Part 1: White Clouds

Mock Battle

"It's beautiful Jeralt."

Sitri was sitting on her bed beaming at the rose Jeralt picked for her as she sniffed the flower, taking in its lovely scent. This was the third time this month that he had visited and gave her a new flower to observe and preserve. In return, Sitri honoured her end of the promise by telling Jeralt stories about Planet Vegeta as well as her own life story.

"So you hunted planets?" He asked while sipping tea while sitting on her bed. Sitri requested he join her for tea while she told him stories.

"Yes. We would purge them of all lifeforms for our boss Frieza, who would sell it to the highest bidder. I was part of a squad back in the day."

This surprised Jeralt. He never would have imagined a task so ruthless, to someone like her. "You killed people?"

Sitri nodded, looking out the window at the blue sky that didn't have a cloud in sight today. "Men, women, children, you name it. I know it may seem immoral to you, but for us, it was a way of survival. We grew numb to the killing. And I guess it lead to nothing but Frieza destroying us….."

Jeralt could only look down and think about what she had said. This Frieza person was her boss? How powerful was this person? One question now lingered on his mind, however.

"You don't think…. They would come here would you?" He asked now afraid of all life on Fódlan being destroyed. But Sitri calmed his nerves by shaking her head.

"I highly doubt it. No offence to your kind, but you don't have a high power level here and are not really advanced with technology. It just didn't show up on our radars, aside from a bust pod that had your planets coordinates. Your planet wasn't worth the trouble."

"I don't know if I should be glad about that." Jeralt sighed scratching his head. "By the way, I've been meaning to ask. That explosion which killed so many knights. What was that?"

Her eyes casted downwards as Sitri answered. "I put all my Ki into one spot and exploded it outwards. I was basically a bomb. I never use it, because it destroys my body and could kill me. Quite frankly, it almost did…."

"Your….. Ki? What's that?"

"….You don't know what Ki is?" Sitri blinked rubbing her head. "Wow."

"Hey listen, if Ki is that light show you did, we have magic that does the same thing."

"But has it ever been that destructive? Because Ki is very destructive."

Jeralt pondered this question. The more he thought about it, he realised Sitri had a point. The most destructive that magic has ever been was in forbidden spells that were banned from ever being used. "I guess you have a point. So what can you do with Ki?"

"Oh, a number of things." Sitri replied, smiling. "You can use it to shoot Ki blasts, you can use it to move things with your mind. You can even use it to fly."

Now this surprised Jeralt. Flying? Without the use of a Pegasus? That seemed too far fetched to be true. But then again, this woman seemed to be challenging all of his beliefs lately.

"Is it simple to learn?"

Sitri placed a finger on her cheek and looked up in thought."I suppose. I was a fast learner, though I'm not sure about your kind. No harm in teaching you I suppose."

"Really? That easy to convince you?"

"Well, I have nothing better to do." Sitri shrugged as she took the rose and placed it in a pot just to take over to the greenhouse. "But it does take some time. Luckily, you seem to be fine on the physical side of things so all we need to do is bring out the Ki. I'll use my scouter to monitor the progress. Just need to plant this flower in the greenhouse and we will get started."

With a wave and a smile, Sitri walked off in the direction of the green house, brushing her green bangs out of her face as Jeralt smiled lightly at her retreating figure. He shook his head and slowly walked after her.

"What a crazy girl….."

…

"Snap out of it Professor!"

Jeralt blinked hearing a voice yelling at him, before realising that he blanked out just as the match started and that it was Dorothea who had snapped him out of his trance with the songstress having a very unimpressed look on her face. "It's not very professional to space out in the midst of battle. Especially when we just started."

"Ah, it's fine. I have faith in you brats." Jeralt said leaning on his long sword. "I'm not interfering with any fights unless it's out of your league. Besides, you all should be fine."

As he was saying this, he watched as Edelgard stormed ahead and was currently locked in battle with Ingrid of the Blue Lions, who twirled her spear in an attempt to put distance between them. But the princess was not swayed, as she swung her axe in an attempt to break Ingrids guard.

