dozel's reject

RP blog for Lex from Fire Emblem 4 affiliated with The Officer's Academy || Icon by lizardmagus, theme by https://egg.design/

[helswathed]

[ MINT CANDY ] - Food usually isn't an issue since Sara has never been picky, but in Abyss, when she instinctively reaches for a snack at night, her hands come up as empty as her pockets. She finds it inconvenient at best, and at worst, thinks the Church lives in excess while allowing the underground to starve which is not unlike Jugdral.

By the end of the evening, more half of the food available tonight will sooner end up as food scraps than in the bellies of the hungry. So Sara feels practically no remorse helping herself and dumping an entire bowl of mints into her bag, halting only to stare at a man that seems to catch her in the act.

"I'm sorry, did you want one?" she hazards a guess, deliberating for a moment. "Truthfully, I'd rather keep them all to myself. It didn't seem as though many people enjoyed these mints, anyway. Perhaps you could take this instead?"

Plucking the best-looking spider lily from her bouquet, the flower is offered to him with a neutral expression.

"However, I must warn you that lily isn't safe for consumption."

Mints shmints. Lex had never been much of a fan of them. The smell was pleasant, but their taste was often overpowering. Lex had not come looking for a mint. No, he'd come to investigate a rumor about some prank candies mixed in with them. It sounded like the exact sort of thing he'd want to have on hand, just in case he needed to bother someone.

The girl in front of the bowl seemed to be intent on taking all of them for herself, though. He eyed her up suspiciously, but he didn't make any moves to take a mint from her. She seemed to actually want them, after all, and Lex didn't have quite the same drive. Besides, he had a feeling someone would come refill them soon enough, and if he kept watching the bowl after that point, he'd get the perfect opportunity to see if anyone slipped something in when they thought nobody was looking.

"Nah, I'm not a big fan of 'em," Lex answered nonchalantly. "Just doing my job as a knight. Heard people were doing some kind of prank thing with the candies. Had to check it out for myself."

The exact reason he wanted to check it out would not be disclosed for the time being. Better not to make her too suspicious. Her expression was completely unreadable. Maybe one of his own flowers would help. In exchange for her lily, a random rose was snatched from his bouquet and handed towards the girl.

[helswathed]

[ SQUIRM ] - Some may recognize the blanket that's been laid out in a momentarily-unoccupied corner of one of the dance halls. On it are rows of circles separated by color. Off to the side is a wooden board with an arrow pinned in the center and divided into four quadrants with colors and labels: right hand, right foot, left hand, left foot. Spin the arrow and put the respective appendage on the corresponding color. Just be careful not to step on any of your fellow players in the dark!

Lex had no idea who he was playing this game with. He could feel them trying to crawl and contort their bodies around him. He knew one of them had knocked his bouquet out of his hands, scattering roses across the mat. He'd have to collect those later... after he had won, of course. He had no intention of trying to pick them up now. Maybe the thorns could act as caltrops to trip the other players up or something, a bit of a dirty trick to be sure, but a nice twist.

"Hey, woah, hands off!" Lex shouted to whoever it was that was currently crawling across him. "I'm not the mat! Right hand blue doesn't mean right hand on Mr. Blue Hair, y'know!"

[helswathed]

"Uncle!"

It's so strange to say that word without a hint of apprehension.

A kind of joy she didn't know was afforded to her

He is yet to betray her.

He is yet to hurt her.

And the trust she places in him is innocent in a way she didn't know she still had in her.

" The roses suit you! But still, would you like to trade one away ?"

She might actually be recalling another dozel in his place, but the thoughts lack any bitterness. 

Oh, hey, that kid made it! Had she ever told Lex her name? Tailtiu's alleged kid. That didn't seem as unlikely now that he knew he had his own. She didn't seem the type to attend a fancy party like this one, but maybe he'd misjudged her. Or maybe he hadn't. There seemed to be plenty of people here who didn't particularly want to be.

Ayra, for instance.

"Oh, hey, kiddo," Lex greeted her with a friendly smile. A rose was plucked from his bouquet and offered towards her, the simplest answer to her question.

