~BGM~

The world shook under each boom from the sky. With every rumble, the structures that held down the very foundations of the land crumbled beneath their own, overbearing weight. One by one, they became engulfed within the great waves of flame that spread around the globe. A fire most brilliant, it singed the soul and hungered ever more for destruction and depravity. With the crackle of the unholy embers, a scream followed not too far behind.

The world shuddered under each piercing shriek from the land. Entire structures and masses became swallowed by the untiring flames and the air itself seemed to bubble and boil with the stench of death. Those unlucky and unfortunate enough to face its wrath would be consumed without mercy, gone without a trace under the increasing flow. But those who could, would flee from the harrowing terror above.

The world groaned under each cackle from the abomination soaring up high, the Great Witch that had ushered this world into the Dark Ages. With each smite of its power, the flames that threatened to consume everything grew higher in height and ferocity. The manic sounds of shattering glass, smoldering flesh, and shriveled cries were fuel for its sickening pandemonium, its maddened quest to engulf the entire land whole. For the creator above had once said, no more water. The fire would come next-

Thump.

The Head Magister slammed the aged book with a mighty heave, their expression furrowing into a great frown. They should have known better than to read such things so early in the school year, especially when they were half-accurate anyway. Why did these adaptions always tend to…dramatize events? Pinching the bridge of their nose in exasperation, they placed the ancient tome down onto their desk, eyes flicking out to their window.

The early morning sun shined brightly today, its light passing through the archways of the school and bathing its occupants in a warm glow. Today marked a brand-new semester, a glorious new school year for Hikari Ryodan Academy. New faces and old allies came together on this first day to celebrate their beginning journey into becoming Dawn Slayers.

Oh yes, the trials would be quite difficult, and the exams would no doubt push them to their limits. But seeing them now, the crowds of students bustling into Hikari’s open gates and the various staff positioned to greet and advise them, made quick work in reversing the Head Magister’s frown. It was a welcome sight compared to the dark imagery of their readings and they quickly levitated the novel back on the many shelves surrounding their desk.

Yes, it was a bright day indeed, the Dark Ages and Great Witch having been put past all of them. Those who had fallen would be remembered and reflected in this new generation of Dawn Slayers. And while they may struggle and face trial, each and every one of them had the potential to become the subject of a future novel, one that would herald their names for time to come. Of this, the Head Magister was certain.

Circe traversed her way through the bustling crowd of students walking into the school yard. Her clothes were a little worse for ware seeing as how all the money she stole from the last gang went to paying for a sick child's treatments. She saw teachers to either side talking with students and ushering them in the right direction.

I wonder if there is some sort of uniform. I could really use a change of clothes. The young woman thought to herself, the crowd was nearing the front of the ornate school and the group got a little tighter. Circe maintained her momentum through the mob of people. As a street rat there wasn't much access to education, still she did not see that as sufficient enough excuse to not learn. When she wasn't canvasing her next group of bad guys she was at the library studying, she knew she would love it here.

The other students seemed to know where they were going, so Circe followed them quietly, always listening to their gossip, filling the information away for later. This would be the start of a new life and as she flicked her long red hair, she smiled.

"Alright Havish, three years you have trained." The tall man with grayed hair said looking down to the boy with a stern look on his face. Havish looked to the face of his father, a man that had shown him what training in this school could do for him, this was to be the time he becomes exactly what his mother tried to keep him from becoming, but was this really the life he wanted, or was it just what he had to do. Martin Greyson, a powerful mage that managed to give his family name some modicum of prestige, smiled now and hugged his son, "You will do great, don't think for a moment that you are any less powerful than anyone else here, no matter what, a Greyson always stands, be it for what is right, or for those we love, never back down, stand against them always." And he took off his own signet ring, and handed it to Havish, the boy looked at it and saw that the motto his father always said was engraved on the inside, "Hurry now, oh and when you get in you need to look for Professor Yurius, he is one of the best combat teachers, just, be ready." And the boy was pushed along to the gate.

Havish crossed the threshold of the academy and looked about at the numerous students now filing in, but he still managed to turn and wave goodbye to his Father before following the mess of people into the main yard. Teachers were spread about and were speaking to the students, however, Havish had no idea who he was looking for or how to find out. He could talk to someone, but that would mean introducing himself, and interacting with people, and what if they wanted to see some magic, he can't just perform, he coul.... no he needs to get some courage, so he meekly walked up to a random teacher, some woman, "E..excuse me, Ma'am, I.. I am looking for professor Yur...yuri.." Oh crap, he forgot the name, he just needed to say something. "Yurius?" Nailed it.

