Astrius Academy Auditorium

Cliff bounded along, the distance between the Corelands and Astrius Academy was closed in a shockingly short amount of time. Therion had never fully appreciated the distance in physical capability between him and his roommate until now. Certainly Cliff was stronger, but this was borderline ridiculous. Before long, the spectacular buildings of Astrius loomed up before the magi. It almost took his breath away, he would never fail to be amazed at the sheer chance that he was swept up somewhere that would help him master his unique talents.

Cliff continued to run at unbelievable speeds, and before he knew it, the Auditorium loomed up before Theri. "Think we made it on time?" He flashed an excitable grin as the werewolf brought them into the building. It was large, and mostly empty. It seemed this class was smaller than it usually was, perhaps due to absences or students being sent off on errands, which wasn't too unusual.

High Wizard Traf was teaching this class, slightly eccentric, Theri found he really REALLY liked Traf. Something about the way the wizard would use magic for whole-sale chaos. Therion often found Traf acting out the thought he often had. That I have all this power and nothing to do with it. It's almost boring...

Therion got off Cliff, still holding his roommate's clothes as he went to report to High Wizard Traf, "Hey Traf, you're never going to believe what we found out in the Corelands. ORCS! A horde of Orcs ambushed us, and shortly after a Cyclops came crashing out of the woods. They've never been seen this close to the City before, some may worry about innocent bystanders, though I honestly couldn't care less if people too weak to defend themselves found themselves as such." The magi shrugged at the idea, it was the way of his world, after all. "Just thought you should know, maybe report to the Headmaster"

Cliff might have found the experience somewhat embarrassing, but...he did enjoy running fast like that. It felt exciting and exhilerating, to run on all fours in that huge, furry form, to make so much speed and progress in so little time, to feel the wind pounding against his body only to break and let him through. It was a fantastic feeling he loved. And before he knew it, they had reached the auditorium.

However, there was a slight issue with their actions. Mainly, Cliff was still in werewolf form, but Theri walked away with his clothes. All of them. And, they were in a public place. And he needed Theri to keep watch for him while he changed, cause otherwise people might come across him. Well, Theri also had all his clothes. And of course, Cliff could not just stay in werewolf form.

He also could not speak in werewolf form. Which meant...either he stood there, like a pet, until he used up all his strength and forcibly shifted back, or he shifted back right now, in the middle of the auditorium, and got his clothes now to get dressed. Also, it typically was not allowed for werewolves to stay in werewolf form during class, not even in gym most of the time since they wanted to have their normal bodies worked, so he had to change back anyways.

Eventually, Cliff took a deep breath....and in front of them, shifted back into a human and ran over to Theri with a red face. "Uhhh! Dont forget about me! Could I at least get my jacket and shorts right now?" He was litterally standing there, fully exposed, covering what he could. Incidentally, he had failed to transform all the way and his tail was out...but, that did not help much. "Please?! Theri, how could you forget such a thing!" Cliff litterally looked like he was about to break into tears.

Of course at that moment it was just Traf behind his massive desk. On its perch was an Owl, a typical barn owl named of all things, Kamakazi. Who of which looked like he had flown face first into one too many windows. In addition there were six other students in the class, none of which Traf could remember for the life of himself their names.

But that didnt matter, no, that didnt matter at all for Traf, on the desk it said in HUGE letters in some outlandish yet still readable script Of course a lot of people joked that the High in High Wizard meant totally zorked on some kind of drug.

But that was not the case, no the case was simple, Traf was simply too dang gifted with magic for his own good, it was at the point wherein Theri had even figured it out, Traf had so much magical power and skill he was flat out bored and mostly did weird shit with his stiudents, the last class field trip though was seeing the world from the size and view of a sparrow; which meant finding a bird bath on campus was a problem

However it was the sudden BAM of the door of the classroom flinging open that startled even Kamakazi to to suddenly shriek "WHO, WHO, WHO GOES THERE...." before dive boming Theri had Cliff not hit the deck before transforming. Traf of course was startled in his game of Cats Cradle, his fingers all tied up in runes that stood in for string, sometimes Traf was.... crazy was not the right word

But qwith the BAM of the opening of the door startling him, Traf clapped his hands, the runes, electrical and gas, smacked together and suddenly went KABOOM all over his face, leaving his prestine white beard black with soot. Of course Traf simply said something of "Memo to self: Dont use the electrical runes next time when playing Cats Cradle though the fire runes eat the beard...."

He never even noticed that Cliff was naked as a jaybird, however if Kamakazi was a parrot he'd whistle to get everyones attention off Cliff, instead he slammed into the desk with all the grace of a Goney Bird. "Good morning Therion, can I..... I see....." Traf went quiet as Their expolained the finding of the Orcs outside the city. Traf nodded "Yes yes this will be interesting indeed. Hmmm" Flicking up his staf which doubled for a wand, a whacking stick, a walking stick, and a toothpick when the need arose Traf used the thing to scratch his back and all of a sudden he had pink swim trunks on with a very loud hawaiian style palm frond patterned shirt

"I think it will be a good lesson then to learn just how to defend oneself against these.... uh..." Traf suddenly was clueless as he looked to Theri, "What were these things again that you saw ?" He entirely missed the fact that he was to report the Orcs to the head honcho of the academy and if lucky keep his job

Therion looked back to his stark naked roommate with shock and realized he had forgotten to help Cliff get dressed. "I-u-um..." His entire face flushed hot as he tried to stammer an excuse. "T-T-Tra-I-Uh..." He trailed off dumbly, bowing and extending his arms completely straight forward, practically shoving the clothing into his friend's hands. "I'm so sorry! It completely slipped my mind! First my thoughts were racing with how impossibly soft you were! Then I fell asleep, and woke up all disoriented, and the fast! You're so fast! Plus T-Traf! You know how I LOVE combat class. I-I-I-I forgot..." He finished lamely, raising a wall of opalescent, but not at all translucent, ice around Cliff so that he may be afforded a little privacy.

