"Y-"

"Yuu-"

"wa..........p!"

"Yuuna-"

"Yuuna-chan wake up!" a voice called out.

"H-huh?!" Yuuna woke up to come face to face with Y/n, who was standing in an ice bath. Y/n smiled, "Good morning. Jeez, you sure slept like a winter bear" she said.

Yuuna had tears dwell up from her eyes as she immediately hugged Y/n. "H-how are you were already?" Yuu asked.

"Well, I arrived 30 minutes ago. The Scarabia were a bit shocked to see me, but Jamil got Kalim's approval to let me stay with you guys." Y/n explained.

"Hm...I see" Yuuna chuckled. "But why are standing in an ice bath? Your literally waist down inside"

"aha, did you forget? I'm more sensitive to hot temperatures. So me standing in an ice bath keeps me from getting a fever." Y/n flicked Yuuna's head for forgetting.

"Mrah...I don't want any more of your body crackers...myah..." Grim mumbled in his sleep.

Y/n sweatdropped a bit. "What happened to Grim?"

"W-well, you see-" before Yuuna had the chance to explain, the door slammed open.

"How long are you two going to sleep? On your feet-" the Scarabia flinched in surprised to see Y/n already in Yuuna's room, after all, Y/n was supposed to stay in a room next to Jamil, but declined. "Y-your majesty!"

Y/n frowned a bit. "I expect you gentlemen to knock before entering a lady's room. What if we were naked?" she asked.

The Scarabia student's face turned red. "M-my apologize, your majesty!" he bowed. Y/n had to a satisfied smile.

"Mrow?! What now?! Wait, it's only 6 a.m...." Grim groaned, starting to wake up. "Myah?! Y/n you here already?!" he yelped, who finally noticed Y/n who waved a hello.

"We're marching ten kilometers to the eastern oasis!" the Scarabia resident said.

"You expect us to trudge that far through sand that's hard to walk on as it is?"Grim asked. "Why should we?"

"Because the housewarden said so. Now stop whining and come on!" the resident said and grabbed Grim.

"Myaaah! I don't wanna! Get your paws off'a me!" Grim shrieked.

The resident student turned to look at Yuuna and Y/n. "I'll let you two get dressed. Come on out when you're ready!" he said and closed to the door to let the girls get dressed.

The girls sweatdropped before getting dressed in their uniform, which had already morphed to that of Scarabia's style.

When they walked to the meeting area, Y/n had already made herself a snow cloud above her head to keep her cool. Jamil also had her where some extra sunscreen to make sure Y/n was cool.

After all of that, Kalim helped Y/n up the elephant, as she sat on it's back with Kalim standing to keep watch. Y/n sweatdropped by how unfair this was to the other students, including Yuuna and Grim, but she kinda had to be in the constant shade since she is in SCARABIA. It's surrounded by desert and sunlight. Y/n would get a high fever in an hour if she was exposed to the desert heat without shade.

"Now march to the eastern oasis!" Kalim ordered. "This will help strengthen your legs. If I see anyone break formation, they'll be punished later!"

"How'd I get dragged into this?" Grim questioned.

Yuuna was getting herself physically prepared to match the desert, but she felt cooler when her Scarabia clothes had her were light clothes, so it was easier to move in, even in the heat.

"Less talking, more marching! Move out!" Kalim ordered. Soon after, the elegant him and Y/n were on starting to walk to the oasis with everyone following.

"You there! You're breaking formation" Kalim shouted, pointing to the student were was lacking behind, which was Grim, who was panting.

Grim let out a few huffs before talking again, "Let me catch my breath, at least" he pleaded.

"Enough, whining! March!" Kalim ordered. "If you're tired, that's proof you need to train more! It's your own fault!" he demanded.

"....." Jamil observed everyone, including their expressions. a shadow spoke, in a male voice. The voice was Avaritia, who let out a smirk.

"....." Y/n was also observing the students. She let out a frown when she saw the shadow behind a certain snake, who she sadly cared for, after all, Y/n figured out that he could be the 5th soulmate she found due to the continuous warm feeling. 'I know what you're planning you little snake....but sadly...I can't stop you just yet...just wait a bit for me to save you' she thought.

"You're slowing down! Pick up the pace!" Kalim shouted towards the Scarabia student who started to get left behind.

"W-we...can't go any faster!" the student panted, coughing a little as Yuuna helped the student to catch up. Y/n smiled at her kind gesture.

"It's because of you fools that we placed last in the tournament and exams!" Kalim degraded the student who looked down a bit from being scolded.

"I'm burnin' up here! Water...I need water! I'm gonna shrivel up!" Grim said in a raspy voice.

"We're almost to the oasis. Hang in there" Jamil reassured everyone.

"Mhm! Please hold on for a bit" Y/n said as well. Jamil turned to look up at Y/n, who looked at the students in a dull look in her eyes. He grew suspicious and why she really was here. "What are you really planning, lady Y/n..." he thought to himself, after all, Y/n has excellent hearing.

"I've seen this scenery in my dreams..." Yuuna mumbled, staring off into space a bit.

