*Lunch break*

At last, it was time for the midterm results to be announced. The first floor lobby was crowded with students who were checking their scores to see where they placed in the standings compared to everyone else. There were a myriad of expressions, some nervous, some confident, some depressed. The results of all the first years spanned the course of several papers, so Morgan had to constantly shift her position around to find her name. Eventually, when she did find it, she was mildly surprised to find it near the top of the leftmost paper. Next to her name were her year, class number, and the number of points she scored correctly. Altogether, it read:

5 Morgan Daraen 1-VII 940 pts.

Above her were Machias and Emma, both of whom astonishingly tied for first with a score of 975 points; Jusis, who settled at a solid third with 952 points; and Patrick Hyarms of Class I, who had barely surpassed Morgan by 1 point with a total of 941. Other members of the top ten included: Beryl from Class III with 939 points, Bridget with 936, Rean with 932, Alisa with 924, and Ferris, also from Class I, with 918.

"Looks like I didn't do as badly as I thought," Morgan said to herself. "Think I lost a few points 'cause of the word 'interdisciplinary'...oh well. There's still plenty of room for improvement, though!"

The other members of Class VII were all huddled together near the center of the crowd, appearing like a red spot in the middle of a green and white sea.

Rean patted Machias's shoulder, commending his feat. "Congrats, Machias. Looks like you made good on your word after all."

Machias opened his mouth to speak, but for once he couldn't quite find the right words. It was almost as if he couldn't believe the results himself.

Gaius, noticing the vice president's stunned reaction, chuckled. "You always put up some impressive numbers."

"I-I suppose…" Machias finally managed to say. "Emma's the real natural, though."

"Oh, not at all." Emma modestly shook her head. "We both just really hit those books this last month."

"I suppose I'll have to settle for third this time…"

Morgan playfully pointed her index finger at Jusis. "Oooh, just you wait, Jusis! Don't get too comfortable; once I get past Patrick, I'm coming for you next!"

He returned her gesture with a coy smile. "I'd like to see you try."

Off to the side, Fie had a small, but noticeable pout on her face. "...I feel a bit left out," she grumbled.

It was to be expected, but she had scored the lowest of all the Class VII students, coming in with a score of 544 points.

Elliot empathetically patted her shoulders. "Do tell…"

Fie gave an unamused look at her classmate. "Come on. You're, like, 30 spots ahead of me."

"Y-Yeah, but...you know."

Elliot's final score was 802 points; though it was anything but a bad score, it still made him the second-lowest scorer in the class. In fact, aside from Gaius, who narrowly missed out on 20th by a few points, Elliot and Fie were the only members of Class VII to rank far outside of the top 20, placing 37th and 73rd, respectively.

Emma gave an encouraging smile. "You still did really well, Fie."

"You must've had all the basics down pretty well to have scored like you did," Alisa added. "If you can build on that in the next exam, I have no doubts you'll be able to score even higher."

Fie shrugged. "I guess…" She then mumbled to herself, "If I feel like it."

"Huh?" Elliot tilted his head. "What did you say?"

"Nothing." Fie then pointed her finger at the board. "By the way, there's something posted up over there."

The rest of Class VII directed their attention to the piece of paper that was posted next to the exam results, which held the average scores for each of the individual classes.

Average mark

1st 1-VII 881 pts.

2nd 1-I 843 pts.

3rd 1-III 770 pts.

4th 1-II 735 pts.

5th 1-IV 675 pts.

6th 1-V 650 pts.

"It seems Class VII had the highest average score," Laura observed.

"Excellent!" Alisa happily clapped her hands together. "I figured that might be the case, considering we have four of the academy's top five high scorers."

Jusis snorted. "You talk as if a class I'm a member of could possibly fail to place first."

"Why do you always have to be so full of yourself…?" Machias, not one to break tradition, couldn't help but retort.

"Boys, boys…" Emma tried to calm the two down, though her lighthearted smile indicated she was merely teasing. Compared to their interactions in the past couple of months, this was a substantial improvement.

"I think we should be proud of what we've accomplished," Gaius concluded.

"Me, too," Rean concurred. "Good work, everyone!"

"Well, aren't you all the overachievers? Congrats on your amazing performance on the midterms!"