"I think red'd suit you a lot better than it'd suit me. Take one, why don'tcha? Hey, maybe we should grab some snacks together."

It felt strange to be called "uncle", but Lex didn't exactly feel normal being called any variation of "father", either. He'd just have to get used to it.

[helswathed]

"care for a dance, sir lex?" edain smiles, a gleam of dancing light in her gaze that meets his. "it'll be just like old times—" a pause before she lets out a quiet and gentle laugh. "though we don't have to worry about being pushed together for marriage. i'd still like to dance with you again."

"Hey, I'm always willing to make room for one more."

A broad wink and a laugh followed his statement, though his cheerful expression was quickly tempered by uncertainty. It didn't seem entirely unlikely that Ayra wouldn't be quite as keen on such jokes. She seemed the possessive sort. Lex didn't mind that by any means (he found it rather exciting, actually), but it was an important factor to keep in mind when it came to the stupid things that he said.

"Not sure if Ayra is, though, so uh, maybe forget I said that, yeah?" Lex added hastily with a smaller, more nervous chuckle. Maybe he should just move onto the dancing part. He offered a deep bow to Edain, deeper perhaps than was necessary-- everything had to be some kind of a joke with him. As he straightened back up, a hand was offered Edain's way, rough and calloused, but able to be gentle enough when the time called for it.

"And maybe giving you one of my roses would look a bit too much like pushing us into some stupid arrangement again, so let's just stick to the dance."

[helswathed]

[ CORN ] - A new strain of corn has been bred in Bergliez with a curious trait—it pops when exposed to heat, becoming light and fluffy! Help yourself to a bag; it’s a little bland on its own, but you get the feeling you could find something to spice it up.

Huh, this kid looked kinda similar to... someone. Was it him? Nah, no way, Lex was fairly certain he only had two kids running around, and neither of them particularly looked like Lex himself. Ayra's genes were much stronger. Was there some other blue-haired fellow running around? Finn, maybe? No, no, Lex was pretty sure that guy was asexual or something. It'd come to him eventually, he was sure.

"Hey kid," Lex greeted the mystery child casually, "watch this." With those words, he took a piece of the popped corn and tossing it high into the air, awaiting beneath it with his mouth agape. When it fell, it did indeed fall into his open mouth... and directly down his gullet. A brief moment of watering eyes and coughing preceded Lex giving the mystery child a thumbs up and a grin before handing the rest of the bag to him, along with a rose.

[helswathed]

Anything For The Homies

[helswathed]

@sacrificialspear asked:

[ NETWORK ] - One of your fellow ball-goers is being accosted, and getting into earshot, you realize it's by someone who claims to be one of the scouts looking for talent. But they're being a little pushy, aren't they? And are you sure they're really who they say they are?

Oh, hey, there were a few familiar faces at this ball. Lex was pretty sure he'd seen Sigurd and Deirdre dancing together (or maybe he'd just seen some other blue-haired-man and lavender-haired-woman and assumed it was the ones he knew), and he was fairly certain Ethlyn was also in attendance. Finn, though, was not someone Lex had actually expected to see. Maybe he should have guessed as much since Ethlyn was around. After all, if she asked Finn to go, there was no way he'd refuse her. He was too idealistically noble for that sort of thing, Lex was pretty sure... not that Lex actually knew Finn nearly well enough to be confident about that assumption.

The person Finn was speaking with, though, they were not someone Lex had seen before. Maybe it was just the fact that Finn was nowhere near as baby-faced as Lex remembered him being, but he looked pretty annoyed with the guy talking to him. Lex could see the other person chatting away while Finn's mouth scarcely opened in return. Either Finn's resting expression had become nearly as dour as Ayra's in the years Lex couldn't recall (which was not out of the question), or this guy was managing to get on Finn's nerves even more effectively than Lex himself did.

No better time for Lex to do what he did best: be loud and obnoxious.

