A sense of pride filled him as Duncan toured the classroom. None of his students had overreacted to the intentionally blunt nature of the waivers; it was the first stage of their test, even if they weren't yet aware. From the moment the bell had rung, they had been scrutinised and graded on their attitude. He tried to quash a smug smile as he mentally compared his class to Dorn's. After a few minutes wandering, Duncan collected the first set of completed paperwork from Eika. [b]'Nope.',[/b] he replied with a lopsided smile. [b]'That's the boring bit done. Once everyone's ready we're off. In the meantime... uh... play cards or... something.'[/b] As if to emphasise the point, he tossed a Triple Triad card down in front of her, his little way of rewarding the fastest working student. Enoyle, one of the rarer ones. Duncan treated her to a cheeky wink and moved on, picking up completed forms as he went. He accepted Syrus' forms with an offhand nod, surreptitiously double checking the mystery student's will; who would an orphan leave his possessions to, he wondered... No-one much, by the looks of it. It was the kid's choice at the end of the day, so Duncan wasn't going to push the point. With a sudden flood of self awareness, Duncan realised the time; fifteen minutes til assembly. He picked up the pace, collecting the last of the paperwork and badgering the slowpokes until every form was in order and stowed away.

He took his position behind the lectern once more, his expression turning a bit more serious. [b]'Ok. Your paperwork will be kept onsite as per Garden Code 34:7. In the event of your death whilst on duty, Garden will act as per your will and testament. If your body is recovered, it will be released to your designated executor ASAP.'[/b] With a snap of his fingers, Duncan called the buzzing mass back to his side. From its perch at the side of the room, the bug zipped over and plonked down on his shoulder, hissing affectionately. Vinzer was a pain in the arse sometimes, but nevertheless a valuable companion and weapon. [b]'Easy bit's over. Aurum, Kroth, Munashii, Craft, Syrus and Marx, go get your kit together and assemble in the lobby in ten minutes. You are to wear standard uniform for this test. I know, but I have to wear mine too. Deal with it. Armour and load-bearing equipment are permitted.'[/b] Come to think of it, he had barely seen any of his class in the standard uniform... Balamb Garden was too damn lenient on these things. [b]'... Come prepared. I'll see you in ten.'[/b] With that he gave the class a crisp salute in the traditional SeeD manner and left the classroom.

---

Ten minutes later Duncan stood in the lobby. He had elected to go with half his normal kit today, mainly for the sake of convenience; Galbadian armour took ages to put on. In the end he had only bothered with the gauntlets. As he tinkered with his rifle, a refined man stepped over, wearing a military style trench coat. [b]'Instructor Lerwick. I hear you're leading the northern strike team.'[/b] He caught Duncan completely unawares, leaving the poor SeeD fumbling his response. [b]'Er, y-yes sir. We, I mean I will be taking the candidates for their test, as planned. I have six, all solid.'[/b] The old man grinned in response, thought it was more of a leer. [b]'Oh I'm sure. I look forward to seeing them in... action. The Master is keen to see how the situation develops; after all, you have more than one child of interest in your class.'[/b] His eyes bored into Duncan's; the old man didn't need to say what he meant. [i]Fuck this up and you'll burn.[/i] He prayed that his students would arrive soon and give him a reason to disengage from this old barstard...