Children Of Infinity (IC)

[Esternial]

After the students had arrived at the Ocean Gazer, Arcander brought them back to the suite and everyone got settled. Some hours passed, and it was currently time for dinner. There was a knock on the door of the suite, and as the white-haired aspirant opened the door only to find the staff of the Ocean Gazer rolling in one of those little hotel carts with a lot of food, which they promptly set up in a table in the middle of the living room with astounding dexterity before rolling back out. There was more than enough food to feed all of the hungry youths in the group, certainly, and of quite a variety, too.

"Food's here!" Arcander called out.

Ritz heard Arcander's call through the sound of rushing water as it rushed down from the showerhead. She was plenty clean already, but the sensation of the water raining down onto her skin felt reinvigorating, a welcome relaxation after the exhaustion her body went through. Her body still felt sore, her muscles tingling each time she ran her hand across her bare skin, ever so gently. It made her feel weak. The lingering sensation in her body would be a permanent reminder, a motivator to keep honing her abilities, a warning to treat her power with due diligence.

The water stopped with a simple hand gesture, and Ritz wrapped a towel around her body as she used another to dry her hair, trying to move her arms and legs as little as possible, each movement causing faint but nonetheless noticeable pain.

When she emerged from the bathroom, she had her towel firmly wrapped around her, safely secured to avoid any mishaps. Ritz was never very committed to proper dress codes, and preferred not to wear anything at all when she could afford it, a lifestyle choice her parents never approved of, but tolerated - albeit begrudgingly. "A noblewoman shouldn't be so indecent" They often said, scolding her in an attempt to teach her proper manners.

It never quite managed to catch on.

"Looks good." Ritz commented on the food, absent-mindedly, thoughts still lingering on memories of back home. She tugged her towel to ensure it was fastened properly before joining the others at the table, carefully collecting the few locks of her champagne-pink hair that were draped across her chest and collected it behind her back. Her hair was quite long - most of it reached down to her hips and further, and when damp it seemed even longer. It had a habit of getting in the way, but Ritz adored it.

If anything, Ritz did have proper table manners, despite the fact she was wearing nothing more than a towel while dining. Her parents would have considered it a small victory. Her body was screaming for nourishment, but the young lady calmly and gracefully plated herself a modest meal: a salad with some pasta, accompanied with a fragrant cheese - the smell was familiar and aroused her appetite - along with some nuts and dried fruit. A dab of honey added a final sweet touch to her dish.

[Ularn]

"I will," Kyrissa promised with a genuine smile and stopped attempting to grasp a cube of some sort of stake with her flatbread to fix her golden eyes properly on Kal. She was actually happier knowing he had a purely selfish ulterior motive behind a simple regard for the laws, although she could not explain why. Maybe it was simply the honesty that she liked. Plenty of knights would have kept their personal feelings personal if only for maintaining their valiant and honourable aura.
She actually admitted that her second was kind of good looking as well. Obviously older and more developed than any of her cousins she knew around her own age group, his skin was just a little lighter than Kyr's was without the dye. His slender eyes and narrow, angular jawline seemed delicate yet firmly set in spite of it; guarded. Altogether it was not a friendly face but it was a trustworthy one, she decided.
"You'll need to talk to Alfenn ,since I heard he's Rache's second," she explained. "I don't care where the duel happens, so go ahead and use your own ideas or whatever Alfenn suggests, if it seems reasonable. As for weapons, I'm choosing swords. I saw Rache carrying one so he must know how to use it. Magic..." she trailed off into thought once more.
This had been a tricky decision. Kyr had no idea of Rache's powers or his command with them but she knew her own greatest strength lay in her pyromancy, which not even her mother could find fault with. Allowing magic would therefore likely give her an advantage but doing it for that reason alone would be cowardly. On the other hand it was possible Rache would opt to make it a blood duel. That was his right as the challenger while Kyr had the option of location, weapons and magic, though the way Rache seemed to disdain the whole business suggested he was leaning more towards ending the duel at 'well-beaten'. After the insult Kyr was supposed to have delivered against his order, soundly beating an opponent into submission with training swords was the least dangerous option he could really select without risking ridicule. If he did decide that they should draw blood to decide the victor then the duel would use real blades and could be over much faster. In that case, Kyr wanted her flames and her shields.
"As for magic, see what Alfenn says," she decided, "If Rache's decided to make it a bloodless duel, we'll settle it with blades alone. If he wants to fight to first blood or past that, we'll use magic as well. Sound alright?"

[Saleon]

"As for magic, see what Alfenn says," she decided, "If Rache's decided to make it a bloodless duel, we'll settle it with blades alone. If he wants to fight to first blood or past that, we'll use magic as well. Sound alright?"

"got it," he said while making a formal bow and a slightly silly smile, "madamoiselle."

He put on his glasses, which he often took off when enjoying the scenery, or talking with him. He says it is so he can look at the world for what it is, without things interfering. it was a small thing, but he liked it.

He entered back into the dining hall. now where is his second? He looked around before finding a waiter. After finding a red fruity drink with orange bubbles, he continued looking from the back of the room on looking the porch.

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Rache has barely touched the food on his plate instead he is thinking. "The past... I know what I have done and I am aware that such a sin must be punished. That is why I know that I will not allow myself to forget. I am a Rememberer. Therefore I shall remember." He sighs and looks around the room briefly and takes in the looks he gets. The ones from the Phantom Blade look at him with contempt while those from the more isolated Orders gives him nods of understanding, but as it is he is sitting all alone.

