Alice shook in disbelief as the boy, Markus, started fighting without any warning. She had read the reports of the entrance exam battles, and knew he was slightly unconventional. But this was pandemonium! And adding in the fact that his actions were chaotic at best had left her reacting late.

She wasn’t the only one to react late, either. Though she didn’t know exactly who Jerome had coerced into helping him, Alice knew that he wouldn’t spare any expense to get his Student title back again. And yet, as far as she could tell, Markus's sudden attack had already taken out at least a few of the supporting Archers.

Archers that had yet to get up, actually. ‘Poison?’ Alice thought as she took a second to confirm they would not be ambushing her. Whatever Markus had thrown at them was strong enough to pierce through not only their uniform, but also the hardened leather arrow guard attached to their chest.

But the boy was clearly ignorant of how to use his mana. His mana was leaking out into a cloud as he disregarded his mana usage. Was he not saving his mana for actual Skills? A sharp shrill in the air attracted her attention and she inhaled sharply as she tracked the sound and saw the sparks erupt on the cobblestone path. They were shooting crossbow bolts at him!? Markus's actions were clearly threatening, but not to that point! And where in the world was the Judge?

This was becoming dangerous, and fast. It was time for her to take action, especially since Jerome wasn’t watching her. Alice surveyed the battlefield and focused her thoughts. ‘Eighty paces, set in a loose semicircle. Minimal mana counter for three, high counter for four. Disregard two for area of attack. Maximum mana-,’ Alice winced as she felt the mana draining away. She should have known that Jerome would wait to compress his mana until after she had!

Alice flicked her wand sharply across the two parties. “[[Tide Breaker]]!" Her hair dimmed greatly as a wave of water materialized from out of her wand as she hurriedly aimed ahead of Markus.

Her spell was far weaker than she'd wanted it, but she was still learning how to focus the mass of water forward instead of it spilling outward, much like water was want to do.

She was looking forward to seeing Jerome and his team being plastered to the ground before she noticed Markus pushing his mana forward in sheer panic. What a waste of -.

“[[Dark Mist]]!”

Her breath caught as the cloud of mana expanded exponentially outwards. The air around her displaced, and she fought to catch her breath as the mist filled around her. It was thick, and irritated her lungs like it was smoke. Her mind hazed as she staggered to stay upright. She was going to suffocate!

“Tch. Idiot, don’t stand upright!”

Alice felt her feet giving out as Markus burst through the mist in front of her. His face was a mask of annoyance as he picked her up by the waist and ran out the cloud of smoke. He was no worse for wear than before, and his face held an easy grin as he looked back. “If they were all as dumb as you, this will be a quick battle. Actually-”

Markus sidestepped as a crossbow bolt passed dangerously close to them. Markus turned and ran back toward the town.

“We need to stay put!” Alice wheezed. “The rules state we need a Judge to determine the outcome of the battle.”

Markus looked back at the dark cloud and snorted. “There is no way in hell I’m doing that.” He jumped forward and ducked as two more bolts flashed out of the smoke behind him. “Hm. Either good perception or they are being directed by the Mage. That Jerome guy had brown hair… so either earth or nature mage. Tch, just my luck.”

Alice squirmed. “Earth mage. Don’t look down on those Bowman either. And let me go!”

“And let you face them alone? I think not. I’ll get killed if I let anything happen to a companion in arms, even for a silly fight like this.”

She could feel his grip tightening around her legs and waist, as though he was afraid she was going to somehow run away. Alice looked at him slack jawed. Was he raised to be some sort of knight? What kind of kid even talked like that? “At least watch where you are grabbing me,” Alice huffed.

“If you keep squirming, I’ll throw you over my shoulders and you can cast magic that way,” Markus huffed.

Alice blushed. There was no way she was going to be carried around like that, especially here at school! And by someone far younger than she was! And Markus was out of his mind to think that she could cast spells like this. Spells required focus first and foremost, and high stress situations like this were not conducive for Mages.

Holding still, Alice closed her eyes and focused on her mana core. Looking inward, she winced as she stared at her mana core. This morning it had been a blue so deep she could fall right into it, now her core was light blue, as though she was standing a few feet off the beaches in her hometown. It had taken her almost two days to gather enough mana to condense that much mana into her core, two days effectively wasted when she had let her emotions get the best of her just now.

