Walking into the room, the first thing that had stuck out was the layout. The center of the building must have been carved out the ground to make this massive training field, complete with raised stands that circled the entirety of the field.

They were high enough to grant an unopposed view of the entire training grounds, yet set far back enough to stay safely away from any errant spells. But what confused her was the large glass cube hanging above the field. It was transparent, though Zenith wondered if it was the medium holding the building’s numerous formations together. A novel approach, though there were more ways to anchor a formation around a building than constructing an entire artifact.

But aesthetics aside, the raised stands were now packed with students and teachers alike. Calculating the area, she quickly calculated that there must have been more than five thousand people sitting in the stands, and most were students if she judged solely by age.

Five thousand students. On seeing this many students, Zenith mentally raised the importance of Aleutian Academy by several notches. She was expecting it to be a few hundred elite students, not a few thousand. That number easily made it almost fifteen times larger than her family’s ancestral school. That also raised the difficulty for her too, Zenith realized. Even if each teacher took on twenty-five students under them, that would still place the lower limit of teachers to about two hundred. Zenith was baffled. Scheduling alone would be an issue with this many teachers. How on earth were students supposed to learn in such an environment?

Though few in the stands had paid her any mind as she passed by, she noticed more and more gazes focusing on her as she made her way down toward the field. But, she could feel the hostile gazes from the people down in the field. Her opponents had already marked her as a tough competitor. Zenith took a glance at Odessa before shifting her gaze back. Odessa was evidently a magnet for trouble. If she didn’t know any better, she would almost accuse the Healer Hall of making things more difficult for her. Or maybe it was simply because it was hard to miss the fact that both Odessa and Isabella were in their official clerical uniforms.

Zenith winced and slowed her steps as a high pitched squeal rang out. The flow of mana had abruptly changed as she stepped down onto the field. Shrugging off the discomfort, Zenith walked steadily forward into the training field, though she paused as Odessa ushered the kids a different way; pointing them to an Instructor further down the field. Locking eyes as Lily passed by tepidly, she gave her a smile and a slight nod. Zenith knew they could handle whatever challenges came their way. She watched with pride as Lily nodded and straightened her back as she walked beside her Party.

In a good mood, Zenith scanned her opponents with a cursory glance and sighed as she failed to recognize anyone she knew. Of the supposedly seventy-odd competitors, only twelve or so were still there, each one surrounded by their bodyguards. The smallest group had just six people, while the largest group had more than twenty.

They all looked toward Zenith and Odessa stood there, waiting for instruction. She could feel the disdain from more than one group though, while the teachers among them were wary. That actually made perfect sense to her considering the size of her current Party. Hell, she wasn’t even in an actual Party nor a Party Leader, which worked against her in more ways than one. Now, if Paige was here…

Zenith chuckled under her breath. If Paige was her, she would have probably insulted half of her competitors the moment she arrived. More importantly, she was part of Paige’s Party, and that was a boon in and of itself. If any of the teachers were able to grant even half the benefits she had gotten, then she’d be astounded. Sub Classes; equipment; knowledge; Paige had all of those in spades and shared them without recompense. Well, the last reason was suspect, but Paige had freely shared what she had and that balanced the scales somewhat in her books.

Okay, the heaps of magic tomes had balanced the scales heavily. Zenith had forgotten her passion of teaching long ago. She loved the feeling of being a Teacher and absorbing new information, even more when all the information was new and novel. Of course, she knew that she’d never use even half of what she had learned, but it had exposed her to more magic theory than ever before. Magic she hoped was now commonplace throughout the Empire. Even she knew that would be a real advantage she could use.

Still, one person could only do so much. Worst case scenario, it would be her against a party of twenty. That wasn’t too bad considering she had a Healer, and most of the parties were fairly balanced. Only two were heavily specialized toward long-range combat, a group of Archers and Mages, and they were the smallest of the groups with six members each.

Zenith frowned at the sight. If she was a betting woman, she’d put down gold that those two teachers had taken two of the open spots already. There was only one reason for having so few members, and of the same Class. A Party Fusion. And judging by their equipment, they had a fairly good backer too, one with money. Most likely a nation had sponsored them.

Or a Scion. Zenith shook her head slightly and looked away from those teams. That would be something for Paige to look into.

Still, seeing a party of twenty was rather odd for Zenith. The largest party she knew of had barely ten people, and that was for a full dungeon diving party.

“Odessa, what benefits do the Parties get in all of this?” Zenith asked quietly.

Odessa thought for a moment. “I heard that their children can get into the school as provisional students. They won’t get personalized instruction, but they can sit in two classes of their choice each week. A Teacher is also able to sponsor students as well, depending on how much funding and support they get from the school.”

That hardly made sense to Zenith. “Enough for a Party of twenty?”

“...maybe? It all depends on how well the teacher performs, after all. This is a prestigious institution, after all. Only the best of the best can get in.”

“So each party here has a reason to help their respective Teachers win. Just great.”

Zenith tsked in displeasure. This day was getting worse and worse. Odessa coughed politely as one of the instructors walked over. She already hated his face, and that feeling was cemented even more as he rudely loomed over the two of them.

“Well, aren’t you two ladies in the wrong place? This is for competitors only.”

