Hey... Before you say it, I know. "What took you so long?" The answer? Hmm... Laziness beyond the usual limit. So uh.. Just go ahead and read.

Hamel Academy: Sophomore Year

Main Characters:

Elsword: Rune Slayer

Aisha: Dimension Witch

Rena: Night Watcher

Raven: Veteran Commander

Eve: Code: Battle Seraph (Once again, she's human :D)

Chung: Deadly Chaser

Ara: Little Hsien

Elesis: Blazing Heart

Add: Lunatic Psyker

Lu: Noblesse

Ciel: Royal Guard

Chapter one: New Year, New Beginning

The sweet smell of breakfast causes me to lift my body out of bed. I follow its scent downstairs to the kitchen, only to find my sister Elesis making us both breakfast. I smile as she turns around and smiles back. "You're up earlier than usual. Breakfast isn't even ready yet" she says as she walks over to the stove. I look at the table to see some of the food she already cooked.

"Sorry, couldn't help myself with the smell of deliciousness in the air" I reply as she giggles.

"Well, go ahead and get ready. It'll be done in a few." I nod as I walk back upstairs. My sister and I have been living together ever since my break from Hamel Academy. Valak, our parents' murderer, was the reason behind it getting destroyed in the first place. Anyways, once I returned to Ruben, my sister was waiting for me at the gate. She told me how she was with our uncle since he mostly worked with the type of fighting style she preferred. Instead of converting fire into runes like me, she wanted complete control over her flames. That, and her role in the Velder Royal Army.

I get back into my room and prepare myself for today. I take my usual quick shower, fix my hair and then throw on my Hamel Academy uniform. Just like last year, it's still navy blue with the school crest on the right side. Today, Hamel Academy reopens and we have to go for orientation since it's a new building… or buildings probably. Whatever. I'll see when I get there.

I walk back downstairs to see Eve and Elesis at the table with eggs, bacon, sausage and pancakes on the plate in front of them. At an empty chair is another plate. "You're just in time Elsword. I just finished making breakfast" Elesis says as she motions for me to sit. I sit down and look at Eve who's rubbing her eyes.

"Thanks again for letting me stay for break guys. I really appreciate you doing so" she says in between a yawn. I nod my head as I smile. Because she was in the orphanage with me, she didn't have a house to go back to. Elesis decided we'd all just stay in our old house since we're good friends.

"So, you two ready for school?" Eve and I both nod our heads.

"Yup, I can't wait to see how everyone's doing" I say as I cut off a piece of my pancakes and eat it.

"That's good. This year, I'll be joining you two, though I most likely won't be in the same classes" Elesis tells us.

"Wait. You're going to be attending Hamel Academy as well?" Eve questions. Elesis nods and sips some of her spirit tea. "But why?"

"Well, it was a request from Penensio. I don't mind though since you two seem to think it's a good place." I nod. "Now let's hurry and eat our food so we aren't late for the orientation."

"Yeah, that would be embarrassing" Eve comments. We all nod and go back to eating.

~Hamel Academy's gates~

We manage to get to Hamel Academy on time. Because of Elesis' connection with Velder, we got here in no time flat via carriage and express ship as they call it. "And here we are; Hamel Academy. Looks like the construction went well" Eve says. I turn around and look at our new school.

Three buildings stand side-by-side with the big one sitting in the middle and the other two on the sides of it. The main building is blue with windows that looks like there's at least one in every room. The road to the school and other buildings is a light brown brick road that splits into three near the gate and at the three buildings. The middle leads to the two glass doors of the main building. The left one leads to a red building with a white roof, windows around the top and bottom, and brown doors which I guess is the gym. The right one is a basic brown building with two windows by the two red doors which is the entrance.

The part of the road that splits near the gate leads to a big white building on the left and a big black building on the right.

"Looks like the construction for the school went more than well" I say as we walk up to the gate. We try to open it, but it doesn't budge. "This is new."

"Please state your names" a man dressed in a blue suit with short black hair asks on the other side of the gate. In his hand is a clipboard.

"Elesis Sieghart, Elsword Sieghart and Eve Lucienne" Elesis tells him. He flips through the pages before looking back at us and nodding. The gate then opens.

"Good to go. Leave your bags here and follow the signs to the auditorium. Your bags will be moved to your room." We all nod as we drop our bags off, walk through and follow the signs to the main building. We continue walking until we reach a door that leads to a hallway. Following the signs in the hallway, we reach a flight of stairs going down to the stage. Rows of seats sit on the left, middle, and right of the auditorium.

Elesis takes a seat at the top of the middle row with Eve and I doing the same. "Feels a bit similar to the first orientation" I say. "Only thing missing is a brief speech from Penensio himself.

I see Eve nod before saying, "Seats are different, more comfortable than the last one." I open my mouth to ask her something, but I stop and close it once I see two people walking toward us. Both have black hair, midnight blue eyes and a school uniform on, but the smaller one has a skirt instead of pants. The smaller one, the girl, has her hair in pigtails. The boy smirks at me while the girl smiles.

"Been quite some time, hasn't it?" Reiku, the boy, asks. I smile as we shake hands.

"Hiya Elsword, Eve, and new lady" Yuki, his sister, says.

"Hey and indeed it has. This lady here is my sister Elesis. She'll be attending classes staring today." Both of them shake Elesis' hand.