Feeling in a reminiscent mood he opens a locket containing a picture of five people three boys and two girls, one of them is clearly a younger Rache. He smiles kindly at the picture. "'We are the few who remain. Each of us must embody the Order with our very actions, our very existance. For we are the Order of the Chalice, our very essences and beings are such, the Order is its knights and its knights are the Order.' Isn't that what you said Brother? Though that was probably another one of your lies but, as always, I can't help but agree, an insult against one is an insult against us all, is an insult against the Order." He sighs though he makes note of Kyr making sure to avoid looking at him. "I do not blame her but I wonder how the duel will turn out." He pats his sword and says to it. "What do you think Solace?" He knows he won't get a response though. The AI in it went dormant shortly after the death of the White Demon and hasn't awoken since. For all intents and purposes now it is just a well made sword. He chuckles sadly. "Even our weapons have decayed as our Order has, it is so lamentable."

He sighs again and sets the open locket on the table. "But now what are the best terms to go with? Honestly I am deeply inclined to go with just until one is well beaten with training weapons. But on the other hand is that enough to satisfy either one of us? I don't want to have the thought that I could have won if I was using a normal sword and I certainly don't want her thinking that. So maybe until the first blood would be best, I hold a severe distaste for it when I am in control but it will allow us to fight to our fullest potential." He thinks on it for a moment unable to come to a decision. "Well I guess I should decide the way we decided things at home." He takes out a flat rock from his pocket, but there are some markings on one side. "Let us see what fate has in store for us. The marked side means to first blood the flat side means well beaten." He tosses it up into the air and catches it on the way down and lightly turns it on his wrist. Opening his hand he sees that the marked side is facing up. "Well I guess that settles it, first blood it is then." Rache remarks calmly if not a bit distastefully. "I will tell Alfenn and see what he thinks." He finishes his mean fairly quickly and wraps the locket around his neck to go look for Alfenn.

"Ah." He notices Alfenn at a table and takes a seat there. "Figured I would tell you I decided on my end of things. I have decided on a duel to the first blood."

[Ularn]

KYRISSA smiled at Kal'kul as he left, even as she gave a slight, imperceptible wince at his term of address. The Kerembors had never gone in for gender-based honorifics; many if not most of their greatest heroes had been women. From Arche Iatanja through Kyr's great-great grandmother Miri who, with her cousin Vaen, fought in the Chalice War and slew a dragon each, down to her own mother Nianja, the Saviour of Iasdrigar, if you were a Kerembor no-one cared what did or did not dangle between your legs; what mattered was whether you were a knight.
A turn of phrase meant so little however, and it was obvious that not all orders would be quite so stringent with their choice of words. As Kal opened the doors to re-enter the suite, Kyr called out, "And Kal, thank you. This means a lot to me."
Back inside with a weight off her shoulders, Kyr reconsidered actually talking to her classmates. So far she had made pathetically little effort; she had been distracted, true, but that was her own fault and she could already hear how Gin would chastise her if she let it cause any more damage. Orion was talking to another girl and a little further along from them Ritz sat wearing nothing but a towel! It was not the nudity that shocked Kyr; growing up in a ger left you with very few privacy taboos, but walking around naked in the Tor Desert was only going to end one way and that was third-degree sunburn.
Kyr sat down between Ritz and Orion and set her plate on the table in front of her. "Hi," she greeted generally and then looked over to Ritz while folding up a flatbread and asked, "You feeling any better?"

[Esternial]

KYRISSA smiled at Kal'kul as he left, even as she gave a slight, imperceptible wince at his term of address. The Kerembors had never gone in for gender-based honorifics; many if not most of their greatest heroes had been women. From Arche Iatanja through Kyr's great-great grandmother Miri who, with her cousin Vaen, fought in the Chalice War and slew a dragon each, down to her own mother Iatanja, the Saviour of Iasdrigar, if you were a Kerembor no-one cared what did or did not dangle between your legs; what mattered was whether you were a knight.
A turn of phrase meant so little however, and it was obvious that not all orders would be quite so stringent with their choice of words. As Kal opened the doors to re-enter the suite, Kyr called out, "And Kal, thank you. This means a lot to me."
Back inside with a weight off her shoulders, Kyr reconsidered actually talking to her classmates. So far she had made pathetically little effort; she had been distracted, true, but that was her own fault and she could already hear how Gin would chastise her if she let it cause any more damage. Orion was talking to another girl and a little further along from them Ritz sat wearing nothing but a towel! It was not the nudity that shocked Kyr; growing up in a ger left you with very few privacy taboos, but walking around naked in the Tor Desert was only going to end one way and that was third-degree sunburn.
Kyr sat down between Ritz and Orion and set her plate on the table in front of her. "Hi," she greeted generally and then looked over to Ritz while folding up a flatbread and asked, "You feeling any better?"

Ritz smiled softly and nodded, chewing down on the cheese she had put into her mouth and swallowing the creamy Limburger before answering.

"Sore, but better. That shower really hit the spot." She reassured her concerned fellow student.

"Now that I think about it, we haven't made proper introductions yet. My name is Ritz Bathys"

Ritz hadn't been present for the formal introductions, so she still had no idea who all these new students were. Her first impressions were mixed, as her ears caught persistent talk of duels and bloodshed fairly early on. As a young noblewoman that carried the name 'Bathys' she was expected to partake in duels herself - most women from her family were formidable Knights, and their bloodline had been cultivated further by her ancestors. Only formidable warriors stood a chance of earning the hand of the Bathys. Some even spread rumours that Bathys women had inhospitable wombs, their loins conditioned to bear only the strongest and most fit. Ritz considered all of that mere hogwash...probably.

