[IS1]: Insert song 1 - "Destiny-Ablaze (Fire Emblem Awakening)"
[IS2]: Insert song 2 - "Blood Relations (Castlevania: Symphony of the Night)"
[ISE]: Insert song end

"We're finally here…" Rean announced. "The seventh floor."

A seventh basement floor, previously inaccessible through any means, was what awaited Class VII when they entered the old schoolhouse. The upper six floors were all the same as they had left it earlier, but now it was like the entire building was pulsating with the same ethereal, supernatural energy found in Lohengrin Castle. No ghouls or undead spirits had jumped out to greet the class yet, but the presence of the higher elements, which was now pulsating through the entire schoolhouse in a volume that made even the less magically inclined students shudder, was enough to keep everyone on their toes with hands on their weapons as they used the elevator to descend into the depths.

Finally, when the elevator reached the true bottom floor of the old schoolhouse, the students stepped off the platform to see a giant door flanked on both sides by giant, whirring gears.

"We've seen some strange stuff in this schoolhouse since we started coming here, but I think this takes the cake," Alisa remarked, marveling at the turning gears. "Just how was this thing built?"

"Instructor Thomas said before that this building dates long before the time of Emperor Dreichels," Machias added, just as in awe of the spectacle in front of him. "Looking at it now makes you wonder just how they were able to cook up something like this in the first place."

Rean, meanwhile, kept his eyes locked on the door that was closed shut in front of them. Or, to be more specific, he was concerned with the symbol that was glowing at its very center. Four swirls that spread outwards like flower petals with four orbs intersecting in a cross pattern.

"It's like the red door we found on the fourth floor…" he muttered, remembering the suit of armor that had stepped out to hurt his little sister and forced him to show his power for the first time in front of others.

"CONFIRMING RELEASE OF THE SIXTH LOCK," a loud, booming voice spoke in Rean's mind. "POTENTIAL AWAKENER DETECTED."

Rean gasped. He had heard this voice calling out to him several times throughout the year, most recently just that afternoon. But this time, he also heard the collective gasps from his classmates. Apparently, they had all heard it, too.

Then, without warning, the symbol on the door rotated once counterclockwise followed by the sound of a lock disengaging. The door began to open in four pieces, revealing a swirling turquoise vortex that presumably led to somewhere.

"THE TIME HAS COME," the voice from earlier continued. "COMMENCING THE SECOND TRIAL."

Everyone stood in silence for about half a minute, some trying harder to process the words than others.

"Sixth Lock… Second Trial…" Machias mumbled to himself. "Do you think the locks refer to each of the floors we've cleared so far?"

"What's a 'potential Awakener'?" Millium asked aloud, scratching the back of her head. "Is it talkin' about one of us?"

"I can scarcely venture a guess," Laura said, her arms crossed, "but what seems certain is that we're here tonight because we were meant to be here.

"Yeah…" Rean nodded his head in agreement. He couldn't have put it in better words himself. Before he could think of something more to say, he felt an abrupt pain coming from his chest.

"Rean!" "Are you okay?"

Elliot and Alisa, who were standing to his left and right, immediately reached forward to catch Rean before he could buckle under the weight of his throbbing chest. Never had it been pounding so intensely on its own before.

"Is it the mark on your chest?"

Rean slowly opened his eyes to see Morgan leaning down so she was at level eye contact with him. Her hands were placed behind her back like a young and carefree spirit, but her eyes looked wiser and concerned, filled with an understanding only a family member or a close confidant would have.

"Yeah, it is," Rean confirmed. "How'd you guess?"

"Call it a tactician's intuition." It was at that moment that Rean noticed something peculiar about Morgan's hands: they were gently rubbing the small of her back, where her special birthmark was. Was she also…? "But on the bright side, it's a good thing we're all in this together, right?" she continued, her lips parting into a reassuring smile. "As long as we stick together, I'm sure there isn't an obstacle we can't handle."

"Haha…" Rean chuckled softly. Morgan's optimism was just the sort of remedy he needed to assuage the discomfort he was feeling from his chest. "You're right. Class VII is the best Thors has to offer."

"Fairly presumptuous of you two, considering we have yet to solve the mystery of the portal in front of us," Jusis remarked. "Will we be able to guarantee our own safety once we pass through the door?"

"Well, this ain't the first time we've encountered things on the…spooky end." Crow then glanced in the direction of a certain glasses-wearing girl. "Well, Emma? You're our resident expert on these sorts of things, aren't you? What are the odds of surviving?"

