Fie let out a tired yawn, which earned the girl a scowl from Juna, "Will you quit doing that!"
"Sorry. Didn't sleep good last night."
"O-Oh. I guess that makes sense..."
While she could appreciate her growing friendship with Juna, she wasn't in the mood for the sympathy the comment she made without thinking was about to earn her. So instead Fie opted to shift the discussion a little, "People were up way too late last night. Hard to relax with someone stomping about and making lots of noise."
"I bet it was Instructor Rean."
Both girls shared a laugh. While her observation wasn't a lie it obviously wasn't the main reason for Fie's restless night. That, naturally, had to do with the surprise encounter in the casino.
Of all the ways she envisioned meeting up with Zephyr again, doing so in the middle of a casino and having to oppose them in Vantage Masters was low on that list. And yet it was exactly the kind of random reunion that Boss and the others were so fond of.
How he had come back from the dead. What Zephyr was up to. Why he had a Divine Knight. All were questions she had wanted to ask him, but instead she'd gotten so caught up in the challenge that those important questions completely slipped her mind. All they'd gotten for their efforts were confirmation of the identities of the other jaeger corps and the news that both Zephyr and Nidhoggr were currently employed by the government while the Northern Jaegers and Red Constellation were working against them.
Useful info to be sure, but a bit of a letdown for such a potentially valuable meeting.
Still, even if she hadn't gotten a chance to talk to them much outside of the game itself there was plenty she was able to glean just from observing Boss, Xeno, and Leo. It was something she'd initially noticed in Sutherland, but the Zephyr members were almost completely like they were before the corps disbanded. That familiarity was comforting, yet at the same time Fie couldn't help but feel a little put off by it.
They were the same, but she wasn't. And that shift in their relationship left the girl feeling out of place with her old family.
The former Zephyr member knew what that meant, but she wasn't quite sure she was ready to admit it just yet. Instead she forced that thought into the back of her head and followed Juna out of the room as the two girls went to meet up with the others.
Day two of their field exercises was about to begin.
Thus far Class VII and Thors as a whole had had pretty terrible luck with day twos, but surprisingly nothing seemed out of the ordinary as the class reunited inside the conference room. No random Ouroboros attacks, no Lechter to call Rean into action, nothing.
As crazy as it seemed it was starting to look like another mundane day of doing special operations missions.
And indeed that was exactly what happened as Rean arrived with a list of their tasks for the day. A cryptid near Raquel, a request to help train some soldiers at Juno Naval Fortress, and Ferris Florald wanted them to assist with a little corporate espionage.
Just another day for Class VII.
With Rean being his usual lazy self and providing no guidance it was up to them to determine their plans for the day. Class VII hadn't skipped any missions yet and they weren't about to now, so that made their route for the morning as clear as possible: Start at Ordis, head north to Juno, and finish up in Raquel.
Once they reached the city they met up with Rean's schoolmate to hear the details of her request. Riviera Court – which the woman was in charge of – had been suffering from bad rumors and missing shipments ever since the nearby Kleist Mall opened six months prior. Business was suffering badly and it was up to them to put a stop to it. She even had evidence of a shady meeting between Kleist Mall members that was taking place that day.
The only problem is that according to her that meeting was taking place at eleven. It was currently a little after nine.
"I suppose we could handle some of our other requests while we wait?" Kurt asked dubiously.
"How about we head back to camp and take naps?"
Fie almost voiced agreement to Juna's lazy suggestion, but another idea came to mind, "I wanna go fishing." With all eyes on her she pointed at her teacher, "Remember how he sat there fishing while we did all the work yesterday?"
"That's right! It was total bullshit!" Ash agreed, causing a few locals to turn their way.
"A-Alright." Rean agreed sheepishly under the unimpressed stares of his students, "I won't say no if you want to spend a little while fishing, but I'll only allow an hour or so. And not in town. It would reflect poorly on us if someone recognized us."
