Magical Self-Defense! ... Uh Oh

This has the potential to be QUITE awkward.

Mostly because you have Harmony to the left of you, Amelia to the right of you, and the two "other high-born blondes" standing directly behind you. You would say the tension was thick enough to be cut with a knife but maybe that was underselling just how thick it felt. You can feel the miasma radiating off the two of them as they give each other angry side-eyes around you.

Leaning forward, Selena whispers, "Is... everything okay?"

"Probably not," you whisper back.

Professor Zizana stands in front of the class with a row of what look like big archery targets lined up behind her, repeatedly glancing in your direction and causing Harmony and Amelia to stand up straight and act like they are paying attention until the dark elf looks away again.

"Most battles are not fought under ideal conditions," the Professor explains, "Sometimes you will find yourself already at a disadvantage when an enemy decides to strike. It is imperative you have experience working under those conditions so you can better learn to survive in them."

After a pause, during which she snaps her head towards Amelia and Harmony again, she says, "Line up in front of those targets in pairs. One will cast a spell on the other that will have a distracting effect. The one under the spell will then attempt to hit the target with a Illumibolt while trying to resist that effect."

Mana frowns and raises her hand. "Professor? What do you mean by 'a distracting effect'?"

"Nothing truly disabling or painful," Zizana answers, "And if any of you are harboring actual thoughts of ****, you will regret them."

If it was anyone else saying that, anyone else at all, you would think that was a joke.

That answer, and its serious tone, seems to satisfy Mana and she gives Selena a nod. The pony-tailed blonde then leans forward again and whispers, "Want to team with one of us? Might be good to step away from... this."

Her blue eyes dart back and forth between your two wingwomen and when you take a look yourself you see the most chilling sight imaginable. Harmony and Amelia are SMILING at each other. Big, widely-stretched grins that do not make it to their glittering eyes dominate their faces, the mirrored expressions only seeming to further fuel that feeling of dark miasma swirling around you.

"So... shall we?" Amelia asks, "PARTNER?"

"Yes," Harmony replies, "We shall. PARTNER."

Before you can even try to object or make a counteroffer to either of them, Harmony and Amelia quickly move towards and line-up at the first available target. This... is not going to end well, you are sure.

"Damn," a new voice cuts in, "Do I even want to know what's going on there?"

"Probably not," you say as you look towards the speaker.

It is a young man with a Cerberus pin with short black hair and a very laid-back smile. "Name's Marcus," he says as he holds out his hand to you.

Introducing yourself in turn, you shake hands with him and he looks at the two women who have stayed by your side. "If you're gonna team up with one of these two, mind if I take the other? The guy I usually team up with for these kind of exercises is out sick today."

Mana and Selena give Marcus a slightly distasteful look and it seems to make him realize how his words sounded to them. He holds up his hands in a placating gesture and gives a sheepish grin. "Only if you ladies are okay with that, of course. Sorry, didn't mean to be rude but with four pretty women all hovering around like you guys are it's hard not to assume... y'know..."

Selena giggles and gives you a light slap on the back. "He does give off a bit of Big Alpha energy, doesn't he?"

"I don't like being thought of as someone else's property," Mana says before joining Selena in giving you a back slap, "But this guy does seem to end up in charge of situations a lot."

"You two are giving me too much credit," you say as you notice the rest of the class is almost finished dividing themselves up.

"Hey, look, seriously," Marcus says, "I really am sorry for stuffing both feet in my mouth like that. I'm fine teaming up with another dude too, if you're more comfortable with that."

You look over at Selena and Mana, who both shrug. "Up to you, Big Alpha," Selena teases with another pat on your spine.

Looking over, you see two open spots closest to where Amelia and Harmony continue to give each other their grin glares as they wait for the rest of the class to be ready. The most likely reason those spots have not been claimed yet is because Professor Zizana has wandered over to keep her eye on them. Her ability to passively intimidate causes everyone else to shy away from her, taking the other areas not in her immediate vicinity. Though given the way she sometimes looks in your direction, you start to wonder if she is not keeping those areas clear for you on purpose.

You ARE going to take the area nearest the problem one, of course. The question is, who is your back-up?