Emma, who had elected to remain silent ever since they entered the old schoolhouse, finally stepped forward to face the entire class. "I think it should already be quite apparent, but we're headed somewhere no living eyes have seen. It's likely that the trial set before us will test the full limits of our physical and mental capabilities. Should we fail to meet those expectations…" Emma's expression darkened. "The consequences could be fatal."

The fact that Emma of all people wasn't mincing words added extra weight to her warning. No one else present had the courage to follow up on a statement like that, which made the ringing sound of a small bell all the more poignant.

"Uh… How long has Celine been here?" Elliot hesitantly asked, pointing a finger at the cat that was now sitting at Emma's side.

"Mrrowr." Celine let out a small, dismissive huff. Clearly, she was in no mood to talk, though being a cat, that was probably the most they could have gotten out of her.

Emma sighed. "With all that being said, we did say that we would get to the bottom of this. I, for one, would rather prefer to not see all the work we put into tomorrow's festival be put to waste. What about the rest of you? Are you sure you are all prepared?"

As if the answer could be anything but a resounding "yes."

"Back at the start of the year, I know we all had our doubts…" Rean said, "but we've made it this far because we've accepted each other for who we are. And I think being part of Class VII is a big part of that."

"It's because of all our shared experiences that we were able to forge strong ties with each other, and it goes beyond just ARCUS links," Morgan added. "As long as we cherish the memories we've made and believe in those invisible ties, we won't become pawns of some scripted fate…and we'll stand up against the world no matter the odds!"

Upon witnessing her classmates' decision to press onward into the unknown, Emma breathed a sigh of relief. "Well said. I may not always show much in the way of class spirit, but I'm confident Class VII is the finest Erebonia has to offer. I'll do my best to guide everyone through what lies ahead. Let's go earn our chance to leave our mark on this academy!"

"Then there's no time like the present, right?" Morgan reached forward, grabbed Emma by the hand, and, harkening to their very first day of school, shouted, "Last one in's a rotten egg!" before dashing forward with a surprised class president in tow.

Rean couldn't help but let out a laugh. "Never change, Morgan."

…

On the other side, Morgan and Emma finally emerged from the portal to a massive open area situated high above a bottomless void. Several stone structures that weren't connected to each other floated aimlessly in front of one larger one, like several keeps placed just before the main castle wall. Morgan suspected that that was where Class VII needed to go next, but that was not the only thing she had on her mind.

"The Realm of the Great Shadow. A proving ground for prospective Awakeners." Emma let go of Morgan's hand and faced her with a stern expression. "Morgan, that was risky. Time and space are unstable here; we don't know if the door will lead us all to the same-"

"Emma…" Morgan said, cutting off Emma's sentence. "Can you feel it?"

"Feel…what, exactly?"

"The energy in the air. It's different. Almost…alien."

Emma momentarily closed her eyes, using her magic to probe the area around them. "You're…you're right," she gasped. "I've never felt anything like this before. We were just in an area where the higher elements were present, but now…" She reopened her eyes. "It's almost like the entire mana signature has been completely overwritten."

"I knew it…" Morgan muttered to herself. "Because where I come from, the elements of time, space, and mirage didn't exist."

"What…do you mean?"

Morgan pressed a hand against the small of her back, where her Mark of Naga was. "As soon as we stepped into the old schoolhouse just now, I started feeling funny all of a sudden. And it all started from the small of my back here. That feeling only got stronger the further down we went, except…it's not a striking pain like with Rean's mark. It was warm and…oddly comforting. And now that we're down here at the deepest part…" She took another look at the stone structures that were suspended in the air. "Obviously, I don't recognize any of the architecture, but it almost feels like…like I've returned home."

"Home?" Emma was visibly perplexed by Morgan's answer. "Morgan, what does that…?"

"I had a feeling about this."

Morgan and Emma turned to find Celine walking up towards them. "You're…actually not from around here, are you?"

"Celine, what are you saying?" Emma asked her familiar. "I think Morgan has already made it clear that-"

"I don't mean that she's a foreigner." The magical cat squinted her eyes at Morgan and hissed, "You came here from the Beyond."

Admittedly, Morgan had no idea what sort of words Celine was throwing out. However, if Emma's shocked expression was anything to go by, whatever the cat insinuated must have been a big deal.

"So it looks like you don't even realize it yourself. Perrrfect…" Celine then glanced behind her. "Your friends will be arriving shortly, so I'll summarize my thoughts into two parts. First, the enemies you'll encounter down here are likely going to be very different than anything else you've encountered up to this point, and with the change to the mana signature, Emma will need some time to adjust her spellcasting methods. In the meantime, Morgan, it's going to be up to you to navigate and learn the ins and out of this domain. We're counting on you to lead us through combat and out of this place alive, so don't you even think about messing up."

