Mana Academy (IC) (Open, Fantasy)

[Serah]

Progressively, Oliver became somewhat proud, proud that he had managed to make Soleil attack on his own without anyone's help.
The pain he was inflicting was strong, but it wasn't like he wasn't used to it. It had been a part of his life, and it would likely be that way for the rest of his life, but he didn't care.
Right now, he felt as if he had managed to do at least one thing right.

"Clear as day..." He muttered under his breath, recreating his axes. For a brief moment, he let himself look at Valerie, to address her response.



"Don't mind him, I'm teaching him how to defend himself. But, pardon me if I may seem somewhat offensive, but that seems quite similar to what a book description of mana may say.
Where's your personal touch in that? Do you see it as nothing but a tool, only something that can help but that you wouldn't trust to guide you?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you should part from it, everybody has a different way of viewing it, people can be as open or shallow as they damn please.
Maybe my interpretation is wrong because I don't know what you specialize in?" He cut himself off to dodge an incoming blow expertly, as if he hadn't even thought about it.

"Now, pardon me, but I'll have to get my full attention on this, unless I'm going to get stabbed to death." With that, he jumped back and threw an axe at Soleil's torso, then used his wind to boost him out of the way.

Once again, Oliver's body was covered in wind rolling off of him, although this time, it almost seemed like it was an armor.
Soleil would have to get creative if he wanted to pierce it, although so far, even by giving himself a handicap by not using his Predator arm, the fight was quite exhilarating.

Soleil paused for just a moment, as Valerie spoke to Oliver, meekly adding her own presence to the group. Something about her face seemed strange, and as Soleil calmed himself for just a moment, he noticed that Valerie's expressions seemed totally empty, as did her voice. She almost spoke as though she was a ghost, not another student. And yet nothing seemed malevolent about her. She seemed more or less uncertain, rather, as to whether or not she should join the fray. Eventually, she decided to stay on the outside-looking-in. Soleil was fine with this. "...I-If you want to fight Oliver when I'm finished...y-you can do so as well..." he mumbled, his normal kindness peeping through for just a moment. Yet that disappeared, as Oliver gave the cue to continue fighting, and so he did.

Turning back to his opponent, Soleil guarded himself with the blade of his sword once again, as Oliver assaulted him with more wind-axes. He grit his teeth, and once again, he pushed himself to slash through the axes. His anger had made his body physically stronger, to the point in which he could break apart an axe-construct, and as he rushed through it, he glared fiercely at Oliver. Yet he hesitated just for a moment, as he noticed that in the midst of this breakthrough, his opponent had created armor made from wind, to try and guard himself from any further attacks. An almost-proud grin appeared on the younger boy's face, as he realized he had pushed Oliver into a corner. Now he only had to break the armor, and he would win.

...I'm not afraid!...I'm not afraid!...I can finish this fight!...I'll prove my skills, and you won't call me shallow again!...

He pulled back, and reeled his sword back behind his shoulder. Pushing his Manastream further, a shock of Wind Mana flowed through his arms and into his sword, sharpening the blade and elongating it. The Wind Magic then surrounded himself, and he was covered in his own sort of armor. He then thrust his sword forward, and in the last moment, he moved all of the Wind-Armor into his sword, making it even longer and even more powerful. As he slashed into the armor, a massive storm seemed to begin around the two of them, two forces of nature and two wills seeking to overpower each other. "...I...WON'T...LOSE...TO YOU!!!" he screamed, as he cut into Oliver and managed to crack the armor.

As Soleil started to get into it, Oliver smirked back, especially when the armor started to falter.
However, this wasn't the end, not yet.

And as much as Oliver wanted to prove a point in fighting and maybe losing, he sure as hell wouldn't go down just like that. And if Soleil thought that it was enough, he would be sorely mistaken.

"Good! Very good! Keep that up!" He shouted. "However, you lack foresight!" With that, he once again used his wind to dash, this time not back, but full force ahead pointing at the ground.

Using this, he managed to propel himself between Soleil's legs and leave nothing but what looked like a wind clone.

"And you must remember that you opponent will very often not fight fair." As he said that, he lowered his stance and bent forward, putting both his hands in his pockets as wind blades started shooting left and right.
Behind him then formed a green circle covered in letters of an ancient language, likely one from the first civilizations that used magic. But due to his inheritage, this was likely one of the minor blood spells.

"Enkidu!" As soon as he pronounced those words, Soleil would feel a remarkable increase in Oliver's manastream. The storm would then concentrate itself on him, his clone would detonate as well in an explosion of draft wind, keeping Soleil in his position.
The circle itself started to turn, faster and faster as the storm converged on it. Once the letters couldn't even be read due to how fast it turned, Oliver plunged his hand into it, and pulled a sword, the sword itself was beautifully made, and almost felt like something like it shouldn't exist in this world, so much that the iron, despite just being magically infused almost felt otherworldly. He would later teach Soleil how to do it, it wasn't exactly hard to do, nor was it complicated, as long as you thought of it at some point. It was simply the manifestation of his two powers at once to create a weapon capable of exhibiting both at the same time.

If Soleil were to do it, he would likely pull a solid Light/Wind hybrid, which would, quite honestly, look pretty nice.

The sword's blade was etched with the same runes one could find on the circle and exhibited a strong wind based power, one could only imagine what it could do in Oliver's hands.
This small ritual of his was a way of calling temporary weapons on par with relics for a few moments, similarly to the Armads in a way, only less powerful, much less powerful than the Armads.
With his constant use of weapons, Soleil had made it clear that he wanted a fight with weaponry, and this, unfortunately for him was something he absolutely excelled at.

With his sword in hand, he kept his other arm in his pocket and dashed forward as the draft let up.

"Come on! Let's end it right there! Prove your determination and I'll teach you my family's arts!"
For a brief moment, he seemed to forgo Henry's advice, however, in a way, Soleil needed to be able to defend himself against his enemies later down the line.
Plus, this would definitely be useful for the upcoming test.

[Luminesa]

Soleil paused for just a moment, as Valerie spoke to Oliver, meekly adding her own presence to the group. Something about her face seemed strange, and as Soleil calmed himself for just a moment, he noticed that Valerie's expressions seemed totally empty, as did her voice. She almost spoke as though she was a ghost, not another student. And yet nothing seemed malevolent about her. She seemed more or less uncertain, rather, as to whether or not she should join the fray. Eventually, she decided to stay on the outside-looking-in. Soleil was fine with this. "...I-If you want to fight Oliver when I'm finished...y-you can do so as well..." he mumbled, his normal kindness peeping through for just a moment. Yet that disappeared, as Oliver gave the cue to continue fighting, and so he did.

Turning back to his opponent, Soleil guarded himself with the blade of his sword once again, as Oliver assaulted him with more wind-axes. He grit his teeth, and once again, he pushed himself to slash through the axes. His anger had made his body physically stronger, to the point in which he could break apart an axe-construct, and as he rushed through it, he glared fiercely at Oliver. Yet he hesitated just for a moment, as he noticed that in the midst of this breakthrough, his opponent had created armor made from wind, to try and guard himself from any further attacks. An almost-proud grin appeared on the younger boy's face, as he realized he had pushed Oliver into a corner. Now he only had to break the armor, and he would win.

...I'm not afraid!...I'm not afraid!...I can finish this fight!...I'll prove my skills, and you won't call me shallow again!...

He pulled back, and reeled his sword back behind his shoulder. Pushing his Manastream further, a shock of Wind Mana flowed through his arms and into his sword, sharpening the blade and elongating it. The Wind Magic then surrounded himself, and he was covered in his own sort of armor. He then thrust his sword forward, and in the last moment, he moved all of the Wind-Armor into his sword, making it even longer and even more powerful. As he slashed into the armor, a massive storm seemed to begin around the two of them, two forces of nature and two wills seeking to overpower each other. "...I...WON'T...LOSE...TO YOU!!!" he screamed, as he cut into Oliver and managed to crack the armor.

As Soleil started to get into it, Oliver smirked back, especially when the armor started to falter.
However, this wasn't the end, not yet.

And as much as Oliver wanted to prove a point in fighting and maybe losing, he sure as hell wouldn't go down just like that. And if Soleil thought that it was enough, he would be sorely mistaken.

"Good! Very good! Keep that up!" He shouted. "However, you lack foresight!" With that, he once again used his wind to dash, this time not back, but full force ahead pointing at the ground.

Using this, he managed to propel himself between Soleil's legs and leave nothing but what looked like a wind clone.

"And you must remember that you opponent will very often not fight fair." As he said that, he lowered his stance and bent forward, putting both his hands in his pockets as wind blades started shooting left and right.
Behind him then formed a green circle covered in letters of an ancient language, likely one from the first civilizations that used magic. But due to his inheritage, this was likely one of the minor blood spells.

"Enkidu!" As soon as he pronounced those words, Soleil would feel a remarkable increase in Oliver's manastream. The storm would then concentrate itself on him, his clone would detonate as well in an explosion of draft wind, keeping Soleil in his position.
The circle itself started to turn, faster and faster as the storm converged on it. Once the letters couldn't even be read due to how fast it turned, Oliver plunged his hand into it, and pulled a sword, the sword itself was beautifully made, and almost felt like something like it shouldn't exist in this world, so much that the iron, despite just being magically infused almost felt otherworldly. He would later teach Soleil how to do it, it wasn't exactly hard to do, nor was it complicated, as long as you thought of it at some point. It was simply the manifestation of his two powers at once to create a weapon capable of exhibiting both at the same time.

If Soleil were to do it, he would likely pull a solid Light/Wind hybrid, which would, quite honestly, look pretty nice.

The sword's blade was etched with the same runes one could find on the circle and exhibited a strong wind based power, one could only imagine what it could do in Oliver's hands.
This small ritual of his was a way of calling temporary weapons on par with relics for a few moments, similarly to the Armads in a way, only less powerful, much less powerful than the Armads.
With his constant use of weapons, Soleil had made it clear that he wanted a fight with weaponry, and this, unfortunately for him was something he absolutely excelled at.

With his sword in hand, he kept his other arm in his pocket and dashed forward as the draft let up.

"Come on! Let's end it right there! Prove your determination and I'll teach you my family's arts!"
For a brief moment, he seemed to forgo Henry's advice, however, in a way, Soleil needed to be able to defend himself against his enemies later down the line.
Plus, this would definitely be useful for the upcoming test.

"...!" Soleil was surprised, as Oliver seemingly left a clone made of wind behind, to take the damage from his attack. He then whirled around, mostly blocking the axes that flew at him from behind. He got slashed as he whirled around, but he caught the axes with his sword just in time. Wincing, he fought through the pain, shuddering as he broke the axes. Indeed, Oliver was not necessarily fighting fair, because the moment Soleil turned around, the other Mage had pulled a massive sword out of a huge, glowing green seal. A blast of wind threw leaves and twigs around the two Mages, and before long they were both trapped in a huge windstorm. Neither of them would leave until one of them had decided to drop.

Gritting his teeth, Soleil minded Oliver's words about foresight, and thought for a moment. He had to position himself so that he could get a few steps ahead, and thus catch Oliver off-guard. This time, rather than rushing forward, he braced himself, paying attention to his environment. As his opponent ran at him with 'Enkidu', the wind around Oliver seemed to relax for just a moment, and then he struck. Soleil used his Wind, moved some of it toward his hand, and projected himself into the air. Deciding to take Oliver's advice and to finish the fight, he now began to move his Light Mana through his body.

As he shouted this, Mana seemed to rush and to explode through his body, and suddenly, he felt something in his back. If one looked up at him, not only was his sword glowing a bright, ethereal green, but four enormous butterfly-wings had emerged from his back. They were also bright-green, glowing like enormous stars, and they would make it difficult for Oliver to see. This sudden release of Mana sent shockwaves through Soleil's body, and was painful, but he fought through the pain. Flipping through the air, he then dive-bombed Oliver, aiming to slash him in the shoulder and to knock him to the ground. "THIS IS GONNA END...RIGHT...HERE!!!" he screamed, as he shot downward from the moonlit sky, down toward the eye of the storm.

[Serah]

As Soleil started to get into it, Oliver smirked back, especially when the armor started to falter.
However, this wasn't the end, not yet.

And as much as Oliver wanted to prove a point in fighting and maybe losing, he sure as hell wouldn't go down just like that. And if Soleil thought that it was enough, he would be sorely mistaken.

"Good! Very good! Keep that up!" He shouted. "However, you lack foresight!" With that, he once again used his wind to dash, this time not back, but full force ahead pointing at the ground.

Using this, he managed to propel himself between Soleil's legs and leave nothing but what looked like a wind clone.

"And you must remember that you opponent will very often not fight fair." As he said that, he lowered his stance and bent forward, putting both his hands in his pockets as wind blades started shooting left and right.
Behind him then formed a green circle covered in letters of an ancient language, likely one from the first civilizations that used magic. But due to his inheritage, this was likely one of the minor blood spells.

