This academy really did not beat around the bush. On the 30th of Great Tree Moon, the first mock battle was planned between the three houses. Not all students would participate, only 5 from each class so approximately 25 from each house. It was an honor to be chosen for the mock battle, so everybody always tried their hardest to be chosen. I also wanted to participate, however that might be harder than I initially thought. And here's why.
After everybody had that little chat/interrogation with professor Beleth, he noted down everyone's possible strengths and weaknesses and proposed a possible starting class for each student. For example, Edelgard was good with axes so the professor suggested her to be a Fighter. Linhardt was an excellent healer so he was suggested to become a Monk. I did NOT get a suggestion.
"You've studied a lot of things so it is impossible to tell what class would suit you the best," Professor Beleth stated plainly. I was a bit shocked. I had hoped to become a Myrmidon, since I've practiced using a sword, but the Professor did not seem to have much faith in what I said. At least I was not the only one like that. Dorothea and Bernadetta also stayed in the grey area.
"So which exam should I take, Professor? We do need to choose a class for the mock battle and for future battles as well," I dared to ask.
"We shall determine that in tomorrow's practical class. Meet me in the Training Grounds at 8 a.m. This includes everybody, even those who did get a suggestion," Beleth commanded as if we were his mercenary group not students. I prayed that the Professor would only make us demonstrate our skills on dummies or maybe each other. I prayed that he would not make us spar with himself.
8 a.m. in the morning. Everybody was standing in the Training Grounds, waiting to find out what exactly Professor Beleth had in mind.
"What is going to happen? Could we actually get a chance to spar with the Professor?" Caspar shifted excitedly next to me. His hands were clenched into fists and it was clear that he was itching for a fight. I on the other hand loathed the idea of having to fight the Professor. Although I had learned swordfighting and a bit of magic, I cannot say that I was too good at fighting other people. Mostly it was due to my size. I was rather short, so most of my opponents had further reach. They could get to me before I could get to them. Not to mention that I was not physically strong. I was in good shape, but I don't think my body was built for physical strength and prowess. As for offensive magic - I was not good at controlling my aim, so I mostly missed my target. Plus I hated the idea of burning somebody's flesh. Burn wounds hurt more and heal way worse than regular wounds. And I did not wish to inflict unnecessary suffering onto people, even if they were my enemies.
"Good morning! Today you all will spar with me one on one, so I could determine which class would suit you!" Professor Beleth announced what I feared the most. I could have handled sparing one on one against one of the classmates, but now I'll have to humiliate myself. There was no way I could actually decently spar with an experienced mercenary. I sighed. No escape from this, just have to try my best.
"Professor! I want to go first! Can I please go first?! Please!" Caspar rushed to the Professor and almost started begging him on his knees.
"As long as nobody minds," Beleth stated and scanned over all the students. When nobody said anything, he nodded in approval.
"YES!" Caspar was way too excited. But I was pretty sure Beleth would make quick work of him.
"Come at me with everything you've got," Professor said and straightened his posture. It did not look like he was about to fight. Instead it seemed like he was just enjoying the scenery. But I'm sure the Professor knew what he was doing when it came to fighting.
"Alright! Don't regret this later!" Caspar grabbed a training axe and ran towards the professor, yelling very loudly. Was that meant to be a battle cry? I noted to never bring Caspar to any stealth missions, if we ever are to have one.
As Caspar closed in on the Professor, he swung his axe sideways with as much force as possible as if ready to cut the man half. Beleth just stepped backwards and avoided the swing. Caspar did not relent and just kept swinging his axe from all possible angles, hoping to hit the Professor at least once. But ex-mercenary just kept dodging all the blows as if Caspar was going in slow-motion. Then Professor grabbed a training sword that was hanging by his belt and knocked Caspar's axe out of his arm with one swift swing.
"Not bad. You need to work on your footwork and aim. Fighter class would be well suited for you," Beleth stated. For a moment I thought I saw something resembling a small grin on Beleth's face, but wasn't sure. Maybe I just imagined it.
"Dangit! I'll get you next time!"
"Petra, you're next!" The Professor calls out and Petra eagerly goes to face him.
Everyone is defeated by the Professor rather quickly, except for Edelgard who managed to hold her ground a bit longer than others. I was impressed how swiftly she was swinging an axe with a physique not that different from mine. She must have trained very hard before coming to the Officer's Academy.
I, however, was probably the one who was defeated the quickest. Not sure if my nerves got the best of me, but my performance was awful. Instead of trying to use the sword effectively, I just rushed forward with sword pointed straight at him. Obviously he just swatted my sword away like it was nothing more than a fly.
"Swords may not be well suited for you. You know magic, right? Why not use it?" The Professor inquired.
