The Synchronization Project

Evelynn scowled at Jenny. "You are an idiot," she spat. "You say he has the right to be here if he wanted, but have you not been paying attention? He hardly looks like he wants to be here." She leaned back, and smirked. "But by all means, if you want to defend someone who could easily turn against you, which he perfectly fits that profile, then be my guest."

"I don't make promises that I know I can't keep." Caleb said to Jenny as he closed his eyes and took in the rich heat of the fire. It was Evelynn's comment the straw that broke the camel's back, Caleb snapped back at her with his teeth barred.

"Oh you think your all that hmm? You think you know me? Tell me princess, what do you know about me aside from the obvious, hmm? If you wanna say something say it now or keep those pretty lips shut and your venomous thoughts to yourself!" Caleb said, his aura radiating from his body. A tendril of two snaking their way towards her, each one flashing featureless faces of sheer terror, faces only she could distinguish, faces she knew and cared about.

Nelís's eyes clasped shut as he urged to trade his fears for something more pleasant. He was still, unmoving for a while despite the quarrel that was happening right next door. It wasn't the best place to meditate, but he very much needed it and right at this second.

The gold seeped back into his skin and the feigned pain diminished moments later, the argument muffled to his ears before he glanced over to it. Caleb had his hoodie off and could be the definition of daunting himself while the other two didn't even appear fazed by it. Would it be rude to acknowledge that he was different? Why should he even worry about it? Caleb was the one who had struck the boy's fear, wasn't he? Then again, Nelís was easy to forgive. He could've been betrayed a thousand times before he would finally confront someone.

The boy pushed himself from his chair, his gaze shifting between the instructors and the arguing students. He wanted no part of the disagreement strictly because he knew he wouldn't be too pleasant to be around if his anger was triggered.

Clearing his throat, he turned to the instructors, dipping his head slightly. "I apologize for my outburst. I wish this.. celebration would've turned out better," he peered over his shoulder at the group of students. "Some other time, yes?" his hand reached out to his luggage with a forced apologetic smile.

"I only need to see the obvious," Evelynn said, flicking her hand to the side while closing her eyes as if it was something matter-of-factly she were saying. She crossed her legs, her stomach turning as she looked at the tendrils, but not an ounce of it showed on her face. She knew it wasn't real. Her eyes turned to Nelis as he spoke, and she almost wanted to thank him for interrupting.

Maybe the big oaf she had been arguing with would shut up.

She stood up too, taking his cue. "Yes, can we please retire? I am more than ready for it." Hopefully they wouldn't bring up the roommate thing either...

A blast of energy was felt. Anybody using sync energy at all would be deprived of it for a moment. A black aura surrounded everything. Andrei collapsed, falling to his knees. "E-easy, Haruki." He called, watching as the girl walked to the scene. Even the older people had fallen to their knees from the power of l whatever the girl had just used.

The girl walked out. She was small and short. She wore all black. Her hair was black and her eyes matched. Her skin was like porcelain.

Aidas looked up and managed to smirk. "Korone, aren't you supposed to be with the Scholars?"

"I had been on my way before I felt the disturbance."

Aidas looked towards his underlings. "Haruki here is a sync breaker, she can cancel out everybody else's energy because she has less degree and a higher level."

Caleb could feel the hold he had on fear slip from his grasp and dissipated almost instantly. While most people around him fell or went weak at the knees Caleb used his vast strength to push through, after all his physical strength was something altogether different from his magic. He glowered down at the small woman who had interrupted him from teaching Evelynn to be less infuriating.

He huffed and sat back down while the teachers spoke, the new teacher had called his power a 'disturbance'. He knew his power was great but he didn't realize how powerful it was even on a subtle level, that brought him some satisfaction.

"Yeah, I'm sick of this too. Either show us where we'll be staying tonight or I'm heading back to the Wilds." He was feed up with all these wannabes.

That was all it took for Haruki to shoot Caleb in the shoulder with a tranquilizer dart.

"You should learn early that we are the stronger ones here. I could kill you with a simple touch of my nail." She threatened before disappearing in a cloud of shadow.

Andrei walked over and made sure to he able to catch Caleb. "We'll teach you to control your energy so you don't do that again. I can only hope you weren't doing it purposely."

The young illusionist was almost forced to his knees due to Haruki's ability, and he used the chair to support himself through the brief moment before it lightened. He looked towards the woman who had brought everything to a standstill who he had a bit of appreciation for. He'd rather this than have the students continue their rivalry. Nelís couldn't determine whether Caleb did everything purposely, but wouldn't point a finger.