“Great, just how I wanted to start this semester,” Alice said sullenly.

“Nice to see you meditating and such during a chase, but mind casting a few spells? And maybe running. You’re kind of heavy for a Mage, no offense.”

Alice opened her eyes with a grumble. This was exactly why she hated close combat classes. “I can’t cast while running. I need a static position.”

“Your kidding me, right? And I thought the Healer Hall was useless. You're telling me that as an actual Mage, you can’t cast while running!? What are they teaching you here!”

Alice has the distinct impression that Markus would have left her behind if she hadn’t been a girl. “Hey! Not everyone is a Combat Mage! I resent that assumption.”

“The Library better be worth all this trouble, or there’ll be hell to pay,” Markus said to himself under his breath. Alice frowned. Why was he so interested in that silly old place?

Markus jumped over a bush and ran into a quiet wooded area on the side of the main path. Ungraciously dropping her on the ground, she grumbled as she dusted the leaves off her clothing and quickly crouched behind a tree. Alice listened for the telltale whistle of the bolts, and whispered gratefully, “At least they aren’t shooting bolts at you anymore.”

Markus instantly disagreed.“I wish they were, actually. My armor isn’t meant to ward off combat spells.”

"Of course our uniforms aren't meant to deflect bolts. We shouldn't even be in an actual fight to begin with!"

Alice peeked around the tree and got her bearings. They hadn't traveled as far as she'd thought. Maybe only a few hundred feet at best.

Markus shrugged as he wiped his sword with something. "Tell that to the guys shooting at us."

"They shot because you injured their friends!" Alice grumbled.

"Meh. Well, they need to learn to dodge. One surprise attack got rid of three people? Hell, even Guardsmen wouldn't be that pathetic."

She rolled her eyes at that. How was one even supposed to train against surprise attacks? They were called that for a reason, after all.

But Alice knew the situation wasn't about to get better anytime soon. Already she could hear the free students around then yelling about the commotion they had just caused.

"We need to find a better spot to hide. Jerome isn't a slacker. He'll be able to track our location. If we can wait out the hour we can rush to the classrooms and be safe once the bell rings." Alice said.

"I have to stay in a wooded area for my skills to work. Do you have a way to stop him from tracking our position if we leave?"

Markus turned and eyed her, disdain practically oozing out of his eyes. Alice shut her mouth. Even she knew the odds. Escaping the perception range of an Earth Mage was unheard of, especially considering the distance they had traveled.

She stopped and considered their options. Since they were fighting, the rules of engagement would be on their side. Two parties were already attacking them, so theoretically there would be no other opponents.

"Jerome can't track us if we go mingle with the other students. According to the rules, no one else is able to interfere with our fight now."

Her eyes darted to the road beyond. More students meant more chances that there were other Educators there to make sure this fight didn't devolve into… well, more chaos.

Markus sighed as he stomped on the ground in frustration. "Is there anything else I need to know?"

Alice eyed Markus. "If you follow the published Rules of Engagement, then no."

It was one of the required readings for all students, detailing the many combat simulations they were allowed to initiate to take one's status of a student away. And their actions thus far were anything but.

"Hm," Markus huffed. "Well, I have enough mana to shield us out of the forest. If we follow the path back, we'll be next to the stream. That'll give us a good tactical advantage. Good for you?"

Alice nodded. Her mana regeneration would increase the closer she was to water. Thirty minutes near water and she'd be good for at least a few more attacks.

And then she could bring the fight to Jerome.

Markus nodded slowly. "Okay, follow me quietly. Stay within fifteen feet of me."

Alice watched as Markus crouched and beckoned her to follow. Her face reddened as she copied Markus's actions. This made her feel ridiculous.

Crouching low, she followed him through the underbrush, and it did not take long before she realized something about Markus.

He did not make any sounds while he moved through the forest. In fact, Alice knew that if she lost her focus, he could have disappeared without a trace.

“Have you done this before?”

She could hear the mirth in his voice as he whispered, “What, escaping through a forest from a bunch of angry people? No.”

He turned, and she spotted a slight smirk on his face. “Now, tracking and counter-tracking I have done,” he paused, his voice a whisper. “Granted, it was against animals, but they are harder to fool than people in the right conditions.”

