Encountering a New Face (Private/Math)

OCC: This thread happens a few days after the Academy Night Patrol Operation #1 Thread

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It was a warm and sunny day at Syne Academy. A warm fresh breeze was blowing across the campus of the academy. The temperature outside was 74 degrees. It was the perfect weather for spending some outside. Cynthia was going to make the most of this opportunity to relax and to catch up on one of her hobbies: Reading. Currently, she had a couple of books under her arms. Her adoptive father had sent her a bunch of books that was recommended by the book club he was in.

"I wonder what books my father had sent me today. The last couple of book shipments had been extremely interesting." Cynthia thought quietly to herself as she began searching the courtyard for a shady spot where she could sit down and crack open a book. After a few minutes of searching, she found the perfect spot under a huge maple tree which was located in northeastern corner of the courtyard.

After making sure that the spot was unclaimed, Cynthia claimed the spot for herself before taking some time to examine the books her adoptive father had sent her. Among them were a War Treatise named "The Art of War" by Sun Tzu, a compilation of Sherlock Holmes stories, a bunch of books on Strategy and Tactic, and something she hadn't seen before: Manga.

"Hmm.... The Art of War looks interesting." Cynthia thought quietly to herself after she had finished looking though the pile of books. She had decided to put the manga to the side for the time being. Cynthia then cracked open the Art of War and read the Preface/Introduction. It didn't take long before Cynthia became engrossed in the book.

The courtyard really looked different during night and during the day. It had an almost ironic sensation to it, knowing full well what could go down during nocturne here. Beowulf, Ursa and intruders that used the former to attempt sneaking in to enact whatever dastardly plans they had after sneaking in the academy. Sabotage, infiltration, assassination. She hadn't recieved any news on it. Which was regular, the policing force had no obligation to inform her regardless. She was an affiliate, not an officer, after all. A soft huff came from Mathilde as she glanced over her shoulder.

A frantic whirring resounded as the airship that had delivered both herself and her motorcycle took off again. She clicked Hallowed Redeemer in place on the cycle, a sheath added to the vehicle that especially fit the scythe. She grasped around the steering grip, pushing the cycle up before propping herself up on the thing. The sound of an engine roaring to life momentarily crossed the courtyard, before it was reduced back to a soft sputtering. She kicked the cycle in gear and sighed softly, before slowly driving it across the courtyard. Tempo at walking pace, towards her designated parking spot. Luckily, she was allowed to bring the thing up and park it on campus.

She didn't really trust the cycle just being down in Bellmuse with nothing but a padlock and steer lock.

“Hmm…. The Art of War is an interesting read. However, it is a bit out of my league.” Cynthia thought quietly to herself. To be honest, it was a very interesting read. However, the topics of strategy and tactics weren’t her forte. To be honest, she was more of a direct assault and area bombardment type of person. However, Cynthia had heard rumors around Syne Academy that there was a female student who loved these kinds of books. In addition to this, she had heard that this female student was some sort of tactician.

“There are so many interesting people at this academy. Now, I am really glad that I got accepted into the academy.” Cynthia thought quietly to herself before putting the “Art of War” back into the pile of books. She soon began to slowly look through other titles that her father had sent her.

Particularly, she took an interest in the manga that came in the pile of books. So, she separated all the manga from the rest of the books before picking up the first one. It was called “Bonjour♪Koiaji Pâtisserie”. To be honest, Cynthia wasn’t sure what it was about, but the beautiful artwork on the front soon drew her in and caught her interest.

However, she didn’t get the chance to read the book. As she was about to open the book, Cynthia heard the distinctive sound of a motorcycle engine. Cynthia then spent a couple minutes looking around. She soon found the source of the sound.

About 10-15 meters away was a young woman and her motorcycle. It was quite an odd sight for Cynthia since she thought that personal vehicles won’t allowed on campus. The most distinctive thing about the sight she was seeing was that the motorcycle had a sheath for some sort of weapon. This sight piqued her interest, so she decided to watch carefully for the time being.