Ingrid gasped watching her training spear break in two from the force as Edelgard slowly walked towards her pointing her own training weapon at the blonde. "I suggest you surrender. You have no weapon."

"You're right. It would be foolish of me to fight you without a weapon." Ingrid said before drawing out a training sword from her back. "It's a good thing that I carry spares."

The two women kept circling each other as Ingrid tried to find an opening, but couldn't see any. Edelgard charged and swung at Ingrid, but she rolled out of the way and went to thrust her sword at Edelgard. The Princess jumped back in an attempt to dodge, but the weight of her training clothes were proving to be too much as she fell on her rear onto the ground.

Ingrid took this as an opportunity to strike and raised her sword in the air, but Edelgard kicked her opponent in the shin causing Ingrid to yelp in pain also collapsing to the ground. Both girls tried getting up, groaning as they got to their knees. That's when Edelgard noticed an arrow coming at her and collapsed onto her stomach as the arrow whizzed past her head. She looked in the distance to see Ashe readying another arrow.

"I'm sorry Ingrid!"

"It's okay Ashe." Ingrid sighed, now finally on her feet. "We have a lot of time to improve, but for now let's focus on taking out Edelgard."

"I would like to see you try. You two must know of the training I do with your leader."

"I do. I also know that your clothing is severely impacting your ability to fight. That gives us an advantage."

Edelgard narrowed her eyes readying her axe. "Do not underestimate me."

…

Byleth was looking at her pupil and smiled a little. It appeared that Edelgard had gotten stronger due to actually managing to break Ingrids spear. Her eyes were then drawn to Jeralt who was still hanging back from the students.

Now that she thought about it, Byleth had noticed that Hanneman and Manuela had done the same thing. Must be evaluating the performance of everyone participating.

"Don't get ahead of yourself Edelgard…."

She then looked over to Dimitri who was currently locked in combat Raphael from the Golden Deer. He was using his spear to create distance so that Raphael wasn't able to get in close with his gauntlets. She was glad that he was careful in battle and not just rush head first.

Then Byleth looked over at Claude who was dealing with Ferdinand alongside Hilda. It was a sound strategy that they had, where Hilda would get in close and Claude would take advantage of weak points from a distance. It seemed that Ingrid and Ashe were trying to copy that strategy but not with the same finesse, especially when it came to Edelgard.

"Show me the results so far you three. I want to see it."

…

The Princess was taking deep breaths as she stared down Ingrid once again who was glaring at her. She managed to take care of Ashe earlier on in the fight by kicking dirt in his face, blinding him to give her the opening to take him out. It was just the two of them now.

"There's no honour in kicking dirt in your opponents face." Ingrid said panting hard, exhausted from trying to break Edelgard and her defence.

"On the battlefield, honour doesn't exist."

"Stand down Ingrid. I will handle this."

Both girls turned to their right to see Dimitri approach, with a couple of fresh scrapes from his fight with Raphael, as he stared down Edelgard who stood up straight. "I am wanting to test out the results of our training so far. A fair fight. Do you accept?"

But before Edelgard could respond, another voice chimed in. "Don't think you can leave me out of the action you two. I'm wanting to test my power as well."

Claude had a smile as he tossed his training bow to the ground. "What do you say guys? While our classmates battle each other, we can settle this little rivalry for ourselves."

Dimitri nodded cracking his knuckles. "I am inclined to agree. I have managed to control my Ki. Prepare to see my power!"

"I accept this challenge." Edelgard said tossing her axe and her aura flared up. "Do not hold back!"

With that statement, Edelgard growled as her aura started glowing around her body giving a deep shade of red. It wasn't much, but the two before her were able to see her strength had grown from doing that. They decided to show off in their own way.

With a small smile, Dimitri clenched his fists and connected them together as they started to glow blue as he concentrated his Aku into one singular point between his closed fists.

Claude shook his head and gave a small chuckle before he charged his own Ki. His aura around him glowing yellow as his power went to his finger tips. "I'm impressed your majesties! I would've thought that you would burn out in the first second."

"Then you are a fool for thinking otherwise!" Dimitri growled as he kept his fists together.

…

"Well, this is interesting." Sothis said, floating next to Byleth who observed the trio. "I don't think you taught them how to do that."

