[IC] Academy Of The Arcane Artes

[Kidd]

Loreal
Her first class of the day went about as it did last year: introductions then actual work. Admittedly, the introductions were at least kept short since, as a freshman, all the general information was covered about the Black Gate. Admittedly, though, Loreal didn't remember many specifics. She was cold through the whole class, too, her hands constantly rubbing together or up to her mouth as she breathed hot air into the palms. As people talked about themselves in the room, her attention was pretty lacking. She was busy of thinking what she would say. Though she realized she missed something interesting with the vampire-snake-lady sat down with half the class' attention still glued to her as introductions continued.

When it was her turn to introduce herself, she stood up and flipped her hair with confidence. "I'm Loreal. Just Loreal. We don't really have surnames at home," she explained with a shrug of her shoulders. "I'm also used to warmer weather," she added before sitting down again and rubbing at her shoulders. Then introductions continued and wrapped up before class started--about as boring as one would expect, as well.

~
Finally, the bell rang for lunch period to start and Loreal gathered what little she had and stood up to leave. Though, the vampire-snake girl caught her on the way out. She blinked in genuine surprise and pursed her lips, remembering she was the same vampire-snake girl to strip in front of the school. She remembered her name because it was similar to an old friend's--Arianna. "Ariadne, right?" she asked, mostly assuring herself that she did indeed remember the name. "Er, you could eat," she suggested pointedly. Then she added with a sigh, "I'm not eating with anyone yet, if you want to join me." With the offer on the table, she started for the door again, her stomach rumbling.

______________________________

Dagny
Dagny wasn't a fast person, but when that bell rang for lunch, she could suddenly rival an Olympic sprinter. The dragon gathered up her bag--a small bag with just a notebook and pencil and any collected paper--and headed for the cafeteria. She was quick to stack her tray with food—well, meat. And really only meat. Before she left the building, she had two trays stacked high with slabs of meat: steak, chicken, pork, you name it. Though, instead of finding a seat with the other students, she started for the door…

Though, she frowned when some rumors caught her ears.

“Yeah, he just assaulted her—“

“…second year vampire chick…”

“…after her stunt this morning.”

“The Draconian—“

Dagny’s scowl furthered and she paused in her steps. Though quickly decided that she couldn’t do anything about this on an empty stomach. So she moved outside and to the court yard where she came to a snow covered bench. With a full tray in each hand, she found herself struggling to stay balanced as she kicked some of the snow off the bench. Then, she sat down and set a tray on either side of her.

As she picked up the first piece of meat, her throat started to glow. Then she held the meat aloft and spit a stream of fire at it and her hand until it was charred to her liking. From there, the dragon took steady bites of her meal, chewing only a minimum as she looked around at the snow covered grounds.

[VarionusNW]

Ark had no major reaction to the lunch bell. He simply got up from his seat, making sure he had all of his things, and put has bag back at his side. For your information, most Draconians use a bag that attaches to the belt at the side, rather than a backpack, because, well, they have wings. Ark made his way to the cafeteria in silence. The constant whispers of other students surrounded him as he walked. The constant silent taunts getting on his nerves. He didn't do anything wrong. It was an accident. Why are these people unable to realize that? Is everyone incapable of thought?

Once he finally reached his destination, Ark realized he wasn't hungry. This was probably because of the immense rage he was feeling. He got a simple bread roll, and ate it on his way out to the courtyard. Ark didn't like the snow, but he was trying to look for that Lamia girl, so that he could apologize again. He felt that all of the rumors had falsified his previous apology. Instead of finding Ariadne, he found something much worse for him. Sitting alone on a snowy bench, breathing fire at food before eating it was Dagny. Just by being in her sight, his fate would soon be sealed. Ark made his way through the snow, and cleared some of it off of a nearby bench, and sat down.

[Zombehs]

It was inevitable that the teacher’s attention would eventually come to Raule given the higher year’s class sizes. There were just over a dozen of his peers in the class and, beyond it, barely 200 fifth years if he wasn’t mistaken. Their low numbers and variety of classes inevitably meant a teacher was responsible for usually only a dozen students at most. He lifted his head from the hand that propped it up and looked at the teacher, eyes unfocused and distant. Blinking, he refocused on the obese teacher before asking, “I’m sorry Mr. Jovich, but could you repeat the question?” That was polite enough right?

Evidently just barely if the twitch of the man’s eyebrow was anything to judge by. “Very well, but do not let your attention slip in my class again.” Fat chance of that, but Raule simply nodded and waited for the man to repeat the question. “As I said, describe one of the events that led to the Age of Idiocracy’s end by the turn of the decade. A hint, if you require it, would be July 2018.” Raule nodded once the professor had finished speaking, frowning a bit, as he seemed to be lost in thought, trying to think of something.

“Well,” he said with a shrug after a few moments, “I have no idea Mr. Jovice.” Raule was surprised he managed to keep his face straight when the professor’s face bulged out in a show of emotions; likely disbelief and possibly anger. Hey, it wasn’t Raule’s fault that he didn’t take history too seriously, as most people didn’t, unlike their teacher.
_____________________________
He let out a small sigh when the obese man shuffled his way out of the door, rubbing his forehead in annoyance. Oh he was sure there were interesting things about the subject, but even combat class would have been mind-numbing under Mr. Jovice. Ignoring the fact that he had probably painted a big target on himself for the professor, Raule glanced at his schedule once more before he trudged out the classroom to his next class alongside a few of his classmates.
_____________________________
Flipping backwards, Raule felt his foot connect with a dummy’s chin before the construct was sent flying upwards. Spinning mid-air, he continued into an axe-kick that drove yet another robot into the metal floor. Grinding down on its head until the machine “died” and stilled, he hopped back to avoid a flurry of attacks the remaining machines launched at him. Blocking whatever he couldn’t evade, the trio of practice dummies pushed him back relentlessly. Eventually with a grin though, Raule stopped his retreat and stood firm in the face of their assault. Dozens of blows were traded between man and machines, with the intensity only increasing as the four came to a standstill.

