IMPORTANT: IF YOU DIDN'T READ THE INTERLUDE CHAPTER BEFORE THIS, PLEASE DO SO. IT'S NOT IMMEDIATELY IMPORTANT BUT WILL BE FOR FUTURE EVENTS
(Author's Note)
Hey guys! I managed to shorten the gap from two months to like, two weeks!
Sorry about the wait on this chapter, I just had a lot of things crop up while writing this that forced me to pause and think. Characterization is not something I'd call a "Strong Suit" of mine, but with this story I want to do my best to get everything as spot on as I can possible get it, so I had many bouts of nothing while I tried to figure out how a character would react to the situation at hand. Though everything did speed up immensely as soon as I got passed the first half of the chapter.
But boy, talk about a lot of stuff happening. Three Hopes got a new trailer drop that looks... Real good. With the exception of possible characterization we get for pre established characters, I will note I won't be taking anything from the new Warrior's game.
Also, a quick thank you to all the new follows and Favorites! I still can't believe this story has gathered as much attention as it has, but I'll do my best to live up to the expectations being set by that... ever expanding number.
Now, onto reviews!
To Krumpte(Guest): Two things to go over then. Firstly, regarding the events of the story. I don't disagree that Ren would probably not let a war occur if he knew about it before hand. The problem though arises on whether he'd be able to change enough before said war erupted, or even figure out about the brewing war in the first place. Most individuals associated with the war either have false names that wouldn't ping in the metanav, or wouldn't be distorted enough to have a palace, yet. And it's not just a civil war caused by the students, there's a whole other faction at play behind the scenes as well. I won't give specifics regarding my plans on that for right now, seeing as they may change and even if they don't, they'd be heavy spoilers for what's to come. Secondly, I do agree that using pre established characters is a much better idea, it's just the issue of finding ones that would fit to be used as targets pre time skip, as many character's would only get to a point of full distortion after having those 5 years of the war to harden them like that. I am doing my best to narrow down exactly who to use though, and there are a few that already spring to mind.
To Incognito74: Firstly, I'd like to thank you for the kind words regarding your enjoyment of my story thus far. It's always great to hear what I'm doing in my free time is giving enjoyment to my readers. Secondly, yes, I will admit that as things currently stand things are going to feel a bit aimless. Unfortunately, until things progress past the mock battle, it will still BE a little aimless. Though in my defense, I feel that it is at least in line with the current events of the story. Ren was just given the position of a professor, and aside from knowing the metaverse exists here as well, he hasn't had a good opportunity to really look around to find people that are in need of a change of heart. And unlike back in Tokyo, he also doesn't have Mishima running a website where anyone can post things anonymously about people who need to be reformed. But as soon as things pick up with the Metaverse, and with the first full month of classes, things will pick up and have more of a purpose. I can promise that.
Once again, thank you to everyone who left a review! I'm always grateful for whatever is sent in that way, whether it's praise or criticism of my work, both help give me a boost to write and perfect the story I'm weaving together. I'm not saying it's manditory, and I never will, but if you feel up for leaving a review with even one of your thoughts about this chapter, I'd really appreciate it.
Now, onto the story!
"We've almost used up the allotted time we have to map out our base." Edelgard noted to herself as she stared at the red flag in front of her. The pole keeping it upright seemed to have simply been dropped into a simple metal slot, and upon attempting to lift it out, the lack of resistance that met Linhardt when he lifted said flag up was enough to confirm that. "There's about two entrance points we found that we need to take note of. The main entrance is the main one, but it's big and you'd be spotted quickly if you tried to enter since it pokes out far enough to be spotted from the opening here."
Edelgard turned to her left, looking at the large open hole next to her. While it provided a decent view that the Adrestian Princess knew would benefit one of her archers, likely Bernadetta, there were also trees nearby, with many of its thick branches obscuring other areas from sight. "Of course, then there's the hole on the east side of the base…" Edelgard said with a sigh, closing her eyes. "Obvious signs of disrepair and weather damage point to it not being a natural opening. Might be a possible entrance, though Caspar might get the most out of it considering his height…"
"Not that it'd stop Hubert from using it either." Edelgard nodded to herself.
"I take it we looked over everything important then?" Linhardt asked, walking into the room with a yawn. He stepped next to the flag and paused, looking back to see Bernadetta and Petra walk into the room.
"Yes. I believe now is a good time to go over our roles for this." Edelgard said, resting one of her hands on her hip. "Since we know the two places they're most likely to enter from-"
"There are three." Petra spoke up, raising her hand.
"Another one? Lovely…" Linhardt said with a sigh.
"Did… did I miss it? Oh, great job Bernie…" The people haired Hermit groaned to herself as she let her head drop.
"We all did, if it wasn't for Petra, don't beat yourself up over it." Edelgard said before turning to look at Petra. "Where did you find it?"
"Right here." Petra said, motioning to the window. "The trees reach out and make a path inside."
Linhardt glanced outside, looking at the branches. "They might be close, but I doubt the branches would be able to withstand the weight of someone." The healer said.
"I have run over much thinner back in Brigid." Petra said.
"So Petra might be able to use it, but not any of us." Edelgard said, nodding to herself. "In that case, it might benefit us to use it as a shortcut back to the flag."
Edelgard looked out at the rest of her team. "Alright, here's the plan. Linhardt, you and I will assault their base from the front, or meet them halfway to stall their progress. Since I'll most likely be handling combat against Caspar and one other, either Ferdinand or Dorothea, I'll need you prepared to back me up with your magic." The Adrestian Princess began, looking at the healer.
"That unfortunately leaves me as an easy target…" Linhardt noted, narrowing his eyes. "I suppose I'll just need to prepare myself for such a situation."
"Petra, you'll be in charge of capturing the enemy flag. Your experience navigating terrain like this will no doubt greatly help us, and it also means we can use the trees as a way of getting the flag back quicker." Edelgard continued, turning to Petra.
"I understand. I will capture the flag." Petra said with a nod.
"And Bernadetta, you will be best suited here." Edelgard finished, looking at the girl. "You'll be in charge of keeping out any intruders and acting as recon. Remember, one hit to the head with an arrow forces them back to their base, so always aim there."
"O-okay! I'll… try not to mess this up!" Bernadetta said, nodding to herself.
Edelgard turned to look out the window. "Now all that's left to do is wait for one of the professors to arrive so we can begin." She said, looking down towards the main entrance.
"I don't think that'll take very long." Linhardt said, pointing to the side as Byleth walked into the room.
"Ah! W-when did she get here!?" Bernadetta asked, taking a step back as Byleth glanced over at her with her usual neutral expression.
"About two minutes ago. I heard everything." Byleth said.
"If you've been here for two minutes, does that mean we've already started?" Edelgard asked, eyes widening.
"It has! Oh no…!" Bernadetta winced, quickly moving over to the window as she drew her bow.
