Havish looked to the vampire in front of him, was he serious? Was he actually going to fight him right now, right here? Havish looked at his hands a moment, what should he even do to fight him, his father always told him to attack always, that his armor wasn’t going to save him from an opponent forever. Havish kind of settled into his combative stance, it was shaky but the foundations were there. Havish concentrated for a moment, if he was going to go for a direct attack his armor was the wrong spell to use, so he cast a spell to increase his physical strength. Havish’s body began to swell, it was only a minor change but it was noticeable, “Ok, alright, I have to get in.” and his pressed forward with a direct attack to the vampire’s face.

Yurius didn’t even need to signal the start, as the man in front of him already made his move after settling into his combat stance. His fist was aiming straight for his face. Bold.

”Heh…”

With only a chuckle, Yurius quickly brought his right hand up, catching the young man’s arm at his wrist, thus stopping the momentum of the attack before it could reach his face. His other hand was still inside his pocket, as he initially thought that this battle would not last very long. But the strength of this young candidate over here appeared to be a lot more than the last one, or any newcomers that the old vampire knew. It was significantly less than the vampire’s strength, but was no means feeble.

Yurius, having his arm in his control, immediately swung his arms sideways, before retracting the remaining arms out of his pocket. He raised his two hands to his chest level, his fingers curled into fists, as he began bouncing up and down, akin to a boxer. His right hand was bouncing notably faster than his left one, a discreet notification that he was about to launch the attack. After a bit more than a second, the vampire delivered a straight-up thousand pound punch to the young man’s chest.

Having began to panic, how could he have ever thought that going toe to toe with a vampire, especially one that teaches combat, was a good plan. With his hand trapped there was nowhere to go when the man delivered his counter attack, and as the fist drew near Havish thought, “No, no, no, no!” The impact was immense, Havish thought for sure he was going to puke or pass out, the sound of cracking was loud and sharp… no, that was pain, Havish looked down and saw that he managed to summon his armor in his panic, it was shattered and piercing into his chest but he wasn't dead and more so he was still awake. Having knew he wouldn't be winning but he could still make a show of it. Having gave what magic he had left, pulled down on the teachers arm and went for a full force knee to the man's undercarriage, hopefully even vampires still felt that.

Yurius noticed his knee coming straight at him, as the guy basically took advantage of the redundancy of his previous punch. He could have used his other leg to block it, or the other arm to direct it somewhere else, but he was pretty fast himself. And Yurius wasn’t even trying to defeat him anyway, but this was rather a test of strength and will. And as he was witnessing, the guy was pretty much in a bad shape after only the first blow. But he was having a certain amount of will to it. Normal students would have hugged their rib cages in pain and pleaded him to stop. And so the vampire simply just took the blow to himself.

”Hmm…”

That was quite painful.

The vampire took a step back reflexively, as he swept the area where the young man hit him, nodding smugly and challengingly, as his lips curved into a smile. As a chuckle was heard, he continued his stances, bouncing up and down, left and right, his arms held at the chest level, threatening to strike his deadly powerful punches at any moment. Then, after a few seconds, he threw forward another set of punches, this time towards his two shoulders.

Having backed up from the vampire after his successful attack for a moment he felt a rush, like something out of a movie, maybe he had a chance after all, that was until the taste of blood in his mouth reminded him that he was already looking at broken ribs, even with the armor it wasn't much protection not yet at least. When the next few attacks came Havish moves to try and deflect, but only managed to keep from a broken collarbone as well. The lights around him started to fade at the edge of his sight, he burned through what energy he had and barely touched the aged vampire, what kind of school is this, but right before passing out he could here the sound of the bell signaling the orientation. Havish looked at the vampire, he held up his hands, they were shaking and tired though still he waited, ”no timer right? I’m not.. not done yet.” And with his broken armor now fizzling away as the last mana he had faded he still waited.

He didn’t even try to dodge the punches? That’s stupid.

Yurius was holding back the urge to claw his own neck, triggering his adrenaline rush and go all power up against his opponent, but even his normal punches were already sending him to a trip of pain. Letting the guy witness his true power would easily result in his oblivion. Although trying to deflect the blows, he was taking a quite a harsh beating. The vampire did not know if he was stupid, or had a tremendous willpower.