His capitulation came surprisingly easy. Fie had a suspicion that he was simply planning on enjoying a little extra fishing time himself.
Well, whatever. The beach where they had gone to the previous day wasn't far at all, especially as they were free to use their bikes this time. A few minutes later and they were at their destination. There was just one tiny problem with their plans.
Someone else was at the beach already.
Two someones, in fact. One was that crazy fisherwoman Annabelle, doing exactly what Fie wanted to do. She was ready to join in, but it was the other someone almost completely hidden from sight down the beach that really ended up catching Class VII's interest. Curiously the group approached the man.
It turned out that he was some foppish nobleman named Aleister who had come across a treasure map. One that had directed him to that very spot. Except the man was too much of a wimp to want to dig it up himself.
It annoyed Fie that she could see where this was going, but she couldn't help but be a little curious about potential treasure, a curiosity mirrored on the faces of her classmates and teacher. That curiosity led them to offer to assist the man, and the next few minutes were spent digging away at that spot with their weapons and whatever other tools they had on hand.
After a few long minutes of backbreaking labor – or at least that's what it looked like for poor Rean, Ash, Kurt, and Juna who did the bulk of the digging – she and the others were shocked when they discovered something hard beneath the sands. Digging a little further revealed what it was they had found.
It was a chest.
"Holy shit..." Ash mouthed breathlessly, expressing all their sentiments quite succinctly.
"Hurry up! Get it out!" She urged her friends on impatiently, causing Musse to giggle from beside her.
A few more minutes later – this time with her actually contributing – they had managed to widen the hole enough for them to pull it out of the ground. Seeing the chest in its entirety revealed it to be a lot larger than she had expected.
A chest that big meant it could carry untold riches. She'd never been one to consider a life of luxury before, but maybe this was their big break-
Juna recovered from her shock the quickest and pried the chest open, much to Fie's chagrin. Still, that didn't stop her and the others from all crowding around as the pink-haired girl lifted the lid, revealing...
Another treasure map.
"Another map?! That's it!?" Ash poked his head into the chest and looked around, "There's gotta be something else in here, right? A message maybe?"
The silver-haired girl rolled her eyes, "Nobody is gonna write a message inside a chest." She chastised the moron.
"Crossbellians used to write messages in their chests before Erebonia invaded." Juna supplied proudly.
"She's right. They did."
"Liberl has them too."
All the Erebonian students stared owlishly as both Rean and Aleister supported Juna's claims with straight faces.
"...What does the map show?" Altina asked flatly after that long moment of silence.
Her question was enough to break the rest of them from their stupor and they crowded around to look at the next clue. The location marked was fairly far from their location, but that didn't matter as Fie was pretty sure the X was placed just in front of Juno Naval Fortress, which they already intended on visiting later on.
How convenient.
"Join me, all! Let us head to the tavern in Ordis." The nobleman told them excitedly, "There, I shall regale you with every last detail about this treasure map and how I came to possess it!"
Her curiosity over the situation was enough for her to want to agree with the offer, but there was one tiny problem with it that made her want to refuse. A shame Juna happily agreed before she could voice her concern.
As the others began marching back towards the road she let out a miserable sigh, "...What about our fishing hour?"
Rean, having been the only one seemingly to hear her, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I know." He muttered sadly, "...I know."
In the least surprising turn of events ever, Class VII found themselves agreeing to help the annoying noble after hearing his tale about how the treasure belonged to some old pirate that only history nerds like Rean would care about. Still, even if the history behind the treasure held no interest to Fie the treasure itself held plenty of appeal to the girl.
But before they could go out and find riches beyond their wildest imaginations they needed to backtrack and finish up Ferris' request. It was close enough to eleven that the seven of them proceeded to take their bikes to the hill where the clandestine meeting was supposed to take place. Maybe it was because of the severity of the request, or simply because it involved one of his old schoolmates, but Rean took charge once they arrived to split them up into different hiding positions while they waited for the employees to arrive.
