Livia listened quietly through the class, making sure to take notes on the lesson Miss Juliann was teaching. She was quite familiar with exorcisms and possessions, being a pythones mage herself, so it was little more than a refreshing review in her case. Covering the basics were always good, no matter what they were. It could help a lot, if she was ever confronted by a situation where she could be possessed, though no spirit had ever tried such a thing and she was confident that If it did, it would regret it instantly.
Soon enough, the class ended, and she was one of the first ones to leave as always. She didn’t wish to linger in class, she had…well, better things to do after all, than stick around and potentially socialize with someone. Such as studying. She always had Gall for socializing anyways, and speaking of him…

“Gall,” She said aloud, making her way to the library. He was honestly never far from her, so she didn’t have to summon him all that often unless she had too. “You’re, ah, no offense friend, but you’re old right? What do you know about the Eye of Baphel?” She asked him. She still didn’t want to be a part of whatever the director was doing, but she was still a bit curious about it. Who knows, maybe he had some sort of experience with it, or at least rumors and other things. She had never actually asked him how old he was before.

Gall was, of course outside the classroom the entire time, and was hovering just a few feet behind his master as she walked down the hall. "Eye of Baphel. I admit that my knowledge of the past, of my past, has clouded with time. It is a terrible gift and curse though, I recall that much. It's being here is a danger, not that you would be at any risk my lady." Gall said from behind his hood.

She smiled faintly at the comment, though said nothing. Instead, she placed the current book she was carrying on a small table in the library and walked over to the bookshelves. “Any history book or legend can tell us that.” She replied, somewhat disappointed. “I was hoping for a bit more…but I suppose that is fine.” She fell silent after that, scanning the bookshelves, using a finger to keep her place. She soon frowned, just slightly though before turning her head to Gall.

“You know, how old are you anyways? I don’t think I’ve ever asked.”

Gall was dwelling near the table that Livia placed the book at, apparently pondering deeply before answering. "As I have said, my past is clouded, but I do remember a name, I believe it was Brian Bóruma. Forgive me Lady Fiore for I can't seem to recall who that name belongs to."

She sighed at the title, giving him an unamused look though said nothing. Unlike those other uppity nobles who used the title, she didn’t entirely mind if it was Gall calling her that as long as it wasn’t…often.

“That is fine.” She simply replied pulling a book off of the shelf, and walking over to the table and took a seat near Gall. “Immortality…is probably not as fun as everyone assumes.” She knew she’d never want to be immortal. Hell, she didn’t even want to consider being immortal herself. “You have to remember something else, though?”

Though she asked, it was probably obvious something else was nagging her. This whole Heir of Baphel thing. She obviously didn’t wish to get involved in other people’s problems, but something was just bothering her about it. If it had shown itself, then that meant something bad was going to happen, didn’t it? According to the legends anyways. And if it was true, that meant it was probably going to do whatever it was going to around here.

Gall nodded, if frustration was possible upon his emotionless visage he would be showing it. "Death, there was death. I believe I had a weapon. It is... hard to remember after so much time. I am sorry. If you require anything else however?" Gall offered.

“Ah, sorry.” She replied. “I asked something, uhm, troubling.” While she was curious about it, she didn’t wish to pry. That was rude to someone she considered a friend, not to mention it wasn’t really any of her business. “Even you don't remember, I’m certain you were a good person.” She offered a rare smile, though quickly returned to her book seeming to think about something, before deciding to take him up on that offer.

“Well…perhaps you can tell me if I’m simply being paranoid.” She sighed, closing the book. She wasn’t able to focus on the words on the page. “This whole business with the Heir of Baphel…I’ve never liked the director but something seems…I dunno, off.”

Gall remained motionless. His master was of course not simply paranoid, the A character did seem far more dangerous than appearance would tell, something about his being was off. "He intends to tear a rift through the school for his own amusment my Lady." Gall said as he hefted his scythe slightly before stating, "If it were as simply as removing his head than I would do so for you within a second."

She frowned, though obviously not from Gall’s words. The fact that he’d fight the director for her if she ordered him too, was a little more than welcoming. So it wasn’t just her then, good. A small part of her said that he was just agreeing because he was her familiar and friend, but she dismissed it. Accusing Gall of such a thing would be wrong of her.

“I know,” She replied, though she couldn’t fault the director for causing a little trouble. She had just tried that earlier with Lin and that idiot who was fighting a dragon. “Why would he do such a thing though?” She shook her head. Even if it was just for his own amusement, she couldn’t really believe there was no ulterior motive. “If he really wanted the Heir, I’m certain he could get it himself without the help of us students.”

"Then he doesn't want the Heir." Gall said in a matter of fact manner.

“That’s what’s bothering me.” She mused. Something was just nagging her, telling her that it wasn’t anything good. She wanted to pass it off as mere paranoia, but after talking with Gall like this, it only made it worse.

Perhaps she should stop before she gets involved in something she shouldn’t.

“Honestly, I might have actually decided to leave if I had somewhere else to go other than back home.” She chuckled quietly to herself. She supposed she just hated her family more than dealing with a potentially troublesome situation here. She had to briefly wonder if that was more of a reflection her herself, then them? She knew she wasn't the nicest of people, but...ah well, it didn't matter.

She opened the book in front of her again, and began to read.

Shino had to grow up? She gave Arara a confused look and looked at her own small body. She was indeed very thin, not as big as she wanted to be and was a perfect board to cut vegetables on. Arara was right, but she was still young so she would grow... Hopefully. Shino gave a small nod at him.



Shino jumped off Arara-han and asked the question to the human teacher. He was onto something, he had the perfect way of helping both Shino and Arara-han?. Shino slightly tilted her head in anticipation and waited for something to happen, once he raised his hand up a bursting flame erupted from his hand and grew bigger by the second. Flames filled her bright blue eyes as her mouth went slightly a gape. He seemed pretty strong displaying such a great magic trick just like that. He was talking about this 'A' person and soon after he had finished talking about him another human, no something greater than a human, appeared in front of their noses. It was the presence that couldn't be ignored since the start of coming to this island.

He had a lot of power and it made her ears lower once she faced him straight on. She wasn't afraid just mildly intimidated by yet another tall person with a lot of power. Shino got behind one of the legs of Arara by instinct and stayed there till she was sure he didn't mean any harm. The oni made her feel a little safer since he got her trust. Once the director had shown he wasn't all to bad she placed herself next to Arara-han again with her ears a little higher than before and her tail curiously swinging around. The director wanted to show them around. Shino kept still on the same spot but once she heard about being dragged by the ears she almost immedialty began moving after him while covering both her ears with her hands. He wasn't gonna touch them otherwise she had to get violent with him.

The director leaded them around a little and eventually they both had a choice. Arara went to thr excorsism class and shino had taken part of the combat class. It was pretty intresting and entertained her a whole lot just by the simple smooth talks Mr. Wick gave to the students. The magic wasn't something to miss either, it was pretty great to watch.

At the end of the class donuts were being handed out to the students that participated well in the class. She let out a sad whine as she didn't get any of the donuts. She had to do better maybe then she would get a donut from the human.

Shino left the room as instructed and kind of pondered on what to do. It wasn't nap time yet and she didn't know if she had to sit in more of these classes. So the first thing that came to mind was going back to the food place she was close by before. Of course she didn't have any money herself so she had to fill her time with something else than eating. Shino patiently walked around the cafeteria smelling all the different kind of foods that were being served and eaten. She wanted to know where you could get this money thing so she could buy food herself too, she had to ask Arara-han when she would see him again. Shino got over to a random eater that was enjoying his 5 plates of food. Shino wondered if it was normal to order this many in one go.

She quietly got up to the table and crouch on the opposite side of table where the person was sitting. She was high enough that her ears poked out from over the table but didn't realise it herself. Shino then poked her big blue eyes over the side of the table looking at all the food and the person devouring all of it. Shino blinked twice as she tilted her head her eyes were fully focused onto the food as light growling erupted from her stomach. She didn't even flinch, like her begging was planned till into the smallest details. Shino continued to stare at the food even if he continued eating by himself without saying a word.



Reina's heart skipped a beat once she had heard the sudden voice of Meruin standing next to her. She placed a hand onto the middle of her chest and stammered backwards a bit. She didn't expect the girl to be a part in this. Well she didn't mind for another girl to see her like this. Especially her room mate, she didn't expect her to be a bad person at all so she though that the trust was pretty high between the two.

The sudden comment of Meruin made Reina blush a whole bunch. How could she be so straight forward to outright ask.



She had a deep red blush on her cheeks as she moved one of her arms along side her body while the other held up the sheets. Her face was turned slightly away but Meruin already didn't seem to care anymore and had already started making herself some breakfast. Well what you could call breakfast.



She eas cut off. Meruin had cut her off. She walked out the room and closed the door behind her specifically saying Reina wasn't allowed into her room. Reina's face went blank as silence overwhelmed the room. A few seconds later she moved again.



She gave a bothered sigh and looked at the ravage in her own room. Nothing was suitable anymore she really had to do it. Steal clothes from one of her room mates. Luckily for her she had two room mates so when one of them refused she still had the other. Jocelyn had already left the room too so Reina didn't have any obstacle's. She quietly opened the door as she whispered.



Reina made her way over towards the drawers and hung some of the clothes in front of her body. Most of it was too small for her to fit in but there were some items that could work. She got out a pink mini skirt that actually was already way to small for her size but fitted around her waists a loose shirt and some underwear with a lot of shame.

She had to pay the girl back, she didn't know if these were her favourite clothes but it made Reina a little more relieved she was at least wearing something. A short while later she cautioned went out of the room. She made sure almost nobody would see her while she headed into the city to get new clothes.

A gentle breeze blew, stirring the dragon from slumber. Was that…a dream? She frowned slightly, eyes still closed. She rarely had dreams of that long ago. So young back then. Barely more than a child forced into a conflict she wanted no part of because of some stupid mage who was long dead by now. Her frowned deepened more. Yes, he was dead. She had made sure of that – she had killed him with her own hands, after all. It was a bit more complicated than that, but she had wished that was the last time they met…it would have been so much better that way.

She opened her eyes, the pain of earlier slowly was ebbing away, nowhere near as intense as it was, but still there. Always there. She had simply gotten used to it over the years. Made it bearable. Perhaps she was simply become numb to it. Whatever the case, it was gone now. How long had she been asleep? A few hours? Days? She doubted it was the latter. The director would have probably doodled on her face or something for giggles if she had. So a few hours then.

She yawned, stomach rumbling once again reminding her that she still hadn't eaten once that day. Ugh, how annoying. She hoped she'd be able to find a decent amount of food this late. Someplace with a decent amount of steak available. Maybe she could find a human to help her with that problem. Not that she immediately needed food, but it was a good idea to keep her energy up. She rolled over onto her stomach, a lazy, still half asleep look on her face. Then again, this ground was surprisingly good. Maybe it wouldn't hurt for just one more little nap...

