As we stepped outside, the fresh wind blew us into the face.

The four of us stood on the rooftop, alone.

…At least we thought we were.

„-Huh?“

Jonath looked to the front.

A woman, in a completely black uniform, stood on the other side, with her back to us.

Her long dark-brown hair waved in the breeze.

„E-ehm … excuse us, please!“

Rie stepped forward.

„…Hm?“

The woman turned around. It was only then, we saw that she was smoking. I’d guess her age to be in the late twenties.

Unlike the rest of the students and teachers, she was armed with her sword.

I could see that she began to smile.

„You've finally made it here, it seems.“

„Are you our last member?“

„Not quite, but thank you that you think I am young enough to be a student here~“

She dropped her cigarette and at the same time, her facial expression became serious.

„I don’t have much time to spare, so let’s get started.“

That was a quick change of character. Just a second ago, she had a soft smile on her lips and just like that it changed to the facial expression of a fearless warrior.

„Started? What do ya' mean by-"

He didn’t get to finish his sentence as the woman threw a side-kick at him in the same moment.

We couldn’t even blink before she closed the distance between us and her.

BAM

„-Urgh!"

Jonath was immediately knocked to the ground.

Seriously, how fast is she?!

„What was that for, lady?!“

Jonath said, as he pushed himself up.

„It’s a test, Jonath.“

Leyrid, who remained silent up until now, spoke up.

„A test?!“

„That’s right.“

The woman, who just knocked him to the ground, answered.

By her body posture, I can tell, that she does not really perceive us as a threat.

She is more relaxed than she should be when attacking someone.

„It’s you against me. Now.“

„Seriously, what are ya' talking about-"

Another kick flew into his direction.

Jonath barely managed to dodge, by jumping behind.

„There are no questions on the battlefield. Come at me with all you’ve got!“

All of us switched into a fighting posture.

There is no talking out of this now. Our only option is to fight her … but four against one?

„You've asked for it!“

Jonath threw a left punch at her … but she blocked with ease.

Immediately, a counter-attack onto his wide-open stomach followed up.

„-Argh! Shit!“

She tried to close with a spin-kick, but this time Jonath managed to block with his arms. However, he still sank to the ground by the impact of that kick.

He is clearly not able to fight her further.

This created a short opening that Rie used to throw her fist aimed at the head of the woman.

„Too naive!“

The woman wanted to grab her fist, but the attack from Rie was only a feint, as she used the swing of her fist to rotate and do a spinning kick aimed at the legs.

„Eh? Good idea, but…“

The woman simply closed the distance between her and Rie to stop the kick, by putting a leg in the way of the flying direction.

„-Kyaah!“

Rie lost her balance and the woman punched her to the ground without any mercy, just like she did with Jonath.

Only Leyrid and I remained.

„Lend me your aid!“

„With pleasure, Adel.“

We both attacked from left and right at the same time.

I made an attempt to strike the woman with a quickly swung elbow, which she dodged by ducking.

„Too slow~“

Leyrid threw a low-kick at her in that situation.

However, the defender quickly jumped to avoid it.

Her reaction time is outstanding. We can’t even touch her, no matter what we do.

There are not many options left after this. In terms of combat skills, there is a clear difference between us and her.

That's why Leyrid and I made a last attempt by trying to catch her off-balance, as she just landed back on the ground, and we both threw a quick punch from both sides.

It seemed that it would connect...

That only, at first glance though.

She blocked both punches with one hand each and simply shrugged it off, smiling self-confidently.

„-Shit!“

I shouted as she followed up by throwing both of us head over to the ground.

We now encountered the same fate, just like Jonath and Rie.

…That’s it.

We’ve been defeated.

We lost four to one, in an outstandingly awful performance.

„I can’t believe it…“

I said while realizing our loss.

How could we outnumber her and still lose without hitting her once?

„You guys did well.“

„What?“

I couldn't believe what she was saying.

„How exactly did we good? We just got annihilated!“

„Well, you miss the point. I never expected you to win against me in the first place.“

„-Eh? You did not?“

Rie was also confused.

If she did not, then what was the purpose behind beating us up?

„Quite the contrary. It was not about winning or losing, but rather HOW you lose.“

„I still don't get ya', lady!“

Jonath tried his hardest to understand what she was talking about, but he quickly gave up.

The woman sighed.

„Okay, let me be more precise. This test was not about you winning against me. It was about measuring your abilities.“

„And we did well?“

I asked her. She certainly didn't seem upset about the result.

