Xillia
zєηιтн νιχєη
Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick tock, tick tock.
The subtle sounds of passing seconds, the rapping of heels against the cold marble floors and scooting of chairs in anxious anticipation. A low air hung in the room as the burly man up front gazed about over the students, his stomach hanging over his belt and his baggy jeans hoisted up just high enough to make you think he wasn't homeless. The fatness in his cheeks protruded a little with a cherry-like color of warmth, and yet, his eyes were all the colder because of it. His sleek black hair had been pulled back into a topknot and he rummaged around in the bag of cookies sanctioned against the upper slope of his belly. Expanso-Magnifico. The food hero, a man who got stronger and stronger depending on how much he had to eat, but with the disability of his own body growing weaker as his food would digest. He was something to reckon with, that much was apparent from the first physical test the class had undergone. As much as he looked the idiot, his teddy-bear like attributes had him his own fan group and cooking show.
With him as the class 1A homeroom teacher, the students knew no peace, from the moment their boots hit the ground, it was as though they were being trained for the military, only growing more and laxer in a relationship with Expanso as they progressed. Some were a knockout from the very beginning, being able to best even Expanso in the trials and tribulations course of hostage rescue where--due to her own mistake, Claire had invoked the wrath of her teacher and had him come in to physically punish her for her insolence. She could still recall the moment as though it was yesterday, and with her eyes closed, it seemed even more vivid to picture.
The building had been almost destroyed and she was caressing at her arm with her head while blood wound its way down from her gashed shoulder. Tekik, the Trap Hero had captured her almost immediately from the villain's side and had attempted to torture her (within standards) of her breaching from the hero standpoint. Fortunately, she'd only given goose-chase information, encouraging the other villain to engage at random floors where she knew her ally would not be. Assisting Tekik was the number 1 ranked classmate, also voted the class rep and held the highest respect from just about everything else. Suave. A man whose name said it all, with all the grace in the world, he used his fancy tricks and skills to confuse his opponent before hitting them with his true quirk: "Exile". To be honest, it was almost unfair, just by touching someone, he pulled them into a black hole that's strength could only be gauged by his rage. Against the mechas at the entrance exam, she'd witnessed him destroy at least twenty with a sweep of his hand. But for the hostage scenario, she knew he would only use it as a trapping device with slight discomfort. Even still, it didn't help that her teammate was the lowest rank hero in the class, and it was just her dumb luck that landed her alongside her female compatriot.
Jessica Hasel, a girl from the United States who was entirely quirkless and had gotten in because her parents had paid for it in a move for self-interest and publicity. Jessica soon was released to the horror of what it meant to be a hero during the entrance exam, only passing because she'd clutched to Claire's side and relied on her sub-par quirk to carry them through. In the same act, it'd landed the aforementioned female near the bottom of the class. Still, there was a hint of excitement that rushed through her body as Tekik approached her with the blade, his hand twirling it carefully as he slid it to her cheek, drawing down from the cheekbone. "Now, why don't you be a good little hero and tell me just where your friend is hiding, it'd be an awful shame to hurt someone so pretty."
Claire's fists clenched against the bonds that held her, her teeth gritted, but she refused to break, especially with their success on the line. She knew somewhere, Expanso was watching, and it rightfully pissed her off. From the moment she'd enrolled, whenever the two locked eyes, it felt like a cataclysmic earthquake would undergo and destroy everything else around them. On the other end of the earpiece, she heard the frail voice of her brunette ally. "Claire, I'm scared... I don't know where to go, and I know they're looking for me, they've only got two floors left and I have no idea where the hostage is at... I don't think, I don't think we can win this. Yeah... I'm just gonna forfeit, it'd be in the best interest for both of us. You've gotten us this far, I don't want to see you get hurt."
The pain of hanging limply while Tekik toyed with her only fueled the anger inside her, and she desperately looked around in the dark for a way out. "White Exodus", it had been her choice of a hero name because when she was young, she'd lost her best friend to an unfortunate incident regarding villains, sparking her desire to become a hero. It was the joking name he'd given her when the played heroes due to her fixation with a white lab coat her father wore. Quirkless, but a doctor.
