The group was able to take a fast course, lasting for only six months. Because of their sheer talent in magic being otherworldly, they were easily accepted into the academy without issues.
They were however set in different classes, Pauleen was grouped with Gayle, Josh, and Lawrence, while Juniper was grouped with Tiffany and Aaliyah. They were divided randomly to show equality between everything with talent. But for the first half a month, they were already struck with an exam. It was acceptable for them as it was more of a battle exam tournament to see how they would rank. Naturally, because Pauleen and Juniper are Sentinels, they easily plowed through most competitors. "Good work Pauleen. You really made fast work on your opponent." Juniper quickly congratulated Pauleen on her great work against the enemy. "It's nothing big, we can't really let our guard down against our opponents." After humbling down to ensure nobody tries to get aggressively arrogant, Juniper nodded to Pauleen's words. "But then, Keith is watching huh...? There's no way of knowing what he's thinking. He's probably gonna push training onto us if we mess up." "That could be true, but he might be here just to watch Josh as he gets his hopes and ego up." Their conversation wasn't actually audible to anyone, not even their friends who are nearby. But that all changed as Juniper felt something move in an instant. "Gh!" "Yo! Seems like both of you have been doing well." Keith appeared right in front of them, causing a great deal of surprise due to his time stop movement. He was accompanied by a girl that the two of them hadn't met directly yet. "We can't slack off on our training Keith, or Draxus will laugh at us." "Hello Keith, it's been a while." "It's great that both of you aren't slacking. It's a surprise that the two of you are actually excelling in this tournament. Unlike certain others who are having a bit of a trouble..." Keith glanced over to Josh who was having a stern look at his broad sword.
"Oh right, I've also come here for delivery by Draxus's order. I'll transfer the weapons to your storages. [Interdimensional Connect]" Keith quickly transferred the weapons to the storages of both Pauleen and Juniper. "As for the explanation of the weapons, they weren't given official names yet, so feel free to name them whatever you wish." Keith glanced around the room to check for presences, after detecting nothing in range, he focused his gaze to Juniper. "Feel free to take it out now, test swings may be needed." Juniper then used her [Interdimensional Storage] to take out the two weapons she received. "It's just like how I requested them..." Her eyes were wide open as she felt unimaginative power imbued in the two weapons she gained. "Rapier, and dagger. Just like how I wanted it huh...?" "Whoa, their weapons look great! Is this a perk as a [Sentinel]?" Lawrence came over as he took notice of the weapons Juniper had brought out. "Your match is about to start, how about giving it its debut?" Juniper smiled on Keith's suggestion, seemingly wanting to make use of the rapier and dagger that was delivered to her. "Pretty exciting if you tell me that." She left the group that had their gaze on her and moved on to the arena. Keith, along with the girl he brought, returned to the area where they were watching. "Do you think they'll be okay with using that Keith?" "Yep, Audrey keeps check on every single equipment that Draxus makes. She got pissed on the Asian level once because Draxus overdid the tuning of the weapons he made for Viceroy and Marcus. Now, it was decided without his input that every weapon that's made for members below vice-chief rank to be hard checked by her." "Wow, so I will be able to get a weapon soon as well?" "Eh? You still haven't made a request?" Keith was slightly confused as the announcer finally called out the names of the next two competitors.
"For the next match, it will be battles that decide who will appear in the top ten, so be sure to be at your best condition when battling." Juniper smiled as she took a glance at her opponent. "He's wielding a normal sword, imbued with fire, and is ready to cast spells as well huh...?" Juniper thought about what to do against her opponent, but every time she thinks about fighting seriously, she remembers what happened in the coast of Santuria. "There's nothing scarier than a life-or-death situation after all." After clearing her thoughts of possibly failing, the signal came to begin the match. "Begin!" Her opponent quickly casted the magic and launched an assault of fire arrows towards her direction. Considering that the magic attacks weren't launched simultaneously, she had time to strike down the incoming magic with her rapier. "There's one thing about melee combat that differs between me and my group." The second she felt her enemy approach her position, she quickly transitioned from defensive to offensive. With a speed that's hard to perceive, she struck her opponent on multiple parts of his body before he could swing his burning sword. "Gh! Not yet!" He swung down the sword from a high-stance which alerted Juniper as there were also fire arrows about to converge into her position from multiple angles.
She brought out her dagger to block the sword from above, the fire magic disappeared along with the sword's momentum as the arrows slowly converged. And by twisting her arm, hand, and body very well, she dispersed all the magic with little to no effort. After clearing the magic, she pointed the rapier to his neck. All this took about less than three seconds. "Do you give up?" "I-I give..." Ending a battle at the opener was quite a surprise, but Juniper was relieved that the weapon suits her needs very well. "It sure can supply me with energy... But I hope that my training partners would be happy with me getting a solid position in rankings." She returned to the inner side of the stadium after she was announced as a winner.
"Hm, I guess Draxus was right with setting her training partners as Lily and Julie. Her sword techniques are pretty unique by itself." Keith smiled as he rated the skill of Juniper from the VIP seat.