Panic at the harbor!

[ask_whydunit]

Who; Waver and Anyone
What; Smart idiot needs ass saved
Where; Harbor district at night
When; During the event
Warnings; Being attacked by a wererat pack. So there will be fighting/injury/giant rat people.
Note; If you would like something specific or have an idea, you are welcome to talk to me about it. I am also open to writing personalized starters or doing other stuff, just drop me a line over on the plotting post or send me a message on discord @ WhimsicalSpook#8219



Waver had decided to head to his workshop in the harbor district that evening. He cut rather quickly through the more populated area with its businesses. Passing by the forges and the louder taverns where people were being sent away after last call, he started towards the more rundown area where his destination was nestled. It wasn’t too far from the docks, surrounded by a few equally ramshackle, dilapidated abandoned buildings. All he had to do was cut down another back alley stretch and a turn down another and he’d be there.

Truth be told, Waver had been more than a little lucky in his time here. He had picked the area, knowing full-well that it was less desired because of the occasional situation with creatures overrunning the area since they weren’t dealt with as often as they were in the main areas of the city. But he’d set up a solid bounded field to deter things (and strangers) from getting too close to the workshop, and he was mindful of what alleyways had reported sightings of the harbor's less pleasant denizens.

That said, luck had an unfortunate way of running out, considering the recent warnings going out in the city. As the professor fiddled with his lighter to try to get a flame to light a mystic code for the last stretch of his walk, there was the unexpected sound of footfall ahead of him. A group? “Hm?” His eyes narrowed slightly, and he lowered the lighter, the shiny gold glinting in the moonlight as he glanced around, only to spot a group of people-no... Wererats, ahead of him. Those… are definitely some rodents of unusual size… He mused with a growing panic, as one seemed to make a sound and all eyes turned to him.

He had been so confident he knew which routes were best to take to avoid things like this… It was then he realized it was signalling to another of its group, who’d been positioned in the shadow of the building. “When the hell did they get so organized?” The magus jumped back just enough to avoid taking a direct strike, but it still caught his side with a tear of fabric and a shot of pain that caused him to let out a shout.

A follow up curse on the tip of his tongue as he looked to the alleyway’s exit, backing up further to try to keep out of arm’s reach of the wererat that had attacked first. But… Well, there were a few more at either end of the alleyway. A whole damn pack? Fantastic…

Thunder rumbled in the distance as he dug a small glass bottle out from one of the inside pockets of his jacket and considered his options. A storm was coming, probably one of the fast moving ones that had plagued the weather recently. Not something he wanted to be caught in the middle of on top of this. Swirling the liquid inside, he activated his circuits and uttered a quiet word to add a little extra bang to the mixture, then wound back to throw it at one end of the alleyway to hopefully scattered the wererats there. The bang and the flash of light that lit up the night blinding and sending the creatures shrieking. A simple trick, but effective nonetheless. Probably wouldn’t work a second time, so he took off at a run to the next alleyway in hopes of getting to his workshop before they caught up…

Only to get tackled by the first wererat again, the others not far behind to circle around and close them off. Its jaws snapped at him and causing him to recoil and try to push it off of him even as he fell to the street. This was not happening. He was not about to become a wererat himself. Nope. Definitely not!

“Not interested in joining your little club, you fucking demonic beast!” He snapped, tone high in a panic, trying to push back against it and get in a decent opportunity for a feeble gandr shot that might deter it.

This just wasn’t his night.

Comments

[legacy_blade]

Well this wasn't what Zack had been anticipating when he'd been out on an evening jog, his brand new greatsword on his back. Nothing like trying to get back into shape with your weapon, forged over a whole month at a master smith, right? Right.

But seriously, he'd heard noises, someone shouting, and of course Zack being the hero he was, had to come running.

Even as he skidded to a stop at the end of an alley he was a bit shocked to see it all. A guy, a giant rat, and... Damn. Well, he supposes he better step in. Which he did by running forward, pulling his sword from his back as he went, making a wordless cry of challenge.

Which resulted in him punting the thing off of the fallen person.

"That's not very polite," he said as he brought his sword up before him in a guard position. "Pretty sure nibbling on someone requires consent."

[ask_whydunit]

Of all the people Waver had expected to run into in the harbor district, Zack wasn’t really one of them. Then again, with the absolute and utter randomness that the man seemed to wander into his path and then out of it just as quickly? It probably checked out based on whatever powers in the universe found such things amusing.

