---

---

The supersoldier gave a silent groan, turning her eyes to the window as her momentary focus on the annoyingly loud hammer girl caused countless other voices to come flooding into her mind.

"Maybe you should try to be less of a total bitch!" Snapped one angry voice.

"Did I do something wrong? Did I offend her somehow? But all I did was talk... Was she actually reading my mind? If so, for what reason?" Wondered another, sounding hurt.

"If she's not cut out for the academy, then..." Lorelei gritted her teeth, shutting her eyes as she desperately tried to drive out the countless disgusted voices that seemed to follow her everywhere she went. Of course, actually paying attention to somebody else had been a mistake. She knew that, and yet she'd been so annoyed by that girl's perky attitude - She had to have been mocking her. Why else would she start a conversation with someone like Lorelei? - that she'd been unable to keep her calm and had snapped at her. And look where it had gotten her. Now she'd made another scene and blown her one and only second chance at starting over here. Why did it always have to be this way? It would be so much easier if people would just mind their own business and leave her alone. They hated her - that she knew - so why didn't they just ignore her and go about their own lives?! It didn't make any sense to interact with someone you despised, so why did people still choose to even come close to her? She was a freak, she knew that, everybody knew that! If they didn't want to have their thoughts read, then they should have just stayed away from her! Yet, even knowing about what she was, people still kept on trying to get reactions out of her... be they positive or negative.

With a dull clank, a small bronze box about the size of her palm landed on the desk in front of her. Her eyes snapped open and upwards to see where it had come from, only to find a young boy - she would have said he looked like he was only 11 years old or so, but his physique told a different story. Was he a midget or something? - floating above her, riding on what looked to be a disproportionately large turban. The image he presented was so comical, even she, the legendary ice queen, probably wouldn't have been able to stifle a laugh if she wasn't so confused by who he was, what exactly he had just given her, and what he thought he was doing.

"When I get sad or lonely, I play myself a song. Maybe it can help you too," Said the childish young man, grinning as though this non sequitur statement explained everything. With a knowing smile, he turned and flew away, leaving her opening and closing her mouth a few times, still not really sure what exactly had even happened. Pocketing the strange box in one of many small slits in the lining of her tabard, she then realized that the teacher had already begun speaking. She mentally slapped herself. If she didn't pay more attention to class and less to her classmates, she'd ruin herself - well, even more than she already had, anyway.

Unfortunately, things weren't exactly looking good for her regardless. Just her luck, she was being assigned to team up with some other students who would probably make it their lives' goals to drive her insane, assuming they weren't incompetent idiots. And, even worse, she couldn't even tell who she was going to be partnered with, since she didn't know even one of her classmates by name, and, even if she did, the announcement was in writing, and she couldn't read. She glared angrily at the list for a few seconds as though her sheer determination to understand it would mystically grant her the ability to both comprehend the names of those written on the sheet and pick them out from the rest of the class, but at last she gave up, sighing as she turned her gaze back out the window, trying to see the blue sky beyond the giant, hulking dragon made of trash in the courtyard. Considering most people in the school knew her simply as NHP-S17 - the numbers in which, which she could at least recognize, were pointedly absent from the sheet - the other members of her team probably wouldn't be able to recognize her, either. She supposed the only thing to do would be to wait until everybody had found their partners and then look for one group that was missing a person. Resigning herself to her need to utilize her powers, she kept her mind trained on the crowd around her, focusing intently on the word "Lorelei" and searching for any thoughts that might involve her in some way. She'd find her team one way or another. She just doubted she'd enjoy it.

Willow drummed her fingers on the back of her seat as she watched the boy in front of her. Brr-ump, brr-ump. The sound coming in a soft, but steady beat. She would hardly be able to hear it if it were not an action she were preforming herself. Usually, she was not one do small, needless actions. Preferring to stay as composed as possible. Yet, today she could not help it. Being back in class was making her restless.

As she noticed Robin's pale cheeks color, just a just a light pink dusting, she cocked her head innocently and watched him intently. Though, she almost immediately caught herself and turned her head away slightly, shooting her eyes downwards. 'That was impolite of me.' She berated herself silently. Biting her lower lip, Willow tried to keep her smile under wraps. 'How delightfully adorable though!' She cooed. "--Willow. L-lovely day, isn't it?".

The girl shot her head back up to face him. Shaking herself out of her internal musings. It took a minute for her to register what he said fully. "Why yes." She answered simply. Taking a moment to glance around the classroom, Willow took in all of the familiar faces piling in and some relatively new ones. Hector's familiar shock of green hair. The large metallic face of Frank outside of the window as always, near Joe. Atlam hovering to and fro on his small rug. Bright Cuddy chatting flamboyantly. Vivian looking as much as a rebel as she always has. Then, there were two, Willow definitely did not know. Neither seemed to give off the aura of being approachable, but it would be rude not to introduce herself later. She mentally added that to her checklist. Looking back at Robin, she grinned. "Lovely indeed."She added.

She opened her mouth to say something else. Something to continue their short conversation, when she heard a deep voice break through the chatter of the classroom. "Oops." Willow said under her breath. Giving Robin a sheepish smile, she turned her back to him and fully focused on their new professor, Asher Donovan. As he spoke of their late teacher, Willow briefly shut her eyes and mouthed a quick prayer. She hoped that her sincere feelings for her past homeroom teacher shone in her prayer. If possible, she wanted to help her ease her way through the afterlife and releasing the last of her earthly tether, to be finally reunited in spirit with Taliba'meda. The one true God.

