Adria Aseria Story Thread

[Xero]

Julto just blinked at Crest's dismissal of his statement. It seemed this man was the kind that was so arrogant as to be delusional about facts. He'd attempted to show people like that reality, with his own brand of persuasion, but unfortunately they always seemed to find some excuse. So it was with great reluctance that he held his tongue and just dismissed the situation, turning his attention to the waif of a merleon. He recognized her as Nalea, the little mage-chef that was always getting people to try out the things she cooked.

"Ah, Nalea, I see you've prepared another dish." The large man commented, snapping the young girl out of her thoughts.

"Ah, yeah, its Giant's Strudel made with Rose Apple and Cinnamon." Nalea answered, completely missing the underlying insults being tossed around as well as the near-confrontation.

"Rose Apple?" Julto mused. "That is a rather hard fruit to use in baking, it dries out easy."

"Yeah, thats why it took a couple tries." The merleon girl nodded, glad Julto actually knew something about the effort it'd taken to make this. "Would you like some?"

"Of course, your cooking isn't something I'd pass up on if I could help it." The man complimented, meaning every word of it, and causing the much smaller girl to beam again as she moved to serve him a piece.

[Ebony Debony]

"Cough, lame, cough!" Crest said as he finished the last of his soda and shook his head. 'Dang the big guy is such a cornball,' Crest thought to himself as Amani viciously elbowed him in the ribs and glared at him. "Hey! Chill out Mani! I was just joking, jeez, don't have a hernia!"

[Author Roy]

Sage was not impressed by the words Crest had last spoken, and it showed plainly on his face.

"Well then," He said, standing up. "Merle, it's time to go. We do have plans, you know."

"Okay, okay," Merle said. She looked at the dark skinned girl apologetically, wishing she could help her out of the situation she seemed to be stuck in, but she did have to leave. "Sorry everyone, I did promise him." With that, the merleon girl stood up as well.

"The strudel was delicious," Sage said, nodding at Nalea before turning away.

"I'll be on later tonight," Merle said, looking at Nalea. "We can talk some more if you're free." With that, Sage lead Merle away, as the merleon girl waved.

When they were out of the cafeteria, Sage sighed.

"I thought we would never be out of there," He muttered. "Okay, so where do you want to do this?" He asked.

"The forest, like we agreed last night. I'll see if you've gotten any better," The Merleon girl said with a grin.

"Hm, it should be fun, if anything," He said as he shoved his hands in his pockets and started walking through one of the glass tube corridors of the school, through which the sealife outside was plainly visible. The light in the hall was tinted blue thanks to all of the ocean water that was around them. As he walked, Merle followed after him, and he glanced back at her. Had his skin been lighter, he would have been blushing.

Merle was a girl he'd met when he was just a kid, and they'd been friends ever since. But she was rather simple-headed, and she hadn't even thought to object to his mention of the 'date' earlier. He'd seen the way some of the girls looked at them in surprise when she didn't deny it. Likely they were thinking the two were going on a romantic date. Merle was one of the few girls he sometimes liked to fool himself by fantasizing about going out with.

'But there's no way that's going to happen,' He thought. 'I'm too young for her... and by the time I won't be, she'll have found some nice merleon guy already...'

With a grunt, he turned to face forward and frowned. Watching the innocent, unreachable Merle travel behind him was frustrating. Instead, he scowled at all of the people that he walked by, particularly a cheerful looking Merluman girl, almost as if mocking him. The girl seemed taken aback by his snarl, and he blinked, surprised and suddenly ashamed. His frown turned apologetic and he looked away quickly, trying to avoid the girl's eyes.


Raina Calida blinked as she watched the youth walk away. He had seemed angry and mean at first, but then when he'd looked away his face looked almost sad.

"That was... odd..." The normally cheery woman thought. She blinked as she noticed the merleon girl following him, and narrowed her eyes. Could it be..?

Though most would have called it stalking, Raina called it 'helpful reconnaissance'. What she was doing, anyway. She was following two kids she'd never met before through the Aseria, towards their destination, which seemed to be the training grounds. Though the male youth seemed to have detected her a few times, whenever he looked back, she was conveniently hidden behind something or someone, and he never saw her...

[Ebony Debony]

Crest simply shrugged as the pair left and he finished up his meal. "Oh man! That definitely hit the spot!" Crest exclaimed with a loud belch and a satisfied smile on his face as he turned to regard Amani, who had buried her head in her tray out of embarrassment.  "What's wrong, Mani, you sick? I'll take you to the medical ward if you need me to," Crest inquired, genuinely concerned, as he placed an arm on his friend's shoulder and looked at her with a worried and expectant look on his face.

For her part Amani could only growl into her tray, hoping that it would consume her, as she tried to ignore the redhead. After all, his concern had ruined any chance that she would tell him to bugger off since she would then feel guilty about telling him to leave her alone after he had been worried about her. So, in response, the brown skinned girl simply shook her head and sighed tiredly before looking up to regard Nalea with a small smile.

"Thank you," was all she said as she picked up her tray and prepared to leave.

