Mana Academy (IC) (Open, Fantasy)

[Luminesa]

"No...I-I won't let you hurt me again...I won't let you lie and tell me...that I'm worthless...a-and that I can't do anything right...and...that I won't be a Jaegar...B-Because the truth is that...you don't know me," Soleil continued, wiping his eyes as he spoke, "...You claim to...b-but you don't...Y-You lie about me...and about Professor Rabbit...a-and now you're lying about Hikari...I won't let you do this anymore...Everyone here cared for you...Professor Ruta cares for you...b-but you don't care back...A-And one day...you'll wish you did..."

He focused his Mana, and he held his palms out toward the ground. Again came the sharp pain, which had distracted him the first time, but this time he powered through it. His family was in danger, and he wanted to protect it. He had to protect it, from this girl's horrible lies. Slowly, the large amount of Light and Wind Mana took form, and it became a single, silvery wolf. It looked much like the wolf he created in the bar, though longer and leaner. The young Mage that stood behind it reached down and pet the wolf, feeling its soft, thick coat under his fingers. He pet it behind the ears as he spoke to Katelyn. "...Y-You can attack me all you want, then...I...refuse to listen anymore..." he whispered.

"...You think I'm lying? Well, you'll see soon enough. Why don't you go check out that cross, hmm? Then you'll see the truth of my words. Anyway, I'm not planning on fighting you, not yet. I'll wait until my pet's in real trouble before I step in. It's more fun that way. I wonder how many of you she can take down... Anyway, goodbye, little crybaby. And when all of this is over, before you die, remember what I said."

The voice faded, and Soleil sighed his momentary relief. He knew that he would have to fight Katelyn sooner or later, but she was not going to fight him here. He shook his head and then turned back toward Ruta. "...Professor...are you okay?...Sh-She was lying, so...you don't have to be scared...A-And...I'm here with you too...I won't let her hurt you..." he assured him innocently, even as he knew Ruta was far stronger and far steadier than he was. His knees had been shaking the entire time he had faced Katelyn, though he tried hard to hold his ground. However, his wolf seemed hardly scared at all. It turned away, from where Katelyn had been speaking, and it approached Ruta, looking over him and sniffing him for wounds. When it had thoroughly examined him, it then sat in front of him and wagged its tail like a normal dog. Soleil turned and giggled at this. He then became calm, and stared up at the burning cross. This time, it was with determination, a desire to free his classmates and teachers from Katelyn's lies. "...Nobody will hurt us ever again...I'll make sure of it..." he added.

[Serah]

"Neither of them make me feel comfortable. But I'll just do with what I can to avoid botching your plans." He spoke, his hands were still shaking. It annoyed him.

"One way or the other, a fire mage shouldn't beat me. The combination of powers I have and the amount of metal I pulled from the ground will keep me alive for the most part.
Although that's a very relative thing to say for me..."

The blood inside him coursed back and forth in anticipation and anxiousness.
He hadn't fought for a while on his terms, it had been about two months. Two months that he hadn't used his power to its full extent.
His family back home probably would've tried tried to fight him many times to make him train.
However, that was probably one of the main reasons he left the nest. His immediate family wouldn't have done anything at all regarding that, but the far branches were frankly hell bent on making him a thoughtless killing machine.
Maybe it is the cause of his depression?

"Do what you will about my wounds, one way or the other it doesn't matter.
Dying isn't so much of a thing I fear, frankly."

"Ah, but we are not about to let you die, dear, are we? Let me heal Dominique's wounds and I will look to yours," Rabbit answered, not also a little alarmed about the boy's attitude toward himself. He would absolutely have to keep an eye on him, as he did not seem to care if he lived or died. Children should not think that way anyway...perhaps Ruta or I may think that way, but he is a child...He cannot be so careless about himself... he thought, worriedly. He began to have second thoughts about letting him fight Katelyn. What if he put himself in harm's way and then was grievously wounded? What if then he did not want to be healed, and simply died before he could do anything? Rabbit became very nervous, and now more than anything he wanted for all of this to be over.

"I said I'd be fine. These are non lethal wounds.
And if it is a demon... I have means to deal with it. Don't worry about me." Running another hand through his hair, he suddenly had a looming feeling.

"I feel like she's... Close. I don't have the slightest idea where she could be though." He muttered under his breath.

"We should move. I'm feeling her presence." With that, he didn't wait for them, and started walking the same way he had been, towards the other end of the forest.

His family was constituted of a great lineage that mostly held monster and demon hunters, needless to say, most of them were Jaegers.
However, his parents seemed to think the other way around and instead raised him very normally.
Of course, he did still train, but he was about as regular as any other kid in a normal neighborhood.

His far off family though did not support that decision though.

[Saldinado]

Dominique Corleone

"Huh? Oh, well okay if you say so. I've been through worst, but I guess it doesn't mean that I can limit myself from infection or something I guess." He chuckled as he walked over to Rabbit and lifted his arms up, revealing the extent of his injures:
His left arm was covered with multiple cuts, though were minor ones that just bled to add a dramatic effect to his arm that was unintentional; however right arm showed the same thing, yet there was also a deep gash that showed a small amount that was part of his muscles, though his blood hid the rest of it.

Sighing to himself, he listened to the teacher and other student talk about death and not fearing it. This was rather mundane to him and just kept his thoughts to himself as he waited for Rabbit to heal him. However a sudden thought came to him. "Hey, how about you combine your powers with me? You can contribute to it and incapacitate her, and with my side, she can most likely end up being in one piece and breathing. Even coniglio here can find a way to do something." Then suddenly, Oliver once again went off in search of Katelyn. Though this time he just walked along the way. Looking at him as he left, Dominique deadpanned and sighed before bringing his surprisingly clean palm to his face smacking it before lowering it back down to his shoulder length.

"Professor. He's doing it again! Hold on, we're right behind you soon." He jocking said which him sigh and look at him to sure that he doesn't do anything drastic again. And even so, he had his ways to watch him in case he gets too far ahead of them.

[Luminesa]

Dominique Corleone

"Huh? Oh, well okay if you say so. I've been through worst, but I guess it doesn't mean that I can limit myself from infection or something I guess." He chuckled as he walked over to Rabbit and lifted his arms up, revealing the extent of his injures:
His left arm was covered with multiple cuts, though were minor ones that just bled to add a dramatic effect to his arm that was unintentional; however right arm showed the same thing, yet there was also a deep gash that showed a small amount that was part of his muscles, though his blood hid the rest of it.