Right about now, though, he’d thank said powers rather than question their sense of comedic timing. He was a mage, yes, but barely on paper, and so situations like this were not ideal. Not without help on his side, which usually involved his students or apprentice stepping in because they weren’t about to let their favourite professor die as embarrassing as that might be to admit. Tricks and cheating only got you so far, and even the past order to live didn’t do much when you were outmatched and outnumbered. He tried (hell, did he ever try), but sometimes you just fell short.

So consider the man relieved when Zack literally punted the wererat off him, scrambling back with his arms to put some extra distance between himself and the creature that hit the alleyway wall and offered a screech of anger in response to Zack’s quip.

Trying to push himself to his feet, despite his legs shaking and he feeling ill already from the shock, Waver looked through his messed up hair to comment dryly on the ‘manners’ of these things. But then he was reminded that there was more than one and his words came out in a rushed, high tone to warn the man (with a VERY big sword, he noted) of the small group of humanoid rats approaching from behind. “Shit, behind you! There’s more than one!”

[legacy_blade]

Oh, he's not wrong. There are totally some behind him. Huh, Zack wasn't expecting that. But he does twist around quickly, a green light flashing at his wrist as he thrust a hand out toward the approaching wererats. And bam, huge fireball shooting out to strike the ground between them and the wererats.

"Chill out guys. I'm sure we can all be friends."

[ask_whydunit]

Waver had never really seen what Zack was capable of before, given the situations in which they ran into one another. He knew the guy wielded a sword apparently, though he hadn’t realized what kind of sword before now.

He had expected the fireball even less. Had Zack ever mentioned being able to use magic? The professor couldn’t remember it, and really it didn’t matter because it was aimed at the wererats and breaking up the group. Not that it didn’t stop him from feeling the tiniest bit jealous for a fleeting moment. If he had that kind of power, he wouldn’t need help in situations like this. Such is his life.

“I think they disagree with that idea.” Waver commented in an attempt to sound more collected as he finally pushed himself to his feet, swaying a little as the world tipped slightly in an uncomfortable manner. The group was driven back by the fire, at least. The second time they’d been faced with a bright light that night, and this one actually hurt if they got too close. Made them more cautious as they circled, trying to regroup and pick their next attack.

[legacy_blade]

"I'm not sure I agree with their disagreeing," Zack said, swinging his sword a bit just to keep things back. "Get your back to a wall, okay? Makes it easier."

And he doesn't want to lose the guy he's fighting to protect.

[ask_whydunit]

Waver doesn’t need to be told twice. He does have some common sense after all. Knowing he’s fairly useless in conflicts without something at his disposal, he easily backed up and rested his back to the wall. If anything, it helped to keep him standing. It also made it easier for him to focus and to warn Zack if he saw something moving. Which didn’t take long as they finally decided to splitting up enough to organize alternating attacks. “Two on your right. Seem to think they’re clever and that no one’s watching.” He gestured with a free hand at the wererats, trying to sneak in again, while his other went to see if he had anything useful in his pockets.

[legacy_blade]

Well, that's going to get another fire spell thrown at them, driving them back. Meanwhile he slashes in the other direction, to keep the other wererats at bay.

"Any chance you can get higher? Like, climb out?"

[ask_whydunit]

“You want me to what-?” He’s suggesting you climb, Waver. To get to higher ground, that’s out of reach of the giant rodents, so he can focus on them. It’s a good strategy. Sensible.

Still, the look on Waver’s face, in any other situation, would have been comical. He is not someone who anyone would describe as physically fit or the sort to excel in most forms of physical activity. So much so that it amuses his adoptive sister to no end, and it’s not strange for her to describe him as a frail little boy.

The alternative is a wererat bite, or getting in Zack’s way while he tries to prevent that… So between that and the sound of Reine’s laughter at his pathetic constitution in the back of his head, he looks for a way up that he can manage. It takes him a few seconds, but he lets out a groan of frustration and finally pushes away from the wall. “I might be able to get up there if you keep them distracted.” He comments through gritted teeth and nods in the direction of a lower eave and a stack of crates that he can probably use to reach it.

Removing the hand from his side, he applies a reinforcement enchantment on his arms and legs to give him a little more stability as he makes an embarrassing attempt at climbing.

