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Chapter Seven – The Sapphire Princess Part One

Two weeks have passed since the entrance exam. Alice enrolled right in the middle of the first semester. Her passing brought about rumors of a genius transfer student. Daughter of a once powerful Hierarchy mage, she is expected to be a rival for top marks in both in the field of academics and battles.

"Listen up Alice," Chaser was once again dragging the unfortunate trainee around the campus, "You have to be in your best behavior, okay? I don't want you to cause trouble for the Tutor."

"Tutor? I thought that I'll be attending the same classes as Lucia."

"Huh? You are."

"Then what did you mean that I'll cause trouble for my Tutor?"

"Didn't you know?" Alice just stares at him blankly. He clears his throat. "The academy's faculty is divided into two, the Tutors and the Teachers. Tutors are mages who lost their powers but decided to become instructors here in the academy. They specialize in teaching the basic subjects such as foreign language or arithmetic, basically non-magical subjects. Teachers are the complete opposite. Having retained their powers, they choose to teach instead of serving the Hierarchy."

"I see."

"Ah! There it is," he points out the giant wooden doors engraved with a picture of an angel with four wings. The frame of the doors is elaborately designed with feathers engraved on it.

Chaser is about to open the door when a woman seizes his hand.

"What is your business here Mr. Chaser?" she asks with a raised brow.

She had an appearance of a strict disciplinarian, her hair neatly combed to the left side, and wearing squared glasses. Her eyes were like of a tiger, provoked by the sight of Chaser.

"Is that the transfer?"

"Yes." Chaser quickly replies. He's tense. It was one of those times when Chaser was not the one with higher authority. His ego failed him once again. "I'm here to give her a tour of the school." He laughs nervously.

"I see. You may leave. You know very well that scum like you are not allowed in this place."

"Yes." He cuts short his escort of Alice and runs off.

"You…" she glares at Alice. "… name?"

"Alice… Alice Eunos."

"Eunos? Wait here." She opens the doors and enters the room.

Thud!!

"Settle down," her eyes quickly draw the attention of her students. The class was silent. "There will be a new student joining us today. I'm quite sure you have heard of her." From the hallway, Alice can clearly hear the commanding voice of the Tutor.

The students start to whisper to each other. Alice knows that she has to make a good impression to make friends. It might be a mage's school but it's a school none the less.

"Someone who passed the mêlée with flying colors, a rare diamond if you must compare…"

Her heart pounds heavily in her chest. Anxiety, fear, excitement, longing, happiness, so many emotions are flowing inside her.

"Daughter of the famed Sara the Graceful..."

Her head is about to explode. Could she handle the pressure of living in the shadow of her mother? Was the test just a fluke?

The door slams open.

"Excuse me for being late." A toneless voice shouts.

The petit blonde mage, Lucia, interrupted the Tutor's introductory speech. The weight of Alice's heart suddenly disappears as the thought of Lucia being scolded by the teacher fills her head. Her expectations were unsatisfied as the teacher just ignores Lucia completely.

"Yes, yes. Go to your seat Ms. Harlaown."

The class yields to the antics of Lucia.

"Did you see that?"

"Yeah. As expected of the stone-faced prince…"

"You're the best, Lucia! "

"Even the Tutor can't touch her."

"Everyone, please be quiet." A girl with golden brown hair and blue eyes stands up and slams her hand on the desk. "You're troubling our Tutor. Jeez… Lucia is already a handful."

"You're no fun, Class Rep."

"Yeah! Stop being a teacher's pet Raven."

"Teacher's pet? Do you know who I am?

"Uhm…" Alice is totally forgotten.

"WILL EVERYONE SHUT UP AND LISTEN!"

Her thundering voice finally silenced the class. Raven quietly sits down.

*coughs* "This is your new classmate, Alice Eunos. As you can see, she just recently discovered her powers but none the less. She passed the mêlée up against Lucia."

"Good day. I'm Alicia Eunos. Nice to meet you… I guess…"

The class all stare at awe. The idea of passing against Lucia was unheard of.

