....
"Kires" The teacher replied after a pause. Luna boarded the bus with a small greeting to her new teacher.
"Lavington"
"Maxwell"
When no one boarded the bus, he made a small remark and moved on.
....
....
....
"Rint"
Sefir boarded the bus after greeting the teacher.
....
....
....
"Struze number 1" The teacher called out finally.
"Good afternoon Mr. Gavin!" Emmia called out cheerfully and entered the bus.
Nodding, Gavin continued, "Struze number 2."
Icarth nodded and entered the bus following his sister.
Stopping behind his sister who was blocking the isle, he wondered what was going on.
Tilting his head slightly, he saw Sefir at the back sandwiched into a corner by a huge wall of muscle.
Stifling a laugh, he poked Mia in the back, "Go sit down, you're blocking the walkway."
Mia nodded, her lip twitching as well, and went to sit down next to Luna.
Icarth looked into Sefir's pleading eyes.....and ignored it completely and sat down in a free space.
Poor Sefir could only cope in his place, and try not to be flattened by the muscle freak next to him.
Icarth stared out through the window when the last person boarded. Her looks were eye-catching enough, but that wasn't what stood out the most. Red. Fire-red hair cascaded down beyond her shoulders. Her leaf-green eyes scanned the bus as she walked through the aisle.
Finally, she sat herself down next to Icarth.
"Hey, what's up?"
"Nothing much," Icarth responded while still looking out.
"Hmmm, well when are you taking the shift today?" She asked referring to his job.
"Probably the evening one, I'll have to confirm with Uncle about that."
"Alright." Knowing that Icarth wouldn't talk more than needed, she shifted her attention to her friends sitting in the seat adjacent to them.
The temperature inside the bus dipped again as Gavin boarded it.
Murmurs erupted throughout the bus due to Gavin's entrance.
"Ohhh, that feels good."
"Finally the bus isn't boiling."
"It's like we have a portable cooler."
Ignoring all of them, Gavin gestured for the driver to move.
Rumbling, the bus started to weave through the streets toward a large stadium structure.
---
20 minutes later, Icarth woke up to the red-haired girl shaking him vigorously.
"Wake up!" She exclaimed.
"Yea yea, am awake," Icarth complained to stop the shaking.
"How can you sleep so much," the girl sighed deeply.
"Shui! Come on!" One of her friends called from outside the bus.
"Let's go," Shui told Icarth and half dragged him out of the already empty bus.
A couple of the students from the bus were already walking into the stadium when Icarth and Shui had deboarded the bus.
Following the crowd, Icarth joined up with Emmia, Luna, and Sefir.. or rather they found him and started walking together with him.
"Hey, Shui!" Emmia greeted cheerfully.
"Hello," Sefir greeted.
"Hey," Shui smiled. "Who's this?" Shui asked curiously after seeing Luna.
"This is Luna! She's the new transfer student." Emmia introduced.
"I see, nice to meet you! I'm Shui."
"Likewise.....I'm Luna." she softly murmured.
Reaching the inside of the stadium, the students gathered in an open ground. Gavin was standing in front of them and announced. "Today's the beginning of your last years at the academy. Now before you graduate, you need some training to defend yourself. So today will be a small test to ascertain your capabilities in a fight."
"I'll have various weapons and instruments brought here for you to try out and demonstrate your gifts and ...."
While he talked, the students looked around and tried to find out where the weapons were packed or placed.
Many of them started to murmur.
"Do you see where the weapons are?"
"How long do you think it'll take?"
"I wonder what's the ranking in our class."
"I want to sleep....."
That last one was obviously Icarth as his eyelids drooped down heavily. Each time he blinked, he could feel them weighing down.
Noticing this, Sefir pinched Ica to force him to stay awake.
"Go to sleep after class."
"Fine, fine, I'm awake."
Gavin finally finished his droning speech and gestured for some workers to bring out the weapons.
A few men in uniforms rolled out a wall carrying all sorts of weapons. From swords to bows, all sorts of weapons were lined across the walls. Some peculiar items were fitted there as well as a few solid blocks of what looked like minerals, some dry tinder and fuel, a seemingly common bandana, and finally a cage for a small animal.
"I've brought a couple of general weapons for those who want to try something new. Also, for those who need special requirements to activate their gifts, I have brought whatever has been requested. Now remember, the role of this class is not weapon training, it's to get used to gifts. Don't fool around too much."
Several students shivered after Gavin's last words and kept them in their hearts.
"Now go take what you need," Gavin concluded by gesturing towards the wall.
The students went ahead and collected their selections with Emmia taking the blocks of minerals and Icarth moving towards the cage. Opening the door, a dark brown rabbit hopped out. Its large ears twitched in agitation at the sound of the students around him.
Looking up, it locked eyes with Icarth.
Looking back, Icarth extended his hand to Jade in greeting. Looking at his extended hand, Jade hopped forward...and past Icarth towards Emmia.
"Jade!" Emmia exclaimed excitedly, almost dropping the blocks of minerals in haste to pet him.
Icarth stared as Jade was enjoying the pets and affection poured onto him by Emmia. His pale red eyes were unreadable for a second before returning to their usual blearly state. Sighing, he walked over to where Emmia was introducing Jade to Luna.
Not before long everyone had gotten everything that they needed, Gavin started to conduct the practical.
"Anoali, you're first."
The girl, Tea Anoali, with a bow, nodded nervously. Shui and a few others wished her good luck as she headed up onto a stage-like structure with outlined borders attached to a wall.
The borders rose and boxed her in as soon as she entered.
Clenching the bow in her hand, Tea prepared herself for the test. Loud growling sounds were heard as the door opened slowly. Getting into a stance, Tea grabbed an arrow and nocked the bow pointing it at the opening door.
Howling a black figure bounded out the half-open door when Tea launched the arrow right into the blur bounding towards her. Embedding itself into the beast's mouth, the beast dropped dead and skidded due to its momentum.
Before Tea could sigh in relief, countless other growls and howls were heard as dozens of beasts bounded out the fully open door right toward Tea.