"Oh, hey! You're heading out already? Well I'll join you!" Crest said excitedly as he too picked up his tray and got up from the table.

Amani could only roll her eyes in response as she looked upon the burly teen's excited face, and, not finding the strength within herself, for some odd reason, to turn him down, she simply nodded and headed toward the tray rack.  Placing her tray on the rack she then proceeded to head out of the cafeteria and into the hallway, with Crest right behind her.

"Still stink," was all the raven haired girl said as Crest strode up right beside her, still grinning.

Crest's grin immediately died, however, at Amani's words as he sniffed himself and wrinkled up his own nose in disgust. Sighing to himself, he simply nodded and said, "Man, I guess you're right. I think I'll go take a quick shower, even though I really wanted to spend some time with you Mani."  With that said, and a defeated expression on his face, Crest sprinted down the hall to the showers in order to get cleaned up.

Amani felt a bit guilty after the young man left, but immediately slapped herself across the face and mentally chided herself. The raven haired girl then prepared to head down to the training grounds herself in order to get her daily practice in.

[Xero]

Julto blinked as the arrogant man abruptly left, though had paused at the display of genuine kindness when Crest had worried over the girl he called Amani. Perhaps the man wasn't as big of an arrogant jerk as he'd originally thought. Turning to regard Nalea as she served him a piece of the strudel, he thought about what he could say.

"Ah, don't mind him." The scrawny girl beat him to the punch, waving her hand as if to dismiss the whole thing. She didn't like that Crest guy as much as anyone else, and she couldn't tell if he was genuinely an asshole or if he was just acting like that so it was hard to accurately judge him so she didn't want to be too harsh. Not that she'd be lenient and just ignore him either, since regardless of if it was an act or not, the dude was being an ass. "Anyway, how do you like my Giant's Strudel?"

"It's very good." The much larger man nodded, having taken a large bite out of it and chewed thoughtfully for a few moments before he'd answered. He ate the rest of it, and having finished his food while Crest had been displaying his arrogance, got up and bid farewell to the mage-chef before leaving. He wasn't sure what he'd do just yet, perhaps he'd do more training.

"I've still got a lot left...." Nalea noted, eying the remaining strudel. She looked at the few girls that remained at the table and tilted her head before breaking out into a big smile. "Hey, would any of you mind having seconds?"

"It is good..." One girl responded, shifting in her seat a little. "But... I dunno..."

"Please?" Nalea asked, pouting cutely and pulling out a surprisingly potent puppy dog eyes despite her narrow and pointed face.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt..." Another girl responded uncertainly, the other girls also succumbing to the puppy dog eyes as well.

"Thanks!" The underfed Merleon cheered as she served up the rest of the Giant's Strudel among the remaining people, who despite their previous reluctance dug into the tasty treat.

"Hey..." One of the girls paused to ask curiously. "How many calories are in this thing anyway?"

Nalea blinked at the question, before racking her brain for the answer. An entire minute passed before she snapped out of her hard thinking, and answered. "I think it said that a serving was something like two-thousand or something."

A few of the girls gaped at the revelation, and either proceeded to groan and mutter about knowing better or having a mild freak out and rambling about having to go on a diet. One girl just shrugged, not really caring. Nalea just blinked in confusion, not understanding what the problem was.

[Author Roy]

Sage quickly turned around and looked passed the merleon girl that was following him. His eyes darted around the great hall, and he frowned.

"What's wrong, Val?" Merle asked, looking around behind them.

"Nothing... just, does it feel like someone's been following us?"

Merle laughed.

"You always say that," She said, patting on the head. "You're always so paranoid!"

"Well, I can't help that it feels like that," He muttered. "I hate that feeling. I don't want anyone to see what I do. You know I don't like people having information on me."

"Oh, please. There are cameras all over, and you're in the Aseria System. Anyone who felt the need to secretly gather information on Sage Valentine can already do so, so why act so paranoid? You don't even have an Adrian Networking account!"

"I hate those things so much," Sage snorted as he turned back forward and continued walking. "I just like to be as private as I can be."

"Well, how are you supposed to fulfill your dreams of being an SSS class warrior famous around the world if you don't let anyone know a thing about you?" She asked with a chuckle. "You're just too paranoid and wound up for your own good. Nothing's gonna come of being closed in all the time, Val."

"Okay, okay," He said, waving a hand. "Whatever."


Raina peered from behind the portly, suit wearing man she was kneeling in front of.

"Ah-hem," The man grunted and she looked up at him. "Can I help you?"

Raina smiled and stood up, then patted the man on the shoulder. "I just thought that, er, your suit... could use a bit of... uh, errrrr... spot cleaning, that's all!" She said. "I saw a stain, but I had to make sure, but it looks like I was wrong. Yeah, that's it! So sorry but I gotta go see ya later!" She said, running around him and waving. The portly man stared after her for a moment in confusion, but shook his head and continued walking.

"Damn crazy kids."