‘Oh, for the love of god…’ Reigning in her temper, Zenith smiled and nodded to Odessa by her side. “We are here to compete. Magic Teacher Zenith Hall. My teammate here, Odessa, is here to showcase her talents for a position as a School Nurse. There’s going to be some people needing healing after this.”

The Instructor, a man named Bart if his name tag was accurate, only grunted in response.

“Healer Odessa Haven Goodwin the Third, is that the Imperial Healer Hall’s position on the matter? From what I know, the Headmaster has already denied you entry to-”

“She’s not here to teach, although I am sure she would if there was a worthy student. I’m sure the school can create a suitable position for the Grand Healer while she is present.”

Zenith pushed her point, though the teacher’s attitude in front of her chilled her to her core. Did no one respect the Healer Hall? Even worse, were they trying to subtly deny her a chance to compete fairly?

Zenith raised her voice, catching the attention of her closest competitors. “If the school will not even accommodate the best choice for said position, what is the use of this competition? There isn’t a better Healer in all of the Borderlands. More importantly, have the slots already been chosen? I haven’t traveled this far for the competition to be a thinly veiled farce.”

The slight shifting in their ranks was telling of the ruthlessness of the competition. Three spots, with some already taken? She already knew her comments were sure to ruffle some feathers.

“Zenith…” Odessa whispered.

Bart stopped and evaluated Zenith with a sharper gaze. A Warrior’s gaze. Had Zenith been just a pure Mage, she’d probably have backed up at this point. But now she stood there and weathered it calmly. She wasn’t just a Wind Magi, nor was she a Teacher. She was a Mage Crusader. And that gave her the confidence to stand toe to toe against a close combat battle class.

“What gives an Imperial Lackey the confidence to walk in here and throw orders around?” his low growl echoed across the field and brought the shuffling around the field to a halt, though the movement up in the stands stayed the same. ‘Someone must not have wanted this to be spread.’ Looking back, she spied a shimmering in the air that wasn’t there before. The formation surrounding the field had been activated.

“Do you see a necklace out? Cause I don’t. I’m not here as an Imperial Servant. I’m here as a Teacher. If the school cannot differentiate between the two then the school has bigger problems to worry about. Teaching students is what I’ve come here for.

“Now, there should be one position left. Has it been taken already or is the spot still up for grabs?”

Weathering his gaze indifferently, Bart eventually looked up as a piece of paper floated in the wind toward his face. Grudgingly, Bart nodded as he finished reading the message. Crumpling it back up, she watched as it floated silently away.

Zenith raised a brow at the contradictory sight. It took a substantial amount of control to float a piece of paper to a correct location; even more so than something like a heavy book. But Bart’s actions at the end betrayed the illusion. Sure, anyone without an in-depth knowledge of wind magic would think it was impressive, but crumpling the paper simply made it simpler to control.

“The Headmaster agrees to Miss Odessa becoming a school nurse, provided she also teaches prospective healers her craft.”

Bart turned and checked the girl’s reaction. Odessa took a moment to go over the pros and cons and nodded her head in agreement. Bart waited a moment as a stack of papers floated toward him.

“As for you, look over the agreement and confirm you are okay with the school policies.” Bart spat as his face took on a pissed off look. “Though there are… extenuating circumstances around your entry, we will enter you as a potential candidate. There are already a few candidates for the last spot, but there is technically one more spot available.”

Grabbing the papers out of the air, he swiftly tossed them at Zenith. With a sweeping grasping motion, Zenith organized the papers in the air and held them aloft around her, the papers crisply snapping as she forced the air into a semi-tangible wall around her.

Reading the papers swiftly, she did not see anything that was too out of the ordinary for a Teacher. Salary and compensation were clearly listed, though it was lower than she’d like to see. It was just large enough that a Mage would be able to study their craft without concern. The terms and agreements were almost downright insulting to her as it seemed to cater to the needs of a Specialized Mage, but only to one that had yet to reach High Class. Hell, there was even a chart listing the specific monster drops that Teachers could trade for, and though there were rows and rows of Elder monster materials, there was hardly anything noteworthy.

As she scanned the last few pages, one condition that stuck out were the benefits to a teacher’s Party. Just like Odessa had stated, certain provisions within the contract were centered around the people you brought with you. In fact, Odessa was discounting their compensation, as they seemed to enjoy a fair amount of privileges here. Just the right to study at the school library was probably tempting to some guards, as they could learn a Skill or two while doing this assignment. And if they had kids, it was even better as they enjoyed the right to participate in both school events and classes.

‘Perhaps the school wasn’t just looking for a Teacher, they also wanted bodies here too,’ Zenith thought as she neatly stacked the papers in the air and floated them back to Bart with a flick of her wrist. Absently accepting the conditions listed, she glanced upwards at the crowd of children and missed the solemn looks her competitors were giving her. Most, if not all of the children, had on a uniform denoting what specific Class they were. And from a cursory glance, she couldn’t spot a specific detail that delineated between provisional and formal students.

Bart folded the papers in her hand and nodded once, passing a numbered billet with the number seventy-three carved into it.

“The last spot available is being chosen by a simple free for all battle. You missed the lecture and theoretical portions, so you will solely be judged on your combat prowess. Good luck, Imperial Slave.” Bart grinned mischievously as he backed slowly to the center where he was standing originally.

Spreading his hands out, Zenith frowned as the mana within the field slowly accumulated within the cube above started to absorb the mana. She hissed in displeasure. ‘Damn it! A free for all battle? I need mana!’

