Chapter 6: Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour

"Is…Is this really necessary, Miriel?"

"Exalt Emmeryn said that you were allowed to remain in Ylisse so long as you remain under the eye of us Z-Shepherds…This position allows me to keep a very good eye on you."

"Okay, yeah, but it also makes you look like a crazy woman! Why did you have to bring me here when I was asleep?! How long have you been doing this for even?!"

Robin was currently in Miriel's room, but his first time in a girl's room wasn't exactly going the way he expected it to. The studious Fire Mage had dragged him here in his sleep and strapped him to an operating table. Even with his incredible physical strength, he couldn't break free from the metal bonds she had wrapped around his arms and legs.

Miriel looked up from a book that she was writing notes in and stared in Robin's general direction. "It was my understanding that you wouldn't permit me to conduct these tests while you're conscious. So, I took the liberty of bringing you here while you were asleep. Was I mistaken in my assumption?"

"Well, no…But you really shouldn't conduct experiments on people who haven't given their consent in the first place!" Robin shouted out in response, before sighing. "And why do you even want to experiment on me, anyways? I don't have a tail anymore, so I'm just as normal as you and the rest of the Z-Shepherds!"

"On the contrary, you are far more different then one would initially think," Miriel promptly responded as she went back to scribbling down notes in her notebook. "Your extraordinary strength remains an area of great interest for my research, and there's also the matter of your missing memories. I was considering that, perhaps, in exchange for allowing me to conduct experiments, I could investigate aspects of your past and try to uncover something of significance."

"Oh, dang, you'd do that for me, Miriel?! Thanks!" Robin eagerly smiled, before pausing and sighing. "I still don't like being poked and prodded like a guinea pig, though…"

"I will make a note of that, Robin."

As Miriel went back to her research, Robin grumbled and looked around at Miriel's room. It was a bit more spacious compared to his, but at first glance you'd think it was way smaller considering how cramped it was. There were multiple inventions strewn all over the place, and there were also multiple experiments that Miriel was conducting simultaneously. The parts of the room that didn't have some sort of invention instead had bookshelves upon bookshelves filled with notes that Miriel had previously taken.

While his mind wandered, a thought popped into Robin's head.

"Say, Miriel, where's Bulma? I thought the two of you would be conducting these experiments together…"

"Under normal circumstances perhaps so," Miriel shrugged as she walked over to the window and pushed it open. "However, thanks to the Exalt's orders that all of us Z-Shepherds have to increase our training, these are very much not normal circumstances…"

Just like Robin's room, Miriel's window offered her a view of the training area, and even from his position lying down on the operating table, Robin could see that all of the Z-Shepherds were hard at work training their butts off.

Stahl and Sully were locked in an intense sparring match, Vaike was running laps around the entire training area causing a huge cloud of dust to get kicked up into the air, and perhaps most humorous of all, Frederick was currently teaching Lissa, Maribelle, and Bulma how to fight.

Lissa had a wooden axe in her hands that she was swinging erratically, Maribelle was holding a wooden lance that she was actually doing a decent job of swinging, and Bulma was holding a wooden sword that she wasn't even holding properly. Frederick seemed like he was losing his mind trying to teach those three.

"Heh, now that's a sight you don't see every day," Robin snickered, before quickly shaking his head. "Actually, I take it back. Frederick's been training us like crazy for the past week, ever since that mission with the bandits…"

"Indeed. You are lucky that I saved you from 'Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour' to conduct experiments on you," Miriel replied as she walked up to a calendar and narrowed her eyes at it. "Since Frederick doesn't know magic very well, I have been mostly spared from his wrath, and I have extended that same luxury to you today as well."

"Yeah, yeah. Quit trying to convince me that letting myself be your lab rat is a good thing," Robin sighed, rolling his eyes. He then caught sight of the calendar that Miriel was looking at and raised an eyebrow. The date was currently April 29th, and the year was 989 AS…

It had only just dawned on Robin that he had no idea how the calendar system worked thanks to his amnesia.

"Say, Miriel? What does AS stand for?"

Miriel looked back from her work and flashed Robin a very confused expression briefly. However, realization quickly dawned on her face and she nodded. "Ah yes, you have amnesia. I was wondering how it was possible for someone to not know what the Schism is…"

"Schism? So it means 'After Schism'?" Robin inquired. "If you don't mind pausing your experiments, could you explain to me what that means exactly?..."