Emma raised her eyebrows slightly. "Celine, are you…?"

"Don't take this the wrong way!" the cat snapped. "I'm only doing this because we have no other choice in this matter. And Emma, whatever you do, don't let this alien out of our sight. We can't have her interfering any more than she already has, involuntarily or not!"

"Hey, did I just hear someone else talking?"

Rean was the first to emerge from the portal behind them. Celine did her best to look like a normal cat again and responded with, "M-Meow?"

Fortunately for Celine, Morgan, and Emma, any questions Rean and the rest of Class VII might have had were quickly forgotten when they saw the surrounding environment.

"Hey, Emma?" Morgan whispered to the witch.

"Y-Yes?"

"Let's see your mission to the end."

Emma continued to stare at Morgan for a moment, unsure of whether the latter was just saying that for moral support or if she actually knew the truth of her mission. Eventually, however, she gave a relenting smile and replied, "Yes. Thank you for the support, Morgan."

As Celine had anticipated, the enemies located in the depths were unlike anything Morgan and her friends had seen before. The ghouls and fiends they encountered on the way to the large prominent structure floating in the distance were now more demonic in nature, almost like they jumped straight out of the church scriptures. However, the combined might of all the members of Class VII ensured that they had plenty of ways to hit enemy weaknesses, frequently swapping out teammates mid-combat to adapt and conserve everyone's strength for as long as the trial persisted. For smaller skirmishes, everyone was okay with letting a select few members take the lead, but against larger enemies, every single member was essential in ensuring that everyone made it through the battle unscathed. Rean, Laura, Jusis, and Gaius were the front line attackers, engaging the enemy up close with their martial techniques and diverting the opposition away from the rest of the class. Morgan, Crow, Fie, and Millium were just behind them, inconveniencing enemies from the side and providing offensive support. Alisa, Machias, Elliot, and Emma made up the last team, focusing on long ranged support and rejuvenating allies with orbal arts and spells. Using all the skills and strategies they had learned and implemented throughout the year, Class VII was able to reach their destination with minimal damage sustained. Hopping through portals to travel large distances was disorienting at first, but once it became clear that the different floating platforms were all segments from one linear path to the finish line, reaching the end was straightforward.

"How do you think we're doing on time?" Rean asked.

"If I'd known we'd be keeping time, I would've brought a watch with me!" Crow joked.

"I doubt it would give you an accurate reading," Emma said. "The elements are out of balance here, and so there is no guarantee that time will work the same as it does on the surface."

"That sounds pretty cryptic when you put it like that…" Alisa remarked.

Fie pointed forward. "Look. The path splits up ahead. Think we should divide and conquer?"

"We should first ascertain our surroundings before taking a decisive action," Laura advised. "For instance, figuring out how to open that rather large gate off in the distance."

"'Rather large' is an understatement, considering it spans the length of the academy field and then some," Gaius said with a small chuckle. "I'm more curious about that symbol in the center. Five empty circular slots forming a misshaped pentagon, although the design itself seems to be faded."

"Hey!" Millium called out. "Look at what Lammy and I found!"

The blue-haired girl pointed at a small plaque located right in the middle where the path diverged, designated by two large mirrors on either side. Everyone crowded around it in a similar vein to when they all gathered to view their midterm scores.

"With the bounty of the elements in hand, bring together the four flames from the corners of the land.
To the left, the tree of the Earth Mother, stretching high up to the endless sea of stars.
To the right, the arena of life's flames, preserving the glory of times past.
When the four flames are brought together, the colors of thy souls will light the way forward."

Rean, having read the contents of the plaque aloud for his classmates to hear, stood up straight and asked, "Any ideas what this could mean?"

"Elements in hand…" Gaius muttered to himself. "The first thing that comes to mind is our ARCUS units. Our orbal arts utilize these handheld orbments, after all."

"That's right! Our master quartzes!" Machias remembered. "Each of us has one in our ARCUS, and septium is otherwise the bounty of the earth, each corresponding to a different element!"

"So in other words, we need to make sure whoever goes on the path has at least one of the corresponding elements," Morgan figured. "Based on the wording, the left path needs earth and water, while the right one needs fire and time."

"If we want to clear this as quickly as possible, then we're going to need to split up." Rean nodded to Morgan. "Morgan. Think you could help split us into two teams?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Morgan responded cheerily. "Alright, everyone, open up your ARCUSes!"