[Charmera]

Meanwhile Juna sat down to another student. She sighed. She was content and happy for the first time in weeks. She had made up with her sister, repairing a bond that was so important in her life. Though Elsis' question did bug her. Why did she let loose like that? Even with Elsis goading her, she should have kept her cool. Though then again, she supposed if she kept obsessing over it it would be bad. There were still unresolved issues, but those were for later. She turned to the student next to her. "So. I'm Juna." She introduced herself without being asked. "What would your name happen to be? Sorry, I'm new and I didn't really talk to anyone."

Orion turned and looked at Juna with a chuckle.
"Oh don't worry, I'm also new. My name's Orion Kaladran, from Telcaron."
He replied jovially. The feast far outdid what he was used to on his homeplanet. Although he found the food rather unexciting in some ways. The plants didn't glow for one. And this meat thing was odd, but absolutely wonderful. On Telcaron, the mere idea of eating a Tunnel Crawler or an Erdkis Wyrm was enough to make even the most hardened of stomach's a little queasy, instead they got their protein from a multitude of underground plant mutations and an odd mineral ore nicknamed Soft Rock that formed in the planet's crust, containing lattice structures characteristic of carbohydrates along with interwoven layers of protein. The planet's warm mantle made a perfect home for many reptilian creatures unlike those seen anywhere else in the galaxy. Of course, tales of the Radiant Palm defeating strangely large or unusual versions of these beasts were so common there was even a set of writings dedicated to the stories.
"Its a pleasure to make your acquaintance Juna. Do you have meat like this on your planet? Its my first time eating it to be honest."
He said with a chuckle, although he was going to miss Arlatran Vines. Their bioluminescent sap was exceptionally sweet and a main ingredient in a favoured planetary brew known as Chaotic Sun Cider. Suitable for children and adults alike, with fizz and amazing sweetness as well as the characteristic, shifting luminescent colours. He rerailed his train of thought to the conversation at hand, smiling cheerfully,
"Were you on the delayed shuttle as well? I don't recall seeing you there, but I think I slept through most of it. Solar storms are not my idea of a fun ride."
He said calmly, despite his excitement caused by the discovery of meat, he was still aware of the need to not seem like an incompetent child.

"Usaully we did. Though we always had to hunt and kill it ourselves. Though usually my sister did that..." She shrugged. She then realized The Valiant Fang might have traditions and customs that seem odd to people. Though still she felt shame in having to admit she was practically dependent on her sister for any means of basic survival. It usually reflected badly on herself to admit that back home, but here seemed to be different. She could tell by the lack of disdain and idiot meatheats who tried to beat her up in an attempt to cull or shame the weak.

She was brought back to reality by his question next. "Yes I was actually. Though admittedly I was rather quiet. So it would make sense that you didn't see me." June spoke. She then asked a question of her own. "So... what's your homeworld like? I come from the Valiant Fang... so I'm not really aware of what other orders are like."

[Pyrade]

"Usaully we did. Though we always had to hunt and kill it ourselves. Though usually my sister did that..." She shrugged. She then realized The Valiant Fang might have traditions and customs that seem odd to people. Though still she felt shame in having to admit she was practically dependent on her sister for any means of basic survival. It usually reflected badly on herself to admit that back home, but here seemed to be different. She could tell by the lack of disdain and idiot meatheats who tried to beat her up in an attempt to cull or shame the weak.

She was brought back to reality by his question next. "Yes I was actually. Though admittedly I was rather quiet. So it would make sense that you didn't see me." June spoke. She then asked a question of her own. "So... what's your homeworld like? I come from the Valiant Fang... so I'm not really aware of what other orders are like."

Orion sat back a little, ignoring his plate of food for the time being now that he had successfully devoured more than his fair share of banquet meat.
"Ah, that sounds like a curious training exercise."
He replied to her first hunting statement and listened quietly to the rest. He smiled and shook his head,
"Don't worry, the Radiant Palm aren't exactly the most explorative bunch either. Well, my homeworld has 2 suns, but the actual planet is too far from them so the surface is frozen solid. We live underground though, geothermal caverns and such. It wasn't easy in the beginning the history books say, but our planet thrives on community I guess. I don't even think the most hardened knights but Aradain himself could survive their alone."
He said and chuckled as he recalled the hunting thing,
"The creatures living underground are quite unpleasant though, so we don't hunt them. The Radiant Palm occasionally has to clear caverns of tunnel crawlers out, but we prefer to leave the corpses out for the fungi to take over. Tunnel crawler meat is . . . Not very good."
He said with a comedically haunted expression. He'd never tried tunnel crawler, but one redemit had, and they died the following day, so tunnel crawler was not an option.
"But the plants we have are just beautiful. Because there's not a lot of light outside our caverns the plants glow, and they have so many amazing colours to light up dark caverns, its like walking through a nebula."
Orion sighed nostalgically and grinned to Juna,
"This planet is quite odd for me I must say, but warm sunlight is a nice feeling. What of you? What's your homeworld like?"
He asked, turning to wave at Kyr as she sat down next to him and the towel girl. Orion had noticed the odd choice in attire, but figured after napping on cold hard cave floor, she had a right to wear whatever.
"Good luck for the duel Kyr. Let me know if I can help."
He said, watching that he didn't speak too loud. There was no need to incite arguments by offering support. He then turned back to Juna and smiled,
"There was a . . . Disagreement back at the cavern. Tempers flared. Challenges made. Not exactly a good start to our first day with the group."

[Ularn]

"THANKS Orion," Kyrissa responded over her shoulder at the brief interruption before turning back to Ritz. "Yeah, so I'm Kyrissa Kerembor," she confirmed what Ritz would obviously have gathered from Orion, "Pretty much everyone calls me 'Kyr' though." At the same time, her eyes widened a little. Bathys was a name attached to even more great Knights than Kerembor was. Kyr was impressed at Ritz' heritage and also a little glad she had left Gin in her room. The old sword would have been unable to resist the urge to wax lyrical about all of Ritz's ancestors who he almost undoubtedly claimed to have met.