"I suppose it would be important for you to know this information so that you can actually be a functional member of society," Miriel sighed as she slammed one of her notebooks shut and nodded. "Very well. A short break. Let us begin…"

The Fire Mage snapped her fingers and, immediately, a huge chalkboard appeared out of nowhere. She pulled a piece of chalk out of her robes, and then began to scribble notes down onto the chalkboard.

"1000 years ago, the world was in a very dangerous period called 'The Age of Darkness'. Every single part of the world was seemingly being besieged by some sort of trouble. For example, the One Kingdom of Valentia, which had ruled over the continent of Valm for hundreds of years, was dissolved, and here in Archanea, a being known as 'The Fell Dragon Grima' was awoken from a slumber that lasted for hundreds of years," Miriel explained, drawing an incredibly scary-looking dragon onto the chalkboard. For some reason, Robin felt that he had seen the dragon somewhere. "Grima completely ravaged the continent, and every single country that existed in that period of time was burnt down to the ground."

"Okay, so there were bad guys in every single place on earth," Robin surmised. "So shouldn't it be called, I don't know, 'After Age of Darkness' or something?"

Miriel simply stared at Robin emotionlessly for a few seconds, before continuing.

"In a far-off continent called 'Elyos', another Fell Dragon appeared named 'Sombron'. Just like how Grima ravaged Archanea, Sombron ravaged Elyos. Eventually, the two Fell Dragons learnt of each other's existence and arranged a meeting. Things went south very fast, and they had an incredibly brutal battle. According to legend, their punches towards each other were so powerful that reality itself trembled. The earth's geography was permanently altered, which is why scientifically impossible things like snowy countries existing next to deserts can happen. Many continents and countries were destroyed, and this was the darkest period of the 'Age of Darkness'."

"And I'm guessing this 'rewriting of reality' caused the 'Schism'?"

"Indeed. Humanity was effectively restarted, and multiple new borders were drawn. No country before the Schism exists today," Miriel sighed. "Ylisse was one of the many countries that was formed shortly after the Schism."

Robin furrowed his brow. "So…If these 'Fell Dragon' guys were so strong, how were they even defeated in the first place?"

"Well, here in Archanea, the ancestor of Chrom and Lissa, 'The First Exalt', was responsible for defeating Grima. He teamed up with a goddess known as 'Naga', whom our people still worship to this day, and had an enchanted sword called 'Falchion' bestowed upon him. With Falchion in hand, he was able to put Grima to an eternal slumber and founded the kingdom of Ylisse shortly after."

"And how was Sombron beaten?"

"I am more well-versed in Archanean history, so I may get some details wrong, but from what I can understand, in Elyos they brought back heroes from thousands of years ago to help them fight Sombron. These heroes were brought back in the form of 'Emblems' and were connected to special objects called 'Emblem Rings'. When someone put on an Emblem Ring, they were granted extraordinary powers. In total, there were 16 Emblems, and 16 Emblem Rings to go along with them," Miriel sighed. "One of the Emblems, 'Emblem Marth', is actually an ancestor of the First Exalt himself, and is thus related to Chrom and Lissa. We are all truly connected in strange ways…"

"I saw a photo of 'Emblem Marth' and 'Emblem Palla' back at the royal palace. I'm guessing they must've visited Ylisse at some point," Robin thought to himself. "I wonder what they're up to nowadays?"

Before Robin could open his mouth to ask Miriel another question, the door to the room was suddenly swung wide open, and Chrom strode in with a smile on his face.

"Oh, Miriel! There you are! Have you seen Robin?" the prince asked. "I was hoping I could train with him and-"

Before he could finish his sentence, he spotted the cloaked boy strapped to the operating table, and promptly shut his mouth. Robin mouthed 'Help me' to the prince, and Chrom raised an eyebrow at Miriel.

"Uh, Miriel? What in the world are you doing?"

"Conducting research, milord," Miriel replied with a small curtsy. "Did you need Robin?"

"Um…Yeah. I kind of wanted to train with him, if that's alright," Chrom responded carefully, hoping to get Robin out of the situation that he was currently stuck in.