"Hey, Finn!" Lex hooted, clapping the Leonster knight on the shoulder and inserting himself in between Finn and the person bothering him. "Good to see you made it! I didn't think an event like this was your scene. Not that it's mine either, to be fair. Guess I'm not one to judge. Hey, you been to the snack bar yet? I'm starving. Could you show me where it is? I haven't been able to find it all night."

Lex was aware of the protests of that other man behind him, but he didn't so much as spare the man a glance. Lex would do everything in his power to give the impression that he hadn't even noticed that third party standing there. If Finn wanted out of this conversation, Lex would give him that convenient excuse, and if he did, indeed, want to be a part of whatever discussion Lex had interrupted, then Finn could point him to the snack bar and be on his way.

"Oh, hey, you want one of these roses I've got, by the way? You could give it to Ethlyn if you don't want it. I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

[helswathed]

My Wife Is Way Cooler Than Me Actually

[helswathed]

@sanakialtina asked:

[ OSTIA ] "are you as skilled with a blade as professor ayra is?" sanaki asks, though even she can hazard a guess as to the answer. she's glad to see lex in higher spirits than on that boat to jugdral---though she supposes that's true for herself, too. handing the ceremonial sword back to him by the hilt, she produces a mildly crumpled yellow tulip from her bouquet in offering. "let's dance, professor," she says with a smileand a tilt of her head. "i'll entrust my safety to you."

"Oh, absolutely not."

Lex didn't even miss a beat before giving that answer. A quick bark of laughter followed, an easy smile flashed the way of the student. Despite his utter lack of confidence in the question, he accepted the blade and the flower, casually tossing a rose from his own bouquet in exchange. Somehow, despite everything, Lex even managed to segue that toss into posing for the start of the dance, almost like he'd been practicing this specific motion to impress someone. Was there anyone that he had expected to do this sword-based dance with who he might want to show off to? Perhaps nobody would ever be able to answer that conclusively.

"But I don't think there's many people out there who are," Lex added before taking a step back to begin the dance. "That's why she's the professor, and I'm not. I appreciate the mistake, though. I wish I had as much to teach you kids as she did, but I don't think I'm cut out for that sort of job. You'd want someone smarter than me giving classes. But hey, keeping people safe is the job they brought me on for, so you better believe you're in good hands here."

[helswathed]

Something To Remember Me By

[helswathed]

@dancersnewme asked:

[ PHOTO IN MOTION ] "We haven talked since going back to Jugdral" Lene wanted to give at least some context to her sudden appearance "So I think us making a video could be fun!"

Oh, yeah, this green girl, she was familiar. Well, aside from the way her face made Lex feel like he was supposed to know her already but just couldn't quite recall her. He'd figure that part out later. No, no, he knew her because they'd fought alongside each other briefly.

"Oh, yeah, we were in Isaach together, weren't we?" Lex greeted her. "And you were in Verdane when, uh... sorry I couldn't get there safer. I'd've done more to keep you all safe if I'd been a little quicker. I mean, you all made it out okay, but..."

He had promised Edain he'd keep her son safe, and he'd failed.

"Hey, want one of my roses? It'd look nice with your outfit."

No it wouldn't, actually. The red would clash with the pink she was wearing. They were just too close in color to look nice together. Still, it felt like the right thing to do. A nice little flower as a friendly gesture. The thing she'd actually asked for could come next. He could figure out how this artifex thing worked after they got the pleasantries out of the way.

[helswathed]

Lex has a bouquet of roses!

Flower Tracker:

Roses:

Orchids: Lene, Finn

Lilies: Sara

Hyacinths: Tine

Tulips: Sanaki, Shiro

[helswathed]

Activity Check (April 2026)

Thread Tracker

Stat Points: 1

Gauntlet +1 (D -> D+)

[helswathed]

Escape From a Lifetime of Tragedy (Expedition Lore, Embark)

[frigidsurge]

Her

Missing Hilda?

That elicits an almost manic laugh from her.

She could live an eternity and never once wish to see her breathing again.

She didn't give in; she didn't break. That is the proof.

But it's his next words that render her speechless.

