Leaving the old schoolhouse, Rean noticed that they hadn't spent much time on the new floor thanks to the entire Class VII helping with this month's investigation, "How about that, seems like you guys can still somewhat profit from the rest of this free day to relax. So, how about I go to make that report to the principal, and you all just go…" Rean didn't even get to finish his suggestion as he saw the looks his classmates were sending his way. Sighing out loud he didn't try to convince them again since he could see that they wouldn't budge on this, especially Alisa who was helping him move, his proposition that he was already feeling better and could move on his own were ignored and it was like that Rean was dragged inside the infirmary of Thors Military Academy.

Though Instructor Beatrix wasn't in at the moment and after asking the receptionist on where they could find her, they were told that she was in a meeting with the principal, but that they should be finishing up soon, so Class VII split in two groups one for giving the report of the investigation and the other to wait for the instructor in the infirmary so that she could give Rean a throughout examination. Sitting in one of the beds the black-haired swordsman could just wait for Beatrix to arrive with Alisa, Emma and Elliot watching him like hawks to make sure that he wouldn't try to leave,

"Come on, you three. No need to be like that, I know the consequences of using that Craft better than anybody. I just need a good night's rest and I will be as good as new the next day." Seeing the three roll their eyes at the same time was impressive since they didn't have a combat link to support them at the moment, "Even if you are correct, just let Instructor Beatrix give you an examination, to give us and the others some peace of mind."

"Elliot is right; besides it doesn't hurt to let the instructor examine you to make sure that there aren't repercussions or other side effects from whatever you did."

"While I appreciate your concerns, there really isn't any need to worry like that, since I just used it for a short moment this time the after effects aren't really anything serious unlike the last time I used this craft which, let me tell you that one got me on bedrest for over….." Noticing just what he was going to say, Rean quickly stopped talking though the damage was already done if the way Alisa's eyes were narrowing were any indication that his big mouth had once again got him into trouble, "Why stop there? Go on, Rean. For how long were on bedrest?"

For some reason the smile on her face right now managed to scare him even more when compared to her usual glares, luckily for him it was at that moment that Instructor Beatrix returned to the infirmary stopping Alisa from interrogate him further though the look in her eyes told him that she wouldn't forget that particular detail anytime soon.

"Good afternoon, students. Your classmates told me that there is someone that needs both a check-up and a lecture?" Following the direction of the eyes of three of the four students led her to the patient, "Ah, Rean so it is you. After reading Sara's reports, I was certain that sooner or later you would show up here, though from the looks of it you don't seem to have anything broken or are bleeding anywhere, which is always a good sign. Elliot, Emma and Alisa did any of you do an assessment of his condition beforehand?"

At that Elliot raised his hand and stepped forward to explain what he had found out and his suggestion for a treatment like they usually did in her class, after listening to him, Beatrix did her own examination and to the relief of the others the results were the same as Elliot's which meant that Rean only needed give his body some rest and he would be fine on the next day.

To make sure that he would rest Beatrix suggested that he remained in the infirmary where she could keep an eye on him until this evening at least, Reans protests fell on deaf ears with his classmates, seeing no way out of this situation the swordsman just took one of the free beds and prepared to take a short nap though after making sure that his classmates left and that they were alone, he turned to the elderly woman, "Instructor Beatrix, would it be possible for me to make a quick visit to the principal and if you could come accompany me, that would also be good since what I want to talk about will need your help too."

A bit surprised at the sudden request, Beatrix looked at him, "Is there a reason why you waited until now to ask? Or rather until your friends left?" Scratching the back of his neck, Rean could only give her a sheepish smile, "Yes, because I don't want them to know about this for now, depending how this goes forward, I will of course tell them about this but until then I don't want them to worry too much."

Giving him a pointed look to remind him of his current status which had his friends already worried, Beatrix thought about his request for a moment but before she could decide on an answer, she heard someone knock at her door, after telling the person on the other side of the door to come in, principal Vandyck stepped inside the infirmary, "Hello Beatrix, I heard from the other members of Class VII, that Mister Schwarzer was hurt so thought I should come by to see how he was doing."

"Perfect timing Principal and don't worry he has just some slight muscle pain, after resting he should be fine. Rean here was just asking if he could go see you." Looking away from Beatrix, Vandyck turned to face Rean who was sitting in one of the beds, "Oh, is that so? Still, it is good to hear that you are fine Mister Schwarzer, your friends seemed quite worried about you while they were making their report."

"There is no need to worry, Sir. I have been telling them that I am fine, it is like Instructor Beatrix said just some muscle pain nothing that some rest can't cure. Anyway, there are two reasons why I want to talk with you and Instructor Beatrix at the same time, but before that how much about did the others tell you about the fight against the floor boss?" Clasping his hands behind his back, Vandyck gave a short recounting of the others report; listening to him Rean had already expected that the others hadn't noticed a certain aspect of the monster during their fight.

"There are some things that I should add to that report, Sir. The others mentioned that the monster used an opening for a desperate counterattack and that I managed to destroy before it could hit, hence my current state but these attacks were headed straight to Laura and Fie and given the circumstances at that moment, they would have been badly hurt if not worse." This made both adults exchange grave looks before looking back at Rean who continued with his explanation,

"I know that these two especially are used to combat situations, so I am not too concerned for them but the others…" Though Rean didn't finish his sentence they got what he was trying to say, "Hmm, certainly until now the reports didn't indicate that they had any real problems in combat situations thanks to the combat links and being in groups helped cover each member from any actual danger, but it is one thing to know that they could be hurt but it is another to see your comrades in at risk of being hurt or worse. What do you think, Beatrix? Can you schedule some time for them to see if they need any counselling? Perhaps we are being hasty with this but things like this are better taken care of as soon as possible."

Taking a moment to go over her schedule for the next days, Beatrix found that she could start with this new task as soon as tomorrow after the classes were done, "There is no problem, I will talk tomorrow morning with Sara about this and get into immediately after school is over. You have spent more time with them than I did, Rean. Do you want me to start with anyone specific or should we go alphabetically?"

"It would be perhaps for the best to start with Elliot and Emma, these two are the ones that are the least accustomed to combat, though I can see that underneath Elliot's sweet image is a steel core when he is needed while Emma is adapting more and more to combat. As for the rest I would say Machias, Jusis, Alisa, Gaius and perhaps also Fie and Laura just to be safe."

"I noticed that you didn't include yourself there, Rean. Do you think that you don't need any counselling?" Seeing the stern look from the nurse, Rean shook his head, "Of course not, my Master is always telling that I could use some but not for this. While travelling with him I saw a lot of situations where I couldn't do anything to help the people there but that doesn't mean that I shouldn't try to."

Exchanging another look with Beatrix, Vandyck decided that perhaps now wasn't a good time to get into that, "Since this was just one of the reasons you wanted to talk with me, may I ask what the other was?" Gathering his thoughts, Rean took a moment to think about how to best explain his concerns, "Principal Vandyck, you were once part of the military, could please explain to me how the military grades the danger level for monster, here in Erebonia?"

Not having expected that question, the elderly man just raised one eyebrow before answering, "We grade them from E-rank to A-rank, the weakest are the ones that even people with minimal training can fight and the strongest are the ones that pose the most danger to the country as a whole, though in the long history of the empire there has been just one A-rank monster to ever exist which was the Dark Dragon. During my time serving as a soldier the strongest monster I faced was 'merely' B-rank which has the power to destroy a town the size of Celdic." Upon hearing this explanation Rean thought on how best to explain how dangerous the monster wolf had been with the grading system the Empire used but, in the end, it wasn't necessary with the next sentence from the principal.

"If you are asking me now, how to grade the danger level of monsters, then can I assume that the Floor Boss was even more dangerous that your classmates were led to believe it was?" A short nod was enough to let the elderly man release a weary sigh, "I thought so, if it helps, I am also familiar with the grading system used in the East. Mister Schwarzer, can you please tell me then what kind of monster you faced?"

"It was Spirit Class, Principal Vandyck." Deep down Vandyck had already expected that answer after having heard Class VII describe the wolf, "I was hoping that I was wrong but to think that a Spirit Class monster appeared in the old schoolhouse." Frowning deeply no one could tell what Vandyck was thinking, coughing lightly Instructor Beatrix managed to get the attention of the other two, "Well, I am not familiar with the grading in the East, perhaps one of you can explain it to me?"

Nodding at Reans unspoken question, Vandyck let the young man explain, "The monsters in the eastern part of the continent are somewhat different compared to the ones here in the West, some researchers believe that it is because of the more barren environment over there that led to the monsters evolving in a different direction when compared to the western variants. Most monsters use abilities like the Orbal Arts humans use, like the Fireball and so on, but like the Arts they need some time to cast them, and that is the main difference between a normal monster and one in the Spirit category they don't need that time, they can use their abilities instantly without any preparation or sign."

Pausing for a moment to see if Instructor Beatrix had any question so far, seeing that she indicates for him to go on, "In terms of physically strength, they aren't that different from normal monster but the fact that they can use those abilities in an instant makes them far more dangerous. For example, the wolf that we faced had an ice ability with just a thought it could summon several ice spikes to attack or ice armour to defend itself from our attacks."

Taking in this new information Beatrix could understand why the principal was worried about Class VII, though luckily they had managed to come out of their encounter without a scratch if Rean condition wasn't taken in consideration, "We have allowed you students to investigate the old schoolhouse because we were told that it would serve as a good training place for your class and to test out the Arcus Unit and while I know that we can't protect you all from every danger, that doesn't mean that we should let young people like yourself walk knowingly into danger."