[Atlannia]

Rache has barely touched the food on his plate instead he is thinking. "The past... I know what I have done and I am aware that such a sin must be punished. That is why I know that I will not allow myself to forget. I am a Rememberer. Therefore I shall remember." He sighs and looks around the room briefly and takes in the looks he gets. The ones from the Phantom Blade look at him with contempt while those from the more isolated Orders gives him nods of understanding, but as it is he is sitting all alone.

Feeling in a reminiscent mood he opens a locket containing a picture of five people three boys and two girls, one of them is clearly a younger Rache. He smiles kindly at the picture. "'We are the few who remain. Each of us must embody the Order with our very actions, our very existance. For we are the Order of the Chalice, our very essences and beings are such, the Order is its knights and its knights are the Order.' Isn't that what you said Brother? Though that was probably another one of your lies but, as always, I can't help but agree, an insult against one is an insult against us all, is an insult against the Order." He sighs though he makes note of Kyr making sure to avoid looking at him. "I do not blame her but I wonder how the duel will turn out." He pats his sword and says to it. "What do you think Solace?" He knows he won't get a response though. The AI in it went dormant shortly after the death of the White Demon and hasn't awoken since. For all intents and purposes now it is just a well made sword. He chuckles sadly. "Even our weapons have decayed as our Order has, it is so lamentable."

He sighs again and sets the open locket on the table. "But now what are the best terms to go with? Honestly I am deeply inclined to go with just until one is well beaten with training weapons. But on the other hand is that enough to satisfy either one of us? I don't want to have the thought that I could have won if I was using a normal sword and I certainly don't want her thinking that. So maybe until the first blood would be best, I hold a severe distaste for it when I am in control but it will allow us to fight to our fullest potential." He thinks on it for a moment unable to come to a decision. "Well I guess I should decide the way we decided things at home." He takes out a flat rock from his pocket, but there are some markings on one side. "Let us see what fate has in store for us. The marked side means to first blood the flat side means well beaten." He tosses it up into the air and catches it on the way down and lightly turns it on his wrist. Opening his hand he sees that the marked side is facing up. "Well I guess that settles it, first blood it is then." Rache remarks calmly if not a bit distastefully. "I will tell Alfenn and see what he thinks." He finishes his mean fairly quickly and wraps the locket around his neck to go look for Alfenn.

"Ah." He notices Alfenn at a table and takes a seat there. "Figured I would tell you I decided on my end of things. I have decided on a duel to the first blood."

Alfenn blinked and looked up from his barely touched food. "Hm? Oh, Rache. My apologies, I must have been drifting off," He looked down at his plate once more and, grimacing pushed it away. "It was definitely too soon to choose red sauce," he muttered, shaking his head and then turning his full attention to the other student. "First blood... I think it's a reasonable compromise, as an inter-order disagreement the seriousness of the matter shouldn't be understated. On the other hand we're all under the supervisions of the academy and to a lesser extent the Phantom Blade as a whole. They stand to lose face if students start offing each other under their care, it would be best to show them a little courtesy. I think all things considered that's probably the best course of action." Alfenn paused and smiled wryly. "Unless you feel like withdrawing your challenge. As your second I'm technically supposed to encourage you to consider that option as well, not that I think you'll be persuaded. Have you given any thought to a time and location?"

[Charmera]

"Usaully we did. Though we always had to hunt and kill it ourselves. Though usually my sister did that..." She shrugged. She then realized The Valiant Fang might have traditions and customs that seem odd to people. Though still she felt shame in having to admit she was practically dependent on her sister for any means of basic survival. It usually reflected badly on herself to admit that back home, but here seemed to be different. She could tell by the lack of disdain and idiot meatheats who tried to beat her up in an attempt to cull or shame the weak.

She was brought back to reality by his question next. "Yes I was actually. Though admittedly I was rather quiet. So it would make sense that you didn't see me." June spoke. She then asked a question of her own. "So... what's your homeworld like? I come from the Valiant Fang... so I'm not really aware of what other orders are like."

Orion sat back a little, ignoring his plate of food for the time being now that he had successfully devoured more than his fair share of banquet meat.
"Ah, that sounds like a curious training exercise."
He replied to her first hunting statement and listened quietly to the rest. He smiled and shook his head,
"Don't worry, the Radiant Palm aren't exactly the most explorative bunch either. Well, my homeworld has 2 suns, but the actual planet is too far from them so the surface is frozen solid. We live underground though, geothermal caverns and such. It wasn't easy in the beginning the history books say, but our planet thrives on community I guess. I don't even think the most hardened knights but Aradain himself could survive their alone."
He said and chuckled as he recalled the hunting thing,
"The creatures living underground are quite unpleasant though, so we don't hunt them. The Radiant Palm occasionally has to clear caverns of tunnel crawlers out, but we prefer to leave the corpses out for the fungi to take over. Tunnel crawler meat is . . . Not very good."
He said with a comedically haunted expression. He'd never tried tunnel crawler, but one redemit had, and they died the following day, so tunnel crawler was not an option.
"But the plants we have are just beautiful. Because there's not a lot of light outside our caverns the plants glow, and they have so many amazing colours to light up dark caverns, its like walking through a nebula."
Orion sighed nostalgically and grinned to Juna,
"This planet is quite odd for me I must say, but warm sunlight is a nice feeling. What of you? What's your homeworld like?"
He asked, turning to wave at Kyr as she sat down next to him and the towel girl. Orion had noticed the odd choice in attire, but figured after napping on cold hard cave floor, she had a right to wear whatever.
"Good luck for the duel Kyr. Let me know if I can help."
He said, watching that he didn't speak too loud. There was no need to incite arguments by offering support. He then turned back to Juna and smiled,
"There was a . . . Disagreement back at the cavern. Tempers flared. Challenges made. Not exactly a good start to our first day with the group."