A family

how could he mean that?

He has everything he could ever want, everything his father and brother couldn't be bothered to offer.

Tine is unnecessary.

I bought upon my family's ruin. Are you sure it would be wise to keep me around?

But she looks up at him and

this is her parents best friend.

It wouldn't just be wrong to reject it.

She cannot imagine Mother wanting so.

"You know, Mother never forgot about you.?

She told me so many stories

Is it true that you once tried to climb a horse by jumping out the window."

She has made this one up, hoping to make him talk of their shared memories.

She doesn't know how to say it.

How to accept it or reject it, but that cannot change that it makes her

very

happy

[helswathed]

Yeah, that would be the story Tailtiu would tell about him, wouldn't it? Despite how heavy the situation had been until then, Lex couldn't help but laugh. It was short, and it was not at Tine's expense, rather at just how normal it all was after the gravity they had endured until then. It was a topic he'd discussed and recounted plenty of times, both to Tailtiu herself and to others she had brought it up to. He was more than happy to do it again, to remember a happier time for the sake of a girl who'd been deprived of such happiness of her own.

"Nah, that ain't true at all," Lex chuckled, unable to stop a proud grin from spreading across his face. "I didn't try. I did. I damn well succeeded. Horse wasn't too happy about it, but it worked, I'll have you know."

Tine didn't need to know about the many, many failed attempts that had preceded it. Granted, Tailtiu also hadn't been witness to most of them, because Lex had mostly practiced it in secret, but even when it came time to show off to his friends, he hadn't gotten it to work on the first try. Thank god there were some conveniently-placed bushes to break his fall.

"...Hurt like hell, though," Lex added. "Don't, uh, try doin' it yourself, by the way. Even assuming it works out and it somehow doesn't spook the horse enough to buck you off, it's really not a good idea. See, all the force of the landing gets concentrated right between your thighs. Landing on your feet from a long fall is bad enough, but that? Awful. Wretched. Horrible. Felt like I was gonna puke for hours."

[helswathed]

Fatherless Behavior

[swiftscion]

Larcei sucks in a breath. It makes a perturbed hiss slipping between her teeth only to be warmed by the cavern of her maw — a maw immersed in keeping itself busy lest it become the site of an outburst. She clamps down her tongue. She gnaws on her cheek. She flicks the dextrous muscle in her mouth against its slick floor, producing a wet pop! muffled by closed lips just an inch North. Some low rumble oscillates in her neck — one less outright inflamed than the rest of her portrait, and torn instead. 

She hesitates with her reply. First a gasp uselessly makes no noise, and then she returns to planning. She sucks the side of her cheek, and grabs her hip with the wedge between thumb & index. She offers Lex another inspection, albeit a short one. A guilty detachment of her gaze to face the floor appears to be en route to addressing some of what he said — any of what he said. “I..” it starts meek. It starts simple. It revises itself as her eyelids shutter, each blink possibly representing another repackaging of what she means to tell him. “..it’s not your fault,” she blurts, with a sigh and after the kind of deliberation best suited to a courtroom, “you didn’t choose to do anything with your own memory,”

And then, a mutter beneath her breath, “..idiot..”

By now, a bleak kind of acceptance has colored her voice. She softens, too. Eyes drop along with shoulders and the fight laden in each dissipates. Larcei takes a daring step forward. The man in front of her may as well be a stranger, but she trusts the heritage behind his name to instill a sense of comfort in his presence…

…one she sorely lacked growing up.

“The you that I know did his best, too,” a pause severs her utterance in twain, eyes leveling with his and hands directing their palms to the floor in front of her as though setting down something delicate — as though establishing that this is how they’d distinguish between the Lexes, “nothing that happened was his fault either. I’d never ask my mother or father for any more than they can give.”

Larcei tells that lie with all the confidence in her chest — because grief over what she doesn’t have has never done her any good.

“There’s reasons for all this, I’m sure,” not just sure, but knows. The inexorable wheel of fate always takes them here: to Belhalla, to that dreaded day. Lex should be a pile of char, or, by now, just ashes scattered about the wind. His very existence is unnatural. Larcei is no fool. 

