Cole was as skilled as Will mentioned. Vincent watched him move with grace and wielding a short sword in one hand. Each slash or swipe of the glistening sword was followed with a trail of what looked like darkness. Within seconds, Cole swung his sword a few more times and caused the Aspected to burst into glimmering stardust. The other students cheered and Lloyd clapped his hands from the stands.

"Excellent work Cole. Another example of how skillful Ophiuchus Signed can be," the head teacher proudly stated.

Cole nodded and ran his free hand through his black spiky hair. He rolled his wrist and the sword vanished just like Evans' bow had done before. He climbed out of the arena and joined the rest of the class. Vincent and Will seemed to be the last ones in, so they moved quickly to join the others.

"Alright class, welcome to combat training for first years. I'm Lloyd Argo, head teacher for the Ophiuchus sign."

Vincent was surprised that Cole was a first year. He must have been aware of his Signed powers for several years now. He stood proudly while several of the other students gawked over him.

"In this class, you'll learn how to summon your Sign weapon. You'll also learn how to use it to defend yourself against the potential attack of an Aspected." The class erupted with questions about Aspected. Lloyd lift his hand to calm the students down. His pale green eyes were serious. Everyone grew quiet.

"Even though you just saw Cole here fighting an Aspected, first years hardly ever are skilled enough to deal with such beasts. None of you have to worry about fighting one till next year. Always remember that even though an Aspected wouldn't hesitate to kill you, Apsis won't let one kill you as long as you're here."

"What about the ones in the forest?" another student asked.

Lloyd frowned. He shook his head as if he was disappointed with a question like that. His dark gray hair swayed slightly with his disapproval. "The forest is off limits to all students. Powerful Signed would be able to see that there are protective wards blocking any entry of Aspected on to school grounds."

Vincent wasn't sure if he was powerful or just lucky that he noticed the wards when Evans brought him.

"So with that out of the way, let's head over to the basic training grounds," Lloyd said as he beckoned the class to follow him.

Cole moved easily through the others and ended up next to Vincent and Will. "You see my fight?" Cole asked Vincent.

Vincent frowned. "I did."

"Impressive, right? I'm the first first year to be skillful enough to take on Aspected. What have you done, star boy?"

Vincent wanted to explain that he had faced two Aspected already, but felt it wouldn't do him good. Not only did he defeat them himself, but he also got thrashed around by the scorpion. Cole looked as if he had never even been touched by one. Vincent also didn't want Theresa hearing him trying to comeback at Cole.

"Well it's my first day, so you know, school I suppose," Vincent muttered. Will chuckled, causing Cole to frown.

"I suppose we'll see what you're capable of soon enough," Cole replied as he moved back through the crowd to the front.

Vincent took a deep breath. It didn't take them long to be led through to the other side of the building. Lloyd brought the class far away from the arena section to an area that held several targets and dummies. The class began to explore the training pit and examining the targets.

"Here is where you will train for this year. You're free to use any of the targets or dummies as you wish. There is also a sparring section for those who aren't afraid to get a bit roughed up."

The class seemed eager to continue into combat training. Will was already starting to pretend to hit some of the dummies with his fists. After a few minutes of letting the students look around, Lloyd called everyone to gather in a line. He then began to talk about weapon summoning.

"Summoning weapons will become vital to protecting yourself or arming yourself for Aspected. Hopefully it won't ever come to that in your lives, but we want you all to be prepared. That goes especially for those who wish to be Hunters," Lloyd explained. He demonstrated summoning his weapon. A sword similar to Cole's appeared in his hands after a quick flash of glistening stars. "All you have to do is focus that feeling you get for your powers. It might feel different for everyone. More natural for some, and not so easy for others."

Several students began to summon weapons. The celestial items were fascinating to Vincent. He wondered if everyone saw them as he did. The weapons varied greatly depending on the Sign the user was born under. Some were simple like a whip for those under Leo, but could be more complex like a two-headed flail for those under Libra. Vincent began to wonder how safe it was having young kids handle weapons, but he figured that Signed were different than normal kids.

"Please remember that being Signed isn't all about this. You have abilities and powers that go beyond mere weapons," Lloyd explained. "Can anyone demonstrate that here?"

Will's hand shot up. Vincent could see his enthusiasm. Will was practically jumping up and down to demonstrate whatever it was that Lloyd meant. Lloyd nodded towards Will, who just about squealed with excitement. Will moved to the front of the class.

"What's your name?" Lloyd asked.

"Will Sinclair, sir!"

"Alright, Sinclair, what Sign are you?"

"Cancer."

Lloyd nodded and looked back to the class. "I'm sure you all know that Cancer's element is water. That can come into a good use when you're using your abilities to fight or defend yourself."

