Emuh didn't regale Azrael with a further response, but it wasn't hard to imagine the dark owl laughing to himself derisively — or perhaps out of awe as the room descended into blackness once more.

The plant-beasts, again, went still after settling their hooked roots onto the floor, steadying themselves in momentary rest.

2/3

@Azrael

Azrael took Emuh's lack of a response as a win in his book - he'd shut the owl up! Shown him that he wasn't one to be messed with! That this was his space to control right now and nothing, not light nor darkness, nor these stupid plant creatures, were going to get in his way or slow him down!

He didn't roar this time as he slammed another foot on the ground, but narrowed his eyes in focus. He had a job to do and he had an idea of how to do it at this point. Darken the lights, attack. Darken the lights, attack. He still allowed himself to stay loose, preparing in case anything changed, but for now, it was, hopefully, enough.

The earthquake that ripped out from his body wasn't as powerful, but it still sent violent tremors up and down the walls of the cave.

@Game Master Navy

Another trembling of earth and another stalactite crashing down. The stone was loud enough to drown out the rattling hiss of a plant-beast.

The ti-tink! of another golden key clattered on the ground, illuminated by the reemerging light. The plant-beast guarding it was buried beneath a pile of rubble, branches strewn all about.

Its remaining companion wasted no time in charging at the demon.

@Azrael

As soon as he spotted the golden key on the ground, Azrael knew that he'd found the right way to go about this. Hopefully. There was only one left and, if he was right, then covering the darkness and attacking one more time would do it in.

He was just as dramatic the third time around, throwing out all four arms and letting out a roaring call as darkness rippled from his body, blocking out all of the light around him. Internally, he grinned. He wondered if Emuh had ever tested someone that had cast as perfectly as him.

@Game Master Navy

Emuh had, in fact, just before Azrael. No further thought was spared to that...

... as darkness descended upon the gymnasium-sized room. It was like a suffocating cloak for that plant-beast, halting with a single claw outstretched, a mere foot away from striking Azrael. The overgrown vines rustled softly with each bellowing breath from the demon, creaking softly as it settled into place. Being so close to the beast's natural luminescence, the peculiar dimming of its green leaves was visible.

3/3

@Azrael

Azrael didn't take time to observe the situation much. He raised a foot to strike the ground again and send it reeling, but it was then that he caught a glint of something. Just visible in the small circle of light he cast, the leaves were...dimming? Perhaps it was dying without his help. Maybe he didn't need to attack again...

Well, that was just too bad, because he was going to attack anyways. He wasn't taking any chances, nor was he going to do a half-ass job at destroying the creatures. So, in a show of strength, in the face of the possibility of letting go, accepting his win, he roared again and slammed his foot on the ground, the most powerful of his earthquakes tearing through the ground.

@Game Master Navy

Azrael did an excellent job of disposing of the last plant-beast with an earthquake that thundered through the entire rest of the dark room. It was through magical intervention that it didn't ripple out into Polaris and wreck half its landscape.

Impressive, but - judging from the barely-stifled yawn from the darkness - boring.

A third key rattled out of the dying vines, clinking. When the room came back to light, it was in complete disarray except for the pedestal, miraculously preserved. Finding... anything in the shattered room might prove difficult.

@Azrael

Once the lights came back on, Azrael hesitated. Perhaps...making earthquakes hadn't been the best idea, considering that the room was completely trashed. He remembered each of the creatures dropping some kind of...thing. What that thing was wasn't totally clear to Azrael, but he supposed it had something to do with the test, or they wouldn't be here.

With a great sigh, he began digging through all the rubble to try and find those little glimmers of gold. It was easy to find the first one, considering the creature had fallen right in front of him, the others proved to be a little more tricky. However, it only took a minute or two for him to successfully dig out and collect each of the three little metal...things.

Once he had all the keys in his grasp, he began to inspect them, turning them over. Was there something written on them? Did he have to melt them or something? Probably not, but they were definitely important. His eyes flicked towards the podium. It was the only thing in the room that was still standing. Eyes narrowed. Hadn't there been...things on them? Round things? And there'd been cuts carved into the surface.

Curiously, he returned to the podium and stood in front of it for a moment, thoughtfully. He raised one of the keys and compared it to the lines. Was he supposed to fit it in? Slowly, he did, and the key slid right into the stone. He blinked. Now what? It didn't do anything, nothing happened. He inserted the other two. Nothing.

Huffing, he returned to the first key and started fiddling with it. Pushing it in, pulling it out, turning it...oh. There it went. A click as he turned the key. He did the same with the other two, turning until there was a click. Well, that wasn't so hard.

@Game Master Navy

Click!

Click!

Click! The room went dark for a moment. Cli-click! went a pair of talons.

Toxic-green eyes blinked down at the demon, followed by a raucous cry, "YOUR TEST WAS TO DEMONSTRATE YOUR ABILITIES." He shuffled his wings, urging the light back into being. "PLURAL!" The brute had used sheer force to complete the tasks placed before him, and he had succeeded.

Emuh, however begrudgingly, delivered brief praise, "YOUR MAGIC IS STRONG, CONSISTENT."

Feathers clicked against one another as black wings rose: Azrael's only warning for what was to come.

The world churned and spun around the four-armed beast, who would be almost obligated to focus on Emuh, still in the face of it all. Polaris drew distant and near at once in the confusing miasma. Stone ground into place and those hundreds of baubles strung along the wall shattered and were swept away in an instant. The dim gymnasium swam back into focus only after the demon was left grasping for stability.

"TAKE THAT, AND GET OUT!"

Emuh winged off, leaving Azrael to his disorientation and strange hollowness.

Tucked away (somewhere in that thick skull of his) was knowledge that hadn't been there before, and a sense of being able to go beyond... of transcendence.

Azrael has Transcended. He is now a Transcendent Pupil, and may work his way back up to Transcendent Master. Upon attaining this rank, his player may post in Update Me to choose a Specialization (viewable in the Magic section of the Guidebook).

He has also learned the spell:

Lux Imperium:

Transcendent Intensity Manipulation. The user learns to exert control over the light bulbs scattered throughout Origin Cave. They may dim or brighten a cave, or even switch it entirely from bright daylight to night, or vice versa. Broken lights can easily be repowered or repaired with this magic.

@Azrael