"Do I look human to you?"

The question was asked every time someone wanted to try and make friends with him. He always heard the same answer each time.

"Of course you do…"

He would laugh to himself each time afterwards…

"Excuse me…"

A young man with short black hair turned around at the middle of a nearly empty hallway. His face was rather childish-looking and coupled with his brown eyes and slightly taller height; he seemed to give off the feeling of an awkward child who had no idea where he was.

The one who called out to him was another boy with short brown hair and bangs that appeared to be combed upwards and toward the right. This boy was taller than the other boy by just a couple inches or so, and he had a soft smile plastered on his face that seemed rather natural, thus contradicting the slightly intimidating look he gave off from his face.

"Yes?" The "awkward-looking boy" asked. His eyes eyes had a somewhat empty look to them, like a person who just about gave up on something they believed in. However, his was showing a slight grin, which made him seem a bit strange and, to be bluntly honest, a bit creepy.

"Sorry, I just wanted to know if you knew where the auditorium for the opening ceremony was…"

"Er…" he pointed to the door where a sign that said "Opening Ceremony" was posted. The other boy turned and lightly smacked himself.

"Ah geez, guess I missed that…"

The black-haired boy turned to leave when suddenly…

"Wait a minute, what's your name?"

He stopped.

"…isn't it courteous to offer your name first?"

"Oh, I guess so…" The other boy lightly tapped his head again before giving his name. "Takaya Shin. Nice to meet you."

Shin offered his hand as a greeting.

"What an idiot…" the boy said in a slightly playful way while sticking his tongue out. "Do you just give away personal information like that to any random stranger who asks?"

Shin sighed.

"Well I guess I fell for that one…" he thought to himself. "Then I take it you aren't gonna tell me yours?"

The boy paused for a bit.

"Ouro. Just…Ouro"

"Alright then, 'Just Ouro'. Aren't you a bit early for a 'Course 2 student'?"

Ouro glanced down at Shin's uniform. It carried the 8-petaled emblem that all the Course 1 students had. His uniform didn't have such an emblem, which classified him as a Course 2 student. He didn't feel any malice behind Shin's words, but it didn't make much sense to him for a Course 1 student like him to just casually bring up a conversation with a Course 2 student, especially after the rumors he heard about this school.

"Yeah, is that a problem?"

There wasn't any point in trying to lie his way through, so he may as well be blunt and honest.

"No, it's just that there's still time before the ceremony begins, so it doesn't make much sense for a student to just wait around the entrance like this…"

The black-haired student sighed. Is this guy really like this? Or was he just trying to pass some kind of poor excuse to get by?

"Everyone's free to go wherever they'd like. You got a problem with that? Or do you have some sort of ulterior motive?"

"Alright, you got me…"

"I knew it…"

"I just wanted to offer some help cause you looked kinda clueless…"

"….huh?"

"I'm a bit of a sucker with helping people out. You looked kinda lost, so I thought I'd offer some help."

Ouro lightly shook his head with a sigh. "You say that, but aren't you the one who didn't know where the ceremony was?"

"Well it's not just that. You seemed kinda…lonely?"

He paused.

"What makes you say that?"

"Well I've been kinda watching you for a while…"

"Police, we have a stalker here…"

"Not like that!" Shin took a deep breath before continuing. "I was watching, and I couldn't help but notice that you seemed to be purposefully avoiding the other students, both courses. And yet, you keep giving a small glance, kind of like you've been thinking about how to make some friends. Only reason I can think of is because you don't expect anyone familiar to arrive, or to meet up with anyone else later. That seems to tell me that you're lonely."

Ouro kept quiet for a bit. He wouldn't deny the Bloom's claims, but there's a bit more to the story than he was willing to admit.

"What about your classmates?"

"What about them?"

"Aren't you going to be ostracized for hanging out with a Weed like me?"

"Well, I'm kinda at a standstill."

"?"

"Never mind. Point is that I'm not really particular to either side. I know someone who's classified as a Weed, but I know just how strong he really is, so I'm not really prejudiced or anything…"

Shin seemed to be telling the truth. Ouro was still hesitant about trusting this guy, but there didn't seem to be much problem with going along with this, and he might be able to benefit in a way sometime in the near future.

