CHAPTER 2 - EQUIVOCATION

For everyone, there comes a time when they commit themselves to doing something only for them to question some time later if what they have committed themselves to is really worth it in the long run. For Morgan, that time came when she found herself awake at 5:30 in the morning on a free day.

Following her return from Celdic, Morgan had expressed a desire to train herself to become an even earlier riser than she was initially. Call it the result of a stubborn competitive streak, but a part of her didn't want to feel left behind by her classmates, and now that she was officially a year older, there was no better time to put her words into action than the present. Think of it as a belated new year's resolution. Thus, in the weeks following her birthday, Morgan started conditioning herself to start waking up earlier, first by gradually easing in through setting her alarm clock at earlier times before letting her internal body clock do the rest. In fact, today marked the first day that she was able to wake up without the use of her alarm clock.

Unfortunately, the more she grew accustomed to waking up at earlier hours, the more she realized that waking up early was pointless if she didn't have anything to fill in the gap between waking up and going to class. For instance, Rean and Laura had their daily sword training, Gaius was already an early riser by default, and Alisa had morning lacrosse practice every other day. Several of her other classmates had their own obligations or clubs to attend to as well. This left Morgan with the question of what she was going to do now. She could do some prestudying as she did with the previous free day and then hang out at Kirsche's. Or maybe she could swing by the Engineering Building later to see if George had anything she could help with? Maybe she could start the day with a morning walk? These were all certainly viable options, but today Morgan wanted a little something...more to her morning.

It was when she saw both of her orbments resting on her desk that Morgan realized there WAS something else she could do. In her mind, she was wondering why she didn't think of this earlier. Getting out of bed, she changed into a casual outfit of a dark purple hoodie over a tan tank top with matching tan pants. Her clothing was admittedly on the lighter side, but they were also easy to move around in. Besides, with what she had in mind, the morning cold shouldn't bother her too much.

Once she was dressed, she strapped her belt to her waist and retrieved her weapon and orbments. She also grabbed a small notepad and a pencil and put them into one of her pouches. Then, she quietly exited her room and tiptoed her way down the stairs and out of the dormitory. Fortunately, no one was scheduled to cook breakfast, so she wouldn't have to explain where she was going with her equipment. Once outside, she hung a right to walk onto the highway east of Trista. Technically, there weren't any regulations saying that she couldn't be out here by herself, but that didn't stop her from looking around her to make sure no one was watching. When she ventured far enough and decided that the coast was clear, Morgan flipped open her ARCUS. She had made a few adjustments to her quartz lineup since George looked at it last time, adding in a few of the quartzes that Omar had given her. Most of them had various passive effects, such as faster recharge time outside of battle or simply being an extra reserve of energy for the orbment to draw from. However, there was only one that Morgan really wanted to try out. Closing her orbment, she entered a casting position.

"ARCUS, activate!" An orbal aura formed around her. After several moments, she thrust her orbment forward with her palm stretched out and called the name of the art. "Fire Bolt!" On cue, an orb of fire formed and shot forward, eventually fizzling out of existence as it flew without hitting anything. The time it took to cast the art from start to finish was approximately eight seconds.

So she can cast a basic-level art. Great. But what else could she do with it? That was what she wanted to find out.

Under normal circumstances, an orbment would draw orbal energy from a quartz and eject it as the intended art or passive effect, with a different quartz resulting in a different effect. In other words, each quartz had its own hardwired "identity" that an orbment would be able to "manifest" and then "use". This was the case for the majority of quartzes, though there were a few exceptions. The first was master quartzes, which contained greater amounts of orbal energy and thus could be used to cast a variety of arts depending on how much orbal energy is drawn from them. Basically, their reserves allows them to store multiple "identities" that are accessed by "charging" to a certain "level" before releasing.