She reopened her eyes as Professor Donovan was revealing the new teams. She leaned forward just a bit as she read the listings. '--Kazuhira. . .Team Three, Will--me. Robin Damian Grey, and Duran Ledford. . .' Reading it over, she absorbed what it was telling her. Quickly turning back around, she met Robin's smaller, shy smile with a beaming grin. "Well I guess we're gonna be teammates huh Miss Willow." He beat her to the punch. "Seems so!" She chirped. Bringing her excitement down to a calmer level, she titled her head to the side. "Please, just Willow. No need for the formalities. We are teammates now." She reminded him nicely.

"Don't suppose you're as flustered to meet me." A familiarly, assertive voice cut in. She recognized it immediately. Why wouldn't she? It was her other teammate, and best friend. She leaned back a bit as she watched Duran cut into Robin's personal space. “You're captain Grey's kid, aren't you? I hear your father is the only decent man that floating city of cowards got to offer.” Willow pursed her lips, not wanting to fully frown. She tried to shoot Duran a warning look inconspicuously. That was not the rudest thing she had heard him say to another, but it was still rude nonetheless. Duran's scorn for the city was easily audible. Willow wished he would hold his tongue sometimes. She leaned over and glanced at Robin on the other side of her friend's body. She hoped he was not taking too much offence.

Willow released a soft sigh at the fact that Duran thought it was appropriate to sit right in between of her and Robin in the middle of their conversation. And on Robin's desk too! Poor Robin. "Morning Willow." She heard his friendly voice greet her. "Morning Duran." She greeted with a wry smile. "Glad you finally noticed me." She joked.

Hector felt the concentration of wind magic. It barely created a torrential vacuum that messed up everything in the classroom, but it did seem to be lifting the young kid around the classroom. What was he doing here, so young...? Wait, that was Altam. Playful enough, but Hector had sensed how strong his wind magic was, before. For an instant. If not for that, Hector would remain off his guard.

...Hector really should stay off his guard around his classmates. It was no wonder why he didn't have as many friends.

On second thought, that wasn't it. It was because he was a reclusenior who only came to class just enough to not fail.

Duran had come in as well, being his usual boisterous self. Hector needed to see his notes sometime. It was in Hector's nature to be sensitive to details, and with Duran's detailed notes, that nature could be fulfilled.

When Professor Donovan addressed the class, Hector straightened up, slightly. His team, his path to a mission.

The two others on his team were students Hector recognized. Joe, a slayer and a summoner. Hector recalled what he knew about Joe. Let's see. Joe was fairly smart, and enjoyed tinkering with things. He was also quite strong, and his wrench held a sort of brutal appeal to Hector. Also, there was Frank, a great source of heavy support. Joe was also mild mannered. Hector wou almost certainly get along with Joe.

And Amurel Sarcadia. She was quiet as well. A medic and a summoner. Hector hardly knew a thing about her. All he knew was that she was quite calm, and quite an effective healer. She had two fae as her familiars, a wolf and a dragon. Hextortion had the feeling that they would get along well. Every one on the group seemed to be a decent, calm person. Maybe this wouldn't be too stressful.

Beneath the face of this group, beneath how smart each of the three were, was one flaw Hector hopes will not be too much of a problem. It may even be a source of strength. None of them were mediums. There was no quick way to convey their tactics to each other. This set them behind where quick reactions were required. And, while this was a problem, it could be circumvented. But there was a problem that, if Hector's psychology was good, which it isn't, then the group may come to hate each other for all three of them being too similar in that none of them enjoy leading. But, this could be a boon as well. Without a leader, and with three intelligent people on a team, they may not require a leader or medium among them to see what their squad mates are planning.

While lost in the specifics, Hector realized something crucial. Without a medium on the team, Hector's thoughts would not be a danger to any of his squadmates. Finally. A group that worked for Hector. Looking in his row, he saw Joe, and he then located Amurel. It was best to say hello.

Hector spoke to Joe.

"Yo, Joe. My name is Hector Kazuhira, and we should talk to our other squad mate to prepare for the training exercise."

---

---

"Er... What? I'm sorry, I seem to have missed the part where I'm supposed to get the point. Why are you talking to me, exactly?

Nico wasn't quite sure how to reply to the girl. She only stared quietly, blinking in slight confusion. Had the two-toned girl never been given a compliment before? Was there ever really a point to giving a compliment besides pointing out something you like about someone? Had she done something unusual? This state of confusion only lasted a few seconds before Nico leaned a couple inches towards the girl and tilted her head. "Hehhh?! What point?", she said, her smile once again lighting up her face. "I said you're pretty!" She said this a little louder this time. Maybe the other girl just hadn't heard her properly the first time and that was why she seemed muddled.

"Ugh... would you be so kind as to take your enthusiasm down a few hundred notches? Your very presence is like shouting."

Nico let out a small chuckle and sat back in her seat. "Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Am I right?", she mumbled loud enough for the girl to hear, placing a hand over her mouth in a failed attempt to hide her grin.

"Yo. How's it goin'?"

She turned her head away from the two-toned girl as a voice was spoken in her direction. It took her a second, but her eyes quickly lit up as she recognized the male student, Joe, whom she'd had previous classes with. The most noticeable thing that lead her to remember him was the lovely trash dragon that was always with him. The moment she'd seen the beast she was memorized by how cool it was, aside from the familiars she got stuck with thanks to her mother.

"Hey! Good to see ya!", she said, giving a quick wave with one hand and a thumbs up with the other. She probably would've jumped from her seat to go to the window and greet his dragon, but just as she was about to stand the teacher finally began to speak to the class. Her attention shifted away from her classmate and her eyes rested on their teacher however her mind ever-so-slowly drained out his voice as he went on with some sort of speech about their late so-called teacher. There really was no reason to bring her back up again, and Nico had never been one for long speeches anyway.

She sat with her elbow planted firmly on the desk in front of her and her chin resting in the palm of her hand while she stared at nothing in particular until the word 'teams' caught her ear. She raised her head to listen as the teacher presented a list of team numbers and names. 'This should be interesting..', she thought to herself. She'd never been appointed a set team before. Sure, she'd worked in larger groups, but the members of those groups were always changing.

