By the time Hazel arrived at the A-Rank dorms the sun had begun to sink into the distant horizon, the sky turning a brilliant shade of bright orange. Hazel pushed against glass-paneled double door that led into the foyer of the dorm. The building brought some degree of comfort to her troubled head, serving to quell the the raging yet subtle malestorm of emotion. Her thoughts calmed as the familiar scent of what she could only describe as the only place that she could consider 'home' filled her nostrils. The scent was really only the drab but clean scent of lavender air freshener, but that hardly changed it's effect. Hazel moved past the foyer and into one of the hallways that was lined with doors on each side, each leading into a students room. Some hung open, ready for wandering guests, the sounds of video games or TVs or perhaps something else spilling out. Some stood closed, protecting students busy studying or resting or perhaps something else still. She had of course experienced living in each different level's dormitory and in Hazel's opinion there was something uniquely comforting about the atmosphere the A-Rank's living area held. A soothing sense of familiarity connects all the students housed inside. A-Rank, being the rank with the smallest amount of students, was tight knit. Everyone in the dorm knew each other, unlike the lower tiers which attracted the majority of the students. But hanging latently among the familiarity was an air of competition and one-upmanship. Everyone in A-Rank was there because they wanted to be the best and trained hard, or perhaps obtained a great degree of natural talent. Regardless of the reason they were there, they were there because they were willing to try, and most didn't want to stop at A. It was indeed true that most A-Ranked students thought they deserved to be S-Ranked and Hazel was no exception. Many of the students in the dorm bragged about their accomplishments and success on assignments, always trying to seem the stronger candidate for promotion then their fellow students. Hazel thrived in this aspect of dorm life. If she was good at anything it was telling other people that she was better then them. But the sense of familiarity had a negative effect in that word spread quickly of your doings among your peers. People's opinions changed fast, and unlike the large numbed of seemingly faceless E-Ranked students all of the A-Ranks at least had some cursory knowledge of who their fellows were, which sometimes worked at a disadvantage if you did something that could potentially harm your reputation. She wouldn't be entirely surprised if she heard word tomorrow that someone has mistaken Hayato Nishimura for her new boyfriend, having seen them eating dinner together. But overall Hazel thought that the unique atmosphere of the A-Ranks were comforting, and she almost felt as if she was a part of some special group. Hazel arrived at her door quickly, unlocking it and pushing it open. All things were of course still where she left them. Her sword case still lay open on her bed. She scanned the room for the remote that controlled her TV, but was unable to find it. She searched for several minutes before finally finding underneath her bed, likely slipping off it at some point last night. She turned on the TV, not particularly paying attention to what was on, only letting the white noise it provided fill her head. She unsheathed her sword and placed it into the case, and then began to peel off her clothes, which were sticky with sweat from today's mission. She changed into her pajamas, and settled in for what would likely be an uneventful evening of television watching, which would soon give way into sleep.

"Personally I think that depends on the situation. Against a group of weak enemies I prefer to help out, but against a single powerful enemy I would just get in the way. You can't forget about Fusion though."When John mentioned it he was reminded of how he wasted the ability during his last mission. " You have to make sure though you use it at the right time, too soon and you"ll be without the option when you really need it too late and you might not even get the change to fuse. It is also a good idea to Summon your ExBeast before the fight even starts if you can. That said, ExBeast Summon, obey the contract and come forth Cactus-cat!." Once more the runes appeared and the ground and Thorntail materialized on top of them.