"Whatever. Just don't be much of a bother then…"

"Alright, gotcha…"

The two shook hands as a sign of "acquaintanceship". There would probably be some problems, of course, but Ouro felt like there's more than meets the eye with Shin. It was better to keep a potential enemy nearby, but there was something else that bothered him. Something that made him feel cautious.

"Hey ladies…" Shin had suddenly rushed over to a pair of female students while trying to look impressive. "My name is Tayaka Shin. Can I offer you some assistance?"

He took it back. This guy was just a generous idiot…

Tatsuya sat near the very edge of the top floor of the auditorium, one of the furthest seating positions available for the opening ceremony. The reason he took this position was because the students were already separated into "Blooms" and "Weeds", who sat in the front and back respectively.

Although it wasn't a requirement or an enforced idea, the difference between those who "looked down" and those who "were looked down upon" was quite obvious. However, there was no need to rock the boat if it could be helped, and he preferred to keep a low profile at the moment, so Tatsuya silently took the empty seat without any sign of resentment or hesitation.

"Um…"

He turned to find young black-haired girl with glasses staring down at him. The girl had a well-endowed body that fitted her somewhat petite stature which seemed quite ideal for a woman.

"Is there anyone sitting next to you?"

She was referring to the seats next to him that were open. He didn't intend to choose a seat that had empty seats next to it, but there was no reason to lie since he didn't mind whether he was alone or with company at the moment.

"No, go right ahead…"

The girl bowed before calling over a couple more people.

The first one was another young woman who had short orange hair that was styled towards one side of her head, giving her a more "outgoing" feel than her friend did.

The other was a young man with slightly darkened skin, who seemed to be dragged over by the orange-haired girl. His body appeared to be fairly slimmer than most of the other students, and his blond-hair, that was spiked outwardly, seemed to also give him the impression of an "outgoing" person.

None of them had an emblem on their uniforms, so they all must have been course 2 students here as well.

"Hey there!" The orange haired-girl said after the group sat down. "My name is Chiba Erika! This is here is Shibata Mizuki, and the guy here is Hyaku Kaito." She pointed to the girl with glasses, who sat in-between Erika and Tatsuya, then the boy next to Erika. Tatsuya simply gave a small bow.

"Hello."

"Hey…" Kaito replied.

Upon closer inspection, Tatsuya noticed that Kaito's uniform was a bit undone from the top 2 buttons, and the tie was a bit off, giving the impression that this was either uncomfortable to wear, or he was just a bit of a slacker.

"Hey Kaito, try to act more your age. We're all high school students now, and I can't just take care of you all the time…" Erika spoke with a somewhat disapproving tone towards the slacker, who gave a small glare.

"Shut up. It's because we're still students that I'm gonna act like this while I can."

Erika began to puff her cheeks slightly.

"Geez, you're always acting like such a pain…"

"Now now…"

Mizuki was acting as the mediator between them, but she appeared to be somewhat hesitant and reserved. Tatsuya simply grinned, but his mind was focused on Erika's last name.

Chiba. The name of one of the more well-known of the hundred clans. A group that while not as prestigious of the ten clans, is still fairly known for producing well-off magicians.

Although not as influential as the government, the Ten clans have a lot of power in the nation, making them practically VIPs. Incidentally, Mayumi's last name, Saegusa, was one that belonged to the Ten clans, and there was supposed to be at least one more notable figure who belonged to the Juumonji clan.

However that didn't concern Tatsuya. Whatever went on among the 28 families didn't really matter to him, and it was better to avoid getting involved if he could help it.

"We wlll now begin the opening ceremony for the National Magic University Affiliated First High School. Will everyone please take your seats?"

In response to the announcement, there was a lot of clattering and murmurs as all the students took their seats and turned their attention to the front.

Several students were sitting at the edge of the stage there the announcements and speeches would be held. Among them, Tatsuya gave a smile as he noticed one of the students sitting with perfect posture along with an elegant feel that seemed to make her out as a goddess-to-be for everyone who met her the first time.

Her long, flowing, beautiful black hair, her smooth pale skin, and the amazing curves that did not make her seem superior nor inferior to any of the young women there, made her out to be the near perfect woman in appearance. This, coupled with the fact that she was one of the top candidates in both the written exam and practical exam, would captivate anyone, regardless of gender.