A laptop whirred and burned across a pleated skirt, yet Tholl paid it no mind as her fingers danced across the keys at speeds her secretary could only envy. Her eyes flickered from the steadily decreasing mountain of emails sent in regards to her roles as an educator and as a entrepreneur as the teacher's lounge was awash with harsh light in the wake of a casual act of witchcraft for the purpose of heating coffee. Perhaps it was her deep entrenchment in the matters of the mundane world but she found it odd how flagrant such oddities occurred in Hikari when a microwave would have sufficed. Maybe I should get the lounge a proper coffee maker?

With a click of her tongue she dismissed both the Irish coffee and the thoughts of consumerism and returned to her computer, only to find her inbox was cleared with mechanical precision. She let out a huff of disappointment and settled her device upon the desk, content the world outside was still spinning even without her at the helm. She'd like to have entertained the tiny hope her business partner would come crying for help, but it was too much to hope for a mute to raise a fuss when they were capable in their own right.

"Well I've got nothing better to do at the moment." The Spider declared as she scooped up her teacher's edition text book and a folder thicker then a fingers-breadth and rife with the print outs she'd made for this semesters opening. Compared to other teachers it could be said to be on the lean side in terms of class load, and that would be a fair assessment, as there were dreadfully few of the sort who came to Hikari who wanted to go out and integrate so openly with the mundane as to open up a store of some sort. Either the idea of a magical world full of wonders and eldritch horrors was too exciting, or the idea of forgoing overwhelming arcane power in favor of filing for licenses and hurling money into the bureaucratic machine was too boring for most to bother with. She thought it a pity, but it wasn't so disheartening as to overshadow the joy of those few who did take to her course with certain enthusiasm.

"I'm going to head to my class. I'd have liked to offer to herd the freshmen, but they'd as soon assume I was a teacher as they would the Head Mistress. Tholl chuckled and left her contemporaries who weren't already out and about to their preparations as she plunged into the tide of bodies pressed tight in the halls. Tholl was but a drop in this river, distinction only found in which direction one moved along the sides as everyone struggled against the confusion, excitement, and apprehension that turned the commute into a sluggish affair.

Yet she didn't mind this pace, occupying herself with eyeing students new and old with the anonymity of being indistinct from those around her. Dressing as a school girl may not have projected the air of authority she should command, and there had been a few occasions students outright didn't believe the youth sitting behind the desk was anymore then a daring prankster looking to get disciplined on the first day. Such mistakes made correcting them all the sweeter, a trap they walked to with all the blind eagerness of Tholl's favored meals.

As easily as she entered the current Tholl slipped free and entered a darkened room unquestioned, a flick of the finger casting light upon the rows of desks soon to be filled. "Hmm, well, partially at least. Oh well, they just makes spacing them out for testing all the easier."

Settling her teaching material upon the waiting desk, she alighted in her whirling chair and directed her gaze out the windows, breathing in the rising sun for a moment of calm before the rush fell upon her.

---

Aster stood atop the steps leading up to the doors of the Academy. Or rather, he had positioned himself just off to the left where he was leant against the wall, fully immersed in his newest smartphone game; EvoMon III, of which the volume was on full and blaring out some random chiptune battle-theme. He had been chosen as the one to usher the new arrivals into the Academy and lead them to the Great Hall for the Head Magister's welcoming speech, a punishment for the destruction of his classroom that occurred some weeks ago which had also endangered the lives of some of his students. Whilst the Head Magister had been furious at the time, they had decided against firing him from his teaching position. It was a decision that Aster had actually found himself grateful for, which came as a surprise for him since he'd never really intended to teach at the Academy.

The only reason as to why he felt grateful was naturally because of his students. Whilst he held no time for those who didn't want to learn, Aster was deeply committed to his pupils. They each shared his own passion after all; the urge to study and discover new properties of Mana. Mana itself was the basis of all abilities, so to study it's properties was essentially to study everything else that remained tied to it. The spectrum for new discoveries was vast beyond compare and Aster, followed eagerly by his students, was determined to unearth them all.