Lloyd pointed towards the target dummies. "Go on and use what you know."

Will nodded and entered a fighting stance. Around his hands and wrists, watery cloth wraps appeared. They held the same sparkle that the other weapons did.

"What I'm sure a lot of you didn't know is Cancer are best for fighting hand to hand."

Vincent watched with anticipation to see what his new friend could do. Will began to attack the dummy with swiftness and elegance. Vincent could see that he moved like water. He was always moving, or flowing, with his attacks.

"Now show what you can do besides hit things," Lloyd stated.

Will nodded without breaking his rhythm. He extended both hands. Suddenly the target was trapped in a bubble of water. Everyone began to ooo and ahh at it.

"Cancer has a sub-element of gravity. With both powers together, it can become a game of who can hold their breath the longest," Lloyd explained as he paced before the class. "I'm sure you've been told by some less knowledgeable teachers about sub-elements already. You can use them to your advantage and in every day life situations."

Vincent frowned at the stab at Evans. He wondered if the school had use of more powers. What else could a Signed do? Vincent imagined that each sign would give it's own advantage over other ones in certain situations. Before his thoughts went further, Lloyd continued to explain that more in-depth skills would come in later semesters in just about every class.

"Everyone should get to training and working on their abilites," the head teacher announced, causing the class to spread out.

"I heard what you told Cole," Vincent heard Theresa say from behind him. Vincent turned around.

"Did you?" he questioned carefully. He really didn't want to step on any toes when he still wanted to make friends.

"I do think you might be different than him."

"I'd like to think so. I've never been one to want that attention. I just wanted to be accepted and make some friends," he explained to her. She nodded and gave him a half-smile.

"Well keep doing what you're doing and I'll be sure to be your friend."

Vincent smiled back at her. He nodded. Her silver shirt brought out her hazel eyes as she kept her gaze to him. Vincent wasn't sure how to reply more, so he decided to ask, "So why is Libra's weapon a two-headed flail? Doesn't it seem a bit barbaric?"

"I've been told it's to represent the scales of Libra. It's a heavy and annoying thing to use, so I try to not have to."

Vincent nodded in agreement. He recalled back to Evans class on elements. "So you're basic element is air right? What's your sub-element?"

"They call it aether, but I'm not really sure what that means," Theresa said while she moved her hand around. "I suppose the aether is what is all around us."

"I've never heard of *aether* before," Vincent admitted.

"Not a lot of people have. I'm still learning more every day."

Theresa summoned her two-headed flail and took a swing at a nearby target dummy. The dummy stood no chance from the impact and force the flail brought down on it. The dummy nearly fell apart.

"Wow," Vincent stated.

Theresa gave a weak smile. "Well I might as well do something while I'm here."

Before Vincent could reply, Cole appeared. "So Vincent," the Ophiuchus student started, "how about we see what your Sign can do?"

"How do you propose that?" Theresa asked him. He frowned at her and looked back towards Vincent.

"Our Zodiacs are unique and rare. We usually have an edge over these people. I want to see what you can truly do in an Aspected fight."

"But we're not able to fight Aspected yet," Vincent replied.

"Watch this," Cole said as he began to go over towards Lloyd. "Mr. Argo, our latest addition would like to have an Aspected dual with me. He says he's ready for a challenge."

Lloyd examined both Cole and Vincent. After a few seconds he nodded and looked out towards Vincent. "If you think you're ready, we can have it set up and the rest of the class can watch." That seemed to get everyone else's attention. Everyone began to gather around to see what Vincent would say. He turned to Theresa.

She sighed and whispered, "As much as I don't want you to be like him, I don't want you to be snuffed out by his ego. Show him what you can do."

Vincent took a deep breath and nodded to her. He wasn't even sure what he could do yet, but he was certainly about to find out. "I'll do it."

The class erupted in a loud cheer. They all moved back towards the arena. Lloyd set up a fence to split the arena in half. Within minutes, he had two cages filled with something in each. Both were too dark to see what creature might lay inside, but Vincent could tell they were Aspected by the way the glistened.

"Aspected are extremely dangerous creatures," Lloyd began to say as he stood on a podium just outside the arena. "These two are what we consider the lowest tier. They cannot escape the borders of the arena. You can never really tell what creature or animal or beast might be an Aspected until they've transformed. With careful analysis, Apsis has developed several devices that can aid in the search for such things."

Vincent blinked a few times while he looked at the cage. He could tell they were Aspected. He could even see the borders being protected by the constellation images, similar to the forest. He was beginning to suspect that his Zodiac granted him a true sight of anything celestial.

"Both of you enter one side of the arena. First one to defeat the Aspected wins the dual," Lloyd explained.