"That is why I wanted to talk with the principal, while I don't mind exploring the old schoolhouse alone; I also know that if I ever made that suggestion the rest of my class and the facility would never approve it, so I want to ask if it was possible to have Instructor Sara as an backup in case that the next floor boss also belongs to the Spirit Category and that we can't defeat it?"

Upon hearing this question, Vandyck didn't take long before he gave his approval to it, "Certainly, the safety of our students is one of the highest priorities for an Instructor, after returning from the Capital tomorrow I will talk with Sara about this and see if we can perhaps adjust your combat training to try and prepare you in cases there are more such monsters down there. For now, you should get some rest Mister Schwarzer and let me remind you while your classmates aren't happy with your recent actions, we the teacher appreciate the fact that you protected them though please don't forget that you are also a student here."

Done with this conversation, Vandyck and Beatrix left the room to talk with the other instructors about this new information, leaving the swordsman with strict orders not to leave the infirmary, without having taken a short nap to recover.

While Rean was talking with the adults, the remaining members of Class VII had their own meeting inside the cafeteria, after having asked the chef for some refreshments for everyone, Alisa looked at everyone sitting at the table, though it didn't go unnoticed that Fie and Laura sat as far apart as possible without appearing that they were trying to do that, though no one at the table was fooled,

(Honestly, while I can see why they would be upset about what happened, Rean and everyone else have already told them that it was just bad luck that their attacks hit each giving that wolf the opening for a counterattack. Then again it makes sense that they would feel bad about it given what happened to Rean.)

Just the thought on how he had downplayed what he did like it was normal for him to overburden his body, made both her blood boil and her concern for him rise, putting that aside for the moment since she would have enough time later on to scold him to her hearts content, "I know that you all must be tired after what we went through just now but I still think that it would be a good idea to go through what happened while the fight itself was fresh in our memories."

The others nodded their agreements with Jusis speaking up first, "I think that we made two big mistakes in that battle, the first one was that we didn't react immediately after Rean told us to retreat which caused us to lose the initiative and having to split ourselves to open a path to retreat and to fight at the same time. After everything that we heard and seen of Rean, we should have trusted his orders without hesitation, we did make him field leader for the investigation and field studies for a reason."

"It is easy to say that you will follow orders but without enough training and time spent together you will still trip up at times, which is not a bad thing because now we know what we have to work on. Back in the corps the same thing happened with the new recruits but after a while they cooperated better with the older members and something else is that we are normally split into smaller groups, so we are not used to fighting together as a bigger group."

With Fie supporting Jusis argument and adding her opinion to it, the others saw that they were right and talked about trying to come up with some extra training in the old schoolhouse where they could try to work together with the entire class instead of the usual four to five people per group.

Having noted down the times when each member was available for that training Machias brought up the next mistake, "I don't know about you guys, but I think that we were somewhat overconfident entering that place, not to say that having confidence is a bad thing but I for one thought that with the entire Class VII fighting together that there was nothing that we couldn't defeat. Heck, in the back of my mind I thought that even Instructor Sara wouldn't be a match for us all, guess I was proven wrong."

Jusis and Machias shared a look where they seemed to agree on that sentiment since they still hadn't forgotten how easily their instructor had defeated them just before their field study to the Verdant City, "Maybe we were too confident in our abilities, but we can be glad that nothing too serious happened which gives us the chance to change our approach for the next fight and that leads us to the next point. How we can better ourselves so that next month we won't repeat theses mistakes again?

"Gaius is right, in this battle I noticed that besides following Reans lead I hardly contributed to the fight itself, I may have helped with destroying the ice covering the door and pinning down the boss at the end but besides that I didn't much. If I want to avoid that in the next fight I will have to increase my training, be it for my archery, arts or physical abilities." Alisa made a good point that the others agreed with, some of them also seeing the need to also increase their training, from there it was easy to plan out groups that could help strengthen their positions in battle be their arts users, support, frontline fighters and so on.

Looking at his new schedule made Elliot chuckle out loud, seeing the curious gaze of Fie and the others he explained what he found so funny, "I always thought that Rean was overdoing with his crazy practice schedule but looking at mine now and the reason why I am going to do it, makes me realise that perhaps he was right to train that much."

"I wouldn't be too surprised if he somehow thought that he must protect us all during combat situations, he does seem to take too much on his shoulders most of the time. Makes me wonder how he got to be like that."

"You and me both, Emma. Honestly, I am tempted to just write to his mother and ask her again why he is like this, he always takes too much on his own, and did you know that he asked Instructor Neithardt on tips on how to be a better leader in battle and out of it?" This led to Alisa and the others to 'complain' about their classmate with each one revealing a story on how the black-haired swordsman had helped them and others out, for a time the atmosphere was relaxed to the point that even the tension between a certain pair was somewhat eased, that is until a voice called out to them, "Hello, there Class VII. It is a pleasure to see you all enjoying your free day together."

Looking at the direction of the voice, they saw three member of Class I approaching their table two of them were Patrick T. Hyarms and the other was Charles Noir and while they didn't know the name of third one it was easy to see that he had the usual air of superiority that Machias associated with nobles and while Class VII hadn't much time to get to know Charles after he had introduced himself to them thanks to their busy schedule to prepare for the midterms. They were at least on friendlier terms with him when compared to Patrick and the rest of Class I, after exchanging greetings with each Charles noticed that one member of Class VII was missing,

"Oh? Is there a particular reason why Schwarzer is missing here?" Before Alisa could answer Patrick cut in, "Didn't you know, Charles? Schwarzer is the personal servant of the Student Council on every Free Day doing unimportant errands all over town, which is commendable since he is at least conscious of his place here at Thors." Reacting quickly Emma used both her hands to grab Machias arm to stop him from standing up and to snap something to Hyarms though everyone at the table was looking at him with unfriendly eyes. The third member of Class I snickered when saw that, "Well, apparently that servant was seen sleeping in the infirmary just a while ago perhaps he was feeling lazy today and was hiding himself there with some made up injury."

This time it was Jusis who stopped Alisa from saying anything, "Perhaps you should keep your mouth shut before someone else does it for you, though I wouldn't mind be the one to do that." Seeing everybody glaring at him shut the noble up pretty quickly, plus he wasn't stupid enough to go against a member of the Four Great Houses, with a pleading look for help at Patrick who seemed ready to retort back but was stopped by Charles this time, "Now, now there isn't a need for us to quarrel like this, I am sure that Schwarzer was just tired from helping the Council out and just went to the infirmary to take a short break and I am sorry if we have spoiled your mood everyone."

With an apologetic look on his face he tried to calm down the angered students which seemed to work somewhat since the glares lessened a bit, "Hmph, no need to be so considerate to those of the lower class, he isn't even a real noble just some kid that Baron Schwarzer took in. Anyway, we have more important matters to deal with at Noble Salon and Albarea? We will show you and Class VII that we of Class I are far superior to you lot, when the test results are released next week." Without even bothering to say goodbye Patrick turned around and went into the direction of the stairs whit the noble on his heels.

"Sigh, I am really sorry for this, you all. I wasn't expecting things to turn out like this when I called out to you, the reason that I came over here was talk to you for a bit, but I guess that backfired." Still wearing an apologetic smile Charles continued to apologise before leaving them to join his classmates, Jusis looked at his back with an pensive look on his face, (Is it just my imagination or…?) putting that line of thought aside for the moment he looked at the vice president of his class who looked ready to explode, "No need to hold back this time, I am sure that everyone here is thinking the same thing here."

"Where does he get off to talk about people like that? And calling Rean a servant? My ass, he helps out the Student Council because he wants and not because he has to, argh that guy pisses me off!" While Emma tried to calm him down, Gaius looked around to say that everyone was also somewhat annoyed at Patrick even Fie looked offended on Reans behalf, this event brought something to Gaius mind that he had noticed during the last weeks, "Say Jusis, is there a reason that the nobles at school seem to avoid Rean? I mean besides you, Laura and that member of Fishing Club I don't see him interacting with another noble."

Massaging his head at that question Jusis took a moment to try and formulate an answer that wouldn't expose the true reason why most of the nobility of Thors was avoiding their classmate like the plague since it was up to Rean if he wanted to explain the reason behind that, "In the end it is not my place to explain the why because the one to do that should be Rean, if he wants to, of course. Let's me just say that some nobles don't accept Rean and leave it at that." That managed to get everyone's attention, but they also could see that Jusis wasn't going to explain further, "Aidios, Rean can't seem to catch a break now, can't he? To be honest I didn't even notice that the nobles seem to avoid him."

Sweat dropping at Laura, Jusis could just shake his head at her, "That is because you are always so fixed on your training that you ignore or refuse any attempts of the other nobles to spend time you, though I suppose that I am also the same as you even if my motivation to avoid them is different than yours."

After that they soon returned to analysing their battle and making suggestions of how to improve themselves for the next time, sometime later they all split up to either relax, study or to go train. In Alisa's case, she went back to the Engineering building to work on upgrading her Orbal Bow and to let George know that her Master Quartz has reached the third level. Luckily for her Angelica had already left so she was able to work in peace with the occasional input from George, she was so focused on her work that she didn't notice the time pass until the second year had to remind her that it was already evening.

Looking at the time she saw that he was right, so she cleaned up the workstation she had used and thanked him for his help, (Rean should also be leaving the infirmary soon, Instructor Beatrix told me that she would hold him until evening and knowing him, he would definitely try to wander around Campus to see if there are people who need his help. But this time he is going directly to the dorm to rest and perhaps I can also talk to him (scold him) about today and tell him about our meeting, minus our run-in with those nobles.)