This was Shiba Miyuki. A young woman who's beauty and ability seemed to exceed past anything in the mortal realm. Such things made it all the more fitting for the eight-petaled emblem that was marked on her uniform.

This would make it all the more strange that she was the younger sister of a young man who was a course 2 student, and even stinger still that both would attend the same school at the same time. But such matters were trivial to Tatsuya, who simply sat with a proud look on his face.

*Yawn*

Although the opening ceremonies were occurring at this time, a course one student was lying on the floor of the rooftop. He did not seem to be concerned about the time, which meant that he was purposefully ditching on his own. His black hair extended just above his neck, mostly covering the right half of his face. His left eye was openly facing the sky without any emotion being shown.

"Hey you!"

The student turned his head to find a short-haired young woman wearing the usual course one uniform. However her arm had a red armband around it, which identified her as part of the "Public Moral Committee".

"Someone like you shouldn't be ditching the opening ceremonies, especially a course one student like you!"

The student waved his hand lazily while turning back to face the sky,

"It's not like anyone's going to notice one or two students missing from the group. No need to bother…"

"I found you, so it matters to me!"

"Then pretend you didn't even see me…"

"I can't do that! It would be irresponsible and wrong!"

The young man finally got to his feet and started to dust off his pants,

"Then how about this, I run off, and you make a report saying that you couldn't catch me, so you had to let me go…"

"How about this? I catch you right now, you come with me to the meeting room, where we will determine your punishment and you will learn to behave from here on out…"

As soon as she finished, a spell appeared underneath the man's feet, which started to glow brighter as it began to activate. He looked around and shrugged.

"Binding spell?"

"Just to make sure you don't move anywhere…"

The spell circle disappeared, signaling that the spell ended. The woman started walking closer to capture him.

"Just come by quietly…"

"I don't think so…"

The young man suddenly leapt into the air and landed on the fence surrounding the roof. The young woman was surprised that the boy was able to escape from her spell, but she was more concerned about making sure he didn't injure himself.

"Now just wait a moment…don't do anything crazy…"

The boy gave a small wave before slowly falling backwards towards he ground. The public morals member had rushed over to watch, but the young boy activated a spell that helped him land safely on the ground, and had already started running off elsewhere.

"Damnit…don't let him get away!"

The boy smiled as more members began to converge around him. He started typing into his wristband CAD before launching magic at his pursuers, trapping them in place with a simple binding spell, similar to the one attempted to be used on him earlier. The effect only worked momentarily, but it was long enough for him to be able to escape. He was heading towards the backends of the buildings when suddenly, another student appeared in front of him with his arms held back like a sumo wrestler's.

The student's hair was spiked and messy, with bangs spread out all along the ends, and the longer ones filling the space between his eyes. His face had very sharp features, which made him seem very serious, as well as something similar to the cliche "mysterious transfer student" look.

Launching his hand forward, The guilty student instinctively shifted out of the way just in time to feel a burst of pressure pass right next to him. He stopped and started acting more cautiously with his new opponent, keeping a fair distance while shifting his attention to his hands every few seconds.

"Well this seems new…"

The "mystery" student had suddenly sped towards him and made a palm thrust towards his stomach. He countered with a similar blow, but his arm suddenly felt paralyzed, making it effectively useless for the time being.

"I think he used 'Self-Acceleration' just now…"

"Self-Acceleration" is a spell that allows the user to increase their momentum, and thus provide the illusion that they are speeding up. However, the truth is that the technique is more or less like riding a small, short rollarcoaster to reach one location from another. Likewise, the faster the transition, the heavier the strain the user experiences on their body. This is partially the reason why "Self-Acceleration" is a magic that is dissuaded being used so openly, despite some of the benefits.

The fact that this mystery student didn't even flinch or hesitate after using such a technique, seemed to hint that his body was more muscular and well-toned than he seemed at first glance. However, it didn't not account for the paralyzing effect of that attack earlier.