So far, Aster's punishment had been rather uneventful, he'd paused his game by now and was watching people milling about all over the place. The new members of the Academy carried on around him without interrupting Aster from his video game at all, although this was probably due to his complete lack of interest in being there. Just because the Head Magister had ordered him to be an usher doesn't mean he had to like doing it. In fact, he hated it. The majority of these kids probably didn't have the faintest clue about Mana and would more than likely prefer to spend their time here banging their heads against one another in the Combat Arenas. Now Aster appreciated the importance of Combat training for potential Dawn Slayers, but training without study wouldn't amount to much. Practicing a technique a thousand times sounds great for most people, but studying the technique in-depth, learning its strengths and weaknesses, developing new and more efficient ways of performing it was what interested Aster more. With his methodology and approach to studying, even a mere human could become a great Martial Artist.

Aster had beseeched the Head Magister many times to promote his class: Mana Manipulation 101, to a mandatory class for new students but his request had always been denied over the years. And after his most recent reprimanding still fresh in the Magister's mind, he very much doubted that things would change this year too. He sighed quietly, before pocketing his smartphone and pushing himself away from the wall. 'Time to usher these kids inside, I guess...' He thought.

"Good Morning everyone!" He began, raising his voice to address the crowd of new students that hadn't yet ascended the stairs. "If you would like to start making your way inside. Please follow me to the Great Hall." Without waiting to see who followed, Aster spun on his heels and strode towards the large wooden doors that stood as the entrance to the Hikari Ryodan Academy before coming to a stop just a few feet in front of them. He then began to raise his arms in an outstretched fashion towards the doors and used his Mana to do the rest. Raising the density of his Mana so that it would become visible and morphing it as he did so, Aster conjured what looked to be a flaming, sapphire giant that stood nearly as tall as the entrance. Then with relative ease, Aster puppeteered the giant to force open the doors which enabled the new arrivals to finally catch a glimpse of what lie in store for them. With the heavily lifting done, Aster dispersed the giant into a display of brilliant blue flames in an attempt to wow his audience before carrying on inside the Academy.

'A little bit of flare never hurt.' He smiled to himself.

Alice twisted back and forth as she stood, trying to work out some of the soreness in her back. Traveling by train had been her only real option coming to the academy, since most of the money she was getting from her renters was going right back into maintaining the house. Still, the only thing she really regretted about the trip was that she had fallen asleep sitting up, and now her back was extracting it's price for her foolishness. A small price to pay, seeing as she now stood on the threshold of what was likely the biggest event of her life. She, along with many other future Dawn Slayers, stood together before the steps of the school, waiting to begin their journey.

Then, all of a sudden, begin it they did. The person who had been leaning against the wall, presumably a teacher of some sort, turned to open the doors, urging everyone to follow him. The display he put on, while undeniably impressive, seemed wasteful to her eyes. The simple task of opening the doors could have been done without summoning a giant, right? and the way it burst into flames like that, did he get any of the energy back from summoning it? Maybe she had missed something important, she was just a student after all. She probably would have had to create something similar to open those doors anyway. Putting the issue to the back of her mind, she shrugged and followed the teacher, patting her tote bag subconsciously to check it.

Circe stood on the steps of what was to be her next few years of life. She eyed her future peers waiting for something to happen. After a few minutes of meandering a gentleman got off the wall and ushered everyone inside. He lead everyone through the halls to a giant set of doors. He began casting a spell to open the doors, which Circe watched carefully. Shifters had no tangible magic of their own aside from their shape shifting ability. Although powerful Shifters can harness an other creature or races natural abilities, it was always not as strong and always strenuous.

The man finished opening the door with a big finish and looked to see if anyone was captivated, Circe wasn't. She walked into the Great Hall, it was bigger on the inside than it appeared, with the ability to fit more than enough students. Circe walked down the aisles and found one in the middle of the room and sat down waiting to see what would happen.

---

Combat Arena

"Ow ow ow! Teacher, you truly are strong."

The student that earlier challenged him was already kneeling in front of him, as the old vampire, after victoriously humble his adversary, had his two hands placed inside his pockets, mocking his student in his friendly and familiar tone.

"You are stronger than the last time we met, but you are still weak."

Normal people would be whispering about the vampire mocking his students like that, but he had no intention to discourage him from his studies of combat. Anyone who had studied under him would know that.

"Come again."

He said simply, as both combatants left the arena.

