"Damn it, I got no roommate!" Rose whined like a child to Claire, upset about the unfortunate occurrence. "What am I supposed to do with a bunk bed if I'm all alone?"
Rose recalled excitedly arriving at her dorm, quickly taking out her keys and sliding them into the keyhole, opening the door only to see it was vacant, unoccupied by anyone but herself. She waited several minutes for her so-called roommate to arrive, only to get restless and ask the staff outside. They consulted with other staff and concluded that due to the odd number of newly enrolled students at Celestial Sword Academy, she didn't receive a roommate and would be alone in her dorm. They ended with an apologetic bow, which she sorrowfully accepted.
"Oh, come on..." Rose yelled, arriving back at her dorm after receiving the news that she would be alone there. She slammed her bag down on the floor, frustration evident in her eyes.
Claire and Rose strolled through the academy hallways, passing by students who were in their own worlds. Some were excitedly boasting, some even challenging each other in friendly and competitive duels, only to be scolded by the school staff for recklessness that endangered the other students. Others stayed silent, opting to stay in groups or even alone.
"Geez, at least you didn't get the awkward roommate who saved you and got caught up in an explosion because of me!" Claire responded, her face turning red with frustration.
"Ooh, the black knight in shining armor who took an entire explosion just to save the damsel in distress..." Rose teased, chuckling playfully at the end.
Claire's face turned even redder as she realized what Rose was implying. Rose glanced at her with a teasing smile as they continued to walk through the long hallways of the academy. Claire gulped, her hand trembling slightly.
"I'm not a damsel! I just, you know... It was an accident?" Claire stuttered nervously, her face bright red. Then she realized something. "And plus, weren't you the reason we were there in the first place after you told me to go with Maomao, capisce?"
"Ehehe..." Rose responded nervously, scratching her cheek with an embarrassed look.
"You even turned up late after you told us—" Claire began, only to be cut off by Rose.
"Okay, okay, geez, I get it! Enough with your 'capisce' talk." Rose replied, her face flushed with embarrassment.
They fell silent for a moment before laughing as they continued walking. The giggles subsided, giving Claire a moment to recall her encounter with Kazuki, the enigmatic figure. His presence remained a mystery to her as she watched from the top of their bunk bed. She remembered him closing the book he was reading before walking out of the dorm, his hand in his pocket, leaving all his belongings behind except for his blade, which never left his back.
"Ka... Zu... Ki..." Claire thought, wondering who he really was aside from the information she had, his name mentioned by the gray-haired man from before.
Claire continued to ponder, reminiscing about Kazuki's ability to take out a large group of men with a single whirlwind, showcasing his stellar skill. Her thoughts drifted to the man who led them, the mark he bore on his shoulder. She finally took a moment to recall it as she hadn't paid much attention to it before, her focus on Kazuki. But it seemed familiar to her.
Suddenly, she felt another headache, clutching her forehead before resting her head on the bed, feeling the immense pain. She recalled a blurry face of a woman who seemed familiar to her.
"Ah!" Claire yelled as her headache intensified.
She stopped her thoughts, slowly regaining composure as her vision cleared. She quickly grabbed her journal and her bow and arrow before climbing down the bunk bed. As she descended, she paused, holding onto the ladder's railing, briefly recalling her previous thoughts before the headache. She quickly headed out of the dorm, closing the door behind her, planning to meet with Rose, who had also decided to head out after discovering she was alone in her dorm.
They still had several minutes before they were set to arrive at the battleground as instructed, allowing the students to roam around and explore the academy. It was about 8:12 AM, and they were instructed to arrive at 9 AM, giving them almost 50 minutes to explore. Claire and Rose arrived at the cafeteria.
As Claire and Rose entered the cafeteria, they were immediately enveloped by the mouthwatering aromas of donburi, sushi, udon noodles, tempura, succulent katsu, and chocolate chip cookies. Their nostrils flared in delight as the mixed scents greeted them.
"Whoa! Is that chocolate chip cookies?!" Rose exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as she caught a whiff of the sweet treat.
Without hesitation, Rose dashed towards the cafeteria counter, fumbling with her purse to take out several Hanabira, the currency used throughout Stracia. She eagerly handed over the flower-embossed coins in exchange for a whole box of chocolate chip cookies. In Stracia, the currency used is called Hanabira or Hana for short, with larger denominations referred to as Sen. One Sen equals one hundred Hanabira. The cost of a box of chocolate chip cookies at the Celestial Sword Academy cafeteria that Rose bought is 30 Hanabira, which might be considered somewhat extravagant or unnecessary, especially when there are other more essential expenses to consider.
