Marked Ones: Origins [IC | Urban Fantasy]

[Union Princes]

Aureo Mercurius

“Do you know me? I believe the answer to that question would be no but I also believe that the fact has little bearing on this situation,” said Aureo, not releasing Gabriella even when she asked. He heard Sienna say something but he ignored her fully, instead continuing to look at Gabriella and speak to her. “I simply wanted to ask you a question, there’s no need to squirm,” he added, with a laugh. “And that is, would you prefer to share a room with me, away from these others? The servants of the Light Goddess should remain together, after all. It’s only natural that someone like you would stay with a soldier of the goddess.”

Aureo finally released Gabriella and turned away from her, looking towards Sienna as his red eyes narrowed, the black pupil shifting until it seemed like that of a cat. It was a strange phenomenon, but also seemed… Strangely natural, when it happened right now. The glare wasn’t one of someone that was intimidated, or even the glare of someone who took their enemy seriously, but a look of utter contempt. The kind of look that could destroy someone’s confidence without lifting a finger or uttering a word.

“Did you say something?” asked Aureo, extending his right arm and expending mana as it was covered by white flames. The message was clear, to back off. The flames could be sent towards Sienna at any time, and anyone who knew enough about magic would know that it wasn’t regular fire, but rather something that had added magical effects. It was the reason for the white color. “If you have a problem, step up and do something about it… Mongrel.”

Those red cat eyes were surprise for sure. Sienna has never seen something so exotic as of now even surrounded by many unique people that she would come to know as friends and allies. But this person wasn't having any of it.

Sure she encountered someone like this before but not when they had magic powers and an arm covered in white flames. Sienna instinctively rotated her suitcase in front of her to act as a makeshift barrier in case he rushed her. Thankfully her guns were still inside the pockets where she could pull them out if need be.

"Listen," Sienna raised her hands to show that she didn't want conflict. "I don't want to fight you since we came here for a bigger goal in mind: to train in order to be strong enough to defend the world. Okay? I want to tell you it would be in everyone's interest for everyone to respect each other's personal space and the action that you just did to her wasn't respectful at all. So I beseech of you that you don't perform another act like this that would lead to potential ruin of your image among your peers and classmates."

[Forest State]

Aureo Mecrurius

Aureo moved towards Sienna, the flames still covering his arm. He had closed his eyes and started conceptualizing something in his mind too, the usual armor that he wore. Armor of gold, good at resisting both physical and magic based attacks. It would take time to summon, yes, but if there was a fight, it wouldn’t happen immediately. No, there was still time to summon it, and the conversation would take up more of that time and allow for preparations in the event that things did escalate. There was a faint glow around Aureo as the armor worked on forming, as he opened his eyes and stood only about five or so feet away from Sienna. Close enough to strike with the fire if something kicked off, too.

“Yes, I care about defending the world… my world. I don’t believe I should care about my image with lowlives who happen to be living in it, nor do I think I should be worried about the personal space. In fact, I could accuse most of you of invading my own personal space, for this,” started Aureo, spreading his arms out and gesturing to everything that was around them, speaking with the same confidence that had been around before. “Is mine. Challenge me for it if you wish, but if you want to attempt that challenge… Well, make it clear right now. Otherwise, stay out of my way.”

Aureo paused, blinking and leaning even closer, his red and black eyes shifting as they adjusted and focused in on Sienna, looking her directly in the eye in a way that was almost unsettling. “Your advice isn’t wanted, or useful.”

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Escanor Elwyn Banaing and Ryder Elne Banaing
Meeting a False Albino
Lynwood Academy

---

"What did you expect?" Escanor spoke, removing his hand from his blade, as things seemed to calm down. "Mages of different lives, who walk different paths being forced to converge on a single path. Personalities and beliefs are bound to clash, especially when there hasn't been anytime for any of us to make peace with how each other operates."

"Don't mind my brother." Ryder spoke and looked at Nev, before extending his hand, "He's all about business, not relaxing, and just generally being blunt. I am Ryder Elne Banaing, and the cold swordsman right here is my brother Escanor Elwyn Banaing. And we are -"

"Don't say it..."

"The Twin Albino Nope Mages." Ryder finished with a smirk, "And speaking about albino... red eyes, white hair, and as pale as a winter's day, could it be that you too were born without skin pigments?"

[Vanquaria]

Sun Yi Jong

It was definitely amusing how different the cultures of the people of the world were. What Sun saw as blondie trying his hand at courtship, and failing miserably if his aim was to get under the girl's pants, was seen by Jack and Natalie as harassment. But still, the Korean did not think mere harassment warranted violence at all, and mere harassment was definitely not a good reason to throw your life away for the sake of a "girl".

Ugh, white knights he shook his head as he looked at Sienna with disappointment, just let the woman reject the man already, for fucks sake

Putting the past in the past, Sun glanced at Jack leaving for his room.

