Clockwork Souls [IC]

[encapturer]

If one would ask Amelia before this, she would not have believed you if you said that she would get into some sort of fight in her dorm room room with her roommate.  Hell, she could barely process it right now.  For now Claw Crusher was up in front of her as a shield.  Her automaton blocked a few strickes from Caeil, as it moved on its own to block each strike.

 

'Alright, time to go on the offensive,' Amelia thought, as she grabbed Claw crusher' handlebars with her right hand, and pointing it towards Caeil.  The pointed end split apart once again, the claw primed once again to destroy something.

 

'Wait... what am I doing?  This is Caeil!'  Amelia collapsed backwards onto the floor, taking Claw Crusher down with her.  The pointed end closed back, reverting to its shield form.  Amelia began to laugh nervously.

 

"Hahaha... you must think I'm out of my mind right now, trying to attack you like this," she said, not looking up at Caeil.  'There's no way I can ask for her after I just threatened her like this' she thought, turning her head to the side in shame.

[Enrise]

"This is. . . idiotic."

 

For the longest time since he arrived here, there were no fights for several days. And now, all of the sudden, a lift on the no-combat rules has been risen, and that means anyone is free to fight anyone. Krieger wasn't paying attention about the scoring nonsense, he just knew that he wasn't going to lose, not to a bunch of sheltered nobles who don't know what real battle is like. Experience over rank in this case.

 

Krieger only found himself walking through the school hallways, and yet not being challenged by anyone. Was it because of his size and physique? Or perhaps was it because of his giant sword that was mounted to his back? The sword could be used for show instead of actual usage, and that could give people an incentive to fight him.

 

He was walking past the infirmary, where he expected a flood of students inside, yet to his immediate surprise, there wasn't. Perhaps they were still fighting? He was more likely surprised no one blew up the school yet. . . yet.

 

"Ah, there's a first."

 

He saw a fairly large woman with. . . antennas sticking out of her head, carrying a fairly young and small boy. Considering the situation, he didn't think that this woman would put the boy aside just to fight Krieger. The boy appeared to be unconscious, or just silent, so he might've gotten it pretty bad by now. Underneath his cloak, Kreiger clenched his fist.

[Astolfo]

Zeta was laying face down, unconscious. While he was unconscious, the battle had raged on, before Ezeltainn shut down Zan'In's automatons, and then Stellar proceeded to completely crush the bully, before leaving with Freed. As Johannes, a taller 19-year-old classmate turned him over, asking him if he could move, it appeared as if Zeta would not wake for a while, and it seemed the pain as well as the Animus drain had taken too much out of him. Lolling limply, drying blood could be seen near the scalp, as well as a large bruise just below his left eye, and a lacerated jaw. Dried blood could also have been seen on the side of his mouth as well as somewhat out of his eyes, from just the strain it took to use his Daedalus Weapon while he had been healing originally anyways. As Aegis came over, she looked somewhat worried, looking at Zeta's unconscious face. She asked if he needed medicine, but asked if he needed Animus, due to her thinking he was an automaton - which was not entirely incorrect. Her words fell on deaf ears though, the boy still unaware.

He began to stir though when Aegis touched his cheek, his face twisting slightly, as it tickled somewhat. Blinking groggily, he struggled to open his eyes, peering up at a two - or rather three - familiar faces. Looking up at Johannes, Polly, and Aegis, he remembered about Freed, and got up quickly, grunting in pain briefly. As he looked around, he realized that Zan'In was completely defeated, and lay resigned on the ground, and to his relief, that must meant Freed had left, while he saw Ezeltainn nearby, and sighed, relieved his friends were alright. However, he suddenly froze. Freed and Zan'In would know about him being an automaton, as well as seeing his Daedalus Weapon. He wasn't sure if the others saw, and tensed up, before tentatively asking Aegis. "Aegis…? Did you… maybe see anything w-weird?" Stumbling over the word, he knew how weird it must've sounded if she didn't see, but but he had to know, but he didn't want to risk knowing an answer he might not like. I'm… a freak… Would they despise me…? I… wouldn't blame them… It's… normal… Despite the battle with the bully having been won, he couldn't help but feel he had been useless. He had collapsed, and who knows what happened while he was out? As Zeta was thinking, he saw drops splatter onto the ground, and with surprise, realized he was crying slightly, and hurriedly wiped his eyes dry. Last thing I need to show is more weakness… I'll… probably be on my own now… I wonder if… she… hates being my roommate now…

[Maeriberii Haan]

[hr]Caeil[hr]

 

As Amelia readied her automaton to attack her, Caeil was bracing for the potential impact. But suddenly, Amelia backed down to the floor along with her automaton.

 

"Hahaha... you must think I'm out of my mind right now, trying to attack you like this,"

 

Caeil became confused. The girl who several seconds ago tried to attack her, now suddenly backed down.