"Enkidu!" As soon as he pronounced those words, Soleil would feel a remarkable increase in Oliver's manastream. The storm would then concentrate itself on him, his clone would detonate as well in an explosion of draft wind, keeping Soleil in his position.
The circle itself started to turn, faster and faster as the storm converged on it. Once the letters couldn't even be read due to how fast it turned, Oliver plunged his hand into it, and pulled a sword, the sword itself was beautifully made, and almost felt like something like it shouldn't exist in this world, so much that the iron, despite just being magically infused almost felt otherworldly. He would later teach Soleil how to do it, it wasn't exactly hard to do, nor was it complicated, as long as you thought of it at some point. It was simply the manifestation of his two powers at once to create a weapon capable of exhibiting both at the same time.

If Soleil were to do it, he would likely pull a solid Light/Wind hybrid, which would, quite honestly, look pretty nice.

The sword's blade was etched with the same runes one could find on the circle and exhibited a strong wind based power, one could only imagine what it could do in Oliver's hands.
This small ritual of his was a way of calling temporary weapons on par with relics for a few moments, similarly to the Armads in a way, only less powerful, much less powerful than the Armads.
With his constant use of weapons, Soleil had made it clear that he wanted a fight with weaponry, and this, unfortunately for him was something he absolutely excelled at.

With his sword in hand, he kept his other arm in his pocket and dashed forward as the draft let up.

"Come on! Let's end it right there! Prove your determination and I'll teach you my family's arts!"
For a brief moment, he seemed to forgo Henry's advice, however, in a way, Soleil needed to be able to defend himself against his enemies later down the line.
Plus, this would definitely be useful for the upcoming test.

"...!" Soleil was surprised, as Oliver seemingly left a clone made of wind behind, to take the damage from his attack. He then whirled around, mostly blocking the axes that flew at him from behind. He got slashed as he whirled around, but he caught the axes with his sword just in time. Wincing, he fought through the pain, shuddering as he broke the axes. Indeed, Oliver was not necessarily fighting fair, because the moment Soleil turned around, the other Mage had pulled a massive sword out of a huge, glowing green seal. A blast of wind threw leaves and twigs around the two Mages, and before long they were both trapped in a huge windstorm. Neither of them would leave until one of them had decided to drop.

Gritting his teeth, Soleil minded Oliver's words about foresight, and thought for a moment. He had to position himself so that he could get a few steps ahead, and thus catch Oliver off-guard. This time, rather than rushing forward, he braced himself, paying attention to his environment. As his opponent ran at him with 'Enkidu', the wind around Oliver seemed to relax for just a moment, and then he struck. Soleil used his Wind, moved some of it toward his hand, and projected himself into the air. Deciding to take Oliver's advice and to finish the fight, he now began to move his Light Mana through his body.

As he shouted this, Mana seemed to rush and to explode through his body, and suddenly, he felt something in his back. If one looked up at him, not only was his sword glowing a bright, ethereal green, but four enormous butterfly-wings had emerged from his back. They were also bright-green, glowing like enormous stars, and they would make it difficult for Oliver to see. This sudden release of Mana sent shockwaves through Soleil's body, and was painful, but he fought through the pain. Flipping through the air, he then dive-bombed Oliver, aiming to slash him in the shoulder and to knock him to the ground. "THIS IS GONNA END...RIGHT...HERE!!!" he screamed, as he shot downward from the moonlit sky, down toward the eye of the storm.

As impressive as the display Soleil was putting out may have been, Oliver had something his opponent didn't have, and that was prior training and discipline.
Where someone untrained may think of ways of outsmarting their opponents, a truly trained person would know how to avoid such things altogether.
Oliver just had to dash forward a little more to avoid the dive bomb, then turn back immediately to finish it all.

However, as he had said before, this fight needed to end. So instead of doing something rational and avoiding the blow, he decided to face it head on with his full strength.
Oliver's stance lowered again to take the brunt of the impact and send it to earth.
Following that, he tightened his grip and his manastream onto the sword, so much that it pulsed with magical power, the runes etched into it almost seemed to be bursting into flames.

His plan was to parry the blow, send the impact to earth, then let Soleil crash down by pulling his sword away and follow by a pommel hit.
The plan was short, but it wasn't necessary to just blow it out of proportions, he didn't need the Crusader, nor did he need the Predator. The latter was for monsters, the first for demons.
And even if he was the one to drop a knee, his lesson would still be something that Soleil would remember, whether it was for good or bad reasons, he wouldn't know for sure.

[Luminesa]

"...!" Soleil was surprised, as Oliver seemingly left a clone made of wind behind, to take the damage from his attack. He then whirled around, mostly blocking the axes that flew at him from behind. He got slashed as he whirled around, but he caught the axes with his sword just in time. Wincing, he fought through the pain, shuddering as he broke the axes. Indeed, Oliver was not necessarily fighting fair, because the moment Soleil turned around, the other Mage had pulled a massive sword out of a huge, glowing green seal. A blast of wind threw leaves and twigs around the two Mages, and before long they were both trapped in a huge windstorm. Neither of them would leave until one of them had decided to drop.

Gritting his teeth, Soleil minded Oliver's words about foresight, and thought for a moment. He had to position himself so that he could get a few steps ahead, and thus catch Oliver off-guard. This time, rather than rushing forward, he braced himself, paying attention to his environment. As his opponent ran at him with 'Enkidu', the wind around Oliver seemed to relax for just a moment, and then he struck. Soleil used his Wind, moved some of it toward his hand, and projected himself into the air. Deciding to take Oliver's advice and to finish the fight, he now began to move his Light Mana through his body.

As he shouted this, Mana seemed to rush and to explode through his body, and suddenly, he felt something in his back. If one looked up at him, not only was his sword glowing a bright, ethereal green, but four enormous butterfly-wings had emerged from his back. They were also bright-green, glowing like enormous stars, and they would make it difficult for Oliver to see. This sudden release of Mana sent shockwaves through Soleil's body, and was painful, but he fought through the pain. Flipping through the air, he then dive-bombed Oliver, aiming to slash him in the shoulder and to knock him to the ground. "THIS IS GONNA END...RIGHT...HERE!!!" he screamed, as he shot downward from the moonlit sky, down toward the eye of the storm.

As impressive as the display Soleil was putting out may have been, Oliver had something his opponent didn't have, and that was prior training and discipline.
Where someone untrained may think of ways of outsmarting their opponents, a truly trained person would know how to avoid such things altogether.
Oliver just had to dash forward a little more to avoid the dive bomb, then turn back immediately to finish it all.

However, as he had said before, this fight needed to end. So instead of doing something rational and avoiding the blow, he decided to face it head on with his full strength.
Oliver's stance lowered again to take the brunt of the impact and send it to earth.
Following that, he tightened his grip and his manastream onto the sword, so much that it pulsed with magical power, the runes etched into it almost seemed to be bursting into flames.

His plan was to parry the blow, send the impact to earth, then let Soleil crash down by pulling his sword away and follow by a pommel hit.
The plan was short, but it wasn't necessary to just blow it out of proportions, he didn't need the Crusader, nor did he need the Predator. The latter was for monsters, the first for demons.
And even if he was the one to drop a knee, his lesson would still be something that Soleil would remember, whether it was for good or bad reasons, he wouldn't know for sure.

Soleil struck down, and his blade clashed hard with the pommel of Oliver's sword. Both Mages sent waves of Mana through their bodies and into their swords, putting everything they had into a final strike, to see who could survive such an onslaught of power. Soleil did not want to lose, not before he ran out of stamina and collapsed. He wanted to truly finish the fight. Charging into his attack, he clenched his sword tighter and leaned toward the heat of the two metallic weapons. Then, after a moment, he pulled back, seemingly releasing the pressure, before he shot back down to earth and slammed the blade of his sword into the pommel, planning to once-and-for-all knock Oliver to his knees. He could feel his own body buckling from the pressure, and he knew this had to end fast, or otherwise he would not see the ending.

[Saldinado]

Shaun Calhoun

Upon hearing him speak in such an emotional and serious tone, Shaun couldn't do anything but only listen to him as he practically poured his heart out to him fearing for the worst, which was in this case, the possibility of him dying in battle. It was rather strange and unexpected to hear and see him, the heir to such a powerful and influential family in Europe, someone who's usually stoic, carried himself with such pride-sometimes arrogance-and was usually the one to tell him to hold his head up and carry himself with confidence, was now in a state of tears. He didn't actually know how to feel about it. And then to pull him into a hug. He was rather surprised by it, yet didn't protest to it by hugging him tightly as well; a little reluctant to let go. The smell of lavender and even a hint of oranges filled his nostrils as he deeply inhaled and cursed to himself inside his head. To him, it was a little selfless yet hypocritical in a sense. And he wasn't going to have that.

Slightly frowning to himself, Shaun broke from their hug and freed his hands from Allistor's grip and with one of them, leaned up and wiped the tears from his eyes using his thumb and sighed to him. He remained quiet for a few moments holding his head down and trying to think of what to say before he finally lifted his head up to look at the softness in the taller male's eyes which prompted him to smile weakly and chuckle softly and shake his head.

"Please. Don't think like that. You knew that as an Abendroth, especially as heir to the throne, that things like this were going to happen. In fact I'm a little sadden and confused that there are still families like this in this day and age that consider going to war. But that's besides the point.
What I'm trying to say is, is that I don't want you to stay here just because of me. This is a serious and pressing issue that needs to be taken care of. I'm pretty sure that the stability and welfare of what's going on between you, Henry, and perhaps others far deserves your attention than my needs and wants. And I know that I can't not just remove that uneasy and murky feeling of whether or not things will happen to you in the future while this continuing; but I know that I can't let that get to me. And I know that I can't let that get to you."

And with that Shaun cleared his throat and looked even deeper into Allistor's own eyes with a sense of sharpness yet warmth from his own violet ones and spoke to him.

"Sp don't you dare apologize to me damn it. I won't have you, Allistor Abendroth, apologize to me for something like this. You and I both know that this isn't something that we wanted to happen, but it happened. So you know what happens now?
You have a job to do. And I don't want you doing it worrying about me. I want you to think about the ones who really need worrying. And that's Soleil. And others who are caught in this mess." He sighed as he too tried to prevent himself from tearing up. Though that was only starting to prove to be a failure as small droplets of tears began to form in the corner of his eyes which he shook off and continued. "And well...since I won the bet, I want you to do this for me: I want you to do your best to survive. Just... Survive. Not for my sake only, but for those who love and cherish you as family and friends. Just... Do that for me." He laughed weakly to hide his fear within his joking. "And also don't call me 'baby'. Its weird and kinda cheesy. If you want to call me something sweet, call me by my name or a nickname that has a cute pun or something. But not baby." He laughed this time genuinely.

But soon, that laugh was overshadowed by the sound of his name being called. And he knew who it was. Though now his heart began to beat even faster than before. To him, he felt like this was some cliche love triangle. Both people who had feelings towards him were in the same room as him. Staring at each other. All he could do at that moment was close his eyes and bow his head as his cheeks and face began to grow rosy in color. Now there were two people that were beginning to tear up and cry because of him.

This is why I hate human emotions....

"Y-yes. I know that this isn't what you'd have expected. And for that, all I can say that I am deeply and sincerely sorry for this. Do what you want to me, shun me, condemn me, tell me how you feel and I would listen to you and try and talk it out with you to the best of my abilities. But yeah... The reasoning behind my actions and words and feelings around you and other females who try such things with me. Its just that well... Heh... I'm gay if you didn't know that until now. And well... This is the person that I've been dating. B...Boyfriend if you will."

Every word he said felt like he was burying himself deeper and deeper in a hole of embarrassment, fear, anxiety, and anger. He knew the effects of what he said to girls about this was, and can only stand there in silence wearily waiting for what their reactions were going to be. And now, this was one of those times.

"I am truly sorry if I gave you the wrong impression or feeling beforehand. It was never my intention. I wanted to tell you formally sometime but things happened and well... Yeah... And sorry to you too Allistor for being involved in this and meeting in such an awkward time."

[Serah]

As impressive as the display Soleil was putting out may have been, Oliver had something his opponent didn't have, and that was prior training and discipline.
Where someone untrained may think of ways of outsmarting their opponents, a truly trained person would know how to avoid such things altogether.
Oliver just had to dash forward a little more to avoid the dive bomb, then turn back immediately to finish it all.

However, as he had said before, this fight needed to end. So instead of doing something rational and avoiding the blow, he decided to face it head on with his full strength.
Oliver's stance lowered again to take the brunt of the impact and send it to earth.
Following that, he tightened his grip and his manastream onto the sword, so much that it pulsed with magical power, the runes etched into it almost seemed to be bursting into flames.

His plan was to parry the blow, send the impact to earth, then let Soleil crash down by pulling his sword away and follow by a pommel hit.
The plan was short, but it wasn't necessary to just blow it out of proportions, he didn't need the Crusader, nor did he need the Predator. The latter was for monsters, the first for demons.
And even if he was the one to drop a knee, his lesson would still be something that Soleil would remember, whether it was for good or bad reasons, he wouldn't know for sure.

