Stars illuminate in the night sky, as the class ends up in the forest where the incident took place. They looked at their surroundings in confusion as they saw that the bonfire they used a week ago was still lit before the realization hit them that they were still in the virtual training room.
"So," Sasha began to speak, as the class looked at her. "I know that we've got a surprise attack from the vampires before so now we need to formulate a plan before-"
Krishna raised his hand in interruption.
"Is something wrong?"
"I want to ask something." Said Krishna while tapping his crane on the ground. "Can you give us a summary of what happened? So far, most of my companions here (looked around at his fellow demi-humans), as well as those who weren't in the event, happened before (looking at Ingrid and Hinono) only know the general information from the news."
"I agree with Krishna." Said Ingrid, placing her fan in her lips which Sephiram noticed but decided to ignore instead. "I wasn't there when my entire class participated."
Sasha looked at her classmates and sighed. "Okay. I will explain everything."
*
"I see," Krishna said while putting his hand on his chin after Sasha explained everything. "So, you were taken out by surprise."
"And not before the real exam starts, no less," Hercule added, crossing his arms. "No wonder that you and the other classes are in surprise."
"We didn't know that there were vampires in that area," Marcus said. "For what we know, this island is isolated from the rest of the world safe from the Vampire God's watch."
"It was only recently they discovered this island and used it as a dumping ground for traitors and rebels," Anissa said. "When I was on the mainland, I heard that some of the scouts returned to their patrol that they found an isolated island and they reported it to the Vampire God."
"Speaking of the Vampire God," says Legos as he looks at Anissa. "Anissa, right? Can you tell us what he's like?"
Anissa only shook her head in response. "So, you didn't see him in person despite being in his castle?" Krishna added.
"She's working with the harem, so she didn't see him face to face," Sephiram spoke on her behalf.
"Can we continue this conversation later and deal with what is in front of us?" Mark interrupted as he pointed in the direction of vampires approaching in front of them. "Seems prof has given out orders to the staff to create these guys."
"Taken out by surprise again." Sasha sighed as she brandished her longsword. "Here's the plan: those with support magic and ranged weapons can support us from a distance. Those who are in close combat must be on guard. Teamwork is our key here to defeat them. Let's finish this virtual training, and show to the military that we can take on these vampires the next time we meet them."
Sephiram pointed his rapier at the approaching enemy. "Let's go."
The team charged at the vampires, splitting the team into two to intercept. The vampires saw this and they charged towards the advancing enemy. Misty readied her whip and released a series of lashes to the vampires, sending most of the vampires nearby to turn into dust. Mina and Mark slash the remaining vampires who survived Misty's attack, while Lena, Hercule, and Hinono use their respective weapons to smash the ground, making a massive earthquake and causing the vampires to out of balance; which took those with ranged attacks as an advantage to shoot at them. Nadeshiko swung her weapon as she slashed her opponent diagonally, She didn't notice that a vampire lunged at her from behind but before it touched her, a chakram flew out of nowhere, killing it instantly; Carol caught the chakram after it had done its deed.
Anissa released an uppercut to the vampire's chin, before Sephiram slashed it from behind, giving her an 'OK' gesture before nodding in response. Sasha cast a fire spell on the group of vampires that were approaching her, charring them into corpses while Fred slammed the vampire to the ground as a wave of electricity danced on the floor, electrocuting the creature in the process. Fred looked up at the source and saw Krishna standing there, electricity dancing around in his cane.
The vampires began to send out reinforcements to intercept the group but they were halted midway by the sound of the violin. The group turned around and saw Cassidy strumming her violin, eyes closed in concentration. The tune continues to play as the vampires are unable to move, which gives Ingrid the chance to create a swift gust of wind from her fan, decapitating the vampires while those who survive the attack are suddenly shot down by the ranged users.
Sephiram saw Ingrid's attacks from the distance as he felt a pain in his head all of a sudden, He dropped his weapon to the ground clutched his head, and screamed in pain; not noticing that a group of vampires had begun to lunge at him in all directions.
"Big brother!" Anissa called out to him.
"Damn! He let his guard down!" Faustus shouted as he aimed his crossbow at one of the vampires.
"Ryan, cast a heal on him, quick!" Ian shouted at Ryan in response "I can't! More vampires are approaching and I can't make it on time!"
"Everyone who is not surrounded by vampires, get Sephiram out of there and get him to safety!"
Sephiram continues to scream in pain, ignoring the shouts of his comrades to get him to safety. He could feel his head throbbed as another series of pain felt in his head.
A series of flashbacks flooded before his eyes.
'What?' [He saw a woman who resembles Ingrid create a powerful gust of wind at the army in front of her. Despite the hazy memories, he saw the woman holding a familiar pair of fans while taunting her fallen enemies.
The same pair of fans that Piers used during his fight with him.]
