Friday, November 22nd. Today was the day we would face the final big test that Credo had put into place for us. This final activity would help him finalize his decision on who he would select to be recommended to attend the training camp. Of course it was still up to the headmaster to approve you, but that wasn't what I needed to worry about right now.
Well, at the very least it was the last thing that I wanted to worry about. The news Suijin had shared with us the other day still had my mind reeling.
I mean, arranged marriage? Why hadn't our parents told us anything about that? It was impossible for them to have not known.
My mind was racing with many different possibilities, but the one that it decided on was the idea that Takeru was already scheming. Just like always, he had jumped into another convoluted scheme, and he was planning to use the omission and misconstruction of information to manipulate others into the outcome that he wanted. And that made me worried.
That thought devoured my mind the entirety of the day after that meeting. I was so worried that I had actually picked up a cigarette once again. After everything happened with the siege, I had just stopped smoking altogether, but that moment of worry made my old habit return. If my own mental situation was tense, then Kami's could only be compared to a leaking ship.
She was the heir of the Chisaki family after all. If anyone was going to be thrust into a sudden arranged marriage, it would be her. I couldn't even begin to understand how she felt. Did she feel pressured? Disgusted? Nervous? How are you meant to react when you figure out your future could be sealed for you at any moment? Kami had always expressed her discontent with the 10 Grand Magic Families as a whole, as she truly didn't want to be put in a position where her freedoms were compromised and she had that sort of pressure, the pressure to represent an entire family thrust upon her. And now, her freedom was being restricted even more. I had tried to talk to her about it, but for the first time in what felt like our entire lives, she pushed me away.
Not like how she would push me away in anger after we had petty arguments 'and such. But she truly pushed me away to wallow in her own silence. I now understood how she must have felt watching me do the same on every other occasion.
I didn't like this feeling. I felt hopeless if I couldn't help my sister in any meaningful way. So I went about with those tumultuous feelings in my heart and mind all the way up until today. Where I would be facing the one test I couldn't fail.
For some reason, even though I hadn't expressed much interest in it before, I felt a desperate need to go to that camp. I wanted to see what the other magic academies had to offer. I wanted to see how strong the strongest over in the other continent was. I had a need to see how I stacked up to them.
And also a need to show that I was stronger than the rest. Ego, pride, all of them mixed up with the turmoil my mind was in, creating a brain soup of conflicting feelings and goals.
The second years shuffled into the arena with grim expressions on their faces, and we took our place along the glass skywalks around the arena as we always did before class. Leading up to this day, Credo had opened up every single class since Monday, giving a lecture about a different topic. What Alice had so diligently pointed out was that each lecture was a lesson on some part of the siege on Theta we struggled with.
The very first class was a test of ideals and mentality, as well as a test of how fast we students could react and adapt to a sudden situation. The next was giving a lecture on the nature of deducing and countering abilities efficiently. That had to do with how the delusions used by the 5 attackers had caused major trouble. The test he gave us was to see how well we could work together. The next day, they talked about a lesson of betrayal and unexpected outcomes.
All things that were related to what had happened during the siege. I wondered whether or not Credo could still pull on the wealth of knowledge and resources that his old position as the vice president of the Mages Association had granted him. Maybe that's why he seemed to know so much about the attack. Something that occurred closed off from the outside world.
Next to me, Hikaru vibrated with energy. How she had so much energy after going through a laundry list of boring and taxing classes, I would never know. "Calm down." I tried to give her some reassuring words, but just as I spoke, my voice cracked. Hikaru giggled, and I turned my head in embarrassment.
My eyes landed on Erika, who was standing right next to me. Along with Nova. However, both of their eyes looked distant. As if they were thinking about something. I could expect that from Nova, but Erika? That just wasn't like her. Erika was always a loud, rowdy, do-first-ask-questions-later kind of person. What could have brought about a change like that in her?
"Yeah, Erika. Something on your mind? I asked. I could kind of infer why Nova was so in her mind. I had remembered that back when we were choosing our wands, she had said something about having a goal that she wanted to reach and the heavy expectations that came with it. There was someone that she looked up to and wanted to match. Someone she was always being compared to, and she wanted to live up to that comparison. That, along with her goal of forming an S-rank ability, meant that this opportunity was something that she could not miss out on.
