Her initial opinion of the boy was one of confusion, and perhaps slight approval. While she normally wasn't in the business of minding those from the servant cast, she had to admit, his skill at cleaning and the efficiency with which he conducted himself found no criticism from her. As it was, she chose the top bunk, both for practical reasons and sentimental one's, though she'd never openly state them. With that out of the way, she began unpacking her things.
It was at this moment Klaus offered his services in handling her clothes.
The tall girl felt her lips twitch downwards in displeasure, likely an automatic response. Logically, Klaus obviously meant no harm, and indeed if the uniform he wore was indicative of the kind of man he was, then she should be pleased, happy, even. It's not everyday that someone would willingly do your housework for you, and even do it gladly.
Past experiences clouded her judgement, however, and made her displeasure known vocally.
"I suggest," she began testily, "that you not be so flippant next time you offer to handle a woman's clothing, particularly of those whom you've just met. It is most suspicious."
As the words left her mouth, she began to agree with what had been a heat-of-the-moment feeling. It was indeed suspicious that a man would so willingly debase himself to be a servant to people who had never met before - unless, of course, he had an ulterior motive. Even seemingly normal people could move behind your back, doing things like stealing your unmentionables and selling them to perverts if given the chance, so what more a man that you explicitly allow to handle your things?
With that said, XinHua unpacked her things, and for good measure locked her cabinet. Shooting Klaus one last suspicious look, she turned and made her way to the cafeteria, returning later on and making doubly sure that her things were untouched.
@Savo The hulking figure turned and walked away without another word, much to the relief of several students. Still, a tense sort of awkwardness hung in the air - a result of the fact that Hilda was still holding his I.D.
Francisco patted her on the shoulder. "I'm thinking that this is the first time you've been challenge to a duel, yes?" He squeezed her shoulder slightly. "If so, you probably don't know what you're getting into."
The duel had been accepted, and now that it was official, the enforcers nodded to each other, some of them leaving the cafeteria. One approached Hilda.
"Will prepare a space in the dueling grounds for you. We'll call you later today, once it's prepared."
"I'd think about the terms of the duel in the meantime, if I were you," Francisco interjected. "But, ah, try not to overthink it." The flippancy in his tone was forced, and there was an obvious undercurrent of worry in it. The same worry was on the expressions of several students around Hilda, though some of them did have a look of excitement on their faces.
Well, it was to be expected. First day of classes and there was already an official duel, and Morholt of all people was involved. Things hardly got more exciting than that.
The enforcers got into the task of dispersing the people, and finally, things seemed to calm down for the moment. Eventually, things returned to normal.
Slowly, the mess hall was emptied out as students finished breakfast and turned to their rooms - most turned into catch up on some much needed sleep. Activity wouldn't pick up until afternoon, where most students began awaking once again. Classes wouldn't start until the next day, to give students some time to adjust to their surroundings, but the lecture halls and other facilities would be open in that time. More importantly, a list of available field trips had been releases, to the pleasure of many.
Time passed, and the dark of early morning gave way for a brilliant blue sky, signalling what was officially the start of a new day. @Jay Kalton
The room was situated on the top floor of the fifth dormitory building. It's door, rather than the single one that most rooms had, was replaced with large, sliding double doors. Even more unusual, was that it was eerily isolated - it alone occupied the whole floor, with no other rooms in sight.
Once the two girls entered, the firs thing that was noticeable was how unnaturally bare it was - most rooms had some sort of decoration, or maybe even furniture. The room had no such accommodations asides the single, small, dining table and chairs, and the accompanying kitchen. It was also, much, much more spacious - the ceiling was nearly thrice as tall as most other rooms and occupied nearly half the entire floor. Of course, the wide space was hardly inviting when the room itself was threadbare, with an insanely sterile atmosphere. The floor was tiled with black marble and the walls were painted a dull dark red.
Then there were the bedrooms; the first two were normal, single post bedrooms separated from each other. It was the bedroom across it that stood out - it's door was a huge iron gate that slid open sidewards, twice as tall as the other two bedroom's.
Finally, resting against the door, was a single, huge mace, rusted and covered in bloodstains. Behind the door a deep growling sound could be heard. Occasionally, a loud banging noise would echo through the room, before subsiding suddenly, only to return some time later.
Morholt never left the room, until later in the afternoon, mace in hand.
I think a majority are still here, just waiting for the pace to pick up. Admittedly, it's a bit slow and the recent delay of my next post isn't helping, but I'm sure activity will increase once the ball gets rolling.
It's left out intentionally for Hilda, who's new. For the older students, a duel starts by presenting your ID to the challenged. If the duel is accepted, then the challenger can name the terms of the duel. Technically, the challenger can name anything but duels also have social reprecussions, so skewing the erms in your favor too heavily is frowned upon.
Gold took note of how the situation had progressed, and it was almost enough to make her purr. Her time with Grandmaster Miltiades was well spent in terms of magical education. According to the grandmaster himself, her skill with her brand of magic was almost on par with a Master's, and in fact, in terms of control alone she was probably already Master-class.
Of course, it was one thing to be told that, and another to actually see those words in practice. Still, the way nobody had reacted or confronted her after she'd cast her spell told her that the grandmaster's words were on point. Nobody had even noticed how she was slightly altering the social climate to make things more, or less, hostile, in order to facilitate the outcome she desired.