Reading the names of her teammates, her eyes began to scan the room as she tried to identify which people those names belonged to. After a short moment she realized that the only ones who hadn't been approached yet were the NHP girl and another boy sitting just a seat away from her. She rose quickly and, with a big smile, reached over and took hold of the boy's sleeve and practically dragged him out of his seat.

"That makes you Caesar, yeah?!" Her voice was full of friendly excitement as she pulled him over to the corner of the room and raised her finger to point at the two-toned girl, her fingers still firmly holding Caesar's sleeve. "I bet you're Lorelei! Right? Right?!" She didn't wait for her to reply as she roughly released Caesar from her grip and placed her hands on the top of her desk. "Guess we're a team, huh? What should we call ourselves? It's gotta be something cool, like Super Death Team! Er..something like that."

"Fuck. It got in." Nefarius pouted in defeat. They had returned to Caesar's mind space moments after Caesar heard the two toned hair girl spoke to him. Caesar immediately regained his senses and turned to his siblings, both returned from whatever they were doing. "Whoever it was, they were good. To break the mental barrier created by me. Definitely no normal magus." Nexus claimed next. She seemed to have exhausted quite the amount of magical powers setting up that barrier, Caesar silently mumbled to himself. Comparing from before they were gone, Nexus' presence was considerably weaker than before. Now that they started talking about it again, Caesar can feel the intrusion in his mind now, even if its just a little bit. It felt extremely close, as if it was staring right into his face but Caesar just couldn't pinpoint the definite location of this stare. All he could do was just feel it close by and not able to do anything about it.

I think I know who's doing this. He then slowly turned his head to the side, while informing his siblings of his suspicion. The beautiful girl who sat beside him in a disciplined manner, had two colors to her hair, one white and one black. A weird fashion sense, yet it brought a certain sense of beauty to it when it came to this girl. Without realizing it, Caesar was captivated by the smooth and pale skin on her face, the small lips and sharp nose, and just about every facial features she had on her. "This is... what it is, right, Nexus? What Humans call it?" Nefarius asked in a confused manner. He was hesitating on the word he was about to form, yet couldn't come out of his mouth at all. Nexus then nodded and agreed to his question. Both of them were looking at Caesar, who was staring obnoxiously at the girl next to him.

In that instant, Nefarius quickly grabbed onto Caesar's conscious and gave it a good slap, bringing Caesar's attention back to the two. "Caesar, wake up!" Instinctively rubbing his face, Caesar acted as if he was really slapped on the face - Which, of course, he wasn't - But suddenly, just as Caesar was about to raise a question to the slap, something snapped him back to reality. Someone pulled on his sleeve and without resistance from him, were dragged out from his seat. He turned and found a girl with a brownish hair and a big red bow tie was tugging onto his long sleeve. She wore in a plain black sailor suit and had big red eyes. However, the first immediate expression Caesar saw on this girl was the huge smile she had across her face. He had met a variety of people in his life journey, but he had never ever met someone of such high levels of cheery power.

Then Caesar, though rather dramatically, proceeds to fall onto the ground face first as the girl decides to let go of his sleeve. The loud thud he made as he fell felt painful but to Caesar, who was a natural at this, had gotten used to face plants. It should had happened enough for just about anyone to get used to, but not to Nexus. "Caesar! Are you okay?" She immediately transformed into her Human form and knelt beside Caesar, helping him get up while trying to assure he was okay. "Y-Yeah... I'm okay.. For 10 years, Nexus had done this for as many times as he could remember, but Caesar often appreciates her reaction and tries to clam her down with a reassuring. Caesar had a smile on his face, along with the wounded nose, he attempts to do what he always does whenever he falls down. Nefarius however, had different plans. He was laughing hardly, so much so that 'tears' came out from his eyes. "Ahahaha, you never fail to amuse me with that tripping of yours, Caesar! It's so refreshing to see you plant your face on the ground every time!"

"If you keep laughing, I will break you, Nefarius." In a cold and sharp tone of voice, Nexus threatened Nefarius, who then went quiet immediately. As if switching to a different personality however, Nexus returned to her gentle voice. "Are you sure you're okay, Caesar? Do you need any healing?" She had already prepared a healing spell beforehand, ready to apply it should Caesar ask for it. She doesn't wants to force it on him if she could. Even she understands that after so many falls, Caesar would have gotten used to it already. But she just couldn't stop herself from worrying the clumsy young brother. "N-No worries. I'm fine. Upon hearing that, she relaxed her hands. Caesar then stood back up and walked past Nexus, Nexus following him as he did so. He went towards his bag and grabbed it, trying to remember the words that the cheery girl said to him.

"That makes you Caesar, yeah?!"
"Guess we're a team, huh? What should we call ourselves? It's gotta be something cool, like Super Death Team! Er..something like that."

He only remembers so much, but upon hearing the word 'team', Caesar brightened up. So I'm in a team, huh...? Alright, let's try taking my first step! He quickly steeled his determination and turned to the two girls beside him. If he was right, the cheery girl and the two toned hair girl was his teammates. He was sure that the cheery girl was his teammate and seeing as how the cheery girl was trying to converse with the other girl, that means the three of them was the team. Caesar slowly stood up and turned to the two, awkwardly trying to bow his head as he got more and more afraid. But nonetheless, he introduced himself anyway, albeit stuttering on his speech badly. "N...ice to m-m-meet you! I am C....aesar M-Minamoto!" Now his mind was blank. There was nothing more going on his mind other than trying to keep himself sane and from trying to run away and wanting to dig a hole.

I hope I didn't something wrong and offend them. He prayed deep and hard to this.

Joe & Frank

It seemed that Nico tried to make conversation with the two toned hair girl before acknowledging his greeting

"Hey! Good to see ya!"