Yeah, it’s going to take him a minute, Zack. Maybe five.

[legacy_blade]

Good thing Zack's not looking, what with the needing to fight.

"I'm really good at being distracting," Zack promises with a grin. Maybe it's time to see if he can summon his little friends.

"Be as quick as you can, I've got so much to do."

[orangewayfinder]

Today had been a wash. Sure he had the roof of his future place secured, but the rest of the lumber had gotten wet, so he'd have to wait until it was dried again before attempting the restoration of the interior.

So without a project to do, Terra walked around. There'd be no competitions at the Coliseum with the rain and the lady at Grave Concoctions was nowhere to be found. Since the kid Jacob had left the carpentry place, Terra had started to learn more about home construction from the owner. And that knowledge would get put to use with the restoration project.

If he needed anything from Lauri-Ell he'd go ask. But for now he was just going to walk around and try to see what needed done. Putting his hands in his pockets, Terra endured the rain and headed to the harbor district.

His blue eyes caught sight of movement and Terra immediately took his hands out of his pockets to go follow what appeared to be overgrown rats heading down a path. Curious, he tagged along at a distance behind and then he saw Waver get tackled.

His keyblade came out immediately and he hurried his steps to take a swipe at the one who had the magus pinned to the ground.

[ask_whydunit]

Waver had cast reinforcement on his arms to add a little strength to his struggle against the creature, but even that wasn’t going to help him hold it off for long and he certainly wasn’t making enough progress to get another trick going to catch it off guard and give him an opening for escape. He was running out of options…

But maybe, it seemed, his lucky hadn’t run out entirely as the creature was soon distracted by something sweeping at it in an attack. Someone had shown up and Waver felt some relief settle in at that, giving him a little confidence and energy to push himself backwards and away from the damn creature as it jumped to avoid the blade.

That was shaped like a key.

A giant, weaponized key.

The professor felt a part of his brain lock up for a moment, because it was such a weird sight. Like something out of his video games, maybe, knights wielding strange weapons. Waver had seen his fair share of weapons in real life over the years too, of course; but a key was still kind of weird and frankly this whole situation had him a little off balance. Then he realized who was wielding it, and it was the kick his brain needed to get back on its usual fast-paced track. “Terra?” He hadn’t seen the guy in a while, but it was good to see a familiar face now. “Thanks. Might want to watch your back. I counted at least six of these overgrown pests when they stopped me first.” He managed to rattle out as one hand pressed his scarf against his side and the other rummaged in his coat pockets for another vial he might be able to use to at least blind them again.

The wererat that tackled him was hissing at Terra though, moving to charge them in its anger that its target had been taken from it for the moment.

[orangewayfinder]

One of the wererats were totally hissing at him, but he nodded to Waver in acknowledgement. "Are you okay?" If the man needed healing, Terra could provide that even if he had a hissing vermin on his hands. Aqua was more attuned to magic than he was even if he could definitely more than wield it himself.

He looked at Waver as he got the report about how many of these monsters there were. "I'll take care of them." Sure the keyblade would be better defending against Heartless, but there wasn't time to go into such a thing. And questions would have to wait until later because he turned to look straight at the one charging him.

Terra wasn't going to hesitate and raised his keyblade in the air for a moment, calling down a Thunder Spell before striking the thing with his blade.

[ask_whydunit]

Waver himself is inept at healing magic, and until he finds out someone has such an ability, he’s of the mind that he’s going to need stitches when he gets back to his workshop. Always a fun thought… That, of course, is to say that no, he isn’t fine right now. Waver has always been a bit… frail, according to some, usually a point of amusement. He ends up in the clock tower infirmary more often than others, and even with help from healing magic, it can take him a while to recover.

That said, showing a weakness in front of so many enemies wouldn’t be smart. He knows that much. Terra can just pretend the professor isn’t swaying slightly on his feet as he shakes his head in response. “Ah, I’m not bloody well dying yet.” was his simple response, not a lie and not the full truth.

The thunder spell was surprising. He hadn’t realized the guy had magic. That was going to be a point of interest later, sure, even as much as it was a point of jealousy to see someone casting something so easily and taking down the first rat. Electricity and a soaked terrain? Yeah, it would be potent.

Waver backs up to the wall of a building to give Terra space, though. The flash of thunder is a point of discomfort as much as it is a relief to see a wererat go down, considering a woman with the power of the age of gods behind her had thrown it at him and his students before he got here. With one rat down, the others are quick to retaliate in revenge, snapping and hissing as they charged.