Merle and Sage waited patiently on the elevator that was taking them to level five. It was a large, round platform that noiselessly floated downwards in a wide shaft, taking its passengers deeper into the heart of the Aseria. Sage looked around, seeing various groups of people, and some who stood alone; students that were both older and slightly younger than him, a few mercenaries, all of them unfamiliar. He shrugged and was about to look down at the translucent platform below, to see how much further they were, when his eyes fell onto a short person holding up a large newspaper that hid their face and torso from view.

He frowned as he noticed that something about the person seemed a bit familiar...

It was when the person hiding behind the newspaper peered from behind it, directly at Sage, that he realized that it was the Merluman girl he'd seen in the hall. Both of their eyes widened in surprise, and immediately she hid behind the paper again and started shaking visibly, realizing that she'd been found out.

It was with a frown that Sage started walking over towards the girl, leaving a confused Merle.

"Sage?" The girl asked, looking over at him. He ignored her, however, and continued over to the girl with the news paper. The teen snatched the newspaper away and stared at the merluman girl standing there, who looked surprised, and then started smiling.

"Can I help you?" The teen asked, looking at her. "I mean, it's just, I noticed that you've been following me for quite a while."

"Ah... err... heh heh..." The small girl looked up at him, a nervousness clear in her voice and posture. "F-follow? I uh, I'm sorry, I've never seen you before..."

"Oh really," He asked, scowling. "So that wasn't you in the Aqua Hall by the cafeteria?"

"U-uhhh, n-no?" She asked, shrinking back.

"Val, what are you doing?" Merle asked as she walked up behind him. "We're here, so stop terrorizing that poor girl and come on!" She looked at the merluman appologetically. "I'm sorry, he's just a little paranoid. Please try to understand," She said, as she picked up the younger boy by the shirt and started walking away. Sage turned and looked at Merle.

"But she was really following us! I swear!"

"Val, I think you need to see someone about that," The merleon girl said with a roll of her eyes.


Raina stood there, staring after them, and blinked several times. When they were gone, she sighed in relief, her whole body sagging as her heartbeat started to regular.

'Man, that was close...' She shook her head and looked up at the two... only realize they were gone.

And she didn't know where they were going.

'...Uh oh.'

[Author Roy]

Adria Aseria dormitory, Sage's apartment, 8:33

Sage slowly opened his eyes, a frown on his face. His room was still mostly dark, but that was because it was one of the many that did not have the privilege of having a window. Instead, there was only the hum of of his refrigerator in one of the other two rooms - the one that served as his kitchen. His dorm was particularly small, something that would definitely change when he started getting regular missions and had an income of his own that wasn't provided by the school.

The boy yawned and sat up, feebly turning in his bed and dragging his blanket and sheets with him. For some reason, it got pretty cold in his room at night, and because he didn't wear pajamas, only boxers, he had to double his blanket over in order for it to keep him adequately warm. He groaned and picked the worn, itchy cotton blanket up and put it back on his bed, then turned and looked at the cheap digital clock that hung on his wall. It was 8:36; he didn't have to be in class until 10:15, so there was no need to hurry. He stood up and hobbled over to his desk, where one of his school uniforms was lying in wait. The boy grabbed the clothes and walked over towards the door to his room, past the closet.

He made his way to the bathroom, through a door on the other side of his living room/kitchen, turned the light on, and opened turned on the shower while simultaneously dropping his clothes on the floor. He stepped into the shower, closed the curtain, and plopped down into a sitting position, then leaned back on the wall while the warm water pelted him. The boy sat there, his mind in a daze, for nearly thirty minutes, before he remembered to reach up, stretching his arm as high as he could, to grab the soap and washrag that sat in the soap holder that was inside the wall, and began to wash himself.

After bathing twice, he stood up and set the washrag and soap in their place, and sat back down, and his mind began to wander. He revisited the previous night with Merle. Though their "date" was no more than a sparring session, he had enjoyed himself. She was one of the very, very few people he felt his could show his true face to, and considering that feeling of being watched had disappeared on the elevator - probably because he'd scared the person following them - he'd been able to get into it, and that night he smiled more than he had in weeks.

'Merle...' In his mind's eye, he could see the girl's smiling face, accented by that cute, pouty lip of hers, and that womanly shape her had taken on in recent years, with wider hips and a fuller chest... though she was by no means a head-turner, he'd always felt a sort of attraction to her. He closed his eyes as he focused on her form, and began to think of the possibilities... a happy family, with children, who were just like the two of them - smart, but kind and sensible... and in order to have those children...

Twenty minutes later, the boy washed himself again, then turned the water off and stood up, leaning forward against the wall with his hair hanging down, covering his face.

He wasn't proud of what he did when he was in there, and it shamed him to think that he was besmirching the image of Merle in his mind, but he couldn't deny himself the brief happiness and joy these fantasies filled him with. He was human, and he had his needs.

He stepped out of the shower and dried himself off with a towel that was hanging on a rack above the toilet, then set to taking care of the rest of his needs, brushing his teeth, swishing mouth rinse and flossing. When he was done, he dressed himself and grabbed his dirty boxers, opening the white plastic hamper beneath his sink and tossing them in. With that, he checked himself in the mirror and grabbed a nearby hairbrush, then started brushing his somewhat dry hair back, giving himself his usual slicked-back hairstyle. He set the brush down and looked in the mirror again; his black hair reflected a bit of light. Nodding to himself, the teen set his hairbrush down and walked out of the bathroom.

