The summer nights had gotten cooler, much to Ekstrom’s delight. Nothing too drastic–it was still hot–but it was at least tolerable, and with a rather nice breeze more often than not. Not that the weather had any real effect on her patrols or anything, but it did have an effect on her mood while on patrols. Rather than miserable in the heat, tonight she was…okay. Okay enough that she was able to work up the motivation to finally study her new weapon a little bit.
The new squire was in a secluded area of a park. There was a treeline and buildings arranged just so that it allowed her to stay primarily unseen by the average civilian passerby, and she settled there some minutes ago, deciding that she could afford the tail end of her patrol for the sake of progress in learning what it was to be the Ekstrom knight. So there she sat, on the grass with her legs crossed and head in her hands as she studied her shield, which was resting in the grass just in front of her.
It looked…well, it looked exactly like what it was supposed to be–a Mercurian shield.
“But can it actually do anything besides be a shield?” she asked aloud to no one in particular. She had a habit of asking such questions out loud as it did help her thinking process sometimes. Not tonight it seemed, and after a long, drawn out moment of silence she heaved a sigh.
lLP
Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2024 1:08 am
Snowball had been first to sense the energy signature while out with Niflhel and had convince the Knight to see who it was.
"Well, usually if it's a shield you might could knock someone out with it!" The cat had heard the question and pipped up rather quickly. When he and his traveling partner had reached the area. Snowball showed up first though assuming that a cat would perhaps be less startling than a knight.
Niflhel glowered at Snowball who was offering up tidbits of wisdom that perhaps weren't the more suitable. "Why would anyone use a shield to hit someone with? I feel like you've been watching too much anime."
Though Niflhel paused, thinking back he'd probably used a trashcan lid to smack someone with way back when he was just a civilian, which . . . wasn't really a shield. So it didn't count right?
The knight sighed, "Sorry to interrupt. Snowball here," He gestured to the cat, "Felt your energy signature and wanted to say hello."
There was a pause, "I'm Niflhel by the way, Knight of Saturn." He couldn't forget to introduce himself too after they'd disturbed the squire.
She must have been so lost in her own thoughts that she completely missed the appearance of two signatures in her immediate vicinity, so when she heard the first voice she startled hard enough to topple over where she sat. They were Order signatures, though, and when she turned her head in their direction she saw a cat and a knight, so she heaved a sigh of relief before slowly getting up.
“Scare a person half to death, why don’t you?” said the squire, though she was all smiles as she approached. “That’s on me, though. I should have sensed you coming.” She glanced down at Snowball, and then up at Niflhel curiously–mauvians bonded to senshi, didn't they? Though that was really neither here nor there at the end of the day, so she quickly dismissed the thought and returned the introductions.
“Evening! Ekstrom Squire of Mercury. Nice to meet you both. And I mean…”
Ekstrom glanced back at the weapon she’d left lying in the grass. “Yeah, the physical stuff makes a lot of sense. With the way I have to hold it–hang on.” Quickly she went and grabbed the shield, slipped it on, and headed back to them. “See? It wears kind of like a gauntlet of some kind, so I can swing it around and stuff really easily. But I was thinking like…magic.”
She’d yet to have any visions of how she used this weapon in her past life, and so far she hadn’t been able to spend any time trying to figure it out.
“I’m supposed to be able to use magic now, right?” That’s what she’d heard, anyway.
LP
Posted: Wed Aug 07, 2024 1:06 am
Niflhel tried not to smile at the squire's shock though he looked at Snowball, "I told you not to give them a fright."
He stretched a bit before tilting his head a bit as she was speaking about magic, "Ahhhh . . . yeah I think most knights get magic."
He placed his hand on his chin as he thought, "Well the best way to see if we can figure out magic is to practice."
Snowball chuckled lightly, "Sorry, I should make noise when I show up. I've been told to put a bell on before."
He was looking over Ekstrom, "Ah looks like we both have something in common with the fur." The cat flicked his tail and settled down. "At least you have a knight here to ask!"
He paused wondering, "Have you found your ring yet?" He knew some things about knights and well, while he was a cat of a senshi, didn't mean he couldn't help knights too.
”It’s fine, don’t worry about it,” she said, dismissing the apology with a little wave. “I think a bell would look cute on you, though.”
Ekstrom glanced down at her uniform when Snowball mentioned the fur. “Yeah, I don’t know how you handle the summers here,” she laughed lightly. Honestly though, she was fighting down the urge to reach down to pet him. He looked so gloriously fluffy…
Besides, they were trying to help her figure out her magic now. Maybe later, down the line, assuming they got to know each other better.
“Ah, and I have found my ring.” She held her hand out to show them the silver band she now very proudly sported. “I…haven’t had to use it yet. I guess that’s a good thing?” She looked more amused at that thought than anything else, though when Niflhel mentioned practicing she blinked for a moment before a smile lit up her face, and she nodded her head enthusiastically.
