By the time Rean, Morgan, and Laura arrived back in Celdic, the sun was nearing its peak in the sky, signalling it was almost midday. The first order of business for the group was to report to the market manager of their successful skirmish against the monster, so they immediately took a right by the central plaza and entered his house. The manager thanked them again for their hard work and rewarded them with several pieces of strange material that, according to him, could be used to strengthen the effects of certain items like quartz. Given her connections to George, Morgan volunteered to handle the materials and put them into one of her pouches.
With their mission complete and their reward in hand, the students left the manager's house to find Alisa and Gaius, eventually spotting them standing near the entrance of the Grand Market. Upon reuniting with their two classmates, they all retreated back to the inn where Alisa and Gaius filled the others in on what happened on their end: while they were searching for the owner of the lost wallet, the pair happened upon a local girl comforting a small kitten while muttering something about a nasty man she never saw before. Taking this as an opportunity to gain some new information on a possible lead, Alisa and Gaius approached the girl and asked if she could tell them her story. The girl complied and explained how she and her cat encountered a man asleep by the west exit of the town that smelled so awful it nearly made her cat faint. More importantly, the man had apparently only appeared within the past few days, with the girl not recognizing who he was or where he came from. The students thanked the girl for her time and resumed their quest to find the owner of the lost wallet, making a note to check out the west exit once their task was complete.
As for the reason why returning the lost wallet took more time than expected, it was because the owner of the wallet, later revealed to be a travelling noble named Annabelle, kept moving around from location to location trying to search for it herself. They eventually did find Annabelle and succeeded in returning her lost property to her. From there, they made one final trek to the Grand Market to let the client who issued the request know that the wallet had returned to its rightful owner.
"It was like a wild goose chase," Alisa groaned. "But then again, if I was travelling by myself, I'd be panicking too if I suddenly lost all of my mira."
"Funny you should mention a wild goose chase," Morgan commented as she emptied the contents in her pouches into her lute case. "Cause the monster we fought happened to be a giant bird, and we had to chase it around the highway."
"That sounds rather taxing," Gaius remarked.
"It was," Rean confirmed. "We even had to deal with some smaller monsters that got in our way."
"In the end, though, we were able to pull through," Laura said. "The experience gave us much information on what we need to work on in the future." She subtly glanced in Morgan's direction, who tried her best not to pay attention.
"By the way…" Gaius raised his index finger and pointed it at both Rean and Laura. "I was hesitant on bringing this up, but I can't help but notice that both of you are getting along now. Did you make up?"
Both sword users looked at each other. "I guess...in a sense?" Rean spoke. "Though, there was never any rift between us that I knew about…"
"Indeed," Laura concurred. "This was all handled rather neatly, I felt."
Alisa sighed. "You're both so simple-minded. Now I feel like an idiot for spending so much time trying to devise a plan to get the two of you to make up…"
That surprised the both of them. "Wh-whoa, you did what, now?" Rean stammered.
"It would seem we've caused you undue concern." Laura sounded a bit amused.
"Hey, I told you they'd work it out, didn't I?" Morgan shrugged her shoulders.
"I suppose you're right," Gaius chuckled. "At any rate, I was just curious. Are the three of you rested now?"
"Yeah, we'll be fine," Rean answered. "It's around noon, so we really need to get going. You said that the man you're looking for was by the west exit, right? Was there someone sleeping by the road?"
"I do believe there was one person who was sitting on the ground drinking," Laura recalled. "Could he be the person you're looking for?"
"The girl we talked to did say he smelled nasty," Alisa recounted. "It's probably because of the alcohol. I guess the only way to know for sure is to go and see for ourselves."
The group ventured to the west exit to find a man sitting by the side of the road. Indeed, he was drinking. And indeed, he reeked of the stench of alcohol.
"It's only midday, and he's already completely blitzed!" Morgan remarked. "Reminds you of our instructor, doesn't he?"
"I don't think this is the criminal we're looking for," Rean admitted. "I think he'd...have trouble pulling off a robbery."
"So it's a bust then?" Alisa slumped her shoulders.
"Now, now. Let's at least talk to him to see if he knows anything." Gaius lowered himself slightly. "Excuse me, sir. Are you all right? We can help you back home, if you'd like."
The man looked up at him with heavily droopy eyes. "Y-yer a...foreigner?" He had an accent, though his constant swaying and slur made it difficult to understand him. "Laemme alone...I'm jus' a *hic* good fer nothin' who jus' *hic* los' his job…"
"I see." Gaius nodded calmly, undeterred by neither the man's inability to communicate nor his smell. "That must have been very hard for you."
"It was!" The man suddenly shouted. "Even when...lookin' after that *hic* nature park...wush my whole life!"
That caught the students' attention. "Nature park?" Laura repeated.
"He's probably talking about Lunaria Nature Park," Morgan discerned. "It was by the road lamp we went to yesterday. We had to chase the monster near there as well."
"Ohhh, you kids know it?" The drunken man managed a smile, however sloppy it was. "Y'see, I ushed ta be the park ranger for tha' old place…*hic*"
'Hoo boy, here come the old stories,' Morgan remarked in her mind as the man started to talk about his former job, about all of the years he spent toiling and pouring his soul into preserving the beauty of nature until one day, out of nowhere, the official from the provincial army informed him that he was sacked. As much as the students tried to get the man to finish his story so they could proceed with their investigation, they couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He seemed to be just as much of a victim of the recent conflicts as the merchants.