However, what about Erika? What could be on her mind?
Erika looked at me with a bit of shock. She then responded without her usual answering. "I'm just taking some time to do some 'silent contemplation.'"
At that moment, I began to frantically look around.
She looked at me confused. "What are you looking for?"
"Flying pigs." I responded, feeling proud of myself for the clever jab. I was getting the hang of this.
I stopped smiling when Erika's jab hit me right in the jaw. "Funny guy here, eh?" She was shaking her fist; however, my stupid joke had worked, because the expression on her face cleared up a bit. She sighed. "I was just thinking about how I couldn't lose here. I just want to make sure that what I've been doing here isn't just a waste of time. That's all."
I didn't have the full picture, but I had a general gist of things. She was just nervous. Nervous to see whether or not all the work she put in would be proved valid or invalid today. She went back to 'silently contemplating.'
Actually, now that I look at it—
I looked at Erika. Nova. Masayoshi. Yuri.
They were all darkly brooding, trapped in their own minds about different things. Now that I thought about it, even Hikaru was more silent than she usually was.
Am I really the only person not 100% miserable?
I still had my own problems to brood about, but I had done most of that brooding yesterday.
Come on, Raiden. Now it's all on you. If it were them in your place, each of them would have found their own way to lift the others out of this slump.
I racked my brain, looking for any method I could use to uplift the spirits of the people around me. It was at that moment I figured something out.
Taking a step back, I pushed myself off of the railing so I was standing far enough away from each and every one of them. Then I cleared my throat a few times to get everyone's attention. Once they all looked, I spoke.
"I don't know what sort of test we're in for. But what I do know is..."
I gave a dramatic pause before pointing at them, "I'm going to blow every single one of you out of the water. It won't even be a competition."
For a moment, they all looked at me in confusion.
Erika was the first to react. Her expression shifted into a competitive grin. "Really? Funny you said that, because the last time we went face-to-face, you seemed real happy to teleport away."
The next was Hikaru. "Not to rain on your confidence, but you're just in over your head. But that's fine." She giggled. "I wouldn't mind teaching a lesson in humility."
After that, Nova responded. "A formal challenge. Maybe this means I'll get to see your ability in action. Then I can compare. Alright then."
Yuri and Masayoshi were last.
"You said that before this happened, you and I used to fight a lot. I always wondered why, but if you're this much of a cocky prick, then I can understand the old me a bit more." He smiled.
Masayoshi was appalled. "Not even just what you said. I can feel your corniness creeping into me."
I wanted to clap back with all of the times Masayoshi had done something beyond corny, but I stopped myself.
I did it!
For the first time! I managed to be the person lifting up others moods!
I could literally feel my EXP points rising.
"I can see the video game/anime analogies going off in your head. It's creepy. And lame."
Ariel: Ohh. She clocked your sh-
If this was a shitty web novel, I'm sure the audience would be very tired of your pitiful attempts at comic relief.
A brutal reprimand came from the person next to me. I don't know when, but at some point, Alice had appeared. She was wiping off her glasses and staring at me like I was a creep. Or at least she was trying to. She must have had horrible eyesight without them, because her eyes were not focused on me at all.
She placed her glasses on and quickly redirected her gaze to me, as if she wasn't just speaking to air. She cleared her throat.
"Where'd you come from?" I asked as my face flushed.
"I came here to tell you to shut the hell up. Credo's coming."
I turned to look just as the door was pushed open and Credo stepped out. He moved with purpose and wasted no time with his introduction.
"This is the moment you all have been waiting for. The final test. As you may have already figured out, I've based these lessons and tests off of parts of your battle against the Fangless Python. This final test will place you in the situation I deduced took the most lives." A tense silence fell over us all as we waited for his next words.
"Inability to use mana. The Fangless Python developed special mana-sealing tech. When they used it, many of you collapsed. Unable to fight without using mana to directly hit your opponent. Today's test will force you to overcome that. I'll split this test up into multiple groups, as there are a lot of you."
