Fate/Academy: Episode 1
*A vision in an unfamiliar desert, at an unknown time of day. Scene 0*
"What is this supposed to be and where am I?"
I speak out loud to the air in front of me as I hope for some kind of response. At first all I get is the sound of the rushing winds sifting across the sands which blurs out my vision and making it impossible to see anything. However the violently whipping sandstorm settles and a hill appears before me as if the storm itself urged me to approach it. I walk towards the hill with each step feeling more weighted than the previous. As I reach halfway up the hill the sands rush around me for a brief moment and leaving behind the image of what appears to be a shiny metallic length sticking out of the top of the hill. I reach the top and slowly approach the metallic object which upon inspection appears to be a golden sword with blue detailing and glowing bright. My hand starts to reach out to grab the sword but it is stopped by sight of a ghastly cloaked figure in front of me.
"Whoever is deemed worthy enough to pull this sword out of the ground shall be granted the power to rule and protect this land from the corrupt forces that dare try to threaten it. Think carefully however, because the sword will commit you to a path from which cannot be escaped by even death itself." The cloaked figure's voice booms and echoes across the empty sands.
I understand his words and attempt to withdraw the sword from the ground. However, the sword and the entire desert darken as my hand reaches the grip of the blade. The ground starts to give way beneath me and I seem to fall into a darkness.
"Behold the Dark Sword, Caliburn. A fate truly worse than death." The voice trails off as I start to lose consciousness.
*Our hero awakens in his bedroom not long after this dream with a stretched out yawn. Scene 1*
"Huh?" I look around in a dazed confusion for a second.
It was just a dream. I must just be really stressing out about the start of my high school preliminary training camp this week and more specifically about the official induction ceremony that happens today. Although it really isn't anything to be worried about after all it is just entering information into a database that signifies your current status as a mage and gives you security clearance into the school. I lean over to my alarm clock that reads 5:00 in the morning. Only an hour until I have to get up. Even if I could go back to sleep within that time, there is no way I am taking the risk of oversleeping. I manage to drag myself out of bed and walk over to my closet, grab a bag of laundered clothes on the door handle, and shuffle straight into the bathroom. By the time I walk out of the bathroom, I can hear my mom calling from downstairs to wake me up.
"Sweetie, it is time to wake up. I left your new uniform clothes hanging out for you on your closet door and don't forget that we have to be at Avalon Academy by 9:30 for check in so we need to be ready to leave by 7:30 if we want to make it on time." By the time she finished her sentence I had already made it downstairs.
"I know mom, which is why I am already ready." My mom looks at me from the kitchen before gasping with excitement.
"Oh my goodness! I knew the uniform would look great on you." She exclaims with a joyous squeal to end her statement.
"Honestly I don't know if I would call this a uniform. I mean with I can almost guarantee that no one will be dressed like me. Do you think they will even let me in the door with these markings?" I ask her.
"Yes I do, because I already called the university to make sure and they said that those insignias will show the others just how qualified you are to be there, especially that one." She points at the insignia inscribed on the right shoulder of my shirt.
"Not to mention your my son and if they do not know what level of success that entails then they are about to find out." She smiles at me.
"Yeah I guess you are right." I agree with her.
"Now hurry up and eat your breakfast" She runs over to the table and lowers a plate in front of me.
"Thank you very much. Say is Pops going to be joining us today?"
"Unfortunately he can't. You know how he gets after his night jobs. It is a miracle to even get him awake by noon."
"Oh man, I feel so bad that he has to work so hard right now because of my truly worthless father in Undercity."
"Now hold on. Don't ruin this perfect day by mentioning his name. Besides, your real father even if not by blood, loves working so hard if it is for the betterment of your future and it is not like he will have to work forever. He just has to work to pay for the schools upfront cost, but yes I do agree that a little more financial support from your family down south would have been much appreciated. However due to the fact that they do not see the benefit of your attendance at Avalon, we will have to make do without them. Now like I said before, please finish your breakfast. I think we should leave early in case of traffic or long lines." She is right.