After noting down the element of each student's respective master quartz, Morgan split the class into two groups of six. Group A, which would take the left path of earth and water, consisted of herself, Millium, Machias, Elliot, Gaius, and Alisa. Group B, which would take the right path of fire and time, would be Rean, Crow, Laura, Fie, Emma, and Jusis. Promising to meet on the other end, the two groups went their separate ways through the mirrors.

[IS1] "That's one massive tree…" Machias marveled at the large tree in front of them. The portal had taken them to a large valley with mountains towering around them. Taller still was a giant tree with swirling roots stretching all over the field. Its branches, too numerous to count, were filled with leaves that blotted out a large portion of the night sky, which was barely being lit by the moon and stars.

"Stretching upwards into an endless sea of stars…" Gaius said, recalling the words on the plaque. "Are we truly still inside the old schoolhouse?"

A magical whirring sound came from behind the students. The portal that had led them to this place had disappeared.

"Guess it's a one way trip, hahaha…" Elliot chuckled nervously.

Immediately, the ground below the students began to shake until a ghastly purple hand stuck itself up from the earth.

"EEEK!" Alisa screamed. "What is that?!"

Before long, the solitary hand began clawing its way up, revealing a ghostly figure wearing a thief's clothing. Then, a legion of hands began similarly rising up from the floor, each of them brandishing weapons and wearing different clothes.

"These aren't like the monsters we faced in the previous corridor…" Gaius said, gripping his spear.

"No…" Machias adjusted his glasses. "They're human."

Morgan gasped. Humanoid monsters carrying the dark purple hue of the undead. Revenants reanimated from the graves they rose from, released of all the inhibitions that made them human. Suddenly, everything started clicking into place. Before her very eyes, she recognized the enemies based on the equipment that they carried. Thieves carrying short swords, fighters brandishing axes, heroes that wielded both sword and shield, a stout general that gripped a large tomahawk in the back.

"Morgan, what do we do now?"

She blinked twice at Millium, who had called Airgetlam to her side. All around her, the rest of her group looked expectantly at her for orders.

That's right. She and her friends were on the clock.

"Looks like we're not getting through them without a fight." Morgan brushed away her thoughts and drew her axe. "Gaius, Millium, and I will take point. The rest of you support us with buffs. If there are any changes to the enemy's formation, give us a shout. Ready?"

"Ready!"

As part of their devised formation, Gaius and Millium linked together and advanced forward, meeting the first thief in combat. The enemy was swift and evaded Gaius's thrust with a sidestep. It then moved in to retaliate, but Millium was ready with an assist, ordering Airgetlam to block the sword strike. The silver puppet then caught the thief with its appendages, allowing Gaius to finish the enemy with a gale-powered thrust.

With the first enemy down, the rest of the students began picking off the rest of the surrounding enemies. With their ARCUS links and combination attacks, the solitary enemies stood little chance against them. However, one thing they noticed was that the enemies were surprisingly passive, waiting for them to step into their effective range and make the first move before attacking. Was the trial supposed to be this straightforward?

The students made it about halfway through the field when a loud bell began to ring throughout the area, catching all the students by surprise.

*RING* *RING*

"The old schoolhouse?" Morgan recognized.

Suddenly, the tint of the sky began to dye a crimson red, and enemies that were once standing still were now advancing on their position at an alarming rate. And what was worse, the students themselves were now the ones who had nowhere to move.

"Everyone, stick together!" Morgan yelled. "Back to back in pairs, Triangle formation!"

"Hey!" Alisa pointed at the sky. "We've got company!"

The class momentarily looked up to see two dark orbs suspended in the sky that eventually broke apart, revealing knights riding atop some strange looking mounts.

"Are those…winged horses?"

"...Pegasus knights, both wielding spears." Morgan muttered. "Alisa, get ready to shoot them out of the sky! Machias, link with her; if any of them dodge Alisa's arrows, it'll be up to you to keep them from getting too close."

"O-Okay!"

"Leave it to me!"

The two ranged fighters linked up before the first wave of enemies descended on the students. Alisa's orbal arrows and Machias's shotgun were more than enough to keep the pegasus riders at bay. A tall warrior wielding an axe made Gaius its priority target, which made Morgan worry given the weapon disadvantage. However, Gaius deftly held his spear closer to his body, reducing the amount of pole the warrior could grab with the hook of its axe.

"I've already seen that technique enough times from Morgan!" Gaius said triumphantly. He leapt from the ground, where Millium and Airgetlam were already waiting.

"Alley-oop, Gaius!"

