Surprise! Unknowingly, I spent the entire day in the zone, writing nothing but this story. SO HERES A THIRD UPDATE MEOWHAHAH
Apparently an entire chunk of my story was not uploaded properly and this chapter seemed a little rushed without it. It's since been fixed and the holes filled now. Enjoy as always! As well as. holy crap 2.1k words in a chapter. DAMNNN
"Sis!" a single voice pierced through the crowd that fell silent once the red-headed prodigy stepped into the hall.
Whispers and murmurs rippled through the crowd with both staff and students exchanging glances at the crude boy that was nothing like his composed older sister.
"Hey Els! Glad to see that you aren't late as usual." she teased him, outstretching her hand and ruffling his hair.
"You are just in time! I'm headed up soon!" he beamed, flashing a teasing smile. "I wonder if I will be able to break their equipment with my overpowered skills."
"You should go ahead and try." she winked back at him.
"Will Elsword Siegeheart please report to the stage for evaluation. I repeat, applicant number #58 Elsword Siegeheart, please report to the stage ASAP. That is all, thank you."
"It's my turn to shine now! See ya soon, sis!" he looked back as he ran.
"Els! Look o-" she never got to complete her sentence as the boy crashed into a girl donning purple, Elesis sighed and facepalmed.
"Oops! Sorry!" he hurriedly helped the girl with her books before dashing off again.
"That boy is going to be a handful." Raven sighed, shaking his head.
"Well, after all. We are siblings." The redhead laughed gently. "Now, let's see if we can find some seats, shall we?"
~Line Break~
"Unlimited Blade!" the blur of red hair shouted, slicing at the dummy with all his might.
"Kahaha, look at the pathetic fool trying to get a good score." a white-haired boy clung to the shadows as he observed the passing crowd looking at a particular redhead taking her seat at the back of the row. "Who knew that they would begin calling names from the back of the list? I assume that I will be the last. Oh well, I suppose they are saving the best for last." A smirk found itself being plastered onto his face.
The buzzer sounded, signaling that the data sampling was done. 49750 was written on the digital signboard that was shown on the sides of the hall, placing him at the number 1 spot on the list, much to his delight.
As he joined his sister by the sidelines, he was grinning from ear to ear. "Hehe, how was that, Sis? I wasn't able to break the equipment, but being first is a good consolation prize!"
She smiled back tenderly, "looks like all that training paid off huh?"
The rest of the tryouts passed uneventfully, with the mage he had bumped into coming close to beating Elsword's score.
"Aisha huh?" The boy leaned further back into his seat to mask his slight blush.
"Will the last participant, umm.. it just says Add, with no surname written, is there some sort of... no? Ahem.. My apologies, then will Add please report to the stage please?" The voice over the PA system seemed confused.
"Pfft.. Hahaha, what type of name is Add? What's next? Minus?" Elsword immediately burst laughing.
"That's not nice, Els!" Snapped Elesis as the boy in question stepped onto the stage.
To everyone's surprise, he walked up to the dummy and kicked it, then exclaiming loudly " Oh no! That was my best skill!" before signalling to the invigilators that he was done. It was no surprise that with a number in the hundreds, he was nearly at the bottom of the table.
"Well that was an anti climatic ending, right guys?" Elsword turned to see his sister and her companions with straight faces.
"The guy's got some skill." Raven was the first to speak.
"Truly, a scary boy." Even the usually playful Rena was seriously staring at the back of the vanishing shadow.
Understanding that her little brother had not understood the gravity of the situation, she took it upon herself to explain it to him. "He got a low score on purpose. Have a look at his raw score."
The number next to the boy's smirking face read : 666. (1)
"That was definitely no coincidence." she said thoughtfully.
~Line Break~
"Hi there, nice to meet you. My name is Aisha." her amethyst eyes looked straight into his.
For the first time in a long while, Elsword was lost for words.
What luck! She is sitting next to me!
"E..Err. Hi. Elsword." he stammered.
"Yes, I know who you are. Mister Top First-Year and sister of Elesis-senpai, also the same rude boy who made me drop my books and not help pick them up after" she rolled her eyes and went back to reading her book.
He blinked and finally retrieved his sense from the ditch it had fallen into. "Wait… I did that?"
"Yes. Yes,you did. Now if you would like to shut up, I am trying to read here." she shot him a killer glance and buried herself back in her book.
I made a big mistake bumping into her at the tryouts. He mentally cursed himself for being so carefree at that moment.
~Line Break~
The next few days were spent uneventfully getting orientated around the huge campus.
"I, for one, had no idea that we even needed shuttle buses to get to our various lecture locations." the boy chewed, with driblets of food spraying all over his friends.
"I would appreciate you not coming into any form of contact with my food." Aisha stated simply, moving her tray closer towards the opposite end of the bench the group was sitting at. "Why am I even sitting opposite HIM?" she rolled her eyes and started munching on her carrot sticks.
"Now now, Aisha, Elsword was just trying to liven up the conversation. Right, Elsword?" the blond sitting next to him smiled warmly.
"Yes yes! I agree." The ebonette accompanying him nodded as well, her amber eyes conveying the same kind of warmth.