The moment Alisa had closed the door to the building was the moment when she saw a certain swordsman near the containers outside the building crouching on the ground looking for something, his search was apparently successful since he stood up while holding something that looked like a sticker?

"This should be the third one, good thing Munk was able to tell me the general direction where they flew to, now I should return them to him, nonetheless I didn't know that Abend Time sold theses sticker, perhaps I should ask him where he got them from…" The moment Rean swung around to leave towards the meeting place with Munk, he noticed Alisa standing by the door with her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed and her foot tapping on the ground, at that moment various thoughts went through his mind along with several escape routes but thinking about it for a moment he could see that any attempt to escape would just end badly for him, so he just smiled at her, "Hello there, Alisa. What a coincidence meeting you here. Were you inside working on your bow?"

For a while the archer didn't answer just looking at him, making him rethink his decision that escaping was perhaps a good idea, "Just tell me, did you sneak out of the infirmary or did Instructor Beatrix let you leave? And keep in mind that I can always ask the Instructor for the truth, so you better come clean."

"Of course, I didn't sneak out! Instructor Beatrix let me leave after telling me that I should take it easy for the rest of the day and perhaps also tomorrow in case my body was still hurt." Alisa started walking slowly towards while he was talking, stopping when she was less than an arge away from him, she peered into his eyes. Deciding that he should be telling the truth, she settled with just giving him a glare, "If she told you to take it easy, why are you here looking around for stickers?"

"Well, when I left the building, I saw Munk, a student of Class IV, looking pretty depressed and after talking to him, I found out that while he was admiring his stickers on the school roof, a strong gust of wind took and spread them around the campus. So, I offered to help him look for them and since looking for them like this this doesn't involve doing anything that would cause my body anymore stress, I thought that it would be alright?"

Releasing a sigh Alisa just thanked the goddess that it was just this and not anything else, "I swear, I can't even leave you alone without you trying to still help people, next time I will tell Instructor Beatrix to chain you to the bed until I can come pick you up. One workaholic in my life is enough, I don't think that I could handle another one, come on let's give those stickers back to their owner and go back to the dormitory. On the way there I will tell you what the rest and I discussed about the fight against the floor boss and what we can do to get better for the next investigation."

Deciding that in this situation remaining silent was probably a good idea, Rean led the way to Munk, putting the bit of information that Alisa had just revealed for later, it didn't take much time to arrive at the meeting place and after Munk thanked him for his help, the two left the campus in the direction of their dorm, on the way there Alisa informed him about what the rest had discussed and what kind of training exercises that they would try out in the future, while leaving the run in with Patrick unmentioned, since she didn't want him to think about that arrogant brat any more than needed which to her meant never.

"You guys are right that it would be a good an idea to train how to fight with the whole class together, but don't you think that you are starting to pile on too much training for you? Every morning you have either training with me or with the Lacrosse Club and then the normal exercises during classes, afterwards combat practice in the old schoolhouse and then you spend the rest of the evening either working on your bow or studying. I think that you should perhaps try to have time to rest…? Is there a reason why you are glaring at me now?"

Eyebrow twitching Alisa tried to supress the sudden impulse to hit the boy walking besides her, succeeding at it she just shot him another glare before answering, "You are the last person here that has the right to say something like that! Your schedule is far busier than mine could ever be, because you do the same training that I do, the only difference is that I at least take some time off after practice is done to relax. You on the other hand go straight to the Student Council to ask for more requests or wander around Trista to see if people need help and don't think that I don't know that you still practice your Eight Leaves Forms before going to bed and after waking up in the morning."

Opening his mouth to defend himself, Rean didn't go very far because Alisa pinned him down with a glare, "Don't even try to defend yourself with the old excuse that you are used to this because that excuse is getting old. Honestly, it is a wonder that you have even time to sleep…wait. You do sleep, don't you?"

"Yes, of course. I sleep six to seven hours at least, every day. I do know how important rest is after training, don't worry." Chucking at that question and on the look on her face, though the archer didn't seem quite convinced that he really understood the meaning of the word rest, she let it go for now since they had arrived at the dormitory but before they could go inside a voice called out to them, "Oh, Rean and Alisa! Did the two of you just got back, too?"

Turning in the direction of the voice they saw Sara walking towards, "Ah, hey there, Instructor. Welcome back." Giving a short nod in return to their greetings Sara made a show of checking out the dorm, "Well, the building is still standing, so I guess you all behaved yourselves. Excellent!" As if complementing them Sara petted both their shoulders while grinning, "Still, if you are only just returning, Rean that means you have really thrown yourself into helping out the Student Council. Still if you spend all your time working, life will just pass you by before you know it!" Giving his Instructor a dirty look, Rean responded in a sarcastic tone, "Alas! If only my evil step-teacher would stop dumping a bunch of work on me and let me go to the ball, my life would be sooo much easier."

The unexpected sarcasm from him made both women chuckle, though Sara's laughter appeared somewhat tired, having noticed that Alisa gave her a curious look, "Did something happen? You look really tired." Crossing her arms Sara tried to calm the blond concern, "Nothing bad. Just been really busy these last couple days. That Toval really needs to learn how to treat a lady, dumping THAT much work on me? I am too delicate for that…."

The rest of her explanation was grumbled too low to really understand everything though they both understood some of the words but to Rean it was the name Toval that stood out the most, recalling where he heard that name the last time made him connect some dots that had been on the back of his mind, Alisa on the other hand didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, though she understood one thing, "I guess your hot date didn't turn out well, then?"

That seemed to snap the older woman out of her grumblings, though it took her a moment or two to realise what her students had thought what she was doing during the entire she way away, grinning widely at that Sara tried to impress them, "O-of course it did! As if a night with me could fall short of unforgettable! He was just amazing. Such a gentleman…. So strong, so passionate!" Holding her hands to her cheeks Sara twirled in place while smiling dreamily, "But I am afraid all the details might be more than the two of you could handle. It is too soon to corrupt your pure, innocent hearts."

Exchanging a look covertly between them, they could both see the doubt in each other's eyes but choose to remain silent to spare the pride of their instructor, though they both regretted it the next moment, "Though if you are interested in learning how to warp Rean around your finger, Alisa. I would be more than happy to teach you how adult women like me do it." Blushing bright red at what she was hearing Alisa tried to respond but Sara didn't even her give a chance, "Was everything ok last night? Nothing major happened while I was away?"

Aware that it was better to just ignore Sara's offer, Rean was the one to answer her question, "Nothing in particular, besides the fact that we apparently have now a caretaker for the dorm, I take it that you were aware of her coming?"

"Oh, she is here already? I have heard that the Reinford family was sending a maid, but I wasn't sure when she would arrive. Sniff, something sure smells good, though." Grinding her teeth at the way Sara had just casually revealed that she had known her mother would send someone to oversee her and didn't say anything to her, the archer had to take a deep breath before she said anything that would get here into trouble, though the worried look in Rean's glance in her direction also helped her calm down, "That would be Sharon preparing dinner for us, as much as I don't want to admit it, in fear of stroking her ego even more, she is a great cook."

"Ohh, I can hardly wait, this Class VII gig has some real fringe benefits! I will have to get her to whip up some snacks to go with my beer later." Whistling Sara passed her students to enter the building, after giving her another concerned look to which Alisa just rolled her eyes, Rean followed his Instructor and nearly collided with her. The moment Sara stepped inside she froze as soon as she laid her eyes on the maid walking out of the kitchen, quickly sidestepping her frozen form Rean and Alisa also went inside.

"Welcome back, Lady Alisa, Master Rean and Lady Sara." Bowing to the trio, Sharon greeted them with a smile on her face, the teenagers greeted her back though their teacher remained in place while her hands slowly inched to her weapons, not noticing what Sara was doing Rean quickly added something else to his greeting, and "You can stop with the 'Master Rean' stuff though, I am not the one paying your salary, after all."

"But that just wouldn't do at all. Politeness towards those I serve is part of the maid's code of honour." Seeing the mischievous light in her maid's eyes, Alisa knew that she would try to tease Rean but was curious how that would go so she didn't do anything and just watched, "Heehee. Or might you prefer something more like 'My dearest Rean' or 'My darling Rean'?"

Surprised at what he was hearing Rean didn't know what to say until he heard a badly suppressed snort from his side, "Whoa-ho-ho, not in front of the teacher please or rather not in front of anybody."

"Of course, what was I thinking?! Those endearments belong rightfully to my Lady Alisa here; do forgive my impertinence, Lady Alisa." Bowing deeply to her charge as if to express her remorse though from the side Rean could still see her smirking while Alisa eyebrows started twitching again, (Not even two minutes have passed and yet again I am being teased this time by Sharon, though that isn't anything new at all. Why does everyone do that with me and him, we aren't anything like that at all…..) Her thoughts were soon interrupted by the sudden chill in the room which came from Instructor Sara; both teenagers looked back at her in shock while Sharon smile faltered for just a short moment before it returned to normal.

Not understanding what was going with Sara, Rean noticed now that while she seemed to appear relaxed, he had the feeling that she would soon spring into fighting mode and her hands were extremely close to her weapons as well, ignoring the chilling feeling being emitted from the teacher, Sharon introduced herself, "It is a pleasure to meet you, my name is Sharon Kreuger. I was sent here to serve Class VII and you as a courtesy of the Reinford family. I will do my utmost to cater to your every need; I hope I can be of service."

Maintain eye contact with the maid, Sara didn't relax at all, "Oh, the pleasure is all mine. Though if you don't mind me saying you look a little familiar. Are you sure we haven't met somewhere before?"

