Akashic Arcana Genesis || A Battle of Wills

Boxaman

Boxaman

Active Member
PATIENCE
Jayden was quite annoyed as he sat in the Arcadia Academy Library. He sat towards the back, behind rows of shelves and dusty tomes. He tapped his right index finger on his left bicep as he sits, quietly.

Jayden wore his usual outfit of a black dress shirt under a black dress jacket with black dress pants, black shoes, and black leather gloves. His black hair was messy and unkempt as he seemed to be furiously waiting, his eyes glowing a red hot.

"How could they pair me with a woman who has such terrible scores?" he thinks to himself as he looks at Artoria's written exam scores. "Its like I am going to have to teach her what magic even is."

He continues waiting as he looks at the large stack of books on the table next to his chair. There were ten books, all textbook sized with roughly 400-500 pages each. All but one of them were beginner studies on the basic schools of magic: Divination, Necromancy, Illusion, Dark Magic, Holy Magic, Elemental Magic, Arcane Magic, Spirit magic, and Blood Magic. The last book was the study of mana, and how it works.

Jayden finishes looking over the books before looking towards the entrance to the library. "Hope the freeloader even shows up." he thinks. When Artoria appears, he would return to his usual blank "boredom" facial expression.
 
Artoria, checking her ORB for the time, wandered into the Arcadia Library. She was amazed at how big it was; it dwarfed even the one at the palace back home, which was rather impressive in itself. She looked up and about, the building seemed to go on for miles. With the semester of classes just starting, it was no wonder why there weren't many students here. The ones that were in the building were likely there to brush up on subjects they were lacking in, much like the Princess was.

How am I supposed to find him in such a huge place? Artoria wondered to herself. Checking the time again, she started to search for Jayden, getting more and more annoyed the more she walked around looking for him. Until finally she found him far in the back. Of course he would pick that spot.. It had taken being up a story and looking down upon him to locate him, so Artoria would need to take even more time to make her way back down and to his little study corner.

"Alright, I'm here." She kept her tone even and clean of any venom, despite her feelings towards the kids. Artoria would give him another chance to at least be respectful.
 
KNOWLEDGE
Jayden sat with his arms cross, watching as Artoria approached “You are late. But no matter, this week’s lesson is rather straightforward and quick.” He flashes a half smile as an awkward attempt to reassure her as he gestures towards the chair on the opposite side of the table. She would notice the rather large stack of books on it, likely being intimidated by the size and number of them.

He grabs the top book of the stack of ten, the book about mana. He places it on the desk. “Before we open this one, I want to know everything you know about mana. I want you to state what it is, and how it effects our general magical abilities.”

Depending on her answer, and thoroughness of it, would determine his mood for the rest of the session.
 
Artoria checked her ORB's clock again. The clock read "4:01 PM". She looked back to Jayden with a very annoyed expression.

She took the seat opposite from Jayden, glancing up and down the stack of books that sat between her and her tutor. Her expression didn't change, but she certainly balked at the idea of covering that much material in one session. She would be snapped to attention by Jayden's comment, and even such a basic question had her struggling to put the answer to words.

"Mana is.. uh.. the source of our magic, basically. It's what allows us perform feats otherwise impossible by human standards. And much like our relation to physical activities and our physique and stamina, how much mana you have.. as well as how you can control it.. directly relates to what magics we're capable of." It had been a while since she had been lectured on mana and magic, as most of the time she was putting said knowledge to practical use.
 
Jayden nodded along to Artoria’s explanation. To her likely surprise/annoyance “Huh, and here I thought you didn’t know anything, judging by your scores in the Exam. Your explanation, while short, is satisfactory.”

He then places the book in front of her, slightly to the side. “That book has everything you will likely need know about the sources and origins of mana, along with its uses. The shortest, and easiest to understand, summary I can come up with is: Mana is a extremely valuable resource that every person has. Even the most mundane of people have some sort of mana in them. However, what makes one able to use magic is the ability to tap into mana and turn it into fuel for, as you said, feats otherwise not possible. Mana is also much like a muscle, the more you use it, the larger your pool is due to either mana use efficiency or your pool actually getting larger. That is currently up for theoretical debate, I believe.”

He then takes a breath from his long winded summary. “I know that is a lot to absorb for your unhoned mind but, with practice and study, this will become second nature to you.”

Jayden does that awkward half smile again “Now, we can put away that book. Tell me, what do you know of the Schools of Magic?”
 
And once again Jayden couldn't help but further antagonize Artoria, setting her nerves off against him even more. "If you're just going to use this time to insult me as much as you can, I'm going to find another tutor." As he set the book down in front of her, she would pick it up and sift through the pages, skimming through some of the content. I already know most of this stuff... just how stupid does he think I am?