The man gripped a beer bottle beside him and put it to his lips, drinking some of the amber-colored liquid. "I swear, there's no way a bunch'a kids like that 're gonna do a better job 'n me!"
"Kids?" Alisa asked.
"Yup, kids! I was drinkin' here last night too, see." He pointed the hand holding the bottle to the direction of the West Celdic Highway. "A bunch'a kids in ranger uniforms went walkin' outta tha town through the west exit. Weird thing was, they was carryin' a bun'cha wooden boxes, too. In the middle o' the night!" He shook his head as he took another swig of beer. "Kids these days, I tell ya…"
His last comment wasn't heard by the students, as they were already huddled up together in a circle. "Hey, you don't think that could have been…" Alisa began.
"I believe so." Laura cupped her chin. "The nature park...I wouldn't have even considered it. We didn't even venture near it yesterday, but given its size, it would no doubt be a perfect hiding spot."
"Yeah, they'd have no trouble stashing the merchandise there undetected," Rean agreed. "And the fact that it was a provincial official who told him he was fired only makes Morgan's theory more plausible."
"So I guess our next stop is Lunaria Nature Park, then?" Morgan asked. "Can't believe we have to go back to the highway a third time…"
"Huh? I say somethin' useful or somethin'?" The drunken man spoke a bit louder to get the students' attention. "Dunno wha' I said, but if I helped y' out, why not buy me a drink?"
A bead of uneasy sweat collectively dropped from the students' heads. The man's resemblance to their instructor grew increasingly by the moment.
"You did help us out, sir," Gaius addressed the man, "but with all due respect, I don't think we'll be able to buy you anything."
"Awww, and I had some amazin' shtories to tell ya!" the man complained. He seemed desperate to keep his newfound audience's attention. "Y'all hear of the *hic* ruler of the foresht?"
"The what now?" Morgan asked. "Does that live in the park?"
The man took another sip of beer. "It lives deep in the foresht, alright. I've aaaaalwaysh been careful not to anger it." He started laughing. "Those damn youngshters...the ruler's gonna *hic* gobble them right up!"
"It sounds like quite the ferocious monster…" Laura commented to herself.
"P-Please tell me you're not actually thinking of going to fight this thing…" Alisa worried.
Laura paused for a moment, almost as if she really was considering to do just that, but eventually she shook her head. "As much as I think it would prove a good test of skill, we have more pressing matters to attend to. And as for you…" She directed her attention to the drunken man. "I would suggest you start trying to sober yourself up instead. There's a good chance we may be able to recover both your park and your job."
The man's droopy eyes shot open. "Whaaa…?!"
As the man stared at them, confused, Group A took this moment to take their long-awaited leave and rushed to their new destination.
Upon arriving to Lunaria Nature Park, Group A was surprised to find the entrance unmanned, the only thing preventing outsiders from entering being a tall steel gate locked shut by a giant keylock. While searching their surroundings, Alisa happened upon a bracelet with a similar design to the sample Heinz showed them back in Celdic.
"There's not a doubt in my mind that it was designed by the same person," Alisa confidently affirmed as she held the accessory in her hand. "Anyone care to give any second opinions?"
"I'm...hardly qualified to weigh in on recent trends…" Laura admitted, "but there do seem to be a number of similarities between this bracelet and the merchant's goods."
"So the fact that it's here means…" Morgan began.
"It's extremely likely the culprits we're looking for are inside this park." Rean finished.
"It certainly seems that way," Gaius agreed.
Laura stepped up to the gate to inspect the lock. "It only opens from the inside," she deduced. "I suppose that leaves us with little choice…" After muttering those words, she took a few steps back and drew her greatsword.
"A-Are you going to destroy it?!" Alisa stammered.
"The lock seems quite solid," the swordswoman responded, "but my sword should be able to-"
"Wait." The other sword wielder stopped her, putting his hand on his own blade. "I'll do it. I can get it done more quietly."
"Oh?" Laura voiced her curiosity. The other students also wondered what Rean was going to do as he motioned for Laura to step out of the way. Eventually, she complied and moved to the side to watch Rean from a careful angle as he assumed a familiar stance, ready to draw his tachi from his sheath. "The Eighth Leaves One Blade school's fourth form: Autumn Leaf Cutter." Upon the announcement of his technique, Rean entered a state of complete focus. The students held a collective breath in suspense until suddenly Rean drew his tachi, striking the lock in one fluid motion in the blink of an eye. About a second later, the metal bar holding the lock together cleanly fell to the ground, with the rest of the lock following shortly after.
"Seriously?!" Alisa was the first to express her surprise at Rean's impressive feat.
Morgan couldn't hold herself back from applauding. "That...was awesome."
Gaius nodded his head in approval. "You cut it right in two without nary a sound, just as promised."
Rean breathed a sigh of relief. "I did...thankfully." He hesitantly added that last word as he re-sheathed his sword.
"...Spectacular." Laura spoke at last with a hint of wonder in her voice. "It's an honor bearing witness to one of the skills of the Eight Leaves school."
Whatever hesitance remained on Rean vanished after hearing those words of praise from his fellow sword user. Rean rubbed the back of his head nervously and blushed slightly. "W-well, it's not like it's the first time I used that technique, and I really am still just a beginner…" Rean stopped and shook his head, having caught himself downplaying his efforts once more. "Anyway, we don't have much time left. Let's head inside and see if we can find them."
With their morale increased at the passing of another obstacle in their path, Group A opened the gates and entered the nature park.