 

"Tch, and things were starting to be good....But oh well, at least I can save my energy for something better to do."

 

Since there was no more danger anymore, she turned off her Gliederfusser and started to get dressed, before attempting to go outside yet again.

 

"Ah, Amelia. Maybe next time we can actually have a proper fight, but for now, I need to go. 

 

And also, may I look into your automaton when I went back here?" Caeil said, before she slammed the door behind her.

[encapturer]

"Yeah, you wouldn't want to fight me right now," Amelia said, tired of Caeil's grandstanding.  In Amelia's mind, either she would lose... or Caeil's automatons would become scrap metal.  It's just that Claw Crusher has so much overwhelming destructive strength that Amelia failed to find any other outcome.  While it would feel good to humble Caeil a bit, neutering her ability to defend herself from seniors would be a bad idea in the grans scheme of things.  Still, it seemed like Caeil had something to do, so Amelia just let her go.  "Yeah, I'll see you..." Amelia said, though Caeil was gone by then.  After Caeil left, a realization hit Amelia like a ton of bricks.  "Why did I not think of this before," she said to herself, facepalming.

 

The reason why she didn't want to fight Caeil would become a tactical weapon against the seniors looking for easy wins.  Amelia got dressed, grabbed Claw Crusher and headed back out into the wilderness known as the Daedalus College campus grounds.  Unlike the time she fearfully ran back to her dorm, she projected confidence as she walked out those doors.  The idea was not to rack up wins for herself, but to weaken the enemy.  She knew pretty much all of the freshman class by sight, which will help not to accidentally make things harder for them.  But the seniors?

 

Their automatons and weapons were about to become scrap metal.

[Magikarp!!!]

As Aquilla lay there in her fear and humiliation, she heard a knock on the door. “That must be Audrey. Oh well. If he needs to get in, he will let himself in.” Sure enough, she heard the door open shortly after. Aquilla continued to lie under the blanket, one of the only safe places in this crazy school. The next thing that happened, however, surprised her. All of a sudden, Audrey was in her room, and had pulled the blanket off of her. “Audrey?! What are you doing in my room?” However, rather than answering her question, Audrey began asking his own, “What's wrong? Are you sick? You look afraid some reason." Aquilla wasn’t completely sure how to respond. She was feeling so many things at this moment; she wasn’t sure what to say first. So, instead of saying anything, she ended up shouting it, “What’s wrong? What’s WRONG?!? I’ll tell you, what’s wrong! I don’t belong here! Every single other person here is a combat-hardened warrior, and if step foot out that door, they’ll eat me alive! I can hardly fight at all, I don’t have any automatons, and my only weapon is one that is hardly even suited to basic combat! I can’t make myself stronger, I can’t run at ridiculous speeds, I don’t even know how to fire a gun! You wouldn’t understand. You are stronger. You are used to fighting. I bet you were THRILLED when Annika made that announcement, weren’t you? You have probably been spending all day strutting around, just HOPING that somebody will try to attack you! You are just going to have the time of your life out there, racking up points and having fun while I just hide in here and inevitably get kicked out of the school at the end of the year when I have ZERO POINTS!!!” At this point, tears were running down Aquilla’s face, and she realized that she was yelling in the face of a person she had only known for a few days over something that wasn’t even his fault. “I… I am so sorry, Audrey. You didn't deserve to hear that. I am just a kid in over my head. You don’t need to bother with me, I am a lost cause.” She looked down at the mattress, trying to hide her obvious distress. "Just go..."

[Aix]

Freed was seriously embarrassed in his position. The girl carrying him was smothering his body with her oversized milk jugs, and though it felt good, the shame was overwhelming him. "Ah... um... Stellar..." he began, but then thought better of it. "Nevermind."

 

I'll just go with it, he thought and, fortunately, it wasn't too long after when they arrived at the infirmary. "Thank you," he said with a nod of appreciation as he was set down onto a bed.

 

"I suppose the bed doesn't feel quite as good, huh?" commented a cheerful-looking medical student as he came by to observe Freed's injuries and immediately, Freed's face flushed red. "Ah, you may leave now, he's in good hands," the student said to Stellar before turning back to his patient. "Now, if I'm not mistaken... this is Zan'In and his hummingbirds' work."

 

"Do you recognize everyone in the academy's fighting style?" asked Freed.

 

"Haha, I've been here for quite a while, I know quite a lot of them," said the medic with a wry smile. "Never really managed to graduate since Seph took over the student council four years ago, I'm no good for anything other than treating the injured, you see."

 

"Four years ago?"

 

"Ah, yes, Seph's actually an alumni, but since he's the principal's son, he stays," said the medic. "The principal benefits greatly from Seph's talents, actually. Seph was the one who sorted you guys into your classes, I assume. Well, that's due to the fact that he's highly sensitive to Animus to the point where he can even judge a person and find out a lot about them solely by approaching them."