Another rude comment gave Artoria another urge to run him through with Caliburn. She bit her tongue back this time, opting not to dignify his snark with a response. Though, his next question would have her stumped. "Uh... There's.. uh.." She counted on her fingers "Holy, Elemental.. um.. Necromancy.." She tried to rack her brain for the others, but couldn't think of them to save her life.
 
Jayden sighed “I would prefer not to tutor anyone, as they slow me down. But we are in this together, unfortunately.”

He nods somewhat sadly as she failed to remember the other 6 basic schools of magic. “3 out 9 isn’t bad for someone who isn’t well versed in the various schools. What makes it easier for me to recall them quickly is to list them in alphabetical order: Arcane Magic, Blood Magic, Dark Magic, Divination, Elemental Magic, Holy Magic, Illusion, Necromancy, and Spirit magic.”

Jayden takes a book from out of his bag on the floor and hands it to her. “This book is an advanced book about Holy Magic. I know you are a holy magic user so I grabbed this for you to read. It may not be covered by our 1st year introductory classes for a while, but I found it enlightening and thought you would like to read this, since it could prove useful to your knowledge.”

He would look as if he genuinely thought she would be interested in it as he handed her the book. However, this seemingly nice gesture would be cut short by his rudeness once more. “However, you are likely lacking in general knowledge on the other ones you don’t use. Give me a general run down on each school of magic, if you can at all. This will help me guide you to specific chapters you need to read before classes start.”
 
Artoria repeated after Jayden, listing them off on her fingers. "Arcane, Blood, Dark, Divination, Elemental, Holy, Illusion, Necromancy, and Spirit.. Okay, I think I've got that." Thankfully, the Princess was usually a quick learner, even when it came to subjects she wasn't particularly interested in. Though this was very basic material, any respectable mage should have little trouble with it.

Taking the book, Artoria would look surprised, yet grateful. "Oh. Thank you Jayden, that's very thoughtf-" And then Jay had to open his big mouth again, completely destroying what good faith he had just earned with the Princess. With an irritated expression, she would respond, "I don't know much about the the magic schools outside of my Holy magic. Just some of the evil things that Blood Magic and Necromancy are capable of."
 
Jayden would sigh "Well, you need to throw away any judgement you have on necromancy and blood magic. My father always taught me that there is no good or evil when it comes to magic, just how one uses it." He rubs his chin with his leather-bound right hand, looking deeply philosophical. As he does so, the sleeve of his jacket/shirt move slightly back, revealing heavy scarring on his wrist. He wouldn't notice if Artoria sees it, and eventually stops musing.

Jayden sighs once more "Well, we have some time. Lets poke your brain to learn exactly how much you know of each school so I can guide you to the proper chapters in each book. Lets start with Arcane, the base school....."

And so began a grueling session of Jayden picking at Artoria's brain. He would rotate between general knowledge questions and in-depth advanced questions on each school. As they reached the end of his questions, he would give his blunt, but true, assessment of her knowledge, likely to her chagrin. Each time he finishes up a school of magic, he would place a bookmark on the chapter she needs to read before moving on to the next. This would continue for a solid two hours, with every memory of Artoria's magical knowledge picked and prodded at, likely leaving her mentally exhausted.

As they wrapped up, Jayden would produce a pack for her. It was in the style of a messenger bag. The bag itself was made of a silky, but tough blue fabric with gold accents while the strap was made of a white fabric. The blue itself almost perfectly matches the blue she wore the first day they met. Jayden hands starts placing the books in the bag, one at a time. Artoria would likely be surprised to note that the bag did not seem to grow "full" from Jayden placing the books into it, nor did it seem to get heavier. After placing the books in the bag, Jayden closes it before handing it to Artoria.

"Here. Books can be heavy to carry, so I converted one of my old packs into something that matches your usual attires." He says as he waits for Artoria to take it.

She would find the bag to be extremely lightweight, almost as if it was empty, despite all the books placed into it. If she were to ask how he made it, he would grow seemingly haunted, but happy at remembering a memory. "My mother used to make magical packs that can hold enormous amounts of items without causing the wearer to be overburdened. When I was little I used to help her make the outside of the packs. Its one of the few things I dont destroy, but instead create with magic."

He would sniff just once before snapping back to reality. "But anyway, I thought it would be easier for you so you can carry around the massive amounts of knowledge I will be forcing into your brain. And I think we are done here, freeloader." Jayden stands up as he says this, grabbing a similar pack that was black and red before walking towards the entrance.