She waved and gave a thumbs up. He put on a mild smile and a wave back. "Good to see 'ya too." He met her greeting with a similarly positive albeit far less enthusiastic one.

All in the meanwhile people were filtering in, milling about and such. A wind mage zipped past Frank, eliciting a mild shifting noise as it moved it's head a bit out of the way as to not bar his passage. Most of the people were either doing little to nothing like Joe was or just talking amongst the peers they knew until the teacher spoke, the conversations dying down to hear what he had to say.

After the teacher introduced himself there was little Ash said that Joe would actually take to memory. Most of what he was going on about had to do with their prior teacher which he neither knew very well nor cared much about. The homeroom teacher would give him assignments and stuff to learn but besides that there wasn't much else to it. His relationship with the previous teacher was much like his relationship with everyone else: Distant at best. As such, Ash's voice was for the most part tuned out.

There was one thing Asher mentioned that caught his attention. Most particularly was the mention of agendas. While Joe didn't speak much he definitely thought about much. Most of his thoughts were more directed towards matters of his purpose and just why he did what he did. He knew that when he was given tasks to hunt demons as many hunters do he's not just doing it to learn for knowledge's sake, he's fighting a war for them. He knew there was more to the school than just humanity's survival, there were corporations and the government who had their own interests in them. While he didn't suspect they were being manipulated as of current time if he were to become more successful then he'd have to start watching out for such insidious dangers. If he wasn't successful, likely chances would be because he would die at the hands of the daemons. He didn't need to worry as much about what happened beyond that.


More of his concerns were aimed at just what the future held for him. If he were to pursue the path of the hunter the most probable outcome would be his death. After all, humanity had been fighting these things for a long time and it was a war they were losing. What if he were to succeed though? If by some miracle if he were able to thwart the demonic forces and drive them back, ensuring humanities safety... Then what? Humanity throws a big parade for him, whoop dee freakin' doo, and then that's it. No more daemons, no more need for hunters. Failure was it's own punishment but what reward would there be in victory when the only reasonable conclusion is that he, along with all the other hunters, would be thrown out just like trash.

But he was nothing if not true to his word. As a student it's his obligation to carry out these tasks so long as until the period he's agreed to do so has expired. So, true to his word he shall do what is asked of him but come the time that he's served the time he's agreed to and the school has nothing left to offer him and Frank then just like that he would resume being his own man, free to set his own destiny. He saw no point in exhausting himself and risking Frank's safety in a futile effort for nothing of any real value if he didn't give his word that he would.


The teacher announced the teams and it informed Joe of one important thing. 'Yep, I'm in the right class.' Hearing his name listed confirmed his suspicions. For a bit there he was almost worried he just waltzed into a class he wasn't even supposed to be at. Would of been bothersome having to talk his way out of that.

As far as who he was partnered with he had little clue who either of these guys were. Quite frankly he didn't care who he was teamed up with. It would all be the same deal as it usually was. Typically on any mission where he needed to work with someone or in a group of any kind he'd just sleep until somebody woke him up and told him to do something at which point he'd do it. Rather simple stuff really, nobody really depended on him for anything really technical because he wasn't a scholar or a medium. Most of the time his job in groups were either manual labor or bashing demons up. He was quite proficient in bashing demons up but his approach would work best when it's just him and Frank against whatever they're told to hit. Most of the time he'd just follow the groups command rather than fight like he'd like to fight. It was boring but at least he'd get plenty of sleep between bouts of violence. He figured this would be no different.


Though he was immersed in thought he was still aware enough to see one of the other students approach him, likely his team mate though that was just an assumption he was still on the fence about.

"Yo, Joe. My name is Hector Kazuhira, and we should talk to our other squad mate to prepare for the training exercise."

The other classmate who introduced himself as Hector mentioned. Joe was a bit puzzled really. As far as he heard, the only thing they needed to do was to head down to the training room. It was quite quizzical why he'd need to talk to either of them.

"Talk... About what?" His tone was definitely an honest representation of how he felt about what Hector just proposed. That was about as much as he was going to say on that matter however as he soon turned his attention to the matter of the training room.

"I'll head on down to the training room." He informed his new team mate. He did not see any point in talking and unless he did he would much prefer to avoid doing so. At the very least this way it looked a little like he's just being proactive about the exercise Ash's got planned for them. Anyone with even a reasonable ability to read someone could tell his more honest intention however. If there was one thing Joe was not any good at it was hiding things using his words.


Without conversing any further he went over to the window and started to climb out. "Hey Frank!" The trash dragon simply lowered it's head, allowing Joe to climb on. "Now that wasn't all that long now was it?" He teased Frank a bit. It didn't really respond, it's silence serving as an answer in and of itself. "So yeah, it's the right class. Teacher guy said we gotta head on down to the training room."

Not needing to hear much more it raised it's head up high, the strength of the winds blowing against him as it brought it's arms up to start trudging forward. With his goggles shielding his eyes and his tool box held firmly in his grasp he directed Frank over to where he roughly estimated the training room would be. He might not know all the rooms in this school by heart but he knew enough to have a vague idea of where the training room would be. Loud thud after loud thud could be heard as they made their way towards where he believed their destination to be.

---

---

Lorelei raised an eyebrow. If, by her own admission, there was no point to initiating a conversation, then why was this manic idiot bothering her? Was she trying to be annoying, or did it just come naturally to her?

Then again, both answers were probably correct, now that she thought about it.

"Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Am I right?" Muttered the girl, giving a cheeky smirk. Lorelei's eyes narrowed in annoyance. She, admittedly, had no idea what that phrase was supposed to mean, but it was probably some sort of insult.