Some of the teachers and students there were already occupied by the time Yurius was done with his fight. Some were busy advertising their classes by talking to students. And personally Yurius didn't care. He had a flowing of students from the beginner class that graduated at the end of the last school year. Some even skipped beginner class and headed straight for Intermediate, or even Advanced. Of course, they were all young frogs who were a little bit over their heads, thinking that they were on the top of the world or something. That was why Yurius's job was not to trail them into the path that he wanted them to be. Those who were genuinely willing to learn and improve would do it, naturally. And those who didn't, would not.

The long-haired vampire stood boringly in the middle of the field, his two hands still in his pockets. There was nowhere to go, or anyone to talk to. His class was right here, at this Combat Arena. Soon, the teachers and students would be heading towards their respective classes, and the students under his class would be gathering here for an introduction.

All of a sudden, Yurius noted two silhouettes coming to him. At first, he did not pay much attention to them, but as they got near, and their countenance was aiming towards him, he couldn't help but look at them. Two young humans, a male and a female. The female one Yurius knew because she was a teacher in the academy. She and Yurius did not have much history together, but his reputation was very likely to be noted by the school's staff. The other one was a slender blonde boy, who apparently looked more of a student than a teacher. Hopefully so. Yurius had once got confused of Aster being a student, because of his youthful appearance.

"E-Excuse me. Professor Yurius." She said. "There is this young man who wanted to see you."

Then, she walked away. Leaving the boy with the vampire. At first glance, it was quite a contrasting scene. An old, tall and muscular teacher, and a thin man, looking at each other. The first thing that Yurius did after seeing him was looking at him up and down a few times. And finally he asked the blonde man.

"Greetings. What do you want from me?"

@RoccanIronclad

Havish followed the female teacher to the combat arena, it was scarred from what seemed to be constant use. Within the arena were two men, one who was on a knee and the other standing nonchalantly across. As Havish approached he could tell that the man that was clearly a victor now stood in front front of him, a vampire, this was the first encounter with a supernatural creature that Havish had had, and he was terrified, what kind of man was this, why on earth was he supposed to talk to him, what was his father thinking.

Havish looked to the woman when the vampire began to speak, but, she was already moving quickly back towards the main hall. Havish stepped forward visibly a bit nervous, "Umm, my father....Martin Greyson, he umm, he told me to find you, and ask to be in your class, he said you would be able to help me, get stronger." Havish was a meek boy and in the face of a vampire of such intimidating stature was crushing the poor thing, "I need to get stronger." The sound of his voice changed to be more serious, "I have to."

Tiina Bouquet

Location: Great Hall
Time: Morning
Interacting with: @Cerces22 ~ Circe

Tiina had never been so conscious of her height before. Even for a 14 year old, she was already rather petite in stature. As she stood facing the stairs that led to the front door, she started getting second thoughts. "I know I earned this early admission into the Academy, but..." She muttered to herself. "Do I really belong here?"

There were still only a handful of students within the premises. Noticing the lack of activity amongst her peers, she rolled up her sleeve a bit and checked the time on her wristwatch. "I'm an hour early..." she tells herself. "I should look for an itinerary for now." It was then that she noticed a bulletin board at the base of the rightmost stairway with many papers stapled to it. Upon further inspection, she noticed that many of these papers were promoting various extracurricular organizations and clubs. She skimmed through most of them, but she found nothing that caught her eye too much. "I was never really much of a club person, anyway..." she sighed

She found the schedule for the orientation among all these flyers and brochures. "Okay, I'm supposed to be at the Great Hall in the second floor for the orientation..." She takes a moment to check her wristwatch again. "...51 minutes from now. I suppose I should head up there right now regardless, though. It's not like I have anything better to do." She shrugged and headed up the staircase to the second floor.

On her way up, Tiina notices a tall, pale man with a portable gaming console in his hands. She immediately recognized what game he was playing by the familiar chiptune coming out of the system's tiny speakers. As she passed beside the man, he doesn't even glance in her direction. "I've never seen anyone so immersed in a game of Pocket Monsters..." She mumbled under her breath, a tiny smile curling up her rosey cheeks. "I hope everyone here is strange and quirky like that."