The vampire halted his attack for a few seconds. And the guy was still trying to stand his ground. Not done yet? Hell, any students would have ended up faceplanting on the ground now.

”Heh, just like your father.”

The test was nearly over.

Yurius knew that the guy wouldn’t have enough strength to go on much longer, so he began disregarding the combat stances, and purely tried to land another punch to his torso. It was clearly trying to test his intuition, to see which approach he would use against this.

Havish saw the fist coming, it was slow, much more than the others, what for? Havish braced himself and waited until the fist struck. The pain wasn't there anymore as he stumbled back, he found himself falling back and landing flat on his back. One blow, that was all he managed, was that good? Bad? Was it enough for what he wanted? But at this point even his own voice faded as he fell asleep. A light trail of blood leaked for his lips and his chest was cut from his armor shattering, but for a sweet moment he was quite proud of himself.

’He isn’t even trying to dodge it...’

This was surely not a good approach. Both for himself, and for the vampire.

The young man simply just took the blow directly, as he stumbled a few steps back, and then fell to the ground, motionless.

”Hmph…”

He was by no means feeble. But his stupidity was simply beyond imagination. Seriously, taking all his punches, even if he knew that each one worth thousands of pounds of forces, many times stronger than a normal human could ever perform, if that wasn’t unwise, Yurius wouldn’t know what will.

The bell for orientation had already finished ringing, and the Headmistress was beginning her speech. She was linking it to the vampire telepathically to get his heads up on important information, since he was busy in the middle of his test. Important information were passed onto him, as Yurius tried to keep this in mind, despite having heard this information for so many years. Perhaps luckily, ultimately she had given the students a day off, without classes. Good, since this guy wouldn’t have the strength to go anywhere anyway.

Seriously, this was beyond expectation.

”You have a whole lot to learn, child.”

Yurius walked close to him, as the young man still laid flaton the ground, and picked him up with his two arms, and placed him on his shoulder, as he headed for the infirmary.

”Excuse me.” The vampire politely opened the door to the infirmary, addressing the person inside. ”I have a patient for you.”

He casually, as he usually did multiple times in the past school years, walked into the room and gently placed the man onto a bed. He was in a pretty bad situation, but the old vampire believed in the nurse’s power to heal wounds and things like that. He should be fine. Yurius could have been more gentle, but he couldn’t blame himself for the man’s decisions of taking in all his punches like that. And now he would have to wait to pass onto this guy the information that he had missed in orientation, also the result of this test.

The old teacher’s eyes frowned into wrinkles.

”So wearisome…”

@RoccanIronclad

Tiina Bouquet
Location: Outside the Grand Hall
Time: About 20 minutes after the Head Magister's speech.
Interacting with: @KoL ~ Aria and Reiko

"Ugh, I can't believe this." Tiina had been running in circles across the many hallways, lost in thought. She was so nervous, her photographic memory was beginning to fail under both pressure and hunger. She could always ask a teacher or an upperclassman to help her out, but she didn't want to embarrass herself asking someone else for directions when she was supposed to use her special talents to maneuver her way through the building.

Tiina's stomach rumbled, sending a small pang of pain through her body. "All right, jeez!" she grunted angrily at her own stomach. "I'll ask someone in the faculty office. Now, in which floor was the office again?" With that said, she made a beeline for the staircase, the braided green hair bouncing with every stride she took.

As she hastily dashed downstairs from the third floor to the second floor hallway, she noticed a pair of staff members, who were just about to leave the Grand Hall through the front exit that leads to this same hallway. Tiina didn't notice that the two were about to exit, and by the time she managed to realize that the large wooden doors had swung open, it was too late.

Oof!

Tiina crashed into the wooden gate, making a loud, reverberating boom noise. "Oww..." she whined as she stumbled around in a daze, trying to regain her footing. Alas, Tiina fell over, landing on her buttocks. As for the two staff members that just so happened to be opening the gates at the moment, the heavy doors were sturdy enough to prevent Tiina from crashing into them.

"Ah... Miss Vice-Principal. Great Magister... I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

Duncan was not surprised as to the appearance of the Head Magister, as was in fact slightly confused as to the other students being so taken aback by her. Then again, he'd spent a lot of his life in the company of fellow 'mythical' creatures, and he himself had gotten many funny looks arriving at this school. Even in the ranks of the Dawn Slayers, Duncan would be an oddity, it seemed. Then again, many of his peers were too bitter at humanity to be counted on as it's protectors, while simultaneously mistrusting of Demons and other Creatures of Darkness. To Duncan, the fact that so many of the teachers at this school were the supposed, and in some cases actual former, enemies of mankind, was one of the main selling points and something to be excited about.