With the soft puffing of the engine, Mathilde came to a halt, grabbing the motorcycle and lifting the back as if it was nothing, pushing it properpy in the designated parking spot, before detaching her scythe and lifting it. The thing was massive, and no doubt, heavy. Though she pulled it up in an arc with just one hand and laid it to rest on her shoulder, the tip of the scythe almost touching the ground, it was larger than Mathilde herself. She pushed the front wheel into the steer lock and retrieved the key, pushing it in one of the sidepockets of her jacket, before glancing around. It was than that she noticed the girl seated under the tree, staring at her.

Odd. What had warranted the sudden attention? The motorcycle, or rather her appearance? She couldn't make out Cynthia's expression from her distance, so ascertaining why was nothing but a futile attempt. Unless...

With the soft scraping of her heel, Mathilde turned in direction of Cynthia, moving over and offering a wave of her gloved hand. The one that wasn't preoccupied with holding the scythe. And she moved closer, close enough for the hand that had waved now extended in a friendly gesture. To shake, and celebrate a new acquaintance. "Mathilde Harmaa," she stated her name curtly. Yet it wasn't impolite either. Just to the point and up front. "Can I help you, perhaps?"

After a few minutes of examining the woman, Cynthia watched as the woman approached her. After approaching her, the woman extended her hand out for Cynthia to shake. As she did this, she mentioned that her name was Mathilde Harmaa. After an awkward moment of staring at the women, Cynthia got up and began speaking.

"Pardon me for my rudeness. I was a bit surprised to see a motorcyle on campus." Cynthia spoke in a calm yet respectful manner as she gave Mathhilde a very firm handshake. Cynthia could tell that Mathilde was a pretty strong warrior by looking at her.

"My name is Cynthia Testarossa Schwarzchild. It is nice to meet you, Mathilde." Cynthia replied calmly. After the introduction was finished, she then invited her to sit down next to her under the tree. After settling down once more, Cynthia then started a conversation.

"What major are you, Mathilde?" Cynthia asked calmly as she moved her pile of books over so Mathilde could sit down.

It seemed to take a few seconds for Cynthia to overcome her hesitance and answer her gesture, getting up while she was at it. Good, at least not too much distrust.

"I don't mind at all," she replied with a soft tilt of her head. "I brought it up with staff, the cycle's worth a fair bit. I'd rather have it parked on campus. They agreed to it," she replied whilst shaking Cynthia's hand. "If you wish, I have the papers on me at all time." While she had no obligation to offer or do so, the gesture seemed friendly enough. And it wouldn't do anyone any harm. The leather of her glove crackling softly under the duress of the handshake.

So it was the motor cycle. That tidbit of curiousity sated, she nodded as Cynthia introduced herself. "The pleasure is mine," she fell in politely, inclining her head as she said so. She looked down at the girl and took a more relaxed and casual stance, the tip of her scythe lightly scraping against the courtyard tiles. "Combat, if you hadn't guessed yet from the weaponry," she answered with a soft nod. "Yourself, then?" Was the natural following question.

"I am a Combat Major as well. I am currently a first-year student here." Cynthia replied in a respectful tone. Cynthia quickly noticed that Math's weapon was a rather large scythe. It was large enough that the blade scraped the ground. From this, Cynthia determined that she was some form of melee fighter.

"Your weapon looks very impressing and menacing, Mathilde. I haven't seen a weapon like that before." Cynthia commented as she got up and stretched a little bit. After stretching herself out a bit, Cynthia then sat down again before leaning against the tree. Cynthia then began reminiscing about her homeland.

"In my homeland, guns, explosives and, artillery ruled the day." Cynthia commented as she pointed to the high explosive shells that were dangling from her belt. As she did this, Cynthia then checked all of the safety fuses and the fuse timers on each shell to make sure that they were activated and weren’t live.