"Interesting." Remarked Juna, taking a bite of her own meal. The Radiant Palm seemed rather different from the Valiant Fang. "We too have dangerous animals, too many really, though we don't really live underground. And I don't imagine our planet is anywhere near as cold as yours. In fact in some way's it's rather beautiful at times." She remarked. "Well... when your not being hunted by predators while trying to get supper..." She remarked.

When Orion made a comment about the challenge, Juna raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. No kidding." She replied. "I heard something was going on while I was... talking with my sister." She remarked. She didn't need to go into details. She would spare Elsis the embarasment. Though then again that might have been telling too much as well. June mentally shrugged. "Is it just me, or is a disagreement and a few nasty words a little silly of a reason to bring in things like "seconds" and duels and fighting... I mean it's not uncommon but I always thought it was kinda dumb." She paused. "What about you? What's your stance on duels?"

[Pyrade]

"Interesting." Remarked Juna, taking a bite of her own meal. The Radiant Palm seemed rather different from the Valiant Fang. "We too have dangerous animals, too many really, though we don't really live underground. And I don't imagine our planet is anywhere near as cold as yours. In fact in some way's it's rather beautiful at times." She remarked. "Well... when your not being hunted by predators while trying to get supper..." She remarked.

When Orion made a comment about the challenge, Juna raised an eyebrow. "Yeah. No kidding." She replied. "I heard something was going on while I was... talking with my sister." She remarked. She didn't need to go into details. She would spare Elsis the embarasment. Though then again that might have been telling too much as well. June mentally shrugged. "Is it just me, or is a disagreement and a few nasty words a little silly of a reason to bring in things like "seconds" and duels and fighting... I mean it's not uncommon but I always thought it was kinda dumb." She paused. "What about you? What's your stance on duels?"

Orion chuckled,
"The caverns are strange. The deepest ones are hot as the deserts I've heard about on other planets."
He said and shrugged,
"You get used to it though. I've never really been out hunting for food though, it doesn't sound pleasant. I assisted with a wormquake once. Basically these massive worms that tunnel around the mantel, Yrdris worms. Occasionally they tunnel across a tunnel. If you're unlucky the breach into a cavern. That's when things get violent. If you're lucky, they breach in a tunnel and end up bashing on the blast doors."
He explained, recalling when he had gone with his fathers 2 years back to assist with the emergency.
"That's a wormquake, and basically the knights have to get rid of the worm. Its not hunting for food, but it is unpleasant to say the least. And that's when you have food in your stomach."
He finished his explanation. The topic of duels caused him to shake his head,
"It was a moment of passion I guess. Dueling is a wasteful tradition. Wouldn't it be better if we saved our blades for our enemies? It just doesn't really make sense to me."
He said and sighed.
"Guess that's just my opinion. But if I've seen anything in the caves, I won't meet many sympathizers here."
He muttered softly as he sat back in his seat.

[Saleon]

Alfenn blinked and looked up from his barely touched food. "Hm? Oh, Rache. My apologies, I must have been drifting off," He looked down at his plate once more and, grimacing pushed it away. "It was definitely too soon to choose red sauce," he muttered, shaking his head and then turning his full attention to the other student. "First blood... I think it's a reasonable compromise, as an inter-order disagreement the seriousness of the matter shouldn't be understated. On the other hand we're all under the supervisions of the academy and to a lesser extent the Phantom Blade as a whole. They stand to lose face if students start offing each other under their care, it would be best to show them a little courtesy. I think all things considered that's probably the best course of action." Alfenn paused and smiled wryly. "Unless you feel like withdrawing your challenge. As your second I'm technically supposed to encourage you to consider that option as well, not that I think you'll be persuaded. Have you given any thought to a time and location?"

Kal looked for Alfenn, who had been talking to Rache. He found it best to sit adjacent to them. To say he hated Rache at this point would be fallacious. he quite frankly didn't, just a subset of his beliefs that did not align. Whether Kyr hated him was not the question.

In fact, to a degree, he wanted to talk to him. The threats and the hatred which flew out from everyone, ostracized Rache to a degree. He saw a lonely individual, instead of a bigot. This was all his assumption, but he felt it was reasonably sound.

He asked for some more food, and then asked, "so? what have you guys agreed upon? I assume everyone here knows the code duello, so what's the specifics?"

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Rache gives a wry smile himself and responds to Alfenn. "To me it is simply too late for such a withdraw. So you are correct on that. As for when and where we will fight..." He taps his chin in thought. "I would say around mid-morning for when, part of me thinks that later in the day will only make this a spectacle for others so early would be the best time. As for location... well I don't think it should be anywhere in the resort due to the fact that I don't want us to be worried about possible damage to said resort. So the field outside would be the best ground. But that is my opinion. Though there is also my decision on the signal to start and the starting distance between us two. A simple begin out to do and the starting distance would be 14 paces apart from each other. At least that is normally how my duels go."

Then Kal approaches them and asks "So? what have you guys agreed upon? I assume everyone here knows the code duello, so what's the specifics?"

"Duel to the first blood." Rache says quietly. "As for the rest of the terms I am to decide I have proposed the duel to take place around mid-morning, the location will be the field outside, the signal to begin is just a simple 'begin', and we are to be 14 paces apart from each other. At least that is my opinion on the matter."

