"Now for your teams…" Cynthia said still with that professional smile of hers,

"Teams work best when freely chosen. So we have decided it would be best to let you all form your own teams.

You will have five minutes to do this, and whoever does not have a team after that will be grouped by us.

There can only be three on a team.

You may begin."

Instantly, Kaya, Eloise, and Aylin were around Caius. All three girls smiled until they realized that with Caius, they were four in number. One more than the required number.

"How are we doing this?" Eloise asked.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" Kaya said and raised a brow at Aylin, "One of us here needs to leave."

"I'm not leaving," Aylin said immediately, "You leave."

"No, you—" Kaya started but Caius cut in then.

There was no time and he couldn't just let this play out. He had to get moving.

"Actually, I'll leave," he said and the ladies all turned to him with surprise.

"What?" They chorused.

"I need you three to form a team. Watch each other's backs," Caius said, taking a turn to look each of them in the face.

It was actually quite a balanced team;

You have Kaya the combat enthusiast but hardly a Beast Expert due mostly to lack of interest.

You have Eloise, not at all interested in combat but with an impressive memory when it came to Magical Beasts. Though she usually had her notes to help and that was likely not allowed here. Still, she was vital to make the team work.

And finally, you have Aylin, the Perfect beauty who, despite her genius, is really just an in-between of the earlier-mentioned ladies' expertise. Not all that interested in combat but doesn't shun it either. Good memory but not a Beast Expert in the making.

Together, they could check each other and fill in gaps in expertise.

"Who will you be teaming up with?" Kaya asked then with some concern.

"I'll be alright," Caius said and then looked around to see Delia standing not too far away.

He approached her.

"Come with me," he said.

"Why?" Delia asked.

"What?" Caius asked her with a light smile, "Do you already have a team?"

"Shut up," Delia said while rolling her eyes and that was answer enough.

Caius, Kaya, Eloise and maybe even Aylin were her only friends at Lochxen, and with the ladies all teamed up, she was left alone. With Caius.

"Who'll be our third?" She asked Caius then.

"Him," Caius answered pointing at a group of three not too far away.

He approached them and all three glanced over. Baler Khione frowned. Doran Langston looked welcoming and Aurelius Du Aristide looked surprised.

"Aurelius, come with us," Caius said.

If Aurelius was already surprised, now he was confused.

Baler stepped forward,

"We already have a team," he said.

"No, you don't," Caius answered without glancing at him as he took one step closer to Aurelius and asked,

"That tip I gave you, did it work?"

Everyone else was confused but now Aurelius looked a bit more understanding and nodded stiffly.

"Good," Caius said and he was so much more relieved than he appeared, "Then consider it to have been a favor. This—joining my team—is how you pay me back."

"Friends don't ask for payback," Aurelius said with a light smile.

"Well, I do," Caius answered with a smile of his own.

He and Aurelius shared a look and then the blond boy shrugged.

"Alright, fine."

"Excellent," Caius said and looked over at Delia by his side to gesture and state the obvious, "We have our Third."

"Damn it," Delia said, "I was hoping to get my rematch."

It had been quite a while ago and Caius had almost forgotten that he and Delia had lost against Aurelius and she had been after him for a get-back since. Good-naturedly of course.

"I'm sorry, dear, but that'll have to wait till a later time," Caius answered silkily and then glanced at a glaring Baler and then at a confused but still welcoming Doran.

"I'd like to think you have other options for a team," Caius said to Doran, "Surely there's someone better than him."

Doran opened his mouth, looked to the side at Baler, and then smiled as he searched the crowd of his classmates for someone. He must have found that person because he raised his hand and waved.

"Marianne," he called, "You got room for a third?"

Marianne looked up and a smile lit up her pretty face as she waved Doran over,

"Get over here."

Marianne was one of Aylin's gal pals and they had grown a lot more independent since Aylin was spending a lot of time at Caius's table. There were five of them. They already formed one group of three and Doran helped complete a second.

"Good luck, buddy," Doran said, patting Baler's shoulders before he made his way to Marianne where the two shared almost longing looks before Doran was introduced to the other two of the team.

Baler's icy blue eyes were cold with hatred as he turned away then. He teamed up with Marcus Arognite and a third whose name Caius didn't really care to know.

Just as promised, once the five minutes were over, those without teams or with less than three members had their numbers completed for them which led to some mismatch of friends but all in all, soon, everyone had a team. The Professors had to have taken the number of First Years into account because in groups of threes, no team was left at a deficit or with an extra member.

Lea Gilligan spoke then.

"You will enter the Lochxen Forest by teams. One after the other. Once you cross the veil of the Forest border, it is up to you and you alone to make your way through and find your targets. Be they your fellow students or Magical Beasts to tend to or pacify.

Good luck."

And with that, she began to wave them all in. Caius glanced at Kaya, Eloise, and Aylin, and gave them an encouraging nod and a smile as they went on ahead. Soon, it was his team's turn and they crossed the border as well.

"Which way?" Delia asked, looking at Caius.

Aurelius looked at Caius as well.

"What are you looking at?" Caius asked with a small laugh, "Go on. Lead us."

"You put this team together," Aurelius said, amused.

"Yes I did and now, I pick you to lead," Caius answered naturally, "So lead."

"Caius, what are you doing?" Delia asked.

Caius raised a finger.

"Don't worry," he said, "He's the best at this."

Aurelius frowned but did cock his head as though he was listening for something.

"Are we hunting down another team or finding Magical Beasts?" He asked.

"Magical Beasts," Caius answered, "The cute and fuzzy kind to be exact. We need to conserve our strength."

"For when we're attacked?" Delia asked.

"Exactly," Caius answered.

"This way," Aurelius said then as he picked a path and trudged forward on it.

"Nice," Caius said, "Let's go."

And so they were off. Aurelius never faltered. Never second-guessed his steps. He seemed to know exactly where to go and the first evidence of this being absolute truth was when he indeed led them to a section of the forest surrounded by a netted Dome within which there were snowy-white rabbits hopping about.

"Wind-Puffing Rabbits," Delia said in a low voice.

"Good job," Caius greeted Aurelius who frowned slightly.

"He led us here on purpose," Delia said.

"I told you," Caius said, "He's the best at this."

Aurelius had had his fair share of Forest Adventures before he started his education at Lochxen and during that period of his life, he realized—like many others things he tried his hands at—that he was good at finding his way. It was as though he let the Forest speak to him.

There was no better guide through the Lochxeh Forest than him. At least not among the First years. Well, except maybe Kaya if she ever learned to tap into that part of her Nature Magic affinity.

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