"Both you and Aureo are ironically 2 sides of the same coin," he observed aloud with an amused smile as he picked up his suitcase.

One runs to get the girl, another runs to save the girl. And both use violence as their first solution to a problem that doesn't even exist in the first place. It'll be a true shitfest if they collide again and I'm not there.

Without warning, a sudden gust of wind threatened to disturb the gelled foundations of his hair.

Ah, wind! Fuck off!

[The Knockout Gun Gals]

Natalie Paulson

The Asian man who came to obviously pulled a bigger weight in terms of force power. Well, this is a relief. She couldn't shake the feeling that something's off, and she wanted to end this at a very peaceful and reasonable ends. Unfortunately, the other man with electricity kinda ruined the whole thing.

"Sure. I am trying to make sure the conflict's off the radar before our instructors showed up. But that electricity guy kinda ruined the whole...idea of peaceful approach, of slightly violent, if I may add," seeing that she already equipped her brass knuckles.

"But the man clearly grabbed her ass, and it's not right." Well, it's not right to break the order and not a beneficial situation for the students overall.

Sun Yi Jong

Turning to face Natalie, Sun replied, "One thing I've learnt and learnt well in Korea is not to mess with other people's business and besides..."

He gestured to Gabriella, "She's a mage just like the rest of us, and guess what? She's also Marked. That means she can fend for herself all right," he put his hand on Natalie's shoulder, "It's not our job anyways to intervene in someone's problems. We ain't superheroes."

Natalie Paulson

It seems that Sun is more than willing to say the truth then turned around the lie. A good trait, perhaps. Honesty is a good trait, after all. But not for some. "I don't see me helping her as a heroic action. In fact, don't you think it will be good on me if that means she would owe me a favor? Or some favors."

Glancing at Aureo and Gabriella, "they could be from the...houses, right? Those aristocratic class of magicians. Those could be handy if you know one of them. And...well, as you can see, my magic lies around violence so there's no point for me to not instigating violence," she concurred, "I rest my case."

[Lunas Legion]

Gabriella Sara Bianchi-Costa de Inferenza

"Look, um... Can you all just stop fighting?" Gabriella asked, her voice wavering as she spoke, stepping away from Aureo as she was released, her eyes darting around uncertainly. She wasn't that used to being the center of attention, she was more used to actively avoiding it, so having everyone descend upon her like this was, well, disconcerting. She didn't like being crowded or the center of attention or anything at all like that.

She brushed herself down, eyes darting around over everyone again in frantic nervousness. She really didn't want to start a fight over something like this, not... Not on her first day.

"Look, I..." She started, letting out a breath as she paused. "I'm sure you're a faithful follower of Her, but I don't even know you. I don't recognise you. I don't even know your name, when you obviously know mine." Which was a little bit odd, but she figured that her family name had given her a little bit of exposure to the world at large or something like that. "So would you mind if I respectfully declined? I'd... Prefer to have a room to myself. Privacy and the like. Besides, um... No offence, but I don't know you, so, um... You might just be putting on airs or something. You act all like this, but it... Comes off strangely, if you don't mind me saying? I'm sure you're a noble, it's just I've never seen or heard of you, so..."

Her voice trailed off into silence.

[Revlona]

Samuel Strong

With his usual smile he took Sienna’s comeback easily, it was only to be expected after all, she didn’t even know him.

But then his eyes flicked to the scene that was developing right in front of her, and he watched as Sienna and the Perv exchanged words.

Finally he had had enough and took a step to stand beside sienna.

“Look bud, we don’t care about your views on how you’re better than everyone. What we care about is saving the world, not your fucked up version were you think you can shit on us just because you have a weird last name” He said, beginning to tense as the other man seemed to be almost in a ready position.

“And no buddy, this,” he said while imitating pointing out the campus with the same move Auero had used, “This is not yours, this is ours, we are a team, and you, you don’t lead us.”

[Forest State]

Aureo Mercurius

Aureo turned his gaze towards the boy that had spoken, and at the same time, the golden armor appeared, first the body armor and then the helmet that covered much of the face. It certainly offered a lot of protection, and certain engravings on it would be visible if one looked closely enough and revealed that it was enchanted with protections that would boost the durability against magic based attacks. Even without those enchantments, it was quite strong. The wearer of the armor could probably break someone’s face by punching it using the armored gloves. It would be hard to pierce it with small arms, too. If someone wanted to beat the wearer, they would have to do it through a proper battle of power versus power and not rely on casting from a distance or using their traditional weapons.

“If you disagree with my titles, feel free to do something about it,” said Aureo, holding no weapon in hand but standing in a fighting posture nonetheless. “And again, my goal is to save the world. Of course I would care about saving something that’s my own possession, I believe that’s just how nature works. And I haven’t told you my name, boy. Not everyone with power in this world has it because of noble blood, if that’s what you’re implying. I would say that… My rank is above theirs. So again. If you would like to do something about anything that I’ve said, you have the chance. Choose wisely.”