[orangewayfinder]

Terra watched the mage and didn't like what he saw, but he wasn't going to overly fuss about it. It didn't seem like the guy was happy to be not looking quite so well, so he nodded. "Just stay back."

Maybe it was an unnecessary warning, but Terra wanted the guy to remain as safe as possible. He could heal the guy afterwards, but right now as the rat went down, he knew the others were coming at him.

He shoved the keyblade at one of them to take it down. And he was more than aware that might cause the others to try and take advantage, but he was a seasoned fighter and he was ready.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw that the mage was up against the building and the rats were focused on him. That was completely fine and he would be over to the man's side as soon as he took care of these vermin.

[ask_whydunit]

“No arguments about that.” He responded easily, keeping to the wall and out of the way. For the dozenth time since arriving in this world, he finds himself missing certain people who were usually there in moments like this. Relying on someone he doesn’t know well is a weird experience to being with, and then there’s the fact that he doesn’t know what they can do well enough to offer ideas on how to proceed.

He’s still grateful for the help from Terra, even as he keeps an eye on the enemies and the attacks alike. A part of him wishes he had made more prototypes to help with slowing them down or blinding them, but all he has left are his vials of solutions he developed for investigation… But it’s clear the man knows what he’s doing in a fight, weird weapon aside. It seemed like Terra was making short work of the wererats as they tried to get by the key-shaped blade.

The ones trying to launch a sneak attack from the direction his blade didn’t have the luxury of a surprise, though, as Waver was quick to point out when something was coming. “There’s one trying to take advantage of a blind spot!”

[orangewayfinder]

Terra had his hands full, but at least these were rats and not heartless. Still, he didn't underestimate enemies and fought to keep them away from Waver.

It was a keyblade wielder's job to 'keep the peace and order' in the worlds and here Terra was, doing just that, even if there was no one here to keep him accountable as had been the case all of those years ago. At the time, newly minted Master Aqua had been tasked by keeping an eye on him and that hadn't gone over well at all.

Hearing the man's warning, Terra was barely able to give a nod of thanks as he lifted his keyblade to slash at them, after summoning some more lightning to knock them down.

After the monsters were defeated, he looked around, not seeing anything else. Then his blue eyes went to the man himself and he unsummoned his Earthshaker keyblade.

"Are you hurt?"

[ask_whydunit]

Waver watched the downed wererats for a tense moment or two once they’d fallen, but when they finally didn’t get back up? The mage felt relief wash over him and his shoulders sagged, letting his sorry attempt at not seeming as bad as he felt go and sinking slightly against the wall behind him. “Shit, those things were abnormally organized.” He muttered, feeling like he wasn’t going to want to look at rodents in general for a while.

He finally looked at Terra as the man spoke up, the wrinkles in his brow deepening slightly as he realized the keyblade was gone again. When he felt less like passing out, he definitely wanted to ask about that thing… The mage nodded reluctantly, though. “A little, yeah. Damned things got the jump on me earlier, before I was tackled.” His words were a little unsteady as he removed the scarf he had pressed against his side for a proper look. It could be worse, he noted, glad he hadn’t taken a direct hit. Probably wouldn’t have been anything to save if he had… And it wasn’t a bite, so that was also a positive… Instead, it’s a slash to his side, and it was still bleeding. So he guessed it could also be better too… “I’ll need to dress it properly at the workshop.” And dump as much disinfectant on it as he could. He didn’t want to think about what other kinds of germs those things carried beyond the obvious.

The world shifted uncomfortably, and he blinked to clear his vision. Gods, he doesn’t want to ask more of Terra after he already owed the guy one… But he also isn’t so much of an idiot to try to make it back on his own. He knows how easily he passes out in this condition. “Don’t suppose you’d mind escorting me there, would you?”

[stealerofhearts]

Maybe it was strange to say that Ren felt more at home in the harbor district than he did in the city proper. He'd spent and entire year living on two sides of a coin, keeping one foot in the strict and proper world of school, and the other he lived as a thief, toying with powers greater than him and evading law enforcement while trying, and succeeded, to change the world.

