Dagny

Despite her attempt to show off, no one seemed interested in the young woman who could have fallen off her griffon. Nor the hole she left in the ground. She crossed her arms and snorted, smoke escaping her nostrils as she looked around at everyone. What was so fucking fascinating that they—

Oh.

The girl stripping caught her attention for multiple reasons. The first being the most obvious: she was a half-naked girl in the middle of the courtyard. For a moment, annoyance flickered across her face. The stripper totally stole her show. But then she noted the scales that covered parts of the slender build. Being far sighted was suddenly the best thing in the young dragon’s life. She tilted her head as she watched the girl dress, her blue eyes drinking her form up. “What a woman,” she decided to herself, the frown turning into a half smile that allowed her pointed teeth to show.

She watched for a moment as the girl headed for the classroom. Then she quickly scooped up her bags, one over her shoulder and one each hand, and quickly followed the girl. Needless to say, the dragon was all too interested in the lizard-girl. To make her point, she glared at the poor student snake lady decided to wink at as she a walked by, her pupils elongating to mimic a lizard’s for the moment.

“Yo, scales,” she called after the girl as she caught up. “Need help finding the main hall? I’ll carry your bags.” She held out her large hand to follow up on the offer, her blue eyes on the other girl’s pink ones. Other than her pointed teeth, Dagny appeared relatively human—though her scent and bareness despite the cold hinted otherwise.


__________________________________________________________

Loreal

What a slut, Loreal thought, scowling after the girl who disappeared into the building. Then she sighed and rolled her eyes, saying aloud, “Whatever. Who cares? Her problem when she gets frost bite.” The griffon titled its head at her and she opened her mouth to defend her bashing when the announcement came on.

She blinked and looked down at her luggage—it was a lot to carry by herself. She bit her lip and looked around for anyone in her immediate vicinity to help. “Bet if I stripped, I’d get plenty of help,” she grumbled bitterly. Then she paused, looking down at herself under the fur. Then she shook her head and slapped herself with both hands on each side of her cheeks. “Don’t even consider it, Loreal!” she scolded herself, taking her hands away from red cheeks.

She sighed and looked to the griffon again. “You can help me with my luggage, can’t you?” The beast didn’t appear thrilled at the prospect, confirmed by the fact it flapped its wings to join the other griffons in taking to the sky.

“Fine! I don’t need your help, anyway! “ she shouted after the beast. “I have…this guy,” she decided, taking hold of another student’s arm: Jeremiah. Though she spotted the cat on his shoulders after, and quickly pulled away with an “Oh! Sorry!” as she watched the cat.

Ariadne was now regretting her sudden stripping. 'You are poikilothermic, Ari. That's the only thing you shouldn't forget when in a foreign land...' She rubbed both of her arms, trying to warm herself up as she walked. She was trembling because of the cold, and she felt like sneezing, actually... "Achoo!" The girlish sneeze that came out of her made some of the guys turn around and look perplexedly at her. The way she sneezed was almost like that of a puppy that is still getting accustomed to the cold. "I should hurry, or I'll hibernate here." She continued rubbing her arms as she walked. No more kisses for the boys now that she was feeling like she was about to freeze over.

Then, she felt something coming towards her. Her reflexes were more than enough to dodge such a simple projectile, however, right now.... The snowball hit Ari full in the face. After removing the snow from her face and leaving only an annoyed look on her face. She turned her head around to try and discover who had done that. Nothing. "Achoo!" Yet another sneeze. She felt a chill going down her spine. The blue haired girl tried to pick up the pace, but her legs felt numb. She also regretted not having any kind of winter wear, being that all the year around in her hometown, it is always sunny. She started looking to her sides, trying to find someone who could lend her their coat or something. "I should have taken some feathers from the bird. Achoo!... I'm gonna catch a cold at this rate." Suddenly, she heard someone. Someone calling her scales.

"Yo, scales!" A girl said, putting herself beside Ari.... and here, Ariadne was thinking she was lightly dressed. "Need help finding the main hall? I'll carry your bags." She extended her hand... Well, if she was offering herself, Ari wasn't about to say no. She took her bag and put it on the girl's hand. It wasn't extremely heavy, no, but it still carried quite some weight.

"Then, I'll take you up on your offer. Actually, could you share some of your summer with me? I could really use some." She said in an slightly sarcastic tone, regarding the girl's clothes. This girl.... What was she? Her teeth were rather pointy and she was extremely lightly dressed, but not in a way Ari would dress for seducting someone or anything, more like, military? She didn't care, though. Ari smiled at her, showing off her large canines. "And my name isn't 'Scales', it's Ariadne." She said, trying to sound as friendly as possible.

'Ugh, no good. I can't feel my legs. Maybe...' Letting herself fall down over the girl, she put her arm around her and near her ear, Ari whispered; "Hey, can you carry me? I really, really could use the help." She said, in a slightly seducing way. She just hoped the girl wouldn't leave her there and decide to walk away on her own. Plans can backfire like that sometimes.

Shen Huanglong
The Yellow Dragon God

---

The chill of winter mountain wind bit at Shen's exposed skin as he walked towards the edge of the ten square kilometer property of his family. The snow was deep and there was naught but the light of the moon to light his way. The snow crunching between his feet and the sounds of wildlife were the only things accompanying him as he ran through the ten square kilometer land of the Huanglong. The young man slowed his steps. The only grounded means to enter - or exit - lay just before him, leading down into a valley, through woodland, and then, apparently, civilization. But he didn't need to go that far.

For from the heavens a majestic beast, a combination of lion and eagle, descended from the sky and landed before him, waiting for its rider.

Shen looked back, lights from the buildings on the estate stared back at him from the sea of blackened white of snow and night. Pleasant memories weren't abundant, but he still had a duty to his family didn't he? Could he really call this the right decision, to take the name of his brother and depart solely to prove a point?

Shen clenched his fist and turned his head away. Of course he could. This was the best decision. They couldn't allow such things as tradition and all-encompassing concerns about magical virility control them, when the mages of the modern world managed with the meager mana they could call their own! And what of the ways of the non-magical? They'd managed to create instruments that could be considered on par with certain magics with nothing more than ingenuity and brute, physical labor!