She'd taken inspiration from it with her outfit. A fully open duster at the front, with a golden insignia of a blade and sun on the back. Beneath each sleeve, she wore thickly padded silver gauntlets with matching pauldrons on each shoulder, similarly with her legs, thigh-high armor of steel and a skin-tight black suit beneath. Around her torso, there was a flexible alloy that bore the form of a breastplate and snaked in a cross formation down her body to connect with her steel greaves. The only opening was at her stomach where a pendant lay pierced in her navel and closed in an oval fashion, stretching from her lower waist to the base of her chest.
The glint of the jewel must have caught her captor's eyes, because he made a move for it, "Awful interesting piece there... You always wear it. It must be special." He grinned, aiming to unclip it from its holster in her flesh. In truth, it was valuable, too valuable, the gift she'd received when she was twelve from her deceased friend. A metal feather with two jewels flanking the long edge of the design. As soon as his hand made contact with it, she found her opening, swinging her leg up and using the firm metal to bash into the boy's hand and let the blade fly freely. It wasn't seconds later before her slender legs were wrapped tight around his neck, her long golden hair falling in feathery fashion as she watched, his slow descent from consciousness. His face turned red at first, then blue, then purple before she felt his breathing grow less and less controlled. His body fell limp after seconds more.
She released and let him fall loosely to the ground, like a rag doll with the way he landed. She raised her heeled boot to his body and slipped the keyring around the metal then lifted her leg quickly, the ring flying into the air. Her quirk activated and time seemed to slow, she pulled against the bonds that held her arms and opened her mouth, teething to the freedom that landed between her upper and lower jaw. As she held herself up, she managed to slide the key in, and after a few attempts and tricky positioning, she managed to push her tongue against it and felt the locks free. Gracefully, she hit the ground, bracing her impact in a kneel, a gasp escaping her as the blood flow slowly returned to her arms. But somewhere else, though she felt she'd just gotten the edge, she would learn a little about her actions.
From the monitors as the class observed the hanging girl, Expanso knew what would happen from the get-go. The girl was hotheaded, a good person, but hotheaded and often made mistakes in her actions. Here he would see it, and he knew just what he'd have to do. As soon as Tekik made a move for her abdomen, and her legs wrapped around him like a boa constrictor, he watched, as the poor boy nearly had the life squeezed out of him. In the moment he was sure it'd have only felt like seconds to the girl, but to everyone else who was watching in horror, it was minutes of agonizing torture to Tekik who desperately clawed at his neck in hopes of freeing himself. One of the supervisors spoke up, "We need to stop this, she's going to kill him if she keeps it going much longer, he's already unconscious, she can't see that, she's blinded by anger! it's disgraceful!"
Expanso, slowly slid a muffin into his mouth and let out a sigh. "You're right."
"Expanso!" One of the boys called out, Uren, a physical quirk user of sharpened bones cried out, "Tekik can't handle that sort of pressure, he has really bad asthma, I saw it during the entrance exam!"
The teacher gritted his teeth. And turned heel, "You all stay here, it was a rule from the beginning not to use excessive force. Knife or not, Tekik only tickled her with it, he didn't aim to kill her. For that sort of insolence, she will suffer."
As soon as Claire regained her strength and her breath, she shuffled over to Tekik's limp body, feeling for a pulse. It was incredibly faint, but he was most definitely still alive. She let out a sigh of relief then moved over to the sheathed weapon propped up against one of the crates. A fine longsword that had been rid of her when the sleeping gas had knocked her out at the start of the test. What's more, the blade's name was what mattered to her. "Exodus".
She clenched her fists around the belt and strapped it over her hip, letting the blade rest loosely against the back of her hip, her long-coat swaying behind her as she rose to her full height. Blue eyes turned, to a single doorway, darkened. In the room, surrounded by darkness and with a single chair and light in the center, was the hostage. She began her way towards it, moving her hands to her frayed collar, letting the cheekbone high fabric touch against her sweating face. "Don't worry, Jessica..." She breathed out in relief, "This test, it's over." But just before she got through the door, she heard an unruly sound--a rustling above. It took her a second to register just what had happened, but what came next, she certainly didn't expect.
The concrete above her shattered, with the way to the hostage blocked by the now rubble, and standing amidst the smoke--Expanso. His arms were tight and his jaw was clenched, but Claire kept her calm and drew back some, "Why are you here? I thought there would be no interfering with the mission?"
"No interfering!? You've got some nerve talking like that! You do know you near about killed that boy there!?" He pointed to the limp figure behind her.