Such a thing had to be broken though, and unsurprisingly, it was Raule that was sent flying away into the arena’s walls. Spinning so he landed feet first to absorb the impact, he didn’t lunge straight back into the fray against the three. The three remained motionless as he dropped back to the floor, simply content to observe. Cracking his neck, he was about to try again when the speakers came to life. “Raule, period’s over. Get yourself to lunch.” The four dummies, including the one he had downed, returned to their storage areas while he sighed in disappointment. Advanced Combat was probably the “funnest” hour of his schedule, and it was disappointing he had only managed to take down one of the dummies in the time. It wasn’t like he could just spend his free time here either. Anything other than their highest settings wasn’t enough of a challenge, and that was only allowed with staff supervision, much less fighting against 4 dummies at once. Rolling his shoulders, he stepped up to the automated doors and left the arena behind.
_____________________________
He didn’t feel like spending his free time in line for food he didn’t really need, so he avoided the cafeteria. Hanging around the training grounds, he passed a bit of time walking past the various arenas and glancing in. A few were in use for a variety of purposes given the wide number of systems installed. Chewing on a piece of jerky for the sake of doing so, Raule continued to wander around aimlessly. There weren’t many people around aside from those that had dedicated their time to improving their skills, most people had their stomachs to look after after all.

[Ipsie]

Lilith took mental notes on each student as they introduced themselves one by one, leaving their impressions on her. The horde of orcs she spotted yesterday undertaking in some snow-pelting warfare had made it to class, too, apparently led by a Half-Orc named Ralthavar. A small girl from Earth who entered class late… through a gaping hole in the wall, which Mr Fernis had not blinked an eyelid at quite yet. The steel golem she had spotted yesterday appeared to be a companion to her. A childlike Gemstone with an elaborate name, and admittedly one of the more pompous introductions. A boy from Earth with an ever so slightly rustling bag with him. And Varrren’s introduction, which she knew a little about already, but was still interesting nonetheless. And the girl who had a fox sitting behind her legs, who was apparently also from this “Japan” place in Earth. The little fae dragon she had seen darting through the crowds yesterday was comically small in comparison to their chair. The class was, unsurprisingly, quite diverse in its selection of students.

After the rest of the students made their introductions, the funny limbed teacher tapped something and what she vaguely knew were ‘holograms’ formed in the air above their desks. How anything that did not employ a single thread of magic, and still create such impressive displays, was a mystery to Lilith. She took her attention to the front of the room, and listened intently as Mr Fernis dove into a long and winding lecture. She practically drank in the words that were chock full of information regarding the Black Gale and combat terms, genuinely interested in the stuff. She looked up at the roster of students as it was brought up, her gaze trailing down the list and eyeing her name next to the title of Necromancer. The word was written in a delicious red color. She unconsciously swallowed, feeling a familiar dryness at her throat, but ignored it. She quickly brought her thoughts back to the name of her combat class. Considering the treacherous nature of the Black Gale she had known about so far, she would be quite surprised if there wasn’t already a hefty amount of… er, “fodder” to be put to good use. It also was pretty likely she would become a part of said 'fodder', anyway.

Lilith's interest gradually waned as the hours passed, though she took to the lessons like a diligent student. However, it wasn’t possible to think that any student’s interest could still be retained as the time dragged on and on. She let out a tired yawn, as the blessed sound of the bells rang through her ears. An hour long period of freedom sounded like a wonderful respite from sitting at her for hours. She looked over as the teacher said something rather sternly to Varren, who sat by her. The teacher hadn’t seemed to be very pleased with him today. She let out a chuckle at the boy’s antics.

“Urm… not sure.” She replied to his question, noticing he and other students had brought up a menu with the advanced technology that the classroom seemed to employ. Looking down at her own, she felt rather unsure how to use it at first. She poked around with it for a little while, before she was able to skim through the listings of food with ease. None of it interested her. Her kind was never hungry, but she could use a little something else. She suddenly became acutely aware of a sound that she usually did not hear, a soothing, thumping beat pulsing through every warm body in the room, coursing through every little vein… Stop it! She frowned, and snapped out of the trance-like state, feeling quite disgusted with herself. Something caught her eye on the menu, and she let out a relieved breath. It didn’t take long for a single cup filled with sweet smelling crimson to be placed on her desk. Not even hearing Varren’s comment, she took the cup instantaneously to her lips, and it was bone dry within seconds.

[Hebigami Shiho]

At Loreal's smartass-y comment, Ariadne felt like rolling her eyes and answering, well, duh. But she refrained from doign so. She went behind her and started following her. "I'll take you up on that!" Ari walked a little faster until she was beside Loreal. Ari thought that Loreal wasn't really fond of her, so she brought it up. "Say, Lori," Ari addressed her with her new nickname. "Why are you being so cold with me? Did I do anything wrong?" She knew she had done countless 'wrong' things, but she didn't knew if one of them had offended Loreal. Though, before Loreal could answer, Ariadne took a head start, after spotting Ark some ways away from her. "Um, sorry, I need to go say something to that guy." She said with an apologetic smile on her face.

Not noticing Dagny, Ari ran to where Ark was sitting. Ari was breathing heavily and seemed quite tired. Ugh, running like that when it is so cold only made her muscles go even number. She put up her hand, to signal him to wait for a bit. After catching her breath, she sat down near Ark, maybe a bit too near, but it was that or feel her muscles go to sleep slowly because of the weather. "Hey there. I just wanted to come and say.... that I'm sorry. I tried to tease you for a bit, and well, it seems to have backfired. So, I just wanted to say that and apologize for taking you for a fool. Now, bye-bye!" Ariadne was about to stand up and leave after saying her piece, but the cold weather got to her more than she initially thought. Her legs gave up on her, and she couldn't help but fall over Ark's lap. "Well, this is awkward. Sorry, but my legs aren't really listening to me right now, think I can stay here for a while?"

[Kidd]

Loreal
Loreal continued to the cafeteria, Ariadne following her. She shivered against the cold as they walked and was asked, "Did I do anything wrong?" Oh, perfect. This is just what Loreal wanted--a reason to be more of a bitch. It's not that she liked making people unhappy--she just liked drama. She liked holding attention for better or worse. So a smile came to her lips and she opened her mouth to respond, planning on starting on expressing distaste for the new nickname--

"Um, sorry, I need to go say something to that guy."