Yes, this was serving his family in his own way. He needed to show them that their ways couldn't - wouldn't work forever. That they had to adapt, not endure.

And to do that, he had to get on the griffin.
***
Shen decided he did not like flying.

Maybe it was the fact that he had an innate connection to the ground. Or maybe because the griffin saddle just was not that comfortable. Or maybe it was because they were going at an utterly absurd speed towards a rip in space. Or maybe because it was a new, foreign experience.
Or maybe it

...What was that middle one again? Uncomfortable seating?

Nevertheless, it looked like it was finally over. Looming in the distance was a large building, unlike what Shen had ever seen before. The architecture was sleek, there looked to be many students arriving as well, there-

(Alternative Mood Music)

"SLOWSLOWSLOWSLOWSLOW!"

....Well, when one finds themself hurtling towards a courtyard - no, a battlefield, upon which an army of a hundredfold had gathered, in which dragons of frost had been called forth to do battle, one tends to be at a loss of words as they try to comprehend what exactly brought them to that situation. Unfortunately, Shen didn't have time for that, as he was busy pouring a great deal of his mana into reinforcing his and the griffin's body for the inev-

POOF!

...itable impact. A cold, fluffy impact. The Yellow Dragon hast slain the snow dragon, like the prophecy foretold. Now he just had to deal with the nine others in his way.

Once again. Shen did not like flying.

Quickly he moved his right arm to brace for impact while the other shot out, firing a blast of flame. The searing lion-eagle and rider tore through the remaining dragons like a dragonslaying spear of flame, like a majestic star come crashing from the heavens, killing the dinosaurs. Except this time they were on fire and distinctly not dying of an ice age. And they were dragons, not dinosaurs. However, instead of celebrating victory, the only thing on Shen's mind - or rather his face - was a snow drift.

"...Ow."

Leo heard the sound of chanting and turned round, seeing the two ice mages he narrowed his eyes. This would get interesting. Dropping his bags on to the now clear ground he took a few steps forward and grinned, Such long spells, so easy to understand. Snow dragons. Drawing Brahak he held it lazily in one hand, the massive magi-tech weapon folding out in to its scythe configuration with his free hand he drew the Mana Lance and twisted the dial, the LED lit up a glowing red. The barrel of the Mana Lance steamed in the air as water condensed on the cold metal then was instantly vaporized by the machinery converting Unattuned mana to Flame magic. Flicking the switch on Brahak the blade was wreathed in crackling blue fire. “Come on then, Lets see what the old world can do.” He said under his breath, razing the Mana Lance to the angle at which he expected the Dragons to approach from. The dragons were created, Leonardo made in to a combat crouch ready to unleash hell and then return fire. And then there was a screaming monk and a griffin, on fire, hurtling through the dragons. “I..what?” Leonardo managed and lowered his weapons, using the lance to turn what was left of the last dragon to so much superheated steam. Flicking Brahak back to inactive and folding it up he holstered the lance, leaving it on the selected element and walked over to the crashed monk, pulling him out the snow. “Well, That was unexpected.” He managed brushing the dust of the other student. “I’m Leonardo Alexandrus Gladston.” He said introducing himself with his full name, holding out the hand that didn’t have a massive weapon in it.

Ralthavar Marchosias

---

And while the offending student (Leonardo) thought he had escaped, he was attacked by a large gang of orcs armed with packed bricks of snow. They attacked him as he was introducing himself to another person, laying brick upon brick of snow onto his body before leaving. And just as quickly as it happened, the orcs were mostly gone. The only one who remained was Ralthavar, who was directing the other orcs to the assembly hall after he slammed his brick onto the offending student. "To the assembly hall, leg it!" The orcs quickly began to file into the assembly hall, throwing parting snow balls any which direction with Ralthavar covering their rear.

The orcs final parting gift was the rest of the snow they had gathered. Frosk and Sheol used their magic to freeze the ball into a large ball of ice, the same size as it was before. And this giant ball of ice came crashing down to the ground below, something after most of the orcs ran into the assembly hall, laughing all the way. Perhaps not he best first impression, but they were defending themselves. Plus it allowed most of the orcs to work off their pent up energy and the need to hit something, so at least they managed to get their willies worked out using that snow ball fight.

Mariam Machina

---

Sufficient to say, what happened was weird people getting naked, explosions, snow ball fights... Mary was very excited and regret that she wasn't able to get involved. She and Biggy strode through the chaos and headed towards the Assembly hall, which had doors big enough for Biggy to go through without any problems. She had to be careful not to step on anyone, including the massive rush of orcs who now flooded the entrances. "Ah, hey! There are too many people here right now!" Mary wanted to move forward, but in doing so she'd flatten just about everyone underfoot. She signed and simply wanted for the line to move on, hopefully without anyone trying to start another fight.

First, there were horny fleshbags, stripping off their clothing for no apparent reason in the middle of winter.

Now, there was the silly fleshbag, thinking that it was appropriate to start throwing snow at random people for no purpose other than to instigate a fight.

Then, there were overreacting fleshbags, a whole horde of them gathering together to bring up a defensive position as their mages drew up every single bit of snow on the Academy, turning it into a bunch of snow snakes.

And finally, there was the idiotic fleshbag, who decided that, instead of landing his griffin, he would drive the majestic beast straight through the long snakes, smashing them apart while getting himself a face full of snow.

Sometimes, Ier-Briar wondered just how all these meat-based lifeforms, with their soft flesh and obvious weak-points, had ever managed to survive the trials and tribulations of evolution. Wait, no, that was a silly thought. Clearly, they reproduced enough to offset the amount of them who died stupid deaths on a regular basis. The most important quality of an animal, intelligence, was sorely lacking in these people. Pointedly ignoring the mess of action and frozen water, the Gemstone marched resolutely past the bunch of idiots preparing for a full-scale snow fight. The headmaster’s assistant was speaking about getting every student to go to the main hall, after all, and he found no reason not to heed the woman’s words. At least that particular fleshbag sounded more reasonable than the ones that he had met so far.