"Are you serious Ms. Blaine?"

"She was able to hold her own against the Elementary division's rank 1. That's so awesome!"

"Was Raven able to take Lucia head on?"

"No, I don't think so. Their levels are far too apart."

"Really?"

"Is that really true Ms. Blaine?"

"Yes. I am yet to receive the report on how she did it. I wanted to know how on earth she did it but for some reason, the information became classified. You're quite the student to have your file classified. Right, Ms. Eunos."

The entire class crowds around her and begins their interrogation. Only Raven and Lucia remained uninterested.

"Was she really that powerful?" Raven whispers.

"I don't know."

"Liar."

Raven clasps her hands. There was a moment of silence between them.

"Third period is Battle Simulation. You can find it out then." Lucia stoically suggests.

Ms. Blaine is now peeved at the lack of respect they are now showing her. She snaps.

"THAT'S ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU, BACK TO YOUR SEATS!"

The girls scramble to their seats leaving Alice at the mercy of the Tutor.

"Why haven't you gone to your seat yet Ms. Eunos?"

"You've yet to give me one ma'am."

"Ah, that's right." She scans the room for a vacancy. She points to the chair to Lucia's right. "Take your seat there."

"Yes."

As she approaches her seat, the class starts to fall apart once again.

"Look. Look. Raven, Lucia and the transfer student are sitting next to each other."

"My. My. No. 1, no. 2 and the powerfully unranked student, I wonder if Raven can still hold on to her rank. It looks like Ms. Transfer Student will take it from her."

"Is that even possible?"

"She did go against Lucia once. It's quite possible. It seems the prodigy of the Scion can't keep up with the best."

Third period, Battle Simulation, it is a test of the student's proficiency in both battle strategies and mastery of their magical arsenal. It is usually in the form of one on one bout. Their opponents are based on the rankings assigned to them. They will make use of a Storage Device that will allow them to manifest mana into powerful spells.

"For today's Battle Sim, I want…" Raven suddenly raises her hand. "What is it Ms. Scion?"

"I want to request a battle."

"Ah, you and Lucia can take the…"

"You're mistaken Tutor. The one who I want to fight is Ms. Eunos."

"Me?" Alice falters. Lucia catches her.

"Get a hold of yourself. She has yet to touch you."

"Thank you."

"Show them why you were accepted in this school." It was the first favor Lucia ever asked of her. She now needs to prove herself.

"I understand. I accept your challenge."

The girls start to whisper to each other. What does she want? Does she want to assure herself of her rank? This is bad. The Tutor should stop this.

"Very well."

"No way, seriously?"

"Ms. Blaine, why are you allowing…?"

"That's because, I'm curious myself of that child's power."

"I think you're just being unprofessional." One of the students whispers.

"Unprofessional or not, we should begin since both participants are ready. You should wear your Barrier Jackets now so…"

"Yes."

A blue light emits from the necklace. Her body is engulfed in the light. With her gothic dress with the cross running on her right sleeve, she amazes her classmates.

"She has her own Barrier Jacket. It looks so wonderful."

"No wonder she was able to fight Lucia."

"Ah. Her jacket looks like it's decorated with sapphires."

Ms. Blaine is simply stunned. She drops the box containing the Storage Devices to be used in the match.

"So this was why your personal information was classified," she smiles. "This is simply wonderful. You really are her daughter."

Raven grins.

"Do you think you're the only one who's special?"

She rummages her collar and shows off a necklace with three decors. She grabs the one shaped like a paw.

"Fenrir, awaken."

An intense whitish blue aura surrounds her and the room. The temperature drops and out of the light steps forth Raven. She dons a Barrier Jacket similar to that of Lucia. It's Knight Armor.

"I should let you know." She smiles malevolently "I am called the Sapphire Princess. I don the blue Knight Armor in honor of my ancestor. My Storage Devices allow me to tap into the ancient Unison Device, Rein Zwei. Prepare yourself."

Raven points her Fenrir towards Alice. What has she got herself into?

Note: Finally. Must sleep. Sleep good.