"Yes, but my aim with magic is really bad. I'm afraid I might hit one of the other students. Also I don't like using magic in battle," I admitted quietly, hoping that my classmates were too preoccupied with themselves to pay any attention to me.
"Alright. But you need to find a suitable weapon for yourself. Try lances. You might be better with a weapon that has longer reach," he explained to me. His reasoning was sound, but could he really determine that I was not suited for using swords in those few minutes we spent sparring. It was worth a shot, because I never had felt comfortable using a sword.
Lances. What was even the correct way of using one? Should I just jab people with it? Is there a special technique? These and many other questions were running through my mind as I held a lance in my arms for the first time.
My parents got me a teacher for swordfighting, but it was more like a mandatory thing to learn for a noble. In reality they wanted me to excel in offensive magic - it would make me powerful on the battlefield and it was more common for noblewomen to know magic. Unfortunately, I neither liked it nor was good at it.
Lances intrigued me. They were light and long and, in theory, should give me the upper hand I needed to beat my opponents. I wished to understand this weapon better to show something worthwhile to professor Beleth and have the opportunity to be chosen for the mock battle. If I would just wait until the next practical lesson, then most likely I will not learn enough to be chosen for the battle.
"Hey, kid, do you need help with that?" A man's voice spoke to me. I turned around to see none other than Blade Breaker Jeralt himself. For a second I thought that I would drop the lance. Was it really Jeralt who was speaking to me? I knew that he was now residing in the Monastery, but I never actually expected to meet him face to face.
"Oh… this… I just want to learn how to use it. To be chosen for the mock battle," I stated and took this opportunity to admire the great Knight of Seiros. He was a rather tall man, scars adorning his physique from the many battles he had lived through. It was impossible to tell his age, but I would guess he was approximately 50 years old. Maybe younger because I could not see a single gray hair on him.
"I can teach you the basics, if you want," Jeralt suggested and my jaw nearly dropped to the ground. The great Jeralt was willing to teach me! I would be a fool to decline such a once in a lifetime opportunity.
"Really? I would love that!" Excitement in my voice was very apparent, so Jeralt gave me a little smile.
"Alright, calm down now. No need to lose your socks! Let's start with your stance," Jeralt walked up to me and took the lance from me to demonstrate the correct stance.
"See how my knees are bent, I'm holding the lance with both hands and pointing it upwards. If I would point it downwards, then it might dig into the ground and make me fall. That is especially important for someone short like you," Jeralt did not do any idle talk. He instructed me masterfully, as if he had done this his whole life. Maybe he had. He was probably the one who taught professor Beleth how to fight. It really made me wonder why was he not appointed a teacher? He'd be great!
Jeralt handed the lance back to me and I did my best to imitate the stance he'd just shown me.
"Alright, not bad! Now let's go over to those training dummies," Jeralt said and I obediently followed him. "Try stabbing one."
I was not sure how to approach this task so I just jabbed the dummy like one would jab a fish on a spear.
"Okay. Now that is not the right way to do it! You are too rigid. Use the stance I just showed you and try swaying in your knees. Then stab the dummy from either side," Jeralt noted, his tone calm, even encouraging I would say.
I gripped the lance tightly and took the fighting stance. Then just as Jeralt suggested I tried to stab the dummy from the sides. I could feel that it was still far from perfect, but it was a step up from what I had done previously.
"That's better. Now try moving more fluently, relax your grip and keep doing it for the next hour," Jeralt instructed. Doing the same thing for an hour sounded very tiring and boring, but I knew that without training I would never be chosen for the mock battle.
"Alright! I would really appreciate it if you could stay and watch even for just a few more minutes, sir," I asked as politely as I could and Jeralt furrowed his brow a little.
"Just call me Jeralt and I'll watch for the next half an hour. I don't like being addressed so formally."
"Alright, si- Jeralt!" I felt a bit uncomfortable just calling Jeralt by his name, but if he wanted that then I had no reason to go against his wishes.
"Excellent! You may begin now. I'll point out your mistakes," he gave me a small smile and sat down on one of the benches nearby. I felt so excited that I could not help but grin to myself almost the whole time Jeralt was instructing me. He was strict, but very patient. It was probably at this moment and thanks to this man that I decided that lances would be my weapon of choice.
Jeralt's training did miracles. On the next practical lesson, professor Beleth said that I did much better with a lance and that I should take the exam for Soldier class. And after I learned some more lance maneuvers with professor Beleth, passing the exam for Soldier class was easy. It was a beginner's exam so I should not feel too proud. But I was happy regardless.
What I should be proud of is the fact that Beleth chose me to participate in the mock battle.
"I chose you because you have improved more than anyone else with a weapon you have never even used before," he explained.
But as soon as I got chosen, I got really nervous. I would have to battle alongside Edelgard, Hubert, Ferdinand and Linhardt. Could I actually live up to everyone's expectations? Could I contribute to Black Eagles' victory? I will certainly do everything within my power to win the mock battle for my house.
