Nexus Campus Town

[Bern]

Lily

"Please don't tease them so much sensei...." Lily walked in and bowed before the class with a spellbinding grace. Her movements was like a performance right out of a movie, nah even that wasn't quite enough to explain how she moved. It was the perfect harmony between all parts, so fluent it was, that she appeared to have moved halfway across the classroom in a single step. Then she bowed to the class while making sure to hold her skirt so it didn't slide up anymore.  "Most people can't really handle the presence of Succubi royalty their first time, especially not a bunch of virgins..."

She grinned a waved to them. "Hi.... My name is Lily, I'm the daughter of Overlord Elizabeth and second in line to the throne. Pleased to meet you all! I hope we can all have a pleasant time together, but first I'd like to set down some ground rules..." Her smile didn't change at all, but the tone of her voice dropped a bit. If this was meant to be threatening it kinda failed though, as she went from sounding like a cheerful young school girl, to a sultry mature woman who was begging to get laid.

"I know my presence is a bit overwhelming, so it's okay for y'all to look at me as much as you want, but if you feel like groping me.... Then ask me first, I'm not always in the mood..." The redhead made it sound like she was gonna beat them all up for it, only to subvert it in the end and green lit it all.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lawrence

Oh? What a fascinating response. A wave of murmurs, embarrassed glances, and flustered faces soon washed over the classroom. And who could blame them? Being in the presence of such a high-rank demon would make anyone swoon, let alone royalty.

But Elizabeth's second herself? Even Lawrence had to express some surprise at the boldness.

"Ahem."

At least, until he realized Phenex staring wide-eyed behind him, with an expression that pretty much mirrored every student. A glare was all it took to get the elemental to stop, and it twirled into a wave of flame before vanishing. And with a dramatic thud of his cane, Lawrence spoke up once more.

"As you're aware, diplomatic tensions can be shakey at times. However, I will not ask you to treat our new student with royal authority. What I expect is for each of you to be decent, and include her in our group as one of our own. After all, no matter your background or origin, these halls view all as equals. We all share the same desire to learn."

And so they shall. So they shall.

With a reptilian smile, Lawrence snapped his fingers and conjured his Grail king from the depths of his coat. Pulling along the various tomes and bags he carried along, he lifted them up to his main desk. Strange clockwork devices, spherical arcaneums, tomes of old, and other scholarly apparel were laid bare before all.

"Please, take a seat Lily. Wherever you like. Our class shall begin posthaste. Welcome, to Campus Town's Life Force Mysticalities 101."

Really? Couldn't you come up with a better name?

Oh hush you.

[Bern]

Lily

"Alrighty-"

The redhead strutted over to the front row, shamelessly showing off her legs and her hips to the whole class. And when she finally claimed a seat and sat down, her panties were flashed for just a moment. They were quite indecent, and not something you'd expect anyone to wear to class, but not that strange considering what she was. The school dress code sure was designed by perverts though, she didn't mind though, not when she could feed freely on this much latent lust.

"Excuse me Sensei, but is puling out a bunch of junk actually necessary? I can't detect a hint of mana in any of those, are you actually a conman?"

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lawrence

"Absolutely." He nodded wryly as he finished neatly putting everything on his table. Indeed, it was as she said - a fact which only made the other students more confused. For no one could sense the tiniest sliver of magic or mana from these strange items.

Some shot worried looks at Lily. Talking about their teacher like that... that was bound to get them in trouble... right?

They never saw him smile like this. Gloomy as he was, it almost looked wrong.

"These may look like mere baubles and trinkets, but they will be essential for today's lesson." With a deliberate wave of his cane, he dragged the attention to each and every one. "There are many ways to manipulate life. I do believe necromancy is a popular facet of this science... but there are untapped surfaces begging to be touched and explored. That is why I'm here."

He took a few steps down his podium, and ominously walked down the rows of desks. His eye wasn't shimmering whatsoever, it was almost sucking the very tension into this room.

"But first, I'd like to ask you all a question. What does it mean to be alive?" He turned his sharp gaze to one of the male students, who was inadvertedly staring at the newcomer more eagerly than most.