Sighing to himself, he listened to the teacher and other student talk about death and not fearing it. This was rather mundane to him and just kept his thoughts to himself as he waited for Rabbit to heal him. However a sudden thought came to him. "Hey, how about you combine your powers with me? You can contribute to it and incapacitate her, and with my side, she can most likely end up being in one piece and breathing. Even coniglio here can find a way to do something." Then suddenly, Oliver once again ran off in search of Katelyn. Looking at him as he left, Dominique deadpanned and sighed before bringing his surprisingly clean palm to his face smacking it before lowering it back down to his shoulder length.

"Professor. He's doing it again! I swear, should join the sports team or something." He jocking said which him sigh and look at him to sure that he doesn't do anything drastic again.

Rabbit calmly went and healed Dominique's wounds, as he showed them to him. They were quite deep, at least in one arm. He then he sighed as Oliver walked away behind him, without listening to his classmate's suggestion. "...Perhaps when we catch him, we can use this idea of yours, Dominique. Thank you for making this suggestion. Now, let us go find him before he gets himself hurt further," he told him. If Katelyn was indeed close, then he could not let him run into her alone. She would not attack physically, but psychologically. He now knew that Oliver was fragile, and he wanted to protect him. "...Oliver, there's no need to go off on your own. We are in this together. You have no reason to go try and fight on your own," he advised the boy, as he was walking away.

[Serah]

Dominique Corleone

"Huh? Oh, well okay if you say so. I've been through worst, but I guess it doesn't mean that I can limit myself from infection or something I guess." He chuckled as he walked over to Rabbit and lifted his arms up, revealing the extent of his injures:
His left arm was covered with multiple cuts, though were minor ones that just bled to add a dramatic effect to his arm that was unintentional; however right arm showed the same thing, yet there was also a deep gash that showed a small amount that was part of his muscles, though his blood hid the rest of it.

Sighing to himself, he listened to the teacher and other student talk about death and not fearing it. This was rather mundane to him and just kept his thoughts to himself as he waited for Rabbit to heal him. However a sudden thought came to him. "Hey, how about you combine your powers with me? You can contribute to it and incapacitate her, and with my side, she can most likely end up being in one piece and breathing. Even coniglio here can find a way to do something." Then suddenly, Oliver once again ran off in search of Katelyn. Looking at him as he left, Dominique deadpanned and sighed before bringing his surprisingly clean palm to his face smacking it before lowering it back down to his shoulder length.

"Professor. He's doing it again! I swear, should join the sports team or something." He jocking said which him sigh and look at him to sure that he doesn't do anything drastic again.

Rabbit calmly went and healed Dominique's wounds, as he showed them to him. They were quite deep, at least in one arm. He then he sighed as Oliver walked away behind him, without listening to his classmate's suggestion. "...Perhaps when we catch him, we can use this idea of yours, Dominique. Thank you for making this suggestion. Now, let us go find him before he gets himself hurt further," he told him. If Katelyn was indeed close, then he could not let him run into her alone. She would not attack physically, but psychologically. He now knew that Oliver was fragile, and he wanted to protect him. "...Oliver, there's no need to go off on your own. We are in this together. You have no reason to go try and fight on your own," he advised the boy, as he was walking away.

"You're wondering what'll happen if she attacks me psychologically, right?" He turned his head around, walking backwards to his destination.
"I told you I'd be fine! Just because my death doesn't mean much to me doesn't mean she can attack me psychologically and bring me down immediately." He spoke calmly with a slight smirk on the side, as if he knew how to handle his situation perfectly.

"Of course she'll still get me, but she won't put me down. Also, regarding your offer, I don't mind covering you, but as I've said, my fighting style has no half measures, it's kill of be killed." He explained once again, calmly, however one could see that he was bracing for the worse.
"Can't be worse than what I go through every day."

[Luminesa]

Rabbit calmly went and healed Dominique's wounds, as he showed them to him. They were quite deep, at least in one arm. He then he sighed as Oliver walked away behind him, without listening to his classmate's suggestion. "...Perhaps when we catch him, we can use this idea of yours, Dominique. Thank you for making this suggestion. Now, let us go find him before he gets himself hurt further," he told him. If Katelyn was indeed close, then he could not let him run into her alone. She would not attack physically, but psychologically. He now knew that Oliver was fragile, and he wanted to protect him. "...Oliver, there's no need to go off on your own. We are in this together. You have no reason to go try and fight on your own," he advised the boy, as he was walking away.

"You're wondering what'll happen if she attacks me psychologically, right?" He turned his head around, walking backwards to his destination.
"I told you I'd be fine! Just because my death doesn't mean much to me doesn't mean she can attack me psychologically and bring me down immediately." He spoke calmly with a slight smirk on the side, as if he knew how to handle his situation perfectly.

"Of course she'll still get me, but she won't put me down. Also, regarding your offer, I don't mind covering you, but as I've said, my fighting style has no half measures, it's kill of be killed." He explained once again, calmly, however one could see that he was bracing for the worse.
"Can't be worse than what I go through every day."

Rabbit nodded, though he could not help but worry about Oliver's lack of fear concerning his death. The only other student he could think of who was so unafraid of death was Annice, but she was a child-soldier with layers upon layers of pain that she hid away. Was Oliver possibly put through a similar scenario? He walked over to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. "...Oliver...have you fought demons before?...If you do not want to say, I understand...but I also cannot help but worry..." He knew that Oliver would probably snap at him for coming so close, but he was used to it because of Katelyn, Alex, and Hikari, at this point.

[Serah]

"You're wondering what'll happen if she attacks me psychologically, right?" He turned his head around, walking backwards to his destination.
"I told you I'd be fine! Just because my death doesn't mean much to me doesn't mean she can attack me psychologically and bring me down immediately." He spoke calmly with a slight smirk on the side, as if he knew how to handle his situation perfectly.

"Of course she'll still get me, but she won't put me down. Also, regarding your offer, I don't mind covering you, but as I've said, my fighting style has no half measures, it's kill of be killed." He explained once again, calmly, however one could see that he was bracing for the worse.
"Can't be worse than what I go through every day."

Rabbit nodded, though he could not help but worry about Oliver's lack of fear concerning his death. The only other student he could think of who was so unafraid of death was Annice, but she was a child-soldier with layers upon layers of pain that she hid away. Was Oliver possibly put through a similar scenario? He walked over to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. "...Oliver...have you fought demons before?...If you do not want to say, I understand...but I also cannot help but worry..." He knew that Oliver would probably snap at him for coming so close, but he was used to it because of Katelyn, Alex, and Hikari, at this point.

Oliver himself wasn't especially against physical contact, after all, when he was still working as just a barman he did shake hands and had a lot of father like back slaps.
Having a hand on his shoulder was hardly an issue.

