The weird-looking, overly large quartz in Hailey's box is the black of the Time element. When she slots it, the clockwork sepith circuits leading out from the center slot to the smaller standard slots light up. A gauge at the bottom of the device also lights up, its needle swinging over to the right. Another sort of concentric wheel-thing at the top lights up as well, with two purple-black lights in the inner ring.

"Those are called 'Master Quartz'," Instructor Sara's voice explains through everyone's ARCUS. "Once you've set yours in the center slot of your ARCUS, take a look at the gauge underneath. That's your Orbal Energy Charge Product, or 'E. P.' for short; it's what powers your Arts. Now look at the rotary dial up top: that's your Art selector. All of the Master Quartz I commissioned for you should provide you with at least one Art already, but Master Quartz are special, and can supply multiple Arts. The outer ring physically turns the casting mechanism between your standard quartz slots as you would expect from a conventional orbment, but the inner ring lets you chose an Art from your Master Quartz without having to fiddle with any moving parts. I'm sure you can imagine the advantages."

Both the EP gauge and the dual selector dial are visible through cutouts in the lid of the ARCUS, accessible even while the lid is closed.

Hailey carefully pushes a tiny, exploratory pulse of energy into her ARCUS, feeling it out on its various settings.

The ARCUS completes the synchronization automatically, providing Hailey with a warm feeling in her chest... a warm feeling that contains information, like the EP gauge's state, and the targeting feedback on her selected Art, without her having to look at the physical displays.

There's something else, too, in the warm feeling, something subtle, and right now it doesn't seem to be doing anything or providing any additional information. But it's there.

"Alright! Since you've got your ARCUS all set up and ready to go, here's what I want you to do."

The stone door at the back of the room grinds and slides open.

"When you step through that door, you'll be in an underground testing area. It's pretty large, and full of twists and turns. I'd almost guarantee you'll get lost at least once. But when you find the exit, you'll be able to return to the first floor of this old schoolhouse! There are monsters wandering around, though, so don't let your guard down even for a moment."

There's a short pause to let that sink in.

"With all that said, let's commence our special orienteering exercise! Your objective is to make your way through this area and back to the surface. Make it back in one piece, and I'll be happy to field any complaints you might have."

Her voice turns teasing.

"If you make it back safely, I might even give you a kiss, free of charge~"

There is another short pause.

"On the cheek, of course."

The class's ARCUS units go silent with a click as she hangs up.

Monsters? Ugh, that figures.

Wait, Miss Valestein might what—

No, don't blush, don't get worked up about the hot teacher offering a kiss on the cheek. It's obviously a joke, and on top of that it's obviously directed at the boys rather than her, just a way to tease them into having motivation since they were making trouble anyway.

She schools her expression and turns to face the rest of the class, clipping the ARCUS at her hip and stowing her batons on her jacket. She gives the group a questioning eyebrow.

The petite silver-haired girl briefly catches Hailey's eye, giving her a very flat, deadpan expression as though to communicate, 'yup, this is your authority figure now'.

The class gathers in a loose circle by the doorway.

    "U-Umm..." The cute ginger attempts words.

"...I don't think she's joking," the blonde girl says nervously.

The Albarea scion scoffs to himself, then turns to head into the testing area alone.

     "And just where do you think you're going?!" that Machias guy immediately starts an argument. "Were you planning to wander off on your own without saying anything?"

"I have no interest in becoming friends with... anyone here. And I'm surprised that you, of all people, give a damn what I do. Unless you've suddenly decided you do want to keep company with one of those 'stuck-up hedonists' after all."

    Machias just growls.

"Still, if you're afraid of the monsters, I suppose I could accompany you," Jusis adds mockingly. "After all, what kind of Erebonian noble would I be if I didn't have at least some degree of prowess with a sword? And noblesse oblige dictates that it's my sacred duty to protect powerless commoners such as yourself."

    "Wh-What the hell?! Nobody's asking your high excellency to deign to help us!" Machias stalks through the doorway. "But if that's how you're going to be, I'll just... find my way out of here before you! I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself without some relic of an outdated class system dragging me down."

Machias just scoffs again, then heads through the doorway himself.

The class watches them go.

A few of them sigh, and the cute ginger says, "U-Umm..." again.

"What should we do?" the curvy girl in the glasses wonders.

"The only thing we can do," the tall, regal girl, who is now carrying a fuck-off-huge sword, replies. "We should begin exploring these ruins ourselves. I believe it would be prudent to remain in small groups, however."

She looks over at the blonde, the girl in glasses, and the diminutive Hailey. "Would the three of you have any objections to accompanying me?"

    "No! That's fine," the blonde girl replies, slightly startled.

    "It would be a huge help, actually," the curvy girl in glasses agrees, relieved.

The regal swordswoman turns toward the petite silver-haired girl. "And you're welcome to join us as..."

    Yeah, the petite silver-haired girl? There's no trace of her. She vanished when no one was looking.

The regal swordswoman frowns.

Hailey huffs and rolls her eyes at the boys storming off, and Silver's sudden absence.

"No objections here, except to some people who apparently think going off on their own is a smart plan."

"Perhaps we'll run into her along the way, and she can join us then," the tall blue-haired girl offers optimistically, though not all that optimistically, since she doesn't even bother to include Jusis and Machias in that hopeful statement.

