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And by now you should be prepared for anything. So Rean! Crow! Millium!” said the instructor. “You three will be the first team. The rest of you will be split evenly into an all-girls team and an all-boys team. Emma’s team will be Team Class President. Machias, your team is team Vice-President. Rean’s team will be team… whatever. Any questions?
“Those are the dumbest names I’ve ever heard” remarked Machias. “The names are hardly the issue” quipped Emma “The biggest question is why are the teams divided like this”?
“Well… the girls teams and the boys teams are roughly equal in strength and team synergy. And team Whatever is filled with the two biggest wild cards plus the ever reliable wunderkind. This makes these three teams even”. Sara stated matter of factly. Rean whispered to Elliot “Isn't it weird how I’m always getting put into these… situations?” “Well I mean it seems like Sara’s greatest answer to problems in this class is just to throw you into it”.
“Wait a minute! How are these teams fair?” Millium cried out “The Girls have Laura and Fie, the strongest team in this class?’’ “Millium” Emma inquired “How do you know that?” “You guys have a file” came the response. Most of class 7 sweatdropped. “Anyways the girls may have Me and Laura-” “Laura and-” “Quiet Regnitz” “-ME and Laura but the boys have Jusis and Machias who are the most annoying so it balances out,” Fie stated sagely. Everyone but the two laughed, who vainly tried to protest.
“All right class split into your assigned groups, Team Whatever vs Team VP will be first. Think of a strategy to beat the other teams. You can use any and all quartz you have between yourselves. You have thirty minutes. GO!” Sara exclaimed.
After each team was sufficiently far from each, Sara cackled to herself and thought “I woke up completely hungover today without a lesson plan, and all I had to do was tell them to beat each other up to get them riled up and engaged. Score one for the greatest combat instructor in the school. Now if only I had a fresh beer.” “Would you like some beer milady?” a sultry voice stated. “Why yes that would b-” “GAH” Sara flinched. “SHaron you have to stop doing that! And I can't drink right now so stop staring at me like that”. Sharon gave a small curtsy amused at the reaction the Purple Lightning Sara had given her. “Did you purposely make the team Master Crow on smaller to ensure that he doesn’t win your wager?” “What wa- OH yeah!”
“Alright Rean-Bean, how we gonna win this?” Cried Millennium excitedly. “It's been too long since I punched something!” “But you already punched your way through the old school house yesterday, '' retorted Rean. “Yeah it's been a day, I’m itching to get my fix”. Millium stated sporting a massive grin. “Hey guys Focus, we need to do well on this.” Said Crow looking uncharacteristically serious. “Me and Sara made a wager last night about how if I score well on this she’ll give me some Mira”. “ I want in on that wager too, '' cried the gremlin. “Fine, I’ll split today’s earnings evenly if we win''. “Yipee!”
Rean having enough of this took charge. “All right, barring your questionable wager aside, let's figure out how best to approach this. Generally speaking when I’m paired up with the other members of class seven I charge into battle to create openings for others to exploit. In addition to that I have the Brave MQ to generate more Qi so I can dish out as much damage as possible. What can each of you do specifically to take advantage of my skill set?
Crow seizing the momentum cried out “ALL RIGHT”-Sara flinched and shot him a dirty look- “You can think of me as your long-range specialist, I can use these babies” he motioned towards his guns “and my arts to keep the enemy at bay. Not to mention my MQ which weakens whoever I’m shooting at quickly.
Millium, not wanting to be outdone, brought out Airgetlam “This is Sammy. He and I are an unstoppable duo. With him I can conjure barriers that nothing can break through, and I can use him as a hammer to win any fight. We are a bit slow though”.
“Ok that sums it up, Millium as the frontline, me at the rear, and Rean who starts in the middle of our party and then cuts to the middle of the enemy formation, where he cuts through the opposition. Rinse, repeat. Good Job team, easy A”. The resident slacker replied, making finger guns and shooting them. Millium made finger guns of her own but was interrupted by Rean. “Except it's not that simple''. Rean mused. “Any gap closer I use on the boys can be blocked and punished by Gaius’ spear. Fie Is faster than me so if I'm not careful she’ll knock me out before I even know what happened. Laura is a force of nature who could potentially end the match as soon as it starts and the other members could zone us out indefinitely if we’re not careful.” “So is there no way we can win this?” Millium deflated.