Another flashback.
[A group of cadets, which he was shocked that they all resembled his classmates; face and all, laughing together when they defeated the entire army despite the dirt and bruises all over their bodies and clothes. The girl resembles Ingrid was among them.]
Another flashback.
["Is this some kind of a cruel joke?!" A woman with blond hair fashioned in high ponytails and wearing a white military attire shouted at her shocked parents, anger wore on her angelic-like face and eyes brimming with tears. "Why didn't you tell me the truth?!"]
'What is this memory?' Sephiram was confused at the memory before him. 'I've never seen this in my dreams before.'
["We're so sorry." The father apologized to the woman, and regret filled in his voice. "I tried to stop your grandfather from sending her away to the orphanage just because-"
"Just because she didn't have any mana within her?!" The woman shouted at him. The father went silent at her outburst.
"This is all your fault." Her voice trembles with anger. "No - this is all society's fault! Screw this 'mana system' that drifts every family apart! Because of this system tied to us, I have no choice but to fight my sister!"]
"Sephiram!" Sephiram was jolted back to reality as vampires began their assault on him. Realizing that he was surrounded by the enemy, he grabbed his weapon as quickly as he could and killed them all in a single strike, eyes focused on the enemy.
"And I thought you're a goner!" Fred shouted as he approached him. "You okay, dude?" he asked while helping him stand up.
"I'm fine," Sephiram replied, appreciating the help. "Thank you, Fred."
"No problem!" says Fred as he winked at him. Sephiram only chuckled.
"They're retreating!" Leon shouted as the vampire army retreated as they realized they were outmatched. All of them sighed in relief and cheered.
'Virtual System Aborted' The PR suddenly announced, causing the environment to change back to the grey training area, but unlike the previous training they had, only the ground took massive damage. The students took off their VR headgear as they celebrated a job well done.
"Seems you can now handle this scenario. A job well done." Westeria congratulated them as he approached the group. "But my concern is," he looked at Sephiram with a concerned look. "Cadet Davis?"
"Yes, sir?"
"You let your guard down," Westeria said. "What happened?"
"My head hurts all of a sudden," Sephiram explained while looking at Ingrid. "It all started when Ingrid used her fan to attack."
"Me?" Ingrid pointed to herself. Sephiram nodded. "Oh, you mean my Gust attacks. Something's wrong with it?"
"It was the same attack that Piers used on me." He explained.
'And you used the same weapon as him in those flashbacks.'
"Sorry about that." She apologized sheepishly. "But everyone's worried about you back there. What happened?"
"You see, I-"
"It's because he is experiencing past flashbacks every time he fights those vampires."
Everyone turned around as Krishna spoke again. "What you are experiencing right now is remembering the memories of the past."
"Memories... of the past?"
Krishna walked towards Sephiram and stopped in front of the latter. "I noticed that you have experienced headaches ever since we met, and when I observed you from afar, you were not to yourself when you fought those virtual vampires." Then he placed his hand on his shoulder. "How about going to my place on Saturday? You may find some answers to the unanswered questions you've been seeking for a long time." He leaves the room afterward.
The entire class only stared at the door. "Apologies to our liege!" Chloe apologized. "He's been like that ever since he set foot in this academy!"
"That's okay, Chloe," Sephiram reassured her. "By the way, how long has he been observing me during the battle earlier?"
"We haven't noticed that he is observing you," Chloe replied.
"You okay now, Sephiram?" Mina asked worriedly.
"I'm fine now, Mina." This gives Mina a sigh of relief.
Westeria clapped his hands to get the class's attention, which they did. "All right, the conversation's over. Training dismissed, return to your classroom!"
"Sir, Thank you, sir!"
*
Augustus stretched his arms as he finished deciphering the second scroll. After comparing it to the records from the Archives, he was able to translate what was written in the second scroll.
"But," Augustus said as he picked up the paper containing the complete record. "It is still the continuation of that story."
He grabbed another paper that contained the first volume of the story and only analyzed it as his eyes scanned the contents. He put down the paper afterward and read the contents of the first paper aloud:
[The noble family welcomed the pale-haired girl as their new servant, and she is assigned immediately to the laundry and kitchen duty. The pale-haired girl did all the tasks with ease without talking to anyone, except the older servants asking for advice. She was able to save up some money to pay off the debt her adopted father left after he died.
The maids and butlers noticed her as a quiet and sad individual as she always wore a depressed look on her face. They tried to strike up a conversation with her but to no avail. At night, the pale girl looked at the sky through the window of the maid's quarters, thinking and daydreaming while everyone else was asleep.
One day, as she was bringing fresh clothes to the dressing room, she heard the head butler announcing the return of the noble's heiress from her studies in the royal academy. He is calling all the servants to gather in the entrance hall, greeting her return.]