Reaching her hand to the sky, she closed her eyes as she started fighting for control of the ambient mana. A hard task, since the cube above her had a far stronger pull. The cube started glowing with a soft white light as the mana pooled together.

Zenith could feel sweat form on her forehead as she wrested mana into the palm of her hand. It wouldn't sustain many spells, but any mana she didn’t have to pull from her core. ‘This is exactly why Mages need to cast spells far away from active magic formations! Or at least prepare beforehand!’

Turning her head, she nearly cursed aloud as she saw Odessa standing there nervously. She wasn’t even trying to prepare!

“Odessa, grab as much of the ambient mana as possible! Quickly!”

“Eh? But there’s plenty around. Why would we need to prepare?” Odessa wondered aloud.

‘She doesn’t have [Mana Sensitivity]?’ That would be a problem to solve later. “Quickly, just hurry up and prepare,” Zenith said hastily.

Odessa frowned at the green orb of mana slowly forming in Zenith’s hand and dutifully started raising her own hand. Odessa frowned as she failed to produce a mana orb-like Zenith had done. A few of the more discerning Mages, including the full party of mages, started following their lead as they noticed the duo endeavoring to keep a hold of the ambient mana. It was only a minute longer before the rest of the competitors noticed and started preparing themselves as well. Zenith lowered her hand and frowned as she watched over half the people in the field fight for the remaining ambient mana. It wasn’t worth it to fight for the remaining mana, especially when the cube had a far stronger pull. And unless the cube above somehow inhibited movements, this battle heavily favored physical battle classes far more than mages.

As the last of the ambient mana was absorbed by the cube above, a small pinprick of light grew from the bottom of the cube and cast a harsh beam of light on Bart. “For those who would like to scout your prospective classmates, please go to the side training field. Otherwise, this last battle exhibit will show you what true professionals look like. Take pride, since it is rare to see a fight like this. Three of the Teacher contestants shall be chosen from this group to be your new teachers.

“Now, direct your attention to the screen above you. This artifact that Peter had personally designed will determine the power ranking and status of everyone within the field. Let’s see who is considered the strongest opponent in the field! Status cube, activate!”

Zenith blinked in confusion.

The blue light around Bart exploded outward, enveloping everyone within the field. She moved to a defensive position, but she hesitated to act since her mana had remained inert. Since it wasn’t affecting her, Zenith looked up as the cube retracted the light. Ghostly words formed along the sides of the cube as it rotated slowly, and to her trepidation, her name was shining in golden letters.

Name: Zenith Anna Brent.

Race: Human

Class: Teacher: Magic Theory

Affinity: Greater Wind, Greater Nature, Lesser Healing

Name: Odessa Haven Goodwin the Third

Race: Human

Class: Grand Healer

Affinity: Greater Light, Greater Healing

Party: [Let’s get this over with] Temporary Party.

Party Guild Ranking: 200. Members: 5

‘Perhaps it only showed information that was relevant to the training field?’ Zenith sighed in relief as she read the information shown. All things considered, what was shown wasn’t too bad. Sure, if it could copy her spells she’d be in trouble, but this? This was a waste of an artifact. And it didn’t work that well either since there were only the two of them there, not the supposed five. Still, Zenith was happy that it didn’t show anything from her real party.

The last part surprised Zenith though. The Guild Ranking was a bit too high in her opinion. Unless a Healer made that big of a difference in a battle, she should have been comfortably around one hundred ten or so. In fact, Paige was supposedly around two hundred by herself and she was quite sure she wouldn’t be able to match her even with Odessa’s help.

“We, we’re ranked two hundred! How are we so high!?” Odessa yelped.

Zenith turned and shrugged. “Dunno. I guess having a Grand Healer in a Party helps tremendously? Fancy that,” Zenith joked. “Well, you must know something that will help in a battle. I’m not ranked that high alone.”

Zenith watched with bated breath as the cube spun and to her dismay, it revealed a more simplified list of opponents.

Party: [Bloodsteel] Party.

Party Guild Ranking: 198. Members: 6

Party: [Meteor Falls] Party.

Party Guild Ranking: 195. Members: 6

Party: [Shelter of the Oasis] Temporary Party.

Party Guild Ranking: 194. Members: 12

...

---

Watching the cube a little longer, Zenith glowered as she looked down at her hand. As she manipulated the mana for her first Spell, she turned to complain to Odessa.

“Tch. Favoritism here at the finest. The stupid thing must be broken. How is all of this information even useful? It just gave us the Party names.”

“But they’re all famous! And we’re stronger than Bloodsteel and Meteor Falls? But they’re all Specialized Parties!” Odessa stressed.

“If they don’t have any High Classes among them, it doesn’t really matter what their parties are made of. It depends on synergy and cooperation,” Zenith muttered quietly. Still, looking at the many looks she was getting, Zenith quietly changed her plans around. Even she would be hard-pressed to defeat this many people herself. ‘...gotta defend. Looks like we’re gonna get a good majority of the first attacks.’

“Hey, need help?”

*A few minutes before*

"Big school. Kinda weird how many obstructions we've faced."

"Keep talking, cheater. I knew I shouldn't have taken that bet."

Shavie glowered as she followed along beside Paige. It should have been an easy win for Shavie; whoever could bypass the most defenses would win a favor. Paige had even offered to carry the unconscious girl as a handicap, and Shavie had graciously given her a plus one bonus. It was that bonus that had clinched the win.