Stepping into the main hall tentatively, the Gemstone sharpened his senses once more and momentarily enjoyed the warmth of the massive, wooden hall. A tree sat in the middle, green despite the winter that rested outside, while individual tables and chairs could be seen. They too, were wood, and with a sigh, Ier-Briar began to walk towards one of them. Sharp creaks and groans could be heard as the floor bent underneath his weight, and he decided that, yes, it was definitely a smart idea not to sit down. Standing near the entrance, the blond disabled his sense of smell the moment 100 orcs ran past him, full of a sweaty, musky stench. Ugly, smelly, filthy monsters. Though Ezar-Mantine had always taught him to be nice to the flesh-beings, he couldn’t find it in himself to really care at all about those things.

Then, from behind, something heavy struck him, with enough impact for the Gemstone to actually notice.

Turning around, he was pleased to see that there was finally a non-flesh-being in the school. Waving at the 10 foot tall steel golem, he said, in a significantly lighter tone, “It’s a pleasure to finally meet one of my kind, golem of iron. What is your name?”

Joseph carefully placed his railgun into it’s protective case, as he knew the griffon that would transport him to the Academy was not the most gentle. He nearly lost all his gear last year, and Joseph did not want a repeat. This time, he’d secure all of it on the griffon. The apartment he had rented out for himself was pretty much a mess, but he wouldn’t be back for another year, so it didn’t matter. At least, that’s what he had been telling himself for the past three years. Sporting his magic resistant cloak, he locked the door and walked out on the street.

It’d been quite some time since the war, but the West coast was still trying to recover. Joseph was probably in what was Los Angeles, which at the moment only had a few residential structures and markets. There was a military base down a few blocks where he worked, where he had spent the most of his summer training. After all, if this gatekeeper stuff didn’t work out, it was nice to have a backup plan.

The griffon arrived and gave a small caw in recognition. Joseph brushed it’s neck with his hand and mounted it. They immediately flew away, headed to the Academy of Arcane Arts.

“I wonder how the freshmeat.. err… the first-years are doing.” The griffon let out a caw in exasperation at the mere mention of first-year. “Heh. Yeah, they’re probably a bunch of bumbling idiots. But, I guess I was a first-year too at one time. Wonder what crazy shit they’ll do this year?” Looking back, all the first-years usually did stupid shit all the time. Joseph was no exception, but still, it was quite irritating to watch. Maybe this year would be different, but that would be probably very wishful thinking.

And finding the school covered in snow from what seemed to be the remains of a snowball fight, Joseph already knew who the culprits were.

“Fucking first-years and their bullshit.” Joseph heard a few murmurs of agreement from the fourth and fifth-years. It looked like it would be the same old same old. Oh well. Being mentally retarded might be second nature to first-years.

He took his rifle out of his case and slung it on his back, and headed towards the assembly hall. Joseph was already pretty late, so he might as well not dawdle around. Besides, it seemed that everyone had already made acquaintances.

Lilith pulled a cold breath in, pausing for a moment to admire the grand view of the Academy blanketed with whiteness. Although it certainly became apparent the moment they neared said destination that it was going to be chilly, she didn't expect there to be snow. She turned around and pulled her luggage to her side as she took some time to study the students scattered among the Academy entrance. Some rather exuberant individuals vaulting off their mounts in a comedic fashion, some heading toward the gates already, and a pair of what looked to be mechanically - modified Earthlings who appeared to have flown there themselves. The majority of the folk were humanoid - or at least, mostly human like in appearance. One different individual caught her attention, a dainty reptilian creature with a faint glow. Curious, she thought to herself, eyes lingering on the green dragon for a moment. A Fae Dragon, was it? She scarcely remembered reading of Lucian dragons sometime ago. Perhaps she should have packed that book with her... She continued to watch the students arrive, and noticed many students were staring, wide eyed, some slightly mortified, at something to her far right. Inquisitive, she leaned over to see what was the focus of their attention, and felt some warmness rise to her cheeks as she took in the spectacle of a rather attractive girl undressing right then and there. Looking away, slightly flustered, she shook her head. Well, the Academy certainly has some unique students...

”All students, please proceed to the main hall with your luggage. You will be organized by year, and will wait for the headmaster to give his opening speech. Any students caught lingering around will be escorted personally.”

The sudden announcement made her jump, as she began to worry that she had idled about too long. She picked up her luggage with haste and began to glance about, eventually spotting the main entrance. Her train of thought was interrupted by the sudden force of a taller figure walking into her. Startled, she gasped and quickly regained her footing, in time to see an older boy get up from the powdery ground after the impact. Light red eyes peaked out from a rather heavily scarfed face. ”Oh, and my name is Varren Yinyues! Good morning~" The tall boy greeted her, awkwardly stumbling along with his words before a simple 'nice to meet you' came out.

"Oh, why - it's a pleasure to meet you, Varren." She responded shyly, wearing a polite smile and looking up at him, while hoping that she as not at fault for getting in his way. Although, he was the one who had a scarf wrapped around his field of vision. it was understandable, it was certainly cold, but she did not mind the temperature much. It was quite a lovely respite from the uncomfortably hot weather back at home. The boy seemed rather tired, and wore a lethargic look in his hunched figure. It slightly relieved her that she was not the only one that was a little sleepy on the first day. The one she now knew was called Varren shrugged, and while he announced ”Let’s go, I wonder what kind of person the headmaster is!” began to move along to the Main Hall. She took note of the boy's name, at least she would know the name of at least one student here for now. She began to head toward the entrance doors, pondering for a few moments if Varren could possibly be a first year like her.

Lilith pulled along her luggage as she trailed behind Varren, and soon enough, into the congregation of students pushing their way into the expansive entrance doors. She stepped about delicately, her arms tightly by her side holding her things, making sure not to bump into anyone. She looked up and noticed an enormous, shining golem of foreign machinery, quite prominent as it threaded through the crowd. It was a wonder that it even managed to fit through the doors. As much as she wanted to stop and observe it, she'd have to learn more about the strange thing later. As she continued along, she twitched as she heard loud voices to her left. Some mayhem was brewing nearby, as flurries of snow were being pelted in the air by an intimidating entourage of orcs. She paused and watched the scenario for a second, her curiosity itching to see what was going on, but hurriedly moved along, not wanting to miss anything important.

