The Scylla class stood in their formal garb just behind a podium that was recently built in an empty section of the courtyard. In front of the stage, hundreds of people were pressed tightly in front of the podium as several areas were barren with but a small smattering of people.

Those areas were for Alexander O'Clare, Mathers Thatcher, and the Finance Minister, Raul Poniac, and the three councilmen. Naturally, those that were brought with them were in clear view; being the aid and wives (and heir) of Alexander O'Clare, the wife and four company heads of Mathers Thatcher's Group, and fifteen assorted people in the last three - being important men, women, teenage children, and a few relatives' and their own children.

All those in the last camp were of marriable age and were groomed to the nines. The children and grandchildren were accompanied by their cousins, often coming from significant families themselves, even if the branches mattered little.

Behind them, the rest were gathered in a chaotic mix, with some parents like Almer helping Ali to see the spectacle on his shoulders, Claude with Alexi, and Alyssa and Irina standing at their sides, sleepy but awake.

There was even a man in full dress-plate of engraved steel, epaulettes, a full scarlet cape, and two swords at his hip. That was Salam Rettih, Lord Knight Commander of the Northern Reaches and Synthy Rettih's father.

There were two others, dressed in formal clothes that mimicked lab-coats - at the extreme opposite sides of the crowd. Both were women that looked to be in their twenties, having nary a wrinkle or blemish on their face, but the scars that appeared as they moved were exceedingly visible.

Both were prospective heads for the Department of Medical Research.

Others, parents, students, and staff, were in various clothes that they deemed formal enough for the occasion, with several wearing little more than unstained clothes.

One mother protectively grabbed two small children's shoulders as another, a young teen, looked up from over their shoulder.

The two youngest ones were relatively unaffected by the environment, but both the mother and older daughter kept their sights tilted down.

And all could see as the Headmaster, Justatin Rudolf, was walking to the center of the stage.

With both powerful arms latched onto either side of the podium, he smiled broadly as he glanced to see his watch strike down to twelve.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honour to open the First-Annual Majin Academy Art Exhibition. Some of the alumni will recall that nearly all activities outside the curriculum at the student's behest. "This is no exception," he added with a laugh, appeasing some in the crowd who did not care for the school seemingly abandoning their focus on nurturing talents.

"We are proud to introduce the first-year Scylla class who have since shown themselves very capable of keeping up with - and expanding past - our typical markers for progress. As such, we have invited them to showcase their new project, a competition designed to test one's creativity and capacity when it comes to making full use of their talents.

"It may surprise some of you to hear this, but I have personally seen many in this class manifest their heart's elements. In addition to those which many will be familiar with, many have shown uncanny talent in the forms their magic takes. For example, I'd like to invite a student onto the stage that has activated a particularly interesting one - a wind-light hybrid. While it is still in its nascent form, it will undoubtedly continue to grow - especially when there is another that manifested a dark-version.

"However, in beginning this introduction to the class of Scylla, I'd like to introduce Ayla Argentine to the stage!"

Ayla ran up.

"Hello everyone! My name is Ayla Argentine - the undefeated Champion of Scylla! - and it is my great pleasure to open these introductions! In our week here, we have learned many, many things - and bonded quite a lot as a result! I hope you'll enjoy the exhibitions we've started and forgive us if our displays are a little different than what most mages practise in their time in training!"

Ayla glanced at the Headmaster who nodded.

"It is true, I've seen her fight myself and I can assure you her title is not without merit. Our next student is the brain-child of this event, Wendi Aliel!"

"Yeah! Wendi! Weeendi!"

Church shouted from the side of the podium excitedly as he saw his sister take the stage. He was close enough to the crowd to blend in, but not so far away from the podium as to limit his ability to protect her. There were other guards at either side so he felt able to take in the sight and support her.

Wendi blushed, especially when Claude, Almer, Alexi, and even Alyssa and Irina began clapping and cheering. The Fellstone mercenaries that came joined into the action and then the students and everyone else felt compelled.

Wendi bit her lip nervously before waiting for it to die down.

"Uh, y-yes! I'm Wendi Aliel! I-I hope you all enjoy what our class has to offer!"

Seeing that Wendi was about to leave in embarrassment, Ayla hopped up and stood behind the girl. Her hands held Wendi's shoulders in place as she snickered.

"Wendi is cute, isn't she?" The crowd laughed and cheered at seeing the girl's red-face. "It's fine! Wendi is adorable so she probably doesn't want to brag, but let's show you all something interesting! Light Blade!"

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After hearing it was a hybrid, Ayla immediately changed the name of her spell as she kept the wind blade stationary. It was a chantless version, but it got the point across.

"Wendi, use your new magic!"

"Uh, uh... o-okay... Rose Garden!"

A cluster of quartz crystals appeared on either side of the podium and the Headmaster smiled.

"See? We nurture many talents here, but these two are particularly interesting. Wendi Aliel is a fantastic student who is both - as Miss Argentine says, - cute and capable! However, we must know that there are many others that helped contribute to the Exhibition! Jill Bernard, if I may steal a little of your time?"

The audience began to clap as Jill approached and Ayla and Wendi descended down the side. Afterwards, they kept the momentum as Jack, Jennifer, and the others continued, each with their respective introductions.

Finally it came to Erik's turn.

"A round of applause for Jennifer, if you will!" They clapped and Jennifer rigidly left the stage. "And now we have Erik Huntis! The boy's leader with only a single loss against Ayla Argentine - and, like her, his element is quite interesting. Erik, if I may?"

Erik laughed and nodded.

"Wind Blade!"

A mass of shadows formed on the winds before being sent into the air above the stage. "Erupt!"