Gah, no no. That wouldn't do.

The dragon pushed herself up, another loud yawn escaping her lips followed by a stretch. She gave her wings a flap, generating a large gust of wind in the process. Right then. Food and sleep could wait. She could just eat a large amount of what the humans call 'junk food' for now. They'd probably have some of those...vending machines? Around the campus or something. She sure they wouldn't miss one. Or two. If not, she'd could always extort ask some from people.

The Norns may have seen fit to give her a challenge, but she'd not let them keep her from sweet, delicious, food. So, with another flap of her wings and making sure her Glaive was where it was supposed to, she took back to the skies and headed back for the dorms, and it didn't take her long to arrive, landing in her earlier spot near the outdoor cafeteria.

Hmm...well, she said she wasn't going to make food a priority for now, but it seemed she somehow ended up back at the cafeteria.

...she'd blame A's shenanigans.

For now...well, surely there had to be a mage around here that was...worthy of a magnificent Familiar as herself. She'd just have to find them. The so called magus games she heard about, would be excellent for choosing her master, but it always helped to d a little...recon, before hand.

---

---

His chest heaved, lungs drawing in deep breath after breath, as Runik slowed to an unsteady walk. Beads of sweat covered his forehead and his face was flushed from exertion, but runner’s high kept exhaustion at bay. The urge to take a seat remained, but he walked it off with the knowledge that if he sat down now it would be for a while. The sun was maybe half an hour from setting, so that meant classes were probably over by now and his room was a whole lot more comfortable than the sidewalk.

He raised his arms skywards in a satisfying stretch and then grabbed his vest from the ground, shaking it to dust it off. Still too warm to put it on, he figured dinner before he returned to the school couldn’t hurt. A gentle breeze rolled off the sea into the city, and he grinned at the welcome sensation as he tried to remember the good eats around the area.

A bit later Runik made his way back to the school, vest tucked under his right arm, as his hands held the sandwich he munched on. And what a sandwich it was. Oh the po’ boy was probably one of a healthy eater’s many nightmares, but fuck’em it was delicious. A foot long sub sandwich crammed full of fried shrimp, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and tartar sauce. The bread was also toasted with melted butter beforehand which only added to the flavor festival, and even if he could feel his arteries cry out in horror, Runik enjoyed every bite. It even let him forget about how truly empty his wallet was at the moment. He didn't know how it was possible, but Lyssa had cleaned out both that and most of Nekoa's desserts through the afternoon.

Movement in the fire painted sky, courtesy of the setting sun, caught Runik’s attention, and what he saw actually caused him to stop for a moment. The draconic wings were quite eye-catching after all, though they were joined to a distinctly humanoid shape. Runik was damn certain he had never seen anything like that on the island despite his many years here, and he watched it continue through the air before disappearing somewhere within the school grounds. ‘The hell did I miss this afternoon?’ Reluctantly he wrapped his meal up for the moment and then pulled his phone out, asking about what he had just seen in the group chat.

It didn’t take long for him to get a flurry of replies from several other participants and his eyebrows climbed in surprise. ‘Geez, year’s starting off with a real bang.’ Slipping his phone back into a pocket, he then continued with both his meal and the walk back to the school. His legs didn’t really appreciate the hills he had to take, but the complaints were ignored and Runik soldiered on stoically.

Eventually the school’s gates came into sight, and it just so happened to be as he finished the final bite of his sandwich. Crumpling the paper it had been wrapped in, he aimed at a nearby trashcan and took the shot. It hit the rim and tettered on the brink for a moment. Would it go in, or out? Well, Runik didn’t wait to find out, and flicked his hand casually. The movement summoned a gentle breeze that nudged his trash into the wastebin and he dusted his hands off as the tattoos dimmed.

---

Well, she was feeling much better after that little outing at Neoka. Lyssa was pretty sure she was either their best or most hated customer at this point, considering she had probably eaten almost all of their stock of cakes and other desserts. There were other places she could go though, so that was fine, even if the ones she had there were delicious. Runik was a pretty fun person, too. After that, she decided to do what she intended too before that whole incident happened - and that was buy herself a device that allowed her to play on the glorious modern wonder known as the internet.

Also known as a laptop.

She had spent all afternoon playing on the new device instead of attending classes like she was supposed too. Even if the campus didn't have wi-fi, she was still able to download her stuff from steam onto the new computer at the store. And right now, the entire room sounded as though a clash was happening between two great armies in a battle to determine the ruler of the realm. Clanging of steel, slashing of metal - the roar of a dragon as the stormcloaks were decimated.

She didn't have enough money to buy some headphones, so her roommates were probably just gonna have to deal with the noise.

How did she afford it? Well, an adorable little demon had her ways. Really, she should have just had her parents send her good one from home, but that'd take too long and she was impatient. She wanted her internets now, or she might actually go insane. She was probably gonna get in so much trouble for skipping the first day of classes, but she honestly didn't care too much at the moment.

As the day wore on, classes eventually ended. She had to wonder where her roommates even were. She still felt bad about what she did to Shikio. Maybe she wasn't even coming back because of it...which would only make her feel worse. Iravis, though, didn't she go on a date with that guy? She was a bit jealous she hadn't been asked out yet. She even said he could offer her sweets any time he wanted too.

Harrumph~

Of course, she'd just basically be using him as a free cake dispenser since he seemed kind of...sleazy, but that was beside the point. Free cake trumped sleazy.

---

Speaking of food in general...she was a bit thirsty. She looked around the room, two empty soda cans laying beside her. Pft. She really should stash some under the bed or something for later. Well, Iravis wasn't around for her to show this wonderful piece of technology, so she placed her laptop on the desk, and left the dorm intending to go buy more drinks for later. She wondered how Iravis would react to caffeine?....

Well, she'd have to wait a bit longer to find out it seemed. not moments after leaving...she found Iravis stumbling down the hallway obviously drunk, and Meruin not far away.

"Okay, why was there a party and I not invited? Classes can't be that fun can they? If they are, I might actually like going." She chuckled, a wide grin on her face.

The Phoenix looked ahead, laying her eyes on the hellion and the little girl. A smile appeared across her face despite her previous anger. "Sir Wick is ... Divine." She raised her eyebrow at Meriun however, speaking much more calmly than before. "Time matters not for me." The Goddess would have normally smited the girl, but the wine was making her more ... diplomatic.

Woooow. Lyssa stifled a giggle. She wished she had a recorder so she could record what Iravis was saying when she was drunk. That’d be just a tiny bit hilarious if she showed it to her in the morning. The demon realized that she was probably wording things funny because of the alcohol, but still. Hilarious.

Meruin stared at the Phoenix, and sighed. That stumbling gait of hers was something she was rather familiar with - it was quite normal for Meruin to get some of her test subjects drunk or high on . . . various substances and recorded the effects when exposed to different stimuli. Sometimes, she even used alcohol to gain their consent to various experiments they would have otherwise declined.

Of course, she always plainly stated what she was going to do to them as they drunk in order to avoid complications, but apparently most people didn't believe half a word she was saying. It was an intriguing phenomenon, really. She herself would be rather alarmed if some random stranger offered you alcohol while stating that she would use her inotxicated state to extract a word of consent to being vivisected on a kitchen table, but that was beside the point.

Back to the matter at hand, yes, Iravis was drunk, but more importantly, it looked like it was a Professor that had gotten her drunk. This was bad. Iravis euphoric state implied something else as well.

Meruin narrowed her eyes.

No, it couldn't be.

"Iravis, please tell me you avoided having sex with Sir Wick," she stated bluntly, "as much as I respect others decisions when it comes to carnal desires, professors are something I cannot ignore. If word got out of your affair, then the professor in question is sure to be fired, and I still have use for them, so I cannot allow that."

Not only would she lose access to their lessons, she would also lose the chance to use them as test subjects in the case that she needed more refined reactions. In fact, her current experiment was, as of current, her greatest and most ambitious project yet, and she needed everyone she could reach in order to make it a success by any measure!

"If you did then I have to ask you to not breathe a word of it to anyone. I cannot afford to lose an asset as valuable as a professor to gossip and intrigue."

Iravis giggled slightly at Meriun's speech, giving the fourteen year old a knowing smile as she placed a finger over the younger girl's lips to silence her. "The dragonslayer has has not danced with this girl's fire. What words did you desire to exchange?" She removed her finger, only to place a donut into the younger girl's mouth before she could reply and start giggling again.

Well, Iravis wasn’t trying to burn down the whole building, so that was good. Lyssa was a bit surprised after her earlier outburst, but didn’t think much of it. Meruin was funny, and she was glad they were at least getting along somewhat even though that was probably the alcohol talking. Once again, she wished she had something to record this with.

But that was unimportant. What could be more important than the threat of a phoenix burning down a building? Doughnuts. Like the one she shoved in Meriun’s mouth. She had eaten her weight in sweets at that café earlier, but she could always eat more.

So she walked over to Iravis, and swiped the doughnut box from Iravis, opening it before inhaling the contents.

“Aah, these doughnuts smell delicious.” She said, grabbing one. “Hehe, these a gift from Mr. Wick? You sure are getting friendly with him. I might be a bit jealous.” She finished, before promptly stuffing a doughnut in her mouth. That was intended as a joke, of course.

Meruin wordlessly chewed on the doughnut in her mouth, recalling the warm sensation of Iravis's finger on her lip with clinical precision, "Soft and smooth, yet nothing too indistinguishable from human skin. The temperature that came from it is worth noting, but not unsurprising. She is a phoenix after all."

"That's good to hear Iravis. Now as for what I wanted to ask you: How long have you lived, and how many countries were you worshipped in?"

She had thought long and hard on it. If she had never seen another like her, then that left very few possibilities. These were simple questions to establish the range of Iravis life experience in terms of physical location. From there, she could dissect which myths and legeds were and weren't the phoenix standing before her. From that population, she would investigate into which ones were most likely her, and estimate how many phoenixes were in recorded history.

The goddess waited a few moments before responding. "I have received offerings, laughed at Christ's resurrection, turned Latium to ashes, been a companion to Charlemagne in his conquests, and led Tancred over the walls of Jerusalem. I have lived over four thousand years, and am a goddess worthy of worship!" Some anger filled the Phoenix's tone, but it was clear that this was rehearsed. Fire filled her eyes as she spoke, memories seeming to run across them.

A moment later though, she was distracted by her other question.

Iravis looked up in the air, as if searching her memories. A finger was on her lips, silencing herself before she delivered her reply. "Countries? The recent invention of the nation state?" The goddess had read up on the decline of feudalism and the rise of unified cultures forming borders based on agreements together. "None to my knowlege. My historic realms have mostly turned to false prophets, and I don't have quite the following I used to."