Then promptly turned around and walked back in, grabbing a stick of deodorant. After applying it, he checked the bathroom and walked out again, towards his kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out an apple and banana, then started eating the apple. He turned and walked towards his secondhand couch on the other side of the room, which was aimed at a small television, and sat down. He grabbed the remote and turned on the tv before glancing at the digital clock that hung on the wall beside the refrigerator. It was only 9:44, so he still had plenty of time to get to class.

The boy sighed and looked back at the cheap tv, which was still warming up, its picture a fuzzy white image, and started surfing through the various channels, looking for something to waste his time. It was only a minute later, after impatient searching, that he turned it off, unable to find anything that vaguely piqued his interest, in his some 60 channels, a paltry number to be sure. The boy sat back in his chair, eating his breakfast silently save for the noise chewing from the apple, and trying to think of something to do.

- - -

Merle Alvadar swam through the waters of the Adriatic Sea towards Adria in her school uniform with a light smile on her face. Because she lived with her family off the shores of Adria, in a nearby underwater cave, she had to commute to school every day, and back home during the night. The girl's tail waved in the water along with her arms and legs, allowing her fins to propel her through the water at speeds approaching 50 mph, a slow, easy pace.

Some marine life flitted away as she neared, fearing for their lives, and the Merleon girl snickered. Soon, the distant form of Adria Aseria became visible, the huge underwater portion of the structure glowing with its magical seeming blue and green lights. Despite the fact that it was already visible though, it was still several miles away.

'Today, they're handing out missions for our class,' She thought happily as she swam. It had been a few months since she'd been on a mission, and the last one had been to the forest town, Tanton, in Pomonia Kingdom. There, they'd had to take care of a flock of Garuda, monstrously huge birds of prey that had started attacking on feasting on Pomonian livestock. Once they'd taken a few out, the birds had started to become more violent, attacking and eating the humans and merleons that lived in Tanton, and they'd been forced to exterminate every last one.

Hopefully this mission wouldn't be as depressing as that one had been. Merle did not enjoy killing, and she'd been forced to kill the Garuda chicks as well - this was mostly out of compassion, as it was deemed too cruel to leave them alive, but no matter how she looked at it, it seemed wrong.

A form sped by her, and she blinked, recognizing it as her older older sister, Aemelia. The younger merleon sped up and started catching up to the young mercenary, and when she got close enough, her sister reached back with a hand, and opened it. The palm opened up, revealing her Seera, and Merle responded likewise. The irises of their seera locked together, and a mental channel opened up between them.

'What's the hurry, sis?' Merle asked, tilting her head.

'Oh, I just remembered that I had to lead a student mission today. Somehow it slipped my mind, heh.'

'Ahh,' Merle nodded in realization. Unlike the students, who just had to show up, a mercenary leading a student mission was required to get the information and details concerning their mission from the Headmaster, so it took slightly longer. And as there was always a student mission every day, the mornings were the allotted time for when the headmaster handed out various missions.

'How's Sage doing? You were hanging out with him yesterday, right?' The older woman asked.

'Yup,' Merle responded. 'He's okay. He's been training pretty hard, I think. He got much better. He almost won.'

'Hah. That's just because you've been lazy,' Her older sister chided. 'You've got to stop playing with those kids and go fight some more, Merle.'

'Ah, heh heh,' The younger merleon giggled and stuck her tongue out. 'Well, it's not my fault no one else plays with them any more,' She said.

'Ah, heh heh,' The older sister chuckled nervously. 'Well, I've been busy, you know that...'

'Yeah, busy with Calix,' Merle said with a lecherous grin. 'So, how is he with his tongue?'

'That's private stuff,' Aemelia said as her scales lightened, a common merleon response to embarrassment.

'Hah, okay.' Merle said with a wink. 'I'll ask him instead.'

'Merle...'

'You know I'm just playing,' Merle said with a snicker.

'Liar. You really were going to ask him, weren't you?' Merle stuck her tongue out. 'Ugh, you'd better not...' She made a mental sound that was the equivalent to a sigh. 'Well, I'm gonna go on ahead. You be careful in your mission today, alright?'

'Right. Well, see you later.'

'Yeah.'

With that, both girls' seera closed and sank back into their arms, and Aemelia sped up and took a turn that would take her closer to her destination.

Going the speed they had, Merle had gotten much closer to the school, and the inlet pipes that Merleons swam in through were littered with loose traffic. Merle swam in through one, nodding to the merleons around her that noticed her, and looked forward. In front of her, there was a dead end with brighter light shining down into it. There, though, the pipe opened up to space above, revealing a room, where other merleons were climbing up out of the water.

When she reached the end, she climbed up out of the water and stretched. The water dripped off of her quickly, and the magic charm in the room dried her clothes off. She turned, looking around the big room, the merleon entrance station, which had many similar such pipes that lead to it. At the end of the room were several pairs of automatic sliding doors, and she started walking towards them.