Jeremiah had been staring at the impromptu snowba er dragon fight when he heard someone yell "This guy" and in that moment felt an hand close in on his arm. "Oh! Sorry!" she said. "It's fine did you need some..." Jeremy noticed her staring at Kasha as she dozed on his shoulders. "Oh this is Kasha," He said smiling "She's harmless, Kasha wake up say hi." Kasha opened one eye muttered "elf." and went right back to sleep. Jeremy looked to the ground embarrassed "sorry she gets like that when she is tired, but did you need my help with something." He saw the bags laying on the ground. "Do you want help with these?" he asked bending down to pick them up without waiting for her answer.

He stood back up several bags clutched in his arms, "uh do you know where we're supposed to go?" he asked watching the chaos that was unfolding around them. He saw the orcs, a few other students, a dragon, and a mech all heading towards the same giant doors and uncertainly went to follow. He looked back at the woman whose bags he was holding, "Oh I forgot!" He said bringing his hand up and lightly hitting his forehead "My name is Jeremiah, Whats yours?" He continued look at her smiling.

Leonardo sighed, the sound of approaching orks was pretty hard to miss. “Hold on a moment,” he said turning back round, taking the first lump of snow to the face he took a step back, shook his head and reactivated the flames on Brahak the first swing smacked the nearest ork round the head with the blunt of the blade, sending him on to his ass and buying Leonardo the room he needed to draw the mana lance, several precise, less than a second bursts turned most of the snow in the orks hands and under them in to superheated steam, scolding flesh and causing clothes to become sodden with searing water. Spinning Brahak round he tilted his head, “So, You think its funny to attack someone with their back turned. You know what else is funny…..” He trailed off, twisting the dial on the Mana lance. The LED flashed blue. “Water and lightning.” The air around the orks, full of steam, their clothes sodden, when he pulled the mana lances trigger again, the entire area flashed with Electricity. If you weren’t either running, or behind Leo at this point, or generally out the way, you were probably praying that your lower half still worked after this. “Typical first years.” He grumbled “Have no idea when enough is enough. At this rate the headmaster is going to give me a detention in the first week AGAIN.” He looked at the orks and then at the mages. “I have 45 seconds of charge left, that is enough energy to vaporize any ice you can create. And then some. I have 2 more fully charged clips, plus Brahak plus another weapon.” He twisted the dial on the Mana Lance again, this time he’d changed it to Kinetic energy. “Run.” He said and pulled the trigger, anyone that the beam connected with would probably be sent flying, it wasn’t impact, but it imparted a large amount of kinetic energy away from the beam in a single direction. He held it for a second or so before twisting the dial back to fire with his thumb. “Right, who’s stupid idea was it to go this overboard with a snowball fight?” Leo asked, Brahak still in scythe form, still aflame with bright blue fire. “because when the shit comes down I’d like someone to blame rather than 100 or so passed out orks!”

A Rocky Start


”All students, please proceed to the main hall with your luggage. You will be organized by year, and will wait for the headmaster to give his opening speech. Any students caught lingering around will be escorted personally.” A woman’s monotonous voice continued announcing. If it wasn’t for the differentiation in the pauses between her words in each repeat, Varren would have gladly accepted a recording as a plausible answer. Keeping to the sidelines as the snowball fight waged on, the woman began another reciting of the phrase.

”All students, please proc- headmaster, what are you doing?!” The woman sounded surprised and completely awestruck, though her startled demeanor was drowned out by a deep clearing of a throat. The sound echoed throughout the whole entire campus, the consistency of the announcement increased in volume, to a nearly ear-shattering level. The voice exhaled deeply, then began in a raspy tone.

”All students who are currently standing around like a bunch of uninformed buffoons, please proceed into the main hall. As for those who are currently engaging in snowy warfare, I advise you follow the same suit, before I shove my lower-right crystalline edge up your rea-” The voice was suddenly torn away from whatever was relaying the message, swiftly becoming fainter as it ventured into the distance. The woman from before hastily took back the microphone, continuing with her announcement from earlier. Varren chuckled at the sudden change from her boring tone from earlier. ”Oh, sorry, I forgot to ask, but what’s your name?” The boy asked, glancing back at the girl following him. She had already returned to her plain expression, her polite smile was a thing of the past. At least, it wouldn’t surface unless the situation called for it, which was what Varren deduced. "My name is Lilith Ephyrene." The girl's head lowered, covering her expression with the rim of her hat. Varren nodded, mentally sounding out the vowels of her name, "Ok. Cool name~ A sudden ball of snow caught him off guard, nearly planting itself right in his face, only missing his nose by a few centimeters. He traced the arc of the projectile and set his eyes upon a plethora of students, waging a snowy war in the open field. The two sped up their pace and fell into the columns of students

INSIDE THE MAIN HALL:

The students were organized by year, making a semicircle in front of the centered stage. Behind the stage were a few more sets of seats, which fastened the faculty body. Before the speech was addressed, a paid orchestra put on a grand opening symphony. Varren took his seat by the time the number began, thankful that there was enough legroom for his bags and his own limbs. After the procession came to an end, and the teachers finally took their seats, a woman dressed in a similar version of the school’s uniform. Though it followed the same color scheme, there were multiple pendants and buttons sewn onto the top portion. The blonde stood with a straightened back on the stage, staring without a single break in eye contact. Her right hand was wrapped firmly around a grey cane, covered in decorative embroideries. At the bottom of the tool’s curve was a lone cyanic gem, dark and unphased by the immense amount of light gleaming in the room. With the look of determination in her green piercing eyes, and a straight face, she inhaled deeply and parted her lips.

”Good morning students, I am your vice headmistress. I will be assisting the headmaster throughout this year, and I shall also operate as the dean of the fifth years. The faculty thank you for making the journey to our wonderful school, and we hope that you tune yourselves to be fine, capable gatekeepers. Now, without further adieu, the headmaster’s speech.”

The woman finished her little prelude, closing her mouth and giving a humble bow to the students. However, instead of stepping down from the ascended position to give leeway for the headmaster, she remained on the stage, as if her feet were glued to the floor. A few moments of silence settled upon the students, confused expressions began to form within the midst of the first years. They began to glance around, looking for their grand headmaster’s arrival. Did such a prestigious school include a grand entrance, perhaps with a massive explosion, replaced with his manifestation? Or maybe he’ll fly on a hoverbike, blaring all kinds of musical genres at once.