"They have been impressing me this past week. If this is what they can do in this space of time, just imagine what will be the result after they graduate."

"You are thinking of fighting them? Of course you are." Sothis sighed shaking her head.

To her left, Shamir was just looking at Byleth with a strange look on her face. 'Who is she talking to?'

…

Jeralt was watching the leaders power themselves up, and nodded to himself seeing the display they brought forth. "Well done kid. You have taught them well so far. I'll stay behind a little longer."

At this point, everyone in the arena had stopped fighting and were watching wide eyed at what was happening.

"Is this the result of an innate Crest ability that I am not aware of?" Hanneman exclaimed from his spot and quickly pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper and sat on the ground now writing down notes.

"I have never seen something like this before!" Manuela gasped in a surprising manner, and briefly wondered if this was the result of last nights drinking. But after rubbing her eyes, she saw that it was real.

Dimitri had started slowly moving his fists to either side, with a beam of energy connecting the two. He panted, but smiled at what was forming. A lance came from the stored energy in his hands as he twirled it. He managed to do it!

"That is SO COOL!" Annette yelled dropping her tome. "I want a beam lance!"

Dedue allowed himself to smile at Dimitri progress. He felt immense pride on how strong the Prince had gotten. Dedue could only hope he would use this power for his Kingdom, and not for personal gain.

Felix however, was gripping his sword so hard, that his knuckles were white. Where did he get all this? How is he able to form a lance? Dimitri doesn't know magic! That's when it hit him.

"Is this the result of him training with that mercenary?" Felix looked at the cliff to see Byleth standing there, arms folded. He narrowed his eyes at her and back to Dimitri, and made a mental note to talk to this woman later. There is no way the boar will be better than him!

Edelgards aura dimmed as she released a long breath before looking at the prince. "I'm impressed Dimitri. I haven't gotten to the point where I can fashion a weapon like that."

"I feel the same way about you Edelgard. You're leaps and bounds ahead of me in raw power. But power isn't everything."

"Then come at me!" Edelgard yelled. "I'll prove you wrong!"

Dimitri nodded before he ran forward with his lance in tow. But before he could swing at Edelgard, a blast struck him at his side causing him to crumple to the ground. Claude was standing there smirking as his hand was in a finger gun position with smoke trailing off the end of his finger.

"Yeah, I'm with the Princess over there. Haven't gotten the chance to make weapons. But it seems I don't need it, when I can just shoot with my fingers. Pretty cool, huh?"

"And yet." Dimitri groaned picking himself up. "You felt the need to shoot an opponent who wasn't coming towards you?"

Claude shrugged, giving a wider smile placing his hands behind his head. "Hey, you left yourself wide open, your Highness. On the battlefield, you must look for every opening."

Edelgard just rolled her eyes as she took a stance staring down Dimitri and Claude. The Prince had his lance still and the Heir of Riegan had a ball of energy in his hand with a raised eyebrow and smile.

"I see. So this is how we're doing it." She whispered as her power ascended more. While she didn't have the finesse of making weaponry or able to shoot blasts from her hands, she had another goal in mind. What Edelgard was training in, was raw power as she charged at Claude. Better to take out the ranged attacker first.

She slammed her fist in Claudes stomach who wasn't expecting her to flat out charge like that, as he went flying back a few feet and groaned holding his stomach in pain. Edelgard went on the offensive as she went for another punch, but Claude rolled out of the way and pulled her leg causing Edelgard to fall yet again.

He grinned and got up, ready to attack once more but he saw a lance coming towards him and managed to duck in time causing it to miss him completely.

"Wait your turn Claude. We were just starting a duel." Dimitri said eyeing him up and ready to attack.

"Sorry, but this is a mock battle. We don't wait our turn."

Away from the action, Caspar was grinning like a madman as the power before him was unreal. "This is what I'm talking about! I'm going in there!"

He started sprinting but soon found that he was just running on the spot and felt his collar being tugged on. Linhardt was behind Caspar yawning as he held his friend in place. "I wouldn't advise that. You're out of your league."

"But it's so cool! I need to know how she did it!"