"What about him, I escaped and he's still alive. You said non-lethal force, that's what happened. You're in my way."
"You do understand your earpieces are more than just communication devices, correct? They transmit audio, sure. But it also tests your pulse and relays vital signs from the pulse located along your neck, letting doctors analyze exactly what's going on. That young man there, I bet you didn't even realize what you did. You crushed his neck, his trachea is in bad shape, there's already a medical team and a fully functional healing quirk doctor on their way to take him out. You don't know what sort of pain you just put him through. You really think you're going to be a hero someday? Not while I stand, I won't let you." He folded his arms, his figure seeming to double in size.
Claire's eyes went wide at the news, however, guilt gripping at her heart, like a vice, clenching it with unnecessary strength. Ironic, how that worked. She stared in dismay at her teacher, but seconds later, she was flying through the air, her figure slamming into the wall behind her.
The pain didn't hit her until she was on the ground, the scent of blood pooling from her nose and mouth as she staggered to her feet, all the wind knocked from her body. That was so fast... I didn't even see him, what--just what is he doing!?
"As punishment for your carelessness, Tekik is being replaced by me. And as the villain, I'm changing up the rules. Since there are only two of us, anything goes. That means until one of us falls unconscious or surrenders, we cannot be eliminated. But that's only for the two of us--so. Let's have some fun!" He charged her again.
In truth, the whole event had been a lie, Claire learned later that Tekik's throat actually hadn't been damaged and Expanso had used it as a bluff to lower her fighting spirit and use her as a punching bag for a solid ten minutes. And yet, with her desire to no longer win, she wanted Jessica to hold out. So, with a few timed dodges and parries, she'd gotten Expanso to blast her form through the rubble that blocked the hostage and the second wall that coincidentally opened up right next to Jessica, who snuck past the combat and nabbed the hostage, ending the exercise.
Claire could quite clearly remember the medical team arrival, just not for Tekik. She's spent nearly a week in the hospital recovering from the broken bones and torn muscle tissue. And for his actions, Expanso had been suspended for extensive force used on a student, but, after some appeals, he was back in two weeks, leaving Suave to teach the class in the absence of their teacher. Needless to say, despite the horrible beating she'd gotten, she'd learned something, that her power was out of control. Even though it took a bit for Tekik to forgive her, she'd recovered. And took days off at a time trying to learn more about her quirk.
She was an enhanced human being, though not super. And most definitely not a hero by her defining actions. She'd spent the time meditating and training herself in serene locations, to focus on her power and control it within her own body, to understand exactly what she was capable of and just what her movements would do. Despite the short time frame, she'd managed to get a grasp on it. In the first few sparring practices, no one had really been eager to fight her, but as she demonstrated her restraint, her unfavorable persona became a whole lot more appealing. She even cheered up and offered to lead the class in exercises at times, moving her from the 22nd spot up to the 3rd.
Now, she'd spent every day training her body, physically, mentally and with a high focus on her quirk to understand just what the slowed time really meant. And within that time, Jessica had figured out her place as well. She'd essentially all but fallen out, but managed to scrape by on the success of others, devoting herself to strategizing and studying others. It was pleasing to see her devote herself, and a bit of her heart earnestly reached out to the girl.
The muffled voices in the room around her grew to a standstill as she felt a firm nudge against her sore ribs. She perked up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as Magnifico eyed her from the front of the class. "This means you, Claire. The Sports Festival is coming up at the end of next week. I am disbanding class in that time for individual training and recreation so you can be at your own peak. Just remember, you'll be showing the world what you're made of on this grand stage. Anything less than your best--"
"IS UNACCEPTABLE" The class chimed in.
"Is unacceptable..." Claire muttered just after, her bandaged arm tightening a little as Jessica leaned over from her desk.
"Hey... Um, Claire? I was wondering--If it isn't too much, do you need a training partner for the upcoming--"
"CLASS!" Magnifico called out, his arms folded across his chest. "We've also acquired a transfer student today. He will be your new classmate so I expect you're welcome him with open arms. And due to his unfortunate arrival, he will not be permitted to compete, HOWEVER, this means he will have the ability and time to gauge each and every one of your before you can study him, so don't get too cocky with your presentation. Though--this is the part where your future begins. So fight hard, and fight well. Now, I'd like to introduce Silas to you all." He extended his hand to the door and both Claire and Jessica perked up.