The second was in the event that the casting process is interrupted. Since each tactical orbment is synchronized with a user, the user themselves can have an influence on the outcome of the art. Most beginning users have a tendency to stay still in one place while they are casting. This is because casting an art requires mental concentration, first to seek out the art they wish to cast and then directing that art towards a desired target. It is the most reliable way to cast an art, but it is also potentially the most dangerous as it leaves you open to attack. When that concentration is broken, usually after getting hit or if the user voluntarily cancels the art themselves, the casting process is also broken and the caster is sent back to square one. However, there also exists a third outcome where the caster can unleash their art prematurely while in the middle of casting but before the art is finished. People will realize soon, however, that such an action is dangerous and not recommended as the art will fail and not work as intended, often resulting in a random misfire.

At least, that's where most people would stop.

If each of the quartzes had an "identity" hardwired into them, then would it not be safe to assume that each of these "random failures" had their own "identities" as well? This hypothesis can be explained by account of master quartzes; as previously mentioned, they contain different arts that can be unleashed at different levels depending on the amount of power used. If that were the case, wouldn't quartzes whose main function is to shoot out offensive arts work the same way? Unfortunately, the answer is not always clear as even a second's difference could result in an entirely different outcome, and it would be difficult for a normal human to remember the specific time and charge necessary to replicate the same outcome, especially in a stressful situation. At least, for any normal human with no way to calculate the estimated amount of time it would take to reach a certain stage to realize a certain outcome.

Sadly, Morgan wasn't that kind of human...yet. What she could do, however, was come up with several estimates so she could reach at least a few notable outcomes.

The first outcome was the "initial" outcome, where the order to release the art is given almost immediately after the casting process begins. At this stage, the amount of energy amassed wouldn't be enough to make a profound difference yet, almost guaranteeing the same result every time. Morgan performed this exact process, activating her ARCUS and then immediately thrusting forward to cast her art, only to be met with a tiny fire explosion that lasted for an instant and was only slightly bigger than her hand. She performed the motion two more times and got the same outcome both times.

"It looks like it could be some sort of 'get off me' attack," Morgan theorized to herself as she set her orbment down and took out her notepad and pencil. "Or maybe I can use it while I'm in the middle of attacking? Maybe a 'slash one, slash two, magic attack' sort of thing?" Morgan tried to think of any other applications, but failed to think of any more for the time being. After jotting down her findings, she put away her writing utensils and proceeded to phase two, which was the "halfway" outcome. As the name suggested, it was the outcome that occurred when the casting was around halfway done. Usually it was around this point that the general idea for the shape of the art would be realized by the orbment before building up more energy to unleash the finished product. Morgan activated her ARCUS again, this time counting the number of seconds in her head. Since the time it took to cast a full Fire Bolt was around eight seconds, that meant that she would need to release at four seconds. Upon counting to four, she released the art, resulting in a small orb of fire flying forward at a moderately slow pace. Morgan performed this process again multiple times for consistency's sake, occasionally shortening and lengthening the casting time by less than a second to see different effects.

"As expected of it being around the halfway point," Morgan noted down in her notepad. "The art is around half the size of an actual Fire Bolt and goes around half the speed, and increasing the casting time increases both size and speed. It's definitely not going to be winning any contests, but at least it gets the long-range job done." Satisfied with the results, she moved on to the third outcome, which was the most unwieldy and recognizable of the bunch due to it being the outcome most people encounter. This was when the art was close to being completed but was released right before completion. Like a defective, unfinished product that is rushed to the public, there can be all sorts of problems, hence why Morgan gave this outcome the affectionate nickname of the "ever-troublesome" outcome, or the "E.T." outcome for short.

Morgan readied herself and activated her ARCUS. First, she cast the art as normal so she could get a fair estimate on where she should cut off the casting process. Then, she performed the process again, only this time she released her art about a second before completion. An orb of fire burst into existence as before, but instead of flying forward in a straight line, it arced downwards and crashed into the ground, setting the ground ablaze with a small explosion. The unfinished art also had a slight recoil, causing Morgan to step backwards in order to maintain her balance.