"Well, it appears that she's not doing so good." Linhardt replied as he pointed to her.

On the ground, Edelgard was slowly picking herself up whilst groaning at the weight she was still carrying. "Stupid gravity hexes…. maybe I can get Hubert to rid of them for now…."

But then she closed her eyes and took deep breathes after getting to her feet. "No. Professor Byleth won't be happy with me if I take easy ways out."

Edelgard saw Dimitri focused on Claude for now and narrowed her eyes trying to think of a way past them. She can't take them both on at the same time. There was only one way.

She focused Ki into her fists, but not the same way Dimitri did when forming his lance. Instead, Edelgard used it to power up her punches as she charged at Dimitri. Claude tried to get the jump on her by firing a Ki blast at her but she predicted he would do that and rolled to dodge and threw a punch at the Princes chest. But Dimitri blocked the punch, at the cost of his lance shattering after losing control.

"Damn it…. I was so sure I made it strong enough."

Edelgard let out a small laugh at Dimitri's dejected expression. "You tried, but ultimately you failed. Now I will- URK!"

She collapsed to the ground face first as Claude shot them both with Ki blasts. "You two talk too much, you know that? Now, I suggest you both surrender right now."

In the distance, Leonie was looking in awe at what Claude was doing. But she soon had a very annoyed expression as she stomped over to Jeralt who was still standing in his spot.

"Captain Jeralt! Is this the power you refused to teach me? Why?! I could've been awesome with that kind of power."

"Listen kid. I might have taught you how to defend yourself and your village. But this is another matter entirely, one that is not for the faint of heart. I didn't teach you because quite frankly, you weren't ready." Jeralt explained looking at her.

"W-Well, what about now?" Leonie said crossing her arms ignoring the match between the leaders. "I'm in the Officers Academy now! Surely I'm more than ready to receive that training!"

"It ain't up to me." Jeralt shrugged. "I've got too much paperwork to deal with nowadays. You're better asking Byleth, and it'll be her choice."

Leonie gave a nod pondering that over and looked towards Byleth at the cliff again. She remembers her, she helped teach her alongside her father. "Thank you, I will ask her after this."

"By the way kid, you forgot an important lesson."

"Lesson? What's tha- ACK!"

Her body went limp as Jeralt hit a pressure point on her neck, causing her to immediately fall unconscious and collapsed on the ground. "Never let your guard down. This is a battle after all."

Jeralt then looked towards everyone just looking at the ensuing battle and sighed, shaking his head. "This has gone on long enough."

"What are you going to be doing Professor?" Petra said sheathing her sword.

"Finishing this. Stay back."

And Petra just gasped as Jeralt disappeared out of nowhere and she frantically looked around trying to find him. "Where was he go?"

…

"I'm…. nowhere…. near done." Edelgard panted as her Ki was already very low and the extra weight of her clothing was starting to take its effect on her. She was kneeling on the ground and staring at the grass beneath her.

Dimitri was on his back as Dedue tried to help him up and Hubert was beside Edelgard ready to defend her from Claude who had two Ki balls in his hands.

"Really, why do you try to do close combat when it's a lot simpler to do it from a distance? Honestly, I feel like this was too easy."

Claude looked at the two vassals ready to take him on as he let out another chuckle. "Really guys? You're going to try and take me on? The royals can't fight anymore and it'll just be an easy victory for the Golden Deer!"

Hubert let out a dark laugh helping an exhausted Edelgard to her feet, to escort her out. "It appears that this power has clouded your senses. You would do well to notice what's happening behind you before celebrating your victory."

Claude wondered what Hubert meant by that, and when he turned around to see, he was met with a series of unconscious bodies. His entire team was knocked out!

"Professor Manuela! We need he-" Claude stopped short seeing the Songstress was nowhere to be seen and looked around. What was happening? Last time he looked, they were all fine! WHERE WAS HIS TEACHER?!

"Shit… I wasn't thinking straight." He mumbled to himself with a hand on his head. "Now I'm the only one left because I abandoned my team."

"Times up kid."