Shortly after making it to the second floor, Tiina's half-elven ears picked up another familiar noise—the crash of steel on steel. Worried, she rushed over to one of the windows, only to find the combat arena on the floor below hers. Two people were sparring inside, one being a human boy and the other being a tall, well-dressed, vampiric-looking professor, with Tiina herself being the only spectator that she knew of. After a few seconds spent analyzing the battle, Tiina pouted. "This is barely a fight," was her conclusion. "The boy's clunky and rigid fighting style doesn't demonstrate beyond the basic understanding of swordplay..." She let out a sigh of disappointment. "I feel for the professor. You can tell he's trying his hardest not to erase the boy from existence."

She remained spectating the sparring session until the two decided to stop about 20 minutes later. "You are stronger than the last time we met, but you are still weak," the professor declared in a rather blunt fashion. "Come again." With that, the student bowed to his superior and walked away, looking almost as disappointed as Tiina. Just as she started turning away, she noticed someone else enter the arena: a much better-built young man with a heavy-looking gauntlet on one of his hands. Tiina cocked an eyebrow. "This looks like it's starting to get interesting."

Just as she was getting comfortable, her trained elven ears started picking up a loud commotion getting gradually closer. When she turned her head, she found the professor, the one she'd noticed playing Pocket Monsters just before, leading an enormous crowd of students up the stairs "Is it really that time already!?" she exclaimed, frantically rolling up her sleeve. Indeed, it was time to meet up in the Grand Hall.

The professor flamboyantly opened the door using a familiar, letting the army of students to spillinside, dragging poor Tiina into the Hall. Within seconds, most of the seats in the back were occupied. Eventually, she found an available seat around the middle of the Hall, next to a roughly-dressed red haired girl with a disgruntled face. "Excuse me, sorry! Coming through!" She squeezed through half of the row until she reached the seat she was looking for. She turned to face her neighbor, asking her in a nervous tone:

"E-excuse me... Is this seat taken?"

Circe was so lost in thought that she barely notice the young girl walk up to her. Circe looked up as she asked if the seat next to her was taken, she appeared to be a half elf dressed like her mother picked out her clothes, sporting a pair of glasses on her nose.

"I mean you could, but it may be unwise, no one likes being to close to a shifter. Haven't you heard?? We might steal your face." She told the young lady. "What's the deal with the glasses, don't Elves have perfect vision??" She asked the young girl.

@gummy1295

---

Combat Arena

Yurius's eyes widened considerably as he heard the young man's proposal. The vampire glanced at him again. He was surely more well-built than his previous challenger, but still not enough to not be called thin. Nervousness and anxiety were written all over his faces, only managing to get determined at the last minute. And he was trying to enter his class. His name was not on the list that Yurius got from the school's staff. So he was definitely trying to enter through unconventional means. Was he even serious with this?

He did have a mention of Martin Greyson, one of the graduates of Hikari, and an old student of Yurius, as his father. Assuming that was true, it would be natural for him to suggest his son to attend his class. But the thing was this. Martin Greyson was a skilled elementalist, a great fighter, and a person who fought for a good cause, who struggled to better himself. A worthy student. A worthy warrior. But him?

His nervousness got him not a good impression. To worry and flounder is the privilege of the weak. Nevertheless, the aged vampire knew many other students like him, walked in a pygmy, and left a giant. What mattered would be his current understanding of combat, and most importantly, whether or not, he could keep up with Yurius's teachings.

And that would be something Yurius would find out, for some part. Today. Right here. Right now.

"So you are Greyson's Junior. You wishes to enter my class? Your posture doesn't prove you capable of doing so to me. But fine, I will give you only one chance."

The vampire pointed downward, to the floor, his two eyes still locked onto his.

"Right here, right now, we will battle. One on one, no rules, no timer. If you can prove yourself in this fight, I will consider you worthy enough to attend."

Yurius tilted his head, while still staring at him, waiting for him to reply. Such a one-sided battle would bring him little joy, but this was his job after all...

@RoccanIronclad

Tiina Bouquet

Location ~ Somewhere in the seats inside the Great Hall
Time ~ Morning
Interacting With: @Cerces22

Tiina giggles. "I'm not worried about having my face stolen. Your standard face is much cuter than mine..." Her intentions were not to deprecate herself, but she wanted to flatter the Shifter girl. She knew no better way to try making friends. Upon finishing that sentence, she let an awkward laugh and with a shaky hand, she pushed the bridge of her glasses up. "Oh, yeah. You were wondering about my glasses, weren't you?" Her confidence restored, she took them off, and her emerald irises sparkled for a second. "I'm not wearing these glasses to aid my vision at all. I'm wearing them in the same way you would a bracelet or a piece of jewelry. Its purpose is to accent the image of a responsible girl. you see?"