The class had gathered at the field for their monthly practical exam, where they were met with a standing ovation from their homeroom teacher, or as much of a standing ovation one person could make, anyway.

"I'll cherish the grumpy look on the vice principal's face forever," she gloated with a fist pump. "That'll teach him to poke his nose into my business!"

"We didn't do all that work just so you could stick it to him, you know…" Rean retorted.

"And if we're being honest?" Morgan added. "You bring most of it on yourself."

The rest of the class murmured in agreement.

If Instructor Sara was offended, she was doing a pretty good job at hiding her feelings. "Aaaaaanyway, before we begin this month's practical exam, I just want to make sure…" She turned to Morgan. "You sure you're ready to participate, Morgan?"

"Positive." Morgan's hand clenched tightly around her axe. "It'll take more than a fainting spell to keep me down!"

"I like that confidence!"

With that, Sara snapped her fingers. A moment later, the scarecrow automation that Class VII had routinely fought against appeared next to her, now sporting a fresh new coat of copper paint.

"Mm…" Morgan squinted her eyes at the scarecrow. Now that she had a closer look at it, the shape definitely looked familiar to something Group A saw in Bareahard…

"You notice it too, don't you?" Rean whispered to her.

Morgan looked at him and nodded. "Yeah. Granted, the color palette and machine parts are different, but the body shape is definitely similar."

"It looks like it's made of the same material, too," Fie observed from behind them.

"Hmm?" Laura, who was standing beside Rean, caught wind of their conversation. "Is something wrong?"

"Long story," Rean quietly replied. "I'll tell you about it later."

Fie simply looked away upon hearing Laura's voice. A few seconds later, however, her face scrunched up.

Morgan noticed the change in her friend's expression. "What's up?"

"We've got company."

She looked in the direction Fie was facing and understood what she meant.

"Well, doesn't this look like fun?" a haughty voice called out.

The rest of Class VII, Instructor Sara included, looked to the stairs that connected the academy field to the main campus. Standing at the top of the stairs were six students clothed in the white Thors uniform for Class I, four male and two female. Leading the group with his upturned nose and dark blonde hair was Patrick Hyarms, son of Marquis Hyarms of the Four Great Houses.

Oh, and each of the male students was carrying a training rapier by their side.

'This won't end well…' Morgan dreaded in her mind.

…

"To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" Instructor Sara asked the students once they made their way to where Class VII was gathered. "Class I's combat training isn't until tomorrow."

"Yes, about that…" Patrick stepped forward in front of his classmates. "Instructor Thomas's class was changed to a self-study period today, so we thought it was the perfect opportunity for a little...cross-class exchange, if you will."

"And how will you achieve that, exactly?" Jusis, the only other person present who shared the same status as Patrick, wondered aloud.

Smirking, Patrick raised his right hand, revealing that he was wearing a white fencing glove. With his other hand, he removed the glove in one swift motion and threw it at the ground near Rean's feet. Those who were well-versed in Erebonian culture immediately recognized the gesture: it was a challenge to a duel.

"Class VII seems to be the talk of the school lately," Patrick snidely remarked, "and we'd simply LOVE the chance to get a little better acquainted. So instead of playing with that contraption over there…" He put his left hand on the hilt of his rapier. "Why not try your steel against some real, human opponents? As the representatives of Class I, we'd be more than happy to demonstrate the refined spirit and dignity of the Erebonian nobility."

The words of challenge sent a stir through Class VII.

"You little pieces of…" "This is their idea of getting acquainted?" "Cool your jets. They're just trying to goad us into a fight…"

The commotion was brought to a halt when one of their members approached the glove on the ground and picked it up.

"Rean?" said Alisa.

"It doesn't look like they're going to take 'no' for an answer," Rean replied, his eyes looking resigned yet still determined. "We might as well accept their offer while they're willing and able."

His answer elicited a chuckle from Patrick and his male lackeys. "I'm glad to see that you are a man of reason, Schwarzer."

Alisa, not believing what she was hearing, turned to their instructor. "Instructor, you can't seriously be okay with-!"

"Well, looks like I've found today's entertainment!" The violet-haired instructor nonchalantly snapped her fingers, causing the copper scarecrow to disappear from sight. "Change of plans! Today's practical exam will instead be a friendly training bout between Classes I and VII!"

"We're really going through with this…?" Elliot questioned hesitantly.