The Fire Mage narrowed her eyes at Chrom, but after a few moments she sighed and snapped her fingers. Immediately, the bonds surrounding his arms and legs vanished and Robin was free to jump down onto the ground. He was hoping to land on his feet, but thanks to the loss of his tail, his sense of balance had totally been screwed up and he promptly ended up landing on his face instead.

"Thanks, Chrom," Robin grumbled from the ground, giving the blue-haired boy a thumbs up.

"I suppose I've gathered enough data for today," Miriel sighed, beginning to tidy up her notes. "Frederick will likely be calling for me any moment now, so I should probably go and feign that I've been diligently training my magic all this time..."

Miriel cleaned up her experiments and then left the room, and Chrom took the opportunity to help Robin up to his feet.

"There are better places to take a nap then on Miriel's operating table, you know," the blue-haired prince smirked as the two of them left the room.

"That wasn't funny the first time you did it, and it isn't funny now," Robin sighed in response as he dusted himself off, before raising an eyebrow. "Anyways, was what you said true? You want to train together?"

"Yeah, I don't think we've really had the opportunity to do so until now," Chrom responded as the duo made their way downstairs. "Vaike kept on challenging me to sparring matches, and you know how he gets when he doesn't get a fight that he wants…But today Frederick made him run laps for insulting him, so I was free to come and find you. You're the only martial artist I've ever met, but I still need to be prepared for any kind of opponent if I want to keep the people of Ylisse safe!"

"Of course you do…" Robin sighed as the two of them made their way to the training area. "Have you made any progress on that 'Aether' technique that you used to cut my tail off, by the way? Lissa was telling me it was very impressive..."

Chrom winced at the way Robin said that, before shaking his head. "Unfortunately, no. Whatever activated inside of me back then isn't activating anymore, but I'm determined to-"

Before Chrom could finish his sentence, Frederick's booming voice cut through the field.

"Ah, Robin! How good of you to finally join us!" the knight shouted, raising his hands to the side. "I hope you haven't forgotten…But it is time for FREDERICK'S FANATICAL FITNESS HOUR! And you know how strict I am with this! Where have you been? Napping the day away?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I woke up on an operating table in Miriel's room?" Robin asked hopefully. His stomach then rumbled, and he let out an annoyed groan. "I haven't even had any breakfast…"

Frederick stared at Robin for what seemed like an eternity, before shrugging and turning towards Bulma, who almost chopped Maribelle's head off because of the way she was holding her sword. "Hmph. Very well, then. Have a sparring match with milord Chrom, and then you may go get something to eat. You may also have my sympathies."

As Frederick walked away, Robin sighed. "He still doesn't trust me…"

"You did turn into a huge monster and almost killed all of us," Chrom pointed out with a shrug as he grabbed a wooden sword from a nearby weapon's rack. The prince swung it around a few times to get a feel for the weapon, before smirking. "But hey, I can tell you're growing on him. Give it time."

Robin settled into a fighting stance and snickered. "Whatever you say, Chrom. I just want to go and get something to eat, so let's get this over with!"

The two boys stared at each other, the tension in the air so thick that you could cut it with a knife. At that moment Vaike fell over on his face and let out a pained groan, and Chrom decided to take that as a signifier for the match to begin.

The prince dashed forward and swung his blade with wild fury, and Robin quickly weaved from left to right while walking backwards in response, evading all of the incoming strikes.

After covering some distance, Robin grabbed the wooden blade with his bare hands and yanked it towards himself, causing Chrom to stumble forwards and catching him off-guard. Robin smirked and quickly kneed Chrom in the stomach, knocking the air out of the prince.

As Chrom took a few steps back and dropped his sword to grab at his stomach, Robin dashed in and pushed his advantage. Chrom saw this coming from a mile away, however, and quickly jumped out of the way once Robin got close to him.

The prince tumbled over the dirt floor, grabbed his wooden sword, and then swung at Robin.

"Take…THIS!"

The wooden weapon swung and collided into Robin's side but, instead of harming him, it ended up exploding into hundreds of tiny wooden splinters that scattered all over the field.

Chrom blinked twice as he held the former weapon up to his face, inspecting the damage.

"Yikes, I keep on forgetting that your body is basically indestructible," Chrom sighed, tossing the weapon away. "That sword's as good as trash now…"

Robin smirked and pointed at the blade hanging at Chrom's waist. "You've got another weapon right there…Why don't you use it?"