The walk through Lunaria Nature Park was not as easy as Group A would have liked. Perhaps it was due to the criminals who had recently made the park their base, but there were several monsters wandering about the main path outside of their usual habitat, and several of them were agitated enough to attack the students on sight. Thus, Group A had to constantly remain on high alert as they trekked through the dense woodlands, which was a shame since everything else about the nature park was peaceful and pleasing to the eyes. If it weren't for the fact that they were currently pursuing criminals, the students would have loved to take in the scenery. Gaius especially seemed disappointed that he couldn't take the time to capture the forest's image on a canvas.
What felt like hours passed until the students reached what seemed to be the most remote regions of the park. Rean and Gaius, who were walking in the front, both stood still in their tracks, suddenly alert.
"Guys?" Alisa asked them. "Is something wrong?"
"I can sense others nearby," Gaius responded. "Not monsters; other humans."
"It looks like we've reached the most remote regions of the park." Rean put a cautionary hand on his weapon. "We must be getting close."
"Sense…?" Alisa sounded perplexed.
"The results of years of training, I'm guessing," Morgan hypothesized.
The students inched forward carefully to the next area, hugging close to natural rock formations. In the clearing ahead of them, they spotted four people wearing ranger outfits huddled together in a circle in front of several wooden crates. Two of the crates were open, with one crate revealing some display items for jewelry and another holding an array of processed foods. Without a doubt, these were the criminals the students were searching for.
"There they are." Laura put her hand on the handle of her sword. "What shall we do?"
Alisa squinted her eyes, zeroing in on the guards' weapons. "They've got guns. Short-ranged rifles from the looks of them. I don't think running in there's a good idea."
Morgan looked at the dense forest surrounding the small clearing. "We can use the scenery to our advantage," she suggested. "Circle around them and ambush them."
"Four of them, five of us," Rean listed. "If one of them notices us, we're all done for."
"Unfortunately, I'm not sure if I'll be of much help in the stealth department," Gaius apologized, holding his spear. "They'll spot us for sure if I bring this."
"It is the same with me," Laura said. "We'll also need to be careful not to damage any of the merchants' goods."
Morgan pressed her finger to her temple. Eventually, an idea popped into her head. "Then I guess you guys will have to be our distraction."
"A distraction?" Gaius reiterated.
"I'm not sure I like where this is going…" Alisa worried.
"Desperate times call for desperate measures, right?" Morgan reasoned. "Unless you can come up with a better option?"
Alisa thought for a moment, but eventually shook her head. Morgan motioned for her classmates to huddle up in a circle. "Then gather round, everyone. I've got a plan."
The fake park rangers were all smiling amongst themselves. "Not half bad for a night's work," one of them said.
"And if those idiots don't withdraw the petition, we'll be able to make even more!" another one added.
"Don't get carried away now," the third ranger cautioned. "We get a reward for all this anyway. We're making out just fine as it is."
"We just need to be ready to abandon this place at a moment's notice," the fourth person said. "Best if we don't worry about what goes on in the town."
"You're not going anywhere!" said a young male's voice.
The fake rangers turned in surprise to the direction of the voice. Three teenagers wearing red-colored school uniforms entered into the clearing, each of them armed with a melee weapon.
"S-Students?!" the first ranger exclaimed. "How'd they get in here?!"
"I know I locked the gate…" the second ranger recalled.
"Don't tell me you broke in!" the third ranger realized.
"Indeed we did," the lone female of the students said, her blue hair as long as the sword she was carrying.
"It looks like the stolen goods are all here, too," the tallest student noted. He carried a long spear and had tan skin.
"We've caught you red-handed," the final student affirmed. He pointed his sharp-looking sword at the criminals. "I'd suggest you surrender now."
Growling, one ranger picked up his weapon. "As if! Men? Let's take 'em out!"
"They're just kids!" another ranger said as he retrieved his firearm. "And there's only three of them to boot! We've got 'em outnumbered!"
"And since we're all alone out here, ain't nobody gonna see a thing!" The third ranger flashed an evil grin.
"Hope you're ready for the beating of your lives!" the fourth ranger shouted.
"I highly doubt we'll be the ones to endure a beating here today," the long-haired female responded coolly. Her eyes moved slightly to look in a different direction. "Especially when you're misreading the situation."
"Huh?" The fake rangers were confused.
The female looked at her fellow swordsman, who nodded affirmatively. He lowered his sword and swung it front of him twice before sheathing it. "There may be three of us right now, but as long as we stick together…"
"...They don't stand a chance," the tall spearman finished.
Morgan watched from her position behind a tree as Rean pointed his sword at the four criminals. Taking that as the signal to start getting ready, she glanced towards the other side of the clearing, where Alisa hid among the bushes out of the thieves' sight. The archer raised her bow slightly from her position, indicating she was ready to go. Nodding, Morgan stuck the handle of her axe like a tree branch and waved it three times. Veering to the side, she caught Laura glancing up at her subtly before looking to Rean, who nodded. With that cue, Morgan retreated back to behind the tree and closed her eyes.
Under normal circumstances, the average time it would take for Morgan to cast her lowest-level art would be around ten seconds. However, the criminals looked like they were about ready to attack at any second, so she needed to find some way to shorten her casting time or else they would open fire and endanger her classmates. Had she begun casting earlier, she would have given away her position among the foliage, and the plan would fail as a result.
Fortunately for her and unbeknownst to her other classmates, Morgan had just the right trick up her sleeve, and as she mentioned earlier, desperate times called for desperate measures.