"It wouldn't even begin to describe what I've already done." He answered flatly, without any semblance of sadness nor fear. As if it was just a statement.

"I'm Nobleblood, regarded highly among the far branches. I've been protected from the treatment they wanted to put me through due to my father being alive, but now that he's gone... I escaped it for a few months only before I had to come here." Continuing his story just as flatly as before, he sighed.
"Death was never a concern, it's not that I can't die or something, it's that I've done so many things that I couldn't care less about whether or not I die.
The only thing I'm truly worried about is how my fights will end. Is my foe going to prevail, or am I going to kill them first?"

Turning his head to face Rabbit for a moment, he stood silent and stopped walking.
Only to look back forward.

"Up until now... Well... Let's say I lost the count. It's been too many years now." His hands shook again, he held them into fists in response.

"Do you know what they call me in my family? God Eater. I hate that name." Dryly, he continued.

"Hofmann. It dates all the way back to the eleventh century. First Crusade. A man from northern Germany named Balder was sent by the pope himself to scout and eliminate any demonic presence in the Holy Land.
That man then became one of history's deadliest demon hunters. All the way through the crusades, he was sent to clear the way with other demon hunters." Turning around, he faced Rabbit with an angered expression.

"And so... Balder is my ancestor, he created hundred upon hundreds of weapons and spells still used today within the family.
In my family, there is a sort of caste, or rather a sub-division, like commonbloods and noblebloods. Except in mine, it's Minor bloods and the Major bloods.
The Minor bloods barely have any rights, but those are the more numerous, they make up 90% of my family, they can use the lowest tier of his spells and weapons assuming they train enough. The way they are treated is... Abhorrent to me." Spitting the last part with venom, he then pointed to himself.

"I, unfortunately for me, am of Major blood. The Major bloods have every right to do anything they want within the family, they rule it.
The Major bloods are basically given everything. Including the ability to naturally use Balder's spells and weapons using a technique that Balder helped to create, without even a semblance of training.
And as it stands, I am the closest to Balder's initial power set."

Pointing to his wounds, he spoke again.

"So I'm the next in line for my family, I've almost been killed dozens of times, killed hundreds of people simply to avoid my parents being persecuted despite also being of Major blood.
These wounds prove to me that despite my rank, I am still a regular teen that just wants to live his life to the fullest and not worry about inner family politics! Do you know just how many of my cousins and far off sisters and brothers I've killed due to 'orders'?!" By now, Oliver's palms started lightly bleeding due to the sheer pressure his nails were exerting.

"So when I say I don't give a damn whether I live or die, I bloody mean it!" He shouted, although the hate he was screaming was not directed at Rabbit, nor anyone. It was directed at himself and Rabbit could clearly see it.

After taking a few seconds to realize what he'd just told, he progressively calmed down, and got back to his normal behavior, the one they had witnessed up until then.

"Sorry for the outburst. You probably have more on your plate. Don't worry about me, let's just get around finding whoever's done that cross and exorcise her."

[Luminesa]

Rabbit nodded, though he could not help but worry about Oliver's lack of fear concerning his death. The only other student he could think of who was so unafraid of death was Annice, but she was a child-soldier with layers upon layers of pain that she hid away. Was Oliver possibly put through a similar scenario? He walked over to him, and put a hand on his shoulder. "...Oliver...have you fought demons before?...If you do not want to say, I understand...but I also cannot help but worry..." He knew that Oliver would probably snap at him for coming so close, but he was used to it because of Katelyn, Alex, and Hikari, at this point.

Oliver himself wasn't especially against physical contact, after all, when he was still working as just a barman he did shake hands and had a lot of father like back slaps.
Having a hand on his shoulder was hardly an issue.

"It wouldn't even begin to describe what I've already done." He answered flatly, without any semblance of sadness nor fear. As if it was just a statement.

"I'm Nobleblood, regarded highly among the far branches. I've been protected from the treatment they wanted to put me through due to my father being alive, but now that he's gone... I escaped it for a few months only before I had to come here." Continuing his story just as flatly as before, he sighed.
"Death was never a concern, it's not that I can't die or something, it's that I've done so many things that I couldn't care less about whether or not I die.
The only thing I'm truly worried about is how my fights will end. Is my foe going to prevail, or am I going to kill them first?"

Turning his head to face Rabbit for a moment, he stood silent and stopped walking.
Only to look back forward.

"Up until now... Well... Let's say I lost the count. It's been too many years now." His hands shook again, he held them into fists in response.

"Do you know what they call me in my family? God Eater. I hate that name." Dryly, he continued.

"Hofmann. It dates all the way back to the eleventh century. First Crusade. A man from northern Germany named Balder was sent by the pope himself to scout and eliminate any demonic presence in the Holy Land.
That man then became one of history's deadliest demon hunters. All the way through the crusades, he was sent to clear the way with other demon hunters." Turning around, he faced Rabbit with an angered expression.

"And so... Balder is my ancestor, he created hundred upon hundreds of weapons and spells still used today within the family.
In my family, there is a sort of caste, or rather a sub-division, like commonbloods and noblebloods. Except in mine, it's Minor bloods and the Major bloods.
The Minor bloods barely have any rights, but those are the more numerous, they make up 90% of my family, they can use the lowest tier of his spells and weapons assuming they train enough. The way they are treated is... Abhorrent to me." Spitting the last part with venom, he then pointed to himself.

"I, unfortunately for me, am of Major blood. The Major bloods have every right to do anything they want within the family, they rule it.
The Major bloods are basically given everything. Including the ability to naturally use Balder's spells and weapons using a technique that Balder helped to create, without even a semblance of training.
And as it stands, I am the closest to Balder's initial power set."

Pointing to his wounds, he spoke again.

"So I'm the next in line for my family, I've almost been killed dozens of times, killed hundreds of people simply to avoid my parents being persecuted despite also being of Major blood.
These wounds prove to me that despite my rank, I am still a regular teen that just wants to live his life to the fullest and not worry about inner family politics! Do you know just how many of my cousins and far off sisters and brothers I've killed due to 'orders'?!" By now, Oliver's palms started lightly bleeding due to the sheer pressure his nails were exerting.

"So when I say I don't give a damn whether I live or die, I bloody mean it!" He shouted, although the hate he was screaming was not directed at Rabbit, nor anyone. It was directed at himself and Rabbit could clearly see it.

After taking a few seconds to realize what he'd just told, he progressively calmed down, and got back to his normal behavior, the one they had witnessed up until then.

"Sorry for the outburst. You probably have more on your plate. Don't worry about me, let's just get around finding whoever's done that cross and exorcise her."

