Naturally, the two most important things for Shenra at the moment were successfully attending school and recruiting promising young people to the Palace. This, however, did not mean he was immune to distractions along the way. Just when he had pulled his thoughts away from the fight with the Cyclops, a dragon and a girl dropped down from a hatch in the roof of the train. Their sudden arrival caught his attention, but something else kept it.<br/><br/>There were no shortage of Dragons in the Halfblood Palace. Shenra himself was one-forth Dragon and Sibil was one-half. So despite Shenra's ability to identify various species while they were disguised being severely below average (considering the advanced senses of each of his ancestral races he really was quite pathetic in this aspect), he still felt he was pretty good at spotting Dragons. But that girl gave him no such feeling.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">So that one's a Holy Dragon, if I judge him by his wings just now, but that girl is something else. Moreover, they seem close...</span>The recruitment gears in his head were turning.<br/><br/>Dragons were important to the Halfblood Palace, and they needed more dragon genes to mix into later generations. The reason was simple; their natural aptitude for transformation magic was invaluable. After enough races get mashed together, some offspring are only able to survive because of Dragon genes repairing what couldn't quite function naturally. It also made breeding with various species easier if breeders could transform to accommodate each other.<br/><br/>This matter was exceedingly important at Shenra's level. For instance, even this girl before him with four species--who was incredibly enticing as a mate--if there was no dragon in her, he would have to abandon the pursuit.... Because most likely whatever was produced would be incapable of survival. Although Shenra was the Young Master of the Halfblood Palace, he wasn't an only child. He had six older siblings and uncountable cousins, but he was the only one with four species to live to adolescence.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Wait, what am I getting distracted like this for?</span>After following his thoughts to there, Shenra remembered what he had been doing before being distracted. But before he could again focus on his potential mate, the train stopped. They had arrived at their destination.<br/><br/>Various people started moving around and he lost sight of the girl. It was a shame, but he could look for her later.<br/><br/>...<br/><br/>Ruo felt a bit isolated. The academy had been obliging enough to give the boys in their group rooms beside each other, but Ruo had to remain alone in the girls' wing. The Phoenix didn't even know where to begin when it came to getting along with the other girls. Really, none of them were totally comfortable being separated. They organized their things as quickly as possible and met up in the common room.<br/><br/>"Now that we're here, I'm feeling homesick," Rem forced a smile, but looked a bit queasy.<br/><br/>Shenra glanced at Sibil, who was as calm and stable as ever.<br/><br/>"Sibil, you look so dependable, but are you actually anxious like the rest of us?" He smiled wryly.<br/><br/>Sibil glanced at his Young Master. "This isn't my first time away from the Palace," he said simply.<br/><br/>"I suppose so. Ruo, how are you doing?"<br/><br/>Ruo nodded. "It's a bit unsettling, but I will stay focused on the task at hand. Yo--Shen, are you unsettled as well?"<br/><br/>Shenra smiled. "Yes, a bit. It looks like there are a lot of games here. We can play a bit as a distraction."<br/><br/>Looking again, Shenra could see the Cyclops girl from earlier still setting up some equipment. It didn't take long to put two and two together. But, he did still want a distraction... and it wasn't like he was going to mate with her.<br/><br/>Letting out a soft sigh, the Halfblood Palace Prince approached the one-eyes wastrel. He was polite enough to keep the disdain out of his eyes and voice, but it was too much to ask him to smile like he enjoyed her company. His look was cold, but at least it wasn't hostile.<br/><br/>"I'd like to play for a while," he said, "but I'm inexperienced. Are there any games here that are fun and easy to pick up? Something a group can play together?"<br/><br/>After she gave him a recommendation he would have to ask her to teach him how to play. He was near the limits of his tolerance on this matter, but he forced himself to endure. After all, this wasn't the Palace, and even less was it a place where he could throw his status around without restraint.<br/><br/>Ruo and the others gradually approached to listen to what advice the Cyclops girl would give.