"No, you're not. I don't even own a bed," She responded bluntly, taking the girl's comment literally and quipping what must have sounded like a joke with the utmost seriousness. She tried to calm herself with the reassurance that after this, she could just avoid this irritating person for the rest of the semester, but it seemed fate had other plans.

"I bet you're Lorelei! Right? Right?!" She squealed, her speaking voice almost as grating as the wave of enthusiasm that struck the supersoldier's psyche like a sledgehammer - an oddly appropriate metaphor, considering the brat's weapon of choice. And here she'd thought that finally being referred to be her name would be a sign she was being treated as an equal. Coming from this idiot, it felt more like she was being treated as a dog.

"No, I'm the Duchess of the Gumdrop Kingdom," She muttered sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she gave a sigh of annoyance. This was one of the people she'd be working alongside for the foreseeable future? How predictably infuriating. Taking a deep breath, she continued more seriously. "Unfortunately, yes I-" Her words were cut off by a loud crash as the other victim of this maniac, the short boy who'd been cowering a few moments earlier, was dragged bodily from his seat by the insane girl. He must have been the other member of their team. Normally, she'd probably have viewed his scrawny appearance and meek demeanor with a critical eye, but at least he seemed fairly quiet, and compared to the hammer wielding nutjob, infinitely more bearable.

...That is, until a strange woman materialized out of thin air beside him to help him up, and her voice, along with a booming, powerful male voice, began to resound from within his mind. Of course, it was far too much to ask that her teammates be normal people. No, she had to get the crazy broad with ADHD and some weird kid who had actual other people living inside his head! She slapped a palm to her forehead, shaking her head and turning away. The boy picked himself up, meanwhile, and seemed to be looking the both of them over. To her surprise, he didn't seem to be afraid of her. Rather, the emotions he was projecting seemed more like... admiration? Huh? Where did that come from?

"N...ice to m-m-meet you! I am C....aesar M-Minamoto!" The boy stuttered, his name barely intelligible through his stammer as he bowed hastily. "I hope I didn't something wrong and offend them..." Came a worried whimper from within his mind. Lorelei raised an eyebrow. Okay, so apparently, he was afraid of her after all. Turning back towards him, she gave an expression somewhere between a sardonic smirk and an exasperated sigh.

"Tell me, Mr. Mi-Minamoto," She said, purposefully mimicking his own stammer, but doing so with her usual utterly serious demeanor, such that it wasn't exactly clear whether she was mocking him or had seriously misinterpreted his stammer as a part of his name. "How exactly would you offend somebody just by introducing yourself? Unless your name was something like Mr. You R. A. Fool, I fail to see how it would be possible." She didn't know much about manners, so she wasn't really sure whether or not there really was a way, but she felt the need to comment on it, nonetheless, since it seemed strange.

...Oh, right, she'd just responded to someone's thoughts again. Damnit! It was always so hard to tell when people were speaking to her, or merely thinking at her. Great, only a few minutes into her new class, and yet again, she'd already made exactly the same mistake as she had when she first arrived. Fortunately, her frustration at herself was short lived, for another outburst from the queen of hyperactivity swiftly put her focus to other matters - like being frustrated with the idiocy she'd been saddled with.

"Guess we're a team, huh? What should we call ourselves? It's gotta be something cool, like Super Death Team! Er..something like that," She said with an annoyingly cheerful grin. Oh, for the love of... was she really serious? Lorelei may have had all the backbone of a worm when it came to what was important - like basic human rights - but even she had her pride. She'd sooner rip out her own appendix and wear it as a hat than she would willingly be part of something called the "Super Death Team."

There was an expression about something being the "last straw." It was another thing Lorelei didn't really know the context of, but whatever it was, this was it.

"Rejected!" She declared firmly. "In fact, all of your opinions from this point onward are henceforth pre-emptively rejected!" Not that it would actually stop her or anything, but it still felt tremendously satisfying shooting down that stupid plan before it actually took root. Egged onward with her own irritation at how her day had been going thus far, she continued her little tirade. "So, instead of yakking about moronic ideas like team names, why don't we talk about the things we actually need to know to function in a combat situation? Allow me to demonstrate!" She stood up, her eyes flashing azure as she focused at random on the strange metal box in her pocket that the midget had given her. In an instant, it floated out and began to orbit her like a tiny satellite. "Gather round, kiddies! Now look at the box! It's flying! Now look at me! I'm also flying!" She continued condescendingly as she floated off the ground to punctuate this statement. "Now look at the shiny thing in my hair!" The crystal woven into her black and white tresses shattered outward, a stream of water circling around her as her smirk broadened. In an instant, the composition and orientation of every single molecule of the water surrounding her became known to her as they collapsed into a single plane, forming a blade, the hilt of which she laid hold of in an almost casual movement. "Now it's a sword! I'm reading your mind!" She abruptly spun about in midair, the sword she held sweeping upward and stopping inches away from the hammer girl's face. "Surprise! There's nothing in there!" With a rather cruel grin, she floated back down to the floor, drawing back her weapon as its form shifted to that of an ornate crystalline cane, which she planted in front of her and leaned on with a very casual air, at the same time snatching the box and sliding it back into her pocket. Twirling her cane, she gave a melodramatic, stage-like bow. "Thus concludes our show, thank you for coming, and please stop at our gift shop!"