[Zarkenis Ultima]

---

"You have a sympathizer here." Arcander remarked as he sat near the pair, on a couch that was on the opposite side of the table from where they sat. The white-haired elder student had been mostly quiet during dinner, and was currently occupied with a steak of something that was very similar to poultry, but not quite, and tasted very similar to the ancient terran chicken, but not quite. Not that he knew that, anyway. Nobody had tasted the ancient terran chicken in countless millenia. Regardless, he had found himself some time between bites to make a comment, figuring that he might as well take advantage of the opportunity provided and talk with the new recruits under his care, get to know them a bit better.

"But then, I might be biased in that regard." The aspirant admitted with a faint smile. "After all, it does mean an unnecessarily larger workload for my people." He chuckled, referring to the knight-menders of the Viridian Flame, though for a moment it slipped his mind that these students were not as well acquainted with him as the other recruits of the group, and in any case, he didn't know how much they might know about his Order anyway.

"But, unpopular as my opinion may be, I don't think dueling should be the only resource used to settle differences between persons, nor the first." He stated.

At about the same time, Aressa emerged from the suite's restroom, dressed in a white shirt that had on it a stylized energy longsword design on it in black and silver, with smatterings of gray providing the effect of a background of sorts; along with this, she wore a pair of slightly loose-fitting pants of a relatively elastic black fabric. There was a small pink towel on the aspirant's head, over her crimson hair, which was noticeably damp still. One might wonder how she was in there when Ritz had also been there not too long ago, but the truth was that the suite had several separate showers and toilets to cater to the large ammounts of people that could inhabit the place at a given time.

"Is there any seafood?" She asked as she stepped outside, not bothering to remove the towel from her head.

"Right over there." Arcander pointed at a specific portion of the table, to which his partner nodded, nimbly jumping over the back of the couch to end up sitting down next to Arcander. Afterwards, she looked around, noticing that most of the new faces Arcander had pointed out to her were gathered around the table for dinner. She figured that this was an excellent opportunity to speak to them all, and so, she cleared her throat slightly to grab their attention.

"New students, I would like to formally introduce myself. My name is Aressa Alistar, and along with Arc here, I'll be your guide during your next three years at the Academy. You can trust me with anything you need." She said in a very serious and solemn manner, nodding at the end of her sentence.

"Now then." She said afterwards, her seriousness fading as she seized a plate of breaded Gladian shrimp and ate one. She never bothered to finish the sentence.

[Ularn]

JUNA'S words stung. So did Orion's follow up. A few nasty words. A moment of passion...wasteful tradition.. Neither of them really understood. Orion had a better grasp than Juna, certainly; he had been there for most of it and knew what Rache was. It still Kyrissa to hurt to hear one of the few she thought actually supported her use that compassionate, patronising tone, as though she were a child doing something rash because she knew no better. Maybe she was, but her reasons...
Each of us would take up arms in Aradain's name, she wanted to tell them, how else could you respond to someone who calls you a lawless heretic? How else can a knight accept such an insult? But she stopped herself. Those were the words she had used against Rache; blaspheming, murderous heretic. He had called her the same first, when he implied she would disregard Aradain's Laws so easily. The difference was that Kyr was right.
It would have dragged them all down into a petty squabble over who said what; Kyr 's righteous purpose would have been lost amid semantics. She knew that as the words formed in her mind and was actually glad when Arcander's arrival relieved her from having to say anything.
"...I don't think duelling should be the only resource used to settle differences between persons," the Aspirant remarked, "nor the first."
That was not what Kyr thought either. Duelling was a solemn act, not meant for the settling of petty squabbles. But the insults which had been dealt about that afternoon could only have ended with somebody issuing a challenge. Kyr's own integrity as one of Aradain's knights had been called into question. Rache could have physically struck her and it would have caused less offence. And she had responded in kind - against Rache's own order, supposedly. Kyr wished she could remember exactly what she had said; she could not recall saying anything about the Order of the Chalice until after Rache issued his challenge.
Arc thought there must have been another way though and Kyr wanted to hear it. The Aspirant was a veteran of eight years at the Academy; he had lasted longer than eighty percent of his fellow students. Most of the people in this room would fail to achieve what he had and Kyr was likely to be among them. His opinions were therefore worthy of being listened to. "How would have settled the dispute then, Arc?" she enquired.

[Zarkenis Ultima]

"How would you have settled the dispute then, Arc?"

For a moment the aspirant was concerned that he had offended one of the new students with what was initially intended to be a lighthearted comment bearing his honest opinion, but he quickly relaxed. If he had indeed incurred in such a fault, then surely an apology would suffice, along with perhaps some elaboration on his point, but either way, Kyrissa did not seem offended, merely curious. He assumed, then, that she simply wanted to hear more of him.

"Well," He began, straightening up on his seat and placing the plate he was hoding back on the table for the time being. "assuming I have enough control over my own emotions to avoid being clouded by anger (and a knight should always strive to control oneself), I would have systematically destroyed the argument of someone who attempted to slander me or my Order. If, for example, my honor had been put in doubt, I would calmly explain that my integrity as a knight is perfectly intact, and why. If, on the other hand, my Order had been insulted, I would demonstrate why such an insult is unfounded, especially if it comes from someone who is not familiar with the Order where I hail from. It would be a trickier matter if the insult had been caused by an action of mine, even if it was involuntary, but even then, though the process and the arguments needed change, it can be done." He said, pausing to sip his drink. "With the other party's argument negated in front of witnesses, my honor or the reputation of my Order would not be unnecessarily marred, whereas the credibility of the other party may very well be." He stated.