"Calm down. We haven't yet. Ren said that he would give the signal when we were starting." Byleth said, turning to look at Edelgard. "Your plan seems promising, now we see if it works."
"Did he at all mention what the signal would be?" Linhardt asked.
"Loud." Byleth said, leaning up against the wall opposite the window.
"Well, that's certainly descriptive…" The green haired teen said with a sigh.
"I see something." Petra said, pointing up in the air outside the window.
"What is it?" Edelgard asked.
"I believe it's a ball-" Petra began, before the object exploded into a flash of light as a loud bang echoed across the area.
"What was that?" Linhardt asked, shaking his head.
"Your signal. The exercise starts now." Byleth said, nodding to her students as they quickly moved into their positions.
"Professor, just what exactly was that?" Hubert asked, lowering his hands from his ears as he looked over at Ren.
"The signal." Ren said, turning back to look at the Black flag. "So since you all have a plan, best get on it."
"Very well. Caspar, Ferdinand." Hubert began, turning to the two. "A frontal assault. Knowing the composition of the opposing team, your only real opposition should be from Edelgard and possibly Petra. If Linhardt is nearby, he's the priority."
"Alright! Let's go!" Caspar shouted, running down to the main entrance.
"Hey, let's not rush into this!" Ferdinand shouted as he ran after the blue haired axe wielder.
"Dorothea, you'll stay behind to keep watch. You don't need to keep an eye out for people coming into the base. You're simply our means of stopping someone if they move to take the flag." Hubert continued before moving to follow Caspar and Ferdinand. "I will be capturing the enemy flag."
"Well, I suppose I better wish you luck." Dorothea said, smirking at Hubert as he walked away, leaving her alone with the professor.
A silence fell over the two as Ren closed his eyes, allowing his mind to run through the possibilities before they opened up as the thief hummed.
"Not a bad plan." Ren said, playing with one of the curls of his bangs. "If it's just Edelgard they might be able to overpower her enough to break through to the back line. But then again, no plan survives first contact."
"Oh, and what about my placement here?" Dorothea asked, glancing over at the thief.
"Depends. I don't see a weapon on you… So, I assume you're primarily focused on magic. At that point, it's a question of what you can cast and in what scenarios your magic is most effective in." Ren said, leaning back against the wall. "Maybe it would've been better to have either Caspar or Ferdinand swap places with you, that way you'd be able to support them with ranged cover fire with your spells or just apply pressure in ways that aren't easily countered by martial prowess."
Ren shrugged, leaning towards Dorothea with his hands in his pockets. "Or maybe Hubert had the right idea having you stationed here. Compared to the others, you have a much larger range to work with regarding those who would simply charge in for a grab and dash."
"A grab and dash?" Dorothea asked, before nodding. "Wait, I understand."
"Right, so say Ferdinand was left behind. He might do well if he had to defend the flag, but he wouldn't be as effective with slowing or stopping a fleeing target, especially if they're making a run for it with your flag." Ren continued. "Of course, this is all speculation and none of it can really be proven until we see it in action so…"
"I'm a bit surprised. I wasn't expecting such a well thought out response." Dorothea said.
"I'd be a pretty bad professor if I couldn't give my students constructive criticism. Which requires thinking it all out like this." Ren said, rolling his neck as he rubbed his gloved hand over the base of his skull. "I've had a lot of practice thinking of possible scenarios and the solutions to them come mostly naturally to me by this point…" The thief explained with a hint of sheepishness.
Dorothea smiled, tilting her head as she glanced at the foreign features on her Professor's face. "You said earlier that English wasn't your first language. I was wondering what language is your first?"
"I doubt you'd know it." Ren said. "It's called Japanese. You should really get back to keeping an eye out for intruders."
"Hm, what did you say just then?" Dorothea asked, raising an eyebrow.
"My plans for world domination." Ren said bluntly, glancing over at Dorothea's direction behind his false glasses.
Dorothea laughed. "You have a great sense of humor, professor." She said, shaking her head. "So, what other words can you share?"
"Well… Sensei for one." Ren supplied after a moment.
"Sensei? What does that mean?" Dorothea asked.
"It means a few things. It's mainly… an honorific for someone who might be a teacher or doctor, possibly a person of authority. It's also used for someone who has obtained a mastery in a specific field. So you would likely refer to Manuela as such, since she's both a professor, and a physician." Ren explained.
"That's a lot of meanings for just one word." Dorothea noted.
"Maybe, but context helps to differentiate meanings." The teen responded with a shrug. "Besides, a lot of meaning for just one word is… Well, fairly accurate for my native language's honorifics actually."
"Well, thank you for the lesson, Sensei." Dorothea said with a smirk.
"Don't mention it." Ren said, before pausing as he heard something almost inaudible. "Especially since you've spent the past seven minutes talking to me instead of participating."
"Hm?" Dorothea blinked before letting out a shout as a dull knife was pressed against her throat.
"Well, they're certainly not trying to be stealthy…" Linhardt deadpanned, glancing out from behind his cover at Caspar and Ferdinand as they moved through the forest. Although, it was more accurate to say that Caspar was making a lot of noise and Ferdinand was trying to keep Caspar from making said noise.
"They're trying to draw us out. We can't evenly match the both of them, not since you're specialized for healing…" Edelgard said, her eyes narrowing at the pair as she hid behind a tree parallel to the one Linhardt was hiding behind. "Every moment I'm reminded why I'm grateful Hubert is loyal to me, he knows how to counter us."
"Can we try and move past them?" Linhardt asked, glancing ahead. "Our goal is their flag, and we are at a disadvantage."
"No, then we're just leaving Bernadetta on her own to deal with these two when they decide to just move to the base and capture our flag." Edelgard shot the idea down with a sigh. "We also have to assume that either Hubert or Dorothea will be making their move towards our flag, so leaving these two to join their comrade and fight Bernadetta three on one is a terrible idea."
"It's likely Hubert that would go after the flag." Linhardt said, watching as Caspar swung his practice axe in front of him in a wide arc. "From my personal experiences, I doubt Dorothea would excel with that kind of stealth, which would leave him as the one to try and steal the flag out from under us."
"You're right. Especially so since I know for certain Hubert can be practically a whisper when he wants to, which means either way we need to figure out how to take the two of them down here…" Edelgard said, looking over at Linhardt.
"...Our biggest advantage we have that they don't is my magic." Linhardt said, glancing at Edelgard. "Remember? Strikes that would've counted as Mortal Wounds are ignored if a healer can reach and heal you in under 10 seconds."
Edelgard remembered. It was a last second addition Professor Amamiya had said to the two teams when they were about to leave to check out their bases, but one that they were able to use to their advantage. "Then we divide and conquer. Your friends with Caspar, do you think you can keep him busy until I deal with Ferdinand?" The Imperial Princess asked, glancing back over at the pair who edged closer to their location.
