[Walter]

Razz was entirely too enthralled by the people on stage to be distracted by any conversation nearby. And, even if he was, he wouldn't be upset about it - friends should be allowed to chat and catch up on things, whatever they were!


Reginald crossed his arms, pouting. It had appeared that nothing had come of the little argument he had observed, at least not yet. At this point, however, his attention was turned towards an approaching familiar face. One he had... Mixed feelings about, but a respectable person nonetheless. He gave Shiroe a nod, glancing towards the stage for a bit and covering up an overplayed yawn with his hand. He even made a point to make sure that those nearby would hear the yawn. What a tool.

[FunkyMonkey]

Auric listened to Zabar's response, and frankly, he didn't understand what the finalist was saying, which came as a surprise to him because of Auric's general great capacity for empathy.  However, while trying to understand, Auric noticed Nathan's peculiar lack of response, at least beyond a small nod.  Deciding that with that question, he was already in for a penny, he decided to go in for a pound.  After Zabar finished his answer, Auric waited a moment, giving time for Nathan to speak.  When there was no retort, Auric began, "Nathan, I do not wish to press this unnecessarily, but the commonplace of injuries in your past matches is something that likely concerns at least some of the public, especially given the tournament staff's efforts to minimize lasting injury.  Zabar said his piece, yet I notice you seem to have nothing in answer.  Is there some kind of response...or justification...or maybe some contrition...that you would like to put out there for the viewing public, just so they can understand where you are coming from?"

[The Mythic Scribe]

Lien slumped a little at Mythos's assurance to the people that she meant no harm. She'd been ticked off at Mythos's interference earlier, but it seemed that she was hopeless anyway. Determined not to make any more of a fool of herself, Lien fixed her posture and payed more attention to what was happening onstage, just in time to catch the moments where everything got... interesting. Lien internally cringed at the conversation happening onstage, though Nathan seemed to be responded well to everything Zabar was saying, she absolutely hated tension. She desperately wanted Nathan to respond and defend himself a little at least.


Bianca was simply sitting back and, unlike Lien, enjoying the tension, and also unable to help herself from refilling her cup with whatever punch they got for the occasion. This was where it got interesting though, she made herself comfy as she awaited Nathan's response, trying to keep her mind off of the bitterness that'd been brought on by the earlier comment about not all of them being world class.

[EdgeyReyes]

Aegis looked over to her companion, wondering if she should interrupt her, or at least help her take her mind off things. She seemed worried. "Are you alright? Anything I can do to help?"
Mythos only crossed her arms and looked onward towards the stage. Sighing at Zabar's less then suddel jabs at the finalist. "He does seem to be taking his status as a finalist to his head. Would you agree, Lien?"

[nathan67003]

Nathan was mildly taken aback when Auric pressed him for further comment, as he'd thought Zabar had been rather eloquent, if a bit confused at first. His face, unsurprisingly to some select people, failed to diplay this emotion. "Well, mister Herz, I can't say I'm any less concerned about my opponents' health than the public. To be honest, I almost felt like my heart stopped when I injured Gray, and I asked Catalina if he was okay when I learned I had injured him, too.

I won't deny that I injured them. That much is evident to anybody who can see. I did do so, and I am very sorry. I never had the intention of injuring anybody beyond their Aura. It was a series of unfortunate circumstances for which I am to blame, at least partially if not entirely. I wasn't adding anything, or saying anything, because I thought mister Aga had summed up the affair's logic quite accurately: to paraphrase, 'I would be hurting myself much more than I would be hurting him if I injured him, or any other finalist'. If I knew then what I know now, I would not have acted the same way. But I didn't know, and there's nothing I can do to change that."

There he went, one of those miraculously verbous bouts. He wasn't even sure of what he said, it just sort of oozed out on instinct.

