Seeing is lab come to life on his command still never fails to amaze me, as the sound of big heavy hulking Golems came walking towards us holding chairs placing them around his main table for all of us to sit on.

"So I was made aware some reason.... you guys were issued challenged?.." He asked.

"Yeah... we think it's Calista's doing..... For some reason she has it out for Emilia and the rest of us." Jay said.

"Princess Calista?.." He asked.

"We think so...." We all answered him

"Hmmm that's odd she seems pretty nice to us..." He said talking to from behind some shelves.

"I think that's a fake image she puts out." Helen replied.

"Well did she challenge all of you?.." He asked.

"Well... no but she did challenge Emilia..." Daisy said.

"Hmmm an Unranked challenging another unranked... I think you're right.." He said, "and the rest of you got challenged as well?...." He asked.

"Yah... we all got challenged by some ranked students as well..." They replied.

"So we got a bunch of bullies in out hands... I see.." He said still behind some shelves.

"Yeah so Emilia said you might be able to help us out in finding information on them." Grace said.

"Hmmm Paul is gonna scold me for helping you guys..." He said to us.

"Really?.." We asked.

"Yeah.... he thinks we shouldn't play favourites especially because of our standing..... We defiantly shouldn't be seen getting involved directly." He said coming around the shelves back to us with a stack of empty baskets.

"I'm guess we have to return the armour?.." I asked noticing the empty baskets.

"Yeah sadly.... if you was to wear these the school would know we played a hand in helping you guys the headmaster would give us detention or Lord forbid extra work.... But you can keep the coins" Ashley said with a frown shuddering at the thought of getting into detention.

"Okay...." we all agreed taking off the gear they gave us and placing them into the empty baskets provided.

"Are you sure we can't borrow something?.." Helen asked hoping for a miracle.

"In terms of loaning equipment.... that's a definite no no....." He replied.

"But I can help you guys train...." He suggested.

"Ohhhh what can you do to help us train?.." Helen asked.

"Well... did you guys know that Paul's training room is situated on a special plane?.." He said with a smile.

"Wait what?.." Daisy and Grace said a little confused.

"Yup.... we managed to anchor it in the Astral Plane....." He said with a smile.

They all looked at him with blank stares..... "What does that mean?.." they asked.

"So the unique property of the Astral Plane is that time moves slower there as well as individuals don't age." Ashley explained.

"No way....." Daisy said in disbelief.

"Yup." Ashley said with a giant grin.

Helen held her hand up like a student in class awaiting for the teacher to call her name. "Yes Helen?.." Ashley asked.

"Ummm what's the Astral plane?.." She asked.

"Ohhh... the simplest way I can explain, it's the area between the multiple planes of existence." Ashley said.

"Like space?.." I asked.

"Yeah... exactly space." He said taking two coins and placing them on the table a small distance away from each other.... "So here is Plane A... and here is Plane B..... In between is called the Astral Plane." He explained.

"Ohhhh I see!!!" They all replied.

"But why is time slower and people don't age?.." Jay asked.

"It's just a property of the Plane.... like in the Plane of fire... its Hot endless arid desert with Lava for water." He said everyone began nodding in understanding except me.. I got kind of more lost. "So the best thing I can really do is permit you entry into Paul's training room... to train.. and maybe let you guys keep borrow the well-crafted weapons..... If the school saw you using magical weapons on your first duel they will know something is up." Ashley explained.

"They are going to be so toast!! We can fit in so much more training time!" Daisy said filled with excitement.

"But Emilia... I have you'll probably be in spot of trouble since Paul has already Trained Calista on and off a few day in that training room." Ashley explained.

"Great..." I said slumping my head on the table.

"You'll be alright.... I'll talk to Paul and he can come help." Ashley said noticing my reaction.

"No don't... I don't want to trouble him." I asked him kindly.