 

"That's... amazing," said Freed. He couldn't even do that himself despite being... different from ordinary people.

 

"That's not the end of it, not even close. Seph's manipulation of Animus is possibly unmatched throughout the Empire or even the world. He's a once-in-a-century kind of genius and intuitively managed to figure out nearly every application of Animus by himself and uses Animus in ways you can't even imagine," said the medical student. "With his combat prowess, he probably could have staged a coup d'etat and taken out Lighthall Keep on his own, crowning himself as King and no one would've been able to stop him. The Empire feared this, and crippled Seph somehow when he was twelve, damaging his internals and permanently limiting his Animus use."

 

"That's horrible!" cried Freed, suddenly sitting up.

 

The medical student raised an eyebrow. "You are already healed."

 

"Ah... yes..." he had been slowly mending his tendons the entire time, even while the hummingbird's were still inside, he was preparing his cells for reconnection.

 

"Are you considering becoming a medic?" the medic asked while closely observing the places where the incisions were made. "You are quite talented."

 

"I'll consider it," said Freed, sliding himself off the bed. Standing up, he extended a hand. "It was nice talking to you. My name is Freed. And you?"

 

"Kenneth," the student replied, accepting the handshake. "Well, I have other things to attend to. See you around."

[Maeriberii Haan]

[hr]Letty[hr]

 

"No one told me about classes being cancelled.... Or maybe I just missed the note or something.

 

Well, seems like I just wasted several minutes of my life." 

 

Letty sighed. Even after 2 years of teaching, she still often missed important announcements. She thought that maybe the rest of the staffs withheld the information from her, but she dismissed the thought. Walking without direction after realizing that classes were cancelled, she then decided to go to the academy's library, to read some books and maybe take a little nap there. 

 

On her way there, she bumped into one of her students, Helen. As she literally bumped into her, Letty realized something really strange. For a quite slim girl, she felt really heavy. But now, Letty decided to keep her questions to herself, as Helen seems to be really in a hurry.

 

"Good day eh, Helen? You seems to be in a hurry. Where are you going to?"

 

Helen didn't answered, and she immediately went away from Letty. This left Letty wondering, but since Letty respected her privacy, she decided to not pursue her.

 

"Helen seems to be hiding something really vital, and that piqued my interest. 

 

 

...Could it be...she's actually...?"

 

Before she could finish her train of thought, yet another stray projectile was coming at her direction, which she effortlessly dodged.

 

"...Looks like there's still some students who still need some good lecture. Oh well, mystery solving can be delayed for another day."

[a bad post]

"Yeah sure, we can be like the best of friends... but I'mma kick you butt first," Vickky replied with a big smile following Sarah out to the courtyard. Here the girls found several boys, likely Juniors and Seniors waiting to the see the cat fight, more or less likely to note the girls' fighting strategies, but they could have had other reasons too.

 

"I hope you boys are ready for a show... hey wait a second how do we know they're not just gonna wait until we rough each other up a bit and then gang up on us after we're tired. In that case let's not try to beat to much crap out of each other, cause we may still need some fight left in us afterword, kay?"

 

With that done, Vickky took a position on other side of the circle of boys in a fighting stance, "Ready when you are."

[The Warden]

Zeta was weakening, obviously his mechanized parts were of great concern to him. Or rather, their concealment. It seems that when a secret is blown Zeta wears his emotions right on his sleeve, and in front of the girl who had to save him too. Now would be a good time to employ the greatest skill of the nobles: The Cover-up. "It appears that he is quite distraught by your presence... Aegis, wasn't it? Hmm. Well, as it would appear so, I will guide him to the infirmary so that he may be looked at. He took a powerful beating that needs to be attended to post-haste. You... Aegis? You should assist Ezeltainn, as he is in a bad way as well" Johannes said as he placed a commanding grip on Zeta's shoulder. "Come on" he ordered and marched Zeta off, no doubt to Aegis' confusion.

 

[hr]

 

The path Johannes took wasn't exactly direct to the infirmary, but no doubt Zeta would survive. He's already survived worse to end up with mechanized parts after all, but some things need straightening out. He stopped the march in a deserted hallway, and then with his continued grip he pinned Zeta to the wall. Polly slithered up Johannes' back and onto his shoulders and arm, so that he may stare Zeta directly in the eye. "I think it's time we discussed you Zeta. I have been noticing some oddities about you that the others have failed to notice. Before you begin to make up excuses or start your sob story, I already knew you were partially automaton the moment we all waited for that gate to open four days ago. But this leads me to something else, Zeta. Your parts do not make as much noise as the bandaged girl's does. Helen, isn't it? Right, her parts have a loudness to them; the loudness of a false core. Yours don't however, they hum quite quietly that I almost never even hear them. That weapon you had was a true Daedalus Weapon, wasn't it? They're very pricey, and only the veyr rich or the very lucky can obtain them. Especially one operated by three true Daedalus Cores. So, tell me, with no lies now: Are your automaton parts operated by a true Daedalus Core?"