"My name's Tiina, by the way." she introduced herself out of nowhere. "I'm surprised to see a Shifter here. You're the first one I've ever met in my entire life!" Her elven emerald eyes start to sparkle again as she went into a rant on everything she'd read about Shifters. "I hear Shifters are masters of disguise that have developed the technique to avoid radar detection. How in the world did anyone from the staff here manage to get hold of you?"

Circe smiled at the girls compliment. She sat there listening to her on why she wears her glasses. Than as suddenly as Greg the crazy homeless guy on 78th street, her attitude changed. She began questioning Circe about her race.

"I am unsure about the rest of my people, I have been on the streets alone for a few years now. As to masters of disguise, I currently am able to hold any non-magical based animal shape up to a hour long. The biggest I can go is a about horse sized. I am just as lost as you to how they found me.
I never stayed anywhere longer than six months, they must of been tracking me. Though I never heard of us being able to avoid radar detection, to be honest, I don't know much about my own people. My father was a confidence man, and my mother a cat burglar. My name is Circe by the way." She said bemusedly to the half elf.

A video had begun playing on a screen in front of her, giving a short history on the school and Dawn Blades. Circe only half paid attention to the video, everyone knew the history already, she hoped this didn't set the tone for the school, big flashy shows of powers from the teachers, and boring common knowledge presented in different ways.

"Honestly, I am unsure on why I was selected to begin with.
Aren't you supposed to be basically high moral people to come here?? I was a street urchin that did anything to survive." She said to the young girl waiting for a response.

@gummy1295

“If everyone had the right requirements, then that would defeat the purpose of being taught as a student. Wouldn’t you say so, Circe?”

The Shifter would be able to hear the words loud and clear, not missing a beat. But if Circe looked to discover the origin of said voice, she would only find the surroundings of the Great Hall and the students bustling in crowds. There was no doubt the voice had resonated in her mind only, coming off as a form of telepathy. The question of who was reading her mind though, would be answered very much in short notice.

When the Vice Principal and Scarlet Sage herself, Reiko Asamiya, had entered the Great Hall and walked onto the stage, many of the students began to settle down. The educational film projected on the screens were running to their end as more and more people, staff and student alike, noticed Reiko’s presence. Some of the students shifted in their seats nervously, mistaking the stern woman to be the Head Magister herself.

But to their surprise, Reiko positioned herself off to the side with crossed arms, eyeing the crowd below like a hawk in perch. A few moments later, and the actual Head Magister walked onto the stage to her podium. Surely this was some kind of joke, yes? Some practical scheme or jest? Because the person standing in front of them all didn’t look like she was the Principal of Hikari Ryodan, let alone the Head Magister. In fact, she looked to be just as old as some of them, if not younger. That certainly explained the short podium.

Yet the staff knew better, each of them able to recognize the distinct appearance of their Principal, Miss Aria. Whether Circe knew it or not, it was Aria who had been the gentle voice in her head. Even now, Aria smiled down at the new and familiar faces surrounding her. This was going to be a very fun year.

A microphone was positioned at the front of the podium and Aria tapped into the device only once. "Greetings. Welcome new and old to the beginning of another innovative year here at Hikari Ryodan Academy. I am your current and residing Headmistess; but you may call me, Miss Aria." A round of applause followed that statement by some of the enthusiastic staff and she held her urge to sigh. "You are here today because you seek purpose in your life," Aria continued. "A purpose that will benefit the balance of our world and bring harmony to all. Your new purpose...as a Dawn Slayer."

What followed was the typical greeting speech she gave each year to the younglings, making a mental check-in on Yurius and his duel. After all, she didn’t want the vampire to keep a student from missing crucial information on orientation day. A few more passing words and soon, Aria wrapped it up with, “But let us skip our tiring responsibilities for now. Today is a free day for all the students here. A day where you can explore the campus and the like. Please, feel free to direct any and all questions you may have to either myself or your professors."

A small smile graced her lips as she began to sense the positive energy radiating from the crowd before her. This method always worked in pumping up a fresh class for the beginning of the school year. "Please keep in mind that classes will begin immediately tomorrow morning at their regularly scheduled time frame. Until then, please enjoy your stay here as you embrace your new life. Welcome, one and all to Hikari Ryodan Academy."