Claude whipped around to see Jeralt slowly walking towards him. He tried to keep his cool despite knowing how outmatched he was. "So, I'm assuming you're the one responsible for my teams elimination?"

Jeralt wasn't listening as he continued walking and cracking his knuckles. "I have to admit, I'm impressed. You're showing the most promise. But you let it get to your head, and now you're paying the price."

Weighing his options, Claude gulped as he realised there was nowhere else to go. Even the Blue Lions were out as well! It was just him!

Sighing heavily, he slowly raised his hands and dropped to his knees. "I surrender."

"Good choice." Jeralt grunted offering a hand to pick up Claude. "Saved yourself a trip to the emergency room. If I were you, I'd focus on not letting that power of yours make you cocky."

"Yeah….. thanks Professor." Claude mumbled looking down at himself.

"Go and help Manuela pick up the others."

"THE VICTORY OF THIS MOCK BATTLE GOES TO THE BLACK EAGLES!" Seteth yelled as Byleth gave a rare smile at her father for taking the win.

In truth, Byleth knew the Black Eagles would win simply because Jeralt was on the team. But at least she could take this mock battle and use it to try and improve her students.

"Hm. The brats did well, even though I saw that they burned their reserves too quickly." Shamir said with her arms folded. "Still, they've made that much progress in just a week, so you're doing something right at least."

She then turned to focus her attention on Byleth. "Oh yeah, before I forget. Lady Rhea wants to brief us on our mission next month. You still up for it?"

"Of course." Byleth replied. "I'm sure those three can take care of themselves while I'm gone."

"Good. I'll call for you when it's time."

Meanwhile, Seteth was trembling slightly at the battle. More specifically on the house leaders and Jeralt. Just what was going on? Those three were able to craft weaponry without magic, and he saw them shoot those blasts out of their hands! And on top of that, he didn't even see Jeralt take out the other students!

"Big brother, you're getting all sweaty again." Flayn commented holding up a cloth for Seteth to take.

"T-Thank you Flayn. It must be the heat today." Seteth said while dabbing his forehead and neck. But his eyes soon turned to the two mercenaries talking to each other. More specifically, Byleth.

'Just who is this woman? She can't be hurt by weaponry, she eats up half the Monastery's supply of food, and if that wasn't enough, she puts those students through intensive training. Not to mention Sir Jeralt can move faster than I can even track!'

"Are you okay? Maybe we should bring you inside big brother." Flayn suggested, tugging on his arm. "We can do my breathing exercises together to help you calm down as well as myself."

"Yes… that is perhaps the best course of action. Though, I will be paying a visit to Lady Rhea later on."

…

Later that day, Byleth was sitting at the edge of the lake, fishing to help pass the time. This was something that always helped her resolve, especially when today was quite a jam packed day.

"Professor. We were hoping to speak with you."

She looked behind to see Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude approach. Giving a nod, Byleth placed her fishing rod on the ground and stood up to greet them.

"We were hoping for an evaluation on our performance in the mock battle today." Dimitri asked giving a bow.

"I suppose that's only fair." Byleth replied. "Well, I'll get to you individually in a second. But in general, I was impressed by your performance at handling your Ki."

All three smiled at this praise. That is, until Byleth gave a glare. "However, this is where the criticism comes in." They were now shrinking under the glare.

"Edelgard, you tried far too quickly to output as much energy as possible and that resulted in you burning out and unable to move. Remember, Ki is YOUR energy. So if you use too much, that hurts you."

"I…. of course my teacher." Edelgard said looking at the ground.

"Dimitri. I liked how you tried to form a lance, but you're not ready to do such a thing just yet. As such, you left yourself open trying to form it again and again. I would suggest you wait until you've mastered forming a weapon before bringing it into battle."

The prince nodded as he took in the words, knowing she was right.

"Claude. Out of everyone here, you have the most control over your Ki. But I think I don't have to tell you that it went to your head. You completely ignored your own team and didn't even notice you were the last one. Take this as a lesson."

"Yeah, I got it Teach." Claude said rubbing his head and sighed. But Byleth clapped her hands together and gave a small smile.

"But. Progress is progress. You three keep this up, then you should be great for your upcoming missions next month!"