“Exactly! You showed me a wonderful performance! Most of the squads tested by me just attacked with plain, chaotic and quite boring moves. You guys, however, used a variety of skills, took opportunities when you saw them, and the best thing of all: you've already worked as a team!”

She then looked at Leyrid and me.

“Especially you two! I am really amazed by your combined, well-timed attacks! Even though you were still one member down.”

“W-well thanks, I guess...”

“Yo Adel, Rie, ya' alright?”

Jonath got up and asked concerned.

He then walked over to Rie.

“Y-yes, I'm okay!”

She took his hand to get up.

Meanwhile, I got up and helped Leyrid back to her feet.

“So does this mean all of the other Squads just now, did face the same test?”

It would be logical if they did at least. Maybe this test was to rank the Squads based on the results.

“No. Your Squad was the only one to do it.”

She put on a faint smile again.

“Huh? Why is that so?”

I asked confused. So it is not to create a ranking... Then what else could there be to it...?

After short thinking I added:

“Is it because we did badly at the examination?”

Another option could be that we would need to prove that we are on par with the other Squads at this Academy.

The woman chuckled a bit.

“Not at all~ You did quite well, in fact, you guys were the best of all!”

All of us were surprised and we looked at each other. Only Leyrid wasn't fazed by it.

Did she know about this all along? Maybe that is why she knew my name already. At least, I can't think of another option right now.

“I'm not sure if I follow ya'. So we were tested because we had the best scores in the examination?”

“That's right, Jonath.”

“…So you already know our names as well.”

I said after we were surprised by it. That means Leyrid was not the only one, that knew them beforehand.

“Everyone here knows your names already. The reason why you all, Squad 10, meets up here is that you are the most talented ones.”

“But we are not the first ones, correct?”

Leyrid smiled as she stated it like it was obvious for her.

“Good observation, Leyrid. It is exactly as she said. Every year, there is one Squad, that excels the others. That Squad is tested on their true potential up here.”

So this test wasn't an exception then.

Actually, did we just got a huge compliment?

“W-wow, we are the best?”

Rie had sparkles in her eyes as she was overjoyed by it.

There it is again, her idol-like aura that immediately affects you, the moment you see it.

Quite the powerful weapon the more you think about it.

But there is still one thing we don't know yet.

“Okay, I get the picture, but the question remains, that we still don't know who you are.”

I confronted her with a serious tone.

“Ah~ You're right about that, Adel. I still haven't introduced myself yet.”

Like on command, she made a prideful pose and her tone got serious again.

“My name is Vinelda Augustalis. I am the current leader of the 20th Stormtrooper Force, thus not a teacher of this academy. This year, I took over the task to examine the new promising Students of the Elite Soldiers.”

All of us stood in amazement. No one could believe what we just heard.

That is, all except Rie.

She just looked at each of us nervously as if she was surrounded by aliens.

“E-ehm~ What exactly is the Stormtrooper Force, if I may ask?”

She raised her hand and asked, as she was a bit ashamed that she was the only one, who did not know what it was.

“Rie, are you serious?!”

Jonath gasped as he couldn't believe what she just said.

“I-I'm sorry, I just don't know it...”

Leyrid chuckled for a bit in amusement, before she began to explain to Rie.

“The Stormtrooper Force is a special unit in the army, just like the Elite Soldiers. However, there is always only one current Stormtrooper Force. They are considered the best Soldiers in the whole Empire.”

“T-the whole Empire?!”

“That's right. This special unit is formed and named by the Emperor himself. They have the highest ranking in the entire Empire and are considered Heroes of our Nation.”

Rie now grasped the situation we were in and immediately got as overwhelmed, as we were.

“A-amazing! Vinelda you are a Hero?!”

“Well, that is how we are generally addressed as, yeah.”

Vinelda took out another cigarette and began to smoke again. Her arms were crossed and she still had that pride and noble aura around her.

Unlike the aura of the principle, hers was not sinister. It was … powerful should I say?

Well, it at least made everyone respect her immediately, I can say that much for sure.

“But why is the leader of the Stormtrooper's here in NEAS to fight a bunch of newcomers?!”

Jonath was still nervous around her, given her position as the best Soldier in the Empire.

Now that I think about it, it certainly is weird for her to be here, when she shouldn't have that much free time as one of the most important soldiers.

Vinelda took another puff of her cigarette.

“Well, it is kind of our duty to scout for the next generation of the Unit.”

“Y-You mean that we all will become the next Stormtrooper Force?!”

Jonath shouted in excitement. I also got affected by it and it made me grin at him. That really does sound incredibly awesome if you think about it.

“No. Certainly, you have the chance of becoming part of them later on, but there is definitely no guarantee that you will. All I am saying is that you can qualify yourselves to be considered as potential future members.”

