Hello everyone here is the next part of the story, I hope you all enjoy it and I wish you all a good Eastern!

Like always some info:
Spoken words are between " "
Thoughts are between ( )


After having changed trains in Bareahard Group A enjoyed the ride that would take them directly to their destination, with Millium pestering Jusis the rest focused on Laura who as a resident of Legram was going to explain more about her hometown, "I know that we have already talked about this, but I think a refresher would do you all some good. Legram is a small town in the southeast of the Empire, situated on the shore of Lake Ebel. My father, Viscount Arseid, governs the town, which itself is part of the Kreuzen Province."

"Which falls under the jurisdiction of House Albarea, but Legram is known for being a particular self-reliant region. I doubt the viscount has much interest in the authority of his liege lord." Laura gave Jusis a nod, "I suppose I can't deny it, my father can be a little too…..free-spirited at times. However, I can't help but feel your father's governance has its own issues, especially where taxation is concerned."

"Hmph, it isn't like I am unaware of it, and I do admit that regarding taxes he tends to go overboard." Jusis admitting this drew a smile from Laura, glad that her friend understood where the problem was. Seeing that Gaius was a bit confused about their exchange, Rean tried to explain it to him, "While the Four Great Houses, who oversee their provinces, have immense power, it is still up the individual feudal lords to govern their respective regions and as far as taxation goes, each region has its own statutes, which makes the whole situation even more complicated."

The grimace on Gaius face showed that he understood how much of a mess that is, meanwhile, Emma joined on their conversation, "The Imperial Government does seem to be attempting to unify all regions under a single tax system, which should make it easier for the people."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. One of the major points of the dispute between the two factions is exactly that, incidentally my father's stance on the matter is, 'Gehenna will freeze over before I allow such a travesty!'. Although I do understand the reformists point of view but each region of Erebonia has its own traditions and customs, what they are attempting to do is….a little insensitive, just disregarding those traditions and customs like they are nothing."

"The more I listened the more complicated it sounds, on one hand I can understand in wanting to ease the burdens on the citizens regarding their taxes, on the other hand keeping traditions alive is a worthy goal. Back in Nord some tribes are discontinuing some of theirs just to adapt in these changing times." Just as the four were getting into the discussion, a voice drew their attention, "This is so boooooooooorrrrring! Don't you have any more cool stories about Legram? Like those about the Lance Maiden or the Eisenritter?"

"I guess students talking about taxation is kind of boring, though I for one am hoping to get a look into the famous Arseid School during this field study. Be it from the perspective of a swordman or one interested in history, their style is one of the very few passed down from the ancient knights of the Empire. It has earned its place as one of the two most famous martial styles in Erebonia, the other being the Vander School. Their trainings halls are spread out through the Empire, unfortunately I never had the chance to visit one."

"This time you will have that chance and I hope that the others can come along too. This group has a practitioner of the Eight Leaves School, one who uses the ancient Nordic Spear Style, an adept of Court Fencing along with a user of the new Orbal Staff. I am sure that our students will improve greatly by sparring with such a diverse group of fighters." Millium puffed out her cheeks in annoyance, "Hey what about me and Lammy?! Don't you want them to fight with him too?!" Taken back at that Laura tried to explain it to Millium, "Airgetlam is certainly strong, but it mostly uses raw strength, there is no skill or technique involved as such I don't think that the students will benefits from it."

"Booooo, you meanies! No fair leaving me out!" Millium turned around and started ignoring them, not caring about her tantrum Jusis looked at Laura, "Is there any chance that we could met with the viscount while we are in Legram? I would like to pay my respects to him."

"I have heard my master talk about his strength, Master Ka-Fai said that their duels usually end in a draw between them. The fact that he can achieve a draw puts him already into the ranks of a true Master in the entire continent." They could see the pride at her father in Laura's eyes, "This may sound unseemly coming form his own daughter, but his strength is frankly inhuman. While I don't know about the rest of the continent, I would easily place him among the three strongest people in the Empire. Although I doubt, we will be able to meet him, he acts as a combat instructor for both national armies, Imperial and Provincial, which means that he spends a significant amount of time away from home."

The rest of the ride was spent with idle talk and after Millium stopped pouting she joined in along with challenging them all to a game of Blade. The more times passed the more forest Group A began to see out of their windows until they reached the point where fog was starting to spread indicting that Legram was fast approaching. After that it didn't take long until the train stopped and Group A got their first look of the town, "This is the first time I have come here, but it is every bit as beautiful as I have been led to believe." The others agreed with Jusis, with the fog around the town it gave a surreal feeling to it, though it didn't distract them from how pretty it was.

"Haha, I am pleased you seem to have taken a liking to it. Unfortunately, the mist does hinder the visibility, on a clear day the surface of the lake gleams like a polished mirror."

"Fog or no, it is breath-taking all the same…" Rean would have gone on with his praise if he hadn't sensed that someone had suddenly appeared behind them, whirling around with his hands going to his tachi he saw an elderly man dressed as a butler standing there, "Welcome home, my lady and a warm welcome to the students of Thors Military Academy." The others besides Rean were surprised at sudden appearance quickly turning around, "H-how long have you been there?" Jusis couldn't help but question the man while Gaius after recovering from shock was clearly impressed, "Interesting, I couldn't sense him approaching at all."

After a good look at the older man Rean remembered him from his first day at Thors and judging by the look in his eyes he did too, meanwhile Laura introduced the butler to her classmates, "I have returned, Klaus. I see that your proficiency in the art of concealment has not diminished in my time away from home. Everyone, this here Klaus, the Arseid family steward. He fills in for my father during his absence and serves as the Acting Master for the Arseid School of swordsmanship."

Klaus bowed to the students who quickly introduced themselves back, "You overpraise me, Lady Laura. My age has begun to get the better of me, I am afraid. The only joy that an old man like me has left, is to watch you grow and mature and I have to say even just looking at you it is clear to me that your skills have improved." Laura was clearly happy with his praise but after a moment she regained her composure, "That is kind of you to say Klaus but most of my improvement is thanks to my friends here, the rest of the members of my class and the people at the academy. I take it that Father isn't home?"

"I am afraid so, Lady Laura. He had to leave last week to deal with some matters, but he assured me that he would do his utmost to return quickly so that he could see you. But where are my manners, please allow me to escort you all to the mansion." With that Group A followed him through the town, admiring how Legram seemed to retain its roots along with some effigies that represented animism.

They found a pedestal where three statues were displayed, the one in the middle was the Lance Maiden with the other two being the vice commanders of the Eisenritter, the townspeople after recognising Laura surrounded her to welcome their beloves lady back home. Though some of the young women were clearly displeased with the fact that their beloved 'Lady Laura' was classmates with guys, a fact that they made clear as soon as Lauras attention was away from them.

Sweat dropping at that Rean, Gaius and Jusis didn't know how to handle the sudden killing intent directed at them so they could only endure it until they resumed their trek to the Arseid mansion passing by the famous training hall where they could hear the shouts and ringing of steel indicating that the people inside were hard at work, Rean was clearly tempted to go inside and if the looks of Gaius and Jusis were anything to go by, it was the same for them. They finally arrived at the mansion where they were led to the bedrooms they would occupy during their stay, the balcony offered an even better view of the lake and of the famous Lohengrin Castle, making Gaius ask if it would be alright to paint this view after they were done with their tasks for the day.

"Of course, you can paint Gaius. You don't have to ask for permission but for now perhaps we should get started with our requests. Klaus, are you the one responsible for giving us our tasks?"

"Actually, the assigning of your duties here has been entrusted to a professional. You just have to head to the Bracer Guild to receive them. At the master's behest, Lord Toval has taken on the responsibility of preparing all the tasks for your field study." This surprised the students since until now their tasks had been given by the person responsible for the town or settlement they were in, "Ah, you did say that the Bracer Guild still had an open branch here, Laura. But why does the name Toval sound familiar?"

Rean gave Emma the answer since he remembered why that was the case, "That is because he was the bracer who pointed us towards the underground sewer system back in Bareahard when we were out of opinions on how to proceed." With that explanation Emma recalled the blond man from back then, having this information Group A followed Laura to the Bracer Guild where they stepped inside to be greeted by Toval standing behind the counter, "Long time no see, Laura. I heard that Sara has been keeping your nose to the grindstone, huh? To the ones who don't know me, I am Toval Randonneur, a bracer with the guild here in the Empire. Good to meet you, ladies and gents of Class VII."

Rean thought that the name Randonneur sounded familiar, a moment later after his friends made their own introductions he recalled from where, "Of course, you are the famous Zero Artisan. Wow, I wasn't expecting to meet a Bracer of your calibre here." Toval was clearly surprised that Rean knew about him, "Well, I will be, and I wasn't expecting that you knew about my nickname. I guess those stories about you were true then."

Raising an eyebrow at that remark Rean was going to ask what stories he was talking about when he sensed four other presences inside the building that were clearly trying to sneak up behind him. The way they moved was very familiar to him, making it clear who they were, supressing a smirk the swordsman gave no sign that he had caught on, "I am curious about what stories you are talking about but in this case I think it is better to ask….these four here!" Acting quickly Rean dropped down avoiding the outstretched arms of Yui and Akari and used his position to jump above Haru and Itsuki who were behind the girls and caught them in a friendly headlock.

"Aww, man and here I thought that this time we would be able to catch you off guard. How have you been, Rean? It has been a while since Heimdallr." Rean gave Yui and Akari a grin while keeping the boys in place though he didn't put any pressure on them, "Yeah, seems like we finally have a chance for a proper reunion, but first let me introduce my friends here. You already know Emma, Gaius and Jusis, the other two are Laura and Millium." The four presented themselves to the two girls while greeting the other tree, though they wondered why Rean wasn't willing to let go of Haru and Itsuki who were starting to get a bad feeling about their current position.

Their bad feeling was confirmed as Rean talked to them with a scary grin on his face while putting more force into the headlocks making it difficult for them to breath, "Since we are done with the introductions, how about you four explain to me why you thought that it was a good idea to tell Alisa all that nonsense?!" The two girls were fearless upon hearing that question, though the boys turned pale given their current position while trying to wiggle out of it. The swordsman just put more force into it making it clear that they weren't getting out of it, "Nonsense? Come now Rean, we just told her and your friends the truth nothing else. Besides if you are embarrassed about those stories then perhaps you will think about your actions twice in the future?"

"The truth, huh? You did tell the truth but out of context! Do you have any ideas on how much trouble you four got me into?! You are going to tell me exactly which stories you told her!" Sharing a glance with each other, they ignored the pleading looks for help Haru and Itsuki were giving them before Akari grinned at him, "Or what? What will you do if we don't tell you?" Rean gave them a smirk before looking down at his prisoners and letting them breath a bit easier, "Say guys do you recall that time we were shopping in that Jewellery district and these two over there disappeared for a bit and came back after a while, they….." The mentioned girls were wide-eyed as they understood what he was going to say and tried to stop him, "What!? Rean, stop!"

Seeing their reactions Rean finally let the boys go, "So, I am listening. which stories did you tell her?" Grumbling, they had no other choice but stop teasing him and tell him, but at that moment Jusis intervened, "Hey now, Rean. What kind of behaviour is that? How could you try to blackmail your friends like this?" Giving him an unimpressed look, Rean snarked back, "Zip it, Albarea! Alisa and you guys have been teasing me for weeks with those stories they told you and I want to know which ones they are."

The rest of his classmates looked amused when they thought back on how the tables had been turned during the last few weeks, not willing to let go of that information they were going to try and help the girls out of the situation but Rean noticing that leaned towards Haru and Itsuki to whisper something in their ears that made them both turn nearly white in the face.

Group A minus Millium who had no idea what they were talking could only give up and silently apologise to Alisa for this, meanwhile the swordsman could only grimace as they told him which stories Alisa knew about him at one in particular, he had to supress the urge to knock their head together. When they were done, he was going to scold the hell out of them, but Toval coughed loudly to get the attention of everyone in the room, "As amusing as this is, perhaps it is time for you students to get to work besides these four have been a great help to me for the last months as such I am morally obligated to help. So can you please let this go?"

Rean thought about it for a moment before finally letting this go but not before making one final threat, "Fine, you are forgiven but if I find out that you didn't tell me everything, I still have enough blackmail material to bury you four alive, are….we….clear?!" The pressure he was emitting made them sweat along with worry what else he knew, "Geez, Rean. What happened, you were such a sweet and innocent kid. How cruel time is!" Ignoring Itsuki theatrics, the swordsman just snorted, "Nothing much has changed, you four just thought that I wasn't capable of this but since you put me into that much trouble with Alisa, well it is only fair that I give back as good as I get, right? Anyway, what happened afterwards when we parted ways in Heimdallr?"

Rean gave them a pointed look so that they wouldn't give too much information away since he was aware that Millium seemed to be highly interested in the conversation since the beginning, getting what he was implying but without understanding why that was, it fell on Haru to explain it, "After we left Heimdallr with our 'friends' we went for a short vacation in Crossbell where we parted ways with Lady Inari and Lady Sasaki and the rest who returned back to the East. As for us four we came here to thank Toval for his hospitality during our stay in the Empire by helping him out with some requests across the country. We should have left last week since our 'vacation' was over and were going to visit you in Trista, but Toval told us that you were coming here. So, we decided to wait here for you to properly say goodbye not like what you did last time."

Recalling how he had left the East without saying goodbye made him feel guilty, "Yeah, I am sorry about that. I know it is not an excuse but after what happened in Tasogare Town, I knew that I had to leave after I had recovered from my wounds but still, I should have at least said goodbye in person instead of just writing you all a letter."

Snorting at that Itsuki spoke for his friends, "You think?! Honestly, Yui over there punched a hole in the wall and the other two were also pretty pissed at you, at that moment we thought about tracking you down and beat you up. In the end we didn't because we thought that you were disappointed in us because we didn't stop those bastards from hurting you, and for that we are all sorry. By the time we recovered from the shock and caught up to the Sword Hermit, he was ready to cut us to pieces because we let this happened to his disciple, we thought that perhaps it would be better to give you space to properly heal from that ordeal."