Oliver had indeed suffered a lot. Like Soleil, Henry, and Saturninus, he had been put through horrendous trials, as a part of his becoming the head of a Nobleblood clan. The story merely increased Rabbit's hatred toward these Nobleblood heads, and toward their methods of training their children. They treated them more like servants, and turned them into more of killing machines, than children. Thus, he did not flinch when his student shouted at him. He felt his anger, though from a different perspective.

How many families had Rabbit watched turn their bright and happy children into miserable, lonely, angry beings like Oliver? "...Do not be upset with yourself..." he answered, in low, kind voice, as he took Oliver's bleeding hands in his. As he healed the minor cuts, as a sign of his forgiveness, "...and do not worry about what is on my plate, so to speak...You are a child who has been forced to live a life he does not want...I have no anger in my heart toward you, for your feeling the way you do. I only want to help you to overcome that pain. But yes. We will of course go find Katelyn and exorcise her. I just want you to know that I am here to listen, not to harm you."

[Serah]

Oliver himself wasn't especially against physical contact, after all, when he was still working as just a barman he did shake hands and had a lot of father like back slaps.
Having a hand on his shoulder was hardly an issue.

"It wouldn't even begin to describe what I've already done." He answered flatly, without any semblance of sadness nor fear. As if it was just a statement.

"I'm Nobleblood, regarded highly among the far branches. I've been protected from the treatment they wanted to put me through due to my father being alive, but now that he's gone... I escaped it for a few months only before I had to come here." Continuing his story just as flatly as before, he sighed.
"Death was never a concern, it's not that I can't die or something, it's that I've done so many things that I couldn't care less about whether or not I die.
The only thing I'm truly worried about is how my fights will end. Is my foe going to prevail, or am I going to kill them first?"

Turning his head to face Rabbit for a moment, he stood silent and stopped walking.
Only to look back forward.

"Up until now... Well... Let's say I lost the count. It's been too many years now." His hands shook again, he held them into fists in response.

"Do you know what they call me in my family? God Eater. I hate that name." Dryly, he continued.

"Hofmann. It dates all the way back to the eleventh century. First Crusade. A man from northern Germany named Balder was sent by the pope himself to scout and eliminate any demonic presence in the Holy Land.
That man then became one of history's deadliest demon hunters. All the way through the crusades, he was sent to clear the way with other demon hunters." Turning around, he faced Rabbit with an angered expression.

"And so... Balder is my ancestor, he created hundred upon hundreds of weapons and spells still used today within the family.
In my family, there is a sort of caste, or rather a sub-division, like commonbloods and noblebloods. Except in mine, it's Minor bloods and the Major bloods.
The Minor bloods barely have any rights, but those are the more numerous, they make up 90% of my family, they can use the lowest tier of his spells and weapons assuming they train enough. The way they are treated is... Abhorrent to me." Spitting the last part with venom, he then pointed to himself.

"I, unfortunately for me, am of Major blood. The Major bloods have every right to do anything they want within the family, they rule it.
The Major bloods are basically given everything. Including the ability to naturally use Balder's spells and weapons using a technique that Balder helped to create, without even a semblance of training.
And as it stands, I am the closest to Balder's initial power set."

Pointing to his wounds, he spoke again.

"So I'm the next in line for my family, I've almost been killed dozens of times, killed hundreds of people simply to avoid my parents being persecuted despite also being of Major blood.
These wounds prove to me that despite my rank, I am still a regular teen that just wants to live his life to the fullest and not worry about inner family politics! Do you know just how many of my cousins and far off sisters and brothers I've killed due to 'orders'?!" By now, Oliver's palms started lightly bleeding due to the sheer pressure his nails were exerting.

"So when I say I don't give a damn whether I live or die, I bloody mean it!" He shouted, although the hate he was screaming was not directed at Rabbit, nor anyone. It was directed at himself and Rabbit could clearly see it.

After taking a few seconds to realize what he'd just told, he progressively calmed down, and got back to his normal behavior, the one they had witnessed up until then.

"Sorry for the outburst. You probably have more on your plate. Don't worry about me, let's just get around finding whoever's done that cross and exorcise her."

Oliver had indeed suffered a lot. Like Soleil, Henry, and Saturninus, he had been put through horrendous trials, as a part of his becoming the head of a Nobleblood clan. The story merely increased Rabbit's hatred toward these Nobleblood heads, and toward their methods of training their children. They treated them more like servants, and turned them into more of killing machines, than children. Thus, he did not flinch when his student shouted at him. He felt his anger, though from a different perspective.

How many families had Rabbit watched turn their bright and happy children into miserable, lonely, angry beings like Oliver? "...Do not be upset with yourself..." he answered, in low, kind voice, as he took Oliver's bleeding hands in his. As he healed the minor cuts, as a sign of his forgiveness, "...and do not worry about what is on my plate, so to speak...You are a child who has been forced to live a life he does not want...I have no anger in my heart toward you, for your feeling the way you do. I only want to help you to overcome that pain. But yes. We will of course go find Katelyn and exorcise her. I just want you to know that I am here to listen, not to harm you."

"I wouldn't have come here if you were here to harm me." He responded calmly with a slightly smug smile.

"Now that you know all this, you can believe me when I say that it's fine.
I've been through worse. A regular demon that just possesses people rather than actually show itself to bring discord to a group is hardly any matter to me.
Even if it does attack me, I'll be able to recover quickly." Shrugging, he decided to continue walking towards the cross.

"Join me when you're ready, I'll be going for the cross."

[Saldinado]

Dominique Corleone

The young man remained silent the entire time during his healing process as well as the exposition that was given by Oliver. All he could do at this point was remain quiet. He had nothing to say about this. He had already seen and been through what it's like to kill your own family members for power and order. The amount of family and friends that he saw die at the hands of his own father and family members was enough for him; as much as he saw it, he could only grow a semi-thick skin. His body became immune to the sight of bodies that were either bullet-ridden, multilated and decapitated, beaten beyond recognizion, or used and tossed away like pieces of trash. He learned to not to grow sick from them. No more holding in his disgust and vomit. Instead he could look at it and just go about his day.
Yet his mind. The images that filled his head. The sight of watching someone breath their last breath as they beg for their lives. That was what disturbed him. As he did during the tournament. He didn't find his body to be something worth crying over, yet what happens afterwards. To his family and friends. Those were the ones that he felt the most sadness and sickness for.

Only a few more years...

With a soft sigh to himself he shook his head and zoned out the conversation between the two only to think about his future. But this was now not the time to think of that. Right now, he needed to figure out how to put an end to this mess that he and everyone else was in. With his eyes closed, Dominique opened one of them to see that Oliver was once again on the move. Good. They're done. Now they can continue. "Alight. Let's go I guess." Grunting to himself once more, he walked ahead of the professor and followed the teen in front of him. Now, all he wanted to do is just sleep after hearing Oliver speak. It made him think of all the things that he didn't want to think about. At least not now.

