March of Blooming Companionship
Irene braced herself for the coming impact, but it was much gentler than she expected, the floor somehow absorbing the impact–
"Are you alright, Lady Schwarzer?"
'…that wasn't the floor, was it?'
Irene opened her eyes and looked up to see Lawrence looking down at her with concerned amber eyes, their faces a lot closer together–
"What was that about not being a hedonist you sleaze?!"
Lawrence turned to look at Masha, a perplexed look on his face, as Irene realized with dawning mortification that the giant noble had caught her in his arms. 'Why is this happening to me?!'
"Would you prefer I let her fall?" Lawrence shot back at the irate green-haired girl.
"Just where do you think your hands are?" Masha shrieked.
'Wha…!' Irene froze as she finally registered his large calloused hands, one holding on to her bare thigh and the other cupped around her torso under her shoulder. 'Aa…buh…waaah?!'
Lawrence startled a bit, leaning down to hurriedly set Irene down on her feet. "Please forgive my error, Lady Schwarzer, I should have been more careful."
"I-it's f-fine…really! Hehe." 'Oh Aidios, he's really muscular!' "I–uh…appreciate not hitting the ground, hehe." Her face was burning, and she was sure it was beet red. 'I'm going to die of embarrassment at this rate!'
"I do not understand," the Nord girl said. "That was an appropriate way to catch someone."
"Did you see where his hands were?!" Masha snapped, whirling around at the foreigner.
"Yes, spaced out to distribute her weight evenly," the taller girl replied, unaffected by the green haired girl's outrage.
"That's not the point!"
"He couldn't have caught you, you know," Elisha pointed out completely unhelpfully. "We fell at about the same time, Irene managed to hug the wall a bit–nice one by the way."
"What?! No! That is not what I am saying!" Masha growled. "As if I'd want some pampered fop trying to sweep me off my feet like I'm some toy to play with!"
"I still do not understand, he just put her back on her feet," the Nord girl pointed out.
"What self respecting man would bother with you specifically, anyways?" Julia sneered, throwing Masha a nasty look.
"Julia!" Irene gasped, shocked at the venom in her friend's tone. 'Masha shouldn't have gone there, but still!'
Masha looked stricken for a moment, then rage rekindled in her eyes. But before she could explode again, a scraping sound drew their attention as the silver haired boy slid down the ramp nonchalantly, landing lightly on his feet at the bottom.
"See. Trap."
"Ggrah! What is wrong with this class?!" Masha growled–her rant was cut off as a ringing sound filled the room they had fallen into, emanating from the various bags around the room, their weapon bags.
Elisha dashed over to his bag, patting around until he found what he was looking for, and pulled out a small handheld device that was the source of the ringing.
"Son of a bitch! I left that pocket empty for a reason!" He looked at the device clutched in his hand. "Oh you've got to be kidding me!"
"You recognize the device?" purple hair and glasses asked.
"Yeah," Elisha sighed, "took a lot of work to get it portable."
"Well I guess I shouldn't be surprised you'd recognize Reinford handiwork!" Instructor Valestein's voice chirped from the device.
"Of course I do!" Elisha snarled. "I–no," he sighed. "I guess it doesn't matter."
'He really changes mood really fast, I wonder why that is?'
"Anyways! This is a new type of–"
"Fifth-generation battle orbment made through collaboration between the Epstein Foundation and Reinford Company, called the All-Round Communication and Unison System because suits are shit at naming things," Elisha ranted. "An all-round communication system is a speaker, or a megaphone–!"
"...uhh, right, or ARCUS for short–"
"They picked the name for Gehenna-bound marketing!"
"U-um…Elisha?" Irene interjected gently, "can you explain what it is for, please?"
"Ah, right, that would be useful," he conceded.
"Annyways, they are combat orbments, so they can let you cast Arts at will–" Instructor Sara gamely tried to continue.
"They also theoretically allow two users to link reflexes, of a sort," Elisha added, "not to mention a quartz integration system and communication features–" He paused, taking a breath. "So the Unison part of the name is actually not stupid."
"Hey! Spoilers–!"
"That make sense?" Elisha acted as if he didn't hear Instructor Sara at all.
"Yes and no," the purple haired young man replied, adjusting his glasses. "I can see why something of the sort could be useful, but that begs the question of why we are being assigned one, and still tells us nothing about why we were dropped into the dungeon."
"Oh come on! Are you guys going to ruin all the fun–?"
"A dungeon on the grounds of such a prestigious academy?" he mused. "Or perhaps the academy is on the threshold of a dungeon?"
'He almost sounds…sarcastic? As if he's asking rhetorical questions…'
"Are you suggesting that this was not constructed for the academy?" Lawrence asked, flexing his hand idly.
"It was certainly not on the curriculum," the purple haired man returned.
"Pardon me," the Nord girl interjected, "You all seem very knowledgeable, but would it be possible to make further introductions? I don't think you would appreciate it if I called you by your hair color, or Julia and blonde number two." She glanced up at the ramp they had fallen down. "I also think our instructor is trying to tell us something."
"Maybe remote teaching wasn't such a good idea…Shame, it'd have made things so much easier!"
"U-um, well, I am Irene Schwarzer, may I ask your name in turn?"
"Naturally," the Nord girl nodded. "I am Gaia Worzel. There, that wasn't so hard, was it?"
"Lady Julia already named me earlier," Lawrence said with a shrug, "but to make it official, I am Lawrence S. Arseid."