“Not necessarily, I have two ideas. The first is thanks to this MQ right here”. Rean pulled out a peculiar MQ which no one else in class was using at the moment. Crow whistled and said “Rean-O you sly dog, I was kidding about the easy A but if we use this we might pull it off. But I think we should save that plan for last. We can’t show our cards too easily” Crow stated, “If we do this in the first match, we’ll definitely win that one match but that's it. With no other cards left to play the second team will adapt to that strategy, and take advantage of our fatigue to take us down”. “Wow Crow, I thought you were just some bum who just happened to wander into Thor’s but it seems like you're smarter than what people give you credit for” cried Millium excitedly”. “Bingo kiddo” Crow ruffled Millium’s head. Rean thought that Millium had a sinister glint in her eyes but just as it appeared on their faces it went. He shook his head (“I need to get more sleep” he thought) and then said “Alright that’s fair, so for the first match how about we do this. Considering that Jusis and Gaius know how Millium fights, me and Millium will charge into them feigning our interest in Machias and Elliot, meanwhile Crow…”
“ALL RIGHT ARE BOTH TEAMS READY '' Sara yelled. “YES INSTRUCTOR” came the response. “BEGIN”. Millium charged against the frontlines consisting of Jusis and Gaius. Elliot said “Let's go guys” and buffed the boys with his songs. Jusis tried to rally the boys with his Noble Command but Rean who followed Millium closely, spammed arc slashes at the opposing backline with Crow providing cover fire. To stop the incoming onslaught of the mayhem-addicted child, Gaius charged his qi and thrust his spear with the powers of the wind, Jusis seizing the opportunity tried to slash at Rean who hid behind Millium, Both attacks were then nullified by Millium’s Aegis MQ.
“Don’t you two have any shame hiding behind a little girl?” Sneered Jusis who immediately dodged a vicious left hook from Lammy. Fie eyeing the moment with the same ferocity as a lioness hollered “Well Rean has always been a closet perv.” To which Crow shrewdly proclaimed “There are only two types of men in this world, perverts and closet perverts” Crow then punctuated his claim by shooting Machias with a freezing bullet “like our good friend here”. Machias’ body froze, but his mind was boiling with indignation.
Rean, red in the face, tried to protest the statement, but was punished by Gaius jabbing Rean, forcing the swordsmen to step back. Elliot cast his strongest art at Crow but was unfortunately sniped by Crow’s other gun and one of Rean’s arc slashes which he managed to send out due him successfully disengaging from Gaius. With Machias frozen, Elliot down, Jusis in a dance with a gremlin, and Rean disengaged from Gaius, Crow shoots Jusis. Gaius disengaged and saw how much of a pickle his team was in said “May the winds be with me” and threw his last gamble: Wild Rage.
In that window of opportunity , Rean used Gale to sneak behind Jusis and slash him, Jusis expected this and blocked it with his saber. Millium threw a punch which Jusis only endured because of Elliot’s songs. Crow’s shot from earlier, shot the last nail in the coffin for Noble.
However, Crow was also unable to avoid Raid boss Gaius who closed the gap between the two with wild rage and was thrown about an arge out of bounds. “Wow, Crow you're flying like a bird”! Sara cheered. Crow’s wise mouth failed him. Machias broke out of his condition and started shooting Rean and Millium and said “What goes around comes around”. He then S-crafted immediately, knocking out Millium( who had Sammy throw a barrier around Rean barely letting him survive.
Rean’s MQ, sensing that its user was in a state of crisis, provided Rean with a surge of Ki. Gaius noticed this and tried to regroup with his ally but it was too late, Rean galed in behind both of them with the speed of the wind. “What the!” Machias cried out but it was too late, Rean S-crafted as fast as he could, knocking Gaius and Machias out.
“ALL RIGHT THATS IT. GOOD JOB TEAM WHATEVER!” Both sides got up, shook hands and took a break together with the girls coming shortly.
“Nice job everyone, you all did great,” Alisa said cheerfully. Laura nodded and exclaimed, “You all fought valiantly”. “No one is hurt right?” Emma inquired. “So… Machias is a pervert,” Fie concluded. Machias, too exhausted to say anything, just sighed. “This is all well and good class but we don’t have all day. I want Team Whatever and Team Prez to fight in 20 minutes. In the meantime make sure to energize yourselves, and make your last-minute preparations.” The Instructor said authoritatively.
At that moment Sharon approached the exhausted teams and said “I brought food!” Sharon said. “Thanks, Sharon, you're a lifesaver” Crow cawed out. “Some of last night's leftovers.” She said pulling out some food from somewhere (“How does she do that”, Elliot wonders) “It’s the magma gratin from yesterday”. Almost everyone looked distraught except for Fie who turned around and started whistling and Laura who bowed her head in shame. Jusis wondered “How in Gehenna does anyone mess up a gratin THAT badly?” Fie thought to herself “It's a good thing no one knew I accidentally had the prankster quartz equipped otherwise this never would have happened”. Emma, seeking to make the grim situation better said “The taste might not be there but at the very least it's invigorating”. Everyone started (hesitantly) eating the sludge: “It's not that bad” Gaius lied. “It’s an acquired taste” Jusis lied. “Once you get used to it, it’s not terrible” Emma choked out while having tears in her eyes. “I need waTER! SHARON HELP” Machias and Alisa yelled. Rean chugged as much water as he could to get rid of the taste and Elliot ate it without too much of a problem. “I’m sorry about this I had no idea what happened” Laura said, “Sorry” Fie remarked. “It’s alright you two everyone messes up sometimes” Alisa tried to console them. “I don’t know what you guys mean, THIS IS GREAT!” Millium said wolfing her share down (which also seemed to have Crow’s share in it). Laura hugged Millium in response. “I’ve had worse before,” remarked Sara. “And at the very least this food energizes you”. Fie gave a thankful nod to Sara.