"The fight will be four-on-four, with both arts and item use allowed." Instructor Sara directed her gaze at Rean. "Rean, you were the one who picked up the glove, so you'll be the squad captain for our class. Choose three of your classmates for your team."

Clenching his soon-to-be opponent's glove in his hand, Rean returned to his classmates. "Sorry to drag you all into this, but this is something I can't back down from."

"It was a rather bold statement to readily accept his challenge," Jusis noted. "However, given the current circumstances, this could very well be an opportune chance to teach them a lesson in hubris."

"Anyone else think they're down here because they're feeling salty about class averages?" Fie lowered her voice to make sure the Class I students couldn't hear her.

"I'd say the probability is pretty high…" Machias adjusted his glasses by the bridge. "Among a list of other things we unknowingly did to tick them off. If you're going to knock them down a peg, you can count me in."

The rest of the class gave their consent. Breathing in a sigh of relief, Rean turned around to face their opponents. "I choose Laura, Morgan, and Gaius for my team."

"Now, hold on!"

Rean blinked at Patrick's sudden comment. "What is it?"

"Our team consists of four men. I demand a fight equal to the challenge offered. Reconsider your team."

"Hmm…"

Laura appeared to be displeased with Patrick's train of thought, a feeling that Morgan shared. "What, the challenger suddenly gets to make conditions on the fly? Who do you think you are?"

"Hey, you two…" Rean put his hands on both of them. "I know you're upset, but we shouldn't make a scene, especially not in front of them. Sorry, but we don't have a choice; I'll need to switch you out."

"Why are you being so passive all of a sudden?" Morgan questioned. "This isn't like you, Rean."

He grimaced. "You're right. It isn't. But this is the son of Marquis Hyarms, leader of the Four Great Houses. Remember all the things we went through in Bareahard? If Patrick wanted, he could ask his father to bring about all of that and then some. Do you have any idea about the lengths a noble will go to tarnish the reputation of someone they dislike? I can't risk that for you and your families." Rean put a hand on his chest. "As the adopted son of my father, I don't want to bring him more trouble than he already has."

A brief silence persisted until it was swiftly broken by Patrick's haughty voice. "Is there internal strife amongst you, Schwarzer?" It was clear that his patience was growing thinner, which was ironic considering he was the one making Class VII delay the match.

"I cannot speak on behalf of my father," said Laura, "but I care very little about matters that pertain to one's status, as I have made clear before in the past. However, seeing as you have been appointed our team leader, I will respect your wishes. Just promise me that you won't hold back." She reached out and gripped his hand assuringly as she said that last point.

Rean eased his expression into a calm smile. "Wasn't planning on doing it anyways."

"Honestly, there's a lot here I'm not okay with," Morgan confessed. "But when you put it that way, I guess the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." Reining her emotions in, she cupped her mouth next to Rean's ear. "I've heard that Patrick's footwork and approach are his weak points, so watch out for those."

"Will do. Thanks." Rean nodded to her before turning to face Class I. "Sorry for the wait. If that's the case, then I choose Gaius, Machias, and Jusis."

"Hmm…"

Rean's eyebrow twitched. "What now?"

Patrick pointed his rapier at Jusis. "He should have been among the ranks of Class I to begin with. I would rather hope a son of the Albarea house would need no demonstration of the nobility's refined spirit and dignity. Choose again!"

"Not again…" Machias grumbled.

Jusis silently snorted. "Hmph. One would almost think you're trying to postpone the inevitable. I must agree with Daraen; you're testing our generosity when it comes to your criteria."

"Makes you wonder who they won't conjure up some excuse for…" Fie quipped in Morgan's ear, which caused her to puff out her cheeks in contained amusement.

"Then I choose Gaius, Machias, and Elliot." Rean turned to his classmate. "No offense, Elliot."

"I-It's fine." Elliot nervously pulled at his jacket collar. "I was hoping I wouldn't have to be a part of this…"

There were no words of discontent coming from Patrick's mouth, which likely indicated that he had no issue with the current lineup.

As both teams of four got into position for their duel, Jusis walked up to his class's team and whispered, "Make sure you don't underestimate them. He may be a fool, but even a fool can be dangerous with a blade in hand. I'm sure his lackeys are also well-trained, whatever deficiencies they may have otherwise."