Will and several others began to cheer for Vincent. Theresa remained calm and watched Vincent with a caring look.

Vincent and Cole both entered the arena. The deep pit made Vincent feel that there wouldn't be an escape if necessary. Bright lights shone down onto the arena floor, leaving nowhere to hide. Vincent at least appreciated the floor being covered with thick dirt, so he could at least keep traction. He could feel everyone staring at him as he approached the center of his side. He could see Cole, sword in hand, ready for whatever came out.

"Good luck," Vincent said. Cole merely let out a chuckle.

"Releasing the Aspected!" Lloyd called out. The cages flew open. Vincent lifted his hand and braced himself for whatever came out. The glistening stardust surrounded his hand and formed the sphere it had before.

Out from Cole's cage, a large fish crawled out. Vincent was shocked to see such a hideous Aspected. It had transformed a fish into a land-walking, wide-mouthed, bloodthirsty creature. Out of his own cage, Vincent watched a snake slither out. It hadn't yet transformed.

"This will be easy," Vincent heard Cole state loudly. Vincent watched the snake carefully, but also watched what Cole was doing.

Cole began to attack the fish. Before he was able to hit it, the Aspected made a B-line towards the fence. It began to push against the fence to try and reach Vincent. Vincent jumped back and eyed it carefully. Cole began to laugh.

"This is even easier if you're going to distract it for me." Cole stuck his sword into the ground and began to relax. He obviously didn't want this to be over without Vincent doing anything.

The snake sparkled and slid over to where Vincent was. He stood cautious of when it might change. He wasn't going to attack it unless it was in its Aspected form. As the snake began to circle around Vincent's feet, it began to grow at an alarming rate. Vincent jumped out of the way as the beast grew far bigger than the fish that slapped the fence.

The classroom were shouting with excitement. Vincent shot Lloyd a glance. Lloyd remained still as he watched the arena. Vincent wasn't sure, but he thought he could see a smirk on his face.

"Aim for the head!" Will shouted to Vincent. Vincent could tell that Will had done his research on Aspected and combat. He knew it would be in his best interest to follow his advice.

The snake coiled up. After a few second it stood and looked at Vincent. Vincent watched it from several feet below. The snake's red eyes remained fixed on him.

"Well we can't just stand here all class period," Cole said, mocking a yawn.

The massive snake lunged for Vincent. Vincent tried to shoot his sphere at the head, but the power soared over the serpent. The snake caused him to fall back as its fangs landed in the dirt right in front of him. Vincent scrambled back a few feet away from the snake. He suddenly felt a rush of air bring him to his feet. He looked over to see Theresa now eagerly leaning forward in her seat and pointing towards the snake.

Vincent brought forth more stardust. He balled it up and sent it towards the snake. The celestial ball impacted with the scales of the beast. Vincent wasn't sure if it hurt it or not, but it did cause it to shake loose from the ground and stand back up. It lunged once again, but this time Vincent held his arms up. Similar to the ram, the snake was stuck in place with the starry essence holding it in place.

"Finish it off!" Will called out.

Vincent held the snake, focusing all his strength to do so. He could see Cole begin to get up as if Vincent might actually win in the next few seconds. Instinctively, Vincent focused more of his power at the snake. The stardust covered the large beast. With a flash of light the beast was no more. Instead of dissipating like the others, the original snake slithered on the ground with no glisten to it. The room went quiet.

Cole quickly finished off the fish, causing it to dissipate. "Mine is gone completely, so I win right?" Cole asked towards the head teacher.

Lloyd stood speechless, his eyes on the snake that began to slither in circles. His mouth was a little open in disbelief. It didn't take too much longer for him to say, "Class dismissed." Lloyd took his leave.

Vincent carefully reached down to the snake. He had never handled one before, but they didn't seem so scary after facing a version of one that was thousands of times bigger. "What did I do to you little guy?" Vincent asked.

Will and Theresa entered the arena. "I've never seen an Aspected get defeated while leaving the host behind!" Theresa announced as she ran up to Vincent.

"Is that even possible? I don't think there are any reported cases on that," Will explained.

Vincent shrugged. The three stood around the snake that was now in Vincent's hands.

"Don't think I won't figure out whatever it was you did to avoid losing officially," Cole shouted from the other side of the arena. The three looked back to him. "And don't think I didn't see that help you gave him, Libra!"

Vincent looked at Theresa. She shrugged in return. Cole threw his sword on the ground, making it disperse into stardust. He left the arena with heavy footsteps.

"Vincent, I think you might have just learned how to save these creatures from the Zodiacs," Will told him.

He wasn't sure how or why, but he was beginning to slowly understand his Zodiac a bit more.