"Dealing with two different techniques would be tricky, and I'm still being chased. So in this case…"

The delinquent grinned as he typed something else into his CAD before activating the spell underneath him. The mystery student had suddenly began to rush towards him, but it was too late. The spell activated, causing a smokescreen to suddenly appear from the ground and making the caster disappear from view for just a brief moment. The difference was only about 2-3 seconds at most, but when the smoke cleared, the caster had disappeared, leaving only a group from the "Public Morals Committee" and the student alone.

"Damnit, this is such a disgrace…"

The short haired girl earlier had one hand to her hips while rubbing the back of her neck. She had a look of being displeased on her face, and the other members had suddenly grew a bit nervous. The mystery student picked up the bag he dropped earlier and started to go on his own way when…

"Hey you…"

He turned to face the leader who was still frowning slightly.

"My name is Watanabe Mari, what's yours?"

"…Hiroshi Rikio…"

Mari gave a small grin as she extended her hand out towards Rikio.

"You seem like you're pretty skilled. Wanna join the 'Public Morals Commitee'?"

"…excuse me?"

Magic for Dummies! (Lesson 2 - Who are the "Ten Master Clans"?)

The scene returns to the usual setting. The only changes are that the Blackboard has "Ten Master Clans" written on it, and the three leading figures are Mayumi, Erika, and Miyuki. Everything has been chibified.

Mayumi: "Hello everyone. My name is Saegusa Mayumi"

Miyuki: "Good Afternoon. I am Shiba Miyuki"

Erika: "Afternoon! It's me, Chiba Erika!"

The three bow simultaneously

Mayumi: "Well then, I suppose that today's lesson shall be on the Ten Master Clans"

Erika: "Before we start... *Rages in place* What the heck is going on here?!"

Miyuki: "What do you mean Erika?"

Erika: "I mean what the hell are we doing with this weird look?"

Erika twists her body to show off her now shrunken and somewhat cute body.

Mayumi: "Oh this... I suppose this is because Shadow believed that people would assume that we looked normal for this segment, and as this is a bonus, it might have been more fun to visualize a change in our appearance."

Erika: "Isn't this basically copying the segments of the anime specials?"

Miyuki: "Now Erika, this was not intended to be a copy, so please don't point this out again."

Erika: "Alright, alright. So what should we talk about this time?"

Miyuki: "Well, since Erika is technically part of the Ten Master Clans herself, perhaps she can tell us..."

Erika: "Huh?! Err..." *Rubs the back of her head while shifting her eyes away* I guess I can do that..."

Erika takes out her baton and taps the blackboard.

Erika: "So about the Ten Master Clans...they're really important...they have power, so...they can get a lot of stuff...uh...they're made up of only ten clans..."

Miyuki: "Erika, that's wrong..."

Erika: "Huh? Er... I mean..."

Erika is fumbling over herself while Mayumi gives a slightly naughty smile.

Mayumi: "Perhaps I should take over, as a member of the Ten Master Clans themselves..."

Erika gives a nervous chuckle before turning the board over to Mayumi, who gives a small bow before starting.

Mayumi: "Now what Erika said wasn't completely wrong. The Ten Master Clans do have power and are made up of ten different familes. However that does not necessarily mean that there are only ten families involved.

Let's begin with a brief history lesson. Back when magic in modern society was discovered to be influenced through a person's genes, many lengths were taken to assure that a family's magic would grow stronger. Such an example was marraige within families only to continue the idea of keeping blood "pure"

Erika: "What?! You're saying that my grandfather could've been married to his own sister or a cousin? That's just wrong!"

Mayumi: "Actually Erika, Japan was the most refined in magic because such a thing is accepted easily in Japan. Families have been obssesed with social standing and providing 'useful' children, and believe that blood is the only things that truly matters."

Erika: "It still seems wrong..."

Mayumi: "Sadly, there was nothing illegal about this practice, therefore we cannot stop it from continuing, no matter how bad it may seem..."

Mayumi shakes her head before continuing the lesson.

Mayumi: "Anyways, so back then, magic was considered important at the time, and was also meant to be studied carefully. Therefore, the 'Ten Magic Research Institutes' were created to genetically modify magicians as soldiers or tools..."

Erika: "Wait...you mean that people were actually studying ways on how to turn magic and magicians into bigger weapons for war?"

Mayumi: "That's actually why magic was discovered in the first place."