"You four don't have to feel guilty about that, I was the one that decided to throw caution to the wind and do what I did in front of the entire town. You all don't bear any fault for my actions, if anything I should apologise that I didn't have enough trust in you four to properly face you afterwards." He was going to bow to them but was stopped by Yui and Akari, "I think that if we don't stop with this, we will be here all day trying to accept the blame. How about we all accept that we could have handled that better and move on from there?"

The rest nodded and did a group hug, seeing the time the four decided that they would leave now to catch the train to Heimdallr to catch the evening flight, they also said goodbye to Toval and the others. Haru unfortunately left with a big bump on his head, he had tried to pass Jusis a paper that he had written with other stories about Rean's time in the East. Having caught on, Rean whopped his head with his fist while shredding the paper to pieces much to the disappointment of the others. Having said goodbye Group A turned to Toval who was going to explain to them about their tasks when Laura asked the question that she had been thinking about since the last field study along with something else that was mentioned earlier.

"Toval, I didn't know that you were also called the Zero Artisan. I mean, I know how fast you are with casting Orbal Arts, but I didn't think that you were famous for it. Also, the guild's standing in Erebonia certainly seems to have shifted over the past two years, I couldn't believe my ears when they told me how bad it had become for Bracers here."

"To be honest, I don't think that I am that good, that title is just something some people in guild called me over the years and it seems to have stuck. As for rest well, this here is the last open Guild Branch in the entire Empire, we had no choice but to shut down the rest as the government started to put pressure on us. The only reason why this one remains open is because of the support from the Viscount." Laura nodded at that along with a wry smile on her face, "My father seems to find much of himself in the bracers' way of life, self-reliance, pride, a focus on helping people. He long said that when he retires and I take over, he would go join the guild and work as a bracer himself."

"If that happens the guild will accept him with open arms, I can assure you that." Toval seemed to approve of that idea very much, though the others didn't know on how to react to that statement besides Millium that is, "The Radiant Blademaster as a bracer? In terms of strength and standing, he would probably be on par with Cassius Bright, I will bet that the guild would make him an S-rank on the spot." That seemed to wake Toval up from his thoughts as he looked warily at the young girl, the students reacted to the other name she had dropped, "Cassius Bright, a Brigadier General in the Liberlian Army, as well as a bearer of the title 'Divine Blade'."

"He along with Arios MacLaine are the ones having the title of 'Divine Blade' that you told us about, right Rean?" The swordsman nodded at Gaius question, "These two are also Master Ka-Fai's disciples and unlike me have already mastered their respective forms, for Arios it is the second form Gale and for Cassius the first form Helix. I think we have should get started on our tasks if want to finish them all today."

"Rean is right, here is the envelope with them. There are only three inside, the first is the extermination of an monster wreaking havoc in the Ebel Highway the second is changing the orbal lights along the Highway and the final one is an request for sparring from Klaus for the students of the Arseid School…..Is there something wrong?" The older man gave the students a curious look when they started grinning at the last request, "No, it is just that Laura asked us for the same thing on the way here and now it is an official request."

"This means that Lammy and me have to take part since I wouldn't want to miss out any tasks on my very first field study." Seeing a chance Millium started pestering them to let her join in, ignoring her Jusis addressed the others, "We got our tasks, how should we proceed Rean?" Rolling his eyes at the noble attempts on shifting the conversation and putting him once again in the leader position, he could only let it slide while giving Milium an apologetic look, "I would say we should do the two requests on the highway first, leaving the sparring for last since I imagine that it would be the most exhausting one. Can you tell us about the monster Toval?" The Bracer gave them the details that he knew about the target while directing them towards Duncan who had both the Orbal lights along with position where they needed to be changed.

After getting all the information they needed with the lights, Group A made their way towards the Highway, unlike the town the fog here was thicker making harder to see more than four arges from their position. Luckily for them they had Laura who knew the Highway like the back of her hand and Rean and Gaius who could sense the monsters drawing near the group, they managed to advance towards the monster while changing the lights on the way. Their formation was composed of three in the front, Rean, Gaius, Laura, one in the middle to support the front line and defend the backline that role belonged to Millium leaving Emma and Jusis to provide Orbal Arts from the rear.

The only difficult part was to adapt to the fog and low visibility but after a dozen or so fights they managed to cope with the weather though they made sure to follow Laura steps as she took them towards the last seen location of their target when they finished the first request of changing the lights. Their target was found near a small river, that along with fog would make for a difficult fight since they couldn't surround it without falling into river.

Group A discussed their options for this fight which besides a frontal assault there weren't any, that is until Rean came up with an idea, "Laura, Gaius how good are you with heights?" At first, they didn't understand his question but as he explained what he had in mind, both they and Millium grinned at their part in the plan, going over some other details they decide that his strategy was a good one.

The monster had the combined appearance of a shark and a crocodile, Rean, Emma and Jusis approached it from the front with Rean starting the fight with his Arc Slash getting both its attention along with confirming that its scales were as hard as they looked. He and Jusis linked up to confront the beast leaving Emma in the rear to attack with Orbal Arts, Jusis used his craft Rapid Trust to try to land a hit on its eyes unfortunately the hits missed their intended target however they managed to drive the monster to try and bit down on the noble. Seeing a chance Emma cast the Mirage Art Luminous Ray towards the open mouth landing a hit inside it, causing the monster to roll on the ground in pain.

The moment it stopped rolling Rean was ready with a Flame Impact that had the image of a dragon on it, the attack landed squarely on its head giving Rean and Jusis the opportunity to use the Rush Attack hurting it further. Bellowing loudly the monster charged forward trying to trample the students not knowing that its action would lead it to its death, the moment it reached a certain area both Jusis and Emma casted Orbal Arts, Jusis 'Dark Matter' and Emma 'Silver Thorn'. Their focus wasn't on damage but keeping it in place making it easier for the rest of Group A to hit it. Millium used Airgetlam to take Laura and Gaius up in the air, right above the target thanks to the fog they couldn't go too high up, but the height was enough for what they had planned.

First Rean and the rest would draw its attention making sure that it wouldn't notice the other three in the air, second, they would lure it towards the designed spot and chained it down with arts and the final part was for Laura and Gaius to land the finishing blow with the aid of Lammy.

Up in the air Lammy lifted both fighters up and throw them down adding more speed to their descend, both linked up yelled their attacks at the same time, "Savage Fang! / Armor Breaker!" Laura's attack managed to weaken the monster defends along with destroying its scales giving Gaius the opportunity to skewer it with such force that his Cross Spear hit the ground while destroying the inside with wind attributed Ki attacks. With one last despaired cry the monster tries to wiggle away but the Orbal Arts along with spear inside it made it difficult, moment after moment passed before it breathed for the last time and died.

Group A only let their guard down after the monster disappeared, Jusis noticed that Millium was once again pouting knowing that it was because she didn't get to fight and that this time she had done as asked, he approached her, "That was not bad for your first monster extermination well done!" Not having expected any praise least of all from Jusis, it took her a moment to speak, "Really? Even though I didn't do anything?"

Jusis sheathed his sword before addressing her, "Didn't do anything? You did your part to help us fight by taking Gaius and Laura to the air giving them the advantage they needed to end this fight and in case it wasn't enough, you were still in position to also attack thus making sure that we would win this fight."

"What is important in Class VII is not how strong we are in a fight but the ability to work together, Millium and you proved that you can just do that both in the old schoolhouse and here. So, take pride in this since you along with the others are the reason why we won so easily." The younger girl blinked several times at both Jusis and Rean before seeing that the rest were also looking at her with encouragement in their eyes before she puffed her chest and put her arms on her hips with Lammy doing the same pose, "Welp, that takes care of that! Now let's go report our success so that we can finish the last task before dinner, I am getting hungry and since I did such a good job, you are paying for my food, Jusis. Let's go go go!"

Jusis immediately regretted his actions, but he couldn't get his arm out her grip and looking at the grins of his so-called friends he knew that was on his own, leaving him no choice to let Millium drag back to Legram, though he swore to himself that he wouldn't buy her anything at all. Group A managed to return to town rather quickly since thanks to the changed Orbal Lights they had now better visibility on the way back.

Both Duncan and Toval praised them for their good work along with rewarding them with enough sepith mass to cover their needs for the duration of this field study where recovery items were concerned. After taking a short break they made their way towards the training hall to fulfil the last request for the day inside they saw several young boys and girls of different ages training.

Noticing Klaus who was overseeing the training session, they went to him, "I have been eagerly waiting your arrival, am I right to assume that you are done with your other tasks?"

"We are, your request is the last one for today unless of course there is something else we can help with?" Shaking his head at Lauras question, Klaus looked at the rest, "No from my side at least. I hope I wasn't too presumptuous by asking this of you all, it is a rare opportunity for the students here to test their mettle against a swordsman of the Eight Leaves, adepts of both the Nordic Spear Style and Court Fencing, along with a user of a rather interesting Orbal Staff. Besides your styles, you all have been through several battles and have gained a lot of experiences from them."

The rest was rather surprised that despite meeting for the first time, Klaus had apparently managed to gauge both their styles and strength, though Jusis wasn't quite convinced by it, "Laura did you write about our styles when you sent letters home?"

"I did but I didn't mention any names or appearances, one skilled as Klaus here is more than capable of seeing right through us. I assume that I will be on the side-lines for this fight?" Bowing to his lady Klaus smiled at her, "Yes, Lady Laura. For the first fight anyway, the second one I will ask of you to participate, along with young lady there." He glanced at Millium who hearing that she could take part was now beaming with energy, a bit confused at his request Laura just nodded, meanwhile the other four got ready to spar while Klaus called four young man to the centre of the hall. The remaining students took their palaces around it so that they could see the upcoming fight better.

The eight fighters took their places in the ring with Klaus acting as the oversee of the match, both teams greeted each other before assuming their battle stances, (Hmm, just from their stance alone I can see that they are well trained, two use great swords like Laura and the other two use a normal one-handed sword. They are all front fighters, meaning that it will be four against three at the front line while Emma provides support from the rear. We three are used sparring against Laura, perhaps Jusis and Gaius can take the two great sword users while I take on the rest, it should be doable with Emma supporting me. Besides if we add the combat links, we are at an advantage regarding teamwork, plus if we have the chance to use 'Burst' we could end this rather quickly. Better not chances like are rare we should enjoy them, so no 'Rush' or 'Burst'.)

Activating the combat links Rean shared his strategy with the rest who after a short moment nodded their approval of it, making sure that both sides were ready Klaus gave the start signal. The guys dashed forward in sync toward their opponents, like planned the great swords users were taken by Gaius and Jusis leaving Rean to focus on his own opponents. It was clear that they had experience working together but compared to what he was used from his own classmates using combat links, especially from the duo of Laura and Fie, Rean could easily see how to dismantle their teamwork.

The first sword that arrived he deflected it towards the second one causing the wielder to stop his attack and try from a different angle, though that short moment was enough for Emma to launch her own assault. The purple balls of orbal energy managed to land a hit, knocking him back giving Rean the chance to follow up with another attack.

As statement to his opponent's skill, he managed to hold onto his sword while his partner covered for him by using an overhead swing against Rean, who used to Laura's, easily deflected it again causing the attacker to stumble again. At that moment he could have easily ended the fight but a glance at Gaius and Jusis showed that they were enjoying their fight and so he took a step back allowing them to regroup since this spar was about learning from each other and not to win.

Noticing his intention, they gave him a grateful nod and reassumed their stance and assault, from that point on the spar evolved into Rean showing them the different ways a tachi could be used along with his Eight Leaves Style. He also made sure that Emma showed them her Orbal Staff in battle, when Gaius and Jusis managed to defeat their opponents, he ended his own fight with Autumn Leaf Cutter making several small cuts appear on their clothes.

Instead of being bitter that they had been beaten so soundly, the two thanked Rean and Emma while asking several more questions about their weapons, while the other two did the same with Jusis and Gaius. Klaus also gave the four a grateful look before looking over to Laura and Millium who after watching the fight were bursting to start their own. Chuckling lightly Klaus looked over the spectating students before calling the next fight, "The next round will be Lady Laura and Lady Millium along with two people of their choosing to spar against me. I am quite interested on how much Lady Laura has grown over the last months away from home."

Laura was stunned that she would be fighting against Klaus but that turned soon into a blazing fighting spirit as she recalled how often she had been beaten over the years by him and her father. Before the fight could start Group A discussed who would take part in it, in the end it was decided that Rean and Emma would stay out it, letting the others fight. Taking a seat the two watched how Group A and Klaus took their stances, Emma gave Rean a curious glance, "I must admit that I am surprised that you would choose to sit this fight out. Given how much you enjoy training, this should have been a good opportunity no?"

"Yeah, no doubt about it but I think the others deserve this chance more than me besides watching a spar can just be as educative as fighting in one. Look, they are starting now." Emma gave him another look before focusing her attention on the fight before them, the moment it began Laura charged forward with Millium right beside her, to Emma complete surprise the elderly looking Klaus managed to deflect both attacks from Laura and Airgetlam as easily as sweeping leaves away. Noticing her astonishment Rean explained it to her, "Do not be deceived by his age, he may be old but that doesn't mean that he can't give us a run for our money, or do you think he holds the title of Acting Master just because he is the steward?"

A slight blush appeared on her cheeks as she had really thought that with those four it would be an easy fight if they fought for real but now it seemed that she had truly underestimated Klaus, that blush deepened as Rean started chuckling, while continuing to watch the fight unfold, "Just because one is elderly doesn't mean that they can't put up a fight, take Master Ka-Fai as an example he is in his late sixties and still can keep up and fight the strongest swordsman in the Empire to a draw who is at least two decades younger than. Never take someone lightly by judging their age or appearance."

A solemn nod was her answer as she continued watching the fight, at that moment Laura used her 'Radiant Spin' along with Gaius 'Turbulence' to draw Klaus to them instead of resisting the pull he used it to gain speed to enhance his thrust at Laura.

The swordswoman remained calm having already experienced this draw back of her technique while continuing with her attack, a few reges before she was hit the sword was met by a barrier appearing out of nowhere, a quick glance and he saw that it was Millium that casted the barrier at the last moment, not having expected this Klaus quickly changed his sword position to take his Lady's attack. Unlike the ones from before he couldn't deflect this one causing him to slide back thanks to force behind it, not willing to miss this chance Jusis followed with another attack preventing Klaus from regaining his stance.