But she’ll pretend to be one if that’s how she can have her family.

“...let’s not worry about ‘em. We’re here now. We can start again. It’s like… having a kid who’s just two decades old on the day of her birth. Today’s the day you meet me,”

And it’s her first real day as his daughter.

[helswathed]

It's clearly a lot for Larcei to work through. Even someone less socially adept would be able to notice that much. The tension moved through her body visibly, bubbling up from within her chest and rising to erupt from her mouth, her eyes, her brow, everything about her expression. She had to fight to restrain it to just that, to keep it from infecting her words as well. Lex wasn't sure if he should appreciate that or not. He couldn't help but feel as though there were things being left unsaid, and while he wouldn't entirely deserve a verbal lashing for something he might not have been personally responsible for, it may have helped Larcei to have an opportunity to release that pressure.

The tension is forced back in. As she sucks in a sharp breath, Lex watches those seething, roiling, turbulent emotions crammed back down somewhere deeper, somewhere Larcei wouldn't have to address them right now. Just as he had watched it rise before, Lex could now see the emotion travel downwards from her face to her limbs, storing itself in the fidgeting of those extremities. These were emotions they'd need to address, but neither one of them was truly prepared to do it here and now. Larcei hadn't expected to see him, and Lex had not expected to see her. Neither of them had time to ready themselves for this encounter.

Words did not fail Lex, but he knew they might fail Larcei if he released them without careful consideration. She deserved better than that. He thought it best to take a moment to consider what to say. In the mean time, he extended a hand towards her. His skin was calloused and rough from years of training with the axe and clutching the reins of a horse, but it was here to represent tenderness, softness that would not be found from the actual texture of his palm. He left himself open to whatever Larcei wished to do to reciprocate that gesture. Should she choose to take his hand or move past it to embrace him or shun it entirely, Lex would be ready to accept any of it.

"You can ask me for whatever you want now," Lex assured her, his voice gentler than he had expected it to be. "I can't make up for the years I've missed, but I'll damn well do what I can now."

He was an idiot, Larcei was right about that much. Ayra had accused him of much the same many times in the past, and he had never denied it. That was simply who he was. Lex was an idiot, and he offered his idiotic charms freely. He did not let common sense burden his decisions. He did not fear the things many others would know to avoid. His hardheadedness led him many places others might not tread, but sometimes, recklessly pushing onwards as he often did could be the best way to proceed.

[rafent]

✦ 𝐈𝐓'𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐈'𝐌 𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐘𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆.ᐟ ✧

Non-Mission Board: Epidemic, any skill +1

[rafent]

A son of the Fell Dragon King and the descendant of a crusader; on paper, this was an intersection of the eccentric variety. In execution, an unsurprising clash. An international hub of learning attracted many an odd individual. Special people of all races and walks of life walked these halls and shared these training fields, creating a new standard of normalcy. Moreover, this was not the first time that Rafal had encountered the particular axe-wielding man before him - Lex as he was called.

. . .Though, it was the first he'd had his head aimed for on the opening attack. The mussing of pale strands on his dome spelled where an axe had struck true. Were he human, the resulting wound have been a good deal more severe. Tougher, more resilient, a dragon's form yielded only a small and slightly noticeable bump.

And such a low blow dealt to both pride and appearance was judged totally unacceptable. From flummoxed to furious, a dark and incipient expression took hold of pale features. A clawed, curiously unarmed hand began to raise slowly as if with ominous premonition. "Why, you. . ."

Roll: 11

The bubbling miasma at Rafal's fingertips suspended like an eerie gas, then propelled toward the object of his ire. Unlike ice or fire, there was no fluctuation in temperature when it came to Fell Dragon magic. No matter the magic, on the other hand, the effort he would employ was the same. The crinkle between his brows was owed as much to vexation as to exertion and manipulation of a tool distanced far from his usual arsenal. Even so, it was still the weapon closest at hand.

