Irene Heartfilia, with blue hair and blue eyes, possesses a talent that enhances water magic, earning her fame as the Water Fairy on the South Border battlefield. Yes, she joined the war at a young age. Her first time on the battlefield was when she was 13, and since then, she has almost regularly participated in the conflict.
Unlike Allesia, who is well-protected as the only daughter of the Blair family, Irene is a middle child. She's neither the youngest, who receives more affection, nor the oldest, who commands the family's attention.Irene does have a master whom she learns from. However, it's also because she caught the teacher's eye and, in return, became her student.
Returning to Arthur's situation now
Currently, there are two girls beside Arthur. Both of them are pretty and can be considered goddess-level figures by many. However, from all the information he received from Sebas, he can confidently say that both of them are extremely dangerous.
'I don't know if I'm lucky or unlucky here. One wrong words and I'm dead.'
"Oh right Irene, this is Arthur Reinhart. I met him yesterday. Arthur, this is Irene Heartfilia, she's my best friend."
Allesia said it with her cheerful voice not knowing the trouble that Arthur facing.
"It's my pleasure to meet you Miss Heartfilia."
Arthur give Irene a simple bow with a smile on his face trying to hide whatever he thought.
"Pleasure to meet you too, Mr. Reinhart. I'm sorry about Allesia; I know she's quite troublesome sometimes."
"What are you saying Irene? I'm not making any trouble here!"
Arthur looking at Irene with a complicated feeling, because Irene really sincere when she said that. She's not trying to make a fun of Allesia or try to look down on him. Irene apologize because she's worried about Arthur as she know that Arthur will get trouble for what Allesia have said before.
"Please don't apologize, Miss Heartfilia. I did enjoy Miss Blair's company here, and I'm also sure that there won't be any problems later."
Irene was a little bit surprised by what Arthur said, but that was it. Only a little bit.
In the end, Arthur decided that if he really failed the interview and some noble decided to make trouble for him, he wouldn't mind calling his Avatars for help. If everything really fell apart, then he wouldn't mind going down in style.
"Hehe, you hear that Irene? It's only you who think that I'm a troublesome."
Allesia said, her eyes sparkling with happiness, as she expressed her joy.
"Well, if you're in trouble later, you can try to contact me."
"Thank you Miss, at that time I won't be polite."
Arthur smile while saying it, like he is happy having a guarantee from a Duke family.
The three then continue to talk until they heard an explosion.
*BOOM*
They quickly looked towards the source of the sound and discovered that it was coming from the other side of the wall. They then wondered who could be making such a scene.
A few minutes later, they found out who it was: a man with red hair and red eyes, wearing a red robe with an insignia on its right chest.
"Crimson-Night Flynn!"
Arthur shocked when he heard the name from Irene.
'It's the seventh prince!'
"Ah! Do you mean the seventh prince Flynn von Eisenbern?"
Allesia asked Irene with a shocked and wondered if it's true. While Arthur is grateful with Allesia as he dowsn't need to asked Irene again to confirm if it's really the seventh prince or not.
"It's the seventh prince. I've seen him before at the South Border. There's no way I can forget those red hair and red eyes. Also, judging from the sound of the explosion, there's a high chance he used flame attribute magic."
"Wow, is he stronger than you, Irene? Moreover, the second name that the prince got is cool too."
Allesia noded her head as if approving the name Crimson-night.
"He is! When he was helping at the South Border, he killed a lot of demons. Some soldiers even felt sorry for the demons back then. It just looked so easy for him to kill demons that with every skill he used, at least 20 demons died. The soldiers behind the wall could even smell the scent of burned corpses. That just shows how many he killed."
"Ewww, that doesn't sound good. The smell of burned corpses is definitely disgusting. Good thing I didn't go there back then."
While Arthur shocked with what happened, Allesia is also surprised with how disgusting it might be for the smell of the burned corpse.
"Allesia, that's not what you should focusing on right?"
Irene voice sound annoyed as she looks at Allesia.
"B-but,_"
"NUMBER 177! NUMBER 177! "
Before Allesia finish her words, Arthur heard his number getting called.
"I'm sorry, Miss Blair, Miss Heartfilia. I have to go. It is my turn for the interview."
"Yeah, go on. I wish you luck. Mr. Reinhart."
"Good luck Arthur!"
"Thank you."
After Arthur give the two small bow, he then walk towards the two guards.