Putting away her ARCUS in exchange for her personal orbment, she took a deep breath and focused her mind. As Morgan silently called to the power that lay dormant within her and willed it to simmer into existence, she began to feel a familiar warmth flow through her.
*Insert song: "Opposing Bloodlines (Castlevania: Rondo of Blood)"*
"Now then…" she muttered as the faint tinges of flames started to appear across her body. "It's time for me to even the odds."
"Heh, you're just talking big!" One of the fake rangers said. "You're done!"
Right before he could open fire, two green, arc-shaped projectiles came from the left and hit the ground with a great enough force to knock the fake ranger of his feet. The other fake rangers scrambled in a panic.
"Wh-what was that?!" One of them shouted.
"A sniper in the woods!" One ranger pointed in the direction the attack came from. "It came from over there!"
He raised his rifle to shoot, but not a moment later, an arrow came flying at a high speed and knocked the gun from his hands, causing him to yelp.
"Another one?!" The third ranger glanced to the side. "There! I see her! Blonde hair!"
"You won't do a thing!" Gaius roared as he thrust forward with his spear, unleashing his Gale Stinger. The fake ranger tried to shield himself from the wind projectile but to no avail, and he was sent flying.
The final ranger tried to go and help his comrades, but he was stopped when another arc-shaped projectile flew at his feet. He narrowly dodged to the side and was about to open fire until he heard a voice in his ear. "Too slow!" Unbeknownst to him, Rean had managed to sneak up to him amidst the chaos and wasted no time in disarming him and slicing his rifle in half. Laura, meanwhile, had gone after the second ranger, who had managed to recover his gun. Every time he would try to fire, however, an arrow would fly past him, preventing him from getting a clear shot until Laura was at a close-enough distance to knock the firearm away from his hands.
Within the span of a few minutes, all four of the criminals were rounded up, tied together, and disarmed. Rean waved his hand in the air, signalling that it was safe for Morgan and Alisa to come out from their spots in the forest. As much as the students would have wanted to congratulate each other, they weren't out of the woods just yet, figuratively and literally.
"This has got to be some kind of joke…" one of the criminals finally said. "They're KIDS!"
"They fight pretty dirty, too…" another one remarked.
"Wow. Rude, much?" Morgan looked appalled. "It's called 'tactics'; maybe you should look it up sometime."
"How pitiful." Laura gave the fake rangers a stern glare. "That barely even qualifies as a warmup."
"Well, when you're used to Instructor Sara's training exercises, warmups take on a whole new meaning," Alisa joked.
The other students couldn't help but crack a smile at that.
"Anyways…" Rean directed his attention to the fake rangers. "Bottom line is: we won. Once again, I'd suggest you surrender yourselves and apologize to everyone in the Grand Market for all the trouble you've caused."
"We'll be returning those stolen goods to their rightful owners, too," Morgan added.
"We would also be very interested to learn who hired you," Laura followed up.
"You must be out of your minds if you really think you've won!" one of the rangers growled.
*Insert song end*
Gaius's ears perked up. "Hm?"
The other students turned to their distracted classmate. "What's wrong, Gaius?" Alisa asked.
He shook his head. "Sorry, but I can't help but feel like I just heard something in the distance. It sounded like...a flute?"
Not a moment later, a loud roar that clearly did not sound like a flute erupted from somewhere in the forest.
"Uh...what was THAT?!" Morgan asked the question that was on everyone's minds.
"It sounded like the cry of an enormous beast…" Laura guessed.
The ground started to rumble as pounding footsteps began to grow louder by the second. The bandits started to panic. "I-It's coming this way!" one of them stammered.
"And what exactly is 'it'?" Rean demanded to know.
Gaius gripped his spear tight. "Everyone, here it comes!"
*Insert song: "Incoming! (Xenoblade 2)"*
Out of the forest, a giant creature leapt and crashed into the clearing, gradually turning around to look at the assembled humans with pale yellow eyes. Judging from its body shape and face, the creature appeared to be a giant baboon, except its arms were long enough to support it running on all four limbs. Covered in fur with stone-like protrusions attached to its shoulders along with horns and razor-sharp teeth, the creature fit every criteria of the "dangerous monster" category.
'Huh. So that's it,' Rean thought.
Compared to just a moment before, the criminals appeared to be genuinely scared for their lives. "It's...the ruler of the forest!"
"So this is the ruler of the forest that guy mentioned…" Rean recalled their discussion with the drunken man back in Celdic.
"I-It's huge…" Alisa gazed both in awe and in fear.
"Well, how about that? Looks like we get to fight this thing after all!" Morgan quipped as she turned to Laura. "It's your lucky day, Laura!"
"If this were any other situation, it would have been!" Laura readied her blade and looked to Rean. "What would you suggest, Rean?"
Rean glanced at the fake rangers cowering in fear and then at the stolen goods in the crates. He let out a reluctant sigh. "Well, they may be thieves, but we can't leave them here to die. Looks like we're going to have to fight it!"
"Understood!" "A-All right!" "Okay!" "Aidios, watch over us…" Laura, Alisa, Morgan, and Gaius all voiced their own words of assurement.
A loud roar from the monster signaled the beginning of the fight. Group A broke off into their small groups from before, Rean, Laura, and Gaius in the front and Morgan and Alisa in the back, and scattered. Rean and Gaius linked up first, and together with Laura they surrounded the monster in a triangle. The monster made the first move, standing on its hind legs and raising its arm towards Laura. Reacting to its posture, she deftly rolled to the side to dodge the monster's attack before stabbing the baboon's side. Growling, it used its other arm to swat Laura away, forcing her to pull out her sword and retreat. From afar, Alisa climbed up to a small perch beneath a tree and linked up with Morgan. Together, they began casting and unleashing a myriad of orbal arts to snipe the monster from a safe distance, allowing Laura to back away safely.