It exploded into a mass of raging shadows, dissipating before it reached anything to damage.

However, it formed a peculiar shape in the air and the Headmaster laughed out loud. "That wasn't scripted, I swear."

A seven-pointed star appeared in the remanents of the shadows.

Erik grinned and settled himself in front of the mic. "Hello all, my name is Erik Huntis. I am student of Majin Academy and of the Fellstone Way!" He raised the crescent blade high in the air and there was chatter about. "The work I submitted today was done to honour the Great Claude Fellstone - a work that he personally approved of himself! I hope you all like it as much as I enjoyed making it myself!"

The Headmaster clapped and laughed. "And that was Erik Huntis, for our next student-"

The introductions continued with more and more flashy displays of magic.

They were emboldened because of Erik, Ayla, and Wendi, and some even left lasting additions to the podium.

When it finally came down to Lisanna's turn, she was nervous but continued all the same. "That was Tanner! Please give him a round of applause as we welcome, Lisanna O'Clare!"

Rather than just make a flashy display, she whispered, "Fire Orb," twice over, and had the azure orbs float on either side of her shoulder.

"And this, all, is Lisanna O'Clare!" The Headmaster stepped to the side and Lisanna nodded and took the mic.

"I am Lisanna... just Lisanna and I have one selfish request I'd like to make to you all, if I may be so bold..."

There was a short silence and then Claude shouted, "tell us!"

"That... I'd like to be seen as my own person on this stage today. My actions are my own, if that's...-"

"Yeah, obviously! Who else are you representing here?" Claude shouted with a laugh and ignored the piercing gaze Alexander offered him.

"T-thank... thank you! In that case...! I am Lisanna! I would like to welcome you all, once again, to this Exhibition! We've worked really, really hard on this and I hope it meets your expectations. I also hope you're willing to give me a second chance on this introduction because I'll be back up here in a bit! That's all for now!"

The Headmaster grinned as he saw the two men exchange a glance. Neither could be trifled with, but it was an indirect blow that started a crack - it just depended on who would opt to drive a wedge and expand it.

"And that, everyone, is Lisanna!" He intentionally kept the last name revoked. "For our next student, we'll be introducing Synthia Rettih onto the stage, better known as Synthy!"

A girl basked in golden flames appeared on the stage and the Headmaster nodded approvingly. "Just Synthy is fine, too. I hope you enjoy the show everyone," and left.

"And that is Synthy! So she said, so it is! For our next student, let's give a round of applause for Miss Jasmine Thatcher!"

Jasmine lowered her head to the crowd as she bowed to them all. "I am Jasmine Thatcher and I welcome you to the Exhibition. Though our contributions are not much, I do hope you'll enjoy yourself all the same."

She said with a stiff smile, bowed again, and left the stage.

They continued down the line until Mathias' name was called again.

"And now for Mathias Vandiese!"

He looked towards Lisanna who nodded hesitantly as she joined him.

"And Lisanna!" The Headmaster said with a laugh. "I was wondering what you were talking about."

"Yes!" Lisanna ran to the mic and avoided all eye-contact with a certain section of the arena. "Due to some issues in training, Mathias is unable to speak well so he asked me to help his introduction!"

She lifted the note for all to see and smiled sweetly, inciting a small laugh among the crowd. "Mathias is a first-year student at Majin Academy and hopes everyone can bear with his inability to speak. The scar tissue is being treated, but it is still a ways away from normal operation! As such, he wanted you all to know that he is glad you took the time out of your busy days and came to see our class. That is all for the note, but..."

Lisanna trailed off and smiled again, looking off from the script.

"We have actually done a sculpture together, so I would appreciate it if you are willing to take the time to check it out. I will be there to answer all the questions involving both of them, so please do not hesitate to approach me come time for viewing!"

Lisanna breathed in after trying to spit out as quickly as she could, and the Headmaster nodded.

"I should like to add that Mathias Vandiese bears his mother's last name. He is quite accomplished in his own field and is highly competent. His father... may I ask you to speak up?"

"Yep! It's me! Ha-ha! Look at my son!"

"Miss Vandiese?"

"Yeah," she said with a sleepy smile.

"So you have it! He is the son of Claude Fellstone! Everyone, please give him a round of applause as we move onto our next student, Fara Yhir!"

Mathias was much less intimidated so he accepted Alexander's glare. However, the man shifted into an impassive expression as soon as it was directly confronted by Mathias. However, oddly, when he looked past the Finance Minister and Councilmen's section, to Mathers Thatcher's area, he saw a slight smile as the man looked appraisingly at the boy.

It was more confusing than the awkwardly alphabetical line-up being fixed up just to see the student's reactions.

Mathers was not so stupid as to misunderstand the family issues with Synthy's family so he deciphered her veiled comment easily. However, Lisanna's introduction and Claude's shouts seemed to convey more than what he originally anticipated.

Best of all, Alexander knew it. And there was nothing he could do without acting a fool. Alexander even went out of his way to invite several stockholders of the company so there was no way he could act swiftly without recourse.

He may be wealthy, but he had countless ties that could be exploited, Mathers knew. The sense of a once 'unbreakable' family was enough to shift enough capital from hesitant Alexander's investors to his companies, and just that alone could bridge the gap between the two of them.

And from what his daughter said, the boy could be valuable as well.

"Tell Jasmine to make him mine. That she is to do whatever she has to do," Mathias told his wife who said nothing and nodded.

His wife's eyes were dead.

Until a faint spark appeared buried ever-deep inside was born as she felt an excuse to exercise control over another.

A spark that was imperceivable to others amidst the dull, emotionless eyes that contained the mask hidden deep, deep inside.