Using Airgetlam as another takeoff point, Gaius jumped further into the air, poised his spear, and thrust downwards, descending upon the warrior with the deadly velocity of a predator hawk and skewering it through its skull, ending its existence instantly.

"Turn into flames!" Alisa ignited an arrow and let it loose. The elemental shot soared through the air in a perfectly straight line, piercing the side of one of the pegasi and causing both it and its rider to fall from the sky. The revenant pegasus knight tumbled a distance away until it landed in front of Morgan.

'I can't say I feel good doing this, but this is war.' Those were the last words Morgan thought before decisively bringing down her axe upon the rider. The revenant dissipated into purple mist, with its steed disappearing not long after.

"Morgan! Up ahead!"

Hearing Elliot's voice coming from their ARCUS link, Morgan looked up to see that the large armored general had entered the fray, and it was charging towards Elliot with its tomahawk raised high in the sky. Thinking quickly, Elliot fired some opaque bubbles from his orbal staff to obscure the general's vision and dodged to the side. However, the general responded by rotating its body counterclockwise, backhanding the red-haired teen and sending him careening into the ground.

"Elliot!" Morgan cried out. Gathering energy into her weapon, she breathed out and used Ragna Bind, shooting a line of condensed magic forward and tethering the general to her. She had to keep the general from advancing towards her friend, but despite it lacking any resemblance of humanity, it was resisting her grip quite a bit.

Suddenly, Elliot rolled over and planted his staff into the ground. A circle manifested around the revenant general as a sonorous tone filled the air. He hadn't been knocked out at all; he had been preparing an orbal art and was waiting for the general to move closer so he could be in his effective range.

"Payback, haha…" Elliot smirked as the results of his gambit paid off. The general went down on one knee, allowing Morgan to easily topple the armored soldier over, jump into the air, and descend upon the revenant with a spinning somersault slash aimed at its neck. Her execution was perfect, and the general dissolved into nothing. As the last of the enemies was felled, the sky gradually began to lose its red tint, returning to the familiar dark blue hue of the night sky. The battle was over for now. [ISE]

"Whew! That was a close one." Elliot said. "Hold still, Morgan. I'll heal us both."

Morgan nodded and smiled. "You've gotten a lot bolder since the beginning of the year."

"You think so? I guess that's what being in Class VII does to you." Elliot chuckled. "The others are all done. Come on. Let's regroup."

After reconvening with the rest of their group and healing everyone's wounds, the students pressed onward towards the gigantic tree in the middle of the valley. Upon getting closer, a small mirror manifested itself out of thin air, except the reflective surface was covered by a green crystal screen.

"Could this be one of the flames that we were tasked with locating?" Gaius wondered.

"It sure doesn't look like a flame to me," Machias noted, adjusting his glasses by the bridge. "Still, it's blocking the way forward. We need to figure out how to dispel this, or else we won't be able to get out of here."

"Didn't the plaque say we needed to use the elements in our hands?" Elliot recalled. "If that's the case, then maybe what we need to do is use orbal arts on this thing."

"Green is usually the color of wind, but the hint explicitly highlighted earth and water," Alisa said. "So which is it?"

Morgan stared at the green crystal mirror, trying to recall the hint the plaque had given them. "Green… Earth… Vert…" Her eyes widened, almost as if she had just recalled something important, but as soon as the realization hit her, it vanished right away. Shaking her head, she turned to her classmates and said, "I think we should stick with what the plaque said. Machias and Millium, try using your earth orbal arts on the crystal."

Nodding at each other, both students activated their ARCUS and prepared to fire their orbal arts. Two sharp rock needles flew forward and punctured the crystal. Instead of breaking, however, the crystal absorbed the orbal arts and began glowing until it coalesced into a small green sphere. The rest of the mirror, now reduced to just a frame, expanded until it was as large as a door. Before long, a similar swirling vortex that resembled the one they took to enter the space in the first place manifested in the center, beckoning the students to proceed.

"I guess we need to take this with us," Morgan said, taking the green sphere into her hands. Surprisingly, it was warm to the touch, similar to when she would warm her hands in front of a hearth. "One down, one to go."

"I hope the others are doing okay on their end…" Elliot muttered worriedly.

…

[IS2] Rean gripped his tachi tightly as he stared down his opponent. He and the rest of Group B were locked in combat with another horde of enemies inside the dueling space of a large arena. Judging from the architecture, they were somewhere underground, with the only source of light coming from above. The students had trekked through heavy snow and battled several revenant soldiers, all brandishing weapons and fighting styles that neither he nor Laura could identify. Along the way, they picked up a red sphere that had been blocking the path forward, which only responded to them after hitting it with fire orbal arts.