As the baboon's attention was diverted, Gaius took the next initiative, slashing once with his spear and then thrusting forward to pierce the monster's backside. Following up, Rean brought down his tachi on the monster's right leg. The monster roared once more and spun around furiously, knocking both attackers a fair distance away before they could withdraw, and set its sights on the two long-range attackers. Noticing that the monster was now coming for them, Morgan stopped casting arts and lengthened her axe into its polearm form while Alisa readied her orbal bow and frantically started firing arrows at the monster. Though her arrows consistently hit their mark, her attacks didn't seem to faze the gigantic baboon, and it charged right through them like they were small bugs. Morgan lowered her stance, preparing to move out of the way as soon as the monster drew near to find an opening, but the monster smartly anticipated this. As Morgan sidestepped, it hopped and shifted its body so that it landed facing her direction. Morgan could only widen her eyes in surprise before the baboon swung its arms and sent her skidding across the ground. The impact of the blow was so great that it broke the ARCUS link between her and Alisa.
"Morgan!" Alisa called to her teammate. "You'll pay for that!" Drawing her bowstring back, the bolt that manifested from her bow started to glow red. "Turn to flames!" Upon releasing it, the bolt turned into a flaming arrow and flew straight at the monster's neck. Feeling the searing heat from the attack, the primate howled in pain and angrily turned to the direction of the archer. Before Alisa could jump away from her perch, the monster charged forward to her position and rammed into the rocks, knocking her off-balance and causing her to teeter over the ledge dangerously.
Rean, too far away to do anything, cried his classmate's name. "Alisa!"
Having gotten up and seeing his classmate in danger, Gaius made his move. Dashing as fast as he could, he hurled his spear, hitting the monster in the face, and dropped to his knees, managing to catch Alisa princess-style before she could hit the ground. Laura, too, was already in motion, leaping once more into the fray to cover Gaius as he retreated with their classmate in tow.
Alisa blushed slightly. "Th-Thanks."
Gaius flashed a smile. "My pleasure." He set her down before going to retrieve his fallen weapon.
After breathing a sigh of relief, Rean went over to Morgan, who was trying to support herself from the ground using her weapon. "Hey! Need a hand?"
Morgan was clutching her chest. "I'll be fine. That monkey got me real good, though." Slowly, she stood upright. "More importantly, we need to find a way to beat that thing fast."
Rean took a step back to assess the situation. Laura was currently exchanging blows with the monster alongside Gaius, who had retrieved his weapon, while Alisa supported them with arrows from the rear. Though they were able to keep the beast at bay, it was getting dangerously close to the goods and the bandits, who were still cowering in fear.
"That attack from Alisa looked like it hit a weakness," Rean noted. "Do you have any fire quartz?"
"Fire?" Morgan noticeably grimaced. "...No, I don't have anything like that."
"I see…" Rean looked at his classmates fighting the monster. The situation was becoming more dire by the moment; if there was ever a time to take action, it was now. "Then it looks like I've got no choice…"
*Insert song end*
"Rean?" Morgan asked hesitantly.
The critical situation at hand caused childhood memories started to resurface in Rean's mind. The scenery changed from a forest to a snowy landscape. In the place of the rangers sat a young girl, looking on with scared eyes. The tachi in his hands turned into a small machete.
'No, I can't let the past get to me,' Rean thought to himself. 'Laura's right; I need to stop holding myself back!'
"But, you know…" Morgan responded with a small voice. "If we don't have any other options, I do have something I can-"
"Morgan," Rean interrupted his classmate. "Can you still fight?"
The black-haired girl blinked at the question. "Huh? Uh, yeah, I think so."
"Then I'm going to have to ask you and everyone else a favor." The resolve in his eyes met with the hesitation in hers. "Do you think you can stall the monster?"
"S-Stall it?" Morgan looked puzzled. "What for?"
"I've got something I want to try." Rean shook his head. "No, scratch that; I need to try. But I need time to get ready. Can I count on you to get everyone together and keep it busy?"
"Rean…" She looked back and forth between themselves and their classmates. The monster pounded the ground with its fist, narrowly missing Gaius and sending Alisa in a panic. Laura leapt high into the air and brought down her greatsword, stunning the creature momentarily. Taking in a deep breath, Morgan nodded. "Alright. How much time do you need?"
"I'd say about...fifteen seconds at most?" Rean estimated.
"Then that's what you'll get." Twirling her weapon with one hand and gripping her orbment in the other, she started walking towards the other members of Group A. "Attention, Group A!" she shouted. "Rean has a request for you all!"
All three of them diverted their attention temporarily from the monster to direct their gazes towards Rean. Taking that as his cue, he voiced his request. "I've got an idea to beat this thing, but I need time! Give me fifteen seconds! After that, I'll create an opening for you all to hit it with everything you've got!"
All of them exhibited varying degrees of surprise at his request. "Wh-what are you planning to-" Alisa began to say, but the monster roared again. Before it could act, however, an orb of wind smacked it in the face.
*Insert song: "Stand Your Ground (Final Fantasy XV)"*
Morgan was pointing her orbment at the baboon. "You heard him!" she said, immediately taking charge of the situation. "Alisa! Start shooting fire arrows! Gaius! Cover Alisa! Laura! Link with me! We'll end this in one go!"