Fie – alongside Juna and Altina – found themselves waiting above the meeting point. After helping Juna find a hiding spot that didn't leave the brightly colored girl sticking out like a sore thumb the three of them settled in to wait.
Thankfully that wait didn't last long as just a few minutes later a pair of cars and an orbal bike pulled in. That they began distributing firearms and the stuff for setting fires made the purpose of this meeting painfully clear, but Fie continued to listen in regardless. It seems that Kleist and Co. was operating under a tight timetable, and Ferris' refusal to capitulate meant they were now ready to resort to more drastic measures.
And Fie couldn't help but notice that Altina stiffened slightly upon hearing the leader's name was Herman. Did she know the guy below them or something?
The answer to that question had to be shelved for the moment as that was when Juna finally reached the limit of her patience and jumped down, spoiling the ambush Class VII had planned. With nothing else to do Fie followed suit, angling her landing to let one of the hapless goons cushion her fall. Nice and easy.
Both Juna and Altina were able to apprehend the goons nearest to them, and the others ran headlong into the spot where the boys were. All in all an ambush executed to perfection.
Or at least that was her thoughts until Musse somehow managed to miss her shot which allowed the leader to get on his bike and ride off. Fie could only stare blankly at the sheepish looking sniper.
Just as she began to wonder what they should do Rean answered the question by pulling out the keys to one of the orbal bikes. Of course! The bikes weren't far away and it wouldn't be hard to track down the runaway Herman atop one.
Fie's eyes lit up in excitement. As the quickest member of the party she made the natural choice to lead the pursuit. Rean would throw the keys to her, she'd sprint to the bike, and she'd chase down the guy before he made it ten selge from the city with a sweet bike chase that'd let her show off her driving skills. It'd be so cool and the others would praise her and Rean would headpat her and-
"Ash, catch!"
…
…
All life left the young girl's eyes as she watched her punk of a teammate catch the airborne keys before running to the bike, letting out a whoop of excitement in the process.
With absolutely no interest in the rest of the request Fie took a seat. To an outsider it might've looked like she was keeping an eye on the goons they had captured, and later on that'd be the story she'd tell, but for now the bitter girl simply wanted to sit and sulk miserably. Had one of the prisoners tried to escape she probably wouldn't have noticed.
The same could not be said for her companions as almost immediately after Ash left Rean pulled out his ARCUS, causing some confusion among her classmates, "I'm calling Instructor Randolph for a little extra insurance."
Through the gloom of her mind Fie acknowledged the merits of that idea. It seemed the two bikes were headed north, so the likelihood of them reaching camp was very good. A little insurance in case Ash messed up and couldn't catch the guy.
She wouldn't have messed up.
"Instructor Rean. I believe the man that escaped is a friend of Leonora's that she told me about." Altina informed the teacher.
"Understood. I'll pass that along to Randy."
Once he finished the remainder of Class VII simply had to wait it out, which did nothing for Fie's sulky mood. Maybe Ash would mess up and the guy would get away. Sure that might disappoint Altina and Leonora and ruin their streak of clean missions, but then they'd simply have to take out their frustrations on the Raquel native. Or Rean. It was his decision that led to the imminent mission failure. He deserved a lot of the blame too. A pretty big disappointment for the oh-so-great Ashen Chevalier. Maybe he'd-
Had she been in the right state of mind she might've noticed her classmates giving the brooding girl an extremely wide berth.
"Don't you guys think we should get permission first?"
Rean's words caused Fie to hesitate. She wasn't along in that as all of her classmates – with the probable exception of Musse who merely seemed amused – to hesitate as well.
In hindsight their teacher made a lot of sense. Just showing up at one of Erebonia's largest fortresses before digging without a word to anyone probably wasn't the smartest idea Class VII had come up with. Their enthusiasm to see what the treasure map would lead them to might have made them a little hasty.