The enemy that Rean was currently locking eyes with looked to be the leader of the horde they were facing, which meant that defeating it was critical to revealing the path forward. Even with the purple wisps of mist emanating from it to signify its alignment with the shadows, Rean could make out that it was a youthful figure wearing an odd looking mask that left only the mouth visible.

However, its appearance wasn't what was giving Rean pause. Rather, it was because when he had started approaching it to meet it in combat, it adopted a very familiar stance. A sideways fencing stance with legs spread apart and bent, but with the sword held close to the body and pointed directly at him.

"There's no way…" Rean muttered.

"You recognize it too, don'tcha?" Crow said, stepping up to Rean's left. "That guy's standing just like our own Morgs."

"But what could this mean?" Rean frowned, struggling to interpret the implications this may have for his friend.

"We can save the questions for later." Twirling his pistols and aiming them at the opponent, Crow nodded at Rean and said, "Ready, Reanster?"

"Let's do it."

With an ARCUS link tied between them, Crow opened fire at the revenant swordsman while Rean rushed in from the side. The enemy, despite wearing a mask, was able to expertly deflect both bullets before clashing with Rean. The two of them continued slashing at each other with neither side letting up, and their struggle brought them to the center of the arena. As their duel continued, Rean felt that all his suspicions were coming true. The revenant's strikes were heavier and didn't rely extensively on agile footwork, but otherwise, it was eerily similar in principle to Morgan's unique fighting style. Her own take on Ylissean court fencing, she had called it. Whereas Morgan was a showman who enamored friend and enemy alike with her deadly dancing, this opponent served as a more refined technician, balancing equal parts strength, skill, and speed to cover his weaknesses.

"Who…taught you to fight like that?" Rean found himself asking aloud.

The enemy did not respond, for it could not speak. Instead, it pushed Rean away before leaping high into the air, poised to strike with a downwards slash.

"Unfortunately for you…" Rean put his tachi in its sheath. "I already know how to counter that!"

The masked revenant began spiraling towards the ground to increase the force of its attack, just as Rean had anticipated. Smirking to himself, he deftly sidestepped to the left right before the enemy could make contact and quickly drew his own blade in an upwards crescent motion.

"Fifth Form: Morning Moon!"

His tachi landed a clean blow on the enemy, sending it flying upwards and even cutting the mask it was wearing in half.

"Now, Crow!"

"ARCUS activated!" Crow pointed his orbment forward and shouted, "Grim Butterfly!"

A swarm of shadowy butterflies flew into the sky and plunged themselves into the masked swordsman, continuing to assault him even as he plummeted back to the floor and landed near Crow's feet.

"And that's…a wrap."

Crow loomed above the figure, which was leaning on its sword in a desperate attempt to stand back up. As the silver-haired gunner pointed his pistol at the enemy's head, it looked up at him. Rean waited with bated breath for his partner to deal the finishing blow.

And waited… And waited…

"Crow? What's wrong?" Rean asked through their ARCUS link. "Why haven't you shot it yet?"

There was no response. Was he simply too far away to hear him? Or was he ignoring his words?

Then, almost as if it could detect that it wasn't in any danger, the masked swordsman lifted its sword from the ground and swung horizontally.

"CROW!" Rean yelled. [ISE]

*BANG!*

The blade stopped just short of reaching Crow's throat before it and its wielder fell to the floor. Crow simply stood there listlessly as the enemy dissolved into smoke, not even noticing that a black sphere had surfaced where the sword used to be.

"That makes two." Fie squatted down to pick up the black sphere. "Nice going, Crow."

"Y-Yeah…" was all the silver-haired upperclassman could muster.

"Are you feeling unwell, Crow?" Laura asked. "Your face is looking awfully pale."

"Would you like me to heal you?" Emma offered. "Don't overexert yourself; we need all the strength we can muster if we want to make it out of here alive, after all."

While Emma, Laura, and Fie tried to get Crow to respond, Jusis came up next to Rean. "Three of our female classmates are surrounding him, yet the skirt chaser doesn't even bat an eye? Now I've seen everything. Just what happened during your battle?"

"I… I don't know." Rean was beside himself with worry. This was the first time he had seen Crow hesitate probably…ever. Especially when a target was that close to him. What could he have seen?

"Whatever the case is, we should press onward. Better to catch our breath after we've regrouped with the others than in this stuffy underground colosseum."

"Can't argue with you there. Think we'll be the first group out?"

Jusis raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware that we were making this a competition. Though if I had to wager a guess, I believe the odds of us reaching the end goal are higher, given that we have three of the strongest freshmen of our year."