”...What a bunch of plebeian newspawns. I swear, I’m already missing last year’s graduating class. Such a kind and lively lot.” The heads of the first years darted in multiple directions, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. ”Look at these kids. Watch this. Ooooo, I’m your inner conscious, and I command you to say your measurements alo-” The woman clicked her tongue and slammed the cane heavily on the platform, eyeing the decoration crafted into its body. The single gemstone glowed a brighter shade of blue, dimming in between words. ”The hell was that for? I was interested. I don’t even want to recall what happened last year with the second years.” As if the cane governed the woman’s hand, it was turned towards the second years and blankly faced them.

”Anyways, as my dear assistant has already said; Good greetings to you! I thank you for choosing the path of a gatekeeper. Welcome to this… diversified academy. It is in my best interest that you all receive the best education at your disposal, and that you live on to protecting both Earth and Lucis against the labyrinths of mindless beasts, which want to feast on your innards!” Sounding way too cheerful, the gem lit up an extremely bright blue, before returning to its usual shade. ”But, in all honesty, not all make it into such a career. I hate to say it, but there are those here today, who will no longer be among us by the end of this year.” He exhaled as the cane was slowly turned, individually giving each year some time to meet eye-to-gem. ”But, this is indeed the job you have taken upon yourselves. You will be put through rigorous training, examinations and mission are entailed within your criteria. But along with these combat-oriented teachings, you still have to take the essentials. Yeah, don’t think you have left calculus’ embrace just yet, dear first years. Continuing on; throughout this year, you will- no, you must find a partner. Somebody who’s got your back, even when it’s against the wall, or next to a pack of bloodthirsty monsters. A person who knows you well enough, that they can harness that horrible excuse of a personality of your’s, and cover for your faults.” The elderly voice let out a hacking cough, nearly forcing the cane out of the VHM's grip.

[b][u]”Oh, that was close. I nearly coughed up my breakfast.” As he suddenly paused, using such a verbal device to emphasize his prior speech, a first year student took the chance to raise his hand. "Erm, hun, can you turn me to the first years? I have to appear that I'm actually giving eye contact to them." The woman reluctantly twisted the support tool towards the first year, perfectly aligning it with the student.

”Are you really our headmaster? I was expecting something more… well…”

The headmaster let out a deep sigh,"Ub ba ba, stop right there. Why is there always that one kid... YES! I am indeed your headmaste- I swear, literally, every year I have watched over this academy, there's always one person who asks that." The calm and soothing voice of an old man was quickly replaced with anger and fury.

“What, do you want? Blinking yellow signs pointing towards my cane, blaring ’HEADMASTER HERE!’? Do you want me to paint you a canvas of myself resting in my chair, with me nonexistent hands? Do I need to wear one of those generic pointed hats upon my cane’s embroideries? For the love of all that is actually relatively intelligent in this world! People can accept griffons, snake-people, fish-things, hell, even walking air-breathing octopai aren't given the second thought. But when kids find out that their headmaster is a gemstone, which is inadvertently smarter than all of them combined, something just doesn't click." Varren leaned forward in his chair, he recognized the tone of speech. It was exactly like a practice of his mother’s, a warmup run just before she broke into a rant. The boy braced himself for what was about to befall upon the students.

“I swear, not even the dinosaurs were this idiotic when I slammed into Earth a few years ago, back when I opened up the Black Gale’s daddy. Ah, it was just like yesterday. Such an eventful day. A very productive one, at that. As for the orcs and other students who were fueling a snowball fight, full of dragons and some other crazy mumbo jumbo magic stuff… Don’t do it again. Like I’ve said, I wiped out a whole entire planet of huge lizards before; ridding the ground of a hundred orcs and other troublemakers who entice my students would not prove much of a problem.” Without even having to utter a request, the vice headmistress spun the cane towards, the crowd of orcs, “Yeah, damn straight I’m talking to you lot. You’re lucky all of you are attendees of this academy, otherwise I’d beat you all over the head with myself. Don’t ask how, I’m a headmaster. I take logic and feed it to my children. FOR A SNACK. Kids, I swear, I will shard on you.”

The headmaster sighed, breathing heavily as his session came to an end. ”Well, anyways. Yet again, thank you for attending this academy. Your classes begin tomorrow, and for the time being, you will be assigned your own individual rooms. Alas, once you’ve selected a partner, you will both be thrown into a somewhat larger accommodation. For the rest of today, you can linger around, to whatever your hearts’ content. Hell, you can even continue that snowball fight. Just don’t break any glass, or you’ll be scrubbing the bathrooms for a millenium.” The gem laughed cheerily, glowing exuberantly, ”No, I’m serious. Do that and I’ll literally make you work for an eternity. No joke. Well, you’re dismissed.”

Varren stretched out, somewhat surprised by how emotional the headmaster was, ”Let’s go, before the swarm of students begins…”

{{Assume this is just before the ceremony because I didn't want to power play characters... My next reply will cover the reaction to the ceremony and whatever immediately after it.}}

Dagny

Scales—er, Ariadne—handed her bag to Dagny, who tested the weight in her hand for a moment before bringing her hands together, carrying both hers and the other girl’s belongings in one hand. At the comment, she looked down at herself and shrugged in a pseudo-modest gesture. “I’ve got an internal heater, Ariadne,” she explained vaguely, making a point to use the girl’s name. “Guess you could say I’m pretty hot,” she followed up with a wink.

When the girl suddenly and quite literally fell into her arms, Dagny blinked and struggled to keep her upright with one arm for a moment. There was breath on her neck and she suddenly tensed as if about to be bitten with those fangs—not that they would do much—but wasn’t exactly relieved by the whisper on her ear instead. She felt her face heat up and she had to swallow smoke that threatened to escape her throat.

“I-I’m already carrying your bag,” she pointed out after clearing her throat. Nonetheless, she managed to shift her weight, allowing the bags to slip onto her wrist by the loops. Then, she scooped up Ariadne with ease, a hand supporting her back and the other her legs. Although in most circumstances, Dagny would refuse to play pack mule, this was a good chance to show off her strength—something that very few species between both Earth and Lucis could rival.