"You did not attempt to aim for my face, but the reality is that you did. This I shall remember, Lex, descendant of Nál. And duly repay!"

[helswathed]

Huh, what was that purple glow around Rafal's fingers? It sure didn't look like any magic Lex was familiar with. The mages of the Loptr Church had flung a few purple spells at him, but this lacked the screaming faces of the damned that Lex usually associated with their dark magics. Was Lex an expert on magic by any means? Of course not, and it stood to reason that people from other places might have different magics than-- oh, hey, it was flying straight at him.

Lex scrambled to try and avoid it, but he was much too late. The miasmatic surge seared across Lex's body, leaving a burning pain in its wake. It was far from enough to keep him down, and probably only a fair reprisal given the opener Lex had managed, but it was still a type of pain Lex hadn't prepared himself for. The way it bubbled and raged underneath his skin, coursing through his veins like liquid fire, was hardly a pleasant sensation at all. It was like all of the worst run-ins he'd had with venomous snakes combined into one singular burst.

"Yeesh, that's a nasty thing, whatever the hell that was," Lex laughed, though the sound was noticeably strained, clearly forced as a means of pushing through the agony inflicted upon him. "If this is what you manage in a training session, I'd hate to feel what you inflict on your actual enemies."

Roll: 18

Despite the pain, Lex was still in excellent form-- perhaps it was somehow motivating him, giving a surge of adrenaline or something like that. His next axe was every bit as perfectly-aimed as the last, though this time it was not flung directly at Rafal's face. The center of mass of Rafal's torso was Lex's target instead. He'd rather not blemish that pretty face of Rafal's... or upset the fell dragon even further than he already had.

[princeofopenness]

Did You Hear They Made Looking Outside Cool? (Look Outside AU)

[umbralward]

“Of course I can fight!” Ophelia enthuses, posed halfway between another blow from her shadow-fencing.  “My capabilities have only grown… You can rest assured that you'll be safe in the heroine's presence.”

Her toothless grin stretches wider, a glimmering orb that may once have been her eye sparkling beneath her stony lips.  Her next step in her dramatic shadow-fencing becomes a stomp, and with it a sound far louder than some one her size should be capable of creating.  The floor holds, though, because she expects it to.

“You're really lucky to have Ophelia Dusk on your side,” she continues.  “We'll have no issues in finding your friends or the sword or food.”

She nods, seemingly calmer, returning to sit back on the table.  “Based on the approach, it should pass in fifteen days.  That's only two weeks to gaze upon it, by the way.  It's life-changing.  I'd recommend it.”

“Don't do it,” the bed sheet ghost rummaging in the kitchen interjects.

“Oh, don't,” Ophelia corrects herself.  “Only the chosen few can retain their sanity to gaze upon such beauty!”

“It's mid,” Soren adds.

If Ophelia hears him, she makes no sign of it.  She asks a question instead, “Do your friends live here, Lex?  We can look for them when we retrieve Alfonse's fated blade - and by the power of its legacy combining with his hero's bloodline, we'll be able to save them quickly and efficiently!”

[helswathed]

Okay, so they were all a bit nutty, weren't they? The little blue fella who'd collected him seemed earnest in his desire to protect people, but the other two... well, Lex hadn't quite figured them out yet. Enthusiastic, one of them certainly was, and the other was clearly trying despite his dour demeanor. Maybe he wasn't half as prickly as he wanted to come across. Lex might see that bedsheet-clad guy (?) crack a smile yet if he worked his charms a bit.

The athlete sidled over towards the kitchen, peering over the shoulder of the shorter man. He leaned one arm onto the countertop, making sure not to accidentally press it against one of the knives that had been laid out there. A quick grin was flashed at Lex's new target, soon followed by a laugh and a greeting. Better to break the ice now to make things easier in the future, right?

"I'm Lex," he greeted the figure draped in blankets. "Do you put any stock in what that guy's saying? I can't imagine we'd really end up doing all too much fighting, right? I mean, people're changing and all, but who cares if someone looks different? So long as they stay the same underneath, what's the problem there?"