"Three of the strongest?" Rean was mildly puzzled by Jusis's reasoning. "I can understand Laura and Fie, but who's the third?"

"I think that should have been obvious by now." Jusis reacted with a subtle scoff. "Both myself and Millstein can only claim academic excellence, and Armbrust is explicitly not in our year."

Rean blinked twice, almost failing to catch on to what Jusis was getting at. "Huh…"

The blonde noble shook his head. "Let us press on, and next time, learn how to take a hint when someone is complimenting you."

With that final word, Jusis made his way to the end of the colosseum, with Laura and Fie following suit. Rean, meanwhile, approached Crow and Emma. "How are you feeling, Crow?"

"Better, thanks to Miss Class President over here." He flexed his arms to prove his point.

"Let me treat you too, Rean," Emma said. "This realm was constructed to test your minds as well as your bodies. We can't have you of all people collapsing on us now."

"Thanks, Emma." Rean smiled at the class president. There were a lot of questions he had for her, like how much she actually knew about the old schoolhouse and how she and Celine seemed to be able to communicate despite the latter being a cat. However, given the current circumstances, he decided that perhaps those questions should be best left unanswered until the end of the school festival. Well, assuming that they could get to the bottom of the old schoolhouse in time, that is.

"Okay. That should be enough. Shall we get going?"

"Actually, Emma, you can go ahead first. Don't worry; Crow and I will take the rear."

"If you're sure…" Emma glanced down at Celine, who simply responded with a low purr. After a few more seconds, Emma nodded and said, "Alright. I'll see you outside."

As Emma and Celine walked to the exit, Rean moved closer to Crow and asked, "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Positive! I don't know what came over me earlier, but I swear I'm all better now! Heck, I bet I'll feel even better once we're back with the group, haha!"

"I appreciate the optimism, but…" Rean pursed his lips. "Come on, Crow. We've known each other since the beginning of the year. Also, I could feel your hesitation coming from the ARCUS link. What happened? You can tell me."

Crow scratched the back of his head and sighed. "Has anyone ever told you how much you look like a puppy sometimes? I'm all good now. At the time, well… It's always awkward having to point a gun at a pretty lady's face."

"Yeah. I'll be honest, I didn't feel good either. Especially with how that opponent fought like-" Rean stopped. "Wait, a lady?"

"Huh? You couldn't tell? You should get your eyes checked, Rean." Crow chuckled to himself. "Yeah, that dude was actually a lady. When she looked up at me, her hair started to come loose."

"Really? Maybe it was because I was too far away to tell."

"She was a pretty good looking one, too. Shame we had to kill her. Seriously, this old schoolhouse feels like it's getting a kick out of making us suffer."

"That's overexaggerating a bit. Although…" Rean thought back to the very beginning of the year, when he and the rest of Class VII first stumbled into the old schoolhouse for the first time. Ever since then, it was one wild twist after another. Past Rean would have gotten a headache trying to wrap around how an entire underground arena crawling with ghouls and revenant soldiers could exist underneath an unassuming abandoned schoolhouse. "On second thought, I can see your point. Hopefully, this should be the last time we have to venture down here."

"Didn't you say that the last time we were down here, back in September?"

"This should be the last time for sure. Aidios knows we've had enough adventures in here to last a lifetime."

The two teens shared a well-earned laugh at the ridiculousness of their predicament.

"...And the next thing we knew, we were high in the sky at the top of the tree! And then there was this cool sword lady and another lady that turned into a dragon! Double cool!"

"Orion, I seriously doubt there is such a thing as a person turning into a dragon."

"I thought so too, once. But after today, well, now I've officially seen it all."

Rean approached the trio of Millium, Jusis, and Machias. "What's all this about people turning into dragons?"

Millium waved her hand excitedly. "Hey, Rean! Machias and I were telling Jusis about the enemy we fought at the top of the tree."

"Tree? Oh, right. That plaque mentioned something about the left path leading to some tree of the Earth Mother or something. That sounds a lot more exciting than the arena we went to."

"Really?" Machias raised an eyebrow. "I thought for sure the arena would be more up your and Laura's alley."

"Well, I can't deny that Laura looked like she was enjoying herself, all things considered. But…" Rean glanced at Crow, who was currently conversing with Morgan.

"I heard from Emma that the last fight caused you some trouble. Were the risen warriors that powerful?"

"Oh, that? Nah, they were fine. Just the usual nerves from being down here. No biggie."

"Are you sure?" Morgan leaned forward closer, which caused Crow to back up instinctively. "Also, you've been staring at me for a while. Is there something on my face?"