Jonath and I got shot down as fast as we got excited.

That actually depresses me now. A part of me really did hope that, but we got a bit too much into it, it seems.

She did say, however, that we could be considered as potential members. What could it take in order to qualify oneself for the best unit in the Empire?

“Then what are the requirements to qualify yourself for it?”

I then asked her, as I got curious.

Vinelda thought for a short moment before she answered.

“That would be for example that you have to be an Elite Soldier first. Without being one, there is absolutely no possibility to become part of the Stormtrooper's.”

That means that from the beginning … only the 10% that got accepted into the Elite Soldier Academy like NEAS have the chance. That is not much to begin with.

“The reason for that is simple. Only people who are good enough to be an Elite Soldier can pull off becoming strong enough to be a Stormtrooper.”

That makes sense. After all, this Unit is considered the strongest in the Empire. No way, it is that easy to get into this Force.

Vinelda is actually becoming more and more amazing when you think about how much she must have done to get her position. The largest part of the army never makes it further than being a normal soldier. An Elite Soldier is already something incredible.

“A-and what would be another requirement?”

Rie also got curious and asked for herself.

Vinelda began to grin slightly in a sadistic way. Remember, when I said before that her aura is not sinister like the one of the principal? I take that back. Hers is even more terrifying now ... way more.

“That would be~ … That you need to be able to survive long enough in this war.”

All of us were shocked … no scared is the right word. The air around us almost froze.

While it was logical what she said, it was the way how she said it, that gave us that frighten.

“What are you surprised about? It's only natural that we can't have members in the best Unit if they fall quicker in Battle than we can find new ones.”

She then dropped her cigarette, followed up by a soft smile.

“But that shouldn't be bothering you guys now anyway! You are at this academy to become Elite Soldiers.”

Yeah, the way she changes her attitude from frightening to a wise and caring adult is just as scary.

At that moment the door opened widely. A boy with dark-red hair came out.

He had his uniform top hanging over his left shoulder and wore the white shirt beneath only.

“What's this lil' party up here about? Going from one place to another really is annoying!”

He seemed to be displeased and annoyed. Also, his way of speaking had an aggressive sub-tone.

“Look who finally decided to show up.”

Vinelda crossed her arms again and looked at the boy coldly.

I don't know who he is, but that tension building up here is definitely bad.

“I just didn't feel like it, no big dea-”

Just like Jonath, the boy was cut off mid-sentence, as Vinelda threw a spinning-kick at him.

“-Tch!”

He barely managed to block it with his arms, but he has been pushed quite a few meters behind.

“Hey hey~ what a rude way of greeting someone.”

He grinned even though it was clear for the eye that Vinelda's attack hurt him badly.

“Don't get cocky, Ralph Lirthgen! Just because you got good results in the examination does not mean that you get to do what you want.”

She looked at him with a piercing gaze. Even I got the shivers, even though it was not directed at me.

“Oh? How scary~”

Ralph was either extremely confident in his skills or an absolute airhead for trying to provoke her.

Vinelda then turned around to us. She was now in a bad mood.

“This troublemaker here is your up until now missing member, Ralph Lirthgen. His personality is quite bad as you can see, but you shouldn't underestimate him. He is actually quite skilled and on par with all of you.”

I see … so my guess is, that he is the arrogant, delinquent type of man.

Jonath walked over to Ralph and reached out his hand with a welcoming smile.

“I am Jonath Ordwald, glad to meet ya’! The way you just blocked her attack while still being able to stand was awesome!”

Ralph, however, looked at his hand with disgust.

“Get that shit away from me!”

He slapped his hand away. Jonath and Rie were left astonished.

I kind of expected that reaction. He won't be that easy to work with, it seems.

“Let's get the things straight from the start! I'm not your guys best buddy and I couldn't care less if we are in the same Squad!”

He then pointed his finger towards me.

“The only one here who's at least got the right to breathe the same air as me, is Adel over there!”

“Huh? ...Me?”

What did he mean by that? I don't remember seeing him ever before so he shouldn't know me either.

“You got quite the remarkable results in the examination. Of course, I was better, but at least I don't have the urge to vomit when I see you, unlike the others!”

“You care to say that again?!”

Jonath grabbed Ralph by his collar. He was pretty pissed and threatened him with his fist.

“Get your hand off me, you punk!”

Ralph glared at Jonath intimidatingly.

“Would you brats stop wasting our time, so that we can continue?”

Vinelda stepped in and was still in a bad mood thanks to Ralph.

“-Tch! Fine.”