Aureo continued to speak to Gabriella without turning. Candace looked at the situation but she didn’t say anything. She wasn’t going to say anything now, with what was going on with her and Gabriella at the moment. Gabriella could handle this by herself for all she cared, she was hurt by the whole thing from before they had come here and so she would stay an observer for now and let Gabriella deal with Aureo on her own. “I’m surprised that someone of your bloodline would be the one to mistake me for simply a noble. But I forgive the insult,” Aureo said, only turning his head to look over his shoulder at Gabriella. “I believe sharing a room would be for the better, as I intend to… Find one away from the commoners.”

As he was speaking, a sword that was about five feet long and six or seven inches wide appeared in his hand, scraping against the ground before Aureo lifted it up and held it in the sunlight. “I also believe that my power should prove my credentials,” he stated, turning the blade where Gabriella could see it.

[Lunas Legion]

Gabriella Sara Bianchi-Costa de Inferenza

"Very much so. I apologise for any offence caused." Gabriella offered in response, her eyes running over the large sword, around as long as she was tall. She flicked her eyes briefly over to Candace, but there was no help coming from there given her silence and inaction so far. Great, just... Brilliant. She had to deal with this by herself.

Right, okay. What would Chelsea do? Probably stab him in the face for touching her ass. Not an option. Next option. Well, priorities first, which meant not getting anyone else killed.

"Right, you-" She pointed a finger at Sam, any hesitation or uncertainty from her voice suddenly vanished. She hated doing this, hated having to act like the heiress in public or at all, hated having to command or order or whatever. "Apologise. Now. Or he's going to execute you on the spot and there's nothing you or anyone can do to stop him. I was able to get away with it because of my bloodline. You are not so lucky."

Now that she thought about it, it was much like how her father, Leo, acted at times. Or even Chelsea, or Michelle.

"And, um-" She placed a hand on Aureo's arm. "Perhaps we should discuss this all elsewhere and you can introduce yourself properly? I have bags to put away, and we don't need interruptions from certain people."

[Revlona]

Sam

And then he realized he was outmatched.

Whoops.

It probably was when the guy he was arguing with turned into a hiking golden knight and pretty much threatened to kill him. And when the so far quiet and shy girl turned into serious mode did he realize he was in the wrong.

Looking at the golden guy he said, “Yeah sorry, we all got things do and I don’t think we need violence on the first day” he said, his smile reappearing on his face.

He then turned to Gabriel, “Sorry for butting in, wasn’t my place and all” he said.

He then turned, smiled at Sienna, and walked to the Dorms to pick out his room.

[Union Princes]

She managed to avoid having a fight with him but she had to deal with his overbearing pride. Sienna pitied the girl Gabriella for having to be near this guy. At least her words seem to cool the tension, until Sam showed up.

Seeing him challenge Aureo nearly made Sienna pull all her hair out. How can he be so stupid? She was about to grab and strangle Sam to keep him quiet but luckily for him, Gabriella made Sam see the error in his ways when Aureo showed off his flaming sword. Grumbling underbreath, Sienna grabbed her suitcase and went off in the same direction as Sam to get her room.

"Your pride isn't wanted or helpful." Sienna whispered to herself as she walked beside Sam.

[The Cross and Davids Star]

Escanor Elwyn Banaing and Ryder Elne Banaing
Meeting a False Albino
Lynwood Academy

---

"What did you expect?" Escanor spoke, removing his hand from his blade, as things seemed to calm down. "Mages of different lives, who walk different paths being forced to converge on a single path. Personalities and beliefs are bound to clash, especially when there hasn't been anytime for any of us to make peace with how each other operates."

"Don't mind my brother." Ryder spoke and looked at Nev, before extending his hand, "He's all about business, not relaxing, and just generally being blunt. I am Ryder Elne Banaing, and the cold swordsman right here is my brother Escanor Elwyn Banaing. And we are -"

"Don't say it..."

"The Twin Albino Nope Mages." Ryder finished with a smirk, "And speaking about albino... red eyes, white hair, and as pale as a winter's day, could it be that you too were born without skin pigments?"

Nev Hurn

-If I’m gonna be here, might as well make friends-

“Obviously. It’ll be a problem when those clashes start affecting our teamwork.” Nev replied, looking over to Ryder, who had offered a handshake, which Nev accepted with a firm grip. Then he gave his and his brother’s stage name, which was creative, at least. Then he brought up the question of wether or not Nev was an albino. Well, he wasn’t sure if he was or not, he hasn’t been to a docter to confirm it.

“Well, this isn’t my original appearance, and it had color, but in my studies, well, I was... blessed, for a lack of a better term, so it is possible that I am like the two of you.” Nev replied, before a lightbulb turned on in his noggin. He got his bag and pulled out a deck of tarot cards and grinned.