Soleil struck down, and his blade clashed hard with the pommel of Oliver's sword. Both Mages sent waves of Mana through their bodies and into their swords, putting everything they had into a final strike, to see who could survive such an onslaught of power. Soleil did not want to lose, not before he ran out of stamina and collapsed. He wanted to truly finish the fight. Charging into his attack, he clenched his sword tighter and leaned toward the heat of the two metallic weapons. Then, after a moment, he pulled back, seemingly releasing the pressure, before he shot back down to earth and slammed the blade of his sword into the pommel, planning to once-and-for-all knock Oliver to his knees. He could feel his own body buckling from the pressure, and he knew this had to end fast, or otherwise he would not see the ending.

And indeed, Oliver had planned correctly, as the ground started to break under the force of the two fighters that left no room for the other, he put everything he had into it.
It had been a while since someone had pushed him so far without forcing him to go for the Crusader mode.
The last one that had been able to do so was Shino, even if he lost right now, with the sheer amount of power that was exhibited, frankly it hardly be counted as such.

However, Soleil was starting to tire, and Oliver was generally holding up better, and even if he was quite surprised by Soleil's coordination in hitting the pommel of his sword despite holding it horizontally.
He briefly thought of why Soleil would do such a thing, but he shook it off as he tipped his sword downward, letting his opponent fall to the ground, the wind covering his body almost threw Oliver off for a moment, however, he stood firm and went for the finishing blow.

Had Soleil been anyone else he didn't know, the piercing blow that was headed for his heart would've gone straight through, however, this was still a sparring match, despite appearances. Yet, Enkidu had still brought a serious blow to Soleil's body by letting a wind blade rip by his side once he was on the ground, unfortunately, his mindset at the moment of the blow wasn't clear enough to avoid it entirely, it would most definitely leave a scar.
The damage wouldn't be very serious, however, it would definitely look spectacular.

As spectacular as a superfluous wound that would cover half his torso's left side.

"Aaaah shit... Went overboard again..." Oliver turned back to his senses immediately and held out his hand.

"Hey, are you awake? Can you stand?"

[Luminesa]

Shaun Calhoun

Upon hearing him speak in such an emotional and serious tone, Shaun couldn't do anything but only listen to him as he practically poured his heart out to him fearing for the worst, which was in this case, the possibility of him dying in battle. It was rather strange and unexpected to hear and see him, the heir to such a powerful and influential family in Europe, someone who's usually stoic, carried himself with such pride-sometimes arrogance-and was usually the one to tell him to hold his head up and carry himself with confidence, was now in a state of tears. He didn't actually know how to feel about it. And then to pull him into a hug. He was rather surprised by it, yet didn't protest to it by hugging him tightly as well; a little reluctant to let go. The smell of lavender and even a hint of oranges filled his nostrils as he deeply inhaled and cursed to himself inside his head. To him, it was a little selfless yet hypocritical in a sense. And he wasn't going to have that.

Slightly frowning to himself, Shaun broke from their hug and freed his hands from Allistor's grip and with one of them, leaned up and wiped the tears from his eyes using his thumb and sighed to him. He remained quiet for a few moments holding his head down and trying to think of what to say before he finally lifted his head up to look at the softness in the taller male's eyes which prompted him to smile weakly and chuckle softly and shake his head.

"Please. Don't think like that. You knew that as an Abendroth, especially as heir to the throne, that things like this were going to happen. In fact I'm a little sadden and confused that there are still families like this in this day and age that consider going to war. But that's besides the point.
What I'm trying to say is, is that I don't want you to stay here just because of me. This is a serious and pressing issue that needs to be taken care of. I'm pretty sure that the stability and welfare of what's going on between you, Henry, and perhaps others far deserves your attention than my needs and wants. And I know that I can't not just remove that uneasy and murky feeling of whether or not things will happen to you in the future while this continuing; but I know that I can't let that get to me. And I know that I can't let that get to you."

And with that Shaun cleared his throat and looked even deeper into Allistor's own eyes with a sense of sharpness yet warmth from his own violet ones and spoke to him.

"Sp don't you dare apologize to me damn it. I won't have you, Allistor Abendroth, apologize to me for something like this. You and I both know that this isn't something that we wanted to happen, but it happened. So you know what happens now?
You have a job to do. And I don't want you doing it worrying about me. I want you to think about the ones who really need worrying. And that's Soleil. And others who are caught in this mess." He sighed as he too tried to prevent himself from tearing up. Though that was only starting to prove to be a failure as small droplets of tears began to form in the corner of his eyes which he shook off and continued. "And well...since I won the bet, I want you to do this for me: I want you to do your best to survive. Just... Survive. Not for my sake only, but for those who love and cherish you as family and friends. Just... Do that for me." He laughed weakly to hide his fear within his joking. "And also don't call me 'baby'. Its weird and kinda cheesy. If you want to call me something sweet, call me by my name or a nickname that has a cute pun or something. But not baby." He laughed this time genuinely.

But soon, that laugh was overshadowed by the sound of his name being called. And he knew who it was. Though now his heart began to beat even faster than before. To him, he felt like this was some cliche love triangle. Both people who had feelings towards him were in the same room as him. Staring at each other. All he could do at that moment was close his eyes and bow his head as his cheeks and face began to grow rosy in color. Now there were two people that were beginning to tear up and cry because of him.

This is why I hate human emotions....

"Y-yes. I know that this isn't what you'd have expected. And for that, all I can say that I am deeply and sincerely sorry for this. Do what you want to me, shun me, condemn me, tell me how you feel and I would listen to you and try and talk it out with you to the best of my abilities. But yeah... The reasoning behind my actions and words and feelings around you and other females who try such things with me. Its just that well... Heh... I'm gay if you didn't know that until now. And well... This is the person that I've been dating. B...Boyfriend if you will."

Every word he said felt like he was burying himself deeper and deeper in a hole of embarrassment, fear, anxiety, and anger. He knew the effects of what he said to girls about this was, and can only stand there in silence wearily waiting for what their reactions were going to be. And now, this was one of those times.

"I am truly sorry if I gave you the wrong impression or feeling beforehand. It was never my intention. I wanted to tell you formally sometime but things happened and well... Yeah... And sorry to you too Allistor for being involved in this and meeting in such an awkward time."

Ambrosia stared at the two boys, as they spoke and tried to comfort each other. Shaun showed himself to be the steadier one, even though he was ready to cry. He ordered for Allistor to go do his duty and to come back alive, almost in the fashion of a Spartan mother sending her child off to war. He even asked for Allistor to simply call him by his name, trying to make him laugh and to lighten the situation. Yet the pain indeed did not go away, and it hung in the air over the three like a dense fog. Ambrosia herself knew she could not break through the fog, but she tried anyway. Stepping forward, she looked over at Shaun, who had finally confessed himself to be gay. She frowned, as she thought. "...I...I should have...been more open myself...I've...never liked someone the way I like you...but I'm not going to shun or condemn you...What good would that do for me?...I just...I caused you to feel awkward, and...that's not right...not when it's the last time...you two will see each other for some time...I...I can't help either of you, though...I'm sorry..." she answered, with a sad mumble. She thought about simply getting her books and leaving, as she realized that she was making Shaun feel uncomfortable. Or maybe she was the uncomfortable one. Maybe seeing her love with a boy she could never compete with made her feel worthless all over again. Maybe. If only someone thought of how I feel for once, she said to herself.

[Luminesa]

Soleil struck down, and his blade clashed hard with the pommel of Oliver's sword. Both Mages sent waves of Mana through their bodies and into their swords, putting everything they had into a final strike, to see who could survive such an onslaught of power. Soleil did not want to lose, not before he ran out of stamina and collapsed. He wanted to truly finish the fight. Charging into his attack, he clenched his sword tighter and leaned toward the heat of the two metallic weapons. Then, after a moment, he pulled back, seemingly releasing the pressure, before he shot back down to earth and slammed the blade of his sword into the pommel, planning to once-and-for-all knock Oliver to his knees. He could feel his own body buckling from the pressure, and he knew this had to end fast, or otherwise he would not see the ending.

And indeed, Oliver had planned correctly, as the ground started to break under the force of the two fighters that left no room for the other, he put everything he had into it.
It had been a while since someone had pushed him so far without forcing him to go for the Crusader mode.
The last one that had been able to do so was Shino, even if he lost right now, with the sheer amount of power that was exhibited, frankly it hardly be counted as such.

However, Soleil was starting to tire, and Oliver was generally holding up better, and even if he was quite surprised by Soleil's coordination in hitting the pommel of his sword despite holding it horizontally.
He briefly thought of why Soleil would do such a thing, but he shook it off as he tipped his sword downward, letting his opponent fall to the ground, the wind covering his body almost threw Oliver off for a moment, however, he stood firm and went for the finishing blow.

Had Soleil been anyone else he didn't know, the piercing blow that was headed for his heart would've gone straight through, however, this was still a sparring match, despite appearances. Yet, Enkidu had still brought a serious blow to Soleil's body by letting a wind blade rip by his side once he was on the ground, unfortunately, his mindset at the moment of the blow wasn't clear enough to avoid it entirely, it would most definitely leave a scar.
The damage wouldn't be very serious, however, it would definitely look spectacular.

As spectacular as a superfluous wound that would cover half his torso's left side.

"Aaaah shit... Went overboard again..." Oliver turned back to his senses immediately and held out his hand.

"Hey, are you awake? Can you stand?"

All it took to knock Soleil's concentration away was a single jerk of the sword's handle. He had been focusing on the pommel, trying to exhaust Oliver. Instead, he now tumbled toward the ground, but not before the blade of the sword met his skin, cutting through the wind and the clothing to slice away at him. He let out a single yell, as he rolled onto his non-bloody side, and he panted heavily in pain. As he finally calmed himself, he found he could not rise. His body would not let him rise. Using so much Mana at once had exhausted him, and even his eyes seemed to glaze over as he lost what remained of his strength. The world then swirled and faded to black.

"...Hey..."

For just a few moments, behind closed eyes, Soleil lay on the ground of his mind, staring into the vastness around him. As he looked around, he watched as a tall, strong man in a black hooded cloak walked out of the darkness toward him. "...You did wonderful, Soleil..." he whispered, "...you fought harder tonight than you have fought in a long time...I'm proud of you..."

"...Papa...Thank you..." Soleil held his hand, unable to rise in his mind, but unwilling to move. He saw those loving eyes again, and that rugged, handsome face, and he felt he had returned home.

"...You're learning to fight...I always wanted to be the one to teach you to fight, you know that?..."

"...Yes, Papa...I know...I wanted you to teach me as well..."

"...Be a good student to Oliver, then...He is teaching you in my place, Soleil...I love you..."

When Oliver called to him, and extended his own hand to Soleil, the boy woke-up and stared at the hand. "...A-Ah...I think...I think so...!!!" The stinging pain immediately came back, and he grit his teeth as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. After a moment, he smiled painfully up at Oliver, and took his hand. He slowly got to his feet, but held his side. "...I-It looks like you win...I...didn't see that move coming...Heheheheh...Ahhh!" He held his side again, trying to keep it from bleeding, but the blood merely continued to seep through.

[Serah]

And indeed, Oliver had planned correctly, as the ground started to break under the force of the two fighters that left no room for the other, he put everything he had into it.
It had been a while since someone had pushed him so far without forcing him to go for the Crusader mode.
The last one that had been able to do so was Shino, even if he lost right now, with the sheer amount of power that was exhibited, frankly it hardly be counted as such.

However, Soleil was starting to tire, and Oliver was generally holding up better, and even if he was quite surprised by Soleil's coordination in hitting the pommel of his sword despite holding it horizontally.
He briefly thought of why Soleil would do such a thing, but he shook it off as he tipped his sword downward, letting his opponent fall to the ground, the wind covering his body almost threw Oliver off for a moment, however, he stood firm and went for the finishing blow.

Had Soleil been anyone else he didn't know, the piercing blow that was headed for his heart would've gone straight through, however, this was still a sparring match, despite appearances. Yet, Enkidu had still brought a serious blow to Soleil's body by letting a wind blade rip by his side once he was on the ground, unfortunately, his mindset at the moment of the blow wasn't clear enough to avoid it entirely, it would most definitely leave a scar.
The damage wouldn't be very serious, however, it would definitely look spectacular.

As spectacular as a superfluous wound that would cover half his torso's left side.

"Aaaah shit... Went overboard again..." Oliver turned back to his senses immediately and held out his hand.

"Hey, are you awake? Can you stand?"

All it took to knock Soleil's concentration away was a single jerk of the sword's handle. He had been focusing on the pommel, trying to exhaust Oliver. Instead, he now tumbled toward the ground, but not before the blade of the sword met his skin, cutting through the wind and the clothing to slice away at him. He let out a single yell, as he rolled onto his non-bloody side, and he panted heavily in pain. As he finally calmed himself, he found he could not rise. His body would not let him rise. Using so much Mana at once had exhausted him, and even his eyes seemed to glaze over as he lost what remained of his strength. The world then swirled and faded to black.

"...Hey..."

For just a few moments, behind closed eyes, Soleil lay on the ground of his mind, staring into the vastness around him. As he looked around, he watched as a tall, strong man in a black hooded cloak walked out of the darkness toward him. "...You did wonderful, Soleil..." he whispered, "...you fought harder tonight than you have fought in a long time...I'm proud of you..."

"...Papa...Thank you..." Soleil held his hand, unable to rise in his mind, but unwilling to move. He saw those loving eyes again, and that rugged, handsome face, and he felt he had returned home.