Of course, Traf was more than a little eccentric, Theri barely even took note of the explosion and Traf's messy visage. He had learned to keep up various forms of shielding at all time when taking classes the High Wizard was in charge of. Kamikaze had a minor freak-out, really not nearly as bad as usual, before slamming itself face first into the truly MASSIVE desk. Therion briefly toyed with the idea of poly-morphing the Owl into a pigeon, but decided against it, he doubted Traf would mind but it had been a long enough day, and the magi was eager to start class.

The Wizard's casual use of powerful rune magic more than cemented the idea that he was someone to be careful around in Theri's mind. The magi let an impressed whistle loose from his pursed lips as he examined the detailed desk, and each unreasonably sized letter individually. "Looks like you've been keeping busy High Wizard Traf, my apologies that we are late, I take full responsibility." The High Wizard didn't miss a single step, and with a lazy back-scratch he was garbed in, G-Gym clothes? It looks like he's on vacation.

Without any further ado, Traf seemed to begin class, asking what they had met in the Corelands. Theri wasn't surprised he had forgotten already, and he just grinned like a mad-man while preparing himself. "Orcs! Sir, and a Cyclops. The Orcs were well-bred, some even capable of magic. Cliff might know more, he dealt with most of them." The boy shrugged again, eager to begin class and not really in the mood to think about the mindless green brutes he had gifted with a quick death.

As Cliff stood there, totally naked, with a red face and everyone looking at him, it seemed Theri finally realized what he had done. Unfortunately, it took him a bit before he realized what was going on and gave him his clothes. After that, Cliff quickly went and broke the record for fastest clothes changes in history, becoming dressed almost instantly....although, there were far too many people that had seen him now and would never forget it.

Incidentally, a werewolf tail and ears were still there, because Cliff's mental state was currently unstable. That was why his form was ultimately unstable, however it posed no issues with his clothes so he was able to cope with it. In the meantime, after snickering quite a bit at Cliff's situation, one student went to alert the headmaster to the situation after packing up all his belongings and....he totally used this as an excuse to skip class. Well, it was a reasonable excuse.

"After this, I want lunch. A really good lunch. Steak, hamburgers, really good filling stuff" Cliff said, having had to be fully exposed to everyone. It was...probably best to just bribe Cliff with meat. After all, and this was a bit convienent for Theri, Cliff did not tend to hold grudges, especially when provided with meat, which made him a lot more tolerable then most roommates. After all, if you did something to publicly embarrass other roommates, they might hold it against you for life, but with Cliff, you just had to fill his belly with meat and you would be in the clear.

"It was Orcs and a Cyclops" Cliff repeated, having gained up the strength and willpower to talk. "There was a single Cyclops, and a ton of Orcs. They were kind of dangerous, so me and Theri wiped them out whole scale".

If one got past the embarassing situation, the students were subtly reminded just there that Cliff had the ability to wipe them out wholescale....and that, them laughing at him earlier might not be good for their health or futures....as such, they promptly stopped thinking about what they say and pretended like it never happened.

"Oh yeah, they had this kind of tough orc, this orc that threw fireballs, and a few orcs that were weilding two swords....well, the ones with two swords sort of got an ice spike to the face, so I never confirmed how good they were with them" Cliff added, indicating Theri probably killed those.

By then of course Traf even had on running shoes, AKA sneakers, the bright red and white ones from some shoe company. He also magically formed a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a whistle. He truly looked the part of a coach. He held up his staff and his other hand, nodding "Ok yes, an Orc yes, Ok, here we go!" KAPOOF all of a sudden there was a two sword using Orc in the classroom with the most doumb look on its face as the multicolored smoke cleared.

Infact Traf wasnt even sure it WAS the Orcs face, for all itents the thing was so dang ugly as fuck Traf made a bet right then and there that the doctor that birthed the thing slapped its mother! Thankfully the Orc was suspended in time thanks to a rather hastey Time Rune it stood upon.

So the Orc just stood there dumbly like a statue, a living breathing, ugly as fuck statue as Traf stepped around it "This my dear students who may or may not be paying attention.... is an Orc...." At that point Traf, while walking behind the Orc had once again changed clothing, this time he wore a lab coat so bright white and pink tye dye it could be seen from a black hole perfectly clear too. Stepping into the front of the class he was sure he had everyones attention, he simply nodded and waved off Jeremy who said he needed to take a leak, "Why take a leak when you can take a rune ?" Traf once asked, he never got a answer, at least a straight faced one.

Using his staff as a pointer he spoke while pointing out various bits of the Orc "First off we have the head... then the shoulders, then the ribs, the roast, the beef, the arms, the legs, the filete du solie and then take note of the sickly green skin, I think he needs watering dont you ?"

The orc just stared dumbly as Traf did his demonstration of its 'features' He stared at Traf, at least it seemed to stare at the High Wizard, who by then was using his pointer stick like a lasrer pointer and was already driving a werecat member of the class batshit insane trying to catch it

"Any questions on how we are to defend ourselves against this..... critter ?" Traf then asked the class. Kamakazi settled upon one of the horns of the ORcs helmet.