He stopped by a sapling and rummaged through a small pack at his side. “First step of running away is to lay down traps behind you.”

Pulling out a small bone, a jar, and some silk; Alice watched as Markus grabbed a few leaves and gently dipped the bone in the jar, keeping the liquid as far from his hands as possible. Pinching the leaves with one hand, he quickly wrapped the bone to the top of the sapling and pulled it down to his feet, taking great care not to break the small tree as it flexed.

“Is this even allowed?” Alice could feel her eye twitching as Markus finished stringing his trap.

“...yes?” Markus said as he slightly adjusted the angle of the tree.

But the barest hint of hesitation set her off. “Markus! Traps were deemed too dangerous in the rulebook. There is a reason why most people elect to fight in the open.”

“It’s a non-lethal trap. The most it can do is take someone’s eye out. And even that is pushing it.”

Moving away from her, she could tell he wasn’t about to disarm his trap. His voice softly called out to her. “Rules of Engagement, number eighteen. ‘Traps are permissible so long as they do not inflict mortal damage. Furthermore, traps must be clearly marked and broken down after the battle. I memorized the rules.”

Alice turned and looked at the trap one last time before she started to follow. “And how is this clearly marked?”

“It’s practically exposed. Any Hunter or Woodsman would be able to tell something is wrong at a glance.”

“But they aren’t those Classes,” Alice whispered.

Markus turned, his face scrunched with annoyance. “Not my problem. Someone should really teach classes on woodland observation if you can’t recognize a trap in a forest at first glance.”

"And the poison?", she asked.

Markus tched softly. "Again, not my problem. Just like it wasn't their problem if I was hit by a bolt."

His eyes shot through her body and Alice watched as Markus placed his hand on the ground. “They are in the forest. Jerome is trying to locate me. Just…head north to the stream while I set a few more traps,” he whispered.

She turned and felt the ground, but she didn’t notice anything. Was she too lacking in mana? “I can help too,” she whispered.

“A Mage with no casting power is a liability in almost every situation. Go and recover your mana first, and then talk to me about helping.”

Alice balled her fist as Markus pulled out his equipment again. ‘The nerve of this kid!’ she thought to herself. She could still do some spells! Not many, of course, but she was the oldest of the two of them!

Grumbling inwardly, Alice sighed and moved forward. Markus wasn’t wrong by any means. She wasn’t able to do a large area spell right now.

Of course, that was why Mage Knights were dangerous. They could still fight, even without enough mana to cast a spell. Jerome had defended himself against Markus’s first sneak attack, after all, which spoke volumes to the number of hours he must have sunk into non-magic classes since she had last seen him.

If Jerome had half a brain, which she knew he did, Alice was certain he’d be heading straight toward said stream. One of the few streams that flowed through the campus, actually.

She could only hope Markus had a plan.

“My name is Lily Thompson. Yes, I do come from Alcudia. No, I am not a Imperial Servant…”

Lily frowned as she introduced herself to another one of her new classmates. Classmates that did not look too kindly at her or her mentor’s supposed status. She sat down as the bell rang, and contemplated what she could have done differently.

It was one thing to hear Miss Paige say she was not an Imperial Servant, another to try to explain it. Yes, she was mentored from a young age. And yes, she did learn some unique spells. And she could cast spells quite a few times, but only the weaker ones!

Focusing on the lecture at hand, Lily almost groaned as the first lesson started in earnest.

“...now, first you must realize that to harness your mana efficiently, you will need to account for the ambient mana in your surroundings that can also be harnessed. The equation for that follows as such: first you take your mana absorption…”

Lily’s eyes twitched as she followed along with the teacher’s explanations. This was wrong on so many levels she half expected everyone to complain. But as she watched on, she noticed the others taking notes seriously, as if this was something to memorize.

It was then she realized that Alduit Academy and Nespe had more than a few things in common.

“Lily, do you have something to say?”

Lily startled in her seat. Seeing the eyes of the other students, she shook her head and explained. “I don’t like taking notes. I’m just…surprised at the lesson topic.”

