Spoiler: The Academy The Sun slowly rises from the horizon as dew disappears from the grass at the brand new Domino City Duel Academy. Erected in the heart of the metro, the first-of-its-kind university promises to produce the best duelists in the world and prepare them for life better than any other collegiate institution could hope to claim. Students stream onto the campus, working their way to the school's main auditorium at the direction of the staff. As people pour into the large auditorium, a middle aged, slightly overweight man in a sharp suit awaits them on the stage, smiling over a podium at the rapidly filling seats. Spoiler: Tomomi Yamagishi As the last of the neophytes find their seats, the man begins, his authoritative voice amplified by microphone mounted on his podium. "Welcome, everyone, to Duel Academy!" He pauses to let the cheers die down. "I am President and interim Headmaster Tomomi Yamagishi. As our inaugural class, I want to personally promise to each and every one of you that we will provide the best education..." The speech is boring and longer than it has any right to be, but he eventually concludes with something interesting. "...If all of you would check your school email account, you should have received a message stating when and where your entrance duel will take place today. Your performance in this duel will determine your dormitory and help inform which classes you will be taking for this semester. If anyone has any questions, please find a staff member or professor. I wish you all good luck and a good semester!" With a bright, if forced, smile, Tomomi departs the stage, leaving the students to their devices and the watchful eyes of their chaperones. @Arachna Watching the students from the back of the large room more than she was the speech given by the man who hired her on, Julia already knows that she is supposed to be at the main gymnasium in an hour to oversee one of the entrance duel sites. Until then, however, she has time to prepare, talk, or do whatever she likes. However, a well-dressed young man is already approaching her with a question. Spoiler: Student "Excuse me, ma'am. Where is the duel arena?" @asddas193 Since sitting in the auditorium, Felicia already felt some of the students nearby shying away. Seems like her reputation precedes her, at least somewhat. Now dismissed, she is left to her own devices amongst the crowd. Checking her phone, Felicia finds her duel is scheduled for an hour from now in the lobby of the administrative tower against someone called Alex Courser. Looking back up at the passing students, she notices a woman staring right at her. Spoiler: Staring Student @Daylan True to her word, Tenma's older adoptive sister, Haruka, has made the boy carry her heavy suitcase in addition to his own baggage. Spoiler: Haruka Smiling slyly, she teases him. "You're lucky we don't get to choose who we duel. You might actually have a chance to win this time!" Showing her phone to Tenma, she continues. "I'm up against a...Sable Mirka in a few hours. Who are you facing?" Looking at his own inbox, he sees the name Jessica Stephenson, along with a time and place which match those of his sister's duel--the botanical garden a few hours from now. "Seems you'll be carrying my things for a while longer, hm?" Haruka giggles. @Tjf Looking at his phone, Adam sees he is meant to duel Haunani Wen at the duel arena one hour from now. Glancing at the others in the room, he easily recognizes one of the staff members answering questions and providing directions as Rene Hubert, Frenchman and former pro duelist. Spoiler: Rene Hubert The man's face lights up as he sees and walks to Adam. "Monsieur Le Fey! It is good to meet you." He extends a gloved hand to shake. "I remember hearing how well you did in Paris. They are only small tournaments, but it is rare for someone so young to win so many in quick succession. Is there anything I can help you with? Do you know where your entrance duel is?"
Letting out a sigh as everyone's already afraid of her, or so it seems. Felicia doesn't let it get to her, after all, she isn't here to make friends. She's here to cull those that would try to ruin what a duel is all about. "Khhh." She lets out a low growl as she recalls the spoiled brat she faced, By now he's probably old enough to be here. She thinks to herself, annoyed even more at the prospect of facing the little bastard again. As she read who she'll be dueling, Felicia takes note of it, and the fact that she has an hour left. "Hmm?" But then, someone catches her attention over all the students, the red-head raises an eyebrow. Before deciding to approach her fellow student. "Is there a problem?" She asked in a slightly gruff tone, which sadly only furthered her image as a delinquent herself.
"Huh? N-no." The girl nervously stammers, quickly looking away. Her voice is quiet, barely audible over the din of the auditorium. "I-I just...I r-recognize you. You beat A-alden Weaver at his f-family's tournament, r-right?" Felicia recognizes the name of that rich poser who tried to intimidate her into throwing a duel against him only a few months ago.