[Kingdom of Irhk]

Oliver had indeed suffered a lot. Like Soleil, Henry, and Saturninus, he had been put through horrendous trials, as a part of his becoming the head of a Nobleblood clan. The story merely increased Rabbit's hatred toward these Nobleblood heads, and toward their methods of training their children. They treated them more like servants, and turned them into more of killing machines, than children. Thus, he did not flinch when his student shouted at him. He felt his anger, though from a different perspective.

How many families had Rabbit watched turn their bright and happy children into miserable, lonely, angry beings like Oliver? "...Do not be upset with yourself..." he answered, in low, kind voice, as he took Oliver's bleeding hands in his. As he healed the minor cuts, as a sign of his forgiveness, "...and do not worry about what is on my plate, so to speak...You are a child who has been forced to live a life he does not want...I have no anger in my heart toward you, for your feeling the way you do. I only want to help you to overcome that pain. But yes. We will of course go find Katelyn and exorcise her. I just want you to know that I am here to listen, not to harm you."

"I wouldn't have come here if you were here to harm me." He responded calmly with a slightly smug smile.

"Now that you know all this, you can believe me when I say that it's fine.
I've been through worse. A regular demon that just possesses people rather than actually show itself to bring discord to a group is hardly any matter to me.
Even if it does attack me, I'll be able to recover quickly." Shrugging, he decided to continue walking towards the cross.

"Join me when you're ready, I'll be going for the cross."

Henry Von Kressel

The whole thing with Hikari was done. The recently arrived Jaeger neutralized Hikari - or at least the demon impersonating her - and only then he realized that Rabbit, Shaun, Dominique and the newly arrived student went away, probably looking for Katelyn. Soon as he realized that it was secure to move, he used the breach before Hikari's attack to move to Rabbit's position.

Finally, he reached both of them, apparently interrupting some conversation. He approached himself slowly, giving them time to finish their talk about whatever they were talking about.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting something but... There's nothing we can do about that Hikari. We need to find Katelyn, so I'm going with him. If he's going for Katelyn, he will need some help handling this situation, at least until the rest of the teachers arrive. Rabbit, Basil... Disappeared into thin air, right after he said he would come when we need him."

[Charlia]

That's enough.

'Hikari' heard the voice in her mind, and smiled thinly. So her mistress was ready to take them on, then? All right. She knew her purpose was complete, for the time being, at least. Thus, she allowed herself to slump to the ground, letting the body fall into unconsciousness.

For a little while, she would rest... and then the fun could begin again. At her mistress's command, as always.

---

How to attract their attention this time around? She pondered, pushing a few strands of red out of her eyes. The newly-regenerated one glowed brightly, and she smiled as she thought of an idea.

Putting her hand to the ground, she let a lick of flame creep across the grass, waiting for it to catch and smiling as it began to grow.

Let them fight, or let them burn. I don't even care.

...This is going to be fun.

[Luminesa]

"I wouldn't have come here if you were here to harm me." He responded calmly with a slightly smug smile.

"Now that you know all this, you can believe me when I say that it's fine.
I've been through worse. A regular demon that just possesses people rather than actually show itself to bring discord to a group is hardly any matter to me.
Even if it does attack me, I'll be able to recover quickly." Shrugging, he decided to continue walking towards the cross.

"Join me when you're ready, I'll be going for the cross."

Henry Von Kressel

The whole thing with Hikari was done. The recently arrived Jaeger neutralized Hikari - or at least the demon impersonating her - and only then he realized that Rabbit, Shaun, Dominique and the newly arrived student went away, probably looking for Katelyn. Soon as he realized that it was secure to move, he used the breach before Hikari's attack to move to Rabbit's position.

Finally, he reached both of them, apparently interrupting some conversation. He approached himself slowly, giving them time to finish their talk about whatever they were talking about.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting something but... There's nothing we can do about that Hikari. We need to find Katelyn, so I'm going with him. If he's going for Katelyn, he will need some help handling this situation, at least until the rest of the teachers arrive. Rabbit, Basil... Disappeared into thin air, right after he said he would come when we need him."

Rabbit turned from Oliver and Dominique, as he saw Henry approach. Why was Henry coming for them? Was somebody else hurt? "Henry!...You want to join us? Very well. The more people we have on our team, the more of a chance we will be able to handle Katelyn, contain her, and extract the demon," he answered. When he heard Basil was missing-in-action, however, he got nervous. "...Basil is...missing?...I wonder where he could have gone..."

He tried to sense his Mana, but Basil was nowhere close. He wondered how the man could have disappeared so quickly. Even more than this, however, Basil's Mana was seemingly covered by some other Mana...Dark Mana...It was somewhere nearby. His heart sped-up, and he became laser-focused once again on finding the demon-now his prey-and its Mana. "...Wait..." he muttered, his voice becoming dark and far-off, "...Katelyn is near...the demon...I can feel it...It is becoming too powerful..." He began to look around swiftly, though he did not move away from his students. He could not forget about them, in his pursuit for the demon.

[Serah]

That's enough.

'Hikari' heard the voice in her mind, and smiled thinly. So her mistress was ready to take them on, then? All right. She knew her purpose was complete, for the time being, at least. Thus, she allowed herself to slump to the ground, letting the body fall into unconsciousness.

For a little while, she would rest... and then the fun could begin again. At her mistress's command, as always.

---

How to attract their attention this time around? She pondered, pushing a few strands of red out of her eyes. The newly-regenerated one glowed brightly, and she smiled as she thought of an idea.

Putting her hand to the ground, she let a lick of flame creep across the grass, waiting for it to catch and smiling as it began to grow.

Let them fight, or let them burn. I don't even care.

...This is going to be fun.

As Oliver initially calmly made his way to the cross, it suddenly vanished again.
Only to be replaced by the smell of something burning.

He could smell it from a mile away, he knew exactly where he had to go.
And it pissed him right off. Early talks about simply supporting were now basically off the table.
"That bitch... Burning the forest..." He growled lowly before running to her using his wind.

He wouldn't arrive immediately, but he'd arrive faster than most, and that was way more than enough to him.
All in all, this would end one of two ways, either she was used to spells specifically used to kill her and could potentially bring him down, or she wasn't, henceforth, she would lose.
As to how exactly the fight would unfold, it would depend on several factors.

Running towards her, he started making his oaths to his family, although he hated it, he'd need it.