Still... even if they were on fortress grounds the place the map took them to was just underneath the bridge and out of sight of anyone at the base. So long as nobody entering the base decided to stop at that spot and look down at them they were probably fine.
None of them were willing to look their teacher in the eye as their desire to continue weighed heavily against the fact he was obviously right. That was until Kurt – Rean's most loyal protege – decided to break the awkward silence, "B-But isn't it easier to ask forgiveness then it is permission?"
Hah! Arguing it over was pointless when even Kurt was in favor of breaking the rules. Rean must've understood that as he shook his head, "You guys..."
And yet despite his best attempts at appearing stern there was no hiding the slight uptick of his mouth.
With Rean's capitulation Class VII began their second excavation, this time with a lot more enthusiasm as they knew something should be waiting for them. Plus they had an actual shovel with them this time. And once again they met success a few minutes later as they unearthed another treasure chest.
Sadly for them... "It's another map." Altina pointed out blandly.
Fie couldn't help but twitch in annoyance. Treasure was cool, but this was beginning to stretch the limits of her patience. With a groan she snatched up the map and analyzed it thoroughly, "The next one's in a clearing between here and the canyon."
"Between here and the canyon..." Ash mused aloud, "Wait, you don't think...?"
That was indeed what Fie thought. And she didn't appear to be alone in that sentiment, "Alright!" Juna crowed, "Back to camp!"
"Did you all forget why we're here in the first place?" A tired Rean asked as she, Juna, Ash, and even Altina began approaching the bikes. His words caused them to come up short as his words processed in their minds.
O-Oh, right. They had a request from the fortress, didn't they? And yet they'd gotten so caught up in the treasure hunt that it completely slipped their mind.
How embarrassing.
"I knew that!" She argued hotly in an attempt at covering up her mistake, "I-I was just keeping an eye on Juna and Ash. Gotta make sure they stay outta danger. You always tell us to stick together and be friends and stuff, r-right?"
"Uh huh..." Fie did her best to ignore the dubious stare from Rean and the looks of absolute betrayal from the two he called out, "Well, it's up to you if you wish to do that request or not, but since we're already here..."
"We're doing it." Kurt reiterated before turning to the rest of the class and taking charge, "The Brigadier General should be expecting us. We can stop at camp after we've finished up here."
The request ended up being a relatively simple one as Wallace wanted Class VII to help train some of Juno's newer recruits in a series of mock battles. Even though Rean sat the fights out they weren't all that difficult for the students, with the only real challenge being the number of different groups they had to battle in quick succession.
For her part Fie was kind enough to give the soldiers a lesson on how difficult it was to shoot a moving target. Especially when that target was shooting back.
After a fairly lengthy but fulfilling series of battles their request had come to an end and they prepared to exit the fortress. Sadly that was when Ash decided to open his big mouth and challenge General Bardias to a fight, much to the anger of the soldiers and surprise of her and her classmates. In fact the only one who seemed amused by the entire situation was Bardias himself, who quickly accepted the offer to fight against all of Class VII.
While she'd never admit it out loud Fie was a little grateful that Ash was such an idiot, because the Black Whirlwind might've been the most powerful opponent they could fight without the inherent risks associated with getting near the Golden Rakshasa. By all accounts this man was well above the likes of Xeno, Leo, and Shirley, but on the other side she'd grown a lot since that awful fight against the Sanguine Ogre and had her friends alongside her for this battle.
Normally she'd have been right at the front as soon as Rean began the battle, but with six of them against a single human opponent she didn't want to risk charging in without the room to maneuver. Instead, while Kurt and Ash took point with Altina and Musse providing support she and Juna elected to take the middle ground, far enough away to fire their weapons and not get caught in the melee, but close enough to move in and assist if something happened to the boys.
Something which proved prudent as the Black Whirlwind lived up to his namesake by using his spear to create a whirlwind which both deflected a spell from Altina and served as the cover for an offensive against Kurt and Ash. The former tried to evade while the latter blocked, but neither were successful in evading the rapidly spinning spear. While Musse rushed over to provide healing support to the boys Fie took that as her cue to charge in.