Goddess? As in like, something like people used to worship and stuff? Iravis was something like that? …well. That was…interesting. She didn’t entirely understand it, but that was fun then. She must be really old, and she couldn’t help but to think she looked good for an old hag.

“So…you’re a goddess?” Lyssa commented, taking a half-eaten doughnut from her mouth. Well, it kind of made since. She played enough video games to know what a phoenix was, and Iravis fit the bill pretty well. “You mean, like a phoenix? Like an actually really real phoenix? That explains why you’re so warm and cuddly.” Iravis rolled her eyes, giggling a bit at the silliness of this girl.

She hoped she finally got that warm pillow she wanted after last night. She may have been feeling better, but she could still use one.

Hm, that response didn't give her much of a range. It was rather limited to the Rome and possibly the Abrahamic states of old. Still, it was a start. She noted to herself to ask her more later, while also taking into account her plastered state. She wondered how different her response would be while sober . . .

"Now, for my request. I need a pint or two of your blood, if possible," she stated in the most straightforward manner possible. "It would be a great help to me, and I promise payment in turn." Lyssa stopped chewing on the doughnut, and gave Meriun a blank stare causing the half eaten pastry to fall too the floor. Meruin was seriously giving her mad scientist vibes. Not that it was a bad thing. Mad scientists were cool.

She paused, eyes flickering over to Lyssa. "Your blood would be nice too, Lyssa."

The vitality from the blood of a phoenix and demonkin would greatly improve the efficieny and duration of her intended spell.

Well, not that she would have minded giving her blood to a good cause...but blood in general made the demon squeamish.

“I, uh, mean, I’d be glad to help you with something, but…” She shook her head, obviously not comfortable talking about it. “S-sorry, I’d prefer all my blood stay where it is.” She picked up the doughnut from the floor, and promptly began eating it again.

The Phoenix shook her head but then stopped, suddenly serious. "Artemis' Bow." After a moment, she nodded as if to confirm to herself that was what she wanted. "If mortal hands can pull the string it is only a mockery. For that, I shall give you what you ask."

Meruin wasn't sure what Iravis was referring to, but she knew without a doubt that she had just accepted. Wonderful, although the price was steep. Meruin frowned. Now how was she going to acquire the bow of a Goddess long gone . . . ? It was a shame about Lyssa, but it was no real loss in the grand scheme of things.

"It's no matter Lyssa, I understand if you prefer I don't experiment with your blood. I find that demons are quite wary in that regard, so usually I have to drug them first," she mentioned nonchalantly, "they were much more receiving afterwards." Lyssa simply reached into the box and pulled out another doughnut. Yep. Definitely mad scientist.

Turning to Iravis, Meruin held up a large vial made of pure silver. "If you don't mind, can you put the blood in the vial?" Hopefully she could get the blood first. Who knows how long it would take to get that bow . . .

Iravis raised an eyebrow, giggling slightly. "The Bow. Find me the Goddesses bow and quiver first, then I shall grant you what you desire." She was drunk, not stupid.

Meruin sighed. "Very well, if that is what it will take." The small mage closed her eyes. A hum of power echoed over her body and when she once again opened her eyes, the dull grey-green orbs were glowing brilliant emerald. The wind around them kicked up into a frenzy and an unnatural, deathly chill settled on Meruin, who's skin had paled from the cold.

"On this day a week from now I swear to bring to you the Bow of Artemis, Goddess of the Moonlit Hunt, at the price of my eternal soul should I fail, so says Meruin Hazy, Maga Obscura so Named!"

And so a date was set and the challenge begun. Meruin Hazy has always played with high-stakes, if only so she could enjoy the victory afterwards.

"Well, the pact is finished," said with a faint smile. "I'll be looking forward to your blood Iravis. Please be prepared."

Iravis nodded, trying to be serious. "How to pledge again ...?" A shot of realization spread across her face. She began seriously, but her pledge ended in giggling at the end of it.

"By the power vested in me and the sins for which I am punished.
May I grant you a vial of my fire upon your quests return.
Else the lazy dog Ammit consume my soul, who in his greatness has become great in the belly.
And may the Sun that lies above reject the gifts I never requested.
I forgot the rest of it. Duat something or other."

She stumbled a bit more and used the wall as support, smiling at Meriun first then gazing at Lyssa. "Making an offer bring color to your life, Hellion. A soul at peril is the ultimate encouragement."

Meruin returned her smile. "Alcohol truly is a wonderful creation." She said absentmindedly. It just got a phoenix to pledge its soul after all.

“Betting my soul on something? Do souls even exist?” She questioned aloud, finishing another doughnut. She didn’t entirely believe in such things as those, but it did sound pretty fun. Kind of…reminded her of something that’d be in a video game. Betting her soul for something? Hmm…what would she want?...well, no one could have too many sweets!

“Well, if they do, I’d bet my soul for all the sweets and the world!” She swallowed the last doughnut in the box, licking her fingers clean of the icing, lingering and seeming to gently nibble on her index finger as she thought, looking over at Iravis with a thoughtful look before continuing. “Annnd maybe for Iravis to let me use her as a pillow.”

"Well, this has been a productive day. Thank you for your time Iravis. I'll be seeing you." With a short bow, Meruin turned and proceeded to her room. "I really must be sleeping now."

Oh, but first, she had to head to the rooftop deck of the school building. She'd left a seal tag there and it would be a waste to lose it.

Alucard hefted his box and prepared to go out on the hunt again. Class was over, he'd refilled after his tribute, and theoretically there should be a splendid picking of young women at the cafeteria. Doubtless they'd be unsatisfied with school food and be eager to be saved by such a handsome knight as himself. Alucard was wearing his normal clothes again and began his search, but he'd hardly entered sight of the cafeteria when he saw an ideal target.

She was nearly as impressive as Iravis when she had transformed. From what he could gauge from here the target was about the same height as him, she also had shiny white wings with a tail of the same sheen, horns as nice as the demon girl, whom he needed to arrange a date for later, and overall rather splendid assets in all categories. Even better she seemed to be searching for something.

Well whatever it was, doubtless Alucard could supply it. Alucard casually stepped towards her and called, "It seems I missed the arrival of a goddess, worse yet, you seem to be understaffed. Perhaps I could assist you, my name is Alucard. What might I call you exalted one?" Alucard bowed delicately, leaning forward, sweeping one hand in a flourish to end under his chest while holding his over-sized picnic box in the other. It usually served as a good conversation starter if nothing else, after all, how could you not ask about it?

@liferusher
Adrians voice (Use your imagination)


Adrian had spent the night in a daze of pain and blurry images passing over his eyes as a violent cough racked his body in fits as the pest killer tried to finish him off, luckily the Mothman had stumbled into a large fountain and dunked his face and body repeatedly into the refreshing water to clear his sight and mind of the unpleasantries of the night. It wasn't long after he washed his eyes that his stomach contents decided to make a comeback, vomiting all the half eaten clothing in a heap of green bile, a coat of what looked like mucus, and unidentifiable scraps of shirt and pants.
Adrian had passed out shortly after the ordeal right then and there with a groan.

His head was pounding as he awoke a few hours later, still in the fountain and soeaked thoroughly. Like a dog Adrian stepped out and dropped to all fours, shaking wildly with both wings extended to fling water on everything around him. Still time before dawn a new thought came to mind of the nights events, realizing he had gone overboard and likely destroyed that poor girls entire wardrobe. Poor girl was gonna walk around naked!
Adrian glanced at his own dripping body and wings, his red robe hung tightly to him, and realized how embarassed he would feel without the familiar garment to cover him up.
The mothman took off in a jog to the dorms again on a new quest.

Adrian ran for dear life, wings still heavy and wet, from the female behind him brandishing a cooking knife with shouts and curses at the house intruder who was even now running off with her clothing, a long black dress and white socks and a light coat he had taken from this woman. Likely she expected him to eat it! Shameful thinking, really, he mused as he sprinted for the dormitory he had violated with the broken window. Clothing draped over his shoulder he climbed the wall like a spider and peered into the dorm, failing to see the girl he had robbed, Adrian took the next available route and went to where the food stores were located (The city mall clothing stores)

"What luck!"

A toothy smile took his face as Adrian ran shouting and waving at Reina like a madman, his robe and wings flapping about him while the spare clothes draped over his arm.

"Miss! Miss! It's me!"

Adrian likely wouldn't realize it but the very way he ran could be taken for.. aggressive. Hunched over in a dead sprint it looked more likely he was going to tackle the poor girl instead of giving her an intended present! Adrian finally caught up and shoved the pile of stolen clothing into her hands with a wide smile filled with sharp teeth and that ever piercing glow of his eyes, Adrian was too excited to remember the defeating gaze effect that they produced.
Unfamiliar with the custom of gifts he wrapped her in a great big hug, easily lifting the girl from the ground as he stood at full height with her in his arms and returned her to the ground.

"I ate your clothing! I did! I didn't mean to eat so much, but you have such good taste! All silk and delicate linen.."

Adrians mouth began to water and a thin line of acidic spittle slid down his chin, to which he promptly wiped away before leaning down to eye level with his new friend / would be killer. Anyone with strong willpower could escape the mild paralysis of his gaze (it only worked effectively for longer when he willed it to) and tilted his head.

"You look pale, short-skirt." Not knowing her name he simply called her the most obvious physical trait he saw. "Would you like something else?"

Alistair paced up and down the length of the students in the front row of the classroom, despite this particular classroom being a mix between a gym and an actual classroom. The lesson had been an introduction to basic offensive action and defensive reactions that could occur in a fight between Mages. He covered the basic intrinsic properties of the most common combat magic, Contritio. It was his area of expertise after all. His arms were surrounded in crackling sparks of energy, which for the most part were for show. He had also just shown a student that was brave enough to come up for a demonstration about how to manipulate and redirect energy that was thrown at you.

“Ok, allow me to show you this once more” he lifted the student who was sitting on the gym floor. He held his hand up, gesturing for the student to follow along.

“ The most common of Contritio magic is energy given a design in the caster’s mind and projected out through the magic circuitry in the body and out through generally the hand or something very similar, yes?” The class nodded along “so a defensive strategy is to pull the energy from the spell into your own circuitry and redirect it elsewhere” his hand made a sigil in the air and the runes on his arms glowed briefly. He gestured for a student to attack him. The student threw a bolt of green energy. The energy hit Alistair’s palm, the runes on his arm flashing green. He spun and threw his other hand out towards the wall. The green bolt came out through his hand. He looked up to the students. Most were writing down the things that he had said. He nodded and smiled to himself. This was what he loved. When students were attentive to him, learning from him and growing under his tutelage. He ran his fingers through his hair.