"It'll be close… He likely won't give me enough time to use Nosferatu, but I can probably keep him off me for long enough to get you up once." Linhardt said after a moment, before turning to look at Edelgard. "After that… Well, it's likely I'll be 'out'. You'll have to make the healing count."
"We will win this exercise, you have my word." Edelgard said, before stepping out of her hiding spot. "Ferdinand!"
'It's okay Bernie! You have this under control. It's just you, and a bow and that's it!' Bernadetta thought, her grip on her bow tightening as her knuckles went white. 'All you have to do is keep an eye out for anyone coming towards the base. Simple… not even you can mess that up.'
The archer glanced over her shoulder at the stoic professor standing by the wall behind her. 'No, stop! Ignore the Professor. She's not judging you, she's just…'
Bernadetta gulped, turning back to look out the window. It had been nearly 5 minutes of waiting, and while the silence normally was welcome to the purple haired Hermit, it was not as welcomed right now.
'She's just standing there…' Bernadetta continued in her head, glancing back to face her professor. The archer felt a shiver go up her spine as she looked over at the menacing Aura that Byleth was producing.
Said menacing aura was unintentional, but Bernadetta didn't need to know that.
"Oh… Hurry up guys…!" Bernadetta muttered to herself, glancing out of the window for a moment to try and catch a glimpse of one of her opponents.
She let out a light whine as she took another glance at what was quickly becoming a major distraction to her, only to pause momentarily as she watched Byleth's eyes turn towards the right door leading into the flag room.
Bernadetta's eyes widened before she quickly notched a practice arrow and pulled the string taut. Her hands shook as she waited for whoever the professor had noticed to show themselves.
Byleth blinked, glancing back to Bernadetta with slight surprise. The swordswoman had no intention of selling out whoever was on the other side of the wall, she had a good guess as to who since the footsteps sounded like Hubert's, but since hiding those sudden reactions to low noises like that wasn't something she did prominently, the reaction slipped out.
What had really surprised her was how quickly Bernadetta had caught onto said reaction, and how quickly she went about preparing for what came next.
Bernadetta grimaced as various outcomes ran through her head. Various scenarios of attacks resulting in her failing to keep their flag secure seemed to almost taunt her as her aim began to deteriorate.
"Calm down." Byleth spoke up, her voice nary a whisper as she cut Bernadetta's thoughts short. There was a pause as Byleth considered her next words, before a few words pushed to the forefront of her mind.
"You're not a soldier on the field now. You're their teacher." Ren's voice echoed in Byleth's head. "If they can't confide in you about what troubles them, they aren't going to be able to learn properly. It's not easy, but there's… always something you can do to help them."
"Breath. Ignore everything else, just focus on your target." Byleth continued after a moment, watching as Bernadetta closed her eyes. The archer's body relaxed, before her eyes snapped open and everything faded around her, leaving only herself, and her target.
Time slowed for the girl as a hand lightly grasped the side of the entrance before Hubert's body quickly swung into the open as he prepared to fire off one of his spells.
The arrow was already flying by the time his fingers first gripped the wood.
The man's eyes snapped shut as the practice arrow nailed him dead between his eyes, allowing Byleth to step forward and look at Hubert. "That's an out, Hubert. Head back to your base."
"How did…?" Hubert asked, glancing at Bernadetta in a mix of shock and intrigue. The archer merely stumbled back as the sudden stillness faded in the face of Hubert's possible ire. The man closed his eyes before turning on his heel, moving to the main entrance in a fast paced stride.
"...Good catch." Byleth said, before moving back to her spot near the wall.
"I… T-thanks?" Bernadetta asked with a shaky smile.
"Ferdinand!" Edelgard called out, stepping out from behind the tree. Caspar and Ferdinand came to a stop, turning to face the Adrestian Princess as she rested her axe on her shoulder.
"Edelgard. I'm surprised you decided to give up the element of surprise." Ferdinand said, adjusting his grip on his practice spear.
"Are you insinuating that I wouldn't be able to defeat you without it?" Edelgard asked the spearman, hefting her axe off her shoulder as she lowered into her combat stance. "I assure you that you're in for a surprise if that's the case."
"You're good, Edelgard, but there's two of us and one of you." Caspar noted, readying his own practice axe.
"Wait, Caspar." Ferdinand said, glancing around the area in front of them. His eyes narrowed, before he turned his gaze back to Edelgard. "Hubert said she'd likely have Linhardt here to assist. With that in mind, it's strange that he's not, so I imagine that he's hiding nearby right now."
"Well, what else did you expect me to do? I'm not exactly proficient martially." Linhardt noted, stepping out from one of the trees behind Edelgard.
"Well, now that everyone's here, shall we?" Edelgard asked, tightening her grip on her weapon.
"Let's." Ferdinand said, getting into a stance as he braced for the first attack.
"I got Linhardt!" Caspar shouted running over at the green haired healer. "Especially since now is a perfect time to try out that thing you've been avoiding!"
"Oh no." Linhardt said, eyes widening as he threw himself to the side, avoiding the initial charge from Caspar as he led the blue haired teen away to the side.
Edelgard let out a cry and she charged forward, swinging her axe up into the air before throwing her arms down towards Ferdinand, allowing the practice weapon to cut through the air towards the intended target.
Ferdinand narrowed his eyes, and stepped to the side, batting the weapon to the side with his spear with enough force to just barely change the axe's momentum away from him. "It'll take more than THAT!" The spearman shouted, thrusting his weapon towards the princess' solar plexus.
The axe lifted off the ground from where the previous attack had landed, before it quickly spun out in front of Edelgard, the long handle of the practice axe batting the polearm to the side as the Adrestian Princess stepped towards Ferdinand. The spearman let out a grunt, making haste to separate the distance between Edelgard and himself as he threw out a few quick thrusts in her direction.
Edelgard nimbly ducked or dodged each thrust from Ferdinand's weapon, closing in on her retreating opponent. "Tell me, how is retreating going to secure you this win?"
"I'm wielding a spear, I believe you know well enough why." Ferdinand said, taking another step back as he deflected another of Edelgard's swings towards the dirt.
"Of course, which makes the fact that you haven't gained a solid advantage yet confusing!" Edelgard shouted, swinging upwards with her axe, barely missing Ferdinand's head as the orange haired spearman stumbled back.
Edelgard spun her weapon in the air using the momentum from the upwards swing, bringing it around to swipe down at Ferdinand before the sound of something cutting through the air caught both of their attention as a loud thud echoed around the forest.
"Did you just throw your axe at me!?" Linhardt shouted from the side, wide eyes locked on Caspar as he stood next to the tree the practice axe was now buried into.
"I said I was going to try it out!" Caspar called back.
"It's an Axe! That would've caved my skull in!"
Edelgard let out a sigh, disappointment evident on her face before something slammed into her chest, pushing her back as she staggered back to a stand.
"I think that was my advantage." Ferdinand said, smirking as he pulled his spear back into a neutral stance. "And I do believe that puts you out."
