Amanojaku

Alright, I rewrote that post so that Leo doesn't instantly guess Aria's Lumen or multitask like a supercomputer. I hope it's better now! Seriously what was I thinking back then

I have to agree, that was awkwardly written. The whole Morton's fork gambit still makes sense if he thinks her Lumen is something else, so I'll change it as soon as possible.

Even though the prideful girl dodged the attack and lifting the shapeshifter meant he was too tired to pull out any complex stunts, the whole situation was somewhat beneficial to Leo. Jev was out of commission for a while and Aria had to reveal her Lumen: Some sort of telekinesis, though there had to be a limitation that forced her to attack at a close range. Knowing that wouldn't be enough to win, though: His foe was still approaching and that last attack almost burned him out completely, meaning that he was very lacking in options. Leo needed a good plan. Generating an electric current and storing it in two of his metal pins, he created a small-scale version of what he tried to do by throwing Jev at her. However, she'd dodge that easily, so he needed something else, something more eye-catching. His energy shots would do the trick. Aiming both gauntlets at her, he fired twice in a way that would be easy to avoid if Aria simply moved to either side. Then, controlling the electrified pins carefully, he fired them at each side of her, so that they'd hit her legs if she moved. That way, she wouldn't be able to redirect all attacks with her Lumen at once, since it appeared to require her to stand still. This time, he was sure that she wouldn't be saved by dumb luck.

61%! I should have included that on the main post a while ago, but now it's been taken care of.

While I know that there's no way this could be canon, I like to imagine that Ryota's NG Code was meant for Hagakure, because Tengan didn't want the psychic to ruin everything.

Time for a new character! She's not very important early on, but as the story progresses she steadily becomes more prominent. This may sound a little weird, but it's fairly easy to understand once you know what her role is.

Leo let out a groan of vexation at the wasted opportunities, but quickly collected himself and started charging a powerful blast aimed at the ground, in order to give himself time to get away from the prideful girl - seeing as she didn't do anything yet other than approaching her targets, her Lumen was obviously short-ranged. However, a weak glare, whose intensity was reduced slightly since it was reflected by his glasses, caught the corner of his eye. Light manipulation. The young inventor could feel his skin crawl in indignation once he realized that not only he missed, but he also got his two targets to gang up on him. However, a loud sound brought him back to his senses. He quickly realized who was the only person that could have made that noise and, remembering his assailant's current form, used his own metallokinesis to lift Jev up. Right before throwing him at Aria, though, Leo gave him a light tap on the shoulder, releasing an electric pulse into the shapeshifter's highly conductive body that was just strong enough to immobilize him for a minute or two. Unfortunately for him, that convoluted maneuver was exhausting. The electromancer made a hasty escape to the southernmost part of the arena, where the other metallokinetic was standing at the beginning of the fight, while both his foes were distracted by each other.

The electric pulse exploded as it hit the ground, scattering a cloud of dust in all directions. Using the opportunity to survey the area, Leo quickly realized that his intended target was a metallokinetic just like him. Not only that, but the two other people on the left side of the arena were a pyrokinetic and a shapeshifter. Seeing that all three of them were distracted, he turned his attention to the other fighters, the prismatic boy - whose Lumen would be incredibly annoying to deal with if left unchecked - and a girl who was apparently confident enough in her abilities to waste her time walking slowly in the middle of the battlefield. Opening both his palms, he charged an electric pulse through his gauntlets and shot two smaller, but faster energy blasts in their direction, this time aiming at their chests instead of at their feet.

Leo quickly raised his right arm, pointing his open palm at the man right in front of him. The metal pins disguised as knuckledusters suddenly started floating around him as an electric pulse traveled through his gauntlet and condensed into a pulsating, white sphere of energy. Leo changed his posture in order to brace himself against the recoil, then fired the energy shot at his target's feet in an attempt to quickly incapacitate him.

Do these songs have kanji or something like that on the title? I had the same problem once, and this is what caused it.

As soon as the volunteers were told to position themselves for the sparring match, Leo quickly formed his gauntlets and disguised some metal pieces as knuckledusters. Since the other contestants were being secretive about their abilities - except for the annoying prismatic kid, who revealed his Lumen in record time - he took the opportunity to make himself look more like a physical fighter. Sure, he would lose the element of surprise on the first few seconds of the fight, but so would everybody else. After throwing a few practice punches, mainly to psych himself up, he walked over to the designated area and stared at the others as if analyzing them. None of them looked weak - even the prismatic brat, who looked like he was just playing dumb - and, to have volunteered for the first match, they were all very confident in their abilities. Leo had no reason to worry, though: He was just as self-assured as any of them.

10/10, it looks awesome

They work fine even if they're smaller than 192 x 192. In fact, most of them have 160 x 160 proportions. Also, I find Paint.net to be pretty good for resizing sprites!

Leo gave a quick glance at the man next to him, who randomly started rambling about how satisfying it would be to hurt his workmates. He raised his eyebrow in confusion - after all, there was exactly nothing to gain from wishing violence on people for no good reason, especially when the whole point of being there was to cooperate with each other - and distanced himself from that weirdo. As he walked away from the nutcase with the longsword, the inventor caught a short glimpse of another man, this one being around his height and looking incredibly moody. The other male clenched his fist and muttered to himself, as if the mere idea of having to hang around with the others offended him- not exactly the greatest sign of trustworthiness and reliability. Leo made a mental note to avoid people who mumbled to themselves, then waited for more people to volunteer for the match.

As Leo followed the woman in charge, he furrowed his eyebrows, thinking of the crew he found himself into. While from a first glance most of them looked responsible enough, the loud brat who was shouting next to him left an unpleasant, ear-ringing impression. However, the mention of combat examinations quickly overrode those thoughts. The young inventor wasn't surprised. He did witness the war as it raged on and devastated the land, so he was already expecting this subject to be mentioned sooner or later. Realizing that it would be a good way to learn about his new allies, Leo took a step forward, joining the two others. "I'd like to volunteer for the first match, too."

Well, I guess that's a nice coincidence, because I'm not much of a fan of Rick Riordan's books

8/10, the avatar is cute but the crab claws look unnerving

Sorry for the wait!