"I'm number 177. Here's my wooden plate."
After Arthur handed one of the guards the wooden plate he had, the guards didn't say anything, only letting Arthur pass inside the wall.
Once inside, Arthur saw a long table with four teachers seated behind it. Three men and one woman comprised the group. The teacher on Arthur's left appeared to be around his 40s, with short brown hair, black-colored eyes, wearing glasses, and dressed in what seemed to be overly expensive clothing, typical of a noble.
On his right side sat a man with grey hair and a matching mustache, wearing a greenish-black robe. He looked older than the first, with wrinkles visible on his face.
The third teacher appeared even older than the previous two. He had long white hair and a white beard, wearing a witch-like hat and a grey robe. If Arthur had to guess, he would say this old man was over 100 years old, but who knows for sure?
The last teacher surprised Arthur a little. She was a woman with silver, or perhaps platinum-colored hair, and green-colored eyes. She wore an armor that looked like it was made from some kind of skin, though Arthur couldn't discern the animal. It looked sturdy and definitely not from a low-level animal or beast. She also had a pretty and mature face.
But what surprised Arthur the most was that the woman had longer ears than a normal human.
'Elf!'
She is an elf, which is really rare considered this is the first time Arthur seen one.
"Your name and your talent?"
The teacher who wears glasess asked Arthur.
"Arthur Reinhart. Talent, Avatar."
Arthur doesn't like where this is going as the first few question that he got were his talent.
"Avatar?"
The teacher from before asking again as if to confirm or he doesn't seem to believe.
"Yes."
Then all the teacher looks at the document on the tables to make sure again if what Arthur said was true.
"R-"
"What you're major at?"
"Sword."
Before the previous teacher said anything he got cut by the oldest looking teacher.
"I see, before we see you demonstrating some sword play. Why don't you touch this crystal first."
The beard teacher (That's what Arthur decided to call the one with the oldest looking) took out a crystal ball that is as big as half soccer ball and let Arthur touch it.
Arthur then walks towards it and start to touch it with his right palm.
Name Arthur Reinhart
Level: 1
Strength: 17
Intelligence: 15
Agility: 12
Talent: Avatar
This Crystal balls shows Arthur Stats, but not with the skill that he got.
"Level 1? Also this stats. Isn't that too small?"
Once again the teacher with the glasses said with a little bit angry and annoyed on his voice.
"Ok then, let us see you used that sword. You can choose the sword from that weapon rack over there. Before you asked, No, you can't used your own sword. This is for the fairness."
Arthur let out a sigh, feeling like he was halfway to failure.
But, at least he wanted to finish this without too much noise or trouble, so he followed the instructions.
Arthur then looked for a sword on the weapon rack situated on the side of the wall. There were quite a lot of varieties of weapons there. From swords alone, there were several kinds like a normal longsword, a short sword, a curved sword, and there were also other weapons like axes, spears, halberds, and more.
Finally, Arthur chose a longsword that was closest to what he always used. Seeing that Arthur had finished choosing his weapon, the bearded teacher moved his hands, and one of the target dummies in the right corner moved closer to him. Arthur then saw the bearded teacher nod to him, as if to indicate that Arthur should demonstrate his swordplay.
Just as Arthur was about to get ready, he remembered that he didn't know any sword techniques. All this time, he had only trained with basic techniques like horizontal swings, vertical swings, stabs, and others. But he had never trained any other techniques.
Arthur decided to forget all the distracting thoughts and focus on looking at the target dummy in front of him. He put the sword in front of him as he got ready, deciding to use a vertical swing because that's what he used the most when he was training.
As Arthur began to concentrate, he started to remember all the training he had done. All those seven years of swinging his sword as if his life depended on it. He couldn't forget it; even if he did, his body would always remember all the training he had done so far.
Anyone who watched Arthur now could only say 'perfect' for their words. The posture, the movement, the breathing, it was as if it were ingrained in his bones.
*CUT*
It may looks long but, it only takes a few second for Arthur to cut the target dummy and as he finish used the vertical swing, Arthur then look ak the teachers.
"That's it?"
Almost all the teachers had the same thought as the one with glasses. After all, nothing seemed to happen to the target dummy, not even a sword scar.
"Ok, thank you. You can see the result tomorrow at the same place as the notice from before."
Arthur then give the last bow to the teachers there before he head out.
'Sigh… I failed I guess.'