".... Damned if I do damned if I don't..." He said taking the trays and dropping them off in the arms of a golem. "Right so... let's find out who your opponents are and what they specialize in." He said clasping his hands together. "Bring the terminal." Ashley shouted followed with the sound of heavy clanging metal and the shuffling of objects. "It'll take a few minutes for the robots to assemble the terminal and bring it here." Ashley notified us.

"So... what is it you actually do here?.." Jay asked.

"I'm an Artificer...." He said with a smile.

"Ummm.... What's do artificer do exactly?.." they all asked.

"So you know how you guys study Arcanum to harness it to cast spells.... and empower you?..... well I study Arcanum and ways to imbue it into things." He said with a smile.

"So what's some cool stuff you've done?.." Daisy asked curiously.

"Well I have a number of golems here all made by myself.... Also this arm was made by me as well... with the help of someone." He said.

"Do you have any cool combat stuff?!" Daisy asked again.

"I have a few gadgets..... That can neutralize threats, in our team I specialize in information gathering and neutralizing other Artificers." He answered her, "But the current project my most ambitious is making a mechanized combat suit for myself." He said pointing at a half complete robot on a stand.

"What do you mean?.." They asked totally confused.

"It will be a suit I wear that will protect me and have integrated weaponry as well." He grinned with excitement.

"Whoa...." They said in awe staring at it.

"Eventually two golems came to our table holding a surprisingly modern looking compute causing everyone to look at it curiously.

"Ummm Ashley how did you get that computer?.." I asked.

"This?..Ohhh Paul gifted it to me a while ago.... Of course I had to modify it so it works with Arcanum." He said with a smile.

"Okay.... So lemme check who you guys are matched with..... Lucky for you I've had my golems store School data in this for a few years now..... Otherwise we'd have to break into the school office and look for the right documents.... Sadly the school still old fashioned storing data into books and scrolls." He explained.

Quickly turning it on and doing some typing, everyone eagerly awaited to see what he had to say, staring at this unknown object. "So it says here..... Daisy you're up again someone called Groth Bahul..... he's a fighter specializing in melee combat his weapon of choice is a big 2handed axe.... Ohhh a C rank picking on a freshman.... how sad..." Ashley said reading through it.

"He's no match for me!" Daisy said brimming with confidence.

"... And Jay.... you're up against Lanah Stiz Also a fighter... Favoured weapon Rapier..... Guessing she's a fencer.... Rankd D.....Helen you're up against Basam Possul a D Ranked Artificer specializing in potions and alchemy... And grace you're up against Min Xai judging by the name shes from the eastern continents..... Expect a melee fighter specially a monk.... "

"So is there anything you can do to help us?.." Helen asked.

"Ofc..... Although I cant technically help you with equipment, I have a plethora of special coins I could loan out to you guys..... The effect and size should be small enough so no one would notice.." He said.

"So what sort of things can your coins do??..." Jay asked.

"So for Daisy and Jay I'll loan out a coin of bless, Haste and heroism.... considering you both will be up against a melee fighter... Helen.....I'll give you a coin of poison resistance, bless, Haste, heroism..... Alchmey lacks in power.... but makes up for it with versatility.... so just keep mindful of what your opponent is doing..... As for Grace an Emilia... I'll give you the same stuff Jay and Daisy will get..... With an additional coin of elemental resistance." he explained with a smile.

"... That sounds like alot...." Helen said.

"It's alright..... Just remember to activate them with a squeeze when the fights about to start." he said with a smile standing up and vanishing behind some shelves.

"What does the coins do exactly....." I asked.

"Hmmm Bless is a cleric spell low level.....that helps us do stuff better....." Daisy answered.

"Haste is a sorceress spell that makes us faster a lot faster..." Jay answered.

"Do you think it will make a difference??" I asked.

"It'd defiantly help in our situation." Jay answered.

"Right so I have all the coins you need right here..." Ashley came back smiling with a bunch of pouches, sitting down and sliding one pouch to each of us. "Now these have 3 uses per day... except haste... that one use per day.... So use it however you please.... But be careful with haste.....the burst increase in activity will seriously exhaust your body once the effect ends." He explained.