un: mortiscausa

[subconmodo]

What's up, everyone? Enjoying your midterms? No? I thought not.

Lucky for those of you taking my class, I happen to be feeling generous. Take note, people. This is a once in a term event here!

I'd like to offer you unlucky souls a deal. See, I've been trying to get a little fitter over the past few months. Can't use magic to solve every problem you have, right? Right! I want to see how much progress I made.

That's where you come in.

You beat me in a race? You get an A on your midterm! I'll even put it in writing so you have a paper trail. The only thing I ask is that I get to pick the time. I'm a busy man, you know.

Feel free to ask any questions you want. And don't feel put out just because you don't see any replies. I'm screening all comments in order to protect my students' previous privacy.

((Please see the OOC post here!))

Comments

[subconmodo]

Good? Sounds great! How about...

Oh, let's say 7:30AM tomorrow morning. Should be enough time for the both of us to get some breakfast beforehand.

[the gears are already turning. He loves dealing with the more difficult ones.]

[tiredcharmer]

aight

Tyzias shows up to the track... several hours early. At around 3:30 AM, in fact. She has the Contract--with a capital C--in hand for both of them to sign for whenever Avery arrives, and whiles away the rest of the time working on what looks to be some kind of magic project, durdling around with some sort of teal matrix and testing... something.

[subconmodo]

[Avery, meanwhile, is only about thirty minutes early, coming to a stop a few feet away from Tyzias on an old mountain bike.]

Didn't expect to see you here this soon. Someone's a busy little bee.

[tiredcharmer]

Tyzias cocks an eyebrow, and a smile teases at her face. Okay, that was a good workaround. Good effort, but it'd still be futile. "Clever," she says, then extends the formalized (proper grammar, but otherwise copypasted verbatim from the post) Contract and... an empty fountain pen? Looks like Tyzias has already signed it. With teal ink.

...that's not ink. "Pen uses your blood. Figured I might as well get some use out of it since Kano backed off on our Contract at the last minute," she explains.

[subconmodo]

She probably should have waited until after he signed to tell him that.

Avery's eyes immediately light up as he grabs for the pen, Contract temporarily forgotten as he looks it over. "That so?" he asks, twirling it between his fingers, pausing to inspect the nib. "So this is your first time making use of it? Shame. Would have been nice to know how to go about cleaning something like that. Can't imagine the clots and dried blood would be anything less than a pain to deal with."

[tiredcharmer]

"The inside burns with hellfire when the Contract it was used to sign is sealed. Burns up any detritus on the tip or inside. Plus it keeps things nice and clean, you can't exploit the extra blood for sympathetic magic."

[subconmodo]

The man looks positively giddy.

"Did you buy it or use that DIY magic you made to make it? How much would it cost to buy this beauty of of you?" He holds up the pen. "And no contracts for it involved. I'm talking cold, hard capitalism here!"

[tiredcharmer]

Tyzias shrugs. She wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth here. Maybe she could get a bit of leverage? "Made it myself. Should be able to craft another one in a day or two. I'd prefer some extra credit over cash, though. Lot more useful." She doesn't really need the extra credit--at all--but hey, a bit more padding never hurts.

[subconmodo]

Personally he disagrees, but if that means he gets to keep his money, why not? He'll just come up with some explanation or another for why it was an acceptable course of action to take later.

"15 points. That's the highest I'm going. Can't give you too much of a lead over the other students, can I?"

[tiredcharmer]

"Sure, why not." Honestly, Tyzias probably would've just given it to him, but she had a hunch that would disappoint Atchinson. And sparring with him over these things was a bit fun, she had to admit. "Now. You ready to sign?" she asks, gesturing towards the course.

[subconmodo]

"Oh. Right." There's a race to run--or bike, in his case. He throws the pen up into the air, catches it, and quickly signs his name, holding back the sheer, unadulterated glee he feels as it stands out on the paper in bright crimson.

