Scott sat in the broken remnants of his room with one knee up, and his other leg straight out. His personal belongings had been tossed around a little, but only his door and furniture had been broken. He was responsible for half the cost of the damages, however. It was a fact that continually ate at him.

He gripped a piece of a broken table leg in hand and squeezed it in agitation. Anger was a tool, something to focus during a fight or to overcome a block in training. He had allowed it to run wild earlier, and because of that he had not seen what he should have been doing.

Electra had attacked him because of the situation. Had he known what might have happened, things might have happened differently. From the very beginning of this situation there was one group of people who had known everything and had told him nothing.

"My room's wrecked. I'm married to a berserker. I'm sitting here with a debt that I can't possibly pay." Scott frowned. Anger made people stupid. It was something his tutor had told him constantly.

A piece of masonry that had been barely holding onto the wall chose that moment to fall down. It was a small piece, but its downfall was enough to cause Scott to grit his teeth. "The hell with this."

Scott rose up from the wreckage of his new life then headed out into the hallway. He had been excused from training for the rest of the day due to his head wound. He was supposed to be resting, though there was little hope of that due to the current state of his room.

The mission objective was Alice. She was his personal trainer. She was the one who was supposed to answer his questions. It was time to get some answers.

Scott stalked the halls for a few minutes. He passed a small group of girls, one of whom coughed the words "Tiny bastard," into her hand as he stalked by. His left eyelid twitched, but he left the group of now giggling girls behind. He had someone more important to find.

Alice proved to be in her normal location, her office. Before Scott could even knock on the door, she bid him enter.

"Close the door," she said simply, once he entered. Alice never bothered to look up from her paperwork, and simply assumed that Scott would do as she intended.

After closing the door, he walked over to her desk then started to speak. Alice once again beat him to it. "No."

He blinked then frowned at her. "No what?"

She wrote her signature of a sheet of paper then casually said, "No, I don't owe you an explanation."

"The hell you don't!" snapped Scott. "You set this whole thing up, didn't you?"

Alice ignored him for a moment, which caused Scott to slap his hands down on her desk. The force of the blow caused the pencils in her pencil cup to rattle. The pink haired woman came to a stop then slowly looked up. "This is the extent, huh? You can't handle more than this?"

"What are you talking about? I want answers!" Scott gripped at the top of the desk then glared at her. "Tell me why!"

"I see. You've reached the end. I had such hope for you, but if this is your next move then I was wrong." said Alice in a serious tone. She looked up at him, her eyes cold and judgmental.

"Cut the crap lady! I'm in some serious shit because of you," snapped Scott. He pointed his finger at her and was about to continue when Alice's hand flashed outward in an impossibly fast blur. Scott blinked once then screamed in agonizing pain the moment he felt what had happened. Alice dropped his dismembered finger onto her desk then slammed her palm outward and gripped his throat.

The pink haired teacher climbed up onto her desk then casually lifted him up by one hand. He feebly struggled with her, but almost all of the power left his body the moment she had him in her hand. "You made a decision. Instead of living with the result of your actions you rail, and cry. You scream and cast blame."

Alice's hand closed tighter and Scott began to choke. "You come to me with conspiracy theories after wrecking my cafeteria and allowing the room we gave you to be destroyed."

She hurled him away like a ragdoll. He slammed against the far wall then bounced to the ground. Scott struggled to get up, but something was broken inside his body. He could barely move. Alice walked over to him then lifted him up by the hair. "I don't own you a damned thing. Nothing except that I keep my promise to you."

"W-what promise...?" gasped Scott. It was hard to concentrate at the moment. Still, he had to find out something.

Alice pushed his head back against the wall and held him there with zero effort. "You blame me because you were too stupid to handle this on your own?"

Scott's nose wrinkled and he found the strength to clutch at her arm. "You, bitch!"

She snorted at him then leaned in close. "Call me what you want. I'm doing my job."

Alice dropped him to the ground again then loomed over him, her hands on her hips. "I am not your cute big sister. I'm not your friend. I'm definitely not your damned mama."

An accusatory finger pointed down toward him. "What I am is your trainer. What you are is expendable."

He glared hotly at her, and she casually snapped her foot out and pushed him all the way to the ground. "I must have coddled you. That's the only excuse for you to act like this."

She pressed down on his chest with her foot casually driving the air from his lungs. "Listen up, and listen well you angry little shit."

Alice took a breath then said, "You may be married now, but I'm the woman who is going to make a man out of you."

"You got that!" she snapped.

Scott growled at her then tried to kick out at her other leg. He might as well have been kicking a wall for all the good it did.