"Patrick's a member of the Fencing Club, isn't he?" Elliot asked. "If that's the case, then we really need to be careful."

"Fencing Club or no Fencing Club…" Machias's eyes were burning with determination. "We'll see how cocksure he feels when we're through with him!"

"It's not every day we get to have a cross-class exchange," Gaius remarked. "Let's have a good fight, everyone."

Despite the situation, Rean couldn't help but crack a smile. "You know, I always feel reassured by your optimism, Gaius."

Gaius returned the smile with one of his own. "Well, I AM here because of a cultural exchange. I see little reason to question something we all can learn from."

"By the way, Instructor?" Emma raised her hand. "What about the rest of us? Should we just stand by and watch today?"

Their instructor nodded. "Seems like it. With our current lineup, I'd say we only have enough time for one match. Unless the rest of you really want to have a go at our little friend?" She raised her right hand expectantly, poised to snap.

"No, no! We're fine!"

The rest of the students preemptively took a few steps back.

"Good." Instructor Sara lowered her hand, sounding rather relieved. "Two matches going on at the same time is a lot for little ol' me to take into account."

She motioned for the students to ready their weapons. Rean gave Patrick his fencing glove back before both boys drew their respective swords.

"Begin!"

"And that's enough!" Instructor Sara called out. One group was brought to their knees. The other was only barely managing to stay standing. "The winning team is...Class VII!"

The result was met with much cheering and applause from the Class VII audience.

"W-We won…" Elliot almost couldn't believe himself. "We really won…"

"Indeed." Gaius looked no worse for wear, but his heavy breathing indicated that he was quite winded. "That was some fight!"

"Ahaha…" Machias, despite being a few breaths away from collapsing, still found it in himself to croak a laugh. "How does it taste...choking down your own...hubris?"

The four Class I students, meanwhile, were shaking their heads and muttering words of discontent.

Rean sheathed his tachi and stared at the defeated Patrick in front of him. When the battle started, Patrick had immediately focused on isolating Rean from the others without a care for his other teammates. This lack of teamwork and focus on individual skill on Class I's end was what ultimately gave Class VII the winning edge in the match, but even Rean had to admit that Patrick, for all of his pompous behavior, was very skilled with a sword. In fact, he would go as far to say that his prowess rivaled that of Jusis, if not surpassed it. Had Morgan not warned him about watching Patrick's footwork, the fight between them could have been more one-sided.

"Hey…" Rean tried his best to smile out of courtesy. "That was a good fight. Pretty intense, too. You had us on the defensive more than a few times. If we get another chance sometime, how about we-"

Before Rean's hand could get within handshaking range, a disgruntled Patrick swatted it away. "Get your filthy hands off me!"

Rean stepped back, stunned, as Patrick angrily rose from the ground to look him in the eyes. "Don't you dare start acting like you're above me, Rean Schwarzer. Just because Ymir's lord took you in out of pity doesn't change the fact that you're a nobody without a drop of noble blood!"

"..." Rean simply stood there. He wanted to talk back, but it was difficult to do so considering how everything Patrick just said was true.

His classmates, however, were far more transparent with their responses. Gaius had to hold Machias back from potentially socking his friend's offender in the face. Elliot worked up the courage to say, "That was uncalled for!"

"The rest of you are no better!" Patrick started pointing to the rest of Class VII, all of whom had varying degrees of anger and annoyance on their faces. "Did you somehow think scoring highest on the exams would mask the fact that you crawled up from the dregs of society? What about a family of upstart arms peddlers who think being flush with money is all the pedigree they need?! And what of the barbarian and your jaeger-tot? I'm surprised they could even read the enrollment forms!"

Emma shook her head. "What terrible things to say…"

"I won't deny how the Reinford Company made its millions," Alisa admitted. "But still…"

"Am I the 'jaeger-tot'?" Fie asked, even though she already knew the answer.

Feeling the hostile gazes from the entirety of Class VII, Patrick's lackeys started visibly panicking. "I think you might've crossed the line…" one of them commented.

"Silence!" Patrick said impudently. "You don't tell me what I can or can't say!"

"...You're a coward."

The noble's eyes darted in the direction of the voice. "What?"