Jonath let go of him and returned to Rie.

Ralph on the other hand simply brushed the wrinkles on his collar away.

“Let me give you all a piece of advice. Always keep in mind why you are attending this academy. You are not here to live out your youth! This is still a training facility for the military.”

We all looked troubled at each other.

I mean, she is right. This is not a High School, after all. We are preparing to go to war. We should not let this slip our mind, or else we could take things too lightly.

“The other Squads should already be done with their introductions and are probably on their way to the lecture rooms. You'd better be not late.”

“Vinelda, may I ask a question?”

“What is it, Leyrid?”

“Why did you personally show up to test us? Wouldn't it have been enough to send a substitute or another member from the Stormtrooper Force here, to take over the task? I am sure that the leader of the best Squad in the Empire normally shouldn't have the time to play with students around.”

Vinelda smiled and seemed to be amused by the question.

“Quite sharp, are we? You are right, I am actually pretty busy and my comrades are currently fighting in a mission on the eastern front.”

“Without their leader? Isn't that, like, extremely risky?”

Jonath joined the conversation.

That also bothered me. We know that it is the task of the Stormtrooper's to find replacements, but it certainly would have been enough to send a regular member here, instead of their leader.

“Jonath, if they would be that weak without me, they would have never become part of the strongest Unit in the Empire.”

“W-well yeah, but...”

“Let's just say that I was really interested this year in the promising new Soldiers.”

She then mustered each of us one by one.

“-and I have not been disappointed, to say the least.”

Rie and Jonath grinned at each other happily.

Ralph just leaned towards the wall and acted like he did not care.

“I will visit the academy from time to time, to check up on the students here and their progress. We will see each other soon enough again, so don't you dare to laze around!”

“YES, MA'AM!”

All of us, except for Ralph, saluted to her and after that, took off back into the academy building for the upcoming class.

“Adel, you stay with me for a moment.”

Vinelda said as I wanted to go together with the others.

Jonath looked back to me at the door to see where I was, but I signaled him to go ahead without me.

“I have a question for you, Adel.”

“What would that be?”

I asked her after Jonath left and I turned back to her.

“Why do you think we fight in wars?”

“...Eh? Why this question...?”

I am not really prepared for a philosophical topic, to be honest. I guess I'll just say what comes to my mind first.

“I … I think it is to protect our Nation and the people who live in it?”

“A good answer.”

Good job, me! Seems like I managed to satisfy her with it.

She then looked for a brief moment at the landscape around us.

It was made up of many hills and a lake. The Sky was azure blue, flowers bloomed in a vast variety and even some birds flew by as the sun colored the sight in bright, golden light. If someone were to paint a peaceful and beautiful nature, this would most definitely be the right place for it.

“…But you know, that is not entirely true.”

“What do you mean?”

She turned back to me.

“War itself is the result of a disagreement. What the reasons for it are, is irrelevant. In war, only the strong survive. Who remains at the end, will be considered right. That is why you should never miss the big and obvious hints when trying to get the whole picture.”

She then rested a hand on my shoulder.

“In the first line, even before thinking of protecting others and anything else, you need to protect yourself. You need to think of your own survival first. The reason we fight in a war is in order to survive.”

“...Why are you telling me this, Vinelda?”

She then took her hand off my shoulder and turned back to the landscape.

Her hair took flight again in the breeze.

“I want you to lead your Squad. Every single one needs a leader, in order to function correctly. I think, that you are capable of doing this. You need to establish a connection between you and all of your Squad members. If you don't, all of you will be just getting in each other's way on the battlefield, reducing your chances of survival drastically.”

I think I got what she is trying to convey to me. It is true, that only an efficient working Squad, is a useful one … but me...?

“I agree with you. A leader is definitely a must for a Squad. But why does it have to be me? Is it because of my examination result?”

Vinelda just smiled a little bit, not showing any other reaction.

“I know more about you and the others than you think I do. Your results are not what lead me to my decision.”

She then walks past me, patting my head for a brief moment.

“I look forward to the results of your Squad, Adel.”

With that, Vinelda left through the door, leaving me alone on the rooftop.

“What a weird woman...”

I said thinking loudly, before I also left, trying to catch up with my Squad members for the class that is about to start.

Me leading our Squad? I don't know about that... but on the other hand, it's not like I can deny a request from Vinelda. I am not that reckless to risk my life for disobeying her, like Ralph.

I think I'll just talk about this with Jonath later on.

“...-Wait. Where do I even have class?”

Oh no... I should have asked Leyrid first.

This is not going to be fun, getting scolded by the teacher for being late on the first day.