“Better?” she checked in, grinning cockily as she followed the flow of students to the hall to listen to the speech.


__________________________________________

Loreal

“Oh, no, she’s fine. I love animals,” Loreal assured as he defended his cat’s attitude. She clearly wasn’t any ordinary cat, however, and Loreal wondered if she was a daemon or familiar of some sort. The boy then crouched to pick up her luggage and she grinned. “That’s actually what I was going to ask you about,” she admitted though she didn’t seem particularly shameful of it. “I brought too much stuff again, I think…

“As for where we’re going, I just follow the other students. I just know we’re going to the main hall,” she suggested. She walked with the fellow student, her eyes following the flow of students into the hall and directed the two of them in that direction as he carried her things.

Jeremiah was a cute name and she made a mental of that. “I’m Loreal,” she answered, fixing her hair before shoving her fingers into the warmth of her pockets. Once inside the main hall, she thanked him for his help with her bags.

Ralthavar Marchosias

---

The orcs reacted as they would when they faced new enemies; ready for anything. When their snowball attack failed with Leonardo attacks, they knew this wasn't a game anymore. They reacted appropriately.

One of the orcs, Torug, cast protective wards around the orcs. It didn't stop the water, but it stopped the electricity. Assisting him was two other spell casters, Saghig and Kaxi, who also began to stack additional protective barriers for the nears near Leonardo. Many of them covered various magical effects; mind manipulation such as Suggestion or Fear, as well as buffing their attributes. Five other of the spell-capable mages Bor, Gulfim, Garakh, Ushug, and Bolar readied their own offensive spells, mostly fireball and it's variants. It may have been a problem with so many orcs near, but with all the wards built on them they could be thrown into a furnace and survive.

But it wasn't just the spell casters who acted. The front line fighters drew their weapons, an assortment of blades and bludgeons. Of the seven, Ougha, Gujjab, and Eichelberbog used great swords, enchanted with various magical effects. Markas and Ralthavar took out their axes and began to slash at Leonardo. Xoruk and Kilug took out their chains and whipped at Leonardo between the orcs, careful not to get the chains caught by the other orcs. And that was before the orcs who made up the Bulwark charged in as well. Their tower shields protected their front, with handguns on their other hand. They began to shoot at Leonardo with no worry about friedly fire; the wards protected the orcs from the bullets.

When it became apparent that someone was attacking them, the rest of the orcs took out their weapons and went on the offensive, even those who were already in the Assembly Hall. Word of a fight broke out and they all came out looking to start killing. Some simply charged into battle, but those who could cast protective spells or buffs before engaging in battle. Various healers and mystics stood by to do any healing and resurrection, and provided their own assistance to the fight as at least thirty or so magically protected orcs sought to kill Leonardo.

At least, that's what he'd see. In truth, all the orcs already left the area and where listening to the headmistress. But one stayed behind; Dura, an illusionist who wanted to screw with Leonardo's head, thinking that the orcs were still there to fight. She stuck around to keep the illusion up on Ralthavar's orders. When the assembly was dismissed, the orcs merrily left the hall to go stake their claims around the school. Ralthavar himself chose to simply stick around to ensure they don't cause any trouble. Whether or not they find trouble was another matter entirely.

Mariam Machina

---

Things only got more difficult for Mary as more of the students filed in. Once everyone got to the hall there was more space so Mary thought she wouldn't have to worry about stepping on anyone. Or so she hoped, before Mary felt a bit of a kick back when she tried to move Biggy forward. "What was that?" Checking the cameras she thought she might have ran into a podium or something, but instead saw a small kid. Obviously not a normal one, otherwise he'd be on the ground and almost stomped. Who ever this kid was, he was likely pretty tough since he didn't seem to be doing anything and still managed to not get knocked over when Biggy walked into him. This point was further proven when the boy mentioned meeting one of his own kind. Either he was a robot or crazy. Not wanting to develop any sort of misunderstanding, Mary spoke through Biggy's intercom system. "Ah, sorry about that. I'm Mariam Machina. And are you some sort of robot? I don't think I've ever seen an android as humanoid as you."

Before she could get her answer, the headmistress made her speech. It was... Strange. Mary recorded and would consider looking over it later, looking at the boy she just met.

Ayaka

---

“Thank you sweet Jesus.” Ayaka murmured in tasteful desperation as the snowball’s victim slipped away, leaving her and his food. Her hand burrowed into the bag, nearly tearing its confinement’s as she begun stuffing her mouth. She chewed the beef with her canines among her human teeth whilst her eyes fluttered closed out of enjoyment of the deliciously made food.

…pepper…sweet hickory barbque…salty…..Venison. This Raule man knows how to eat.
Unfortunately (for Raule), the women ate like an animal. After all, she was partially one in her other form. Strippers, announcements, more arrivals, and snowballs ensure the campus would be rather lively and chaotic….yet time stopped for her as she quickly chewed ½ of the bag away within seconds.
“Oh…This campus is actually quite exciting. The snowfight was a wonderful icebreaker the have elites planned!” The oblivious women slipped the leftovers into her bag after realizing her new friend was swept away in battle. While she may have appreciated the generous donation of the whole bag, she wanted to at least leave them man some crumby pieces, the ones that were always-too-salty because they were in the bottom of the bag type ones.

“W-wait, don’t leave. I still have your stuff?” Ayaka, with a full mouth, lurched forwards after Raule, whom has made split second choices to halt. Ayaka yelped before she made impact with the man, carelessly hurling both of them to the frozen floor. He may have avoided being hit by a snowball but karama and an air-headed, nervous first year came for him instead. Not only had she caused an accident but she had “gifted” him with a face full of breast… Specifically a breast plate.

The blonde women jolted upright, to her dismay straddling the poor man. A few seconds of silence insisted peace upon the girl, suddenly broken by her short cry and reddening cheeks. “Oh….no.” With a gasp, she grasped her cheeks grasps her cheeks in horror “I haven’t e-even been here a minute and I vandalized another First y-…” The women’s long apology came to a halt. She may as well have been a chameleon, now her skin became as pale as snow upon an easy to come by realization. “Hey. Your eyes are…cool. They’re just like mine. Anyways, i vandalized a fifth year.” Ayaka accepted her nonchalant words with a nod, while her brain finally caught up to realization of the situation. “A f-fifth…” Every cell of every bone in her body felt faint. maybe She would have fainted if she wasn’t hauling ass out of the scene, leaving the man beef jerky-less and a silver fox, her animal, which quietly had slipped out of her bag to avoid being crushed between the student’s bodies.