[tiredcharmer]

There's the familiar tug on Avery's soul, of a contract being sealed. This is the real deal. Tyzias takes the contract, tapping her metal arm, rolling it up, and gently tucking it inside an opening that seems made for it.

Tyzias's phone alarm goes off, signalling the start of the race. She casually strolls across the start line, and--

--teal runes engulf her body, and she's immediately a step away from the finish line. The contract hasn't been broken somehow, that would be easy for a man of Avery's caliber to sense. No. Whatever Tyzias just did is within the terms she laid out both online and on the contract.

[subconmodo]

What.

"HOLD IT!" he screams from all the way back at the start, hopping onto his bike and pedaling as fast as he can towards her. "You're not taking another step until you explain to me what just happened!"

How was that not against the rules?!

[tiredcharmer]

"No can do. Explanations aren't part of the contract," Tyzias says, droll, then steps right across the finish line. Avery can feel the contract release. Is... is Tyzias actually smirking? You've got her to feel smugness, Avery. Fantastic job. "But I can give you an academic explanation if you insist."

[subconmodo]

He pedals as quick as he can, raising himself slightly off the seat to get better leverage. A few chunks of grass are ripped from the earth as he slides to a stop, face red. "Yes I insist," he growls once he finally manages to catch his breath. "I didn't even get to argue against it!"

[tiredcharmer]

"Runic inscription draws on Outland Mists and mana native to this world to create unique effects based on the symbols used. The key is that runic inscription is strictly defined as acting on a physical object," Tyzias explains. With one hand, she takes out the Contract Pen, and with the other she takes out some sort of... detector thing? which glows red while it's hovering over the pen. "Magecraft, meanwhile, is broadly defined as using internal forces to act upon and manipulate mana and Outlands-based energies." Tyzias, after a moment of hesitation, snaps her fingers to create a small spark. The detector glows green.

"What I use is a hybrid of the two. Using an inscriptor to inscribe runes directly onto personal auras and the flow of mana, instead of on physical objects. Which, after several rounds of extensive testing, I've found to not actually qualify as any of the forms of magic I listed on the contract," she explains.

[subconmodo]

He opens his mouth to argue, then shuts it.

It's not an innate ability.

She altered herself, not the track.

She didn't even touch him through the whole thing (unless one counts his own personal pain and suffering).

The girl's entire system of magic was one giant loophole and the more he turned it over in his mind, the more intense the war between pride and pettiness grew.

Deep breaths, Avery, deep breaths. He needs to count to ten and keep his temper in check. Last thing he needs is to get in trouble for getting a little upset at one of his students for doing what she was supposed to do. This is a success. Whether he wins or loses, a student acing an exam is always a success for him.

And it was a little impressive. Kind of. Sort of. If he squinted.

"Fffffffine." The tension in his body slowly releases as he grinds the word out. Because it's fine. He's fine. Really! "You get the A. And I'll tack on the 15 points extra credit for the pen."

[tiredcharmer]

"Cool." Tyzias turns around to head back to her dorm and get ready for class... then pauses. She probably owed Avery a little more than that, didn't she? "That was, um. A pretty neat trick with the bike. Genuinely didn't think of that. Probably would've lost if I didn't plan a loophole in the contract," she says without a hint of condescension in her tone. It doesn't sound like she's trying to stoke his ego, either, she's... actually paying him a compliment?

Weird.

[subconmodo]

And lo, the salt is washed away with the tide.

He straightens and flashes a cocky grin, wind back in his sails. "Just a shame I couldn't rent a scooter. Might have run afoul of that non-interference clause of yours."

End thread?

[tiredcharmer]

That somehow manages to wring a chuckle out of Tyzias as she waves and walks back to her dorm. Fuckin' hell, what was happening to her? Laughter? Really, Tyzias? She was supposed to have that shit on lockdown. Or, well, not supposed to at this point, but it was still a habit.

But... it feels good. Something about Avery hit just the right spot in Tyzias's brain that was between her cynicism and rare few kernels of humor in just the right way so that she didn't feel the need to shut it away. Which was probably a good thing.