This is going to be my first day as a high school level mage and I can't let anything ruin my day.
*Approaching the front gates of Avalon High School Academy, located in central Avalon City. More specifically in the car of our hero's mother within the parking garage outside. Scene 2.*
"I certainly did make the right call about leaving early. There are a lot of cars parked so finding a spot is going to be difficult and we still have walk from the parking lot to the front gates. I mean seriously why put the lot so far out from the school."
"Well mom, I don't think they intend for a lot of students to be picked up and dropped off on a daily basis."
"I am aware of the rigorous living schedule of being an academy mage. Just because I went to the Enreagent Academy in the west for training a long time ago, does not make me any less aware of how it works. I am just saying it would be a whole lot better if someone didn't act all entitled like they deserve two parking spaces!" She starts shouting colorful profanities out the window at the official holy council escort vehicle that just took an open parking space in front of her.
It is very true that my mom is also a combat mage just like me, except she is what's known as a berserker class mage, which is one of the seven mage classes. Berserker, Saber, Assassin, Caster, Lancer, Rider, and Archer. They are distinguishable by their method of operating in combat and a few key physical and mental traits. My mom being a berserker mage means that she is very short tempered and physically very strong, however unlike most berserkers she usually only goes into a blind rage when she is protecting something or someone she cares about. In fact it has earned her the nickname of the "Wrathful Mother". She doesn't ever really explain what specifically earned her that nickname but if I had to guess I would say there were a lot of innocent souls in trouble and a lot of dead bodies as a result.
"Hey, are you alive back there? We have to go get checked in remember?" She waves her hand in front of my face to get my attention.
"Oh. Yeah sorry I was just thinking."
I unbuckle my seatbelt and get out of the car. We start our long trek to the front gates of the school as the morning sun beats down and the time on my watch ticks 9:15, which means that we somehow managed to spend just about a full hour trying to find a parking space. We reach a kiosk at the front gate with a sign on it that says "incoming freshman check in here!" in big multi colored letters. A peppy young girl approaches the front of the kiosk wearing a blue oxford style button up shirt with the words "Avalon Academy Orientation Staff" prominently displayed on a name-tag in the upper left corner of the shirt.
"Hello! You are here for orientation check-ins right?" The very cheerful girl says. Something is really off about her but I can't quite tell what it is. I doubt it is really something to be concerned over.
"Yes we are."
"Well first I need to see your official enrollment papers that the school sent you over the summer."
"Here. I have them right here." My mom hands papers from out of her purse over to the girl.
"Ok. Athenox, you are going to want to go to the Saber dormitories which are located in the first tower on the right. You have been assigned to room 728-D on the seventh floor in the last bedroom slot. This key-card will be required entrance to the school, certain buildings on campus, your dormitory and room, as well as your mailbox. Oh and don't worry about how blank it looks know. It will be updated after today's opening ceremonies" She hands over an almost blank key-card with a strange red logo on it.
"You should go configure your room and check it out, and be back in the cafeteria, which is on the first floor of the main building, by 10:30 for the official opening ceremony and parent dismissal." She rushes instructions at me. I almost didn't hear them because I was so focused on looking at the card. The red logo on it looks very familiar but I am unsure how. I had to have seen it somewhere else.
*Our hero continues to ponder the card as he and his mom make their way to the Saber dormitory. Scene 3.*
Even as we walk towards the dorm, my mind furiously struggles to find a solution. I only stop looking at the card when we get out of the elevator and make it down the hallway.
"Well this room says that it is 728." Mom says.
We walk inside to the open common area. It isn't anything too fancy. It just has a small kitchen, two couches around a table, a display screen on the wall in front of the couches, and three doors on both sides of the room. Currently the two doors in the middle on both sides are open and lead into bathrooms. The other four doors are marked with the letters A – D.
"Here it is. Room 728-D." I approach the door and use the keycard, a bright flash emerges out of the seams of the door before I can open it. Everything from my room at home is here in the exact same position.