The Orc stood dumbly in place

"I promise, I'll make sure you get more food than you can handle. Steak, ribs, you name it." Therion told his roommate apologetically before taking a seat on the floor, not too far from the front so he would have a good view of Traf's always entertaining lecture. I'd rather Cliff not sic a spirit wolf on me...

The High Wizard underwent another dubious outfit change, Theri wondered if he actually owned and bought all these clothes or if they were going missing from another's wardrobe. Making them entirely out of magic? The magi knew it certainly wasn't out of Traf's power to do so.

The Wizard conjured an Orc which literally caused Theri's jaw to drop; he tensed up and readied himself for action, this was a combat class after all, but the monster was as immobile as Traf's tenure. The teacher went on to define the monster as an Orc, and underwent another costume change. The Magi almost had to avert his eyes at the garish pink-white lab coat. It was then that the wizard began to point out it's physiology, almost like a butcher describing cuts of meat. It resembled a butcher so much so, that Theri couldn't contain himself and simply had to lean over to Cliff and whisper "Do werewolves eat Orc?"

Theri couldn't help but erupt into gales of laughter as the werecat tried and failed to catch the red dot that emanated from Traf's staff, much to the cat's chagrin. Traf asked his first real question of the lecture; well as real as the perpetually High Wizard could ask. Only shortly after arriving Therion had heard rumors that the wizard was constantly high out of his mind, and though they proved to be at least partially true, they had neglected to mention it was sheer magical power he was high on.

The magi's hand rocketed into the air, and without even waiting to be called to answer he replied "We force it to attend your class, it can't harm anyone if it's dead!" The boy almost couldn't control his laughter at this point, "Or, Or! If you turn him into a minnow and when you go to turn him back you accidentally turn a real minnow into the Orc!"

A tear crept down Theri's face as he howled with laughter; the latter suggestion had been an all too real experience, and remembering the way the minnow absolutely lost it's shit at being turned human would probably never not make Therion laugh. Indeed by then he was clutching his sides, and struggling not to simply roll on the floor while cackling like a hyena. Theri truly appreciated how memorable the material Traf taught was; even if it wasn't always immediately applicable.

Luckily the class was rather dark in the back and Calvance was able to use the shadows to teleport in unnoticed. He quickly took an open seat, doing his best to keep his wings tucked back so that they weren't in anyone's way, and caught the last part of the lecture as the wizard in the front of the class pointed out all the parts of the orc. Cal took notes and everything as he watched the wizard, and snickered as he watched the werecat loose her mind trying to catch the pointer. Finally, the wizard got to the point where he asked if anyone had any questions.

Cal, being an avid warrior, could think of only one thing to ask. Without even raising his hand, he spoke up.

"Yeah, I have a question. If someone were wielding, say a scythe, where would the best place be to strike it, if one wanted to deliver a death blow?" He asked with a tone of confidence to his voice that was enough to make others notice that he hadn't been there earlier.

Cliff, who had been making another attempt to dismiss the wolf ears and tail which normally were not a part of his human form but sometimes stuck around if he was flustered, or emotional, or just at random, also payed attention as best as he could to the class. Well, it was eccentric to be sure, and...wait, Theri just promised him meat.

At least Cliff was already dressed as well so it was not continueing. Well, in his rush, he just put on the jacket and shorts, but it covered enough of his body to be fine...though sometimes the jacket might start to slip off a little, it would only reveal his upper chest, which while might look boyish and meek on first glance, contained tough and well trained muscles. So that let him concentrate on Theri's words more.

HIs expression of embarrassment, contempt, and annoyance washed away almost instantly at that. Then again, this probably had to be something a roommate of his would be able to do. After all, it was only a matter of time before that scene happened again for them, and then again, and it probably happened a few times already as far as they knew. Werewolves were cursed with their transformations, not only causing people to distrust them and view them as beasts, but also for the inconvienence and embarrassment it caused.

However, it was made up for with incredibly strength, speed, and ability even while in their human forms. In their werewolf form, it got multiplied, and because of that Werewolves were something that people could admire in storybooks.

Cliff sat next to Theri while thinking about meat. "Yummy delicious steak. Yummy delicious ste....Orc meat?"

But was subsequently brought back to reality by Orc Meat. He looked back at Theri with a note. "Werewolves can eat a lot of stuff. Technically, anyone can eat Orc meat but...well, you probably want it prepared by a proper chef first. I mean, think about it. Its Orc Meat. You don't know where it was! A long time ago Werewolves might have eaten Orc meat as is, when the standards of living were lower, but now? Not unless it was absolutely necessary".

He said that while he looked at the Orc in question, including its size and two swords. Cliff gazed at it...and sniffed the air a little, before coming to a conclusion.

"I think that particular type of Orc is an Orc Berserker. Since, Berserkers are known to either dual wield swords or use huge, heavy weapons. I mean, it could be a normal Orc but...its really big for an Orc. Anyways, if I recall correctly, Orcs have tough thick skin, and aggressive personalities, so it is best to either go for the joints and vitals, like the neck, ankles, wrists, eyes, and such to fight them, or use magic at range...unless, you know, you have werewolf strength. Then you can just tear them apart. But with Berserkers...even then, still probably better to fight at range".

But as Theri said his answers, Cliff finally broke out into laughter.

