1631 HOURS
ALPHEIM
COMBAT GROUND BETA.
HALF AN HOUR BEFORE THE FINAL EXAMINATION COMMENCES.
"Marten! I'm so sorry we're late."
Ilise, Toby and Siegfried were approximately one minute late for their meeting with Marten. All three of them were sore from having to carry Rei on their backs as they bolted across the school's expansive grounds. It was to be expected, when the combat grounds numbered from Alpha to Omega. Twenty-four town-sized combat simulation zones, all contained within Mistilteinn's campus.
Marten grunted. "I'm not as uptight about punctuality as Bianca would have you believe. What I am uptight about is people not making an effort to be on time, and the three of you have clearly made an effort. I'll let this one slide." He appraised Rei's limp body with a cold stare. "How did you get another one of your teammates knocked out?"
"He had a fit in the medical bay. Ilise had to knock him out." Toby said. Marten nodded, as if this was an everyday occurrence. Then again, knowing what went on at Mistilteinn and the times Bianca had come home with a tattered uniform (and still-smooth skin), Ilise wouldn't be all that surprised if Marten had run into similar scenarios in his four-year tenure on the student council.
"I expect he'll wake up soon?"
"Any time now."
Perfectly on cue, Rei began to stir. Marten grunted his approval, and turned to the hard-light keyboard that was currently hovering behind him.
"The student council has re-evaluated your team's condition. While you are not the only team to have a member admitted to the medical bay, the council has made an exception. We put it up to a vote. Four of us agreed that you should be allowed to continue in the stead of Rozaliya, your injured teammate. Under normal circumstances, severe injuries would've been grounds for disqualification. However, on account of her noted potential and several connections to Yggdrasil, your results on this final exam will count as hers."
Marten practically spat his last sentence out. It was tinged with contempt and disgust.
"I will make this clear. I was not one of the four that voted in favour of this preferential treatment. Ilise, please avoid exploiting your family's connections next time. Ivan and I were, as a matter of fact, vehemently against it."
So Ivan had a hand in this. Rage welled up in Ilise, and her fists curled into balls. If Ivan had been in front of her at that very moment, she was certain that she would've at least punched him. Maybe given him a hearty kick to the crown jewels. Marten eyed her. "If you would like to get violent with me, you can save that for later. You'll be briefed by Ivan later anyway, so I don't see the harm in telling you what this one entails."
Consulting his tablet, Marten pulled up a few files on the screen. Ilise, Siegfried, Rei and Toby's faces appeared, with several boxes of information underneath them.
"Like other teams with incurred casualties, you will not be running the standard gauntlet of fights against each individual member of the student council. Instead, you will be facing three of us. The system has automatically selected the councillors. I regret to inform you that," The ghost of a smug smirk appeared on Marten's face.
"You will be fighting Ivan, Bianca and I. I do not mean to show off - this I assure you - but we are the toughest members of the student council. Ilise, I am certain that you are familiar with your sister's raw versatility. Bianca alone would be more than enough to dispatch all four of you. Which is why-"
Marten paused to pull up another screen.
"We will be handicapped in this fight. Only one of us can go on the offence, one on the defence and another in a supporting capacity. That means that even though Bianca can use several defensive spells, as an attacker, she won't be allowed to protect herself using spells such as, say, Reinforce or Fortify. That role will fall to me. To even out the playing field further, those among you that are capable of using glyphless magic, you are allowed to do so. I expect that this will be a huge boon for you, Ilise."
Toby raised a hand.
"If you don't mind my asking, Marten-"
"That's 'Sir', or 'Councilman Marten' to you, first-year."
"All right then, Councilman Marten. I've got a question. Why have you only addressed Ilise so far? It's like the rest of us don't even exist."
Ilise and Siegfried gave him their respective 'shut up' looks. Marten didn't seem to be offended by the question. In fact, he let out a loud, booming laugh. It was entirely devoid of humour.
"Because," Marten snarled, "If Ilise recalls, I told her upon our first meeting that I measure a person's worth by their proficiency in magic and combat. Therefore, I respect people who have proven themselves, or people with innate talent. Such as Ilise, whose power ranking is nearly three times that of my own. I regard her as a superior in that sense, and in essence I will speak to her as if she is my equal. That, along with her status as a Rossweisse and her sister's word, makes her more than worthy of my respect.
You, Kallen and Rei, on the other hand, have yet to fully prove yourselves. Until then, I will view you as subjects to be protected, nothing more, nothing less.
In Bianca's words, you are pond scum, and I, a mildly fascinated botanist."
Toby whistled. "Wow. All of the councillors are really messed in the head, aren't they? ONe's some sorta sadistic maid role-player, one's a hardcore drill general, one's a creep, one's an absolute babe BUT she did pull a huge sword on the entire school and-"
"It would do you well to not badmouth members of the student council in front of me. Discipline will affect your score in the examinations." Marten said coldly.
"Gee, I was kidding! Relax, big guy. God, it's like everyone in the council's got temper issues or something-"
Siegfried cut Toby off with a quick jab to the solar plexus. He had the wind knocked out of him in one, large, hacking cough.
"What was that, Tobias?"
"Nothing. He said nothing!" Siegfried said.
"Is your name Tobias, Kallen?"
"...No?'
"Then stay out of this."
Toby was still hacking and wheezing. Ilise had to stand on her tiptoes to whisper in Siegfried's ear. "I think you overdid it."
"N-nothing, Councilman Marten. I didn't say anything." Toby said, still gasping for air.
"Good. The exams will behave shortly. Stay here."
"With all due respect, I don't think I'll be going anywhere, chief."
When Rei revealed that he'd been awake and recording the entire incident, Toby had threatened to knock him out again.
"Roza would've liked to see this, I should think. I want her to know what happened and how lucky she is. Thank you, Ilise."
"It's all good. She saved us back there. And I can always get back into Marten's good graces." Ilise said nonchalantly. The four of them were seated out in the grassy meadow overlooking Ground Beta. Ilise had, with the help of a Hyperkinetic spell, made a quick run to the cafeteria. They were having an impromptu picnic right before their exam - to make up for the fact that Rei and Siegfried had never really gotten to eat at the lounge.
She'd picked out the most universal foods she could find. Cold fruits, bagels and cream cheese, bottled orange juice and a few hot dog buns. Ilise wasn't that hungry. Siegfried was the exact opposite. He wolfed down everything that was set before him, and Ilise was more than willing to give him her portion.
"Thanks." He said between mouthfuls. "But you're sure you're not hungry? Or is our cafeteria food not up to snuff?"
"It's a mix of both." Ilise said abashedly. "I ate with Bianca just now, and this doesn't really taste good."
Siegfried gave her a shrug. "Suit yourself."
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