------After Class------

He was smiling, though it was partly obscured by the cigarette in his mouth. He never really smiled so much in one day. But today was a particularly good day. He was roaming through the library which was slowly being converted for his own purposes into what could realistically look like a kind of upscale coffee shop. The student members of the Literature Club were scurrying around the library to move shelves and place tables around a small stage. He couldn’t help but feel a large sense of nostalgia for the past years that he had been in the position of the very same students that were running about. He stepped up on to the stage and sat on the stool behind the solitary mic stand. He dragged in on his smoke. Students of the Literature Club stopped and immediately looked towards him. He had dressed down rather far for the occasion. Gone was the usual dress shirt/pants combo with a vest. Instead, the teacher wore a black raglan tee, ripped jean and pair of scuffed red converse. He looked the part of a modern day poet. He pulled the smoke from his mouth. His lips touched the microphone.



There were suddenly cheers, Alistair smiled. He loved this. He loved emboldening students to think about their passions as well as their own education. He stood and bowed, allowing the students to return to their work.

@Eklispe

-Sorcha-

Hmm...it seemed most people had already left the Cafeteria, aside from a few souls who were lingering about. Thankfully, that mage from earlier wasn't present. She didn't wish to deal with anyone with his stupid temperament at the moment. If she had too, she might very well just smite him where he stood without a word and before he could even realize what happened. It seemed most students paid her no mind though, which was equal parts welcome and annoying, though she was simply used to having people either flee in terror when they saw her, or bow respectfully.

But well, those days were long past no matter how much the dragon wished it otherwise. She'd have to start from scratch if she wanted that to happen once again. Which meant starting at step one: Regaining her lost power and then deal with that traitorous bird if she ever found her.

She was soon pulled out of her thoughts by a student approaching her. He definitely carried himself with confidence from the way he walked. The dragon found that slightly amusing. She had to wonder what exactly his intentions were, though it wasn't all that difficult to make an educated guess.

"It seems I missed the arrival of a goddess, worse yet, you seem to be understaffed. Perhaps I could assist you, my name is Alucard. What might I call you exalted one?" He bowed with a rather impressive flourish of his hands. There was quite an over sized box in one of his hands, doubtless carrying food and perhaps other things. She could certainly smell the food from here. Was he hoping to bribe her with food? Heh, well, what a funny little human. At least he knew who he should present gifts too.

"Well, it seems that some of you still know how to address beings infinitely more powerful than yourself." She replied, a calm expression on her face betrayed no emotion. "You may address me as Lady Sorcha, human, and since you are the first to show me the proper respect I deserve upon landing here, I shall grant you a little of my time. I do hope you do not waste it." Her voice was calm, and definitely carried an air of self-importance to it, but it didn't carry any hostility.

"And you, mage. What does one call thee?" As much as she'd like to keep calling him by 'human', that would be a hassle. Not to mention rather arrogant even for her. She was about to ask what the box could possible be for, but it was then her stomach decided to betray her again with a very loud growl, turning the dragons cheeks quite red, her calm visage momentarily losing its composure for a few seconds. "A-at any rate," She cleared her throat. "My time is valuable, so do hurry."

Vera Meadows and Jocelyn Blackwell

---

---

Fifth period had finally arrived after the not so small lunch incident, and Vera and Jocelyn had parted ways. What was her next class again?

"An exorcism class… Now where could that be?"

Once she had arrived the little girl took her seat. Although it wasn't really a Blackwell thing to take Exorcism classes, Jocelyn thought she might as well. Maybe if she actually had some other tricks up her sleeves then she wouldn't be as useless in certain areas, especially with her frail body and lack of physical strength. Sometimes simple spells could be a big game changer.

Sometimes.

Jocelyn scribbled down everything her teacher was saying and listened carefully to the woman's words. She wanted to get everything out of these lessons, and writing notes was probably the best method for her. If there were going to be future tests to study for then Jocelyn could just flip to any page of her notebook and find all the answers there. Her hand was all over the pages of her notebook, jotting down words in rather scribbly handwriting. Many people in the past have always quoted on how Jocelyn's writing looked more like an undecipherable ancient language than actual English. Deciphering Jocelyn Blackwell's handwriting should have definitely been its own class.

In some other place and time, Vera sat at her desk in Mr Alistair's class. Although Vera was a more long distance fighter, gaining more knowledge on offensive and defensive reactions was useful. Especially offensive reactions, since defence was her strong suit.

The man was a good teacher, much to Vera's liking. A good teacher came with a good education, and a good education came with… well a good future.

That is, if Vera managed to survive the next few years of school.

Vera felt her left thigh, pictures of last night popping up into he mind. One of those feathers had almost pierced through her legs, if not for her trusty thorns to wrap herself with. Even though she had narrowly avoided a critical hit to her leg, the feather blades still left a small scratch. If that was going to be a regular thing, then she had to be prepared.

She had to be combat ready.

The man had noted her presence and thought she was rather cute. Shino, part of the species that is the ruler of the jungle and she was just being called cute. This wasn't acceptable! Pure discrimination!

A hand was placed on top of her head and gently moved around. It was noticeable that Shino's expression changed out of relieve. Her ears lowered as her tail slowly moved around in excitement. This was irresistible, she had been taken away by the moment and let her guard down. She wasn't to fond of people getting close to her ears since they were very fragile and had a very high sensitivity. But once people did something like this she would immediately go to another world like there was nothing to worry about.

When the man stopped and Shino came back to her senses she would shake her head slightly and raise her ears again. He asked if she was hungry, Shino gave a small nod at the man and sat on the bench next to her. She sat on both knees so she would be taller at the table and it was easier to eat.

He had gotten a new pair of chopsticks, they were a bother to eat with. She would rather eat with her hands then with chopsticks. Shino raised her hand out to him and had taken the chopsticks away from him.



Shino looked down at the plate in front of her and had the chopsticks ready in one hand. When you would suspect that she would break the chopsticks first she did the total opposite. Shino poked the chopsticks into the raw fish quite violently and then proceeded to put it in her mouth. Another expression of relief went over her face enjoying the sushi she was chewing. Raw fish was the best!



She accidently let out a little laugh and would cover her mouth short after out of embarrassment that she did something like that. Shino continued jamming the chopsticks into the fish one by one piece as Verid asked for her name. She answered after having gulped down another piece of sushi.



She placed both hands onto the table and pushed herself closer to his face. She lightly sniffed with her nose and glanced over him carefully.



Reina had made her way to the city in the shadows of alleys and whatever routes she could find, as nobody saw her it was fine that her skirt was a tad to short. Now for the scariest part of the route, the hiding spots seemed just about over, it was time for the last end sprint where she had to walk through more public. If everything was in her favor people wouldn't notice all too much.

Reina casually started walking with a somewhat red blush on her face. She avoided eye contact and made sure to not let any wind do any bad deeds by holding the side of her skirt tightly. It was better to act shy than revealing everything. Something quite... Intreating occured. The black moth monster was running after her on the middle of the day like nothing was happening. It was too late for het ability he was too close. At first her face stiffened at the sight of him but calmed down once he gave her the dress. It was about the right size and didn't look all to bad. She raised a smile onto her face as she looked over the dress.



When she looked up at him again she grew terrified. With the shadow of the building overlapping him she could see two dark red eyes and saw a pure white shark like jar appear. She really was gonna get eaten wasn't she. She knee he couldn't be this nice. He grabbed hold of her and gave her a bid hug while lifting her up in the air. She let out a girlish screek before she was being eaten and only screeked harder once she noticed anyone close to them could look beneat her.



She slapped him onto the head multiple times with both hands untill he let go of her. Once she was put on the ground again she felt safer that he wasn't gonna eat her but still felt defeated. She hugged herself with both hands knees against each other and turned the front of her body away from him.



She let out a small smile and returned her body stature to normal again with the dress slung over her lower arm.



The monster noted that she was rather pale, she couldn't disagree after all the trouble she had to go through to get here without any shame. Calling her short skirt ticked her off a little. She grabbed hold of the front and the back of the skirt and pulled it down somewhat so it would cover more. She crouched a little as a red blush of embarrassment reappeared onto her face.



She annoyingly whined at him. But somehow managed a kind smile onto her face.

Synth Kane

Synth took a more laid-back approach to his teaching, and sat, legs crossed over his desk, giving the students a small lecture. It was mostly the basics - the wired psychology to fear the dark, the basic nature of shadow magic, etcetera. It was all just an intro lesson, getting the students up to speed with the starter points before actually delving into the real subject.

"Are you actually gonna do something, or are you incapable of doing anything but talk?" a student yelled across the class.

To Synth, that was a direct insult on his method of teaching, and even his nature. To him, it was like someone had just yelled offensive slurs across the classroom at him, and it was not appreciated. Not to mention, some parts of the class had begun laughing.

"We have a joker here, do we?" his expression suddenly darkened as he looked the student in the eyes, and everything went quiet, "If you believe you can do any better than me, I'll change my way of teaching. Now, up here."

Of course, the kid jumped at the chance to show his teacher up. As he walked through the lines of students, all sat at desks, he drew a blade lined with runes from his back pocket. Synth could already guess what school it belonged to, just by the catalyst alone. Upon arrival, the Mage was beckoned to take a strike, to which he did.

The boy lunged, and flipped his knife into an ice pick grip, all the runes lighting up in reddish-blue light. Electricity crackled across it, and extended outwards in order to increase the blades side, looking more like a shortened light sabre than a dagger. As it rushed forwards, about to make contact with Synth's face, a small smirk danced across his lips, and from the ground a black pillar arose.

With the blade now firmly wedged into the black wall, the pillar seemingly enveloping it, the young mage's expression turned from confidence, to understanding, and then to fear. Before he could even pull his hand away, the void swallowed it and prevented it from moving. And, as sudden as the appearance of the wall, every rune on Synth body lit up in a light purple glow. Everyone saw it, save a certain few, and from nowhere a massive, almost transparent shadow creature rose up and stood, lumbering over the students in the middle of the room.

It roared, producing an ear splitting shriek that caused everyone who saw it pain. Those that hadn't, the ones who Synth kind of liked,mass and heard nothing, but instead looked upon the students with confusion. And not to mention the boy at the front, standing in the path of the being, who has collapsed in fear and shock. And before anyone realised, all of his magic simply stopped, and everything he had done went with it. The young mate was still unconscious, and Synth had one of the students carry his corpse body back to his desk. Then, he carried on with the lesson, everyone listening intently lest such a thing happen again.

---

After the lesson was over and all the students released, he returned back to his dorm. Not for any particular reason. At least, none accept to play on his laptop.

He just had to hope Juliann couldn't find it and guess the password to his folder.

---

Edgar Quantus

For the day, Edgar decided it was in his best interest not to attend classes, but instead sit on his computer whilst performing experiments. But, throughout it all, one question lingered on his mind.