Loreal blinked her green eyes at the snake girl and watched as she ran off toward a Light Draconian. She slowed to a stop. She was never ditched before. Um, ouch. The elf exhaled sharply, "hmph," and continued to the cafeteria with a roll of her eyes.When she arrived, it was mostly full, and orcs took up many of the tables. She eyed them for a moment. They weren't the best look of creatures and they all looked and acted so...harsh. She wrinkled her nose and averted her gaze before sitting down to order food: vegetarian, of course.

___________________________________________________

Dagny
The snow around Dagny was slowly melting as she continued to flame-and-feed. She had to eat far more than most people her size since her true size was much larger. In the middle of chewing, she caught sight of the Draconian she flicked a paper football at in class 4-Q. She frowned a bit and swallowed, contemplating whether or not there were other Draconian here at Academy of the Arcane Artes. "Hmmm," she hummed, eyes narrowing slightly. She set the slab of meat she was nomming on aside and-- and just as she was about to stand up, Ariadne approached the Draconian. Quite quickly too.

Dagny snorted, smoke streaming from her nostrils in irritation. The fuck would she want with him? Unless he really was the one who apparently attacked her today. Then, Ariadne was in the guy's lap. Be cool, be cool, Dagny thought, eyes flickering away momentarily as she rain a hand through the fuzz on her head. Awh, fuck that, she decided, her pupils momentarily elongated like a lizard's as she stood up. She left the meat where it was, partly because she wasn't thinking about it and partly because she knew she could always just come back after kicking some ass, and approached the two.

"This guy bothering you?" she questioned, gaze flickering between the two of them. She swallowed back smoke that threatened to rise from her throat. Ariadne admittedly looked pretty fine, but she was definitely missing some context here.

[Grey]

Shen Huanglong
School Days

---

BUT BEFORE ALL THAT HAPPENED
Shen took a deep breath of the brisk morning air. He was surprisingly energetic for someone who, by all accounts, should've been jet-lagged on an unprecedented scale. He'd woken up quite early as well in order to practice his forms to build up energy before classes. And now he was trodding along the snowy path towards the classroom until, lo and behold, he finally arrived at the school building proper. The building, like pretty much everything else on campus, was unlike anything Shen had seen in the mountains, as demonstrated by the fact that he spent at least ten minutes walking in and out of the automatic sliding doors when he was going to the dorms last night.

Not that that was relevant in any way to how he entered the classroom. Like any normal student, he stepped into the doorway, surveyed the classroom, and picked out a random seat. The teacher looked to be a peculiar tentacle monster of some sort. Frankly, this mildly terrified Shen, as the things he'd heard about tentacles were Not Good Things. Fortunately, it seemed that whatever the rumored Not Good Things were, were not to occur this day. Or at least, Shen didn't think they would.

Shen patiently watched the introductions of his fellow students. The multiculturalism here was astounding - there were even two fellow Asians that he'd have to talk to sometime later, and even a rock person! - and it was clear that they were all exceptional individuals in their own right. Hopefully he'd be able to measure up. Eventually it was his turn called up, so Shen waltzed up to the front of the class and began his introduction.

"I am Huanglong Fai, heir to the House Huanglong, from the Earth nation of China," Shen began, thinking a bit on what else to say. Compared to some of the others, he'd say his wasn't too pompous. "...And my favorite color is blue." Yes, that worked. It was simple, it was effective, it was adequate enough to work to his advantage. That said, he returned to his seat to watch the other introductions before listening to teacher exposition for the rest of the morning.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
The lunch bell rang out, signalling the end of the first half of their day. The aforementioned Not Good Things did not happen - or maybe they did, it was a bit fuzzy to him as to what exactly the Not Good Things were - so at least he could take solace in that fact. All in all, he had to say it had been a good morning indeed.

As for lunch, apparently they were supposed to use this astoundingly technological menu to order? Shen looked over the names and the needlessly flowery descriptions of food, and stabbed at the drink called a 'Soda - Spright' and then at the food item known as 'Chocolate-Covered, Bacon-Wrapped Deep Fried Twinkie Donut'. Both things that he's neither heard of nor seen, but from the vague description, seemed to be a drink that was not hard and a delicacy of some sort, respectively.

His arteries would be regretting that last choice later.

Shen's order arrived, carried by a goblin manservant. He had to admit, the food choice was much more peculiar than he'd thought. Was this really what was eaten in the outside world? He tilted his head and took a tentative bite.

It was... Unique, to say the least. But even as a complete foreigner, he was pretty sure that this was not a very healthy meal. He could practically feel all the strange, unnatural substances flowing through his body. Nevertheless, he got himself into this, and now he was going to get himself out. Bite after sugary, heart-attack-inducing bite.

And eventually he'd conquered it. He'd defeated that food with a lengthy name completely and utterly. Shen leaned back into his seat, an expression of horror(?) on his face. He sat like that for a few moments before standing up after a long exhale. He'd completed the first objective of lunch hour, now for the second...

"Nǐ hǎo yàzhōu tóngbāo! Zěnme qù ma?" Shen asked the boy, Yinyues Varren, a look of giddy excitement about the Chinese Geomancer. He opened his mouth to say more before realizing that there was no confirmation as to this young fellow's Asian heritage apart from the last name. "Děngdài... Nǐ shuō zhōngguó huà?" he asked, tilting his head, "Do you speak Chinese, friend?"

[Kilo6]

Alika Blackwater

Alika had spent the rest of the time talking with Fai for a good while. Mostly talking about her abilities and powers as a Strike Witch and such, with Fai being somewhat understandably withdrawn as he was still adjusting to the times as Alika observed. Though she walked confidently to her first class, practically marching. Her posture was straight, her movements were precise and well timed, and her new school uniform was sharp and clean. Old habits die hard for Alika. Though she still wore her blue ribbon.

She wasn't surprised in the least by her tentacle teacher, almost silently joking about how this seemed like a set up for some Japanese anime. Her class was by all means the most diverse class she had ever had, from robots to orcs. Elena had came in last, looking tired and a bit of a mess, once again not surprising to Alika in the least bit, but Elena seemed to have possessed enough awareness of the situation to sit next to Alika, smiling at her meekly, and face plant into the desk. "At least she remembered to put on the proper uniform..." Alika thought with a sigh. Glancing around the class, she then spotted Fai, and gave a little nod. Soon it came her turn to stand up and give her little introduction.