She pressed her foot down a little more, crushing Scott to the floor with casual ease. "My job is to force you to be your best. I am the final boss standing at the top of the mountain. I set traps along the way to make you fall when you try to climb up."

She leaned down toward him, her deceptively pretty face leering at him darkly. "What happens when you reach the top?" She snorted at him then pressed down with her foot a little more. "If you reach the top, I'll slam my boot into your face and kick your sorry ass back down the mountain, and make the next climb harder."

"You come here and want to accuse me, demand of me, put your fucking finger in my face and act like I owe you something?" Her eyes narrowed and she sneered down at him. "I don't."

"You're the fool who couldn't even be bothered to ask questions," said Alice.

Scott looked as though he was about to argue, but she cut him off by snarling out, "You are the one who had a girl at your side who would have honestly answered anything that you asked!"

She continued to accuse him hatefully. "You are the one who failed to make use of all your options! Yet, you act like I did you wrong!"

Alice took a breath after shouting all of that. Slowly, she released the pressure on his chest then squatted down. She pulled him toward her by his shirt. "I'll give you your answers though, but there is a price. Will you pay it?"

Scott swallowed hard. Somehow he managed to nod.

The pink haired woman granted him a predatory smile. "Contract accepted..."

"Good, boy," she lightly stroked his hair and cooed at him. "You get to know the truth now."

Alice took a breath then tilted her head to the side. "The truth is that there really was no conspiracy. Electra came here for various reasons that every student will soon know. During that time she entered her first heat."

Scott looked askance at her, his expression disbelieving. "The two of you meeting was her decision. You just happened to be at the right place at the right time..."

His lips quirked down into a frown. "B-bullshit..."

"No. I speak the truth. Afterward we took every opportunity to capitalize on the choices that the two of you made," admitted Alice.

She lightly smoothed his hair and fussed at him a bit. Her predatory smile became one that was strangely cute. "Admittedly, it was annoying to see you two together."

"Why?" asked Scott. "Why annoying?"

"After all my efforts... to see you paired off with someone else so soon..." Alice frowned prettily. "It's annoying.

Scott's eyes opened wide. He barely had the strength left to speak, so his next question was spoken too softly for a normal person to hear. However, Alice heard it easily though she ignored it. "Ah, I see that you are dying. I should take care of that."

Suddenly, her eyes flared with a baleful red light. Her canine teeth elongated slightly and her fingernails became sharper. The rest of her body became even more voluptuous and even her lips plumped a little. She bit her wrist then pressed the bloody limb to Scott's mouth.

"Drink up, my sweet boy. Drink deep..." she instructed. The intense gaze of her eyes grew more powerful. Scott found that he could do nothing but follow her command. As disturbing as it was, he drank the blood flowing from her veins.

"Good... Good." she cooed while stroking his hair. "That's my precious boy."

Strength flowed through his body. It was as though every cell within him was bursting with powerful vitality. Wounds healed at an incredible rate. His finger actively regenerated. The broken bones, even his concussion were healed.

"What? What was that?" asked Scott.

She flashed her predatory smile at him briefly then gripped the side of his head and his shoulder simultaneously and bit him on the neck. He cried out briefly, before a wave of endorphins lessened the pain and made it strangely pleasurable.

Alice drank deeply from the youth while her own blood regenerated his body. After several minutes had passed, she forced herself away from him and looked at him with lustful eyes, a heavily flushed face, and bloodstained lips. "I've wanted to do that since I ran your tests that first day." She looked practically exultant and she ran her tongue over her lips.

"Did you..? Are you some kind of—" began Scott.

"Vampire?" she asked him casually. "Yes, obviously."

"Am I going to become one, too?" asked Scott. He was strangely numb after the experience.

She ran her finger over his still bloody lips then pulled his lower lip down with her thumb. "No, you silly boy. It requires more than this for you to achieve such a thing."

"Why am I so calm right now?" he asked her. His emotions had gone numb. He felt strangely, safe.

"My blood has that effect on you. Otherwise you would probably be screaming bloody murder right now," she said simply. "Your body probably feels a bit numb, too, despite the sense of growing vitality."

"I'm really confused," said Scott.

Alice nodded. "As you should be. All of this is new to you."

Delicate fingers traced the curve of his jaw. "You should know that I searched the world for you."

"Why?" asked Scott, his eyes glassy, his gaze a little distant.

"For several years now I have wanted to find you, rather one like you. I never did until now," she said softly, in a whisper that sounded similar to a lover speaking a tender thought.

"Why me?" he asked, his voice becoming a flat monotone.