Flames of purgatory, cleanse my soul
I shall fight by the blood
Kill by the blood
Come undone by the blood
For I am a son of Balder the glorious
I call upon my ancestor to give me strength
I call upon my blade to light up the shadows beyond
To hunt any foe, I cleanse my soul
I am a Hofmann, sacred hunter of the faith
In the name of God, I call upon my arms
By them, heresy shall come undone
Come forth, my Ark

"THUNDER SPEAR, GAE BOLGA!" He shouted, as soon as he finished, a ray of light that could be seen by just about anyone in the forest, pierced the block of metal that had been hovering around for the last while and just as soon as the light hit it, the metal twisted itself to become a long pole, with an arrow shaped head at the top.
One could tell that he was basically irradiating the surroundings with his magic, giving him an aura of kingly authority, had anyone actually seen him doing any of it.
Once the others would arrive at the fight, they'd see it pretty well.
It was a white-ish aura that dimly lit the trees around him.

[Luminesa]

That's enough.

'Hikari' heard the voice in her mind, and smiled thinly. So her mistress was ready to take them on, then? All right. She knew her purpose was complete, for the time being, at least. Thus, she allowed herself to slump to the ground, letting the body fall into unconsciousness.

For a little while, she would rest... and then the fun could begin again. At her mistress's command, as always.

---

How to attract their attention this time around? She pondered, pushing a few strands of red out of her eyes. The newly-regenerated one glowed brightly, and she smiled as she thought of an idea.

Putting her hand to the ground, she let a lick of flame creep across the grass, waiting for it to catch and smiling as it began to grow.

Let them fight, or let them burn. I don't even care.

...This is going to be fun.

As Oliver initially calmly made his way to the cross, it suddenly vanished again.
Only to be replaced by the smell of something burning.

He could smell it from a mile away, he knew exactly where he had to go.
And it pissed him right off. Early talks about simply supporting were now basically off the table.
"That bitch... Burning the forest..." He growled lowly before running to her using his wind.

He wouldn't arrive immediately, but he'd arrive faster than most, and that was way more than enough to him.
All in all, this would end one of two ways, either she was used to spells specifically used to kill her and could potentially bring him down, or she wasn't, henceforth, she would lose.
As to how exactly the fight would unfold, it would depend on several factors.

Running towards her, he started making his oaths to his family, although he hated it, he'd need it.

Flames of purgatory, cleanse my soul
I shall fight by the blood
Kill by the blood
Come undone by the blood
For I am a son of Balder the glorious
I call upon my ancestor to give me strength
I call upon my blade to light up the shadows beyond
To hunt any foe, I cleanse my soul
I am a Hofmann, sacred hunter of the faith
In the name of God, I call upon my arms
By them, heresy shall come undone
Come forth, my Ark

"THUNDER SPEAR, GAE BOLGA!" He shouted, as soon as he finished, a ray of light that could be seen by just about anyone in the forest, pierced the block of metal that had been hovering around for the last while and just as soon as the light hit it, the metal twisted itself to become a long pole, with an arrow shaped head at the top.
One could tell that he was basically irradiating the surroundings with his magic, giving him an aura of kingly authority, had anyone actually seen him doing any of it.
Once the others would arrive at the fight, they'd see it pretty well.
It was a white-ish aura that dimly lit the trees around him.

"Ah! Oliver! Wait for us!" Rabbit shouted, as the boy darted into the woods. He rushed away after him, hoping the two other boys with him would follow. As he made his way to Oliver's location, he could hear him shouting the oath of his family's warriors. On one extreme, the powerful words of the oath seemed beautiful to him, and he listened to them intently. At the same time, however, when the light struck down, Rabbit's body felt a strange, shaking jolt inside, as though the light had struck deep into his body, and had filled him with dread. The feeling was perhaps similar to standing in front of Oliver's Crusading ancestor himself.

He would have been more in awe, however, if the sight that met him when he found Oliver had not been so...worrisome. Oliver looked poised and powerful himself, but another pressing matter met him as he stopped. A fire had started in the forest, and Katelyn was nowhere to be found. He could smell the smoke, and then he saw the flames beginning to grow along the hairlines of the grass. Summoning an orb of water, he began to fire upon the flames, trying to put them out. At the same time, he ordered to Oliver and whoever else was with him, "Katelyn is close. While I put out the flames, look for her and make sure she does not find us unobservant."

[Imperial--japan]

Hestia stood rigid as she defended herself from Hikari's earlier attacks. The woman had talked so boldly of having to be tough and firm with the students involved, but she was visibly distraught by the images that she was shown earlier. True, she broke free of the mental assault by swearing to herself that the apparitions weren't real, but that didn't make them any less true. As her colleagues did their best to bring Hikari under control and expunge whatever influence this demon was exerting, Hestia was at a loss for almost bringing true harm to a student. If she hadn't changed the angle of her blade at the last minute to bring down blunt force, she would of actually sliced Hikari. To let anger overcome her was asking for trouble. Irritation was one thing, but the simplest moment of disdain could of ended in disaster for Hestia.

"You're better than that. Stop being pathetic and act like the Professor you were meant to be." Hestia shook her head. Now wasn't the time for inner monologues or hesitance. Students would remain in danger until this demon was thoroughly dealt with. Snapping out of the stupor she was in, Hestia found that Hikari had been sufficiently dealt with and that the others were heading off in another direction. She would follow them in hopes of being able to provide useful assistance against the demon.

"Katelyn is close. While I put out the flames, look for her and make sure she does not find us unobservant." Hestia heard her colleague say this and decided it was as sensible as ever. A simple fire did make it seem as though the target of their interests was close, but it could always quite possibly be an ambush. With her sword gripped in her left hand, Hestia kept her vigilance as she moved about.

[Finsternia]

Allistor Abendroth

"So this is where you guys have gone to."

Allistor appeared behind Rabbit in a vortex of blue flame, the surrounding flora forming frost on the leaves and the closer ones completely freezing and shattering in the next second.

"Good Lord, you should have waited for some backup eh?" Allistor said as he sniffed in the air and lightly coughed at the scent of smoke. "Well, the demon has came through this place huh." He raised his hand, a stream of frost fire was released and targetted the burning grass and trees. Blue fireballs were hurled, each exploding into multiple embers that soon then spread into multiple fires. It was like the blue flames fought and hunted the orange fires, turning them into ragged and sharp frozen flames with the fires inside still dancing and burning. "I hope we can still revive this forest back to normal right after." He said as he continued to pelt down the burning foliage, the temperature slowly plummeting around them.