“One moment, let me see who both of you are as a person.” Nev’s eyes glowed bright as he said Ryder’s full name, drew a card, before saying Escanor’s full name and drawing another card. He looked that the two cards and smiled, now having an idea of who they were. He gave one card to Ryder and the other to Escanor.

“Ryder, aptly enough you hold the Magician card. From that card, I can tell that you are a resorceful person, who only makes up the basics of a plan and goes off from that. Escanor, you hold the Justice card, meaning that you are judgemental, but in a good way. You can read people’s motives, but you always pass swift and fair judgement on those who deserve it. Now, am I correct, or not?”

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Escanor Elwyn Banaing and Ryder Elne Banaing
Trying a Hand at making a friend
Lynwood Academy

---

"Divination through tarot cards." Escanor spoke and looked at the card, then to Nev, "No, not just through tarot cards, but through the cards and names. Good for getting to know someone, only if you know their name. Very good for gathering information and determining how one will act giving certain situations. Useless in combat, and only a threat to those who want to remain unknown or who can be easily played through their emotions and past. Therefore, not a threat to us..."

"What my brother means to say is that you are pretty much spot on." Ryder sighed, "But if your attempt to show off your divination through these cards isn't that impressive to both of us. You see, its not an insult to your ability, but just an artifact of our upbringing. Since we gave you our names, perhaps you can give us yours? We don't have magic like yours, so your name is just a name. Also, do you have anything more than divination? If you do, show it to us, and we'll show you some of our magic."

[Forest State]

Niki & Ander Laskaris

The confrontation was finally over. Right. That was good, nobody had died. And now that it was over, the instructors were able to give some advice about the situation without actually interfering in it. While some would say that they should have interfered in the beginning, the instructors here weren’t exactly fans of bailing people out of situations. You started something, and you would have to sleep in the bed that you had just made. The instructors would try their best to help students out, but they didn’t regulate stupidity. If someone wanted to do something dumb and risk their lives, well, they shouldn’t expect someone at the top to reach out and stop them. That wouldn’t always be possible and the instructors wanted everyone to know that, and it was also the reason they intended to train students to not get into bad spots in the first place.

Niki Laskaris, who wasn’t an instructor but important nonetheless, stepped forward and suddenly her presence would very much be felt by those that were standing in the general area. That presence felt like death, and those who were within her gaze would feel it the strongest. She settled that gaze on Sienna, looking at her for a moment with her piercing eyes, something that when done directly like this would give off an aura of… Dread, as well as the same deathly feeling as her general presence. She looked to Jack and Natalie, too, and Sam, really to everyone that was still in the area and hadn’t left yet.

“You dumbass malakas,” she said towards the group in general, her voice no longer softer like it was before as it took on a sharp tone. Niki didn’t always talk, but when she did, she was quite direct. And at some level she was concerned for the state of the group, and it showed in the fact that her voice had some actual emotion. “How do you intend on surviving against an enemy like Autarch if you allow words and a simple ass grab to affect you this much? Is this really the group that’s been sent to save humanity from some coming crisis? Because if it is, I’m pretty fucking disappointed. I don’t know how you all made it through high school, let alone plan on defeating the forces of darkness.”

She was intimidating when she was angry all right, but she was less angry at individuals and more angry that she had been forced to be in a group with the rest of these students, just because she had been chosen by the same mysterious force that had selected her. Just because they had all been chosen by that force didn’t mean that they were all going to get along. But she started to back away, and Ander Laskaris finally spoke.

“Nothing bad happened, but that could have been a worse situation if it escalated. Let that be a lesson that it’s not the job of a hero to jump into every little thing that happens. Starting a confrontation over something small can turn into something big. It’s also a lesson in knowing your enemy and doing a better job of judging danger before you initiate a conflict, and not after. A real enemy wouldn’t have backed down after the confrontation begun,” Ander said, before offering a sigh and gesturing towards the rest of the complex. “I believe it’s time for everyone to make their way to the dorms. If you’ve brought anything, this is the time to unpack it. In about an hour, report back to this area if you wish to help with clearing out the classroom buildings and the building that will be used as the cafeteria.”

Aureo Mercurius

“Perhaps we should, it appears that many people in this group are less than commoners, but true lowlives… And rowdy ones at that,” said Aureo, gesturing towards the main building ahead of them where there were no students around. Aureo would glance over his shoulder at Sam, who had walked away, still holding his sword in hand and wearing the golden armor. But he wouldn’t push that further. The boy had slipped up, but he had also retracted his challenge seemingly immediately. Perhaps because the golden armor was much more intimidating than the previous simple leather jacket that Aureo had worn.

Aureo kept the armor on, in case anything else kicked off, and walked with Gabriella. “My name is Aureo Mercurius, or at least, that’s what I’ve been called. I’ve also been called the protector of this realm, but I’m rather surprised that someone with your background, after your studies, would make the mistake of believing that I am a simple noble. The truth is, my rank would be above that. If you still doubt that… That I have the blessing of the Goddess herself, you should take a look at the armor and the sword in front of you. And if that isn’t enough, you should ask her yourself. The result might surprise you.”