"I'm Alika Blackwater from Earth, particularly the United States of America. I was originally training to become a Strike Witch for my nation's Air Force at the United States Air Force Academy before being transfered here. I hope to get to know all of you better and protect both worlds." she finished, taking her seat again. As the class moved on, she took careful notes on everything, typing them down on her touch pad. Alika couldn't help but smile, as she always enjoyed in when the information she was being taught was not only useful, but interesting as well.

It wasn't before long that class gave way to lunch and Alika soon found herself standing with her tray looking for someone to sit with. A warm slice of pizza and some fries along with a soda sat on her tray, tempting her to just sit down and start eating, but thankfully she soon found who she was looking for. She saw the boy named Varren, the one who said he was the successor of a company that caught Alika's attention. She sat herself down across from him and nodded. "Hey is this seat taken?"

---

Elena Akulova

"This world.... is pain.... uuuuuuugggghhh....." was what Elena continually repeated as she walked... or more like shuffled her way to class. She barley noticed the sizable hole in the wall and only gave a small nod to Alika as she sat down next to them. Between staying up late having fun with Ralph and getting hit with a serious case of jet lag, Elena felt horrible this morning. As introductions made there rounds, the finally reached Elena, who thankfully heard them. Practically picking herself up, she gave her introduction, starting with a yawn.

"Hello comrades.... I am Elena Akulova... Russia, a country on earth. I was previously serving with the 8th Mechanized Division as.... *yawn* combat air support in the Chrimea region... Before being sent here... I am a Strike Witch... Like my friend Alika here...." with that she sat down and began to lazily listen to the teacher. Thankfully the class wasn't to boring and it held her attention for a little while. She took particular note of the various combat classes and the rankings.

By lunch, she was a awake and ready to eat. She had ordered tacos surprisingly, citing she hadn't had any real tasting food for several months while on the front. She happily walked over to where the orc she had met yesterday and sat next to him with a smile. "Privet comrade! How are you doin?"

[xAsunaWolfx]

Ayaka watched Q-1’s introductions with a sort of genuine interest about her eyes, quickly putting a name to each face in her memory. It would become helpful to the Kitsune later when the teacher explained a concept she had completely zoned out on. Other students from Japan received a subtle glance of surprise from her. Japan always makes a great topic of discussion, considering how culturally different it was from other places on Earth.

Soon the introductions ended, kicking ayaka’s doubts of the teacher being at all a point of interest quite high but she found herself internalizing the information. Considering that she hadn’t brought any material to take notes, she did that throughout most of the lesson with the occasional glance in a random direction, whether it be outside in the snow or finding the quiet source of noise somebody’s tapping quirk came from. The Kitsune felt a pulse of excitement quicken her heart when Fenris mentioned Basic training occurring tomorrow, where she hoped to shine.

The school uniforms virtually made he feel naked in the absence of her armor. The security and confidence it streamed for itself was to die for, and when it was missing she felt as if a piece of her was missing. The only time in the past she’d convince herself to venture beyond that was in the times of sleep because the tough external covering made for painful skin sores in the morning. Her and the dress code weren’t going to agree with each other in the future.

When lunch begun, Ayaka perked up quickly, the prayers to the lesson being curtailed, answered. If it was socially accepted, she probably would have stood up and bounded out of the room like some hyped football player with a huge ego. She strides out of the room with the air of peace about her, which dissipated into the atmosphere when she’d taken one too many of the wrong turns despite the path to the lunchroom being clearly labeled throughout the hallways. Trashing the thought of requesting help, Ayaka decided to wander around campus for sightseeing…and eventually, finding the lunch room.

The Kitsune quite literally brushed shoulders with Raule arrogantly. It wasn’t the type of brush that was unintentional, it was one that would knock them into oblivion had they been knock-kneed and clumsy in their ways. It was almost asking for a brawl without verbally admitting it, without giving them a chance to retaliate or respond. “Oh. Didn’t see you there.” She mumbled nonchalantly, lacking in sincerity and flicking her hand off to the side as if it were brushing away all the cares in the world she had about it. Needless to say, “bullying” creatures close to humans felt at home to her, especially if it was that fifth year. She’d almost forget she wasn’t in Japan in those seconds.

Eventually, Ayaka found the lunchroom 10 minutes after the rest of her first year classmates made their ways there. Her appetite was petite, reaching for a banana or two. There were people at every table and the chatter was fairly quiet, pointing out that no one really knew anyone, outside of negative relations. The slender women glanced away from the food collecting areas, immediately making that awkward eye contact with Ralthavar, who was too, searching in depth for someone to socialize with. She’d arrivied about the same time the girl with tacos accompanied the Orc, sitting on the opposite side Elena was. “Ralth! How’s your first day as a first year going?” As a matter of fact, the girls spoke at the same time, making the whole conversation sounding like a trainwreck before it ever begun.

[Jedly]

Asian PervAsian

"Nǐ hǎo yàzhōu tóngbāo! Zěnme qù ma?" Shen greeted in a bubbly fashion, almost appearing as cheerful as Varren. Yinyues stared at his fellow student absent-mindedly for a few moments, as the gears within his brain began to churn. As Lilith began to down a beverage of a reddish hue, the boy eased his jaw agape as he finally spit out a response.

"...Wha?" He asked while cocking his head, with a quzzicle expression painted on his face. The second cup of espresso was held tilted in his hand, its essence nearly pouring onto its owner's desk. But before the liquid could pour from the rim, Varren regained his senses and shifted the cup to an equal angle. Now was the time to formulate a legitimate response, he glanced up at Shen's face, which seemed to be dying for a reply. The student had a smile stretched ear to ear, as if he had just found the secret to life. Yinyues wasn't an expert when it came to philosophy, but he for sure was not the greatest thing to exist for mankind. His finger rested above his toshinmac device, ready to recede to use the translating application. But rather than replying on the saving grace of technology, he gulped and looked up at the taller figure.

"Děngdài... Nǐ shuō zhōngguó huà?"