Upon seeing this Laura made the decision of going all out, the other three made sure to give her enough space, the swordswoman used all the Ki inside her to unleash her Radiant Blade Dance. Though this time the way she moved was so quick that it couldn't be called a dance anymore but more of a fast Waltz, incredibly Klaus was not only able to follow her movements but met her every swing at least in the beginning, in the final swing of her attack Laura managed to overpower him causing him lost both his sword and the match. Breathing heavily the blue haired girl was only able to stand by using her sword as help, at first, she didn't seem to understand what she had accomplished but looking at Klaus she finally understood that she had managed to beat him with the help her classmates causing her to grin broadly while Gaius and the rest were in awe of her last move.

"Hahaha, I should have expected no less from Lady Laura and her classmates, well done everyone! Especially Lady Laura, that last attack of yours was a sight to behold!" The old butler stood up not even out of breath unlike the members of Group A, praising their skills and victory. The other Arseid students also realised that Klaus had been defeated before erupting into cheers for Laura and her friends. Amidst all the cheering Rean and Emma made their way inside the ring to congratulate their friends, "What a thrilling battle that was! Looking at it seems that you have finally managed to upgrade your S-Craft, Laura."

She gave them all a proud grin before nodding, "Indeed, I have been working on it since we came back from Heimdallr, after seeing your fight with C, Rean. I can't always be one step behind you now, can't I?" Shaking his head at her, he didn't know what to say though his friends were clearly amused, "Oh boy, seems like during our next spar I am going to be in trouble, huh?"

"You have two wins over me, I think it is time for me to even the score and surpass it. Hmm, I think I will call my new S-Craft Radiant Waltz." They agreed with her since she moved now more like in a waltz instead of a dance, watching his lady interacting with her friends Klaus enjoyed the sight on how she had changed over the last months, "Everyone I am thankful for having fulfilled this old man's request, I am sure that the students were able to gain much from watching these two fights. The growth you have shown has been considerable, Lady Laura. I am certain you have your fellow classmates at the academy to thank for that. When I see how well you fight together, I am filled with the deepest of admiration."

"I agree, they are the reason why I have been able to grow like I have, and I am sure that during the next years I will grow even more thanks to them, at least until I am able to defeat you all on my own, Klaus."

"Haha, I can't wait for that day to arrive, and I am sure that it will arrive sooner than you think. For now, I think it would be best to visit Lord Toval to report that all your tasks have been finished." The group thanked both the butler and the students for these spars and left the training hall, to find out that the sun had already begun to set, "Ooh, looks like it is almost evening already, seems like the fog has become thinner."

"I would wager that tomorrow we will have a clear sky, anyway we should swing by Toval like Klaus said and see if he has anything else for us to do, if not we should return to the mansion to rest, or rather we will rest, and Gaius will start painting." Laura shot Gaius a teasing grin who returned it with a good-natured laugh, before they made their way towards the Guild Branch in the tow, passing by people who were returning from their work to home, they greeted Laura as she passed by.

In front of the building Rean was going to open the door but stopped for a second as he sensed a powerful presence inside, this presence was not even trying to put pressure on him but still managed to stop him from moving, it reminded him of his Master and Tamamo. Taking a deep breath, he ignored the curious looks from behind him and stepped inside the building finding Toval talking with a middle aged blue haired man who turned around to greet them, "Ah, it seems my timing could hardly have been better."

Looking at the man he seemed to share some similarities with Laura and his suspicions on who he could be were confirmed as Laura shouted in surprise, "Father?! When did you get back? I assumed that I wouldn't be able to see you during my stay here." The girl rushed forward to meet her father who didn't miss a beat and hugged here almost instantly and started stroking her head, "Fortunately, I was able to take some time away from my engagements to see you and your class. It does my heart good to see you again, it seems you have grown since I last saw you."

In a rare moment Group A saw Laura S. Arseid blushing, "F-father, please don't treat me like a child!...But….it is good to be back." After hesitating for a bit Laura hugged her father back, the others in the room remained quiet to let the father daughter pair enjoy their reunion, the middle-aged man finally late go of his child and faced the remaining members of Group A, "Ah, these must be your friends. Then let me welcome you all to Legram. I am Viscount Victor S. Arseid, the ruling lord here. I have heard much about you all from the letters my daughter has sent me, so it is a pleasure to finally be able to put faces to the names."

They returned his greeting along with introducing themselves to him, not forgetting why they had come here in the first place, Rean approached Toval and made his report regarding their last request for the day. Acknowledging that they had indeed managed to finish everything for the day, he gave them the rest of the evening free in exchange that tomorrow they would have a bit more difficult requests to do. They talked some more about what kind of work his friends from the East had been doing here while watching the others interacted with the Viscount until it was time for them leave. They returned with Viktor to the mansion where Klaus was already waiting for them with a table full of food, not wasting any time Millium sat down immediately and urged the rest to sit down too.

Rolling his eyes at her antics Jusis apologised to both the Viscount and Klaus for her behaviour but both enjoyed the delight Milium had and made sure that there was no need to follow etiquette here. With that out of the way, everyone besides Klaus took a seat and started eating while praising the food, they shared with the Viscount stories about their time at Thors along with some of Laura though it didn't take long before he noticed that there was one student who didn't seem to have much appetite, "Is there something troubling you, son of the house of Albarea? You seem to have brought your worries to the table tonight but not your appetite."

"Well…..it is just that my family has been causing you a lot of trouble."

"Oh, that? Haha, just some minor disagreements. You probably know it all too well, conflicts about taxes among the nobility are as sure as the rising of the sun. It is nothing to be concerned about, especially since it isn't you who is trying to raise them."

"Thank you for your kind words, Viscount." Seeing that Jusis had somewhat recovered Rean couldn't help but tease him for a bit, "And you say I tend to overthink things." The glare he got in return made Rean smirk though he refrained from teasing him further instead he concentrated on enjoying the delicious meal in front of him, after having soothed Jusis worries Viktor returned his focus to his daughter, "I heard that you and your friends fought against Klaus this afternoon and even won."

"We did, though after thinking for a bit I did feel like he was holding back against us."

"Ahaha…..nonsense, my lady. You and your classmates fought with the boldness of young lions and won fair and square. I look forward to seeing you all soar to even greater heights." Grinning proudly at his daughter, Viktor took a sip of his wine before continuing to talk, "Marvellous, while I did have the hopes that you might choose to attend that girls' school in the capital, but you seem to have made some excellent friends at Thors, so perhaps this is how things were meant to be." Laura looked at each of her classmates before nodding at her father, "I feel the same."

"The final disciple of the Sword Hermit, an adept in Court Fencing, a practitioner of the ancient Nordic Style, a user of a new type of Orbal Staff along with the white Rabbit and let's not forget all your other classmates who each has a different weapon and style. Your class is a good place for you to grow, which reminds me. I may not have seen you fight until now, but I can sense a certain hesitation in your whole being, Rean."

This remark caused the others besides Millium to tense a bit since they knew what he was talking about, a bit interested in that the Viscount went on, "The Sword Hermit, Yun Ka-Fai in addition to being your master and the founder of the Eight Leaves One Blade School is also a good acquaintance of mine. In fact, we have duelled on numerous occasions though until now a victor has yet to be decided. Pitting our respective philosophies against one another is such an engaging experience that we always lose track of the time."

"My master has also mentioned the same thing as you, your Lordship. It is rare for him to find someone of your calibre to simply enjoy such an exchange. I am sure that just watching one such a duel is a treasure for any aspiring swordsman."

"The Eight Leaves One Blade School draws its influence from elements of several other eastern school of swordsmanship. The style's philosophy has such depths, that it is not difficult to see why one who masters it, is known as a Divine Blade. However, besides your hesitation I can also sense that you seem to have reached a wall in your training that despite all your efforts you can't seem to overcome it, causing you to come to a standstill."

A stunned gasp managed to escape Rean that the Viscount managed to see through him in so much detail, "I would have never imagined that your Lordship is able to tell so much of about me so easily, seems like I have underestimated those who have managed to reach the heights of skills. But thanks to that, I have made up my mind. There is only one way that I will be able to overcome that wall and while I don't know if I will succeed or not, as a swordsman, as a disciple of Master Ka-Fai, I still must try." A grin appeared on Victor's face as he understood what the young man was after, "My Lord, I ask of you, as the Radiant Blademaster please grant me the honour of a duel."

It took a moment for the rest of the table to register his words but when it did, they all gasped in surprise, though before anyone could object to it, the Radiant Blademaster let lose his aura in response to the challenge, "Very well, I was just thinking of doing some exercise after eating. At this hour the training hall should be empty, so follow me!" Not wasting any time, they both stood up and were followed by Klaus leaving the others behind, still not sure how this happened it took them a few moments before jumping up to go after them. They caught up just after Rean entered the hall, "Rean, what in Aidioses name are you thinking to challenge my father like that?! I know that you are strong but if you think that are anywhere his level then…!"

Before she could speak any further Rean gave Laura and the rest a reassuring smile, "I know that I am not his match far from it but like I said this is the only way I can think of to break through that wall. I have been thinking about this for a while, I even thought about using Instructor Sara as an opponent, but your father is an even better choice, and I am truly lucky that he accepted." Seeing the stubborn look in his eyes, they knew that it didn't matter what they said he wouldn't change his mind, left with no choice they stood near the centre of the hall where the fight would unfold.

"Wow, this is mega cool! He is really going to duel the Radiant Blademaster! The question is if he is strong enough to beat him?" Jusis scoffed at Millium question, "He doesn't stand a chance, it would be one thing if he was asking for instruction regarding swordsmanship but to duel a master like Viscount Arseid….." The blonde didn't even need to finish his sentence, the rest understood that Rean had zero chance of winning, "Some friend I am, I didn't even notice that he was struggling with his training. I just thought that he was still worried after he told us about his power."

"No need to beat yourself up, Gaius. None of us did, even Alisa who he spends the most time with didn't notice it which makes me wonder if he is hiding something else but that is a worry for another time." Laura nodded at Emma remark before trying one more time to stop this, "Rean, please reconsider this and you too Father. Stop this nonsense!" Rean just smiled at her before he focused his attention on the man standing in front of him, "This duel is between me and Rean, stay out of it. Are you certain this what you want?"

"I am. It is an honour to have the opportunity to test my mettle against the renowned Radiant Blademaster, thank you for accepting this foolish challenge of mine. I know that I am out of my depth, but I believe that to advance further on my path I must do this!" Seeing only grim determination in his eyes Viktor decided to honour it, "I admire your spirit, however for that very reason alone I won't show any mercy in this duel. Now show me what you are capable of as a swordsman of the Eight Leaves."

He reached to the big case that Klaus was holding and took a massive blade out of it and swung it down with just one hand and with that one swing he showed Rean his mastery over it along with starting to emit an aura the likes he had only seen on true masters during his travels.

(….I can sense incredible power within him, it is easily on par with Master. Which means that that against him I won't have to worry about the ogre breaking free…What am I thinking?! The whole reason I asked for this was to find how far I can control him and to ascertain that I have walked the right path until now.) Putting those types of thoughts away, he drew his tachi and assumed his stance, "Rean Schwarzer of the Eight Leaves One Blade School, Intermediate Rank. I stand ready."

"Victor S. Arseid, master and successor of the Arseid School. Ready." Upon finishing both fighters erupted with their auras and full strength, Rean nearly buckled under the pressure coming from his opponent, ignoring it he was going to attack but the moment he thought about it, Viktor was already standing in front of him swinging his blade down on him. The only reason why Rean was able to raise his sword to defend himself was because he had spent so much time sparring with Laura so that his body automatically reacted when he saw the Arseid techniques being used, he did however make the mistake of thinking that Victor had the same level of strength as Laura. The blow caused him to drop onto one knee, while maintaining his stance, reacting purely on instinct again he let the massive sword slide sideways while he jumped more than three arges away.

Before he could think of a way to attack, Victor used the Craft 'Radiant Spin' showing how much more refined his technique was compared to his daughter, Laura technique had a radius of sucking in the opponent of around one arge, her father's however was able to exceed more than seven arges drawing Rean closer to him with such force that he barely blocked the sword sending him nearly flying away. It was clear that Rean was completely outmatched, just two attacks nearly ended this 'duel', not willing to let it end like this he called upon the reason why he had asked for this duel in the first place.

The ogres power flooded through his body changing his appearance and giving him enough power to avoid the next blow and to finally unleash an attack of his own by using his speed to appear at the side of his adversary. However, the viscount blocked his attack easily, "Too slow!", each attack that followed was avoided with room to spare until the viscount chose to block one with his sword just to push the ogre away surprising both him and the students watching on how easy he made it seem. "How astounding, so this is the power sleeping inside you. Now this duel can truly begin!" The aura surrounding Victor surged higher than before causing the students watching to have trouble breathing, (This is it, from this point on I have to discard all thought not belonging in a fight, just concentrated on doing the best I can!)

The ogre disappeared along with Victor who moved so fast that they couldn't been seen by the naked eye, only the sound of steel clashing against steel could be heard showing that the fight was still going on. Several clashes later they reappeared on the stage though it was easy to see who had the upper hand, the ogre was clearly getting out of breath while Victor hadn't broken even a drop of sweat, "Is that all you can with that power of yours? How disappointing! What reason is there for you to battle your own power in a fight, that way you are incapable of using your full potential. Laura told me in her letters how you in each field study made sure that your classmates worked together to overcome anything standing in their way, so how come you can't follow your own advice?!"

(Work together? With whom, only I am fighting here so with who should I…!) It hit him suddenly with so much clarity that he stopped breathing for a moment, (I should work together with the ogre?! He is only capable of destroying and ravaging anything he set his eyes on! How could something like him even try to work together?! Controlling him is the only way….No, I can't turn away from the truth anymore!) It was high time he faced the truth that he had been denying for the last few weeks since the first time the ogre had appeared before his classmates, the truth that Alisa and his friends made clear to him. If they could accept and trust him with the ogre inside, then why couldn't he do the same with the ogre?

Seeing the eyes of the young swordman becoming clear, Victor refrained from interfering while he sorted this out, (Alisa said that she trusted me with her life and that also includes the ogre. The others also trust me, so why didn't I ever try to work together with him?!...Because since the beginning I rejected him without trying to understand him.) Rean couldn't stop himself from laughing out loud while he felt embarrassed of himself, "Oh, Aidios. This is really embarrassing; how could I have been so blind?"