Tenma does not initially respond to Haruka's teasing taunts. Though it is questionable if it is because he is used to it by now or because he is focused on making sure he does not fall over from the weight of Haruka's suitcase combined with his own, much meager backpack of one or two changes of clothes and other essentials. "I suppose so, miss," he grunts softly, eyes meekly looking at the ground more than the surroundings, "I... will try to at least end up in the same House as you are if possible. So I can be more easily on call, of course."
"Hm?" Felicia was surprised at the girl's reaction, "Calm down, it's not like I'm going to hurt you." She said, her voice a bit softer now. "Alden... Weaver?" However as she mentioned a specific name, "Ah... that brat." Felicia grumbled, "What about it?" She asked in a curious tone, "Oh, right, well, you already know me. But, Felicia Marthews. You are?" The red-head introduces herself, offering a handshake. Though to outsiders, with how frightened the girl was, it could be mistaken as a threatening gesture...
Could he be anymore boring? She didn't really hide checking her phone during his speech, but kept up a polite enough smile. This was important to prepare people for a society based on it, sure. But she did want to emphasis them learning more actual skills that could be used. Though...the bigger reason wasn't for anything she could explain. Still, the academy brought her the best opportunities to dig up books and find people with the potential. She eyed the group, taking a brief glance towards Adam across the crowds. He....definitely. Not quite there yet....but.... Brought out of her attention to her own work, was when a student approached. Clean, well dressed. Most likely from a wealthy family, perhaps? Julia's smile was....a little more than just friendly as she took in the sight of his appearance. It was a little too public even for her to tease him too much, but she didn't shy away from the sight. "Already ready to go? It's not too far." She straightened up as she gave him a slow smile. "You can call me Julia. Come on." She assumed it would take a good while for the testers to sort out who was going into each dorm and being assigned where. That left her plenty of time for rich young men. Well, let's not sexually harass students on the first day. Thinking better of it, she decided to just look at the crowd and make an announcement. "If anyone is searching for the dueling grounds, they are free to follow." Mainly, just to act as if she was doing her job, but also to make sure they would be able to get things wrapped up hopefully fairly early.
Does he think I'll be his friend just because we come from the same country? Adam does his best to suppress an eyebrow raise as Rene holds out a hand, but he's not rude enough not to shake it. "I'm glad to have impressed." The prodigy says, his eyes looking around the room. The belles in here, mon dieu... I think this place will be more fun than I thought. He frowns as he spots Julia talking to a handsome, well dressed student, before chiding himself. You've had plenty of women. Jealousy is unbecoming, even if she is your childhood crush. Placing his view back on Rene, he shakes his head. "Unfortunately not. They told me it was in an hour, but neglected to tell me where it would be." He says the words without malice, but nonetheless he comes across as annoyed.
"You don't think you're going to lose, do you, Tenma?" Haruka fixes her brother with a look of disappointment and concern, hand squeezing his shoulder. "We can't have you losing your first real duel...In any case, I'll come up with a way to keep you close at hand either way. Maybe I'll fix you with a collar and tell everyone you're my support dog. Or I could simply have you sleep hidden under my bed. So many possibilities..." Her coy, easy smile returns as she taunts Tenma. "Why don't you go ask someone how to get to the gardens? There's a cute professor right over there." She points a couple rows away, where a woman in a white dress is talking with another student. Spoiler: Professor
Tenma rapidly shakes his head. "N-N-No! I can win..." he says, jumping slightly at the touch, "It's just... this sounds like a situation where they'll be looking at more than just winning and losing, miss." He shudders a little at her suggestions, having been in situations involving a collar or being forced to sleep next to or under a bed. They were both arousing and terrible memories at the same time. When she orders him, he gives a slight bow of his head. "Yes, miss." Tenma makes his way over to the Professor in white, meekly waiting his turn before he speaks up. "E-Excuse me..."
"S-sorry. D-don't like crowds." The girl stammers through an excuse. She's still obviously reticent, but the change in Felicia's demeanor seems to have calmed her a little. "M-mia Kasprzak." She daintily shakes Felicia's hand, still avoiding the intimidating girl's eyes. Spoiler: Perception Roll 35+20 (Perceptive)=55 light success Something about Mia's behavior strikes Felicia as a little strange, but she can't pin down what it is. "I-I was at that match. It was g-good to see him t-taken down a n-notch."