Another phrase ending in a question mark, which Varren was unable to understand. "Let's see if he realiz-"

"Do you speak Chinese, friend?"

The boy felt guilty for letting out a sigh of relief, as Shen finally asked him something in a more common tongue. He loosened his black dyed scarf and scratched his neck, "Sorry Fai, but I'm not too familiar with the language. I speak fluent American and Japanese, though. But, I'm used to speaking in the more generalized tongue of this age. So, are you liking the academy so far?" Varren calmly inquired, taking a sip out of his beverage. He raised his arm to check up on any recent messages. Over the years, he had mastered the art of multi-tasking. If you can do something productively, why not expand that ability through multiple procedures?

Honestly, Shen had no idea what kind of reaction he was expecting. Maybe more rapid-fire Chinese in response, or perhaps some other Asiatic language, like Taiwanese or Japanese. So plain English explaining his circumstances wasn't too unexpected, just a little bit disappointing. He'd thought he'd have some fellow country - err, continent - man to relate to, but he was left with a Westernized young fellow. Truly a very minor tragedy. At least he wasn't, as these people said, "100% a dick" - whatever that meant.

"I see, apologies for my assumption," Shen said with a slight bow of his head towards the half-Japanese young man, "I had just thought that someone such as yourself would be more familiar with the languages of Earth." He paused before continuing to answer Varren's question. "Truthfully, it is unlike anything I have ever experienced back in my homeland. Much more complicated, and with some social nuances foreign to my understanding," Shen gave a sigh at that last bit. Lessons learned and all. "That is not to say that I do not like it, here. Quite the contrary. How do you feel about it yourself?"

Varren tapped his chin rhythmically, "It's been... good. I met a pretty nice person who just so hap-" And so strolled in another addition to Yinyues' conglomeration of acquaintances. The American Strike Witch from earlier, whose ears appeared irresistibly fluffy and soft. He managed to restrain himself from petting the soft feathers, as images of yesterday's events flashed in his mind. The thought of receiving a round house kick to the cheek wasn't too pleasing. With Lilith seated to his left, and Shen standing next to his desk, the seat to his right was completely vacant. Making a motion with his hand, he greeted his fellow classmate with his usual warm smile.

"No, it is not." Some of the other students were slipping out of the classroom, dispersing across campus to meet up with a few friends, or to merely drift to kill the time. Somehow, Varren had found himself conversing with three separate people within the span of five minutes. Such a social feat was to be commemorated, of course. With a quick tick at the screen, a goblin carrying another cup of coffee entered and left the classroom. "This service is almost as good as my butlers~" Aside from the pampering he had received over the years, he shrugged and glanced over at Alika as she took her seat. He quickly settled on an icebreaker, nodding in self-agreement.

"Alright. Varren's super introduction course is a go! Lilith, Alika, meet Fai; My fellow Asian who can talk himself out of anything, by simply blurting out phrases in Mandarin. Lilith, Fai, and myself, meet Alika; I only skimmed over the project she participated in last night. My father didn't send me the list until ten o' clock, and it took me another hour to even find what I was looking for. Magpul just so happened to manufacture a few weapon components for soldiers bred from the project. Fai, Alika, meet Lilith: She has a good taste in hats, and can handle the caffeinated beverages I conjure up. And my introduction basically entailed all that is interesting about me!" He inhaled deeply, regaining some breath after talking without ceasing for a few minutes straight. Nearly on the verge of passing out, he took a sip of the rejuvinating coffee.

"Pleasure to meet you," Shen said with a bow towards the vampiric young lady with the good taste in hats and the ability to handle the caffeinated drinks that Varren conjures up before turning to the American Strike Witch.

"Hello Alika!" Shen greeted with a wide grin and a rather sloppy looking salute. "Oh yes, I forgot to mention that me and Alika are acquainted already," the Chinese Asian explained, "Speaking of which..." The following words of his must be well selected, for if he wished to succeed, the situation must be right and the execution must be perfect. That is the methodology of the thing known as 'humor'. That wasn't to say that back in the homeland they did not have jokes, but apparently this world had a penchant for much more... mature topics.

"Speaking of which... You did not answer my question from yesterday."

Varren perked up, glancing up at Shen while tilting his head, "...What'd you ask? If you don't mind me asking." He queried as he took a long sip of the espresso.

"Oh, I merely asked her what her measurements are," Shen said matter-of-factly, "Of course, that is not a good thing to ask, but considering the situation, I have determined that this was the most efficient means of creating humor based off of previous experience, and thus utilized it as a means of inciting further conversation."

He paused, letting all that sink in.

"Oh wait," Shen began again, "I have explained the joke. That is not good... Hmm..." He then turned to Lilith and pointed, "You! What are the measurements of your bust, waist, and hips?"

Truly he was a master of humor.

Varren nearly choked on his drink, letting out a few hoarse coughs as he slammed a fist against his chest. "WHAT? FAI! YOU MUST JOIN THE ACADEMY'S INTELLIGENCE DIVISION. Oh, also, don't randomly ask people about the-" Only now did he realize just who the playful question was directed towards. He doubtfully turned to face Lilith, scared by how infuriated she might be. "Well. This is it. This is how I die. I'm caught between two different attack angles, both directed towards Fai here. This has been a very eventful lunch slot. Mr. Fenris, tell my parents I love them."

"No." the tentacle teacher said, peeking into the room and waving Varren off with one of his appendages. And just as suddenly as he came, he left.

"...So Mr. Yinyues," Shen asked, astoundingly calm for the situation at hand, "Was that what you would call sarcasm? For obviously I did nothing wrong since my comment was, as you know, as joke and not to be taken seriously in any way." The obvious unless you want was left unsaid.

...Perhaps I'm already dead. Is this the land beyond? It sure feels like it, with the infinite amount of coffee I'm receiving." And how were Lilith and Alika reacting during all of this?

[Lucius Cypher]

Ralthavar Marchosias

---

Ralthavar was carving a piece a meat for his bread when two girls came to his seat. He was familiar with both of them, or at least, he knew their names. Ayaka Cho. Sometimes goes by Talia. He did see a fox slip near her seat when she introduced herself, and he imagined that the fox was a pet of hers. It reminded him that he was expecting Andari at some point this week. Next was Elena Akulova, the Strike Witch. Her groggy introduction told him that she was still under the effects of the night before, though now it seemed that she had become chipper.

