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Leon shouldn't have been surprised that Robertilina as always, had some sassy kind of fight in him. Even in a headlock the fellow life hunter was scratching and clawing away at him, like some kind of angry cat or some other derogatory term. He was still amazed that they weren't part of the sun squad with the way Robert and himself acted. But if anything, the advanced hunters actions only made him squeeze harder on the poor guys bloodflow, he needed a time out.

Or a nap, either option seemed good to the chainsaw wielding meathead. "I know you're not talking about beating me noodle arms." he said cockily to the fellow idiot and had to resist from yanking on his hair. Odds were the plum haired guy would cry from all the work on his hair wasted in that one moment.

So with a maniacal grin, the brunette settled on giving the bloke a noogie.

And Nidhogg, Nidhogg was pleased with the moment of mischief. The dragon practically sneered from his place in the hunters mind.

At least until Caelius went and put it all to a stop, it was inevitable and he knew it deep down inside.

Jordan leaned back in his chair and tilted his head back to look at the combatants. "Guys," he said. "Could you save it for later?"

"AAAAAAAH!" Deryk cried out, "Guys guys! Not now! Bad time! Calm down please?"

He was a little too far to try and restrain anyone. Then again, he probably didn't have the physical strength to best either of the two.

"She's my girlfriend!" Jerry whispered conspiratorially to his new friend, as though the idea was still magical and marvelous and unbelievable to him.

"Oh, is uh, that right?" He replied with a nervous chuckle, scratching the back of his head idly. He wasn't sure how to reply to that one, and instead just glanced between the two of them, and back to Caelius.

Gesturing, he added, "Why don't we all take a seat? Sorry if I've kept ya standing."

This was the exact ******** reason why he hated giving the trainees more than even five minutes to get ready. The talking part, the friendly part, their noise level rising past any stretch of the world 'tolerance' in Caelius's imagination.

" If you are all done, I would like to discuss all of your behaviour during our last mission." At this point, most of the intermediate trainees were probably expecting the biggest smackdown ever. They were not wrong. "Every single intermediate trainee here has been suspended and demoted back to basic trainee status. You will have to individually retake your examination to prove yourself worthy of re-promotion."

The Death Hunter caught the looks of indignation and ignored it. "Fortunately there are a series of missions that require assistance beyond our competent existing numbers. All of you trainees will be participating in mandatory survey missions. Information will be forwarded to your phones. May I take a second to remind you all that these are surveillance missions. I understand several of your lack subtlety" - here, there was a pointed look towards certain rowdier trainees- "but I assure you it is simply for your personal survival. It would be a pity if the there was a repeat from the victims of the Sahara missions." Actually is sounded Caelius very much wouldn't mind a repeat of victims from the Sahara missions only this time involving more trainees. "Regarding trainees with revoked promotions, you will be working on these missions as acting advanced trainees, and are responsible for your group. If your group manages to provide appropriate information pertaining to that particular surveillance mission, you will be re-promoted."

The words almost seemed like a threat.

The Death Hunter gave them a second longer to digest this new information. "Lastly, all trainees have been given clearance on using runic weapons." He didn't sound too happy about this, as he shifted from his seat slightly, pulling out a rather worn pair of daggers, though they were visibly blunt, covered in faint blue runes. "Leon, Robert, if you two would be so kind to volunteer for a demonstration." There was an almost sadistic look to his expression as he gestured towards the weapons, one for each trainee to handle.

Eh? What was that Jerry had just whispered? Candace couldn't help but overhear thanks to her close proximity to the man, chuckling and kissing Jerry's cheek again. "You are so cute." She teased affectionately, nodding at Wash's suggestion to sit. "Come on, let's sit."

And then they sat. Finally Caelius called the meeting to order and Candace immediately felt a sense of dread. Their behavior? She should be okay..she didn't do anything wrong while the leaders were gone. She'd been good! She and Cass had gathered the few Mist trainees together, introduced each other, and helped protect the ba--

"Every single intermediate trainee here has been suspended and demoted back to basic trainee status. You will have to individually retake your examination to prove yourself worthy of re-promotion."

Candace felt like she just got stabbed in the gut with Clarice's weapon.

Demoted.

She was being demoted when she did nothing wrong. Her eyes were wide and brimming with quickly building tears as she tried desperately not to break down right in front of Caelius. Again. She was being demoted. No! She'd worked so hard! Aria was going to be so disappointed in her! No! Nonono! Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. It was like that day all over again; she'd worked so hard only to have it stripped away with a few simple words. And she hadn't even done anything wrong! She'd worked so hard to get this far and in the end it didn't even matter?! Her chest felt tight, her head was buzzing, and her stomach was churning. Even her hands shook as she tried to keep them gripping the gold and black-trimmed cuffs of her coat. Her Intermediate trainee coat. He couldn't take it away from her! No!

Re-promoted? Oh god. Yes please. Candace was quietly sniffling and wiping the bottom of her eyes as she did her best to stay presentable.

Demoted.

Candace was paying more attention to Caelius now than she ever had before. She would earn back her goddamn promotion.