...Huh. That verbal smackdown had been a little more... enthusiastic... than she'd intended it. Maybe being exposed to the hammer girl's seemingly infinite level of energy had made a bit more of an impact on her mindset than she realized. It was rather funny, now that she thought about it. Between being scolded by the man she hated, the expectations foisted upon her and the comparative disgust directed at her in return, and the nuisance she'd been sentenced to deal with for the rest of her stay in this class, she'd finally reached the point where she no longer cared about any of her many irritations - or anything else, really. So what if everybody in the vicinity thought she'd spontaneously decided to go mad? So what if her teammates hated her for being an insufferable bitch to them? So what if every single one of her classmates decided to join up and form the Super Lorelei Hateclub? The amount of shits she gave was so far in the negative that it had collapsed into a black hole that consumed all emotions she felt towards everyone else save frustration, smug superiority, and general apathy. They'd just treat her like scum no matter what she did, so she might as well have fun and do the same to them! Thus, carried on a wave of resignation, she allowed herself to succumb to the feeling of blissful euphoria that came with not caring what anybody else thought of her, and rounded next on the boy, a rather unhinged sneer adorning her face. "Alright, then. Let's do this in order of relative intelligence, which means that you're next! What can you do, exactly? Actually, for starters, why are there three people in your head instead of one, anyway?"

Amurel sighed as she pulled a rolled up book out of her back pocket. Her eyes crossed while she read as she tried not to fall asleep. Occasionally she would look up at the professor, waiting, wondering when he planned on beginning the class, but he didn’t seem in a rush to do so. Looking around again she spotted a couple of people that she had seen in her previous years at the school. Not lingering on anyone particularly long, not wanting to make it awkward.

There were several people talking amongst themselves, in particular to a girl with different colored hair. As she stared at her face she tried to place it… Where do I know her from? she thought. After several moments it hit her, that’s the “girl” that is being used in that project…what do they call her? Laura? Lorie? Lorelei…yes. I should probably steer clear of her. I’ve read enough to know when to stay away. Still, she felt somewhat bad for the girl. Her life must not have been that of ease and Amurel could relate (even if it was on the most basic level, there was no way she had suffered quite to the extent of Lorelei) but nonetheless she felt for her.

Just as she was finding her way back to her book Professor Donovan began to speak. Shoving her book back into her pocket Amurel slid her eyes to the front of the class and sat up straight. He spoke about teams, and named those that were to be paired with Amurel.

She groaned in frustration, not because of her teammates, and not because she had to be on a team, rather that she was socially inadequate, usually preferring to spend her time with a book or training. This was a good chance for her though – she could get a mission, and the two names that had been spoken didn’t conjure up horrible memories for her so they couldn’t be that bad to work with.

Sliding slowly out of her chair she tried to pair their names with the faces around the room.

“Joe…and Hector,” the whisper not audible to anyone but herself.

Across the room she heard someone speak just the beginning of the sentence. “Yo, Joe. My name…” that was all she caught but she wiped her head around to the sound of the voice.

The faces were somewhat familiar but not enough for Amurel to make a fair assessment of how this pairing was going to go. She knew they were both rather quiet but that made it even harder for her to gauge them. As she began to walk towards them Joe began to leave and she rushed to catch up. Reaching Hector first she nodded her head.
“I believe were in the same group?”

It was more of a question, not at all how she had intended to introduce herself. The toughness she wanted to exude came off as very meek and shy and she cursed herself under her breath.

"Alright, then. Let's do this in order of relative intelligence, which means that you're next! What can you do, exactly? Actually, for starters, why are there three people in your head instead of one, anyway?"

Upon hearing the last sentenced spoke by the girl known as Lorelei, Caesar tried to explain his situation to the girl - Only to find that no words can come out of his mouth. He wanted to explain that Nexus and Nefarius were his good friends and that they communicate through his mind in order to keep from freaking out others. But he just couldn't. He found it hard to form words at the tip of his tongue but he gave himself a final push. It felt as if a heavy weight was crushing on his mind, the letter and sentences he had on his mind only faded away as he opened and closed his lips weakly. I can do it! He told himself and gathered his courage, before speaking softly, but strong enough for the two in front of him to hear him.

"There's no one... inside my head... We just... talk to each other like that..." Caesar turned to Nexus, who was standing beside him with her arms crossed. They both gave each other a slight nod. Nexus' body faded into small white particles and returned to her weapon form, two guns strapped to his waist. Caesar then found himself a seat beside the cheery girl and sat there, picking up his bag along the way. "I'll show you my... powers later. I don't know how to demonstrate too well... Sorry..." Caesar switched his gaze to the cheery girl in between Lorelei and him. He remembered her name being Nico along the way, possibly due to him subconsciously picking a few names when he spaced out earlier. "What about you, Nico? I would... like to see your powers as well. I'm sure it's... amazing..."

He was slowly getting used to the two. There was no more stuttering in his conversation, but he was still stuttering slightly every now then. Then again, Caesar 'trained' himself to stop acting too shy around people, especially around people he knows he'll be meeting very often. Since they were a team, Caesar need to get his act together. He wouldn't want to scare off or disgust the two teammates he'll be trusting his life with in the future. Even if it's a little, he wanted to sincerely get along with the of them. If there's anything he hates most, is being hated. In fact, him disliking anyone is extremely because he didn't want anyone to feel bad. He knows his shyness gets to him every time he tries to converse with others. but nonetheless he doesn't gives up. After all, having friends is better than being alone.

"Are you sure you don't want to show off just like that Lorelei brat? You can impress the ladies with my powers if you did, you know?" Nefarius interrupted Caesar's train of thought. The masculine voice expresses concern in his tone of voice, but tries to maintain his sense of pride. Caesar however, shook to Nefarius' suggestion. "I'm sure Caesar knows it as well. If we tried to take over now, the classroom might have a few craters here and there. Our magical pressure is too powerful." Caesar immediately nodded to Nexus' claim. If they attempted to take over Caesar's body now, they sudden release of magical energy might crush the ground underneath and perhaps disturb his classmates' discussion.

The only reason why Caesar managed to enter this academy was that his way of fighting is unique. Caesar, by himself, is the weakest of all the students in the academy and is undoubtedly the first on the list to be expelled should the need comes. But Nexus and Nefarius found out that Caesar's body had an affinity with the two. They were able to merge their magical energy with Caesar's, temporarily taking over his body and granting a certain amount of powers. With this, the one taking over completely gains control of the body, assuming their personality alongside some of their powers.