"Your blood is the key. Rather, the potential it represents." She ran her tongue along her lower lip for a moment. "You're the first candidate that I've found who has at least true S-Class potential."

"My blood? What?" he asked. The words came hard to him now. He was slowly drifting off to sleep.

"I'll tell you a secret, though you won't remember it," she whispered to him. Once Scott nodded his head, she leaned closer and said, "Resonance has an upper limit. Despite all the lofty training goals, everyone reaches a wall they cannot pass. For most men that wall is C-Class. Certainly they can enter higher rated dungeons, but not for as long as someone who is truly rated higher."

She leaned closer and spoke gently into his ear. "There are no known male dungeon explorers who can reach true S-Class, and certainly none beyond that level. You have the potential to be the first."

"How? How do you know?" he asked sleepily.

She ignored his question. Instead, she placed her hands to his cheeks then softly said. "I don't care if it kills you. I'll drag your soul back from the abyss and stuff it in a jar if I have to. You will not be allowed to fail me."

Scott's eyes widened a little, the glassy look cleared slightly as a fearful expression appeared. Alice smiled prettily at him then caressed his cheek. "I may be a bitch, but the entire human race needs you to succeed in reaching your potential."

"Blackmail, torture, marriage to a beautiful alien girl..." She kissed him on the ear then whispered in a far more provocative tone. "Even let you hotly ravish my own body if you like..."

She tilted her head then clasped his chin in her hand. She looked him in the eyes and said. "But know that I'll use anything I have to in order to make you into the man you need to be. All of your petulant screams for answers will fall on deaf ears."

"Grow strong my precious little Scott." She said before she kissed him softly on the nose. His own blood trickled down from the spot where she kissed him as she acquired a predatory smile and said, "Grow strong and have lots of cute little S-Class babies for the sake of humanity."

Sometime later, Scott awoke in the wreckage of his room. The side of his neck was a little tender for some reason, but otherwise he felt better than he had in a while. He sat up and tried to recall what he had been doing.

His head began to throb as he focused on his fleeting memories. Eventually, he settled on what had recently happened. "So... I went to see Alice, and she answered my questions."

"Weird, that it was all a coincidence," he said thoughtfully. Who knew that such things really happened? He had met Electra solely because of being in the right place at the right time. Sure, the teachers had a good laugh at his expense, but they meant well.

Scott rubbed the side of his neck, the pain was quite annoying. "Must have slept on it wrong, or something."

He wanted to go train, but soon realized that it was time for lunch. Scott headed toward the cafeteria then started to choose his meal. As a side-dish he instinctively reached for the garlic bread but then pulled his hand back quickly. He blinked then spoke in a flat monotone, "I should lay off the garlic, and have my cholesterol checked."

"Hey, holding up the line there man," said Jerry as he got in line. He grinned at the only other guy left in the candidate training program. "Just get your stuff and move it along."

Scott blinked at him then shook his head. "Wha—?" He noticed Jerry standing next to him then winced and moved along. The garlic bread was left behind to mourn its lonesome fate. Unwanted, unchosen, the garlic bread had lost a true friend that day.

He moved to find a seat, and saw a familiar face. Scott moved toward her, to say hello but a small gaggle of girls looked up at him. They sent death glares his way. He tried to ignore them, but several of this girls were already sitting with Electra.

The Minotyran girl looked up at him from her meal. Scott looked down at her. "So, is it cool if I sit here?"

"After what you did?" exclaimed one of the girls.

"Just go die, somewhere," said another.

Scott ignored the female peanut gallery and looked Electra in the eyes. The alien girl sighed then looked away and shrugged.

Instead of sitting down Scott smiled and shook his head. "Tell you what. If there comes a time when you actually want to be around me, you'll always be welcome at my table."

She looked up at him with a curious and slightly sad expression. He nodded to her then turned away to find a different table.

Whatever they were to each other, it was a work in progress. It would either work out, or it would not, but they would both have to meet each other halfway.

Just before he started to eat, an errant thought about how pretty Electra was caused him to remember an inescapable truth. Alice was much prettier than any other girl that he had ever seen, especially Electra, and deserved to be called the most beautiful of goddesses. In fact, he should thank the heavens themselves that such a glorious and sensual vision existed in the flesh.

Scott blinked as that last thought crossed his mind. "Where the hell did that come from?"

Unable to understand the oddities of his own mind, Scott shook the thoughts away then began to eat his meal. He had a lot of training to do that day. He could feel his enthusiasm and dedication rising as he ate. He had to give his training everything he had. He had to reach his true potential!