"So by this point, the art is at full size but it doesn't go as far?" Morgan guessed. She performed the process several more times and from several different angles, but they all pretty much ended up the same way. "At least the explosion itself can be a hindrance," Morgan remarked. "The fact that it sends at an arc can be a bit of a problem…" She started mumbling to herself, trying to find ways to work around the E.T. outcome. "The amount of force it has is relative to its mass and acceleration. The size of the fire ball means it has more mass to it, but it doesn't go as far…" Her eyes then widened. "That's right! The casting process was cut off before it could release with optimal acceleration! Because of that, it doesn't start off as quickly and becomes subject to air friction and gravity sooner than it should have!" Morgan looked to her orbment. "I wonder…"

Morgan activated her orbment once more. This time, right as Morgan was about to release the art prematurely, she put one leg behind her and raised her ARCUS over her head. When she gave the command to fire, she moved her hand forcefully in a downwards arc, as if she were throwing a ball. Thanks to the slight push in momentum, the unfinished art flew a bit farther before it crashed into the ground. Furthermore, her arm motion and new standing position was able to offset the recoil provided by the art.

Morgan nodded in approval. "Mhm! I can be such a genius!" She performed the maneuver a few more times until she was satisfied. She eagerly wrote her observations down in her observations. Feeling that she had reached a good stopping point for today, she gathered all her belongings and started heading back.

"Now that I think about it…" Morgan muttered to herself as she walked. "The E.T. outcome looked like one of the spells Father used to use. I mean, they aren't the same, but the resemblance is striking. Let's see...was it Elfire or Arcfire?"

Before she could ponder further, she heard a growling noise from behind her. Instinctively, she turned around with her weapon raised, coming face-to-face with a canine monster. Upon being spotted, it barked several times before lunging straight at her. Morgan deftly dodged the attack.

"Looks like I'm not getting away without a fight," Morgan remarked as she and the monster carefully circled around each other. She then flashed a cocky grin and retrieved her ARCUS from her pouch. "Let's see if I can take what I've learned today and put it into practice!" She rushed forward to meet the monster in combat.

"...Aaand that's why I was out on the highway fighting a monster."

Instructor Sara, who was seated across from her with her arms folded, sighed. The two of them were currently seated in Sara's quarters on the first floor. All things considered, it was very spacious. Aside from containing the standard issued essentials such as a bed, desk, vanity, and drawers, there was also enough room for two small couches and a small coffee table. Of course, this being Instructor Sara's room meant that her tastes were on full display, so on top of there being several crates filled with bottled alcoholic beverages, there were also individual bottles of beer, champagne, and wine dotted around the complex. Morgan theorized that her instructor probably had a drink for every occasion imaginable.

"While I have to commend you for your handling of the situation," Instructor Sara said, "the fact that you were out on the highway by yourself is something I can't overlook as your instructor. You could have gotten hurt. Today's a free day, so if you wanted something for target practice, you could have used the school's facilities."

"I know that…"

"Do you really?"

That was such a paradoxical question. If Morgan said "yes", then Sara would scold her for not knowing better. If she said "no", her instructor would scold her for lying in the first place.

Fortunately, Morgan was saved from having to provide an answer due to Sara relenting her authoritative expression. "But…I can't exactly give you too much flak," the older woman sighed. "Especially when you're not the only one who uses the monsters as combat practice."

"You go out there too?" Morgan asked.

The violet-haired instructor nodded. "A gal's gotta stay in shape somehow, right? Combat instructing is good and all, but all the practice in the world means jack if you can't handle the real thing. So, every now and then, I wander out there to lay into the wildlife." She then pointed to Morgan with her index finger. "People like you and me, we gotta keep ourselves sharp, right?"

Morgan perked up at that.

"What, surprised?" Sara flashed a grin. "Don't be. I'm your instructor; it's my JOB to know stuff about each and every one of my darling students. Try all you can to hide it, but there are just some things that physical exams can't cover up." She pointed to her head to prove her point.

Truth be told, Morgan never once doubted her instructor's capabilities. As much flak she and the rest of Class VII gave her for her behavior, it was without question that she was indeed powerful. If there was anyone who could have caught on, it was definitely her. Nevertheless, Morgan remained cautious. "How much do you know?"

"Well, if we're talking about your background, then the school gave me the basics on your...special case," her instructor replied. "Long story short, you were given a personal invitation from one of the higher-ups to attend the academy in exchange for assisting with one of its new programs, which you now know as Class VII."

Morgan nodded. "Yeah, that sounds about right."