Slipping through the defensive formation was hard, even for her. She had taken almost three minutes to analyze and slip through without activating any symbols.

Turning her head, she smirked as Paige stood there. It took skill to slip in unnoticed. "Your turn, Farmer."

Paige blinked and smiled. "This bet is soo unfair even I feel bad about what I'm about to do."

Paige stepped forward to the edge of the formation and laughed as she simply stepped through the active formation without regard to her safety. The symbols shuddered violently before disappearing completely.

"What the-"

"Haha, what a stupid formation! Who makes a defensive formation that can't counterattack?" Paige laughed as she continued walking.

Shavie took a deep breath. That was utterly stupid. Who the hell walks through an active formation? Wasn't she afraid it would just explode or implode and kill everyone?

Suppressing her curiosity to ask, they continued in silence before they stopped moving, as another formation popped up in front of them. Except this time, it was a ward.

"...You don’t see this every day. Is it typical to have multiple formations? And this one is clearly a ward formation, not a defensive one like last time."

“It depends on the place, though you do have to be careful when choosing formations to combine.”

Shavie was getting uncomfortable. This was getting a little more dangerous than she’d like to admit. They’d gone through one large scale defensive formation and she had enough sense to not destroy said formation. But Paige didn’t care about keeping the formations intact, which spelled trouble when it came to wards.

“...should we go back? We really didn’t disguise our approach here, so it’s clear someone noticed us.”

"Meh. We’re already here and we passed through the first one, and we were fine. Do you really think the next ones will be any different?” Paige shrugged and walked through the ward without fear. Grabbing onto Paige, Shavie walked through alongside her. Whatever Paige was doing extended to anyone touching her. Letting go, she quickly looked back as the symbols around them shuddered before it resumed their normal appearance and disappeared.

“Aren’t you afraid it’ll implode and kill everyone inside?”

“Nope. We’re at a school, Shavie. Who in their right mind would design a ward to implode?

“Hell, even military mages know to hedge their bets and make it explode outwards. Except for paranoid mages. They tend to implode their research before they die. So, the fact that it didn’t explode as soon as it noticed something amiss is telling enough for me.”

Shavie took that information with a grain of salt. Paige sounded like she knew what she was talking about though. Still, walking through a formation sounded suspiciously like that story Luna had told them long ago… “Your wardstone! That’s how you’re bypassing through without a care in the world. Luna found a story about that in the library.”

“Good guess, but no. I wouldn’t use a wardstone like that right now. Nah, for weaker formations like these, it’s far simpler to just shatter it with force and suppress the formation from activating,” Paige explained as she walked through another formation without worry.

Shavie glanced over. A faint sheen of golden mana was surrounding the three of them as they walked. ‘It’s similar to Isabella’s mana,’ Shavie thought as she analyzed it. ‘No, her mana is white and gold. Weird. I guess she has dual mana types as well?’

“Is that a typical Warrior Skill?”

“Nope.”

Seeing that smug look on Paige’s face, Shavie sighed as they continued walking. ‘What I wouldn’t give for a Skill like that. It’s every Assassin’s dream to be able to do this! Well, it is fairly noticeable, but still.’

Their leisurely pace was slowing down as the formations in front of them got thicker the closer they got to the heart of the campus. By this point, Shavie had all but stepped back so that Paige could do the heavy lifting. Even then, the look of envy grew deep within Shavie’s eye. So preoccupied with her thoughts, Shavie almost ran into Paige. At some point, a huge building appeared before them. Paige frowned as a formation activated right in front of them. They both looked at each other and frowned. The thickness of the mana wall was atypical of the ones they had encountered thus far.

“Think they don’t want us to get in?” Paige asked skeptically.

Shavie scoffed. “No shit, you think so? Is this even the right way?”

“Should be. I can feel that Zenith is ahead of us,” Paige rolled her eyes at Shavie’s skeptical look. Party Leader ability; not me cheating,” “But I can still get us in. It’ll just cost me a bit more mana.”

The formation in front of them was thick. Even at a conservative estimate, it was at least six feet thick. It was the thickest one she’d ever seen thus far, though Stella claimed that the mausoleum’s mana wall was an impossible thirty feet wide.

“Hmmm? It’s sturdy enough to outright stop most of the Scions I’ve fought. That’s something noteworthy at least.”

Shavie watched as Paige tapped the formation experimentally, and felt her eye twitching as it shuddered with each tap. ‘She measures things based on a Scion’s capabilities? Hell, how did we suppress her at the mausoleum?’ It was the first time Shavie was disappointed she didn’t have her memories of that battle. At this point, Paige was far more dangerous than Stella had assumed.

Paige was certifiably insane. And she was strong enough to back up her actions wantonly, too.

“Well, it seems like something is about to happen. Zenith’s heartbeat increased suddenly. We should hurry on our way,” Paige said suddenly.

Grabbing her hand, Shavie watched as Paige released a weird golden mana into a cloud and pulled her into the formation with her.

“Can a Party Leader really sense that?”

“If you know how to. Most don’t bother to experiment or remember how True Parties work. Parties of convenience were all the rage these past few centuries. And now there are even temporary parties! Imagine that, being able to be in multiple parties at once. Stupid, but hey, youth.”