"I suppose so…" Edelgard said, before taking a deep breath. "I'M OUT!"
LInhardt looked over at his house leader before running to the side as Caspar attempted to tackle the healer. "Stand still!" Caspar said, rolling to a stand.
"Why would I ever do something so moronic in this scenario?" Linhardt asked, raising an eyebrow before turning towards Edelgard and Ferdinand.
"I don't think so!" Ferdinand said, pointing his spear at Linhardt.
A bright flash of light emerged from further into the forest, as a loud boom echoed through the students' mock combat arena.
"That was from our base…!" Ferdinand noted with wide eyes as he turned to look into the forest. 'That was Thunder, right…?'
"Heal!" Ferdinand swerved around, mere moments too late as Edelgard's axe slammed into his chest and sent him stumbling back.
"And just as quickly it was here, your advantage has fled." Edelgard noted, turning to look at Caspar as the blue haired teen attempted to pull his practice axe out of the tree it was stuck in. "I do believe you're the one who's 'out' now."
"I suppose so. I need to check the base." Ferdinand said, standing up and quickly heading out towards the source of the light.
"I suppose this means the plan worked?" Linhardt asked.
"As well as we could've hoped for." Edelgard said with a nod before glancing back at Caspar as the teen finally pulled his axe free. "You head on back to our base. With any luck, the light was a sign Petra has their flag and is on her way."
"Understood. I'll leave him to you." Linhardt said, running back towards their home base as Edelgard walked towards Caspar.
"Just you and me then!" Caspar said with an excited smirk.
"I suppose so. And I'll take this moment to demonstrate why your axe is better suited in your hands than in the air." Edelgard said, tightening her grip on her weapon.
"That's an out. Good job, Petra. Dorothea, you have 15 seconds before you are allowed to make any action deemed hostile towards Petra." Ren said, looking over as Petra removed the practice knife from Dorothea's neck and stepped out from behind the girl to move towards the flag.
"I didn't even hear you…" Dorothea said, blinking at Petra in shock.
"You were being very loud." Petra said, pulling the flagpole out of its slot.
"Ten seconds." Ren spoke up, drawing his students attention to his hands, and the pinky finger that hand just closed as the timer ticked down to nine.
Petra narrowed her eyes and ran towards the window, holding the flag up in her arms as she leaped out of the window and onto a nearby tree branch, quickly sprinting ahead and maneuvering through the trees away from the base.
"That… that's actually pretty impressive." Ren said bluntly, before reaching Zero as he turned to look at Dorothea. "Dorothea-"
"Thunder!" Dorothea cried out, electricity quickly forming in her hand before it shot out the window with a boom, racing towards the retreating girl.
Ren stared, idly comparing the magic to that of a basic Zio, before quickly snapping out of his surprise to make sure Petra wasn't seriously injured from the attack.
He let out a sigh of relief when he saw Dorothea had missed her target.
"She's still up and moving." Ren said, glancing over to Dorothea.
"I wasn't entirely planning on taking her out with that." Dorothea said, shaking the hand she had sent the spell off with. "Everyone should have heard that thunder go off, so they know something is up now."
"Well, better get moving then." Ren said, tilting his head to the side.
"See you later, Sensei!" Dorothea shouted, running out of the room.
Ren sighed, shaking his head with a weak smile. "Ha… Morgana is never gonna let me live this down."
Hubert glanced up, eyes locked onto the sight of his team's base peeking out from some of the nearby trees. 'That was obviously Thunder.' Hubert noted, slowing to a halt. "The question is, did Dorothea hit her target?"
The sound of leaves rustling had Hubert's head snapping upwards, watching as Petra ran overtop of him over the branches, flag in her arms.
"Clearly not!" Hubert snarled, resuming his sprint back towards his base. He ran past Dorothea, not stopping to say any remarks that might've flown to the forefront of his mind as he entered the now empty flag room, with the exception of Ren Amamiya.
The man was an enigma. A ghost. There was nothing. A week ago one of the Black Eagle's professors didn't exist, and when your job is to know as much as possible about possible threats to your charge, the lack of information was unacceptable.
The professor looked over at Hubert, before quickly nodding. "You're back in, Hubert." He said, not bothering to ask if Hubert was considered out or not.
Hubert swiftly spun on his heel and ran towards the open window. While he wasn't as skilled at this as Petra was, he would have a better time tracking and keeping pace with Petra like this than if he had stayed on the ground. Besides, he did have ground support that was able to slow her down.
"Thunder!" Dorothea's voice rang out ahead of him, as a boom echoed throughout the forest accompanied by a large flash of light a bit ahead of his current position. He quickly jumped and weaved through a few interconnected trees before jumping to another branch as Petra came into view.
"Apologies, but I don't plan on losing." Hubert said, focusing his magic around one of his gloved hands. When first learning magic, you're often encouraged to announce loudly what you are casting, as a means of honing your focus so your casting is more potent. Over time your reliance on such things fades until it's unnecessary, but some still utilize it due to habit.
Hubert on the other hand found the act of announcing your presence to be more of a detriment than whatever advantage the extra focus would grant you. Besides, if the result is the same if you simply think the name instead, then why proclaim it with words?
The magic will do all the speaking needed, and more.
'Miasma Δ.' Hubert's mind echoed, as the energy building up in his open palm shot forward. The gathered magic hit something, though unfortunately not his target as the energy spread out over the branch Petra was running across.
The girl's eyes widened for a moment before she quickly leapt to the side, landing on another tree branch as she quickly adjusted her balance as she raced towards the base that was rapidly coming into sight.
"It's me, I'm back." Linhardt said, stepping up into the flag room. He glanced up, looking over at Bernadetta who was currently staring out of the window with wide eyes. "I take it you heard the spell go off?"
Bernadetta nodded, quickly notching an arrow as she pulled back on the bowstring. "...I-I see Petra!" She said, before quickly sucking a breath in. "A-and Hubert!"
"This will be close." Linhardt said, walking up to the other side of the window. "Can you hit him from here?"
Bernadetta took in another breath. "There's too many trees in the way…" She said, easing up on the drawstring of her bow.
Linhardt glanced out of the window before widening his eyes. "Petra, watch out!" He shouted to the approaching flag bearer as his eyes locked onto the sight of Hubert's next spell forming in his hand.
The warning came too late for Petra, as the Miasma slammed into her back, knocking her off the branch she was running across.
Petra let out a gasp before narrowing her eyes as she adjusted her grip on the flag in her hands and threw it like a javelin towards the window into her team's base.
"Get down!" Linhardt shouted, pulling Bernadetta towards him as the two hit the ground, the enemy flag clattering to the floor of their base as it soared over where they were just standing moments earlier. "Get the flag!"
Bernadetta quickly moved to her feat, running over to the flag. As she reached down to grab the flag, magic slammed into her back, knocking her over as Hubert entered the base from the window.