"I wouldn't call it embarrassing myself, you are still young so what is wrong with making mistakes? The important thing is to learn from them." Rean looked at the Radiant Blademaster who looked at him with approval in his eyes, though his classmates were clearly confused what was going on, "I finally understand what my Master has been telling me all this time, if I want to make progress in the Eight Leaves Style first I have to grow as a person though I already know that it will be a long and windy road before I can accept it. (Form is emptiness, emptiness is form. Form and emptiness are not different nor are they separate from another. The ogre is me and I am the ogre….it is easy to think it but to truly accept? That will take a lot of time and training however I can finally see the path that I have to take to reach mastery in the seventh form, that alone is worth a lot. Seems like I can finally accept the fact that I now truly deserve the intermediate rank.)"

Rean's mental state was slowly changing along with it the ogre power while still running rampant inside his body was doing less damage to it compared to before, "Now then since you seem to have reached your goal, should we end this duel here? Or do you want to continue?" Rean answered the Radiant Blademaster question with a grin and his aura, grinning widely Victor did the same and an unspoken agreement was formed between them that they would end this with the next strike.

Rean controlled his power to coat his tachi in Void Ki painting it black, before trying out his newest technique that he had just thought of, "Eight Leaves One Blade School, Seventh Form: Asura Slash – Void!" He disappeared in a flash just to appear in front of his opponent to unleash several slashes so fast that he appeared to have multiple arms attacking from different directions until each slash formed the word Void in the eastern style of Hiragana.

However, before his attack could even come close, the Radiant Blademaster showed his signature technique, "Arseid School Final Strike: Radiant Phoenix Slash!" He coated his great sword in such dense and bright Ki that it seemed to grow several times bigger and larger while a phoenix feather was born inside it before he unleashed several slashes that destroyed Reans attacks into pieces while his final slash took the appearance of a phoenix using his wing to slash at Rean missing him on purpose by just three reges in the process the ground was cracked and blowing Rean away with such force that this time he truly flew through the air, destroying the entrance door and disappearing outside leaving behind a satisfied looking Victor though that changed when Laura yelled at the top her lungs, "Father, there was no need to go that far!"

Before the rest could run outside to check on their friend, Rean just stepped back inside as if nothing happened, though thanks to being thrown outside he had managed to sense a familiar presence which he had no idea why on earth 'she' was here but he would deal with it later, "….I am fine, he held back but I am sorry about the door. Just tell me how much and I will compensate you for it."

Group A starred at him like he had grown two heads at the moment, ignoring them Rean approached the Viscount who was putting away his sword and bowed deeply to him, "I admit defeat! I am honoured to have seen the Radiant Blademaster's signature move and thank you for helping me finally see clearly on how to move forward."

"Hahaha, no need for that! I don't know where that power of yours comes from nor do I understand it but in the end, a swordsman that is at war with himself is unable to truly use his full potential. Master Ka-Fai has probably seen through your problem since the beginning and taught everything you need to move forward; I just helped you realise that you already knew the answer but were unwilling to face it." Nodding his head, couldn't help but agree with him, thinking back his master always tried to guide him into accepting the fact that ogre was part of him no matter where he came from, Rean had been just denying it for all these years, "I know now what I have to do but I also know that it won't be an easy path for me, nonetheless I will make sure to walk it no matter how hard it will be."

The rest still wasn't understanding what was happening only the fact that apparently the fight had helped Rean understand something about himself, though they were curious they put their question on the back burner and focused now on their friend with Emma steeping forward to address him in stern tone, "All that can wait, Rean! Sit down here so that I can check if you have any injury and don't try to hide anything or so help me, I will call Alisa right now and let her deal with you!"

Faster than Emma could blink the swordsman was already sitting on the spot she was pointing at, with fear on his face, meanwhile Laura was scolding her father for his action after reassuring Rean that he didn't have to pay for the door at all. Klaus watched the scene suppressing his laughter at seeing his lord in such a situation, while the others were scolding Rean for his actions who could just sit there and take their scolding.

Unknown to them, besides three people, they were being watched by a pair of yellow eyes from one of the windows, two of the three people who had noticed the intruder were going to act but a subtle shake of Reans head made them stop. After everyone else went to bed, he sneaked out of his room to explain to them that the intruder shouldn't be dangerous or mean any harm as far as he could tell and that it probably belonged to one of his classmates, accepting his explanation the viscount and Klaus decided to trust him for now but chose to keep a discreet eye on it, knowing that right now it was visiting a certain class president.

The next day after eating a delicious breakfast Group A steeped out of the mansion to go see Toval for their tasks of the day, though the view that they saw after the fog had finally cleared made them stop and admire the scenery in front of them, "Whoa, what a view! Looking at the lake is almost like gazing into a vast mirror. I definitely have to paint one or two paintings of this view!" The others agreed with Gaius opinion causing Laura to smile with pride at the praise her hometown was getting, for a moment they just enjoyed the moment until Rean asked for their attention, "Hey….I am sorry for all the fuss I caused yesterday, let me apologise again for that and are you sure that I can't compensate your for that door?"

"Absolutely not! It wasn't your fault but fathers besides as you can see Klaus has already changed the broken one with a new one." Rean looked at the direction was pointing and found that it was really the case, "And I don't think you need to apologise anymore for what happened because I can tell that you did it out of necessity, am I right?"

"Yeah, before yesterday I had thought that I understood what path I should follow, one where I controlled the ogre and not the other way around but after meeting you all and seeing how you accepted me even with the ogre inside made question if I was truly on the right path. After crossing swords with your father, it was like I finally realised what my master has been telling me for years and now I am sure of the path I must follow. However, like I said yesterday it won't be easy, since it will be difficult to shed a decade's worth of misconception about myself, but I will strive to follow it through the end."

"I see, in that case I don't think any of us will criticise what you did…..Alisa on the other hand may think differently from us." The group watched as the swordsman thought about what would happen after the archer would read their reports causing them to laugh at his misery until Millium approached him, "Hey, what was that power you used yesterday? It was so cool, like you suddenly unleashed your inner beast or something like that and let's not forget how your appearance changed."

Jusis was going to stop her from asking any further question but was stopped by a look from Rean, "Well, to be honest I have no idea where this power came from or why I have it. After knowing that I had this power, I named it my ogre power because at the beginning I couldn't control it and just went on a rampage. Which reminds me, I never told you guys on how I first found out about my power did I?"

The others knew about what went down in the East with his power but not that, "Then I will make sure to tell our class about it after we are done with this field study. As for you Millium, you can ask me what you want to know about my power but first you were already aware of it or rather the Intelligence Division told you, right?"

The young girl was surprised for a bit before she grinned at him and shrugged her shoulders, "Yep, they told me about it. I mean what were you expecting by running around the roofs of the capital looking like that when you went to save the other group last month? You were fast but two agents manged to get a somewhat usable picture of you making it easier to link it to you. You don't seem too surprised by it."

Chuckling Rean ignored the shocked looks from the others and answered her, "Yeah, I thought that was the case, while running towards the harbour I sensed several people trying to follow me but at the time I didn't care about it. So, any questions?"

"Nah, the Intelligence Division doesn't care much about it as long you don't go around the public looking like that or destroying stuff as for me, I still think that it is super cool. Now that I 'know' about it are you going to use more often?"

"Thanks for the compliment? For now, my power remains an emergency only necessity after getting back to the academy and trying to come up with a new training regime that would allow me to use it better, perhaps. For now, we should go see Toval about those requests of ours or else Gaius won't have much time to paint while we are here." With that they left in the direction of the Guild Branch, on the way there Jusis tried to pull Rean aside without Millium noticing it, "Are you sure that was wise? Confirming the existence of your power to her and with that to the Chancellor? He could try to use you for it."

"They already suspected about it and sooner or later she was going to see it, as for the rest I don't think I am of any use for the Chancellor as I am now, perhaps after I can fully control it, he will try to make use of me, but it will take years until I reach that point leaving me enough time to come with a solution." Jusis had to admit Rean had a point with his reasoning, but he made one correction to it, "You mean, leaving us enough time to come with a solution I can see that despite your so-called epiphany yesterday, you still try take on everything on your own."

"I already said that it will be a long process but how about you try to accept Millium a bit more, she may be an Ironblood but she is still a child age wise. I am not saying to let your guard down completely but do try to let it down a bit where she is concerned." Jusis looked like had bitten into a lemon but knew that Rean was once again right though this time he didn't confirm and just walked away leaving a smiling Rean behind. Once inside the guild a grinning Toval was waiting for them, "Hey, I heard the big news! You seriously duelled the Radiant Blademaster?"

"Haha, well calling it a duel is an exaggeration given the gap between us, but he was kind enough to give me the chance to test my skill against him but how did you hear about it? This just happened yesterday evening and there is no way word of it has spread that quickly." Toval gave him a mischievous grin at his question, "I have my ways, still you shouldn't sell yourself short. It takes some real guts to even think of trying to duel the viscount, I know that you have battled Sara, and she is already pretty strong, but he is on a whole different level. I can see you didn't achieve intermediate rank in the Eight Leaves One Blade School for nothing."

"You are surprisingly well informed which makes me even more curious, but I think I will refrain from asking again."

"The Bracer Guild has pretty close ties with the Eight Leaves, after all. Anyway, let me get you those tasks for today and…..here you go." The bracer took an envelope from behind his desk and handed it to him, inside were two requests. One was another monster extermination, but this time they didn't have any information about what kind it is, and the other was to get ingredients to make offerings for St. Sandlot from the church. Group A exchanged looks with each other before looking at Toval who understood what the unspoken question was, "I didn't want to overload you this morning since I am planning to give you an extra task or two for this afternoon. From what I heard this will be your last full day in Legram, so I want you all to get the most out of it while you are here."

They nodded at his explanation and said goodbye after deciding that they would first deal with the request from the church before venturing once again onto the highway to search for the unknown monster. At the church they meet with the sister responsible for the request who explained what type of ingredients she was after along with some backstory regarding the service. The nun requested several types of ingredients some were easy to come by, others came from monsters and the last one was a seasoning called white seed.

The group split up into three groups of two, one went into the market to get their part of the ingredients, one went into the highway to hunt the monsters down who yielded the parts they needed, and one went into the Arseid mansion to see if the chef there had the necessary seasoning. An hour later Group A had managed to get everything the nun asked for, next they helped her with baking the offerings. After having tasted and learning more about the Eisenritter who according to old records used these offerings as rations while they were on expeditions, they brought some freshly baked to the statue of the Lance Maiden and her vice-commanders to pay them their respects, before leaving the town in search of their target.

Without the fog to limit their sight, the highway was like a different place compared to the day before making it possible to search other paths to see if they could find their target while also taking care of any other monster that crossed their path. After searching for over three hours they finally managed to track it down, much to their surprise it wasn't anything like the monsters they had encountered until now, for one neither Rean or Gaius could sense any life from it making them wonder if it was really alive and the more they looked the more it resembled a machine, "Anyway you look at it, that thing is clearly….strange. I suppose that is why we have been sent to exterminate it and I would rather take care of this before it could hurt someone. Hmm, Rean?"

Laura was getting ready to attack when she noticed that Rean was now grimacing, drawing the others attention to him, "I may have heard about something similar to it but…..Forget it. For now, we should concentrate on destroying it, if I remember correctly, it can fire bullets and spit fire at you so be careful where those opening on its shoulders are pointing at. As for its armour, it should be able to take a punch from Airgetlam head-on without breaking so no need to hold back go all out from the beginning."

"Alright but after we are done, we want some answers, Rean." The rest support Jusis demand and got into planning their strategy for this fight, unlike a living monster this one was incapable of sensing anything around giving them enough time to get into position to launch their attack, after making sure that they were ready Rean gave them the signal to start.

Airgetlam was the first to attack from behind with its Buster Arm causing the target slide forward but like Rean had foreseen besides a slight dent there was no other damage. The next ones were Gaius and Laura who attacked from the front while avoiding the guns that were placed on its shoulders while Emma finished casting the Mirage Art Claoimh Solarion unleashing a beam of condensed orbal energy that managed to damage its armour to the point where smoke was coming out of the cracks she had created.

Meanwhile Rean and Jusis used the opening to attack with the Rush Ability widening the cracks even more, the other four regrouped once more and after the two were done they used the Burst Ability to finish the monster off. Further proving that it was really a machine instead of disappearing into the air like monsters usually do, some parts of it exploded and remained on the ground with small sparks coming from it. Only after they were sure that it was truly destroyed, did they look towards Rean waiting for him to explain what was going on, "Alright, these machines once appeared during the coup of Liberl two years ago or at least they fit the description that I got from Anelance, they are called Archasim."

Before anyone could ask for more information, Millium exclaimed loudly, "Those are the machines that Ouroboros uses, right? So that is what they look like, huh?" Causing all eyes to turn towards her, "Wait, isn't that the name of that dangerous society you told us about?! Are they here in Legram?!" Rean didn't know the answer to that but before he could try to calm Laura down, Milium beat him to it, "Nah, this one being here doesn't mean that they are involved sometimes they sell their archaisms on the black market to test them out and since only one is here I would say that perhaps it got away during transportation and ended up here."

"Sigh, I don't think I will ever get used to you spilling secrets like that. I know that I should be the last person saying this but do remember that you are a member of the Intelligence Division so you should try to keep somethings secret, no?" Their youngest member looked at Jusis for a moment or two when she heard something like concern in his voice, "Awww, are you worried about little old me? Are you going soft on me, Jusis?"

The grin she gave him made him snort and turn away causing the tension that had been building to simply disappear when she tried to tease the blonde noble, the others watched this while staying out of it though Laura seemed still a bit worried, "Let's head back to Legram and tell Toval about this, I am sure that as a bracer he has better insight about what could happening here than us."

Agreeing with him they left the destroyed machine behind and returned quickly as possible, though as soon they stepped back into the town something else drew their attention, a big ship was now anchored at the harbour being guarded by several solider from the provincial army though their colours were not of those belonging to the Kreuzen Province, "What is the Provincial Army from Lamare doing here?" Before they could even begin to speculate what was going on a voice called out to them, "Hey, looks like you are back and just in time to see the estimated honour guest that has just arrived, apparently it is a big shot noble from Ordis." Toval was walking towards them while explaining what was going at the moment, "If you are curious, why don't you all go take a look yourselves? The viscount should be welcoming that noble right now into his mansion, but before that did you manage to complete the monster extermination?"