Spears weren't a weapon she was overly familiar in fighting against, but she understood the principle of the weapon well enough: It was a giant stick with a pointy end. So long as she used her superior speed to get inside the reach of the pointy end she'd probably be alright.
Maybe against a normal spearman that idea would've worked, but Wallace Bardias was a different matter entirely.
It wasn't quite as disastrous as when she pitted her speed against the Golden Rakshasa and got sent flying away for her efforts, but her offense quickly became a desperate defense as Bardias seamlessly shifted his grip and began swiping at the girl with the haft of his spear, treating it more like a staff than the piercing weapon it was supposed to be.
Duck, block, roll, jump, block. She gained a respite when Juna decided to follow her lead and close in, but Bardias simply forced her back when he surprised both girls by turning away from Fie and unleashing a deadly lunging thrust at the reinforcement. Still, despite being caught off guard Juna responded well by putting on the brakes and shifting back into gunner mode before firing shots at near point blank range, which left the Black Whirlwind open for a swift slash to the back from Fie.
The veteran spear fighter moved away from the attack at the last moment, but the former jaeger's efforts were rewarded with a slash through his clothes and the slightest hint of crimson visible within.
It was at that moment that Kurt rejoined the fray, with Ash barreling in a few seconds later. With her work done as a distraction Fie allowed herself to slip away, doing her best to remain outside of Bardias' field of vision while waiting for a good opportunity to strike.
And so the spar continued in that way for some time. None of the members of Class VII could hope to stand against the legendary warrior for long, but their coordination allowed them to cover for each other to prevent any decisive blows from being scored against them. Still, although the hits began to pile up against Bardias none of them were the kind of strikes that would put a warrior of his caliber down.
Thus it left Fie and the others feeling mixed when Rean finally called an end to the battle after some time. Sure they were still fighting, and doing so against such an elite warrior was no small feat but it was clear they were slowly but surely losing in the battle of attrition despite their big advantage in numbers. Maybe Rean denied them the chance to pull out a sneaky strategy to land a decisive hit, but at the same time she wasn't all that sad to see the fight come to an end before they might've run out of gas and lost.
Bardias inadvertently reinforced just how bad their situation had been when he instantly turned his spear upon Rean showing just how much fight he still had left in him. Their instructor accepted the duel, much to the delight of the soldiers watching the fight. Not everyday people got to see a battle between the Ashen Chevalier and the Black Whirlwind.
Despite being put through the wringer in the previous fight Bardias was just as quick and powerful as when he started, but Rean countered by instantly utilizing his Spirit Unification. With that boost he was able to fight the more experienced warrior on an equal playing field.
Fie hummed thoughtfully as she watched the two fight. It still bugged her that she wasn't quite on the level she wanted to be at, but her eyes were able to track the movements of Rean fairly well despite his enhanced form. Did she think she could fight him at an even level? Not even close.
But she was at least somewhat confident her agility and reflexes would allow her to evade his transformed assault, at least for a short time.
Although Emma had given him the pendant to control his powers better Rean was usually pretty loathe to utilize his Spirit Unification. That being said he had used it at Einhel Keep and those few times back in Crossbell, and there was one thing Fie understood from those instances: He was operating on a timer. While they had never bothered to figure out exactly how long he could hold it the swordsman usually cut it off fairly quickly. And yet she was pretty sure he had exceeded the usual time in his fight with Bardias.
Seems their teacher's competitive spirit was just as real as his students.
But much to the annoyance of herself and the rest of the audience the fight ended as abruptly as it had begun with no real victor. Sure she could understand the risks they were taking by fighting at such a high level when they had other things to be done, as plenty of jaegers got themselves hurt in a 'friendly' fight, but as a spectator it was the lamest result possible. From her point of view Bardias looked much worse for wear, but Rean wasn't quite able to hide his relief at dropping his transformation.