"I don't believe that's yours." Hubert noted, already readying another Miasma Δ.
Linhardt glared, rushing over towards Bernadetta as he pooled his magic together. "Heal!" He shouted, jumping towards her.
Hubert narrowed his eyes, firing off another Miasma at Linhardt. The spell connected, but not before Linhardt's magic healed Bernadetta of her injuries.
Bernadetta scrambled back from her position on the floor, clutching the flag in her hands as Hubert approached menacingly.
"G-get back!" Bernadetta shouted, swinging the flag at Hubert desperately. The flag swung forwards towards the outstretched hand swirling with magic, before rebounding off of the flagpole at the center of the room, the clang of metal echoing throughout the room.
Bernadetta let out a sound that was somehow both a whimper and a scream of unending terror as the now reversed momentum from the flag sent her crashing onto her back.
"That's enough!" Byleth called out, halting everyone in the room. Hubert glanced over at her, before letting his magic dissipate as Byleth stepped towards Bernadetta. "Bernadetta touched the enemy flag to her team's flag, which leaves her team the victor of this exercise."
Bernadetta dropped the flag in her hands and went limp on the ground, wide eyed as her heart beat loudly in her throat.
"I'll gather the flags and head over to the starting location. Lindardt, Hubert, round up the others and meet us there." Byleth said, walking over to the flag still standing.
"Well, first and foremost, well done everyone." Ren said, clapping his hands together as he stood next to Byleth in front of the gathered Black Eagle House. The cobblestone floor beneath their feet as the two professors began the review. "Even if you weren't on the winning team, you still put up a great fight, which led us to the last second victory for the red team."
"Now that you are all comfortable with the exercise, we will be going over the changes that are present in the second half." Byleth began. She motioned to Ren with a nod, before the thief quickly moved over to the side where a long wooden crate was sitting on the ground. "Firstly, the two teams will be swapping their home bases for this round. You will not be given time to map out said base beforehand either."
There were a few confused looks passed around the class at this news, but Byleth simply moved on and continued. "Your objective has also changed, albeit slightly. Your goal is no longer to bring the enemy flag back to your base and into contact with your own. Instead, the goal is to capture the enemy flag and bring it back here."
"Like this." Ren said, walking back over with a flagpole in his hands. The head of his cat, Morgana, was perched over his shoulder, staring out at the students.
Edelgard blinked at the flagpole in her Professor's hands. The metal pole was actually shorter than the ones they had used during the previous round, though it was unmistakably still the same as the other two.
The thief glanced down at the flagpole in his hands before slotting it into the slot in the ground between him and Byleth. "The team who brings an enemy flag back here and slots it into the ground like so wins." He finished, dusting his hands off. "Lastly, remember this is an exercise to test how you all react to surprising situations as well. You know the parameters, follow them."
Ren clapped his hands once with a smile. "For clarity's sake, are there any questions?" The teen asked.
"Professors, will the two of you be staying here or at our bases?" Ferdinand asked.
"We'll be accompanying you back to your bases. We won't be staying here." Byleth responded to the question.
"But how would you know if one of us wins then if there's no one here to call the practice?" The spearman continued with a raised eyebrow.
"We have our ways, so we'll know if someone wins." Ren said with a smile, before turning to look directly at Caspar. "As an example, perhaps Caspar here would be willing to explain why he believed throwing his practice axe at Linhardt was a good idea?"
It was at this moment that Caspar realized the smile was not as easy going as it first appeared. The glare the Professor's cat also seemed to give him was not helping either.
"Something isn't right about this." Edelgard said, glancing out the window.
"In what way?" Bernadetta asked, glancing up at Edelgard.
Edelgard glanced back at their flag, the lack of wind passing through the room leaving it slack against the pole it was attached to. "Why would they change the exercise up like this? What is it they're looking for?"
"I feel their instructions were clear." Petra spoke up, walking over to the two with Linhardt in tow.
"I think it's more what wasn't said." Linhardt said with a shrug. "Our teachers did bring up some aspects that felt… out of place."
"This exercise is to see how we react to surprising situations." Edelgard parroted, eyes narrowing as she placed a hand to her chin in thought. "I fail to see how the current rules they've given for this exercise would translate."
"Um… Did they… explain how they'd figure out which team won?" Bernadetta asked, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "I-i mean, they said they'd be following us here and not staying back there, b-but if they stayed here how would they be able to tell if someone actually captured the flag?"
Edelgard looked to the side, lowering her arm. Petra tilted her hand. "Perhaps they would follow someone who captured the flag?"
"But then they wouldn't be here to let us know we're back in the game." Linhardt said.
The four fell into silence as they attempted to make heads or tails of the assignment. "In any case, we know what our objective is. We need to capture the enemy flag. Keeping our own flag secure is not necessary this time, so it might prove beneficial to simply rush their base to collect their own flag."
Edelgard opened her mouth to say more, but the sound of footsteps grabbed the team's attention as Professor Amamiya walked through the door. "Everyone." He said, stepping over next to their flag.
"Professor." Edelgard said with a nod. "Are we starting yet?"
"In a minute." The thief said, tightening his glove.
Edelgard nodded, looking back at her team. "Petra can do as she did last time. We have a clear shot to their base with the trees. Bernadetta, you'll come with Linhardt and I. Stay behind us and support with cover fire. Our main goal is to hold off most of them for Petra to sneak in and steal their flag again. Linhardt, if either Bernadetta or myself end up Out, you'll bring us back in. Does everyone understand their roles?"
A trio of nods were the Adrestian Princess' response. Edelgard nodded, before stepping to the side as Ren walked over to the window with a strange ball-like object in his left hand. "Professor, what is that?"
"The start signal. You all might want to cover your ears and close your eyes." He said, throwing it out of the base and into the air. The students quickly followed the orders, shutting their eyes and covering their ears. A loud bang and a flash of white rang out, though muted to the students. Edelgard lowered her hands after the signal was sent and glanced over to her Professor who was sitting on the windowsill with a calm expression on his face.
"Um…" Bernadetta began, catching Edelgard's attention as she looked over to the purple haired archer. "W-where's our flag?"
Edelgard's head snapped to the right, her eyes staring down the now shorter flag pole which was missing their team's flag. The sight before her clicked, as her eyes widened. "That looks like the flag pole from the capture point…" She said, before she turned back around to look at the Professor sitting on the window, who was now holding onto a small metal rod with their flag attached to it.
The thief smirked. "See ya." He said with a wink as he fell backwards out of the window. Edelgard's eyes widened as she rushed over and looked down, watching in shock as the teen flipped and kicked off the cobble wall of the base, launching himself over to a nearby tree. His hand reached out, grasping one of the branches with his free left hand. Using the momentum from his jump, he swung and flipped himself onto his feet atop the same branch. "What are you waiting for? Haven't we started the game yet?"
"That's what they meant!" Edelgard uttered in realization as her eyes narrowed. "Everyone, we're going after him!"