[Saldinado]

Dominique Corleone

Dominique soon followed after the two ahead of him as the smell of smoke filled his nostrils. This was what they were looking for right? A sign that she was here for them? But regardless he knew that he needed to find out where Katelyn was and put out the apparent forest fire ahead of them. His speed was a mixture of his physicality and his mana which allowed him to keep up with the others albeit slightly slower than the others. So in order to prevent anything from going bad to worst he used the trees and vegetation that was up ahead of them and in close proximity of the fire to manipulate their leaves and branches into forming a tight circle around the fire to contain it in one space so that it doesn't reach the rest of the island. "Goddamnit Oliver!" He said to himself as he covered his face from the sudden blinding light that was cast upon them from the former.

Once they reached the area where Oliver once stood still long enough, the sight of an almost royal aura appeared and radiated off of the former. He would be rather more interested in it, but as of now there was no time to stand there and look pretty. They needed to find out where Katelyn was and stop her now. Dominique then placed his hand upon the ground and connected with the Earth trying to sense the force and energy that Katelyn was giving off; it wouldn't be too hard since she was something rather different from the others. Although there was something that made him raise an eyebrow. There was the clean, rather regal aura that was being given off by Oliver, yet there was something else that was different. A more heavier, almost darker force was being given off not by Oliver or Katelyn, but more from the masked man in front of him. Dominique looked up at him in confusion as to why this would be and grunted to himself shaking it off. "She hasn't gone too far. She devised this trap to lure us in, so she couldn't be too far away from where we are now." He said quietly to the others while closing his eyes for a minute and raising up again.

I'll deal with that later on...

[Chrome Legion]

Catherine de Sanguine Vivere


So Hikari was down. Catherine didn't know what the others were doing, but she intended to make sure that Hikari, or what ever she was now, wouldn't be a threat again. As she walked towards the her downed classmate, she soaked up the blood from Hikari's last attack, it flowing behind her like a cloak. As light from a new fire started to spread behind her, Catherine knelt over Hikari. She was strangely peaceful. Catherine had expected something, some last attempt, one last surge out of spite. There was nothing, it was almost disappointing. Catherine took Hikari's blood returning it to her body, hoping to keep her alive. Then she took the blood, changing it. Catherine forged it into bonds that around Hikari's joints, locking her limbs in their positions. Even if "Hikari" woke back up, demon or no, she wouldn't be able to move. Bonds stronger than iron locked her joints tight.
With that done Catherine walked into the burning forest, the flames dying in her path. The brighter the flames around her, the darker her own obsidian halo grew, quenching the flames around her. Catherine wasn't sure where she was going, just moving into the flames, waiting to encounter the next threat.

[Luminesa]

Allistor Abendroth

"So this is where you guys have gone to."

Allistor appeared behind Rabbit in a vortex of blue flame, the surrounding flora forming frost on the leaves and the closer ones completely freezing and shattering in the next second.

"Good Lord, you should have waited for some backup eh?" Allistor said as he sniffed in the air and lightly coughed at the scent of smoke. "Well, the demon has came through this place huh." He raised his hand, a stream of frost fire was released and targetted the burning grass and trees. Blue fireballs were hurled, each exploding into multiple embers that soon then spread into multiple fires. It was like the blue flames fought and hunted the orange fires, turning them into ragged and sharp frozen flames with the fires inside still dancing and burning. "I hope we can still revive this forest back to normal right after." He said as he continued to pelt down the burning foliage, the temperature slowly plummeting around them.

"We should be able to do so...Once the demon has been exterminated, its magic should either weaken significantly or deplete altogether," Rabbit answered, watching Allistor freeze the flames and stop their spread around the woods. In the meantime, he took multiple orbs of water and shot them at other flames in the forest, putting them out in the process. "...We will also have to keep an eye for anymore flames...I would presume that Katelyn is on the move right now, after all...She wants to destroy this island no matter what...But for now, we need to stay in a group. If we split, she will hunt us down one-by-one...and given she is borrowing a demon's power, that is the last thing we need..." he explained, as he finished putting out fires around the group.

[Serah]

While powering up and acting menacing was one thing that was quite important, Oliver also noticed something.
The fact that the forest was denser than he'd realized prior.
Sure, he could always jump or use his wind manipulation to create a stream that would allow him to breathe, that was one thing.
But there was also the inevitability of dying through actual fire.
And frankly, as much as he loved Fire Emblem and their heroes, and as much as he loved Sigurd, he sure as hell wouldn't be burned alive. Although it did seem to be quite a desperate cause when he noticed that his wind, despite being able to make him breathe did not in fact allow for cooling down of his body. Let alone his metal manipulation that would've just suffocated him further.

And with his blood already on the verge of boiling, there were several issues.
So he walked around, trying to find a spot that wasn't murderously hot.
Alas, he couldn't find any.

Yet his solace came in the form of Catherine, a girl he didn't know, like almost everyone else he'd seen in this whole ordeal.
She had some kind of protective aura that suddenly cooled his body down to an acceptable temperature.
Although his blood was still boiling through another reason.
As for how he came upon her? Well, he just walked.
Hopefully she wouldn't notice the white aura around him. Else she would likely find out who exactly he was.

"I guess I should thank you.
Had it not been for your aura, I would've died quite stupidly." He spoke calmly, almost uncharacteristically so for someone his age to be when escaping death.
"I don't suppose you know where the possessed girl is, right? Anyway, I'll be sticking with you, the flames tend to be problematic."

His spear on the other hand seemed to not have suffered through anything, it was just as cold as it was before, just as sharp, and just as clean.
Almost as if it didn't belong to this world.
Yet it absolutely did, it was made of rather simple metals, too. It wasn't the material that was divine in nature. The mana flowing through the user was, however.

[Chrome Legion]

Catherine de Sanguine Vivere


Occasionally intense blasts of flame penetrated the draining aura surrounding Catherine flashing into darkness as her power converted them in to her own black fire. Some one started to move through the inferno towards her, just as she was preparing to unleash the the black fire at him, his face came into view. One of the students that had been involved in the first confrontation with Hikari. Catherine didn't know his name off the top of her head, but she was sure that she had seen him around campus before. Who ever he was, it didn't look like he had any way of actually defending himself form the flames licking at his flesh. Catherine moved towards him, enveloping him in her entropic shroud. She was careful to avoid actually effecting him with it. It certainly would be rather rude to start draining his magic in a situation like this. Catherine paused as he spoke, the entropic shroud pulling the vibrational energy out of his voice, leaving it barely more than a whisper when it reached her. At least it silenced the fire around them aswell, so she could understand him. After a moment Catherine had shaped the effect of her magic to the point where they were both standing in a shell, protected but not actually inside the shroud.