'Hmm, maybe Sage and I can be in the same mission...'

[Author Roy]

- - -

Sage walked out of his dorm and into the hall, and his door automatically shut behind him, sliding out from the wall. The teen started walking along the dirty, worn ornate rug that lined the hall, under the dim blue magic light crystals that lined each side of the corridor. He shoved his hands in his pockets and fixed a neutral expression on his face. When he made it to the white metal door at the end, it opened by pulling into the wall to admit him, and he walked through, into a large open area with a similar design theme and a stair case.

He walked over to the elevator, uninterested in climbing the five flights of stairs to the lobby, and pushed the button. The round glass door opened much the same way the others had, and he walked in. After he pushed the button for the lobby, the door shut and immediately the elevator started moving upwards. In ten seconds, the door opened again, and he stepped out into the huge lobby of Adria Aseria, its design much the same as the rooms below, only much cleaner and newer looking.

Sage ignored the throngs of people, instead heading towards the center of the room, past the help and registration desks. He glanced up at the people sitting behind the desks, who were helping various students or just talking amongst themselves. They didn't notice him. Not too many people ever noticed him, really, and though when he was younger it had been annoying and frustrating, causing him to go out of his way to seek attention, he preferred things that way now.

He reached the elevator after passing through a few crowded groups of students his age and older, as the younger ones were already in class, and stopped at the elevator, where a group of people were already waiting. He looked up at some of them, and one, a middle aged lady who looked like a scholar, smiled at him, causing him to smile back, briefly. The two then went back to looking at other things, until he spotted her.

With crimson hair, a pinkish-red shirt and some dark shorts, and similarly colored skin, she stood there with a stupid grin on her face. On her waist were a pair of ornate nunchaku, and a pouch that no doubt held tools in them.

Sage frowned and approached the merluman girl, then coughed.

"Ah-ehm,"

The girl didn't seem to hear him, so he coughed louder and cleared his throat again.

"Ah-hem."

That time, she blinkingly turned around, and her eyes widened upon spotting him.

"A-Ahh..."

"Why hello, creepy stalker girl. I see you're not wearing your uniform today. Is there some rule for that?" Sage asked as he looked down at her. "Creepy stalkers don't have to wear school uniforms?"

The girl sputtered a few times, and then frowned as her skin turned white.

"M-my name isn't creepy stalker girl! That's so mean!" She said, puffing out her lip. Some of the gathered people snorted at their interplay, assuming they were friends.

"Is that right? Well then, are you aiming for that to be your mercenary title or something?"

"No! And I'm not a student!" She snapped. "I'm an E-Rank mercenary already! So watch your mouth!"

"E-rank?" Sage blinked. "Wow. Big surprise there." He frowned and tilted his head. She didn't even look like she could hold a weapon of any type sort without being weighed down by it. He looked down at her nunchaku and nodded. They were likely made of wood, or something. "So anyway, what was it you needed last night?" He asked, looking at her face and raising an eyebrow.

Just then, with a ding, the elegant wooden elevator door opened and everyone boarded it. Inside, the golden tile floor and reflective golden walls gleamed and Sage glanced at his reflection in one of the walls, then turned and reached up towards the button for the sixth floor, just as she did so as well.

He blinked and glanced at her, then pressed the button, and waited for the doors to close. Most of the color had returned to her skin already, and she was looking at him as well.

"So. Last night?" He asked, frowning and crossing his arms. She blinked a few times, and looked around, unsure of what to say. "Come on, it's much easier if you just tell me the truth, isn't it, creepy stalker?"

"Stop calling me that!" She shouted back. "My name is Raina, call me Raina!"

"Okay, creepy stalker Raina," He said, shrugging and rolling his eyes. "Why were you stalking me last night?"

"I wasn't stalking you, you jerk!" She said. "I was just... I was concerned because of how sad you looked in the hallway! I don't like it when people are sad, so I wanted to help! So sorry for trying to be nice!" The girl crossed her arms and turned her head up at him.

Sage felt the disapproving eyes of the people on the elevator on him, and nervously looked up at the ceiling.

"Oh, is that it..." He looked down at the ground to his left and scrunched up his face. "Um, you know, Raina," He started. "There are better ways to see if a stranger you've never met before is doing okay or not, than following them around at night." He said. "Asking, for one." He sighed and looked back at her, and there was another ding as the elevator doors opened. "Listen, I'm ah, just fine. Anything that's bugging me is not something you can help with, anyway. So, thanks, but no thanks, okay?"

Everyone started walking out of the elevator, leaving the two of them to walk out last, into a room that was much liked the lobby below, but far less populated.

"But..." Raina started, looking up at the younger person. "I just, I can't sit still when I know people are unhappy. I have to help somehow. If I don't, I'll just fidget and worry about it, thinking what I could be doing to help." She looked down at the ground. "I've been told it's an annoying habit. I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone." With that, she turned and started walking away, towards some automatic doors.

Sage blinked, and then followed after her.