"Oh hi there, how was orientation?" The passing crimson maiden stopped in her tracks, upon noticing her brother mixed amongst the freshies.
"Afternoon, student council president!" the rest of them immediately became stiff, while the only other redhead replied a quick "Hey sis. What's up?" before being smacked behind the head by Aisha.
"Haha guys, it's fine. I'm a student here, just like you guys. Call me Elesis. Or even Elly if you so wish it." she winked playfully.
"Now now, Elly! No flirting with the juniors without me!" the green elf popped up from behind her and began massaging her chest. "Yup! Nothing beats the feel of Elesis in the morning!"
'K-Kya! I-It's not even morning, R-Rena. P-Please stop!" the erotic scene began playing out with Rena groping at Elesis' chest, to the point where some of the males in the canteen began to spout nosebleeds.
This was not to be however, as down came the wooden sword of justice, stopping Rena in her tracks and subduing her.
"Rena, I believe I warned you not to do that before we arrived." said its stone faced owner.
"S-sorry Raven! Please let me go! HAAALPPP!" as the elf ran for cover.
"I apologise for the trouble she caused." he quickly bowed, before giving chase yelling "Get back here, Rena! Suffer your punishment!"
"Haha… They sure are cute, aren't they?" Pink still clung to her cheeks as she coughed to grab their attention. "Mind if I join you guys for lunch? It seems my escorts are going to be busy for the rest of lunch." she pulled a chair and sat facing them all.
"Are they always like this?" piped up Ara, slightly concerned at the fact that Raven was currently holding Rena in a stranglehold.
"Well, it may not look like it, but Raven had always had a soft side for Rena. He is only this lively when she is around, you see. They have known each other for a long time too. I sometimes like to secretly think that they are in a secret underground relationship." She laughed as Raven tied Rena's hands in a cow hitch behind her back.
"So is there any one that you have your eyes on then, Elesis-senpai?" Aisha pricked up her eyes and questioned her.
"A-ah!? Er-erm. I don't think so?" she coughed softly, astounded at the question that came out of the left field, and smiled. "I'm way too busy looking after my brother after school anyways. I wouldn't have time to cultivate such a relationship." She reached over and ruffled the said brother's hair.
"You say it like it is a burden!" Elsword pouted, staring at his sister while he enjoyed the head scratch.
"Is that... that thing called incest?" A big question mark appeared over the ditzy spearwoman.
"Wha? No!" the siblings said in unison.
"That flustered expression is not really helping..." Chung sweatdropped.
"So… Umm who here is excited for the pairings next week?" she desperately tried to change the subject.
"What pairings?" the group turned to her questioningly.
"Wait, you guys don't know yet?" she raised her eyebrows. "Well, I suppose now that I've let the cat out of the bag, I have to spill the beans huh? Most of you know how this school works right? The student body is split into two different factions, the Knights and the Support factions."
"Right, with front line duty to the former and quality research and smith training to the latter." Chung nodded.
"Yes, correct. Well, starting from now on, the principal has decided it would be better to pair talented individuals from the two factions with each other, and will be holding tryouts for them on a Friday evening. Everyone is free to join in and as it is being held during class, appropriate excuse slips have already been prepared."
"Oh, so that's why we haven't seen that Minus boy around since the opening of school. Is he a member of the support faction?" Elsword suddenly recalled the white-haired boy.
"That is correct, it seems he is the top of the entire cohort in terms of theory, but as shown by the tryouts, his practical skills leave something to be desired for." The reply left Elesis' lips even before she realised it.
"Ooh Sis, are you, like, his stalker or something?" Elsword smirked.
"N-No! I'm just slightly interested in him. Something tells me that he is something more than what he appears to be." The slight embarrassment was overshadowed by the worried look that now manifested itself onto her beautiful features.
Now's the time. I can show off to both my sister and Aisha. Killing two birds with one stone! Teehee.
"Well, I don't think he is any threat at all!" Elsword stood up, and spoke loudly. If he were to stand in my way, I will take him on! And show you that he is not even worthy to stay in the same school as you, Sis!"
"Keke, is that so?" an edgy voice came from behind them. "So you wouldn't mind if we had a wager duel right now, do you?" The boy's left eye glowed in anticipation.
"Pfft, you don't even deserve to be in a duel against me." Elsword challenged the stare with a smirk of his own.
"But, if you win, you can wish for me to be expelled. And that would be the end of your troubles." The boy continued. Well, the bait has been set, now...
'Well then, consider your duel challenge accepted!" The crimson red eyes were now fired up.
Add grinned. Hook, line and sinker. He is making this too easy. "However, you would have to bet something of even more importance to you, as your ranking is way higher than mine."
"Well, then name what do you want from me." Elsword grinned, "It's not like I will be giving it to you anyways."
"Well then," he took slow deliberate steps towards the table. "I want…"
"Her." He wrapped his arm around Elesis' waist, and gave a grin devilish enough to rule the entirety of the demon underworld.
(1): In case you guys didnt know. 666 is the number of the beast, a devilish creature.
Shirou-kun: YOU GOT WHAT YOU WANTED :D