Erika: "But magic can be used for so much more than just weapons! Why would they..."

Mayumi: "Erika, I would like to explain, but we seem to be diverging from the original topic. We can talk about this another time, but right now, let's focus on the Ten Clans, ok?"

Erika puffs her cheeks out before sitting quietly.

Mayumi: "Now then, the 'Ten Magic Research Institutes" were made up of many more famliles than just ten. 28 to be exact. However the ten strongest were the only ones that made up the Ten Master Clans. The rest were instead considered 'replacements' called the 18 Assistant Houses. Miyuki, can you explain more about the 18 houses?"

Miyuki: "Yes. The 18 houses are considered the same as supporting families. However, they are also potential candidates for a spot in the Ten Master Clans. Supposedly, there is a four year selection meeting to decide which clans will be members of the Ten Master Clans until the next meeting. This is always supposed to be decided by who are the ten strongest..."

Mayumi: "Very good Miyuki! As expected of the First year representative! Now Erika, can you tell me who the current ten are?"

Erika: "Huh? Let me see..."

Erika is crossing her arms as she goes into thought

Erika: In order, I guess it's 'Ichijo', 'Futatsugi', 'Mitsuya', 'Yotsuba', 'Itsuwa', 'Mutsuzuka', 'Saegusa', 'Yatsushiro', 'Kudo', and...'Juumonji'...right?"

Mayumi: "Correct! Ten points!

Now, the benefits of being part of the 10 Master Clans is that the family is given a significant amount of political power, as well as a grand reputation for each member of their family, which can be useful when trying to gain power, find a job, tie-up loose ends...

Miyuki: "President, isn't there another requirement? One that's more negative than the benefits?"

Mayumi: "Sadly, yes. The Ten Master Clans must also offer their magic as soldiers, officers, and administrators for their nation and country. They must essentially swear loyalty to never betray Japan while under service as part of the Ten clans..."

The three of them look bitterly at different directions before changing the atmosphere.

Mayumi: "I suppose that the only thing left to explain is the three most influential famliies of the Ten clans."

Erika: "Wait, didn't you say that all the Ten Clans have political power?"

Mayumi: "Yes, but these three can also act regardless of jurisdiction and are used to maintain balance among power in Japan, as long as they don't directly interfere with anything local. These three are the Saegusa, my famlily, the Juumonji, and the Yotsuba. Technically, the Ichijou would also qualify, but they cover northern Japan while these three cover the capital."

Erika: "Wow, sounds like Mayumi-senpai has a lot of responsibility, right Miyuki?"

Miyuki: "Huh? R-Right..."

Erika: "Something wrong? You look kind of weird..."

Miyuki: "It's nothing. I'm just a bit tired, that's all..."

Mayumi: "Well this has been dragging on for a long time. But before we end, we must do one more thing...

Mayumi takes out a piece of paper with writing on it.

Mayumi: "'Faithful Reader' has asked about what Shadow assumes to be a Ichijou Masaki and Miyuki relationship in this fanfiction. It seems that the answer is currently 'unknown'.

Miyuki: "Wha- pairing me with Masaki-san? It's considered a great honor, but..."

Erika: "Well we don't know how long this fanfiction would last, so nothing's been set in stone yet. We'll just be more or less playing by ear I guess..."

Mayumi: "There you go 'Faithful Reader'-san, it seems that we are unsure of such things at the moment, but we may try and get back to you on that if it gets decided before then. To everyone else, thank you for reading and we want you to send in any questions you may have about the series. Then until the next time...

All three wave goodbye.

All: "Good bye everyone!"

Another chapter, another set of introductions...

Sorry if this seemed kinda poor or rushed, but I prefer trying to do action scenes over intro scenes. But that doesn't mean that I try to slack off on the job. I'm still trying to make things interesting, and I hope this chapter didn't bore you guys too much.

Hopefully more action will come next chapter, and if you don't see your character, PM me if you think I forgot, and I'll let you know about that. However, I have a list of your OCs and I promise that I am trying to give everyone some spotlight here and there.

Thanks for sticking by for the second chapter. Remember that you can stop reading this at anytime, and I don't want to feel like I'm forcing you guys to continue.

Here's hoping the next chapter will be more satisfying...