"Are you sure Orcs can attend this class? A lot of the base ones are known to be stupid....oh, wait! They look like pigs right? We could take one in as a pet!"

It seems Theri hit Cliff's funnybone with his comments, so much that Cliff didnt register Cal sneaking in and asking a question at all.

As Traf continued his lesson the poor werecat, {named Linda} went totally berzerk and was currently close to dropping the only chandiler from the ceiling with her weight as she endless sought the red dot Traf had her going for. Traf himself paid more attention to the class as first Therion, then Cal, then finally Cliff asked their questions.

The first series of questions were from Therion. The young magi was a good student and got high marks from Traf mostly because he came out of the class more experienced on how NOT to make and care for runes most days. Traf was nodding at the first question, forcing the Orc to arttend a class, "yes yes, a ..... Wait no no" Traf seemed to come to his senses and shook his head. "This critter is simply here for demonstration purposes." He pointed out a few more areas of the orc, naming them the heel, the buttocks, and the not so funny bones before Therion's next question came in

Traf for a moment looked thoughtful, not noticing the crumbling bits of plaster raining down around him, dinking off the head of the Orc as Linda struggled to stay on the ceiling chaisng the red laser dot. Traf started nodding, "Turn an orc into a minnow then accidently turn a minnow into an orc ? Thats a possiblity we can work on later. At this moment this critter needs to learn some manners"

At that moment when Traf pointed the laser dot at the floor, or rather, Cliff's lap Linda let go of the ceiling and slammed down onto the werewolf with a sudden THUD

Traf of course went right to the next question as the Orc looked sick, well if one could say the green skin went pale with a cold flash as sicker than normal for a green skinned thing, then there was some upsides to this class. The next question was from Cal, a good student just like Therion. With heavy thinking the High Wizard nodded. "For demonstrational viewing I will show you." Conjuring out of nothing a farmers scyth Traf then went through the finer points of holding the oversized weedwhacker. Traf didnt even NOTICE whatsoever that Cal was a few minutes late. Half his class were either laughing at Linda and Cliff, some of which were singing before the two were critters glared them into quietness

The other half of the class was watching carefully as Traf demonstrated with the Orc the finer pooints of combat, in this case how not to get killed using such a massive weedwhacker. Finally Traf called Cal up to the front and handed him the sycth. SDince the orc was magically defended for the class it allowed the students first hand combat experience. At least until Traf brought out the cherry bombs and handgrenades. Traf was giving each student a chance wit the Orc of proper defense and attack movements.

The Orc grunted something at Traf who pointed the stick at the thing "You mind your manners" The stsick, still letting out the red laser dot, was all over the Orc, which then ended up flat on its back as poor Linda couldnt stop herself and darted for the shiny dot. Trampling the orc getting for the dot as Traf nodded at Linda turn was completed.

Finally Cliff asked his questions, the first of which was Orc Meat. Traf shook his head "No no, dont get any ideas, too much gristle, not enough meat." A snap of the fingers and the Orc was back on its feet, both swords in hand. "Take note as I said, of the green skin, the skin would only be this green if not well fed."

Again the question of since the orcs looks like pigs if it could be kept as a pet, the Orc looked upset at the mere thought but Traf was shaking his head, "No no, that wont do, this is a combat class after all not a butcher shop" Little did Traf recall that he did demonstrate how to chop up an orc like a butcher would.

With both Linda and Cal stnading next to him he allowed the two to return to their seats as he conjured the Orc away. "Now class, Have you ever uh.... considered being a squrriel ?" He asked nochalantly as he was once more dressed in his natural blue robes and pointed blue hat

Theri kept laughing, the class had almost dissolved into Chaos, the threat of High Wizard Traf's ire the only thing keeping most of the class politely paying attention. Traf's confusion, and Linda and Cliff's antics soon had the magi literally rolling on the floor laughing his proverbial ass off.

Normally Therion would have joined the class in practicing the finer points of offense and defense of Orcs, however he had had enough of Orc combat earlier that morning, and the boy figured it would take a stronghold of extremely well-bred Orcs to create an issue for him.

Thus Theri contented himself in laughing harder than he had all week, certainly partially at his roommate's expense, but he figured a few steaks would have Cliff more than forgive him. The teacher underwent another costume change and posed an odd question, well it would've been off had it not been Traf asking.

The question immediately sobered the magi up, as he was not keen on being turned into a squirrel, especially after Traf lost a student he had turned into a newt. Therion was pretty certain the newt student had been eaten by Kamikaze; not that the magi would ever report his favorite teacher. The flying rat, however, was another story altogether.

The boy double checked his shielding, adding another layer that should hopefully keep his form static, though in a magical arm-wrestling match between Theri and Traf, High Wizard Traf certainly one. Therion could only hope Traf was joking, which he doubted, or that he wouldn't concentrate on turning him into a squirrel.

The wizard often slung spells off without thinking, which made them just weak enough that Theri could usually repulse them. For good measure though, Theri decided to strike preemptively. With a flick of his wand, he threw a polymorph spell at Kamikaze to turn the owl into a squirrel. "Great question, Kamikaze, thoughts?"

Cal went back to his seat after the master wizard had demonstrated and helped him in the finer points of orc slaying. He didn't exactly like the scythe that the old man had conjured for him, but didn't want to be rude and point out that he had his own weapon that he preferred.

He took his seat again when the teacher asked about turning into a squirrel. With that there was a twitching and chirping growl sound that came from inside his backpack.