Nefarius enhances Caesar's physical capabilities to an extreme extent, allowing Caesar to stand neck and neck to even some of the most powerful Slayers. However, this places a great strain on Caesar's body. Nexus' take over amplifies Caesar's magical energy, turning him into a competent Exorcist with a slight increase in physical power. In contrast to Nefarius, the strain placed on Caesar when Nexus takes over is significantly lighter than Nefarius, however there is a time limit to the take over.

But then again, a lot of people judged Caesar for who he is. His shyness and struggling attempts to converse with others often ended up him being ignored. There are even times where some others tried to bully because of his weakness, but Nexus stopped them when they tried to.

"Well, it doesn't matter. I can take over when that training thing that the professor Asher or whatever mentioned about. It's been a while." Nefarius claimed. Caesar couldn't remember anything about that, but whatever it was, he could ask his siblings or his teammates later. For now, perhaps Nico will show off and demonstrate her skills as well.

Hector was slightly perplexed by Joe. Hector knew the uselessness of general communication, especially when their goal was so clear to them, but to completely throw it out the window, Hector believed was rash. At the least, small talk could give knowledge and information. Well, that was Hector's chief approach to things. Maybe Hector shouldn't take it too seriously. Watching as Frank and Joe got going, Hector turned to the sight of the commotion in the back of the room. Lorelei had begun a demonstration of her powers to her team-mates, it seemed. The change in demeanor was amazing. but that was not what drew Hector's attention.

What truly drew it was the demonstration of her powers. Hector could feel the flow of magic through Lorelei's water blade. The flow of magic was smooth and precise. An untalented Magus may end up performing spells with a great degree of inefficiency, magical energy spilling everywhere. But with Lorelei, the magic was fine-tuned to the water blade, and had little excess used. Hector wouldn't say that it was to his own level of efficiency, but he was definitely surprised and delighted to see his ally was so skilled with water magic. The manner of her change in demeanor, however, was a little concerning. Hector didn't know whether this was the madness seen in soldiers who lose their minds in the heat of battle, or the madness of someone who was driven insane by some other venue. Or, alternatively, she wasn't insane, and her team-mates, situation, or something in her life has led her to become unhealthily unconcerned with her own actions. Hector believed the archaic term, "200% done," was the name for it. Whatever it was, Hector knew enough from browsing old databases that this was not too serious.

Smiling, Hector got up and slung his bag over his shoulder, ready to head out. His squad mate, Amurel, had caught him, and mentioned that they were in the same group. Hector didn't notice much about her, but she seemed to be awfully shy at this moment. Hector himself looked away, and scratched the back of his head before replying to her and cursing his own shyness at the same time.

"Yes, we are. Are there any concerns you have about your team? I could wait for you, if you want to switch teams. Do you have any concerns about operating as a team? If so, I could meet you halfway, so we could make it easier to be a team. . . Sorry, I'm not a good speaker. But, I think we should do whatever we can to operate well, as a team, in spite of how each member of our squad doesn't like social situations."

Hector waited to see if she had any concerns, before he extended his hand in a hand-shake.

Hector then spoke in a voice even quieter than his normal, calm voice, but just enough that Amurel could hear him.

"Also, I am not sure if you know, but I am a Scholar and Exorcist. I'm good at magic, and great at building and repairing things."

Robin felt completely relieved and happy that Willow responded well to his nervousness, and he tried to brush off his nervousness as best he could. But then Duran put his hand on his shoulder. He sat up as straight as a board as if lightning struck him in that instant. The next thing he realized his desk flew out from under him. He looked to see Duran had sat in between him and Willow, effectively cutting her off from the conversation as if she didn't exist.

He began to frown as he began to be riffed and talked as if he was lower then him. If this was an attempt at assertive dominance, two can play at this game. "Then I take from your dominant stance in this conversation and your rudeness, that you are from Aeralis, the Fallen City. A Slayer as well, with the subclass of Medium. I give you my permission to make fun of Anima all you want as I share your slight ire against its laziness. However, should you say or disrespect my Family, especially my mother who is also from Aeralis the same as you, I promise you. I will make you regret making that mistake."

Gone was the timid demeanor for a brief moment, replaced with determination and slight elegant eccentricity. "Now kindly take that empty chair in that other desk. Because appealing as your backside must be, I believe our mutual friend might faint from it's magnificence. I feel as a team we all must see each other's faces." he said with slight bluntness. He mentally cursed himself for letting his disability talk there. He didn't mean to be rude.

"Now a bit about myself, Mr. Ledford. I am a Slayer, like you, and a Scholar. I like to tinker with my Technomancy, and I make an offer after training to begin schematics for a weapon fit of your Caliber." he stated calmly. He pulled out a pen from his pocket and twirled it in his hands in patient waiting for a reply or the Teacher's signal.

---

“How could I not?” Duran jested Willow while shaking his head. He had been able to feel Willow staring at him and his actions, but Duran had pretended not to notice her reprimanding signs. Even if she didn't look the part anymore, Duran sometimes still saw her as the timid and naive girl she had been when they first met. “I was just making acquaintances with our new friend here, isn't that right, Robin?”

From his first reaction, Duran thought he had Robin in the bag, but it didn't take long for the startled, blushing young man to turn that around. Somewhat taken aback, Duran narrowed his eyes as Robin spoke. Gutsy, Duran thought to himself, folding his arms, but letting his pen do some writing as his fellow slayer monologued. His lip quivered, eager to interrupt his new teammate. Duran's eyes interlocked with Robin's, unwavering as if playing a contest of gay chicken. For a second it seemed like Duran would explode... But instead the complete opposite happened; Duran burst into jovial laughter.