Group A left it to Rean to report what they had found, "We did but we are also sure that what we fought against was an archaism from the Society." That got Toval attention immediately, so Rean told him everything he had noticed about the mechanical monster with each word, his expression got grimmer, "Oh boy, and here I was hoping for some quite days. I will go take a look myself to confirm it but listening to you I am almost sure that you are right, I should be back after lunch so you can take that time to eat and rest before I give you your next task." Done with that he left in the direction where the remains of the archaism were, while the students left in the direction of the mansion curious to see who the guest was. The moment they entered they saw the viscount talking with an extravagantly dressed man that was surrounded by two other men in black, though it seemed that he was telling the viscount what he could do and shouldn't do.

Making sure to stay away from the conversation, they only managed to hear pieces of what they were saying, though after the unknown man turned around to leave, Laura, Jusis and Millium took a deep breath as they recognised him, the noble from Ordis left while being flanked by his two bodyguards, on the way out he passed by the students and identified two of them, "My, if it isn't young Laura and Jusis Albarea!"

"…It is pleasure to see you again, your Grace."

"…I appreciate all you continue to do for my father."

The rest could only watch how Jusis and Laura talked with the man, though it didn't escape their attention how tense they were throughout the conversation, "I would love to stay and talk a while, but I am afraid other urgent matters call me away. I will endeavour to arrange another opportunity for us to meet in the near future, but for now, I bid you farewell…..Ah, but before I leave do remember that you are nobles and do be careful with who you spent your time with." The man couldn't hide his disdain as he glanced at the four other students, meanwhile his bodyguards seemed interested in them but refrained from saying anything besides the shorter one with glasses waving at them.

"Uhm, who was that man?" Jusis after exchanging a look with Laura answered Emma's question, "That was Duke Cayenne, head of the foremost of the Four Great Houses and the ruler of the Port City of Ordis. His authority extends over the entire Lamare Province and even in the capital his power can be felt." Gaius had been long enough in the Empire to know just what kind of influence someone in that position had but before he could ask anything further, the Viscount along with Klaus came towards them, Viktor noticed the concerned look on his daughter face, "No need to look like that Laura, though it seems like they have finally begun to act."

With those ominous words Victor led Group A into his workroom to explain why Duke Cayenne had been here, surprising them with what they were hearing causing Laura to exclaim, "The Noble Faction has begun acting in secret?!"

"Indeed, for the past month they have been quite active behind closed doors. As far as I can tell they are trying to reaffirm their unity, holding conference after conference all across the country while roping in nobles who have so far stayed out of the conflict between the two factions. I am sure that this isn't all that surprising for your youngest member." They followed the Viscount eyes as he looked at Millium who in return shrugged her shoulders, "Yeah, I have heard a thing or two. The Intelligence Division is on edge, wondering whether they are about to start a full-scale conflict with the reformists or not."

"Tch….So that is what they have been up to, scurrying around all this time. No wonder that they were so quiet during last month, though I never expected that the leader of the Four Great Houses would come here just to pressure your Lordship." Victor nodded at his Jusis, "Nor did I. They appear to be planning a large conference in the near future to be attended by all members of the Noble Faction. Duke Cayenne came all the way out here to 'insist' that I attend."

"But Father, you aren't even a member of the Noble Faction. You have always kept your distance from them and from the Reformist Faction just to ensure that you are seen as a neutral party in this conflict."

"However, they are convinced that all nobles should belong to the Noble Faction as a matter of course, which explains why they are now pressuring every noble in the country to join them no matter if they want to or not."

"….Would I be correct in assuming that the House Albarea is also involved in this?"

"I am afraid so, Jusis. There has been some disagreement over whether Duke Cayenne or Duke Albarea should lead the Four Great Houses and as such the Noble Faction. For now, Duke Cayenne seems to have a slight advantage in this matter but knowing you father I am sure that sooner or later he will try to wrestle control from him." The rest could see the worry in Jusis face but didn't know how to console him in this matter so Rean tried to change the subject away from that matter, "Your Lordship, would you perhaps know what my family stance on the matter is? I am sure that my father won't succumb to their threats however that makes me worry about him."

"Hmm, Lord Schwarzer is widely known as an even more obstinate man than I, still you are right to be worried I doubt the Noble Faction will allow a noble to remain neutral ins this conflict even if he is just a Baron…..Wait, perhaps there is a move that we can make." The viscount didn't say anything else as he went over the idea that just popped inside his head, "Yeah, it should be possible, Klaus!"

"Yes, my Lord."

"I am afraid I will be leaving Legram again on another of my little trips. I apologies for this suddenness, but time is of the essence here. Please tend to things in my absence." Already used to his Lords actions, Klaus just bowed his head to accept the request leaving the students unsure what was going on. "I intend to establish contact with all the nobles who have remained neutral in this conflict until now. This way we can band together to avoid being taken by their coercive methods and I think that Prince Olivert would love to help me in this matter."

"In that case, I would be happy to come with you." Turning around Group A saw Toval entering the room, "On the way to see the prince we can talk about the archaism that these guys found this morning." The mention of the mechanical monster quickly drew attention from the viscount, "….Is that so? I believe this is the first time one has been sighted since the counteroffensive Sir Cassius launched two years ago. Do you think that they are involved with this matter?"

Before the bracer could answer that, Laura cut in, "Wait! Father you also know about Ouroboros?!" The Viscount quickly looked at his daughter and asked in a deep voice, "Care to explain how you know about them young lady?" The swordswoman was caught off guard at the sudden change causing her to remain quiet until Rean raised his hand, "That would be my fault, your Lordship. During our field study in the capital, we came across Phantom Thief B and…." Rean explained their encounter with the Enforcer with Toval helping since Sara had also informed him about that, "I see, seems like it would be the best course of action to take you with me, Toval. Let's not waste any more time and set off."

Group A accompanied both men to the station on the way there Toval gave them the remaining request for the day along with explaining how they should file their report at the guild and with the assurance that someone else would come by to take over his duties in his absence. Laura and her father exchanged some words before he leaves though not before embarrassing her, "I hope, you all will look past her uncouth father and continue giving her your friendship and support. I must admit as a single father, the fact that I have yet to hear any tales of budding romance concerning my daughter has me worried. As such I would be pleased if any you could keep me posted about her…."

"Father!" Not willing to let him get another word out, she literally pushed the Radiant Blademaster into the station and the others away from it, "Sigh, why must he always be so…?" Not caring about the amused looks they were giving her, Laura tried to change the subject just to be teased in return by the others until she had enough and ran ahead to start their task. It was about catching a certain type of fish for the inn, after getting more information about the fish they decided that Rean would be the best candidate to fish their target since he had the most experience in the matter. Luckily for the rest they managed to acquire another request from a young maiden in town who wanted to thank a disciple of the Arseid School who had saved her from monsters last week with a traditional charm made of luminous grass.

This way Rean remained fishing for the target while the rest tried to find the grass for the woman on the highway, time passed until it was late in afternoon that both requests finally were fulfilled. With nothing else to do Group A went inside the Guild to file their report and to clean it up a bit as thanks for Tovals help in Bareahard. They did that well into the evening when someone informed them that two boys had disappeared from town and couldn't be found now. The students helped with the search until night had fallen, while they still hadn't found any traces of them. They discovered that one boat was missing, thinking that the boys had taken it to go explore Lohengrin Castle, Rean and the others decided to go there to search for them while the rest of the adults continued searching around Legram.

Journeying across the lake, they heard the sound of a bell coming from the castle and along with a soft shimmer of blue started to appear on the castle walls, confused on what was going since this was the first time, that even Laura had seen something like this at the castle, they continued forward. The good news was that they found the missing boat anchored on the small pier, proving that the boys were indeed here. The bad news was that the closer they got to the entrance of the ancient building the more they felt that something was off about the castle until they finally stood in front of the castle.

"Eh, Rean? You are the expert here for weird things, any idea what is going on?" He rolled his eyes at Jusis question but given the situation he refrained from snarking back, "I have no idea, the only thing that I can tell you is that the Higher Elements are active inside the castle, and I feel something else flowing through it but what exactly I can't say."

"He is right, I can also feel a strange wind moving inside. If the boys are inside then we should hurry and get them out of there, I don't like this strange development at all." The rest agreed with the lancer and stepped inside, but the moment the last of them was in, the door closed with a bang and a strange symbol appearing on it. Despite their best efforts they couldn't open it, even when Millium called out to Lammy destroy the door the symbol light up to bounce the puppet back.

"It appears that there is a barrier in place, preventing us from leaving…..Everyone be careful something is approaching us from the right and the left!" Before they could ask Emma, what was going on two Shadow Spirts appeared out of thin air to attack them, not wasting any time the students launched into the fight quickly disposing of their adversary. However, the moment the spirits were gone, Millium fell to her knees, "What were THOSE things?!" rushing to her side Emma tried to calm her down, leaving the older students to discuss what just happened.

"This place seems to be even more dangerous than we could have anticipated and as long that barrier remains in place, so will we. We are going to have to search for a way out of here after finding those boys."

"Jusis, is right. First, we should look for them and make sure that they are alright. After that we can look for a way to leave or find a way around that barrier. Whatever is going on here is also messing with my ability to sense my surroundings I can barely sense what is beyond five arge around me. Emma, it looks like we will have to rely on you in order to navigate through this castle. Are you up for it?" The class president faltered a bit under the eyes of the others but soon found her resolve, "Yes, leave it to me."

Using the same combat formation from yesterday Group A started their search around the area until they found a door leading them down to what appeared to be a basement where they battled every type of monster that appears in horror stories ranging from floating suits of armour to swords flying around to literally ghosts. The moment they arrived on the ground they found a glowing orb that Emma explained could be used as a key to unlock a barrier if they found the one matching it. Despite being curious on how Emma knew about that bit of information the others refrained from commenting and just trusted her, Rean was the one who took it but the moment he did noticed the big door on the other end of the basement.

"Guys, isn't that symbol over there the same one that appeared on the door of the fourth floor in the old schoolhouse?"

"I think you are right; it is the same one but what does that mean? Principal Vandyck did say that the building was somehow connected to Emperor Dreichels and St Sandlot, still why is this symbol also here?" Rean cautiously approached the door and while he couldn't sense anything beyond it like last time, he still kept his guard up but the moment he touched it something flowed inside him. Suddenly he was seeing the same basement but now it had only two people inside, one seemed to be a young girl perhaps around sixteen years old and the other was a woman in her twenties. They stood before the same door that was slowly opening to reveal a huge silhouette behind it but the light coming form it blinded Rean and shook him awake.

Taking a deep breath, he turned around and was going to ask if anyone else had seen that just now but one look at his friends and he noticed that they didn't look like they had seen anything weird, (The same thing happened back in front of the guardian, a short moment of seeing…..something and the next I am back. Just what is going on, why am I the only one seeing this thing?! Is there a connection between this place and Nord or…..No, this isn't important right now, finding the children is.) The others didn't notice anything happening to Rean and so he remained quiet about it to avoid causing any distraction from their goal. With the glowing orb in their possession, they left the basement and tried searching for a way further in, after they tried to use the orb on the door leading outside with no result.

They discovered another barrier blocking their way, though this one they were able to unlock thanks to the orb, however it disappeared after it had done its job. The next hour or so was spend exploring the castle while battling every ghost or fiend that dared to appear before them, while trying to locate the boys. After unlocking another barrier, they heard two screams from the next room, not wasting any time Group A rushed forwards as fast as they could, upon opening the door they finally found the children though they were being approached by fiends, one of the boys was standing at the front trying to protect his friend.

Laura used her 'Radiant Spin' to draw the monsters away from the children while they guys attacked them from afar, the moment the monsters were far enough away Emma and Millium finished with off with both Lammy and Orbal Arts. Not seeing any more danger in the room Laura sprinted to the children to be sure that they were unhurt but before scolding them for their reckless actions, "What were you thinking?! Taking a boat and coming here without telling anyone where you were going! Do you know how worried your parents and the townspeople are. Well? I am listening."

The small boys started crying while apologising, seeing the remorse on them the swordswoman dropped her stern face, "If you realise what you did wrong, I have nothing more to say on the subject however, your parents are a different matter altogether. You better be prepared for some serious scolding as soon you get back." The rest watched as Laura comforted them, "It is a relief that we were able to find them in time, now we just have to find a way out of here. Judging by the fact that we needed to find orbs to open the smaller barriers, I take it that there should also be one for the entrance, right Emma?"

"Yes, and I think I know where it is." Emma looked at the ceiling wearing a serious look on her face, "The energy coming from the top floor is the one that seems to be flooding the castle, if we can stop it then everything should return to normal however we better be ready because I can sense a strong cluster of mana alongside it." The rest looked at each other but decided to trust their class president, "What should we do with children? I don't think it is a good idea to leave them here alone who knows if they are going to be attacked again."

"A good point, Jusis. I think the best way would be for them to come with us, Millium can we count on you and Lammy to take care of them if we must fight? Your defence is the best among us and along with your barriers you are the best candidate for the job."

"Sure, leave it to me and Lammy. Any monsters that come close will either get Lammy's fist or my hammer!" After thanking her and making sure that the boys would follow her and stay close, Group A took a short break before making their way upstairs to find a wide room with a large glowing orb in the middle. Emma took one look at the orb gripping her staff tightly, "Be very careful everyone, something big is coming!" As soon she had finished speaking the orb started to glow in an eerie light calling forth a huge spectre wielding a staff along with four smaller ghosts "A Nosferatu?! How is this possible?! Guys, we have to take it down as quickly as possible, before it can summon the rest of its army."

The pressure coming from it showed that how strong it was compared to everything else they had encountered in the castle along with Emma's warning made it clear that this wouldn't be an easy fight, "Ok, Gaius and Laura upfront with me, Jusis and Emma use every Orbal Arts from the higher elements that you have, don't hold anything back. Millium keep the children away from the fight!" The students assumed their positions and started the fight, Rean coated his tachi with Ki and attacked using the hidden version of the second form, "Arcane Gale!" he used his speed to the limit slashing all monsters as he dashed pass them, sheathing his sword when he stopped moving just to draw it out faster than before, unleashing a Ki strike that managed to hit his enemy again.