"Damn it Eddy, you were supposed to stay in the dorm, not sneak into my backpack." He whispered in a harsh tone to the bag. He unzipped it and pulled out a snow white ferret with beady black eyes who crawled up to his shoulder and started making cute sounds in his ear.

"No he's not going to turn you into a squirrel." Cal whispered right as he looked up just in time see another boy turn an owl into a squirrel.

"Back in the bag!" He said in a louder voice and the ferret ran down his leg back to the back pack.

At the apparent chaos that had begun to surround him, CLiff could be seen sighing in relief. Why was that, one might ask? Well simple. Cliff was a Werewolf, a species with a very strong transformation ability. Even an exceptional wizard like Traf could not turn him into something else. Maybe it was possible to force Cliff into his werewolf form, or out of his werewolf form though, but he was pretty much safe from being turned into anything else.

However, it suddenly happened. A werecat fell on top of him. And then, after that...well...

"HISSSSS!"

"GRRRRRRRR"

Although Cliff was a Werewolf, and not a Weredog, he reacted exactly like a Dog would to a cat and growled. There werecat in question, after hissing and scratching, would jump into Theri with the clear intention, desire, and will to get away from the natural predator. Cliff unfortunately temporarily lost control due to shock and natural enemy, and jumped on Theri chasing her until...well, the shock ended and he came back to his senses.

Thankfully, he managed to hold it in and not turn into a werewolf in front of everyone, but instead kept himself in human form and did not totally destroy the clothes he was wearing. This was a very good thing, in his opinion, since he did not want to have another incident.

After he calmed down and jumped back into his chair, he noticed the ferret, Eddy. "He looks so fluffy...and tasty..."

At that point, there was probably a few alarm bells that should have rung in Theri's head. There was another thing he forgot to do, aside from letting Cliff change. And that was getting Cliff breakfast. A werewolf without having eaten breakfast....could become quite scary.

Cliff licked his lips as his hunger began to manifest in his body language and he showed clear signs of hunger.

Seeing how Linda and Cliff were reacting to each other before Linda pretty much landed the orc flat on its back before Traf magicked it away, Traf had a pipe in hand and was puffing it madly, creating a big white smoke cloud around his head as Therion turned Kamakazi into a squrriel, to which Traf reacted in a rather comical matter when it came to the matter of food, "No! No no, no eating classmates!" That said he whacked Kamakazi, who promptly turned back into an owl and at the same time upchucked a newt, who was a former classmate at one point or another

the newt gave a weird look at the class and KAPOOF was back to normal plain old Ben, who was infact the substitute teacher when Traf pretty much got blasted at a local bar, the teachers all agreed to lock him down in his own runes for a week to get him sober, but it didnt do any good whatsoever

The first question was posed, and he heard a growling, "I said, no eating fellow classmates!" Traf said, at those words he tapped on the desk with his stick, now a normal wooden thing right out of some antique shop. As he did so a ferret sized desk and chair, {complete with sunlamp, and full wifi hookup!} Was suddenly on Cal's own desk for Eddy. Apparently Traf thought Eddy was a former student, but try as he might no spells worked to turn the ferret into a human, at least he was a student in Traf's eyes, stuck as a ferret.

Then came the question of being a squrriel, since none of the class wanted to go through that Traf nodded, "Very well then I supposed being a bird is also out of the question...., Is that the lunch bell I hear ?" As he spoke locking runes formed over the doors briefly as the lunch bell did indeed go off like a gong or sixteen as Traf continured "very well, Class, you are dismissed for the rest of the day.... oh hello Ben where have ytou been ?"

"Investigating the interior of an owl" Came the unhappy reply. Ben was only there a WEEk before turned into a NEWT and eaten by an OWL that was named Kamakazi, Ben figured he could sue, but then decided he wanted to be a zookeeper so he kept his mouth shut at least until Traf asked how Kamakazi was "He's medically sound far as I can tell."

Traf waved the dork off and addressed his class, thankfully they had learned enough on how to survive lunch at the very least. "After lunch students I'd like for certain parties to apologise to one another. Therion, I shall require your aid in rune care later after school, Linda, Cliff, detention" Of course Traf had absolutely NO FRIGGING IDEA that it was HIS OWN FREAKING FAULT that Linda tackled Cliff in the first place.

At least Eddy wasnt gonna get eaten.

The runes on the doors faded allowing the students to leave as Traf went behind the desk and sat down. .... way down.... "Now where did I put that screwdriver ?" A few seconds of GRINKA, GRINKA, GRINKA and Traf was seated properly behind his massive desk that made the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier look like a tugboat.

Out of sheer bordom Traf began another round of Cats Cradle, this time with water runes, gas runes, and what looked like ice runes

The lunch bell rang, signaling that class was over for now and it was time to eat. "Oh crap!" Theri had meant to leave class a little early to ensure he procured enough steaks to satisfy Cliff, and now he would have to race to get there in time. High Wizard Traf informed Theri that he would be given the privilege of some after school Rune-work, and the magi acknowledged him with a wild grin. He didn't bother to say anything, as he felt their student-teacher bond was an unspoken one, but rather he nodded acknowledgment before heading to lunch.

Of course, now that Traf had given Cliff detention, he might not be so angry with Therion's callousness anymore. The magi figured he'd better not risk it, and sprinted out of class, knocking Ben down in the process. Theri barely noticed, Ben wasn't particularly skilled and thus to Therion the boy might as well have been invisible. He could hear faint complaints from a specter, "First I'm eaten, and now this!?" However, the boy simply couldn't be bothered with nobodies, and he hurried away.