Waiting for the mock battle to arrive seemed like waiting for a snail to crawl to a mountaintop. I was nervous the whole week before the battle so to ease my nerves I just kept going to the training area. Occasionally I would spar against Petra, Ferdinand or Caspar, but mostly I was slashing away at the dummies. It was quite excruciating and I just counted days and hours until the battle. Once it was time for the mock battle, it seemed to be over faster than I could say "Battle is over''.
Each house was commanded by their teacher, meaning that Black Eagles were led by Beleth, Golden Deer by Byleth and Blue Lion by Manuela. This mock battle was the first time I actually got to see Beleth's sister Byleth. Manuela I've met before in the infirmary after I accidentally cut my hand during training.
Byleth looked exactly like Beleth if he was female. Same dark green hair, same eyes, even their posture and demeanor seemed the same. However one big difference was their expression. Professor Beleth seemed like an emotionless soldier while Byleth seemed a bit more expressive (by comparison). I could see her show tiny smiles or nods of approval whenever one of the Golden Deer came to talk to her. That was especially apparent whenever she talked to Claude. This did not surprise me at all as Claude could probably make even rock smile if he tried hard enough. Alas there was not a lot of time for me to learn a lot about Byleth as battle was about to begin.
Professor Beleth's strategy was simple yet effective - use forest for cover. All of the Black Eagles quickly positioned themselves inside the forest and waited for the enemies to approach us first. I was quite nervous when Beleth ordered me to take the front row position because it meant enemies would come right for me. And they would be able to attack me first. But it turns out that sitting in the woods gave quite a tactical advantage.
Blue Lions headed straight for our location and when the first of them charged for me, I was honestly quite scared.
"Hide in the trees and bushes! Dodge every hit that you can!" Professor called out, being in the very middle of our front row formation.
I listened to him and when the boy with a sword from the Blue Lions charged at me, I ducked inside a nearby bush and then counterattacked him with a lance. After that Ferdinand, who was positioned next to me, finished him off.
"Nice going!" Ferdinand praised me. I was amazed that I could actually participate in this battle successfully.
The Black Eagles kept holding their position in the forest, but after we had taken out about fourth of all Blue Lions, they decided to change their strategy and focus on the Golden Deer. Unfortunately for them, they were a bit too late. While we were safely taking out the Lions from the forest, Golden Deer were attacking them from behind, essentially creating a pincer attack. Needless to say that the Blue Lions lost. Manuela later said that she was a nurse and a teacher, not a tactician. I had to agree that a teacher who mostly worked with healing indeed was not fair match against two experienced mercenaries.
The real contest started when we had to face Golden Deer. They were led by Byleth and she obviously would not fall for such a simple hide-in-the-forest trick. She led the assault on us herself with Claude and Ignatz covering her from behind. Byleth swiftly started taking out Black Eagles from the sidelines forcing us out of the forest.
"Melee attackers, form a defensive line around healers and mages! Archers, stay in the back!" Beleth commanded and then two forces clashed on equal grounds. Beleth took on his sister as no student could possibly match her skill. Lances clashed against lances, swords against swords and my heart was beating like crazy from the adrenaline.
"I'm sorry, milady, but I shall have to defeat you now! You may drop your weapon and then I will not have to hurt you," a boy with odd purple hair and a mannerism similar to Ferdinand's challenged me. The fact that he suggested that I should just give up, really made me mad.
"I'm afraid I'm not so easy to beat!" I said as I lunged at him with my lance, hitting his arm. He looked a bit shocked, almost insulted, for a moment, but then quickly recovered. And then something odd happened. As he was about to attack me with his lance, I could feel the surge of heat flowing through my body and my Crest activating. The purple-haired boy just froze in his tracks. I took the opportunity and pointed my lance right towards his heart.
"You're out!" I declared. But before I could even enjoy my victory, I felt something hard hit my chest. A dummy arrow.
"And you're out too!" Claude called out from behind the purple-haired boy, flashing me a mischievous grin. I was dumbfounded. He was hiding behind his allies so I never even noticed him approaching. I wanted to say to Claude that he was playing dirty, but the battle was not over yet, so I had no choice but to leave the battlefield.
In the end, the mock battle was a draw between Black Eagles and Golden Deer, because Byleth and Beleth were the last ones left standing. They were fighting each other for quite a while, but once it was evident that they were evenly matched, Jeralt called the battle even and grumbled something about "taking the whole fun out of it".
But in the evening it was not the exciting battle that was on my mind. It was my Crest. I had a Crest of Lamine, a Crest that is supposed to conserve uses of recovery magic. It shouldn't even manifest unless I am healing somebody. But it manifested during battle. I am not even sure what it did, but I felt it appear for sure. How could this even happen?