"Hey, listen," He said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault or anything. It's just a really private problem that I don't want anyone to help me with. I don't like getting help in the first place, honestly." She sniffed, and he frowned. 'Is she crying? Oh man...' "Listen, I'm really sorry. It was insensitive of me to say those things back there. You're a really nice person, and honestly I wish the world was full of people like you, since that'd be a place where I could relax, but... it's just a personal problem, okay?"

Raina reached up and wiped her eyes, where sure enough, tears had started to form.

'Oh, you've got to be kidding me,' He thought with an exasperated expression, looking away from her as they walked outside, onto a stone balcony. 'This person is an adult?'

"O-okay. Apology accepted." The merluman turned and looked over the waist high balcony wall as they continued walking. "I'm sorry that it's something I can't help with. I hope it works out for you."

'Yeah, so do I,' Sage thought as he looked out into the ocean in the distance.

"I'm sorry. You came all this way to make me feel better, even though your class is starting," She said, looking up at him.

"Well, my class is this way, so it's okay," He said, waving it off.

"Oh," the girl blinked and turned to face the door they were approaching at the end of the balcony. The walked into the hall of a building that was lined with classrooms on either side. "So um, what's your name?"

"Sage," The boy said as the metal door opened, and he walked in ahead of her.

"You mean, like a wise person?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Heh, I was named after the spice," He said, running a hand through his hair, "But some may call me wise."

Raina giggled, and Sage smirked. Both stopped at an open door and turned to look at each other.

"Well this is it,""This is where I have to be," Sage and Raina said in unison, somewhat regretfully, as they'd both grown fond of the other-

And they froze. Sage blinked, then squinted. After a long moment, he spoke again.

"Wait, did you say-"

"-That this is your class?"

The two stared at each other.

"Oh, Raina! And is that Sage?" The two looked into the door of the classroom, where they saw a man in a black robe sitting behind a desk with a computer screen sticking out. "Have you two met before?"

Sage and Raina looked at each other, then pointed at one another, and then at the classroom's instructor, Gladius Vincente.

"I- but she-"

"Er, kinda sorta-"

The instructor blinked as he looked at the two of them, and they looked at each other. Sage opened his mouth and looked over at his teacher.

"Um, she was stalking me last night," He said, shaking his head, and walking into the class room with his hands in his pockets again.

"Hey, I was not stalking you!" The mercenary declared as she walked into the room.

"I see, so it was something like that," The instructor nodded with a knowing expression on his worn looking face.

"Do you know this crazy stalker chick or something, Vince?" Sage asked as he sat down at his assigned desk in the front of the class room. He reached into the desk and tapped a button. A magical three dimensional image appeared hovering above his desk as the Adria Unit came to life. As always, being ten minutes early, he was one of the first students in the class.

"Hey!"

"She's my half-sister," Gladius said nonchalant as he leaned back in his rather comfortable looking chair. Both Raina and Sage looked at the man in shock. Sage looked over at Raina, then frowned.

"Hey, you're lying," The dark skinned boy said.

"Yup." The teacher said.

Sage rolled his eyes and then sighed, leaning back in his own chair and putting an arm around the back of his seat.

"Don't tell me she's one of the mercenaries leading missions today," He said in a voice that spoke of impending disappointment.

"Yup." The teacher said.

"...You're not lying." The man didn't respond that time, and Sage sighed. 'Great, just what we need. A stalker mentor with personal space issues and the emotional frailty of a child. Wonderful.' He looked over and smiled at Raina. "Um, so how long have you been a full fledged mercenary?" He asked.

"A whole week," She said with a wide grin.

Sage's head passed through the image above his table, making it fuzz out and disperse, and impacted his desk.

[Xero]

Adriatic Sea, 8:30 AM

Nalea grumbled to herself as she swam through the Adriatic Waters, nearly at the city-state of Adria. The underweight Merleon girl was moving at a slow pace, somewhere in the range of forty miles per hour, arms and legs moving in harmony with her tail to propel her through the small sea towards her destination. She couldn't easily swim as fast as other Merleons, which was just another one of her many issues, so for her this was a good and steady pace.

Her mother had, being ever worried about Nalea's underfed figure, attempted to stuff her to the gills with food trying to fatten her up to a healthy weight. Thankfully, her father had stepped in and restricted it down to a slightly heavy meal that wouldn't make her explode if she came even halfway close to eating it. Apparently, her mothers new method for solving her perpetual scrawniness was food. Which, considering all the other stuff she'd tried over the years, ranging from magic to medicine, only made sense to eventually come up. That is to say, it made sense in context. It was still kooky, in Nalea's opinion, since no matter what she ate she stayed the same.

But, her father insisted she at least try to humor her mother, at worst it would do nothing and life would continue on as normal. At best, it might actually work and, as her father jokingly pointed out, she might develop a figure. That was enough to get her to go along with it, as Nalea was always envious of other girls figures, even the ones that were considered “flat”. She was flat, those other people were just small. Oh what she wouldn't give for some curves...

As she lamented over this, the nearby marine life ignored her unless they were directly in her swim path, the scrawny girl not being enough of a threat level to make them flee, and even then only the small fish actually bothered to get out of the way. The larger fish, almost her size, would taunt her and she could swear they were sneering at her. A bullet to the face, as her pistol was designed to work underwater, taught them to respect her presence and make them flee like they did for everyone else.