A few minor hiccups had occurred, but not enough to completely derail her plans. The sudden disappearance of that first girl due to another girls intervention left her worried for a moment, as the that girl was one of her objectives, but she'd been returned soon enough, dropped out of the shadows looking slightly disoriented.
Add a few more people to the fray and the already messy scene became downright chaotic, culminating in the appearance of a giant box . . . dog, thing. By the time he'd arrived though, authorities were already approaching, no doubt intent on stopping the huge debacle. It didn't matter though. She'd need only plant on final suggestion in the minds of certain people, and her job here would be done.
As far as preliminary operations went, she'd say this one was a success.
"Meep!"
Under Kai's sudden barrage of questions, Karen had little time to formulate an immediate reply, instead tripping over her words as she struggle to form a coherent answer. "I-uh-yes! Maybe?! Waitaminute!" she squeaked realizing quickly that she was babbling, and that Kai had already ran out the door, excited about the prospect of a tour, much to her chagrin. With a fierce shake of her head, Karen attempted as best she could to relax and stepped outside after him.
"O-okay, uh, sure." She resumed answering his questions. "I'm a plague mage, so I make people sick I guess? - I'm not, like, any good at it though. I didn't improve at all from last year." Wonderful, not even three seconds out and she'd already managed to bring up her insecurities. Shaking her head, she changed the topic, while walking ahead of Kai. Let's see, if it was a tour, what would be the best place to start . . .
"So about the classes. Not everything is theoretical. We have mages that specialize in combat after all. Oh!" A sudden idea popped in her head. "That'd be a good place to start! I could show you the dueling grounds."
It looked like Kai was a combat-focused mage after all. He'd be interested in the dueling grounds. Maybe if they were lucky, some people would already be there using it, though that was highly unlikely given that the first term had just started. Well, whatever.
She led them to the train station nearest their dorm building. "So, I'm sure you've already ridden it but here's the train! It's magically powered and operated by a master ranked mage twenty-four seven. It moves at uuu-uh, 800 kilometers per hour, I think? Somewhere along those lines anyway." She shrugged, she wasn't really sure on the details - there were just facts that she'd read off the brochure when she first came to the university.
"Don't fret young one, the Enforcers are on their way." A professor seated next to the Headmaster said blithely, looking none to concerned despite her request. "Now, who takes the pot?"
Chuckling, the Headmaster nudged his head in the direction of a hazel-haired little girl seated to his right. Said girl grinned impishly in response. "I believe Polyanna won this one. Quite the prediction, but I knew better than to bet against her instincts."
There were four other professors seated at the table, and the lot of them grumbled in dissatisfaction at his words. The atmosphere among them was fairly cavalier, considering the topic, but then again it was to be expected. Such incidents were not uncommon after all, and it was only a matter of scale that would be cause of concern. With mages of all ages clumped up in one environment, with at least a third of them dedicated to practicing their art for the sole purpose of combat, it was a given that fights would occur. It was why the dueling grounds and the arena were constructed.
Still, Shen Li Feng was right, and it was ill-form to allow a fight to go on in a place such as the mess hall, which is why enforcers arrived a scant few moments later, just as the first woman had said.
Before Li Feng made to leave, however, the Headmaster addressed her once more. "Oh, and before I forget, it's quite good to meet you, Shen Li Fang. I've heard about your clan." As the Headmaster spoke, a subtle gleam was present in his eyes, probing the girl for a reaction. Under those eyes, one would find it very hard to get away with even unspoken truths. "As you've said, the university has graciously accepted to taking you under it's wing, despite the rather harsh backlash from the Gao Clan." At the mention of that clan Polyanna snorted derisively; it was apparent that she had no love or respect for the Chinese powerhouse. Another professor, Asian in appearance, stared hard at Shen Li Fang, not even feigning disinterest.
"I will not ask anything more from you than I do my other students. Namely, chase success, and respect that everything you do, you do in the boundries of the school, with everything that entails." It wasn't a threat, not reall - rather, it was a reminder of where she stood. Disorderly conduct would be met with the same consequences as everyone else, and criminal activity more so. The Headmaster, and the executives of the school, cared nothing about your standing or reputation.
Only your ability.
"Now, off you go. I hope you find the lodgings we've provided accomodating. I paid good money for their interior design after all."
@Pleek The enforcers arrived after Alex's display of BoxDog, running towards them only to slow down warily as they approached Morholt. Apparently, even the enforcers were wary of the hulking gray-skinned giant. Morholt himself had taken stock of the new arrivals, his eyes glancing at them for a moment before returning to the summon above him attempting to bite down. The giant actually gripped the summoned constructs mouth, and bent its teeth as though it were the cardboard it appeared to be, and tossed it back towards Alex with a grunt.
Glaring at Hilda and Francisco, the giant suddenly reached across its neck and snapped its I.D. off, tossing it to the girl. At the action, Francisco's eyes narrowed.
"Why don't you challenge me first? It hardly seems fair to challenge the person who was uninvolved just a scant few seconds earlier to a duel."
Morholt's only response was to growl at the man.
At this development, the enforcers had to pause their steady advance towards him. It was a bit of a cop out, but they couldn't do anything in the face of an official challenge, save wait for the outcome. Of course, Hilda had the option of refusing, and it wouldn't be unusual, however . . . Hilda inexplicably accepted. @HeroicSociopath@Natsu@Jay Kalton
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