"Hmm?" Felicia raised an eyebrow as she saw Mia's strange behavior, but shrugs it off as her being an introvert. "Really? Sorry, I was too focused on the duel to look around I suppose." The red-head replied, wearing a soft smile, "Yeah, he was all talk. Bastards like that don't deserve the right to duel." She added, her tone becoming a bit stern. "Anyway, you have a duel too, right? Good luck on your placement." However before her mood soured, Felicia breaks the tension by reminding Mia about the placement duels. "I'll see you around." With that she moves away, unless the girl had anything more to add, Felicia heads to the Administrative Tower.
Spoiler: Magic Sensitivity Roll 20+10 (Spirit Taming)-10 (environment)=20 fail As she scans the crowd, she cannot detect any others with magical potential, nor can she sense any spiritual resonance amongst the noise. Perhaps the crowd makes it difficult to sense an individual's abilities? "Oh, you don't need to take me there ma'am--Julia, sorry--I'm sure you have others to attend to." He smiles abashedly. Still, the polite boy doesn't hesitate to accompany Julia. "I am Takashi Yoshino. Thank you for the guidance." He smiles warmly. A small group of other students quickly joins the pair at Julia's announcement before they exit the loud room. Some of them are less subtle regarding their stares at the woman than others. Following the professor, they all make their way across the campus to the arena. Spoiler: Arena For now, the field and stands sit empty, as there are still at least forty-five minutes before the first entrance duels are meant to begin. Most of the students talk among themselves, Takashi included, getting to know each other, but one girl stands aside from the others, looking through her backpack.
Overall, it was still going to drag on a while at this rate. With most of them looking through the contents of their decks for any last minute adjustments and the like, Julia had to take notice of the odd one out. Julia did her best to approach her relatively quietly and not put her on the spot in front of other people. "Did you forget something?"
Spoiler: Perception Roll 11=11 fail Rene's grip is strong. "I'm sure you'll do well." He releases Adam's hand, tilting his head curiously. "Oh? Let me see the email. You are enrolled, yes?"
"So am I." Adam smirks, strengthening his grip to match. "Hmm? I don't think I'd be here if I wasn't. Here." He shows the man the email.
"Yes, but you already know quite well that winning is what matters most." Haruka's smile widens. "I thought our sisters and I had already taught you that," She taunts, releasing Tenma's arm. ----- "Yes, how can I help you?" The pink-haired woman intones soothingly in response to Tenma, the other students she was addressing moving on. He can feel Haruka's eyes on him, watching her precious pet brother and the professor carefully.
Mia smiles back. "Y-yeah. Y-you too!" Felicia feels Mia's eyes on her as she walks away, but the mass of bodies in the aisles soon obscure her from view. ----- Walking to the sleek tower as it shimmers in the morning sun, Felicia still has at least half and hour before her duel is to begin. Looking around, she sees plenty of others finding their way across the campus, but none of them draw near to the tall, silver building, even as she approaches it. The wide entrance stands before her, glass doors partially obscuring a posh, well-furnished lobby. A wide, pristine desk awaits beyond the portal, manned by a brunette receptionist.
"This is where I'm supposed to duel?" Felicia mumbled as she saw the building. The name Administrative Tower already told her how important this place was to the school, but looking around. It was as if no one else was going to duel here, "Weird." She mumbled, deciding to use the remaining time to review her deck, she heads on inside the tower to find a waiting area.
Spoiler: Searching Girl "No, of course not!" She seems almost affronted at the question. "I'm making some changes since I've got an idea who I'm dueling now." The girl scowls before her expression turns briefly happy, her hand pulling a card out of her bag. Spoiler: Spiritual Resonance Roll 83+10 (Spirit Taming)=93 strong success While she only sees the back of the card, Julia notices a surprisingly strong spirit is hosted by it. While the spirit does not seem pleased with it's owner, it is not dissatisfied either. "There you are!" The student quickly tucks the card into her deck and zips her pack shut. No other cards in the girl's repertoire strike Julia as noteworthy.
[My bad, I should have capitalized the location or something.] "Ah, I see the confusion." Rene starts, reading the message. "A typo--the Duel Arena is on the other side of the campus. Professor Meri just led a group of students over there." He gives directions to Adam, handing back the phone. "Any other questions? There's a queue forming," he gives a good natured chuckle.