"Nah, you look fine to me! I was just daydreaming. Random stuff. You know, like…how you might look in a few years!"

Morgan responded by giving Crow a playful shove. "My Trickster, there is a time and place for everything!"

After what he had witnessed, Rean began to form his own suspicions on what exactly Crow had seen underneath the enemy's mask. It certainly correlated with Emma's earlier warning about how this trial would be testing their minds alongside their bodies. If this was one way the old schoolhouse could trick the students into losing their will to fight, he shuddered to think what could happen next.

"We're here," Emma announced.

The entire class stopped in front of the large stone gate. Most likely, the spheres they found were the flames that were mentioned in the earlier message. However, the gate had five empty circular slots, whereas they had obtained only four spheres. How would they find the fifth sphere to complete the set?

"REVEAL UNTO ME THE COLOR OF THY SOULS."

Rean visibly recoiled at the sudden voice speaking to the entire class. It was the same one they heard back at the entrance to the seventh basement floor. Suddenly, the four spheres they had gathered flew out of the hands and pockets of the student who was carrying each individual one and inserted themselves into their respective slots on the gate. The spheres of Time and Fire were placed on the left side, while the spheres for Earth and Water were situated on the right.

"Our ARCUS units…!" Alisa gasped.

Everyone looked down at their respective ARCUS orbment, each of which was shining with the same intense glow as they did when they were outside of the old schoolhouse. Then, a single line of light shot upwards from each of them until they each intersected at a single point, eventually coalescing into a single bright white orb.

"The colors of thy souls will light the way forward," Rean recalled.

"We're linked even more closely through our ARCUS units now," Morgan observed. "That sphere is the proof of the bonds we've forged throughout the year."

The white sphere flew up and inserted itself into the top center slot of the gate, causing it and all the other spheres to light up and reveal the true design of the symbol. An upside down teardrop with the white sphere on top, with four separate descending branches housing each of the other spheres. For a brief moment, the outline of a shield that contained all five spheres appeared before the gate disassembled and revealed another portal.

"THOU WHO WOULDST BE AN AWAKENER, HERE EXISTS A FRAGMENT OF THE GREAT POWER. IF THOU SEEKEST TO CLAIM IT, PROVE THY WORTH."

"I imagine we're getting close now," Emma said. "This next area should be the last. Is everyone ready?"

Rean took one last look at his friends. All the times they shared with each other, all the ups and downs throughout their field studies and schoolhouse expeditions… Everything was leading up to this moment.

"We've come this far together," Rean responded. "Now it's time to see it through to the end."

With a nod shared between all of them, Rean led the way by taking a step forward and letting himself be drawn into the mysterious void.

When they finally reached the other side, Rean had to blink his eyes several times to make sure that his vision hadn't been affected. After all, he and his classmates were the only entities possessing a modicum of color in a field that was completely devoid of it. If the preceding areas of the realm were like lost ruins of an ancient civilization, then the space they were in now could be equated to a wasteland. All around the class were shadowy blades stuck into the sand, left behind by the fallen warriors of some long-forgotten war.

"What…is this place…?" he found himself asking.

"A sea of blades, stretching out as far as the eye can see…" Laura remarked.

Gaius closed his eyes as he breathed in. "The wind is howling… Crying…"

Celine let out a loud "MEOW!"

Emma readied her orbal staff. "Everyone, be careful! Something is coming!"

On cue, the air in front of the students began to disfigure, almost like a mirage was dissipating in front of their very eyes. Out from the anomaly appeared a cloaked figure whose face was obscured by a long hood. It was undeniably human in shape, yet it strangely appeared to lack the purple smoke that many of their previous encounters in the old schoolhouse possessed.

"This is to be our final opponent?" Jusis remarked, trying hard to mask his disappointment.

"It can't be…"

Rean turned around to see Morgan with both her hands covering her mouth. She slowly walked towards the hooded figure, tears beginning to well up from her widened eyes.

"F-Father…?"

Author's note: Thank you all for your continued patience. The idea to include Fire Emblem themed enemies in the final dungeon was something that was recommended to me from a reader a long time ago, and I'm very glad that I was able to work it into the story proper. As one might have noticed, the layout of the final dungeon has changed quite a bit from the base game. The second section used to involve characters destroying crystals corresponding to their weapon types in order to advance. For my version, I swapped the weapon type checks with elemental checks, with the ultimate goal being to gather five orbs to complete the shield pattern and obtain the right to become an Awakener. The idea sounded a lot more clever in my head. (；´∀｀)