"Emmet Millstein," purple hair and glasses added. "From a place of no great importance, and a family of even less." It was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic.
"I'm Ellia Craig!" the ginger girl blurted out, throwing a fist into the air, before shrinking down as the class turned its attention to her. "Um…hi?"
"Hello Ellia," Irene returned with an encouraging smile.
"...Thanks?"
"Need I repeat myself?" Julia sighed airily. "Regardless, I am Julia Albarea, in case it was rattled from your brains by the fall."
"No one asked you!" Masha muttered. "And I'm Masha Regnitz."
"Oh, so you are suffering memory loss," Julia continued, voice oozing with obviously fake concern. "But I repeat–"
"Oh right, I'm Elisha Reinford, in case you didn't know." 'He… really couldn't read the room, could he?'
"...Fion Claussell," the diminutive silver haired boy added, rounding off their introductions. "Hi."
"Nice to meet you all!" Irene called, trying her best to put on her Student Council President smile, even if it felt a bit awkward.
"I'm starting to feel like a third wheel at this instructor thing."
"Ah! I'm sorry, instructor!" Irene apologized. "Please continue."
"I left some quartz near your bags, try slotting them into your ARCUS, after that, the exercise can really start!"
For once, the students actually listened to their instructors, though that may have had more to do with their desires to check on their weapons.
"Oh good," Elisha cheered, pulling an orbal handgun out of his bag, "looks like nothing's exploded!"
"Uh…i-is that something we should be worried about?" Ellia asked hesitantly, edging away from Elisha slightly while fiddling with an orbal staff.
"If the Reinford runs, question nothing, just run" Emmet replied blandly, examining his own staff, which looked more like a cane.
"H-huh?"
"I'm sure everything will be fine!" Irene intervened, carefully examining her own weapons, before strapping them to her side.
"Everything seems in order," Lawrence declared, hefting a traditional zweihander over his shoulder with one hand. "Now, how does this device work?" The ARCUS looked tiny in his palm as he flipped it open gingerly. "Mister Reinford, how durable is this device? I do not want to break it."
Julia sighed, her rapier already at her side. "Allow me." She took the ARCUS from him and demonstrated how to install the quartz.
Gaia discretely watched as well, before repeating the process on her device, a bow slung over her shoulder.
Fion was already done, standing idly with a pair of bladed pistols at his hips.
Masha was clutching an orbal shotgun a little bit too enthusiastically to be healthy, but otherwise seemed to have no issue with her device.
"Everyone ready?" Instructor called over their ARCUS units. "If not, too bad! The real orienteering starts now!" A door slid open in the wall, revealing a dimly lit hallway. "Behind door number one–"
"So it is a dungeon," Lawrence observed. "How did you know, Mr. Millstein?"
"Wild speculation," Emmet replied drily. "Either way, keep your guards up, there will definitely be traps and monsters down there, not to mention dead ends." He walked towards the door casually, as if it was a stroll in the park, staff slung over his shoulder. "Instructor, I presume the correct way out is not, in fact, to climb back up the trapdoor?"
"…Yeah no."
"Wouldn't be much of an orienteering exercise otherwise," Emmet observed, heading into the dungeon with no hesitation.
"Wait, where are you going?!" Masha barked, but Emmet did not reply, vanishing into the dim corridor.
"Well he's certainly confident," Lawrence observed. "Seemed like he could back it up too."
Fion followed Emmet into the dungeon, ignoring the rest of the group.
"Hold on, wouldn't it be better to stay in one group?" Lawrence called. "Then if one of us runs into trouble there will be help nearby."
"I can t-take care of myself!" Ellia yelled, dashing through the door.
"Are you serious?!" Masha barked. "Don't leave me with these stuck-up nobles!" She also ran into the dungeon.
"Uh…did I say something wrong?" Lawrence asked sheepishly.
"I do not think so," Gaia assured him. "Though perhaps I should make sure they don't get into any trouble."
"That may work better," Lawrence agreed. "They seem to have some grievance with me."
"I do not understand why," the Nord girl shrugged, "but I think that can wait until we are not in this dungeon. Or any other dungeon." She headed into the dark corridor at a brisk trot, bow unslung.
"You always seem to elicit a strong reaction from women, don't you Lawrence?" Julia sighed, shaking her head.
"I do?" he asked, scratching his ear awkwardly. "As far as I remember, you did not act like that in any way when we first met."
"Oh course I didn't!" Julia huffed, a hint of blush dusting her cheeks. "I have more discipline than that, why would you even consider such a thing?"
"You did say…" Lawrence trailed off, before shrugging. "Never mind."
Irene covered a giggle with her hand at their interaction. 'Julia probably wouldn't like it if I brought up how often she mentioned Lawrence. Then again, he was a pretty popular topic in general at St. Astraia.'
"So…anyways," Elisha interrupted. "Is this a race…which we just gave up a lead for for no reason?"
"I don't think so," Irene replied, "but we should probably get going."
"Agreed," Lawrence nodded, stepping towards the door. "I can take point, Elisha covers us from the rear, and you two ladies can keep the flanks clear. Does that sound like a plan?"
"I can acquit myself just fine," Julia declared, drawing her rapier.
"Works for me," Elisha shrugged, pulling gloves over his hands.
"T-that sounds fine," Irene agreed, drawing her daisho, katana in one hand, wakizashi in the other.