"Falchion? No, of course not. I can't use it in a sparring match," Chrom chuckled, quickly shooting down the idea. "You might get hurt."

"You just saw a sword smash itself into millions of tiny pieces upon contact with my body," Robin deadpanned. "I'll be fine!"

"A wooden sword," Chrom pointed out. "Falchion is a mystical blade-"

"That was blessed by a goddess and used by your ancestor to defeat a mad dragon and found the country you are now the prince of. Yeah, Miriel explained it to me," Robin cut the prince off. He then raised an eyebrow at the storied blade. "You really think it can cut me?"

Chrom chuckled and nodded his head. "Probably…But I don't think I want to find out right now. Come on, Frederick's distracted. You want to go and get something to eat?"

Robin's stomach rumbled at that exact moment, and he eagerly nodded his head. "Hell yeah! Let's go!"

The two boys secretively left the training area, leaving the others behind. Under normal circumstances Frederick would have noticed that they were escaping from 'Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour', but he was currently too busy yelling at the healers and Bulma…

"NO, BULMA! YOU HOLD IT FROM THE HILT! THE HILT! AND LISSA, STOP SWINGING THAT AXE AROUND LIKE THAT! YOU'RE GOING TO-"

"Whoops! Hehe! Sorry, Kellam! I didn't even notice that you were standing there!"

"My head would be cracked wide open right now if this axe wasn't made of wood…"

Robin and Chrom were now in the cafeteria, and Robin was chowing down on some leftovers that they had from the previous night. Sully was on cooking duty, so the food tasted absolutely horrendous, but Robin was so hungry that he honestly didn't care.

"I wish Bulma was on food duty every day. She's rich enough to just order outside every time," Robin said in-between bites, tears flowing down his face because of how gross it was. He then suddenly stopped what he was doing out of nowhere and raised an eyebrow at Chrom. "Wait, you're the prince! Why aren't we eating good every single day?!"

"Emm gave us a fixed budget for Z-Shepherd operations," Chrom shrugged, before promptly biting into a piece of burnt chicken and wincing. "Ugh, but we do need to do something about the food situation…"

Robin nodded and looked back down at his plate. He was about to continue eating, but the hairs on his arm suddenly all stood up and he felt a tingle run down his spine. The white-haired boy quickly pushed his seat back and jumped up to his feet, causing Chrom to raise an eyebrow.

"Robin? Is everything-"

Before he could finish his sentence, Robin dashed towards a nearby table before immediately falling over on his face. He still wasn't used to running around without his tail anymore…

"Robin, seriously, what's gotten into you?" Chrom sighed as he helped his friend up. "It isn't like you for you to just-"

He froze as he spotted a young boy hiding under the table that Robin had fallen over next to.

"I…Ow…Detected this guy," Robin grumbled as he got up to his feet and dusted himself off. "It's only been a week since Exalt Emmeryn allowed us to become official, and we're already being infiltrated!"

"We're not being infiltrated, Robin. That's just Ricken," Chrom sighed in annoyance, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I already told you you're not allowed to be here, Ricken! Get lost!"

"But Chrooooooooom!" the young boy pouted as he crawled out from under the table and jumped up to his feet. He appeared to be younger than even Lissa was. "I've been practicing my Wind Magic like crazy, and I've got the potential to be one of the greatest Wind Mages in history! My tutors said so! I could totally help you out on your missions in ways that you can't even begin to imagine!"

Chrom groaned. "I understand that, Ricken, but your father would absolutely kill me and Emm if I let you go on a mission without his express permission, and we all know he wouldn't let you go in the first place anyways."

"That's ridiculous! You let BULMA go out on missions, and she can't even defend herself!" Ricken shouted in response. He was really short, and had dark orange hair. He was wearing a blue robe, and just like Miriel he was wearing a comically oversized hat. "Pleeeeeeease, Chrom?!"

"Frederick is training Bulma. That mistake's being rectified," Chrom quickly responded as he crossed his arms. "Now get out of here and go home before I call your dad. You wouldn't want me to do that after what happened last time, do you?"

The boy opened his mouth to respond, before promptly clamping it shut and groaning instead. He quickly turned around and began to stomp away.

"UGH! This is ridiculous! I'm going to make you change your mind, Chrom! Mark my words! You'll regret rejecting me!"