Morgan squinted her eyes and grit her teeth. "You're nothing but a coward! First you barge in uninvited, then you make us play by your rules, and then when you lose, you have the nerve to talk down to all of us! You bring nothing but shame to your noble blood." She forcefully motioned her hand to her side. "Express your frustrations if you must, but what do you think gives you the right to say the kinds of things that you did?"

"Morgan…"

This was the first time Rean, and probably the rest of Class VII, had ever seen Morgan this enraged. She could be annoyed at times, like when she stood up to the provincial army in Celdic, but never anything to this degree. If Rean didn't know better, he could have sworn he saw a red aura flickering around her, almost as if her anger was literally seething from her body. At the same time, though, he felt strangely touched that of all the times she let her rage show, it was when her classmates were being threatened.

"Morgan raises an excellent question!"

The confrontation was cut to a halt by the sound of Instructor Sara's voice. "Anyway, this marks the end of our mock battle. Many thanks to the members of Class I for their gracious cooperation. Oh, and just for future reference, 'self-study' doesn't mean 'wander around outside doing whatever you want.'" She rotated herself so she was facing the two female students from Class I who had accompanied Patrick and his lackeys onto the field. "That goes for you two over there, too. Back to the classroom with all of you!"

The two students hurriedly nodded their heads and scampered back to the main campus.

"Oh, but before you boys leave…" Instructor Sara said as the male students were about to follow their companions. "I want to let you know that for your combat training tomorrow, I've decided that I'll be pointing out everything you did wrong today. In the meantime, I want you to really think about where you need to improve, both physically and behaviourally." Though Instructor Sara's face remained amicable, the tone of her voice made it clear that she was not at all happy with the way her students were bad-mouthed.

Patrick bit his lip and turned his back to everyone. "Very well. Excuse us."

With that, he and the other Class I students made their swift exit.

Elliot heaved a sigh of relief. "Whew...for a while there, I was worried that was really going to get ugly."

"As far as I'm concerned, it already had," Machias refuted, showing his hand to the retreating students in white. "THIS is exactly why I can't stand nobles."

Jusis let out a groan of mutual disgust. "Please. Don't place me in the same category as that imbecile."

Morgan nodded in agreement. "He's an ass. A cowardly, pompous ass. I can't even say that nicely."

"Calm down, Morgan." Emma put a hand on her classmate's shoulder. "Breathe."

"I'm calm, I'm calm." Sure enough, after a few deep breaths, Morgan eased her expression...until it was quickly overwritten by a wince. "Hey, uh, Emma? You're gripping my shoulder pretty tightly there."

"O-Oh! Yes! My apologies!" Almost as if she had just come out of a daze, Emma clumsily retreated her hand.

"Hey, Morgan?" Rean called out to her. "Thanks...for standing up like that. It meant a lot to me."

"I just said what was on my mind," Morgan insisted. "Maybe I got a bit out of hand, but I couldn't just stand by and say nothing." She then mumbled to herself, "Besides, he was being a bad rap for me, too, after all."

"A bad rap?"

She shook her head. "Never mind. It's nothing."

"Okay…?"

Instructor Sara cleared her throat, bringing back everyone's attention. "Right. On that note, that concludes this month's practical exam. Seeing as not everyone was able to participate today, let's just give you all A's for 'outstanding support for each other' and be done with it. Sound good?"

Class VII collectively nodded their heads. It seemed that they were all eager to forget the incident that had just occurred.

"Good. Now each of you, take one of these."

The students arranged themselves in a single file line and retrieved their monthly announcement on where they would be going.

[Field Study: June]

Group A: Rean, Alisa, Emma, Jusis, Gaius

(Study Location: Nord Highlands)

Group B: Morgan, Machias, Elliot, Laura, Fie

(Study Location: Bryonia Island)

"Bryonia Island…" Machias muttered to himself. "That's in the far west of the Empire, isn't it?"

"It's right off the coast of Ordis," Morgan replied, recalling her small glimpse of the island during her trip a few days prior. "It's known for its ruins."

"Have you been there, by any chance?" Elliot asked her.

She shook her head. "No. I just picked up a tourist pamphlet."

"The Nord Highlands are beyond the Empire's northeastern borders, are they not?" said Emma, redirecting the conversation to Group A's destination.

"That's right. They're out past Roer, on the other side of the border." Alisa smiled knowingly at Gaius. "Isn't that right, Gaius?"