"I am afraid we haven't. You certainly don't seem to be an individual one would easily forget; perhaps you are confusing me with another person. Nonetheless, I look forward to serving you, Lady Sara Valestein."

"Why, thank you, Sharon Kreuger." The tension between these two was nearly palpable, not understanding why Rean decided that perhaps now was a good time for him and Alisa to make their exit, in the end it wasn't needed, "While this is a lovely conversation, Lady Sara. I do have to return to the kitchen to continuing making dinner, if you would please excuse me." Bowing slightly Sharon made her way back to the kitchen, with Sara watching her every move, after closing the door their instructor relaxed a tiny bit but before they could ask what was going on, the older woman opened the door to also leave, "I will just go to the campus to speak with the principal to report that I am back, I won't be long. See you two at dinner."

They could just watch how she quickly left, "Ok, do you have any idea what just happened? Do these two know each other?" Taking a moment to think, the blonde couldn't remember if these had ever meet, "Not that I know of, perhaps Sharon is right and Sara is just confusing her for someone else, though that wouldn't explain Sharon behaviour either. This was the first time I saw her behave like that; normally no matter who she is facing she would never act like that. Maybe I should talk to her?"

Not knowing these two very well, Rean decided that perhaps they should let the adults work it out between themselves, "I don't know, perhaps this will soon pass? These two are adults, no matter how childish or irresponsible Sara behaves; let's see where this is going and if needed, we can ask the others for ideas and if we should intervene at all."

Deciding that he was right, the archer just nodded while he made his way to his mailbox to see if had gotten any letters today, to his surprise he had two, one was in pristine condition while the other had clearly seen some traveling and had more than one stamp on it. He didn't even need to see the name of the sender since the state of the letter was more than enough to know who it was from, the other he saw that it was from his sister, Elise.

(Huh, I wasn't expecting a letter from her; it has been a while since we saw each other. Perhaps I should pay her a visit; I mean St. Astraia isn't that far away now that I am in Trista. Master on the other hand I was half expecting that he would send one soon; I even have an idea what it could be about.) Noticing Alisa looking at the letters on his hand he explained who send them, "Seems like Elise and my Master wrote to me, I wonder what she wrote."

"It has been over a year since I last saw Elise, how has she been?"

"She seemed fine the last time I saw her, back in January, when she was home for a short vacation after that she returned back to St. Astraia to continue her studies."

"St. Astraia is that famous school in Heimdallr, right? The one where they only accept the daughters of nobles and the exceptionally rich commoners?" Seeing Rean nod at her as answer, she also noted that he seemed hesitant whenever he looked at his sister letter, "Is everything fine between the two of you?"

Eyes widening in surprise for a short moment, Rean could only chuckle nervously, "Was I that obvious?" the answer was Alisa just nodding her head, "Well, to be honest when she found out that I was adopted it took her a while until she got used to the idea that the person, she grew up with was just some kid her father found lying in a snowstorm. But in the end things returned somewhat to normal but lately she seems kind of distant again, though I have no idea why."

Not knowing the youngest member of the Schwarzer family well enough to guess what was going with her, the archer tried to change the subject to the other letter, "What about your master's letter? You once told me that he likes roaming the continent on his own, perhaps he is curious on how you are doing at the academy?" Putting the letter from his sister away for the moment, Rean opened the other, "Knowing him as well as I do, he wouldn't ask me how I am doing, he just knows. Heck, I am already expecting him to tell me not to overuse 'Spirit Control' too much after today."

"Spirit Control? What is that supposed to be?"

"That would the technique I used today against the floor boss today." Crossing her arms Alisa narrowed her eyes at him at the same time, "Oh, so that is the name of that craft? Care to explain how exactly that one works exactly? Laura told me that her style also had several such crafts to strengthen a fighter, but besides exhaustion there is not one that would cause such a strain on the body." Looking away from her, Rean tried to think of a way to explain it without giving anything away of the origin of that technique though he didn't need to because Alisa just went on, "Well, I think that this a topic for another time, besides aren't you curious what your master wrote?"

Relieved that this particular topic was avoided for now, he returned his eyes to the latter and started to read through it, it didn't take long for him to finish it since like all letters from the Sword Hermit, this was short and right to the point.

"Hello my foolish disciple, I hope that you had a good start at your new academy and are trying to enjoy your youth like a normal teenager…..Bah, who am I kidding? Knowing you, you are probably spending all your time training, studying and helping out the people in Trista with all their problems no matter how small or big they are. Normally this would be the place where I would advise you to take it easy but after nearly a decade of knowing you, I know that my time would be better spend on enjoying one or two bottles of sake. Anyway, when this letter reaches you, you should have used 'Spirit Control at least once or twice perhaps you were going to used it but then stopped or you used it just for a short moment, so I expect that you remember the rules after you used it, no training for the rest of the day and the next day you should also lay of training. You also should have noticed that you and my other disciples have some visitors running around the western lands. Apparently, they have heard that a certain Golden Fox was seen in that part of the continent, I hope that it is just some groundless rumours, then again knowing your luck…. Sigh, well I pray that you will come out of this in one piece if that Fox is really in Erebonia.

PS: There is no need to rush blindly ahead with the Seventh Form, instead walk slowly to appreciate what is around you and remember Form is Emptiness and Emptiness is Form.

Yun Ka-Fai.

The beginning was as he had expected it, his master even got the number and the circumstances right when he used his power but when he reached the end of the last part, his mouth fell open and released the letter to let it fly down the ground, face palming at the news he just Rean couldn't help but groan out loud while dread filled every part of his body, "Oh Aidios, please no!"

Surprised at his sudden actions, Alisa could just watch while he murmured something under his breath, "Rean? Is everything alright? Did something happen to your master?" Rean turned to look at her as if just remembering that she still there while picking up the letter on the ground, "Sorry Alisa, everything is fine, just fine!" The way he was trying to assure her that everything was fine had just the opposite effect on her and the sudden hollow look in his eyes didn't help him at all. Grabbing his arm, she led him to one of the sofas and made him sit down, taking a deep breath Rean regained control of his emotions while giving the archer standing in front of him a wan smile, "I apologise for that, just got some unexpected news that left me a bit shocked, that is all."

"Do you want to talk about it? I don't know if I will be able to help you out with whatever got you so spooked but after the times you listened to me rambling on about my problems, the least I can do is to offer you the same."

Feeling warm at that offer from her, the last bit of dread faded from his body, "There is no need for that, I am already calm, but I also know that you won't let this go without an explanation, so here you can read the letter yourself to see that nothing bad happened." Taking the offered letter from his hand, the archer read over it and got three points from it though one of them left her a bit confused, "Well, I can see that your master knows you too well, seeing that he nailed down your daily schedule precisely and I take it this 'Golden Fox' is the reason for your actions just now and that it is a person, so is this so called Fox dangerous?"

Suppressing the memories at her question invoked, Rean could just release another sigh, "Only to my sanity and patience." Seeing the still concerned look on her face, Rean tried to elaborate, "That person isn't dangerous in the usual sense of the word unless you truly piss her off, in that case run as fast as you can in the opposite direction." That didn't help at all to lessen her worries, so he went on,

"Just imagine a mix of Sara, Angelica and Sharon personality put together and strengthen it one hundred times in one person and you should have a slight idea on what kind of person we are talking about." Hearing that description made Alisa shiver, as she couldn't even imagine how such a being could even exist, "I just really, really don't want to deal with that person at the moment or in the future at all, so let's hope that for this time I am lucky enough and don't run into her."

Perceiving that he wouldn't elaborate more on this (terrifying sounding) person, Alisa let it go for the moment but made a mental note to revisit this topic at later date perhaps after their field study, "Alright, then let's hope for the best in this case then, though would you mind me asking a question about something else?" Eager to get away from this topic and the memories he was trying to suppress, Rean gave her a go-ahead sign, "How in Aidios name did your master know how many times you used that so called 'Spirit Control' and in which situations? Because I remember how you were going to used it back in Lunaria Park before Captain Claire showed up. If you had written to him about it, he wouldn't be writing this now, so how did he know?" This was the one point that Alisa couldn't understand no matter how she thought about it, since it didn't make any sense.

Chuckling at the confused expression that she was wearing now, Rean explained it to her, "Honestly, I have no idea how he does that, this isn't the first time either. There have other examples like this, for example like the time three years ago where he knew that I had been practicing a certain technique too much even though he hadn't seen me in months. There are several theories on how he does this, but I am going with the one where he reached the point in training that he can predict the future."

Taking a moment to take in what he had just said, the blonde just rolled her eyes at the absurd statement, "Please be serious, Rean. There is no way a human being can predict the future like that, it is just unscientific to even assume something like that."

"Oh? Unscientific? Does that mean you don't believe in the supernatural, Alisa?" Snorting at his question the young Reinford leaned back on the sofa while fixing Rean with an amused look, "Of course not. Nowadays everything can be explained with Orbal Science unlike the way it was before the Orbal Revolution."

Seeing how confident she was at the denying the supernatural, made Rean smile, (Then I would really like for science to explain to me about my Ogre Power, at least she doesn't seem as worried about me as before, though I would bet everything that I own she won't soon forget about this. Speaking about forgetting perhaps I can use this for a bit of fun and to save me from her scolding this time.) Thinking further on how he could use this opportunity his smile turned mischievous for a moment, which luckily for him went unnoticed by her.

"So, you don't believe in the old tales of magic, vampires, witches and demons at all?"