The Fox, swallowed up by the vast campus, stared at Raule, its eyes accusing the man with elf-like ears of its separation from Ayaka. Nevertheless, the fox’s questioning stare wondered if the man was okay, holding some unknown intelligence about its expression.

Ayaka rushed into the grandhall and filed behind the horde of orcs near the behind the sections. With racing thoughts and a possible fifth year mad man coming, of course she ended up in the wrong section but still receiving the main point, minus the crazed leader’s rants of the speech, after acquiring answers from the others around her. “…A partner, huh…?” She pondered as she chewed on her bottom lip and twiddled the end of her whip deep in thought.

Leonardo tilted his head, This would be interesting. The moment the electricity was stopped he changed tack, swapping mana lance for wave gun, any orc that got close got a blast of it to the face, Ward or not, since it wasn’t magical. The moment it failed to affect them, even without helm or hair he nodded. “Impressive illusion, if it wasn’t for the fact you’re against someone who’s grown up with a greater demon.” He sighed and flicked the battle axe back in to its storage configuration, slotting it on to his back he walked back past his luggage picking it up. “overzealous bunch of nitwits.” He sighed and looked at the load on his Mana lance, then did some mental calculations, drawing the pistol he dropped the clip from it, slotting a new one in he took the old one in his hands, muttering under his breath. For the most part he let the speech wash over him, He’d gotten the exact same thing last year, though he did smile a little when the obligatory ‘are you actually the headmaster’ question got asked, instead he spent the time focusing his energy down and in to the crystals, 15 seconds worth of mana wasn’t a major cost, the effort was more in keeping his focus than anything.

Towards the end of the speech he finished the spell and looked at the small meter on the side of the clip, 50 seconds worth of mana, it wasn’t much, but it was enough. He shrugged and put it in to the slot on his belt, standing as they were dismissed he automatically started to work his way through the crowds and towards the far side of school. He’d spent most of the last year exploring and so knew a few of the shortcuts and cross passages that were always abundant in a place as big as this, reaching the far back of the school he let himself through a door, that looked like nothing more than a storage cupboard, though it led to tight staircase, jogging up it he reached the top room. Glad he’d got there before anyone else he dumped his bag down. The room itself was miles out the way, and when he’d first found it he was pretty sure it’d been forgotten about. A random door that was probably a storage closet leading to a awkward staircase that led to a small room. It was probably one of those pointless rooms that was left over from the construction of such a grandiose building, a silly little space no one had any idea what to do with, so they made It a extra dorm room. It was even obvious that no one had actually been up here since him last time, it was still in a state of utter disarray. He dumped his two bags down, the hard case hitting something metallic and sending it skittering off in to the far recesses of the room. “Hmm, I do hope that wasn’t the small important bit that goes ‘spoing’ and disappears in to the corner.” Leo commented almost cynically and gave the bed a shake out before pulling one of the umpteen books he’d borrowed from the school library off the shelves, since they didn’t let him bring his own books he’d taken to misappropriating theirs. This one was going over the use of multi-spectra goggles when confronted by illusions or mirror images. Considering what had just transpired he decided it might be prudent to read up a little. About 10 pages in he sat up and swore, he’d forgotten to lock the lower door. Grabbing the key off its hook from inside the door he scrambled down the stairs “shit. Shit. Shit. shit.” he said as he made his way down. Anyone in the rooms with a wall against the staircase would probably hear him, anyone coming up it would have ample warning of him coming down.

Alika brushed the snow off her shoulder and sighed. "Well... This is gonna be fun. I guess we might as well head inside before this escalates." Elena simply stared at the battle, eyes wide and sparkling. She readied her 40mm... took aim.... aaaaannd....."Nope, we are not getting involved." Elena suddenly lurched back as Alika, who was now had her Strikers on her back like a backpack, grabbed the back of her dirty camouflage jacket and began to drag her inside.

"Bu- But! I want to fight ugly men and their pussy mages! I love snowball fi-"

"No means no"

"Aww....."

They made it inside the impressive academy, oohing and awing at their new school. "Go big or go home when it comes to fighting demons da?" said Elena, staring at the high ceilings. "No shit..." Alika responded, equally amazed by the intricate architecture and decoration that adorned the arches and walls. The main hall was already beginning to fill with later year students. Most already grouping up in their clicks. Suddenly an announcement began to echo over the school grounds.

”All students, please proceed to the main hall with your luggage. You will be organized by year, and will wait for the headmaster to give his opening speech. Any students caught lingering around will be escorted personally.” A woman’s monotonous voice continued announcing. If it wasn't for the differentiation in the pauses between her words in each repeat, Varren would have gladly accepted a recording as a plausible answer. Keeping to the sidelines as the snowball fight waged on, the woman began another reciting of the phrase.

”All students, please proc- headmaster, what are you doing?!” The woman sounded surprised and completely awestruck, though her startled demeanor was drowned out by a deep clearing of a throat. The sound echoed throughout the whole entire campus, the consistency of the announcement increased in volume, to a nearly ear-shattering level. The voice exhaled deeply, then began in a raspy tone.

”All students who are currently standing around like a bunch of uninformed buffoons, please proceed into the main hall. As for those who are currently engaging in snowy warfare, I advise you follow the same suit, before I shove my lower-right crystalline edge up your rea-”

Alika and Elena looked at each other for a moment in silence, then busted out laughing. "Oooh.... Da headmaster.... ho ho ho.... If dat isn't suggestive then I must be sober!" Elena said between her chuckles. Alika simply shook her head and smiled. She was happy her friend from a long time ago could come along with her to this amazing place. Not wanting to be cleaning bathrooms for the rest of their lives, they made their way to where their designated year was and waited. A formally dressed woman in a uniform similar to that of the schools (Which Elena has still failed to bother putting on) came to the stage. After a brief introduction she introduced their headmaster. Alika sighed in disappointment, utterly unsurprising while Elena held back a giggle.