Ralthavar was rather glad to see these two girls come to him before he had to find someone, since they were familiar. "I'm just fine, Akulova. Last night was quite entertaining, wasn't it? I'd imagine that there will be another tonight if everyone isn't too busy." He than turned his head towards Ayaka, but not without offering a bit of his lunch to her pet fox."The teacher certainly talked a lot. I could hardly keep all the notes. Still, it's good to know that he's not just going to be throwing us one-by-one into the black gate. His lecture on different types of combat roles at least tells me that we'll do some open warfare type of situations. Or something." Ralthavar began to carve out some of the turducken for Ayaka and Elena without really thinking about it. It was just something he was used to doing as the boss. Plus it didn't seem like either of the two girls have eaten yet.

Once he gave the both of them some of his fairly large lunch, Ralthavar spoke. "So, what do either of you two do in a fight? As the teacher said, I am a a Warlock. That means I gain most of my magical powers from an outside source, such as spirits, demons, or objects. Like this staff." Ralthavar reached underneath the table to take out his staff, which had three skulls hanging from the tip. "Each of these skulls contain the spirit of a powerful mage. Through the staff I can use their magic. Of course, when I can't use magic, I also have my axe and my shotgun." Ralthavar put his staff on the table for the two girls to examine more closely, but he turned to Elena with a gleam of curiosity. "Akulova, I noticed that you have a weapon similar to my shotgun, and yet it seems much more... Powerful. Truly it must be a weapon of great power, one suitable for yourself. What can you tell me about it?" And not wanting to leave Ayaka hanging, Ralthavar turned to her and her pet. It was a small silver fox, which reminded him of the great Grey Foxes back at Malakaus. "I'm guessing the silver fox is yours, mistress Cho?" Ralthavar smirked as he noted the whip on her. He was no novice when it came to the... Commanding aspect of the lash. "Is it magical? I have a magical companion myself. He's not here right now, though I expect him sometime this week. What can you tell me about your fox?"

Harmonious First

---

Around the campus, the various orcs of the Harmonious First were around doing their own thing, mostly eating. Some of them went to the fort and started debating what they should call the fort and how they were going to expand from there, as well as what should be built and what sort of wards put up. Other orcs were taking advantage of all the free food and the various technology for their advantage, such as ordering a large amount of food and stuffing it all into a refrigerator to keep for later. Some also made an extreme order for potatoes and rice, mostly so they could brew up alcohol even though they still never got permission to create stills.

Notably, in the cafeteria, a trio of orcs approached Loreal. Goruza, Hakak, and Kizziar, three "Gun Tanks" who formed the Bulwark. Gun Tanks were a fairly new type of warriors for the orcs, as they fought in heavy impenetrable armor and with large tower shields, relying on guns and firearms to do damage against their enemies. They've proven rather effective against infantry, though less so against bigger beast who can shrug off their .45 rounds. These three orcs came over to Loreal, with the intention of befriending her. Goruza, the only female, started the introductions. "Well hey there elf, what's your name?" Goruza took a seat at the table were Loreal sat, while the other two boys stood around trying to act cool.

[Kidd]

Loreal
Loreal's plate of salad stuffs was placed in front of her and she shimmied in some excitement of the meal ahead. She picked up a fork--though at home she was used at eating with really only her hands--and stabbed into the fruits and vegetables. As she raised the food to her lips, however, an orc sat down at her table. She blinked and politely lowered the fork, eyes flickering to the orcs that accompanied the female. The elf tensed a little bit, lips pursing together. She was slender and small compared to the bulky orcs and even one would be intimidating to her. And here were three. They weren't exactly handsome creatures either. "Um. Hi," she responded carefully, shifting in her seat with a subconscious glance to her quiver sitting on the bench beside her. "I'm Loreal. Can I help you?"

{{pretty short but Idk what else to include atm.}}

[VarionusNW]

(sorry that this took so long)

Ark looked at the terrible situation that had unfolded before him. Dagny, the same dragon girl from 4-Q who had entered late, like he did, though, she didn't get annoyed by the teacher. She looked like she was about to kill him. Why would someone overreact to a situation as simple as this? Did Dagny and Ariadne have something going on between them?

Ark moved Ariadne off him, by her shoulders, of course, and sat her upright. He pulled his thick hide coat out of his bag, and placed it over her shoulders. "That should help with the cold." Ark stood up and looked the dragon girl in the eye with a menacing glare. The sign of a true asshole. "What do you want, Diagonal..was it?" Ark's hand was in his bag, gripped around the handle of a dagger, though it looked like he was just resting it in his bag.

[Kidd]

Dagny
Her head tilted slightly as she watched Ark give Ari his jacket. A better person wouldn't have been bristled by such an innocent and kind gesture, but annoyance vibrated up Dagny's spine. First this this guy attacks her and now he's playing boyfriend? She snorted as he stood up to face her, smoke filtering out from her nostrils. She smirked, though, making a point to show show off her jaws. Admittedly, she couldn't see the Draconian in front of her very well. Being far sighted meant he was something of a white blur before her. But she wasn't going to put on glasses to see the guy better and her mind wandered off a bit as she considered how ridiculous that'd be. Though she caught notice of the crinkle around his eyes--he obviously wasn't happy to see her. The tone of his voice when he acknowledged her confirmed that.

"It's Dagny," she corrected with slight growl to her voice. "Get it right, Mr. Nine," she provoked, poking a finger to the taller lizard's chest.

[Nytem4re]

Joseph slowly shambled out of class, stopping at his dorm for a bit to grab his rifle. He’d checked his railgun recently… but after..urm.. an “accidental” discharge, some blood had gotten in the barrel. Yeah, it sounds simple enough to clean. Maybe if it was a conventional rifle, but it wasn’t. Some scientist had the brilliant idea to force the person cleaning it to fucking remove about fucking twenty-one parts before the barrel would detach safely.

Doing it himself wouldn’t be that slow though. It took him around 3-5 minutes, depending on whether it was an emergency or not.

But it was such a fucking hassle.

So, he’d get a poor scrub to clean it for him.