"Do not be fooled by her meek demeanor," Julia warned with a smirk. "Lady Irene is, in fact, quite a skilled little sword maiden."
"J-julia!"
"Hah!" Lawrence barked a laugh, eyeing Irene's weapons and stance with a glint in his eyes. "I look forward to seeing that firsthand!"
With that last bit of embarrassment, the four of them moved into the dungeon, the two noble ladies falling in step with practiced motions while Lawrence marched ahead with easy confidence and Elisha brought up the rear, weapon at the ready.
It wasn't long before they encountered monsters. As they exited the corridor into a wider room, their presence disturbed a pack of flying felines, the airborne cats diving towards them with startled yowls.
Lawrence swatted two of them out of the air with one swing, the felines practically coming apart on impact.
A cat darting down from directly above met its end from Elisha's well-placed shot.
Two more came at the group from the sides, but were smoothly cut down by Irene and Julia.
"Did the others come through here?" Irene wondered. "How would they have avoided these monsters?"
"Maybe the cats came in after they left?" Elisha suggested, poking the remains of one said creature with his shoe.
"Dungeons are strange things," Lawrence observed. "It seems mister Millstein is correct about this not being made by the school."
"Perhaps they simply built the facade of a school building over it as a cover," Julia suggested, before gesturing forwards. "Whatever the reason, let's not dawdle, lest more monsters arrive."
"Aye," Lawrence agreed, forging ahead at a steady stride, the rest of the group scrambling to keep pace.
After that, they did not immediately encounter more monsters as they continued. Instead, the main issue they encountered was dead ends.
"Orienteering indeed," Julia grumbled irritably.
"This place makes no sense," Elisha muttered, looking at something on his wrist. "Something here seems to be interfering with my compass."
"At least the lack of monsters suggests our compatriots are doing well enough," Lawrence pointed out.
Irene closed her eyes and let out a slow breath. If this place was confusing to the eye, perhaps using her ears would give her a clearer picture.
'Hmm…is that…yes, there's a humming sound. I wonder what that is? Whatever it is, we haven't come across it yet, so it's as good a direction to go as any.'
"I hear something humming that way," she reported. "Perhaps some kind of machinery?"
"We haven't seen anything obviously mechanical asides from the doors," Elisha thought aloud, "so it'd be new at least."
"You have sharp ears, Lady Schwarzer," Lawrence complimented. "Is awareness training part of your routine?"
"Well…um…sort of?" Irene mumbled, shuffling her feet self-consciously. "Master Kai-fa said I couldn't really learn to use weapons until I learned to be aware of my surroundings."
"You studied under Master Yun Kai-fa?!" Lawrence exclaimed, looking her up and down. "So you do practice a form of the Eight Leaves, One Blade. Intriguing."
"Oh, I'm still a beginner," Irene demurred, "so it's not that impressive, hehe."
"She was one of the best fencers at St. Astraia," Julia cut in. "That may not sound like much, but she could regularly match Friedel Andechs."
'Wait, Julia stop! What are you doing?'
"Truly? Lady Friedel is quite skilled, and is a year older than us."
"I-it wasn't that close…" Irene stammered.
"Just watch," Julia snorted, "she will no doubt seek to drag you into the fencing club due to her search for worthy opponents."
"That does sound like her," Lawrence laughed.
"I don't know what a Friedel is," Elisha grumbled. "Can it help us find a way out of here?"
"Oh, my apologies," Lawrence muttered sheepishly. "I can get carried away with swords quite a bit."
"Truly now?" Julia drawled. "I had no idea."
"Did the hum sound like orbal technology? Or some other type of machinery?" Elisha pressed, rolling his eyes at noble antics.
"Maybe? I-i'm not certain?" Irene replied.
"Shouldn't be a monster at least," Elisha muttered.
The group made their way towards the sound. Its source was, oddly enough, what looked to be an orbal charging station.
"Is that the source of the humming you detected, Irene?" Julia asked.
"Mmh, I think so," Irene nodded, giving it a curious look.
"This makes no sense," Elisha declared. "This building must predate the orbal revolution, and it's not as if many other people have been down here, right? How is this a thing?!"
"It is rather suspicious," Julia agreed, eying the device. "Do you think it is a trap?"
"Not sure," Elisha shrugged, walking straight over to it and plugging his ARCUS in.
"Wait–!" The three nobles cringed reflexively, but nothing happened.
"How is this thing compatible?" Elisha muttered furiously. "This demands more research!"
"Perhaps a little warning next time?" Lawrence sighed.
"Huh?" Elisha grunted. "Oh right, I just figured that if it was a trap, the reckless people would have set it off already."
The three nobles shared a glance, collectively acknowledging that he had a point, but all wincing slightly at how blase that statement was.
"Whatever the reason this fascinating piece of universal technology that is not in public use is doing here," Elisha rambled on, "I have no idea. It doesn't really do us much good since none of us have used any arts yet. I wonder if we could take it with us…"
"Perhaps we could return for it later," Lawrence suggested. "For now, we have other concerns."
"It had to have gotten here somehow," Elisha grumbled mutinously, but followed along as the rest of the group moved on.
Down the hallway from the strange device, they came across another group of monsters: several grass drones milling about an otherwise empty room, the green blob-like creatures leaving trails of questionable substances across the floor.
"Ugh," Julia let out a disgusted snort. "It would have been better if we had prior notice for this task. I would have worn something more appropriate for this activity than this damnably short skirt!"