The older woman frowned. “This is important to know. Ambient mana absorption and how to compress it will undoubtedly help you with the mana cost of any spell in the future. Even how to upgrade spell multiple tiers! I don’t know what you learned, but…”

Lily nodded repeatedly as she listened to Educator Thomaston. She had come highly recommended, if the number of students in the classroom was any indication of teaching style and preference. And it was a topic that interested her too. But the lessons she was learning in the first few minutes of the first day of school did not bode well for what was to come for the rest of the year.

She sat there, dazed, before an abrupt tingling coursed through her body. “Ack!” Lily jolted up and ripped a glowing blue badge off of her uniform. The sensation stopped, though not before her face flushed with embarrassment.

Her teacher did not pay her any mind as she stared at the glowing badge sitting on the floor. “Ahem. Well now, this is a surprise. Who would be foolish enough to get into a fight on the first class of the new semester?”

She noticed that besides the new students, everyone else had shocked looks on their faces as well. Apparently, that was highly unusual. The teacher tapped her hand on the podium lightly. "Well then, decision time. A show of hands, please, on whether we watch the battle or continue on with the lesson."

That got her attention. "Excuse me, Educator Thomaston. What do you mean by 'watch'?" she asked. She could see a trace of apology in her new teacher's eyes. "I mean that literally, my dear. A blue badge means at least one upperclassman is participating. Learning from another's failure is undoubtedly better than experiencing the situation first hand. That one of your party members is involved in a battle is… unfortunate, but I am sure he can dust himself off and try the entrance exam next semester."

"I didn't see that in the student manual! Isn't that spying?" Lily cried, appalled at this new revelation.

"Of course, my dear. But this will also help once you graduate, too. Knowing the capabilities of your fellow alumni will help you form the correct balance for allied Parties. As they say, 'A bad Party Member will kill everyone involved.' It is highly unlikely your teammate will be injured; the other Teachers will step in if something gets dangerous."

Lily blinked in confusion. On one hand that was good news for Markus's safety. On the other hand though… Markus was trained by Miss Paige. Someone whose definition of fighting was very atypical. A slight clap snapped her out of her thoughts. "Okay, watching the battle it is."

Her badge slowly levitated off the ground and approached the chalk board as Lily thought quickly. If someone could watch the battle… "Am I able to reinforce my Party Member in combat? I am the Party Leader, after all. According to the school handbook, I have a few unnamed benefits. I believe this should be one of the benefits."

That raised a few eyebrows. "...that is highly irregular. You could simply invite someone else to join instead of risking your own Student status."

Lily did not hesitate one second. "I'm sure. A Party Leader leads by example."

Her teacher smiled at that. "Alright. The battle hadn't started yet, or the badge would have changed colors. Since someone on your team is involved, you can use your position as Party Leader to find him, assuming you know which person is the one in trouble."

Grabbing her staff, Lily ran out of the classroom.

"Well now. Let's take notes on what not to do as a Party Leader."

Educator Thomaston could've had the decency to wait until the door closed behind her.

Lily already knew she was dropping that class.

Markus watched from the top of his branch as Alice started to meditate. He felt a little weirded out when she started taking her clothes off, but luckily she stopped after taking off her leggings and boots.

'...I guess a water mage needs to touch water to gather mana. Who knew?'

He focused as another loud crack echoed in the forest. The trees shuddered slightly as the sound of another set of trees fell.

The Earth mage Jerome was carving out the forest, section by section, as he headed toward their location. The traps must have unnerved him, or barring that, Jerome was prioritizing time over mana consumption.

Markus had taken a chance to watch his first few traps go off. It wasn't likely they would be able to find him when he was standing still, not with his Skills and affinity working to his advantage.

His first few traps went off just as he had intended, the shard of bone neatly piercing the jacket of yet another ranged attacker. The archer, or maybe a mage, dropped to the ground and stilled almost immediately.

He was glad he had adjusted the angle of the spike trap, because he was now sure that it could have pierced a skull.

'...I really need to ask what animal's Aunt Paige and Uncle Nick are sourcing these from.'

It didn't stop him from setting more traps though. After tying yet another bone spike to a tree, Markus grumbled as his opponents slowed their pace once again. He wasn't sure how they were finding his traps as they slowed.

Jerome had hesitated at first, but now he was progressing faster and faster with a solid plan.

A mana intensive plan, but a plan nonetheless.

It occurred to him that besides Wind Mages, he had hardly any experience fighting against mages with a different affinity. Aunt Zenith knew a dizzying amount of spells, but besides the occasional showing, she almost always defaulted to Wind spells.