Why didn't it affect the dragon-kin?

Ever since his confrontation with Sorcha, he just couldn't wrap his head around it. For some reason, her very existence in time couldn't be affected. It wasn't like his powers were diminishing - in fact they felt more powerful every day - but it was more like the dragon herself was avoiding the temporal axis. As if her presence in time exceeded his own.

He couldn't take it any more. His head hurt from scratching, and he couldn't take not knowing. So instead, he stood, making sure to shut off the computer, and headed out of the dorm in search of the dragon.

He had to know for sure.

@Rune_Alchemist



Seriously? Another one of these? That flowery nonsense was just supposed to be a compliment, was he actually talking to another god-like being? Was this what people normally felt like when they talked to him? If so Alucard could understand their annoyance. What's more she'd forgotten his name in literally less than five seconds. "I am called Alucard. I simply came to see if a radiant being such as yourself could use any aid. Guessing by your... stomach's protests you could use some sustenance. Luckily for you I have just the thing and since you're short on time I'll make this quick!"

In a flurry of movement that Iravis would've recognized, the box was deployed and on it was now a presliced large medium-rare steak with a fork already stuck in it, a cheese pizza still in its box obviously complete with napkins, two bottles of wine, and another Death By Chocolate cake. "Bon Appitete, Lady Sorcha?" he asked as bowed once more and gestured to the food, making the sentence both a welcoming statement and a question. If she was even remotely hungry, which judging by the rumbling she was, she'd be unable to resist such an offer. Though she might just take the food and feel no obligation to him, one had to sow many seeds if you wanted to harvest any fruit.

Iravis watched the fourteen year old leave with a bow, and Iravis curtsied in return as the younger girl left the door.

"So your soul is worth me as a pillow?" The Phoenix giggled at the silly notion of the exchange, then fell to the floor with laughter. Once her lungs started to recover air, she tried to stand up but couldn't manage it. The Goddess just glared at Lyssa, too proud to request aid.

“Maaaybe, if I get to use you every night.” She giggled in reply as the Phoenix fell to the floor, obviously a bit too drunk to stand at the moment. Lyssa’s laughter fell silent momentarily as she gave Iravis a frown, though it quickly was replaced with her usual grin.

“Well, someone’s partied a little too hard.” She replied with a giggle. As much as she’d have love to get her mitts on some alcohol again and have a little party herself, she did know when someone had too much. And well, even if Iravis didn’t want it, she’d be helping her here. So she walked over to her, and lifted the other girl, putting an arm around her shoulder with what was probably surprising ease, whether Iravis protested or not.

Iravis allowed herself to be lifted, only offering a token protest by trying to use her failing limbs to get away. "I do not require aid, demon." The Phoenix smiled though, glad that Lyssa was helping out. Has my coordination always failed me like this?

“Oh sure you don’t~” She giggled, though didn’t seem like she was going to let the phoenix go. Despite the phoenix’s flimsy flailing, she still held her fairly tightly as she started helping her back to her dorm. “You just wanted to use this is an excuse to cuddle.”

Again, that was meant more of a joke. As many questionable activities Lyssa got up too, taking advantage of a drunk friend was not one of them. That’d be bad, yo. And she was a good, adorable little demon who would never do such a thing like that.

"You are the one who went sleeplessy! Cuddle the bed. Now." Iravis glared at Lyssa as they entered the room, trying to use the force of her glare in order to enforce her divine will. The hellion DID need some sleep. But her eyes ended up drifting to this strange device on the desk. "A creation of Hephaestus?"

“Pfft. You can’t cuddle a bed. It doesn’t cuddle back!~” She laughed as she helped Iravis into the room, closing the door behind her.

It was true. She often pulled all-nighters, mostly due to being unable to sleep for some reason or another. Sometimes it was related to schoolwork she should have done earlier that day, or she was busy doing stuff in a video game. Most often, it was the latter.

Sometimes, though, she couldn’t sleep for other reasons but she tried not to think about those, and despite her words to the contrary, Iravis was right. She needed some sleep, but it was hard to find at best.

“Heph what now?” She asked looking over where Iravis was. “Oh, my laptop!~” She replied, helping Iravis to sit on the bed before walking over to it and picking it up.

“This, is a laptop. I take it you’ve never seen one before?” She quickly took a seat next to Iravis before she tried to get up again and fell. She placed the device on her lap, opening it and showed it to Iravis.

Lights. Magical lights emmited from the part of the two pieced box that was directly across from her, the piece in her lap having white letters written across the top of it completely out of order.

The magically lit screen showed a circle with a heart of candy on the inside of it, and to the right of it said ... "XXXDemonCandyXXX? What is XXXDemoncandyXXX?" just beneath that name it said 'password' in light grey letters.

Confused, the Phoenix poked the heart of candy, only feeling a smooth glass like surface. "This candy is hidden beyond a glassy void?"

“Silly, that’s not actual candy.” She laughed, before turning a bit more serious. This was worse than she thought. She was gonna have to do some major coaching here if she was gonna let her anywhere near her precious little laptop. “Wow, I figured you were out of date but this is pretty bad. You must have seriously been living under a rock in a dark hole in a cave somewhere for your entire life.” She huffed, taking the laptop back from Iravis. Iravis delivered a small glare, before realizing that was a mostly true statement and giggling some more.

“This…is called a computer. Specifically, a laptop. That 'glassy void' is the screen.” She continued in a serious manner. She typed her password into the computer, and the device quickly brought her to her desktop. “It’s pretty cool. You can do a ton of stuff on it. Play games, talk with other people...uhm, a lot of stuff.”

Though honestly, she was a bit lost for how to even begin explaining computers to someone who had apparently never used or seen one before. Also said person was drunk. She had quite a dilemma here.

Iravis watched, amazed at how the 'screen' suddenly changed into something else. How could lights change themselves in such a precise manner? Weren't lightbulbs usually very large? Confusion ran through her mind, and not because she was a 'little tipsy'.

A slight temptation ran through Iravis as she mentioned playing games and talking. She had remembered drinking and partying last night. Among other activities.

The goddess placed a hand on Lyssa's thigh, looking her straight in the eyes. "I don't need a laptop to talk or play games." Whether or not Lyssa knew it, the liqour was doing the talking by this point.

It was clear Iravis had no idea how the laptop worked. That was fine, she’d take her time and explain it to her tomorrow when she was sober. And when she could probably coherently think about how to do it. The effects of the caffeine and sugar were finally running out, and she was feeling it. Just slightly at the moment though, and she was still able to function.

It was also clear that Iravis was definitely flirting with her. Which was probably the alcohol.

“Wow, okay.” Lyssa replied, a bit surprised at first. Giving Iravis a rather suggestive smirk, she leaned in just a bit closer to her. “What kind of games are those, hmm?~” She closed her laptop, using her hand to place it out of the way on the floor and next to the bed.“They sound like fun,”

Lyssa then placed a finger on the goddess’ forehead, and promptly shoved her head back. “For sober people.”

Iravis fell backwards, now laying down on the bed. "You are the sleepy one, not me!" But the Goddess felt exhausted for some reason she couldn't explain. It was probably a combination of the wine and the stress of transforming into the Pheonix earlier. "And I am sober ..."

The phoeninx found herself crawling further into the queen size bed, laying her head on two of the pillows and cuddling the other one in her arms. She'd taken them all as a personal offering.

But before Iravis started to drift off, a thought occured to her as she thought about the 'fight' with Zan from earlier. "Lyssa, is something pestering your soul?"

The question caught Lyssa completely off guard, her eyes widened slightly, and she fumbled with her words for a few seconds.

“A-uh, w-what, uh, what makes you ask that?” She asked. Ugh, well, she could have played that off much better if she wasn’t so tired. Well, there was always one thing she could do to hopefully distract Iravis.

She fell backwards onto the bed, next to Iravis – and then promptly embraced the phoenix in a light hug.

“I’m an innocent little adorable demon~” She giggled with her usual grin. “What could I have ever possibly done to have it pester my soul?”

Iravis opened her eyes again, a slight smile of concern running across her face. The light hug didn't phase the goddess when drunk. "Not all the gods are omnipotent, so I cannot say. But I can say that innocent little demons have a bedtime, and yet your eyes remained open last night." The goddess closed her eyes, hugging the pillow a little tighter as her breathing became deeper as she drifted off to her memories of lives gone.

“Pfft. Sleep is for the weak and people who don’t run on caffeine and sugar.” However, she couldn’t help but to yawn. Yeah, okay, maybe she should sleep. Iravis was quite warm, though she had to wonder if she’d get yelled at or something in the morning.

….Meh, totally worth it if she did. And so, Lyssa soon drifted off to sleep, arms still wrapped lightly around Iravis.

After classes, the director was waiting for the newest addition to the roster of the school.

He had called Zan The Skeleton to his office so they could have a thorough talk about his new place in this school.

"Hello, mister spooky bones." The man would turn to him once he entered the room. "I hope the day finds you well." and then he would smile.

That chilly, and creepy smile.

Zan was called to the office of the man in-charge of this island. He grabbed the knob of the door and turned it opening the door.

”My name is Zan Ackmard; I believe,” he retorted while walking farther into the office, ”Not mister spooky bones.”

The skeleton kept his anger under control, cause he knew not doing so wouldn’t help him accomplish his goals.

”I guess the day finds me well, Mister…”

Zan was unfazed by the director’s smile, unlike a normal person would have. But Zan was not normal.

"A. You can call me A. It is what everyone has called me and what everyone will continue to call me until I feel like changing the letter to another one. Perhaps a Z." The man pondered.

"And I'm very sorry, mister spooky bones, but I call you what I like." The man smiled again. "Being hardheaded will lead you nowhere, my good boy. I am sure you want to know how to get rid of this pesky curse, no?"

The man approached the skeleton and put a single hand on his shoulder.

"Because... I know how to do that."

Zan did nothing when Director A put his hand on the skeleton’s shoulder.

“The things I have done make it so I should not be called good, nor a boy.” replied Zan. ”I do not care about getting rid of this curse, all I care about is find out who or what did this to me. So I can have a conversation with them. This curse has its advantages Mister A.”

The skeleton looked slightly down at Director A and asked ”Is it alright with you if I smoke, I’m feeling the urge to eat coming up.”

"My, my, how odd. I would've thought that you wanted your flesh back, but it seems it isn't the case. Well, do not worry."

The man took his hands off the skeleton and turned around, walking away from him some.

"I also know that, but you are no fun. Where has your youth gone? Where has your eagerness gone? Have all your emotions left you alongside with your flesh? Certainly, if you retain these urges such as eating and smoking, I would assume that you still retain one or two feelings, asside from this unbridled rage at least."