They weren't staying the same, of course, but Lex wasn't quite aware of that just yet. He'd stopped listening to what that statue girl had to say, only tuning in once his name was dropped directly. He poked his head out from the kitchen, giving a small wave as clear acknowledgement that he had, in fact, heard her.

"Tailtiu lives here, yeah," Lex explained, "up on the top floor. Azelle and I were heading over to pay her a visit."

"I live on the floor below hers," Alfonse clarified, eyes focused on nothing in particular and a hand cupping his chin as he thought about whatever it was the guy was focusing on now. "It may make sense to visit her apartment after we've salvaged everything we can from my own. I should warn you now, though, it's not... entirely safe in my apartment, I fear. I vacated it because my pet owl had, er... well, she's gotten quite large and quite aggressive. She started hoarding whatever she can get her talons on. I barely got my phone away from her with just a few scratches and pecks. I have to imagine she's only gotten worse since then."

"Huh. So whatever's goin' on affects animals too, does it?" Lex responded before giving a small shrug. "Well, sounds like she's not gonna be exactly friendly, huh? Gives us something specific to prepare for. Anyone know if there's something that'll make us better against owls, specifically?"

The only answer Lex received from Alfonse was a grimace. Clearly, there was more to it than just an owl. Whatever it was she had become, Alfonse didn't seem to want to think about it.

[helswathed]

Activity Check (March 2026)

Points: 2

Axe B+ -> A (10 -> 12) [+1 from BOEL 2026 Knowledge Gem]

New item:

Guardian Axe (BOEL 2026 Axe A)

New skill:

Merciless (Axe A)

New class:

Warrior (Axe A)

[helswathed]

“Uh, hi! Here. You said you wanted a treat after everything,”  Joachim explains his presence to Lex after the conclusion of the mock battle, having been looking for the man and catching up to him now with a slight jog. The wolf takes hold of his fork-shaped staff and with a quick flick and a wave of magic, he asks,  “Your hand please.”

In Lex's hand manifests a small cupcake decorated with frosting, topped with various berries, all put together in a pale pink wrapper.

“If you prefer the sword, I can make that too. I just thought it might be a bit much.”  With his free hand, Joachim sheepishly rubs the back of his own neck.  “Sorry I didn't win after everything. Thank you for trying to assist back there though. I couldn't have gotten that duel without you.”

Oh, hey, it was that kid who he'd been fighting next to. Had anyone said his name? Lex genuinely couldn't recall. He certainly hoped not, because that way he at least had some excuse for not remembering what it was. If everyone knew the kid's name but him, that would reflect poorly on Lex. And... was he even a kid? Lex had been internally thinking of the students as children the entire battle because he was in a position of power relative to them as the knight and the husband of one of their teachers, but in retrospect, he probably wasn't even much older than most of those students. Or... was he? It was hard to figure out the specifics of his age with his missing years of memory.

Oh. Shit. He'd gotten completely lost in his thoughts and hadn't paid attention to a word the kid had been saying. His attention was only brought back to the student by a cupcake being thrust into his hand. Had he seen this before? Was this one of the things the boy had carried into battle or something? Nah, probably not. This felt way too soft. It would have gotten stale if he'd been carrying it around all day.

"Huh? Oh, thanks. I didn't actually think you'd give me anything, honestly," Lex laughed, offering a broad grin to the student. "I was mostly joking."

It was something Lex wasn't going to turn down, though. A nice morsel would do him wonders right now, exhausted as he was from whatever that freaky bow had done to him. The juice had helped, but something more solid would really hit the spot. He didn't waste even a second before peeling off the wrapper and taking a huge bite. Just as Lex had suspected, it tasted all the more delicious for how hungry he had gotten over the course of the fight.

"Don't gotta 'pologize to me, though," Lex said around his mouthful of cupcake. "I'm not your teacher. My wife, though... I'll just tell her you did a good job. You made it to the end, after all. Even if you didn't win, you made it further than almost anyone else. Would be kinda silly for us to criticize that, wouldn't it? Buuuuut I don't know enough about swordplay to speak for how good that was. Again, her job, not mine. If any of it was sloppy, Ayra'll sort you out for that."