"A-at least they're easy to move in?" Irene replied hesitantly. 'They really are quite short, and Julia is tall, so it looks even shorter on her.'
"Grass drones, it will be a bit trying to destroy them with brute force," Lawrence pointed out.
"Fire works better," Elisha agreed, slotting something into his gun. "Also, the skirts look nice, which is probably their intended function."
"Other arts could probably work too," Irene added, sheathing her wakizashi and pulling out her battle orbment, pointedly ignoring the blonde man.
"Allow me!" Julia cried, weaving her way expertly through an incantation and sending a bolt of fire burning into one of the drone's single eyes, blasting the monster apart.
Elisha fired his gun, this time launching a stream of fire from the barrel, from which the remaining drones recoiled, giving Irene time to hurl a mass of compressed air into one of them, blowing apart the burning creature..
Julia stepped forward, preparing another fire bolt and letting it fly with a flick of her rapier, searing away another drone.
A drone dropped from the wall towards her–
Lawrence smashed it aside with his sword, the last of the monsters splattering across the floor in a green smear.
'What strength!'
"My thanks, Lawrence," Julia nodded gratefully, brushing her skirt off. "I should have been mindful of my surroundings."
"Think nothing of it, Lady Julia," he replied. "It would be a shame for it to ruin your hair."
"That–!" Julia flushed, "is not of utmost importance at the moment."
"It is nice looking hair," Elisha commented matter-of-factly.
"Indeed!" Lawrence agreed obliviously.
"Enough of this!" Julia barked, storming forwards, Irene trailing after her.
'Hehe, she probably spent a lot of time on it this morning.'
"Your hair is quite well done as well, Lady Schwarzer," Lawrence added casually.
"Whaa-?!'
"Also looks nice," Elisha added.
Irene and Julia shared an exasperated look, before moving forwards in a huff. Lawrence still overtook them easily, long strides allowing him to return to his lead position.
Partway down the next corridor, he called for a halt.
"There is a swarm of beetle-like monsters up ahead," he reported. "I can clear a path, but you will have to keep close."
"Of course," Julia returned, before running through the incantation for an empowering art.
Irene let out a slow breath, clearing her mind of doubts (temporarily), blades held at the ready.
Elisha pulled a grenade out of his pack. "This work as a signal?"
"Aye!" Lawrence barked with a laugh.
"Fire in the hole!" the Reinford crowed, hurling the explosive into the middle of the swarm of monsters.
Bang!
Fire bloomed in blazing fury, sending the large insects scattering with shrieks of alarm.
Lawrence charged through the swarm, his sword cleaving through the more active beetles with ease while he crushed the ones stricken by the grenade under his boots.
Irene and Julia followed, the later weaving another fire art in between her strikes, while the former struck out in a whirl of blades.
The two of them had sparred together often during their time at St. Astraia, so they were quite familiar with each other's movements, but in that moment, that familiarity crystalized into something…sharper.
Irene cut apart a beetle going for Julia's blind spot, while the blonde noblewoman swept a fire art through the remainder of the swarm as it converged towards them, before lashing out with precise strikes in between the intervals of Irene's whirling cuts.
Elisha used whatever method he concocted to blast fire out of his gun, dissuading any of the insectoid monsters from getting too close.
With their collective effort, the swarm all but vanished in a matter of moments.
"I certainly hope there will be less of this ilk further in," Julia griped, a disgusted look on her face.
"I pray that our compatriots did not have to deal with this many foes," Lawrence added worriedly. "Gaia seems to be able to handle herself, I am less sure of Ellia and Masha."
"Glad I'm not on the wrong end of your pointy things," Elisha muttered.
"Above you!" Irene cried out as one last beetle leapt down from an alcove near the ceiling.
"Wha-?" Elisha glanced up, lashing out with his offhand. His fist struck the insect as it descended. There was a flash of heat, and the beetle was knocked away, shrieking and on fire.
Bang!
Elisha shot it dead before it hit the ground.
"A mixture of new technology and some martial arts," Lawrence mused. "Yes…it seems I have much to learn from this class."
"Huh, that worked!" Elisha cheered. "Hadn't gotten a chance to test that on a live subject."
The three nobles shared another glance, unsure what to make of their companion.
'Hehe, he's a Reinford alright.'
"That was quite artfully done, ladies," Lawrence complimented with a nod. "It's clear that you have fought alongside each other in the past."
"We did train together often," Irene explained bashfully, doing her best not to think about the nobleman's musculature.
"Lawrence, please, it is far too early for your flattery," Julia huffed, glancing away from the tall swordsman.
"I suppose we ought to save discussion until after this exercise," Lawrence acknowledged. "That does not change the fact you have certainly improved since we last left, Lady Julia. You must have put in quite some effort."
"…it was nothing."
'Julia always did seem to train harder after she came back from break…'
"Of course, that is only natural for you," Lawrence smiled warmly, completely oblivious to Julia's quiet embarrassment.
"As for you, Lady Schwarzer," the tall noble turned to the shorter young woman, causing her to stiffen under his attention. "It is a shame you never attended a Junior Eisenritter camp. Your skill would have been a welcome addition."
"T-that's very kind of y-you," Irene stammered. "But we really need to get going!"
'Why is he looking at me like that?!'
"Yes, Lawrence, you can gush over pointy things later," Julia snarked, but Irene had to stifle a giggle at the flush on her friend's face.
'You share some of his enthusiasm, don't you, Julia?'