With a motion of his hand, a hamburger and a cigar appeared in the skeleton's hands.

”My youth left with time as it does with average humans. I was 39 if my memory serves me correctly, but that does not matter now.” told the skeleton as he cracked his neck and jaw.

”Yes, my emotions were taken along with my flesh, as well as a few of my senses. All that is left are anger and hunger. I have no urge to smoke, I do it to ‘calm’ the hunger.” Zan was not surprised when a hamburger and a cigar appeared in his hands. He had grown used to unexpected things happening.

”I thank you for your kindness.’ he said after which he ‘ate’ the burger without taking a bite out of it. It disappearing into his mouth. The skeleton pulled out the Zippo from its mouth like it had done previously. Zan put the cigar into his mouth and lit it. The smoke disappearing like the hamburger.

”But I am sure you know exactly what the hunger is for.” added Zan.

"Ah yes, your zombie tendencies. I can give you some of that too, if you wish."

The man lifted his hand and both eyebrows waiting for an answer from the skeleton.

”Thank you for your offer, but there is a voice in the back of my mind telling me if I were to eat flesh, I would just haste the speed of this curse. Which would not be beneficial to my goals. That is why I smoke.” answered the skeleton as he ‘ate’ the small part of the cigar that was left.

”Also do you know where I could procure some more cigarettes? I have only four and half packs left, which would last me about seven hours.” asked Zan.

"If you go down to the city, there are several convenience stores lying around. You can buy some there, and they won't look at you as if you were a skeleton when you buy your things." The man said with a slightly sarcastic smile in his face.

"In any case, that is not why I asked you to come here today. You are surprisignly useful, to be honest, but a little too bony to be an student... I am aware of what your curse does, and I also wonder if you can actually do magic with that body of yours."

"What is it actually that you want from me?" the skeleton inquired. "You already know what I want from you."

"I want you to provide me... entertainment. Life becomes more dull the more years you live, and definite, unrivaled power is definitely boring. While looking for it might not be, actually obtaining it leaves you with...." The man turns his head to his hand and then closes it.

Ah, how long had it been since he last enjoyed a fight?

"A big whole of nothing. There is no thrill, there is no danger. I can't look up at someone and say 'My what a hunk', wait I can say that." He chuckled. "You get the gist of it."

He turned to Zan again, opening his eyes slightly as he looked over at the skeleton.

"Won't you make a deal with the devil?" The man asked with a slight smile.

The sinister aura coming from him suddenly became harsher. Oppressive. It would make lesser men cower back in fear. Others would pray for their lives.

As per the rule, this meant the certain death of someone. Whose? Well, that was still a mystery for the time being.

”I have no problem making a deal with the devil. Though what does that deal require of me?” requested Zan as he cracked his knuckles.

”I can’t have things getting in the way of my goals.” he informed.

He felt none of Director A’s aura, as he had lost the gut feeling that wouldhave warn him of it.

"That's how I like my boys, no hesitation whatsoever." The man clapped again.

"First, we need to set up a ritual. Insert some magical circuits into your slim bones. After we are done, you will have the power you want to seek revenge. I will also point you in the right direction towards the objective of your revenge. It wouldn't be fun to just tell you straight out, after all."

He extended a single hand and a rift opened, and inside of it, there was only darkness. A black hole, and A motioned forward to it.

"After you."

Zan had no idea about what Director A was talking about, since he was a ‘normal’ human until about six months ago. He is stepped through Director A’s rift; although most people would have felt fear, the skeleton felt nothing.

Once Zan was inside the rift, A followed after him. They then found themselves in some kind of dungeon.

It was dark, the only thing lighting the place were blue flames. There were some shackles hanging from the walls and a table painted red in the center of the whole thing.

"Where are you, m'dear?" The man shouted.

Out of some shadow or other, a man of scarce hair, a large white beard and lacking teeth appeared. He was not old, but his sanity did seem to be nonexistant.

"....A...." Was the man's reply. "What do you want here?"

"Don't be so hostile, now. I brought you an interesting one." He motioned over to Zan.

"A lich? What can I do with a lich that I haven't done before, hm?"

"This is no lich, my dear. It is a human."

"A curse then. Hm, you are an evil one. To curse someone just so you could play..."

"Believe it or not, I did not curse this young one. He merely arrived to my school and I decided to be a darling and give him a fighting chance."

"Then it must have been someone who either held a grudge against you," The man approached Zan and turned his head sideways, inspecting his bones. "Or they are much like the director and were bored. In either case, there are few people in the world that can do magic like this. How very interesting."

"Male, 39 years old approximately, exercised regularly, smoked some, yes." The man inspected Zan, before turning to the Director.

"And what do you wish me to do?"

"Transplant magic circuits into him. I want him capable of magic."

"I can do it." The man nodded, "But the curse will not allow for anything too great."

"As long as he can be of use, I care not. Do it, my dear Alastro, and don't you worry, mister Zan. It will not hurt... much."

Those were the parting words of the director before he stepped back into the rift. Zan could already hear how he was talking to yet another student.

Zan stayed quiet during the conversation because he had no idea what they were talking about. But he knew that it involved him. The skeleton tought the man in the room was odd, but it didn't matter to him. The man was just a means to an end. "Let get this done with."

Verid allowed the chopsticks to be taken from him with a smile, watching her brutally stab the sushi with the chopsticks. Haha, she is simply adorable. He made sure not to say it out loud this time since she seemed to have taken a bit of offense to the comment. Verid could tell that she enjoyed the food and felt glad, not that it was a surprise since it was fish and she was well, a cat. "I'm delighted that it suits your taste."

He chuckled unnoticeably when she let out a cute laugh, obviously embarrassed by it. Then, she asked for his name and for his race, leaning forward and giving him a little startle at the sudden movement. He pat her head for about 3 seconds once again as he began to speak. "Ah, had I not introduced myself? My name is Verid, I am but a mere demon." He said sweetly, placing his hands under his chin, simply watching her and for a while forgetting that he too had to eat. Though, he wasn't a "mere" demon at all. He was powerful. Extremely powerful. Not that he goes around using his magic on a daily basis. Or that he could since there wasn't much of a choice for that when he was trapped. He was used as protection for Eli and he was more than happy to be of use to her that way. Hmmm... Perhaps I should get acquaintanced with even more people after this conversation. I would like to know what types of people will be roaming the halls the place I shall now be staying at.
@liferusher

@Eklispe

"I am called Alucard. I simply came to see if a radiant being such as yourself could use any aid. Guessing by your... stomach's protests you could use some sustenance. Luckily for you I have just the thing and since you're short on time I'll make this quick!"

Well, whatever she was expecting, it was certainly not the banquet he had laid out before her. In a flurry of movement, there was a delicious smelling, large steak along with what she believed was called a pizza, two bottles of wine and very delicious looking chocolate cake. Granted, she wasn't one much for sweets, but everything else was acceptable. More than acceptable. In fact, if her mouth which was hanging open was any indication - she was thoroughly impressed.

"Very well, Alucard. You've impressed me." She said quickly closing her mouth, attempting to hide the action by placing a hand over her mouth. "This is indeed quite the feast. I normally am not one for chocolate, or sweets in general, but since everything else is...delicious...I'll overlook the blunder." Of course, he couldn't have known her preferences after just meeting, but if someone just came up and randomly offered her a cake she might actually tell the fool to go jump off a cliff. So, she moved for the steak first, picking up the fork and spearing a piece of the steak on it before eating it. This steak would be the deciding factor of her opinion on the man before her.

And he passed.

Passed with flying colors. Ye gods, this steak was delicious. It was just to her liking. Cooked just right. Not overly done, but also not under cooked. Sort of like the kind of cooked the inside of a beast might have been if she had turned it extra crispy on the outside with her lightning.

"My, you certainly know how to please a dragon." She chuckled. She wondered how servile this human actually was? She decided to give him a small test. "Perhaps I should give you a little more of my time, hmm?" She took another bite of the steak, perhaps savoring just a little too much before eyeing the wine thoughtfully.

"I do hope that wine is not the cheap kind you humans enjoy, however. I will not settle for anything other than wine made from the finest ingredients."

Meruin knocked thrice on the Directors door, waiting for a response. Her deal with Iravis had a steep price attatched to it, but that was of her own violition. While waiting she contimplated on what she knew of the Director.

Ridiculous in every way, was the best way to summarize him.

Ridiculously eccentric, ridiculously flambouyant, and above all, ridiculously powerful.

But she didn't fear him, not like the others, and neither did she hold feelings of disgust towards his irrational behavior. She did not even see him as an object to overcome or defeat. No, Meruin's feelings towards the Director was very simple.

Hunger.

The power he contained and the years that he has witnessed made him a prime target for Meruin's insatiable hunger for knowledge. She wanted to break his mind open and pry its knowledge out with her bare hands, and witness his power firsthand. She did not want it, she wanted to witness its use at the hands of its master and feel the history and intent behind it.

But such a thing was far from her capabilities. Perhaps some time in the near future, she would get her chance, but that chance would not yet come through her own effort.

Right now, she had other things to focus on. One experiment, taken one step at a time. She already had a plan for how to summon the Bow of Artemis, but it would be a tricky matter, one she could not afford worrying about classes to distract her.

"Wait a bit, please, darling!" The voice of the man said from inside the office.

After 5 minutes or so that Meruin had to wait in front of the door, it was open somewhat suddenly, and she was received by the Director's smirking face.

"Come on in. My, aren't I the popular one today? It's been busy, busy!" The man turned on his heel and directed towards one of the sofas he had in his office.

"Come, sit, sit!" He hurried the girl.

Meruin took a seat and turned to the Director, none too bothered by his general flamboyance. It was rather intriguing for her to observe. Was he so flamboyant because he was powerful, or did the power addle his mind and turn him queer in the head? She wondered at the answer, as she did about many things.

The small mage got straight to the point. "I'd like to request permission to skip out on four days of class sir." Theoretically, she only needed three days, but the fourth day would serve as a precautionary measure.

"Hm," The man put a single finger on his cheek and seemed to be pensive, "Whatever for?"

He asked, but the moment Meruin opened her mouth, the director would answer himself.

"Is it the bow of Artemis? I know you want it, or well, Iravis does. Hm, that's a big no-no, you know? If that girl got powerful enough, I..." The man stood up and walked behind the sofa, reaching his hand to seemingly nowhere, before producing a single book. "I would have to make some roasted chicken." The man threatened.

"I wish you would let me speak to save yourself the trouble sir," said Meruin bluntly. "Even if you can predict my words, isn't it less hassling to have me speak instead?"

Dropping that line of conversation, Meruin returned to the primary subject at hand. "In any case, since your well aware of what I need for Iravis to turn over her blood, I can assure you, she will not get any more powerful than she is now."