The magi did, however, notice Cal for the first time all class, which prompted him to think that maybe he had skipped most if not all of class. If he hadn't been so preoccupied laughing, he may have seen Cal practicing scythe-work on the Orc, however between all the chaos and Theri's own self-absorption, he simply hadn't.

A bit of a crowd was forming as students rushed out of the classroom, which was easily enough avoided as the magi simply ran seven feet off the ground, he wasn't sure if Cliff would make it through as easily, certainly the werewolf could push everyone aside and barrel after Therion; but the magi doubted his roommate would, the wolf was too polite. Therion contemplated coating the ground with ice, further exacerbating the mass of students rushing to be the first in line, but he decided that perhaps it wasn't worth the potential trouble he may end up in for it. The magi had already faced a week's suspension for freezing another student solid, and he wasn't keen on spending more time doing absolutely nothing.

"What! I got here, literally as fast as I could." A line was already forming, and Therion found himself extremely frustrated at the sheer number of students at the Academy. "So many rats with an inkling of power thinking they can make something of themselves..." Theri simply stood in line, there was little else to do, and he prayed the cafeteria wouldn't run out of suitable bribes before he got there.

When it was finally time to order, most of the good food had been picked over, but three racks of spare rib, a small top sirloin steak, eight pork chops, and an entire grilled halibut later, Therion thought he probably had enough food. Luckily, the magi did work for the school often enough and even moonlighted as an adventurer from time to time, so he had the money to spare. Still, I was hoping to buy a polymorph potion and slip it into someone's drink... Therion sighed, looking for his roommate so that he may deliver his formal apology and/or bribe.

Cal was quick to get out of the class using the shadows to teleport to other dark places on campus without having to travel by foot or air. He still wasn't familiar with all of the places on campus to get food, so he decided to go to one of the snack-bar style food carts that he passed earlier. As he walked out of the nearest shadow, Eddy crawled out of his back pack and onto his shoulders. He started making squeaking noises into his ear.

"Yes, now you do have to go to that class with me every day." Cal argued.

More squeaking.

"Well, that's what you get for not staying in the dorm like I told you."

More squeaking.

"It doesn't matter if the other students can't understand you, I can and so can the teacher."

More squeaking followed by Eddy returning to the bag.

"No need for that kind of language. You lick yourself with that mouth?"

Cal walked up to the food cart and just as he was about to order something, he found himself bathed in a golden light and felt his body getting teleported somewhere. The golden light was a bit painful for him given his use of dark magics.

The moment that the lunch bell rang, all thoughts flew out of Cliff's mind as his hunger took over and he raced after behind Theri. When it came to werewolves, it was important they got a good amount of food. That was why Cliff often went and had four meals a day, maybe five, and sometimes/frequently had snacks inbetween. This was also why werewolves tended to have more energy though and could be so physical, so there was also that.

He tried to follow Theri, but then saw two massive flashes of light...one in the far distance, and one just up ahead, that got him to stop...sort of...Cliff ended up tumbling right into the crowd like a bowling ball into bowling pins. That got a strike, for that matter. However, cliff was quick to recover and jumped up, weeving through and under people's legs to keep up with Theri. Of course, his stomach was registing the person in question as Food Source, but Cliff was not consciously aware of that.

Eventually, Cliff found his way to Theri...although, the commotion of such a happening could be heard a bit behind him. "Whew. People were really good today. There were quite a number that were able to successfully dive out of the way".

Cliff then said that as he started to consume food. "Ahh, I can barely remember what happened during class now. This is why breakfast is important, it totally wrecks with my memory. Well, if I get reminded about something I might remember it, so it should be safe...probably. I remember the first part clearly, at least...its just the second half of the class that is a blur, when my hunger started to become unbearable".

And then, he looked at Theri and added something else.

"...although, I do remember smelling food in the classroom....I wonder if someone brought any snacks..."

If Eddy heard that, he might just shiver in fear since Cliff was talking about him. BUt now he was happily eating, although given the way he acted and reacted, it was possible Theri might think it was just absolutely required.

Out of the corner of Therion's eyes a girl appeared, she had a tray of food, which was similar to what Cliff was scarfing down, only in this case it was just a pile of raw hamburger, fellow students seemed to give way before her as she walked. Apparently recognised as someone important, when in truth she was just a foster child of the Rosetta Royal Family.

She had tackled a werewolf, on accident, her feline side had dominance over her personality, and anything shiny was a good target. And that included, above all else, laser dots. To which she had fallen from the ceiling to Cliff's lap. the end result of course was detention, it was partly worth it, but Traf had also said for certain parties to apologise to one another.

Another student came up next to the young girl and offered to take her tray for her, after all, even a foster child of the royal family had to be treated as royalty too right ? Even though Linda insisted on carrying her own tray, the older girl insisted just as much, Finally Linda gave in and directed the servant to where Cliff and Therion were seated while she herself went to get something akin to red bull, monster energy, and everclear mixed together.

Three ounces of Everclear, three ounces of red bull, and three ounces of monster {all plain flavors}, the end result made a small mushroom cloud from the cup pbefore simply bubbling madly. Only a werecritter could drink it and not get high as a cloud. Stepping up to the table as the other student set the raw hamburger {shredded, uncooked and still bleeding} Linda stood at the table briefly, debeating wether or not to speak. Finally her mouth and brain worked at the same time and she said simply to Cliff

"Im sorry for tackling you in class. I... I couldnt control myself." She was red in the face, bits of fur was also seen, beautiful dark fur on her face. "According to my parents my feline side is more dominate and I cant keep it under control as much as I would like." It was clear she was young, maybe about fourteen or so. But she had the body of a young woman, still quite beautiful to begin with. Pale green, dark turqiouse, and blue was the colors of her clothing, a very pretty dress, fit for a princess. Literally.