Walking into the first year's building in search of prey, he scanned for his poor victim. And he found him- A scrawny first year who was pretty much a toothpick. The boy was at a table of four, sitting next to some pale girl, some strike witch, who were pretty hard to miss, and some chink. But, alas, they were first years, so no fucks were given.

Taking a seat across from him, he dropped his railgun in front of the poor boy.

“Clean my rifle for me.”

Joseph took out a multitude of alcoholic beverages from his bag and began inspecting each.

“Now, I know your first reaction as a first year with no respect for his upperclassmen would be something along the lines of fuck you.”

Joseph began mixing each in certain amounts. Some scotch and whisky, a bit of sake, a splash of wine.

“But what I am making here, is the most dreaded of beverages. Mate, are you attached to your liver? After you drink this, your liver will cry out in agony. Close to death, just quite not there yet.. You think I’m joking mate? One of the creators drank just a teeny itsy cup. He made one little mistake with the mixture… Both of his livers failed within minutes.Go ask the headmaster. Bru nearly died. He’s still on life support, the poor bastard.”

Joseph pushed the railgun closer to the poor first year. “You clean this rifle, and you will be spared. But you fuck up even once mate… I’ll shove this whole brew down your mouth. This is private property mate. You cry out even once, you get a free sample too.”

Joseph leaned back in his chair. “Your choice mate.”

[Hebigami Shiho]

Ark was gentleman-ly enough as to set her into a sitting position, as well as putting his coat over Ari's shoulders. It was really warm. Ari slowly felt how her muscles came back to life after warming up a bit. Not that she could walk right way, though and even if she was impressed by Ark's chivalry, it seemed the total opposite for Dagny, who was standing right before them. Ari was about to come up and fix the misunderstanding, but before she could do anything, the two of them were already at it. Maybe it hadn't scaled to something bad yet, but Ari thought it was just a matter of time. Dagny's taunts were not really helping her case. Ari, with woobly legs, tried to stand up, but it was futile. Her legs still weren't answering to what she wanted them to do. Oh, well. If a battle did ensue, then she at least had the best seat in the house.

"It really isn't anything, Dagny. I just can't really feel my legs, so...." She said, just for the sake of appearances. Still, that last thing left a lot of room for interpretation. She started massaging her legs, trying to make them come back to life. She knew that even if she had fun watching the fight between the two, they'd end up blaming her for starting it. So, it was stop a potentially entertaining fight, or watch it, and then listen to a proffessor scolding their asses off.

[VarionusNW]

Ark's glare didn't let up. He looked at Dagny in a way that made him seem as if he didn't care, because he didn't. This dragon girl was overreacting to a situation that had nothing to do with her. "Hmm? I guess you two know each other?" Ark lessened his grip on the dagger in his bag. "Look, Dagny. Whatever your mad over, be it what just happened, or yesterday's... incident, it has little to nothing to do with you, so if you could please get out of my way. Otherwise.. well. I think we all know what will happen." Ark looked and sounded like a total dick. He was trying to seem sincere and serious, but, well, that didn't really work out. By "Otherwise.. well. I think we all know what will happen." Ark meant he would have to move Dagny out of the way, though, this could easily be misinterpreted. What a terrible situation.

(#Scaleswag. #Sinkdahship. #Biasboat. #Scalesquad.)

[Kidd]

Dagny
She heard Ariadne say her name, but her attention was back on the Draconian before it was ever off. She just cocked an eyebrow at him as he blabbered on. His cool, nonchalant attitude just added to her irritation, quite frankly and she crossed her arms.

"...Get out of my way. Otherwise.. well. I think we all know what will happen."

"Ohhhh," Dagny drawled, realization flickering across her face as she uncrossed her thick arms to tap at her chin. This asshole thought he could take her, for one. For two, was he seriously belittling attacking another student? And a sexy snake chick of all students? "Right, right. I get it. Yeah...no." She wasn't fast, but she was suddenly throwing her dense fist into the Draconian's snout. On a human, she'd hold back because she didn't necessarily want to break jaws and teeth over this, though he wasn't human so she allowed more force than usual. Assuming that hit and the Draconian took a moment too long to recover, she would smash her second fist into his stomach not really bothering to hold back below the neck.

[VarionusNW]

Ark was surprised when Dagny's fist suddenly connected with his snout. A flash of pain shot through his face. Ark, after about half a second, jumped back, clearing the full length of the bench, and pulled a dagger out of his bag. He had just barely dodged Dagny's second punch. His speech was temporarily altered, given his jaw had just encountered the force of 370 hammers simultaneously smashing into it. Ark muttered something under his breath, with a bit of difficulty. Ark's dagger began to glow a faint white. "WHA ES WONG WETH YA!!!" He was in a seething rage. Why the hell did she just punch him? She must have misinterpreted him. Ark didn't have his bow on him, and wasn't up to fighting, so he decided to take a defensive approach. He pulled another dagger out of his bag, holding them in a fashion as to block incoming attacks to the best of his ability. Both daggers had a faint white glow to them.

[Exodus]

Smoke filtered out from between the dragon's teeth as she glared at the Draconian. His jumping back, though, did admittedly make him a little easier to see. Pausing a moment to register the daggers in his hand, her grin returned. With an amused glint in her eyes, she taunted, "The fuck kinda dragon uses butterknives?"

Dagny moved forward, attempting to close the distance between her and the Draconian. As she did, the skin on her arm rippled and produced scale-like armor that extended to her finger tips. From there, her nails grew into talons and upon reaching Ark, a clawed hand balled into a fist and she aimed a punch for his throat. Her opposite hand was on standby, ready to defend should he use the daggers.

Ark stood umoved as the dragon girl began to morph. As she aimed her fist and threw the punch, he muttered something, causing the daggers to glow a brilliant white. The light magic Ark had used on the daggers could cause temporary blindness, or atleast distorted vision. He had no idea if this had any effect of Dagny, so he began to step back, slowly at first.

Ari saw Ark and Dagny going at it, Dagny turning more reptile-like by the minute. Welp, it sure broke into a fight. Ari wasn't sure of what to do to stop it. She could poison both and threaten them into stop fighting or she wouldn't give them the antidote, but it was unsure of whether they would really stop or shift the target of their anger to her. Ari thought it'd be better not to risk it now, since she wasn't exactly a close-quarters fighter.

