"Lady Alia?"
Rachel was baffled by the situation. She had only followed the source of what seed to be a fight nearby, but paused as monsters obstructed her path.
"Ah—Sorry, General Alia."
Rachel corrected herself.
Now that she took a good look, Alia seed to have co out of where the fighting was coming from.
"You are…?"
"Ah, yes. I think this is the first ti we've spoken to each other. I am Rachel Asami."
"I see…."
The conversation trailed off from there.
It may have only been a few seconds, but Rachel could solemnly swear it was probably one of the most awkward mont in her life.
"A friend of Brandon's is a friend of mine. Let's go, before they get here."
"Y-Yes—Ah? They…?"
Rachel stamred. Unable to articulate her words in front of Brandon's girlfriend.
Kracka!
A bolt of lightning rippled from the forest undergrowth. Alia, who was in front of Rachel, reflexively turned around.
A magic sword materialized in her hand—instantly repelling the sparks, sending a gust of wind that fluttered Rachel's black hair.
"They."
Alia inford her once again.
"Oh."
Rachel couldn't help but be astonished at the sight.
'Would I be able to react to that?'
She asked herself.
At that mont, Alia rushed towards her and grabbed her wrist, dragging Rachel further away from the onrush of magic attacks.
"They're from class C. We might be able to defeat them together, but I don't want to risk it."
Alia spoke as she traversed the dense undergrowth of the snowy forest.
Rachel stared at Alia's hand which was on her wrist, the two fleeing from the fight.
Due to the fact that Alia was a senior, and everything surrounding her about Brandon, Rachel initially found Alia quite intimidating.
However, now, her assessnt of her completely changed.
'She's nice….'
They quickened their pace until eventually, the coast was clear.
"Haaa…. Haaa…."
"H-haaa…. Haaa…."
Supporting themselves with a tree, the two frantically caught their breaths.
"Haaa…. Did we lose them…?"
Rachel asked.
"Most….. Haaa…. Probably…."
Alia, slumping down on the tree, responded.
A week after separating with Amy, Rachel started her own set of hunts.
At the mont, she had a total of nine badges—equally segregating them with Amy.
"Are you in the safe zone, General?"
"Please, call Alia.
"Uhm…. I–"
"I insist."
Alia nodded her head, giving Rachel the go signal.
Rachel had no choice but to give in to Alia's good will.
"Okay…. Uhm…. Alia."
"Mhm, I have a total of eleven badges. What about you?"
"I have nine so far."
"I see. So you didn't go bounty hunting?"
Bounty hunting.
The term the cadets started to use—referring to the action of hunting their rivals. Or more precisely, their team mbers.
"No, I want all my friends to pass this test."
"I see."
Once again, the conversation trailed off from there. The atmosphere grew awkward, and Rachel didn't know what to say.
However, the silence was soon broken by Alia, who remained vigilant, peering her eyes for any signs of movents.
"Do you want to venture together? I'm not sure where yours or my friends are, but class C seed to have ford large groups. I think it's too dangerous for our classes to traverse alone right now."
Hearing the sudden news, Rachel found it quite ironic.
To think the weakest class had now beco the greatest threat.
For Alia's proposal, Rachel had no objections. She was well inford with how strong Alia was. aning, she was a great asset.
Furthermore, there was one thing Rachel wanted to know.
Why did Brandon fall for her?
Not like she was still hung up, but she was honestly curious. Especially so, when Brandon had told her he was the one who confessed first.
With those thoughts in mind, Rachel spoke with no hesitation.
"Yes, I'd like that."
Just like that, a partnership between the two ford.
***
Six weeks had passed since the start of the training camp.
November 15, 2149.
Despite the amount of powerful cadets in class A, Raven had been regarded as one of the major threats.
After all, he was a complete counter against mages, and oftentis, he would appear out of nowhere, catching anyone off guard.
He had already gathered enough badges to pass the training camp, surprisingly.
It wasn't his fault. Cadets, for so reason, would always find a way to ambush him.
But due to the nature of his abilities, Raven had no difficulties picking them off.
However, during one of his ventures, Raven encountered soone familiar for the first ti.
"That you, Raven?"
"Rein?"
It was Reinhard.
As expected. Despite belonging to class B, Reinhard had no qualms with tackling the training camp solo.
Raven truly thought it was a waste how Reinhard didn't try his luck against Delton on that day.