The tall noble marched on ahead, sword at the ready, and the group fell again into a diamond formation, moving with what would have seemed eerie synchronicity had there been anyone else to witness.
The monsters they encountered stood no chance as Lawrence smashed and scattered them, Julia smote them with arts as Irene cut through in a whirl of blades, while Elisha picked them off at a distance, as well as covering any opening his companions left.
Gunfire sounded in front of them. Irene narrowed her eyes, opening her senses–someone was hurt!
"Is that–?"
"Go!" the indigo haired swordswoman dashed past her tall compatriot, who immediately fell in step, rushing forwards towards the sound of conflict.
They turned the corner to see the three girls who ran ahead fending off a small crowd of monsters.
Gaia drew her bow, an orbal arrow forming in an instant before being launched into a flying feline, sending it crashing to the ground. The Nord fired thrice more in as many seconds, pinning a trio of beetles to the ground, where Masha blasted them apart with her shotgun.
Ellia, though, was curled up on the ground behind the two other girls, clutching her abdomen, her orbal staff abandoned on the ground.
Lawrence cursed as several beetles crawled down the wall towards the downed girl, unseen by her defenders who were occupied with the rest of the swarm.
Irene took one step. Another. Then leapt.
She crossed the distance in an instant, twirling in midair like a leaf caught in the wind, blades flashing out in deadly, precise arcs, carving apart the attacking beetles.
As her spin slowed, her feet returned to the earth and she had to catch herself as the room seemed to whirl around as well.
"Irene!" She had missed one–!
Thunk!
Irene stared as a massive sword embedded itself into the wall, splitting apart the last flanking beetle. 'Did he…just throw his sword?'
"Is she alright?!" Lawrence barked, rushing forwards, seemingly unconcerned that he had disarmed himself, snatching the last flying feline out of the air by its neck and smashing its head against the wall, all without breaking stride.
"No," Gaia replied, giving them a thankful nod. "But she is not in immediate danger, though she will need medical attention. I do not think she can move herself."
Irene let out a relieved sigh, shaking her head to try and clear the dizziness. "Do either of you know any healing arts?"
"It hurts!" Ellia gasped, hand pressed against her injury, face pale and twisted in pain.
The Nord girl shook her head. Masha looked away.
"Hold still!" Elisha called, changing some setting on his gun, before firing a bolt of green energy straight into Ellia's chest.
"What-?!"
"Gah!" Ellia gasped, some color returning to the features.
"What the hell was that?!" Masha shrieked.
"An approximation of a healing art," Elisha explained nonchalantly. "She should be able to move now."
"What did we say about a little warning?" Lawrence grumbled, yanking his sword out of the wall.
"I did give one!" Elisha protested.
"How does 'hold still!' in any way mean 'I'm going to shoot you and heal you'?!" Masha cried in disbelief.
"Mister Reinford," Irene sighed. "None of us know what your machines can do. When Sir Arseid asked for a warning he meant that you should explain what you are doing until we get accustomed to what you can do."
"How does that mechanism work," Julia questioned, running through the incantation for her own healing art, crouching down next to Ellia.
"You basically cast an art into the battery," Elisha shrugged. "Then you can cast it later instantaneously."
"But not spontaneously," Lawrence observed.
"Yeah, got a limited number of them," the Reinford confirmed.
"T-thanks…" Ellia groaned, trying to stand up, before Julia stopped her gently.
"Don't try straining yourself just yet," the blonde noble chided. "Give the art some time to settle."
The ginger haired girl nodded. "Ok."
Masha stared at Julia disbelievingly, her shotgun held slack to one side.
'Hehe, Julia can come across as pretty mean, but she's definitely a softy. That said…'
"Would you three prefer to travel with us from now on?" Irene offered. "Safety in numbers, after all."
"As you have experienced, it generally helps to have a close quarters fighter in close quarters," Lawrence pointed out.
"That seems wise," Gaia agreed, giving Masha a pointed look. The bespectacled girl grimaced, but had enough sense to recognize that surviving was a higher priority than her grievance against nobility in general.
"Just please do not shoot me in the back," Lawrence requested.
"Who do you take me for?!" Masha snapped.
"A person with a shotgun. In a tunnel…" Lawrence blinked, unsure how he kept offending the green haired girl.
"She can cover the rear with me," Elisha suggested. "If they get behind us again, the shotgun could hold them off until you can rotate over."
"Mmh!" Irene nodded. "That could work."
"Assuming she can set aside her disdain for nobility to deign to work with us," Julia muttered.
"Miss Regnitz," Irene smiled, closing her eyes briefly. "You can save your grievances for later, right?"
The girl in question flinched, glancing down at Ellia, who was looking significantly better.
"...Yes…" Masha sighed.
"Excellent!" Irene declared, opening her eyes again. "Are you well enough to move, Miss Craig?"
"...Huh?" the ginger girl blinked. "Oh, yeah, I think so…" She frowned. "Miss Craig? I'm not old, am I?"
"I w-was just trying to be polite," Irene stammered, "I didn't mean to imply that you were old."
"Uhh…it wasn't really anything like that," Ellia muttered. "It's just usually my older sister getting called that."
"Well then," Lawrence declared, hefting his sword into a ready position, "let's make sure you will see her again."
"There are still the other two people in the class," Irene added.
"With any luck, they will have fared better than these three," Julia chimed in, helping Ellia back to her feet.
"Grr…let's just get out of here," Masha grumbled. "What kind of assignment is this?!"
