[hr][hr][h3]Rodin[/h3][b][i]Kaides Estate - Hallways[/i][/b]
[@Remram][hr][hr] The panicked [b]Balbys[/b] whirled on Rodin as if he expected someone to attack him. Then, as the butler heaved fast breaths, he blinked in confusion. No doubt he was surprised that Rodin, of any of the Kaides children, had been the one to reach out to him. It was an open secret that the First Wife didn't think much of the half-breed, and many others in the household were the same. Balbys stepped back from the boy, and looked from side to side as if afraid someone would spot them together and assume they were conspiring. Rodin couldn't have known, of course, that the manservant was already on Amabilia's blacklist.

"Ah, Y-young Master R-Rodin... It's, it's nothing!" Balbys waved his hands, sweat clearly standing out on the man's brow. "J-just...a minor issue! After all, my lady wants everything perfect on---" His jaw tensed with every word-- "[i]Young Master Vincent's[/i] f-first day! Please, excuse my rudeness!" With a terse bow, he spun on his heel.

[b]But, Rodin's elven ears caught what others might have missed as the butler continued down the hall.[/b]
[sub]"That little bastard, he couldn't have found me out by himself! Someone else is in on this---out to ruin me! But two can play at that game---That milk-sucking brat thinks he's all grown up now, does he...?"[/sub][hr][hr][h3]Ferrucio[/h3][i][b]Kaides Estate Grounds - Servant's Gate[/b][/i]
[@ERode][hr][hr] "Ah, but..." The two guards looked at each other. Not being part of the household help involved in their childcare, it wasn't really typical for the men-at-arms to oppose any of the household children. Yet, one of them managed to muster up the courage to enforce the rules---or at least, attempt to keep himself from getting in trouble with someone whose word would overrule Ferrucio's.

"I'm sorry young master, but it's inadvisable to let you go alone. We should arrange at least a few guards to escort you." He looked at his companion, who nodded in support. "In fact, given today's importance, it might be even better if you just sent some of the help for this errand. What is it that you need so urgently?"

If Ferrucio waited around for the guards to run and get others, he would lose valuable time---but, at the same time, it would mean only one guard would remain behind to watch this gate. Yet, if he didn't try to force his way out or do something drastic like jumping the wall, there was also the possibility he could fast-talk himself out of the estate with a small posse in tow, and then maybe shake them off his tail. [hr][hr][hr][h3][i]Kaides Main House - Hallways[/i][/h3] 
[img]https://i.imgur.com/l6wMoFi.png[/img]
[h3]Sherry[/h3]
[@Silver Carrot][hr][hr] Now having given himself a cursory cleaning and donning something [url=https://i.imgur.com/oLxxLB9.jpg]more suitable[/url] than the outfit his mother had picked out, Vincent looked through a satchel one of the other servants had put together with his school supplies, presumably the previous night or something. His head raced with thoughts, but not of the Orientation.

[i]Awakening Aura needs to be the priority, I think. Even if I knew enough about the early days of the war to contribute any information, I don't have enough credibility for anyone to take me seriously. And to be honest, I was too far from the front lines to know much about those first two years. The first place hit on our soil was...Solvah, right? The "Dawn Massacre" or something, they called it? I don't even know if I could point Solvah out on a map. But if Viskard had gotten involved a lot earlier than that, we wouldn't have been caught with our pants down.[/i]

Despite his best efforts to crush it and remove the weakness from himself, Vincent had [i]some[/i] heart left. He fully intended to claw his way to the top of the Kaides and stomp down anyone who looked at him funny in this second life. But he would be a fool to ignore the Demons, and what they'd done. He hated those monsters, each and every one of them, [i]almost[/i] as much as he hated the Patriarch.

[i]And in order to re-Awaken my Aura...Because my Type was Sensation, I wonder if using the Kastell method would speed it up?[/i] Unlike the Incarnate Will Style he'd been forced to use, despite his physically frail stature as a child, the Kastell method's focus on manipulating the body's senses through water stimulation might have better suited him. [i]Or...[b]damn,[/b] there's an idea! Is it possible for me to develop a [b]different[/b] type than I originally had? Has anyone at this time figured out the Purification methods?[/i]

There was also the matter of undoing Balbys's crappy training methods, and putting some [i]real[/i] muscle on his tiny frame. With his head full of possibilities, Vincent walked the halls that his body seemed to remember better than his mind did in search of the stairs down to the ground floor. At some point, he remembered being taken by carriage to the Collegem...

