Was there a more cognitively difficult task than underdressing a fellow man while he lay unconscious? Erik thought it was a no. He co-opted some help from the other boys in the bath as they held Mathias, but Erik, alas, had to do the difficult task.

He used a gust spell to blow off his trousers and underwear. His valuables were already put back in his room since Erik personally gave him the gold himself. It would just be stupid to leave it in the open here.

While hesitant, he passed the training clothes to Kahn, the leader of Centaur's class. With a few gold of his winnings and a heavy heart, knowing that the boy already helped him and Scylla once today, he sent him off.

He had already come earlier to get the clean clothes, so with a towel draped over Mathias' unconscious head first, before being tied far above his hip - and then begrudgingly dragged down with closed eyes -, Erik was content to carry him again. Erik already announced his intentions to those inside the rowdy bath, so they made room for Mathias who was left with the soaked towel around his waist.

His back and hip were still braced with the unchanging ice so Erik was not that concerned with Mathias slipping.

However, as any good leader did, he had a lot of work to do. First, he addressed the Scylla boy that already assembled, as per his instructions.

"Before we discuss the first major event in our school lives, we must discuss a more pressing matter!" Erik declared the meeting in session.

"First, Exhibit A! It was my mistake as a leader to send to him two different battlegrounds! I intend to make it up for him later, but as a small token, I'm sending his clothes to be cleaned and fixed! I will also push to have a specific allotment of drinks available for him since he doesn't like cake."

The boys voiced their approval.

"Anyways! We'll need to have others willing to step up to distract the creatures next time! There is bound to be a more difficult stage after this, so we'll need to conserve our energy if we want to survive. Tanner, Jack, Hunter, and Eldrich: I nominate you to be the guys' representatives tomorrow! We should be at full strength tomorrow, so there should be no issue finding other girls to take the spot as well. What do you four say?"

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Meh, I figured."

""Yeah.""

"Great! Now onto the main event! The Cake-meeting!" The boys hollered excitedly. "In lieu of this event coming up so close, we'll be revealing basic information about the Scylla girls to all Scylla guys! We have obtained their three sizes from a guy in the medical ward, from their first medical check-up! There is also height, weight, and body-type, but those are more obvious. You may pick the information from two - and only two! - girls!

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"We also received new information about Hana and Jasmine that is particularly interesting. There are a few unconfirmed reports about Kira as well. However! Those that act on the information have a moral obligation to report the details of their pursuit! We welcome any new leads as well, but please talk to Hunter or Eldrich after the meeting is adjourned."

Erik had their complete, rapt attention. Since he got the housekeeping out of the way, he began describing the mission:

"We'll need to first assemble as a class before, but in the ten minutes it takes to walk from the cafeteria, I need your full cooperation to prevent the girls from herding together! Jack, I want you to talk with Jill! Tanner, Stacy!

"Eldrich, you have the best chance out of all of us: because of the grouping, you should try to talk to Wendi! Jennifer is probably going to be upset because of the subject of the meeting; and Jasmine is, well, whatever - forget about her. Kira, by proxy, is dangerous because of that. As for Mina and Lina, it's too difficult. The basic game-plan for Lina would be to tease Mina, but we don't know how she'll react to others teasing her sister. As for Mina, anyone she likes, Lina will probably torture indirectly. Stick to Wendi.

"Hunter! I want you-"

The instructions went on. Since it was things they wanted to do anyway, the added 'mission-value' was beneficial in forcing them to do it, rather than back out at the last minute. Since the entire mission was liable to be impossible to broach if the girls were grouping up too much, it was a necessary feature of conversation.

However, one astute student asked a question. "What about Lisanna O'Clair? People are saying she's not as bad she's made out to be."

"Off-limits."

"Woah!" The boys immediately assumed that Erik laid claim - however, he pointed to Mathias who was unconscious and unable to refute the false rumours.

There was immense chatter, but Erik rose his hand once more. "It should be part of our token of gratitude for not ending up like that."

They looked towards the dozens of cuts and bruises on Mathias' body. While quite a lot were from Synthy, the girl whom he fought last did not have claws. Or was strong enough to leave those kinds of bruises, even if she threw him.

"Understood." The student said seriously.

"Yeah, I won back the money I lost on Hana with his fight, so I don't have a problem with that," Jack said with a laugh.

It should be noted that Alfred was here, too. He was just in the corner and was too anxious upon seeing the wounded body to actively partake in the conversations. He even gave some (to him) innocuous information about Hana, his childhood friend.

The meeting was adjourned after a question-and-answer period. Questions like, 'what to do if *blank*' were answered by either Erik or another of the male students. On occasion, they bickered, but since they were trying to better themselves (to whichever end they sought), they did think seriously about the ramifications of situations.

Thomas and the other 'Brotherhood' leaders, sans Kahn, saw the fruits of all the scars and bruises manifest in dreams that would tempt nearly any man.

Cake-meetings were to be a staple for first-years in the entire Academy from that point on, coaxed in part by a desire for improvement, prestige, unity, girlfriends, or, on occasion, cake.