Then she did something possibly stupid, "I'm Linda, May I sit with you two ?"

Therion couldn't help but make a face when some random girl came over with a tray of food, especially considering he didn't recognize her, and thus she was probably not a very skilled practitioner. The girl was older than him too, so she had no excuse, and a visible sneer spread across Theri's face as he stared her down. "Go away please, you're ruining my meal." The older student looked offended, and set the tray down, right as another student came up to them.

Oh? Oh no, no no no no no no no. Not another were-creature. Cliff was enough to deal with, I don't need to be chasing TWO animals through the woods in an attempt to get them to class on time. Theri felt light-headed, and barely heard the girl apologize to his roommate. However, the magi did hear her ask if she could sit with them. The thought of dealing with the two, who he assumed would fight like cats and dogs, suddenly made him very tired. "Ask Cliff, I think I need a Red Bull." With that, the boy stood up to grab an energy drink.

The can popped open with a light fizz and Theri quickly drained it in its entirety. That morning had been particularly tiring, not only did he have to retrieve Cliff, they had also been ambushed by a Cyclops. Not only that, he still had to help High Wizard Traf with Rune-work. It would be a precious few moments before the caffeine took hold and the magi slowly made his way back to the two were-creatures. Curiosity, or perhaps dread at the thought, took hold of Therion and he finally asked as he made it back to the table. "Do uh... Do you also shift unwillingly when it's a full moon?"

Cliff looked at her with a puzzled expression when she mentioned tackling him, as he had nearly no recollection of those events. Werewolves tended to remember less when they were hungry, or when they were in a feral state, so he had no idea of this happening. Also, he was being bribed with food, so he was pre-occupied.

So he whispered to Theri a simple question. "Did that really happen? Just how hungry did I get...wait, I vaguely recall trying to eat something and then someone stopping me. Did I try to get food from her or something?"

Incidentally, Cliff was usually very careful not to cause issues like being late and such, because there were certain members of his clan who disliked Cliff had gone to Astrius to learn and were not getting homeschooled inside the clan like the others. This had happened numerous times in the past as well though, but people were people and got weird like that.

Anyways, Cliff had zero memory or emotions towards this girl, though he felt like instinctively she might be an enemy, but decided to let that go for now. "You can sit wherever you want. Anyways, Theri, I think after this we have a class on Origin's History, taught by someone named Milo, and then also a course on Practical Magic for Daily Life, right? Or, am I getting the schedule mixed up? I am sure the first one is right though, but I cant be certain about the second..."

"Thank you" Linda said simply taking a seat across from Cliff, with Theri between them, basically. She started into the raw meat. It didnt help much she was basically royalty, the result of two powerful werecat clans on Origin merging and resulting in her being born, which made her something like royalty, but she hated the title.

As Cliff asked his questions to Theri, Linda got a dcloser look at the werewolf, and the magi. Boy boys seemed nice enough, Linda herself had none she could call a friend or someone close. At least other then servants. So when Cliff asked about the next set of classes she wracked her own brain for what she could remember of her daily set up. She was supposed to have a free period before Practical Magic for Daily Life with High Wizard Traf was it ? History never was her strong point so she had chosen the free period over that class. Thankfully for what she sought to learn allowed her to do so.

She nodded then as Cliff asked if it happened "Yes, I tackled you trying to get a laser dot. So it wasnt food no, I tackled both of you actually now that I fully recall it" It was true, Linda had tackled Cliff, but then Cliff reascted and she then pretty much trampled Therion getting away from Cliff at the time.

She then sighed and took a long drink of the red bull, monster energy, and everclear mix. Finaly she said "We uh.... we got in trouble too. High Wizard Traf gave us detention." She looked directly at Cliff as she spoke, Therion could confirm that for sure. There was something off about Cliff though, was it because or the lunar cycle ? Recently she'd gotten sleepy during class, if it wasnt for Traf using that laserdot, Linda would have conked out in the classroom facedown on her desk.

The good news was, cats didnt snore

Then came the explosion of smoke and what smelled like food. Linda chirped in startlement as Traf was suddenly standing at their table, with a tray of what might as well have been a half dozen McDonalds Big Mac {medium sized} meals and a HUGE ass mug of {what else ?} Coffee, the high octane stuff too

Traf seemed nochaklant as he peeked around his massive Mug "You three mind some company ?" These three would be perfect for the next task and learning session!

The effervescent drink bubbled to the surface of Theri's stomach and he covered his mouth with a fist to stifle a belch. The newcomer, Linda seemed nice enough, and she was definitely one of the more capable students. Cliff asked him an innocuous question, and Theri couldn't help but reply sarcastically. "Yeah, I seem to recall something like a dog chasing a cat right into a Therion, or something like that...?" It almost sounded like a joke, and he would have giggled had he the energy.

The magi slammed his head onto the table, in despair at Cliff's correct reminder of his schedule. "Ugghh don't remind mee, I always fall asleep in Origin History class." The statement was punctuated by him hitting his head on the table, out of frustration, a few more times for emphasis. "I came here to become stronger, not hear a long-winded dissertation on how this ugly rock came to be." Truly, it had to be the magi's LEAST favorite class, though that isn't to say he found ways to enjoy it every now and then.