With just that attack the four ghosts were erased from the battlefield, not missing this chance the others poured their attacks down on the spectre, though physical attacks didn't seem to hurt it very much unlike Reans attack, "Laura, Gaius when you attack you have to coat your weapons with Ki to truly hurt it." They did as he suggested and saw the difference on their attacks did now, the spectre screamed in pain and along with its scream a bluish energy wave pushed the front fighters back. It swung its staff calling six ghosts this time, Rean once again used Arcane Gale to take out the smaller ones leaving the spectre to the rest of his team.

A shiver down his spine warned Rean of oncoming danger, trusting his instincts, he jumped away from where he as just in time to see to two ghosts appear from the ground. An Autumn Leaf Cutter later, they were also killed, (Did it summon eight in total and hid two away to attack us from below? The first time it summoned four, next eight…please don't tell me that it will summon sixteen next?!) The swordsman suspicious was proven correct a moment later by the spectre calling sixteen ghosts not wasting anytime he repeated his action again with the second form, "Everyone each time it summons double the number of ghosts, you four focus on taking it down as quickly as possible, leave the smaller one to me."

Acknowledging his order, they redoubled their attacks on the spectre trying to though their dismay it managed to summon its minions once again, this time Rean could on take out twenty-six of them leaving six behind not willing to let them distract the others, he used the fifth form to cut them down as soon as he could. With the last one down he heard his friends shouting, "Gaius!" looking in their direction he saw that the lance was imprisoned inside the spectre without being able to move a muscle.

"We have to get him out quickly if not the Nosferatu will drain him of his lifeforce to recover from its wounds." The moment Emma's words registered with Laura she unleashed her new S-Craft and this time she was even faster than when she used it against Klaus, seeing the lancer in such danger caused her to push herself to the very limits of her strength, each slash caused the spectre to become fainter until it was barely visible. Though before she could deliver the final slash a light was taken from Gaius giving the spectre enough power to throw Laura away from it, who had stopped with fright as she saw her friend in pain and to once again summon its minions this time there were sixty-four of them.

Rean was going to call upon his ogre power to erase them all and save his friend but before he could he sensed a huge amount of Ki coming from Emma who had a determined look in her eyes. She raised her Orbal Staff in the air causing a circle composed of several rune to appear beneath her feet, "Rise o great towers!" With those words five other circle appeared surrounding the monsters in the middle. Six imposing towers rose from the circle with a light forming on the top of each one sending a beam up in the air right above the targets, not wasting any time Emma brought down her staff and at the same time a huge beam of light came down, "Lord Albireon, let them rest in peace." This attack seemed to purify the spectre and its ghosts causing them to cry out in pain before they disappeared leaving Gaius on the ground. Rushing forward to see if he was alright Rean and Laura were the first to reach him followed shortly by the others including Millium who had left Lammy behind to watch over the children.

Much to their relief the lancer didn't seem to have any injuries, he was just a bit exhausted but nothing that a good night of rest wouldn't cure, hearing Emma's diagnose caused them to sigh in relief not noticing that the glowing orb was emitting a strange light again. Before they could react, a sudden pressure pushed them down on the ground making it nearly impossible to move, they could only watch as the silhouette of another Nosferatu started to appear. Not willing to let this go any longer, Rean called upon his power however the moment it appeared the orb changed its light making the spectre disappear and started to try and suck Rean into it while keeping the rest pinned to the ground.

Eyes wide at what was happening the swordsman was going to go all out to destroy the orb, though he froze as he sensed another kind of pressure suddenly appear from outside the room but unlike the orbs this one seemed to protect the students, the next moment something like an ancient lance flew through the air, destroying the orb and stopping it. Along with its destruction the orb released a bright light blinding Group A but not before Rean saw the silhouette of a woman from the direction, he sensed the new presence.

Getting on his feet Rean first checked on his friends, "Is everyone alright?" they nodded at him with Jusis asking the question that they were thinking about, "Can someone please explain to me what just happened?! One second, we are being pressured to the ground, the next the sound of something piercing through the air appears and destroys that damned orb causing it to release a bright light. What is next?! Is Regnitz going to pop out of hiding and tells us this was all a huge prank?!"

"As much as I would like to see that, I think that someone else saved us from the orb but who I don't know. Do either of you sense someone around now?" Gaius shook his head at Emma's question, "I don't sense anyone besides us here. What about you Rean?...Rean?" That drew the attention of the others towards the swordsman who looked to stairs that lead outside, "Right now, I don't. However just before the orb was destroyed, I sensed someone incredible powerful along with the silhouette of a woman with long golden hair and what destroyed the orb was I believe a lance being thrown at it. As for that woman in terms of power alone I would say she surpasses the Radiant Blademaster by a lot. Does that sound like someone you know of Laura?"

"Stronger than Father and a woman that uses a lance?...No way…could it be the LANCE MAIDEN?!" Laura didn't pay any attention to the stunned faces of the others but ran towards the stairs with the rest shortly following her, the swordswoman arrived at a balcony with no one in sight. "Well, at least the strange glow around the castle seems to be gone, does that mean we can leave through the front door?"

"Yeah, I don't feel any more mana following around the castle we should be able to leave now." Rean watched how Emma and the other talked about what just happened leaving him to his thoughts, (I guess all is well that ends well, still could that have been really the Lance Maiden? I mean, I am the last person who should deny the supernatural, still if it was really her what does that mean? I shouldn't also forget the symbol down in the basement or the vision I saw down there, just what is the connection between Lohengrin Castle and the old schoolhouse? So many questions and not any answers, and let's add Emma ability to sense the supernatural with her knowledge about barriers and 'her', yesterday at the training hall and now here, is 'she' really traying to hide or…. Doesn't matter for now. I am really starting wonder just who she is but then again, I am the last person here who should pry into this. If and when she wants to talk, I am sure that me and the others will listen to her, I mean if our class was able to accept me and the ogre then they will have to problem with Emma at all.)

Putting those thoughts aside Rean got the others to stop speculating if the ghost of the Lance Maiden had come to their help or not and made them recall that the worried people of town were waiting for them. Since Laura was the only one with enough experience to use the orbal boat and it was night they left the other boat behind and returned to the town. They watched as the parents of the two boys were crying from relief to have them back before twisting their ears in anger for the mess they caused.

Group A spend some time in wirting a report for Toval of what happened before retiring for the night, the next day the students stepped inside the station to buy their tickets and wait for the train to arrive. They had already said goodbye to Klaus and the others though some young girls were threating the guys to stay away from their beloved Lady Laura or else there would be consequences.

Rean and Emma were the ones who went to buy the tickets letting the others rest a bit more, the swordsman thought that this was a good opportunity to warn Emma about something, "You know, since we arrived here, I keep thinking that we are being followed by a cat but every time I turn around it is gone, weird right?" Emma froze for a moment before forcing a smile on her face, "Is that s-so? How weird is that, perhaps it is some local cat with a blue ribbon I mean there are probably dozens of cats like that around Legram, right? Right?!"

"(Yikes, she really is a bad liar.) You are probably right but now we are going to Garrelia Fortress, one of the Empire strongest army bases, I don't want to think what would happen if a 'cat' followed us there." Her eyes widened as she thought about, "You are right, you are absolutely right. It would be a disaster if a cat followed us there…ehm I think I am going to walk around the station for a bit until our train arrives." The plum haired girl was going to quickly walk away but stopped when Rean called out to her, "No problem, you know where we are, but I would suggest taking a walk in that direction."

He pointed in the direction where he could sense the 'cat', Emma after thinking for a moment seemed to agree but the moment, she recalled their conversation along with the direction Rean was pointing at, caused her to stop moving mid step before slowly turning around to him but Rean had already begun walking towards their classmate, leaving her unsure if that this had been just a coincidence or if the swordsman knew about her. Deciding to leave that thought for another time when she could freak out in the safety of her room, for now she had a certain cat to warn.

Later inside the train they went over the schedule along with what they knew about their destination, "Garrelia Fortress is sometimes referred as the wall that protects the nation from the threat of the Calvard Republic. I have also heard it is ludicrously huge almost an icon of military excess, it also houses the two railway guns and has a military exercise ground on the premises."

"Those are the weapons that Gwyn says he regretted making, correct?"

"Yes, two massive orbal cannons who are pointed toward the east claiming that they exist only to protect us from Calvard, officially that is the case. Unofficially there are aimed at the buffer zone between us and them, Crossbell City. This way they can stop any invasion by destroying the city no matter the cost for its habitants. It goes without saying that Alisa is conflicted about their existence and purpose which is why I would like to ask you all to be there for her during our stay."

Everybody else agree with him though he could have done without the teasing they were giving him, it was Millium that stopped any teasing from happening though, "They ARE pretty crazy, it is like looking into a mountain of iron. I was pretty overwhelmed the first time I saw them before me."

"Wait, you already have them in person?"

"Yeah, Gramps took me, Claire and Lechter to see them. 'These are the mightiest weapons wrought by the hands of man since the Great Collapse. I want you three to consider what it means that such weapons have been placed here.' I think that Gramps said something like that."

"To 'consider what it means'? The Chancellor has a flair for the dramatic, I will give him that. Speaking of him, today is the day that he and Prince Olivert depart for Crossbell to take part in the Trade Conference. Hmm, I wonder how that will turn out?" With that question from Jusis, the conversation started to turn around that upcoming event wondering how it will play out, especially where Erebonia and Calvard are concerned. The rest of the journey was spent with that and the occasional game of Blade until the train arrived in Celdic where after leaving the train, they noticed that the RMP seemed to guard a platform keeping others away from.

"Well, isn't this quite the coincidence? I knew that you would pass by here, but I wasn't expecting to be able to meet you all." Group A faced the direction a voice was coming from just to see Captain Claire walking towards them, not missing a beat Millium launched herself towards her, enveloping her into a big hug, "Claire! Did you miss me so much that came to see little old me?" Giving the smaller girl a hug back, Claire started to put her down, "Like I said just a coincidence, the Eisengraf will be passing through here soon, so the RMP is keeping the station under heightened security. Still, I am happy to see again. It has been what two months since I last saw you?"

Claire started patting Milliums head who was clearly enjoying it, the others remained quite letting the two enjoy their reunion until Claire looked at them to greet them, "A good day to you all, let me thank you all again for your help during the incident in Heimdallr last month." The students greeted her back while stating they had only done their duty as citizens of the Empire, Jusis on the other hand was more interested what Claire had told Millium, "You mentioned the Eisengraf, that is the personal train of the Iron and Blood Chancellor, correct?"

Claire confirmed his question, however before the remaining students could ask what it was a crimson train passed by quite fast on the closed off platform, Reans scar started to heat up along with his power and for once he didn't immediately try to surpress it. This caused his senses to sharpen to the point where it seemed that time was slowing down around him allowing to see the people inside the train passing by. They were Towa, Prince Oliver and the Chancellor, the moment Rean looked at him the older man looked right back at him as if he was aware that Rean was there. "(Again, this is the second time my scar reacted like that and both times the Chancellor was present, was it just coincidence or is there some connection between us?) Sorry guys, what did I miss?"

He was so immersed in his thoughts that his friend had to call out to him several times before getting his attention, "Did something happen, normally you are much more attentive to your surroundings."

"Nothing much, I just happened to catch a glimpse of Towa, Prince Olivert and the chancellor inside the train." His answer surprised the others since the train passed by so quickly, "You must have hawk eyes to have been able to spot them inside the train. Anyway, I have to leave now to ensure that everything is running smoothly until the Eisengraf reaches Crossbell. I wish that the remainder of your field study goes well, try not to cause or get into any trouble in Garrelia Fortress, ok Millium?"

"What is it with you and Lechter? I am angel that doesn't get into any trouble, nor do I cause it! That is mighty rude of you, Claire."

"I would rather say that Captain Rieveldt is right in asking that request." Jusis couldn't hold himself back from butting into their conversation taking Claire's side much to the displeasure of Millium who pouted at them both, meanwhile the train that would take them to the next part of their field study arrived along with Group B who called out to them. Saying their goodbyes to the Captain, they joined Group B who had saved some seat for them with Instructor Sara already present.

"Hello everyone, how was Legram and what kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time, Rean?" The first thing out of Fie's mouth was a greeting along with a question, causing Rean to roll his eyes but before he could respond he threw a glance at Alisa who was smiling though her smile seemed to have dangerous edge to it. Supressing a shudder at that he took his place before he answered Fie, "I didn't get into any trouble at all, we did our tasks and that was it."

"Oh, is that so?" Rean had a bad feeling when he heard Alisa but thinking back on the two days, he couldn't find any instance that he was being reckless, "…..Yes?"

"So, duelling the strongest swordsman in the Empire doesn't count as getting into trouble?"

"How do you…Toval reported it to you, didn't he Instructor Sara and you told them. Ok, but why does that count as getting into trouble?"

"In this case, I must agree with Rean. He asked my father for a duel because he wanted to break through a wall in his training and nothing more. I fail to see how does count as trouble…..though Rean did get throw through a door as result but that was my father's fault and not Reans." The swordsman was nodding to Lauras words until she mentioned the last part, "That last detail was kind of unnecessary Laura but as you can see it was not my fault."

"Hmpfh, I don't think so but if that is the worst you did then I suppose this time you are getting away though who knows the field study isn't over yet."

"Your trust in me is heart-warming, Alisa."

"I have a lot of trust in your ability in getting into trouble don't worry." The two would have continued bantering with each other if Millium hadn't decided to butt in, "Does dealing with fiends and spirits counts as getting into trouble because if so, he did fight against a bunch of them, even a big one." Silence descended upon the class as Group B digested what she had just said, causing Alisa to glare at Rean who tried to defend himself, "If that counts as getting into trouble then you are also involved into it since we went through that castle together."

"Toval didn't say anything about that, how about you all start from the beginning?" Following Sara suggestion, Group A explained to them what had happened last night along with Laura's suspicious that St. Sandlot had saved them, "Hmm, that is interesting. I will have to give Toval a call later to tell him about this. Still do you really believe that what you saw was the ghost of the Lance Maiden?"