“Or maybe, you don’t need to go that far… Ask yourself this, how would an average person already know of your little crisis of faith? The one that, I believe, involves Candace. You should be happy that I’m willing to help you with that crisis, Gabriella,” Aureo continued after a pause, chuckling slightly as he picked Gabriella up off the ground and held her bridal style. “Or that you yourself are a quarter demon and that your mother who fights so hard against the dark arts is a half demon underneath it all? Fortunately, I don’t care about such things.”

[Khasinkonia]

Hlaing Muireall Tamboli
Lynwood Academy

After a pleasant jaunt with my father’s relatives who’d moved to Sri Lanka around the time Phophay and Māī left for Edinburgh, it was time to get down to business in the Middle of Nowhere, Nepal. The instructors were so kind as to inform us that the facilities were, in fact, more ruins than anything else at this point, as was evident enough by the smattering of broken windows, among other things.

The mountains were brisk, but bearable, even with my warm-weather clothes. My outfit, consisting of a longyi and a white t-shirt, some white athletic socks and grey slip-on tennis shoes. My nails were painted a deep merlot, fitting well the pearl bracelet on my left hand. My style was perhaps eccentric, but it had been comfortable for the ride over, and that was reason enough for me to wear it.

My plan was to find a room, mark it as my own, and then draw a link the room in my mother’s house where all the doors where. It had been servant’s quarters or something many years ago, but now it was practically a massive storage closet full of dozens of doors. What I’d have to do is make a plain portal through, close it, and then set up one of the doors I kept sitting in a nearby closet. It was a process, but it kept everything conveniently together, and I could then label the door so I knew where it lead, and could use it at any time to return home. It would, of course, have a two-way lock so no-one could come through, or even bust through it, as breaking the door naturally destroyed the portal. Come to think of it, with that, I might as well link whichever dorm room I get to my own room, perhaps via the closet door if there was one.

It was at this point that the first of what would inevitably be many ridiculous things happened. A great blond man decided this of all places and times was perfect to grope a much smaller girl, it seemed. And then it all went further into the deep depths of hell. A number of people tried to play knight or peacekeeper while he exuded such arrogance it lit things on fire.

“မယုံကြည်နိုင်သော,”* I sighed, rubbing the bridge of my nose. Nonconsensual groping and a lynch mob. Exactly what we needed right now. The girl standing next to one of the instructors got the picture, although she dedicated her rant as much to personally insulting the parties involved than explaining succinctly why this whole debacle was absurd.

Nonetheless, I was better off departing than getting involved. The fact the groper was now carrying her off bridal style was concerning, but I wasn’t about to risk getting my neck snapped if the tractor beam couldn’t keep him in place. I entered the dorm, and occupied myself by peaking into each uninhabited room. It seemed they were small apartments rather than plain door rooms. I could fix it up in time, but in the meantime, a link to my own home would be preferable.

I spotted a rather young-looking girl a bit down the hall, who was heavily scarred and in a wheelchair. I scribbled Hlaing Muireall Lives Here in chalk on the door to claim the room, and walked towards her.

“Did ye see tha’ whole thing wi’ the guy gropin’ tha’ lass a bit ago?” I asked, “Cannae beleve someone’d dae a thing like tha’ whan we’ve nae been ‘round a day.”

*Muìkóñnĩngsáu, meaning “Unbelievable”

[Lunas Legion]

Gabriella Sara Bianchi-Costa de Inferenza

"I'd introduce myself, but, well, you already knew my full name." Gabriella said as she followed Aureo towards the main building, picking up her bags and following Aureo at a small distance behind him. She hadn't gotten a proper look at the armour, what with him standing behind her at first and then being distracted trying to prevent everyone else from getting themselves killed through their own stupidity. It was... Strange, to say the least. Coloured armour in itself was unusual; too ostentatious, normally ceremonial since paintwork just got scratched, but there was no sign of any of that, and given it was magically summoned, well, it was obviously intended as a practical thing. Plus there was the whole wielding a sword the size of her.

She'd been around fighters her whole life; her parents were Inquisitors, Cass, Candace's elder sister, was an Inquisitor, she'd been training to be one, as had her sisters, and everything about his equipment was just wrong to her eyes but he wielded it regardless of that.

She made no answer to the rest of his statements, trying to mentally process them. Above a noble, also called protector of the, no, not the, this realm. Words were always chosen for specific reasons, and there was... An awful lot of difference between saying 'the realm' and 'this realm'. And then, as he pointed out and she'd noticed, the armour and the weaponry were very unusual. Divine blessings would easily explain how and more importantly why he used them and why they were in the condition they were, immaculate.

And then he mentioned things as he picked her up off the ground; she didn't protest, her mind too distracted trying to process his words as he talked. Things she'd never talked about, not with anyone. Anyone at all, not even Candace. Things that roamed the deepest depths of her mind that shouldn't be allowed out into the light of day.