"Even though they told us how it works, it is still amazing. The fact that Avalon Academy can use magic technology to outline the room and use quantum positioning to allow the room to potentially be in two different locations at once and only being present in the location observed or selected by the user. It is a feat that currently is somehow only possible in this city, but they are not sure why yet." I further explain
"Yeah it is really impressive. Especially considering the alternative would be generic, uniform, and mass-produced furniture that would not benefit any individual student too well."
"And not to mention, it allows you to personalize." My mom says.
She has a valid point. My room has a lot of customized features that are specifically designed to benefit my set of abilities, as well as being themed around the things I like. Examples of this are the two crossed iron training swords on the wall with additional swords on racks, the workbench with magical tools, my computer, and my bed setup to help in faster recovery of magic for dark magic users during a sleep state. Not to mention the bed alone is just really comfortable to begin with. It is a mages job to optimize their environment to better help the development of their magic, which is why all of this stuff is necessary.
"Say mom, what time is it?"
"It is just after 10:00." She exclaims right after looking down at her watch.
"Do you think we need to start heading down there now? I mean if finding a seat is going to be like finding a parking space, then it can't hurt."
"Alight then, let us head that way."
*Inside the Main building on the first floor in cafeteria. Groups of what appears to be new incoming freshmen and their parents are all sitting at tables across the large cafeteria. Our hero and parent are attempting to navigate the sea of tables for a place to sit. Scene 4.*
"Oh come on! Not all of you can be saving seats for the rest of your table. Your inability to want to meet new people should not supersede making sure everyone has a place to sit." I shout out across the cafeteria.
This is insane. For some reason they are all giving the same answer. It is beyond simple coincidence. It might mean they know who I am, or even worse if they know who my mother is. That would be impossible since there has been no formal form of introductions and any students information isn't uploaded into the school database until the induction ceremony which takes place directly after this. If any of these people can recognize me, then they would have to be pretty high up in any of the factions or they are just going off of misinterpreted rumors. Although if it is rumors then that would definitely explain the reactions.
"Hey over here!" An almost booming voice shouts across the room. I turn my head to find a boy who looks roughly my age and his parents seated at a table with two open spots. I grab my mom and we walk over at the table and sit down.
"Thank you very much for not being rude, unlike everybody else in this room." I bow my head graciously to the student and his parents.
"Oh, it's no problem at all. I really do not understand why no one else would let you sit with them."
"I honestly do not know either. Excuse me I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Athenox and this is my mom."
"It is nice to meet you. My name is Devin and these are my parents, and that is my little brother." Devin is wearing a red uniform shirt with matching red glasses and a pair of indigo blue jeans. His hair is short and brown, with red eyes but whether or not that is relevant is uncertain. The members of both parties officially introduce each member before being interrupted by a silencing "Hello" on a microphone.
"Thank you, now if we could get started. It would be much appreciated." The room quiets as a man on a platform in the center of a classroom continues speaking over the microphone.
"My name is Mr. Ambronensis, but you may call me Mr. Ambro for short. I am the current Principal Headmaster here at Avalon Academy, and on behalf of all of the faculty I would like to thank the parents for being here today. It is because of all you do to guide and nurture your kids that allows them to be developed enough to seek out this school to further master their abilities. I want to also thank the new students for wanting to be a part of this bright future, in which they do their families proud by seeking to grow the culmination of their ancestor's magic and give us hope for the future. It is also important that we have a new generation to stand against and protect others from the corrupted threats of this world. I do indeed hope that this class accomplishes a great deal in their time here, and when I speak to this group of parents at graduation I can speak about all of the wonderful things they have done. On a less sentimental and awkward note considering you all have only just meant me and graduation is probably the furthest thing from your minds right now. I will give you an outline of how the rest of the day is going to happen for the students. First we will serve lunch, and then at about 11:30 we will let all of the parents and family members say goodbye to their children before we split them into staff lead groups for the induction process which will take place upstairs in the Auditorium on the 3rd floor. Then after we conclude the induction ceremony which will be 1:00, we will send the groups to one of the seven different arenas we have setup for their first mage class test. And students a helpful word of advice. While we normally allow students to keep their phantasm weapon actively summoned on campus, for this first week when we do not have all of your official stats on record we ask that you avoid making any reckless and idiotic decisions. That is all." He lowers the microphone and walks off of the stage as carts full of food are being pushed by waiters in Avalon Academy Staff shirts just like the girl at the front desk.