Then, a flurry of long hair and long skirts shot past him. As he turned in surprise, Sherry braced herself against the wall, heaving as if she were going to vomit. But the expression of rage on her face was one that Vincent remembered well---even if she hadn't used it on him as frequently as some others. Ferrucio or one of the staff must have pissed her off already.

[i]Was she this mad the first time? I don't even remember if we saw each other before we got to the ceremony...[/i] He sighed. [i]Get yourself together, you bi---[/i]

Then he remembered the last time he [i]had[/i] seen her. Seen what the Demons had done to her---what they [i]would[/i] do to her, if things didn't change this time around. Just like with his mother, Vincent felt a painful throbbing in his chest that he wanted to shut out and couldn't. And then he saw the tears in the corner of her eyes as she picked up her proud little head.

"...Sister? Are you...alright?" he asked her, trying to put on his most innocent face as he stepped towards Sherry, his right hand hesitantly reaching out... [hr][hr][h3]Estelle, Isana, Ophelia, & Lady Crescence[/h3] [i][b]Kaides Main House, Ground Floor - Common Dining Hall[/b][/i]
[@Rune_Alchemist][@SilverPaw][@OwO][hr][hr] As Estelle, Ophelia, Isana, and the Lady Crescence watched Sherry suddenly flee from the room, they would see the poor flustered Giles spin in place to keep from dropping the tray of ice water and freshly brewed tea he'd brought as the young woman charged past him. As he barely managed to set it down without a single drop escaping the glass or kettle, he sighed in relief---only to jump again as the First Wife herself, Amabilia, barged into the dining hall through the other room.

"Sherry, I've been looking all over---!" she began, but the girl was already gone, running far too fast for her untrained mother to even think of catching up. As the noblewoman snapped her fan out and fanned herself in irritation, she turned on the other four women in the room.

"Crescence! What have your girls done to upset her so!?" she demanded in a crisp tone. Then, her eyes locked on the wheelchair-bound Estelle, and her brow furrowed beneath her silken veil. "Don't tell me...are you still making those accusations about Estelle's accident?!" The First Wife pointed one shiny, sharp nail at the Second. "If you [i]must[/i] take out your anger in such an uncouth manner, at least have the common decency to come to me directly---don't you [i]dare[/i] to accost [i]my[/i] children!"
[hr][hr][h2]As Time Passes...[/h2][hr][hr]
[h3]When you are ready to move on to the Orientation, you may read the following:[/h3]
[hider=TO THE COLLEGEM]
[h3]It wasn't long until the servants had prepared each Family's carriages to take the various Kaides Clan children to the Collegem.[/h3] Sleek, black boxes with red velvet interiors pulled by two fine horses apiece, there would be room enough for four people per carriage. [b]More than likely, each of the Patriarch's wives would want their children to stay together, but if (especially in the case of the noble cousins) decided to hop into a carriage with their relatives,[/b] the drivers themselves wouldn't risk making much fuss about it so long as no one started fighting in the seats.

The journey to the Collegem would be relatively uneventful, but would give the Regressors their first "new" look at the city of Kaidisyum. The great bells of St. Matthyas's Cathedral could be heard across most of the settlement, and from the Kaides Estate the grand church's beautiful ivory steeples could be seen glinting in the morning sun. The smoke of the Ironworks, further across the scattered silouhettes of many stone-and-jettied buildings, curled into the air only to be ushered away by the wind, as if the city itself didn't want anything to ruin this day for its founding family. Soldiers of the city watch, out and about on their patrols, stopped and saluted the lines of men-at-arms who accompanied the carriage caravan. 

Their route took them away from the less clean-cut areas of the city---there were no signs of the slums, or the shanty homes of the outer walls that belonged to all those who labored to keep the nobles fed and clothed. Kaidisyum's best foot had to be put forward under the eye of its future administrators, after all.