[Merci]

Isaiah

 

When he found out who he was mates with, Isaiah said only two words; "How annoying." And once she heard those words, she shut her mouth and didn't say a single thing.

 

Having deemed this Minori to be untalented and thus unworthy of his time on the spot, this was the reason why neither of them had spoken a single word to the other. It was obvious that they wouldn't get along. It was obvious that their worldviews were different. There was no point in trying to force it, and Isaiah didn't even bother as he spent the nights on a table, drawing sketches and tinkering with metal, quietly enough so that he didn't disturb his pathetic roommate. He was trying his best to tolerate her presence.

 

Apart from that, everything was going splendid, and he established himself to be one of the most intelligent students in the college, above all the others in terms of sheer calculations and judgment, though he did fail when it came to channeling Animus through himself. Even so, his genius talent was enough to earn the admiration of many of the teachers -except for Assad, who seemed to not like him very much for his way of thinking-, and as for those he admired, he was impressed by Letty. Though he'd heard rumors, he was also very interested in seeing her Destroyer-class automaton.

 

Amongst his fellow freshmen, he'd picked out a fair amount of noteworthy people that he was interested in; including Zeta, Ezeltainn, Aegis, Helen (whom he stalked every now and then as soon as he found out about her nature), and of course Aquilla, whom he continued to befriend. He hadn't gotten much of a chance to look at the contraption she called 'Pinnam Ensis' yet though. Following his word, he visited Caeil to help her on her understanding of bullet motion, and while he had the chance to observe what she did, his opinion of her changed - this girl was indeed a genius. Luckily enough, he'd managed to come in while her roommate was out. During all this time, he'd tried his very best to avoid Amelia. If she recognized him and mentioned anything about his humiliating behavior.

 

...Life went on, and Isaiah worked on his own projects in his free time. He had assembled Jupiter II, something he considered to be the ultimate automaton. Now, it was ready for combat against anything. As a Terminator-class, nothing could possibly threaten it, and he'd learned very little on the automaton classes on how to improve it more.

 

That was when the announcement came. The most ridiculous announcement ever, and yet when he heard the words, it was like a fire had been sparked in his soul. The first thing he did was hide and rely upon his gadgets to keep track of the outside world, picking up on different events happening around the academy with his amplification headphones, and gradually collecting information. Then, as a certain something caught his attention, he moved out...

 

 

...

 

 

"Why, of course they are. Isn't that right, Zeta?"

 

Walking out of a corner, Isaiah had a triumphant grin on his face as he faced the two other students. A faint glow came from the amplifier-headphones on his head, allowing him to catch upon any sound frequency and amplify it, and his mechanical goggles were over his eyes, allowing him to modify his vision without restraint.

 

Having been observing all of Zeta's actions from a long distance away, remaining unnoticed as he absorbed in the entire details of his combat abilities and mechanical comprehension, a rare chance, he had been genuinely surprised when he found out Zeta's true nature as an automaton...or semi-automaton, anyway. Judging by the blood, he was still part-human, if that was even possible. But it was what came afterwards that truly shocked him. He pulled out a horribly unnatural Daedalus Weapon sword, defying even the logistical generation of a single True Animus Core, and...well, a lot of things happened. But whatever the case, he agreed wholeheartedly with Johannes's observations - perhaps he'd underestimated the abilities of the birdman - and he wasn't about to let this opportunity disappear.

 

"I know naught of the circumstances that brought you here..." Isaiah said, pulling up his left sleeve to reveal what appeared to be a very long bracelet.

 

However, this contraption then expanded into the form of a dark, metallic Daedalus Weapon gauntlet that went all the way to his elbow, multiple barrels of different lengths attached to and rotating around it, each of which with their own specific proportions. It looked fairly simple in design at first, but this was because the majority of its functions remained inside like any decently complex machine, and there was something inherently wrong with it. Like someone had taken a beautiful angel and twisted her wings until her ability to fly had been replaced with the ability to smash walls through them. Even if it had a False Core, its potential was maximized by its design. This was his signature weapon, the Gantfall, designed not for combat, but for instant fatal injuries and death. He held it up at the duo without hesitation.

 

"But since you have so many, I would appreciate just one. After all, my Jupiter II requires it to reach its full potential." Isaiah spoke with a grin, and his gaze moved from Zeta to Johannes. "Move out of the way now, would you? I wish to negotiate with Zeta."

 

 

[hr]

 

Assad

 

Haha!

 

As soon as he heard the announcement, in direct contrast to Letty's distaste, Assad was incredibly pleased. This was the moment he'd been waiting for, the start of what was to be the greatest year! A complete battle royale throughout the entire area! He could still distantly recall his terror during the time he heard that announcement while he'd been at this college, and he knew just the thing to intensify that feeling for everyone else. But he contained himself. One more day, he told himself, and then he would introduce his beloved Akilza to the freshmen and sophomores alike.