Dagny's eyes narrowed against the light, a short and annoyed growl coming from her throat. She continued with the punch, however, and hoped for the best. With Ark's step back, she found that the punch would connect lower than intended and against his chest.

Ark practically flew back. He landed on his back, laying in the snow. His head had hit a small rock, causing a bit of bleeding. Ark was dizzy as he started to stand back up. His breathing was heavy and slow. Both of his daggers lay strewn across the courtyard. When he looked up, he saw Dagny, standing close to him, obviously ready to kill him. Ark decided not to put up a fight.

Chris took a sip of his coffee as he strolled outside. The day so far had been pretty uneventful, just boring, standard classes. Noticing the commotion nearby, he stopped and stared. He hadn't really anticipated a fight so soon, but the lower classes never ceased to amaze him. Let's see... There was the girl that he'd talked to earlier, Ari, the draconian, and some other girl. She looked vaguely familiar, but he wasn't sure. He simply watched, sipping his coffee until he saw the draconian fly into a rock. This was going downhill fast, and it was pretty apparent that nobody was going to intervene.

"Hey!" he yelled as he jogged up. "You two, that's enough!" His voice carried, loud, gruff, and full of authority. Whatever authority he had, anyway. Still, he hoped it would be enough. He tapped a bystanders shoulder during the approach. "Go get the med staff, he needs help."

Dagny, caught up in her anger and the heat of the moment, stepped foward to kick the literally downed opponent. Though another voice cut in and she caught herself, barely keeping balance and her attention turned on the fifth year, pupils still elongated like a lizard's. She scowled, though, and stepped back as the scales on her arms disappeared into her skin. She snorted, smoke coming out of her nostrils as she placed her hands on her hips, another glance at Ark. "What do you want, cybitch?" she asked.

Cybitch. Clever. He briefly smirked as he glanced down to the ground, shaking his head. It was almost patronizing, like how one would laugh when a child doesn't know they're talking themselves into more trouble than they're already in. "Look, I'd rather not maim anybody today. Leave him alone, now." His tone had softened -after the threat, which admittedly sounded pretty cold-, but was still absolutely serious. He nodded his head coolly to the fallen Ark, and looked Dagny in the eyes. "I think you've made your point."

Ari let out a relieved sigh when Chris arrived and ended the fight. Her hand was already in her belt full of needles, her fingers wrapped around one. But now, there was no need to do such things. She woobly stood up and supported herself a bit on Chris' shoulder. "He is right, Dagny, Ark. Look at him, Dagny. You trashed him really good, babe. That should be enough." Through Ari's mind, the thought of Dagny doing all of this for Ari's sake passed through. She should at least thank her. "Thanks about that." She said to Dagny, with a wholehearted smile on her face.

Dagny scowled at the cyborg, responding at first only to the threat. She turned on him, though the talons retracted back into regular looking nails. "Look--" Then Ariadne spoke up in agreement and she blinked at her. Her arms crossed again and she shot the fifth year another glare before closing her eyes and sighing. "Fine. But he started it," she grumbled immaturely. Ari's thank you brought heat to the dragons face and she coughed, shrugging a bit. "Whatever," she added to her mumbles as she rubbed the back of her neck, blue eyes flickering away.

Ark looked at the scene before him. He was in hell. His face was on fire, blood seeping from the back of his head. His vision was blury, and his hearing was distorted. The last things he heard were a guy yelling at Dagny and Ark, and Ariadne saying something to Dagny. He promptly fell against the snow, unconscious, as blood seeped from his wound.

At this abrupt development, the Vice Headmistress, and the Headmaster on a stick arrived at the courtyard. Ark was being hauled off to the infirmary, as the Headmasters gathered the group at one of the benches in the courtyard. "What were you thinking, Ms. Ek? Based on the report, you nearly killed another student!" The headmaster sounded furious, but at the same time, he sounded a bit pleased with himself. " Mr. Graham, thank you for your help in this matter, you are free to leave as you like." The Headmistress turned the cane towards Ariadne. "And you. Apparently, you're the reason this happened? The other two were.. fighting over you, correct?"

Chris nodded at the acknowledgement. "Sure, no problem." He wheeled around and started walking away.

Ari was somewhat confused at the arrival of the VHM and the HM on a stick. When the headmistress turned the cane to point at her and asked that, Ari first, in a mocking manner, looked around and then pointed at herself, as if the VHM wasn't clear enough already. "Well, I dunno. Maybe? Why do you ask? Am I going to be scolded too if I say yes? If so, then no. I don't know why they were fighting." She says, feigning ignorance for a bit. She didn't really like the lecherous excuse of a headmaster they had, or the uptight gal that was the VHM, so the more she could irritate them, the better.

"Please, do not mess with us. We are looking into this matter, and would like all possible information on what has happened, so that we can resolve the matter in a justified manner."
The Vice Headmistress was not amused by Ariadne. "Alright, to get to the point, Ms. Ek, Ms. Zika, we have concluded that the best way to resolve this matter is to have you both live in the same dorm as.." The Vice Headmistress remembered a note they had gotten after a certain student was offended in 4-Q "Mr. Arkyiel, and will be living together until further notice. Prepare for a long year, both of you. Oh, remember to move your stuff to your new room." The Vice Headmistress handed them each a card with their new room number. It was on the top floor of the 4th year building. "We will make sure that Mr. Arkyiel's items are moved there with him, so no need to worry about that." This was all the headmasters idea, really. The Headmaster had a twisted sense of humor.

Chris nearly spit his coffee out when he heard the revelation. He choked it down, and came back. "Sorry, Headmaster, uhm." He paused, uncertain, crossing his arms. "She almost killed him, and nobody else was going to do anything about it. What if this happens again?"

The Headmaster didn't sound worried with his response "Don't worry, Mr. Graham, the room is already being monitored. Oh, and if an incident happens like this again, all 3 of them will be expelled." The headmaster sounded completely nonchalant with this revelation. The Vice Headmistress started to walk away after this, leaving the students to their own devices.

#2spooky4u by: Varionus, Exodus, Kidd, and Heb.