The other students listened intently to John's explanation, nodding to show that they understood. Several clapped or oohed and aahed when he summoned his own Exbeast in preparation. Now that he had some backup, the summoner inside the barrier seemed much more confident. He raised his hands and put the finishing touches on the True Summoning ritual, and flooded the sigil with his magic power. "By the four winds that cross this world, I invoke this ceremony! Sylphid, fae of the air, come to my call and accept the contract I bear! I am thy summoner, my name is Samuel! On my behalf I will ask you to fight, and to lend me your power! If you accept and are bound to me, I shall grant in return an equal boon! Seal the contract, by completion of True Summoning! Sylphid, come forth!" The seal ignited in green flames, and the smoke rose and entwined together, forming a hole in the air itself. Through this hole was seen a flash of light, and from the rift drifted out a pale green, almost white, figure with a feminine shape but only about a foot tall. The Sylphid had long, elfin ears and two spiraling antennae coming from her head. Her wings were like those of a large moth, their scales shimmering in the light as they rapidly fluttered. There was a sound like a tinkling bell, and it seemed to be the speech of the creature, though none of the humans could discern its words save for Samuel the Summoner. He sensed, more than heard, that it would answer his summons if he provided it with fresh picked flowers and nectar as payment whenever it was called. "Your boon shall be granted! The contract is sealed!" He held out his hand, and a magic sigil formed in the air. The Sylphid touched the seal, and as it passed over her the Summoner's aura and her own were mingled, binding them. Then, the sigil began to fade, taking the creature with it back to the summoned space from which it had come. "Wow! Went off without a hitch!" said Samuel. He brought up a holo screen and turned off the barrier, then shook John's hand. "Thanks for all your advice man, it really helped!" As other students returned from their final missions of the day, it was beginning to get late. There was still homework and studying to do, but that could be done in dorm rooms, and many bid farewell to their friends or team mates and began to head to their "homes" for the rest of the night... The following morning played out much the same as the last had, and already it seemed that, despite being the only place in the world with a magical curriculum, that AcadeMMO was very much like other schools in that it would soon become a habitual cycle. However, at lunch it seemed something exciting--or perhaps unsettling--was going to happen today after all... "Attention all students!" boomed the PC system as many were heading to the cafeteria. "There has been a submission for an Urgent Special Assignment! All Students are to report to the Special Assignment board immediately! Report to the Special Assignment board immediately!" Hayato hurried through the halls alongside many other students, wondering what all the hullabaloo was about. An Urgent Special Assignment wasn't something done for the student's benefit--it usually meant that there was some kind of crisis, the same kind that AcadeMMO was training them for in the first place. As others began to pour into the entrance lobby of the school and crowd around the Assignment Board, the holo screen blinked before displaying a quest card that took up the entire screen, rather than being a small name on a list like usual. Hayato's eyes were wide. Rogue Magi were people who had magical abilities, but were not undergoing training at AcadeMMO or the MMO Corps, and thus were not under any kind of control or restraint. Though some magic users had no interest in becoming soldiers or fighting Exbeasts, they were at least registered with officials and undertook proper safety precautions so that their powers weren't dangerous. Rogue Magi, however, intentionally did the opposite, wanting to use their power for their own selfish purposes. The terrorist organization COVEN had come into being about a decade ago, but only in the last five years had they actually begun to gather any kind of momentum. Still, most of their activity had been limited to third world countries where the populace didn't have access to many methods of opposition. For them to launch an attack on the United States, of all places...just what was going on? Hayato looked around, searching for Hazel or Joe or anyone he had seen the day before...

Soka made his way to the Assignment board. After struggling through the crowd, he was able to see the details of the mission. "What...? What's going on??" He could barely believe it. This was his first week here. He still needed to do some more training, but this was more important. Seriously, what good was protecting a research area in Excaledvol if he wasn't able to help people here on Earth? That last assignment was just a training mission... This is the real deal. Soka looked around, trying to find someone familiar or anyone else he could team up with.

John was in line waiting to order lunch when he heard the message about the Urgent Special Assignment. "Great there goes lunch." was his main concern as he headed to the boards without hurrying, expecting the mission to be fighting ExBeasts. It wasn't until he read the mission info that he was actually planning on accepting the Assignment. But once he knew what was going on, John decided to look for a party to join with and hopefully prevent those terrorists from harming innocent people. As he was looking for people he at least knew he could work semi-decently together with, he saw one of the members of the Blighted Woods party and headed in their direction. "Wanna team up again?"

Soka saw someone (John) nearby and looked at him. "Oh, you look familiar..." He said, but wasn't sure where he had seen him before. He wasn't sure if John was talking to him or not, but at this point he needed to find party members and fast. "Yeah! We should team up." Soka continued to look around, while standing near John. He saw Hayato a little ways away and looked to see if anyone else was near. "Hey!!" he called out to Hayato, moving through the crowd toward him. "Hey, did you hear what's going on? Where are the others from before? We should get going soon. Who knows how long it will take for any of us to find those Magi."

This day began much like the first. Hazel's initial stirring was slow and unwilling, but she shot up as the harsh sound of an alarm clock cut through her. She was quick to find the 'off' button. She prepared for a long day after a seemingly restless night, leaving for her classes in a hurry after she got ready. The day seemed to pass by quickly. By the time lunch time came she was ready for it to pass quicker. It became clear that this wouldn't be the case when a harsh voice boomed through the PA system. When the message finished she turned to face her friends and exchanged words of parting. They split up, although they were all heading to the same place. They were all A-Ranked and weren't going to pass up a rare assignment like this. A large sea of people formed around Hazel Hosner. Everyone one was going. At least everyone that mattered was. She read the assignment dutifully and decided that, much like she had already expected she would, she wasn't going to search out for the E-Ranked students she worked with yesterday. She searched for her A-Ranked teammates. This predetermination was quickly cut to ribbons when Hazel found her usual A-Ranked group had a substitute in her place, likely from yesterday. Well, I suppose I'll have to make due. She broke through the metaphorical sea and searched for familiar faces. She sighted Hayato being called over to a group of other familiar faces and began to wade towards their direction.

"I should hope you recognize me, we teamed up yesterday.I was the Summoner." John said hoping to refresh the memory of the other student whose name he didn't actually know. Just as he wanted ask his name the Adept, or at least John thought he was an Adept, called out to someone and headed in their direction. Not knowing what else to do, John followed green eyed student, and eventually ended up next to Hayato. While John knew the questions weren't meant for him, he decided to reply anyway."I don't think it's a good idea to wait for the others, for all we know they either aren't interested in this assignment or have already joined wit other parties." With that out of the way he finally took the time to tell his party member his name."O yeah, I haven't introduced myself to yet. My name is John."