"...You're learning to fight...I always wanted to be the one to teach you to fight, you know that?..."

"...Yes, Papa...I know...I wanted you to teach me as well..."

"...Be a good student to Oliver, then...He is teaching you in my place, Soleil...I love you..."

When Oliver called to him, and extended his own hand to Soleil, the boy woke-up and stared at the hand. "...A-Ah...I think...I think so...!!!" The stinging pain immediately came back, and he grit his teeth as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. After a moment, he smiled painfully up at Oliver, and took his hand. He slowly got to his feet, but held his side. "...I-It looks like you win...I...didn't see that move coming...Heheheheh...Ahhh!" He held his side again, trying to keep it from bleeding, but the blood merely continued to seep through.

"Yeah. Goes to show that you still have a lot to learn. You did well though, just take care of noting that anger doesn't mean power, yeah?
Just like many things, I learned it the hard way. I could make another joke about that one, but I'll refrain." For a brief moment, Oliver stifled a smile, thinking about the joke he could've made. However, that sort of joke could only work with Shino.

"Don't worry, as much as it may look bad, it's not actually that bad. You just got scratched essentially, when we'll go back to the dorms, I'll pass by my room to get you a proper bandage.
Should be fine for now though, just sit down somewhere, we'll just focus on theory." He continued, dispelling his sword.

For a moment, he looked back at Valerie.

"Hey, sorry for the whole show, teaching him how to fight gets to be more of a handful each day.
If you want to join, we'll be leaning on theory for the most part now, with arcane magic and other spells.
Along with mana philosophy, the more we'll elaborate on your conception of magic, the more skill you will exhibit." With that, Oliver noticed that he was starting to sober up, something he didn't want to happen, since he was more useful when slightly tipsy, due to a certain lack of inhibitions.

Of course, he knew that one of these days, he'd need to deal with it another way, his liver, despite being young and highly resistant, would not support that much almost hallucinogenic alcohol.
Yet, he still took a swig of the thing without thinking, his mouth now smelling like really strong mint.

"So. You saw how I used Enkidu, correct? Well, that's a bit of a grey area between actual regular magic and arcane.
I could theoretically create it just like that, but it'd be infinitely weaker.
Do you have any idea why that is?"

[Imperial--japan]

Valerie Teichmüller

Valerie had watched the ensuing combat with interest, and took a variety of mental notes as to the apparent strengths and weakness' of the two before her. Soleil seemed quite the emotional sort, a glaring problem if it was to be exploited during the practical exams. Oliver however appeared to be quite in control of the situation, but would he keep the same 'in control' behavior if a situation truly was to slip from his control? Only time would tell, and perhaps she would need to test herself against one of them in the future to see how they would react against different variables. Besides, one fight wasn't enough documentation for a thorough assessment of their capabilities.

"Do you have any idea why that is?" Valerie shook her head. She of course had some theories, but when it came to the fighting styles and the personal skills of her fellow classmates, she would allow them to tell her. No use in playing guessing games when the exams were right around the corner. Priorities had to be in order. With a snap of her fingers, Valerie turned and reached into the small backpack she had with her, and pulled out a notepad.

"If you would be so kind as to enlighten me please." Though the sentence itself might of been a tad rude if uttered by someone who could throw more 'tone' into their voice, Valerie's facial expression remained ever stoic, with the exception of her trying to do some strange eye wiggles. Truthfully, she was attempting to raise her eyebrow to keep appear intrigued, and partially failing and making a fool of herself. She then gave a slight bow to defer to Oliver.

[Saldinado]

Dominique Corleone

The duration of the time ever since the announcement of the upcoming finals for the students Dominique was more anxious than usual. Mainly that was due to the idea that it was a practical exam. Meaning that mainly it might involve the use of physical combat and the use of weapons. And that's where the problem remained. This was the 21st century. Why are such people still using such medieval weapons such as swords and spears? To him, these were all just a waste of time and energy when all you need is a steady aim, firearm practice, and the ability to learn when to shoot and when not to shoot among other things. Well that's how he'd learned.
But yet again, the idea of even using such a weapon as that made him a little uneasy. These things have the power to take away another human's life and ruin their family and friends; and mainly for such idiocracy. He sighed to himself and shook his head as he walked along the paths that acted as the veins of the school towards the vitals areas of its body and soul. Alongside him trotted Prince who was wearing the well known gold collar that twinkled in the sun's light from the diamonds embedded in the collar.

He passed the group of students that were sparring with each other; one of which seeming had a taste of the flask which all knew what was for, or just thought that they wanted to be cute and cheeky with it. He shrugged them off and continued his walk until making his destination. Which in all honesty, was just walking around until his feet stopped at their preferred destinations. He made it inside the building of the school and yawned as he was still tired from waking up not that long ago and getting ready for the day. The soft clicking and clacking of Prince's nails on the tile floor and the jingle of his tag was kind of relaxing in an annoying sense. But it didn't make a difference to him. While walking he began thinking of numerous things that were happening in his head.

I wonder what exactly is happening in Europe? How will this affect me and the others at the school? What are the results of this conflict?
How will the exams affect my grades? Is this really necessary for us? Do I really have to fight? Am I limited to only certain techniques and skills? That would suck. Can I just get a good grade on the written portion of this?
Who the hell is that new girl? Is that Oliver dude really capable of such skills? Do I need to watch my back around him? Why am I asking so many questions?

Upon his internal rambling he finally stumbled upon a location of his choice which were the rooms of the staff. Particularly, the doctor of the school. He never really got to know him or infact any of the other teachers. And most of them were gone or busy; but that doesn't mean that he's given up. Looking at the nameplate on the side of the door, Dominique sighed deeply and closed his eyes as Prince stood beside him and sat down waiting for him. Soon Dominique raised his hand on the door and knocked on it three times before lowering it and looking down at the labradoodle beside him and softly stroking the top of his head waiting for a response. Hopefully this would go well.

[Luminesa]

All it took to knock Soleil's concentration away was a single jerk of the sword's handle. He had been focusing on the pommel, trying to exhaust Oliver. Instead, he now tumbled toward the ground, but not before the blade of the sword met his skin, cutting through the wind and the clothing to slice away at him. He let out a single yell, as he rolled onto his non-bloody side, and he panted heavily in pain. As he finally calmed himself, he found he could not rise. His body would not let him rise. Using so much Mana at once had exhausted him, and even his eyes seemed to glaze over as he lost what remained of his strength. The world then swirled and faded to black.

"...Hey..."

For just a few moments, behind closed eyes, Soleil lay on the ground of his mind, staring into the vastness around him. As he looked around, he watched as a tall, strong man in a black hooded cloak walked out of the darkness toward him. "...You did wonderful, Soleil..." he whispered, "...you fought harder tonight than you have fought in a long time...I'm proud of you..."

"...Papa...Thank you..." Soleil held his hand, unable to rise in his mind, but unwilling to move. He saw those loving eyes again, and that rugged, handsome face, and he felt he had returned home.

"...You're learning to fight...I always wanted to be the one to teach you to fight, you know that?..."

"...Yes, Papa...I know...I wanted you to teach me as well..."

"...Be a good student to Oliver, then...He is teaching you in my place, Soleil...I love you..."

When Oliver called to him, and extended his own hand to Soleil, the boy woke-up and stared at the hand. "...A-Ah...I think...I think so...!!!" The stinging pain immediately came back, and he grit his teeth as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. After a moment, he smiled painfully up at Oliver, and took his hand. He slowly got to his feet, but held his side. "...I-It looks like you win...I...didn't see that move coming...Heheheheh...Ahhh!" He held his side again, trying to keep it from bleeding, but the blood merely continued to seep through.

"Yeah. Goes to show that you still have a lot to learn. You did well though, just take care of noting that anger doesn't mean power, yeah?
Just like many things, I learned it the hard way. I could make another joke about that one, but I'll refrain." For a brief moment, Oliver stifled a smile, thinking about the joke he could've made. However, that sort of joke could only work with Shino.

"Don't worry, as much as it may look bad, it's not actually that bad. You just got scratched essentially, when we'll go back to the dorms, I'll pass by my room to get you a proper bandage.
Should be fine for now though, just sit down somewhere, we'll just focus on theory." He continued, dispelling his sword.

For a moment, he looked back at Valerie.

"Hey, sorry for the whole show, teaching him how to fight gets to be more of a handful each day.
If you want to join, we'll be leaning on theory for the most part now, with arcane magic and other spells.
Along with mana philosophy, the more we'll elaborate on your conception of magic, the more skill you will exhibit." With that, Oliver noticed that he was starting to sober up, something he didn't want to happen, since he was more useful when slightly tipsy, due to a certain lack of inhibitions.

Of course, he knew that one of these days, he'd need to deal with it another way, his liver, despite being young and highly resistant, would not support that much almost hallucinogenic alcohol.
Yet, he still took a swig of the thing without thinking, his mouth now smelling like really strong mint.

"So. You saw how I used Enkidu, correct? Well, that's a bit of a grey area between actual regular magic and arcane.
I could theoretically create it just like that, but it'd be infinitely weaker.
Do you have any idea why that is?"

"...Anger...doesn't mean power?..."

Soleil was confused. From what he had discovered himself, he could only truly fight once he was angry. He usually did so to defend his friends, and thus he had come to associate fighting with being angry at an attack on his friends. Now he had transferred that anger toward an offense against himself, a rather difficult feat. Yet the logic remained intact, at least in his mind. To fight was to be angry as to be angry was to fight. So what was fighting, then, if one was not angry and not desiring to defend something? This would be yet another question to ponder, and to knead through, during the week. He frowned, focusing now toward this question and almost not hearing what Oliver spoke to him about his wound. When he heard him, however, he was relieved. He had hoped that the wound was nothing serious, and being assured that it could be easily fixed caused for him to relax physically, as well as emotionally. He slowly started to become calm once again, though the wound still stung as he exhaled. "...Th-Thank you, Oliver...this was fun..." he mumbled, his soft, gentle self returning, "...I-I hope we can do this again, once I heal properly...Hopefully that will not take too long..."

In the meantime, he turned toward Valerie, focusing once again on her almost-emotionless face. Something just seemed so unnatural about the way she kept a completely blank expression even while watching a loud, violent, earth-rattling fight. She seemed to also lack somewhat in social skills overall, as she tried to politely ask a question, failed to even lift her eyebrow to show something other than indifference, and then bowed clumsily to Oliver to show respect. All of these things only seemed rather quirky to Soleil, however, and he giggled as he noted her actions. "...Y-You don't have to bow to him...or to me, even...W-We're your friends!...A-And we can help you study! So...th-there's no need to be nervous!"

A rather ironic statement, of course, coming from the most nervous boy in school.

[Luminesa]

Dominique Corleone

The duration of the time ever since the announcement of the upcoming finals for the students Dominique was more anxious than usual. Mainly that was due to the idea that it was a practical exam. Meaning that mainly it might involve the use of physical combat and the use of weapons. And that's where the problem remained. This was the 21st century. Why are such people still using such medieval weapons such as swords and spears? To him, these were all just a waste of time and energy when all you need is a steady aim, firearm practice, and the ability to learn when to shoot and when not to shoot among other things. Well that's how he'd learned.
But yet again, the idea of even using such a weapon as that made him a little uneasy. These things have the power to take away another human's life and ruin their family and friends; and mainly for such idiocracy. He sighed to himself and shook his head as he walked along the paths that acted as the veins of the school towards the vitals areas of its body and soul. Alongside him trotted Prince who was wearing the well known gold collar that twinkled in the sun's light from the diamonds embedded in the collar.

He passed the group of students that were sparring with each other; one of which seeming had a taste of the flask which all knew what was for, or just thought that they wanted to be cute and cheeky with it. He shrugged them off and continued his walk until making his destination. Which in all honesty, was just walking around until his feet stopped at their preferred destinations. He made it inside the building of the school and yawned as he was still tired from waking up not that long ago and getting ready for the day. The soft clicking and clacking of Prince's nails on the tile floor and the jingle of his tag was kind of relaxing in an annoying sense. But it didn't make a difference to him. While walking he began thinking of numerous things that were happening in his head.

I wonder what exactly is happening in Europe? How will this affect me and the others at the school? What are the results of this conflict?
How will the exams affect my grades? Is this really necessary for us? Do I really have to fight? Am I limited to only certain techniques and skills? That would suck. Can I just get a good grade on the written portion of this?
Who the hell is that new girl? Is that Oliver dude really capable of such skills? Do I need to watch my back around him? Why am I asking so many questions?

Upon his internal rambling he finally stumbled upon a location of his choice which were the rooms of the staff. Particularly, the doctor of the school. He never really got to know him or infact any of the other teachers. And most of them were gone or busy; but that doesn't mean that he's given up. Looking at the nameplate on the side of the door, Dominique sighed deeply and closed his eyes as Prince stood beside him and sat down waiting for him. Soon Dominique raised his hand on the door and knocked on it three times before lowering it and looking down at the labradoodle beside him and softly stroking the top of his head waiting for a response. Hopefully this would go well.