Had they only kept fighting for a minute longer she was sure someone would've given up, but who that would've been will forever remain a mystery.
Lackluster ending aside it was a good end to another mission for Class VII. None could deny the benefits of training against a powerful opponent like that. Sadly that came at the expense of them all being completely exhausted and it wasn't even midday yet.
They earned a bit of a reprieve as their next stop took them back to camp where they took a break for lunch before seeking out the spot marked on their most recent map, which they found near a tree just behind one of the tents. It was a little awkward digging up a spot in the middle of camp with more than a few curious students watching, but it was all worth it in the end when they struck pay dirt.
Given the chest they dug up was more more ornate than the others it stood to reason that this was the treasure. Giddy anticipation welled inside the teens as Altina was given the right to open the chest, which she did without hesitation. Inside they discovered...
A book and an old looking quartz?
Sure it was something, but it was a far cry from the infinite riches she had been hoping to see. With her enthusiasm for the hunt dimmed the class returned back to Ordis to present their findings. Unlike Class VII Aleister seemed delighted with their discovery, claiming the book would serve as the artist's muse for a future work. Good for him. Class VII was allowed to keep the quartz, but since it seemed more suited for casters and not fighters they gave it to Musse without a second thought.
With that unexpected mission complete they got back on their bikes to drive towards their final request: A monster extermination outside of Raquel. Given the request hinted that the monster might be an actual cryptid Fie was a little concerned. Sure at peak strength she was more than confident Class VII could handle a cryptid, but after spending much of the morning running around and fighting they – including their instructor – were feeling a little sluggish.
"You can choose to back out if you want, but I think I might be able to secure some extra help for us." Was Rean's reply when she brought it up.
At the time his statement was confusing, but all was made clear once they reached the town: Sara. The bracer was still in town investigating jaegers, but upon hearing about their extermination mission was glad to offer up her services. Sure the woman was as annoying as ever, but right now none of Class VII were going to say no to her help.
In fact... Sara was supposedly pretty good, right? Even if the enemy was actually a cryptid someone as experienced as her should have no problem dealing with it. It would be a shame to not allow such a famous warrior the space to strut her stuff on the battlefield...
"You all really suck, you know that?"
"You were really cool, Sara. Couldn't tear my eyes off of you."
"If it was anyone else I would buy it, but not you, Fie. Any praise from you is hollow at best!"
Rean coughed awkwardly, "...I apologize for my students lackluster performance?"
"You don't get to say that, mister! Not when you're as bad as them! During my entire time as instructor I never once saw you choose to hang back and cast arts, but you sure seemed to like doing it back there." The older woman shook her head, "If I'd known you guys were all worn out from fighting the Black Whirlwind I'd have never offered to help out! You owe me a drink for this!"
As expected the monster they ended up encountering north of Raquel was indeed a cryptid. A rather nasty cat that loved to throw lightning around everywhere. Despite Sara's complaints it wasn't as if the rest of Class VII hadn't contributed since the foe was so dangerous, but it was undeniable they had left their teacher's teacher to face the wrath of the angry cryptid kitty on her own.
Truth be told Fie hadn't been lying when she said she couldn't tear her gaze away from Sara. Despite using different weapons the A-Rank bracer's fighting style was remarkably similar to her own with an emphasis on agility and all-range attacks. But the Purple Lightning's technique was undeniably more refined than her own, capable of inflicting a lot of damage swiftly with her sword and gun combo.
Thoughts on how she could improve her own combat capabilities were still on Fie's mind as the group returned to Raquel and Sara meandered off to buy herself a drink with Rean's mira. With her gone Class VII shifted their attention to a very important detail: They had accomplished all their missions for the day! It had been a rather busy morning and they were all pretty wiped, but now they might be able to kick back and relax for a little-
Rean's ARCUS began to ring. So much for their mundane day of normal missions.