"I am not saying it would be sufficient to avert the issuing of a challenge in every instance, and if a challenge was issued towards me or I saw myself forced to issue a challenge in order to protect my honor or that of my Order after everything else failed, then I would accept the situation. But if that were the case, I would have at least attempted to avoid reaching that stage. Dueling would not have been the only method utilized in an attempt to settle the dispute, nor the first." He continued. "This is the humble opinion of a knight-mender in training, and it may not be shared by many, but it is mine, and I stand by it. You are free to accept or disagree with my thoughts as you please, I will not take offense."

"Mael's bones, the things I must have missed..." Aressa muttered as she munched on breaded shrimp.

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Rache goes to get more food and comes back. It is a type of meat that he cuts up and starts eating. "So much trouble." He mutters to himself taking a drink. That is all he says as he continues eating. He feels the blood leave his hand and he feels it go cold but he ignores it as it starts to spread through his body though he thinks. "Did I forget? No of course I didn't. I couldn't have. If I did then... Yet as he denies it he can feel more blood heading towards his throat. "Excuse me." He says standing up. "I just remembered I had something I needed to attend to. Alfenn I will leave the details up to you." He takes his plate to a place for it to be cleaned and he gets up and calmly walks towards the exit. After he leaves and rounds a corner he takes out a handkerchief and starts coughing into it. When he pulls it away from his mouth it is red with his own blood. "I was worried about that." He says paling as he takes off for his room as fast as he can. When he arrives he opens his possessions. "Where is it?" He asks as it grows harder for him to breathe. He finally finds what he is looking for and opens the case, in it is several dozen small vials. He grabs one and opens it and drinks its contents. He sits back against his bed. "That was close." He tells himself. "I am just a stupid unwitting idiot for letting this happen." He tells himself. "My life is bound by this medicine." He takes out the handkerchief and coughs more into it. His breathing is much better but he still wants to get the blood out of his throat.

His thoughts go back to home. "Rache are you sure you will be okay... your illness..." A young woman who looks a great deal like him with the same silver hair says to him with concern.

"I will be fine sis." Rache says reassuringly. "This illness will not get the best of me."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Besides Solace will look out for me." He says patting the sword that both consider to be their friend.

She laughs. "Well Solace make sure this elder brother of mine makes it back safe." She tells the sword, they both know the AI went dormant but they like to treat it as their friend.

"I'll be sure to come back for your knighting." Rache tells his sister and he kisses her cheek. "I promise."

"You better."

Rache comes back to the present. "I'm sorry sis. I almost let this get the best of me. I do not want you to hear that your brother died choking on his own blood so I can't let it win... not yet..." He mutters placing the empty vial on a table. "Medicine twice daily... what kind of warrior am I?" He laughs at himself derisively. "A pathetic one that's what. I will live briefly and then I will die. That is my fate. I am a mockery to the idea of a warrior. Yet each time they predicted my death I have beaten it. Yet it gets harder and harder to do such." He looks outside. "I think I will head to the field to practice my sword play, I need to keep my mind off of this." He saws as he heads out to the field.

[Esternial]

Ritz' attention was drawn away from her plate as she saw Rache leave the table, returning to his room with a slight urgency in his step. It was vague, but Ritz could tell there was something causing him distress, disrupting the steady flow of his energy. Whatever it was, it was significant enough for Ritz to take notice of it - small changes were still too hard to discern for her sixth sense.

"Excuse me" Ritz whispered as she moved her chair back, holding on to her towel as she got up from her seat and returned to her own quarters, where she finally threw the damp towel in a small laundry basket and put on some fresh clothes. After putting on some matching underwear, she gingerly put on a pair of thigh high stockings. She enjoyed wearing them. When she re-emerged from her room, Ritz was wearing a tartan-patterned skirt and loose white blouse. There was a matching black vest, but the weather didn't call for too many layers of clothing - Ritz even found the evenings quite warm enough.

Following Rache's trail - which involved some aimless wandering through the resort until she found him outside - Ritz joined the new student. She could sense that he was no longer distressed, but her guess was that his mind was still muddled by whatever caused it, through either her powers of acuity of simple female intuition.

"Quite set on that duel, aren't you?" She commented as she approached him, making sure he was conscious of her presence if he hadn't noticed her already.

"I haven't formally introduced myself," The young woman added, "Ritz Bathys. Pleased to meet you."

[Saleon]

Kal caught sight of both Rache and Ritz leaving one after the other. He didn't feel that they had any meeting or event set up beforehand. It seemed more that Ritz was leaving for some reason to do with Rache, though he had no clue what was wrong with him. He left absurdly quickly, and, Kal had hoped to follow had he not had to talk with Alfenn.

Kal placed his fingers to his lips with instinctively, before feeling a slight bit of disappointment. He pretty much knew that his time here training was going to force him off his habit. A habit he picked up out of stress, was going to be kicked in such a strange place, so far from home; it was almost stressful in a sense. He moved his hands to the table and picked up a small fork, and began twirling it around his fingers. He almost had the urge to put that to his lips as a substitute, but then decided it might be best not to. Either way...

"so Alfenn," he asked, " I've got two questions for you, err, one for you and one about this duel... in a sense. As per her honor in the code duello, she has opted for the use of magic. My second is, why'd you decide to be his second? I'm not questioning your reasoning, or at least not being confrontational. I just want to know." He'd done his part for her, considering she had asked for him to wait on the conditions of the fight, before designating the duel itself. He held to a sense of honor in that regard, and as the peaceful voice of the duelist in question, choosing against her will and notions would deface not only his reputation, but be in direct opposition to his own code-- two things he'd rather avoid.