Maybe that was why he spent more time in the harbor district, in their hideout, than he did in his own room at the orphanage. If he wasn't there, he was patrolling the streets or just taking in the mist and the waves at the docks themselves. tonight, he was exploring the streets, keeping an eye on things with increased reports of wererat attacks catching his attention. In the time he'd been in the city, he'd come to think of himself and the rest of the Phantom Thieves as the district's protectors, considering how seldom the city guard made their way to this place.

It was just after midnight that the bang caught his attention. He was to the rooftops and transformed into his Joker costume before he reached the alleyway, and was just quick enough to to see Waver run in the other direction. He couldn't stop the tackle, but he fired his grappling hook at the opposite roof as he neared the edge, swinging down one-handed, dagger readied in the other, to swoop through the massing crowd, then let go, flipping in the air before landing nimbly not far away.

"Bad idea." He grinned behind his mask, mischief glinting in his eye, as he reached out to his chief Persona. "Arsene, to me!" A flash and his Persona manifests before him, driving its manifested rapier through several of the gathered wererats. Those still able screech to one another and scatter. The Persona keeps watch on those who do not flee as Joker turns to Waver.

"Alright, Professor?"

[ask_whydunit]

A lot of things seemed to happen in rapid succession, as things tended to in situations like this. It was almost a shock when the weight on top of him was thrown off by the attack and he instinctively pulled himself backwards and away from where he’d fallen. Eyes wide as he took in the sight of Arsene, the familiar voice and even more familiar figure of what appeared to be Ren in a very fancy getup and mask (Sorry, Ren. He would recognize the fluffy mop of hair and the voice of his material gatherer anywhere). There’s a very obvious ‘What the fuck?’ on the tip of his tongue, but he manages to keep it to himself for the time being at the question posed to him.

The answer is a solid no, but Waver’s also learned the hard way over the years that you don’t show or admit to a weakness in front of enemies… And there were still a few wererats present that hadn’t been scared by (had he called it Arsene?) the being that answered Ren’s call. So even as he swayed a little as he pushed himself to his feet and backed up another couple paces to put more distance between himself and the wererats, he offered as neutral a tone as he could manage. “Not dead, thanks to you.” He doesn’t use Ren’s name, if only because he isn’t an idiot and he has a feeling there’s a mask involved here for a reason the more he thinks about it. There are things sticking out to him, even with the current distractions.

The wererats, of course, aren’t going to give them much time for talk, though. The few who hadn’t been scared away (the less intelligent ones, Waver thinks), were circling slightly, hissing and growling at their attacker, not about to let the interruption stand.

[stealerofhearts]

A nod of acceptance at Waver's standing and Ren turned back to the action, keen eyes watching the wererats circling them with a growing smirk on his face. If they wanted a fight, they were going to get it. He dismissed Arsene with a thought, the Persona dissolving and returning to his psyche as smoothly as slipping off a glove.

He touched the mask Waver so accurately noted as being important and spoke again. "Let's go, Vishnu."

And a god manifested, and with a wave of it's flowered scepter, showered rods of holy light on those surrounding them. Few found purchase, Joker hadn't intended them to, but it did send them scattering. The summoned Persona similarly dissipated once the coast was clear.

"Piece of cake." And not much of a challenge, but he should be grateful for that, right?

[ask_whydunit]

Waver found his attention divided between keeping out of reach of the wererats circling and what Ren was doing. The idea that the mask had an importance was solidified as ‘Arsene’ disappeared and the teen touched the mask again, seemingly to call upon someone else. Not someone Waver would have expected, if he were being honest. Even in the grail war summons… Gods were something that, to his knowledge, no one managed to call upon. The nearest were heroes whose stories classified them as demi-gods. What full on god would answer the call of mages who’d long since cut ties from them and their reliance on their power, after all? The age of gods had ended a long time ago in his world.

But being in this place and people from so many worlds? It meant that worlds where no such thing had happened, or where systems of magic were entirely different, weren’t outside the realm of possibility. It might not even be the actual god, so much as a projection magic of some kind… It left his mind racing with a particular curiosity that Waver was too well known for, the kind of curiosity that could easily get him in trouble as often as it got him out of it. Wanting to know what something was, how it worked… Theories coming to mind, flitting about even in his current state.

So the professor might be staring a little. The usual frown on his face had shifted to something more surprised.