"Hey, Yuuna, what're you starin' off into space for?" Grim asked as Y/n looked down at Yuuna, listening to their conversation. "Did the heat get to you?"

"no. I'm fine. Just deep in thought" Yuuna tells Gim, only with Y/n, since she had a feeling that the frost empress was listening as well.

"Everyone, halt!" Kalim ordered, causing everyone to sigh in relief. Finally, they reached the Oasis.

"Phew. We made it at last!" Grim said, slumping to the ground, happy about the break.

"We will take a fifteen-minute break. Then we march back to the dorm" Jamil announced, helping Y/n off the elephant. "Thank you, Jamil-senpai" she smiled

Jamil smiled as well. "Your welcome, Lady Y/n"

"Finally, some water..." Grim mumbled, dragging himself where he thought was some water. "Wait, What kinda bizzaro oasis is this?! It's empty!"

"No..." Yuuna gasped in surprise.

"Don't worry, I will think of something, just make sure to be directly under your snow cloud, Yuu-chan" Y/n panted the girl's shoulder, using magic to strengthen the snow cloud that was getting smaller due to the heart. Y/n's cloud hasn't changed due to herself being in the shade the whole time.

"Water?" Kalim mumbled. "You say you want water?" he asked. He was reverting back to his usual self. Y/n noticed at the old look in his eyes started to flicker back to his normal shade.

"Uh, duh? My throat's dry as a bone" Grim snapped a bit.

"Then water you shall have...and I'll make it cool and refreshing for you! Y/n-chan, care to help me?" Kalim asked.

Y/n raised her hand. "Of course, I'll make it snow for some extra cooling" she smirked.

"Thanks!" Kalim then took out his magic pen and recited his spell. "Respire in the scalding sands, a neverending party. Dance! Sing! " he chanted, as it began to rain.

Y/n said her spell as it began to snow as well, adding more coolness to the rain, which a cold breeze followed as well.

"Oooh! Sweet, merciful rain!" Grim cheered, raising his paws in the air.

Yuuna smiled as well, feeling refreshed when the rain and snow fell on her.

"I was feeling like a withered husk for a minute there, but this water is refreshing me from the inside out! Plus the snow helps cool down my body" a resident student grinned

"Ahhh...I needed that" another resident said.

Yuuna twirled in the rain, laughing a bit. "the snow sure does add in the winter wonderland"

"You really like it?" Kalim asked. "If water's all you want, then I'll produce enough to fill this whole oasis" he beamed. "That's my signature spell, Oasis Maker. It allowed me to expend a little bit of magic power to produce large volumes of the finest water" he laughed, spinning around in the rain and snow with Yuuna.

"Y'know...Making a buncha water seems like low-key for a signature spell" Grim pointed out. "There are plenty of other spells that let you conjure water..."

"No need to be so brutal, Grim" Y/n huffed. Her fin wings fluttered a bit, after all, since it was raining, she reverted to her underwater form, but her legs remained since she wasn't exactly underwater.

"I beg to differ. The point of Oasis Maker is its efficiency. It produces a lot using a very small amount of magic" Kalim continued, pausing a bit from his dance with Yuuna. "Back before the advent of running water, one would have had to draw their own water to boil it to sterilize it. A spell like mine would have been a tremendous boon back then. But I guess you're right. Now that running water is a widespread service, it's not the most useful of spells. Aha ha! But hey! I'm still confident that the water I conjure is the finest, more delicious water in all the land" he explained, having a smile on his face.

"Now that you mention it, it's basically the perfect temperature" Yuuna noticed. "Not too cold to drink, but not lukewarm, either. Y/n's spell really balances out"

"Heh" Y/n chuckled.

"And it goes down all nice 'n smooth, like fresh spring water!" Grim added.

"Since when are monsters water affection?" Jamil asked.

"Hey, I resent that!" Grim huffed. "I've got a discerning palate for everything!"

"Me too!" Y/n puffed her cheeks cutely, causing Jamil to blush a bit.

"I figured! I was right to hope you would appreciate the difference! Espeically since Y/n thinks so highly of it!" Kalim beamed. "Here, have a cracker as a treat" He said, giving Grim another cracker.

"Erk!" Grim squeaks. "I'm hungry, sure, but this ain't the best time for dry and crumbly foods!"

"Is he back to his sunny disposition from before?" Y/n asked, whispering back to Yuuna. "He's acting differently than he was before we set out..." Yuuna whispered back.

"Now that ya mention it, it's like those were two different guys" Grim whispered towards his dormmates.

"Hm?" Kalim turned to the Amaryllis trio. "Did you guys say something?" he asked.

Before anyone could say anything..."Kalim, our fifteen minutes are just about up. Let's assemble the students and get back to the dorm" Jamil reminded.

"Already? A little more time to catch our breath wouldn't hurt them any" Kalim pouted.

"The sun will rise higher if we take too long. The hotter it gets, the worse our trip back will be, especially if Lady Y/n gets sick" Jamil said to convince Kalim.

"You're got a point. I wouldn't want to get the Empress sick." Kalim seemed to convinced. "Okay, guys!" he shouted, turning to the students. "Let's get back to the dorm and have breakfast! Back to marching!"