With the assembly over, Duncan decided to head to his dorm room and chill out for a few hours to recover from the flight over from Britain. After that, he'd go for a run at night and then see what everybody else was doing. Barely a minute into this plan and his progress was scuppered; there was a staircase out of the hall leading down to the rest of the building, and Duncan almost went down it without thinking before she put the breaks on and prepared himself to go down very slowly and carefully. His large frame will block half the stairwell, but it couldn't be helped. He'd try to go down as fast as he could. However, his sudden breaking meant the student behind him got a sudden face of horse's tail and Duncan got pushed over the top step and almost went down a fair few more but for his grip on the handrail.

"It's ok. I shouldn't have stopped at the top of the stairwell, but yes, I would like some help. I didn't know there was a staircase here, and hooves and stairs are not a good combination. I'm not blocking the whole way, am I? Or has everyone already left?"

@TheWindel@Awesomoman64

---

"Looks like you behaved yourself this year," spoke a high, saccharine voice from behind the Demon Prince. Like everything else about the Lady Obsidian, it was deceptive and misleading. Even in the domesticated, professional role of teacher, which Ms. Mako did take very seriously, she was still mischievous, cunning and took more pleasure in drama and chaos than a teacher perhaps should. She had been watching the students with interest, wondering who would be the good kids, the bad kids, the smart kids, the dumb kids, who would be good at combat and whose talents lay elsewhere. She also wondered how many of the kids knew she was a Witch, and of the ones who didn't, what their reactions would be.

Mako had been teaching here for over twenty years, and in that time, she had grown to enjoy breaking the news that she was a Witch. Yes, some kids feared or hated her as a result, and some never stopped, but for that one moment of shock and surprise, it was worth it. It used to be a different story when she was young and proud, and feared nothing more than to be hated by her own students for who she was. It took her several years to get comfortable in the position. Many times, she had wanted to quit, but she knew she couldn't go back to practicing a taboo art of magic in secret, and all the suspicion and hearsay that came with that. She was named 'Lady Obsidian' after the sharpened glass athame that she carried in her boot. It was not a weapon in her hands, and she had only sharpened it so that it could pierce her own skin for when she needed virgin blood, but still, a Witch wondering around with a sharp knife wasn't the most comforting of thoughts to the Dawn Slayers. In truth, she became a teacher because prison was her only other option. That fact was never stated, but Akane was no fool. It was the truth.

That's where her friendship with Aster started. Demon Princes at Witches had a lot in common; they were both feared and misunderstood, and were both rare and small in number nowadays. That they held no prejudices against each other, and both had a lax yet respectful attitude to the faculty code of conduct, and a strong sense of humor, helped their friendship grow even further. Rumors started amongst students that there was something going on between them romantically, which Mako didn't help by pretending that the rumors were true in front of any student who pestered her, and joked about the situation with Aster.

"What do you think of this year's lot?" she asked in the present, smiling with her eyes closed as she walked beside him.

@Kalas

Havish laid in the infirmary bed, unconscious and in pretty bad shape, but in his mind he could still hear his own voice, it was saying something to him under its breath, like someone that was shouting from a hundred yards away, he couldn't hear it though. Havish strained trying to understand the words, he tried to move to it but it never came any closer.

Havish's eyes slowly flickered open as he looked up to see the nurse that was casting some form of healing magic, it kind of hurt as he could feel his body pulling itself back together, he also saw the vampire teacher that had must have brought him here, professor Yurius, that was not Havish's best plan to go and fight him, he should have just accepted that he wouldn't be in the class, now he wouldn't get in and he was beaten to a pulp, and lastly, he saw what appeared to be a stack of papers with his name on them. His eyes flared open as he realized what the battle had cost him, he had missed the opening ceremony, he hadn't even thought about it as he came in, only that his father had told him to find Yurius, probably so he could learn to fight but now he was in trouble for it.

"Professor, I... I'm not getting into the class, am I?"

