s head.
“See? Not so bad to admit there’s someone better than you, is it.”
Lily pouts, and grabs a book to hide her face.
“I don’t really get magic much, but I do know messing up a spell is dangerous.” Mark looks at me, “but part of fighting mages is always to find a way to get them to mess up their spells, and they’re the weakest when casting. Do be careful with what you’re doing.”
I nod, “Thank you for the advice.”

"It's correct to say I'm dangerous, but you see potential in my abilities that I haven't reached. Let's make a deal: you show me how to counter and disrupt spells and in return I will help you develop alternative variations of your own spells."

Complain that you don't know any spells like hers that you could use to fight someone or something you want to keep intact. You could blow it up or cut it to shreds, but if you want to be non-lethal right now you kind of just have to miss.

This is a rare situation and barely a weakness, but admitting a weakness while she is annoyed at how great you are may temper her annoyance.

Good chapter.

As 961276. This could be very useful. Request a collaboration in which you assist her with vocabulary and attempts at constructing new spells, and she assists you with tactics and lets you nibble off a tiny corner of her soul that she didn't need, because fresh delicious affinity is good for the stomach.

You're lucky neither of them really grasps what you mean. Don't go spilling your secrets just to win an ego contest.

Ah yes, nothing cuts through frustration better than a solid flex.

>>961272
>I probably just am incapable of casting spells I don’t have the attributes of.
Your stats say you’re proficient in Temperature Magic, so it makes sense that you’re good with Fire Magic and Ice Magic.

>>961286
All we need to do is copy her magic, the same way we copied from Bea and Resida. “Nibbling” on her would actually hurt her, which we don’t want to do.

>>961325

I don't know, those two look like optimal prey to me. Two foreigners without ties to the locals that are low rank adventurers full of confidence in their abilities and they aren't as distinct as the shark guy. If we can learn about their missions eventually they might go to a secluded location where we can eat their cores without anyone noticing.

Their competitiveness is potentially very helpful for development of combat techniques and strategies, that is if we can get their cooperation. If they oppose such agreement their usefulness alive will be lesser than as lunch.

>>961337
They have done nothing to warrant being eliminated. I'm sure there are criminals and other enemies we can eat that will give us the same benefits.

Yeah, I'm against eating non-hostiles and so should Emils be.

>>961272
I think you are exaggerating the effect of my skill somewhat. While it helps greatly with learning or creating new magic effects I'm sure you can still pelt me with spells like nobodies business. I got more mileage out of mana reading in that regard, to be honest.

>>961351
Yeah lets downplay our abilities a bit. Best for potential enemies who hear about us through the grapevine think we're confused and have no idea about our abilities.

>>962639
There IS an alternative.
Rather than downplaying it, pretend it's education you can't remember. That'll start rumors of a secret sect of powerful mages.

Do you know how to diagram a sentence?
Diagram a spell.
It won't make any sense to them, but they'll understand that somebody, somewhere, has figured out magic.
When they ask questions tell them you don't know how you know this, that you don't remember what you don't remember, and eventually claim that trying to remember is causing you a serious headache and you can't think about it anymore.
Sure, they'll take the chart and show it to a mage, and the mage will learn something of the nature of magic and advance the knowledge of the craft by centuries, but when they come around asking questions you've got ready answers.

Ask if counterspelling is casting magic to counteract what they do, or kicking them in the dick in the middle of them casting a spell.