"Hmph, of course not. Those are just old stories to scare little children, I dare you to name one example of something called supernatural that I can't explain using science." Seems like he hadn't even needed to make the offer himself, before he could say anything in return the door opened and Emma, Machias and Jusis stepped inside. Noticing the two sitting on the sofas, the trio approached them, "Hello, you two. Seems like you are feeling better now, Rean."

"Yeah, Instructor Beatrix told me I was free to go as long I take it easy for the rest of the day. What have you three been doing since the old schoolhouse?" Emma and Machias had returned to their clubs to enjoy the rest of the day to read and play some chess, while Jusis took out one of the new horses for a walk outside of the city.

Thinking that perhaps these three could help him out with his plan, "Say, do you guys have some time now to help me and Alisa settle something?" Curious about that the trio joined them on the sofas while Alisa caught them up on what they had been talking about just moments ago, "Sorry, Rean. I will have to side with Alisa on this one because she is right. With the advancement in technology nowadays there is nothing that can't be explained."

Having already expected that Machias would side with archer, Rean looked at the other two; Emma seems somewhat uncomfortable for a moment before hastily joining the side of Alisa and Machias. Jusis on the other hand didn't fall in either category, "While I am inclined to believe that most old wives' tales can be explained with science, I don't think that every unusual phenomenon has to have an explanation behind it, perhaps it just happened that way without having had a reason why."

Perceiving that Machias was going to try to argue that point with the noble, Rean quickly spoke without giving the gunman an opportunity, "Then how about a little bet for fun? I will give you three an example about something that I think can't be explained and you Alisa, with Emma and Machias help will try to explain it with using science. Interested?"

The three exchanged looks with each other while also feeling curious about what Rean had in mind, "Ok, we are in. Since this is a bet what do you propose to use as stakes?"

"(Got you, now to reel you in nice and slow.) How about something that you have been asking for some time Alisa? If you three can explain my example, then I will tell you a story of my travels in the East, where even I must admit, that I had been quite reckless?" With that bait before them it wasn't just Alisa that was hooked the rest were also captivated, "And what do you get if we can't do it?"

Rean made a show on thinking about that, "How about just this time you don't scold me for what happened today?" That got the archer to narrow her eyes since she was sure that he wouldn't have offered this bet if he wasn't sure that he would win but unfortunately her competitive and curious side won out, however she tried to probe him with raising the stakes, "In that case, you will have to tell us what in your opinion was your most reckless stunt until now if you want a chance of getting out of a scolding." She grinned when she saw that he now seemed unsure about this bet which was also noticed by the other three but since they were also curious about this story, they didn't say anything and just waited to see what decision the swordsman would take.

(I feel almost bad about how easy this is turning out to be, but just almost.) Smirking inside, Rean displayed a nervous face for a moment more before seemingly steeling himself to stretch his hand to the archer to shake on their bet, with that the bet and prizes were set, though no one besides Jusis noticed the crafty look in Rean's eyes that had appeared for a second, (Huh, seems like he is pretty sure that he can win this, makes me wonder what kind of unexplainable example he is going to give….wait a moment, could it be? Of course, how could I have forgotten about that place, no wonder he dared to propose this bet.)

Leaning against the sofa, Jusis made himself more comfortable to watch the show that was going to unfold while the rest went over some ground rules, Rean couldn't use anything that happened in the past that wasn't recorded like the legend about Saint Astraia ring that was believed to be an artifact or the tales about witches and so on, it also had to be something that had happened in the last ten years while the other three had to explain precisely how the example could be reproduced using Orbal technology, Jusis had to hold himself back from laughing out loud as he saw how Rean dug their classmates an hole that they wouldn't come out from.

Done with setting the rules, they now waited for Rean to give them their supernatural example, "Then, please explain to me how something like the old schoolhouse can exist or even be reproduced." The silence that followed that statement was soon broken by Jusis since he couldn't hold back from laughing as he looked at the faces of the other three especially Machias, who after regaining his senses tried to defend himself, "Rean, that doesn't count. The old schoolhouse is….is…"

"Why not? It is within the rules we just set, it is something that has happened during the last ten years, and it is being document by us members of Class VII and the faculty of the academy." Even the ever-modest Rean couldn't stop a smug look from emerging on his face, while Machias tried to find some counter argument though it hadn't been even five minutes since he himself had laid the rules he was now trying to bend. Emma just looked somewhat disappointed for a moment before laughing at herself for having fallen for this, Alisa on the other still seemed shocked before falling backwards on the sofa, while face palming with both hands, (I can't believe this! How could have forgotten about the old schoolhouse I was just there some hours ago. Unbelievable, I knew I shouldn't have taken this bet the moment he tried to get out of me scolding him.)

Sitting straighter the archer glared at the boy sitting in front of her who had the audacity to even wink at her while smirking, "Well played Schwarzer, well played! Just for this, the next time I am going to scold you even harder!" That at least managed to get him to stop smirking, but he just shrugged it off a moment later, "This here is a good lesson for you all, don't bet if you aren't absolute sure that you can win." The grin disappeared as he assumed a more serious look, "In this world there a lot of things that can't be explained, during my travels I saw a lot of mysteries that until today I can't expound on. There are a lot of mysteries left in this world that don't have an explanation to them but that shouldn't stop you from trying to find one, like the old schoolhouse for example. But if you try to insist on watching the world in only one way you are only limiting yourselves from ever experiencing what the world truly has to offer. My advice is to try to see the world through unclouded eyes, though I am aware that this isn't something easy to achieve."

Somewhat mollified Alisa tried to at least to see this as a lesson, even if it irked her somewhat that he got out of this without being reprimanded, it didn't help that later in the evening Fie was both impressed with Rean on how he had tricked her and disappointed at her for falling for it thus robbing her of the fun in watching Rean squirming while she scolded him. However, the fact that there was still some tension between the silver haired girl and Laura in addition with the sudden cold war between Sara and Sharon, left Alisa even more exhausted than the trip through the old schoolhouse.

After having come down to the kitchen to see if she could find out what was going with the two older women, she tried to be subtle about it when that didn't work, she just outright asked the maid what was going on between them however like always she hadn't gotten a single straight answer from Sharon.

On the way back to her room she noticed that Rean's light was still on, even though it wasn't that late just a bit after ten p.m., she thought that he had gotten the message that he should be resting, deciding that perhaps checking in on him wasn't a bad idea, though if caught him training he was going to get a scolding no matter what. Outside the door she could faintly hear music coming from the other side, if she wasn't wrong that sounded a lot like the radio show Abend Time which made her think that perhaps he was resting after all.

Knocking on the door, she waited until she heard him say, "You can come in, Alisa. The door is unlocked." Turning the doorknob, she opened the door to find him sitting at his desk with a pen in hand and a piece of white paper in front of him, "Is this a bad time, Rean? I was just going to…" Suddenly she found that she didn't have a reason to visit him since he wasn't training in secret instead of resting like she had assumed before, so to win some time for herself, she asked the first thing that came to her mind, "How did you know that it was me?"

Getting up from the chair, he offered it to her while he sat down on his bed, "I sensed that it was you."

"Didn't you tell me once that while you can 'sense' people, you aren't yet at the level where you can tell them apart?"

"I haven't reached that level, but it was easy to find out that it was you since the others are still in their rooms and yours is the only empty one." Understanding filled her eyes with that, though it also meant that her time was up, and she still hasn't come up with a reason that would explain why she visited his room at this hour besides her suspicion that he may have been training, though she got the idea that he knew why she had come if his amused look was anything to go by.

For a while no one said anything while music played in the background, trying to discreetly look around the archer's eyes fell on the photo standing on his desk which showed him, his sister, his mother and the man in it had to be his father, it had to be a recent one since Rean didn't seem to have changed much, also on the desk was the paper that he had been leaning over.

Noticing how she was looking around his room Rean just let her, since he didn't have anything to hide, till he noticed her looking on the blank paper, "I was going to write Elise a letter in return to hers, however I have some trouble coming up with anything to write to her." Having been caught, Alisa averted her eyes from the smile he was directing to her, "Oh? How has she been, is she doing alright at school?"

"She is doing very well; she has apparently made some wonderful friends and is enjoying her time. Still, she seems quite concerned with me here at Thors, telling me that I should take a break sometime." Chuckling at that statement Alisa teased him a bit, "I wonder why? It isn't like you are constantly charging into danger."

Ignoring the jab at him, Rean waved his finger at her, "Don't even try to sneak in a lecture about me being reckless there, Alisa. Remember you lost the bet." Rolling her eyes at the reminder on what had happened earlier, Alisa feeling a bit childish stuck her tongue out at him which caused him to laugh at her. Feeling relaxed Alisa suddenly got hit with an idea, "Since I can't lecture you, then how about I ask you some questions because there is something that I can't quite warp my head around it?"

"Sure, if you think that I can help you, though I reserve the right to remain silent on questions that can get me into you scolding me, you aren't going to trick me like that, Reinford. I already told you certain stories are better forgotten."

"One of these days, I am going to hear everything single story about you Schwarzer, mark my words! It will happen; I will make sure of it!" The usual sad look in eyes appeared though it was also gone so quickly that if she wasn't already used to look for it, she would have missed it, (Perhaps then I will finally understand why you sometimes looks so downhearted when you think that no one is looking and make sure that it doesn't happen again.)

Shaking his head at her declaration, he looked at her and waited for her questions while keeping his guard up, "Let's start with a simple one, why do you think that it is fine for you to risk being injured to save other people?" From all possible that he thought that one caught him so off guard that couldn't respond for a bit, using his silence she expanded on her question, "I mean don't get me wrong, I am not saying that you shouldn't help people out when they are in danger. What I want to know is why you think that it doesn't matter if you get hurt in the process. Take today as an example you used 'Spirit Control' to defend Laura and Fie from that attack but afterwards you apologised to them for putting them in danger meaning that you think you should have been the only one to fight and get hurt."