"He-" the boy had been interrupted when something red zipped through the air and struck Caleb's shoulder. Well, as a first impression Nelís concluded that they would be taught to handle themselves quickly, and attitudes wouldn't be tolerated. "It's been a very eventful day, hasn't it?" He asked with hinted humor though he realized that it wasn't too far into the day.

Jenny felt her strength returning after the woman called Haruki had left. She too wanted to leave, or at least for Evelynn to, hoping Haruki had sent the dart at her instead. She wanted to say that she would be willing to stay if Evelynn had left but kept the comment to herself.

Caleb paused and immediately felt woozy as the tranque began to work through his system, he felt across to his shoulder and feebly plucked the dart out and let it fall from his numbing fingers to the ground below. His vision was blurry but it wouldn't be nearly enough to take him down, he was too large for a single dart to do more than daze him for a moment or two. He immediately sat down to avoid falling over as the dizziness spread, he shook it off and became more quiet and docile, the dart hadn't made him fall asleep like that trigger happy lady probably wanted but he had calmed down a considerable amount.

Caleb just sat there, staring blankly at the fire with his yellow eyes.

JEnny noticed the darts effects on Caleb. She glanced at Andrei and mouthed out "Will he be okay?"

"Haruki has a intoxicator blood. She made that tranquilizer formula just to calm him down, by the looks of it. Well get him to rest and he can come to our celebration if he feels ready. For now, let's head off to the dormitories. It seems that Jenny and Evelynn will be rooming together, any other combination doesn't seem plausible at the moment.

Evelynn immediately stood up, though that may have been a bad idea as she had been feeling dizzy. "You have got to be kidding me..." Evelynn said, frowning deeply. "Put her and grumpy together. They seem to like each other well enough!"

"Yeah, i'd certainly rather be with him than her."Jenny said, folding her arms across her chest. "Or better yet just have me stay in a dorm all on my own. I'd rather be left alone than have to bunk with anyone."Jenny added.

Caleb only heard the garbled voices of his fellow classmates and teacher, he was off in his own little world as he watched the flames dance. He tried his hardest, under the current situation, to tune out all the outside noise and took in deep breathes as his hot exhales made vapor in the cool night air. He was likely to stay there all night unless moved or compelled by someone else.

"Calm down, young ones. You may all sleep in the Arts room until you find suitable roommates, whether they be of this squad or not." Andrei spoke up and walked to Caleb. At a touch of his hand, Caleb would feel tired and be compelled to walk with them. "You're sleepy, Caleb. Let's get you to bed." He said with a soft, nurturing tone. One could tell he had raised a group of his own, by the way he spoke to people.

Aidas walked with the other three. "Andrei raised a few kids. Amneris Mandisa, Kalila Sadaji, Mason Andreu, Dominique Delapierre, Daichi Ikenai, and Zitto Fulmine. They're all in the Arts, except for Zitto. He's a Scholar. You've met Amneris already." Aidas hummed. "Actually, a lot of us were raised in New York together." He continued.

"That's a story for another time. Let's go get drunk at the After-Gathering, taip [1]?" He spoke that last word in his native tongue, Lithuanian.

[1] taip- 'yes'

Jenny grabbed her belongings, slinging the bags over her back. "So, how am I going to find out what I can turn into?"Jenny asked Aidas.

"That, my dear, is not a question for an Illusionist. A few of our Tamers will be at the After-Gathering, you can ask them." He chuckled.

Evelynn didn't feel inclined to speak anymore. Jenny wasn't going to be her roommate as of now, so she seemed content. Instead, she just followed behind the others. But then something came to mind that she remembered hearing earlier, looking at Andrei.

"What is a 'life-drainer', or whatever it was you said earlier?"

Nelis cared very little for who he would room with. He was amiable, had no real requirements or boundaries besides ones of common sense, and he would be quiet company if his roommate wasn't one to talk. He'd brought along many books that he would read though he had already read all of them at least twice before. Despite that the stories were all the same each time he would cover something he had missed the reading prior, and all the stories were very much worth his time. He wouldn't mind if they were the only books he'd read for the rest of his life.

Well, he didn't have to ponder over who it would be for now since it was announced that they'd be sleeping in the Arts room. It seemed that maybe he would encounter the others from Combatants or Scholars as well. Perhaps that would bring some life into what he's seen in the other students thus far.

The boy took his luggage pressed against his thigh as he began to follow the group. He said nothing because.. what was there to say?? Besides he was accustomed to speaking when asked to speak. Whenever he did speak without being addressed first made him feel as though he were intruding. Best to be silent he supposed. In this case the mood wasn't the most upbeat.