John had taken a break for a little while, as Cecily and some other nurses had switched their shifts with him. This would allow him some time out of the infirmary, which outside of any sort of major fight was rather boring. Of course, this did not bother John-a boring day at work meant that everyone was safe and healthy. He would have rathered that any day over watching one of his patients nearly die from blood-loss. As he walked outside into the cold evening, stretching and taking a breath of the cold air, he felt awake for the first time all day. He never told anyone when he was tired, though he was often exhausted from being overworked. He had to chuckle for a moment, as he realized this. John had always told the other teachers not to overwork themselves, yet he had remained in the infirmary all day to make sure the patients were well. Going to refresh himself before another night-shift, he walked toward the cafeteria and got himself some dinner.

He brought the food to his room, sat down on his bed, and turned on the TV. He flicked through the channels, looking for a movie to watch, or at least part of one. He found Top Gun, and decided to sit through that. As he ate, he wondered about what the absence of several of the students-and one teacher, who had more or less taken over in Ruta's place-would mean for the school. Fortunately, the school had rules regarding such circumstances, and the exams for students who could not take them at school were already made. Yet the absence would certainly be felt by many of the younger students, and Rabbit was a particularly beloved teacher as well. He and Cecily would be doing a lot of work in his place, and he did not entirely look forward to such a heavy load. Yet he was willing to do what it took to keep the school together, especially considering how difficult the last month had been for everyone.

About thirty minutes into the film, long after he had finished his food, he heard a knock at his door. He turned off the TV, and walked to the door. When he opened it, he saw Dominique staring up at him, a bit tired and peeved about something. He grinned at him, glad to see a student who had come to greet him without any visible injuries. "Hey! Dominique! Good to see you. What's going on? Do you need me for something?" he inquired.

[Serah]

Valerie Teichmüller

Valerie had watched the ensuing combat with interest, and took a variety of mental notes as to the apparent strengths and weakness' of the two before her. Soleil seemed quite the emotional sort, a glaring problem if it was to be exploited during the practical exams. Oliver however appeared to be quite in control of the situation, but would he keep the same 'in control' behavior if a situation truly was to slip from his control? Only time would tell, and perhaps she would need to test herself against one of them in the future to see how they would react against different variables. Besides, one fight wasn't enough documentation for a thorough assessment of their capabilities.

"Do you have any idea why that is?" Valerie shook her head. She of course had some theories, but when it came to the fighting styles and the personal skills of her fellow classmates, she would allow them to tell her. No use in playing guessing games when the exams were right around the corner. Priorities had to be in order. With a snap of her fingers, Valerie turned and reached into the small backpack she had with her, and pulled out a notepad.

"If you would be so kind as to enlighten me please." Though the sentence itself might of been a tad rude if uttered by someone who could throw more 'tone' into their voice, Valerie's facial expression remained ever stoic, with the exception of her trying to do some strange eye wiggles. Truthfully, she was attempting to raise her eyebrow to keep appear intrigued, and partially failing and making a fool of herself. She then gave a slight bow to defer to Oliver.

"Yeah. Goes to show that you still have a lot to learn. You did well though, just take care of noting that anger doesn't mean power, yeah?
Just like many things, I learned it the hard way. I could make another joke about that one, but I'll refrain." For a brief moment, Oliver stifled a smile, thinking about the joke he could've made. However, that sort of joke could only work with Shino.

"Don't worry, as much as it may look bad, it's not actually that bad. You just got scratched essentially, when we'll go back to the dorms, I'll pass by my room to get you a proper bandage.
Should be fine for now though, just sit down somewhere, we'll just focus on theory." He continued, dispelling his sword.

For a moment, he looked back at Valerie.

"Hey, sorry for the whole show, teaching him how to fight gets to be more of a handful each day.
If you want to join, we'll be leaning on theory for the most part now, with arcane magic and other spells.
Along with mana philosophy, the more we'll elaborate on your conception of magic, the more skill you will exhibit." With that, Oliver noticed that he was starting to sober up, something he didn't want to happen, since he was more useful when slightly tipsy, due to a certain lack of inhibitions.

Of course, he knew that one of these days, he'd need to deal with it another way, his liver, despite being young and highly resistant, would not support that much almost hallucinogenic alcohol.
Yet, he still took a swig of the thing without thinking, his mouth now smelling like really strong mint.

"So. You saw how I used Enkidu, correct? Well, that's a bit of a grey area between actual regular magic and arcane.
I could theoretically create it just like that, but it'd be infinitely weaker.
Do you have any idea why that is?"

"...Anger...doesn't mean power?..."

Soleil was confused. From what he had discovered himself, he could only truly fight once he was angry. He usually did so to defend his friends, and thus he had come to associate fighting with being angry at an attack on his friends. Now he had transferred that anger toward an offense against himself, a rather difficult feat. Yet the logic remained intact, at least in his mind. To fight was to be angry as to be angry was to fight. So what was fighting, then, if one was not angry and not desiring to defend something? This would be yet another question to ponder, and to knead through, during the week. He frowned, focusing now toward this question and almost not hearing what Oliver spoke to him about his wound. When he heard him, however, he was relieved. He had hoped that the wound was nothing serious, and being assured that it could be easily fixed caused for him to relax physically, as well as emotionally. He slowly started to become calm once again, though the wound still stung as he exhaled. "...Th-Thank you, Oliver...this was fun..." he mumbled, his soft, gentle self returning, "...I-I hope we can do this again, once I heal properly...Hopefully that will not take too long..."

In the meantime, he turned toward Valerie, focusing once again on her almost-emotionless face. Something just seemed so unnatural about the way she kept a completely blank expression even while watching a loud, violent, earth-rattling fight. She seemed to also lack somewhat in social skills overall, as she tried to politely ask a question, failed to even lift her eyebrow to show something other than indifference, and then bowed clumsily to Oliver to show respect. All of these things only seemed rather quirky to Soleil, however, and he giggled as he noted her actions. "...Y-You don't have to bow to him...or to me, even...W-We're your friends!...A-And we can help you study! So...th-there's no need to be nervous!"

A rather ironic statement, of course, coming from the most nervous boy in school.

Given that the two had not given any semblance of answers, Oliver felt somewhat disconcerted, he wasn't a teacher, but liked to think he could be one.
Had he been normal. However, that wasn't the case, and so far, those two were his equals. And again, it wasn't exactly something you could guess just like that.

"Hm... Have you ever wondered why old spells need circles, rituals, special ingredients and chanting? It's the exact same reason.
It's one of the basic rules of mana. The longer a spell is, and the more elaborate it is, the more it'll boast power.
Whether it's healing, destroying, protecting... Anything goes, really. By using Arcane, you essentially bypass most of the chanting/writing necessary to elaborate your spell by making it a ritual of sorts. Think of Arcane as the basis of all strong spells, much like alcohol is the basis for potions. On it's own, it has its effects, but they're at most sub par compared to the real thing.

A good, simple example I could take is potions. Make a potion from water, and no matter how pure it may be, the effects will be low but you'll have a low toxicity rate as well. This works for Mana and Arcane. Think of the spell as the potion, the end result."

He stood back a bit, and seemed to draw a circle, albeit fast, and write some letters that were magical in nature, most of which were either cryptograms that looked to be from an early civilization or northern runes.
A few seconds after writing the last letter to complete the circle, despite it being in the air, it suddenly burst into existence, exhibiting a low degree of power on its own. He turned back to his two students and kept his hand up, so as to keep the circle up, progressively, more and more smaller circles came to swirl in.

"See, the Arcane is just a base. And alone, it does little more than simply work as a glorified light. However, if you use a spell then..." He cut himself off, pointed his hand to the sky and spoke loud and clear.

"Beowulf!" Once he spoke, the circle swirled around his arm and created some sort of arm guard with runes engraved upon it, it looked quite powerful from the outside.

"And now, the difference between just calling on raw mana." This time, he did not chant, nor trace anything, metal simply came and covered his arm then wind followed, however, there was nothing special to it.

"I'm sure you can see the cosmetic difference, however, those runes aren't just for show either." He walked past his two students, and put the hand that was covered with the engraved arm guard on the ground. As he did, what looked like a shield of wind covered him, then burst on the ground, cutting the grass around him apart.

"That, for instance is what it could do. However I must admit I was sort of lacking an idea for the demonstration.
Anyway, for the regular arm guard, it is around as useful as a regular piece of plate armor, it's sturdy, more resistant than usual, but doesn't have much else to it.
It may serve against common folk, but won't help you against a mage, at least, less than the other one." He walked back to his students once again.

"You must keep in mind that while this is powerful, it also uses up a fair amount of mana and time to draw up the circle. Which is why it's important to train your speed writing skills and your mana reserves if you want to build a fighting strategy around that.
Any questions?"

[Luminesa]

Valerie Teichmüller

Valerie had watched the ensuing combat with interest, and took a variety of mental notes as to the apparent strengths and weakness' of the two before her. Soleil seemed quite the emotional sort, a glaring problem if it was to be exploited during the practical exams. Oliver however appeared to be quite in control of the situation, but would he keep the same 'in control' behavior if a situation truly was to slip from his control? Only time would tell, and perhaps she would need to test herself against one of them in the future to see how they would react against different variables. Besides, one fight wasn't enough documentation for a thorough assessment of their capabilities.

"Do you have any idea why that is?" Valerie shook her head. She of course had some theories, but when it came to the fighting styles and the personal skills of her fellow classmates, she would allow them to tell her. No use in playing guessing games when the exams were right around the corner. Priorities had to be in order. With a snap of her fingers, Valerie turned and reached into the small backpack she had with her, and pulled out a notepad.

"If you would be so kind as to enlighten me please." Though the sentence itself might of been a tad rude if uttered by someone who could throw more 'tone' into their voice, Valerie's facial expression remained ever stoic, with the exception of her trying to do some strange eye wiggles. Truthfully, she was attempting to raise her eyebrow to keep appear intrigued, and partially failing and making a fool of herself. She then gave a slight bow to defer to Oliver.

"...Anger...doesn't mean power?..."

Soleil was confused. From what he had discovered himself, he could only truly fight once he was angry. He usually did so to defend his friends, and thus he had come to associate fighting with being angry at an attack on his friends. Now he had transferred that anger toward an offense against himself, a rather difficult feat. Yet the logic remained intact, at least in his mind. To fight was to be angry as to be angry was to fight. So what was fighting, then, if one was not angry and not desiring to defend something? This would be yet another question to ponder, and to knead through, during the week. He frowned, focusing now toward this question and almost not hearing what Oliver spoke to him about his wound. When he heard him, however, he was relieved. He had hoped that the wound was nothing serious, and being assured that it could be easily fixed caused for him to relax physically, as well as emotionally. He slowly started to become calm once again, though the wound still stung as he exhaled. "...Th-Thank you, Oliver...this was fun..." he mumbled, his soft, gentle self returning, "...I-I hope we can do this again, once I heal properly...Hopefully that will not take too long..."

In the meantime, he turned toward Valerie, focusing once again on her almost-emotionless face. Something just seemed so unnatural about the way she kept a completely blank expression even while watching a loud, violent, earth-rattling fight. She seemed to also lack somewhat in social skills overall, as she tried to politely ask a question, failed to even lift her eyebrow to show something other than indifference, and then bowed clumsily to Oliver to show respect. All of these things only seemed rather quirky to Soleil, however, and he giggled as he noted her actions. "...Y-You don't have to bow to him...or to me, even...W-We're your friends!...A-And we can help you study! So...th-there's no need to be nervous!"

A rather ironic statement, of course, coming from the most nervous boy in school.

Given that the two had not given any semblance of answers, Oliver felt somewhat disconcerted, he wasn't a teacher, but liked to think he could be one.
Had he been normal. However, that wasn't the case, and so far, those two were his equals. And again, it wasn't exactly something you could guess just like that.

"Hm... Have you ever wondered why old spells need circles, rituals, special ingredients and chanting? It's the exact same reason.
It's one of the basic rules of mana. The longer a spell is, and the more elaborate it is, the more it'll boast power.
Whether it's healing, destroying, protecting... Anything goes, really. By using Arcane, you essentially bypass most of the chanting/writing necessary to elaborate your spell by making it a ritual of sorts. Think of Arcane as the basis of all strong spells, much like alcohol is the basis for potions. On it's own, it has its effects, but they're at most sub par compared to the real thing.

A good, simple example I could take is potions. Make a potion from water, and no matter how pure it may be, the effects will be low but you'll have a low toxicity rate as well. This works for Mana and Arcane. Think of the spell as the potion, the end result."

He stood back a bit, and seemed to draw a circle, albeit fast, and write some letters that were magical in nature, most of which were either cryptograms that looked to be from an early civilization or northern runes.
A few seconds after writing the last letter to complete the circle, despite it being in the air, it suddenly burst into existence, exhibiting a low degree of power on its own. He turned back to his two students and kept his hand up, so as to keep the circle up, progressively, more and more smaller circles came to swirl in.

"See, the Arcane is just a base. And alone, it does little more than simply work as a glorified light. However, if you use a spell then..." He cut himself off, pointed his hand to the sky and spoke loud and clear.

"Beowulf!" Once he spoke, the circle swirled around his arm and created some sort of arm guard with runes engraved upon it, it looked quite powerful from the outside.