"Oh, I wasn't trying to look down on them or on you and the others, I just…" Not letting him finish, Alisa waved his explanation away, "I know that, as do the others too, don't worry about. You seem to think that things are fine as long no one besides you gets injured and honestly that is one of the main reasons why I am always so mad at you when you do something reckless. So, please Rean explain it to me." Watching him trying to come up with a reason why it was fine for him to get hurt and not the others made her blood boil with anger but as she was watching him, she also realised that he truly couldn't come up with a reason meaning that it wasn't because he was being reckless or because of some other reason.

(You can't be serious! Why has no one pointed it out to him that his behaviour wasn't normal until now, his parents or his master must have at least noticed it!) Unknown to Alisa they had pointed it out to him several times in fact but what she didn't know was that Rean had always downplayed his actions because in his subconscious he knew that in the worst case he could use his ogre power to get out of danger not matter how he hated to rely on it, though it was fine, to him at least, to use it if it was to protect others from being hurt.

In fact, it took the Sword Hermit months to hammer that particular fact inside his thick head that if his life was in any danger, he was to use his power no matter if other people were nearby or not, because his wellbeing was extremely important to his loved ones, it didn't matter if he himself didn't think so, he should make sure that they were happy. Since she didn't know anything about his power or the reasons why he hated relying on it, lead Alisa to believe that something terrible was must have happened to him, though she couldn't imagine what kind of event would lead to this.

The minutes stretched as no one spoke, Rean for his part couldn't come up with anything that would answer her question, it wasn't like he could just tell her that he would fine because he could tap into a demonic power if the situation demanded it, "Well, I honestly don't know what to say, I mean I know that sometimes I do something reckless but as you can see I am totally fine, so how about we switch to another question?"

Alisa didn't react to him speaking at all, she was still looking straight at him though the anger that had appeared at the beginning was replaced with an odd mixture of sadness and what looked like growing determination, however he couldn't understand why that combination would appear at all. Standing abruptly up Alisa made her way towards him, the confusion on his face deepened when she stopped just an arge away from him, "Alisa? Are you ok?"

Gently smiling at the worried tone in his voice, Alisa just nodded before she turned around in the direction of the door, "I am fine, and I think it is time for both of us to go to sleep we still have school tomorrow and you still need to rest. So, have a good night and stay in bed in the morning until we have to go down for breakfast, no morning training for you, ok Rean?"

Still confused on what was going on with the archer just nodded and followed her quickly to open the door for her, thanking him for his time and wishing him again a good night, she went towards the stairs while Rean could only look at her walking away none the wiser what had just happened.

Back in her room Alisa just walked towards her desk and took pen and paper, starring at paper while various thoughts went through her head, "Let me try to organise what I learned today, first Rean has a craft that powers him up but overburdens his body in return, given the way he said that he had just used it for a short moment so the damage shouldn't be much, means that the longer he uses it the bigger the drawback is. This means that I will have to keep a close eye on him during fights in case he uses it again."

Writing that down and the other thoughts she had until she reached the last point of what she just learned, "I knew that Rean didn't seem to have much confidence in himself to a certain point but to think that it would reach a level where he doesn't mind getting hurt for others, that isn't normal and indicates a sever lack of self-worth in him. I met both his mother and sister they were very nice people, and I could clearly see that they care for him. Seeing his father smiling in the picture I can assume that he is the same, so the problem is not in his family. That can only mean that something happened when he was younger that led to his lack of self-esteem, perhaps something happened in the East while he was younger?"

It wouldn't be until later in the schoolyear that Alisa would find out that she had been half right with her assumption, something did happen to the young Rean that had cemented this particular trait of his but the true origin of this lay even further back, but that and the incident in the East is a story for a later date. Deciding that perhaps she should make some time to look in the library for some books that could help with this and if that failed, she would try to ask discreetly for some advice from Instructor Beatrix.

"For now, I should just try to be a better friend for him and see if he opens up on his own, I mean after all the help he has given me it is only fair that I should return it, though I can already imagine him saying that I don't need to bother myself with helping him. Well, Rean Schwarzer sorry not sorry but you are stuck with me now for the next two years until graduation and perhaps even further than that. I will make it a goal of mine to give you the help you are always giving others but deny it yourself." With that promise Alisa got ready for bed while thinking that good people like Ream should always be rewarded.

Time passed quickly after the free day in the blink of an eye it was Wednesday, the day when the results from the Midterms exams would be released, Machias had been a twitching mess the entire morning in anticipation for the lunch break where they finally could see the results, after the bell rang, he nearly ran to board. Amused the rest of the class followed him at normal pace, when they arrived, they saw him starring in shock at his results. Walking closer they saw why he and Emma were tied at the first place with 975 points each.

The rest of the class searched for their own names on the board, Fie had managed to place herself at the seventy-two ranks with 544 points, the next one was Elliot at thirty sixth place with 802 points, Gaius at twentieth place with 870 points, Laura at seventeenth place with 895 points, Alisa on the eight rank with 924 points, Rean on seventh place with 932 points.

Jusis was in third place with 952 points, Emma and Machias both 975 points which had them on the first and second place, "Ahahah…" the class president could only just laugh weakly to herself when she saw her score darting a glance at Machias who after recovering from his shock, managed to get a smile on his face and congratulate Emma on her score she which returned now with a bright smile that Machias wasn't too depressed that he hadn't manged to overtake her after having spent so much time studying to reclaim his honour as he called it after she beat him at the entrance exams. The others soon congratulate the pair for the score, though Jusis couldn't managed to resist needling Machias that he was once again second place after Emma since they were tied the teacher put Emma in first place because of her family name Millstein came before Regnitz, before Machias could snap back Fie noticed that at the corner of the board was something else posted.

Guiding Machias away from Jusis, they soon saw that Class VII had the highest average mark score in the entire first year beating even Class I by thirty-five points, "Excellent. I figured that might be the case, considering that we have the academy's top three high scores."

"Hah. You talk as if a class that I am a member of could possibly fail to place first, Alisa."

"Why do you always have to be so full of yourself, Albarea? Don't you know the meaning of being modest?" Before another argument could start Emma calmed them down, "I think we should be proud of what we have accomplished, perhaps we should ask Sharon to prepare something for us to celebrate tonight, what do you think Rean?"

"That is not a bad idea, Gaius. Though every meal that Sharon cooks is a reward itself." The others were quick to agree with him even Alisa, out of the corners of his eyes Rean saw some members of Class I that were glaring at them with dissatisfaction and anger plainly written on their faces, hoping that they wouldn't try to start anything here. Rean invited the other to the cafeteria where he would treat them as rewards for their hard work. Time passed quickly after lunch soon they had arrived on their class for the day, Combat training at the fields where a grinning Sara was already waiting for them as soon as they took their places in front of her, she started clapping her.

"Well, aren't you all the overachievers? Congrats on your amazing performance on the midterms! I will cherish that grumpy look on the vice principal's face forever. That will teach him to poke his nose into my business." Sweat dropping at their teacher statement, Rean tried to cool her down before she got an even bigger head, "We didn't do all that work just so you could stick it to him, you know? Besides, you bring the most of it on yourself."

Ignoring him, Sara went on venting, "Grr…. Always tromping around like he owns the place with that smarmy moustache of his…It is one thing to grip about work, but where does he get off telling me, of all the people, what to wear and how to behave in a bar?! Now he keeps telling me I need to hurry up and get married! The nerve of him, yeah I will marry my foot to your face, jackass….." Seeing that he was too late to stop her rambling on, the class exchanged looks with each and just let Sara get it out of her system since they had also picked up on the fact that she and Sharon had a kind of cold war going with each and perhaps venting about the vice principal would help her out or so they hoped though it was a tiny hope.

Several minutes later she was done and resumed with their class like nothing had happened, "Is everyone ready to leap boldly into this month's practical exam?" Her students seemed ready though, her eyes lingered on Rean a moment longer than the others, the day she had returned and marched right inside the principal office to ask what the hell someone like Kreuger was doing here at the academy and with her students no less. It took both Beatrix and Vandyck quite a bit to calm her down enough so that she would listen to them, after that they asked and ordered her to not initiate an attack on the maid no matter her feelings on the matter which led to the current cold war between these two women.

They had clearly been hoping to distract her away from Sharon with what happened earlier during the investigation, but her anger had fully returned the moment she heard that her students could have been injured or even worse, for all her attitude to let them grow freely without interfering with them, she did care for the teenagers that had been put in her charge. The fact that Rean had been the one to make sure that none was hurt in exchange for overburdening his body and that he asked them to help the others with counselling if needed, which thankfully only one meeting with each member of Class VII was needed to determine that everything was alright with them at least for now.

She felt good that she had made the right decision to thrust him into the role of leader of his class, though she would feel even better if he would also take good care of himself like he did with his classmates, but looking at the others, especially at Alisa during the last days made her realise that slowly but surely his friends were starting to get wise that while he took care of them, they should take care of him since he seemed to put himself quite low on his priority list, Sara was also going to keep an close eye on the swordsman in case he took it too far.

Done reminiscing Sara called out her puppet for them so that they could start the test, seeing it again made Rean recall that flying silver object he and the others had encountered on their way back from Aurochs Fort, "You noticed, too huh?" Glancing at Fie he understood that she had also made the same connection he had, "Yeah. Colour is different, shape is different, yet it seems like that silver one somehow."