And that was on top of everything else... No, she was quite sure now that whatever Aureo really was, he was most certainly not human under it all.

"How do you know?" She asked, her voice having long since lost all her earlier fire, burned out and nothing but ash now. "No... No one should know. And why don't you care?" That was the most confusing thing. It was almost like a paradox, considering all she knew of the Goddess' teachings meant that daemons were fundamentally evil. She wasn't complaining, but... She cared a lot about hiding such things.

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Kana "Gyges" Kaleikaumaka
Finding a Room and meeting a Peer
Lynwood Academy

---

There was someone up ahead. Someone who started to approach Kana as she continued to roll forward. You see, she wasn't very fast, due to her own lack of strength. But if she used her extra arms, she could have sped on by. But that would have been a waste of mana. Anyways, back to the approaching figure. Kana only came to a stop when the person started speaking to here.

"Yes, I saw it." Kana said, "And honestly, nothing people do surprises me anymore. Sorry, the name's Kana Kaleikaumaka. And if you are thinking of offering me any help, because I am crippled, then don't. Just because I am crippled doesn't mean I need help. By the way, are there any empty rooms up ahead?"

[Theyra]

Nepal
Lynwood Academy
Ikram el-Amara

Traveling from one end of the world to another was normal for him at this point. Going from possible dig site to ancient ruin over two years made he used to traveling alot. Despite his traveling around the world, he had never been to Nepal before and was quite curious to learn the history of the monastery that the academy housed in. Maybe when he had time, he could learn a thing or two about it. Making him wished he brought a book or something to write down his observations. Though the cold did bother him even in his warmest attire, Ikram never did like the cold. Preferring the heat of the desert over and at least he brought his staff which is sure to help him deal with the cold.

He had listened quietly, to the Ander's speech and was quietly looking at the other students there. Getting an idea of who he will be training with. As he as about to leave to find a room in the dorms did a situation that started when a blonde haired man went to grope a woman. The situation escalated from there before he knew he it, Ikram knew he could not help to resolve the situation could not do anything about it. He stayed till it was over and he was concerned for the girl that was groped. Being carried by the man that groped her..... Ikarm had a bad feeling about how thing are going to be here if day one is this.... And the day is not over yet and he without a word proceed to the dorms to find a room.

He walked into the dorms and found a room near the back that was still free. Ikram claimed it and started to unpack his thing.

[Vanquaria]

Sun Yi Jong

Turning to face Natalie, Sun replied, "One thing I've learnt and learnt well in Korea is not to mess with other people's business and besides..."

He gestured to Gabriella, "She's a mage just like the rest of us, and guess what? She's also Marked. That means she can fend for herself all right," he put his hand on Natalie's shoulder, "It's not our job anyways to intervene in someone's problems. We ain't superheroes."

Natalie Paulson

It seems that Sun is more than willing to say the truth then turned around the lie. A good trait, perhaps. Honesty is a good trait, after all. But not for some. "I don't see me helping her as a heroic action. In fact, don't you think it will be good on me if that means she would owe me a favor? Or some favors."

Glancing at Aureo and Gabriella, "they could be from the...houses, right? Those aristocratic class of magicians. Those could be handy if you know one of them. And...well, as you can see, my magic lies around violence so there's no point for me to not instigating violence," she concurred, "I rest my case."

Sun Yi Jong

Glancing at the aura Niki Laskaris was giving off, and unintentionally making a judgement as to her mana levels, Sun adjusted his Ray Bans while his fingers flinched at the slightly chilled metal grip of his suitcase.

He was both listening to Natalie and paying attention to the magic Aureo was using. Armament Magic, perhaps the spells they used differed due to blondie probably learning his art under those Church of Light fanatics over in Europe while Sun had been taught by the strongest fighters within the Chinese Triads but regardless, the fundamentals were there.

Interesting, interesting

The ears that were listening to Natalie, transmitted such information that Sun smiled, almost about to burst out laughing. Giving the girl his full attention he spoke his own mind, "Yes, they are Europeans and most likely fanatics of the Church of Light. You are not wrong in saying establishing a relationship with one of their kind can be beneficial however, you see its easier said than done."

Sun gulped in nervousness as he remembered his last encounter with one of those fanatics. Religious extremism mixed with magic was not good for anyone much less those who worshipped Somnus rather than the lighthouse lady of the Europeans.

Continuing, trying to gleam the type of person Natalie was by looking at her, he said, "It's never a bad thing if one owes you a favor but in this situation, I don't think it is the type from which you can get a favor from in the first place."

He gestured to blondie, "Strong dude," then Sun gestured to Niki and Candance, "strong girls".

Taking a moment to pat down his hair, the gel currently engaged in open-field warfare with the winds of Nepal, Sun adopted a tone of sympathy for Western girl, "I do not know what you specialize in, maybe you do need violence to show off your stuff. The thing is, there is a point in not instigating violence and that is because of our purpose here; to become a team that can save the worl-, just a second I must cough out the idealism I am repeating from Mr Laskaris, COUGH COUGH!"