"Stress test," Elisha replied. "See if we break or not."
"I'm not gonna let this stop me!" Ellia cried, pumping a fist in the air.
"Aye! That's the spirit!" Lawrence laughed, taking the lead again.
Ironically, they encountered fewer monsters after consolidating their groups.
'Maybe they are more hesitant to attack a larger group? Or could we have already cleared out most of them?'
The monsters they did encounter did not last long under the group's collective effort, and as irritable as Masha had seemed, she proved true to her word, and managed to avoid shooting any of them in the back.
They still saw no sign of the other two students–or was there?
"Do you sense something?" Julia asked, narrowing her eyes at the corridor before them.
"I think I hear fighting," Irene replied, quickening her step, in case their aid was required again. The three sword nobles rushed forwards, suddenly outpacing the others.
"How do they still have all that energy?!" Ellia gasped.
The group's vanguard dashed down a stairwell, entering yet another room, only to be greeted by a storm of arts.
Emmet stood defiant in the middle of a pack of monsters, his staff alight with fire as he slammed it into a grass drone, sending it sliding back, shrieking and ablaze.
He leaned out of the way of a diving flying feline, preparing another art almost instantly and a blast of compressed air slammed the cat to the floor, crushing a beetle in process.
Each strike of his staff led into an art, and each cast flowed into another strike. The monsters were dispatched in short order, burned with fire, hammered with air, or just beaten with a stick.
As the last monster fell, the purple haired man spun around to face the assembled group of students, twirling his staff into a resting position. "Glad you could make it," he greeted, adjusting his glasses. "Isn't it curious, that none of these monsters ended up loose on school grounds? Especially the ones that can fly?"
"It is good to see you are well, Mister Millstein," Lawrence returned. "Evidently, you do not need our help–excellent work by the way, what style is that?" The tall man shook his head. "Never mind, that can wait. Would you mind accompanying us? You clearly seem to know your way around this sort of thing."
"Thank you for the compliment," Emmet replied, "but these things are not truly a challenge."
"Did we even fight the same enemies?" Ellia muttered as she caught up, looking around at the mess of scattered monsters with wide eyes.
"That did not answer my question," Lawrence pointed out.
The purple haired young man hesitated. "It may be better for me to continue on my own. I'm not used to fighting in a group; wouldn't want to hit an ally with a stray art."
"No need to spare our feelings," Julia cut in. "You clearly have enough control, if you do not wish to join us, say so."
"You are welcome to join though," Irene added, "we could definitely use the help, though I wouldn't want to pressure you."
Emmet sighed. "I suppose there was no prohibition from grouping together. And this way no one needs to wait, aside from Fion."
"Did you see him on the way here?" Irene asked, a bit worried about the silvered haired boy.
"Briefly," Emmet shrugged. "Seemed like he was avoiding the monsters, mostly. Sensible enough approach."
"Good to have you on board then!" Lawrence cheered, stepping forwards and offering a hand.
Emmet gave him an odd look, before shaking his hand. "This corridor leads to a dead end, so the way out must be a different direction anyways."
"We got caught by monsters when we had to turn around at a dead end," Ellia murmured with wide eyes, "and he fought his way out alone?"
"Maybe Mister Claussell also found a dead end," Irene suggested. "That would help us narrow where the exit is."
"If that means we get out of here faster, then I'm all for it," Masha muttered.
The group set off again, with Emmet falling in step near Elisha. After that, the monsters were even sparser than before, and some actually fled when they noticed the group's passage.
"Would hunting them down actually accomplish anything?" Lawrence wondered. "I do not want them to end up loose on campus, but this place cannot be a new phenomenon, and I do not recall any such incident occurring in Thors' history."
"They appear to be contained to the dungeon, which is not unusual," Emmet explained. "You could say that these can serve as a sort of training ground. Monsters are attracted to the sepith here, though whether that is by design or by happenstance is hard to say."
"You certainly seem to know quite a lot about dungeons," Julia observed, giving the purple haired youth a scrutinizing glance. "How did you come across this information?"
"Here and there," Emmet replied. "Mostly there."
"Tch! Very well, if you don't wish to explain, it is of no concern to me."
As they turned a corner, the air seemed different. 'Is that…wind?'
"The Wind moves more freely here," Gaia observed. "We must be close to the exit."
Irene cocked her head, listening intently–
"GRRRAAAGH!"
"What was that?!" Ellia yelped.
"What is that?" Lawrence yelled, pointing forwards, where a silver haired youth was backpedaling rapidly from a…moving statue?! Horns, wings, whip-like tail–was that a gargoyle?!
"Bang!"
A bright flash lit up the hallway, and the gargoyle roared again, rushing at Fion, seemingly unfazed by the flashbang or the hail of gunfire the agile youth sent its way.
"Are monsters such as that common in Erebonia?" Gaia wondered, shooting her classmates a concerned look.
"Not outside myths and legends!" Julia snapped back.
"It's between us and the exit!" Irene barked. "Let's go help Fion!"
"Time to send this thing back to the Dark Ages!" Lawrence declared, charging forward again.
Their arrival did not immediately register to the monster or to the silver haired youth, but it became clear enough when Lawrence rammed swordfirst into the monster.
The blade did little against the creature's stone skin, but the force of his headlong charge knocked the gargoyle off balance, the impact sending both combatants sprawling, giving Irene time to slash at the monster's leg, to limited effect.