Robin waited for the boy to actually leave the building before raising an eyebrow at Chrom. "…Who the hell was that?"

"That's Ricken. He's the heir to House Merric, yet another one of Ylisse's noble houses," Chrom sighed, shaking his head as he went to go and get his burnt chicken. "He's a good kid, and he wasn't lying when he said he has the potential to be one of the best mages in the history of our country. Normally I'd accept him into the Z-Shepherds with open arms, but..."

"But?..."

"But his father absolutely despises Emm and doesn't want him going anywhere near me or the Z-Shepherds," Chrom chuckled, shaking his head. "Back when our father, the previous Exalt, was in power, a lot of funding was put into the military. And the noble house that Ricken is a part of, House Merric, flourished a lot because of this. They are known for their powerful Wind Mages, and despite the many possible applications of magic, they mostly focused on offensive spells. When Emm came into power and started defunding the military, House Merric took a big blow that they haven't really recovered from. Ricken's father wants Ylisse to return to being a warmongering country, and doesn't want his son to do anything with us until he can find a way to get what he wants…"

"That sounds like a problem waiting to happen. You should do something about it," Robin advised as he sat back down and began to eat his food again.

"I agree with you, but Emm's still clinging to her peaceful ideals," Chrom clicked his tongue. "It would be ten times easier to just put a sword in that bastard's gut and be done with it…"

Robin winced. "A little too violent, don't you think?"

"So long as it protects the peace of Ylisse," Chrom shrugged with a smile. "But then again, I suppose it would cause some pretty terrible repercussions…"

"You think?! All of the other nobles would be absolutely pissed that you just casually killed one of their own off," Robin pointed out. "And there are…Uh, how many nobles are there again?"

Chrom shrugged in response. "You're better off asking Maribelle something like that. She cares way more about the nobility then I ever could. There are ten noble houses in Ylisse, though. And they're all pretty massive…"

"I know of Lowell, Briefs, Merric, and Themis," Robin responded, counting them off on his fingers. "The royal family, and then the ones that Bulma, Ricken, and Maribelle belong to. What are the others?"

"Cecil, Est, Claive, Ox, Reese, and Wrys," Chrom quickly listed them off. "Sully is a member of House Cecil…And you remember Sumia, right? From the mission we went on? She's from House Est, I believe. However, honestly, I feel like noble houses don't really matter in the grand scheme of things. I mean, whoever your grandfather was doesn't affect your ability to swing a sword!"

"Chrom really is an atypical prince," Robin thought to himself in disbelief, before quickly shaking his head and snickering. "Don't let Maribelle hear you say that, Chrom. She'd probably murder you!"

Before the conversation could continue any further, Frederick suddenly burst into the room from out of nowhere with a crazed expression on his face. The knight was holding a huge steel lance in his hands that he seemed just about ready to thrust at Robin.

"MILORD CHROM! DID ROBIN CONVINCE YOU TO ABANDON 'FREDERICK'S FANATICAL FITNESS HOUR'?! THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE!" Frederick roared as he began to take a few steps towards Robin. "I swear on my honor as a knight, I will not allow-"

"Frederick, calm down! We just came here to get some food. It's not good food…But it's food nonetheless," Chrom interjected, raising a hand to silence the knight. "You said we could do so after our sparring match was done?..."

Frederick blinked twice, before sighing and putting his lance away. "Yes, milord. It simply slipped my mind. Anyways, I have a message for you from the palace. Lady Emmeryn and Captain Phila apparently wish to see all of the Z-Shepherds at once!"

"A summons from Emm? I wonder what she wants?" Chrom wondered aloud, looking at Robin who simply shrugged in response. "Hopefully she has a mission for us…She's had us training here for a week now, and I want to go out and hit something!"

The Z-Shepherds all quickly put their training supplies away, and then began the relatively short trek to the royal palace to see what Emmeryn wanted…

The Z-Shepherds were now in the royal throne room, and after the appropriate greetings were made, Chrom cut to the chase.

"So, do you have a mission for us, Emm?" the prince asked with a smirk, cracking his neck from left to right. "We've been training hard this past week, and we're ready for anything you throw at us!"