During this moment Crow whispered to Rean (“all right for the next match we’re going with the secret weapon strat, right?” Rean nodded as his taste buds were scorched. “All right give this quartz to Millium”, Crow handed Rean a strange quartz. Rean took it. Sharon noticed this, recognized the quartz, and started giggling to herself. Unnerving Rean. “What kind of quartz is this” Rean thought.
“ALL RIGHT! TEAM WHATEVER VS. TEAM PREZ! 1, 2, 3, GO!” The Instructor yelled. “This is going to be a piece of cake,” Fie thought to herself as she started moving towards Team Whatever, “just group up those three and have Laura S-Craft, easy A”. “I feel a bit bad for them but I would like that A,” Emma thought to herself while she cast Crescent moon on Laura. Alisa launched a volley of arrows at Team Whatever “This might be a bit mean” she thought. Rean galed forward and was intercepted by Fie, and then Rean tried to run away, while Crow immediately started running towards Sara. “This is too easy, I’m disappointed in you three,” Laura thought “Wait. Three? But where’s Mil-”. “STOP! HAMMER TIME!” Was the last thing Team Pres heard before they were defeated.
April 23 1206
“It was terrifying. I mean I’ve known the sounds of tanks and explosions all my life but what I saw that day eclipsed all of those”. “The girls were going for the tried and true method of herding the opposition and letting Laura S-craft. They even had Fie who complimented Laura perfectly. But then on the sideline, we noticed one of our classmates sprinting towards Sara, Rean-” “Instructor Rean” came the response of the white-haired individual in the audience, who immediately brightened up upon hearing the name. “Yes, Rean baited Fie by using Gale, to stop her from moving for a second, and tried to use the momentum from Gale to run away from Millium. Millium S-crafted, but let me emphasize this, NOT EVEN SARA was capable of this much destruction. The girls lost immediately, there was no lasting damage to them except to Laura and Fie’s pri-” “That's enough Elliot” said the other white-haired individual (looking as indifferent as always) and the master swordswomen (who had some red on her cheek).
Present day
“Uh, are they alive?” Machias deadpanned after the dust settled, “Oh 100%. The Arcus ran out of hit points but fortunately the girls are otherwise in tip-top condition”. Sara stared at the girls (and Rean) who were indeed alive, although lying flat on the ground. “Oh my it seems Master Rean, Master Crow, and Mistress Millium have emerged victorious ” quipped Sharon as if her mistress had not been clobbered by a magic gremlin. (Rean, Laura, and Fie dusted themselves off and started helping Alisa and Emma get up). “SARA, SARA, WE WON! YOU OWE US MONEY!” said the magic gremlin and Crow. “Give me your Arcus Millium” Sara responded; Millium acquiesced. Sara looked at her Arcus, and her eyes widened with horror. “DID YOU TWO USE TAURUS AND DOMINATION?” She questioned despite the evidence staring her in the face. “Well it was all three of us who signed off on it,” Crow said. “Who cares Sara, just give us money”. Millium said. “NOT ON YOUR LIFE” bellowed Sara. “YOU CHEATED”. “What do you mean we cheated? I got Domination fair and square”. “NO, YOU DIDN’T, only one student that VanDyck recognizes each year gets it”. “Yeah, I did, remember the school Festival last year. Since I basically carried the school in terms of organizing it, Vandyck made an exception and granted me this quartz”. “Oh wow look at that-” Fie said as she, Rean, and the rest of the girls reassembled with the rest of the class. (Gaius asked the five if they were fine and they nodded in response). “-Crows an honor student” she deadpanned. “Woe is me, my Juniors found out my deepest, darkest secret. I, Crow Armbrust, am a good student” he snapped back. Jusis narrowed his eyes and said “Well given your track record, good might be-” “Enough! I didn't know Crow had a DOMINATION quartz on him, that’s cheating” Sara said indignantly. “Well Instructor” Machias began pushing up his classes deliberately to annoy Sara, “you did say at the beginning” -Sara stared at him dumbfounded that he took Crow’s side- “You can use any and all quartz you have between yourselves.” “MACHYPOO” Crow yelled, running to Machias to hug him. “GET AWAY FROM ME. GAIUS HELP!” Machias said hiding behind Gaius.
“All right, All right, here you go”. Sara threw Crow a 1 Mira coin after he stopped chasing Machias. “Thanks!” he replied. “Wait a second. Was the payout only 1 Mira?” Rean asked exasperated. MIllium started coughing. Alisa gently patted her back until she was okay. “I’m your teacher I wouldn’t do anything immoral in front of you guys…yet” Sara responded. Jusis was about to point out the drinking, but then Sara continued “All right you guys have 15 minutes to get some rest and be ready to fight, Team VP and Team Prez!”.
After the battle between the two parties, (and Crow getting chomped on by Millium for making such a stupid wager “I did not drop the strongest S-craft this side of Zemuria just to get .333 Mira”. “Rean, help me! The Gremlin is attacking me!”). Neighthardt (who arrived in the middle of Team VP and Team Prez’s brawl “You know back in my day-” “Can it Neighthardt” “!”) and Sara announced their next field studies missions.