"Personally, I never really cared much about all that mumbo-jumbo; I mean, I'm sure you're not the first person to attend Thors via invitation. What I'm interested in is your skill. I've only got my observations to base things off from, but I know talent when I see it. Actually, I've been looking for an excuse to have a one-on-one talk with with you for about…" She glanced upwards to think. "Ooh, since the beginning of the school year?"

"You had your eyes on me for that long?" Morgan said suavely. "Am I supposed to feel flattered right now? Cause I feel very flattered. Please, do go ahead and keep praising me."

"Hold your horses there, missy; I'm not finished yet." Sara put out her hand. "Like I said, I can tell you've got talent, but this brings me to a question I've been meaning to ask…" She proceeded to hunch over. "What's stopping you from using all of it?"

"Uh…" Morgan's lighthearted mood quickly dissipated, being left with one that was filled with slight nervousness. "All of what?"

"It's in the way you fight," Sara brought up. "Let's be real here: even if your weapon has two forms, a one-handed axe isn't the cleanest weapon to fight with. It's typically outmatched in range, it's difficult to block attacks with, and the way you swing it is different from a sword. It lacks finesse and versatility compared to more common weapons, so it exists mostly to fill a niche. Most people wouldn't even have the guts to try using it in an actual fight, and yet here you are, using it like it's nobody's business."

"Practice makes perfect, right?" Morgan reasoned. "Besides, we already have enough sword fighters in our class."

"I'm not here to tell you what you should or shouldn't be using," the instructor continued, "but the way you swing that thing around, the way you move around in battle, the way you constantly stay aware of your surroundings, even on fights that aren't yours...it's not a coincidence that you were one of two people who escaped that trap door on the first day. You remember that?"

"Yeah." Morgan snickered. How could she not remember that? "In hindsight, I got pretty lucky with my position."

"Lucky or not, the way you acted was automatic and professional. Most military officers would kill to have trainees who could react the way you did. Naturally, it got me thinking: 'What did you go through in order for your reflexes to be like that?'" Sara straightened her back and crossed her right leg over her left. "Let's face it: you know that I know that you're really smart. Like, not just in the academic sense, although you're pretty great in that, too. You've got an unconventional kit at your disposal and yet you're finding ways to make it work against people who are physically stronger than you. Remember our peer evaluations from last week? Well, most of the feedback about you tends to agree that fighting you is challenging more for the brains side than the brawn." She paused for a moment to catch her breath. "My point is, there's no way you could achieve that level of skill without some actual practice. I think you know where I'm going with this."

Morgan nodded her head again. This time, she said nothing in response.

"Look, you aren't in trouble or anything," Instructor Sara clarified, "and I'm not about to make you tell me your life story here. I'm a teacher for crying out loud, not a counselor." That made Morgan laugh a bit. "I just want you to realize that this is a place where you can grow and better yourself by challenging others. But to that end, you won't be going anywhere if you keep sticking with the basics. You dig me?"

"I just want to make one thing clear," Morgan spoke. "I'm not trying to hold myself back or anything. I really am giving this program everything I've got. I'm just in the middle of trying out some new things right now."

"Oh, I know that," her instructor responded. "You said before that you never went to a proper school in these parts. Still not sure how you managed that, though…"

"It's a long story…" Morgan scratched her head.

"Heh, I'll bet it is," Sara half-snorted. "Buuuut that's a story for another day. It sounds like you've already got a plan for moving forward, so I won't push you. In the meantime, though, I still want to keep an eye on your progress, so the next time you go out on the highway in the morning, give me a holler. I'll come with you as a chaperone." She winked. "I'll even give you a private lesson, free of charge."

"Sounds like a good bargain." Morgan smiled. "How come you're being so nice and...teacherly today?"

"Ouch! Way to kill my mood!" Sara pouted. "Like I said, looking out for my students is part of the job description. And besides…" She stood up from the couch. "The sooner you start showing off what you're made of, the sooner a certain swordswoman can finally get a new female sparring partner."