They would arrive at the Collegem Yllustre almost in the manner of a parade. Upon crossing the quad and circling the great fountain before the main building's entrance, the carriages did not stop, but instead continued down the other side of the paved lanes in order to round the corner and approach the Collegem's Grand Arena. There was already an incredible crowd of students, both new and old, gathering in the stands of the enormous, eliptical structure, while the faculty and other officials bustled on the arena down below to finish last-minute preparations for the Orientation Ceremony.

Of course, the Kaides House had an entire section of the stands dedicated for their use. It wasn't just for their children, though they would be front and center in the long rows of seats, but also for any students that the family provided scholarships for (in the hopes that they would one day make for good vassals) and for the many servants who would accompany the children to make sure their dorm rooms were properly furnished, their wardrobes kept tidy, and so on and so forth.

It seemed that [b]Sylas Kaides and his family[/b] had already beaten the rest of their household here, having elected not to wait for the train of carriages coming from the Estate...

[h3]The speeches of the faculty were rather predictable.[/h3] Though any first-year students would be hearing them for the first time, they were mostly rote to the older trainees by now. The school thanked all the noble families in attendance for their support, bragged about how proud the collegem staff would be to implement this year's batch of new projects and reforms, reported the previous year's achievements and outlined how they planned to surpass them this year, and welcomed any new staff or announce any changes in which faculty would be conducting which classes. Then, of course, the rules and expectations and school policies were outlined for the students---many of whom would likely already be aware of what burdens they would be under, and how to get around them. A double handful or so of upperclassmen---mostly from the Elite Class---would have their achievements and rewards announced, to applause that almost seemed rehearsed.

[h3]And then came the Class Sorting---the only part anyone likely cared about.[/h3] At this point, [b]new students would almost invariably be sorted into the Common Class[/b] unless the school had received reliable reports about exceptional achievements before their admittance---or, in a rare but admittedly not unknown number of cases, if the right palms had been greased. [b]Students who had been enrolled for more than a single semester[/b], however, could [b]possibly be sorted into the higher classes[/b] if they had made the grades and shown enough improvement during their time at the Collegem. [b]It was known, however, that the number of students who rose from the Noble to the Elite Class each semester never numbered more than the fingers on one hand.[/b]

[b]However, if one took issue with their placement as it was announced, there was one rarely used recourse for appeal: the Class Challenge.[/b]

As the last name was read off the list, the faculty in charge of said rolls would pause dramatically, eyes sweeping over the crowd. It was never officially stated, and neither was it written in the students' handbooks. But for those who knew, the Class Challenge was a chance to raise their ranking within this vicious knight-to-be hierarchy. By announcing their intent and naming an opponent, a student could ask for a duel right there, in the Grand Arena, with every student and faculty member in attendance. By defeating a student in their own class, they could raise their ranking and show off their skills to the faculty in hopes of proving themselves a worthy investment---but by defeating a student in a [i]higher[/i] class, no matter how low that student's ranking within said class, [b]the challenger could be promoted to that same class.[/b]

Of course, there was [i]some[/i] risk, especially for those in the Noble or Elite classes. If anyone lost to a student [i]above[/i] them in rank, they would not suffer any penalties. But if a student was defeated by another who was in the same class or below them in rank, they could instead be [b]demoted[/b]. This was yet another reason that the Elite Class remained so prestigious---those in the lower ranks of Elites were constantly being dragged down by the overly competitive higher ranks of the Noble Class.

[b]One of the first hands to shoot up was that of young Vincent Kaides, who arguably shouldn't even have known about such a method of raising his status yet...[/b]

[quote=GM][color=red][b]Very few, if any, of the Player Characters would have reached the Elite Class before age 21 in their First Life, but it's quite possible that they worked and toiled their way up to the Noble Class. Will you dare to Challenge another Student, to attempt to get a leg up as early as possible in this Second Life? Feel free to introduce an NPC of lesser importance---perhaps someone who was a thorn in your side in your school days, or someone you remember that became an enemy later in life, or some other sort of background character. You even have permission to fully control the fight and defeat them without GM input if you'd like...THIS time...[/b][/color][/quote][/hider]