Draig woke with a start when he heard the cry of shock from beyond his curtain, it had been some time since he had heard someone fall to its mercy. The fact that someone had though caused him to be confused, Ginji had grown a healthy fear of it since his encounter with it that had nearly destroyed his hand if not for his intervention which begged the question who was dumb enough to touch the Talisman curtain.
Pulling the paper to the side he saw someone he didn"t recognize and wondered if there was some kind of confusion, though this person knew Draig very well.
It was none other than the youth from the Unaffiliated training grounds, for some reason he had found himself here and had inadvertantly fell to the metaphorical hands of the curtain.
The Feratu stared at the steaming youth for some time before closing the curtain and laying back down to resume his slumber until he heard a loud racket from outside in the yard causing him to launch forward.
"What the h.e.l.l is going on out there. . ." growled Draig as he grabbed his swords and pulled the curtain aside and stepped over the felled youth and marched downstairs to see what all the ruckus was about.
Now Draig had expected many things but the sight before him was not one of them, the sight welcoming him was the entirety of the Unaffiliated Deva save for a few carrying materials and manning construction over the Dorm. Some were busy at work repairing and reinforcing walls while others were at work repairing the building itself, this was an odd sight as he wasn"t quite sure why they would be here or why they would be doing this.
However one of these Deva happened to notice Draig standing at the foot of the stairs and brought this to the attention of those present who stopped what they were doing and turned to the Vampire with respect in their eyes. All of them carried wounds of some kind from the previous day"s training but this didn"t stop them from working to repair the building nor bowing.
"Members pay respects to Faction Leader Draig" chorused the Deva causing Draig"s eyes to widen in surprise.
"Since when have I become a Faction Leader. . ." wondered Draig as he looked at the a.s.sembled ma.s.ses who had yet to rise from their bow.
"Acknowledged. . . . . . . . ." answered Draig uncertainly, it wasn"t as if it was the first time he had his own forces but that had been because he had set out to make it so. Never had he heard of troops running to acknowledge a leader like lost puppies, this was a first and he was certain that this was a never before seen event in the history of any sort of organization.
However the group hearing Draig acknowledge them responded with cheers before getting back to work, this allowed Draig to walk aimlessly to where he had sat before to overlook the Dorm during his depression and just stare dazedly.
"We have brought Faction Leader tea" spoke a sudden voice from Draig"s side causing the Vampire to look to see a woman he was certain he had never met before let alone seen but then again that would go for all of these people.
"Thank you. . ." answered Draig as he accepted the tea and sipped it silently as he tried to wrap his mind around the events that were happening.
"Where the h.e.l.l did all these people come from" was the thought as he was certain that he hadn"t seen this many people at the Unaffiliated Campus.
However Draig had to also realize that he couldn"t have been the only one to realize the futility of trying to learn from those lazy Deva that had taken up the role of teacher on the Campus.
This was where the additional people had come from, they had heard of the successes being had so quickly during the sparring Draig had commanded of them and had thus joined and the fanaticism had been contagious though it was a wonder who could have inspired such a thing in these people.
"Master" came the cry as the youth from upstairs that had been caught by his curtain raced to kneel in front of Draig skidding to a halt just in front of the Feratu.
"It is great to see you are well Master" spoke the youth without raising his head in the slightest in fact Draig was certain his forehead had been on the floor when he was skidding.
"You may rise" stated Draig causing the youth to lift his head finally revealing the slight redness on his forehead.
"Thank you Master, it is an honor to be acknowledged by your greatness. As you can see I have already set the others to the task of repairing the Headquarters" explained the youth causing Draig even further confusion as he had never seen this person before let alone done anything to receive this kind of adoration from him.
"I can see that. . . . What was your name again" asked Draig as he was still attempting to figure out the origin of the situation here. He was certain that he hadn"t started a Faction unless he had been conquering in his sleep without knowing.
"Of course how foolish of me, I am Souta, a member of the Unaffiliated cla.s.s A. To be more specific I am the Former Dorm leader of Dorm A, I had gathered our Unaffiliated Brethren and gathered them here for the task of honoring you our Leader and establis.h.i.+ng our headquarters. I hope it has pleased you" explained Souta looking at Draig with a disturbing degree of reverence.
The girl at the side who had served tea to Draig leaned in and poured the Feratu another gla.s.s causing the Vampire to look at her.
"Bring a gla.s.s for Souta here as well" ordered Draig rather easily, it wasn"t new for him to be in a position of power so this part came rather easily.
Souta however had heard Draig ask to have a cup brought for him which seemed to fill him with delight, an odd delight that bordered on wors.h.i.+p.
"To have tea with the Master, truly this is my lucky day" thought Souta feeling truly overjoyed.
"Of course Leader, here you are Souta" answered the girl as she offered another gla.s.s of tea and pa.s.sed it to Souta.
"I, thank you Master for this gracious opportunity" bowed Souta sipping the poor quality tea but to him it tasted as if it had come from the heavens in Draig"s presence.
Draig nodded absent mindedly as he wondered where Ginji and Aoi were, surely they had to have heard the commotion.
Souta sat quietly as he stared at Draig in pride, he had nothing else to report so was humbly awaiting for the next topic of conversation.
"So tell me why is that you have all gathered here" started Draig causing Souta to smile.
"To gather under your banner Master" answered Souta simply causing Draig to nod vacantly.
"What banner you fool. . ." thought Draig as he didn"t know what was wrong with this person.
"Draig what the h.e.l.l have you done this time" started Ginji only to have his face firmly stomped into the ground by Souta who glared down at the Grave Forger Menacingly.
"What was that you punk, huh. Who do you think you are talking to the Master like that, I ought to to string you by your toes and lash your arrogant hide" growled Souta while Draig just watched from the side though he had to admit this was rather amusing as the Grave Forger struggled to be released but Draig had to relent.
"It"s fine, thats my smith Ginji. He"s a fool so it is best to ignore his ramblings" chuckled Draig enjoying seeing the act.
Souta hearing this immediately slid over and bowed before Draig repeatedly apologizing.
"Forgive me, if I had known that it was Master"s smith I wouldn"t have stomped his disgusting face into the ground" apologized Souta causing Ginji to be confused about why Draig was the one receiving an apology and not him.
"What about me, I"m the one who was just stomped into the ground like a bug" asked Ginji pointing to the marks on his face.
"I apologized to the Master so what are you still crying about" asked Souta showing a worthier than thou att.i.tude.
Draig just shook his head but it seemed Ginji had something else to say as he took a seat by Draig much to the displeasure of Souta.
"Anyways what is going on, who are these people" asked Ginji as he watched the walls of the Dorm expand to hold a larger yard.
"Apparently this is my Faction. . . ." answered Draig causing Ginji to show a look of realization.
"Oh, that makes sense. I was wondering where you were hiding them as I never saw you leave except to go terrorize the other campuses" nodded Ginji as if it all made sense now however he did remember something that he had been wanting to speak with Draig about since seeing his new Avatar.
"Draig, we need to talk. . . ." stated Ginji