Havish seemed upset, his first day here was falling apart quickly and he wasn't sure how long he was going to even last in a school like this, if he was supposed to fight every teacher to get into a class then he would have no class load at all. All Havish wanted was to control his abilities and use them to protect people that needed it and now this hope was starting to slip.

@Conscripts

Circe left the library, her hunger pulling her away from the bountiful amounts of knowledge behind her. She followed signs towards the cafeteria wondering what kind of food they would be serving. As she turned the corner she chanced upon a Centaur and a human, the centaur seemed to be struggling to go down the stairs. She stopped next to them and put her hand on the banister, she looked down and saw no students below.

"You guys are aware that there are elevators, and other accessible ways around the school right??" She didn't even wait for a response from the boys before flinging herself over the banister and landing swiftly on the stairs below. She continued on her way to cafeteria, as she did so she heard some students saying how professor Making and a Demon Prince professor were secretly together. Circe took that bit of information and filled it away, never know when these things could be useful.

Eventually she was in front of the cafeteria, the muted smells drifted through the door. She opened it up and attacked by the aroma of many different foods. The lunch room was large enough to fit several hundred students inside. Circe walked up and grabbed a tray for food, as she searched the line of delicacies she found her ultimate comfort food. Grilled cheese and tomato soup pilled up on her tray she sat down to eat.

---

Infirmary to Cafeteria

The time it took for the nurse to heal this guy was wearisomely boring. All in all, for an opening of the new school year, it wasn't entertaining for the aged vampire at all. Soon, he could see a familiar coming his way, carrying two stacks of papers or something.

"Aayyy...here comes the trouble."

He had gotten things like this a few times during his stay here. Reiko was as strict as usual. It was natural for a human to see that as unacceptable. But it was a good first-hand experience for anyone who was going to attend his class. Yurius only produced the best in this academy. And to be the best, you had got to know what it took.

"Fine, whatever." The vampire glanced at the paperwork they had given him for his conduct. Yurius respected Reiko, but she could scarcely understand his ways. Or rather, the vampire could scarcely understand common senses at all.

Soon after, the boy woke up, his eyes filled with worries and disappointment. That look, that face, he looked just like his father when the vampire took him under his wings. It looked pathetic and weak. Yurius didn't like it, really really didn't. But eventually, it worked out between both of them. So hopefully it would for this guy. After all, he appeared to have the will to fight.

Yurius stood up, as he listened to the boy. Making a sigh, he addressed him, in his usual manner.

"To be honest, in that test fight, I am NOT impressed." He said harshly. "You are no means lacking in power, but your puerile tactics doom you. Remember that I hadn't even used a quarter of my power on you. Taking me straight on, hmph..."

But then his voice became more gentle, but still austere, stern and slightly mocking.

"But at least you did not refuse to unleash your all." He said. "For that reason..."

Yurius then pointed at him, and then himself.

"I shall give you a chance to attend. But I will not help you if you can't persevere. Make the most of it."

He finished at that. Then he passed on the information that the student missed during orientation before leaving the infirmary, with the stack of paperwork in hand. Such a hassle, but he could finish it in the night. Therefore, the old vampire decided to head elsewhere instead. Two fights in a single day. They were all dismally weak, but it was still some physical work, which made him pretty worn in terms of hunger. The aroma of food was mesmerizing, but as a vampire, it was merely like junk food. Although he did order a few steaks, it did not help him quench his hunger at all. Not because it was too little, but because it was not for a vampire's appetite.

The only thing that strengthened him was blood.

The academy would never allow someone to roam around sucking other people's blood, but since there was a vampire who lived and taught in the school, they had a special area that gave him that, or to any vampiric students who had such appetite. Taking with him were a few steaks and a glass of juicy red blood, the vampire sat down in a corner to enjoy his 'delicious' meal.

@RoccanIronclad

---

"Looks like you behaved yourself this year."

Aster smiled as the words reached his ears from behind, Ms. Mako's sickly-sweet voice had interrupted his thoughts once again. There had been a time when Akane's random appearances had startled him but he had learnt to expect them from her by now, especially so whenever he thought he might be alone. Her gentle teasing referred to his many antics during prior opening speeches, even despite his considerably reformed behavior in recent years. Something made him think that she actually preferred Aster to cause trouble, Akane was certainly mischievous like that.