"Honestly, after what we saw yesterday, I wouldn't rule out the existence of ghosts, but whoever it was, that person was alive that much I can tell you and judging by what I sensed, she is incredibly strong. (If her presence wasn't so different compared to Tamamo, I would have no trouble believing that it had been her.) Anyway, the entire Group A was there so it wasn't my really fault that it happened."

"Lame, I mean the fight against supernatural does sound interesting, but you are losing your touch Rean. I brought some snacks to enjoy the show of Alisa scolding you and now you didn't deliver, so once again lame." Rean had the urge to flick Fie head at remark but held himself back from as they were more important matters to deal with after having escaped Alisa's wrath, but before he could get into it Jusis along with Gaius and Emma apologised to the archer, "By the way Alisa, we are sorry that we failed to live up to your expectations."

"My expectations? What are you talking about? Oh, is this about keeping Rean out of trouble?"

"Aidios no, that request was impossible from the start." Jusis promptly ignored the indignant sound coming from his friend, "What we meant is that in Legram we crossed paths with Haru and the rest and Rean blackmailed them into revealing which stories they told us about him." Sounds of disappointment came from the members of Group B with Fie being the loudest, "Seriously, blackmail? How could you do that to your friends, Rean?"

The swordsman ignored them and focused on Sara, "Since you are up to speed now, can we talk if Toval has found any more information regarding the archaism that we destroyed in Legram."

That managed to get the attention of everybody though he didn't miss the look Alisa gave him, "No, we both think that Millium theory has merit, it should have escaped while it was being transported but that just throws the questions where it was going to and how many there are. Anyway, you students should just forget about this and concentrate on what is coming. I got a look on what Neithardt has planned and I can already tell you that it won't be easy."

"I would rather talk more about that mysterious society, Instructor. You and Rean have been rather tight-lipped about, and I am sure that I am not the only one that wants to know." The others besides Rean supported Machias but a stern look from Sara was enough to make it clear that she wasn't going to divulge anymore information, "I am already pissed that Rean knows about them, I will deal with Anelace Elfead when I get the chance, but you all are students, you shouldn't be getting mixed or know about that side and that is final."

"Come on, Sara. What is the harm in sharing that info with us, it isn't like we are all like Rean that runs towards every type of danger he sees." He ignored the dig from Fie but supported Sara anyway, "You all have heard about Group A's days, so how did Group B's go? I can assume that everything went fine since no one seems to be too tired." They knew what he was doing but had no choice but let this go for now, "We didn't have run ins like you did with Duke Cayenne, though that makes sense, seeing that Jurai is under direct control of the Imperial Government."

With that Alisa and the rest told them about their days in Jurai, seeing that both groups were now up to speed with each other, Sara posed them a question, "How many of you have already seen or visit Garrelia Fortress?" Besides Fie, Elliot, Crow and Millium the rest remained quiet, "I see, then get ready for a surprise that place gives people seeing it for the first time a huge shock. Because let me tell you photos don't do it justice at all." They remained septic about that remark but decided to wait to see the base for themselves, the rest of the ride was spent with both groups telling each other in more details about their tasks until the fortress was finally inside leaving them completely speechless.

"Just what is that?!"

"How much money did the army invest in that place?!"

Looking out of the windows the students saw Garrelia for the first time, it nearly spanned the entire mountain range along with so many fortifications on it that it bugled their minds on how much mira was spent there, one way to describe it was that it resembled a mountain of steel armed to the teeth with guns, "Haha, yep. That was about as entraining as I had hoped. On the other side of it is Crossbell City, one of the reasons why we decided to bring you all here was to show you the true essence of what makes an army. The military strength and its foundation of this country is clearly being shown in this place. So, get ready to see, learn and to understand just what this place represents."

After that Class VII arrived at their destination where Instructor…. No, where Major Neithardt was waiting for them, both adults exchanged greeting lacking their usual sarcasms showing just how serious they took this part of the field study. The students were taken to a conference room where their schedule was explained to them for the next two days, later they would observe a joint exercise between the fourth and fifth armoured divisions followed by taking part in the physical training in the late afternoon. The next day was followed by more training, lectures on how an army base operated along with a visit to the railways guns but before they could start with their schedule, they were led into the mess hall to eat.

Most of Class VII was shocked at what passed as food in the military but after listening to the Major, they understood that soldier always ate this kind of food that could be easily stockpiled in the times of war, this way if a war really broke out, they would already be used to the food. Some grumbled that perhaps this food should be used as weapons but ate it, nonetheless. After their meal(?), it was time for the joint exercise, they were lent into armoured cars that would take them to the trainings ground where a tall and imposing man was waiting for them at the entrance. He had the same hair and eye colour as Elliot making it clear who he was, noticing them he walked towards them with each step a kind of pressure descended upon the students.

"So that is Elliot's father, Craig the Red!" Rean glanced at his friends who seemed kind of resigned but ready for something, (I guess this is the first time he sees his father after he forced Elliot to attend Thors instead of the Music Academy, I hope that it goes well, he does look the part of a stern military man.) The others seemed to share his thoughts but after saluting the adults that assumption was shattered like glass, with a wide grin Craig rushed towards his son with his arms outstretched, "ELLIOT, MY DARLING BOY!"

He enveloped the smaller boy into a big bear hug nearly crushing him, Fie who was standing beside him with her mouth open swore later that she heard bones crack, "It must be half a year now since we last saw each other, how have you been?! The photos I have seen of you don't do you justice with how sharp you look in that uniform and you seem to have gained some muscle mass…Ah, how I wish you could stay my little angle forever but a man of Erebonia muss be strong, stout and ready to fight! That is why I swallowed my tears and enrolled you into a military academy….."

"I take it this is a prime example of not judging a book by its covers." The others nodded at Machias remark, while Sara was needling her counterpart on how his boss was behaving, they watched this for several minutes until Elliot had finally enough strength to escape from his father, "Enough, Dad! I will tell Fiona if you don't stop, right now!"

That seemed to clear Craig's head quickly with a cough he reassumed his stern look as he introduced himself to the students, "I am Lieutenant General Olaf Craig, commander of the fourth Armoured Division of the Imperial Army. It is a pleasure to meet ladies and gents of Class VII, as Major Neithardt has explained to you all this will be a joined exercise between the fourth and the fifth division. We are going to pit the new Achtzehn tanks against the unmanned older models, to show you young lions how serious handling tanks is, also we are going to use live ammo for the new models while the older have only paintballs loaded. Please pay attention!"

The reality on what was going to happen slowly started to sink into their minds, still no matter how much they thought they knew what was going to happen on the training grounds, nothing could have prepared them for what they saw next, a massacre. There was no other word to describe it, the new Achtzehn slaughtered the older models completely, with each shot fired one thank was destroyed until nothing remained but a heap of burning metal. Class VII watched in horror on what a war would look like, besides Rean, Fie, Crow and Millium the others were pale on their faces though even they weren't immune to it. Seeing how Alisa was distressed, he reached to her hand and squeezed it lighly to comfort her, she nearly jumped at the contact but a grateful glance at him later she was squeezing back, though she didn't let go until the exercise was over and they were going to their next destination.

The mood at dinner was sombre even though the food was miles better than what they had earlier, the joint exercise combined with the training afterwards made the students besides some too worried to eat. "Aww, come on guys! What is all with gloomy faces?" Crow took a bit out of his meal before adding his own two Mira to Milliums, "You think you guys might have had a bit too rosy of an outlook? What were you expecting to see out there? Some soldier duelling against each other for the victory while tanks are just background props?"

"I am sure that you at least understand a bit on what we are feeling, it is like….has everything we have learned at the academy been for nothing? Tactics, teamwork, individual strength all that doesn't matter in a real war, just put tanks and airships against each other and the stronger ones win no matter what." Machias answer seemed to resonate with the rest, "I wouldn't say that tactics are useless in a war but you right that one individual might doesn't seem to matter. No matter how strong you are it doesn't amount to much in front of those tanks."

"I remember my mother boasting about their capabilities when she was trying to sell them to the army two years ago, but reading their spec sheets and seeing them in actions it are very different things." The mood was turning even gloomier until Rean clapped his hands together loudly, "Guys, it isn't like I don't understand where you are coming from but the reason why we came here was to witness this. So that we can learn about it and form our own opinion, what we saw was a type of power in its rawest form it just exists to bring a result about but in the end that power on its own doesn't move. Humans are the ones who control it, they decided if, when and why it should be used, power is power there is no good or bad about it. How it is used and why are what decides that, like a gun, a sword or even the railway guns. For now, we all should just think about it and nothing more, of course if you all continue thinking about it does that mean that I can get your share of the food?"

Reans speech woke them up from their little confusion, but it was his last question that really shock them awake so to speak, hearing no answer he just raised his fork and was going to take some meat away from Alisa's plate, but his hand was slapped away by the archer, "Hey, eat your own food. This is mine!" The others laughed at that and resumed eating while teasing the swordsman about his appetite, not knowing that Sara and Neithardt were outside the mess hall watching them, "Looks like we don't need to worry too much about them after all, good old Rean always helping others out. No wonder he is such a good helper."

"I think he would prefer if you did your own work instead of relying on him for it but for the rest I agree. After they have eaten get them to bed, they have an early morning, and we should be able to get more information on the Imperial Liberation Front in the afternoon. Do you really want to share it with them, they are just students after all."

"As much as I would like to make sure that they are always safe, I can't control them like that or else I will stunt their growth and somehow they always seem to stumble into those terrorists so the more they know the better prepared they are, for the next time." The major hesitated at first but agreed with her in the end, leaving to inform his supervisor about this. The next day after gruelling four hours of hard training Class VII is led into another conference room where four familiar photos are posted on the screen, "There is no need to sugar-coat it, so I will get straight to it. We believe that the ILF is currently in Crossbell City to launch an attempt at the Chancellor life, of course it could also be a diversion from their real move. Anyway, this here is what we know about their members."

Sara pointed at the man called G, "This one here is Michael Gideon, he was a professor at the Imperial Academy but was fired after protesting several times against the Chancellor. From that point on he had disappeared from the surface of the empire until after being sighted in the Nord, from what we know he is mostly harmless now that he doesn't have that flute anymore. However, the same can't be said for his comrades, V is suspected of being an ex-jaeger and from the way you described him he should be around middle to high level in terms of fighting power, so if you meet him keep your guard up."

"He seemed to know me, but I don't recall ever meeting him in person or on any battlefield. Perhaps he heard about me from the rumours going around when I made my debut as Sylphid? Should I hit up some old contacts of mine and see if they know him?" Sara seemed to think about it for a moment but decided against it, "No, the Intelligence Division is on the case which means that it is just a matter of time until they get more information, the same can be said for S. The only things we know is that she is Erebonian and that she left the country two years ago the reason is unknown for now. That leaves us with C the apparent leader of the ILF and the one we have nothing about, not even how he looks."

"He is strong no doubt about that, and I am sure that what we saw in Heimdallr was just the tip of the iceberg. Should any of us encounter him again, I can only strongly suggest in taking him on at least with four people if not try to escape quickly."

"Geez, if even Rean the Mean Machine is wary of him then he must be really strong. I heard you duelled against him last month." The swordsman nodded at Crows question, "Yes and while I was able to keep up for a bit, he showed strength close to Instructor Sara and Instructor Neithardt levels." Both adults looked at each other before Sara shot her counterpart a smirk, "Little old me is just an A rank bracer but our Major over there is widely known to be one of the strongest up and coming officers in the entire army, I even heard that is up there with Major Vander."

"I wouldn't say that I am on his level, though there is no question that Major Vander is unquestionably strong. He was my classmate in the military academy and is currently as a bodyguard for Prince Olivert in Crossbell. But getting back to the point of this lecture, we still know too little about the ILF as a whole, even their source of funding is a mystery. Even if they don't show up in Crossbell, I doubt we have heard the last of them."

The rest of the lecture covered what little they did know along with explanations on how to deal with the terrorists in case they were spotted until Neithardt Arcus Unit rang, ignoring the quip from Sara on how during class the Arcus shouldn't be on he answered it, her face however lost her teasing look when she noticed that the major was getting shocked by what he was hearing, after putting his Arcus away he faced the rest of the room.

"A short while ago, the skyscraper where the Trade Conference is taking place came under attack by the Imperial Liberations Front, the attack was carried out by airship. Fortunately, the terrorists were repelled and Prince Oliver, Chancellor Osborn and the others are unarmed, still it is too early to tell if the danger has truly passed."

"That is good to know, but we need more details than that Neithardt."

"They had with them a force of mechanical monsters similar to the one Group A found in Legram, along with that they somehow took control of the orbal net to manipulate the elevators, shutters and doors inside the skyscraper. I will inform the higher ups about this, meanwhile Instructor Valestein will continue with the lecture and…."

All the sudden several explosions could be heard coming from below them, not wasting any time both adults and Class VII ran down to find that several Achtzehn tanks were running around firing at everything they could see. Acting quickly, they jumped back into the corridor where they couldn't be targeted, they could only watch how the tanks spread destructions in the hangar until they left after blasting a hole through the door. Rean and the rest spotted two mechanics on the ground, running to them they thankfully found no wounds on them, they probably were just caught up in the aftershocks of the thanks attack and thrown in this direction saving their lives.

"What happened here?! Who is driving those Achtzehns?!"

"There is …..no one inside! They just started moving all of the sudden after we installed the last new C-Units…" Emma and Elliot started to apply some first aid to the man before taking them away from the fires, "Who gave that order?! There shouldn't be any C-Units inside them, they are normally used on decommissioned units who will be destroyed later."

"The order came last….night, major…..by orbal net!" That instantly cleared any doubts as everyone connected the dots, "If the ILF was able to hack Orchis Tower to take control there, then they can also do the same here to give out false orders, damnit this here is a two-pronged attack! We have to…." Another explosion was suddenly heard from the outside stopping Sara from going on, grinding his teeth Neithardt took out his Arcus and called out several orders before he and the rest ran outside to see that the rogue tanks were leaving the fortress in the direction of Crossbell.