The subtle sounds of passing seconds, the rapping of heels against the cold marble floors and scooting of chairs in anxious anticipation. A low air hung in the room as the burly man up front gazed about over the students, his stomach hanging over his belt and his baggy jeans hoisted up just high enough to make you think he wasn't homeless. The fatness in his cheeks protruded a little with a cherry-like color of warmth, and yet, his eyes were all the colder because of it. His sleek black hair had been pulled back into a topknot and he rummaged around in the bag of cookies sanctioned against the upper slope of his belly. Expanso-Magnifico. The food hero, a man who got stronger and stronger depending on how much he had to eat, but with the disability of his own body growing weaker as his food would digest. He was something to reckon with, that much was apparent from the first physical test the class had undergone. As much as he looked the idiot, his teddy-bear like attributes had him his own fan group and cooking show.
With him as the class 1A homeroom teacher, the students knew no peace, from the moment their boots hit the ground, it was as though they were being trained for the military, only growing more and laxer in a relationship with Expanso as they progressed. Some were a knockout from the very beginning, being able to best even Expanso in the trials and tribulations course of hostage rescue where--due to her own mistake, Claire had invoked the wrath of her teacher and had him come in to physically punish her for her insolence. She could still recall the moment as though it was yesterday, and with her eyes closed, it seemed even more vivid to picture.
The building had been almost destroyed and she was caressing at her arm with her head while blood wound its way down from her gashed shoulder. Tekik, the Trap Hero had captured her almost immediately from the villain's side and had attempted to torture her (within standards) of her breaching from the hero standpoint. Fortunately, she'd only given goose-chase information, encouraging the other villain to engage at random floors where she knew her ally would not be. Assisting Tekik was the number 1 ranked classmate, also voted the class rep and held the highest respect from just about everything else. Suave. A man whose name said it all, with all the grace in the world, he used his fancy tricks and skills to confuse his opponent before hitting them with his true quirk: "Exile". To be honest, it was almost unfair, just by touching someone, he pulled them into a black hole that's strength could only be gauged by his rage. Against the mechas at the entrance exam, she'd witnessed him destroy at least twenty with a sweep of his hand. But for the hostage scenario, she knew he would only use it as a trapping device with slight discomfort. Even still, it didn't help that her teammate was the lowest rank hero in the class, and it was just her dumb luck that landed her alongside her female compatriot.
Jessica Hasel, a girl from the United States who was entirely quirkless and had gotten in because her parents had paid for it in a move for self-interest and publicity. Jessica soon was released to the horror of what it meant to be a hero during the entrance exam, only passing because she'd clutched to Claire's side and relied on her sub-par quirk to carry them through. In the same act, it'd landed the aforementioned female near the bottom of the class. Still, there was a hint of excitement that rushed through her body as Tekik approached her with the blade, his hand twirling it carefully as he slid it to her cheek, drawing down from the cheekbone. "Now, why don't you be a good little hero and tell me just where your friend is hiding, it'd be an awful shame to hurt someone so pretty."
Claire's fists clenched against the bonds that held her, her teeth gritted, but she refused to break, especially with their success on the line. She knew somewhere, Expanso was watching, and it rightfully pissed her off. From the moment she'd enrolled, whenever the two locked eyes, it felt like a cataclysmic earthquake would undergo and destroy everything else around them. On the other end of the earpiece, she heard the frail voice of her brunette ally. "Claire, I'm scared... I don't know where to go, and I know they're looking for me, they've only got two floors left and I have no idea where the hostage is at... I don't think, I don't think we can win this. Yeah... I'm just gonna forfeit, it'd be in the best interest for both of us. You've gotten us this far, I don't want to see you get hurt."
The pain of hanging limply while Tekik toyed with her only fueled the anger inside her, and she desperately looked around in the dark for a way out. "White Exodus", it had been her choice of a hero name because when she was young, she'd lost her best friend to an unfortunate incident regarding villains, sparking her desire to become a hero. It was the joking name he'd given her when the played heroes due to her fixation with a white lab coat her father wore. Quirkless, but a doctor.