Loopholes were such wonderful things, really. Meruin supposed that she should have been glad that Iravis was drunk at the time, but really, that was more her own mistake than any skill on her part, so there was not much to be happy about.

"And that's where you are wrong, missy." The director simply said.

He turned sideways and threw the book at Meruin. It's force was not much, so the girl could probably catch it without too much of a problem. Meruin caught the book elegantly with her face, and promptly fell off her chair.

"Ouch," she muttered, before getting back up. "You were saying?"

"Read that book, and perhaps you will get more insight as to where that bow is. I've pointed you in the right direction AND you are excused from classes. So knock yourself out."

The man turned around again, moving his shoulder a bit.

"But know this. One wrong move, and I shall have your head adorning my desk." A turned his head to Meruin with a smile. "The bird in the gilded cage is much too important for you to be messing around with things you do not understand."

Meruin simply smiled back serenely at the Director. "I have no interest in touching things I don't understand sir. That is why I make it my business to understand. Additionally, I never had any intention of finding the Bow of Artemis. No, I've something much more practical in mind."

Still, she picked up the book that was thrown at her and browsed through it. Any kind of knowledge was useful to her in the long run.

Standing up, Meruin gave a small bow. "Thank you for your time sir. I hope you have a good day." With that, she turned towards the door to make her exit.

"That girl is as scheming as myself." The man sighed and headed to his desk. "Poor misus roasted chicken." The man chuckled.

^{@sakurasan@liferusher}
Immediately after her meeting with the Director, Meruin headed stopped by the cafeteria. She needed to purchase supplies for the ritual, so she'd be heading for the city soon, but more pressingly, she needed to eat. Stopping at the first stall, Meruin ordered a bit of everything before loading two trays full of food on a nearby table. Said table already had two other people occupying it, and as much as she preferred a solitary place to eat, there were no other available seats.

"I'll be sitting here for a bit," she said politely. She wasn't asking for permission, however; this was a public place, and sharing seats were to be expected. "Don't mind me."

Meruin looked at the food she had ordered: half a pound of steak, a plate of grilled salmon, a bowl of mashed potatoes, three servings of chicken, a plate full of buttered rice served with medium-rare shawarma, and a burger with bacon, egg and cheese toppings. Meruin frowned and counted. She was missing an order of mushroom soup. Looking at the receipt given to her, she realized that they had forgotten to include it in her order.

"How sloppy," she said in exasperation. Well, no point in complaining about it now. She had her food, and she could always order more later. Without another word, Meruin began inhaling the huge meal in front of her, the food disappearing unnaturally quickly.

---

The oni that had constantly interrupted her class before suddenly approached her. In a less than, err, normal manner.

Jumping through the desks as if it were nobody's business.

Juliann sized him up with her eyes. Yes, definitely powerful, but arrogant.

"My name is Juliann Espada," She started, "Teacher Espada for you."

With a sigh, the woman continued to answer the Oni's question.

"We've made some real progress since the times of old, that much is certain. Exorcising one such as you has become more simple. To kill an spirit, you just need a technique to damage the soul, rather than the body."

The woman lifted a single hand and started gathering mana on top of it.

Afterwards, she closed her hand and the mana gathered dispersed.

"Such techniques are commong among us Pythones magicians. When one needs to strike at the spirit rather than the body, you need a technique like such to counter it."

That was the basis of an exorcism of an actual spirit. It was easier with someone like Arata, though someone like Belphegor who was essentially invisible, well, that was a problem.

"We still need a ritual to exorcise an spirit out of a body, however." The woman continued explaining, but her stomach suddenly growled.

Though her face remained as stern as ever, there was a slight blush on it now.

"Perhaps we could talk about this over a meal?" She offered.

“And I’m Arata, representative of the Night Parade of One Thousand,” he replied, sticking out a hand to shake. “Though if you hear a skinny, white-haired nekomata talk about someone named ‘Arara’, that’s probably me as well.”

As Juliann began to speak, however, the oni was pleasantly surprised. So they finally replicated the effects of the cursed blade Muramasa with magic? Oh, this boded really well for him though. While he had never gotten the chance to fight its wielders himself, Arata had heard stories of an unblockable, instant-kill sword, and even now it made him excited.

Of course, on the other hand, maybe the copy was still weaker than the original. Until proven otherwise, digestion was probably still the best way to kill youkai, from his own experiences.

“Oh, and the countering technique is also based off mag-”

Before he could get anything more out of that sentence, though, a low rumble sounded from Juliann’s stomach. Arata noted the small blush, considered the students nearby, wondered which option was more useful for him, and came to a decision. Patting his stomach heartily and chuckling, the oni said, “Yeah, sorry about that. Haven’t eaten for, what, a week now? A meal would be pretty nice. Reminds me though: money. In the past, all I did was hunt and eat, but all the forests these days are midget-sized. So money is where?”

As much as it was against her pride to allow for a student to help her, she nodded in response.

"You need not worry about that for the time being. Today it will be my treat."

Her mouth formed the ghost of a smile and she walked forward, before heading off campus and towards teh city. Classes were already out, so getting a decent meal would be for the best. She could also get to know what kinds of restaurant were in the city.

"Guess I'll be in your debt then, Juliann," Arata replied airily, following the swordswoman out of the campus. "Though I'll still have to ask. How do you make money here? Can't rely on charity like a travelling monk forever."

"There are many ways to make money. Either get a part-time job somewhere in the city, they never seem to have enough people, or ask the director for some, err, pocket money. If you give him a good show, he'll give you more. Or so I hear."

There were rumors out and about that A gave money to those that could not afford working or similars. Pocket money was just a loose term for it of course, since the numbers easily went into the thousands, if not more.

He hadn't had much of a chance to really see how things were in Liseranna's small city, what with Director A manhandling him whenever the oni slowed down to take in the sights. Now that he had a chance to properly take in the sights, it really was unlike any of the other sights he had seen around the world. Buildings were placed ontop of buildings, a hodgepodge with no symmetry that nevertheless had a charming air to it. Artificial waterfalls, carrying fresh water through the aqueducts of the city, drastically cooled the air, a fine, damp mist around the areas where they ended. Runic inscriptions were plastered on walls, signs that may have meant something to a smart man, but was turned into scribblings by Arata's untrained eyes.

Thankfully, the oni's nose wasn't quite as blind as his eyes, and after catching the scent of something exotic and spicy, Arata pointed towards a small establishment underneath one of the waterfalls. With large glass windows speckled by water droplets and colorful pictures displaying what looked like human shit splattered onto rice, it certainly was...interesting.

"Hey, what's this anyways?"

"Ah." Juliann said once Arata stopped to look at... some kind of stablishment inside a waterfall. Sadly, the female teacher knew little else than what Arata knew.

She pouted, trying to keep a cool face and she also started sweating cold. Now, this was troublesome.

The oni had approached her for guidance, but she was as lost as him in this island. And then again, could a teacher ACTUALLY be at a loss as she was?

"I-It is best if you taste for yourself." Mechanically, Juliann started approaching the establishment. "L-Let's go, Arata. I am sure it is delicious. _probably

She also had no idea that what Arata was referring to as human shit on rice was actually curry. The first time she would eat it. She just hoped she hadn't just digged her own grave.

"Ah," he responded, mimicking her own 'ah'. Well, it didn't look like Juliann knew much of this particular place anyways, but that was fine. After all, even in the height of the Night Parade, Arata and his brothers had not dined on all the delicacies of the Nation of the Rising Sun, so he wouldn't fault her.

And hey, it was an adventure!

With a spring in his step, the oni pushed the wooden doors open, the bell chiming to alert a waitress of their presence. Dressed in standard formal wear, the restaurant had an oddly cafe-esque impression. Most of the furniture was wooden, grainy oaks creating the impression of a timeless place, and, outside of a small statue of an elephant-headed man that was placed by the cashier, it looked relatively nice. The water streaming down the windows, as well as the sounds of the waterfall, created the illusion of a heavily raining day, and the muted lighting of the room made a cool, mature atmosphere.

"Nice place," Arata commented, his eyes already scanning for alcohol that wasn't there.

When they were seated, the waitress handed off two menus. It looked like they were having some sort of special event going on with the meals, but, alas, Arata could only look at the pretty pictures of shit-on-rice.

"Any recommendations? I can't actually read and all, so if you spot anything that sounds nice, I'll take it."

"A-Ah, of course!" Odd in her, the woman had followed behind the oni obidiently, perhaps thinking that he had some more insight in this kind of setting than herself.

'M-Master!" she directed a question to the spirit inside of her. 'W-What should I order? Is this place not from your home country? W-What do you mean it is not and even if it was you wouldn't know what food in the present would taste like?! Master!'

Leaving her hanging, Juliann was left without the guidance of the Dragonslayer and she dropped her shoulders.

"U-Um, may I get the spiciest dish you can find? Please, i-it only has to be spicy." Juliann turned to the waitress, who quickly jotted down her order.

"What about you, Arata?"

Spiciest? Not just 'spicy', but the spiciest dish in this restaurant? Oho, was this a challenge?

WAS THIS A CHALLENGE, TO ARATA, LAST SURVIVOR OF THE NIGHT PARADE?! EMBODIMENT OF THEIR APPETITES FOR FEASTS AND WARS?!??!

"Make that two!" the oni declared, fighting spirit burning in his blue-flame eyes. He didn't know what 'spiciest' implied on this foreign island, but back in the olden days, Arata was the fifth amongst the Night Parade to finish bowls of ramen that were more spice than broth. Though his tongue may have degraded, he will not be so easily cowed.

Spinning the spoon in his right hand, the oni grinned, his canines extending, and said, "Let's do this, Juli-chan."

Unsure of what the oni meant, Juliann also reached for her spoon.

"I told you, it is 'Teacher Espada' for you, and..." Still, she was not one to cower back from a challenge. "let me show you what it means to be half Mexican, dear boy."

Her eyes narrowed down as she looked at the oni, whose fangs had seemingly grown in size.

The waitress was quick to return with a dish that truly seemed like death incarnate.

There was an ominous aura emanating from it that could only be compared to the director's.

"All right, here it is." The waitress said in a cheerful voice. "Our Phaal curry. It is so spicy that, believe it or not, if you are able to finish it all we won't charge you a single cent! Nobody has been able to stomach this before, just to warn you."

"I see... and by the way, what is the price of this?"

"A thousand dollars each." Juliann felt the lunge on her wallet. "The ingredients are really hard to procure, and then they are magically enhanced for this end product. So, yes, you could call it this restaurant's especialty."

Juliann could no longer allow herself to be defeated. She could pay for one with the cash she had on herself, but they hadn't given her her first paycheck yet. She could only afford one.

She gulped and turned to Arata. "If you still want to back down, this is your opportunity, Arata."