A thunderous applause accompanied her finishing lines, the Head Magister soon moving off the stage.

Tiina Bouquet
Location: Inside the Great Hall
Time: About 9:00 AM
Interacting with: Circe @Cerces22

"Honestly, I am unsure on why I was selected to begin with.
Aren't you supposed to be basically high moral people to come here? I was a street urchin that did anything to survive."

Tiina thought upon the issue that her neighbor had just presented her with. "Geez, Circe, I wish I--" The rest of her sentence was drowned out by the raucous applause of her fellow students. As soon as she noticed the tall red-headed woman in the witch's outfit--complete with hat and... cigarette?--walk up to the stage out of the corner of her eye, the entirety of her attention shifted to the woman who she incorrectly labeled as the principal of the entire academy.

Much to her surprise, the lady takes a position next to the podium, narrowing her eyes at the entire crowd of freshmen. "She's dressed like that... and yet, I find her stare so intimidating..." Tiina gasped. For the briefest of moments, the girl noticed a sparkle in the teacher's burning red eyes, a sparkle not unlike the one shown in her own green eyes. "Maybe she's wearing enchanted contact lenses or something. What do you think, Circe?"

No answer. Circe, doubled over with her hands on her head, appeared to be quite busy at the moment. Tiina, apparently the only person around Circe to give a crap, placed her trembling hand on the redhead's shoulder, whispering, "Hey, Circe... Are you o--" The rest of her question was drowned out by the raucous applause of the crowd. Tiina's face jerked up towards the stage out of instinct, where she noticed someone walking atop the stage: a tall redheaded woman in a skimpy witch's outfit, complete with a huge meter-tall hat that tapers to a point. Tiina takes a moment to analyze this woman physically...

As she notices the lady walk towards the podium, Tiina's elven ears could clearly listen to her pumps as they clacked every time they'd land on the floor with every step she took, and her elven eyes, much like those of most men in the audience, were fixated on her bouncing chest. "There's no way those are real..." Tiina mutters before placing a hand on her own chest and scowling in disappointment.

Much to the surprise of many students inside, the lady actually walked beyond the podium and sat on a chair a few meters away. Shortly afterwards, she was followed up by a much younger looking young lady in slightly more extravagant clothing... "That must be her daughter or something, right?" is what she wanted to say, but her eyes grew wide open and her mouth was sealed shut as soon as the girl stopped and began adjusting the microphone at the podium. "No way."

Time Update: One speech later...

"Wow, I never thought the Head Magister would look like that! I was totally expecting a man in a soot-stained red cloak and a really long white beard... Don't you think so, Circe?"

She turned to her right, only to find Circe's seat completely empty. "Damn, I really hope it wasn't anything I said..."

Location Update: Outside the Grand Hall

Tiina felt like she were admitted to an amusement park by herself. There were so many things to see and so many places to explore, but unlike many of the students surrounding her, she had no one around to make her sound smarter than she already is...

...That, and she felt very insecure about her surrounding environment, being the second shortest being she'd met ever since she walked through the front gates... Second only to the Head Magister, of course.

"So... where to?" Tiina asked herself as she vaguely walked around, recalling the map she had just memorized when she stopped by the lobby earlier.

rumble, rumble...

Tiina winced as her stomach groaned in pain. "Agh... Point taken, tummy." she spoke to herself. "Food comes first."

---

'Well that was entirely boring.' Aster thought to himself as he left the Great Hall, wholly engrossed in unwrapping one of his favourite brand of cola-flavored lollipops. Despite being his preferred choice of sweet, Aster had always been infuriated by the difficulty of removing the wrapper. Inevitably, he was forced to resort to using a sharpened fang in order to open it, as per usual. Finally successful, he discarded the defeated sweet wrapper into a designated bin along the large academy walkway, one which he had taken to return to the refuge of his office, popping the sugary confectionery into his mouth as he did so.

As was the same with every one of the Magister's Opening Speeches in recent years, Aster had to refrain from pulling out his phone so that he might cure his boredom by playing EvoMon III. He could still very much remember Vice Principle Reiko's fury towards him some years back, followed swiftly by an actual ass-kicking, when he'd been caught playing an earlier prequel to his current smartphone game towards the back of the Hall during a particularly energetic orientation speech. Aster could occasionally feel the scarred burn mark on the back of his left hand from one of Reiko's cigarettes. He kept it as a reminder of the consequences for his actions, however, his successful capture of a Platinum-Rare Osebon during the speech had made the entire ordeal totally worth it.