"H-huh?" Bernadetta stumbled backwards in shock, clutching her bow with her hands. "W-w-we're what!?"
"She catches on quick…" Ren said loud enough for the rest of Edelgard's team to hear before he quickly broke into a sprint, running along the treetops with finesse comparable to Petra's.
"Petra!" Edelgard shouted, throwing an arm out towards the retreating Professor.
"Understood!" Petra nodded, jumping out of the window as she made chase with Ren.
"Please tell me you can explain what's happening." Linhardt said, turning to look at Edelgard as she ran towards the room's exit.
"Our Professors said that the team who brings AN enemy flag wins. Not THE, AN!" Edelgard said, running down the stairs with Bernadetta and Linhardt hot on her tail. "We don't have one enemy this time, we have two!"
"Do not let her get away!" Hubert shouted, firing off another Miasma at Professor Eisner, their team's flag held in her off hand while her main hand cut through the oncoming swarm of magic with a practice sword.
"Easier said than done, Hubert!" Caspar said, charging at Byleth with his axe drawn. "Take this!"
Byleth swiftly came to a stop, digging her heel into the ground as she swerved past the downward swing of Caspar's weapon before quickly thrusting the tip of her sword at the Teen's stomach. Caspar grit his teeth as he jumped to the side, mitigating the strike to a mere gash on his right side.
Byleth twisted her grip on the sword in her hand and moved to swing after her blue haired student, but instead jumped away as a flash of light alerted her to Dorothea's magic. "Thunder!" The songstress shouted, firing off the electricity at the spot her professor had been moments earlier. "Curses!"
Byleth shook her head, turning around once more as she began making her way deeper into the forest. She had her objective: get the Black Flag to the Capture Point.
It was as Ferdinand charged her with his spear that Byleth tried to remember why exactly this second part of the exercise had merit. "You WERE there, were you not?" Sothis' voice rang out in Byleth's head. "It's not like the wild card simply went along with this without your support."
'Not now, Sothis.' Byleth sent to her mental roommate as she dropped into a roll. Pushing off the ground as she came back up, her sword swung out upwards to knock aside the incoming spear. 'I need to lose them…'
Byleth moved in towards Ferdinand as the teen tried to right his guard, before quickly slamming her boot into his stomach. She quickly tossed her sword into the air, and reached into her pocket, pulling out a small metal sphere with a button on the top.
"Thunder!" Dorothea cried out once more, firing off another bolt of lightning towards Byleth. The professor simply clicked the button in and dropped the ball, grabbing her sword out of the air in one swift motion as she ducked.
The lightning went high over her head, and the metal ball near her feet practically exploded outwards in a cloud of smoke, allowing Byleth to break her students line of sight as she ran deeper still. "I must say, this wild card certainly has some useful trinkets."
'His name's Ren.' Byleth said to Sothis.
"I DO know what his name is. I'm simply not going to dignify it until I get a solid answer as to why he's the way he is." Sothis said.
Byleth decided that it would be a good idea to not make Sothis angry, seeing as she could be really petty when provoked.
"How dare you, I am NOT petty!"
'How is this not being petty though?' Byleth blinked, ducking behind another tree.
"Fine, but he's still going to need to explain why he was unaffected by the Divine Pulse." Sothis said, grumbling to herself.
'When you next get a chance, ask him then.'
"How can I? You are the only one who can see me!"
'Unfortunate.'
"Okay, that was uncalled for."
"Well…" Ren smirked, looking down at the map before him. "Their opponents won't really be the enemy team next time, it'll be us."
"You two?" Jeralt asked, raising an eyebrow.
"The changes to the rules will be as follows. This area here is where we'll be explaining the rules for both parts, we'll refer to it as the Capture Zone going forwards." The thief began, tapping down at a spot on the map where another base was located, though it was more accurate to call it a flat platform. "During the second half, the teams will be still aiming to capture the enemy flag, but they'll be bringing it here instead."
"How exactly will we tell if they've captured an enemy flag if we're still stationed at their bases?" Byleth asked, glancing over at Ren.
"That's the fun part, we aren't." Ren said with a smirk. "We're going to be considered team 3. Our goal is also to capture an enemy flag. Or at least, that's the conclusion they should come to when we take the flags and run off."
"The conclusion they should come to?" Jeralt parroted before nodding. "You're keeping your involvement as team 3 hidden, aren't you?"
"Bingo." Ren said, snapping his fingers towards Jeralt. "It's a test to see how they'll react to scenarios that may not be properly explained to them. Besides, we won't be winning the match anyways."
"We won't? I don't think our students will be able to properly subdue the both of us before we capture one of their flags." Byleth noted with a tilt of her head.
"That's assuming we're not holding back. Our goal is not to crush them, it's to provide enough of a challenge that their victory feels earned, and to show how far the distance is between their skills and ours. Plus, it lets us experience their… well, experience with their weapons first hand so we can better fine tune it before the mock battle." Ren said, placing his hands in his pockets. "And other than that, that's the main idea behind the second half. Everyone on board with the idea?"
"Note to self, don't make plans like these late at night without a cup of Coffee to make sure I'm awake enough to think it through first!" Ren shouted to himself in Japanese as he jumped off of the tree he was running across as another of Bernadetta's arrows flew right past where his head was moments earlier.
He landed on the floor and rolled, coming back up to a stand just in time to duck away from Edelgard's axe.
"I believe that's ours, Professor." Edelgard said, bringing her axe back up.
"It is. I'm more surprised you aren't certain yourself since I did steal it right under your nose." Ren said with a smirk, which widened at the sight of Edelgard's right eye twitching. The thief's eyes snapped to the left, before he quickly jumped to the side, avoiding the jumping swing Petra had sent his way as she jumped down after him. "A for effort, execution needs work."
"I will do better next time, Professor." Petra said, still pointing her sword at the thief.
"I'd be disappointed if you didn't." Ren said with a shrug before batting aside another arrow that flew at him from Bernadetta. 'Shit, that one was close!'
His feet shuffled across the ground before he broke off into another sprint away from his students. 'At least I'm making them work for it…' Ren mused to himself mentally. 'Sucks to be Linhardt right now. I'm not really doing any attacking so he doesn't have anyone to heal.'
Ren blinked, glancing back at his pursuers. "Wait, where is Linhardt?" He muttered to himself.
"Nosferatu!" Ren blinked, before his eyes widened in shock at the bright light forming around him. He quickly brought his arms up to block, before letting out a shout of surprise and pain as the familiar feeling of bless magic exploded around him. Ren's body swerved, his quick reflexes kept him from getting knocked down as he stumbled to the side away from Linhardt.
"...I didn't know you could do that." Ren said, pausing for a moment. 'That's not good for me. Good to know that I'm still affected by Arsene's bless weakness though. I should put the ring of vanity back on when I get the chance…'
"Still working on it. Takes a lot of concentration still." Linhardt said.