 

 

[hr]

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Audrey

[hr]

Audrey was very surprised when he heard Aquilla suddenly lash out at him for no particular reason. Who wouldn't be? He just got yelled oat by somebody who he only knew for less than a week. While Aquilla continued to dish out her pent-up distress at him, Audrey just stood there, with equally mixed emotions as her own. When Aquilla finished her little emotion spike and told him to sod off, Audrey knew he needed to do something, anything to help his dormmate. "Well, I suppose you are right about one thing." Audrey said, sitting down beside Aquilla in a hope that she might feel more comfortable. "I am pretty excited about this thing. And I probably would never understand how you truly feel. But you're wrong on all other accounts. If you're really that scared of the others, then... I'll just protect you. How's that sound?" Audrey paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "Nobody's gonna attack you, and even if they do, then I'll just make sure they never do so again. And about you getting kicked out of school... That won't happen, either. I dunno how, but I'll work something out. You can have my word for this, Aquilla. Come on, don't frown like that. You look much more beautiful when you smile, you know?" While the last part sounded like a desperate attempt to hook up with Aquilla, Audreys need to protect her was genuine, and not just because she's a girl. At some point in his childhood, before learning how to channel Animus properly, he lived in fear of bullies because of his Germanic looks and accent. While he has forgotten most of it, he can still sympathize with Aquilla on some levels.

 

Aegis

[hr]

"Weird? No, not really. I guess, you being an Automaton is kinda weird.. But, that's fine by me. You're not fully Automaton, right?" Aegis quickly responded to Zeta's question. She didn't know why Zeta looked so much in despair after the battle. Based from what she can see, Zeta didn't suffer from too many injuries, and the fact that he's half machine means he can survive a much heavier beating than anyone else can. While she's still trying to get over the fact that her dormmate is half machine, the scary looking man from earlier suddenly took him away to the infirmary. It all happened so quickly that she could barely have time to react. She would have tried to catch up with Zeta and the other guy, but she felt too afraid to spend another second with him. So, she did what he suggested and hurried to Ezeltainn, only to find that he's not too badly injured as well. As a matter of fact, she couldn't see any real damage on him. 

 

"Hey, Ezel... You're fine, right? Well, even if you're not, you know the way to the infirmary anyway. Here, take these." Aegis walked up to Ezel and placed two bottles in his hand. "One of it's explosive, the other's medicine.. I think. Anyway, bye for now. If you wanna talk to me, I'll be in my room." With a tired tone in her voice, Aegis hurriedly left the scene and headed towards her room and, more importantly, the bathtub. So many things has happened so quickly for Aegis' liking, so she decided to think it down over a hot bath. "So... My dormmate's a half-robot, which is very cool, the school's a bloody battlefield, which is slightly less cool, and it's also filled with terrifying men... Hoo boy..." 

 

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

[hr]Caeil[hr]
Caeil was running as fast as possible in the direction of her classroom, having remembered about the existence of several unused cores there.

''This'll be easier than fighting someone to obtain it. Ah, maybe there'll be some cores from other battles along the way?''

On her way there though, she saw a quite interesting sight, the smug boy Isaiah was facing her two other classmates who she didn't bother to remember their names, holding some kind of gauntlet while it seemed like one of the two person he was facing is injured quite badly.

''Maybe I can stay here and watch how this'll end.

...But, that'll look like I care for that smug boy. And I can't afford to waste my time for a casual's show. Well then, I'll continue my own way.''

Just as she walked away of the scene, Isaiah said something that made Caeil froze in her current place.

"But since you have so many, I would appreciate just one. After all, my Jupiter II requires it to reach its full potential." That statement made Caeil started to be curious.

''Wait, 'so many?' 'reaching full potential?' Could it be that the injured boy possessed something really powerful? Maybe even a Daedalus Core? Yes! I don't have to go to other place, since what I've been looking for is already here. Now, I'll just-''

But, seeing the intimidating weapon of Isaiah, Caeil decided to stay still.

''Meh, a heavy direct contact weapon wouldn't be good for my shields right now. I guess a direct approach is out of the question. Maybe I can just wait until the battle is concluded, then if the situation permits it, I'll steal the bounty, whatever that might be.''

And Caeil just watched as the scene unfolded before her.

[InfernaLiza]

After suddenly realizing he needed to get back to his room, and hearing that those two were going to be friendly, Arthur quickly shouted while running off, "Ehh, forget what I just said, and good luck Sarah. Sorry I can't stay, I've got something I gotta do!" He then proceeded to run off to his room.

 

Once he got back to his room, he sat down at his workbench and started working on his newest project; building an automaton.

 

He had already been working on it before his first day in Daedalus, so he already had made a large amount of progress on it.