The other students fumbled upon hearing the sudden order, being in no position to argue otherwise, as ARCUS links were hastily broken and created left and right. Morgan gave a reassuring nod to Rean. "Don't let us down, Rean."
Rean mouthed a silent "Thank you" as the axewoman engaged the monster together with Laura. As the battle raged in front of him, monster parts clanging against steel and arts being cast, Rean closed his eyes and entered a state of focus. Taking in a deep breath, he shouted in his mind: 'Flames, gather on my blade!' Putting his free hand on his blade, he concentrated as much power as he could onto his weapon without letting it overtake him. Slowly but surely, his blade became coated with flames that appeared from nothing.
"This...won't go like last time!" Once his preparations were complete, Rean's eyes bolted open. "Okay, guys! I'm ready!" he announced.
At those words, the other students withdrew from the monster's area of proximity as Rean dashed forward at high speeds with his sword wreathed in fire. Caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the swordsman, the baboon could do nothing but shriek as Rean slashed once, twice, then three times, dashing past the dazed primate as the flames began to dissipate from his blade. "Now's your chance!" he called to his classmates.
"First one's mine!" Morgan wasted no time in rushing in to get in the first attack. She delivered a flurry of stabs with her polearm before reverting it to its axe form and swinging it in an overhead arc. Facing the other team that was paired up, she yelled "Your turn next!" and made her swift exit.
Alisa created a burning arrow from her orbal bow and looked at her partner. "You ready, Gaius?"
Gaius spun his spear vigorously over his head and readied it at his side. "Ready whenever!"
Together, they released both of their projectiles. One searing red bolt and one howling green stinger flew side by side through the air before colliding with the baboon, making it reel back and stand on its hind legs.
"Laura!" Both of them called to their final teammate, who had taken the time to enter a state of complete concentration.
"I'll end this with my most powerful strike!" A saintly light enveloped Laura's greatsword as she charged towards the monster, delivering two quick, powerful slashes followed by a roundhouse swing. With that final blow, the monster was launched from the clearing back into the forest it came from.
*Insert song end*
"Did that...do it?" Rean panted.
"I believe so…" Gaius was leaning on his spear for support. "I'm not sure if we killed it, but I doubt it'll be coming back for more."
"If we did kill it, we'd have to pay some serious fines for hurting the wildlife…" Morgan remarked in between breaths.
Alisa's face paled. "For the love of Aidios, I sure hope not…"
Laura chuckled at her female classmates' comments as she steadied her breathing, exhausted from the preceding battle. She then looked to her fellow swordsman, who was flicking the monster blood off of his sword. "Rean." Her voice caught his attention. "What was that skill you just performed?"
Rean froze as he was about to return his tachi to its sheath. He thought for a moment on how to best answer the question before turning to face his blue-haired classmate. "It was something I've been working on for a while. This was the first chance I had to put it through its paces, though. I definitely feel like I'm getting the hang of it now."
"Whatever that skill was, it definitely saved our skin." Morgan pocketed her orbment. "You really tipped the scales."
"It truly was a sight to behold," commented Gaius. "You really should give yourself some more credit."
"You're always there to help us when we need it most," Alisa agreed.
Hearing those words of praise from his classmates made Rean blush a little. "No, that's not true," he refuted, shaking his head in modesty. "There's really only so much I can do on my own. We wouldn't have been able to defeat that thing if we hadn't all been working together as a team." He proceeded to list off the contributions of his other group members. "Morgan was able to rally everyone together, Alisa was able to support from afar, Gaius was able to find openings for the rest of us, and Laura was able to finish the job. This was a victory for Group A as a whole."
Now it was the other students' turns to react to compliments directed to them. Morgan playfully smirked at him. Alisa blushed and twirled a finger through her hair. Gaius chuckled and folded his arms. Laura simply smiled.
Off to the side, one of the fake rangers finally spoke. "Unbelievable…"
The students perked up, having already forgotten what their main objective was. "What are these kids even doing here?" another bandit asked, his mouth agape.
"That bastard…" one bandit said through gritted teeth. "This wasn't supposed to happen!"
"'That bastard'…?" Morgan repeated. "And just who might you be talking about?"
Before anyone could say another word, a loud whistle sounded from the entrance to the clearing.
"What…?!" Alisa jumped and exclaimed.
All persons present turned to face the entrance, where a group of soldiers from the provincial army stood with their weapons pointed towards them.
"It seems we have some unwanted guests," Laura remarked.
Gaius's expression darkened. "This doesn't bode well…"
With a nod from their commanding officer, the soldiers proceeded to encircle the students. "Drop your weapons, then put your hands in the air!" one of them ordered.
"Don't try to resist!" another one added.
"Why are you surrounding us and not them…?" Laura wondered aloud. Another soldier immediately silenced her.
Morgan scoffed. "It's like they're not even trying to hide their involvement…"
"You're jumping to an awful lot of conclusions, young lady…" The provincial army officer walked up to them, shaking his head in disapproval. "I see two groups of people and a collection of stolen goods, but no indication of which group is responsible. Do you have any way to prove that the four of you aren't the perpetrators?"
A collective shock went through the students. "Do you intend to frame us?" Laura asked outright.
"This is preposterous…" Gaius's face was impassive, an indication that he was not at all pleased with the corruptness that was occurring in front of his eyes.