He snapped his fingers, and a hologram displayed a massive environment. It was a large portion of a city. Not any real city, but an artificially created one. It had a massive mall, housing sections, apartments, a coast side with condos, and resorts. and all of the buildings you'd find in a regular city. It was comparable to the size of Sendai before the earth doubled. It was large, with more ground than we could even envision.
"I will select a captain and create two teams. Then, I'll place these teams under an illusion. It will take you to this area. Study it well." Many students began to scramble to take notes and memorize every detail.
"One team will spawn within the mall on the far west side of the city. The other team will start in the condos on the far east side. Your objective is simple. Your captain will have a flag. It's your job to escort them towards the center of town, where there will be a flagpole. The first team to get their flag into that flagpole will win. Of course, there are restrictions. There is a 20-minute grace period until the game officially begins, and after the beginning buzzer starts, the captains aren't allowed to set out until after a 15-minute timer. Giving the other team members time to set traps or clear the way. The captain can only have one person accompanying them as protection. Captains cannot fight anybody else that isn't a captain. But they can be attacked by non-captains."
I quickly made a mental note of these rules.
Credo smiled as he said this next part. "But here comes the catch. The most important part. In this playing field you're in, the surrounding area will occasionally radiate a wave that completely prohibits the use of mana. The waves are random, and they last for a few minutes, but they can spawn on any part of the map." He snapped his fingers again, and the map was split into fourths. This is a general idea of what they look like, but they can be smaller or bigger, and they all won't happen at once. The main thing is, the closer you get to the center, the stronger and more frequent the waves are. Your ability to output mana will decrease the closer you get. And when you get to the center:'
He raised his finger in the shape of an O around his eye. "It hits zero. This test is designed to test your decision-making when your greatest asset has been ripped from you. How you approach a problem changes drastically when you can't just throw up a wall of fire. Feel free to go as crazy as you can. It's all an illusion, anyone. Destroy it all if necessary. Any fatal wounds sustained will just cause you to wake up from the illusion. Though I'll question the morality of anybody who chooses to use lethal force on their peer."
He finished explaining, allowing the students to digest everything said. I was just marveling at how complex this all was. This wasn't just a test of how we worked without mana. It was a test of our battle IQ. Strategic thinking and adaptability, and most of all, combat. This would be a chess match with the added freedom of genuinely brutal battles. Because of this nature, it served as a true ultimate test. No one had to hold back. It would just be us against the other team in a no-holds-barred battle of strategy, adaptability, and power.
"With that being said, I'll pick out the teams. Those not chosen will wait for their turn here, where the big screen will display the events of what''s happening in the illusion." I didn't even bother to question how he could project his own illusion magic onto a screen like that, because I quickly realized it probably involved more illusion magic.
Illusionception.
I just prayed I wasn't chosen in the first group. It would be valuable to be able to watch and formulate strategies, as well as to see how this place actually worked. The groups going first were at the biggest disadvantage.
"Captains. Red team, Alice!" Alice nodded sternly.
"Blue team. Masayoshi!" Credo called out.
Masayoshi froze, his eyes widening, but he could not protest Credo's order. Only stand by looking shocked. I pulled a Nova and shot him a look of pity at the same time she did.
"Now for the teams."
"Alice team: Alice, Aven, Luka, Blade, Ayung, Nova, Hikaru, and...Raiden!"
I deflated.
Alice, who was standing next to me, just sighed. "Great, I got a lazy idiot on my team."
I didn't even bother to argue with her, nor did I ask why I was the only one she insulted. I just waited to see who we were up against while silently grieving the fact that we would be going into this game completely blind. Besides what Credo had told us, we'd have to figure this out on our own. And on the line was admission to arguably the most appropriate
"Masayoshi's team: Masayoshi. Yuri. Touka, Misa, Myra, Erika, Seele, and Clyde."
There were two names that I didn't recognize, but I decided not to worry about them for the moment. There were more important things at hand.
After announcing the teams, Credo snapped his fingers.
"As soon as I put you guys into the illusion, the 20-minute planning timer will begin. You will be provided a map and resources to plan. Make use of them. After that, it's up to you how you decide to go about things. Good luck."
With that, Credo clapped his hands, and everything went black.
I wondered if I'd regret this.