Time for the second chapter in this long fic, showing off our first battle of the story (of sorts).
Chapter 2 – Rivalry of the Houses (Great Tree Moon)
A little over a week after Byleth had become the new professor for the Black Eagles, the students of all three houses found themselves in a field on the outskirts of the monastery. A mock battle had been scheduled that day, pitting the first-year students of the three houses against each other. The last team standing would be the winner, and though there wasn't anything to lose in the battle except pride, each student was determined to do their best.
At least, most of them were.
Dorothea let out a loud sigh as Bernadetta darted into a nearby bush to hide. Meanwhile, Linhardt was busy settling down for a nap under a tree, with Caspar unable to rouse him from his drowsiness.
The Black Eagles were going to be hard-pressed to win.
Looking back at their professor, Dorothea saw that Byleth didn't seem at all worried about being two students down right out of the gate. In fact, Dorothea couldn't figure out what Byleth was thinking at all, her face almost like a statue. It didn't inspire much confidence in the diva. She knew Byleth must've had more riding on this mock battle than the others, given that Seteth was using it as a means of judging her skills.
As the class looked out at the field, Hubert said, "Seeing as we are outnumbered, perhaps it would be best for us to let the Blue Lions and Golden Deer fight each other first. Once their numbers are thinned, we can–"
"That won't do at all, Hubert," Edelgard interrupted. "We represent the Adrestian Empire in this fight. If we don't seize victory with our own hands, what will they say of us? No, we will face our foes regardless of any disadvantage!"
"I agree," said Byleth, surprising the others. "They'll think we're weak. We'll use that to our benefit."
"Agreed," said Edelgard. "But first we must choose which house to attack first. The Blue Lions or the Golden Deer? Hmm, I'd say Dimitri is the bigger threat, but who knows what schemes Claude has up his sleeve. Professor, what do you think?"
Byleth paused for a moment as she looked out at the other two teams. Dorothea found herself looking out at the field as well. She didn't like their odds; Dimitri was renowned as a powerful warrior, while Claude was always full of tricks. The Blue Lions were clearly more united in their goal, but the Golden Deer had some powerful students in their ranks, including Lysithea and Raphael.
But when Byleth next spoke, Dorothea's face blanched with dismay.
"We'll take them both on at once."
…
Some ten minutes later, Dorothea could not believe that they were winning.
Byleth had split the remaining Black Eagles to attack both the Blue Lions and Golden Deer. Edelgard, Hubert, Ferdinand, Petra and Caspar had gone after the Golden Deer, and though Caspar had been knocked out by Hilda after she suckered him with her beauty, the rest of the Golden Deer were reeling, with only Claude, Lysithea, Hilda and Professor Hanneman still in the fight. Petra had lured Lorenz, Raphael and Ignatz into chasing her right into an ambush, allowing the others to quickly take them out of the fight. Meanwhile, Leonie and Marianne had both tried taking on Dimitri, who proved more than a match for the Sauin hunter, while Marianne hadn't even put up a fight against the prince. Dorothea was amazed things were going so well.
And that wasn't even taking Byleth herself into account. She had only taken Dorothea with her to go after the Blue Lions, but Dorothea had found herself doing very little of the fighting. Byleth was simply unstoppable. Within a span of seconds, she had knocked out Dedue, disarmed Ashe, and forced Sylvain to surrender. All Dorothea had done so far was catch Annette after the orange-haired girl had tripped on a broken barrel hidden in the foliage.
Dorothea now watched from behind a rock as Byleth engaged in battle with Ingrid. The blonde was putting up more of a fight than her friends had, but it was clear she was struggling to keep pace with the veteran mercenary. In the meantime, Byleth had ordered Dorothea to try and get on the Blue Lions' west flank so she could go after Mercedes. Dorothea was no expert on tactics, but she felt compelled to follow Byleth's lead.