Morgan laughed sheepishly as Sara walked away. The thought of having a one-on-one duel with Laura and living to tell the tale was still something that was far from her mind, especially given her current state. Maybe if she tried using some of her old skills, then she could use the element of surprise to gain an edge. But to do that, she'd have to…

Her thoughts were whisked away once she heard the sound of bottles clinking against each other. Morgan looked behind her to find her instructor holding a glass bottle above one of the wooden crates marked "B".

"What are you doing?" Morgan asked without thinking.

"What else?" Sara replied dryly. "I'm getting a drink. I talked waaaay too much for one morning!"

"Don't you talk a lot every morning?" Morgan retorted.

"Not on a day off, I don't." She reached down into the crate and held up another bottle. "Wanna join me?"

"I think I'm in the mood for something NON-alcoholic today," Morgan politely declined.

Her instructor shrugged and put the bottle on her desk. "Your loss. Beer's basically liquid bread; it's good for you!" She opened the bottle that was in her hands and took a good long swig of booze. "Ahhh! Tastes great!"

Deciding now was a better time than any to leave before her teacher drunk up a storm, Morgan stood up to excuse herself. Before she left, however, she remembered one thing she wanted to ask that was still on her mind. "By the way, before I leave, can I ask a question?"

Sara plopped down onto her bed with bottle in hand. "What's up?"

"How come you're singling me out?"

"Uh…" In her pre-drunken stupor, Sara tilted her head in confusion.

"To bring up what you said earlier, there were two people who escaped the trap during the orienteering exercise," Morgan explained. "Why aren't you doing anything for the other person? Aren't you curious about her?"

"Oh, her?" The violet-haired instructor shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, not really? I mean, I'm one of the reasons why she's here in the first place, sooo…"

"For real?" Morgan couldn't hold back her surprise.

Her exclamation made Sara realize what she just said. Instead of panicking, however, she simply took another drink. "That's all I'll say on that matter. If you want the full story, you'll have to ask her yourself. We both know how conversationally challenged she can be, though, so good luck with that!"

"But-"

"Ta ta, little Wunderkind! Enjoy the rest of your free day! And don't let me catch you wandering around the highway again!" She picked up a random magazine that was lying on the floor, flipped it open, and started humming loudly. Morgan clearly wasn't going to get anything else out of her homeroom teacher, so she moved to exit the room.

"You're reading it upside down" were the last words Morgan spoke as she closed the door behind her.

After her loaded talk with her instructor, Morgan was no longer in the mood to do any studying, so once she returned to her room, she changed into her school uniform and left the dormitory again. A morning drink and a quick bite to eat always helped to ease her mind in moments like these, so she walked to Kirsche's Cafe and Inn with the hope that she could spend the rest of her morning in peace.

As soon as she set foot into the cafe, however, all hopes of having a quiet morning immediately dissipated when a familiar male voice called out to her.

"Yo! Morgan!"

Waving to her at a table off to the far left of the building was Crow, wearing his green school uniform and white bandana. He also brought his drawstring bag with him today, which was resting on the table.

"Crow." She walked up to his table to greet him. "Enjoying some peace and quiet for once? Or are you in the middle of planning your next con act?"

"As if!" Crow feigned being appalled. "I'll have you know I'm being a perfectly law-abiding citizen right now! I'm just waiting around for an appointment." He glanced to the side. "Speaking of, though, they're sure taking their sweet time. Way to keep a guy hangin'!"

"Somehow, I have the feeling that you've done the same thing at least a few times," Morgan retorted.

"Oho! Feelin' cheeky today, are we?" Crow slyly raised an eyebrow.

"It's been a long day for me," she admitted.

"It's not even noon yet."

"Long morning, then." She pulled up a chair and sat down next to him.

"What are you doing?" asked Crow.

"Sitting down, obviously," Morgan stated. "Hope your date doesn't mind me keeping you company till they show up."

"Seriously?" The bandanaed teen scratched his head. "I thought you hated me."

"I didn't say anything about liking or hating," Morgan refuted. "You just gave a bad first impression. I'm always willing to give second chances, though, so please. Do entertain me."

The second year grunted. "You've got spunk. I like that! It's pretty refreshing. Not every day you see a first year who's willing to talk back to a second year."