"Then mayhaps we may meet in classes," Mathilde retorted with a soft nod. The scythe that was splayed over her shoulder lifted with one hand, before the pommel came to rest on the floor. Hallowed Redeemer up straight now, standing a few feet above Mathilde's head still. The blade arching down almost vertically at one point. Her eyes followed Cynthia's movements easily, as she got up, stretched and went back to sitting down again. Mathilde pulled the polearm against her body, arms folding around it as she started to lean against the massive weapon.

"Thank you, I presume," she glanced up at the scythe. "It's.. A challenge to use it. But it also tends to be extremely useful once proficient with. I'm no scythe master just yet. Though I was hoping to approach that title sooner, rather than later." She glanced back at Cynthia, a soft smile on her face. Yet her eyes were lacking mirth.

"I presume you use those as well, then," she questioned with a soft smirk.

“Kind of.” Cynthia replied calmly as she began thinking for a little. She was contemplating if she should show Mathilde her weapon or not. After a little while of thinking, Cynthia then took out one of the pistol like devices and stood. As she did this, Cynthia then pulled the trigger of the device while keeping it pointing directly at the ground. A few seconds later, the pistol-like device then slowly transformed into a mostly black hand cannon/grenade launcher which was as long as her arm. Currently, Cynthia had it fully loaded with a variety of high explosives shells

“Mathilde. This is my weapon, Apocalypse. It is a non-Dust weapon which I acquired back in my homeland. Dust was an extremely scarce resource in my homeland.” Cynthia explained as she rested the large weapon against her shoulder. Currently, the safety of the weapon was on and the fuses weren’t activated.

"And how do you use them 'kind of'?" She questioned with a soft frown. After all, you either used those kind of weaponry and design a fighting style around. Or, you didn't at all. Kind off didn't really seem a valid answer to her. Mathilde was drumming through these thoughts while Cynthia herself took out her pistol, letting it unfold and reveal the massive cannon it truly was. She glanced at the weapon, leaning forward to inspect it from different angles. "As such. I see," she retorted, nodding to herself slowly. She stood up straight again, rolling her shoulder momentarily. "Apocalypse," she smirked slowly. "A befitting name. Maybe you can upgrade it to fit dust ammo?" She suggested, knowing full well she'd outfit Hallowed Redeemer to have some semblance of ranged attacks. Prefferably dust, since it added to her repertoire of skills. After all, versatility was key.

"I see," she glanced around, pointing at one of the airships hovering above. "Can get it real cheap here, I heard the island's full of it. I thought it was something of 100 Lien for a proper vial."

"That sounds like a good idea, Mathilde. Unfortunately, I have no experience with Dust or have had received any training is the use of Dust. I'll hold off on getting Dust rounds for Apocalypse until I learn how to use it." Cynthia replied calmly as she thought about Mathilde's suggestion. It sounded like an extremely great idea to Cynthia. However, she had not seen Dust nor used it as all. This is due to the fact that dust is extremely scarce in her homeland. She just didn't feel comfortable using something she had no knowledge about. In meantime, Cynthia decided to wait until she learned the fundamentals of using Dust before she upgraded Apocalypse to use Dust rounds.

"However, I'll keep that in mind for when I am going to upgrade Apocalypse. Anyways, I have some blueprints for some upgrades I acquired from a contact that I want to use for Apocalypse." Cynthia explained before returning Apocalypse to its Storage Form and holstering it. Cynthia then looked at her watch before speaking once more. It was about 1:00 PM which was the time she had promised to meet someone in the City of Bellmuse.

"Excuse me, Mathilde. I have to take my leave now. It was a pleasure taking to you. I hope that we meet again during a hunt or maybe we can have a friendly spar." Cynthia spoke calmly as she gave Math a salute. Soon after, Cynthia then picked up her books before starting to walk away.