Van and Seral, escorted by Samira and Anna, walked down the pathway towards the blood hall. As they did so, they were silently watched by a few of the other students, most of which were of the female variety, checking out the newcomers and trying to lean in certain directions to get a better look at their face. Thankfully the hoods they wore did the trick of safeguarding their privacy, but it was still a weird feeling to be so blatantly checked out like this. It felt like they were fine-quality meat walking down a runway for the entertainment of others…

“It’s uh… a long way towards the blood hall from here.” Van spoke up from the awkward silence that was created from feeling out of place due to all the stares on them. “Maybe we should take one of the trams? It could be faster.”

Seral thought about that. “Yes but… That would mean we'd have to share a car with a bunch of strangers all packed together…” Not even having to explain further as to why Van’s suggestion might be a bad idea.

Van nodded in understanding. “If only we had a few more escorts with us, It might have been doable. I never thought I’d see the day where I’m so blatantly watched. At least the girls in the west had the decency to restrain themselves… Well… Most of them…”

Seral snorted. “What a thing to think of. Being thankful for slightly less sexist and perverted gazes.”

They both shared a dark chuckle at that before continuing on towards their destination. As they walked though, they couldn’t help but overhear the voices of other students gossiping about them.

“Are they new?” One student asked.

“Seems like it.” Another student answered.

“They seem cute…” A third spoke up.

“You always think any boy is cute.” The first said.

Then there were a few making complaints as they passed by.

“What has the world come too, that males can walk openly out like that? I don’t see their mistress!” One girl complained to her friend.

“At least they are being escorted.” The friend replied.

“Hmph. If it weren't for that I would have checked out their faces, hoods or no…”

And like this many more whispers continued.

“Do you think they are from that dorm?”

“You mean the one that the school is paying special interest to?”

“Makes sense right?”

“I don’t know… But-” Her voice was lost as Van and Seral moved on ahead.

Van and Seral did their best to ignore everyone. He knew it was odd that they were two males with only two escorts, but that didn’t mean they were the only ones. There were other males that just had each other and it didn’t seem they were being talked about as much as they were. Could it be that there was just something special about their grouping as opposed to everyone else's?

The two friends walked in silence for a while until something took Van’s attention. They were passing by the foundry hall, a place where a lot of weapons and other things were made for the school and more. Van stopped Seral and pointed at the large doors that led out and onto the path towards the behemoth sized factory complex.

“Hey, do you mind if we check this place out real quick? We didn’t get a chance to check out the inside of it yesterday due to time constraints. And I want to see exactly what it is they make.” Van asked.

Seral turned his head and then back towards Van with a shrug of his shoulders. “Sure, I don’t see why not. Let’s just make sure we arrive on time for the tests at the blood hall. I want to get into a few martial arts classes and they only allow certain people who pass their exams in.”

“How much time do we have?”

Seral gave it some thought. “I think about… Two hours? Maybe a little more? The exam is supposed to start around noon.”

“Well we are already halfway there. I’m sure a quick detour will be fine. If not, we can go our separate ways if you want.” Van suggested.

Seral remembered all the students they passed and looked around them at the students in their area. “I think I’ll stick with you…”

With that decided, they moved out of the school building proper and down the path towards the foundry. Walking down the hall, they opened up another door, only to be hit with a wave of heat and magical energy that made their hairs stand on end and gave them minor goosebumps.

Van and Seral blinked a few times to get used to the magical radiation that seemed to hang in the air before taking a few tentative steps forward.

Just at that time a young woman with a clipboard was walking by. Her face pressed in towards the paper in front of her and a pen at the ready, every so often she would make a face and write something down or draw a line or two. She almost bumped right into them before instinctively stopping herself and looking up at them in surprise, her bright blue eyes going wide.

“Eh? Who are you two?” She asked, taking a small step back.

Van kind of wanted to ask the same thing of her. This was the first time he was sure he met someone who was clearly of two races. One being vampire, the other being demon, if her two horns on her head and the bat-like leathery wings on her back was any indication. She had an open-back shirt that allowed them to air and was cut so low as to allow her tail to sway back and forth. She had a pair of goggles around her neck, plus a mask, and a brown skirt that had a tool belt wrapped around her waist filled with an assortment of things.

“Umm… We’re here to tour the area… If that’s fine with you.” Van said, unsure of what else he was supposed to say.

Her eyes widened. “Tour? As in… You're interested in joining our classes!” Looking excited, as her tail began to wag.

She then gave the two of them a big smile. “Oh that’s wonderful! We could use a few more hands! I mean, even if you're both male… Not that’s a problem!” She quickly added, not meaning to sound rude.