Even the children got consistent respect from the fish! Why the heck didn't she? Just because she was smaller than other people? Or because she was weaker? They were fish! They should see something coming and run away no matter what it was!

"Every single day for years..." The young Merleon girl muttered as she continued on her way, occasionally having to teach another large fish to move out of her way. Even with the repeated stops she'd likely be on time to school, provided she didn't run into one of the giant fish today. Those bastards, which were bigger than her, tried to eat her sometimes!

- - -

Adria Aseria dormitory, Julto's apartment, 9:00 AM

Julto finished combing out his small ponytail, before binding it again with a hair tie, and set the small brush down on the counter. His apartment was of fair size, neither large or small, and had a single window for light. There were only four rooms, a bedroom, a bathroom, a living room, and a small kitchen. It was basically the average dorm room for students.

Julto turned to check a clock, which told him it was only 9 AM. He'd already taken care of everything else this morning, as he usually did. Deciding to use his time productively, the man decided to do some light exercises to warm himself up for the rest of the day. Unfortunately, he couldn't do so in his apartment for fear of breaking something, so he'd have to go someplace a bit more spacious first.

Leaving the dorm compound, Julto headed for the practice grounds. They were similar to the training grounds, in that you went there to train, but were much more simple. Plain terrain, no monsters or weird plants a simple place to practice techniques or spells. As he walked, the large man wondered if the bully he'd taught a lesson to a few days ago would have returned to his old ways or kept the lesson in mind.

Of course, that was assuming he'd recovered enough to practice...

- - -

Adria Aseria, Class J, 10:16

Nalea grumbled as she smoothed out her uniform a bit more, cursing the giant fish under her breath, as she entered the classroom. She'd been late because one of them, a big purple fish that was twice her size, had decided she looked yummy. An Icy Blitz spell had ended that before she'd actually been eaten, but it'd still been a major pain. On the one hand, there was nothing wrong with the fish trying to get something to eat, she understood that. But on the other, she had the right to defend herself. So it really came down to who was stronger, and she was pleased that she was actually stronger than something. Even if it was just an oversized idiot of a fish.

In the middle of her grumbling, she remembered that today was a mission day! The Merleon girl perked up near instantly, looking forward to it. Missions were a way for her to prove herself, show that she wasn't as weak and useless as she looked and, in a deep corner of her mind that she rarely acknowledged, sometimes felt. Looking around, she noted that everyone else seemed to be there and she was probably the last to arrive. She shot a glance at Gladius, the teacher, who waved her along to indicate that she hadn't missed anything. Well, that was good.

She idly wondered who she'd get teamed with, and on noticing him, considered it might be nice to be on the same team as Julto. Between his up close strength and her from a distance magic, they'd make a good team in her opinion.

[Ebony Debony]

Adria Aseria, Class J, 10:16

Amani was officially bored as she sat in class contemplating whether or not she should actually fall asleep during the professor's lecture. She had already read 2 chapters ahead, so if he did catch her sleeping and decided to call on her it really wouldn't be a problem. However, she also didn't want the hassle of having to answer questions the required more than two or three words, and most of the questions Gladius would ask would need more than two sentences, let alone two words.

And it was for that reason that Amani simply stayed awake instead of taking a nap. It would really have helped, however, if the room wasn't so warm due to the bright sun in the cerulean sky, the water shimmering through the glass walls and ceiling wasn't so pretty, and the Gladius wasn't so boring to listen to sometimes. Fidgeting in her rather small desk and adjusting her uniform skirt and blouse ever so slightly, the brown skinned girl could only count the seconds on the automatic clock above the large, white, dry erase board as she waited for her class to finally be over.

She couldn't wait to get to her history class and finally learn something new for a change.

For his part, Crest didn't give a damn about being called on. Both he and Gladius knew the formula by now. Gladius would call on him, he'd wake up sputtering nonsense, Gladius would ask him a question, Crest would talk about killing Dire Wolves for about five minutes, Gladius would call him an idiot, Crest would nod, and then the burly teen would simply fall back to sleep. And it was for that reason that the redhead continued to sleep, with his buried into his chest and his arms folded over his chest, even as the skinny, yet sultry, merleon girl he'd met the other day strolled into the class.

He really did want to ask her out on a date...

[Author Roy]

Sage sighed and sat back as Gladius waited for the last of the class to show up. When Nalea walked in, the man stood up and looked over the room, bringing his hands together within his heavy cloak sleeves.

"Okay then, as some of you know, today is a mission day," The instructor said in his weak voice. "Here I have Ms.Raina Calida," He said, gesturing the small, cheery merluman woman who was sitting in a chair beside his desk, "Mr.Marco Polo," He said, gesturing a handsome latin looking man in the corner, "And in about five... four... three..." As he spoke, the sound of someone running in the hallway became clearly audible. "two... one." Just then, a panting merleon woman stopped at the door, and took a few steps into the class. "Ms.Aemelia Alvadar," the instructor said with a slight smile.