"I'm glad you feel that way, Chrom," Emmeryn smiled in response from atop her throne, before glancing at Phila, who was dutifully standing at her side. "I shall allow Phila to explain the contents of your 'mission', because it was her idea in the first place…"

"Thank you, your grace. You are far too kind," Phila bowed towards the ruler, before turning to the Z-Shepherds. She proceeded to pull out a scroll, and tossed it to Chrom. The prince easily caught the paper, and then looked down at what was written on it.

"World…Fighting…Tournament," the prince slowly read the title, before looking up at Phila in confusion. "Um, what is this?"

"An advertisement for exactly what you just read, milord," Phila responded with a smile. "It's a special tournament held in the neighboring country of Regna Ferox every four years. Participants from all across the world come together and fight for the title of 'Strongest Fighter Under the Heavens'…As well as for a cash prize of 500,000 gold pieces! The 21st World Fighting Tournament is coming up, and it was decided that you all will go and participate in it to see how far your training has come. You are allowed to use any fighting style or weapon you wish in this competition, so as a result this could be a good opportunity to fight all sorts of people from all over the world with techniques and styles that you'd normally never see. It starts off with a battle royale involving everyone who signed up, and said battle royale will continue until there are 16 people left. From there, matchups are drawn randomly from a box and the true tournament begins to decide the winner! It is rather simple, really."

"Regna Ferox? I think I saw it on a map in Miriel's room," Robin thought to himself. "Plegia borders Ylisse to the west, and Regna Ferox is a huge nation to the north that borders both Plegia AND Ylisse…"

"A fighting tournament, eh? I'll admit I was hoping for something a little more…Dangerous," Chrom sighed as he rolled up the scroll and handed it to Frederick, who quickly pocketed it. "When's it going to take place?"

"It will begin on May 7th and will be in the capital city of Regna Ferox, milord. We have already made the necessary preparations for you to reach there on time," Phila explained. "The border guard of Regna Ferox will know that you are coming, and from there you will receive a carriage that will take you directly to the capital. You should get there on time, and we've also arranged some funds to help you out on your journey should you need it. Unfortunately, you'll have to hike up to the border on your own…"

"That's fine. It'll make for good training," Chrom sighed, rolling his shoulder. He then turned to the other Z-Shepherds. "What do you guys think?"

"Regna Ferox? I've never been there before!" Bulma responded starry-eyed. "I've heard the men there are incredibly muscular…To see them with my own eyes is a dream come true! I can't wait!"

"I, meanwhile, have heard that Regna Ferox is filled to the brim with barbarians who respond to absolutely everything with violence," Maribelle huffed, crossing her arms under her chest. She then shot a glare at Phila. "On top of that, I'm afraid I have a…'Previous engagement' with my father on the 6th of May. I will not be able to come, 'unfortunately'."

"There's no need to lie, Maribelle. This mission isn't mandatory," Phila sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "It's just to expand your guys' horizons. Obviously, it'd be a loss in my opinion if you didn't go, but it's ultimately your decision."

The Z-Shepherds all looked at each other and began to whisper. After a few moments, they turned to Phila and Emmeryn with excited looks on their faces.

Everyone, apart from Maribelle, had agreed on going on the mission.

"That's wonderful to hear. I'm glad you've agreed to do this," Emmeryn smiled, before quickly clearing her throat. "But, before you go and pack your bags, you must know that you will also be accompanied by someone else on this mission."

Before anyone could ask who it was, the doors to the room swung open and Sumia, the Pegasus Knight that the group had met on the fortress mission, ended up tripping into the room. Her friend Cordelia ended up casually strolling in behind her.

"Oh, this is so embarrassing…I tripped in front of the Exalt herself…" Sumia whimpered as she quickly jumped to her feet and scurried over to Phila's side, covering her face with her hands. "I'm such a klutz…"

"Don't worry, Sumia. I don't think she noticed," Cordelia consoled her friend. "And besides, it's not like-"

The redhead immediately stopped talking when she spotted Chrom, and her face proceeded to turn as red as her hair.

"…Pr-Prince Chrom! Hi. It's good to see you..."

"Oh, Cornelia. Hello," Chrom waved.

Before the Pegasus Knight could correct the prince, Phila cleared her throat.

"You all are already familiar with Cordelia and Sumia. They're the newest members of the Pegasus Knights, and you met them during the fortress mission," Phila quickly explained. "This mission was too good of an opportunity to pass up, so Sumia will be accompanying you and participating in this tournament as well. I hope you do not mind."