Aster turned his head slightly to regard her and slowed his pace to allow her to walk beside him. "Fourth year in a row, but who's counting?" He replied rhetorically, flashing his pristine, white teeth. Moments later, a trio of female students walked past them headed in the opposite direction, giggling to each other as they eyed the two teachers walking together. Aster could only chuckle to himself. It seemed that rumours between him and Ms. Mako were as rampant as ever. He wasn't looking forward to the incessant questions he'd be getting once the first-years got around to hearing them. Aster and Akane's supposed 'relationship' had been the subject of the Academy's gossip groups for as long as he could remember. And whilst he had always insisted on dismissing them as such, not wanting to give any credit toward the school rumor-mill, Akane had done just the opposite. Something he was never particularly enthralled about, although wasn't ever really annoyed by it either.

Akane had always been a troublesome woman, much like himself, and she often joked about it whenever they were together, so he had come to the conclusion that it had just always been her way of having fun, rather than being anything serious, which he wasn't too bothered about. Besides, there were certainly worse looking women to have rumors going around with.

"What do you think of this year's lot?" Mako asked, changing her tone slightly but not too much.

"Ahh, you should know me by now, Akane. I never make any assessments before I've eaten." He replied, the glorious smell of breakfast wafting through the corridors from the Dining Hall, making him salivate. His Demonic senses allowed him to sample the aromatic flavors of bread, bacon and coffee far more intensely than any Human could. "C'mon, what say you? A bite to eat to show the Humans how civilized we can be?" Aster offered, winking toward her as he did so.

Circe sat at the table, eating lunch that put the best soup line to shame. She had paperwork in front of her detailing every class the school offered, the young shifter wanted to take them all. But she knew that wasn't going to happen. As she looked over she caught the sight of an imposing figure walk into a secluded section. Curious she went off to where the man went, she walked in and saw he was a vampire, eating his food. She knew the school had a vampiric combat instructor, she wanted to be part of his class.

"Good afternoon professor, I am a new student, I would be greatly interested in joining your class." She invited herself to sit across from him, Circe had a tendency to be a straight forward person.

"I don't mean to intrude really, but I figured it would be easier to talk directly to you than trying to get the information from somewhere else." She's was cavalier in her demeanor, but she had seen vampires fight before, and if he was an instructor, she knew he would be formidable. "I am a Shifter, you see. And would like to build upon the flimsy combat experience I do have." She awaited the professors response.

@conscripts

“You do know you didn’t need to wear that, right? Vice Principal Reiko Asamiya.” The Head Magister looked up at the Scarlet Sage, taking in the rather out of date get-up she was sporting. True, Reiko was not a pure witch in the sense, but it certainly did match her rank and title as a mage. Though Aria was already preparing a speech made in case anyone got triggered at the attire; it was bad enough witches still had an ongoing stigma attached to them these days.

The flame appearing on Reiko’s shoulder would see no need for herself, Aria already deeply in-tuned with the ongoings of Hikari’s campus. She had mixed feelings about Yurius battering a new student, but that happened ever year; what else was new? Nevertheless, she made sure to send the vampire a mental copy of her orientation, perking an eye as Reiko issued punishments in due order.

“I think I’ll go check on the student later. I hope he doesn’t get the idea all of our staff are as burly as Yurius,” she said with a small sigh. At the very least, it would help boost his morale a little, she hoped. With Reiko’s familiars set about with their task and the promise of sweets, Aria returned the smile in equal favor with a nod. “Yes, let’s-” But a loud thud and a verbal grunt would interrupt her words.

Concerned, Aria looked ahead to see one of the freshman had collided with the opening door marking their exit of the Great Hall. The Head Magister tilted her head before smiling, leaning down and offering a hand to the half-elf. “Are you ok? Sorry we didn’t see you…ah, you’re the girl who was sitting next to Circe during the speech! It’s pleasure to meet you.” How Aria might have known that was questionable, though it was hardly difficult for the Head Magister herself.

Havish Greyson

Havish was alone now, sitting in the infirmary healed nearly completely from the fight, he felt great, a bit demoralized by the stack of homework he was already assigned, but knowing that he had done enough to get into the class, that was a prize for sure, no amount of homework could take that from him. He put the papers into his pack and got up to head out into the school, an air of confidence, however small, hung off him a bit as he walked down the hall.