“We accept all comers who are willing to put in the work to make our little factory the best that it can be!” Giving them a beaming smile. “Come follow me! I’ll show you around!”

She turned and began walking away with a skip in her step. When noticing they weren’t following, she turned to them. “Well? Come on, don’t be afraid! Follow me!” And motioned with her hand to follow.

Van and Seral shared a look. Van shrugged and began following the upbeat girl. Seral not far behind as Samira and Anna took up the rear.

“Oh~ this is so exciting! Usually we only get a bunch of sticks in the mud or lazy soldiers who couldn’t care less about how to properly place a mana conductor or two. That leaves everyone else very busy and having to pick up the slack. I mean, Geez! What are the higher-ups thinking when they send a bunch of girls who don’t want to be here? Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice to have a few people act like batteries or help lift stuff, but would it kill them to send a few people who know what they are doing?”

This went on for quite a while, their little impromptu tour guide complaining about how they don’t get enough funding for the things they do. As well as all the lazy workers dropped onto them that they have to figure out a use for. And lamenting the fact that not a lot of people wish to work here and how hard it is to get someone to join them.

“-And don’t get me started on the difficulties of refining mana crystals into a suitable battery source! It takes for freakin ever! And leaves you so drained on top of it!”

“Umm… That’s great and all… But… What’s your name again?” Van asked, since it’s been a while and he was hoping to steer this conversation somewhere else.

The girl stopped in her tracks and smacked her face with her hand. “Of course! I forgot to introduce myself! Stupid! Stupid!” While smacking herself with her clipboard.

“Umm…”

“Oh yes! Of course!” She twirled around and gave her best approximation of a curtsy. “Names Devi! I know, real original right?” She said with some humor. “And now that introductions are out of the way! We are here!” Turning to open a nearby door, then proceeded to quickly usher them through it.

Next thing they knew, they were on the second floor of a large open factory. In front of them was the upper half a large skeletal monstrosity with six legs and what appeared to be a huge cannon of sorts mounted on its back. There were also multiple turrets in place alongside the front and back and a few on the side of its spine, with compartments that dug into the strange creature that people walked in and out of. It had an elongated head-like protrusion with horns and red eerie glowing eyes.

“Holy shit, what the hells is that!” Van exclaimed, eyes going wide at the thing before him.

Devi puffed out her chest. “That my friends, is a destroyer class bone walker! One of the first of its kind! At first we only had corvette and frigate classes. But thanks to all of us here pulling together our genius, we were able to complete this little project of ours right on schedule!”

Van stared at the large bone monster, packed to the deck with all assortments of weaponry and tech that he simply couldn’t describe. “How?” he asked. “How were you able to make something like this!?”

Devi looked happy by Van’s surprise and wonder. “It’s actually quite simple! Let me show you.” Then motioned them to follow.

Van and Seral followed Devi down a few hallways and through a few rooms, greeting people and friends along the way until they wound up in another section of the factory complex where strange suits of armor were being made. She turned to them with a proud look on her face as she motioned with her hand at the group of people putting together a complex looking piece of armor, filled with runes and mana cores.

“This is where it all started. Now tell me, what do you know of the spell, bone armor?” She asked them, looking expectantly with a knowing smile on her face.

Van and Seral shared a look, then Van being the first one to answer. “Isn’t that the spell that turns nearby bone matter into armor?”

Devi smiled. “Yes, but what else does it do?”

Van thought about it. “I… Not really sure… It just creates an armor around the user at the expense of your mana pool and a slow but constant drain on your mana reserve. Depending on how much mana you put in and the quality of the bone, the armor can become very hard.”

“Anything else?”

“Not that I can think of at the moment. Other than the fact that unlike most armor, you don’t have to fit yourself to it as it automatically does it for you.” Van answered.

Devi’s smile widened. “Exactly! The bone armor will always conform to the user's body. But did you know that the user can also change what the bone armor looks like? And that they can add a few things extra that are not just bone? Such as runes and mana cores?” Her smile went wider and wider as she spoke.

Van was beginning to pick up what she was laying down. “Wait, so you can enchant bone armor and stuff? But what's the point? After the spell runs out the armor falls to pieces. Right?”

Devi nodded, but her smile never wavered. “Yes, but! That is if you just pulled the bone armor on from the normal way… But what if you made armor straight from bone material, someone wore it, then casted the bone armor spell?”

Van blinked at the implication. “Then… the bone armor would fit the form of the person… And they would gain whatever enchantments and runes that were worked into the armor previously…” His eyes went wide as he realized what he just said.

“EXACTLY!” Devi said excitedly.

“But wait.” Seral spoke up. “What’s the difference between regular enchanted armor and bone armor then?”