"And now, the difference between just calling on raw mana." This time, he did not chant, nor trace anything, metal simply came and covered his arm then wind followed, however, there was nothing special to it.

"I'm sure you can see the cosmetic difference, however, those runes aren't just for show either." He walked past his two students, and put the hand that was covered with the engraved arm guard on the ground. As he did, what looked like a shield of wind covered him, then burst on the ground, cutting the grass around him apart.

"That, for instance is what it could do. However I must admit I was sort of lacking an idea for the demonstration.
Anyway, for the regular arm guard, it is around as useful as a regular piece of plate armor, it's sturdy, more resistant than usual, but doesn't have much else to it.
It may serve against common folk, but won't help you against a mage, at least, less than the other one." He walked back to his students once again.

"You must keep in mind that while this is powerful, it also uses up a fair amount of mana and time to draw up the circle. Which is why it's important to train your speed writing skills and your mana reserves if you want to build a fighting strategy around that.
Any questions?"

Arcane? Soleil was confused. He knew what the term meant, and how to use it, mostly thanks to what Artosh had taught about his own powers during class, but he had also been taught of the dangers of using Arcane. It granted one plenty of power, and bypassed the traditional need for chants and other time-consuming rituals, even granting one euphoria for a short amount of time. However, anyone could get addicted to that euphoria, and a rumor had already passed among the students that Artosh himself was addicted to such magic.

Yet Oliver had indeed proven that anger did not necessarily make one's spells stronger. Rather, pure patience did. Strong spells were all a matter of planning ahead, of calculating the circumstances and remaining several steps ahead of one's opponent. Such as one might try to consider in a game of chess while scanning the board. Of course, he could never win at chess, but he had also never been patient enough to try and learn. He would not be able to learn chess in a week, however...

...Patience...I have to be patient with myself, with my Magic...In order to create things like Oliver's Magical circles, I have to be focused...I lost today because I had no focus...I let myself get swept in my own anger...and my Magic burned-out...even now my whole body is tingling from using far too much Magic...I have to learn how to manipulate my Magic like Oliver does...pouring the ingredients in one at a time...Oh!

"...I-It's like baking!" Soleil explained, thinking of something familiar to connect to the lesson, "If I make a cake, I-I have to add all the ingredients one at a time...a-and...th-the more...often I do it...the faster I get at it...a-and...the better I get at it...r-right?" His comparison was rather simplistic, but he could visualize such, and he already knew, at least on a basic level, how to infuse his Wind Magic with Light, to bolster its power. He needed to learn how to use it properly, however, and with precision, not as a brute force that caused more damage than good, but as a sharp, efficient weapon that could quickly down an opponent while causing the least amount of damage possible.

[Saleon]

Amanda Stradt
The Storyteller
The Infirmary

---

---

A terrible dragon, larger than any dragons before, could be seen breathing fire upon the horizons. Towns and cities being removed from the surface in the blink of an eye. As people watched on, from across the Fields of France, tears ran down and smacked the ground. It was difficult to distinguish tears from the rain on the ground. One of those crying faces, looking on at the many cities being obliterated, was a little girl.

As the tears rang down, it felt like an ever-increasing array of bells clamoring discordantly. The scene grew fuzzy, unable to see as it went black.

Amanda tore awake, jumping upwards with her hand trying to reach outwards. She was breathing heavily. Her eyes began to survey the room. She takes a moment to calm down. "Damn..." she mutters, still catching her breath, "been a long time since I thought of my childhood... Too many bad memories." She grabs her blanket, lifting it off her small frame. She tries to move off the bed, yet her legs felt like cement. She tries to move or feel her toes, "Damn... magical fatigue... How long have I been...."

She slowly remembers the events before she went out. It was the library, the fields. Some dark necromancer... Ambrosia. The other girls.

For a second, she cries a small tear as she remembers the violence, the students that were lost. Her eyes teared up a little. The witch in gold hair took her hands and wiped her eyes, followed by cleaning up her hair a bit, "that must be why... Those students." She slams her hand onto the soft mattress.

"Hey! Anyone in here?" She says, trying to stretch a little, the soft hospital like clothes loosely tied up exposing some of her body, "Can I get a wheelchair?"

[Luminesa]

Amanda Stradt
The Storyteller
The Infirmary

---

---

A terrible dragon, larger than any dragons before, could be seen breathing fire upon the horizons. Towns and cities being removed from the surface in the blink of an eye. As people watched on, from across the Fields of France, tears ran down and smacked the ground. It was difficult to distinguish tears from the rain on the ground. One of those crying faces, looking on at the many cities being obliterated, was a little girl.

As the tears rang down, it felt like an ever-increasing array of bells clamoring discordantly. The scene grew fuzzy, unable to see as it went black.

Amanda tore awake, jumping upwards with her hand trying to reach outwards. She was breathing heavily. Her eyes began to survey the room. She takes a moment to calm down. "Damn..." she mutters, still catching her breath, "been a long time since I thought of my childhood... Too many bad memories." She grabs her blanket, lifting it off her small frame. She tries to move off the bed, yet her legs felt like cement. She tries to move or feel her toes, "Damn... magical fatigue... How long have I been...."

She slowly remembers the events before she went out. It was the library, the fields. Some dark necromancer... Ambrosia. The other girls.

For a second, she cries a small tear as she remembers the violence, the students that were lost. Her eyes teared up a little. The witch in gold hair took her hands and wiped her eyes, followed by cleaning up her hair a bit, "that must be why... Those students." She slams her hand onto the soft mattress.

"Hey! Anyone in here?" She says, trying to stretch a little, the soft hospital like clothes loosely tied up exposing some of her body, "Can I get a wheelchair?"

"Well, haven't you been in bed for a long time?...We thought you were dead!" Cecily walked over to her bedside, smiling and acknowledging the teacher who had gone unconscious for two months. She had been sent off-campus, after she had been wounded in the fight, and when they could not figure what to do about her coma, they sent her back, figuring that only Magic could cure her. Cecily found that odd all in itself. Some Mundane doctors were willing to believe that Magic-or some higher forces anyway-existed and could be trusted, even if only as extraordinary care. Most Mundane doctors considered the very idea of Magic, however, to be childish and outdated, if not completely dangerous. Thus, Amanda was fortunate, when she was sent back to the Academy to be healed by its nurses.

Having been in a bright mood through most of the evening, Cecily approached Amanda cheerfully, with some kick in her step. Noting that she needed a wheelchair, she called for one of the other nurses to grab one. In the meantime, she inquired, "Do you want something to eat? Something to drink? I'm sure you must be hungry or thirsty, we've only been sustaining your body with Magic these couple of months, after all. And Magic certainly is not a good meal." She giggled, and as the other nurse brought the wheelchair, Cecily carefully helped her up and into the chair. "...There we go! Now, tell me what you need."

Rabbit watched from his own spot, as Artosh still sat near him. He had not yet taken his mask off to eat the meal he had been presented, and he sighed with his own relief as he saw the teacher awaken in her bed. How long had she been in a coma? He forgot. Nevertheless, she seemed full of energy, all of a sudden, and ready to get back on her feet. Certainly that was a sign to be glad for, and Rabbit laughed softly with approval as he watched Cecily carefully and happily aiding the newly-healed teacher.

[Saleon]

Amanda Stradt
The Storyteller
The Infirmary

---

---

A terrible dragon, larger than any dragons before, could be seen breathing fire upon the horizons. Towns and cities being removed from the surface in the blink of an eye. As people watched on, from across the Fields of France, tears ran down and smacked the ground. It was difficult to distinguish tears from the rain on the ground. One of those crying faces, looking on at the many cities being obliterated, was a little girl.

As the tears rang down, it felt like an ever-increasing array of bells clamoring discordantly. The scene grew fuzzy, unable to see as it went black.

Amanda tore awake, jumping upwards with her hand trying to reach outwards. She was breathing heavily. Her eyes began to survey the room. She takes a moment to calm down. "Damn..." she mutters, still catching her breath, "been a long time since I thought of my childhood... Too many bad memories." She grabs her blanket, lifting it off her small frame. She tries to move off the bed, yet her legs felt like cement. She tries to move or feel her toes, "Damn... magical fatigue... How long have I been...."

She slowly remembers the events before she went out. It was the library, the fields. Some dark necromancer... Ambrosia. The other girls.

For a second, she cries a small tear as she remembers the violence, the students that were lost. Her eyes teared up a little. The witch in gold hair took her hands and wiped her eyes, followed by cleaning up her hair a bit, "that must be why... Those students." She slams her hand onto the soft mattress.

"Hey! Anyone in here?" She says, trying to stretch a little, the soft hospital like clothes loosely tied up exposing some of her body, "Can I get a wheelchair?"

"Well, haven't you been in bed for a long time?...We thought you were dead!" Cecily walked over to her bedside, smiling and acknowledging the teacher who had gone unconscious for two months. She had been sent off-campus, after she had been wounded in the fight, and when they could not figure what to do about her coma, they sent her back, figuring that only Magic could cure her. Cecily found that odd all in itself. Some Mundane doctors were willing to believe that Magic-or some higher forces anyway-existed and could be trusted, even if only as extraordinary care. Most Mundane doctors considered the very idea of Magic, however, to be childish and outdated, if not completely dangerous. Thus, Amanda was fortunate, when she was sent back to the Academy to be healed by its nurses.

Having been in a bright mood through most of the evening, Cecily approached Amanda cheerfully, with some kick in her step. Noting that she needed a wheelchair, she called for one of the other nurses to grab one. In the meantime, she inquired, "Do you want something to eat? Something to drink? I'm sure you must be hungry or thirsty, we've only been sustaining your body with Magic these couple of months, after all. And Magic certainly is not a good meal." She giggled, and as the other nurse brought the wheelchair, Cecily carefully helped her up and into the chair. "...There we go! Now, tell me what you need."

Rabbit watched from his own spot, as Artosh still sat near him. He had not yet taken his mask off to eat the meal he had been presented, and he sighed with his own relief as he saw the teacher awaken in her bed. How long had she been in a coma? He forgot. Nevertheless, she seemed full of energy, all of a sudden, and ready to get back on her feet. Certainly that was a sign to be glad for, and Rabbit laughed softly with approval as he watched Cecily carefully and happily aiding the newly-healed teacher.

"I may be old," she said somewhat jokingly, still getting her bearings, "but I am not going down easily. I must have exhausted myself in combat." She moved over and sifted into the chair. She looked over and saw Rabbit in a separate bed. She nodded a little, before turning to the overly positive nurse.

"Hmm... I could use some nicer clothes. I don't know what time it is but I could use breakfast. How about a croque madame and some coffee?" She added.

In the meantime, a small, diminutive looking rodent had seemingly appeared out the window. He wore a distinctive set of armor, somewhat fastened from forest leaves. It also carried an overly large greatsword (for his size at least). It had great jumping height. It quickly jumped from the window sill and onto the bed-frame, running across the hard steel without falling. It jumped across some IV bags, through a couple of curtains, before landing in Amanda's hair. It ruffled through a bit, seeming a little excited to see her. It's little face peaked out a smidge, popping on her shoulder.

"Morning Virgil," Amanda noted. She then had to ponder for a little bit, "it has been a while, but I think the notepad is still in my classroom. You may have to search around if one of the teachers or substitutes moved it." The little knight then jumped out of her hair, bouncing off of Cicily's shoulder and then out the door. It skittered about to locate the notepad.

She then turned back to the nurse, "I have roughly two questions: Did they hire a sub for my class or cancel it? Err, three questions. If they hired a sub, did they take good notes? Lastly, there was a girl from the library... troublemaking type. Ambrosia, if I remember. Is she alright?"

[Saldinado]

Dominique Corleone

"Hello sir!" Cheerfully grinned Dominique who returned the look of content. Looking at the doctor with his whitish hair-it seemed that the people here had such a variety of hair colors than the colors of the rainbow itself. Thinking of such a thing he laughed softly to himself and decided to slowly ease his way into asking for help rather than just bombarding him with questions and such.

"Um, its nothing too urgent! I am rather okay if you must know; my injuries from last time are slowly subsiding so everything is okay. I um, just wanted to come over and perhaps speak to you. You know um... Ask about your day and such I guess. Everyone's busy either studying or practicing for the upcoming exams and well I think that I'll leave them alone in the meantime ya know?" He maintained a genuine sense of easiness and content with now a smaller smile as he relaxed a bit. The feel of the coldness of John's room leaked out and crept up against his bare legs due to wearing shorts as well as the warmth of the outside and caused his hair to feel slightly feel ticklish. He internally smirked at it and shook it out of his mind before continuing.

"So um. Yeah. What's happening um... Captain?" He chuckled in his signature deep and hearty tone something that made him sound much older than he was yet gave a bright charm to him as people around him would say to him.

[Luminesa]

Amanda Stradt
The Storyteller
The Infirmary

---

---

"Well, haven't you been in bed for a long time?...We thought you were dead!" Cecily walked over to her bedside, smiling and acknowledging the teacher who had gone unconscious for two months. She had been sent off-campus, after she had been wounded in the fight, and when they could not figure what to do about her coma, they sent her back, figuring that only Magic could cure her. Cecily found that odd all in itself. Some Mundane doctors were willing to believe that Magic-or some higher forces anyway-existed and could be trusted, even if only as extraordinary care. Most Mundane doctors considered the very idea of Magic, however, to be childish and outdated, if not completely dangerous. Thus, Amanda was fortunate, when she was sent back to the Academy to be healed by its nurses.

