Alator's Grand Chamber of Magic.
In the underground cave-like structure, loud shockwaves shook the ground.
Half a meter meter wide Starfalls tore through air with crackling sounds of lightning, and the recoil of the sonic boom caused a gale. The interval between each Starfall was half a second. A strong, piercing rapid fire, focused attack that could tear through fortress walls.
– Twelfth Starfall.
Having come into contact with the disintegration barrier, sparkling white particles shot into the sky. Like a blooming firework, no matter how many times they've seen it, the students admired it in awe.
"Good work. Shall we end our practice today?" Din, the conductor suggested.
"That's early."
"Yeah.. but don't we have to let the other academies practice?"
"True."
Sequencee yawned.
Learning to coordinate for a grand spell is boring. It had been weeks since they began preparing for the competition, and truth be told, they had mostly grasped everything. The execution was flawsome, with the attack type grand spells displaying strong destructive power while the defense spells could guard against the false projectiles with ease.
The only thing now was the adjustment of the finer details– things like being able to tone down on one characteristic to conserve mana, or bolster another to trick the opposing party.
"Can we watch the other academy's ensemble when they practice? Or does that go against the rules?" Sequencee asked.
"It doesn't go against any rules. But, don't you think it's a little rude to go peeking at what our opponent's painstakingly prepared for the competition?" Dominic, an elf who was part of the magic concert ensemble replied.
"Makes sense. It would be awkward too if some of us just stood there. Well, at least we get to break early."
"We'll have to do more individual practice for our parts elsewhere then. There's no way our grand spells can be used outside this magic chamber."
"Can't we do it out in the field.. it'll blow a crater in the ground. Actually, wouldn't this spell be good for mining ore veins? You know, instead of having the earth magician digs all the time, just blow things up into chunks of rock.
"Sounds like a good idea– not practical though."
As they were clearing up, a group of students from another academy came from the stairs going to the surface. Sequencee noticed two familiar figures.
"Pardon my intrusion Sir Din," Her Highness Titania greeted.
"No. No. We were just finishing up. We welcome you to the magic chamber, Your Highness," Din said.
"It's an honor. What a humongous hall this is."
While Titania buttered up to Mister Din, the instructors began preparing for the practice. Some of the more knowledgeable ones began explaining about the different sections of the stage and the function of certain levels at the control panels.
The students from Eluive Academy all looked rather awkward, not knowing anything about the hall except that it was huge by normal standard.
Nearl, who was standing beside Titania noticed Sequencee. They acknowledged each other's presence with a curt nod.
"Students, you may all leave. I'll remain here to guide the student from Eluive Academy around." Din said.
"Yes sir!"
All of Riestallia's students chose to leave. No one was familiar with anyone from the other academy.
Sequencee too wanted to leave along with the other students when Din told him to hold on. Titania, showing a cordial wave, invited him over to have a short chat.
"I'm glad things went well for you. Congratulations on making it into the academy," Titania said with a smile.
"Yes. Thank you for your kind words, Your Highness," Sequence nodded.
'Went well.. it wasn't quite the smooth journey.. though, I still made it in the end.'
"How did Leticia fare? I hope she wasn't left out?"
"She was able to enter too."
"Excellent."
Slicing in between exchanges, Sequencee, Titania and Din continued their genial banter. Sequencee of course, just wanted to walk away. He couldn't find the right moment to call it off though.
"Sequencee, would you be free later in the evenings?"
"Is there anything you need from me, Your Highness?"
"I simply want to invite you for a cup of tea together with Sir Din. It would be nice if you could call Leticia over too?"
'Reject or accept..?'
"Your Highness, can I ask about the venue and time?"
"If you allow it, may I prepare the venue for this?" Din offered.
"You don't need to trouble yourself to that extent sir. I've already made arrangements at Lambert's Tea House, I had only ask for your kind permission to come," Titania smiled wryly.
"I will come, certainly."
"I'll tell Leticia about it," Sequencee said. He looked at Nearl for a moment. She sorta just stood there like a statue. Would she be like this during tea too?
"Would 7 pm be too early?" Titania asked.
"No, 7 pm is just fine," Din said.
'7 pm it is..'
Sequencee turned to the Eluive students. They had already begun to move into formation. It seemed that not everyone here was part of the ensemble, some of the more brawny students stood to the side and just watched. Those were probably students representing the tournament, not the magic showdown.
'It would be bad if anyone knew I have connections with the hero..'
Sequencee just realized how troublesome fate was once again.
===
["It is confirmed that Linton and Linzy are acquainted."] Iona responded.