Artoria would likely remember they were supposed to go to the combat gym after studying... Seems Jayden was trying to weasel his way out of it by leaving in quick, sneaky manner.
 
The tutoring session more or less left Artoria feeling like she had smoke pouring out of her ears. So much knowledge crammed into her brain in such a short time span left her brain feeling fried. When Jayden offered her the bag filled with books, she would look surprised at how light it was despite how full it should have been. "Huh. That's really useful. Thank you, Jayden."

When Jay revealed more about himself, specifically the hinting and implication that his mother had passed away, Artoria actually felt sorry about him, as well as understood a bit about why he was such a jerk most of the time. She inspected the bag, noting its fine craftsmanship. "It's really well made. You're clearly very skilled at creating these."

And then Jayden was back to his usual self. Artoria let out a sigh, thinking to herself Well, I suppose even just a few seconds of him having some form of decency is good enough. Then as he started to leave, she stood up rather quickly. "Oh Jayden.." She said in almost a sing-song tone. He would feel a strong grip on his right shoulder, stopping him. "Where do you think you're going?" If he turned to face her, she would have a devilish grin on her face, and an aura that could almost be described as intimidating. "We have gym to attend, remember?" Her grip tightened slightly, showcasing the incredible strength her tiny body had, and her expressions didn't change... which may unsettle Jayden even more.
 
Jayden practically froze as Artoria's singsong voice spoke his name. His fiery personality simmered further to embers as Artoria placed her hand on his shoulder. A cold sweat breaks out as he envisions a sinister smile on her face. He turned around slowly, only to be greeted with a even more sinister sight: a innocent smile with a devilish twinkle in her eye.

Jayden gulped once before attempting to put on his blank expression again. "Ah, yes. That is where I was headed, of course." He smoothly lies before trying to shrug off her shoulder, to no effect. Damn she has a strong grip. He thinks to himself. He sighs once more before letting her lead the way. "After you, your highness." He said, with a mocking fake half-bow with his arms pointing towards the entrance.
 
"After me? Nonsense, we're in this together." Artoria walked to Jayden's side, wrapped her arm around his and led him out of the library. She would have her typical innocent and friendly smile on as they walked. With their arms locked, it would almost look like they were close friends.. or more. In reality, Artoria wanted to be absolutely sure Jayden had not even an hint of an opportunity to escape. She almost seemed to enjoy the torment that Jayden was likely enduring right now. Payback's a bitch, isn't it, fire-boy?

Using her ORB to navigate, Artoria eventually found their way to the gym building, which looked almost as massive as the library was. Why is everything so bloody big? Goodness.. Guiding them through the entrance, they would be greeted by quite an impressive sight. Under their feet was an impressively-size emblazoned Arcadia emblem, with a very open entrance lobby. The main foyer gave clear view of several of the upper floors, from which they could see a great variety of exercising machines, some of them in use by students and Academy faculty. In front of them was a long hallway that led to several rooms for class sessions.

After entering an elevator to the upper levels, Artoria would ask Jayden "Right, so I know the basics of what you're capable of, have you done any sort of work-outs before? Any physical training at all?"
 
Jayden attempted to protest “But I’ve always been told ladies fiaaaaACK.”

He gets cut off as she wraps her arm around his. At first he was highly annoyed, knowing that she likely was doing so to keep him from running. Damn she’s smart. I would’ve ran at first chance. He thinks to himself as they move along.

Despite the icey-death grip at first, the arm wrap slightly relaxed as Artoria uses her ORB to navigate the twisting streets of the city.

As they trudge along, Jayden spotted the last people he wanted to see: his friends. They all snickered and laughed as he is pulled by Artoria, and he could faintly read them making “couple” comments.

At first, he was appalled at the very notion, making a mental note to set them alight later. But as they grew closer to the gym, he began to notice just how bright her smile is and how bewitching the twinkle in her eye became. His face began to turn a bright shade of red the longer their arms were locked.

But his thoughts were cut off as they arrived. Despite his disdain for physical activities, he was impressed by the size and effort put into the facility. As they walked in, he couldn’t help but look around in amazement. However his amazement was cut short by a group of girls whispering to themselves, faintly overhearing words like “loverboy” from the group. This turned him a brigh cherry red, almost as deep as his crimson eyes.

His head snaps towards Artoria, his face still red as he reacts in shock that she is speaking to him “GWAAAAH.” He exclaims, before composing himself. “Oh. Just a light jog and a push-up/sit-up regiment every morning. Nothing fancy.... why? What do you have in mind?”
His face seems to pale with the obvious devilish twinkle in her eye.
 