"It's tough! Use arts!" Irene called, ducking down as the gargoyle's tail lashed out at her as it thrashed back to its feet with an enraged roar.
"Hah!" Lawrence yelled, hewing at the gargoyle's shoulder with such force it shattered stone, sending fragments flying through the air.
Bolts of fire slammed into the creature's side as Julia and Emmet let loose arts in quick succession while Elisha and Fion took aim and fired, peppering the monster with their weapons.
The gargoyle shrieked, its wings bursting open with sudden force and in an instant, howling wind roared in the chamber, blowing most of the group back, though Lawrence stood defiant, sword planted in the ground, his jacket cape flapping wildly behind him.
Irene felt her mind still as the twister slammed into her. She did not fight it, instead letting it carry her upwards. 'Like a leaf on the wind.'
The aerial art faded, leaving Irene high in the air above it, giving her a bird's eye view of the fight below.
Her class moved with an inexplicable rhythm.
Lawrence squared off against the monster, striking at its head and keeping its attention, blocking the retaliatory blows he could, while Julia intercepted any strikes he couldn't with well-placed arts.
Emmet launched a stream of arts into the gargoyles' side, the energy rending openings in its hides which Gaia and Fion exploited with precise aim.
Elisha and Masha peppered the monster with gunfire, blasting chunks out of its stone hide.
"Kill its ass!" Ellia cried as she…danced? Her feet tapped to the beat of the fight as she cast a healing art on Lawrence.
Bolstered, the tall swordsman slammed his sword into the monster's chin in a brutal uppercut, sending it reeling backwards onto its hind legs with a pained cry.
The rhythm paused.
'My turn!'
"As the seasons turn, so comes your end! Autumn's Breath!"
Irene let loose the energy she had absorbed from the aerial art and fell upon the gargoyle in a whirling slash, blades of air following her swords and slicing through the cracked skin of the stone monster.
She bent at the knees as she impacted the gargoyle's shoulder, twisting off and slashing her katana though its exposed throat, before–'Oh, I mistimed the roll–!'
Lawrence caught her midair with his offhand, guiding her momentum so she landed on her feet next to him. The gargoyle crashed to the ground in a heap a moment later.
"Beautifully done Lady Schwarzer!"
"T-thanks–"
"It's not down yet!" Emmet cried, slamming another fire art into the creature. True to his word, the monster leapt back to its feet with a roar, lunging forward, claw raised to strike–
Lawrence stepped into the attack, grabbing hold of its arm and ramming his shoulder into its chest. With a cry of effort, he redirected the gargoyle's charge, flipping it over and slamming it to the ground on its back.
"Cripple it!" Emmet shouted, smashing his staff into one of the monster's knees, shattering the weakened stone.
The rest of the class piled on, and under a deluge of blows, the gargoyle's second wind petered out almost as fast as it came.
Its wings crashed uselessly against the ground, and it roared in rage, gathering energy for one last attack–
"Grraagh!" Lawrence would have none of it, gripping his sword by the blade and swinging the crossguard down in a thunderous mordhau. Stone gave, then shattered, and the gargoyle's roar was silenced as its head was dashed to pieces.
The group paused for a second as the rhythm stopped.
"Is it dead now?" Ellia asked.
Color bled from the gargoyle's remains, petrifying into stone not unlike the walls of the dungeon they were in.
"I hope I don't have to pay for the statue," Fion muttered under his breath.
"Huh…looks like the Unison feature works quite well," Elisha mused, rubbing his chin.
"You mean how it kind of felt like we were performing as a troupe, but with weapons?" Ellia asked, rubbing a lock of hair between her fingers.
"It seemed like we started glowing a faint blue light," Masha added.
"What?" Julia snorted.
"Side effect," Elisha muttered. "Will go in notes."
"It seemed like we knew exactly what each of us was doing," Irene murmured.
"Strange, usually such coordination would require extensive practice," Emmet observed.
"Mmh!" Irene agreed. "Perhaps that was–"
"The biggest selling point of the almighty ARCUS!" a familiar voice called, and the class spun around to see Instructor Valestein leaning against a railing above them, clapping cheekily. "Looks like friendship and teamwork save the day once again!" she cheered with an all too pleased grin. "I'm so proud of you guys!"
"Why?" Emmet muttered. "None of our efforts or skill had anything to do with you."
'He…has a point, but that's still rude!'
Instructor Valestein strode down so she was on the same level as the red coat class. "And that about finishes up today's special…orienteering exercise."
Her gaze swept across the unimpressed faces of her class and she cocked her head to one side curiously. "What's with these faces? I thought you'd all be happier?"
"About what?!" Masha barked. "You dropped us into a dungeon with no warning!"
"I have so many questions about this place," Elisha muttered. "But it's not like someone like you would know, instructor."
"Hey!"
"Oh yeah, what's up with this class anyways?" the blonde man added.
"Yes, just what is the purpose of this 'Class VII'?" Julia asked sharply, narrowing her eyes at the fuschia haired woman.
"It seems a bit political," Lawrence suggested, "given that there are members of notable noble and commoner families–apologies Mister Millstein, but I have not heard of your family before."
"Wouldn't have expected you to," Emmet replied. "I did say my family was of little significance."
"Somehow, I find that unconvincing," Julia muttered, scrutinizing the purple haired youth with a calculating glare.
"But aren't most Thors students from a notable family?" Ellia pointed out.
"...It was Unison compatibility, wasn't it?" Elisha asked flatly.