"Of course our headmaster is a fucking rock... Why would anything else make any sense..." Alika muttered to Elena, only increasing the difficulty of not laughing out at this. After a particularly long rant he dismissed them. Elena was quick to turn to Alika and grab her shoulders.

"PARTNERS!"

"Uhhh...."

"Partners..?"

"Ehh....."

"Pweeeeease?"

"Errr...... No..."

".......Что?!"

"Look Elena, I'm really happy your with me at this school, alright? I really, really am.... It's just we can't just let our friendship decide this. We're both Strike Witches with similar combat roles, thus we can't really balance each other out in a combat situation.... It would be too risky... I'm sorry." Alika said with pain in her voice. She really wanted to be partners with Elena, but she knew the truth. She stared at the ground, not having the courage of facing the friend she turned down. Suddenly she was enveloped into a hug and felt Elena pat her head.

"Tam yest my malen'kaya devochka.... Mama Elena is not mad." Elena griped Elena shoulders and smiled. "You know best, Alika, as always. You find good partner and I find mind. We still be friends tills the ends! Now then... Let us go comrade!" With that she grabbed Alika's hand and began to drag her into the crowd.

"Wahh?"

"We must make new friends! Talk to fellow comrades!"

Double posting nonsense

Chris grinned as he took his seat for the headmaster's speech. It was always entertaining, the best part probably being the looks on the first years' faces as it was delivered. He awaited the headmaster eagerly, as the the vice headmistress introduced herself. Finally, it started.

”...What a bunch of plebeian newspawns..."

Here it was. The first sentence, perfect. The first years were already looking around for the source of the voice, which was typical.

""...that they can harness that horrible excuse of a personality of your’s, and cover for your faults... Oh, that was close. I nearly coughed up my breakfast.”

Chris was chuckling to himself, as was most of the other fifth year class. They'd become used to these speeches after being at the school so long. It almost seemed like a tradition; the first years were always hyperactive and baffled by the strange events, and by fifth year, calmed down into acceptance. Suddenly, a first year raised his hand.

Chris bit his lip. 'Big mistake,' he thought, 'either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid.' He watched as the first-year asked the question. He winced a bit, preparing himself for the onslaught that would be the headmaster's rant. The headmaster chastised the large amount of new students that had caused all the commotion outside (that Chris did his best to ignore at the time), and then concluded with a short comment about rooms. Chris felt a slight twinge of sadness; his previous partner had graduated the year before him. It wasn't a problem in the past, but it now left him partner-less. And the fact that most of the other 5th years had paired with someone in their own grade, it meant he'd probably end up paired with someone younger. He wouldn't mind, he decided, so long as they weren't a total idiot. He waited for the ceremony to conclude, but slipped out of the hall a little early to avoid the huge crowd of students that would come pouring out.

He took a spot just outside, in the next hallway, and unzipped his jacket. He didn't really have anything to do at the moment, not having planned on even being at the school that day. 'Some of the fresh meat will probably need help...' He leaned up against the wall, waiting for the freshmen to pour into the hall. Once they did, he would occasionally call out, "If anyone needs help with anything, right here!"

Shen Huanglong
Welcome to the Academy of Arcane Artes, Fleshbag

---

"*Fweh*" Shen sounded as he spat out snow that had gotten into his mouth during the crash. Speaking of which, hopefully the griffin got out alright. The Asian looked around his general vicinity. ...Huh, that was peculiar. The griffin wasn't laid out on the ground, headfirst in a snowdrift like he was... Shen looked up, and there she was, as beautiful and as slightly crispy as he had last seen her. No wonder she'd - she? He'd been calling it a 'she', but what was it even? - had decided to drop him off. Literally. 'Okay then,' he thought, waving goodbye to the magical beast. Now to turn to the young fellow who had decided to-

Oh my. He was out for blood. And distinctly covered in snow. ...Maybe best to get out while he had the chance. "Yes, thank you for helping me Mr., ah, Leonardo Alexander Gladstone," Shen said with a bow, "but I must be... departing now." And so he did. Best to get out of that before it escalated. And lucky he did, because it definitely did escalate.

Now where was the main hall he was supposed to go to...
***
Shen blinked twice in his seat. Well that was certainly an interesting speech by an equally interesting headmaster! And that talk of partners... Maybe he'd get to meet a modern mage, or perhaps a regular human! He'd never met either before... OR maybe a new race he hadn't seen? The options ran through his head as he funneled out of the hall along with the rest of the student body.

He stopped in place. If his family was outdated... Did that mean their social practices were as well? That Leonardo Alexander Gladstone fellow sure seemed fairly in line with their beliefs, but what if he was a pariah? Was that why he was getting into a fight with that hundredfold army of orcs? If so, then maybe Shen shojld just keep his mouth shut and gaze averted until someone instigated. Yes, that would be the safest option. At least until he figured out proper modern social ettiquette.

"Its no trouble." Jeremiah said holding the bags. Secretly he was glad he had Kasha summoned he was sure he would have fallen over if it weren't for her balance. I'll help you carry them up to your room once the headmaster finishes his speech." The headmaster was a talking stick. Jeremy sat in silence when his fellow first year had asked the question Jeremy was thankful that he was stunned or he would have asked first. He had a hard time paying attention to the stick's speech, he was trying to wrap his mind around it having breakfast. After the speech he walked back to were Loreal was sitting and gathered back up her bags.

"He's a talking stick?" Jeremy had to get conformation on what he had just seen just to be sure he hadn't lost his mind.

Jeremy look past her and saw a hoard of orcs charging a man who just stood holding his gun at the ready. Jeremy moved Loreal's bags to his left hand reached into his pack and pulled out his pistol planning to help defend the man fighting by himself. "Don't panic its just an illusion Jeremy!" Kasha whispered in his ear. Sure enough the man fired his strange weapon said something Jeremy couldn't hear over the other students filing out, then turned around and simply ignored the orcs.

Jeremy just placed the flintlock back into his bag and smiled. He was glad that his first day wouldn't be ruined by fighting. Looking over to Loreal he simply said "I'm ready to go whenever you are."