July 31st, Margareth's office in Belladona, was a large room measuring 100m2, had a fireplace, tasteful classical decor, wallpaper with multiple symbols of the Royal Guard, paintings of great moments by Celestia and former directors from the Academy on the walls, a large mahogany desk, the carpet was luxurious, the large crystal windows, covered with red obsidian curtains, the headmistress' desk had many papers and photographs, but most special was her and his wife, a very beautiful black woman with long lank hair. There the headmistress was with the Grand Mistress and the master mage of Taurus sitting close together near the fireplace in noble chairs and a vast coffee table with 33 profiles with a summary of skills and performance, plus a photo of all the First year students in Class A, they were arranging the teams and who should be their team captains, and then they were also going to assess the profiles of the seniors to see how they will incorporate them into the Royal Guard and its sectors. These three were there for their positions, the responsible for matching the new teams.
The three were there with casual clothes, it was something that did not demand official clothes. Otrera was as usual smoking and at that moment drinking Gin. Otrera wore a white kimono-style blouse, sleeveless grey, well-shaped and with thin vertical silver lines, this blouse was held closed by a wide white sash that perfectly fitted her body, but revealed her slightly daring cleavage, she wore a tight white pants that ended just beyond the calf, a white low-heeled sandal with straps that tied around the mage's legs.
Alister was wearing blue cargo shorts, a blue tank top showing his abdominal muscles and an open blue flowered shirt like a light coat, he wore a simple necklace with a bull pendant, he had a huge hickey around his neck.
Margareth was wearing a simple white flowered dress and a fleece cardigan, as well as beautiful gold-framed glasses, she was really elegant wearing anything, she was very fond of this moment of team selection.
– Alister, Ethan was really excited yesterday, I haven't seen a hickey like that since Daedalus dated Thiago Quasar when I was at the Academy. – laughed Otrera who was looking at some profiles and positioning them and noticing the hickey on the mage's neck.
– He likes to mark territory, I say he doesn't need to worry, but you know how he is. – Alister laughed.
– As much as I love to be horny, how about we focus? – Said Margareth showing an authority. – What do you think of this group? Eve Novel, puppet specialist; Declan Allure, specialist in darkness; and Erik Quasar specialist in quantum magic and illusion magic as secondary... They are good friends, skillful, formidable performance. –
– Sounds like a good team to me, skills can marry battle, but how about putting Malik Shantai? He's quantum too, isn't he? He seems pretty strong to me, and this Erik has some ties to the Faunai girl and Maeve's nephew. – Pointed Alister pulling the chips. – I heard from my nephew that even clandestine wrestling tournaments they opened together. –
– Yes, but Quasar stays, not only are they friends and very good together, as is tradition, Quasar, Allure and Novel have been a team for generations, the parents of the three are from my time, they were an amazing trio and it became very well-regarded in the war, the trio "QAN", remember Margareth? They are Anitta's pupils, they were Maurice Novel, Thiago Quasar and Adriana Allure, the three are still active. – Said Otrera nostalgic.
– Yes, the three are some of the strongest captains, these three, always together doing something… The QAN trio has been around for at least fifteen generations, it's a classic, approved group… What do you think of Derek Gallard to take care of their? – Proposed the headmistress.
– Perfect! – Said the other two mages.
– So, better fit Baron Waves with Luceros and Anitta's grandnephew, an interesting team... Alicia can take care of them, she's very good. – Alister said.
– I liked it approved. – Margareth said.
– Now let's go to the best nine… Adam Hardrock, Ava's son, he is very skilled and has the library of Hephaestus, quite a weapon, can be good for offensive and defensive tactics, short or long distance… Gale Gallard, I had the opportunity to spend a few weeks with her, smart, insightful, and very quick, I don't remember a fast sprinter like her at that age, plus considerable sensorial skills aimed at field control, hyper voice and celestial magic , she's good... Sandy Storm is perfect to decorate the group, wind and sand magic, shrewd, fast, she can have a field domain of the terrain... Do you understand what I'm getting at? – Said Otrera lining up the profiles of the three, one next to the other.