“Looks like you got some spring to your step after all.” Duran snickered, dropping himself off Robin's desk and pulled the empty chair towards him, just as Robin had suggested. He threw himself back in the chair and took a quick look at his notebook, now containing what Robin had just told him.

“You're right, as a team we should face each other as equals.” Duran responded, finally having come to. He sat down to the side of the two instead of between them. “No need for the honorifics. Mister Ledford is my dad. Duran will do just fine. Oh and speaking of dads, yours is just fine in my book.” Duran said, although his last sentence had a hint of sour to it. Duran didn't like having to repeat himself.

“So you've heard of my little problem?” Duran raised an eyebrow as Robin mentioned his crafting ability. The mention of his 'calibre' brought a slight smirk to his face. “Did you let him in, Willow?” Duran then asked his friend, sincerely wondering. He did not remember telling anyone of yet another weapon breaking, but Willow might had been able to figure out what had caused his mood to turn foul a few days ago. She had a knack for that. “You know, I asked a droid this morning about exactly that.” He complained to both Robin and Willow. “You would think the technicians here would have figured something like that out by now. Still, if you're making the offer...” Duran motioned his head toward Hector, further back in the class. “You should talk to that guy, he's talked about trying the same thing. I'd gladly accept anything that can dish out a beating without taking one.”

After a few moments of silence, Duran leaned forward, throwing an arm around each teammate, seemingly in a good mood despite their little rough start. He flashed a smile at both Robin and Willow respectively, “Let's toast to our new team, tonight.” Duran suggested, pulling all three heads together (possibly pulling his teammates of their chairs in his enthusiasm) like they were a rugby team seconds away from a scrum. “On my tab.”

Still, in spite of his cheer, there were two things that bothered Duran. When he let go, he took a moment to himself to consider which lingered on his mind... He knew he still wouldn't let Robin be alone with Willow for a while. At least until he figured if he could trust Robin to be a decent enough guy around his old friend... And then there was one more thing Duran had to settle...

“Oh and Robin,” Duran spoke telepathically so that Willow wouldn't be able to hear it. Although his expression hadn't changed and Duran wasn't moving his lips, the voice Robin would hear in his head was stern and meant business. “I'll let it slide this once, but I know you know better than to threaten me. Us folks from Aeralis are not in the here and now for nothing. So let's get along, shall we?”

Allura found herself to be one of the only people, if not the only person that was interested in the instructors rantings. She was curious what had happened to the instructor and the mention of her wanting to understand daemons had peaked her interest. She of all people knew more about daemons than anyone her age should ever be allowed to know. People usually were all the same, they would mold their opinion based on the opinions of others. The fact that this person had an opinion of their own made her wish they were still alive now. And yet for those rare species of humans that dared to think differently, death was a similar fate. When she heard him announce that the students were put into teams however, she wasn't very happy. Allura disliked working with others, furthermore, she had a hard time finding people to be trustworthy or even reliable let alone competent enough to work with. Her classmates didn't seem to share her feelings though, at least not the majority. She heard everyone behind her beginning to get up and shuffle around looking for their teammates. One by one they started to introduce themselves and it was inevitable she would have to do so soon, as well. Her own thoughts however were interrupted as a young sounding male voice spoke to her.

"Yes, I am Allura, you must both be my teammates then." she said, as she stood up beside where she had been sitting. Immediately she felt a wave of anxiety wash over her while she was also bombarded with foreign energy. She glanced at Maddox, guessing him to be the nervous one, and Cuddy to be the ball of positive and optimistic energy with a naive sense of happiness that seemed nearly unwavering. The two emotions together were rather unsettling, however it seemed as though their team's personalities were really well balanced, fighting prowess aside, they should in theory mesh well. Whether they could be trusted was entirely another story. Behind her teammates she could hear the two toned hair girl with the god complex and her teammates bickering with one another. She took a deep breath and focused their voices out of her mind, the thoughts of every person in the room were enough already.

It was a bit unfortunate that they were not briefed about the exercise, however as long as her team could adapt quickly and perform on point they may be okay. Her mind started racing about the possibilities of the exercise, but moreso how she was going to deal with being with a group in general. Back home, she would not work with anyone without them earning her trust before hand. However, she trusted her own abilities, if her teammates proved unfit she would have to work that much harder. "I am not too happy about our whole situation, but I don't think I will be given a choice." She paused for a moment. "I would like to know what I am working with, what are your specialties?" She stood rather stiff if not awkwardly so, her expression lacking of emotion, "With all group or rather team exercises, the key is being able to work well with one another and having that trust in your group, lastly knowing each others strengths and weaknesses." She paused clearly they meet none of that criteria. "We may not have those things now, but if you need to believe in anything, believe in what we could be and what we will become."

Her attention was again directed to the others in the room, one by one she slipped into their heads and processed their thoughts. The difference between the youth of this class and those of her hometown were drastically different. Many of the them lacked that control and discipline and hadn't lost that innocent mentality that was nearly beaten out of you at a young age where she came from. The boy in front of her, Cuddy, she found to be very refreshing. She couldn't help but feel a little apprehensive about his demeanor in any kind of combat or even confrontation. She saw him as someone that would be easily taken advantage of by others or overwhelmed by chaos. She would have to keep an eye out for this one for all of their well beings, especially his own. Maddox however, was lacking in either self confidence or social skills. She didn't need any of her own to know it was likely both. Nonetheless, she knew better than to judge people on their quirks, flaws, or insecurities. This was definitely not the ideal team, but only the future would prove if it was a good one. She was taught from a young age never to underestimate the people around her, regardless of not only their appearance but their demeanor. "Without a spectacle though, please." she made sure to add. Possibly the worse thing they could do before an exercise is draw attention to themselves in some way. She guessed each team would have one of each specialty or something slightly similar, so between both Cuddy and Maddox one had to be a slayer and one a healer.