The wererats were sent scattering by the god’s attack and silence finally fell on the alleyway, his attempt at seeming fine was dropped with a wince and a slight wobble as he moved enough to catch himself on the edge of a nearby barrel to keep his legs under him. The most he offered to start with was a very bewildered, “What the hell was that?” Safe to assume it was directed at both the organized attack from the wererats’ and Ren’s display.

A few steadying breaths and he’s fixing Ren with a look at the ‘piece of cake’ comment, brow raised despite his fatigue and injury. “Just ‘exploring’ again, I take it?” A call back to the first time they ran into each other and Ren helped him out. Though this was a bigger help, he owed him more than ‘one’ now. It was also a sign that he was reasonably sure he knows who he’s talking to, regardless of the mask and fancy clothes.

[stealerofhearts]

"The locals are angry about something." Vishnu disappeared with a thought and Joker approached the professor. His first instinct was to leave, let the professor sort himself out and maintain a bit of his mystique, but he pushed the thought away. This place was different, the people were different, and he didn't need to hide who he was.

And Waver's question proved to the boy he hadn't been as subtle as he'd liked to have been and that mischievous smirk returned to the rogue's face as he tugged the red gloves of his costume to straighten them.

"Something like that. Are you injured? I could heal you."

[ask_whydunit]

“Yeah… Well, they’ve successfully thrown the night off, so I think we’re even.” He muttered with a huff. His whole night was entirely thrown off now. Griping about that could wait, though, mostly… And the fact that Ren didn’t try to insist he didn’t know him was a bit of a relief, he had a feeling some people probably would have tried to keep some air of mystery about them as though he didn’t have eyes and a penchant for reading the people around him. Or they would have gotten pissed at him… It was a toss up, really.

But the smirk on the teen’s face gets a rise in his brow. “So you know some healing magic and you can summon things… I hope you realize I have a lot of questions right now.” So many… So very many… Most of them with vague, half-formed theories attached. “But yes, I am. Bloody things kind of landed a hit before you arrived.” He responded with a small gesture to his side and a rather nasty looking gash under the torn fabric. Knowing his usual recovery rate and his abysmal talents, he’s not so proud to say no to a little help with it. If he had one of his other mystic codes, he might be able to do something… But he didn’t yet.

[stealerofhearts]

"I'm sure you do, Professor." But he was going to see to that wound, first. Or rather, have a Persona see to it. He touched his mask again, calling Lakshmi from the depths of his consciousness, and a beautiful woman manifested at his shoulder. She twirled, and a wash of warm light surrounded Waver, knitting his wounds. It wouldn't replace the blood he'd already lost, but Diarhan would at least soften the blow. The woman smiled comfortingly before disappearing the same as the others.

"That should help. And...what I do is...complicated." How did he explain to the man he was a Fool, the trump card capable of summoning multiple Persona to aid him in battle? The guy didn't even know what a Persona was.

[ask_whydunit]

How many of these beings could Ren summon? the mage couldn’t help but wonder to himself as another appeared and the wound in his side closed up. Even if he was still going to need time to recover, not needing to actually worry about patching himself up was a very big help. The idea of trying to on his own hadn’t been particularly pleasant to consider. “It does, thank you. I’m not really skilled with healing magics myself.” He confirmed with a sigh, lowering his hand from his side as the pain faded.

The comment about it being complicated gets a slight tilt of his head. “Complicated doesn’t surprise me. As far as summonings go, I am quite sure Vishnu wouldn’t answer anyone’s call in my world.” Letting go of the barrel now that he felt a little more stable, he considered what he’d seen again as he started walking. There was no way he planned to do this standing around waiting for wererats to come back.

“Now, if you aren’t summoning the actual beings themselves… Then I might compare what I observed to something a classmate of mine focused on back when I was a student. Projection magecraft, some mages use it instead of traditional animal familiars. The magus does this by calling up and projecting an illusion tied to their own inner self. That said, I haven’t seen an example that powerful before.” Though there are things the man doesn’t yet know about this classmate on that subject, but Waver had been thinking about them a little more recently for a few reasons.

But not all worlds were the same, of course, and this was more him making an observation to see if something might share a close similarity mixed a little (or a lot) with his inability to not express some curiosity over the subject of magic he’d not seen before. “And it seems like you’ve got a variety to choose from…” One thing that probably would have helped them here would be the fact that he did know Mitsuru… Which meant he also knew of persona through her, but their methods were so different that it wasn’t like he could make that connection right from the start.