She'd taken inspiration from it with her outfit. A fully open duster at the front, with a golden insignia of a blade and sun on the back. Beneath each sleeve, she wore thickly padded silver gauntlets with matching pauldrons on each shoulder, similarly with her legs, thigh-high armor of steel and a skin-tight black suit beneath. Around her torso, there was a flexible alloy that bore the form of a breastplate and snaked in a cross formation down her body to connect with her steel greaves. The only opening was at her stomach where a pendant lay pierced in her navel and closed in an oval fashion, stretching from her lower waist to the base of her chest.
The glint of the jewel must have caught her captor's eyes, because he made a move for it, "Awful interesting piece there... You always wear it. It must be special." He grinned, aiming to unclip it from its holster in her flesh. In truth, it was valuable, too valuable, the gift she'd received when she was twelve from her deceased friend. A metal feather with two jewels flanking the long edge of the design. As soon as his hand made contact with it, she found her opening, swinging her leg up and using the firm metal to bash into the boy's hand and let the blade fly freely. It wasn't seconds later before her slender legs were wrapped tight around his neck, her long golden hair falling in feathery fashion as she watched, his slow descent from consciousness. His face turned red at first, then blue, then purple before she felt his breathing grow less and less controlled. His body fell limp after seconds more.
She released and let him fall loosely to the ground, like a rag doll with the way he landed. She raised her heeled boot to his body and slipped the keyring around the metal then lifted her leg quickly, the ring flying into the air. Her quirk activated and time seemed to slow, she pulled against the bonds that held her arms and opened her mouth, teething to the freedom that landed between her upper and lower jaw. As she held herself up, she managed to slide the key in, and after a few attempts and tricky positioning, she managed to push her tongue against it and felt the locks free. Gracefully, she hit the ground, bracing her impact in a kneel, a gasp escaping her as the blood flow slowly returned to her arms. But somewhere else, though she felt she'd just gotten the edge, she would learn a little about her actions.
From the monitors as the class observed the hanging girl, Expanso knew what would happen from the get-go. The girl was hotheaded, a good person, but hotheaded and often made mistakes in her actions. Here he would see it, and he knew just what he'd have to do. As soon as Tekik made a move for her abdomen, and her legs wrapped around him like a boa constrictor, he watched, as the poor boy nearly had the life squeezed out of him. In the moment he was sure it'd have only felt like seconds to the girl, but to everyone else who was watching in horror, it was minutes of agonizing torture to Tekik who desperately clawed at his neck in hopes of freeing himself. One of the supervisors spoke up, "We need to stop this, she's going to kill him if she keeps it going much longer, he's already unconscious, she can't see that, she's blinded by anger! it's disgraceful!"
Expanso, slowly slid a muffin into his mouth and let out a sigh. "You're right."
"Expanso!" One of the boys called out, Uren, a physical quirk user of sharpened bones cried out, "Tekik can't handle that sort of pressure, he has really bad asthma, I saw it during the entrance exam!"
The teacher gritted his teeth. And turned heel, "You all stay here, it was a rule from the beginning not to use excessive force. Knife or not, Tekik only tickled her with it, he didn't aim to kill her. For that sort of insolence, she will suffer."
As soon as Claire regained her strength and her breath, she shuffled over to Tekik's limp body, feeling for a pulse. It was incredibly faint, but he was most definitely still alive. She let out a sigh of relief then moved over to the sheathed weapon propped up against one of the crates. A fine longsword that had been rid of her when the sleeping gas had knocked her out at the start of the test. What's more, the blade's name was what mattered to her. "Exodus".
She clenched her fists around the belt and strapped it over her hip, letting the blade rest loosely against the back of her hip, her long-coat swaying behind her as she rose to her full height. Blue eyes turned, to a single doorway, darkened. In the room, surrounded by darkness and with a single chair and light in the center, was the hostage. She began her way towards it, moving her hands to her frayed collar, letting the cheekbone high fabric touch against her sweating face. "Don't worry, Jessica..." She breathed out in relief, "This test, it's over." But just before she got through the door, she heard an unruly sound--a rustling above. It took her a second to register just what had happened, but what came next, she certainly didn't expect.
The concrete above her shattered, with the way to the hostage blocked by the now rubble, and standing amidst the smoke--Expanso. His arms were tight and his jaw was clenched, but Claire kept her calm and drew back some, "Why are you here? I thought there would be no interfering with the mission?"
"No interfering!? You've got some nerve talking like that! You do know you near about killed that boy there!?" He pointed to the limp figure behind her.