The symbols around them trembled violently as they congregated around them. Though as they touched the golden cloud of mana, the symbols quieted and resumed their normal look. Now that was a neat Skill she had to learn. Paige was suppressing the symbols around them as though they weren’t even passing through. Though that golden mana… perhaps Isabella would be willing to share some of that mana with her.

Or better yet… Shavie looked to Paige and hesitated. This was the worst moment to try something, but they were getting close to the other side of the mana wall.

Mentally weighing the benefits, Shavie braced herself mentally. It was a risk she was willing to take. ‘I want that mana! Just a sliver of it! [Steal].’

Reaching out, Shavie touched the mana cloud with her free hand while making sure to shield her actions from Paige. Nervously, Shavie tore a portion of the mana away and watched as it slowly shifted closer to her hand. Grasping it tightly, Shavie quickly sealed it within her Skill. The small bundle of light was too small for her taste, but Shavie stopped her actions as Paige started to frown.

“Weird. My mana started flowing faster. Is the formation adapting? Hmm, wait, this seems familiar somehow?”

Suppressing her urge to absorb her ill-gotten gains, she shrugged her shoulder when Paige looked over. That went better than Shavie had expected it to. Sure, it was weird for an Assassin to have [Steal], but most High Classes she’d killed were weird in some way or another. And unlike her usual Skills, this one actually had use for something other than killing! As they passed through the final ward, the cheering of a crowd could be heard deep within the building.

Glancing at each other, both of them quickly sprinted down the corridor toward the cheering of the crowd. Slipping through the door stealthily, Shavie glanced at the glowing cube floating high in the air. The crowd was mostly young adults, which now made sense why the campus was empty.

“Huh, a Status Cube? That’s… so old fashioned. Geez, even the Imperial training grounds wouldn’t rely on such outdated artifacts,” Paige scoffed at the sight.

“Is it expensive?” Shavie asked.

“Hell yeah. Couple that with fragile and exploitable, and you have the main reasons why it’s not used. No wonder they needed to ward the entire field, a single errant spell would likely shatter it.”

Still, Shavie could see why a school would use it like this. Even though it displayed barely anything, it was still easier to manage than using magnify sight spells or relying on Class abilities to see long distances.

But looking at the big words ‘Free for All’ posted on the top of the cube announced why Zenith’s heart rate increased. She had a good number of opponents to beat if she was going to become a Teacher.

“Do we need to help her? We really aren’t equipped to fight this many opponents.”

“Don’t worry, I can spot you some equipment. And most of them had actually reached High Class judging by their guild ranking. The median party ranking is one hundred sixty. That means the average party member should be High Class.”

Shavie looked back at the field and narrowed her eyes. It was hard to sense from a distance, but she could tell that their mana cores weren’t that condensed. Okay, some of them could be considered close to High Class, but not all of them. Skeptically, she glanced back at Paige.

“You sure about that? I’m pretty sure I can kill them all without too much of a fuss. One on one, of course”

Paige took a moment before answering. “Hmm. Well, that is assuming the guild rankings work the same way. If you didn’t know, Class advancement is a little different nowadays.”

“We know that much,” Shavie replied.

Paige nodded. “Zenith is going to need our help. Even if they are weaker, we can assume most of them have reached High-Class status. So they must have mastered something, even if it is just a single combat path.”

Shifting the girl on her back, she started walking forward toward the field without waiting for Shavie. Taking her time to look around, besides a few errant looks they were getting, most were outright ignoring them. Okay, they were ignoring Paige mostly, simply because she still had her ridiculous Farmer gear on. Shavie wasn’t much better, being in a nondescript outfit that a bodyguard might actually wear, but her outfit was far more form-fitting; which accounted for almost all of the looks she was getting.

They quietly approached the edge of the training field, close to where Zenith was, and she was already complaining to the Grand Healer. How had she suckered her into becoming a party?

“If they don’t have any High Classes among them, it doesn’t really matter what their parties are made of. It depends on synergy and cooperation,” Zenith muttered quietly to herself. Shavie frowned and looked at Paige skeptically. Hadn’t she said they all had reached High Class?

She shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe she forgot? Hey, need help?”

Zenith started and turned. Glancing backward, she edged closer to the ward and spoke quietly.

“This is getting messier and messier, Paige. They purposefully left out parts of the message. This is the final day of three for testing and now I’m in a stupid free for all tournament!”

“So? Just do your best. As they say, a strong fist solves all problems.”

“The problem is that two of the three teaching spots have been filled. And with an average party size of nine, I need to beat over a hundred people!”

Shavie frowned. That… was a problem, especially when she already had a big target painted on her back. It was hard to miss their names written in gold floating above them, after all.

“Well, at least you have two more people to help you then. A Healer isn’t that useful in a large scale conflict. That’s the main reason Healers are usually assigned to the backlines or stay in their strongholds. Too many chances of them dying otherwise,” Paige said.

They all turned to Paige who was smiling happily. The look in her eye changed too as she looked around. “I can take...well, I’ll take half of them if you want.”

“Ha, half!?” Odessa squeaked.

Shavie rolled her eyes. Even she wouldn’t take on more than ten alone. But on a chaotic battlefield like this… She shook her head. It wasn’t worth it to go all out, just for a silly competition.

Still, something about Paige’s attitude irked her fiercely.

“Are we allowed to kill? I could take on a good bit if that is the case.”