"So that is the principal? He seems like a really interesting person." Devin says.
"I don't know what to make of him yet. Say Devin, they said after the induction ceremony that we are going to have our first mage class test right? How do you think they are going to order the groups that go to a specific class test first?" I ask Devin.
"If I had to guess, then I would probably say that they are going to use the simplest approach. Sort the groups by their primary class, and then have those groups take the first class test based on those classes. That way the first results to be entered into the system would be the best, given that the first results would be of the student's primary class. I assume that they do this to prioritize schedules." Devin responds.
"Now Athenox! You don't have to be so focused on the events this week. You are allowed to have a little fun, and I think it is beneficial you aren't always so buried in studies and combat." My mom tells me.
"I know that and I will. I just thought it would be nice to have a second opinion on what to expect. Especially from another Saber class mage." I explain to my mom.
"Oh it's no big. Wait, how did you figure out I was a Saber class mage? We aren't really supposed to have anyone else's information until after the induction ceremony at the earliest." He asks in shock at the information I had found out.
"Well a few things gave it away. The first was the way you called us out to sit over here which if nothing else told me that you weren't a Caster. Second was your hands and arms, because of the way you used them. When you talked you raise them both significantly higher than average, which if I had to guess if a reflex from having to block with two bladed weapons in combat so in most known cases I would rule out Archer and Lancer. That combined with the scars on your arms from sparring and the fact that you don't even closely smell like a spirit animal eliminates Rider as a primary class. The precision of those scars indicates that you are extremely relentless in training by being dedicated to mastering a sword technique and do not give up after three tries tells me that you are not a Berserker." I explain to Devin.
"Wow you are really good. You could tell all that just by looking at me and from there figure out that I mentally and physical matched a Saber mage? Is that like your magic ability or something?"
"I only used observations and personal experience to confirm the first biggest tell. Which was looking at the emblems on your uniform shirt. They are very unique to apprentice students of fire faction sword trainers."
"So your kid is like that too I suppose? I thought Devin was a rare breed of child." Devin's mom asks my mom.
"Nothing rare about it. It seems as if this generation likes to get worked up and serious over normal everyday life. Never stopping to enjoy their youth because of how intent they are to fight nothing. They do not realize how good they have got it. In our days there was a lot of fighting and war with no real answers at the end. However even at the worst of our struggles I doubt it compares to the generations before us or even the challenges of the time of the seven founding mages." My mom continues to converse about the old days with Devin's mom.
A waiter comes by with a cart and drops off plates of food.
"Even though it is a little early to be having lunch, we do have a lot going on today so they probably don't want to have to stop in the middle of the tests." As he finishes his sentence we both start to actively dig into our food. By the time we our done my watch reads 11:25.
"It looks like it's about the time that they are going to start calling your groups. Which means that we should get going." My mom smiles and nods at Devin's family as everyone around the room gets up from their tables.
"This was nice Devin. It makes me feel so much better knowing that I can leave you here because you have already made a friend on the first day." Devin's mother tells him as they hug goodbye.
"I hope you two don't get into too much trouble. And Athenox, if you need anything you know you can call me and I will answer." My mom hugs me goodbye.
"Don't worry. I will be fine. Just make sure that you and dad take care."
"We will. I promise." We wave at each other as Devin's family and my mom leave the cafeteria.
It is not long after before all of the students in the cafeteria are called into seven different groups. When they call for the Saber group, Devin and I get in line together. Now for what is going to potentially the most nerve racking part of my day. The induction ceremony.
