Sterling smiled at Helixio's curiosity. It was a valid question, and he intended to give a good answer, though he hardly knew himself. He hadn't thought this through, but if he let Chime speak for him, the familiar would only discourage the others from asking a question ever again. In his class at least. "Well," He began calmly, "There are many factors that contribute to me deciding to take you guys."
Finding relaxation in scratching Chime, he continued. "I actually have a few missions on the back burner, that I need to do soon, so as soon as someone proves to me they're capable of it. First of all, I look at grades and how you behave during class. I might also just pick you because your magical ability would prove useful for that particular mission, or because I assume you're going to fail so I can kick you from the course. So even if you do get chosen, don't always assume it's because you did something right." He warned, causing West to bite his lip nervously.
And then there was a siren and everyone stood up on their own accord, Sterling smiling to his familiar. "It's probably for the students. Think I can still participate?" He mused to Chime, then flattened his palm against the floor, creating a pentagram to appear on the ground and spin wildly before the portal glowed red. "Alright, everyone step here. We could walk, but it's fast to do it my way." He exclaimed excitedly, practically shoving everyone in, but hand lingering on his brother's shoulder for a moment too long. Then, making sure Chime was tucked into his shirt, jumped though as well, the portal disappearing as its creator had gone away.
They were transported to an auditorium of sorts, where there was a circular stage in the center and countless red velvet seats surrounding it from different angles. "Ah, some good ole cage fighting." Sterling declared with a smile, wonder in why his class was so quiet. He then gasped, "Aw, crap, sorry! I must have totally forgotten demon magic causes mild headaches in others, regardless of whether the spell is harmful or not. If you feel like throwing up, do us all a favor and don't." Something about his mocking tone led Klaus to believe this was far from an accident. As he collapsed on all fours, the boy pledged to get his revenge. Sterling shared a giggle with Chime as he was assembled to the front row, with his class sitting around him.
Then an intangible purple will o' wisp appeared on stage. "Welcome to your orientation! Most of you kids will be.. ahem, lucky enough to fight! Rules are simple. No one can die on stage thanks to the chalk markings! We will be having a class versus class clash! Winners will receive an extra lesson in the advanced course, and losers... will be demoted to a further remedial class." This caused everyone to murmur while Sterling smiled smugly.
"Mister Chartarum, care to send in one of your students?" Sterling tapped his chin like he was considering it, feeling the other advanced students, teachers, and student teachers stating at him. "Actually, headmaster, all my students are quite ill. They don t appear to be getting any better anytime soon. I suppose that makes them ineligible?" He felt as if the wisp was staring at him, until slowly it caved. "I suppose so, but take your students to the infirmary to make them... cured?" He smiled. "Of course, sir." Before the will o' wisp transported them to a random halfway and Sterling raised his hand to break everyone's massive migraine.
"You... did that on purpose so none of us had to get demoted..." Sterling arched his eyesbrows. "What are you talking about, Klaus?" West grunted. "Yeah, I heard orientation was rigged anyways! Teachers pretending to be students to teach the newcomers discipline!" Sterling shook his head, and shot him a ghostly look. "The only reason you all get out of that was because I don't feel like watching ameteurs go at it." He then noticed Dante was still hunched over, grasping his head. "Chime, take care of them while I take Dante back to the classroom to heal him." He said before putting an arm over Dante's shoulder and warping the two back to his class. "Did anyone else notice, they look pretty similar?" Wolfgang suddenly asked.
He patted Dante's back apoligetically. "Sorry, I just wanted to talk to you in private." He admitted, smoking brightly at his brother. "I know you don't like Chime, so I got it just to be the two of us! Wanna catch up?!" He spouted excitedly as he clapped his hands together. Without Chime here to give him access to his magic, Sterling was totally defenseless. He was even planning on walking back. "So why'd you come here?" He asked a bit blunter.