Aster had never intentionally caused trouble for himself, or the Academy for that matter, even despite the near-destruction of his classroom a few weeks back. Things just seemed to go awry whenever he was in the vicinity, though he would never admit to it being through any fault of his own. Bad things happened to everyone at all times, he just so happened to be around for a lot of them. Many of his peers were quick to pin it to his Demonic heritage, although to that notion he merely laughed. Demons were misunderstood as it was. But Demon Princes? They were a whole new level entirely. Virtually unknown, 90% of the Earthen Realm's population didn't even know of their existence, let alone that one had made their way into this realm and was currently teaching at one of the most prestigious Magical Academies in history.

The largest contributing factor was that the Demon Princes were almost extinct. These days only a handful remained. The last census had the number at around 45, not including half-breeds. The reasons behind their critically endangered status had been kept hidden behind stories and legends, none of which could be verified by anyone save the Council of Elders, who themselves only knew the truth from 2 surviving members of the 'Old Times.' The most prominent legend, however, had it that the Princes had once aligned themselves with the Great Witch only to be nearly hunted to extinction by the very first of the Dawn Slayers after the Witch's downfall. To Aster, this had always seemed like the most likely of occurrences. The Demon Princes had forever stationed themselves above the other Demon races, acting like some kind of royalty, which explained their chosen name. And even now, in their direst of times, certain elements of the remaining numbers still considered themselves superior to all others.

As he meandered down the walkway, Aster considered the history of his race and what his kin would think of him nurturing the future generation of Dawn Slayers.

The speech was barely finished before Circe had gotten up and left. The half elf Trina mumbled something but she wasn't paying attention, she felt invaded when the midget headmistress spoke in her head. The intrusion was annoying, but even she wasn't stupid enough to confront her in any sort of battle.

She walked through the halls, her ears picking up conversations as she went through. She wasn't on the streets anymore but that didn't mean she couldn't still collect information. To her that was where the true power was information, to the well informed everything could be at their fingerprints. Knowledge could save lives, and she knew the best place to go for that knowledge.

Before long Circe found herself in front of the library, the basis of all information within Hikari School. She walked in and the librarian looked up, surprised a student came to her library on the first day.

"I want to know... Everything, everything there is to know." Circe told the librarian.

---

Due to the much larger number of students being enrolled that year, Roland and the other stragglers struggled to find an empty seat before the movie ended and the orientation finally began. Locating a spot and plopping down just as the credits rolled on the film, his focus fell upon the stage as the lights came on and the Head Magister took the stage. Though she had a stern and serious gaze on her face, any intimidation was lost on the ridiculous outfit she was wearing. Roland had heard that the Head Magister was actually much older than she looked, so perhaps the outdated witch garb was professional in her day? Still, she had to realize nobody would take the words of someone in a giant pointy hat seriously. Of course, that wouldn’t be a problem as the woman then took the side of the podium, indicating that she was actually the vice-principal. Really? Then who was…

It was then a girl who couldn’t have been older than any of the first years walked up to the podium and introduced herself as Headmistress Miss Aria. Needless to say, Roland and many others there were stunned. This was the Head Magister? At best she looked like she could be student body president, not one of the oldest and most powerful Dawn Slayers. This had to be a trick. At some point during the speech they would say “Gotcha!” and trade places, right? Nope. As Miss Aria continued the speech Roland slowly realized this was the real deal.

The orientation brought about many questions, but all would have to wait as one question took precedence; where to now? Miss Aria had announced it was a free day to roam and explore, but Roland wasn’t exactly sure where. Following the other students as they emptied the great hall, Roland pulled out his phone and opened a map of the academy. Forgetting to look up from his device as he scanned for any point if interest, Roland failed to notice the centaur in front of him had stopped.

An “Ooof!” escaped Roland as he walked straight into the centaur’s flank causing him to stumble backwards and fall on the ground. “Sorry about that. My bad. Really need to watch where I'm going.” Roland said pushing himself off the floor. Once he was standing, he saw the reason for the centaur’s sudden halt was a staircase he had only just begun to descend. ”You, uh, need help there?

@Silver Carrot