*The Saber group along with the other groups head out of the cafeteria to the Auditorium on the 3rd floor. They each take up a different section of seats in the Auditorium. Scene 5.*
"Ok students. This is going to be our induction ceremony. It is very simple and should not scare you. The purpose of these initial rankings is to get an accurate assessment of what specific areas you need development in and it also serves to add you into the schools database for security and tracking purposes. One by one we will call you up from your groups. You will then come down to your assigned station. From there, you will place your hands on the preplaced practice phantasm measuring devices on the floor. You need to channel your mana as if you were summoning your phantasm weapon. It is also critical that you channel as much as you can until you start feeling feedback on the spell, because while you want to give the most accurate readings it is important that you don't overload or empower them because these are not made for that and will definitely break. We will cover both empowering and overloading in your classes later in the semester." A lady who looks like some kind of administration instructs us on how to perform the induction ceremony.
"Athenox, just out of curiosity. Do you know what overloading is? I have never really heard of it before." Devin asks me.
"It is what happens when you overflow a noble phantasm with your magic energy. It essentially becomes a pressurized magic energy bomb that becomes unstable and blows up, due to the limited capacity of each phantasm weapon. Overloading can in severe cases can also lead the over draining of mana, which can physically harm the mage if the amount of mana attempted to be put into the weapon over exceeds the total amount of mana the mage has in their body " I explain.
"That sounds really bad, especially considering little kids are able to summon phantasm weapons."
"And in most cases it would be, if it weren't for the fact that mages are limited on their total magic energy from which they can use. Also mages can suffer from exhaustion from overusing mana within their bodies and it would be impossible in most conditions to generate magic energy fast enough to keep a constant supply in your phantasm weapon, and even attempting would cause a high amount of feedback in a mages body that would cause you to go numb and blackout before you could really cause harm. Plus through usage of the weapon excess magical energy that was stored is used up."
"So it seems as if there are a lot of natural inhibitors to prevent that from happening easily. Then why would he have to tell us?"
"These inhibitors are not foolproof and it is still possible to override them. If you trained hard enough or had a unique set of abilities, then you could increase your natural tolerance and make it possible to use and still remain standing. Some fighters even use overloading as a combat strategy to destroy a group of enemies around them, even at the cost of their own lives. Typically a last ditch effort though. The point is it would be really inconvenient if either on purpose or accidental someone managed to cause an explosion, especially right before our first mage class test."
"I don't know. I think it would be pretty funny to see a few idiots blow up today, especially a Caster. They just can't help themselves." A boy sitting on the other side of Devin interjects with a chuckle. He is wearing a white uniform shirt, light blue jeans and has shortcut red hair.
"No not really considering it could kill them."
"Oh please! Anyone stupid enough to get themselves killed by that deserves it." This kid says with an arrogance in his voice.
I just can't stand it. His obvious ability to shrug off an innocent person getting killed as humorous entertainment.
"Careful. It is statements like those that get your full identity found out before you can even have a chance to grab that phantasm on stage and officially enter yourself into the academy. Heaven forbid you get a target on your back on the first day. It would be a shame to have to win a fight so easily." I explain to him.
"Ha that's tough talk coming from a lowlife nobody who I have never heard of before in my life. If you were truly someone important, then I would have already recognized you and you would have already recognized me. However since neither seems to be the case you are probably some E ranked wash up who had their mom send the academy a letter about how badly you want to become a mage so you can try to follow your hopes and dreams of saving the world from the corruption once and for all, and become the "big hero". Unfortunately it won't happen, because even if you didn't look like a failure of a mage there would still be no point in it. Everyone knows that the corruption have been dormant for almost a million years, so no one really cares if you kill a few weak ones on the outskirts of town. It won't make you a hero." As he talks, his words are slowly pushing me over a ledge.
I am becoming irritated beyond all measure. To the point where I want to knock his lights out, but the principal did say not to do anything reckless.
"While we do appreciate your concern, it is unlikely that anyone is going to die from overloading. Thanks to the magic core of the school, any damage a mage receives in this room will be reduced to a mere push. And you should have both been instructed very clearly on the school rules. You are not to discuss anything about your abilities or your identity at least until after the induction ceremony. The school does not want to be responsible for whatever consequences come from others knowing who you are until we have you safely in our custody as students. Then whatever bad blood you have becomes irrelevant compared to your training. Anyway, the reason I had come over here is because we have been calling your name for the past five minutes. Clearly you weren't listening, but we don't have all day." She points to me and urges me to stand up from my seat and walk down to the phantasm device on stage.