"What about him, I escaped and he's still alive. You said non-lethal force, that's what happened. You're in my way."
"You do understand your earpieces are more than just communication devices, correct? They transmit audio, sure. But it also tests your pulse and relays vital signs from the pulse located along your neck, letting doctors analyze exactly what's going on. That young man there, I bet you didn't even realize what you did. You crushed his neck, his trachea is in bad shape, there's already a medical team and a fully functional healing quirk doctor on their way to take him out. You don't know what sort of pain you just put him through. You really think you're going to be a hero someday? Not while I stand, I won't let you." He folded his arms, his figure seeming to double in size.
Claire's eyes went wide at the news, however, guilt gripping at her heart, like a vice, clenching it with unnecessary strength. Ironic, how that worked. She stared in dismay at her teacher, but seconds later, she was flying through the air, her figure slamming into the wall behind her.
The pain didn't hit her until she was on the ground, the scent of blood pooling from her nose and mouth as she staggered to her feet, all the wind knocked from her body. That was so fast... I didn't even see him, what--just what is he doing!?
"As punishment for your carelessness, Tekik is being replaced by me. And as the villain, I'm changing up the rules. Since there are only two of us, anything goes. That means until one of us falls unconscious or surrenders, we cannot be eliminated. But that's only for the two of us--so. Let's have some fun!" He charged her again.
In truth, the whole event had been a lie, Claire learned later that Tekik's throat actually hadn't been damaged and Expanso had used it as a bluff to lower her fighting spirit and use her as a punching bag for a solid ten minutes. And yet, with her desire to no longer win, she wanted Jessica to hold out. So, with a few timed dodges and parries, she'd gotten Expanso to blast her form through the rubble that blocked the hostage and the second wall that coincidentally opened up right next to Jessica, who snuck past the combat and nabbed the hostage, ending the exercise.
Claire could quite clearly remember the medical team arrival, just not for Tekik. She's spent nearly a week in the hospital recovering from the broken bones and torn muscle tissue. And for his actions, Expanso had been suspended for extensive force used on a student, but, after some appeals, he was back in two weeks, leaving Suave to teach the class in the absence of their teacher. Needless to say, despite the horrible beating she'd gotten, she'd learned something, that her power was out of control. Even though it took a bit for Tekik to forgive her, she'd recovered. And took days off at a time trying to learn more about her quirk.
She was an enhanced human being, though not super. And most definitely not a hero by her defining actions. She'd spent the time meditating and training herself in serene locations, to focus on her power and control it within her own body, to understand exactly what she was capable of and just what her movements would do. Despite the short time frame, she'd managed to get a grasp on it. In the first few sparring practices, no one had really been eager to fight her, but as she demonstrated her restraint, her unfavorable persona became a whole lot more appealing. She even cheered up and offered to lead the class in exercises at times, moving her from the 22nd spot up to the 3rd.
Now, she'd spent every day training her body, physically, mentally and with a high focus on her quirk to understand just what the slowed time really meant. And within that time, Jessica had figured out her place as well. She'd essentially all but fallen out, but managed to scrape by on the success of others, devoting herself to strategizing and studying others. It was pleasing to see her devote herself, and a bit of her heart earnestly reached out to the girl.
The muffled voices in the room around her grew to a standstill as she felt a firm nudge against her sore ribs. She perked up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as Magnifico eyed her from the front of the class. "This means you, Claire. The Sports Festival is coming up at the end of next week. I am disbanding class in that time for individual training and recreation so you can be at your own peak. Just remember, you'll be showing the world what you're made of on this grand stage. Anything less than your best--"
"IS UNACCEPTABLE" The class chimed in.
"Is unacceptable..." Claire muttered just after, her bandaged arm tightening a little as Jessica leaned over from her desk.
"Hey... Um, Claire? I was wondering--If it isn't too much, do you need a training partner for the upcoming--"
"CLASS!" Magnifico called out, his arms folded across his chest. "We've also acquired a transfer student today. He will be your new classmate so I expect you're welcome him with open arms. And due to his unfortunate arrival, he will not be permitted to compete, HOWEVER, this means he will have the ability and time to gauge each and every one of your before you can study him, so don't get too cocky with your presentation. Though--this is the part where your future begins. So fight hard, and fight well. Now, I'd like to introduce Silas to you all." He extended his hand to the door and both Claire and Jessica perked up.