– A team of traps, this is classic and very good, I agree. – Margareth said analyzing the situation.
– I thought it was a good idea, a tracking and trapping team, could be a very effective future team in the Royal Guard… Who would be the captain? I think Emiliana will be excellent, she was Ava's friend and skilled in traps. – Pointed the Taurus mage.
– Perfect, ok… Emiliana was Adam's mother's teammate, as well as being one of the best in the field of traps. Margareth said. – Now, I think this other team could be very good, a complete sensorial tactical team with great offensive capacity... Megara Hashik, excellent melee fighter and masters cosmic and order magic, a powerful combination, and beyond enable a good sensorial side, even though she's not the main one in this, it's more like the heavyweight of the group... Alana Ivory, mage of emotions, illusions and poisons, she is very good for tracking, espionage, sensorial missions, she can sense others through her vision of the emotional spectrum, Ethan himself is our best sensorial mage, she may not be as robust in melee as Megara, but she has a way to get by... Keith Haze, he's very special, a young man who was delinquent and took his course, he's perfect for the team, he has chaos magic to match Megara's order and he has gravity magic, that's gold for sensorial and tracking teams, besides knowing how to fight, he it was the broken ones. –
– I think it's perfect, a balanced group and each one has their role, they can give a good job. – Agreed Otrera.
– I think it's very good, teams like that were a lot of work, I faced one of these a while ago on a mission, they can give a job, if this Ivory is talented like her grandfather, she can be virtually the most powerful member of the team. – Alister said. – Who do you appoint as responsible for them? –
– The Mist, Henri Mist, he is an expert in sensorial magic and direct combat, he will be the best teacher possible for them. – Said Otrera.
– Approved then. – Margareth said.
– And now the ones that are left, it's almost like waiting to see history repeat itself. – Alister said.
– I also think it is the most balanced team with a recent tradition. – Margareth said.
– I initially opposed, I wanted you to put these three on different teams, our life was not easy, as much as everyone loves us, but even I can't deny that they are quite a team, I saw the three fighting to protect themselves in that attack and they did a good job as far as they could, I was impressed, it's just ironic that the boy who represents Morrigan is the prince in the direct line of succession, and Mor had to fight her way to Belladona , but it's not the kid's fault. – Said Otrera.
– Yes... He is a rare mage within his family, aptitude with darkness, shadows, illusions, necromancy, he is good, a member with cunning, sneaky and even sensorial abilities... Then her niece enters, who even took some steps with Eddy, she has talent, wind, fire and thunder magic like Edward, in addition to having the ice magic that she inherited from her father, it's more basic, but it's there for an emergency, she's definitely the ace team's main tank and bombing... And of course your nephew, the kid is good, booster magic and medical magic as the main one, his magic refinement is excellent for his age, as secondary spells he has water and also ice that he inherited from his father, but he hasn't demonstrated superior proficiency with water and ice yet, his focus is on the medical area and reinforcement, he is physically stronger than the other two, than all of the first year, for sure one medical and combat support that any of the students would like to have... They have the potential to be a new formation of what you, Morrigan and Edward were. – Alister said almost moved, it was something almost divine to be witnessing the formation of a team in the mold of the legends.
– Don't dream that big at first, they have talent and I really hope they surpass us, but it's putting a lot of pressure on their backs. –Said Otrera.
– Really, even if one is Gallard and the other two have the same blood as Otrera in their veins, we can't charge them to be like her... But I saw all three with a very good level, Polo has already mastered one of the eight Supreme Regenerative Skill techniques... Artemisia is intensifying her projectile ability with her flames... And the prince has shown himself deft with darkness as well as agile... We can expect great things, but we won't demand that they be like you. were... Who would be the right mentor for them? – Margareth said.