"The material, that is what's similar. Perhaps they share the same manufacture, though good luck on getting that info out of Sara I have tried to get it out of her since the first time she whipped it out." Before Rean could say anything else, Laura had noticed them whispering with each other and called them out in concern, "…? Is something wrong?"

Just for Fie to answer back with, "…..No." and turning away from them both, narrowing her eyes at her Laura also faced away from her, (Here they go again…It is bad enough we got Sara and Sharon treating each coldly but these two are somewhat worse no matter how I or the other tried to convince them what happened back the old schoolhouse was just bad luck on their part, they seem to take that failure extremely personal which led to this.)

Refocusing on his teacher Rean was waiting for her to call this month's pairings for the practical exam and just hoped that she wouldn't be foolish enough to put these two together, but before she could call them out, a snobbish voice drifted down to them, "Heh. Well, doesn't this look like fun?" Following its direction, they saw some member of Class I making their way towards them, their member also included two girls who remained standing by the stairs while rest were boys which included Patrick, Charles and two other boys though Rean couldn't recall if he had ever heard their names before.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of this visit? Class I's combat training isn't until tomorrow." Even when facing Instructor Sara, Patrick attitude didn't change at all, though he did answer her after she glared a little at him, "Instructor Thomas' class was changed to a self-study period today, so we thought it was a perfect opportunity for a little…. cross-class exchange, if you will." Stepping besides the Hyarms scion, Charles spoke up, "What Patrick wants to say it that we Class I and Class VII haven't really been able to talk properly with each other outside the few classes we have together, so he thought that a bit of sparring would break the ice between our classes."

Patrick took out his rapier, the other two followed suite while facing Class VII wearing a challenging look on his face noticing Machias wanting to speak Rean stopped him with putting his hand on his shoulder, "Judging by those rapiers in your hands, I am guessing that you all won't take no for answer."

"You are a sharp one, Schwarzer. Nothing gets by you Why not try your steel against some real, human opponents instead of that contraption over there? We would be more than happy to serve as representatives of Class I, so allows us, if you will, to demonstrate the refined spirit and dignity of the Erebonian nobility!" Ignoring his remark Rean and the others turned to Sara to see what her decision regarding this would be, thinking for a moment Sara recalled her puppet.

"Well, looks like I have found today's entertainment! Change of plans, today's practical exam will be a friendly training bout between Class I and VII! The fight will be four on four with both arts and items use allowed. Rean you will be Squad captain so choose three of your classmates for your team."

"Before we begin how about we add some rules ourselves? We should….." Coughing loudly Patrick stopped Charles from saying anything further, "These rules are simply to assure that the members you choose will be 'adequate` for this fight and since we are trying to get acquainted with each there is no need for Albarea and Lady Arseid to join in this fight since they both are nobles. The same goes for the other ladies of Class VII, as gentlemen we couldn't bear to hurt such delicate flowers." The way Charles grimaced made it that he understood that Patrick had managed to anger the girls of Class VII immensely if the way they were glaring at the young Hyarms was any indication.

Ignoring them Patrick was focused on Rean, "This means only Schwarzer, Craig, Regnitz and Worzel are 'qualified' to face us." It didn't take a genius to understand that the way he spoke the words adequate and qualified conveyed what he really meant, seeing the look in his face Rean knew that he wouldn't budge on his so called rules but it didn't mean that they couldn't win this fight and Machias seemed really motivated to join this fight against Class I and adding Elliot as an healer and Gaius as an fighter at mid-range, they had a good line-up to contend against the others.

The four chosen of Class VII stepped forward to face their opponents, "Looks like you are all set, then. Both teams take your starting positions. You will start at my signal and if I see anything underhanded being used, I will stop the fight and that person will spend next week in detention no matter which class he belongs to." With Sara acting as a referee both teams assembled in the positions on the field while drawing their respective weapons, besides Patrick, the other two also used rapiers which wasn't a surprise since most noble were trained in the art of court fencing.

The real surprise came from Charles weapon, it appeared to be a smaller version of Rean's tachi, "Is that a kodachi? I wasn't expecting to see another weapon from the East here at Thors."

"I am not surprised that I renowned swordsman like yourself know about this one, I tried several Martial Arts since I was young and while I also know court fencing, facing someone like you Schwarzer I think I should face you with the weapon I am most skilled in."

"I wouldn't call myself a renowned swordsman, I only knew about them because of my own style." Rean couldn't put his finger on why, but this Charles gave him a kind of bad feeling and it seemed to become stronger every time he saw him and Alisa alone together, looking at his amicable face Rean decided to try and get to know him better after this sparring was done since the others only seemed to say good things about him, but his next words froze him in his thoughts,

"Of course, you are one. You are Rean Schwarzer, an intermediate level disciple of the famous Eight Leaf One Blade School, the last disciple of the Sword Hermit Yun Ka-Fai." He raised his voice as if to make sure that everyone on the Academy field heard him. "While travelling the eastern continent you earned yourself the title of Abareru Oni, the Rampaging Demon!"

Hearing that title brought back the unpleasant memories of the day and the circumstances where he had gotten it, closing his eyes he could still remembers every wound he got that day, the warmth of the blood on his hands and body, the smell of the corpses around him along with the destroyed buildings, the….. stopping himself from recalling everything Rean used Frozen Heart to calm his emotions, though in the end he couldn't stop his hand from clenching around his tachi so tight that his knuckles turned white the only sign that he wasn't as calm as he appeared.

"The Rampaging Demon? What a crude title but then again, I think it suits a false noble like you, Schwarzer." Ignoring the taunt from Patrick, Rean opened his eyes while looking at Charles who still had an amicable smile on his face, "That is a name that I haven't heard in over four years since I returned to the Empire, pray tell how did you learn of it?" There was no outwards difference between the Rean now and the Rean from before but to his friends standing beside him the change was more than obvious which meant their friend had used his technique of the Frozen Heart though they had no idea why since he generally limited his uses of it unless it was really needed they were of course surprised that their gentle classmate had a title like Rampaging Demon, but it didn't really matter to them since he was their friend.

The remaining people on the field were watching eight combatants talking with each, "Rampaging Demon? Wasn't expecting Rean to have a nickname like that, did you know about this, Alisa?... Is everything alright, Alisa?" Looking at the archer Fie could see now that she seemed worried about something which drew the attention of the others, "Still think that this will be a fun entertainment, Instructor Valestein?"

Frowning at Alisa for using her family name instead of Sara, turned her attention back on the field to see what got the blonde's panties in a bunch, focusing on Rean, barely suppressing a curse she could now see the why, "Ok, can somebody tell me what just happened? I thought he rarely used that thing, got any idea why he is using it now?"

"No, but perhaps we should stop this from going further." This got Sara to stop for a bit as she thought about stopping this, which gave the others enough time to find out why these two were suddenly worried, "Don't worry too much, I am here and I will keep an eye on him to make sure that he doesn't go too far with it though I don't like him using that craft more than you do, the few times I watched him using it seemed to prove that he got it under control. Perhaps he just wanted a cool head to deal with that Hyarms brat, I know that I want to throttle him sometimes during class."

"Join the club, Instructor Sara. You aren't the only one here. (Though perhaps the one to watch out for isn't Hyarms but Noire. He made it seems like was singing his praises to Rean but on the other he just revealed something that the other nobles will use against him which makes his already unstable position even more so. I don't know if that was just a coincidence or if it was on purpose.) Jusis watched how Sara raised her arm and shouted "Go!" at the same time it fell.

Activating their links, the four assumed their combat position with Elliot and Machias at the back, Gaius before them acting as their shield while they fired up their Arcus Units, Rean on the other hand dashed towards their opponents while gripping his tachi in one hand ready to unleash an Iai strike as soon as got the opportunity, the nobles of Class I used nearly the same formation as Class VII with two people in the back preparing Arts, the only difference was that instead of having an defender like Gaius protecting them the other two Patrick and Charles ran towards Rean.

Having Rean in his striking range, Patrick unleashed a flurry of stabs towards him, the black-haired swordsman dodged them easily by taking a simple step back leaving the reach of the rapier making it just hit air. Charles used that opening to swing his kodachi at Rean, which he blocked by using his sheath shoving the short sword back, Rean got into position to strike but to Charles surprise he attacked Patrick instead of him with his sixth from, the slash-shaped energy attack was hastily blocked by the fencer though he was thrown several arges back. Not willing to miss the opening he was shown he was going to attack but had to repeat Patrick defence while blocking the Gale Stinger from Gaius, however unlike Hyarms he manged to avoid being thrown back. From there on it turned into a two versus one fight with the occasional help from Gaius to stop them from landing a hit on Rean.

The back line had their own fight going on with their Arts uses, Machias concentrated on attacking with his Earth Arts while Elliot managed to defend or negate their attacks, it didn't take long for the two to realise that thanks to their combat experience and links they had an advantage compared to their opponents deciding to end this quickly Machias decided to run forward to use his craft Break Shot while Gaius intercepted Charles from coming close to him, having succeed in his attacks the arts from the nobles were interrupted while they also suffered from the plastic bullets he had fired at them, done with his Art Elliot unleashed his Hydro Cannon at them which resulted in knocking them out of the fight.

Both wanted to help Rean with his fight now but were stopped by Gaius who thanks to his link with the swordsman knew that he wanted to try and settle this fight alone, though he also made it clear that if saw that his friend was going to be injured, he would intervene. Sending his thanks back to the spear user, Rean fully focused on his fight against his opponents. Patrick while he was somewhat skilled, he also couldn't defeat Rean in one on one, the opponent he had to watch out for was Charles Noire. Since the beginning of the fight Rean could tell that he was holding back, though he didn't know if it was in the hopes of catching him off guard or because he was only there to stop Rean from defeating Patrick quickly.

