[hider=Prologue] [center]. . .[/center] "What do you think, pretty interesting eh?" A small group of blacked-clothed Enforcers were seated together, watching as other Enforcers finally dispersed the crowd completely. They looked on mostly with passing interest, for the most part, unconcerned now that the situation was being handled. Still, one of them managed to pick up on the source of the commotion, and asked the others on their opinion. One of them gave a very succint answer. "No." "Gah! Of course it isn't for [i]you[/i] Descartes, but to the rest of us lowly mortals, seeing Xinhua and Meruin in the pit is a pretty tantalizing turn of events. Some of our best guys can't even [i]nail[/i] that Dragon bitch, and Meruin is an uppity cunt that pretty much has [i]no[/i] respect for anyone whatsoever." "You sound like a loser who's been rejected by women too many times," said the Enforcer closest to the speaker. "It's, like, totally pathetic, you know?" said a short female Enforce sitting on top of the table and toying with a plate of jelly. "Shut up," said Descartes. The speaker seemed to physically deflate with each word out of his comrade's mouths, and sunk into his chair. "What do you have against them anyway?" said the Enforcer on the table. "Meruin I can understand, I saw you the day you talked to her. Lol, she called your magic childish and then practically stripped you of your dignity with words! but I haven't seen Xinhua do anything to you . . . ?" "I can answer that," said another Enforcer. "Please don't." He did. "Xinhua kicked his arse the day he confessed his feelings for her. He got it into his head somehow that if he won against her she'd want to date him. He didn't even get past the 'win' part. Well, actually, he didn't even get past the first fifteen seconds. I dunno, Xinhua seemed especially merciless that time." "Aaah, now it makes sense. Clotho, you're a terrible human being, you know that?" "Annabelle, please, for the love of all that is sacred, shut up." "Nope. Hey Jesu, you have a recording of his match?" "In total 1080p perfection." ". . . I hate you guys." In the meantime, Descartes finally finished his meal. A large bowl of cereals with no milk, and a serving of pancakes with strawberries on the side. [/hider][hr] [hider=Noah Salik] [center]. . .[/center] Gold glared, but after a moment, she calmed down, her face going impassive. There must have been an explanation for this - and she would find it, without fail. She took away the needle, deciding not to tell him that if it found its way under his skin, the poison would be the least of his worries. That, and she'd already seen his blood magic at work, and while impressive, like all magic, it carried with it a set of weaknesses that could be exploited by those with the proper knowledge. "Perhaps it was love at first sight?" she replied teasingly. "In all seriousness though, I've no idea what's wrong with you. Perhaps someone cursed you?" Speaking of, her eyes change color once again, instead this time turning a vibrant shade of purple. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at Noah, and her lips mashed into a hard line. "I was joking, but . . . you really are cursed. What the hell?" This was most definitely one hell of a specific curse, and from all indications, it was cast by his Master. Wait, maybe she could use this! "I . . . can tell you what the curse does and who cast it - though I have a feeling you might already know - but I'll do it for a price," she said, leaning back into her chair and staring at Noah expectantly. "Trust me, given you are who you are, you [i]really[/i] might want to get rid of this curse. Noah Salik, correct? Quite an infamous name."[/hider][@Hippo AF] [hider=Alexander, Charles & Leo] [center]. . .[/center] Watching Charles familiarize himself with his room silently, Sergei didn't even bat an eyelash as the key he gave him sunk into the boys skin. He had to admit though, he was slighty displeased with the meager of belongings he had. He doubted the boy could fit enough things in that body of his that could be called comfortable. With that in mind, having the mall for their next location looked to be a better idea by the second. "Good. To the Mall then." It was a relatively short trip - then again, at the speed the trains went regularly, it was a wonder anyone in this school was ever late at all. Once they stepped down, all it took was a short bus ride and they'd arrived at the Mall. It was an absolutely gigantic structure, and while it wasn't as tall as the dormitories, it more than made up for it by taking more space than eight apartment buuildings put together. "This is the Mall. The Headmaster put it in place after he realized that small shops couldn't supply enough, and students getting materials from the outside proved to be a hassle. It was much smaller than it is now, but it's since grown into the largest building in the University." Sergei explained the history of the building, as he guided Charles and Leo towards the entrance. Suddenly, a voice called out from in front of them. "Sergei, good morning to you."