The people around Alfyn and the Beacon students immediately scatter as the acrobat begins hurtling over the top of their heads like a rubber bouncy ball, with some of them instinctively half-drawing weapons at the shots confirming Camelia's suspicions that the crowd was made up of more than a few Hunters. As Toast bounced all over the place, his shots drew the attention of more and more spectators, many of which were cheering and clapping at the sudden performance. Despite the audience and noise, Toast's attention doesn't falter, and he lands gracefully on the floor to loud applause from the now fairly large crowd. Some even toss coins his way, clearly pleased with his performance.

Over the din of hands clapping, Alfyn's laugh booms loudly over the noise. "Hafta' admit that ain't wha' ah expected when ah told ya to 'tell me what ya can do', but as the sayin' goes it's better ta speak wit' actions over words, ey?" The tour guide chuckles, resuming his path forward as the crowd parts to let the group past. "Next time ya wanna pull a stunt of that caliber, gimme a heads-up. Dun think firin' pistols into a crowd's gonna go as well each time ya do it.". Saying that loud enough that other people could hear them, Alfyn glanced around apologetically as if saying a silent "sorry" for his charge's behaviour.

"Anyway, after that showstopper from Baguette 'ere, figure I can't be too surprised at much else. Ya got anythin' ya wanna show us, miss, or ya the silent type a' gal?"

"Shade, huh? I been ther' befor', an' tha' explains th' goggles an' bandanna, huh?" Alfyn grins, unfazed by the two student's rejections to top their equipment off. "Can't say it's th' most hospitabl' of places, but th' heat ther' makes this 'ere climb seem a casual jaunt. Ya should 'ave absolutely no problemo with this on' then, Croissant." He grins and turns to walk off the platform, waving one hand as to beckon the students to follow.

The town of Sleipnir, while fairly impressive when viewed from above, was nothing out of the ordinary on terra firma. All of the houses basically had the same color scheme and possibly layout, so nothing really stood out or would catch either student's eye. What was strange was the number of people on the streets, far more than would be expected from a village this size, let alone this far from any other major civilisation. Not only that, but the students' Aura detection would sense unlocked Auras like them. Lots of Aura users. Not at the level of a combat academy, but once again, far more than the usual number of Hunters that would be situated in remote villages.

"Ya'll in for th' long haul 'ere, so ah figure it's best to get ta know ya better. Anythin' ya wanna tell ol' Alfyn or each other, b'fore we start stabbin' ourselves in a fight all accidental? Dunno 'bout ya but ah don't feel like dyin' ta teamkill." the tour guide remarks in his strong, rough accent, seemingly oblivious of the masses of people.

Rachel gave the fight her attention for a few more seconds, facial expression emotionless, before she rose to her feet abruptly. "Please excuse me, Kepler, there's something that I need to take care of." she murmured just loud enough for Hart and the woman next to him to hear, then headed toward the far side of the room, motioning for Mordred to follow suit. Once there she turned so her back was facing the rest of the people in the room, then addressed the adult in a quiet whisper. "Cover's blown. Kepler over there said as much." Rachel stated matter-of-factly. "Something else about losing his fighter - the one fighting right now -  to the guy with the cat faunus group over gambling. Er, Geralt, his name was. Also, Kepler mentioned something going on in the back, you think he knows what we're doing?"

Your character attempts the boba/bubble tea challenge. What happens? (Irrelevant of gender)

Thread's up! For the two that didn't get their chance this time, if you're still keen on doing something I might be able to work out a plan to ensure you're not left out. Drop me any ideas or suggestions in Discord if so!

Tina always has her Scroll with a T*itch app so she has an excuse not to converse with strangers and watch her favourite games being played.

Jocelyn always has her large first-aid kit stuffed full of medical equipment.

Yu has his net and trident, broken up into its short components. It's basically an exoskeleton with how he stores it around his body.

Rachel has Katniss. No animals =/= no aura constructs.

Emile has a gilded locket with a picture of his family inside.

Within the hallowed halls of Beacon Academy, many a class is held that allows Hunters-in-training to hone their skills, improve their techniques or simply gain experience by fighting one another in a controlled environment. Some are more sought after than most, but the status quo has not changed for a long while - always the same classes held by the same group of teachers.

Until recently.

The official story is the same as shown on all the class boards, open to all years - that a new class has opened, only applicable to Hunters learning the art of the sword, and only two students at that. The only factor that would raise an eye is the location; not held in Beacon, but rather in the far east mountain ranges of Vale, on the coasts facing Mistral's borders. The class is labeled as a school excursion, and is expected to take more than a few days, certainly less than a week. The stories that spread among the students are anything but ordinary, however - that the teacher is none other than Olberic Emeriss, previous Vytal Festival champion and world-class swordsman who, after years of service as a well-known Huntsman, abruptly faded from the public spotlight. Many a aspiring Hunter has sought him out, to learn from one of the best, but to no avail; yet, according to Beacon's class boards, there the name was, clear for all to see.

This experience would be once in a lifetime - invaluable time spent apprenticing under a master of his craft, and even possibly learning the fundamentals of one of his seven legendary swordsmanship techniques that secured him the victory in his Vytal Festival championship and brought fame and fortune to the Hunter. But, as the class description pointedly states, the goal is not so easily obtained. To even begin their class, the two participants must ascend the reportedly Grimm-infested mountain where, near the top, the legendary swordsman awaits his potential pupils.

Class is about to begin...

AVAILABLE SPOTS:

• Camelia Sol
• Wabul "Toast" Paka

---

With the plot side out of the way, let's get into details...

This plot is designed to give students character development in terms of combat (because that's almost all we do here anyway), so it doesn't matter which academy or year your student comes from, so long as they wield a sword. Elsewise, what you should expect in terms of development is a general improvement in the fundamentals of combat with a sword, as well as your character learning some advanced techniques using Aura as the basis.

Potentially, if the student is skilled / willing to put in effort and it shows, they may get to learn the basics of what would be considered a move only a Huntsman could learn - a personal move, in other words. However, considering that it is far beyond the levels of what a student studying at the academies would be able to pull off, the student would not be able to use the move immediately. A first year might be able to use a far inferior version in two years practice, while a fourth year with more experience in Aura control might be able to do the same with only one.

The thread is intended to span across a few days, including the mountain ascension and the training at the mountain's peak, so this hopefully should be a action-filled, entertaining plot that ends up benefitting the participants.

Keeping it limited to two people that I'll pick depending on how they'll suit the thread both to keep the plot going, but if there's interest, I might open another similar thread for two more.

Wrinkling his nose at the smell but making no attempt to move away from the 2nd year, Graham waves off his partner's stress nonchalantly. "Long as you don't break down when it matters most, it ain't my call to judge people. Take your time, we're not going anywhere till you feel more comfortable about this." Thumbing his scroll, Graham slipped his headphones on and started listening to some of his preferred music, though not so loud so as to drown out any input from Gram. He didn't want to seem cold, but at the same time it wasn't like he could really help with Gram's problems right now.