[craneswings]

damn that devil! and his dances!

battle of the eagle and lion: round three (battle 19)

[butlere]

A student as much a wolf, a teacher as much a butler, and a lesson as much a battle. All such realities intersect here, and the reason for which they do so is not unknown to Jakob. Before him is a dull piece of coal rife with small slivers of promise. Ordinarily, he would think nothing of any crude and graceless lump like so, but the man who taught Jakob everything he knows once worked with less. Cruder and more graceless a boy than the one Jakob sees before him. A more unsightly piece of coal.

It would not be difficult to change his opponent for the better, and it will be far less difficult convincing a fighter to better his craft in a day than a disowned scion to become a first-rate butler. Alternatively, why Jakob insists on investing his time and energy into the piece of coal known as Joachim is simple. Push a coal to utter limits, strain and force it to every possible degree, and in the end shall be a diamond.

". . .Splendid. Just splendid!" The swing of lightning and sword comes one and the same; sharp, precise, immaculate. When it recedes, a frayed and slightly hair-frizzled butler is left in its place. . .a proud teacher alongside. "A job well done. Your attack was nearly perfect—your best showing yet. Granted, it has little else with which to compare, but it is worthy of note nevertheless."

Brushing the char from his clothes in a show of nonchalance, Jakob straightens once more. He had felt the sting of Joachim's attack, of course, but the pain is tucked aside. Licking his wounds and tidying his suit can come later. There is a lesson left to finish - an end to all good things to make room for better.

"I would have deemed it flawless if it weren't for one glaring oversight." Now. Struck so expertly from afar, it would not do for Jakob to fail to return the favor. He brandishes his sword, tilts it at such an angle that suggests he will throw it, attack at range in just the same manner, and then—

a blinding, obfuscating ray of sunlight bounces off its blade.

Bright as lightning, silent as the night, the position of Jakob's sword directs the light directly into Joachim's eyes. A decisive opening follows; he closes their gap, the kick of his boot arriving swiftly. As sharp, as precise, and as immaculate, it sweeps the boy from his feet onto Gronder grass. Dirt at his back, sharp tip of sword beneath his chin.

"Listen well, Joachim. No attack in this world is worth a damn if one's enemy is left standing at its end."

@licehn

[licehn]

    The light blinds Joachim's vision and an instinct within him, despite any fear and mild mannerisms he might have professed to have, does react to thrash in return as he staggers. His dominant arm does reach to try and fight, to cut a path with which to defend whilst its wielder cannot see the path himself, but the boy cannot withstand the light and in that quick, split second, all his swing produces is a stray burst of lightning that only barely grazes its target just as he himself is knocked down by the butler's decisive sweep. He hits the scorched earth with a grunt, and as his vision comes to, this all only a few moments in real time, that's all it takes before he feels the cold of metal underneath his chin.

It's a delicate position, and he almost feels too nervous to even gulp as he stares the sword down, looking up at the man who wields it— the man who bridged that gap so fast.

“I yield,”  he concedes, seeing no point in fighting it. He has fought more and gotten farther than he had ever imagined for having so little experience, and the vast emptiness of Gronder Field now, even more than it had been at the start of this bout, speaks to something unfathomable to him.

To win hadn't ever been his goal, but he supposes, by this point, he finds himself satisfied enough for having been led to try. Each opponent has found their way to push him towards there, and even the man who holds him at swordpoint now is no exception.

Despite sharp words, he perhaps sought to push him the most.

“I have a lot to train for still, I see. But perhaps one day, no longer how long it takes... I'll match up to your attack like that and be able to finish things properly.”  His exhaustion at last settles, lowering his shoulders, but Joachim manages a smile past it.  “Thank you for your patience teaching me this whole time, and—”

He imagines there will be many more who will speak these words to the man, but he chooses to be the first:

“—congratulations on your win, Jakob. Eheh.”

                                                                    — the end.