"You."


The student

He nearly jolted, and had to shake his way back into focus. "Wuh uh uhhh..." Right, um, life classes. That's where they were. It was kind of obvious, he didn't really think they'd start with something so obvious.

"Uhhh, well your heart's still beating and you're here. Right? I mean, it's obvious if someone's alive or not."

The air grew a little tenser at the answer, the teacher was almost deliberately quiet. Was he trying to make the answer squirm out of him?

Just before it got unbearable, he spoke. Or rather, someone.


The burning bird cackled and circled the classroom, like a wild carrion.

"Duuuuuh. Of course that'd make you alive - most of the time anyway. But there's plenty of gizmos that don't have an actual body or that don't follow conventional rules like that. What if you had a golem and pumped it with lotsa juice from a battery? Would that make it alive?"

Lawrence smiled. "Under normal circumstances, you'd be correct. But this world isn't so conventional. To truly manipulate life, you must understand it intimately. Now then, what is the difference between the dead and the living?"

[Bern]

Lily

The redhead answered the question quickly with an almost bored inflection to her voice, this was pretty rudimentary stuff and not even more than the absolute core of this subject matter, or rather it was just pure philosophy. Despite her bored looking demeanor she was actually feeling quite invigorated though as she had quite the supply of lustful atmosphere to siphon off from here.

"The difference is self awareness sir. I think therefore I am, and the truly dead don't think. That is why the "undead" are technically part of the living and not the dead. Just because something moves doesn't mean it's alive either though, a golem may be animated but if it lacks any higher functions then it's just an extension of the caster's will and therefore not alive." she paused just long enough for everyone to keep up. She hadn't been an instructor herself for nothing, and talking for too long uninterrupted was a great way to ensure that your students didn't catch it all.

"On the other hand, someone's soul may been stuffed inside an inanimate object like a doll, in which case that doll is now alive."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lawrence

If Lawrence wore glasses, this would probably be the part where they glowed to the point you couldn't see a thing past them. Unfortunately, he didn't.

That didn't stop him from pointing right where he looked, right at the succubus who answered his question. "As expected of Lily, that's exactly right." And suddenly, a glowing shine sparked on her desk, electrifying it with unknowable magic. Something appeared on it, something so incredible it glowed in the middle of the class.

A golden star.

"Indeed, awareness of self is a fundamental difference between something that is alive and something that isn't." His cane clacked severely down the rows, as he walked around the various students. "It is often confused or overlooked, as there are many living things that do not have a visible or noticeable ego. A plant or an insect, for example, can't be fully compared to a human, and in many cases smaller life forms aren't able to express it the same way or to the same extent as you. But it is possible - and observable on various scales. Ordinarily distinct, but drowned by the surrounding noise."

Despite his deathly expression and sternness, there was almost a melodic quality to his voice, like a cadence of intonation and song. It drew you into his words, while his eyes peered right into you. Something that might come off as creepy was overwhelmingly different when performed with overwhelming charisma. The words, expressions and syllables necessary to rouse a soul.

For indeed, this was a performance. Lawrence was a conductor, guiding the melody and intoning it until it reached their hearts and minds. The flow of knowledge was something he was no stranger to.

"All of this, however, is a symptom. It is far from the underlying cause, though it's the easiest to observe and prove." He looked at Lily with sincerity, then back at everyone in the class. "There is something even more vital. The difference between someone who can fully express one's life, and one who can't. The difference between a doll and a person."

He didn't smile, but his lips slightly curled upwards.

"A will. A true, genuine will that is born from the self. And to manipulate life... to control its flow... is to overwhelm it with your own. Your flow. Your will."

He waved dramatically to the objects lying on the podium. "Thus, I ask, what do these strange artifacts, lacking both self and will - these trinkets that cannot be controlled or opened with force or magic... what exactly are you going to use them for?"

[Bern]

Lily

The redhead was at it again, answering again but this time more cheekily. He was the one who just pulled out a pile of random junk after getting late to class so this was the perfect opportunity to make fun of him.