He would've liked it if Reinhard had ascended to class A along with him back then.
But what's done is done and Reinhard wasted the opportunity.
Simultaneously, as a dagger materialized in Raven's hand, flas began to creep up, engulfing Reinhard's whole arm.
Raven's eyes narrowed, his body tensing as the shadows around him seed to ripple and shift, responding to his will.
The dagger in his hand glead ominously, cloaked in darkness, while Reinhard's arm flared up with fiery intensity.
The air between them crackled with tension, as two opposing forces—shadow and fla—prepared for the inevitable clash.
Reinhard looked at him with a condescending look. One that Raven was all too familiar with.
"Just like always, huh?"
"You bet."
Swoosh—!
Reinhard was the first to move, his fist ablaze as he lunged forward, sending a wave of fire in Raven's direction. But Raven had already blended into the shadows, disappearing from sight as the flas scorched the ground where he once stood.
The snow lted near–instantly, revealing a scorched patch of grass.
Suddenly, a shadow darted from behind, and before Reinhard could react, Raven's dagger was aid at his back.
Clang—!
Reinhard barely managed to twist his body in ti, blocking the strike with a fiery shield. The force of the impact sent sparks flying, but Raven was already gone, disappearing into the shadows once again.
After drowning in his incompetence, Reinhard realized just how lacking he was in the defense departnt.
For that reason, he trained in a way to specialize combat against duelists—while being a mage himself.
"Tsk."
Reinhard muttered, shaking off the impact. He raised his hand, unleashing a pillar of fire into the sky. The flas exploded outward in a wide arc, illuminating the area and forcing Raven to reveal himself.
Vooosh—!
Reinhard yelled as he charged, his fist blazing with fire.
Raven's expressions hardened, his eyes gleaming as he side-stepped the attack, the shadows coiling around his form like tendrils.
With a flick of his wrist, his dagger sliced through the air, aiming for Reinhard's exposed side.
But Reinhard wasn't slow either. In a split second, his arm swung up, blocking the strike with a wall of fla.
The two forces collided once more, sparks of shadow and fire dancing in the cold air.
Boom!
The ground shook beneath their feet as Reinhard unleashed a fiery explosion, pushing Raven back. But before Reinhard could press the advantage, Raven vanished into the shadows again, his form blending seamlessly with the darkness.
Suddenly, Raven erged from the ground beneath him, his dagger aid for Reinhard's legs in a swift, lethal motion. But Reinhard jumped back just in ti, launching a fireball in retaliation.
BOOM——!
The fireball exploded as it hit the ground, sending a shockwave of heat across the snowy battlefield.
Without another word, the two clashed again—fla against shadow.
Every strike Reinhard threw was t with Raven's evasive movents, the shadow wielder darting in and out of the darkness.
And yet, every ti Raven attacked, Reinhard's flas flared up, blocking his strikes with a barrier of intense heat.
As the fight dragged on, Raven faced difficulty for the first ti in a while.
His [Shadow] affinity allowed him to dart in and out of range, always keeping Reinhard on the defensive.
But Reinhard's fiery offense was relentless, pushing Raven to his limits with every strike, despite Raven having the [Reflection] skill.
Finally, Raven saw his opening.
As Reinhard unleashed another wave of fire, Raven ducked low, his dagger slicing through the air in a swift, deadly arc.
"...!"
Reinhard's eyes widened as he realized his mistake.
The shadowy blade struck, grazing Reinhard's side just as the flas around him erupted, completely igniting the snow away.
Boom!
The explosion sent both fighters flying in opposite directions, the impact creating a crater in the snowy ground.
"Cough…! Cough…!"
Raven coughed, his body aching from the force of the blast, but a grin tugged at his lips as he stood up.
However, at that mont….
Rumble…. Rumble…..
The entire forest began to shake intensely. The layers of snow atop the trees droop down, and Raven and Reinhard began looking around, remaining vigilant due to the sudden turn of events.
It was then.
—Hwooooooar!
A deep, guttural scream pierced the air, an earth shaking bellow that seed to haunt the snowy fields.
"What the…."
"The hell was tha—"
"Hieaaaa—!"
Before they could even collect themselves, another scream rang out. However, this ti, it was a girl's scream.
The two glanced at each other before nodding, putting their fight on hold.
At that, they disappeared deep into the forest, heading straight to the source of the scream.
"Hieeeeaaa—!"
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