"I'm just telling you that you need to mind your own business and learn your place," the officer responded. "The Kreuzen province is the territory of Duke Albarea, and I will not have a gaggle of bratty students poking their noses where they don't belong!" The commanding officer's expression and tone almost seemed like he was deliberately provoking the students into lashing out. Rean knew better than to do that, though; one wrong move could immediately land them in deep trouble. "You will back down now, or we'll be more than happy to arrest you right here and drag you to Bareahard City, kicking and screaming!"
"...By whose authority?"
All eyes turned to the voice who spoke those three words in subtle defiance. Rean wasn't sure whether to be amazed or in disbelief.
"What...did you...just say to me?" the officer articulated, drawing closer to the student who dared to speak against him.
"Maybe I should have been clearer." Morgan's expression was unchanging. "By whose authority should we back down and let these people roam free?" She waved her hand at the bandits. "Is it the will of your lord or…" she paused briefly. "Just yours?"
The officer was infuriated. "What sort of question is that? Is a small girl such as yourself trying to give us, the army of the duke, orders?"
"Don't answer a question with another question," Morgan coldly answered. "But I also think that no one needs to have evidence to know that what you're doing right now is turning a blind eye to real crime. In that sense, you're all bystanders, and being a bystander makes you just as guilty as someone stealing merchants' goods."
"M-Morgan…" Rean tried to reach to his classmate to get her to stop, but he was moved out of the way by the officer.
"I could have you arrested for threatening an officer." His face drew scarily close to the teen's.
"If that is the will of the duke, then far be it from me to keep you from doing your job," she replied. "I just wonder how Jusis would react to hearing about this…"
The mention of Jusis's name sent a shock through the assembled soldiers. "J-Jusis?" "Does she mean L-Lord Jusis?"
"Oh, yes. Did I not mention that?" Morgan just couldn't be stopped. "The son of your provincial lord happens to be one of our classmates. And I'm sure he'll be very interested in hearing about what's going on in his family's province…"
The soldiers began to falter.
"Don't listen to her!" the army officer exclaimed, attempting to regain control of the situation. "She's spewing nothing but lies, as are the rest of them! You've brought this upon yourself. Men, arrest-"
"I'm afraid you'll be doing no such thing."
A cool voice from the entrance to the clearing halted the officer from giving his orders. Upon turning around, his expression went from stern to panicked. A group of armed officers wearing grey uniforms and hats and carrying guns entered the area, followed by a woman with icy blue hair wearing the same uniform.
"The R-Railway Military Police…" one of the soldiers quivered.
"Railway Military Police…?" Gaius repeated those words as if they were a foreign concept to him, which they likely were.
"They're supposed to be the most elite unit in the whole of the Imperial Army," Alisa whispered to him. "And one their most important members serves directly under the Chancellor himself. They call her…"
"The Icy Maiden," Morgan finished her sentence. "And if you haven't guessed, she's the person standing in front of us right now."
The Icy Maiden stepped forward in front of her squadron and sighed. "My, we've certainly got quite the mess on our hands today, haven't we?"
The Icy Maiden, who later introduced herself properly to the students as Captain Claire Rieveldt, took control of the situation by taking the fake rangers into custody and forcing the provincial army to stand down, reasoning that since Celdic is a major interchange section in the Military Police's railway network, they have every right to perform their own investigation and concluded that the students were not the real culprits. Afterwards, Group A accompanied the captain and her squad back to Celdic to file a full report of the incident, with the students taking the opportunity to write their own set of reports for the academy.
Once all was said and done, the sun was already setting and it was almost time for the students to leave. Packing up their belongings alongside the rewards they had received in Celdic, they offered their thanks and bid their goodbyes to Otto, Margot, and Captain Claire just in time for their instructor to unexpectedly show up in person. Sara exchanged a few words with the captain, taking a few jabs at how she was inconspicuously at the right place at the right time, before motioning for her students to come join her on the train ride back to Trista. From the sounds of things, it seemed like two of them already knew each other, but to what extent was beyond Group A's knowledge.
Now the students were enjoying some much needed rest on the train ride back, though none were as competent at falling asleep as their instructor, who passed out almost immediately after the train started moving.
"You don't think she's faking it, do you?" Alisa had to ask.
"Hmm…" Laura closely inspected their inspector. "No. Judging by her breathing, I believe she really is asleep."
"Not surprising, considering that Group B turned out to be a complete disaster from the sounds of it," Morgan commented.
"If she had to deal with them, then come back here on the same day, I'll bet she's totally spent," Rean agreed.
"Trying to sort that out would be like trying to pin down a storm," Gaius remarked. "Anyone would be exhausted."
"Putting Group B aside…" Rean said. "I guess this is how our first field study trip comes to an end, huh? I think I might have an idea now as to why we're here, though…"
"I had the same thought." Alisa retrieved her orbment and looked at it. "Testing the ARCUS is clearly a big reason for coming here, but it's not the only reason. I think it has more to do with making sure we see everything that's going on with our own eyes."
"Learning about Erebonia by visiting and seeing issues that occur firsthand…" Gaius mused. "It's an unconventional way of studying, but it's certainly effective.
"And just as we thought and acted swiftly in the face of crisis this time, so, too, may we be called to do so again," Laura added. "These field studies may aim to test and cultivate those skills, in preparation for our futures."
"Basically, we're training, everywhere we go." Rean cupped his chin with his hand. "Still, now that I'm thinking about what we did during our field study and why we were doing it, the whole concept seems eerily similar to the M.O. of bracers. Did anyone else notice that?"
A wave of realization hit his other classmates. "Now that you mention it…" Alisa thought aloud.
