[center][h3]March 2nd, 1526 SR[/h3] [i]"Let's try diplomacy."[/i] - An unknown individual seconds before gunning down a room full of enemy soldiers, 1526 SR[/center] [hr] [center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIAnkWRfJDE&ab_channel=suiriryoku[/youtube][/center] The sun dawned on a new day at Wingram Academy. As the wee hours of morning crept in, peering in through the clouds, the rays brought joy to some and hell to many. It was, of course, only 6 AM by this point - what kind of psycho-murderer of a teenager would be up and fully charged, knowing that cafeteria breakfast was still an hour off and first classes were a comforting three hours away? Even as the distant echoes of a clocktower cried out throughout campus grounds and beyond - the Iris Record sparing no expense in its attempts to bring despair to late risers - most would elect instead to bury their heads beneath their pillows in search of extended rest. Others, still, welcomed the opportunity to begin in earnest. [hr] [@ERode][@AThousandCurses] [b][h3]BOYS' DORM[/h3][/b] The boys' dormitory was lively, to say the least. As the shuffle of the living dead rumbled through the building, should Otis find himself waking up around this time, he would first hear Davil's snoring and then see him continue to sleep like a fallen tree. In Chunji's room, he would awaken to the sight of a lone room, Rio nowhere to be found within. Mentally, Otis and Chunji would each have a mental ping in their minds; subconsciously, they would know this to indicate an unread 'urgent' notification from their Adapa. Should they open it, a message from Wingram's board of directors with an unknown 'sent' time would notify them of their first scheduled class and the student list of said class. It would read the following: [i]"We at Wingram Academy are excited to inform you, dear attendee, that you have been chosen as a year one student for Compact 3. Please find your way to room 103 in the main building for a 9:00 AM start time, attending today's session: Basics of Essence Day 1 - Survival. The class listing is as follows: Chloe Steeler, Chunji Yi, Ciara Ventura, Davil Wund, Hildegunde Nachtnebel, Iraleth Kyrios, Otis Tan Arillo, Rio. To the eight students of Compact 3, we wish you a fruitful and memorable experience here at Wingram as our nation's - and Castalia's - great future. A hero, stalwart and kind!"[/i] Roughly around the time that the tower's chimes of life had cultivated the hatred of countless groggy students, a thundering [i]bang[/i] and three consecutive crashes could be heard in the main hallway of the dorm's ground floor. Doors could be heard opening one by one to investigate the source of the sudden quakes, and a commotion would very quickly be raised in the middle of the hall. Were anyone to inspect outside the first floor hallway, they would see Rio, his golden phantom at his side as three greasy leather-clad thugs hurtled to the floor in front of him. Among all the combatants in this brief scuffle, none appeared seriously harmed, and Rio's phantom vanished into thin air upon some kind of realization from the boy. "Please get lost, it's difficult to start the day expending essence right away. Stars grace us, the school's gonna try [i]just[/i] as hard to kill us all today, I can already feel it," Rio would finally speak up, cracking his neck side to side as the thugs stumbled to their feet. After staring daggers for a few seconds, they turned and stomped off. "This ain't over, y'hear? We're gonna know why you fight like that, even if we gotta beat it outta ya," the middle thug would respond as they all disappeared from sight down another turn, presumably leaving the dorms entirely. Rio would turn to nod at Otis and/or Chunji, if they caught his eye in the hall at any point during the altercation. Apart from that, the morning would go on as normal, unhindered by violent shenanigans for now. [hr] [@Estylwen][@Sifr][@Psyker Landshark] [b][h3]GIRLS' DORM[/h3][/b] The calming essence had long since subsided in the room of the trio, and yet the meek peering of sunlight gave way to a serene atmosphere regardless. The low-yet-high rasp in Ciara's head had vanished to the depths from which it rose, allowing the other voices their time to exist in their beautiful chaos, handing back control just as readily as it had taken it away mere hours ago. It was a distant prospect now; a forgotten idea, or a blueprint left unfinished. Whatever that voice was, it couldn't influence the outside world for long, and for now it slept as others awoke. Unlike the boys' dormitory, filled to burst with violence from the very moment that moody teenage boys met the eyes of one another, the girls' dormitory did not have such conflict so early in the morning. That wasn't to say that the building was paradise, as tension dangled from many unsatisfied students denied their chance at a different roommate at the wrathful hands of their dormitory's head advisor. Regardless, no fists were swung and no spells were slung yet. For Ciara, Hildegunde and Iraleth upon waking, they would each receive a mental 'ping' in their minds, that they would subconsciously know to be an unread 'urgent' message sent to their Adapa. Should they open it, a message from Wingram's board of directors with an unknown 'sent' time would notify them of their first scheduled class and the student list of said class. It would read the following: [i]"We at Wingram Academy are excited to inform you, dear attendee, that you have been chosen as a year one student for Compact 3. Please find your way to room 103 in the main building for a 9:00 AM start time, attending today's session: Basics of Essence Day 1 - Survival. The class listing is as follows: Chloe Steeler, Chunji Yi, Ciara Ventura, Davil Wund, Hildegunde Nachtnebel, Iraleth Kyrios, Otis Tan Arillo, Rio. To the eight students of Compact 3, we wish you a fruitful and memorable experience here at Wingram as our nation's - and Castalia's - great future. A hero, stalwart and kind!"[/i] Iraleth, in search of a mail room, would recall one such room labeled on the door directly across from the head advisor's office. Upon walking inside, the room would be empty of people, apart from a pale girl dressed in a white longcoat far too big for her. She appeared to be zoned out, staring at a lightbulb on the ceiling with a squint in a moment of intense focus and an awful lot of 'hmmmmm...' noises emanating from her nostrils.