As Linda started drinking her monstrous concoction, Theri let out a low whistle from pursed lips. He didn't bother to say anything about it, rather he was at a loss for words that she so casually drank the liquid mess. "Yeeah, uh... Yeah I think High Wizard Traf said you two have detention." As if summoned by his words, Traf appeared in a puff of smoke and, "Burgers!" Theri levitated one of the burgers into his hands, "I was so focused on grabbing Cliff's bribe I forgot to get something myself."

Usually he wouldn't dare take food from Traf without asking, but it had been a long day and Therion was feeling a little risky. Besides, the High Wizard had asked for his help, certainly some cheap food wasn't too much recompense, right? Therion simply smiled, the crazy wide grin he always got when abusing magic for no good reason, and began to wolf down the burger.

"Not at all," came his reply between mouthfuls of burger. Theri pulled water from the air with another spell, delivering a drink of water to his mouth, clearing his throat in the process. "Are we still on for that rune-work later?" There was always something to be learned about what NOT to do with runes when it came to Traf.

As Cliff listened to everything, and heard all the stories, have gave a sort of cold stare before shrugging it off. "From what it sounds like, just Linda should go do it. Or the teacher, for being the cause. I dont like being punished for someone else's actions. Trust me, when you have over a dozen siblings, it becomes a thing...ah, for the record, not all of them are blood siblings. Its just that anyone close in age inside the clan consider each other siblings. So I have a lot, and of course they all like to put blame on others, so I have no intention of taking punishment when I am innocent".

He said that adamantly while having a perterbed look on his face, as if he remembered something annoying. Which he had, actually. This had reminded him he got blamed for something really bad, and then got a really bad punishment from his clan...being locked outside, naked, and had to sleep in an actual werewolf sized doghouse with a collar. But, he had no intention of sharing that moment. Ever.

"Mmmmmhhhmmmmm.....delicous and good bribe..." he said, as he ate food to improve his mood. And then when Theri brought up the history of Origin class, it was Cliff who sort of came as a savior.

"Yeah, usually its super boring, talking about decades of kings taht did this or that, or about the other governments doing stuff, but...this topic is one that even I find a bit interesting. I hear, we are going to have a history lesson on a topic of the war with Demon King Millen one thousand years ago, and that stuff. They might even go into detail about the information regarding the abilities of Demon King Millen, many of which are still unknown and unclassified. I think it is some special type of magic myself...I wonder what kind though?"

Linda had to smile towards Cliff, "I.... 'Im an only child" She said after a moment, deep brown fur covered her face briefly as she blushed as Traf took a seat, nodding as Theri snagged a burger or two, it was why he got a few of the meals anyhow. Where he went only Traf knew

However Traf spoke towards Cliff as he munched on a overcooked shard of patato "You my dear werewolf were naked in front of class, therefore, that mereits your detention, Linda has acknowledged the reason for her punishment, but dont worry, it wont be fore more than an hour in my office!" Traf sounded jovial of the whole thing

In truth he wanted to learn more of werecreatures and how two different breeds, werewolf and werecat, got along when alone in a trashed office together.

Linda was scared of history for all intents it was outside her six year old feline brain. the fight with the last demon king, the possiblities of his magic. And what that could spell for the werecat princess was something she didnt want to think about. So for that moment she was really thankfully she took a free period during history class, she needed those naps

Traf then nodded to Theri "Of course young Maji we can do this together now or after classes end for the day, you may pick the time" Traf told Therion kindly, at this point he was more the old fart who forgot where he put his hat. Kamakazi was actually perched on the thing and it was even on his own head!

Soon Linda was done eating and with a nod towards Traf she asked "Can I meet up with Cliff at your office when detention starts ?" She had to fight herself from yawning, eventually losing badly she yawned like a cat would, nice a wide, which alllowed everyone at table, well, just Cliff and Theri, as Traf was too busy inspecting the inside fo the coffee mug for that last drop, to see razor sharp feline teeth within the human, for the most part, girls mouth.

Traf simply nodded, With that Linda said to the two others "I'll see you guys later." She she still had a shy smile on her face. Maybe Linda could be a good friend for the two ?

Therion thought about how glad he was that Cliff was so easy to bribe, especially considering his clan wasn't to be trifled with. He finished his lunch, stolen from High Wizard Traf, and turned to give a quizzical look to the roommate. "Millen, eh?" He seemed to recall something about the Once Demon King, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Not that he particularly cared. "Maybe this one won't be a totaly snooze-fest!"

The burger sat warmly in Theri's stomach, giving him a slight sense of satisfaction. Things banned on campus were always the tastiest, and he found the slaughtered and fried cow was weirdly filling. Traf gave him two options for their work together and he nearly jumped out of his seat answering. "Now!!!! Of course now, sooner is ALWAYS better than later. I won't be able to focus later, I've been up for way too damn long! Slew a few Orcs, went ice-skating with a Cyclops." Theri didn't like to complain, but it definitely had it's strategical merits.

The young magi gave an annoyed look at Kamikaze, as far as he was concerned the thing was a flying rat. He contemplated turning it into something that would get gobbled up, like a lizard or a dragonfly, but decided against it. It was too much effort for a winged rodent. The werecat began to leave, and Theri gave her a practiced smile and waved enthusiastically "See you around Linda!"