"Hey Vince," The merleon woman said, taking a step into the class. "I'm not too late, am I?" She looked up and noticed all of the students still in the class. "Oh, okay, great."

"Now then," The dark cloaked man said. "Because Ms. Singleton can't make it today, you've only got three choices of missions to undertake. Raina will be taking six of you to Dagwood to take care of some rowdy forest monsters that have started raiding the farmer's crops. Marco will be leading a mission with eight of you to protect farmers in Tanton, and with Aemelia nine of you will be collecting rare herbs in a monster infested forest in Paella. Since you've all taken a mission before, I'm sure you know the drill; turn on your Adria Core System if you haven't already and take your pick."

Sage already knew the one he was going to pick. Aemelia was a friend, being the older sister of Merle, and they already had a nice little work ethic worked out. It was with a grin that he looked at the holographic image above his desk and tapped a few keys on his keyboard. By the time he was looking, all eight slots for Marco Polo had already been filled in by various girls, and Sage snorted, looking up at the handsome smirking Caerasian man, then around the class at the girls whose names were in the machine already. They were all staring at the mercenary, starstruck, and he shook his head and turned back to his screen--

To see that Aemelia's slots had already been filled in as well.

Sage narrowed his eyes, and blinked several times, then looked up at the instructor.

"Uh, Vince, uh, is there any way I can-"

"No special treatment," Gladius said casually without looking in his direction. The instructor coughed into a hand.

Sage looked at the screen before him and winced. The only slots left were for Raina Calida, E-Rank Mercenary.

'This... isn't going to be good,' He thought as he tapped one of the empty slots under her name. 'I shouldn't have been distracted by that first guy...' It was as he was shaking his head, filled with regrets, that he noticed Merle's name in one of the slots as well. 'Huh, I would have thought she'd picked her sister...'


Merle smiled and leaned back in her chair. 'I've never been to Dagwood before, that sounds like fun. I wonder what kind of monster it is we're going to be fighting?'

[Xero]

Julto mulled over the choices quickly, before making his decision. The collecting herbs was a instant no, so it really only came down to the protection job or the extermination job. Protection would likely have a lot of waiting around, and he wasn't much in terms of defense... So the choice was simple, and he signed himself up for a slot under Raina for the Dagwood Extermination Mission. Luckily, it didn't fill up as fast as the other two did, and he was able to get a slot. Which was weird, why wouldn't this one be filled up as quickly?

Nalea, meanwhile, was cursing not being able to get a slot under Marco, and then not being able to get a slot under Aemelia. Damn her slow reflexes! All the other girls had filled up the slots for Marco near instantly, and then likely the boys had filled up the slots for Aemelia. Muttering to herself, she reluctantly selected herself for Raina. Oh well, she'd get to take it out on some monsters, and show her teammates just how good a mage she was!

[Author Roy]

Gladius looked at his own display and nodded, seeing all but two students' names appearing in the list.

"Okay then, since you've all made your choices, the Aero-Planes will be leaving in twenty minutes." He said, walking towards his desk and sitting down again. "All of you students form groups with your leader and make introductions as needed." He looked over at Amani and Crest as eight girls shot up from their seats towards Marco. "You two are with Raina." With that, not bothering to check and see if they'd heard, he leaned back in his chair and folded his arms above his stomach, putting his feet on the desk.

Sage leaned back in his chair and covered his face as he looked up at the ceiling. Suddenly, he felt someone pinch his shoulder, and he winced, then took his hands down and looked at the person who'd just walked by him, scowling. It was Raina, and she had an innocent smile on her face as she walked towards the other members in her group, who had assembled in the back of the class.

Raina looked over the five students with a smile.

"Hi, My name is Raina Calida! I'm twenty three, and I just made E-Rank last week. I look forward to working with you all!" She said. She then looked down at Merle. "Okay, since you're closest to me, why don't we start with you and go around in a circle?" She asked, looking around at the... shape her group had taken.

"Hm? Oh, My name is Merle Alvadar. Aemelia is my sister, but I wanted to try something new, so I picked you. I hope we can have fun on this mission," Merle said, smiling.

"Question," Sage said as he walked up behind Raina. "Do you regularly pinch people as you walk by or is that just something you've reserved for your stalking victims?"

"Okay, you?" Raina asked, totally ignoring the young man's question and looking down at Nalea. Merle frowned at Sage who rolled his eyes and shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets.

[Xero]

A newbie mercenary? Nalea thought to herself. Darn, they wouldn't likely give a newbie a good mission... So it'd likely be a complete bore... She perked up at the question directed at her, having almost missed the Merluman's look at her to indicate who she was talking too.

"Oh, I'm Nalea Sojun. I wanted to do the Protection Mission or the Gathering Mission, but this one works just as well..." She paused to think of anything else she could say, before adding in. "I'm really good at magic, but not so much at other stuff... So try and put me in a casters position!"

Satisfied, the scrawny merleon girl waited to see what everyone else would say, while wondering what that Sage boy had meant about stalkers and victims and pinching.

[Author Roy]

Raina smiled and nodded, then looked at Julto, who was next.

"Okay, so what about you, big guy?"