(OOC: After nearly mastering weapon-smithing/engineering, Arthur recently started learning/practicing how to create smaller automatons, and has been building one for himself.)

 

Let's try bringing you to life.....  He then reached out towards his partially unfinished automaton, and started channeling Animus into it's Core, and with a quiet whir, the small winged automaton came to life. Now, being as it is unfinished, it did not have any weaponry installed, so all it could do was fly around the room (which it proceeded to do a few times, until it landed on Arthur's forearm).

 

"Yes! I did it! Finally, I made my own automaton...." After feeling such a rush of excitement and joy, Arthur decided to start creating it's weaponry immediately.

 

(OOC: The automaton is slightly smaller than a falcon, and resembles [unbeknownst to the characters, unless there is that sort of mythology in Brittania] a dragon in appearance.)

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Stellar nodded when the medical student (Kenneth) told her she could go now. But... something felt off.

 

'Maybe that girl that told me I was a show-off was right,' Stellar thought to herself, 'If there's one thing I know about the other seniors, it's that they always tend to strike when their opponents are least prepared for it. I best be on my guard; one of them could be waiting for me for all I know,'

 

Trying to remain vigilant of whoever dared try to sneak up on her, Stellar left the infirmary in lower spirits than normal.

[encapturer]

<NULL POST>

[Magikarp!!!]

Aquilla couldn’t tell if she was offended or grateful when Audrey offered to protect her. He was starting to impress her a bit more, actually trying to help her out rather than just fighting her for easy points. “Maybe I misjudged him…” She looked up into his eyes, which were also looking into hers. For a split second, she thought that the two of them might be having a “moment,” but before she could think much more on how she felt about her roommate, he opened his mouth. “You look much more beautiful when you smile, you know?" Hearing this, she couldn’t help but smile a bit, but when she turned the words over in her head, she came to a small realization. “Oh. He is hitting on me. Well, it could be worse…” Aquilla’s small smile morphed into a grin. “Sure. I will take you up on that offer, but don’t get the wrong idea; this doesn’t make me your girlfriend or anything.”

 

[hr]

 

Robby woke with a start. Glancing around him, it took a minute for him to realize exactly where he was: jail. Again. He tried to stretch, but he was frustrated to notice that his hands were bound with some special new kind of cuff that appeared to be powered by Animus. Looking through the bars, he saw the guard and, more importantly, the ring of keys at his waste. Robby examined the cuffs, and noticed a small keyhole. Banging the contraption lightly on the bars, he shouted to the guard, “Yo! Are you going to let me out of these, or am I? I am honestly fine either way, but hey, this is your place so I thought that I would let you decide.”

[Enrise]

The hulking woman carrying the boy didn't seem to have the desire to fight, passing Krieger by, and he passed them. He didn't want to cause immediate suspicion  upon himself, which may attract an unwanted fight. When the two parties passed, he looked behind him and saw the two go into the infirmary. While Krieger thought that the woman might be able to handle herself easily in combat, he thought the opposite of the boy. He seemed to be small, weak, frail. By no means did Krieger thought of this as derogatory or insulting, but just what he appeared to have assumed from the outer appearance. Kreiger hoped he was wrong, but he just stood there as they walked in.

 

"Hmph. Darwinism takes its toll. . ."

 

Krieger was leaning up against the wall nearby, waiting for someone to come out. He still hadn't gone over how this school demonstrates the desire for the strong, especially from what he learned about the first day.

 

[hr]Flashback. . .

 

"Err...how should I word it....There was some sort of...messy greeting from this academy to the freshmen."

 

[hr]

 

"I can only imagine how much worse these things are going to be. Hmm?"

 

The large woman walked right out of the infirmary, though she seemed to have a different vibe than when she entered. Krieger was still leaning up against the wall. He opened his mouth to the woman.

 

"He gonna be alright?"

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

"Well... he's in good hands at least," Stellar told the guy that she had just found leaning against the infirmary wall (Krieger), "I'm more worried about the other seniors. One of them tried to get an easy kill off of a weakened junior, and then he stepped in and tried to stop him, and then another junior that I managed to befriend earlier. This third one was actually doing quite well against the senior, so I thought I'd give him a helping hand."

 

She didn't know how much more she wanted to tell this stranger, but Stellar owed at least that much.

 

...

 

Meanwhile, in the crowd full of men, Minori was still waiting for the fight to actually start, and had just about enough of this trash talk going back and forth.

 

"Quit stalling already!" he yelled at the two, "We wanna see shit happening today, not next semester!"

 

The audience rabbled in general agreement, before continuing to chant the words, "CAT... FIGHT!! CAT... FIGHT!! CAT... FIGHT!!"