"We'll work on that next, then." Ren said before batting another arrow out of the air. He turned around and prepared to start running, but found himself face to face with Edelgard.
"What exactly is the point of this game of cat and mouse, Professor?" Edelgard asked, raising an eyebrow as she held her axe at the ready.
"Exercise?" Ren said with a shrug, watching as Petra dropped down from a nearby tree to his left. "Surrounded, huh?"
"The flag, Professor." Edelgard said, holding a hand out.
"Joker!" Ren schooled his features, not reacting to the sound of Morgana speaking. "Need a hand?"
"Get ready." The thief uttered in Japanese, getting confused looks from the students. He smirked, rolling his neck. "Fair enough, I can tell when I've been bested."
Ren held the flag out in his left hand, before swiftly tossing it up in the air, drawing the eyes of everyone surrounding him.
"I-I got it!" Bernadetta shouted, letting an arrow lose to knock it towards Edelgard, only for a familiar black and white cat to leap out and snatch the flag out of the air before the arrow could reach the target. "K-kitty, why?"
"Heh, Touryou." Ren said as he raised his left hand and snapped, creating a bright flash of light alongside a loud bang, disorienting his students as they all let out cries of shock and discomfort.
"And with that, I bid you, adieu." The thief said with a smirk, dropping a smoke bomb on the ground at his location as me ran over and up a nearby tree, quickly hiding up in the branches. He hummed, before throwing another smoke bomb further away from his location.
"Can anyone see him?" Edelgard asked, blinking her eyes open as she looked around.
"No, but there's more smoke that way!" Linhardt said, pointing further ahead.
"Come on!" Edelgard shouted, rallying her team behind her as they ran off towards Ren's distraction.
"That… was too close for comfort…" Ren muttered from his hiding spot.
"I'll say." Morgana's voice came out muffled as he jumped up next to the teen with the flag in his mouth. He dropped it into Ren's empty hand and glanced down. "So, now what?"
"Reconvene with Byleth, and get both sides involved in the fight. Divide and conquer sort of thing." Ren said, leaning forwards.
"Sounds like a plan. I'll keep up here and be on standby if you need another rescue." Morgana teased.
"What would I ever do without you?" Ren said with a shake of his head.
"Probably get expelled, again."
"From what school? I'm the teacher this time!"
"Hai, Hai, Sensei."
"I bet Byleth doesn't have to put up with this…" Ren muttered to himself as he began heading further into the forest in search of his fellow Professor.
Byleth sneezed, letting out a sound that sounded almost alien coming from the stoic swordswoman.
"That… was adorable." Sothis said.
"It was a sneeze…?"
"Doesn't mean it wasn't."
"Where is he?" Byleth muttered, glancing around the forested area.
"Here." Ren said, dropping down into a crouch. Byleth swerved around, tightening her grip on her practice sword before relaxing it.
"You still have the flag?" Byleth asked.
"Yep. You?" Ren asked, holding his prize up in his off hand. Byleth followed suit, holding up her captured flag as well. "Okay, now it's time for the final stage. Getting to the Capture Zone and giving our students a winnable, but challenging battle."
The two shared a determined glance before running towards the Capture Zone. Trees blurred past before the area opened up as they exited the forest, the empty flagpole standing up in the centre of the capture zone.
"Here we are." Ren said, glancing around.
"Keep your guard up. I doubt they'll alert us to their presence before attacking." Byleth noted, turning around so her back faced Ren's.
"I wouldn't be surprised. It's the sort of thing I'd do as well." Ren said, narrowing his eyes as he gripped his practice dagger.
The two glanced around, before Byleth narrowed her eyes and pushed away from Ren, prompting the thief to do the same as lightning struck the spot the two were standing at moments earlier.
"Shoot!" Byleth's eyes snapped over to the source of voice before she quickly ducked to the side as Hubert let loose a Miasma upon her.
Hubert moved out of cover, his eyes glancing over at the flag in Ren's hand. "Change of plans. Focus on Professor Amamiya!"
"You know, I'd almost be flattered if the intent wasn't hostile!" Ren said with a smirk, before rolling to the side, avoiding another arrow. "Almost!"
"Hubert." Edelgard said, stepping out into the open.
"Edelgard." Hubert said, glancing over at Byleth and Ren for a moment. Byleth was quickly being occupied by Caspar and Ferdinand, while Ren was glancing at the two leaders with a calm expression. "Perhaps a truce is in order for the time being."
"I believe that's acceptable." Edelgard said with a nod, before she charged towards Byleth, axe poised to strike.
Ferdinand charged ahead, thrusting his spear at Byleth with a shout. The swordswoman merely leaned to the side, stepping towards him quickly as she responded in kind with her sword. The practice weapon slammed into his shoulder, sending him stumbling backwards as Caspar charged at Byleth, swinging his axe at her.
Byleth slammed the flag in her off hand against the shaft of Caspar's practice axe, sending it to the side and opening up his defenses. She brought her sword up to swing before quickly altering her movement as she rolled to the side, avoiding the attack from Edelgard.
"Truce, for now." Edelgard said to the two as Byelth stood back up to a stand.
"Very well." Ferdinand said with a nod, rolling his shoulder with a wince as he adjusted his grip on his spear.
Byelth glanced behind her, noting Petra's arrival as the girl dropped behind her with a practice sword drawn. "Come then." She said, letting some of her aura leak out.
Ren ducked to the side, avoiding another of Bernadetta's arrows as he moved towards Linhardt. 'Need to get him out first.' The thief thought to himself, running at the healer.
"Thunder!" Dorothea shouted, firing off another spell at the thief. Ren grimaced, jumping to the side to avoid the spell as lightning crashed and sparked against the ground.
Linhardt narrowed his eyes and held out his hand, his focus solely on Ren as energy finished pooling in his hand. "Nosferatu!" He shouted, activating the magic aimed at his teacher.
"Shit!" Ren cursed, rolling to the side just in time to avoid the attack as he came up to a stand. He glanced to the left, before his eyes widened at the sight of Hubert's smirk.
"Got you." Hubert said, firing off a Miasma at Ren. The attack slammed into the teen, obscuring him in a black fog for a moment, before he quickly erupted from the smoke, not a scratch upon him. "What!?"
'Definitely curse.' Ren thought with a smirk, dashing over to Linhardt with his dagger poised to strike. The healer stumbled back, looking as equally shocked at the lack of damage sustained by his Professor, before the dagger was quickly pressed against his neck. "Out."
Ren rolled backwards, falling onto his back before transitioning into a handspring as he jumped over another of Bernadetta's arrows. He landed in a crouch and observed the three remaining students. "Now, who's next?"
"These four are no joke." Sothis said with some mild surprise.
'Still green though.' Byleth noted internally, quickly disarming Caspar with her sword before tapping him on top of the head with the flat of her blade. "Out."