"I need to find the cafeteria as well, I'm starving..."

Havish talked to himself as he walked, a habit he had a hard time kicking, he just mumbled about the fight what he thought he could do differently, the advice of the teacher, the look of the halls, everything around him was so interesting and new. As he reached the cafeteria, the smell of food was ever present and delightful, as he entered he got a few odd glances, he hadn't thought that his missing the orientation would have been that noticeable, but some people could tell that he was new and unfamiliar. Havish took a plate of what just looked like a small loaf of bread, cream cheese, and some sausage, then he sat alone at a nearby table.

Oh well, I guess I deserve this, I should have just waited. he thought to himself.

---

"What?" The single word echoed with a dull base through the nearly vacant classroom as the speaker looked through eyes not her own and viewed the opening ceremony from the perspective of a colloquially named 'Daddy Long Legs' standing primly among the rafters. Such a stunned utterance came from sudden declaration that classes were waved away for the first day, causing Tholl to glare at her neatly ordered folder of print outs with a mixture of disdain and abject exhaustion. "I got myself sicced up for nothing. Scholastic blue balls on the first day."

With a groan from both chair and occupant she tossed the folder into a desk drawer and departed the classroom, finding the traffic of students to be less energized then when they were rushing off to meet deadlines. Trundling along amidst the blobs of chattering students she followed her nose where many were already destined and slipped into the cafeteria in the hopes of finding something to occupy her time. Or more accurately, she carried through the motions of such a search, when in reality she knew quite well who she was seeking.

Side stepping past the doorway she pressed herself to the wall and come shoulder to shoulder with a refined maid- Well, elbow to shoulder, if Tholl were to account for Lotte's stature. Even with such an anachronistic attire and the sheer scale of the burden affixed to her back, the Kitsune was an ideal servant, imposing an aura that told anyone without an existing fetish to ignore the help and carry on with their day.

"Wonderful job here as usual, Lotte. My spiders could hardly spin a strand without being dusted to death." Tholl said with a nudge and a smirk, her tone amused and without heat to it. "Don't suppose you prepared anything for carnivores on a liquid diet, did you? Fruit smoothies are all well and good, but what I wouldn't give for some yummy Youkai about now. Maybe I could have a nibble of you, aye?"

---

Cafeteria

The vampire was enjoying his precious glass of blood when a student suddenly came up to him. The girl had lengthened pink hair, and a seemingly formal tone. Maybe it was because of her relationship to him, a student to a teacher. The girl asked Yurius for a favor, all too familiar to the vampire: a ticket to attend his class.

"If your combat experience is flimsy, then you should ask the beginner level combat class."

He said, but when he reminded himself that she was a Shifter, as she had just mentioned, he couldn't help but give her some initial potentials. In his early days, he had fought against opponents, many of whom were able to shift into animals. And they were effective, to say the least. Enough to entertain him...

"I do not tend to accept students unconventionally, unless they prove themselves to me directly."

Yurius said. But then again, the vampire suddenly remembered the previous battle. Him blowing him into unconsciousness, and earned him a stack of paperwork, which was sitting right next to his meal here. He wouldn't want another stack to toll on the numbers. But he couldn't simply let the girl pass so easily

He would need a different approach.

"For starters, what exactly can you shift into?"

@Cerces22

@Conscripts

Circe waited patiently while the vampire seemed to constantly his mind on letting her in. When he finally asked about her transformations she was hesitant to answer, she was still uneasy talking about her powers.

"I can, as if right now, take the form of any basic animal the size of a horse or smaller. Any animal smaller than a large dog and I can shift rapidly. Because of my fighting style, I tend to stick to the faster animals like birds of prey and felines. Although if backed into a corner I do enjoy shifting to a honey badger. I will be honest sir, I have to shift into a magical based creature like yourself or a fey. I know I don't have any formal training like most students here, but I do have my own fighting style, and I also have a voracious appetite for learning. I want to train under the best,
I hear that's you, I promise you won't find a more tenacious student, or one with a steep learning curve."

As she waited for a reply she couldn't help but notice why so many mortal teenage girls tend to fantasize vampire. The professor looked like a powerfully tight spring, always ready to spring into action. His blood red eyes boring into her very soul, as if like Anubis he was weighing her heart in judgement. She also detected what seemed to be a touch boredom. She stood a little taller, and jutted her chin out a bit defiantly. Though he was roguishly handsome, she would not swoon over the man before her, she wasn't a hapless human teen girl.