The phantasm device looks like a sword coming out of the ground. It almost looks like my weapon, but it isn't. They use a very specific model of sword that is very common among phantasm weapon users, in order to gauge the worthiness of a mages abilities. As soon as she readies me, I reach out my hands and start to channel the mana within my hands as I grab the handle of the sword and summon my weapon. It appears from the physical form of the preplaced measurement device. It appears with a black glow. Now that I look at it, the model sword does look near exactly like mine. A screen display above shows the name that I have been seeing in my dreams for the past week with an increasing amount of detail, along with all of my other initial rankings and my name.
"That was a very well performed summon. There aren't many who can summon a weapon in at 95% structural integrity, even less who can do it at such a young age. It is quite impressive, even if the weapon itself isn't rated high in terms of attack power. Athenox Emiya, I do look forward to seeing more great things from you as the year progresses. You may now head back to your seat." I walk off of the stage as she calls the next student on stage. This next student of course is Devin. His full name is Devin El-Melloi, he is as I figured the son of the High Lord of the Burning Ember faction, which specializes in fire magic. His phantasm weapons are the Twin blades of the Conqueror, which explains why he was training with that blocking stance that left scars on his arms.
"The Dark Sword Caliburn? What kind of a name is that for a phantasm weapon? It doesn't even sound cool. It sounds like a cheap knock off of Excalibur. I couldn't even see it. Are you hiding it out of embarrassment? Plus it is Rank C, how can you call yourself a Saber mage with such a weak sword?" The irritating voice from earlier calls out from his seat as he looks at his watch and reads the newly posted stats.
"Hey, other troublemaker, get down here and give us something that proves that you have a right to make fun of other people." The teacher calls him on stage.
"Fine, then let me show you what a real phantasm weapon looks like." He walks up to the stage, and upon confirmation of the teacher he grabs to device and summons his weapon. Upon the completion of the summoning, a bright flash of light is emitted from a sword and shield that are Rank A, and his name is Luke Matou. As I figured he is one of the sons of a high ranking family within the Holy Council faction. He waves his sword around to show it off.
"Thank you for the attempted display, but that summoning was far from perfect, and you almost overloaded the device in the process. Maybe if you could not be so reckless next time. Now get off the stage. Next!" The teacher says to him as she is irritated and calls out the next student.
"Well since he wants to make it a competition, then I will have to show him what a real phantasm looks like." A new but familiar voice exclaims as he gets up from the end of the row of seats and walks up to the stage.
Whoever he is, he has a smirk on his face that can clearly display the amount of overconfidence in which he has in himself. The voice is one I have heard before. He walks up to the device, places one hand on the device, and in a matter of seconds summons his weapon.
"A 93% integrity summon on a Rank EX phantasm weapon is nearly impossible, keep up the good work Einzbern." As soon as she said that I knew who the new voice of arrogance was.
Jason von Einzbern. Son of the leader of the Hallow faction within Undercity who is constantly fighting against my father for controlling position of Undercity. His phantasm is known as Ea, the gate key to Babylon. It is a Rank EX sword, which is the highest rating phantasm weapon a mage can attain. It is an overwhelming force of power. I know because I fought against it many times growing up in Undercity. We used to go to the same school growing up, and we even used to be friends until one day he started acting different. I wouldn't have even remembered him had it not been for his weapon.
"Man that guy makes all of us look bad compared to him. It isn't often that you see an EX ranked phantasm." Devin says in shock.
"It is quite a common occurrence for me. Most of the mages in Justice Point carry around EX ranked weapons." Luke proudly gloats in an attempt to make himself sound cooler than he actually is.
"Then the obvious question is why don't you carry around a Rank EX? It couldn't possibly be something wrong with your abilities? Or is it actually because there are currently only around 1300 in the whole world who can summon an EX ranked phantasm? While it is true that a large population of them are gathered in the Holy Council capital city, they are not the majority populous. In fact compared to other factions, they don't even hold the most." I taunt him mostly for the fun of it in order to disprove his exaggeration.