"Respect is earned, not given," Arata replied cheekily, "So, Juli-chan, better prove yourself on this battlefield before asking to be promoted to Espada-sensei."

He didn't know what she meant with 'half-Mexican', but it was probably some new, magically-potent race that popped up in the world while he was sealed. No doubt, if she was mentioning it, it was a greater existence that mere humans.

Arata could smell the dish before it arrived, the pungent, fiery hell of spices that did not exist in his homeland. He narrowed his eyes, took in a deep breath, and then steeled himself. He can do this.

No, we can do this.

Of course, with all that build-up, he was surprised when the blonde teacher suddenly asked if he wanted to back down.

"Eh? ...oh, I see. Getting cold feet, are we?" Arata smiled, confidence emerging once more. "If you want to call it quits, there's a magical three word phrase you can say to stop all this, Juli-chan~"

"Not cold feet. Just trying to spare you a gruesome end, in the bathroom anyway." The woman seemed a lot more confident as she said that.

She also wanted to spare her wallet, after all.

Juliann took her spoon and lifted it.

"Then, if you are ready..."

"Let's go!"

Bursting into a flurry of action, Arata expertly twirled his spoon through the plate, his monstrous speed and strength turn a clean separation of curry and rice into a motley mixture of the two. The beginner's mistake would be to try to use rice as a break inbetween bites of this hellfire spice, but the oni knew the true path to victory. Only by growing accustomed to it could he hope to last through the entire plate, and with a fighting spirit that burned hotter than the magically enhanced ghost peppers laced within this dish, he chowed down.

Chowed down, chewed, and tried his best to only internally scream, as the poison skewered his tongue.

Juliann, despite the oni eating violently in front of her, still did not forget her manners. Her spoon went slowly into the curry and then came back out, filled with the spicy sauce of it.

There was some rice... somewhere. Probably. Hopefully.

The woman took the bite and was surprised to see that... it wasn't ALL that spicy. In fact, it was pretty good.

He looked over at Arata. The oni seemed to be holding everything back and she could swear that there perhaps was a tear or two welling up in his eyes. Truly, it couldn't be THAT spicy, right?

Then again, Juliann was a fan of tacos, and she often dressed them in all of the salsas at hand, ending up with a bomb that would kill anyone without her stomach of steel.

Her spoon sunk again into the dish's curry and she took another bite. And another bite. And another bite.

Soon, she was catching up to Arata. She wasn't going as fast but was certainly picking up a lot more. She still could not see why they called it the 'Spiciest dish of the place'. Her tongue was perfectly all right.

Before she knew it, several of the customers at the restaurant already had their eyes set on them and their competition. The waitress was also watching the scene with curious eyes, wondering who would be the first to collapse. People had collapsed before. And after just one bite.

She was surprised that the two could even hold on for this long.

For just an instant, Arata caught a glimpse of Juliann out of the corner of his eye. As if she was merely eating plain rice, the woman moved with the precision of a machine, unaffected by the hellfire dish before her. That glimpse was a mistake.

Suddenly, a white-hot flash erupted from behind his eyes as the spiciness caught up to him, blinding him with the same effect as a military-grade stun grenade. Arata's eyes rolled behind his head for a single, deadly moment, before he came to, hands on his mouth.

A dark red fluid seeped between his fingers, and a burning pain pulsed in his stomach. The glass of ice water placed beside him suddenly looked like heaven, and involuntarily, Arata began to reach out for it.

NO.

Clenching his fist and slamming it down on his leg, the oni kickstarted his adrenaline, focusing on the pain in his leg as he focused once more. If he drank that glass of water, he might as well be forfeiting now. He'll be letting down all those who stood behind him, their roars cheering him on against this monster of spices.

That brief spint of unconsciousness cost him dearly, with Juilann all but caught up now, but he hadn't lost yet.

And because he hadn't lost...HE'LL WIN!

Ignoring the pitiful pleas of his plebian stomach, Arata strove onwards, eyes red with battle rage and tears as he doubled his eating pace, pitting the tenacity of an ogre against the overwhelming might of a god-teacher. He couldn't beat her by outlasting her, that much was clear. So the answer here?

Race her and beat her.

Juliann tilted her head. Was Arata truly enjoying this food as much as her? While she wanted to tell the oni to slow down, it didn't seem like he would hear. And then he doubled his pace.

Was he... was he trying to race her?

"I won't lose in eating speed either."

The woman too increased her pace. Even without magic, her hand was already leaving afterimages as she reached to the plate of curry and brought it back to her mouth. What was even more impressing was that she could eat at such a speed without choking on it.

"Don't do this to your poor stomach, Arata." And the woman could still talk.

It was obvious that she had done this before.

"And to the poor janitor either." A confident smirk appeared in her face.

"Don't think..."

Arata extended his spoon-wielding hand, veins popping out as the utensil was crushed by his full strength.

"...that you..."

The air around him began to distort, waves of heat emanating from his body as blue flames lit up around his horns, extending them.

"...WON!"

The sound barrier shattered as his spoon swept through the plate. In that moment, reality itself bent at the face of Arata's unbreakable, unconquerable will. Pulling off a balancing and unifying act that could not be made sense of, the ogre lifted the remaining half of the plate's contents onto that small, delicate, broken spoon. It was like lifting a house of cards with a toothpick, but, regardless of impossibilities, it was done.

Opening his mouth in a silent warcry, the oni jammed the entire thing into his mouth and closed it.

Funnily enough, he looked like a chipmunk for a moment.

And then, he swallowed.

"Hm!?" The sudden change in Arata would've otherwise made her reach for her sword. But no. This was a contest about food.

And if Arata was going to make full use of his abilities, then she would as well.

"Contritio, Spoon Art."

She could hear her master screaming 'SPOON ART?!' in the insides of her mind.

"Senbongiri!" The spoon moved a thousand times and seemingly, all of them at the same time.

The plate was now empty and Juliann herself was already bringing a single napkin to her mouth to clean it off.

"Thanks for the food." She simply said, before smirking victoriously. Again, she wondered why they called it the spiciest food in the restaurant.

Silence.

Arata stayed still, the remains of the metal spoon piercing into his skin. He could feel the heavenwrath in his heart, the hellfire in his stomach. It was as if thirty divine swords were thrust inbetween his ribs. But despite all the internal damage that was inflicted on him, the oni endured.

He endured, even without the ice water that stood within arm's reach of himself, and eventually, let out a long, deep sigh.

"Looks like I still require training, Espada-sensei," he admitted, a cheerful, if not slightly pained, smile on his face.

"Senbongiri though...is your other half Japanese?"

"Other half...?" The woman wondered what the oni was talking about, until it finally dawned on her. "Ah, no, I've no one of the sort. My master is Japanese, however. I believe you might know who it is. Sasaki Kojiro, the 'Nameless Swordsman'." She explained.

"The Nameless Swordsman?"

Arata cocked an eyebrow. How is he nameless if he has a name? Nevertheless, the name Sasaki Kojiro did ring a bell with the oni. A relatively sad one, if he recalled correctly, of the undying swordsman who could never beat the legendary mortals of the era. Of course, the same could be said for literally every oni of the Night Parade, so hearing that Juliann's master was that same man sorta made Arata feel sorry for him.

Well, at least his pupil was pretty good, all things considered.

"Never saw him before, so can't say anything, but heard he was a chill dude. Introduce me to him some time! Gotta accumulate more strength, now that I have a reasonable goal to strive for!"

"Well, he is more or less living inside him so, in a sense, you have already met him. He's much too weak to manifest at current, however. Perhaps it is why he chose me to pass over his knowledge. Still, it flatters me that one such as you would see me as a goal worth striving for."

"Well, an attainable goal, anyways. Director A's out of my league until I can reach your level, at least."

The woman's mouth arched slightly upwards. It was probably the best of an smile that Arata could get out of Juliann as of right now, but hey, it was better than nothing.

It was quick to fade at the mention of the Director.

"You mean to face against the director? It is best if you scratched that out of your 'to do list', unless you want to meet an early demise." Juliann advised Arata. "That man is far beyond the understanding of the likes of us. A single hit from him could kill you as you are now."

After that, she stood up and turned to the waitress.

"Well, this means we don't have to pay, doesn't it?" The waitress nodded. They were both monsters, and she seemed to be afraid of both of them. Or perhaps their taste buds, at least Juliann's, did not work well any longer. "I see, then let's get you to Rollanda."

She took the Oni's arm and pulled him up with a lot more of ease than the oni would expect.

"I doubt your stomach will fare well after that."

A single hit, was it? Ah, man, now he really wanted to see the Director in combat. If it was enough to cow even someone like Sasaki Kojiro's finest student, it really must be worth seeing.

But, alas, he'll hold back on that curiousity for now. As the two of them headed to this Rollanda individual, Arata asked, out of the blue, "So, you're usually free around these times?"

The sudden question of Arata made Juliann lift a single eyebrow, "Well, yes, I suppose. As long as there's no other student challenging me to food battles, I guess I am free. Why do you ask?"

"Well, the best way to improve is to learn from the second best! Next time, please grace this unworthy oni with a real fight, Espada-sensei~"

And, while holding in a sudden urge to flat-out throw up, Arata lowered his head in a bow. In a world of pussy-ass mages and non-existent master swordsmen, he better get all the legendary-class melee fights he can find, after all!

Juliann smirked. "Fine by me. Just don't blame me when you have to visit Rollanda again." Then she turned to the oni and extended a single hand. "But if you wish us to fight as equals, then cast aside your respect for me. You showed me today that you are a worthy opponent, even if it was only by swallowing down a bowl of curry. I approve of your strength, and as such allow you to stand in equal footing. I will be looking forward to our fights, Arata!"

For once, she seemed excited.

"Oh? Willing to go from Espada-sensei to Espada-san then?"

Arata grinned, lifting his head. With the full strength of a being capable of casually tossing around cars and pushing fully-loaded freighters, he slammed his open hand into her own, a shockwave bursting from the powerful impact. Gripping her hand with that same strength, he shook tersely twice, a southeasterly wind ruffling his cloak to reveal his heritage as an oni once more.

Juliann received the oni's strength with quite some ease. It was quite the powerful handshake, yes, but Juliann's body was meant to resist even harsher punishments.

"Same here, Juliann! With knowledge of your presence, the centuries-long sealing of me and my brothers have been worth it after all! Show me swordsmanship, and I will show you the indomintable tenacity of the children of Izanami-no-mikoto!"

Juliann nodded, before smiling at the oni. This time, her smile was wide and, if one could be as bold, beautiful. To think that the prospect of a wild fight against an oni would make her smile like this took off whatever beatiful-ness it had.

With that, the oni released his hand, and walked off, the brisk breeze still tousling his sunlight hair.

A dramatic exit, after all, was better than a lukewarm, overstayed welcome.