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Aegis

[hr]

After about half an hour spent in the bathtub doing nothing but play with the water and worrying about Zeta's condition, Aegis finally got bored and went to what she's best at: disassembling machines. While taking a bath, she can't help but think about her Zeta's Automaton parts. While she only thought of them as some kind of big, lumbering, ineffective giants, the senior's own Automaton and Zeta made her re-evaluate what she thought about them. So, immediately after leaving the bath, without taking the time to get dressed, Aegis went to her guns collection and begun to take them apart. One by one, the barrel, the trigger, the handle, everything was put together. Eventually began to take form as a small, humanoid object barely 20 centimetres tall. It had a rifle's scope for eyes, and it was designed in a way so that it can see targets in a 360 degree vision, essentially covering all of Aegis' blindspots when she is in a sniping position. "Alright... That should be it.. Now, what could be missing... Oh, right! The core! Lessee, I think one of these things came with a false core..." Because she was planning to install a core into Laevateinn, she had a spare False Core lying around inside an ornate, valuable looking pistol. With the core installed, all she had to do is channel Animus. 

 

Just as she anticipated, the little Automaton began to move around once she channeled her Animus. It wiggled it's little limbs everywhere, almost like a little mechanical doll. To her, it seemed very cute, and she couldn't help but laugh when the little thing stumbled in its first step. "Ahaha! That's very amusing of you... Hmm.. What should I call you... Oh! I know! In that Germanian book, there was this one dude who oversees everything. I think his name was.. Heimdall. That's right. I'll call you Heimdall, the overseer." With the Automaton now properly named, Aegis tried to touch it to see it's resilience, only for it to immediately fall apart. She didn't spend any effort into making it properly and just kept it together using her Animus. "As I expected.. Well, you'll be improved in no time flat. Hopefully Zeta knows more about Automatons than I do. Now I'm bored. Where's that bucket of Kerosene I made last night?" Her little experiment done, she put what remains of Heimdall in a small box and hid it in the shelf where she keeps all her solid explosive, before continuing the the production of her newest batch of explosive she started the night before, still oblivious to the fact that she's completely naked safe for a towel.

 

Audrey

[hr]

"Ouch! Madam, you wound me!" Aquilla's final statement caused didn't surprise Audrey too much, but he was still dissatisfied that Aquilla saw him through so easily. "Well, obviously I'm not your boyfriend either.... For now. Ahaha! Just kidding, just kidding." Still, it doesn't seem like he will be quitting his approach to Aquilla anytime soon. "It's great to know you're back to normal again. Well, if you need me for any reason, I'll just be in my room." Feeling like he's said what he needs to, Audrey playfully puts the blanket over Aquilla again, before retreating back to his room. While he did nothing all day, just sitting around anxiously waiting for a challenge has drained him mentally. It felt like a long day, plus, he's made a commitment to protect his dormmate, so he felt he shouldn't be too far away from her. At least for the moment.

[Premier Alexander Romanov]

Helen was walking along towards the library, keeping on the lookout for anyone who could potentially harm her, when she ran into one of her teachers. Literally. The two of them actually collided, knocking Helen back some, but her teacher back even more. Incredibly flustered and embarrassed for doing such a thing, the girl quickly departed the area without saying another word, and went to the library, where she would not be disturbed. She knew the library was off-limits, thanks to the fact that it was a place of learning and silence, and went browsing through the shelves to find some books she could enjoy. There were a couple students here, but not many due to the day off, and Helen started to actually feel safe and secure once more. After going back to the table she had claimed, she set her books down and started with the top one, a book on the early history of Draszera, and began diving into the knowledge it contained.

[Enrise]

"I question how many of the students here been at the brink of life and death. . ."

 

Krieger didn't mean to mutter to himself, since he didn't realize that the woman still remained. Since her little story may have shed some light, he offered a question. "I wager that you've had a fair share of combat, no?" Krieger still remained standing at the wall, not budging. He didn't want to fight, let alone even touch his blade. He only hoped that the woman felt some resemblance of the idea, and that she would remain her distance.

 

"Hush, my peaceful one, and touch the blade, taste the blood, feel the death. Inhale and hail."

 

"Anyways, I'll be seeing you around."

 

At the last second, Krieger got up from the wall, and started to walk in his intended direction, and his hand, without him thinking about it, started to move slowly up towards the hilt of his giant sword.

[The Warden]

It would seem, as usual, that one of the know-it-alls has decided to stick his nose into a private matter. Johannes didn't even feel the energy to sigh at this hopeless one. He released Zeta from his grip to confront Isaiah, his face featureless as he looked over the weapon. It appeared to be a wrist-mounted gun of some form, no doubt highly modified from its original state. The recoil would be very bad, but Animus would counter-act that. Such small barrels would prevent great amounts of piercing, so most likely the payload is the threat and not the rate of piercing.