She addresses her newly-formed adventuring party. "So. Shall we be off?"

And she addresses her remaining male classmates, with slight concern. "I'm certain you gentlemen will be fine, but do take care."

    This gets a simple nod and, "Okay," from the black-haired bishonen.

She turns away and leads her party through the doorway.

    The curvy girl in glasses bows politely to the boys. "If you'll excuse us, please."

    The blonde girl just shoots the bishonen a glare before following after the other girls with a huff.

Hailey follows the girls out, shaking her head a bit at the glaring blonde. What's with that? She watches the group thoughtfully, not aiming to be the first person to try to start a conversation.

Orbal lanterns held in place by slowly-rotating gears line the walls.

The walls themselves are brick and carved stone, eerily regular and completely unweathered by time. Every brick, every greeble, looks brand new, though the architectural style is like nothing in the modern world.

"Before we go any further, it would be prudent to introduce ourselves and explain a bit about our combat ability."

She stops and turns around to face the other girls.

"My name is Laura Arseid. My weapon is an 'all-hander broadsword' and my style is that passed down to me by my father, who enjoys some renown as the 'Radiant Blademaster'."

Some renown is an understatement. Laura's father is the best swordsman in the country and a national military asset, in addition to being the head of a middling noble house. But Laura doesn't mention that, because she doesn't want to sound like she's bragging.

Okay, Blue is apparently a swordswoman, not just hot.

"Hailey Topferin. My batons are orbal tools, optimized to help me channel wind. I dash fast and strike hard."

Exceptionally thorough students of Bracer history might recognize the name "Topferin" as belonging to a Bracer couple who died tragically while trying to protect the citizens from the "landslide" in Hamel.

"Oh! I've heard about those. They're a variation on the orbal staff, based on the maneuvering ailerons of an airship, right? I knew the miniaturization efforts were progressing but I hadn't realized anyone was already selling a handheld version."

She pulls out her own weapon, an intricate bow with an orbal core shielding the handle.

"My own weapon is a custom job. A one-of-a-kind orbal bow that channels my battle aura into semi-solid projectiles. I'm pretty good with it, if I do say so myself."

A pause.

"Oh, and my name is Alisa Re-  Um... Alisa Arr. Just Alisa Arr." She adds a perfunctory, "It's nice to meet you."

Hailey quirks an eyebrow at Alissa's sloppy backpedal. Alissa "Arr", huh? Sure. She'll go with that.

"I'm not sure anyone is, actually. These were a gift."

"That's the case for me as well," the curvy girl in glasses speaks up.

She indicates the large metal staff she's carrying. It is polished and silvery, with a purplish and vaguely crescent-shaped mechanical head.

"I was noted for having natural talent with orbal weapons and issued this experimental orbal staff. It has a Mirage-sepith core that allows me to channel my natural energies into attacks and shields."

She sets the butt of the staff on the ground, and resists going into much greater detail about her capabilities, reminding herself that she shouldn't get too close to the secrets she needs to keep.

"As for my name, it's Emma Millstein. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"I see. I'll confess to having had some curiosity about your high-tech weapons. It seems I'm the only one among us who practices a more traditional Craft."

She holds her massive 'all-hander' out in front of her at a leverage-defying angle that ought to be completely impossible no matter how strong she is. She's always been able to do that, but it's markedly easier now than it was an hour ago. The passive enhancement of the master quartz in her new ARCUS is rather marvelous.

(There is a joke her dad tells about the sword once being called a 'three-hander' for its sheer size but their family had to change the name because the name confused people and started several awkward rumors about the Arseid family.)

"Still, I have a few tricks up my own sleeve."

Even through the thick red jacket, the flex of her arm muscles is faintly visible. Even more apparent are the hard lines of flexed muscle on the expanse of bare thigh between the bottom of her skirt and the top of her knee-high combat boots.

Damn, how strong is this girl? Hailey swallows hard and then grins at the group, trying to distract her gay brain from the sword-wielding amazon.

"Good to meet all of you. Although, I gotta ask, Alisa, what do you have against the black-haired prettyboy?"

Alisa is pretty impressed with Laura's strength too, though in a less gay way. She tries to figure out how Laura is doing that, though. Maybe the blade is laced with Earth sepith?

Alisa freezes as Hailey's words register.

Then she blushes hard and goes from zero to defensive in under a second.

"W-What do you mean? He had his face in my chest! The perv!"

The look Hailey gives Alisa is particularly unimpressed. "Yeah, and the skinny ginger had his up my skirt — 'cause we landed on them. Do you suspect him of somehow maneuvering mid-air to not just break your fall, but ensure you landed tit-first on his face? That'd be a pretty impressive trick considering I didn't feel any wind energy off him on the way down'."

"That's different! You! He! Augh!"

Alisa makes a loud, distressed, heavily embarrassed noise. She folds in on herself in a way that comes off more pitiful than defensive.

"Fine! I know, okay! I know! I didn't mean to slap him! I... I got flustered and reacted and then it was too late to take it back!"

She grimaces briefly at a memory, gives the blonde a bittersweet smile, and nods. "I've overreacted too, before. I had a real bad streak of overreactions to touch at one point, but I had to learn to squash that down. I got no slack about hitting someone, no matter how I felt about being touched."