At that moment, a conversation could be heard from outside of the conference room, the strange part being that it seemed one sided
"Hmmm...i remember the map saying it was around here somewhere, do you remember Fia?"
"What do you mean recheck the map thats quite a long way back"
"Yea...yea, that may be a better idea, well here goes nothing."
This one sided conversation was followed by a knock on the door and a muffled voice rang from the other side "excuse me, is this the place us new students are supposed to report to? T..this is the place right?"

Walking around the place, Lucien noticed the strange man who talked to himself. This was yet another strange sighting for Lucien, the man was still talking to himself and it was right in front of a large door.

"Argh! It's the schizo-man again. I'll just hang around and see where he's going." Lucien thought to himself.

The man knocked on the door, followed by a question to whom Lucien thought was another conversation with the wall. Lucien thought it was time to test his prank skills and walked up to the man.

"Hi there! Looking for the Ballroom? Well it's right behind this door." said Lucien in a rather friendly tone.

The door swung open and all the people inside looked to see who had come in. Lucien was dumbfounded that behind the door was actually the ballroom. To cover up his bad luck with his prank, Lucien strode into the room.

"Ah, you must be Cid! I am Lucien Flair."

Upon announcing his name, Lucien walked over to one of the seats and laid back into it. Awaiting Cid to start his welcoming speech.

Shinu wasn't exactly sure how everyone else felt about this weird kid, but he already knew he would be here. In fact, he asked for him to be here. His circumstance was intriguing, and Shinu asked that Cid recruit him to the Garden so that Shinu could pick his brain a little. It would certainly help in the case of his research, and he thought maybe he could become friends with Corenian.

Lucien Flair on the other hand... he didn't know him at all. Oh well, he didn't know a lot of these people.

Corenian! Please take a seat right here.

He more sat him down than he did tell him where to sit. He put him right next to Shinu in the only spot left in the front.

And Lucien! Pleasure to meet you, glad that you've made yourself comfortable. We will begin now.

Shinu now sat up in his seat. He knew the first mission, and well, all of the missions, but not with a team. This was quite the collection of individuals.

Let me make one thing very clear to you all. This Garden, this is the fate of the future right now. Everyone in this room, and a few other students who aren't in this exact mission are vital to our entire existence. With that being said, this is not an army, this is not a school, this is a higher level of education and training facility. Any questions so far?

Shinu wanted to talk, but now wasn't the time. So he shut his mouth, and Cid continued.

Some of you have met Shinu, and though there are others like him, he is the one that will be the focal point of this journey. As you can see, egos will have to be put aside for these missions. If you don't feel important, you can quit, and Shinu won't stand a chance. He is a summoner.

Now he had to interrupt.

He's right! I'm sorry Cid, but I have to say this. I need everyone's help. I'm sorry, I'll shut up. But yeah, this is very serious about me needing help. If I didn't I would have done all this myself already. Ok ok, now I'll shut up.

Wow, what an idiot. Now that he had succeeded in being the biggest loser in the group, he would never speak again.

Alright, thank you for that Shinu.

Being an only child was really not paying off. He made himself pay attention again though before he missed anything.

Shinu is a summoner. He is actually the only known summoner in the world to possess the power of a Guardian Force, and everyone else is hoping to get to that point. The reason he is the focal point is because we are going to be heading south east from the Garden to find the next one. His name, is Ifrit. He is a fire God, and he is older than everyone in this room combined. His power is amazing, and he will be a great asset to Shinu, this team, and the world.

Why though? Forgive me Cid, but I just don't understand what the big deal is.

Let me answer this. Raven right? Well, to everyone. As of right now, I am the only one in the world with the location to these GFs. However, there is someone else close, and someone that doesn't like me. She would use this power just to spite me. Even if that meant the destruction of the world. If I get to them first, the Guardian Forces will be helping the Garden keep the world safe.

Precisely. So whenever you all are ready, feel free to move out. In these folders under your seats is a mission briefing. It describes the volcano and has a very rough guess as to where Ifrit will be. However, none of us have been in there, so you are on your own. The mission is simple, keep Shinu safe long enough to give him a chance to obtain this GF. Any questions?

"No questions, the mission is understood. Though I must say, if Ifrit is the the fire god then would his rival be the Ice Goddess, Shiva? I have heard that someone had possesed the power to control the goddess herself," Raven said his eyes looking over at Shinu and then back to Cid again.

"And the fact will be that their will be a few monsters that can withstand the heat the guardian force must put out, and I happen to know what those certain monsters could be that dwell in this area."

Grieves thought for a moment. This is what Shinu was talking about back in their room. With this many people with them they stood a much greater chance at survival, but why not split up the team and get more GFs at once? How much time would they have before Diablos would attack. What if some evil force went after Diablos. Grieves pulled out his map and looked at the circle that indicated Diablos, right over the garden. Would that mean that if some evil force did attempt to get Diablos' power that they would attack the garden?

Grieves shoved those thoughts aside, they would deal with it when it was time to. For now it was time for them to act and obtain as many GFs as possible.

"I have already offered my skills to Shinu for protection. I would be honored to join all of you." Grieves said looking to the group of students in the room

Shinu didn't let Cid speak anymore. The last thing he said to Cid was the he would try to be confident as a savior because he would fail if he wasn't.

Alright, on the way there Raven, we'll need you to inform the group of what they're up against in protecting me. Once we get to Ifrit, I will take him myself. You were right about Shiva, the ice goddess. She is the only GF I possess, and that's why we're going after Ifrit first.

He looked around the room, making sure he made eye contact with each and every person.

We leave now.