Dorothea's face lit up in astonishment as Byleth made a powerful swing with her practice sword that broke Ingrid's lance in half. Surprised, Ingrid was too slow to react as Byleth lunged forward and pushed the blonde onto her back with her left elbow. Ingrid yelped as she hit the ground and found herself starting right at Byleth's wooden blade before her face. Ingrid grimaced in defeat.
"W-Wow…" Dorothea gasped. "Incredib– AHH!"
Dorothea yelped as she was grabbed by her left arm and thrown roughly to the ground. Cursing herself for getting distracted, Dorothea looked up to see her attacker.
Her eyes went wide with alarm as her gaze met that of Felix Hugo Fraldarius.
She knew she was in trouble. Felix was considered the best sword fighter among the students and she had heard that he had already seen real combat before, helping Dimitri suppress a rebellion in Faerghus. He wasn't someone to be taken lightly.
"Get up and fight," Felix said tersely.
Scrambling to her feet, Dorothea did her best to recompose herself as she readied her training sword. There wasn't time for her to ready a spell; Felix would surely get to her first.
Felix took two paces to his right as Dorothea assumed a stance, one he scoffed at. It was a poor stance, but she had never received proper training in sword combat. Dorothea was more-or-less self-taught, unlike Felix who had received proper instruction. She knew she was just going to end up getting trounced by him. But she couldn't bring herself to run.
Then he rushed at her. With a single blow he sent her wooden blade flying from her grasp. Dorothea yelped as she stumbled back and tripped, falling to the ground before the swordsman.
Before he struck again, Dorothea heard him say, "You're weak."
Dorothea shut her eyes and winced. This wasn't a real fight, but that didn't mean Felix wasn't going to leave some bruises on her.
The clatter of wood against wood met her ears. Startled, Dorothea opened her eyes and looked to see Byleth had rushed in front of her and blocked Felix's strike.
Felix was evidently surprised by this, but he was quick-witted enough to avoid Byleth's reprisal, jumping back to dodge a swing from the professor. He then grinned.
"You're strong, I'll give you that," said Felix. "I'm going to enjoy beating you, Professor."
Felix then shouted as he charged forward, while Byleth assumed a defensive stance. Felix's strikes were quick and precise, but Byleth continually parried each blow, showing a level of skill that left the heir of Fraldarius with a mix of frustration and excitement. At the same time, however, Byleth looked as though she were having trouble finding an opening to attack Felix.
Then, as Felix made another rush, Byleth swung at Felix's blade, their swords locking in a clash. Dorothea could see the look of enjoyment on Felix's face as he tried to overpower Byleth. The two were evenly matched.
As they pushed against one another, Byleth quickly glanced back at Dorothea. For a second, Dorothea was confused as to what she was trying to point out or say. But then, as if guided by some unseen hand, Dorothea instinctively raised a hand as she channeled her magic. The familiar feeling of power flowed through her as her fingers crackled with electricity, ready to be unleashed in one of the few spells Dorothea currently knew.
Felix, so caught up in his fight with Byleth, didn't realize what Dorothea was doing until it was too late. His face lit up in alarm as he tried to jump back, but Byleth shoved him hard as he did, throwing him off balance.
It was just the chance Dorothea had been looking for. She thrust out her hand, sending a surge of electricity into Felix's body and jolting him, his body convulsing. It wasn't nearly enough to threaten his life, but it still looked like it hurt.
The spell soon subsided, and Felix fell to his knees and clutched his right arm as he doubled over in pain, but he kept his gaze locked on Byleth. Shock had been replaced with fury as he realized he had lost.
"You fought well," Byleth said to Felix.
Upon hearing this, Felix grimaced and collapsed, the spell having left him unable to continue the fight.
Dorothea panted for breath at seeing this, and then looked up as Byleth turned around and extended a hand to her. Gingerly, the diva took her teacher's hand as she pulled her to her feet.
"Are you alright?" Byleth asked.
"Yeah, I'm… I'm alright," Dorothea answered. "Thanks for the save."
Nodding, Byleth said, "Come on, let's finish this."