---

Roland looked behind to make sure they weren't blocking the hallway. Seemed people had seen Duncan get stuck on the stairs and were going around. ”Nah, looks like we’re good. Now let's see...” Roland walked around the centaur eyeing his position on the stairs. ”Obviously going down isn't an option. So let's try this.” Bracing himself on the stairs Roland reached out for the centaur’s front legs and explained his plan before grabbing them. ”Alright, I'm gonna grab your legs and lift. All you have to do walk backwards and you should be-”

"You guys are aware that there are elevators, and other accessible ways around the school right??"

Roland's view snapped to the girl standing next to them. Her gaze, on the other hand, was fixed on the stairs below, no doubt checking if they were clear. ”I’m sure there are.” he replied not appreciating her assumption their predicament on the stairs was on purpose. ”Now if you'd like to be helpful you could come here… Or leap over the rails and completely ignore us.” Roland said unamused as the girl jump the bannister and walked away without even giving them a second glance.

”Whatever, let's get back to getting you off these stairs. On three, ready? One. Two. THREE!” Roland grabbed hold of Duncan's legs and lifted. Pushing the centaur up the stairs and back on even ground. ”Whew! There you are. Now let's find you one of those ramps. Oh, name’s Roland by the way.”

@Silver Carrot@Cerces22

Tiina Bouquet

Tiina shuffled clumsily back into a standing position. Although she was trembling in her boots, she could tell by the tone of the Head Magister's voice that she wasn't as livid as she was sure she was. She was caught slightly off-guard when she was asked about the Shifter girl sitting next to her, but decided against probing any further into the issue, particularly because the vice principal was also within earshot. She had nothing against the Scarlet Sage on a personal level, but the image of her glaring at her students inside the Grand Hall left a terrifying first impression on the tiny Elven girl.

"Yes, I'm fine, Miss Head Magister!" she yelped. "And yes, I sat next to Miss Circe during the Ceremony just now."

"Don't answer what hasn't been asked, Tiina..." Again, Tiina was tempted to ask the Head Magister about her relation to her seat neighbor. However, the fact that she was sitting next to this Shifter for a few minutes was apparently enough of a boost of her reputation that she was now worthy of shaking the Head Magister's gloved hand. "The pleasure is all mine, Head Magister!" she answers nervously. Promptly, her stomach reminded her of her original purpose. "Oh, yeah... I'm sorry about preoccupying you so much, but I was hoping you could tell me where the cafeteria is..."

Whatever jokes or thoughts Reiko may have been having, Aria chose to ignore them. It wasn’t like her mind was closed off to her, a fact the mage would be well aware of. “There’s no need to be shy around me. I assure you, I’m much more approachable than my friend over here,” she said in relation to the half-elf’s timid thoughts. Before she could freak out, Aria made sure to smile again.

“Vice Principal, why don’t you go on ahead of us? You can save me some of the leftover sweets,” she said to Reiko, noting how uncomfortable Tina felt with the woman around. After all, it would do neither of them any good to scare their students outright on the first day. Once the Scarlet Sage had taken her leave, she walked in the same direction, albeit at a slower pace.

“We were going to the cafeteria anyway and it’s better to walk to places among friends,” she told Tina, humming lightly as she did so. She would be as fast or as slow as she needed to be, more so for the student’s sake. There was no rush and it wasn’t like the cafeteria would run out of food; Lotte would make sure of that. “You see Tina, I’m an esper. I’m able to read minds through telepathy. It’s how I keep in touch with everyone here in Hikari.”

An Esper? Well, that certainly explained how she was able to know things that were unsaid. But to be able to span herself throughout all the minds of student and staff alike? It was some hefty power to be wielded; no doubt why she was called the Head Magister. Hopefully Tina would be amazed by the explanation because it always made Aria smile to see youth in their excitement.

But all good things must come to an end. With the positive came the negative, the fantasy crushed by reality. And just as much as Aria had hoped this first day of school would go perfect, something had gone wrong. The piercing shriek that echoed across the school was proof of that much, silencing still a good majority of conversations taking place. The Head Magister halted in her step, smile dissolving as she moved her head in the direction of the scream.