[FunkyMonkey]

As Nathan answered his question, Auric listened intently.  He could more than readily twist the knife in the wound to draw more blood.  "Talk is cheap," he thought to himself skeptically.  However, perhaps it was not appropriate to be pushing too deeply in this setting.  Auric thought for a moment.  Nah, who was he kidding?  Propriety was not something he abided by.  "I understand that, and I am glad to hear it, Nathan.  However, after the first incident, with Mr. Saggio, was the thought of injuring your opponent present in your mind as you fought Mr. Glenn, just before you injured him as well, or was the thought completely absent?  It is one thing to feel remorse after the fact, as the thought of injuring your opponent weighs on you, but as another thing, what are you doing to avoid causing such injuries in the first place.  After all, you know the old saying: 'Once is an accident.  Twice is a coincidence.  Three times is a pattern.'"

With this last question. Auric felt satisfied.  He knew that whatever was Nathan's answer, in the interest of fairness, he would need to move on and turn his attention to the other contestant.  His mind began thinking for questions already, even before Nathan started his answer.

[Siuwa]

Catalina finally started paying back attention just in time to hear the interviewer's somewhat subjectively biased question. Honestly, Cat didn't know what to expect from the general public. But he thought at least the interviewer is trying to be fair. He tried to come up with something. Something that could protect Nathan from their misjudgement. Something that redirects the question, something that helps.
"I trust him."
Infrared is disappointed at the interviewer's attempt to attack Nathan, especially when Nathan gave a satisfactory response. "Dude, where is Nathan's respect?"

[arcus_gray]

Gray had been listening in on the interview and felt his teeth grinding in anger when the interview turned to him. He could feel the anger building with a twisting sensation in his gut. Then when Nathan gave his response his anger exploded and his uninjured arm was punching down on the corner of a nearby drinks table. The force crushing the table's leg and sending the contents spilling across the floor as Gray got to his feet. Fuck decency. I'm not sitting here and listening to this bullshit.

[nathan67003]

(tfw you're in the hot seat in-character and IRL)

Alright, so the interviewer was pushing it further. Fine, whatever. A ruckus briefly arose in the back of the hall, but Nathan paid it no mind, as he couldn't afford to do so. "Well, no. The thought of injuring my opponents was never present in my mind before, during or after the battle with Gray. Rather, after I injured him, the thought of not injuring my opponents was very well anchored."

[FunkyMonkey]

"Only after injuring Mr. Gray?" commented Auric, raising an eyebrow.  Nonetheless, he did not make an issue to press it further, though he did seem to be in some thought for a bit, looking both at Nathan and into the space behind him in a preoccupied gaze.  After a brief second, he looked back at his notepad.  "Nevermind that," he said.  Looking at Zabar, Auric started, "Now how about you, Mr. Aga.  You are the sole contestant representing Vacuo in this tournament.  How has that affected you, if at all?  Going through the rounds, have you felt any particular pressure to outperform your opponents because of your status as Vacuo's standard bearer?"

[Dr. Gustave]

Zabar listened, quietly and patiently, as Auric spoke to Nathan. Though to be completely honest, he was only half paying attention, nodding only when Nathan reiterated his own statement. He was much more preoccupied with the situation around him. Sure, he wasn't new to the spotlight, his grandfather made sure of that when he was younger, but he was never the one to be able to speak his mind, always relegated to the back of the photo or in a seat behind his parents and grandfather. Even over the past year, going out and completing missions and talking with people, Narina was always the one to talk with the representatives. But now he was in the center stage, he could speak what he wanted. It was freeing, in a way. He could just act like he does everywhere else instead of how his family or teams wants or n-

The happy train of thought was cut as the sound of a table cracking and glass shattering broke him out of his trance. His eyes immediately shot out to the crowd, despite not being able to see anything except vague silhouettes, before darting back toward Auric and Nathan. Had neither of them noticed? They had to have, surely, but they just sat there like it was nothing...

Zabar slowly placed both his hand flat on the table and glanced at them for a moment, noting the lack of gauntlets. He left them there, on the table. If he needed to, he could quickly stand up, if not then no harm done. in the meantime...