“Glad you asked! The difference is how it works. Bone armor follows the will of the user naturally. After generations of trial and error, mages were able to increase their power and speed by influencing the bones they wore as they fought. It became the first example of power armor before the concept even had a name! Even those in Malor haven’t been able to fully figure out how to do what we do!”

“Mostly because it probably takes some form of necromancy that they wouldn’t be comfortable doing.” Van commented.

Devi shrugged. “Maybe… Anyway! From there, questions arose of how to increase the power output of bone armor without the drainage becoming too much. With that, mages and artificers began incorporating mana cores into the bone suits, as they were now called. Allowing for even greater control and longer operating time.”

“But then the question was asked…. Why not also do this for our skeletons? Can’t we ride skeletons? What if we make bigger skeletons and have direct control over their movements!?”

Van had a flashback to reading a few old manuscripts about adding runes to skeletons to make them stronger.

“By fusing the bone armor spell and several other necromantic spells to make bones move. They were able to create the first bone walker after a century of trial and error. From there, bone suits, or B-Power Suits. B being short for bone. Started to evolve at a frantic pace, alongside the bone walkers. Come, take a look!” She then showed them a long line of extremely impressive-looking suits of armor all lined up in a row.

They were black and red, with slight bony protrusions on their glossy black almost carapace-like armor. But Van couldn’t help but be reminded of sci-fi augment suits with how lean and futuristic they looked.

With a tap of her hand on the suit, it opened up. “Go on, one of you try it. You probably won’t get a chance like this again since only vampire knights are allowed to use something like this.”

Seral perked up at that, his dream was becoming a vampire knight, so he took newfound interest in the B-suit in front of him. Volunteering, he went ahead and tried to enter the armor.

“Normally we make sure you wear something more appropriate before entering one of these. Something a bit more… Form fitting… But it’s only for a short bit so I'm sure it’s okay.” Devi said as Seral tried to get in.

Seral didn’t look too happy about the strange organic feeling of the inside of the suit. It almost seemed alive in a way. And when Devi tapped something again and it began to close on him, he freaked out a bit as that disgusting feeling smothered him completely. He struggled for a while until his sense of vision changed and he found himself looking through the eyes of the B-suit instead of his own. The suit had completely integrated with him, and through it he found a new sense of power…

Taking a few experimental steps, he found he was a bit taller. And taking a small jump, launched himself up several feet more than he meant to.

“Whoa…” Seral said though it came out slightly synthesized. He felt immensely stronger in this suit, he knew if he wanted to, he could probably run right through a few walls no problem.

“Pretty cool right?” Just make sure you put it back before you damage it, that thing is worth a few million Crava’s.” Devi said.

Seral paled from within the suit and began trying to figure out how to get out of it before he accidentally broke it.

After a few minutes of having fun, Seral finally was able to take off the suit and Devi offered the same opportunity to Van, to which he politely refused.

“Still, I can’t believe something like this exists! This is amazing…” Van said.

“Yeah, I can say.” Seral agreed, wondering if he would get his own suit once he becomes a vampire knight.

“Are you sure we are the only ones that can make something like this?” Van asked Devi.

She hesitated. “Well… Not exactly… From what I heard, the elves in the Alria Federation have something similar. Wood armor. Though it isn’t as advanced as what we have and we haven’t heard of them making something like the bone armors. As for Malor, they are a bit behind but they are on the right track, using Golemancy to create their first prototype power suits.”

“Anyway, what did you guys think? Does this make you guys want to join the foundry hall? A few more students and we can get even more funding! Then we can really start playing with the fun stuff…” She said with glee.

“Actually… we were on our way to the blood hall. My friend here is hoping to become a vampire knight.” Van said.

“Oh really!? Well, maybe one day you’ll be wearing one of these suits!” Devi said, not judging Seral, a male, for having a dream of becoming a vampire knight.

“And you?” She asked Van.

“I’ll think about it. But yes… I think you largely convinced me to give this place a try. I’ve always wanted to branch out and stretch my brain a bit learning a few new crafts. Maybe I'll give becoming an artificer a chance?” Van responded.

“Yes!” Devi pumped her arm in happiness as if she scored a great touchdown. “Well then, let me give you a pamphlet with what classes we have available and how to join them. I’ll also help you get to the blood hall on time, I think their exam is just about to start…”

“The exam!” Seral looked a little panicked as he remembered.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry, I know just how to get you there on time…” Devi said with a smile. She then walked them towards her room not far from where they were, which was filled with an assortment of strange contraptions. She pulled off a tarp hiding something in the corner of her room that she had been working on personally for a while.

“Is that… The bone walker equivalent of a motorcycle?” Van thought in disbelief.