Patting his chest, Sun took a deep breath but almost regretted it as it was that of freezing Nepalese wind, "Ugh, so back to the point I am trying to make here. Don't start fights because, other than forcing me to use my precious mana to save your pretty blonde ass, it sets back the whole purpose of the Marked congregating here in the first place. If you have pent-up tension of some sort, try relieving it elsewhere, I mean well there are a couple of violent guys here like Volt boy that may make you feel good heheh."

His right hand finally overcoming the chilled metal handle of his suitcase, Sun gestured with his thumb to the dorms, "Anyways, let's forget anything happened on the fucking first hour of this so-called "Academy" okay? My name's Sun Yi by the way, Sun for short. Why don't you help me pick a room, I'm pretty awful at feng-shui...you don't know what I'm talking about do you hahaha!"

[The Cross and Davids Star]

Escanor Elwyn Banaing and Ryder Elne Banaing
Trying a Hand at making a friend
Lynwood Academy

---

"Divination through tarot cards." Escanor spoke and looked at the card, then to Nev, "No, not just through tarot cards, but through the cards and names. Good for getting to know someone, only if you know their name. Very good for gathering information and determining how one will act giving certain situations. Useless in combat, and only a threat to those who want to remain unknown or who can be easily played through their emotions and past. Therefore, not a threat to us..."

"What my brother means to say is that you are pretty much spot on." Ryder sighed, "But if your attempt to show off your divination through these cards isn't that impressive to both of us. You see, its not an insult to your ability, but just an artifact of our upbringing. Since we gave you our names, perhaps you can give us yours? We don't have magic like yours, so your name is just a name. Also, do you have anything more than divination? If you do, show it to us, and we'll show you some of our magic."

Nev Hurn

-Lets hope these guys are tolerant...-

“I’m Nev. Nev Hurn. And yes, I am no fortune teller, after all. Though, a lot of my magic is very under-the-radar, for me, its better that my magic is subtle, unless your talking about my cane. So, first trick...”

Well, I guess it was time for a demonstration. He grabbed Escanor’s head and had him look Nev in the eyes, and with a flash of red from his eyes, Escanor started to feel disconnected from reality, floating in a sea of psychedelic colors.

“Um, just as a bit of a disclaimer, my magic ain’t that helpful for others. Unless you happen to be looking for a way to get high.” Nev said, letting go of Escanor.

[Faal Lot Himdah]

Escanor Elwyn Banaing and Ryder Elne Banaing
Swords Out, Spells Out
Lynwood Academy

---

“Interesting…” Ryder said and looked at his brother in his trance, “Some sort of illusion magic? Effects the mind of a target, puts them in a trance. Probably triggered by looking into your eyes from the fact you forced him to look at them, and they flashed…”

It was then that Escanor’s handed started to reach for his sword.

“Yeah, Nev, step back and watch as Esc shows his main trick.” Ryder said as he stepped back with a smirk. Only a moment after that the other twin grabbed hold of the swords gripped, and unsheathed it. As Escanor unsheathed it, he made a slashing movement upwards, a slight glow from his sword. It was then that the air around Escanor seemed to shatter into dust.

“Spell broken.” Escanor said and sheathed his blade, and actually gave Nev a smirk which quickly disappeared. “Impressive. Much more useful in combat. Not because of its direct effects, but due to it creating an opening that can be used to quickly dispatch a foe. Unfortunately, there is a reason my brother calls use Nope Mages. No doubt you saw the harmless mana dust after my slash, that was the remains of your magic. We are highly trained in what you could call anti-magic. Dispelling, destabilizing and eliminating a mages magic is our specialty.”

“Yep.” Ryder said and nodded, “Esc specializes in meeting mages head on, slashing through their magic and overwhelming them with his swordsmanship. He is very direct. Me on the other hand; I am more indirect. For example, if Esc couldn’t slash his way out, I would have been able to destabilize the magic to make it wear off quicker, at the price of increasing its potency.”

“Those are our main tricks.” Escanor spoke and looked at Nev, “But they are not the only tricks.”

[The Cross and Davids Star]

Escanor Elwyn Banaing and Ryder Elne Banaing
Swords Out, Spells Out
Lynwood Academy

---

“Interesting…” Ryder said and looked at his brother in his trance, “Some sort of illusion magic? Effects the mind of a target, puts them in a trance. Probably triggered by looking into your eyes from the fact you forced him to look at them, and they flashed…”

It was then that Escanor’s handed started to reach for his sword.

“Yeah, Nev, step back and watch as Esc shows his main trick.” Ryder said as he stepped back with a smirk. Only a moment after that the other twin grabbed hold of the swords gripped, and unsheathed it. As Escanor unsheathed it, he made a slashing movement upwards, a slight glow from his sword. It was then that the air around Escanor seemed to shatter into dust.