"I guess I'm just fortunate that all the second year students I've met so far treat each other casually." Morgan shrugged her shoulders.

"Yeah, 'respecting your elders' is a pretty big deal," Crow agreed. "Not really one to care about it myself, but hey. That's Erebonian culture for you." He then snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah! I ran into Rean yesterday. You know, that friend I took 50 mira fom?"

"Oh, I know all too well," replied Morgan. "What about him?"

"Get this: I offered him a chance to get his mira back, and he said to keep it! Didn't even charge me interest!"

"Did he really?" Morgan was mildly surprised. "Never would have pegged him as the type to wave off a debt out of pity. Unless…" She gave a scrutinizing stare. "You didn't actually have any mira to give him, did you?"

"I...did have some on hand."

Morgan put a hand to her ear. "Hark, was that hesitation I heard in your voice?"

"You're just imagining things."

"Yo! Kept you waiting, huh?"

The two students turned in the direction of the new voice. Two young boys that Morgan periodically saw around Trista were walking towards them. One boy had brown hair and was wearing a long-sleeved shirt while the other had green hair and wore a short-sleeved shirt. The latter was also carrying a small bag in his hands.

'This wasn't the date I was expecting…' Morgan thought.

"Sorry we're late!" the green-haired boy apologized to Crow.

"Ah, I'll let you off the hook this time," he said, waving his hand. "Better not let it happen again, though."

"Who's this?" the brown-haired boy asked, acknowledging Morgan's presence. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"How come every time I sit next to a boy, that's the first thing people ask me?" Morgan wondered aloud.

"Happens to every girl at least once," Crow quipped. "Although, I wouldn't mind having someone like you as a girlfriend…"

"Don't push your luck too hard, Trickster." Morgan turned to the boys to introduce herself. "I'm Morgan. Crow's my upperclassman at school. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too!" said the green-haired boy. "I'm Rudy!"

"And I'm Kay." The brown-haired boy raised his hand. "Hey, since you're here, why don't you join us?"

"That's a good idea!" Crow agreed.

"What are you guys going to do?" questioned Morgan.

"You'll see," Crow said with a wink. "You two got the goods, right?"

Both of the boys nodded. Rudy held up his bag. Kay reached into his pockets and brought out a familiar looking deck of cards.

"Hey, that's a Blade deck!" Morgan recognized.

"Oh, what? Do you play?" Crow reached into his uniform and brought out his own deck. "I've been telling everyone who'll listen about it. Even handed a deck over to old Micht at the pawn shop to spread the love."

'Rean said he got his deck from the pawn store, right?' Morgan remembered. 'So that means the deck originally belonged to Crow.' She smirked to herself. 'What are the odds…'

"Wanna join in?" Crow started setting up the game. "Bets start at 3."

"Bets?" Morgan looked at Crow, then at his bag on the table. Immediately, she connected the dots and her jaw nearly hit the floor. "Seriously? You're gambling with children?"

"I mean, that depends on your definition of 'gamble'." Crow opened his drawstring bag to reveal a treasure trove of candy, from chocolate bars to lollipops. "We're just playing for candy!"

"Yeah! It's completely harmless!" Rudy set his bag on the table and opened it, revealing a smaller stash of candy. Kay, meanwhile, had taken his seat and was ready to play.

"You're being a bad influence," Morgan said as the game went underway. 'Though even if I say that, he really does get along with the kids, doesn't he? I guess there's no harm in playing with them every now and then…'

"All right, take that!" Crow put down a 6.

"Oh, you're in for it now…" Kay grumbled.

"Don't give up, Kay!" Rudy cheered for him.

Kay, after some thinking, put down a 7.

Crow immediately answered with his signature grin. "You've activated my trap card!" He placed down a Bolt card, rendering Kay's card useless. "Take this!"

Kay responded with a smirk of his own. "Then I'll activate MY trap card!" He triumphantly threw down a Mirror card, swapping both his and Crow's card piles. "Mirror!"

Crow's face turned from confident to shock. "Aww man, are you serious?!" He dejectedly showed his last card, which was a 2. The game was Kay's.

"You did it, Kay!" Rudy held up his hand for a high-five.