"When you say 'I guess I should thank you' it rather nullifies the act of actually thanking someone doesn't it? I don't know where, I assume Katelyn, is. I do have a pretty good idea of the start of the fire though, so I've just been pushing towards that. I don't think we can just cut our losses and head back to our rooms just yet. We need to deal with this threat."

[Serah]

Catherine de Sanguine Vivere


Occasionally intense blasts of flame penetrated the draining aura surrounding Catherine flashing into darkness as her power converted them in to her own black fire. Some one started to move through the inferno towards her, just as she was preparing to unleash the the black fire at him, his face came into view. One of the students that had been involved in the first confrontation with Hikari. Catherine didn't know his name off the top of her head, but she was sure that she had seen him around campus before. Who ever he was, it didn't look like he had any way of actually defending himself form the flames licking at his flesh. Catherine moved towards him, enveloping him in her entropic shroud. She was careful to avoid actually effecting him with it. It certainly would be rather rude to start draining his magic in a situation like this. Catherine paused as he spoke, the entropic shroud pulling the vibrational energy out of his voice, leaving it barely more than a whisper when it reached her. At least it silenced the fire around them aswell, so she could understand him. After a moment Catherine had shaped the effect of her magic to the point where they were both standing in a shell, protected but not actually inside the shroud.

"When you say 'I guess I should thank you' it rather nullifies the act of actually thanking someone doesn't it? I don't know where, I assume Katelyn, is. I do have a pretty good idea of the start of the fire though, so I've just been pushing towards that. I don't think we can just cut our losses and head back to our rooms just yet. We need to deal with this threat."

"Agreed. Continue doing what you were doing, I'll follow suit." He continued, and without much ado, the walking continued towards the source of the fire.

There wasn't much else to be said, aside from the fact that his aura was slowly intensifying, yet not doing very much else other than simply light his surroundings a little less dimly.
However, as it continued Oliver felt it from within.
It wasn't sapping his energy, rather it was filling him with it, and although he was used to it, it started to show on his body in the form of several changes.
First, his clothes did, progressively they changed to something that didn't look like it belonged in this era, it wasn't full armor, but it certainly wasn't casual clothing anymore.
From anyone's perspective, the change was quite noticeable, it was akin to what a king would wear, mail armor hidden under a layer of rather refined clothing with golden linings and white patches of silky white cloth.
The only way to notice the mail would be to look at the sleeves's ends, the top had an owl neck that tied itself right at the junction between the neck and torso with a golden lining that came down all the way to the upper stomach then split into two different ones that then rose up to the shoulders, leading to some slightly padded shoulders.
Right at the waist was once again a golden cloth tying the whole mail armor correctly, splitting the weight unevenly between torso and legs, followed by plain white pants.

The color pattern was rather simply, black, white and gold. But it did the job, and did it well.
It would protect him from most hits without being too bulky. Plus, he was used to the weight, it wasn't crushing him.

Onto the topic of his body itself, it changed progressively, he wasn't becoming taller or anything, but there were some changes still.
At his back seemed to flash back and forth quite dimly two golden wings, rather small for his stature.
Unless they knew him personally, nobody would really know why such a thing would happen, or how they would serve any purpose, but once Katelyn would show up, they would have their answers.
As long as they had questions to begin with.

[Chrome Legion]

Catherine de Sanguine Vivere


This kid made her uneasy. It wasn't just that he didn't really seem affected by the danger they now faced, she could expect that of anyone from mana by this point. Probably any mage of significant power really. Having magical talent wasn't exactly the safest thing in the world. Catherine just didn't like the mana coming off of him. And the fucking wings. They stood in stark contrast to the light eating field around her. Such angelic imagery was anathema to Catherine, her's a world of darkness and near constant physical pain. She was never one to seek solace in the holy. She vaguely claimed to be orthodox herself, but it had never meant much to her. Perhaps that was something she could claim in common with her ancestry, the thin veneer of faith used more as a tool than anything else.

"That's about as far as my plans go; if you have anything else in mind, other than just glowing, it might be a good idea to start thinking about what we'll actually do. Other than a vague plan of 'remove the threat'."

[Serah]

Catherine de Sanguine Vivere


This kid made her uneasy. It wasn't just that he didn't really seem affected by the danger they now faced, she could expect that of anyone from mana by this point. Probably any mage of significant power really. Having magical talent wasn't exactly the safest thing in the world. Catherine just didn't like the mana coming off of him. And the fucking wings. They stood in stark contrast to the light eating field around her. Such angelic imagery was anathema to Catherine, her's a world of darkness and near constant physical pain. She was never one to seek solace in the holy. She vaguely claimed to be orthodox herself, but it had never meant much to her. Perhaps that was something she could claim in common with her ancestry, the thin veneer of faith used more as a tool than anything else.

"That's about as far as my plans go; if you have anything else in mind, other than just glowing, it might be a good idea to start thinking about what we'll actually do. Other than a vague plan of 'remove the threat'."

"We can't necessarily plan for something that we hardly know anything about, can we? But you're right. For now, I know that she's a demon, or rather possessed by a demon and wields some level of control over fire.
As for the level of danger, it's only as dangerous as it is right now if she burns the forest to try and suffocate us. If we can force her to change environments towards the beach or even in the middle of the courtyard, we should be pretty okay, her fire wouldn't pose much of a threat. In short, we just try to change the battleground for now and we'll see what exactly it is that she can do." He spoke calmly, yet quite decisively, he tried to bring any piece of intel on the enemy against them, as any other normal person would do.

With how far he'd come, frankly Oliver learned not to ask questions.
He knew there were many people that didn't necessarily share a common liking for his mana, and some were even more akin to 'evil' bloodlines.
It wasn't like he wanted to hunt them down anyway. Some people embraced it, some people didn't choose to be born with it, some were fighting against it.
Hell, even taking his own example, he hated his powers, and by extension, fighting.
If he had a choice, he would leave his powers in the blink of an eye, to just be a normal person, with nothing to define him at all.

However, he knew that not only could he never do that, but he knew himself and therefore knew that if he didn't have at least something to live for, he'd end it then and there.
Plus, it would be rather selfish of him to leave so many people that were under his protection to the other Major bloods. Few were as kind as he was.

Despite mostly looking around left and right, Catherine's face sometimes came into his sight, he could tell that she wasn't necessarily at ease with him.
Likely that it was his aura and sudden physical change, but he didn't particularly like it, it was just what was imposed on him, and he didn't have a way to bypass it either.

Tell you what it's just as annoying for me as it is for you. He thought. However, he needed to keep himself together, there was no time to wallow on the point that he didn't ask for it, what mattered was the upcoming fight, and the looming problem of not knowing where the enemy was.