This perked up the students as they nodded. Edelgard turned to her companions. "I propose that we focus on controlling our energy tomorrow."

Dimitri gave a nod clenching his fists together. "Yes. I agree."

"Took the words right out of my mouth princess."

Byleth watched them walk away talking and had to admit, it seemed that they got closer from doing all of this. It was nice seeing them actually not bicker back and forth.

"Miss Byleth."

She turned around to see Felix and Annette standing there as Felix took the initiative and walked towards her. "I understand you have been teaching them how to use that power? I would like to request that I join in."

"Yeah! Me too!" Annette cheered. "That was so cool how Dimitri formed a lance using that!"

"You two are aware of the type of training that I do, don't you?" Byleth asked folding her arms and looking at the two students.

Felix was not fazed however, and gave a nod in return. "Yes, I am fully aware of it. But that won't stop me, I aim to become the best swordsman in Fódlan and this will help."

"I can handle anything!" Annette said pumping her fists. "You won't be disappointed with me!"

Byleth closed her eyes in thought about these two.

Annette was…. well she certainly tried when it came to doing stuff But that often made her cause more problems than when she started. She couldn't lie though, Annette had great potential when it came to magic if she remembered the conversations from strangers. Perhaps that could translate into Ki too.

Then there was Felix. Byleth knew right away that if she took him on, then it would be a pain trying to wrangle him off of Dimitri. She didn't like how Felix treated him, but couldn't deny his skill with a sword. If he focused on Ki manipulation, then he could do well.

"Alright. I'll let you two join."

Annette cheered loudly jumping for joy while Felix just gave a nod in appreciation. "However. Understand that this is separate from your schoolwork. It'll be before and after classes. I'll get you when it's time."

"Yes! I'm going to learn how to make beam swords!" Annette cheered running away.

"Annette! Watch out for the-"

CRASH!

"…..barrel."

"I'm okay! I think I broke my foot….. but I'm okay! Beam swords, here I come!"

Felix sighed heavily, shaking his head as he walked away, wondering if it was wise to let her do this. Byleth felt the same way, but it was too late now to change her mind.

"Hey Byleth! I've been looking for you."

Byleth had turned around to see Shamir walk down the stairs from the dining hall, looking a little different from the last time she saw her. Her jacket was now tied around her waist and her choker was off too. She walked to Byleth and raised a hand at her. "Yo. You able to come with me to be briefed?"

Giving a nod in response, Byleth put away her fishing rod at the stall where she got it and followed Shamir to the Audience Chamber where Rhea would be waiting.

"By the way, Petra from the Black Eagles wants to talk to you after we're done."

"Which one is Petra again?" Byleth asked as she scratched her head whilst taking in the scenery of the tall building.

"She's from Brigid."

"Oh yeah, the one who isn't used to Fódlan language. I have a feeling I know what she wants to ask."

Shamir nodded as the two made their way up the stairs. "That little spectacle at the mock battle seems to have given you some attention. I saw Felix and Annette approach you about wanting to be trained. How do you feel about it?"

Byleth hummed in thought and closed her eyes now that the two were outside the doors of the chamber. "I'm not sure. I don't mind teaching others, as long as they put in the work. But, I'm not going to be here for long since I'm doing this assignment with you."

"I'm sure their house leaders can help get them up to speed. Or even Professor Jeralt can help. Speaking of which, I've been meaning to ask."

She narrowed her eyes at Byleth who was looking at her with confusion. "How much are you holding back? I could barely keep up with Jeralts speed, and I'm assuming you're just as powerful as he is."

A second of silence passed, but Byleth knew she couldn't explain her way out of this one. With a heavy sigh, she gave another nod. "I hold back a little. I'm honestly not that powerful. I mean, you're catching up quite a bit, even with a weeks worth of training…."

Shamir noticed her comrade thinking to herself and decide to ask what was wrong. "It's weird… I feel like I'm held back. Like this training I do isn't getting me to my fullest potential."

"Based on what I've heard of you, it's hard to train when weapons can't hurt you."

Byleth now had a sad look folding her arms. "I just….. feel like there's things about myself that I don't know about. Nobody has a tail, or eats like I do. I just feel lost sometimes."