“If you’re offering, I’ll gladly take the help! I’ve tried channeling and waving it around and stuff, but nothing really happens.” The squire frowned at that, but gave her shield an affectionate little pat. “I’ve got a really good feeling about it, just a matter of figuring it out.”
LP
Posted: Tue Aug 20, 2024 12:01 am
Snowball's tail twitched as Ekstrom spoke and grinned a bit when she said that a bell would look cute on him. "I suppose it'll end up being a new accessory. Maybe I can fit it in with the gems on my tail."
He paused when she mentioned summers. "I hide in the freezer." He answered sounding almost too serious. "Though I have considered being shaved down but I don't think the poodle look is for me."
There was a grin, "Oh good! I'm glad you've found it, though I take you haven't had it upgraded?" It had been a while since the cat had tinkered with a signet ring.
Niflhel paused as he watched Snowball sighing as the cat seemed excited to play with a signet ring and was talking about summers. "I don't let him stay in the freezer, while Polaris might be a winter wonderland you'd never be able to get out of the freezer yourself."
He sighed, "You're going to get me in so much trouble." The knight shook his head, "I do usually have him a pool of ice water though, he does like swimming thankfully Mau are not the same as cats."
He chuckled a bit, "Ah rings are more useful than beyond just sending distress messages. You can send all sorts of messages and arrange meet ups with folks you meet that are powered. So don't treat it as something to only use in emergencies."
He nodded, "I am offering to help and if you want Snowball to upgrade your ring while we're here. Well... might as well make use of him too."
Ekstrom’s expressions seemed fluid, going from smiling and appreciative of how cute Snowball was, to surprised when he mentioned hiding in the freezer during the summer, to playfully mortified at the idea of shaving down his magnificent fur. Thankfully Niflhel cleared up the freezer bit, so she relaxed at least that much.
“Mm, a pool of ice water sounds like a fantastic idea, though,” she said with a little bobble of her head. “The shaving thing, not so much.”
She beamed at Niflhel for offering to help, and then at Snowball since the offer to take a look at her ring was suddenly put on the table.
“I actually haven’t made that many connections as a knight, so I hadn’t thought about using it outside of emergencies, but thanks for the tip!” She slipped it off her finger and offered it to Snowball. “I’ve gotten it upgraded once–I found some blueprints in the messages, and someone else helped me piece that one together and get it work. If there are other upgrades you know about, I’d appreciate it!”
From there she straightened herself out before looking back to the Saturn Knight. “Uh, I’m not sure how to ‘trigger’ my magic, so to speak, so I'm not sure how to show you. Maybe if we practice fight, though, it’ll just…come…naturally?”
LP
She's only gotten upgrade 2, officially (mostly; RP's ongoing lol), so upgrades 1 and 4 are fair game for Snowball to help her out with, if he's so inclined. c:
Posted: Mon Sep 02, 2024 12:10 am
"Yes a poll of ice water is great in the summer!" The cat beamed a bit as he watched the exchange between the two knights.
Snowball's tail flickered, "Well while y'all do your thing, give me your ring. I'll work on updating it for you." The cat held out his paw, it probably seemed weird but he could stay out of the way and work while the other two did their practicing.
Niflhel looked at the shield and thought a bit. "So you have focus on it a bit." He admitted as he summoned his chain from subspace. "It's something I've noticed with my chain when I try to latch onto others. So that might be a start!"
He took a stance, "So once you're done with the cat, come at me. We'll see if we can get it to work."
Niflhel was also looking around them at the surrounding area, wonder if he should maybe also use the shadows to hide himself and surprise the other knight a bit while using his aspect.
Ekstrom set the ring in his offered paw. “Thank you!” she beamed, once again fighting down the urge to pick him up and give him a good cuddle to show her gratitude. She figured she could channel that energy to Lulu when she got home, so for now she refocused on the Saturn Knight and considered his words for a long moment.
It was hard to imagine, actually. It was hard enough to focus on channeling, never mind having to do it while in the middle of a fight, but this would be the first time she would have any real-time practice with it so she had to at least try. She had every intention of putting her best into it, of course, and given that he’d probably been doing this much longer than her and knew exactly what he was talking about, she had a growing confidence that they’d crack this little mystery before the end of the night.
“Alright, here I come!” she called, then waited several seconds before making a dash for him. When she got close enough she tried to channel her magic while swinging her shield at him, using it almost like one would use a gauntlet.
LP
Posted: Sat Sep 21, 2024 11:32 pm
Snowball took the ring, "Thank you! And Good luck on figuring out your magic!" The cat said as he dug into upgrading the ring.
Niflhel stood watching Ekstrom, he was interested in seeing what would actually happen. The warning he braced himself a bit for the hit she was going to throw at him, he'd make it a real battle shortly but wanted to see what she could do as far as how hard she hit and what the shield was like.