"I am not going to take this from a C ranked looser." He turns around in his chair to face away from me, because he has no actionable defense for his lie. The rest of the induction ceremony goes by pretty fast, so I guess it wasn't as bad as I had made it out to be.
A few other phantasm weapons did stick out from the rest, certainly I will have to see how they operate close up. Our first class tests are up next, and I just hope that it isn't student duels yet.
*The groups are lead upstairs into the arenas, where each group approaches a different arena. This is the location where the mage class tests are taking place. Scene 6.*
"Saber group come right this way to Arena 1, Archer group to Arena 2, Rider to Arena 3, Assassin to Arena 4, Berserker to Arena 5, Lancer to Arena 6, and Caster to Arena 7. The rules of the test will be explained by a teacher on your platform." Our principal Mr. Ambro announces from an arena in the center.
When our group walks to the designated arena, a teacher stands at the center of the platform. She is wearing a black business suit with a purple tie and a smile on her face like she is ready for us.
"Hello! My name is Mrs. Lanslac, but since I will probably be seeing a lot of you and to distinct me from my husband Mr. Lanslac who some of you might be seeing tomorrow, you may call me Mrs. for short. I will be giving you all the Saber class test today. Now if you could all please gather in the center ring of the arena, we will await for the arena transformation." She says as she looks down to check her watch.
Upon further inspection, her suit has a cleanly placed purple sigil on her shoulder and the watch she was checking is also purple. It must be her sub faction color, but I have never heard of any group aside from poison users in the nature faction and they don't typically wear black suits and they also aren't known for being Saber class mages, but I will probably have to wait until our official classes next Monday to get a better understanding.
"Arena transformations initiated. Begin Empowering the Bounded Reality Marbles." A voice comes over an intercom within the complex.
"Understood." Mrs. Lanslac speaks into an earpiece before mouthing out words that appear to be a spell. Bright flashes of light seem to engulf the seven arenas and expand all the way to the ceiling, rendering anything else outside of the center of the arena that we are standing in not visible. When the light fades, and leaves behind a ring of training dummies and various setups of practice weapons, and each training dummy is surrounded by dividing walls.
"Ok, find a station that matches your phantasm weapon setup. We set them up according to your entrance information, so there should be one for everyone. This test will occur in phases, and each phases will get more and more difficult as they progress. When I say start, you should pick up the weapons at your stations and swing at the targets. These are also measurement device weapons that will test your combat technique and abilities, however in this first phase you should not summon them into your phantasms yet. This is so we can get an idea of your fighting style." We all approach our stations and pick the weapons up. The weapons look almost like replicas of our phantasm weapons. Mine is a two-handed sword again looks identical to Dark Caliburn, which is still weird because I have yet to understand the reason for the resemblance.
"Weapons ready on my countdown. 3…2…1… Go!" As soon as she says that I start in on the target with series of strikes and focus only on the target in front of me.
It is critical not to let anything else going on interfere with my results, because I want them to be accurate enough so I can best improve from where I am now. Which is why I felt it so necessary to attend this school over any other combat high. Within a few minutes, I start to get a weird feeling about the dummies. She said that this test was in phases that got progressively harder. It is almost like I can sense magic building up in them. There has to be something special about them. As I finish the though I hear a chain of at least 5 thuds from around the arena. I don't quite know why yet but I have to be prepared to deflect. Within the same second that I have my sword in position, I am immediately countered by a blade. When I fully realize the situation I see the dummy wielding a sword in front of me, currently locked in with my practice sword.
"Indeed as most of you have realized, these are not just normal training dummies. They are reactive training dummies." Mrs. Lanslac exclaims to the group. I need to break this standoff so I do not run out of energy trying to overpower him.