"Aw man…" Caspar said with a sigh as the Ashen Demon jumped back from another thrust from Ferdinand.
"Petra, with me!" He shouted, taking the offensive as he began rapidly jabbing his weapon towards Byleth.
"Understood!" Petra said, moving next to him, swinging her sword at Byleth whenever able in order to limit the amount of movement options Byleth had available.
"Well of course, but it is at least a little impressive." Sothis noted as Byleth quickly glanced between the two of them.
The swordswoman tightened her hold on her sword and struck out, knocking Petra's practice sword towards Ferdinand, knocking his spears trajectory far to the side. Byleth narrowed her eyes, moving in and quickly slamming the tip of her weapon into Ferdinand's chest. "Out."
Ren narrowed his eyes, batting another arrow out of the air with his practice dagger. "She is really good with that…" Ren said, glancing at Bernadetta as she moved to the side.
"I know, right?" Dorothea responded with a nod, charging another Thunder spell in her hand.
Ren shrugged, before blinking as an arrow hit the back of Dorothea's head. "Ow!" She said with a wince.
"S-sorry!" Bernadetta cried out, moving to hide behind a tree.
Ren blinked, before shrugging. "Well, that's still an out, so…"
"Even when she misses her target she still hits something…" Dorothea muttered with a sigh, allowing the electric energy forming in her hand to dissipate as Ren turned and locked eyes with Hubert. The dark haired teen glared at Ren, restrained confusion seeping out of him.
'Just as Arsene's weak to Bless damage, he's also immune to Curse. Thanks for clearing up if that carried over as well, Hubert.' Ren thought, smirking at his student. He paused, glancing over towards Byleth before his eyes widened. "Byleth, look out!"
Byleth narrowed her eyes, swerving to the side, ducking away from another of Petra's swings as she swung her sword at the teen's neck. "Out." She said, before pausing just as Ren's warning came. She spun around, but not quick enough to stop Edelgard's axe from stopping just in front of her chest.
"I believe that's out, Professor." Edelgard noted.
"I believe it is." Byleth said, dropping the flag in her hand.
Edelgard quickly reached down and grabbed it, dropping her axe as she made a mad dash towards the flagpole.
"I see the truce is off then." Hubert noted, glancing over at Edelgard. He raised a hand, gathering magic into his hand once more.
Ren glanced between the two before tossing his flag aside quickly as he pointed his hand towards Hubert and snapped. "Eiha!"
The curse skill flew out, catching Hubert unaware as it hit him in the chest, knocking him onto his back. Ren turned around and narrowed his eyes at Edelgard, quickly flipping the dagger in his hand so he was holding it by the blade before throwing it at her.
The blade spun in the air, flying towards its target, before it was quickly shot out of the air by an arrow. Ren blinked, before turning to look at Bernadetta, who was lowering her bow with a shaky look on her face. Ren shrugged, giving a thumbs up to the girl as he turned to look back at Edelgard.
The princess slotted the enemy flag onto the flagpole, twisting it to lock it into place. She let out a sigh as she glanced back at the battlefield behind her. Aside from her, Bernadetta and Professor Amamiya, everyone else was out.
"Okay, that's a wrap!" Ren shouted, clapping his hands together before leaning over. "Whew… talk about a rush…"
"That's the end of today's exercise." Byleth said, looking around at the gathered students. She paused for a moment to look at her students, before speaking up. "You all did a great job out there."
Byleth glanced over to Ren, who gave a nod of encouragement. "I'm sure a few of you are still confused over the second half of today's lesson. We felt it would be a good idea to see how you'd react to an unexpected situation, so we did this." Byleth continued, getting a few nods from her students. "After we finished the exercise proper, I can say that I've been able to get a good feeling for where all of you are regarding your training, and that we will be working on that more in depth tomorrow."
Byleth glanced over at Ren once more, getting a thumbs up in response. "I will be handling classes on my own for the day as well." She continued, before motioning to her Co-Professor. "And Ren here will be handling the next class himself after that."
"I won't go into details myself on what it'll be yet, I need to confirm a few things first." Ren spoke up, glancing at the students. "Now, that's it for today. You're all free to go."
The two professors watched as the students began leaving the area, until it was just the two of them.
Well, two if you didn't count the two other individuals that stuck with their respective professor.
"I think today went well." Ren said with a nod, rolling his shoulder.
"It was a good learning experience." Byleth said with a nod. "I will admit, after today's lesson, I am in agreement with you on our team for the upcoming Mock Battle."
"So we agree on going with Edelgard, Linhardt and Bernadetta?" Ren asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yes. I don't believe I'll be able to help him much with getting his magic combat ready, but I'll be able to get him to the point he can keep out of harm's way during the mock battle." Byleth began, before crossing her arms. "Bernadetta is a skilled archer, but considering she prefers to keep away from everyone, it will be difficult to get her to stick with us during the mock battle."
"I'll see if I can do anything about that on Monday when I have control of class." Ren said with a nod. "It was a bit rough, but otherwise you did good with the end of lesson thing."
"I just remembered what you told me, and I worked from there. A similar occurrence happened earlier with Bernadetta, actually." Byleth said. There was a hint of pride there, but it was hard to make out since her expression barely changed.
"Progress is progress." Ren said with a shrug. "Now come on, let's get back to the Monastery."
Ren turned around, letting out a breath as he activated his third eye. He glanced up, finding a path lit up in gold before him. "This way."
"Well, now that we're done with today, we have time to figure out tomorrow's lesson plan."
Ren blinked, deactivating his third eye as he glanced at Morgana. "Did you just…?" He asked, coming to a halt.
"Hm? Sorry, I wasn't listening. What's up?" Morgana asked, tilting his head.
Ren looked up and around in confusion, getting a strange glance from Byleth. The thief shrugged with a light smile. "Sorry, I thought I heard something for a moment there." He said, missing the slight widening of Byleth's eyes as he turned around.
"You're certain?" Edelgard asked, looking across the table at Hubert.
"No sign at all he was affected by my magic." Hubert said with narrowed eyes. "He clearly seemed eager to avoid Linhardt's, however. But the fact he shrugged mine off as if it was a mere breeze…"
"...For now, we'll keep an eye on him." Edelgard said with a sigh. "His immunity to your magic is concerning, but if we play our cards right it could be a much needed strength for us instead."
"Very well, I'll keep playing nice for now." Hubert said. "Should I keep looking into whatever information I can get on him?"
"No. If all we've gotten so far are these miniscule amounts of information, I doubt there will be much more to find." Edelgard said. "We'll simply have to see what kind of person he is for ourselves."
"And if the time comes where we find out about his possible true persona?" Hubert asked.
"We'll deal with it as it comes up." Edelgard said, standing up. "If you'll excuse me, Hubert, I promised Dorothea I'd partake in dinner with her tonight."
"Of course, enjoy your evening." Hubert said, looking to the side as Edelgard left the room. "...Troubling…"