Having been in a bright mood through most of the evening, Cecily approached Amanda cheerfully, with some kick in her step. Noting that she needed a wheelchair, she called for one of the other nurses to grab one. In the meantime, she inquired, "Do you want something to eat? Something to drink? I'm sure you must be hungry or thirsty, we've only been sustaining your body with Magic these couple of months, after all. And Magic certainly is not a good meal." She giggled, and as the other nurse brought the wheelchair, Cecily carefully helped her up and into the chair. "...There we go! Now, tell me what you need."

Rabbit watched from his own spot, as Artosh still sat near him. He had not yet taken his mask off to eat the meal he had been presented, and he sighed with his own relief as he saw the teacher awaken in her bed. How long had she been in a coma? He forgot. Nevertheless, she seemed full of energy, all of a sudden, and ready to get back on her feet. Certainly that was a sign to be glad for, and Rabbit laughed softly with approval as he watched Cecily carefully and happily aiding the newly-healed teacher.

"I may be old," she said somewhat jokingly, still getting her bearings, "but I am not going down easily. I must have exhausted myself in combat." She moved over and sifted into the chair. She looked over and saw Rabbit in a separate bed. She nodded a little, before turning to the overly positive nurse.

"Hmm... I could use some nicer clothes. I don't know what time it is but I could use breakfast. How about a croque madame and some coffee?" She added.

In the meantime, a small, diminutive looking rodent had seemingly appeared out the window. He wore a distinctive set of armor, somewhat fastened from forest leaves. It also carried an overly large greatsword (for his size at least). It had great jumping height. It quickly jumped from the window sill and onto the bed-frame, running across the hard steel without falling. It jumped across some IV bags, through a couple of curtains, before landing in Amanda's hair. It ruffled through a bit, seeming a little excited to see her. It's little face peaked out a smidge, popping on her shoulder.

"Morning Virgil," Amanda noted. She then had to ponder for a little bit, "it has been a while, but I think the notepad is still in my classroom. You may have to search around if one of the teachers or substitutes moved it." The little knight then jumped out of her hair, bouncing off of Cicily's shoulder and then out the door. It skittered about to locate the notepad.

She then turned back to the nurse, "I have roughly two questions: Did they hire a sub for my class or cancel it? Err, three questions. If they hired a sub, did they take good notes? Lastly, there was a girl from the library... troublemaking type. Ambrosia, if I remember. Is she alright?"

"Yes, we had someone take over for your class, to make sure the students remained on top of their studies. Can't simply drop something as important as Magical History, can we?" Cecily replied with a grin. She then nodded to another nurse. "Go to the cafeteria and request that a platter of croque madame be brought here. And a cup of coffee. And bring some nicer clothes as well. Once Amanda is steady, we'll help her to the bath so she can get clean and can change into some fresh clothes of her own," she explained, "and make sure to have someone wash the bedsheets and to replace them. If Amanda wishes to have new bedsheets, then she will have them. If she does not, make sure they are clean anyway for any new patients we may receive." The nurse rushed away, and Cecily turned back to the elder teacher.

Changing the bedsheets and the clothing of the comatose woman for two months had been a struggle, but it ended with Amanda's successful recovery and that was all that mattered. In fact, Cecily was pleased enough that she didn't even think too much about the little mouse that scurried around the room. She initially seemed worried, but then realized based on its actions that it was a familiar of Amanda's. She did frown slightly, however, at the thought of Ambrosia's condition.

"Miss Ambrosia is fine, but...she was turned into a vampire by one of the other students. The condition thus far has no cure, and we are trying to deal with the results as best as we can. Ambrosia has fallen into something of a depression since the event, though we have been doing what we can to help her. Not only is she behind on her studies, but she has spent most of her time recently alone. I really am quite worried for her...and for some of the other students..." she muttered, looking down toward the ground for a moment. "...With several of the students...and Rabbit...going overseas to deal with...business...several students here will be missing their friends..." She lowered her voice, as Rabbit was close-by. Of course, he heard everything regardless, though he kept quiet and turned back toward Artosh, allowing for Cecily and Amanda to talk.

[Luminesa]

Dominique Corleone

"Hello sir!" Cheerfully grinned Dominique who returned the look of content. Looking at the doctor with his whitish hair-it seemed that the people here had such a variety of hair colors than the colors of the rainbow itself. Thinking of such a thing he laughed softly to himself and decided to slowly ease his way into asking for help rather than just bombarding him with questions and such.

"Um, its nothing too urgent! I am rather okay if you must know; my injuries from last time are slowly subsiding so everything is okay. I um, just wanted to come over and perhaps speak to you. You know um... Ask about your day and such I guess. Everyone's busy either studying or practicing for the upcoming exams and well I think that I'll leave them alone in the meantime ya know?" He maintained a genuine sense of easiness and content with now a smaller smile as he relaxed a bit. The feel of the coldness of John's room leaked out and crept up against his bare legs due to wearing shorts as well as the warmth of the outside and caused his hair to feel slightly feel ticklish. He internally smirked at it and shook it out of his mind before continuing.

"So um. Yeah. What's happening um... Captain?" He chuckled in his signature deep and hearty tone something that made him sound much older than he was yet gave a bright charm to him as people around him would say to him.

John grinned, chuckling at Dominique's awkwardness. He seemed like he simply needed someone with whom he could talk, if only for a little while in the evening. Indeed, Dominique seemed to be one of the few students who had not joined into any group of friends on campus, and thus always seemed to be the odd person out. Even at the Tournament, when he had so eloquently played music on his saxophone-something that would have gained him plenty of girlfriends at John's high school, as he vividly remembered his own high-school years-he was still a rather lonely student.

"...Well it's good to hear you're well, Dominique. I'm glad you're healing well, last night was...well...crazy, to say the least. Even for me, and I've dealt with some stuff. As for me, well...I've just been working all day. Had to do a ton of paperwork, some of the students had to be transferred off-campus. Otherwise, I've had a normal day...which, I guess the less details the better. Means everyone is doing well and everything is peaceful," he replied. He then folded his arms, and looked sympathetically at the student. "...So...you don't want to hang with any of the other kids?...You got any problems with any of them?...Or did you want to train with me instead? I mean, that's totally fine, I can definitely train you if you want," he offered.

[Saleon]

Amanda Stradt
The Storyteller
The Infirmary

---

---

"I may be old," she said somewhat jokingly, still getting her bearings, "but I am not going down easily. I must have exhausted myself in combat." She moved over and sifted into the chair. She looked over and saw Rabbit in a separate bed. She nodded a little, before turning to the overly positive nurse.

"Hmm... I could use some nicer clothes. I don't know what time it is but I could use breakfast. How about a croque madame and some coffee?" She added.

In the meantime, a small, diminutive looking rodent had seemingly appeared out the window. He wore a distinctive set of armor, somewhat fastened from forest leaves. It also carried an overly large greatsword (for his size at least). It had great jumping height. It quickly jumped from the window sill and onto the bed-frame, running across the hard steel without falling. It jumped across some IV bags, through a couple of curtains, before landing in Amanda's hair. It ruffled through a bit, seeming a little excited to see her. It's little face peaked out a smidge, popping on her shoulder.

"Morning Virgil," Amanda noted. She then had to ponder for a little bit, "it has been a while, but I think the notepad is still in my classroom. You may have to search around if one of the teachers or substitutes moved it." The little knight then jumped out of her hair, bouncing off of Cicily's shoulder and then out the door. It skittered about to locate the notepad.

She then turned back to the nurse, "I have roughly two questions: Did they hire a sub for my class or cancel it? Err, three questions. If they hired a sub, did they take good notes? Lastly, there was a girl from the library... troublemaking type. Ambrosia, if I remember. Is she alright?"

"Yes, we had someone take over for your class, to make sure the students remained on top of their studies. Can't simply drop something as important as Magical History, can we?" Cecily replied with a grin. She then nodded to another nurse. "Go to the cafeteria and request that a platter of croque madame be brought here. And a cup of coffee. And bring some nicer clothes as well. Once Amanda is steady, we'll help her to the bath so she can get clean and can change into some fresh clothes of her own," she explained, "and make sure to have someone wash the bedsheets and to replace them. If Amanda wishes to have new bedsheets, then she will have them. If she does not, make sure they are clean anyway for any new patients we may receive." The nurse rushed away, and Cecily turned back to the elder teacher.

Changing the bedsheets and the clothing of the comatose woman for two months had been a struggle, but it ended with Amanda's successful recovery and that was all that mattered. In fact, Cecily was pleased enough that she didn't even think too much about the little mouse that scurried around the room. She initially seemed worried, but then realized based on its actions that it was a familiar of Amanda's. She did frown slightly, however, at the thought of Ambrosia's condition.

"Miss Ambrosia is fine, but...she was turned into a vampire by one of the other students. The condition thus far has no cure, and we are trying to deal with the results as best as we can. Ambrosia has fallen into something of a depression since the event, though we have been doing what we can to help her. Not only is she behind on her studies, but she has spent most of her time recently alone. I really am quite worried for her...and for some of the other students..." she muttered, looking down toward the ground for a moment. "...With several of the students...and Rabbit...going overseas to deal with...business...several students here will be missing their friends..." She lowered her voice, as Rabbit was close-by. Of course, he heard everything regardless, though he kept quiet and turned back toward Artosh, allowing for Cecily and Amanda to talk.

"I'm glad she is alive..." Amanda says, sighing a pleased look into her eyes, "but I see there is some things that need mopping up. Either way, I feel it would be best to head to my room. Can we please go there?"

---

Virgil continued darting across the school. He stayed close to the edge of windows, out of sight as best as possible. He travelled across the school to Stradt's classroom. He squeezed through a small hole in the door (one intentionally put in, that has oft confused students). He darted on top of the desk. It seems the substitute had been grading a couple of assignments in her lonesome. The mouse stayed quiet as it looked through the cupboards and filing cabinets. He jumps up, looking high and far. It takes him a while to find it. He rummages through one of the files, before finding a teeny little notepad. He lifted it up into the air, squeaking triumphantly. It made the substitute jump, thinking there was some kid playing pranks. The mouse hid itself well.

Virgil then, out of curiosity, saw how the grading was going. He snuggled in closer, trying not to bother her. He does, unfortunately, pull out his sword and point to one of the papers that was wrong. She jumped out of her seat. Virgil jumped up, scrambling to write in the notepad. He showed her the words sorry, before pointing the error once again. The substitute slowly nodded, and marked it.

He wrote again, "Amanda." Followed by another one, "back." Only enough paper for one word, considering it needs to be eligible.

The teacher had to think for a little bit... "The teacher is back?" she asked. Virgil nodded, writing, "plans?" the teacher had to think once more, "O-Oh! Lesson plans! She will need my lesson plans, yes! I will leave them in the file cabinet, on the right. Is she alright?" Virgil nodded happily. He then hopped down from the desk, leaving the room.

[Luminesa]

Amanda Stradt
The Storyteller
The Infirmary

---

---

"Yes, we had someone take over for your class, to make sure the students remained on top of their studies. Can't simply drop something as important as Magical History, can we?" Cecily replied with a grin. She then nodded to another nurse. "Go to the cafeteria and request that a platter of croque madame be brought here. And a cup of coffee. And bring some nicer clothes as well. Once Amanda is steady, we'll help her to the bath so she can get clean and can change into some fresh clothes of her own," she explained, "and make sure to have someone wash the bedsheets and to replace them. If Amanda wishes to have new bedsheets, then she will have them. If she does not, make sure they are clean anyway for any new patients we may receive." The nurse rushed away, and Cecily turned back to the elder teacher.

Changing the bedsheets and the clothing of the comatose woman for two months had been a struggle, but it ended with Amanda's successful recovery and that was all that mattered. In fact, Cecily was pleased enough that she didn't even think too much about the little mouse that scurried around the room. She initially seemed worried, but then realized based on its actions that it was a familiar of Amanda's. She did frown slightly, however, at the thought of Ambrosia's condition.

"Miss Ambrosia is fine, but...she was turned into a vampire by one of the other students. The condition thus far has no cure, and we are trying to deal with the results as best as we can. Ambrosia has fallen into something of a depression since the event, though we have been doing what we can to help her. Not only is she behind on her studies, but she has spent most of her time recently alone. I really am quite worried for her...and for some of the other students..." she muttered, looking down toward the ground for a moment. "...With several of the students...and Rabbit...going overseas to deal with...business...several students here will be missing their friends..." She lowered her voice, as Rabbit was close-by. Of course, he heard everything regardless, though he kept quiet and turned back toward Artosh, allowing for Cecily and Amanda to talk.

"I'm glad she is alive..." Amanda says, sighing a pleased look into her eyes, "but I see there is some things that need mopping up. Either way, I feel it would be best to head to my room. Can we please go there?"