[hr] Rose stared at Alexander, as if she were aware that something was not quite alright with him, before giving him a pleased smile. "Well, considering the meager amount of things you have with you, the Mall would be a good start." The amount of luggage the boy had was disappointing to say the least. There was no way he would be able to live properly with that amount of personal effects. Food not withstanding, he didn't even look like he had clothes to last a week. The trip to the mall only took ten minutes by train and bus, with Rose explaining various things about it on the way. "The Mall started out as a small building, meant to supply students with certain needs much faster than individual stalls. Having a massive amount of people request items be shipped inside the school individually caused a massive amount of headaches for the university's logistic and security teams you see. So the Headmaster had [i]that[/i] created." She finished by pointing at the massive building that was coming into view. From a distance, it was apparent that there was a good number of people going in and out of the building. Rose smiled. "That's actually a pretty small amount of people. There's usually more, but it's just the first day after all." As they stepped down from the bus they were on, Rose continued to give details on the building. "It's open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Asides mundane things, the shops inside also carry thing necessary for practicing magic, though nothing too esoteric. There are food courts - not as good as the Mess Hall is, but if you don't feel up for the commute, it's not a bad substitute." The woman turned suddenly, and peered at the crowd behind them. Smiling, she turned to Alexander. "Excuse me for a moment." "Sergei, good morning to you," she said waving at a man in front of them with a smile. The man was fairly tall, with a shaved head and a scar stretching across the side of his neck. He was wearing the same gray suit that Rose was, and was accompanied by two boys. The man nodded. "Rose, good morning. Is that your ward?" Nodding the woman introduced him. "Alexander Alcaster. And that is . . . ?" "Charles," he said in response, gesturing to him. "Leo Young is accompanying us as a friend." "I see. Well, since we're here, why not give them the tour as a group? Much more exciting that way, I imagine. You boys don't mind do you?"[/hider][@KiritoAsuna][@Letter Bee] & [@olcharlieboi] [hider=Lee(?) & Xinhua] [center]. . .[/center] Immediately after her outburst, Xinhua stormed towards the training grounds. A small signing of the proper forms later, and the woman was screaming her head off at the top of her lungs in total privacy. "Stupid stupid stupid [i]stupid[/i]!" she cried out, her face full of shame. She punctuated each cry of 'stupid' by creating huge puncutuation marks on the ground beneath her with her staff. "[i]Aaaaaaaaaah[/i]! How could I lose my cool like that?!" Xinhua herself would admit, that while she was a fairly patient person, once she was angry she knew how to hold a grudge - but that didn't mean she'd do something as foolish as that little incident she caused at the Mess Hall! She had - was [i]supposed[/i] to have had- better control over herself than that. But for some reason, the moment those first words left her mouth, she couldn't stop. It was as though she had fallen to her baser instincts, like an absolute child would when throwing a tantrum. Even worse, she had said words that once said, could not be taken back. She had challenged the small mage to a duel in their Masters honor, that both of them had agreed to, with dozens of witnesses present. Even worse than [i]that[/i], was Lee's expression as she chastised her. She only registered her roommates displeasure [i]after[/i] she had marched out of the Mess Hall, but once she did, it made her feel terrible. Lee was someone she actually considered a good friend, and to disappoint her in that manner was something she'd never wished to do. It made her feel worse, knowing that she was likely going to disappoint her even more in the following days towards the duel. "Ugh . . . this is the worst," she muttered, absentmindedly smashing a nearby boulder to bits with a kick. [/hider][@Leoven] [hider=Viola] [center]. . .