Shamir was going to give a response, but the doors to the Audience Chamber were opened by the guards, which meant they were permitted to enter. She nodded to Byleth as the two mercenaries made their way inside and were greeted by the sight of Lady Rhea.

"I am thankful that you two were able to meet with me today. The mission I have assigned is not a difficult one, but one I feel that should exercise caution nonetheless."

"We are honoured to take it Lady Rhea." Shamir said with a hand on her hip while Byleth gave a silent nod. The Archbishop smiled and continued talking. What Byleth seemed to notice however was the constant glances that Rhea was giving her. Like there was something she knew that Byleth didn't.

"Very well. There has been trouble in a town in the Kingdom of Faerghus recently. We are lead to suspect that it is the work of bandits, so when the Kingdom asked for the help of the Church, we were more than happy to oblige."

This confused Byleth and she placed a hand on the side of her face in thought. "Why do we need to assist? Why can't the Kingdoms soldiers do the job?"

"I asked that same question." Rhea replied now looking at her. "It appears that they are dealing with something at the moment that requires most of their soldiers. But since it's just a small matter on this town, I think that both of you can handle it yourself."

Shamir gave a nod and looked at Byleth. "Anything else you want to ask? There's no rush, we will be leaving at the end of the month."

"No." Byleth replied shaking her head. "I have nothing else to ask for now."

"Very well. You may go about your day now." Rhea said smiling and bowed her head in a praying matter. "I must return to giving the Goddess my blessings."

"Of course, we will be on our way." Shamir replied as she and Byleth made their way out back to the courtyard.

Rhea was by herself now, but only for a couple of minutes. Because Seteth came in, looking very afraid which worried the Archbishop. "Seteth? Is everything okay?"

"Yes, everything is okay. I only wish to speak with you regarding our new staff."

"Oh." Rhea blinked, not expecting this conversation. "By all means."

"Are you aware of this power? This 'Ki' that they use? Because I can't help but feel unnerved by it." Seteth said with his hands behind his back, as if acting like this is part of their daily reports.

"I am aware of Ki, yes." Rhea replied now clasping her hands at her front. "I also know that a number of people at the Academy have started to learn how to use it, including Shamir."

"Is this something we can truly trust them with?"

"Do you feel threatened by this power Seteth?"

"No." Seteth said now narrowing his eyes at the Archbishop. "But it all comes back to Jeralt and his daughter Byleth. Who, by the way, I tried researching about. And I found nothing. It's like she doesn't exist. I do not like the idea of someone with no archived history running about the Monastery. Especially with that kind of power."

"I trust her Seteth." Rhea hummed closing her eyes. "She has been helping students reach their potential, and will do great things in the name of the Church. Do you trust me?"

"I… yes. Of course I do. If you say she is trustworthy then I shall believe you."

"I'm glad you think so. Onto a different subject, how is Flayn?"

Seteth blinked in surprise, not expecting the conversation to change to her. "She is doing well. She is in the middle of her meditation."

"I see…. and you are certain we won't have another… incident?"

"That was a very long time ago Rhea." Seteth said looking away. "And I would appreciate that you do not bring up that subject."

"Yes, my apologies. I'm only looking to see you both safe." Rhea whispered clasping her hands in a prayer again. Seteth could see that she meant well and nodded.

"I appreciate the sentiment. Thank you for your time Lady Rhea, but I must be going." Seteth bowed towards her and quickly made his way out of the door. Rhea was alone yet again, and sighed softly continuing to pray.

"Mother…. how would you see sense in these times?"

…

"You are certain that there is no data on her?"

Edelgard was speaking to Hubert in a desolate part of the Monastery, where nobody could hear what they were talking about. Hubert has a deep frown as he nodded.

"Correct. I looked through every available archive, and while there is information about Professor Jeralt, there is nothing about his daughter, Byleth. I fear she is a great threat. I would offer to dispose of her, but I now know that is an impossible task."

"There is no need for that." Edelgard said folding her arms. "I am positive I can make her an ally to the cause."

"Speaking of allies. There is something else to discuss." Edelgard was curious on what Hubert meant by that, and motioned for him to continue.