"To bash in the heads of scatter brained professors of course!"

She said it with such sincerity that it couldn't be anything bu the truth, yet it was so absurd that it couldn't possibly be anything but the truth. Or at least the petit girl believed so herself.

"If my will to kill you is strong enough then it will overwhelm your flow, and I'll have manipulated your life force out of existence. Check mate professor I now got a master's degree in Life Forces...."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lawrence

"Oh?"

The most shocking thing was how seriously he took her suggestion. Lawrence tilted his head and blinked at Lily as if to acquiesce. "What a novel idea. Please, do give it a shot." He put a curious finger on his chin, before tossing one of the tomes straight on her desk.

"Hmm, no. I suppose I should say something like - ✨ ✨ good luck, you can do it girl! ✨ ✨ You rock! ✨ ✨"

[Bern]

Lily

"No."

She caught the tome in mid air before it even landed. "You should take better care of your stuff or...." Then Lily flung the tome right back at him with explosive force.

"Or they might just break."

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lawrence

For a split second, the tome glowed a faint, warm orange hue when Lily touched it - only for the light to fade as soon as she let go.

"A fair suggestion, fair lady. Duly noted." He caught the book tossed back at him, only to toss it back at the Lily who tossed it back at him in the first place. "However, I do insist you keep hold of it."

Hmm, how curious. It is quite a warm feeling. Nostalgic even.

"I think what the schmuck is trying to say is, you need to take one for the lesson. Something something practical experiment." The bird looked down with a pout, like he was totally exasperated.

So, with a flap of his wings, very slight burning vortexes pushed the trinkets in the air ever so slightly, as if moved by a bright orange tornado... slowly laying one before each student.

[Bern]

Lily

The redhead caught the returned book with some reluctance and sighed. Although the dynamic between him and the bird was quite the thing... Hmm could it be that? Lily looked closer at them as her eyes narrowed, she was trying to take in every detail to see if her hunch was correct.

"Are you the master?" She wasn't talking to the man but rather to the bird. Their relationship has been suspect from the start, and he didn't act like the regular familiar, it could be that the bird was controlling him and he was the familiar, or maybe the bird was an extension of him....

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lawrence

Ooh.

Ooh.

For the first time, there was a hint of... interest in their eyes. A sharpness that only the ancient could really recognize, or appreciate. But it faded as soon as it lit up on their faces, and Lawrence looked away with an awkward cough.

"Ahem."

"H-hey! Why would you ask something like that!? Do I look like some kind of freak, missus? Deviant! You deviant! You-"

Fascinating. What a perceptive specimen. His cane bonked Phenex on the chin, shutting him up. With an indignant flap, the fiery chicken turned away in tow, pouting. "It's been a while since I've heard such a refreshing theory." Was he smiling? No, he didn't really look like it, even if his lips curled upwards.

A sinister laughter restrained its echoes. "Fu fu fu... observe." As he grabbed a dusty tome, he exposed a luxurious flower to the whole class, brimming with life - before lightly smacking the book with its vivid petals.

As soon as he did that, some sort of light moved from the plant into the book, causing it to float in the air and rapidly flip its pages! The students gawked on, surprised - at the book suddenly moving as if it bore a life of its own... and the rapidly decaying flower, soon crumbling into ash. Even the most talented of mages recognized that this was no trickery - there was an eerie lack of mana flowing in or outwards. It was all pure life.

"It is a skill, to move the flows of life and ebb it in the path you desire. In some cases, to force the currents to split into multiple directions, separate from the source." His ash-wite features darkened with an ominous smile. "And these mere trinkets are like a crutch in that sense. I trust you've brought the necessary materials. Each contains different amounts of the essence needed to activate these items. For now, do not worry about reproducing it yourselves, I would like you to observe the different effects and take note of them in your notebooks. Lest you may overlook the process."


As the students looked through their bags and compendium, Lawrence slowly walked up to the elemental.

"Fret not, it must be your first time my? I'm gentle enough to share." He quietly handed something peculiar to the elemental while the other students worked with the different tools.