Several tanks appeared out of nowhere bearing the sign of the fourth Armoured Division with Lieutenant General Craig standing on one, "Fourth Armour Division move out! Neithardt, we will take care of the those tanks, you remain here to ensure that order is restored and keep your wits about you who knows if this isn't another diversion." He left with his tanks after giving his orders, "Wow, you have a pretty cool dad, Elliot!"

"Hehehe…thanks Fie. I admit he can be pretty cool when he takes charges like that."

"Class VII! We are currently at alert level 5, you students will provide first aid to any soldiers that is hurt. Valestein, you keep an eye on them I will…..,What now!?" The last part was growled out when they heard the sounds of airships fast approaching, the moment they appeared they started firing missiles at the other hangars causing more explosions before they landed on the roofs causing the major to stagger back as the implications started to sink in, "Could it be that they are after the railways guns?!"

"A shot from them would blow Orchis Tower up, killing everyone inside! Was this their goal all along?!" Alisa spoke what everyone was thinking, "We have to stop them before they reach them, I know this far surpasses the scope of our field study but right now you need any help that you can get!" Seeing the resolve inside Rean and the other eyes, he knew that they wouldn't back out exchanging a look with Sara, Neithardt nodded leading back inside where went into the direction of the railways guns.

Along the way they saw soldier lying in their own blood causing some member to go pale at the sight but remembering what was at stake drove them forward without stopping, they arrived at a crossroad where each path would take them to one of the guns, but it was blocked by at least a dozen archaism like the ones in Legram and smaller ones that were equipped by guns and rocket launchers.

"Tch, no other way but through them. Valestein you are with me, the rest focus on supporting us and….." Before Neithardt could finish his sentence, a mighty gale blasted from behind him, to reveal that Rean had used his power to unleash Arcane Gale on those machines, the smaller ones were destroyed with the first attack while the bigger ones with the second one before exploding. Rean had already moved back to avoid it showing both Neithardt and Crow his appearances, "HOLY SHIT! WHAT IN GEHENNA WAS THAT?! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU, REAN!"

Ignoring his Crows outburst and the majors stunned look, he suppressed his power to change back, this time the backlash was milder than before though he was still hurt this wasn't enough to hinder him from fighting, "No time for questions we have two railways guns to secure! Your orders, Major?!" Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he gave the orders, "Group A, you are with Valestein to secure the right wing, Group B will come with me to secure the left one. You have three minutes to check your equipment then we leave."

Not wasting any time, Rean looked at his classmates, "You heard him, our objective is to stop the activation of the railways guns and come back alive. The academy has taught us much while our field studies have shown us the importance of working together and now is the time to show the results of that. This here is not a fight just against monsters but also against humans, I know that for some of you this won't be easy but never forget you are not alone! Lean on your classmates for help and help them in return and I know that we can overcome this and stop those terrorists!"

With that motivational speech done they now felt ready for what is coming giving Rean firms nods and looks full of determination, the others checked on their weapons and orbments leaving Alisa to approach him, "Are you alright?"

"No need to worry about me the backslash is manageable, I can still keep fighting like normal and I should have enough strength to use it one more time. The others will keep an eye on me along the way so there is really no need to worry at least about that. I want you to concentrate on yourself for this, any distraction in such a situation could be deadly so please promise me that you are going to be careful!"

"Don't worry I know what is at stake and I promise that I will be careful, but you also have to do the same or I swear Rean Schwarzer I will…!" A short hug shut Alisa up, with his mouth close to her ear he promised, "I will be fine…..it is not my first time storming a military base." Before the archer could react to that statement or on how close he was, Neithardt told them that time was up and made them leave. Group A path was full of archaism but with Sara going full throttle they cut through them like a hot knife through butter leaving a trail of destroyed parts behind, they didn't speak much besides shouting their attacks or warnings.

Ten minutes later they arrived on a wide empty platform but before they could pass through, Sara and Rean stopped the others from moving just in time to see two huge archaisms appeared out of nowhere, "An ambush, huh? Seems like the ILF was expecting people to try to stop them, no matter these huge lumps of metal won't stop us." Jusis linked up with Millium and slashed at one separating them while Laura and Gaius joined in leaving the other to Rean, Sara and Emma. These large models could take a lot of punishments but in the end with a Burst and Rush attack they managed to damage them enough that Sara's Plasma Storm was able to eliminate them.

Seeing their Instructor clad in purple lighting descend upon them and race through them several times while firing shots that were like lighting bolts before unleashing a true lighting storm was a truly inspiring sight, however before they could move on, they saw to their horror how the cannons were being deployed out of the mountain and aimed at their target. Before Rean could do anything but shout "STOP!" they heard the sound of the trigger being pulled though nothing was fired from the cannon.

"Seems like we are lucky, the first bullet in each railway gun should be a blank to prevent firing accidents!" Millium explanation on what just happened woke them up, "I don't think we will be so lucky next time, so let's get a move on!" Group A followed Sara through more enemies until they finally reached the door that would lead them to the control station for railway gun, four men were posted around it, likely to prevent anyone from stopping them. The fight that followed was a short one but through it Group A felt how obstinate the members of the Imperial Liberation Front could be, even though they were outclassed in the fight they kept standing up just to be knocked down. Using hand-to-hand combat to cut off their air flow they finally managed to knock them out to enter through the door where the woman called S was already waiting for them.

"I knew that you would come Class VII, seems like it is fate that we clash in every operation of ours. V should be dealing with your classmates right now and let me tell you, that this time we won't stop until we have sent that dammed Chancellor to Gehenna. He will pay for what he has done and for Gideon who lost his life in Crossbell."

"Wait, what?! He is dead?!"

"Yeah, apparently, he was killed by real top rate jaeger corps hired by our friend the Blood and Iron Chancellor giving us just one more reason to kill that piece of shit!"

"Well, Gramps isn't known for being merciful to those who tried to kill him but then again who is? You are outnumbered, aren't you going to run? I mean, we would love to catch you and throw you to the Intelligence Division so that we can get more information." With that reminder the rest realised what S was doing, buying time!

"You must have set the railway gun to automatic firing mode! Very well, then we are going to beat you up and then deactivate it."

"Aww, you caught on. Oh well, let's what the Purple Lighting and Class VII can do against me and these babies!" With a snap of her finger two archaism appeared, they looked similar to the ones they just fought on the platform, but these were painted in scarlet, "For borrowed muscle, I have taken a real liking to them. The name is Scarlet from the Imperial Liberation Front, when you see Gideon in the afterlife tell him I sent you."

Scarlet swung her sword at them though she was nowhere near Group A it soon became clear why, the sword transformed into a whip nearly hitting Jusis head, but Lammy protected him from any harm. "Rean, you give the orders!"

"Alright, Gaius and Laura you take the one on the left, Jusis, Emma and Millium take the one right. Me and the Instructor will take care of Scarlet. Keep a close eye on those shockwaves and beam they use. Emma, prepare that attack that you used in the Castle and when you get a chance fire it." The rest followed his instructions leaving him alone with Sara and S, trusting his friends he completely focused on his opponent while linking up with Sara. Scarlet was the first to move but since they knew about her little trick, they avoided her whip and closed in on her, the terrorist ducked and waved through the slashes waiting for the opportunity to counterattack or just to buy time.

Rean could feel the frustrations that Sara was starting to feel inside her the more Scarlet danced away, he could now see that while Scarlet was skilled enough to stall them but not to win, so they needed an opening to end this, spotting a piece of steel on the ground, a plan was starting from inside his head. Sara approved of his plan with a glance, avoiding another slash form the whip the swordsman used the first form, Helix as cover to pick the piece up and to push Scarlet away. Using that momentum S put her sword on fire and swung it in a circle to stop Sara from attacking her, seeing a chance Rean threw the steel piece between the blades on the whip causing it to be unable to retract itself into a sword again just for a moment.

Sara had finally an opening and she used it by cladding herself in lighting and rush towards the enemy, Scarlet was going to defend herself with her sword but to her surprise the Purple Lighting flew pass her. A second later she realised her mistake but before she could attack again Rean blocked her from moving, "SHIT!". Scarlet watched helplessly as Sara deactivated the gun and at the same her archaisms were destroyed by the combined S-Crafts from Laura, Emma and Millium.

"Flame Dragon Impact!" Rean's attack cut through S sword whip leaving it broken on the ground before she could move, she found a tachi right at her throat, "Don't move a muscle, you are hereby placed under arrest for murder, attempted murder, illegal entry into a military base and countless other crimes. So I would suggest that you remain quiet because innocent people died because of you….." Reacting on instinct he ducked to the side which helped him avoid the bullet that was aimed at him, he saw that the terrorists they had knocked out had regained conscious and were coming towards them, "Comrade S, escape now and leave this place to us. Just remember to let the tyrant feel the hammer of judgement!"

Scarlet didn't even hesitate to throw herself down the edge of the station and Rean also saw V doing the same thing, both used a grappling hook to catch a black airship that had appeared out of nowhere and went inside it while a deep voice came from it, "My name is C, the leader of the Imperial Liberation Front. Congratulation on having stopped our two-pronged attack both here and in Crossbell but this is just the beginning. In the end the hammer of judgement will fall on the mad tyrant, and he will feel our flames of anger. We are ready for the next round, but are you?"

Class VII could only watch as the airship flew away, "At least we stopped them this time and as a bonus we even got some prisoners that I am sure will spill the beans to us." Jusis glare fell onto the four men that remained behind to allow their comrade to escape, "Hahahahahaha, you think that we will tell you anything?!" In front of them the four bit down on their tongues cutting them off while grinning, the blood from their mouths stained their faces before they fell down to the ground breathing their last.

Jusis turned Millium around shielding her from the sight, while the others looked with terror each one thinking what kind of madmen they were dealing with. A phone call later showed that the same thing happened on the left wing, both groups meet each other again and were sent to the infirmary to help with the wounded leaving both adults to deal with the rest of the mess that was now Garrelia Fortress. Several hours later after they had done everything, they could do to help Class VII talked about the events of the day, "Geez, what a first field study. How are you the rest of you holding about?"

Crow looked at his classmate who wore weary faces, "I am ready to go to bed and please just wake me up in a week or so please." Elliot leaned against the chair looking like he would fall asleep at any moment, Fie was sitting next to him looking ready to do the same. "Well, sorry to say this but we still have to do our report and I think it would be better to finish it quickly, guys."

Groans could be heard at Machias suggestion, but before he could defend himself Crow cut in, "Slow down there Machias I think there is something that we should clear first." He looked at Rean who immediately caught on what he was saying, "I can't go into many details about that here, but I am sure that I can clear some doubts you have, Crow. Just ask."

"Thanks, but I just have one question really, what in Aidios name was that?!"

"That is what I call my ogre power, why I have it, where it comes from or what it really is. Those question I can't answer because I don't have the slightest idea. The only thing I can tell you about it is that I will make sure that it isn't a danger for anyone else."

"Huh, ok. Man, you are just full of surprises, aren't you? First those tattoos, then those scars and now this. Seeing that no one else is surprised I take they all knew about it?"

"They do, I was going to show it to you last week in the old schoolhouse, but you remember how that ended. Millium found out about it in Legram when I duelled against the Radiant Blademaster and when we are back in the academy, I will tell you all how I first became aware of this power of mine but for now I think that Machias is right we should get started on those reports if we want to go to sleep."

"Not so fast, Mister! You didn't think that you can just a bomb like that on me and expect me to forget about it!"

"Oh, that…well how about we discuss that another time?"

"Yeah…no! What did you mean when you said that it this wasn't the first time storming a military base!?" That got the others attention quickly even waking Fie from her drowsy state, "Ehhh, how about we get started on those reports and leave that conversation for when we are back in Trista?"

Before they could either protest or start threatening him with pain, Instructor Sara entered the room wearing a frown on her face, "Is everything alright, Instructor? You look like you want to punch someone in the face, repeatedly." The rest had to agree with Lauras observation taking a deep breath Sara looked at each of them before calming down, "Just the pig-headedness of military men who can't seem to accept help when they need it and when it is offered. Anyway, you all did a wonderful job today I am proud of you which is why as a reward you can skip writing a report of today."

The others beside Rean and Jusis brightened at that, "I take it that the Imperial Army doesn't want what happened here to be known and that they will cover our involvement up since if this came to light that students had to bail out one of the strongest military bases in the empire, their image would be ruined."

"Were you expecting anything else, Rean? They can't hide this completely from the public, but they will downplayed to make them look less bad as possible and the fact that we helped averted a potential terrorist attack that would have killed thousands will be buried as deeps as possible. Which is one of the reasons you are so angry in the first place, right Instructor?"

"Ah, come on! Can't you just be innocent little children that know nothing about the dirty side of adults? But you are right, the commander of this place has issued a gag order on the whole incident, the public will receive a very redacted report though I will make sure that the principal rewards you for your actions…..Everything alright, Rean?"

The swordsman started to grimace as felt a familiar presence approaching them, "Sigh, what is she planning this time?" Confused the others looked at him wondering what or who he was talking about, before they could ask, they heard someone knocking on the down, "Class VII, it is me Neithardt. There is a guest here to see Schwarzer, please after you Miss."

Opening the door the major let Tamamo enter the room first, who was wearing the face of Miss Inari, "Good evening students, it is a pleasure to see you all again. Oh, you seem to have two new members perhaps I should introduce myself; I am Keiko Inari an acquaintance of little Rean over there." Letting Crow and Millium introduce themselves Sara glared at Neithardt, "What is she doing here?! I thought any access to this place was banned until this mess was cleaned up!"

"Miss Inari was allowed access by the higher ups from both the military and Thors, she also won't stay much long just enough to give Schwarzer his additional task for this field study and then she will leave."

"Additional task?! What!? After the day they had, he should be resting and not doing any tasks which I didn't approve of in the first place!" After glaring some more at the major she focused her glare towards the other woman, who just took some paper out of her pocket and showed them to her, "The three directors and the principal of Thors Military Academy approved of my little request of course they made it clear that Rean can refuse to do it without any repercussions but I have an inkling that he will do me this tiny favour am I right?"

"And here I was wondering when you would cash in on that medallion, sure what do you need from me. But let me make this perfectly clear I am the one doing that request of yours, my friends have nothing to do with that, do you understand?" He ignored the protest from them and looked straight at Tamamo, "Of course, little Rean. Don't worry about that, as for my request how do you feel about visiting Crossbell City to retrieve a certain object that belongs to me?"