The instructor sighed. "Are you going to spoil all the surprises?!"
"If a group of students, including several without much combat experience, could operate so fluidly after only meeting each other hours ago…" Lawrence mused.
"That would be very beneficial if applicable to a wider scale on the battlefield," Emmet finished.
"Yep!" Instructor Valestein chirped. "An elite unit that can fight perfectly in sync, hard to put a price on that!"
"Millions of mira," Elisha muttered flatly. "Also prototypes. Expect…unintended effects."
"That's true," the instructor confirmed. "With the technology available currently, the combat links require a certain amount of affinity, and you lot turned out to have the highest affinity for them!"
"And since that takes precedence over social class…" Irene murmured.
"Here you are!" Instructor Valestein finished cheerily.
"What even gives us this affinity?" Masha asked, exasperation clear in her voice. "That seems incredibly arbitrary!"
"What indeed?" their instructor shrugged, before her face took on a serious mien. "This class isn't exactly cheap to run, so we aren't going to force anyone who doesn't want to be here. Fair warning, the curriculum will be tougher than normal, even for Thors."
"So, that leaves you all with one important question," she declared. "Will you stick with Class VII, or not?"
The assembled students glanced at each other, wondering what they should do.
"If you opt out," Instructor Valestein added, "you'll just be placed in the class you would have been assigned to otherwise, nobles into classes I and II and commoners into classes III, IV and V, so no pressure. It's only the first day, so you won't have to worry about being too far behind."
With that, she placed her hands on her hip and looked at them expectantly. "Well, any takers?"
"I will," Irene declared, stepping forward.
The other students blinked, surprised at how fast she agreed.
"That makes you the first," Instructor Sara observed. "No hesitation either. Any particular reason you're so eager?"
"E-eh…" Irene stuttered. "My family has already given me so much to get me here. If I did not put forth my all then I would be shamefully ungrateful to them."
"Huh…How cute!"
'Instructor?!'
"Count me in as well," Lawrence called. "This seems a worthy endeavor, and I will not shy away from it."
"I as well," Gaia added. "I already traveled this far to attend school here, may as well see where the wind takes me."
"So we have the foreign exchange student and the guy who might actually win a fight with a brick wall. That makes three."
"I'll join!" Ellia cried, pumping her fist again. "Even if I failed today, I can't get better if I give up now!"
"Huh," their instructor grunted. "Guess I pegged you wrong."
"Being a test subject is just what I needed," Elisha grumbled. "I'm in!"
"Uhh…ok, great! That makes five."
"Hm…I wonder…" Emmet murmured, lost in thought. "Yes. I will join."
"So we got both our orbal staff testers—wait, that's not the staff you were assigned!"
"I brought my own," Emmet replied, "so I left the unfamiliar one in its bag."
"Why didn't you hand over your weapon like you were supposed to?"
"I was clearly correct in keeping ahold of it," Emmet shrugged. "You did drop us in a dungeon, after all."
"Lemme guess, you're not going to use the expensive prototype staff, are you?" Instructor Sara asked flatly.
"No." Emmet confirmed.
"Guess you don't have to write the reports about them then."
"Ooh! Reports!" Ellia cheered, drawing confused looks from a few of her classmates.
"And what about you Fion?" their instructor asked the taciturn silver haired boy.
"Dunno, don't care," he drawled, kicking his foot idly.
"Fion."
Fion sighed. "Fine, mom, I'll join."
'Mom? They don't look similar, adopted?'
"…At least you made a decision," Sara muttered, one eye twitching in irritation. "That puts us at a magnificent seven! Leaving just…you two."
"This whole class still seems ridiculous," Masha hissed. "Some random nebulous trait giving me an opportunity for this?"
"It is a system of merit," Julia pointed out snidely. "Shouldn't you be fawning all over it? It's what you reformists claim to want."
"Claim to want?!" Masha snarled. "The predations of the noble class are what's holding this country back! I would prefer an assignment based on actual merit, not that someone born with a silver spoon in their mouth would understand!"
'But Julia wasn't—oh, I suppose that isn't common knowledge among commoners.'
"Technically, this affinity and noble birth are both merits," Elisha pointed out.
"No one asked you!" Masha snapped at the other blonde.
"Just make up your mind," Elisha grunted, fiddling with his ARCUS. "I need to make sure they didn't quatch anything up with this."
"I will claim my place in this Class VII," Julia declared haughtily.
"What?!" Masha burst out. "You're the spawn of a Duke, being in the same class as commoners should make you sick!"
'If only you knew…'
"Oh? You fail to properly express your own feelings and expect to know mine?" Julia snarked. "Besides, to an Albarea, other nobles might as well be as commoners, not that I would respect you any more if you were the daughter of Heimdallr's baron."
"Why you–!"
"Though you are not so different, I suppose," Julia pressed, voice sickly sweet. "With the money your family has, you probably know as much about how regular commoners feel as a stuck up, hedonistic noble would!"
"Can you just answer the damn question already?" Elisha griped. "Go get a green jacket if you can't stand being near a noble. It's not that hard."
"I'm not going to let myself be bullied!" Masha growled. "I'm joining this class, and I'll show you! Just you wait!"
"Well, would you look at that? Nine out of nine!" Instructor Sara crowed, spreading her arms dramatically. "Congratulations on being the first ever Class VII!"
AN. Should I include links to images of the various side characters? I can see this becoming quite confusing. Obviously, Class VII won't have official art.