A burning orb, brimming with life so intense and flavorful - even a restrained demon would find it difficult to ignore its allure. "I almost feel bad, for a fellow brethren to have her ember wane so... it must be painful. I understand. Ah, forgive me. I am a little sentimental, I forget my place. Yours is a world of demons now, beyond my own limits."

Was there some kind of nostalgia in his words? No. What mattered was what Lily would do next.

[Bern]

Lily

The Elemental of flames snorted at his inquiry, this man obviously had a backer of some sort, that was the only feasible explanation for why no one had silenced his slippery tongue yet. "It is hardly as painful as your monotone drivel teacher. Perhaps your bird ought to teach us instead, he sure seems more than capable, unlike someone else...." Lily was sparing him none of the sass, this man was an utter fool. A charlatan. The way he presented himself spoke of him knowing something but his behavior was utterly disgraceful.

"And quit looking at me like that..." His complete non interest in her was starting to bother her. Her kind did feed on emotions, particularly lust, but to for this connection to be basically empty, was essentially the same as being served utterly foul food. It was disgusting and it made her stomach churn. Hmpfff, she didn't like this but she would have to get forceful here. Lily focused her Charm completely on him, blasting him at full force. If her passive allure didn't affect him, then perhaps the full brunt might at least make him see her as a woman.

[Kotomine_Rin]

Lawrence

"Is that so."

Lawrence cocked his head curiously, almost childishly. That's when a burning wing pushed his head down - soon giving room for the Armaggedon of Aviation to ascend and grin at the fiery lady.

"Aw hell yeah! Finally, someone recognizes talent when they see it. I knew you could buddy, clearly I am the realest of deals!"

The poor ashen man grunted, but oddly enough - indifferent to it all. Even Lily's charm barely moved his current. Was he simply that empty? No, there was some feedback. It did reach him, and yet - "What a wonderful charm. I'm sorry, hexes like this can only be effective... so long as the target wills it." He sighed and waved the wing off his head. "But I'm sorry. I wasn't lying, I really did not mean disrespect. You just... remind me of home."

For a moment, Lawrence seemed truly empty. Until the wing poked him on the cheek again, pushing him aside again.

"Yeah, yeah. No, duh. You're terrible with the ladies. Trust me, we know. " And for the first time, Lily saw something different on his face.

"H-hey, cut it out." Lawrence grimaced and poked the bird back, teeth clenched. Stupid chicken, I should cook you alive. "Hey gorgeous, can I tell you a secret?" The bird soon hurried to Lily's side, much to the ashen man's sudden grimace.

Don't.

You.

Dare.

Oh, you just try to stop me, biatch.

But the lesson...

[SINIB]

Lawrence

"Is that so."

Lawrence cocked his head curiously, almost childishly. That's when a burning wing pushed his head down - soon giving room for the Armaggedon of Aviation to ascend and grin at the fiery lady.

"Aw hell yeah! Finally, someone recognizes talent when they see it. I knew you could buddy, clearly I am the realest of deals!"

The poor ashen man grunted, but oddly enough - indifferent to it all. Even Lily's charm barely moved his current. Was he simply that empty? No, there was some feedback. It did reach him, and yet - "What a wonderful charm. I'm sorry, hexes like this can only be effective... so long as the target wills it." He sighed and waved the wing off his head. "But I'm sorry. I wasn't lying, I really did not mean disrespect. You just... remind me of home."

For a moment, Lawrence seemed truly empty. Until the wing poked him on the cheek again, pushing him aside again.

"Yeah, yeah. No, duh. You're terrible with the ladies. Trust me, we know. " And for the first time, Lily saw something different on his face.

"H-hey, cut it out." Lawrence grimaced and poked the bird back, teeth clenched. Stupid chicken, I should cook you alive. "Hey gorgeous, can I tell you a secret?" The bird soon hurried to Lily's side, much to the ashen man's sudden grimace.

Don't.

You.

Dare.

Oh, you just try to stop me, biatch.

But the lesson...