Kay completed the gesture. "Hehe. Piece of cake!"

Crow held out his bag, allowing Kay to take three pieces of candy of his choosing. "D-Dang it! That's the last one you're getting out of me!" He turned to Morgan. "Yo, Morgan! Wanna lend me a hand? I'll give you twice as many back, promise."

"Sure, I'll play a few rounds," Morgan decided. "But I'm NOT playing for candy, just so we're clear."

"I wanna go next!" Rudy raised his hand.

"Heh. Bring it on, Rudy!"

Needless to say, Morgan ended up staying for more than just a few rounds.

"You fell for it!" Crow threw down a Mirror.

"Gah! Again?!" Morgan put down a 5, only to be met with a 7 from Crow, resulting in his victory.

"Heh, that makes it...five wins in a row now?" the bandanaed teen said smugly. "Points for persistence."

"Why can't I win?" Morgan grumbled. "Rudy! Kay! What's your secret to beating this guy?"

"Just believe in the power of the sweets!" Rudy proclaimed.

"I don't have any sweets!"

"Then…" Rudy tried to think of something else. "Believe in the power of the cards!"

"It's like rock-paper-scissors…" Kay mumbled to himself. "We beat Crow, Crow beats Morgan, and Morgan beats us."

"I couldn't have said that any better myself," Crow remarked.

"Well, you know what they say…" Morgan spoke with a defiant expression. "If you keep chipping away at a rock, it'll break apart eventually."

Crow looked at her oddly. "That's a pretty child-like response, coming from you."

"Got a problem, Trickster?"

"Also, why're you always calling me that?"

"Cause that's what you are," she said as-a-matter-of-factly. "I can't get a good read on you. It's like every time I think I've pinned you down, you always do something that makes me think twice. You're tricky that way."

Crow wasn't sure whether to feel flattered or ridiculed. "You know, you sound like one of those older ladies who hands out pet names for her kids."

Morgan's eyebrow twitched. "Maybe I should start calling you 'Rude' instead…"

"Hey, nothing wrong with being old," the second year replied. "Honestly, I've got a thing for older women myself."

At that moment, Morgan's ARCUS started to ring, which startled Rudy and Kyle. After assuring them that everything was alright, she stood up and walked to the corner of the cafe to answer the call. "Hello?"

"Hey, Morgan." It was George. "Sorry to call you out on a free day, but you got a sec?"

"Sure I do," she said. "Got something you need me to do?"

"Just a few orbal deliveries around Trista," he explained. "I'd get it done myself, but I'm working on a side project that needs my immediate attention."

"Sounds important for a side project," she commented.

A chuckle was heard from the other side. "Yeah, I guess it kind of is, isn't it?"

"Alright, I'll swing by the Engineering Building soon. You can give me the rest of the details there."

"Sure thing. See you there." With that, the line hung up.

She turned to the boys at the table. "Let me guess…" Crow said. "George needs you for errands again?"

"Got it in one," she answered. "How'd you know?"

"Just a hunch." He shrugged his shoulders. "Any reason he needs someone to do the heavy lifting for him?"

"I don't know. He said he was working on a side project that needs his attention."

"A side project?" Crow's eyes widened with realization. "Oh, cause she...right, that makes sense."

"Are you leaving, Morgan?" Rudy asked.

"Yup. Duty calls. Thanks for inviting me to play, Rudy, Kay."

"Sure thing!" "We'll see you later!"

"And good games, Crow," Morgan added. "I'll get you one of these days, just you wait!"

"Heh, I'll take you on any time!" The bandanaed teen smirked and saluted with two fingers as Morgan left the cafe.

She was definitely in a much better mood now.

Author's note: A few minor changes. First, I've changed the name of one of my OCs due to him sharing a name with another prominent NPC. It won't make too much of an impact, but "Old Man Otto" is now "Old Man Omar." Second, I've finally decided to put in chapter separators as well as give titles to each chapter. Just some minor tweaks to make this fic more like a story.

2019 is looking to be a busy year for me on top of it being filled with games and anime I've been looking forward to, so once again, prepare for updates to be scarce in the coming months. Hope to see you all next time, whenever that may be! （；^ω^）