It was about a week before the Hunters had their ominous meeting and during that time period, two individuals were put through the harshest time of their lives.
Lucian kept on complaining about the way the chokers had inconvenienced him constantly and had even tried to take it off but it was near impossible to do so.
Eventually, they ended up enduring their punishment, even if it meant their chores and training were a hundred times more gruesome than ever.
Relieved wasn't even the right word to describe how they felt when Kairo called them to have the collars removed.
Due to the absence of the two noisiest people in the room the entire dorm of Class A – 7 fell under a kind of peaceful quietness that felt like a rare phenomenon for the rest of the roommates, who where all seated round the living room.
"Well with those two gone, Saturdays has never been more peaceful." Azrael remarked as he played on his phone lounging on the couch of the living room "Who would have though?"
"Well it's best to enjoy it while it last because when they come back they are gonna be at each other's throats again." Cyrus replies as he flipped the page of a book he was reading.
"But isn't kind of cliché, I mean Vampires and Werewolves have been known to be at loggerheads ever since, even humans are aware of it, through their so-called 'Myths'." Azrael said, not looking away from his game.
"Wait but…don't other species fight each other as well?" Runa, who was on an armchair keeping herself busy with a sketch, spoke out of curiosity.
"Well yeah, aside from the wolves and bats, Orcs and Elves are also a common one alongside with Imps and Fairies too." Cyrus replied.
"Oh. But why do they fight each other exactly?" the girl asked again which made the other two look at themselves for a moment before looking at her.
"Well to be honest, I don't really know 'why' exactly." Azrael said shrugging his shoulders as he spoke."You should be asking Cyrus, not me."
"As much as I would like to, I honestly have no idea myself."Cyrus claimed and slowly their heads turned towards the last person in the room.
"Do I look like some sort of encyclopedia to you guys?" Harumi responded as she looked away from the window and at the others.
"Look Harumi, It's not like we're trying to force anything outta you, but you're more grounded in Mythic history than any of us." Azrael said flashing a wide grin.
"Alright," the Nymph sighed "First of all, majority of these inter-species conflict dates back to thousands of years.
"Some of them such as Werewolf and Vampires, as for the cause of these centurial conflicts…We have the likes of supremacy conflicts, sworn rivalry or bloody feuds."
"See. Most grounded in History…" Azrael stated finger-gunning at her. "So now that we're all chatty, I've been having this thought in my head for a long time…What do you guy's abilities do exactly?"
"Do we really have to explain that?" Cyrus asked throwing the ghost a look.
"Well, if we're gonna be teammates…we gotta know how to work together properly, right?" he smiled.
"W-Well I would like t-to get along with everyone better." Rune said as he as she fumbled with her pencil.
The Imp gave a tired sigh as he closed his book adjusting his glasses with a finger "Fine, It's not like have any better options."
"Great that's two…so are you in Harumi?" the grey-haired asked.
"I suppose I could join in-"
"ALRIGHT! All hands on deck then."
"You didn't let me finish." Harumi deadpanned
Azrael, however, was too engrossed in this upcoming topic that he ignored the Nymph's words and ensemble everyone seated on the floor in a circle.
"Okay, who's going first?" he asked.
"U-Um, I-I would like to have a go." The small girl said, her voice raising an octave.
"Sure thing," Azrael beamed. "The stage's yours."
"Um so my ability, it also me to draw powers from tarot cards, though as versatile as it may seem…it's take a toll on my energy and stamina depending on how powerful a card is."
"I see…" The Nymph said as she crossed her arms. "So that's basically magic, isn't it?"
"Yes. I am a witch after all." Runa said giving a small smile at the other female.
"Interesting," Cyrus added. "But if you're a witch and you can do magic…then why are you tagged as a Deviant?"
"Well, Witches, along with Wizards and Warlocks, are supposedly masters of the magic arts…" the witch said fumbling with her hair "Which means they master more than one type of magic; either it's Divination, Conjuring, Elemental or so on…but…"
"Lemme guess, you can't master those other forms." Azrael remarked.
Runa shook her head. "It's not like I can't master it, I'm proven to be incompatible with any other form of magic."
There was an awkward silence in the room for a moment.
"Oh. Sorry you had to bring that up-"
"It's fine." Runa cut Cyrus off with a smile "Even though I couldn't master other forms at least I can focus on just one of them…and improve on it."
"That's real brave, Runa…" the ghost said "OK! Now I think I'll be going next.
"My ability goes by a very simple mechanic," Azrael said as he opened a palm and a pink mist emitted from it. "Anything I get my ectoplasm on I can control, though, it doesn't on living beings and it has a time limit."
"It does?" Harumi asked tilting her head slightly in curiosity.
"Yep! But it depends on the amount of my ectoplasm I can get into an object." Azrael concluded as he put down his hand.
"That's still a pretty useful ability compared to mine." Cyrus said giving an envious huff.