"Oh, yeah…" Rean recalled. "You're from the Nord Highlands, aren't you, Gaius?"

All of the students shifted their gaze towards the tallest member of their group, who was smiling to himself. "Sure am. We've actually made arrangements for everyone in Group A to stay at my home in our settlement."

"So that's why you had to visit the principal last week…" Elliot remembered.

…

As the other students continued to mingle amongst themselves about their field study locations, Morgan looked up from her paper at their instructor. Their eyes met, and Sara subtly nodded her head.

There was no going back now.

*The night before*

"...You sure about that?" Sara asked, picking up two students' files. "I can't guarantee that you'll be able to get a chance to choose again, so I want to hear your reasoning."

"I'm certain of it," Morgan replied. "One of them can get along with anyone and can function as a good intermediary. As for the other, I think it would be good to have someone who was just involved in a recent conflict to be there as an example, and given his work ethic, I know he'll work his butt off to prove himself. This also gives us a balanced team in combat; including me, we have two physical fighters, a long range fighter, a close-range/long-range hybrid, and a support member. In the off chance that we can't get Laura and Fie to link up, we can at least compensate by covering each other's weaknesses until they learn how to."

Her instructor nodded, looking impressed. "I'm surprised you put that much thought into it. Hearing that almost makes me feel confident that this plan might work out."

"If you're almost confident, then clearly my choices aren't good enough." She took another swig of hard cider. "Grr, fine! Let me see if I can think of a better one."

"No, no! There's nothing wrong here! This team's fine." Sara started writing the names down on a sheet of paper. "I'll list the five of you as this group...and the other five in this group. Great! Now I can send in the roster without the vice principal getting all over my case!"

"And you were holding off on deciding...why, exactly?"

Sara shoved the paper aside, completely ignoring her question. "Anyways, I can't thank you enough for this. Want some more cider?"

Morgan held her forehead. "I think I've had enough for one night. Likewise, thanks for your time tonight, Instructor. I promise I won't let you down."

Her instructor squinted her violet-colored eyes. "Dunno if it's jus' me, but you're lookin' a bit woozy. You sure you don't wanna spend the night here?" She pointed to her bed. "You can take the bed."

"I think it's just you." Morgan stood up from the couch, only to find that her body was feeling a bit sluggish. Taking a nap right then and there didn't seem like such a bad idea…

She shook her head. "I'm alright, Instructor. I think I can walk myself up."

Sara took Morgan's cup. "Try not to feel down in the morning, you hear? Just because you feel alright now doesn't mean that you'll feel the same when you wake up tomorrow."

"I know. Drink water and eat bread, right?"

"You're pretty knowledgeable." Sara managed to raise an eyebrow despite her speech starting to slur. "Have you been underage drinking this whole time?"

"Only in emergencies." Morgan turned away from her instructor towards the door. "Sometimes you need something to drink on the road, right? Well, what if the water is too contaminated and you want to save your medicine for when it really counts? You drink wine instead. I mean, who cares about age restrictions when you need sustenance, right?"

Morgan didn't hear an answer, so she shrugged and went out the door.

Overall, she thought that tonight was very productive.

"Hey, Morgan?"

Rean's voice snapped her out of her reverie. "Yeah?" she responded.

"About your groups…" Rean worriedly looked at Laura, then at Fie. "I know I'll probably have my hands full on my end, but if you ever need to talk to me during the field study, just...let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

Morgan grinned. "Thanks for the offer, but don't worry about me. I have a solution in mind."

"You do?" Rean's eyes widened. "I'm surprised. What were you thinking?"

She hummed to herself, her grin growing wider. "Well, for starters, I'd round up both of them and make sure they have no way to escape. Then, I'd lock them in a room together…"

Author's note: And now for a twist in the narrative! Instead of following the story to the Nord Highlands, we're going to Bryonia Island instead! Bet you didn't see that one coming, did you?

Seeing as there are very little details about what Group B does at Bryonia Island in the games, the majority of content in the next few chapters will be original content, though there will still be some notable exceptions. What's more, this situation presents a greater opportunity to shape the narrative in any way I see fit. How might I change things up? You'll just have to wait until next time to find out!

Thank you all for reading, and stay healthy out there! v(｡･ω･｡)