Markus hesitated as he crawled down the tree and rolled into the underbrush.He may have underestimated the difficulty of these fights by a fair margin. He imagined a one on one fight, twelve times. Not exactly impossible with his family's training, but it would be a good measure of his growth.

But two whole Party's attacking a single student? And based upon what he'd seen so far, crippling and or death was a very real possibility.

His options were already limited, and getting narrower by the minute.He could fight his way out, taking down as many people as possible. But five of those were clearly close combat classes. He didn't like those odds, not without some backup.

He could run away. No, Markus already knew that option wasn't on the table as his mama dipped slightly. His skills only shielded him in a forest.

Jerome was still pulsing his mana out randomly. As soon as he left, he was sure Jerome would pick up his trail. He was not keen on fighting an Earth Mage out in the open. And he was not about to let down his Aunt Paige eitehr.

Slithering out of the bushes, Markus quietly opened a bottle and trailed it behind him, a black line quietly forming behind him.

"Alice, how many spells can you do?"

Alice frowned as she splashed him slightly. "It's barely been ten minutes. I need more time than that."

"Jerome is knocking down trees forty feet at a time. We don't have any more time to spare. How. Many. Spells?"

Markus held his breath. 'please fifteen, please twenty, pleas..'

"Two spells," Alice whispered.

Markus turned to walk away.

"Two tier five spells! I'm not useless, you know!" Alice shouted with frustration.

That got Markus's attention. Tier five was a few full tiers above Lily. But ...there was always a catch.

His mind spun quickly. "Alice. How long do your spells take to cast?"

"Ten seconds."

Markus blinked in confusion. Was that fast or slow for that tier of spell?

'If Lily takes a full minute for tier three spells...then maybe that is good? Power, check. Cast time, check. Then the problem was...quantity. Two spells was not a lot for a fight.'

The ground shook as Jerome moved ever closer.

"To live to fight another day, take precautions along the way."

Markus focused. It was time to fight.

"Alice, set up a formation. We'll ambush them as they come out. Use [Concealment], small mana stone. That way we won't risk the formation exploding on us by accident if they attack indes...crima…" Markus sighed as he saw Alice's face. "You don't know how to do that, do you?"

"...."

"Illusion spells?"

"...."

"D...defensive spells?"

"...."

"....trap spells?"

Alice's face flushed red. She said nothing.

"You only know attack spells, don't you?"

"No! There are other spells I can do."

"In combat situations?"

"...."

Markus almost fainted right there. Resolving himself to learn more spells in the future in case of unreliable help, he quickly adjusted the plans in his mind.

A booming voice echoed out. "Haha, Alice is a one trick pony! If you reviewed previous battles, you'd realize she is purely an Academic Mage, not well suited for actual combat situations.

Jerome stepped out of the treeline, his party behind him. "Besides her pretty face, she'd die the moment she stepped out into the field with her specific set of skills."

Alice hesitated as Markus sighed. "He's not wrong, you know." His eyes met Alice's. 'Jerome's not wrong about her face. Bah, focus!' Shaking his head, he looked over the battlefield. Not the best of places, but it would have to do.

‘If I had time, I'd fortify this position, leaving just enough space exposed to a water source. I'm not an idiot. Just…’ Markus sighed to himself. ‘A tad unlucky.’

Markus eyed his six opponents. The traps had taken out nearly all of the lightly armored opponents, leaving just one Mage. ‘Note to self, bone shards don’t penetrate steel breastplates.’

But the mage was giving Markus trouble. 'Judging by his hair color… crap, what element is purple!?' Markus could feel his eye twitch. 'Okay, trust my party members. Alice will know how to counter him.'

The other five warriors were spreading out now, their weapons unsheathing as they moved.

Two halberds, a sword, an ax… and Jerome's quarterstaff.

He could feel the sweat trickling down his back. Feel the wind blowing around him, the weight of his sword.

The trembling… he was afraid.

That was a lesson that was beaten out of him. "To fear is to die," as the old man would say.

Paige's voice drifted to his ears. "It's okay to be afraid Markus. Fear is not always the enemy. Use it to sharpen your senses.

"Reckless fear is the enemy."

"Trust your senses."