"Cut the bull Cy, Runa told me you could summon weapons out of thin air. If that ain't badass, then I don't what is." Azrael said giving a straight face.
"Thanks for the encouragement but that's not entirely true though, I can manifest weapons using my mana but the process is really taxing.
"First, I need to take time to visualize the weapon clearly in my head then focus that image into my mana making it take the shape of that weapon."
"Still, that's still pretty dope, I mean you can literally form ANY blade of your choosing." The ghost said
"Hate to break it to you but the visualization process is the major limiter to my ability, so because of that I've settled for going for things that are less complex."
"That seems like a tough ability to master, isn't it?" Runa asked.
"It was at first but you'll learn as time goes on." Cyrus replied calmly.
"So, great lineups we're having so we just need one more…Harumi! Go on tell us how this ability of yours actually works.
"I bet there's some kind of complex mechanism behind it!" he said eagerly
Harumi blinked at him. "It's just using mana to summon ice and controlling it motion. It's as simple as that." She calmly stated
There was a stunned silence for quite some time.
"That's it? You've got to be kidding right?"Azrael said, still hoping for a last minute sentence or something
"Well there are some Mythics that their abilities function on simpler properties."
"Yeah right but what about drawbacks? There's has to be some kind of drawback, isn't there."
"I have not experienced any of such." The Nymph claimed
"HUH! Ok what about limits…there has to be some limits then. Every ability has their limits!" the poltergeist stood up pointing at her
"Not any that I know of." Harumi shrugged
At this point, Azrael slumped back down to his seat looking defeated. "No known limits, No Drawback and no complex mechanics. That ability is basically a cheat."
"Well, I know a few Arcanes ha their abilities are also like that." Runa said. "But…there could still be more like them."
"That's not helping, Runa." The ghost said.
"O-Oh! S-Sorry."
"No it's not a problem it's just-"
Before Azrael could finish the door exploded inward as two figures stepped in.
"FINALLY! Got rid of those damned things!" Lucian growled rubbing his neck. "Next time he puts that thing on me, I WILL bash his head in."
"You do know he's stronger than you than a long shot, right?" Riven said, also performing the same motion with the Vampire.
"You asked you, you damn mutt."
"Just saying…"
The two stopped once they saw the others sitting round in the middle of the living room.
"Is this supposed to be a cult meeting or something?" Lucian asked throwing them a look.
"We were just getting to know each other's abilities…" Azrael said with a grin. "You guys wanna join in?"
"Sure that would be…"
"A pure waste of my time…I'm going to catch some Z's." Lucian said as he left and headed straight for the stairs.
"Geez, talk about a wet blanket." Riven said as he sat right next to Azrael
"Oh come on you guys." The Imp started "He's not that bad…it's just that he's…"
"A huge jerk?" said Riven raising a brow
"No."
"An impulsive fool?" asked Harumi
"Wait…what? No! Complicated! I meant to say complicated."
"Well, Lucian is a tad aggressive, Cyrus. 'Complicated' isn't a word I would use." Runa said.
"I know I know but I've got to known the guy a bit. He's not all that bad."
"Okay then, care to explain just how you knew how 'complicated' he is?" Azrael asked
"He's never told me too much about his past or upbringing, the only thing I've ever managed to get out of him was the way his ability works."
If Riven wasn't paying attention he was certainly doing it now.
I was able to see what was happening when I lost control then but come to think of it…
Wasn't he using some kind of light based power?
However, before he could speak out his mind Azrael had already beaten him to it.
"Oooh, so he told you about his ability…care to share?"
"Of course," Cyrus said "According to him, his ability lets him gather light particles into a focused point and fire it like energy blasts.
"Though it has its downsides, he has to inject his venom into his blood." He said as he gestured at his teeth. "And also the duration depends on how much of his venom he injects."
"That's...tactical." Harumi remarked.
"Wait. Wait. Wait. What do you mean 'venom'? He's a vampire, isn't he?" Riven asked, visibly confused.
There was a strange silence that followed as everyone looked at the werewolf with a surprised look on his face.
"You didn't…know?" Azrael gaped.
"Know what!?"
"Well…A Vampire's venom is what they use to turn humans…but too much of it can be lethal to them."
"What? I…I…I thought they just bite and that's it!"
"That's for werewolves, you idiot." Harumi said flatly. "Geez, with the way you're so clueless about everything, I bet you didn't notice that Vampires have been walking around during daylight."
"Errrr…"
"Wait. Don't tell me you didn't notice."
"Well I was kinda wrapped around everything that was going on so…no.
"You gotta be kidding me."
Meanwhile, while the others were downstairs, there was a rhythmic thud against the wall of a room where the light of the rising moon illuminated.
A tennis ball bounced off it and back into Lucian's hand, who continued to repeat the motion while listen to the bickering downstairs.
"Tch, they're all so damn loud…Some of us are trying to get some sleep." He said though he voiced was softer than it was before. "So annoying.