“No, though how they will stop that is beyond me,” Zenith admitted.

“Hm. Little harder then.” Turning to Paige, she held out her hand. “Where are those weapons you promised me?”

“Tell me what type and I’ll craft it for you right now. I have [Craft Modification], after all.”

“Daggers. No, wait, do weighted knuckle gloves instead. Preferably up to my elbows.”

“Like a cestus? I guess I have the material for it. Want some steel throwing balls too?”

“...sure, though, make them hollow on the inside. I want to incapacitate Mages, not kill them.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but the ward is already up and you’re late. We’re not going to deactivate it to let the rest of your party in,” a man stated from inside the formation.

Paige took out a copious amount of materials from her pockets as a teacher approached harassed Zenith. Shavie watched with interest. There was no way she had that much in her pockets. She must have been using her storage device from inside her pocket.

“They’re part of my Party. It even says so on that cube of yours!”

“Yes, but-”

Tuning their argument out, Shavie watched as Paige grabbed a few metallic bandanas and rolled them into a ball in her hands. The material swiftly glowed as she walked over.

“Lift your hands up. I’ll do it this way to skip a step.”

Frowning, she watched as Paige lifted the glowing orb and gently ran her hands up her arms. A slightly blue metal glove swiftly formed around her arms as more of the threads congregated at her knuckles, forming into a solid block of metal as Paige withdrew her hands.

Blinking at the new gloves on her arms, she watched as they turned black as her mana seeped into the material. That was actually really cool. Most material wouldn’t readily absorb her mana like that.

“Hm, I do expect those back, you know; so don’t get too attached to it.”

Paige grabbed a few of her metal spades and quickly scrunched it into a ball as metal balls dropped. Shavie was impressed. That skill was able to modify different types of material, perhaps even wood or-.

“Aha, you’re the one who messed with my couch! Don’t touch my stuff, it’s like that for a reason.”

Shavie glowered. Someone had fixed her couch. She loved her couch the way it was!

“Regardless, they are not in the field, so they will not be able to participate. Now, get ready for the match to start,” the annoying teacher said from the other side of the ward.

Paige turned and looked at the ward with a keen eye. “Hm? We just need to be in the field? Why didn’t you just say so.”

The teacher turned and huffed angrily. “It’s a ward. No one is coming in or out until the battle is done.”

Shavie and Zenith frowned as Paige started tapping the ward with a flick of her finger. She watched as the symbols around them shuddered and turned red with each tap.

“Stop touching that! Even children know not to touch an active ward! You could destabilize and kill everyone here,” the teacher warned quickly. Shavie could feel a few adults behind them stand up in alarm.

“Highly unlikely. Peter would have to be stupid if he designed a ward like that for an indoor training field,” Paige muttered.

Raising her hand, she grabbed Shavie’s hand and forcefully pushed her way through the ward. The whole ward started pulsating as Paige and Shavie stepped into the field.

The silence was deafening as the symbols within the ward stabilized. But then came the laughter from the stands as the cube above them formed new words.

Name: Paige

Race: Human

Class: Farmer

Affinity: None

Name: Shavie Alievi

Race: Human

Class: Bodyguard

Affinity: Greater Darkness, Lesser Wind

Name:

Race: Human

Class:

Affinity:

Party: [Let’s get this over with] Temporary Party.

Party Guild Ranking: 200. Members: 5

Shavie stared for a moment before pointing at the unconscious girl. “It didn’t pick up the girl’s information?”

“The artifact above isn’t omnipotent. It’s designed to pick up basic status information on a large scale and she’s unconscious. It should be pushing the limit just showing this much information,” Paige stated with a frown. She eyed the girl’s status before looking away. ‘With how much divine mana I wasted, the Status Cube better not have picked anything up,’ Paige thought to herself.

“And our ranking didn’t change because?” Zenith asked.

Paige shrugged. “It’s not well known but per guild rules, everything above 200 is classified. Otherwise, it’d be far too easy for spies to get a hold of such critical information,” Paige said after she sighed in relief after reading the cube.

“Well, at least your last name didn’t show up. That would have caused a problem,” Shavie stated calmly.

“True. Anyways, Zenith, you’re looking at this all wrong. We don’t have to beat a few hundred or so people. Only seventy, really, since it’s the teachers we need to knock out.”

“Teachers who are surrounded by their parties, Paige.”

“Hm, true. Hey, Odessa, hold the girl for us while we fight. I don’t think there’ll be much for you to do here.”

“Wha? H, Hey! I can help. Somewhat. I finished...basic combat training...as an Apprentice...” Odessa faltered and quietly took the girl off of Paige back as Paige stared at her. Just stared.

Taking the girl off her back, Paige loosened her shoulders and started talking. “Now, here’s what we’ll do. I’ll take those thirty over there first and act as the frontline. Shavie, you go and protect Zenith as the backline. Odessa, you just hang back here and stay out of the way. Unless you know [[Holy Barrier]] or something useful. You do know that right? Nevermind. Zenith, you’ll have to protect Odessa and yourself. Lay down the traps and then-”

“Paige. I’ll focus on subduing my opponents; after all, I am supposed to show off what I can do as a Teacher. Shavie, could you protect my back? I’ll initiate close combat,” Zenith interrupted. She paused as she looked at Paige. “Paige… can you help protect us as well? I don’t think a straight fight is what the school is evaluating us on. Let me be the Party Leader for a change.”