He took the hit full force, watching as she tried to concentrate.He felt the wind leave him a bit and took a second watching her before asking "Did you feel anything happen?"
To her surprise, Niflhel took her hit dead on and barely flinched. That had to be on purpose, but still. Ekstrom couldn’t help the concern that crept into her for making a direct hit on an ally. She willed herself to focus though, and shook her head at his question.
“No, just…hitting you, I guess?” she said somewhat lamely, and had to push down the urge to give in to the mounting frustration that even with the help of a fellow knight it wasn’t coming easily to her. The Squire took a deep breath and tried to focus on staying positive, though. Two heads–possibly even three if Snowball also chimed in–were most certainly better than one.
“Do you normally have to do anything specific when you use your magic?”
LP
Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2024 12:12 am
Niflhel was looking at Esktrom thinking about what might work to cause the shield to trigger. "Do you normally hit people with your shield?" He asked debating, while he'd done his share of smacking people with make shift shields back in his civilian days -- oh boy was that a long time ago --- shields typically weren't made for just out right smacking people right?
He glanced over at Snowball who was working on the ring though occasionally would look up. "What do you think? Should she try using it as an actual shield and see if that triggers something?"
While he was knight, he was sure the cat had met more folks than he had.
Snowball paused from his work looking up tail swaying behind him. "I mean shields are made to protect from hits, so try to throw a punch at it and see what happens? Worst case we go back to square one and throw things at the wall until something sticks."
Niflhel nodded, "So let me know when you're ready for me to throw a punch at the shield then."
The Squire straightened herself out as Niflhel asked the question, thinking back to all the encounters she’d been in since becoming a Squire. Sure enough, in each instance she’d yet to actually use her shield as a shield, so she shook her head. “Not really?” she said, suddenly wondering why exactly that was.
“It just…when I first got it, it was on my arm like this and it felt more like a weapon than a shield?”
The thought made her scrunch her face up a little in curiosity. It was a little strange, considering it was very obviously a shield of some sort. Ekstrom glanced over at Snowball when he chimed in, and then back at the Saturn Knight.
Nodding at his suggestion, she adjusted the shield on her arm and held it out like one normally would hold out a shield, firmly between her and Niflhel. “Ready!” she said, eyes peering over at his from behind her weapon.
LP
Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2024 10:35 pm
its_ p a o
Snowball couldn't help but chuckle, "Well that sounds like the sort of thinking you have Niflhel, let me hit things with it."
He paused, "But then again Captain America also kind of uses his shield like a Frisbee so you don't always see shields used as shields on TV either." The cat went back to work on upgrading the ring.
Niflhel glanced at Snowball when the comment was made and he just sighed heavily. When Eskrom said she was ready Niflhel ran towards the squire and aimed a punch right at the shield, it wasn't quite full force but it was enough it would hurt, if not her, him. Depending on the magic.
As soon as he started running toward her, Ekstrom began to focus on her magic, and sure enough after a long moment of focus a glitchy, blue forcefield burst forth from her shield, spreading out to pass through the approaching Saturn Knight and settling a good distance surrounding them, with her at its center.
Ekstrom’s eyes went wide at this, and she was barely able to hold her own as he punched her shield. Doing her best to focus, she took the brunt of the force behind it, crumpling down to one knee by the end. She was smiling, though, and looked up at Niflhel from where she now knelt.
“That’s new, that’s new!” she cried happily, eyes then moving from him to the glitchy blue field around them.
Squire Magic
Full —
Ekström holds her shield out as if using it to defend herself. Upon focusing, a forcefield materializes from her shield and surrounds her and anyone within 10 feet of her. The forcefield is light blue and glitchy in appearance. She has a magic pool of 40 seconds. For the duration of her casting, the forcefield can either absorb or reflect (which one it does is up to her at the time of casting) all magical effects up to her rank. It can lessen the damage of third stage magic but has no effect on fourth stage magic. Reflected magic is only as strong as basic level magic if it does hit someone (she has no control over the direction the magic is reflected). She cannot reflect third or fourth stage magic. Individuals are able to touch and/or pass through the forcefield, however enemies that do will feel as though something inside their body is short circuiting, causing mildly sharp pains to run through their entire body. For a few seconds moving becomes a little bit uncomfortable. Magic is unaffected and unhindered within the forcefield.
tl;dr —
Holds her shield out and focuses; forcefield materializes from her shield and spreads to a 10ft radius around her Forcefield is light blue and glitchy in appearance; anyone can pass through it Enemies that pass through will experience mildly sharp pains throughout their body, moving becomes a little uncomfortable Forcefield can either absorb or reflect (only one at a time, her choice at time of casting) magic
Absorb: all up to her rank, can lessen damage of third stage magic, no effect on fourth stage magic Reflect: all up to her rank, magic is only as strong as basic level magic, no control over direction it goes in, cannot reflect third or fourth stage magic
Magic is unhindered inside the forcefield Pool: 40 seconds