 

In all, the weapon wouldn't be much of a threat, since that's all it was: A threat. This boy wouldn't have the guts to fire it no matter how much he desired a True Daedalus Core. Johannes stroked his chin as Polly got into speaking position. "I wouldn't consider it wise to make idle threats... Isaac? Well, your name isn't important to me. Lower your weapon peacefully and simply walk away. This matter doesn't concern you and crippling you now is not on my list of priorities" he stated, raising his left hand. He then clenched it to generate an Animus Gardna as he said "But you're not a priority, you're just a nuisance!"

 

With a wave of his hand he set the barrier hurtling towards Isaiah, sending him along for the ride down the hallway and towards a very welcoming wall.

[Maeriberii Haan]

[hr]Caeil[hr]

 

As she saw the guy with the bird dropped the injured boy to attack the smugface Isaiah, Caeil decided that this is the best time to strike.

 

"That's it! Now, this my time to shine!

 

I hope this plan worked well, the risk will be to big if it fails.

 

What if I didn't make it? What if either one of them managed to stop me in my track? Gliederfusser wouldn't be able to protect me if that smugface's automaton managed to land a hit..."

 

As she was hesitating, the bird guy managed to hit Isaiah until he hit a wall on the other side, and this is the final cue for her to execute her plan, or forget about it completely.

 

"W-whoa!

 

...I mean, ah well, nevermind.

 

Now the stage is mine! This is my showtime....Blazing Star!"

 

Activating the boosters from her Gliederfusser, she supercharged it and herself with a surge of Animus, and immediately rushed into the scene with blazing speed. Caeil had managed to calculate where she should start slowing down just for a second to properly grab Zeta with her contraption's arms as she was watching the confrontation, so she had no trouble executing her plan. With Zeta in her back, she then escaped from the scene as fast as she can, smiling widely as the crowd were confused about the turn of events.

 

"And today, the spider has managed to bring home a delicious prey for her children."

 

[hr]

Several minutes later, Caeil arrived in her room with the injured boy, drained of most of her energy due to the stint she pulled earlier.

 

"Huff, puff...

 

Damn, that took a lot of  energy than what I've anticipated. It's a wonder that I can still arrive here while carrying this boy. This boy sure is heavy for someone looking like he's a victim of malnutrition."

 

She then laid the boy to her bed, observing him. She immediately realized that the boy here is part automaton, which quite amazed her. After being sure that the boy still had the ability to hear her, she whispered into the boy's ears.

 

"Hello there. My name is Caeil, and I'll make sure that you will never forget that name.

 

Now, I welcome you to my lair. I am the mistress of this humble place, and I disliked liars, so anyone who's being dishonest here will be 'eaten' by me. So, I ordered you to answer me, man of the machine. What does the smug face desired from you? If it's a True Core, would you give it to me instead?"

[Merci]

While Isaiah waited for Zeta's reply, he could sense Johannes examining his weapon, and the expression on his face was so blank that it was almost insulting. His pet Empyreal bird got into position and began to speak for him. The past day, Isaiah had taken some of his time in order to figure out this peculiarity, and he eventually discovered during lunch that this man didn't have a tongue, though whether it was due to some birth defect or due to it being cut off, he didn't know. However, what he did know was that creature was something that could be taken down with little consequence, written off as an accident, and he paid little attention to its words as he had Animus flow through his Daedalus Weapon and unlock the channels within.

 

Then, calmly holding it out in front of him, he took a quarter of a second to calculate the trajectory and figure out the appropriate place to hit, before zooming into the bird "Polly"'s head with his mechanical goggles. It was quite the nuisance. If he took it out, then it would probably distraught Johannes enough to get rid of him with little consequence and show to Zeta just how serious he was.

 

In truth, he wasn't expecting to actually obtain a True Core as of right now, since it appeared as though they were a part of Zeta's being, but Isaiah had a very valid reason for jumping in without his Jupiter II to provide support. Currently, all he needed was for the half-automaton human to be aware of his presence.

 

That was why, preparing one of his lighter bullets, he had his hand on one of the pulleys and was about to decimate Polly's brain when-

 

"But you're not a priority, you're just a nuisance!"

 

"Excuse me?" Isaiah asked in shock.

 

It was this delay that allowed Johannes's barrier to slam into him, sending him flying into a far wall at the other end of the hallway, which he hit with a loud groan. He would've been screaming on the ride had his mind not been wrapped around that one, deriding insult. Luckily, the velocity hadn't been fast enough to deal any truly serious damage, but it still hurt a lot. Getting up from the floor, wincing in pain all the while, he mechanically zoomed back in on the scene and prepared to fire his Gantfall anyway - distance was only a minor factor - only to see a certain girl making out with Zeta.

 

Then, he yelled out "CURSE YOU, RAMILLIES!!!" before sighing and walking away. He contemplated visiting Caeil's room since he knew where it was, but then again, perhaps he had done enough for the time. Also, there was no need for him to confront Johannes and his bird again as he had nothing to gain, but the next time he had a reason to shoot to his own advantage, he would.