Artoria pretended to not notice Jayden's discomfort in regards to the comments he would get, though her facade would be rather thin, as it became quite clear she was enjoying his torment. Perhaps a little too much.

Smirking at Jay's response, she nodded. "I see." She finally let go and gave a teasing squeeze to his bicep. "Oh.. I was just thinking of how flabby your arm is. We're going to need to fix that." She gave him another devilish smirk and led him towards one of the arm-curl machines. Setting the weight to 6 kg (15 lbs) for each bar, she would gesture for him to start lifting. "Three sets of ten reps. I trust you know what that means, yes?"

Figuring she could get a workout of her own, she took the seat right in front of Jayden, setting her weights up to 45 kg (100 lbs) each, giving him a smirk. "And don't try to cheat. I'll be counting, and you'll lift at my pace. Ready?" Grasping each handle firmly, Artoria lifted her hands upward until they met her shoulders, and then eased them back down. "One." Assuming Jayden didn't struggle with his weights, she would continue this until they both did ten reps.
 
Jayden would be annoyed at her suggestion. “Yes, I know what reps mean.”

He moves over to the machine. Despite his small frame, the weight was still pretty light to him, though he did not let Artoria know that. He started his reps, keeping pace with Artoria for the first five. Howbee, he started to pretend they weights to gave him problems from six to nine. The last one was starting to apply a good burn on his arms. He smirks as he starts to place it on the rest bar....

Suddenly an extremely loud voice yells out “WHAT A PATHETIC SHOWING OF AMERICAN STRENGTH.”

The ground seemed to shake as a rather HUGE male walks over. He stood at a solid seven feet all, with a frame built like the hulk. His head was bald, save for a single tuff of hair on his forehead and a overwhelmingly manly ‘stache.

The man moves in front of the two on lifting machines, looking down on Jayden with a judgemental gleam.

“YOU SHOULD BE LIFTING FAR MORE THAN THIS, YOUNGSTER.” The giant roared. Despite his calm face, he seemed to constantly scream as if he was overly excited about things. He man was wearing a US Mage Military uniform, but the top half completely ripped to shreds as the man flexes. His muscles were well developed, his biceps alone being as round as tree trunks. His torso was immaculately carved, pushed to the limits of natural human perfection.
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The man does a variety of poses, the various flexes showing off his nigh-perfect body. “IF YOU DO NOT LIFT HEAVY, YOU WILL NEVER HAVE SUCH A GLORIOUS FORM.”

He then moves over, sliding another 30 pounds onto Jayden’s weights, adding up to 60 pounds, without even waiting for Jayden to put it on the rest bar.

Jayden struggles audiably, his eyes bulging slightly as the man towers over him. “GIVE ME ANOTHER TEN REPS TO START UOUR JOURNEY TO GLORIOUS PHYSICAL PERFECTION.”

Jayden struggles to do so, his eyes building more and his face turning red. To Artoria, this would be a comical sight.

Unfortunately for her, she would not escape the giant’s attention either.

“THIS IS A SORRY AMOUNT FOR THE PRINCESS OF BRTIANNIA TO BE LIFTING.” Without waiting for her to place it on the rest bar, he adds another 200 pounds on her bar, adding up to 300 total.

He then moves in front of them, flexing his various poses once more. “PERHAPS GIVING YOU A FULL VIEW OF THIS MANLY FORM WILL PROVIDE MOTIVATION TO PUSH YOURE LIMITS..”

As Jayden struggles with his reps, he goes “Who the hell is this guy?”

The man flexes a new pose between every 3 words as he says. “I AM UTHER, YOUR GLORIOUS, MANLY, BIOLOGICALLY PERFECT PHYSICAL EDUCATJON INSTRUCTOOOOOOOOR.” He finishes in a huge roar while doing an intense flex.
 
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The first set of reps went easily enough. Though she suspected that she set the weight a bit light on Jayden's side, it didn't matter. Today wouldn't be an overly serious work-out day, more just time to get a decent idea how his physique was. "Alright, after the first set, take about a minute or two to rest, then-" She would be cut off by a loud voice booming throughout the room.

Artoria's attention shot towards the origin of said voice, and startled at the sheer size of him. She would stare dumbstruck as he swooped in and started adjusting Jayden's weights. While amusing, it wouldn't have been productive at all to his workout "U-Um, sir.. I-" She was quickly shut down when he rounded upon her, as well, and tripled her lift weight. "Uh.." This wasn't an impossible task for her, but she wasn't expecting to actually put forth effort, considering she wasn't even in the proper wear for a workout.

With great strain, Artoria managed to lift the heavy weights, and between labored grunts, she would look just as confused as Jayden was. "I have no idea.."