– Mentor... Since you want to try this, no one better than the sister of the one who molded the legendary mages... Astarte, she is capable, skillful and knows our history like no one else, knows the particularity of each one of us 3GLWM, and as their spells are similar, she will be very good for them, and especially Polo, she can help with my archetype, she can use six of the eight spells herself, there are two that only I can use so far, one that I last used ten years ago. - Said Otrera thoughtfully.
– I see… You almost turned into a goddess using this technique… And so I think it's done so, the first year students in Class A are separated into groups and with their mentors, eleven teams. – Margareth said.
– The other groups didn't present so much good, they have their outstanding mages, but in general they are quite common... No wonder they left many after that last test. – Otrera remembered.
All eleven teams were neatly arranged at the table with their profiles in piles of three with a captain's profile just above, and there was still room on the table.
– Now let's go to the third year students? I heard that only the cream of those 60 students were left, Maeve is already charging me for those I'm going to appoint to the navy, and Ethan wants to know if there's anyone for his area. – Alister said.
– So let's go to them! – Margareth said that with a movement of her hand she made the profiles and status of the students pile up in order of teams horizontally and with those of captain in vertical, all in a pile just well-organized and going to the principal's desk and then a pile of 60 profiles began to spread across the table.
– This will be fun. – Said Otrera.
Suddenly an emergency arose, a hologram spell, it was Astarte, she was injured and seriously injured.
– Master we need help, our mission in the Highlands was discovered, we were ambushed, the paladins and the neophytes that came with me are almost all dead. – Said Astarte who seemed exhausted.
– We have to go now! We will. – Said Otrera pulling three papers that were teleportation stamps from her neckline.
– Let's go now! – Alister said fearing for her friend.
The three mages were already experienced with this type of spell, using magic in the air, drew a complex magical pattern that opened a teleportation portal and came to the aid of Astarte.
***
Highlands region, a mountainous region of Celestia, the place was littered with rubble and destruction, several bodies of dead mages, the enemies were a squad of thirty dangerous and very skilled mages, there were still six left, but Astarte was too injured to able to continue, she had used a lot of her magic to heal her mates by preventing them from dying. Otrera and the others then arrive at the scene.
– Margareth, Alister, clean the floor with these guys, I'll take care of Astarte. – Said Otrera.
– Right! – Said the other mages going all out
Otrera went to Astarte who was very injured and exhausted, she didn't have enough magic energy at that moment to use the healing spell. Otrera has already arrived using her advanced healing techniques.
– What happened here? - Asked Otrera treating the student.
- We were ambushed by surprise by thirty mages, the level is very similar, if not higher than those who attacked in the country house, I killed 16 alone, but they took us by surprise, of the ten who were with me there are only four alive, they are well I left them resting in a cave nearby. – Said Astarte. – Not to mention that there were two others who retreated, Myaka and Zeno, those two together, both with powers worthy of master mages, I almost killed Zeno, but Myaka got in the way, she wouldn't handle the two together.
– That's my girl, you would have cleaned the floor at thirty if it weren't for this cowardly attack, you must have worn yourself out healing them and fighting... Don't think this is demerit, it just proves that your strength is too moral and not just physical, he put his companions' lives ahead of his own, that's one of the medical rules, isn't it? – Otrera smiled, who had already finished the cure.
– Yes, it was an ambush, I wasn't expecting a fight because… – began Astarte.
– This mission was secret, only few people knew about it. –Thought Otrera. – Let's go, Margareth and Alister must have broken up with the guys. –
– Yeah! – Astarte said, recomposing herself.
Margareth and Alister had quickly massacred the six, soon met up with the other four survivors and then left, Otrera was even more suspicious of some people, mainly because they involved her student in this, she knew Astarte could, even if with some problem, kill the 30 ambushers, but they had a stealthy tactic as if they knew the mission's action plan.