"Our 'allies' appear to be hiding certain goals and valuable information. I caught wind of an operation that they are doing in a town in the Kingdom."

Edelgard couldn't contain her surprise. Of course, she was only partnering up with them because their goals sort of aligned, but even so, she was usually kept well informed about their missions and plans. To not know about this one felt a need for concern. "Is it the same one that Professor Byleth is going to?"

"The very same, Lady Edelgard. How should we approach this?"

A pregnant pause was through the air as the Princess pondered on what to do. She would like to investigate this herself, but knew that was an impossibility. She's still training and has to do work, so there would be no need for an extra body with two highly skilled mercenaries about. Especially when one of them was Byleth.

"We shall leave them to it for now." She finally decided. "I'm sure I can ask them what their task was at the next meeting."

"As you wish." Hubert replied bowing to Edelgard. "I shall continue my research on our mystery mercenary. I bid you farewell for now Lady Edelgard."

"Farewell Hubert."

As she watched him walk away, she felt a presence behind her and turned around to see Dimitri and Claude approaching her. "Oh? I wasn't expecting to see you two."

"Well, we just wanted to see what this little conversation was." Claude said winking at her.

"No, YOU did." Dimitri corrected with a disappointed look. "And I had to make sure you respect other people's privacy."

He then turned to Edelgard and smiled. "Professor Byleth has asked us for our assistance in training some of our classmates on Ki."

Edelgards eyebrows shot up in surprise. She wasn't aware that Byleth would be taking on new students. "If I recall correctly, two of your own Black Eagles are wanting to learn. Caspar and Petra I believe. Meanwhile, Annette and Felix from my house are learning as we speak."

"Yeah, Leonie practically begged me to ask Teach." Claude said with his hands behind his head. "Surprisingly enough, Lysithea wanted to learn how to use it. Seems we're getting a tight knit family, wouldn't you say?"

Dimitri nodded at Claude as he turned his attention back to Edelgard, explaining further. "Since Professor Byleth will be doing her own mission with miss Shamir at the end of the month, she wants to make sure our classmates know the training criteria so that they don't feel lost by the end. We have to help too."

"That seems reasonable." Edelgard said adjusting her wristbands. "Are we doing that right now?"

"Indeed. They're all at the same spot where we learned. Would you care to join us in practicing our mental strength?"

Edelgard gave a smile and nodded. "It wouldn't be wise to waste an opportunity to train."

"So it's settled." Claude declared getting in between the two and placing a hand on their shoulders. "Look at us, the Three Amigos!"

"….I don't know how I feel about that name."

"Yes, I agree."

"Ah, you two will warm up to it. But if you don't like that one, how about Team Three Star?"

Dumbfounded expressions were on Edelgard and Dimitri's faces as they walked to the field. "What does that even mean?"

"Well, we're a team. There's three of us. And we're gonna be rising stars. Team Three Star!" Claude explained with a grin as silence just filled the area.

"I think I prefer the first one." Edelgard muttered.

"Team Three Star it is!"

"CLAUDE!"

…

I think this is a good place to end it. So yeah, they're starting to learn how to harness Ki, but nowhere near mastering it. Also we have some new students in the mix. Like I said before, only three from each house, so we only have one spot left for all three. Make your guesses on who they are.

So far we have:

Black Eagles

Edelgard

Petra

Caspar

Blue Lions

Dimitri

Felix

Annette

Golden Deer

Claude

Leonie

Lysithea

And like I said before, only Shamir is learning out of the Church of Seiros team so, sorry to everyone that wanted SSJ God Kaioken x100 Gilbert, looking at you over there.

But yeah, I've been contemplating which techniques to implement. I always had the idea for Dimitri to learn how to forge weapons using his energy and I'm glad some of you suggested that from other forms of anime. And I will be using techniques from Dragonball (not the Kamehameha) I'll have plans for that later… maybe.

But yeah, hope this was a good chapter, I'm not good with fight scenes so I hope this was good.

And we passed 20 favourites! Thank you all, and like I said before, keep yourself safe during these dark times.

Review, Favourite, Follow.