“Spell broken.” Escanor said and sheathed his blade, and actually gave Nev a smirk which quickly disappeared. “Impressive. Much more useful in combat. Not because of its direct effects, but due to it creating an opening that can be used to quickly dispatch a foe. Unfortunately, there is a reason my brother calls use Nope Mages. No doubt you saw the harmless mana dust after my slash, that was the remains of your magic. We are highly trained in what you could call anti-magic. Dispelling, destabilizing and eliminating a mages magic is our specialty.”

“Yep.” Ryder said and nodded, “Esc specializes in meeting mages head on, slashing through their magic and overwhelming them with his swordsmanship. He is very direct. Me on the other hand; I am more indirect. For example, if Esc couldn’t slash his way out, I would have been able to destabilize the magic to make it wear off quicker, at the price of increasing its potency.”

“Those are our main tricks.” Escanor spoke and looked at Nev, “But they are not the only tricks.”

Nev Hurn

-Now this is getting interesting-

“I wouldn’t say its that effective, if my timing is off I could miss a chance, and the chances of it working increase the closer I am, so there’s that, but what you felt is but a fraction of what I could do if I chose to use more mana.” Nev said, grinning.

“That said, your magic-cancelling abilities will be a true asset, and I have some tricks of my own, 52 of them, actually.” Nev put his hands together and focused his magic into one point, opeing his hands to show a deck of playing cards. Those playing cards spread out around him and circled Nev, and with a quick point, one of the cards spun like a whirlwind and flung itself at a tree, which it stuck itself into.

Nev followed that up by aiming his cane at the card, the cane glowing with raw magic that shot out in a red lightning bolt, leaving a hole through the tree itself. “My main offensive capabilities are ranged, though I can always whack someone with my cane like an angry grandpa.”

[Revlona]

Samuel Storm

Everything seemed to be in order, his bed was made, his dresser packed, and the beside drawer was in order.

It almost felt like home to Sam.

That’s when his mind wandered to what hat happened earlier, the confrontation in particular.

After calming down earlier, he had come to realize that he was in the wrong, not in confronting the jerk, but in the timing of it, as the situation had already cooled down.

And that of course was when his mind drifted to before the confrontation, to the girl he had been taking to, and he realized he hadn’t finished talking to her.

As he exited his room, he immediately spotted her in the hall checking out the rooms.

Walking up to her, he cleared his throat to get her attention.

“Um...hey, it’s me again, sorry about earlier, I shouldn’t of jumped in after everything had cooler off and I’m sorry.”

Then realizing he still didn’t know her name, he said,”What’s your name by the way?”

[Lessoni]

Jack

Jack wandered the dorms, slightly bored. It hadn't taken him much time to fry the few animal nests he found in his room and set up his few belongings, mostly clothing, a few keepsakes, and a sound system he may or may not have illegally gotten. He had been tempted to blare some metal; it had been a while since he'd had a chance to lie in a bed and listen to music on a system that nice. He realized that might piss some people off, so he refrained at the moment.

Jack came to the sudden realization that some people might not be as adept at animal control as he was. He was an amicable guy, and more importantly, he was bored. Simple math.

Jack walked down the halls, casually looking for an occupied room. The first he found held a dark skinned, light haired man who was unpacking. He approached the door, lightly knocking on the frame to alert the man, and said, "Hi! My name's Jack. I was looking around seeing if anyone needed help with animal infestations. I've found that a few volts has a tendency to take care of them without risk of a bite. Got any nests in here?".

[Theyra]

Jack

Jack wandered the dorms, slightly bored. It hadn't taken him much time to fry the few animal nests he found in his room and set up his few belongings, mostly clothing, a few keepsakes, and a sound system he may or may not have illegally gotten. He had been tempted to blare some metal; it had been a while since he'd had a chance to lie in a bed and listen to music on a system that nice. He realized that might piss some people off, so he refrained at the moment.

Jack came to the sudden realization that some people might not be as adept at animal control as he was. He was an amicable guy, and more importantly, he was bored. Simple math.

Jack walked down the halls, casually looking for an occupied room. The first he found held a dark skinned, light haired man who was unpacking. He approached the door, lightly knocking on the frame to alert the man, and said, "Hi! My name's Jack. I was looking around seeing if anyone needed help with animal infestations. I've found that a few volts has a tendency to take care of them without risk of a bite. Got any nests in here?".

Ikram was just done unpacking his things when he heard a voice from behind him. "Oh, ahhhh", he turned around to face Jack. "Hi and I do not think so". "I have not seen a nest of pests in here, though there are some good-sized holes in the walls that a rat could go through. But I know how to deal with pests, comes with my upbringing". Ikram stopped a moment to think and spoke in a friendly tone. "I should introduce myself before I continue. I am Ikram of clan el-Amara, Nice to meet you Jack". Ikram reached out to Jack with his right hand for a handshake.