Wordlessly, Dorothea followed Byleth back to the mock battle.
…
The classroom back at Garreg Mach was filled with cheer at the Black Eagles' astounding victory. Everyone was praising Byleth both as an amazing warrior, but also a brilliant leader. Even a few students from the Blue Lions and Golden Deer had come to congratulate Byleth on her victory, yet she took in their praise with solemn humility.
"That was impressing, Professor!" said Petra. Then, realizing her mistake, she added, "I mean… impressive. We gained a victory because of your great leadership."
"I was curious what it would look like if you did not hold back," said Ferdinand. "And you did not disappoint!"
"Hmph. I daresay we owe our victory to Lady Edelgard," said Hubert.
"How so?" asked Linhardt. "For that battle, she was only a soldier following Professor Eisner's command. Sure, she was an incredibly powerful soldier, but…"
"And how much did you contribute to said battle, Linhardt?" Hubert hissed. Linhardt immediately went silent at this.
Quivering under a desk, Bernadetta said, "I'm all done with being on the battlefield, OK? I'd rather stay back than pursue victory out there."
"But Bernadetta, you didn't even fight out there," said Annette, who was seated next to her best friend, Mercedes. "What gives, anyway?"
"Now, now, Annie," said Mercedes. "Maybe Bernadetta just found it too frightening."
"Yeah, but that meant her teammates had to fight without her. If it weren't for Professor Byleth, the Black Eagles would've been crushed."
Groaning, Bernadetta then murmured, "You don't need to rub it in, you know…"
"Oh, don't worry about it, Bernadetta!" said Caspar. "Us being two people down only made our victory even more impressive, am I right?"
"This coming from the one who let Hilda sucker him by unbuttoning her shirt?" said Leonie. "By the way, Hilda, that was pretty devious."
"Devious? That's a heck of a thing to say!" Hilda said, slightly offended.
"I mean, you didn't see Dorothea doing that to Felix, did you?"
The others turned to Dorothea at this point, which brought a light blush to her cheeks.
"She didn't even need to," said Hilda. "Did you see how she zapped him? That was fun to watch."
"He would've gotten me if Professor Byleth hadn't saved me," said Dorothea. She then turned to Byleth and said, "Really, the professor should've gotten him instead of me."
"You did well, Dorothea," said Byleth. "Felix put up a good fight."
"Not good enough, it seems," said a familiar voice, causing everyone to turn to see Felix as he walked toward Byleth.
Everyone seemed to go quiet at this. They knew Felix wasn't a good loser. In particular, Annette looked worried by what could happen next.
As Felix stopped in front of Byleth, he said, "I will admit it, Professor Eisner: you showed me I have much to learn." He then turned to Dorothea and said icily, "Including that I need to watch out for cheap shots."
Dorothea frowned at Felix as he said this.
"There's no such thing as a 'cheap shot' in battle, Felix," said Byleth.
"True enough…" Felix scoffed as spun on his heel and made his way out of the classroom.
As soon as he had gone, Leonie then said, "Don't let him get to you, Dorothea. I'd have done the same thing if I were in your shoes. All's fair in battle, after all."
"Leonie has correctness," said Petra. "In battle, winning is of the most mattering… I mean, matters the most."
"I guess you're right," said Dorothea. "Still, I can't help but wish that I could've taken Felix on my own." Turning to Byleth, she added, "I mean, you took down over half of the Blue Lions singlehanded, Professor. You were unbelievable out there!"
"I just didn't hold back," said Byleth.
"Well, here's to our new Professor!" Dorothea raised her cup of pomegranate juice, prompting several of the others to do the same in cheer.
The festivities would continue for the remainder of the afternoon, much to the delight of a certain invisible girl with green hair.
"This is sure to be an intriguing year for you, my friend," said Sothis.
Just for reference, assume the game is being played on Maddening NG+, so Byleth is a tad OP. My build for her is Alert Stance+, Swordfaire, Sword Prowess 5, Quick Riposte, and Darting Blow.