Shavie kept quiet as Paige hesitated, but they both saw the look in Zenith’s eye. This battle was mainly hers to fight. “Your right, Zenith. Sorry about my conduct before. What do you want me to do.”

“Can you localize your [Power Till] to conceal our actions? Give me a minute or so to cast [[Wind Barrier]] to separate the groups. Unless they are willing to take the damage or have a better understanding of wind magic, it’ll give us some breathing room to fight each group separately.”

Shavie nodded to herself. That was leagues better than Paige’s plan. Though, why didn’t Paige think of that? Or had she? Either way, it looked like the battle was about to begin in earnest now that everyone had a chance to prepare.

Flexing her hands, Shavie limbered up as she noticed the stares directed at them. Zenith's plan was solid, but only the first few minutes after the battle started. Before that, they would have to rely on her and Paige to stall.

Sliding over to Paige, she whispered, “So, uh… Paige. How are we supposed to stall for that long? You do remember that my Class isn’t exactly known for defending. I may have been slightly bluffing earlier about taking this many people on at once.”

“Zenith’s opponents should be prioritizing their own safety, so no one should be stupid enough to immediately start close-range combat. Just aim to deflect the projectiles.

“Besides, we can take a few hits without worry,” Paige said as she looked over at her. “Your armor should be strong enough unless your standards have fallen.”

Paige noticing her hidden armor irked her, but she had a point.

“And if they use Skills?”

“...deflect it? I mean, There’s only so many Skills they can use. An arrow is still an arrow, regardless if the Archer used [Piercing Shot] or [Power Shot].”

“You’re really something, you know that?” Shavie tched. Paige sure was taking this whole thing lightly. And that wasn’t even accounting for the Spells. “And how will we deflect Spells?”

Paige chuckled as she checked something on her belt. She still had her stupid gardening tools on her. Checking her back, she stepped forward three steps and positioned herself to the left of Zenith. Checking her surroundings, Shavie moved slightly to Paige’s right.

“That’s a silly question. You si-” “Start!”

Paige flicked her hand forward and spun her hoe around. Shavie noticed that the flat of the garden spade slightly deflected the crossbow bolt aimed at her heart while her hoe broke the shafts before they passed her.

Shavie swat at an errant metal bolt bypassed Paige’s position. Shavie frowned as she spied the liquid running down the metal shaft. ‘Mhmm. Some non-lethal battle this is.’ Rubbing the liquid with her finger, Shavie flicked a metal ball back in the same direction. ‘Taste your own damn poison. [Focused Throw].’

“Oi! Healer, we got poison attacks! Make sure you protect us from that,” Shavie warned.

“I can’t heal poison! That's an Alchemist’s job!”

“Some Grand Healer you are! What will you do in a real battle, roll over and die from a single poison dart?!” Shavie swore as she batted a few more arrows away. A slight breeze wafted past her suddenly.

Though the battle had started, Shavie could tell that most of the long-range attacks were directed at them. Paige walking through the ward probably had some of the other teachers rattled. Or maybe it had to do with the massive spell Zenith was weaving that was setting some of them on edge.

‘Zenith started casting her spell… but Stella really downplayed just how strong Paige is. Did Markus really beat her?’

Shavie swung her fist out and twirled as she stopped a javelin from going past her. Twirling it around, she tossed it back and jumped as a fireball exploded to her right. Now she was getting targeted as well. She had her hands full dodging the attacks, but Paige was still standing in the same spot as she twirled her hoe around. Spinning her hoe, Shavie watched as she slashed an icicle the size of a fist while simultaneously deflecting another crossbow bolt aimed at her heart.

But even countering all of that, Paige still had time to plant her hoe in the ground and use her nonsensical [Earthquake] Skill to shroud the area in front of them with dust and debris before swiftly resuming her defensive posture.

Shavie finally realized why Paige had stated power wasn’t everything for a Warrior. Even Markus would have started evading or pressing forward by now. But how was she sensing the attacks coming through the dust cloud? With Zenith casting her spell, the dust was flowing backward toward her, and yet she was still locating each attack with apparent ease.

'...there has to be some trick she's pulling. Even an incompetent Archer wouldn't aim at her more than once with the way she's defending, so how's she making them direct their attacks to her? And more importantly-‘ Shavie punched a javelin out of the air, ‘How is she forcing me to intercept the heavier attacks?’

“Hey, don’t keep forcing me to defend against these attacks! You think I like defending against them!?” Shavie yelled.

“Hell, with those gloves you better be doing more than defending! Deflect them back! Do I need to teach you how to fight as well? Use [Shadow Portal] or whatever rubbish you should know! I’ve seen literal Scouts fight better than you!”

“You think I can do that at will? I don’t have the mana capacity to do shit like that!”

“Your gloves were woven from mana and you act like I’m the one not pulling my weight here!”

Shavie paused slightly as she watched another javelin shot forward at Paige. There should be six or so seconds before Zenith was done with her Spell so there was plenty of leeway to experiment with her new equipment.

Swiping her hand forward, she was surprised as a small portal opened far in front of Paige, though it just missed the javelin.

“Hey! At least intercept the damn thing! How did you miss it? It was right in front of me!”

Grabbing the javelin with her hand, Shavie shrugged. Paige had still deflected it, though she got hit by a crossbow bolt instead. Shavie narrowed her eyes as she saw the bolt fall harmlessly after it pierced her cotton shirt. How many skills was she using right now?