"We called it," Sequencee said.
"Now we'll just leave the rest to them. It's something they have to resolve themselves, we've given them the push," Schwii said. "Thanks Iona," she let the pendant light fade.
"I'm still curious what exactly happened to Linton and Linzy. Looks like they had a rough past."
Why Linton was being hunted down by an alpha, how Linzy ended up in slavery, how Linton managed to enter Convenant's Academy, and their parents. It's true that everyone has their own unique life story.
"Don't think about it. Otherwise we'd be dragged deeper into the rabbithole. It's enough that we were involved in the problem," Schwii sipped on her coffee.
"It's already too late to think about that," Sequence sighed. "Speaking of which, I met the elven princess earlier during the end of practice."
"The elven princess? Which one?"
"There's only one elven princess here, right?"
"I'm not familiar with human culture. I've been living under a rock regarding things that don't matter to me."
"Right, right."
"I hope you aren't hinting that you're planning to make our relationship more complicated," Schwii said with a raised brow.
"No. Absolutely not. I'm just saying that because it happened. Actually, back when I was still in the orphanage, it was this princess which invited me to study at Eluive's Prestigious Academy for Heroes. I turned it down. So we're related quite distantly," he explained.
"Mmn. You were quite reckless, but it's because of your recklessness that we're here today," Schwii said, recalling how Sequencee was thrown into the ditch.
"And when I met her earlier I was invited to a small tea party. She asked me to bring Leticia along."
"..."
Schwii showed an expression of, 'Oh, so this is why you brought up this topic?'
'What is this feeling.. should I have just rejected Her Highness earlier?'
"I only ask that you be careful."
"Yes.."
Trailing off, they finally calmed to a quiet. Digging into the curry rice before him–
"How was your day?" Seuquencee asked, thinking he should start a normal conversation at least.
"My day? Simply a repeated cycle of endless fighting.." Schwii sighed, "Really, I'm starting to question why humans do these. Even the instructor themselves look like they want to flee from the students out of sheer boredom. Many things could be done with much more efficiency, but it seems a lot of the activities are just fillers."
"That's school to you."
"It is itself a kind of hell. Well, at least it's much, much more tolerable."
Schwii silently sliced a part of the soft pancake using a spoon. Her eyes downcast, eyelashes fluttered; with her straight posture, it gave her a charming look of mature elegance.
'She's as beautiful as ever.'
It wouldn't be wrong to say that they were having a lunch date at the moment.
"Ah. Also, Sequencee, I just remembered that Miss Judy wishes to see you in the office."
"Miss Judy?"
"Yes. I'll go with you. Let's finish our food first."
"Alright."
Sequencee downed the rest of his curry rice.
===
"I heard from Din that things are progressing well. So how has it been so far?"
Judy, Third Grade Mage of the Arcane Magic Ensemble. One of the members who contributed to the summoning of this era's hero. A short elf who often wears a conspicuously big purple hat, holding a staff everywhere she goes. Thanks to this, she could be noticed from a mile away.
"It's been well."
"Okay, okay. You don't need to sound so monotonous. Anyways, because of the exchange students programme, I was told that there will be a change in the schedule for when you can go to the magic hall to practice. Which means there will be mornings where I'll take you back into the usual classes. I'll have to confirm with Din on this, you have to hold on while I wait for the timetable to come out," she explained.
"Alright. So does that mean I'll somehow have to go in the afternoon if by chance they have the ensemble practice then?"
'If that were the case then I'll be skipping class wouldn't I?'
"I'll have to bring this up. In the first place, you're not a magic concert student. So they can't just take you away. There's some discussion needed between the two sides, I'll negotiate with Jonnathan, don't worry so much about this."
Sequencee nodded slowly.
"Well, that's all I have to say. If nothing more you can go to your next class. Shoo~" Judy flicked her fingers.
Schwii smiled wryly at her cute gestures.
===
"Uh.. will this do..?"
Timidly, Leticia showed off her evening dress. A white, drapey gown with blooming layers of translucent fabric. Her verdant hair pinned with small silver fasteners and barrettes, loose remainders of her hair tied into a braid. Reminiscent of a treasured flower– a lily– her elegant figure presented.
"Come to think of it, I totally forgot I need to wear something formal," Sequencee looked at his own clothes. Compared to what Leticia had on, his could be said as plain.
"I think you look alright," Leticia said.
"If you say so. Oh, and yes, you do look wonderful in your white dress," he smiled.
To his statement, her rosy cheeks turned a shade redder.