---

Virgil continued darting across the school. He stayed close to the edge of windows, out of sight as best as possible. He travelled across the school to Stradt's classroom. He squeezed through a small hole in the door (one intentionally put in, that has oft confused students). He darted on top of the desk. It seems the substitute had been grading a couple of assignments in her lonesome. The mouse stayed quiet as it looked through the cupboards and filing cabinets. He jumps up, looking high and far. It takes him a while to find it. He rummages through one of the files, before finding a teeny little notepad. He lifted it up into the air, squeaking triumphantly. It made the substitute jump, thinking there was some kid playing pranks. The mouse hid itself well.

Virgil then, out of curiosity, saw how the grading was going. He snuggled in closer, trying not to bother her. He does, unfortunately, pull out his sword and point to one of the papers that was wrong. She jumped out of her seat. Virgil jumped up, scrambling to write in the notepad. He showed her the words sorry, before pointing the error once again. The substitute slowly nodded, and marked it.

He wrote again, "Amanda." Followed by another one, "back." Only enough paper for one word, considering it needs to be eligible.

The teacher had to think for a little bit... "The teacher is back?" she asked. Virgil nodded, writing, "plans?" the teacher had to think once more, "O-Oh! Lesson plans! She will need my lesson plans, yes! I will leave them in the file cabinet, on the right. Is she alright?" Virgil nodded happily. He then hopped down from the desk, leaving the room.

"Yes. Luckily nobody died from the last fight we had...though a few people...almost did..." She thought to Rabbit, of course, as he sat in bed nearby, and several of the other students who were hurt in the fight. Hikari had lost her memory, and thus she and Kasumi had made the decision to go to the city and to receive treatment there, paid generously by the school's principal herself. They were definitely lucky to have such kind benefactors, though they would most likely never remember what happened to them and who helped them. Meanwhile, the rest of the students who had been harmed were all healing nicely, which was another reason why she was worried for the students who were going to Europe. Henry and Allistor had both just finished a major fight against a horrid demon. Going to Europe was something she felt should have waited for when they were fully-healed, but alas, she had no control over such, sadly. She sighed. "...But that's nothing to worry about now. Everyone is safe, and when the students see you are well they will be happy to have their regular Magical History teacher back."

The nurse returned with the platter of croque madame, and with the cup of coffee. Cecily then turned to her and smiled kindly, while turning Amanda's chair toward the door. "If you would so kindly get the door, Amiya, Amanda has requested that she have dinner in her room. Please come with us and bring the food." The young nurse obeyed, holding the door open with her back while Cecily wheeled her through the door. She then wheeled her down the path toward the Aquo dorm, and to her room within the dormitory. Eventually, they arrived, with the food and the coffee still hot. Cecily then parked her close by her desk, so that Amiya could place the platter and the coffee on the desk and not in her lap. Without another word, the younger nurse ran out, and Cecily remained alone with Amanda. "...Say, if you don't mind me asking, what was that little mouse that crawled across my arm just a minute ago?...I'm guessing that was your familiar, yes?" she inquired. "...If you don't mind telling, where did it go?...It'd be rather unsafe to have such a tiny pet travel all around campus, this late at night, wouldn't it?"

[Saleon]

Amanda Stradt
The Storyteller
Her Room

---

---

"I'm glad she is alive..." Amanda says, sighing a pleased look into her eyes, "but I see there is some things that need mopping up. Either way, I feel it would be best to head to my room. Can we please go there?"

---

Virgil continued darting across the school. He stayed close to the edge of windows, out of sight as best as possible. He travelled across the school to Stradt's classroom. He squeezed through a small hole in the door (one intentionally put in, that has oft confused students). He darted on top of the desk. It seems the substitute had been grading a couple of assignments in her lonesome. The mouse stayed quiet as it looked through the cupboards and filing cabinets. He jumps up, looking high and far. It takes him a while to find it. He rummages through one of the files, before finding a teeny little notepad. He lifted it up into the air, squeaking triumphantly. It made the substitute jump, thinking there was some kid playing pranks. The mouse hid itself well.

Virgil then, out of curiosity, saw how the grading was going. He snuggled in closer, trying not to bother her. He does, unfortunately, pull out his sword and point to one of the papers that was wrong. She jumped out of her seat. Virgil jumped up, scrambling to write in the notepad. He showed her the words sorry, before pointing the error once again. The substitute slowly nodded, and marked it.

He wrote again, "Amanda." Followed by another one, "back." Only enough paper for one word, considering it needs to be eligible.

The teacher had to think for a little bit... "The teacher is back?" she asked. Virgil nodded, writing, "plans?" the teacher had to think once more, "O-Oh! Lesson plans! She will need my lesson plans, yes! I will leave them in the file cabinet, on the right. Is she alright?" Virgil nodded happily. He then hopped down from the desk, leaving the room.

"Yes. Luckily nobody died from the last fight we had...though a few people...almost did..." She thought to Rabbit, of course, as he sat in bed nearby, and several of the other students who were hurt in the fight. Hikari had lost her memory, and thus she and Kasumi had made the decision to go to the city and to receive treatment there, paid generously by the school's principal herself. They were definitely lucky to have such kind benefactors, though they would most likely never remember what happened to them and who helped them. Meanwhile, the rest of the students who had been harmed were all healing nicely, which was another reason why she was worried for the students who were going to Europe. Henry and Allistor had both just finished a major fight against a horrid demon. Going to Europe was something she felt should have waited for when they were fully-healed, but alas, she had no control over such, sadly. She sighed. "...But that's nothing to worry about now. Everyone is safe, and when the students see you are well they will be happy to have their regular Magical History teacher back."

The nurse returned with the platter of croque madame, and with the cup of coffee. Cecily then turned to her and smiled kindly, while turning Amanda's chair toward the door. "If you would so kindly get the door, Amiya, Amanda has requested that she have dinner in her room. Please come with us and bring the food." The young nurse obeyed, holding the door open with her back while Cecily wheeled her through the door. She then wheeled her down the path toward the Aquo dorm, and to her room within the dormitory. Eventually, they arrived, with the food and the coffee still hot. Cecily then parked her close by her desk, so that Amiya could place the platter and the coffee on the desk and not in her lap. Without another word, the younger nurse ran out, and Cecily remained alone with Amanda. "...Say, if you don't mind me asking, what was that little mouse that crawled across my arm just a minute ago?...I'm guessing that was your familiar, yes?" she inquired. "...If you don't mind telling, where did it go?...It'd be rather unsafe to have such a tiny pet travel all around campus, this late at night, wouldn't it?"

"Well, I wish I woke sooner. Rather, feels cheap to be out because of magical fatigue. 2 months. To a degree, it is quite silly," Amanda says, rolling her neck a bit as Cecily began moving out of her room.

From her room, she feels a bit more relaxed, easing into her desk.

She pulls out a knife and nicely slices the sandwich in half. She carefully breaks the slight yolk of the over-easy eggs. She grabs the food, taking a nice bite. "can't go wrong with a good breakfast," Amanda says, grinning. She ships some of her coffee.

"...Say, if you don't mind me asking, what was that little mouse that crawled across my arm just a minute ago?...I'm guessing that was your familiar, yes?" Cecily inquired. "...If you don't mind telling, where did it go?...It'd be rather unsafe to have such a tiny pet travel all around campus, this late at night, wouldn't it?

"You worried about Virgil?" Amanda giggles a little, "you don't know much about him. The little familiar can be quite independent. Most times he has never been seen." She says, eating a bit of her sandwich. She looks to the miss, "knowing the little guy, he probably visited me every day. You notice him? If not, he'll be fine. Been here a long time. I remember finding the little mouse in a Swedish mountain range. He's faced harder challenges."

[Finsternia]

Allistor Abendroth

Allistor stared intently at the bundle of white hair in front of him. Shaun was also staring down, towards their feet, as if he doesn't know what he should do. Allistor's hand went up to hold the white haired boy's own. He can feel the fleeting caresses that wiped off his tears, removed the stains off his cheeks, and sooth his soul from within. When Shaun looked up, he watched the young man smile and chuckle as soft as ever. Shaun wants him to uphold his duty to his family. Shaun wants him to go and focus on the job at hand. Shaun wants him to succeed, win the war, and return. Survive the flames of war and return back to the arms of his beloved. Win the war and relief the pain that it would inflict upon the people tangled with it.

The black haired teen leaned down and planted a kiss on Shaun's forehead, ruffling his now shorter hair and softly chuckling with him. "I will, my dear husky pup... I'll push through and bring with me the spoils of war... I promise." Hearing his name and Shaun's being called, he turned towards the voice's source. It was the vampire girl. The same vampire girl that he argued with when he came back to school after an errand in Vienna. The same meek and sharp tongued vampire girl that went missing and who they need to rescue from the talons of Solaine.

He looked at Shaun and then at Ambrosia. His eyes widened a bit as the conversation went on. Apparently Ambrosia have held an affection for Shaun since God knows when and now things are clearing up. Allistor can see something shatter within Ambrosia's eyes. It was like seeing a sand castle crash down and tumble as a great wave destroyed it and dissolved its foundation. It was a saddening scene to see. A perfectly normal girl who went to this school for a dream, only to be misfortuned at every turn, now see the man of his dreams unable to return the same feelings. Her object of affection who can't return such feelings because he loves another and cannot be ever compatible with her. Her dream crashed down upon her like that metaphorical sand castle by the force in which it was built.

Allistor frowned for a moment, feeling the tinge of jealousy from within before shaking it off. He moved beside Shaun, taking his hand within his. His thumb is slightly rubbing the young man's skin, tracing his veins underneath his fingertip, comforting him and lending his strength like how Shaun lent his to Allistor. "It's okay..." He whispered, his voice still a little bit broken from his crying awhile ago. He nodded and turned his sights towards the vampire. She looks so small compared to the two boys. Allistor shook his head, sighed, and spoke. "Ambrosia, I hope I got that right, look... It's not your fault. I was the one who barged in your study time with Shaun. I'm sorry if you need to know about our relationship like this... I know my words can't heal your fresh wounds but... Thank you, I guess. It's quite uplifting and it makes me proud that my boyfriend is loved by others. But just because Shaun is taken, it doesn't mean that you need to stop being a friend to him. Just remember that my name's written on that fine ass of his already." Allistor tried to uplift the situation at hand, laughing to himself before turning towards Ambrosia. There was also a veiled threat underneath it. He saw how unstable the vampire girl was before, her conflicting emotions raging within her like the fatal fire that could consume her unliving body.

You're jealous. You're afraid that she might hurt Shaun once you're gone. You're afraid of what will happen.

'I'm not.'

I've been your companion since you're an infant. I can see through your iron facade, Allistor.

'And what if I am?'

You really have grown... Not even like that spoiled little brat that I have been looking after...

I share your sentiments, my Lord.

Glacia's forked tongue flicked out. Her eyes stared at the girl and within blue fire burned. She was sensing the soul within the undying body, rotten and spoiled by the dark magic that binded it to the mortal shell. A soft rattling and hissing came of out the snake, still looking at the girl with contempt at her undead state. Allistor cleared his throat and smiled. He held out his other hand towards Ambrosia in a gesture of a handshake. "We haven't known each other formally. Last time was quite made from temper and harsh words, wasn't it?"

"My name's Allistor Abendroth. Ambrosia... I know that this is painful but... Yes, we do love each other. He's my boyfriend and I am his own... Yet, I would like to assure you. There is someone else out there that would love you and accept you. This is not the end of the line, Ambrosia. If Shaun and I could find our happy endings with each other, despite all the trouble and pain of our pasts, then why can't you?"

Artosh Luxenia

Artosh smiled and grabbed himself a slice of the pizza. It was still smoking hot and the cheese was soft and gooey as it seperated from the rest of the pizza circle. It was topped generously with vegetables and various meats and the crust was crunchy once bitten. The white haired teacher folded his slice before bitting down, savoring the explosion of savory, sweet, and spicy flavors that blossomed within his mouth. He couldn't help but shiver a little bit. "Yeah, I made it all by myself but I did ask some help and advice from John on how I should make the pizza this good. He's a great cook despite being a military man."

He then bit down again, melted cheese making strands as he pulled away. "But still! You need to eat a lot! Your wounds weren't trivial scratches! Even with your regenerative healing, you still need proper nutrition to support it." As he finished his slice, there was a whistling from the clinic's own small kitchen. The white haired teacher perked up and licked up his fingers in a hurry. He then turned towards Rabbit and smiled. "I'll be right back!"

Artosh then stood up and bolted out, the sound of frantic footsteps echoing within the clinic. A few seconds later, there was a flurry of curses and shouts that could have been the voice of Artosh. Then it became silent again, followed by the same footsteps. This time, Artosh was walking slowly, careful where he's going. He then went in, bring with him a rather large pot with two bowls being balanced on the pot's cover. He then placed it down on the table, arranged the bowls, and opened the pot. The smell was the first thing that could be recognized. It smells like the sea and very strong spices with a tinge of creaminess. Artosh poured the soup and its contents into the bowls with a laddle. It was thick and filled with ingredients that Rabbit would sure love. He placed Rabbit's share into his tray and sat beside him. "It's crawfish and scallops chowder. I thought that you'd like some hot soup to be paired with the pizza so I whipped it up for you. If you need some help with the shells, just tell me!"