Something was very, very wrong. As she felt the life departing from this world, Aria would feel that wrongness start to overwhelm her. How had this happened? A student had died on school grounds. Her school. And it needed to be dealt with quickly. Passing blame could be handled for another time; right now, keeping the students from panicking was the best method to follow.

“Akane, Aster, I want you to make sure there’s no pandemonium among the students. Especially the First Years. Yurius, Lotte, Mitsu, I want you to make sure the entrances are guarded. Tholl, I want you to investigate the disturbance near the forest behind the school. Reiko, you will come with me to the scene.”

Her orders given, she turned a very serious look at Tina. “I’m afraid lunch is going to have to wait Tina. Please go with the other students. The staff will take care of this matter.” With a small nod to her, Aria turned away and briskly headed in the direction of the crime. For at the very back of the school where the woods grew thick and the trees grew plenty, someone or something had sinned greatly. A student, freshly red and mauled, lay strewn about in the outskirts of the campus. It was disturbingly close to where a mister Trey Black was playing his guitar.

---

"Umm, as much as I appreciate how ready you are, you do know I was joking, right?" Tholl said with a wide eyed stare directed towards the kitsune maid, seemingly incredulous that Lotte could be that perfect as to just casually have a meal like what she asked for in the teacher's lounge. "Seriously, you don't have a hobo tied up in the teacher's lounge, right? Not that I'm one to judge but I assumed Yurius was getting donor blood, cause that's just too dark to not be a secret here. Though I suppose if you do I won't pass up-"

Whatever shady transaction or aborted attempt at humor was brewing was brought to a fortuitous conclusion with the advent of the Head Magister's mental faculty broadcast. Sobering immediately at the news, Tholl turned from Lotte and left the cafeteria with a calm gait so as not to rouse a panic. As she made her way to the nearest exit her awareness stretched out to the woods around and touched upon the creeping arachnids who dwelt there.

At her command those nearby drew towards the scene of the crime and offered her a glimpse of the unfortunate students grisly fate, so savagely torn asunder with out regard for consumption or efficiency. The textbook definition of barbarism. Tholl herself arrived soon after and came to pause beside the Head Magister as she sent the spiders off into the woods to begin the search ahead of her.

"Whatever beast this is isn't of the natural world." Tholl declared with an edge of surety in her words. "Just pure violence. Hatred. Nothing motivating this kind of attack could be found in any bear or coyote. What a waste of potential- I found something."

Her eyes snapped off into the woods, where an arachnid had come upon the firm imprint of equine hooves stamped into a patch of soft dirt bereft of fallen leaves. "It looks like...the hooves of some horse. Too big for deer, at least."

Tholl raised her hands as the pale skin gave way to blackened carapace broken by bands of yellow terminating in four rending claws where there had been five digits prior. Fine hairs lined them and traveled up into her sleeves, and she promptly cracked her knuckles while affixed a grim countenance to her features.

"Head Magister. I have a bearing on the assailant. I'll try and subdue it if its capable of rational thought, but otherwise I'm considering this lunch." Tholl declared with a crack her hardened knuckles before dashing into the woods, sprinting at full tilt to close upon her prey.

Alice was just preparing to set off across the campus, having finished sketching the building in front of her, when she heard the scream. Aborting her attempt to put her drawing pad away, she instead flipped it back open and scratched out a quick familiar, bringing the paper up to her mouth and blowing the lines off the page to leave it blank again. As her creation reformed in front of her, she winced at the quality of it. The creature was a simple white hulk, ten feet tall and with no actual features besides the outline. The arms were slightly different sized and the head was lopsided, but it stood there waiting for her command anyway.

"Pick me up and take me that way," she ordered, pointing in the direction she thought the sound had come from. She knew she wouldn't make it very far if she ran, but it wasn't the first time she had used a familiar to travel. Reaching toward her, the giant wrapped one meaty white hand around her midsection and lifted her over his shoulder like a bag of flower, taking off in a loping, knuckle dragging run towards the commotion. Alice didn't enjoy being manhandled like this, but he was being careful not to jostle her and changing the orders would waste time, so she would just have to deal with it.

Someone better be dying if I have to put up with this she thought, offhandedly repeating the words her father used to say in her head. If she had known the reality of the situation, she would have been mortified by her choice of phrasing, stray thought or no.