The others watched how the three students moved quickly using dodges or parrying as defence which in turn were used for counterattacking for a while the fight seemed to be in a stalemate but the longer it went on the more, they noticed that Rean movements were getting sharper and sharper while the other two were slowing down, especially Patrick could be seen grasping for breath. Sensing his chance Rean used the first from of the Eight Leaves, Helix.

Coating his tachi in flames he slashed at them two times while using that momentum to use a rotary motion to start low and end up high while using his Ki to unleash a tornado covered in flames which caught his opponents off guard, since this was just a simple spar against humans and not monsters, Rean had held back on the strength of the flames, their clothes were barely burned and they had just some slights cuts on them which were barely visible.

"Enough!" Appearing in a flash between them Sara announced the winner of this battle, "The winning team is ….Class VII!" Giving her a class smile, Sara glanced at Rean who still seemed to be using his technique; the others approached their classmates to congratulate them. "The victory is ours, well done you four! Seems like our training together paid off, Gaius. You are moving far smother and faster than before."

Returning Laura's smile with one of his own, Gaius thanked for her time in training with him while Fie and Emma approached the other two to praise them for the battle while Jusis and Alisa were making their way towards Rean to see how he was doing. Sheathing his tachi, the swordsman stood before the defeated pair that was still on the ground while his emotions were being frozen, that didn't mean that he had forgotten how to be polite, offering them both of his hands to help them up, "Hey, that was a good fight, pretty intense too. With more training and combat experience I am sure that you all can become far stronger, if we can get another chance, I would love to…."

Suddenly Patrick slapped Reans hand away, while standing up with pure rage on his face, "Get your filthy hands off me! Don't you dare start acting like you are above me, Rean Schwarzer! If the lord of Ymir hadn't taken you in out of pity, you would be nothing! But even he can't change the fact that you are just a false noble without a drop of noble blood."

Patrick shouting got the attention of everybody on the field, acting quickly Emma stopped Machias from running forward who was angered from by what he was hearing though he wasn't the only one, every member of Class VII was openly glaring at the noble, but no one harder than Alisa who seemed ready to tear him a new one, the only thing that was stopping her was Jusis though from the look on his face, it wouldn't take long for him to join her on that endeavour.

Noticing how he was being glared at seemed to further his rage, "The rest of you are no better! Did you somehow think that scoring highest on the exams would mask the fact that you crawled up from the dregs of society?" Facing Alisa's glare head on, he went on, "What of you, Reinford? A family of upstart arms peddler who think that being flush with blood money is all the pedigree they need?! And what of the barbarian and your jaeger-tot? I am surprised that they could even read the enrolment forms!"

He would have continued yelling at Class VII, if he hadn't suddenly felt a sudden chill, looking at the source where it came from, he saw Rean looking straight at him with such cold eyes that managed to make him regain his senses for a moment. To Rean it didn't matter how people talked to him or insulted him but he drew the line when his friends or loves ones were being insulted even when he was using 'Frozen Heart' that type of reaction was a fundamental part of who he was as a person.

Seeing how the situation seemed to worsen, Charles called out to his follow noble, "Patrick, I think you have crossed a line, try to calm down and…." Hearing those words and that patronizing tone, as if he was a child in need of being scolded reignited his rage, "SILENCE! You don't tell me what I can and can't say!" Having had enough of this nonsense, Jusis let Alisa go and was ready to put the Hyarms scion in his place, but he was beaten to the punch by Gaius,

"….I am not sure that I understand. Maybe you can clear things up for me, what IS it about nobles that makes them superior to those who aren't? I won't deny that I am not from this country that is as plain as the nose on my face. Back in my homeland, we don't really have anything like your class system, so the concept is pretty foreign to me. Really, I mean no offense by asking, but I want to know what it is that elevates nobles above the rest of the people."

"The superiority of noble is self-evident! We come from families of distinguished lineages, built on generations of tradition! That gives us a dignity, refinement, and pride that those of common birth could never hope to possess! We represent the pinnacle of man's achievement. THAT is what makes us nobles!" Gaius walked calmly towards Patrick until he was standing right in front of him using his height to lock down on him, "Mm….I see, I have witnessed that dignity and refinement myself. I see it in how Laura and Jusis carry themselves. But that leads me to another question. I can understand the importance of tradition, lineage and dignity, pride…I get why those would matter…"

At that point the usual calm Gaius revealed a hint of the storm that brewing inside of him,"…but where do you think they let YOU get off saying the kinds of things you did? Did you really think that you have the right to insult my friends just because of your background? Where is the pride and the dignity that you are so proud of, in that?!" The intimidating air coming from him, and his height made Patrick suddenly feel small, "I…I…."

"Heh….Gaius raises an excellent question!" Having seen enough Sara finally decided to step in, "I would say this marks the end of our mock battle. Many thanks to the members of Class I for their gracious cooperation." Charles tried to something but was silent by the look on Sara's face, "Oh and just for future reference 'self-study' doesn't mean 'wander around outside doing and saying whatever you want.' That goes for you two over there, too. Back to the classroom with you!" The battle and what happened after made everyone forget the two girls from Class I standing on the stairs that after being reprimanded walked away quickly.

"I have decided that for your combat training tomorrow, I will be pointing out everything that you all did wrong in this battle. I will give you the full, shameful play-by-play, of course, but I want you to really think about what you need to improve on." With frustration plainly written on his face, Patrick stormed out of the field without even a glance back at his classmates, Charles once again tried to say something but was stopped by Sara's glare again, cutting his loses here, he helped his classmates up and left the field, with them gone Rean released his technique though it would be a while before the effects disappeared, "Whew… For a while there, I was worried that things were going to get really ugly."

"As far I am concerned, it already has, Elliot. THIS is exactly why I can't stand nobles."

"Please. Don't you dare place me and Laura in the same category as that imbecile." Deciding that Jusis was right, Machias apologised, "You are right, Laura I am sorry. I shouldn't have implied that you are the same that pompous ass and I guess I can admit that you are just a tiny bit better than him, Albarea." They all could see that Machias was just bantering with the blonde noble, while these two were bickering with each other Alisa kept an eye on Rean. Sensing that she was looking at him, he thought about trying to reassure but since the aftereffects of Frozen Heart were still not gone, he decided against it for now and would try later.

"Thanks for stepping in, Gaius. I don't know how that would have turned out if you hadn't."

"Eh? Not sure why you are thanking me but whatever I did, I am glad to have helped." Clapping to get everyone attention, Sara looked at her students, "Okay! This concludes this month's practical exam; next I will be giving you the locations for your next field study. Everyone take one of theses."

After having received the paper containing both their group allocations and destination, Rean looked it over it was a good thing that he was remaining calm because otherwise he would have glared at his Instructor for these groupings,

-Field Study: June

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

Study Location: Nord Highlands.

Group B: Machias, Elliot, Laura, Fie

Study Location: Bryonia Island-

The others discussed their locations while Rean threw Sara look that screamed, "Why did you put these two together?" which was promptly ignored by her, sighing Rean focused his attention on the members of his group, "The Nord Highlands are beyond the empire's north-eastern borders, are they not?"

"That is right, Emma. They are out past Roer, on the other side of the border. If I remember my history lessons correctly, the highlands haven been home to a tribe of nomads since the age of antiquity. Seems like you are making a trip back home, Gaius." Smiling at Alisa, Gaius couldn't conceal the happiness inside of him with the thought that he would soon return home albeit just for a short time, "Sure am. We have actually planned for everyone in Group A to stay at my home in the settlement. I hope you will all enjoy yourselves."

After that Sara dismissed the class, the students besides Rean left the field, at the beginning Alisa also wanted to stay behind to talk with him, but after he assured her that he was fine and if she wanted, they could talk later she also left to join Laura for lunch.

"So, is there something you want to talk about, Rean? Or do you just enjoy being in my stunning presence?" Ignoring the wink his instructor gave him, Rean cut right into, "Is there a reason why you enjoy putting people together that have tension between them? First it was me and Alisa, Jusis and Machias, now it is Laura and Fie?"

"I just think that things like that are best resolved with putting them together so that they have no choice to either deal with each other or beat each other up until they got it out of their system." Closing his eyes, Rean asked the goddess for patience to not snap back at his teacher, "And if that doesn't work and just makes things worse between Laura and Fie? What are you going to do?"

"In that case, I am going to use my secret weapon." Something in that smile made Rean want to grab his tachi and hit her with it, "And what kind of that secret weapon would that be?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret anymore, right?" Getting a feeling that she wouldn't tell him anything else, he began walking out of the Academy just to stop at the bottom of the stairs, "Just out of curiosity, does that method work for anybody?"

"Until now, the success rate is pretty good; do you know another pair that needs to work it out between them?"

"Actually, I do. So, if after returning from the Nord Highlands, they haven't buried the hatchet or whatever there is between them. I will put them in a closet together and let them work it out like you suggested, Instructor Sara." Now it was Sara's turn to get a bad feeling as she looked at Rean, "Anyone that I know?"

"Don't worry, you and Sharon will get front seats to it." It was just as Rean left her field of view that Sara realised that he had been talking about her and Kreuger, "REAN SCHWARZER, don't you even think to do something like that, do you hear me?! I will give you detention for the rest of your life, if you try to pull something like that!" The yells coming from the field put a smile on his face while thinking that perhaps Sara's idea wasn't that bad he should definitely discussed it with Alisa as soon as he gets the opportunity.