The boy snapped back to paying attention to Auric just as he was saying "Mr. Aga," being careful to keep the edge of the interview area in his peripherals while he listened to the question. He furrowed his brow as he listened, thinking back to the matches he'd had up to this point. Countless qualifiers, his match against Zwei, against Razz, against Juno, and how it felt to be matched up against them, a Beacon student each and every time. "I'd say there was a need in the earlier rounds, sure. Durin' the qualifiers, well I don't think there was a single person out there that didn't feel some need to outperform. But I think from the beginnin' I had mixed feelin's. Yeah, course I wanted to prove Shade was just as good as the other academies, but at the same time I wanted to be able to learn from the people I faced, and ya can't really do that if you just beat them into the ground." He said, a smile creeping back onto his face.

"And yeah, I'm also the only Vacuan so that was... well, that was weighin' on there too, but to be honest I think my team leader's more set on me winning than I am, any Vacuan or Shade student for that matter." The boy chuckled slightly as he spoke, thinking back to the Dustin and Narina back in Shade. "One of my other teammates is here," he said as he turned his head toward the crowd once more, using the opportunity to catch a glance of any problems that might be out there. "but she's... aha..." He paused and turned his head back to Auric.

"I'm sorry, I'm completely off track... Ahm... Yes- yes, I think in the earlier rounds there was more of a weight on me to be better than the others, but once I got past the... first or second round maybe? Once I got past those, I mean, there weren't any other Haven or Atlas students in the bracket, so I was ahead of the pack, even though Atlas always likes to come in and try to show how much better they are with their fancy tech than the rest of us." He silently chastised himself for that remark, ohhh he'd catch hell for that one from Narina, but she wasn't here now. "Course I want to win, but second place as the only non-beacon student in the entire first year bracket? Hell yeah I'd take that."

[Zwei Not]

Juno's attention was turned to the stage as Zabar spoke, his brow furrowing slightly as he brought up Atlas. The sentiment was understandable, yeah. The pragmatism and manipulation shown by Mantle and Atlas throughout Remnant's history definitely painted them as selfish and obsessed with having a bigger weapon than everyone else. Nevertheless, it was his home. His mom and dad raised him there, and it was where he met Phi. However, he had also hit it off quite well with the Vacuan. The guy seemed nice, if a bit... Arrogant and biased. No need to trash a potential friendship because of disagreements based on heritage and history.

"To be fair, we didn't have to use our fancy tech to put up a good fight."

Gods dammit, Phi.

[FunkyMonkey]

Auric listened to Zabar's answer and waited for him to finish.  "Yes, that's very interesting how the brackets seemed to be stacked with almost entirely Vale students.  That would definitely give Vale an advantage in ensuring someone from Beacon made it to the finals.  Curious, considering Vale is the host kingdom, though I'm sure the committee overseeing the tournament has been doing its best to ensure there have been no irregularities in any form."  After a brief pause, he continued, "Now you touched on something earlier - that Atlas students often have access to superior technology, courtesy of Atlas academy's close relationship with the kingdom's military.  Atlas students design their own weapons, just like most other students hunters and huntresses in this tournament and around the world.  I think many people would say that superior technology does not make the superior or at least, more effective, hunter.  But I believe there are many other people who would say the opposite.  Where do you stand on that?  Do you think it is fair for Atlas tournament contestants to maintain such technological advantage over their competitors?"

[Dr. Gustave]

Zabar thought for a moment, though he left his palms flat against the table, before responding. "I'd say there's an advantage there, sure. There's always ways to overcome that, though. An advantage doesn't make the fight and that's just a fact. Let's say someone in the tourney was at 50% and the other guy was at 16%. Once you start gettin' overconfident in that advantage you might as well give up. Same can be said about weapons, armor, or gear. You could have the most advanced stuff in the world and still lose to some guy just using his fists; no armor, no weapon, no nothin'." The boy leaned back slightly in his seat before continuing. "Obviously weapons help though. There's no denyin' that."

[nathan67003]

Nathan's attention to the discussion almost observably increased, albeit it had in fact tripled, when technology was mentioned.