"Bracers are people whose main goal is to protect civilians, correct?" Gaius asked. "That's a rather odd inspiration, considering this is a military academy."
"Still, the tasks we were given in Celdic do seem to align themselves quite well with the bracers' basic philosophy," Laura reasoned. "It's unconventional, but as you mentioned earlier, Gaius, that's exactly what this field study was."
Morgan glanced over to Instructor Sara. Maybe it was just her imagination, but she could have sworn she saw one of her eyes open subtly before drifting back to sleep. Turning back to her classmates, she couldn't help but notice that Rean was still thinking about something. "Something else on your mind, Rean?" she asked him.
Rean snapped out of his train of thought. "What?"
"Look, I understand that figuring out the origins of Class VII and the field studies is important, but try not to think too hard about them right now. It's only been, what, a month since we started school? I'm sure Instructor Sara and the other teachers will inform us due time." She paused to make an aside glance in their teacher's direction. "...Whenever that may be."
Rean also looked at their sleeping instructor. "Yeah, I guess so, but I was actually thinking about something else."
Morgan blinked in surprise. "Oh, you were? Never mind, then. Sorry."
"You don't have to apologize," Rean assured her. "In fact, this brings up a good opportunity for me to share something with you all."
Morgan, Laura, Alisa, and Gaius all turned to him with expectant eyes.
"Like you said, Morgan," he began, "we've been in the same class for a month now, and this whole time I've been...kind of keeping you all in the dark."
"About what?" Alisa inquired.
"You aren't referring to the issue regarding your swordsmanship, I take it?" Laura hypothesized.
Rean shook his head. "No, it's not that. What I've actually been hiding is something regarding my…" He pursed his lips, as if were about to say some words that were difficult to pronounce. "My social class."
Varying degrees of surprise appeared on the other students' faces. "I dodged the question when Machias asked," he continued, "but technically I come from a family of nobles. My hometown is Ymir, in the northern mountains, and I'm the son of its ruler, Baron Schwarzer."
"Now that you mention it, I have heard the name before…" Laura muttered. "An honorable family, closely tied with the Imperial family themselves, despite being headed by a mere baron…I never would have guessed it was the same Schwarzer."
"But if I recall correctly, you mentioned to Machias back in the old schoolhouse that you didn't have a drop of noble blood in you…" Gaius recounted. Then the realization hit him. "Ah, so that explains it."
Rean nodded. "In reality, though, I'm actually adopted, so I'm only upper class in name only. By all technicalities, I'm no different from any other commoner. Of course, it also helps that my dad and mom are easygoing individuals. None of us really behave like your typical nobles at all."
"Guess it sounds like you've got your own issues to deal with just like the rest of us, huh?" Alisa remarked.
Rean laughed. "Well, I don't think of it as a big deal, and I don't want you to think of it as one either. I didn't want to keep it a secret any longer, and now that I've said it, it feels like a weight has lifted from my shoulders." He looked to each of his classmates. "You're all going to be a major part of my life from here on out. It's only fair to share as much as I can with you, right?"
"You...consider us to be major parts of your life?" Laura sounded almost flattered.
"Honestly, has anyone ever told you that you can be way too serious sometimes?" Though Alisa tried to sound reprimanding, even she couldn't fight back a slight blush.
"I take it that your saying this now means you're ready to reveal this to the rest of the class?" Gaius asked.
Rean nodded his head. "Yeah, I am. Better to put it out in the open now than to have them figure out by accident later."
"I don't have a problem with knowing this myself, but I do know that some people aren't going to be thrilled to find out about this." Morgan put a finger to her chin. "Think you're ready to face the music?"
"I'll...deal with that when that comes," Rean hesitantly answered.
Morgan let out an exasperated sigh. "I've said it before, and I'll say it again: you've got a knack for getting yourself into trouble."
"At least now I know what I need to improve on." His response caused the group to laugh lightheartedly.
'He's really making an effort to come clean, isn't he?' Morgan thought. 'I guess he's already beaten me in that sense. Maybe I should start taking notes. However…' She looked out the window at the sky, now cloaked in the dark veil of night. 'It feels like he's still holding back some details. Granted, it's not like I'm any better, but even still…''
Moving her eyes to look at him, her mind flashed back to the fight against the ruler of the forest. The picture of orange flames surrounding his sword was still vivid in her mind. 'Those flames…they looked different from my own. They didn't feel magical at all; it was almost like it was something else entirely.
'Rean Schwarzer...just what other secrets do you have?' she wondered. 'Somehow, I have this sneaking suspicion that I should keep my eye on you…'
END OF CHAPTER 1
Author's note: From the depths of Halloween, this fic rises again! Well, technically it's already November, but I digress. As mentioned in the previous chapter, updates will continue to be sporadic due to frequent mishaps IRL, but at the same time it gives me more time to put in more ideas. I notably used one such idea in this very chapter, and that is the addition of "insert songs" to give some life to certain scenes. Do you like them? Do you think I should dial them down? Let me know in a review or a private message if you want.
Anyways, this part marks the end of the first chapter of the game as well as the first part of this fic. I would go straight into Chapter 2, but I'm a bit hesitant in going straight back into the thick of things, especially since I'm still in the planning phases of the next chapter. So instead, the next chapter is going to be a lighthearted intermission chapter! Because what's a long story without a good few filler arcs here and there? As for the subject? Well, that's mostly for me to know, but what I can say is that you should take note of the date and what may or may not be coming up in a little over a week. Look forward to it! ｖ(⌒ｏ⌒)ｖ