"Where is he?" Mary asked her friends.
"How am I supposed to know?" Olivia replied, trying to focus on Alice's match that was broadcast on the Arena screens.
Mary lowered her head thoughtfully as she tried to figure out what Quagmire was doing that had him so busy he couldn't go watch the final match of the virtual competition.
"Lucas cut through the Veritas class representative's shot!" The narrator yelled in the background, but nothing stopped the girl's concentration.
Quagmire's long delay and sudden disappearance could be considered trivial to the people at the academy and the rest of the group, but to Mary it was something very relevant, as she was the only person who was aware of the boy's hidden abilities. Furthermore, Mary tried to obtain information about Quagmire using the influence of her family, but was unable to find out anything about the boy's past, in her vision he was a complete unknown, a true ghost of society who was never presumed alive in the Republic archives.
''A barrage of quick shots was fired by Alice! Lucas' armor was certainly damaged to a worrying degree!'' The narrators said with enthusiasm and Mary found herself more and more immersed in thoughts about the boy.
'Maybe another attack from those weird people?' She considered this but shook her head quickly from side to side, 'No. It's unlikely, especially in daylight during the competition.'
'He looked around several times wanting to see something, but it showed that this thing wasn't there.' Mary displayed enormous deductive ability and extreme observational skills, putting together little pieces of minimal change in the boy's expression.
"He's getting ready for something," Mary said decidedly with a smile on her face as she clasped her hands together in a small thud.
"What?" Olivia turned toward Mary.
"Um, it's nothing." The girl answered her as she straightened up in the stands.
''Let's get back to business and cheer for our friend.''
''That's the spirit of the thing!''
"Go Alice!" The group yelled to the girl who couldn't hear them while logged into the virtual world.
"Win for us." A smile spread across Mary's face as she cheered her childhood friend to victory.
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"Okay, so all this shit is impossible to get?" A boy spoke in a frightening tone, his face distorted in a way that expressed deep disappointment with the person in front of him.
''Precisely. It's impossible to get these materials here at the academy. " Teacher Ana replied to the boy, trying to calm him down.
''So what is the use of the phrase on page 342 of the Academy's introductory book, where it says 'For our students our duty must be exercised, helping them with all our efforts and achieving whatever they desire.' ?''
Quagmire pulled out the list of materials he had given Professor Ana and put it back in the right pocket of his black pants.
"H-hm." Professor Ana was extremely impressed with Quagmire, who was able to perfectly speak the phrase from the academy's introductory book, given that the boy was perceived to be not very intelligent.
"Well, it's not that I can't get the materials, it's more that…" The woman was unable to finish her sentence, and fell silent, leaving the room in an awkward silence.
''Oh, i see! Is it because it's a FUCKING LANDRA COMMONER WHO IS REQUESTING THE MATERIALS?'' Quagmire snarled, giving the table a light punch that startled Professor Ana.
''And you guys still dare to tell me that prejudice does not exist, the hypocrisy of you nobles is impressive.''
Quagmire rose up from the chair as a small hole in his shirt pocket dropped a torn notebook sheet onto Professor Ana's desk. The woman grabbed the page and glimpsed countless calculations and notes accompanied by drawings of a very interesting project, below all this a signature was accompanied by a great Q&M in a huge letter that was much more prominent than the others.
"This is stupendously wonderful." Professor Ana handed over the paper as she rose from the chair she was sitting in with a huge thrust, bringing her face very close to Quagmire's.
The boy didn't show any reaction, but the woman (even though she was much older than him) still showed extreme shyness and shame at the closeness of the two individuals' faces, as she waved apologetically and distanced herself a little more from Quagmire.
''Is this project some creation that you spent years thinking about? It's something really innovative for ANONS and armaments, and if it really works, it could change the way Republic battle units and equipment work!" The woman said in an excited way.
"I made it in 1 day." The boy pointed to the paper he held in his left hand.
''What? Stop joking, just tell me how long this took so we can plan it better…" Again, she was unable to finish her speech, this time being interrupted by Quagmire.
''I will repeat for the last time. It only took me 1 day to think about it, although I admit that there are improvements that can be made, but without accurate testing it's impossible for me to know how to put the idea into practice functionally in armaments and battle units.''
"It's all just a frivolous theory after all, and since I won't even be able to acquire the necessary materials, I'll just discard the idea once and for all."
Professor Ana looked at the boy in a hostile way when she heard that he would discard that brilliant idea that could mean an innovation for the entire Republic. She had no idea how a boy who scored '40' points down on all exams was able to formulate such a model, but the woman didn't care about that, just thinking about how she could help the boy complete the tests necessary for the project to become something functional in the near future.
"I'll sort out the materials problem at any cost" She said firmly, as she tucked her arms under her breasts.
''By next Monday I swear I will have a part of the lab specifically set aside for you and the experiments, along with the materials you asked for on paper. You don't need to worry, focus on the competition for now.''
"Well, thanks." Quagmire spoke in a tone of irony, holding back to keep from saying 'You didn't do more than your duty.'
The boy turned his back without looking at the Professor who said goodbye to him, and just opened the classroom door, stepping out into the corridors once more. A part of the preparation plan for the war that was about to occur between both cities due to the kidnapping of Layla, was completed. Quagmire was assured that at least he would survive, having a trump card hidden in that project that he purposely made appear to be beneficial to the Republic.
"This woman was easier to fool than I thought." He said as he adjusted his shirt collar and tucked the belt more firmly into his own pants.
'' I mean, the people in this academy aren't very smart after all.
Quagmire looked at the clock that marked the hours, and noticed that it had been more than 4 hours since he split from his group of friends, but decided that he would not go back to the Arena where they had arranged to meet again. The boy had more important things to do at the moment and he knew that the only way for everyone (especially himself) to survive during the full-scale combat would be to use the preparations made before the war.
"I need to hurry." Quagmire showed a more serious face than usual as he headed for the next target.
'This is going to be so fucking fun.'
------------------
"Mary, the Veritas Class representative, sideways dodged the Clay Class representative's attack!" A narrator yelled to the excited crowd.
It had been more than 2 hours since the virtual competition had ended, having as its winner 'Alice Kura Linjol', the representative of the Veritas Class. The combat was arduous, and would certainly stay in people's minds for a long time, leaving Alice satisfied with the result of her performance and effort.
''Mary pulled the attacker's arm! My god what a twist, the girl used her opponent's own momentum to knock him out!!'' The crowd beside Alice and the group screamed very loudly at this point, giving the girl a bit of a headache.
''The winning team in the second match of the physical duel is Class Veritas!''
Mary looked at the bleachers similar to what Alice had done, and waved to her friends, looking everywhere for Quagmire, who had been missing for over 4 hours. The boy had lost the last game of the virtual competition, and two of the 5 games of the physical clash.
Mary left the ring that had been made in the middle of the Arena, completely sweaty from the two battles she had just fought, however, the girl was even prettier than before with her hair tied back and her eyes boiling with the feel of the battle.
"Has he shown up?" Mary wasted no time, instantly asking about Quagmire.
"Not so far." Alice answered for the group.
Mary nodded, heading to the back of the Arena, where the accommodation facilities for the competitors were located.
"I told you I would win the competition, for you that day." The girl spoke to herself, remembering what she had said to Quagmire some time ago.
"And that's exactly what I'm going to do, with or without you watching my conquests." Mary said, when her voice faded as she closed the room door, it was clear that the girl was struggling.
She would win, no matter the cost.