Shavie stepped back as the wind swirled around them. Even with her back pointed at the spell, she could feel the charged mana swirling around them. It was clear that Zenith had completed her spell. The world flashed green as a green ball of mana spread out above their head. Shavie paused as she saw symbols floating inside and around the orb of mana, though the pure mana inside concealed a vast majority of the interlocking symbols. That wasn't a spell she was familiar with. Though, as she stared at the orb, it looked vaguely familiar for some reason.

‘Wait, symbols?’ Shavie looked back and realized why it looked familiar. That was a full-blown magic formation! ‘No… you could protect a small fortress with that defensive formation! She’s pulling all the stops just to impress some kids.’ Shavie took a second to look around. ‘Well, she’s doing a good job of it so far.’

The stands were quiet as Zenith stood below her orb, opening her eyes slowly as she finished her massive spell. Too massive for a single mage.

“[[Wind Barrier]],” Zenith said quietly. The orb vanished as a solid wall of wind descended about the entirety of the training field and neatly separated the field into separate segments. She took a deep breath and the color returned to her face. “We need to hurry, I can’t keep this spell powered for long. Just focus on defeating the defenders, I’ll take on the Teachers.”

Shavie nodded to herself. This match was about to get a whole lot easier.

---

The battle was finished the moment Zenith had finished casting her spell, Shavie thought as she incapacitated another Mage. Some type of Pyromaniac or something, judging by his flaming robe. Walking beside Odessa, she idly kicked a Warrior in the stomach before stepping on him.

This was almost unfair the way they breezed through their opponents. Zenith charged into a fairly balanced party as she headed for the Teacher in question, a grizzled Spearmaster. His spear twirled in an erratic fashion as Zenith weaved side to side, her wind covered shoes helped her slide across the field as she waited for a flaw to appear.

She pitied the man. His bodyguards might as well be nonexistent with how Paige was blocking them. Her hoe spun just like the Spearmaster as she twirled around, striking the earth at random times to off-balance her opponents as she held off the group of seven by herself.

“Umm, Miss...Shavie? Shouldn’t you be helping?” Odessa asked again.

Shavie rolled her eyes. “Why should I do anything? I’m not getting paid to help.”

“But we’re about to face Bloodsteel! Don’t they need to rest a bit?”

“You said that about the last ten parties we’ve faced. And one of them even forfeited outright. But if you want, you can go and let Paige have a break. I’ll hold the girl for a few seconds or so while you get beat up.”

Shavie washed her hands of the problem as she looked across the wind wall to their next opponents. In truth, Zenith’s plan was well thought out, but that was under the assumption that the other Parties would fight amongst themselves before they got there. Instead, they waited for them to come and attack en masse.

Looking over, Shavie raised a single brow as a few men glared at her. They must be the ‘Bloodstain’ party Odessa was talking about. Their crimson robes hid their equipment, though Shavie could faintly see the outline of a bow. Narrowing her eyes, she scanned their party and realized why they were glaring at her. One of their teammates’ robes were shaking slightly as they clutched their arm painfully. Her arm, she realized as she eyed the face hidden inside the robe. Shavie smiled as she realized what must have happened.

“Stupid bitch. Can’t even take a little of her own poison? Just die and save us some trouble.” she mouthed to the team, who started shaking with anger. She chuckled slightly and turned her head as Odessa looked at her oddly. “Zenith and Paige are going to have a hard time against the next one. They seem to be holding a grudge against us.”

“Really? Their party is known for being calm-headed in battle though...”

“Meh. Just stay behind Paige and we’ll be fine.”

Shavie rolled four steel balls in her hand before launching them silently at Paige’s opponents. The unsuspecting targets dropped as the steel balls shattered their jaws and knocked them out. Paige frowned as she waved her hoe at two steel balls that had ricocheted toward her. Spinning around, she batted the steel ball and shattered two knees before whacking her hoe against their head as they dropped down in pain.

“Odessa, please heal them. We don’t need people holding grudges against us. Make sure to cast [[Sleep]] or something as well. We don’t need them waking up to fight us again.”

“That was only one time!” Odessa yelled angrily as she adjusted the girl on her back.

“Well, Zenith is about to win, so we should think about stopping soon. We should've done enough to get the last remaining spot.”

“Well, I don’t think that party is going to rest until they fight us, Paige. They seem awfully mad for some reason,” Shavie grinned inwardly.

“Hm. Well, maybe one more then. I still haven’t quite warmed up yet. Maybe they’ll be better -,” Paige stopped suddenly as she twirled around and stared at a wall.

Shavie looked over and didn’t see anything special about the wall.

Blinking, Paige inhaled sharply before flashing a smile. “....well then. I have something else I need to take care of. Good luck Shavie! I know you can do it.”

Within the span of a few seconds, Shavie could only stare as Paige quickly grabbed the girl off of Odessa’s back and swiftly blinked to the edge and punched her way out of the ward.

“Okay! The next one will be our last!” Zenith exhaled heavily as she stood over the unconscious combat teacher. Dissipating her wind blade with a shake of her hand, she quickly noticed who was missing. “Wait, where did Paige go?”

Shavie groaned as the wind wall separating her from the vengeful party started dissipating. She probably shouldn’t have antagonized that party...