Chrom quickly shook his head. "No, of course not, Phila. We'd be glad to have her."

"Travelling to another country with the prince…How romantic!" Cordelia excitedly thought to herself, shaking with excitement. However, after thinking about what her captain had said for a few moments, she raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Um, Captain Phila? You said Sumia would go with them…But what about me?"

"Oh, I actually brought you here because I wanted to station you on the border, Cordelia. I hope you don't mind," Phila replied, her facial expressions totally neutral.

In Cordelia's vision, however, Captain Phila looked like a devil at that moment...

"Yes, Captain Phila. I don't mind AT ALL..." the crimson-haired girl grumbled as she spun around and began to scurry away. "In fact, I'm going to go there right now! UGH...Have fun, Sumia..."

As Cordelia marched away, Chrom turned his attention back to Emmeryn and Phila.

"…Okay, so will that be all? Because if so, I think we should be heading back to the headquarters and packing up our bags."

"Yes, that will be all. You may be excused, Chrom," Emmeryn replied with a warm smile. "And good luck in the tournament, everyone. I'm sure you will all perform wonderfully!"

Everyone bowed in response, before turning around and exiting the room. As they did so, everybody excitedly began to whisper amongst themselves.

"Man, I can't wait to win this whole thing!" Vaike excitedly cheered, pumping his fist into the air.

"The fact that I'm in it is pretty much proof that you're going to come at least second place, bonehead," Sully snickered in response.

"Hey, Lissa, instead of participating in that tournament, let's sneak off and go shopping!" Bulma whispered to the princess. "They must have countless things in those shops that we can't buy here, and we're probably going to lose in the battle royale part of that tournament anyways…"

"Hehe! You're probably right, Bulma," Lissa giggled, before turning to Maribelle. "Are you sure you don't want to come, Mari? You could at least watch…"

"Thank you for offering, darling, but I'm perfectly content remaining here in Ylisse. I'd rather not go to BARBARIAN NATION just to pick some fights," the noblewoman huffed, before smiling. "But, since you are so adamant on going, I'd suggest you pack something warm, because I've heard it snows all year 'round in Regna Ferox…"

"Man, I wonder what kind of snacks they've got in Regna Ferox?..." Stahl wondered out loud, salivating ever so slightly. "I hope they're good…"

"Well, I just hope that I can use the tournament as an opportunity for people to actually notice me," Kellam sighed out, before raising an eyebrow at Stahl. "Um, dude? Are you listening?"

As everyone excitedly chatted, Robin narrowed his eyes in thought.

"A tournament in a foreign nation, eh? Interesting second mission, I suppose. It should give me a good opportunity to acquaint myself with fighting without my tail…I wonder if Phila has any secondary intentions with doing this, though? She seems like the kind of person to do just that," the white-haired boy thought to himself, before glancing at Sumia, who was staring down at the ground as she walked. "And I wonder why Phila made Sumia tag along with us? I mean, she seemed pretty competent back during the mission, and-"

Before he could mentally finish his sentence, Sumia ended up tripping over her own two feet, causing herself to crash down onto the ground.

"Oh!…I'm so clumsy!..."

"…Yeah, that probably has something to do with it."

As the Z-Shepherds left, Emmeryn waited until they were out of earshot before looking at Phila.

"I must admit I was slightly surprised when you suggested a tournament to be the first mission that they undergo as an 'official team', Phila," the Exalt told the captain, before raising an eyebrow. "Would you care to explain some of the reasoning behind your decision?"

Phila simply smirked, before shaking her head slightly. "All I'll say, milady, is that in the coming conflict, we will be very thankful that we sent them on this mission..."

"Phila! How many times have I told you to stop thinking about conflicts? Ylisse is supposed to be a PEACEFUL country now!..."

Emmeryn began to go on a slight rant, which was kind of amusing considering how soft-spoken the woman was, and Phila could only sigh in response.

"Yes, milady…Whatever you say, milady…" the captain of the Pegasus Knights mumbled. In her heart, however, she was thinking about the upcoming challenges that the Z-Shepherds were about to face. "Good luck, everyone! The fights ahead are going to be incredibly fierce!"

A/N: The 'World Fighting Tournament' arc starts here.