I push out of the lock and evade backwards. The dummy underestimates the distance of the evasion and slams down in an attempt to try and knock me out, but misses and gets the sword stuck in the ground from the amount of force in the attack. I rush in and kick the sword out of the dummy's hand. While he is stunned I take a large swing at his head which knocks him on his back and leaves him motionless. If they are reactive, then how? I would have felt it before if they were preloaded with mana, and even if they were concealed then there is no way for the concealment to gradually decrease like that. Well at least not one that I am currently aware of. Unless, it was able to…. Before I can finish my sentence I am sliced across my back. When I turn around to face the attacker, I am shocked because I was attacked by myself. A mirror image stands before me with an identical sword in hand. It doesn't make any sense.
"So you are starting to notice the final phase of the test. In the beginning we had you attack a stationary target to test all of your parameters without interference, then we had the dummy automate and adapt to your abilities based off the first phase of information to see how you react to a target that is fighting back. Now we are using that full set of data to reconstruct and match your physical capabilities to give us a third set of data that tells us how you react to your own abilities, through what is essentially a dummy clone." Mrs. Lanslac announces.
If they are clones then it would be fair to assume that they are structured around the attacks that they received, meaning that they know our parameters based on the fighting style we used against them initially. The only thing I don't fully understand is how they absorbed this information. Sure there are electronic sensors that can detect physical impact force and speed, as well as motion tracking sensors that could see our strikes, but considering myself and probably everyone else are using magic enhancements to increase our striking force in some form it would be nearly impossible for standard technology to keep up and it wouldn't be as accurate. So if they are using magic sensors, then the sensors would have to have to have already been charged with magical energy. However when the dummies first appeared, there was no detectable amounts of magic energy in them and they only seemed to build up over time. That means the only possible thing that can put all of these factors together would be if… They are void magic sensors, but that is rare beyond any measure. Currently there are not a lot of void magic users in existence and if I had to put a number on it I would say around 100 or 200. I only know this because the ones that do exist are registered as a sub faction of the dark faction. Well even if it isn't void, then it still has to be some kind of draining device that absorbs and analyzes the magical input pattern of attacks it receives
"So it is a magic siphon sensor, right?" I ask our instructor, Mrs. Lanslac.
"I am surprised that you could figure it out at all." Mrs. Lanslac responds.
"And if you know that then I assume that you must have some idea how to defeat it?" She asks back.
It will know every move I could make and how I could make it in the stance in which I attacked in. The best strategy would be to use a different fighting stance against it, one that it would be unable to predict due to its unfamiliarity with style I had been using. No one else seems to have heard me, due to the current fact that they are technically a little distracted by themselves at the moment. Good, because I don't want them to know my full capabilities yet. Especially if student duels have a chance of becoming a threat at all this week. I want to keep my advantage. Without the rest of the group noticing, I change my fighting stance. I keep my right hand gripped to the sword and pull my arm back slightly. I release my left hand from the sword to keep my left arm extended almost as if I were casting a spell with it. This allows me use the free arm to channel and line up my vision, and my right arm to swing faster now that it is unimpeded by my left arm. I rush after the dummy, and striking even though he is able to block them. I can tell that the dummy is having trouble keeping up with this stance. My ability to swing faster leaves him very little offensive options. He can't attack fast because of the air drag created from both of his arms, plus the number of motions you can perform with your hands together is very limited so I can see the pattern as I had performed it earlier. Alternating between left and right, finishing with a downward or upward strike. More often a downward than upward due to downward strikes being less physically draining. He is eventually faltering just as I would, and that is when I catch his blade and begin to push forward, still facing whatever resistance he has left. This would have been nearly impossible to due at the beginning of the fight when he had full strength, because under normal circumstances it is not possible to be able to win with cross guards interlocked while wielding a blade in a one handed stance against someone using a two handed stance. However this dummy clone doesn't have as much endurance as I do, which allows me to twist the blade upwards and send him staggering back far enough for me to a full spin and use the butt end of my blade to disarm him. Then retracting my left arm back, I generate a punch that connects with his face and knocks the dummy unconscious. The punch seemed to have cracked the dummy's head open, causing liquefied mana to ooze out and return his appearance to its initial state.
*End of Episode 1.*