When Uther introduced himself, the Princess couldn't help but groan out of exasperation. Of course this would be the guy that runs the Gym...
 
Uther paid Artoria's groan no mind as he continues flexing. Meanwhile Jayden struggles to finish his reps. Once he does so, he groggily stands up,, rrubbing his now aching arms.

"Ow." Jayden mumbled, still rubbing his arms. This guy is going to seriously injure the students here, he thought.

The massive man stands proudly next to Jayden, practically beaming down at the young man. Some slight tears formed in his eyes as he spoke "IT IS A MOMENTUS OCCASION, YOUNG JAYDEN HAS TAKEN HIS FIRST STEPS TO PHYSIICAL PERFECTIOOOOON." He slaps Jayden's back, which causes the poor boy to faceplant, a loud thud generating from the point of impact. "YOU'LL GET THE LOWER BODY STRENGTH TO HANDLE ANYTHING IF YOU FOLLOW UTHER'S WORKOUT PLAN."

The hulking giant then points to a MASSIVE poster on the gym wall. It is a step by step guide to Uther's daily workout plan, complete with ilustrations and pictures of Uther flexing verious poses. He does 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 squats, 10km run, set of 40 reps at half his maximum on each set of gear, 2 hours in the holographic combat sparring room, does 10 reps of his maximum weight on each weight machine, and finishes up with a relaxing massage from the gym's massage therapist. At the bottom was a picture of his smiling face followed by a excessively neat and perfectly form signnature just after the words "Use of Uther's patented physical form is approved by the man himself!"

Jayden's jaw hits the floor as he reads, his skin going pale. Uther was droning on and on about how how his students will ALL be able to do this whole work out during each class. The man seemed to never shut up with his loud boisterous voice, seemingly content to speak forever.

However, this was not the case as he perks up, his head snapping towards a group of 3rd students goofing around on the weight machine. "YOU DO NOT COME IN HERE AND TAKE THIS SACRED ROOM AS A HANGOUT SPOT UNLESS YOU ARE WORKING OUT." He screams at them before hastily mumbling "We have the snack/break room for that. BUT THAT ISN'T THE POINT. LET ME SHOW YOU THEE TRUE WAY TO USE THIS HOLY GYM"

Uther then storms off towards the now terrifiied group of 3rd years, who clearly forgot about the nightmarish gym instructor. Jayden's still pale face sloowly turns to Artoria with a single question "Run?"
 
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Artoria nodded "Run." Setting the weights down with a CLANK, she bolted out of the room and turned down the hallway, Jayden in tow. Once sure that Uther wasn't following them, She led them down yet another hallway, eventually coming to a set of doors. They each had a 'vacant' or 'occupied' sign right on the door, likely triggered by a lock. Finding one that was vacant, Artoria pushed Jayden inside, followed him in, and locked the door.

The inside would be an empty sterile white room, with a console next to the door, and a large cabinet nearby filled with practice gear. Artoria looked around, and let out a frustrated sigh. She glared at Jayden and snarked "Well, you were able to get out of physical training. For today, at least. Really need to figure out what to do about that instructor.. or find a different place to train you." Out of frustration, she slammed a fist into the gear cabinet, then looked perplexed that she barely did any damage to it. Not even a dent.
 
Jayden nodded "He is an utter nightmare!" He then smirked at Artoria "You dont have your cheat codes in here, this is one of the sparring rooms." He then scratches his chin as he looks around "Facinatinng. I wonderr if its all magic or just physical enhencment magic." He then snaps in the air towards Artoria, only to find nothing happened. "Intriquing tech. Will have to study it for father's potential use."

Jayden shrugs "This place is boring to me. Lets get out of here." He turns to head towards the door.
 
Artoria rolled her eyes at the term 'cheat codes'. "Maybe so." Then she thought of another way she could maybe beat some training into Jayden's body. "Though you probably still wouldn't be any match for me." She opened up the gear cabinet, and let out a whistle when she saw the advanced tech inside. Not even Britannia's training gear was this impressive. She pulled out a disc-like object, inspected it for a moment, then pressed it to her chest, which instantly fastened to her like a breastplate, and formed holographic armor around her body, appearing like padded sparring gear. "Neat."

Her attention would be caught by a snapping noise, and the Princess would smirk and toss one of the training sticks at him. it would smack right into the side of his head if he wasn't paying attention. A armor disc would be tossed at him as well, though landing at his feet.

Artoria had a sparring weapon of her own, and she was already giving it some practice swings. Once satisfied, she pointed it right at Jayden, like one would do when challenging another to a duel.
 
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