"Hamel's elite: The Ice Knight is also in this school? That makes two students I know from the start" Elesis says as she lets go of Reiku's hand. "I must say, your skills are beyond that for an elite. Why haven't you been promoted yet?"

"Hello to you too, Blazing Heart of Velder. Truth about my rank is that I've been promoted to the point where I only take orders from the king since I can be considered his right hand man. Me being the elite leader is just me training the others till one is ready for the role of squad leader" Reiku explains.

"I see. You're way better than I thought." Elesis stands up with a look of determination which causes Reiku to raise an eyebrow. "Mind if we spar? I would deeply appreciate the chance to face you."

"Sure we can spar, though you can be a bit more laxed about it. We aren't completely on duty when here." She nods with a smile. "We'll have to get permission from Penensio and Camilla if you want to do this today."

"That shouldn't be a problem for you two since you two are high ranking people" a familiar voice says. I turn around and see the Prince himself, Chung. "Hey there guys."

"Hey Chung" I, along with Eve and Yuki, say as the others wave.

"Also, before you actually ask for permission, I think you two should wait till tomorrow. They both raise an eyebrow. "Just a hunch, ya know?" Reiku shrugs as they sit down. Does this mean…

I hear the sound of a microphone being tapped and turn my head to the podium. Penensio stands there tapping it, most likely for a sound test. He then clears his throat and begins talking. "Let us begin with the opening ceremony" he says. Everyone, within seconds, quiets down and turns their attention to him. "First off, welcome or welcome back to Hamel Academy, where your new school year shall begin. It's good to see the old and new faces. We will now jump straight into the ceremony since I'm sure you all want to explore the new Hamel Academy. Without further ado, Ariel from Cobo services will now take over from here." He then slightly bows and walks backstage.

"Same ol' Penensio. Likes to lead his announcements straight to the point" I say, earning a few small laughs.

Moments later, Ariel walks to the podium with a smile on her face. "Hello everyone and welcome to Hamel Academy. I hope you all have a great school year, make some new friends, and overall have fun! Now for this next process, I'm going to call out letters. If you hear the letter of your first name called, I want you to stand up and go to the room I tell you" she explains before clearing her throat. "A through F, room 134."

Chung, Eve, Elesis and I stand up and follow those who've also been called out. We leave the auditorium and go to a room where there's two teachers at a table and various cards in front of them. "A through C's here while D's and F's over there" the teacher on the left says. I go to the one on the right and quickly peek at some of the students. I see some old and new ones, but two of them catch my eye out of them all.

The first one is a spikey white haired male with purple eyes and black headphones resting on his shoulders. I catch him slightly turning and see some type of purple line going from his left eye. Some type of tattoo? The teacher hands him his stuff and he continues on with his day. The next who steps up happens to be the second one that caught my eye. This one is also a male, though he has blue eyes and blue hair with a ponytail in the back. Hanging from his back via chains is a giant blue cross with various decals on it and two blue sword-like weapons above it. He gets his stuff and walks off. What's with that giant cross?

"Next" I hear and turn back to the teacher. I walk to her and see her looking at the cards. "And you are?"

"Elsword Sieghart" I reply. She spots my card, picks it up and hands it to me along with my schedule. The card contains my homeroom number, locker number, and dorm room and number. She then hands another card with the words 'Hamel Academy' on it as well as a picture of the school. "What's this for?"

"Your dorm. No longer do you have a key, but rather a key card to swipe." I nod as I step out of line for the others to do their stuff. I then navigate my way out the school to go to the dorms and see the rest of my stuff.

"Elsword!" I hear from behind me. I turn and see Elesis catching up to me. "Heading to your dorm?" I nod and show her the card that contains the numbers. "Cool, I'm going to mine which is 103. I'll come by yours once I finish unpacking." I nod and she goes on ahead to the white building. I continue on and head into the black building which has 'Boy's Dorm' written above the entrance.

The lobby has a small lounge area in the center and red rugs going up the two stairways. The room is fairly lit with students already enjoying themselves. I head straight up the stairs and to my new room, room 219. Swiping the key card past the scanner, the door unlocks. Opening it up, I find my bags leaning against the wall like the gatekeeper said. The room is a light blue one with a bathroom a few steps from the door. Further on is the main part of the room which is the bed of the size for two on the left, a tv sitting on top of the big dresser in the center of the right side, a desk and chair in the top right corner, a walk-in closet facing the bed, and a balcony with chairs you could sit at. This is more like a hotel room rather than dorm.

"Looks like this is my new room for the school year" I say as I fall onto the bed. I stretch my arms out and close my eye, feeling the softness of the bed. "Already loving this new bed."

"Seems the construction crew outdid themselves with this building" I hear Phantom say. I open my eye and see Phantom inspecting the room. "Not bad."

"I know, right? It feels more like an expensive hotel room." I sit up and look at Phantom. "About what Chung said to Reiku and Elesis about them sparing. Sounds to me as though the rankings shall be done tomorrow." He raises an eyebrow. "At the start of last semester, we did sparring matches in order to receive our ranks for the start of the year."

"So.. Placement matches, for short."

"Pretty much." He nods in understanding and I hear someone knocking on my door. I get up and open it to be greeted by Elesis.

"I'm about to go into town to get to know this place better. Wanna join me?" she asks. I nod and a flash of purple hits my eye, telling me that Phantom has returned.

Releasing this means I need to get back into the swig of things... This ought to be interesting~