[/center] And so Meruin was left with Viola. In all honesty, she wasn't sure how to respond to all of this sudden attention. Oh, she was used to being the [i]center[/i] of attention, but not actually a [i]part[/i] of it. Not to mention most of the time, any attention she received from students was negative in nature. She'd learned to deal with it, but [i]positive[/i] interactions? That was something she'd had no practice in handling. Meruin turned to the only person left. Viola, wasn't it? She mentioned something about making a contract with her. Of course, she was disinclined to going through with it - contracts of any kind were dangerous, and even a complete novice when it came to magic could wreck havoc with one good contract. Still, despite what the others said, she was going through with the duel. She wondered if they'd understand - in the moment of calm that came afterwards, she'd understood, with absolute clarity. She and Xinhua were more alike than she thought. And it was because of that likeness she was sure neither of them were going to back out of this duel. "We're more similar than I thought," she muttered absentmindedly. Indeed, Viktor was mistaken about one thing - she and Xinhua were individuals who's lives were never going to be beholden to anyone but themselves, but to protect the honor of their masters was not so much a matter of [i]who[/i] their Masters [i]were[/i], but what their Masters were to [i]them.[/i] After all, what child could stand to hear their parents insulted? Regardless of their wishes, or the wisdom of others, wouldn't they do anything to defend their name? It was only a shame that she couldn't do much in her defense. Despite their praise and assurances, the others were quite mistaken about something. According to the rumors, she had yet to participate in a duel because she had no idea how to fight with her magic. And sadly, those rumors were correct. She was completely and totally inept at any sort of combat. But she would be dueling Xinhua anyway - her first consciously foolish decision in a long time. "Help would be . . . appreciated," she said, addressing Viola. "Though I'd rather hear the terms of the contract first." Speaking of, contracts . . . Meruin waved a hand in front of her, and a wispy bird-like figure came to being in front of them. It would be apparent to anyone looking that the bird was an illusion, just an image floating about. It wasn't even a particularly strong illusion. Until Meruin slapped it with a sealing tag. The illusion was sucked into the enchanted piece of paper, which promptly burst into white flames. From those flames came the same bird - only this time, it looked more solid. No, to be specific, it looked [i]alive[/i] "That's because it [i]is[/i] alive," said Meruin, anticipating Viola's thoughts. The bird flew towards Meruin's outstretched hand, perching gently on her wrist. Meruin took out a scrap of paper and wrote something on it, before handing it to the bird. "A letter to Jane. You may rest afterwards." With a quick jerk of the head, the bird took off, flying out of the Hall. "So, what can you give me, and what are your terms?" said Meruin, sitting up straight and eyeing Viola intently.[/hider][@Rune_Alchemist][hr] As the sun rolled in, students began dispersing to their respective destinations. Most of them were headed back to bed - this [i]really[/i] wasn't a normal time to be awake - while others decided to get a head-start and register for their desired classes. Registering for a class was simple. Depending on your rank and aptitude in other classes, you could qualify for another one. In other words, if a professor in "Basic Flame Magic" hasn't cleared you for that class, then you weren't allowed to apply for "Basic Massive Explosions Magic" - for safety and practical reasons, of course. Asides from that, credits from different classes were required for two things that practically everyone deemed more important than the lectures themselves - Field Trips, and Exams. Without the right amount of credits, you might be forbidden from going to a certain place, or barred from taking an exam. This wasn't a hard rule, of course, but it was still one that was easier to follow than having to go through alternative methods. It would be three days before students were allowed to sign up for Field Trips or Exams, but some students were already trying to book reservations. For Field Trips, there was a limit to the number of students that could go at once, while for Exams, well, some professors were more popular examiners than others. Especially if it meant passing. Students who signed up for classes would receive their schedule two days afterwards.