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Rache heads out to the field. "Now lets begin." He takes out a couple weights and wraps them around his wrists draws Solace and takes a couple practice swings and mimics a few parries. His style is that of someone who relies on speed, hence why he is only using one hand for normal attacks and two hands for when he needs more power. Because of his illness he needs to make due with what he has which is speed.

As he practices he hears a woman's voice. "Quite set on that duel, aren't you?" Rache turns around and sees a girl probably a couple years older than him. "I haven't formally introduced myself," The young woman added, "Ritz Bathys. Pleased to meet you."

Rache puts Solace up, places his hand over his heart, and bows slightly. "Rache Olderen. Pleased to meet you as well." He says politely and coughs for a moment but hides the blood he got on his hand and treats it as he was clearing his throat. "Dammit I thought I had gotten all the blood out of my throat." He think but he continues to what she said about the duel. "I may seem that I am dead set on it but that does not mean I don't view it as lamentable." He says. "For now though I don't view it as something to be withdrawn. It is rude not to follow through on things no?" He then adds as a form of an after thought. "Even if it is something one is not fond of."

[Esternial]

Perhaps ironically, Rache's attempt at hiding his affliction made Ritz suspicious. His brief moment of peril when he coughed up some blood didn't go unnoticed, but Ritz hadn't seen the blood, so she didn't feel a need to ask any questions. It seemed harmless, and asking why Rache was bothered by a simple cough wasn't something Ritz was really fixed on. Rache had moved on, anyway.

"I've had more than my fair share - it was just practice, but not painless." She remarked while she walked past Rache, her eyes settling on the sun as it began to descend towards the horizon. Hues of brown, red and orange were plastered across the evening skies, a picture that brought a feeling of calm to Ritz' heart.

She signed contently, but with a hint of bitter melancholy.

"Never had an affinity for violence, but I had to uphold my family name." She said, eyes still gazing at the distance. She sat down in the grass, pulled her legs closer and wrapped her arms around them. It wasn't a decent way to sit with a skirt on - the thought popped into her head, along with her mother's remarks. It didn't matter. Her back was facing Rache now, her family name wouldn't be sullied.

"I'm sorry, you came here to train, not to talk. Please, continue." With a soft smile she looked behind her shoulder at Rache and then back at the piece of artistry in the sky before her. She could no longer sense the distress in Rache's body. His flow of energy seemed steady now, so her concerns were put at rest, and her curiosity subsided. For a moment she considered moving elsewhere, but there wasn't really any point to it. She wouldn't disturb Rache during his training - she didn't mind talking, but she didn't mind silently gazing off into the sunset either.

[Elysian Kentarchy]

Rache nods and draws Solace again. "I will then." He doesn't say it out loud but he appreciates the company. He moves his sword as if he was dueling an imaginary opponent, for now it mostly seems like he is training his defense abilities. "I have fought a few duels in my life, mostly with my younger sister." He comments making small talk as he does so he switches into practicing his swings, this has the added bonus of restoring feeling into his hands. "We considered them fun and good training, and a good way to settle our arguments. To me all my duels were fun because they were training for us." His face darkens a little. "Except for two times where the duel was something that was serious. Very serious."

[Ularn]

"I was the one challenged," Kyrissa reminded her Aspirant uncertainly. She knew full well that only a barely sufficient apology had held her back from challenging Rache first.
"I'm not saying you're wrong," she added hurriedly, "But we're soldiers; we ought to deal with conflict head-on. Diplomacy and reasoning absolutely have their place but we shouldn't pursue them to the point where we compromise our beliefs and our principles. That's for politicians, not knights.
"When words fail, action has to take their place. Rache wanted to violate a key tenant of Aradain's teachings and when I tried to reason with him he accused me of obeying the Laws only when they suit me. If he hadn't challenged me I absolutely would have challenged him for that kind of insult. More respected knights than us would have duelled to the death over it. If I was being rash it doesn't necessarily mean I was wrong and if there's a question over my conduct it should only be regarding whether I needed to accept a challenge from someone who holds our own sacred values in such low regard."
Kyr felt quite proud of how she had phrased that. Everything about that afternoon, from Rache's outburst to her rebuke, the insult and her rage, up until the challenge itself and Gin's subsequent warning had been churning over and over in her head, becoming more and more muddled up in doubt as she thought about it. Explaining it to Arc and the others now, clearly and succinctly, she knew that her mistake had absolutely nothing to do with settling the matter by duel, and only with whether or not a would-be heretic like Rache was even a worthy challenger.

[Pyrade]

Orion
Orion drew a sharp breath as he heard Kyrissa speaking and released a soft sigh. In a way the breath was his way of holding his tongue, but as she was continuing he released a second resigned sigh, knowing he couldn't say nothing.
"We are defenders . . . Or the Radiant Palm are I guess. I suppose the Phantom Blade may take a more aggressive stance. . ."
He said softly, more for himself than for Kyrissa. He didn't want her to get upset, or for more honour to be challenged.
"I don't mean any offense, but my beliefs are that violence should be our last resort. 'Do I not destroy my foe when I make him my friend?' . . ."
Orion continued, looking down at his plate, trying to hide the flush that filled his cheeks. This was far different from spur of the moment, adrenaline fueled defense of his beliefs. And in this group of people as well. But he had opened his mouth, it was too late for anything now.
"But those are my beliefs, according to my beliefs, what happened was irrational, according to your beliefs, it was right. I speak from my perspective, and you speak from yours . . . Neither is wrong."
He said softly and folded his arms as he bowed his head, hoping to avoid any stares he might have provoked.