“Name.” The black-robed man asks.

Serah sighs. She's been in line for over an hour. She felt it was rather much to make a point. But she couldn't do much about it, so she shrugged it off. “Serah Goodman.” She says with a deadpan face.

“Goodman, goodman. Serah, Serah.” The man says as he scrolls through a very long list. “Ah, Serah Goodman. Specializing in close-combat magic swordsmanship. Interested in potion-making, destruction magic, and conjuration. Alright, if it's battle you're looking for Mister Alfred-Russle should suffice. As for potion-making, you have a variety of options, but I’m going to choose Miss Sherry Abel, to hurry things along. As for destruction magic, Mister Thorak will do; that guy’s funny, you’ll enjoy him. And conjuration… Now what kind of conjuration were you looking for exactly, like, alchemy sort of conjuration, make stuff out of nothing sort of magic. Or like, you want to summon dragons and faeries to fight for you?” The man asks, processing through Serah’s profile.

“Ugh, I was kind of hoping to summon a few demons, make a few contracts.” Serah says with a straight face.

The black-robed man stares, somewhat in disbelief, before a wide grin blooms on his face. “Damn, girl. You’re wild. But don’t worry, I’ll hook you up. You’ll be wanting to speak to Miss Zeffer. Ugh, and don’t tell her I sent you. I’d rather keep my name out of her mouth, if you get my drift.” He says before beginning to write all the information down. He hands Serah the piece of paper before calling out, “Next!”

…

…

Serah spent the next little while meeting her teachers.

Mister Alfred-Russle was a pretty straight forward guy, and it kind of seemed like he didn’t enjoy the teaching aspect of his job too much. He had a list in his office, of things he would like done, and depending on what you completed and how well you did, he would try to reward you with something appropriate.

Miss Sherry Abel was very organized. She had a board of various tasks and their possible rewards. You simply had to pick one out, then, once it was completed, you chose your reward.

For Mister Thorak; Serah had a feeling that he was a bit unhinged. He seemed kind of crazy, and Serah didn’t know if that was a good thing, and she wasn’t sure how much she could get out of him. Serah asked around and apparently, the tasks that he required to be completed came up sporadically. For months there could be nothing, but if there was something, he would post a poster of it outside his door, and it would be a scramble from many desperate students to complete the task.

As for Miss Zeffer…

A bell jingles as Serah opens the door and a beautiful woman, sitting behind a desk, looks up, surprised.

“And who might you be? I don’t often receive visitors. You wouldn’t happen to be a new student would you?” Miss Zeffer asks with a soothing voice and a raised eyebrow, some suspicion in her gaze.

“Ugh, yes, Miss Zeffer. My name is Serah. I was directed to you after orientation.” Serah says somewhat meekly, not daring to look the lady in the eyes.

The lady’s eyes widen slightly, still a bit surprised. “This is odd. Very odd. Most of the students who come looking for me are crazed young boys, looking to make a deal with the devil. Of course, I promptly feed them to my demon friends for their arrogance. The college won’t miss those idiots. But you… Why, you’re a beautiful young woman. What could you possibly want from me?” The lady asks, curious.

Serah lets out a bitter smile. Better out than in, I guess. She thinks before letting out a sigh, deciding to relieve herself of her secret. “Well, you see. Back home, I sort of started a small business. I would track down rapists and abusers, and, well, quite frankly, I executed them. After a while, women and other victims, would start leaving requests for me to find, and after some investigation, I mostly did what was asked. But after a while, I began to question what I was doing. It seemed… Too easy. The deaths were too clean. So, after some thought, I’ve realized I needed to find someone like you.” Serah says, looking at the lady with some hope in her eyes.

The lady lets out a big smile as realization dawns on her face. “Ah, you wish to be a soul harvester. It’s not a bad profession, many girls are drawn to it. And you can get some pretty good things by trading souls with demons. I use to do a bit of soul trading myself, back in the day, but now, now I’m much too busy.” She says, getting a little lost in thought, before she looks back to Serah. “Very well, I think we can arrange something. How ‘bout this. Bring me a few souls and I’ll handle the demon summoning rituals. Then, after I know I can trust you, I’ll begin to teach you, personally. But let me warn you, I’ll be very thorough.” The lady says as she gives Serah a smile. “What do you say?” She asks, somewhat excited at having a new prospective student.

Serah lets out a big smile before getting up and bowing. “Thank you, miss. I won’t let you down.” She says, satisfied.