The cafeteria itself was bustling with activity. Long counters lined the walls, showcasing a variety of foods prepared for the students. Vending machines stood ready to dispense quick snacks, while numerous tables and chairs were filled with students chatting, mingling, and enjoying their meals.
Claire, meanwhile, lingered near the doorway, occasionally bumped by the throngs of students passing by. She watched as Rose returned, her mouth already full of cookies from the box she had just purchased.
"Hmpp... L-luk Clair... Humphh... Chocoleit Cheep COOKIES!" Rose mumbled excitedly, her voice slurred from the cookies crammed in her mouth.
"Did you really just buy that box of cookies? And don't eat with your mouth full, that's gross, capisce?" Claire responded, shaking her head with a mix of disgust and amusement.
Claire observed Rose, who was happily chewing on a mouthful of cookies, crumbs falling from her lips. Despite looking ridiculous, her joy was infectious. Claire couldn't help but smile at Rose's childlike enthusiasm.
"W-want summ? Izz... Gud..." Rose offered, her voice muffled and unclear as she spoke with her mouth full.
Claire chuckled, taking a cookie from the box with just two fingers. She took a small bite, savoring the sweetness. Her eyes widened in surprise at how good it was, realizing that maybe it wasn't such a waste of Hanabira after all. Rose's reaction reminded her of a little girl given a treat by her mother as she gulped down and swallowed the mouthful of cookies.
"See? I told ya it's good," Rose said, swallowing her mouthful and wiping a small chocolate stain from her mouth.
"Well, you could've spent your Hana on something more substantial than a box of cookies, but I can't deny that they are tasty," Claire admitted with a small chuckle.
Rose took a few steps back, beaming at Claire with excitement. Unfortunately, her joy was short-lived as she collided with a plate of food and several passing women behind her, making her box of cookies fly into the air and spill on the ground. Rose's eyes widened in heartbreak as she reached out her hand in terror before turning it into a fist and slamming it onto her chest, eyes closed in the loss of her cookies, as if she had lost a loved one. Claire rushed towards them, witnessing the aftermath of the bumping between Rose and the passing female students, causing a small commotion in the cafeteria.
Rose turned around, horror painting her eyes, realizing her accidental mishap had spilled food on their faces. Their encounter left Rose and Claire standing in an unexpected situation.
"What's the deal, pissant?" one of the students spat with disdain towards Rose.
Rose's eyes widened upon hearing the insult, like a needle painfully piercing her skin. She slowly stood up, dusting off her skirt, and walked back beside Claire, realizing that the students she bumped into were upperclass students, three to be exact, as she stood quaking in fear. They seemed much older than both of them, their faces showing disdain and frustration. Claire stood with a serious look on her face, her eyes piercing with determination, while Rose quaked in fear and embarrassment.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Rose uttered apologetically, bowing her head several times in front of the seniors.
"Do you think your sorry is enough for this?" one of the senior women questioned, her tone filled with disdain as she referred to the mess Rose had made.
"Heh, you juniors are reckless just because you got into this academy. What a disappointment..." added another, an angry smirk on her face.
"We should teach her a lesson in manners. After all, we're seniors..." suggested the third senior, cracking her knuckles and neck ominously.
Claire glanced at her friend beside her, who was unable to speak and cowering in fear. Claire's hand formed a fist, angered by the presence of the three seniors. She wished to defend her friend and knew she had to act now, more than ever.
"I won't let that happen again..." Claire thought, seeing her friend in need and determined to do something about it.
Claire, without hesitation and driven by a fierce determination to protect her friend, took a few steps forward, placing herself between Rose and the three seniors. Her eyes widened with resolve, just as Rose's eyes widened in shock and gratitude. Claire recalled the time she couldn't move during Kazuki's confrontation with the gray-haired man and his men, which had ended with Kazuki getting injured.
"Hey, hold on a minute. It was an accident, capisce?" Claire said, her eyes dead serious and her hand stretched out defensively. She glanced at the spilled box of cookies on the floor.
"Excuse me? Do you know who you're speaking to?" questioned one of the senior women, seemingly the leader, her tone filled with utmost disdain for both Rose and Claire.
The three senior women reached for their respective weapons—the oldest, and the leader, holding a magic staff; the second, a curved blade; and the third, a naginata. Their eyes were filled with complete anger and disdain. Claire, in turn, drew her bow, her other hand gripping arrows from her quiver. Her two fingers never left the tail of her arrows, readying herself in case the three seniors attacked. Rose stood behind her, paralyzed with shock and fear.
Students around the cafeteria gathered, drawn by the commotion caused by the three seniors. Even the staff, for some reason, chose not to interfere, watching from a distance as the situation escalated. Tables and chairs were pushed aside, and all eyes were on Claire and Rose as they faced off against the aggressive seniors. Claire stood her ground, shielding Rose, who shook in fear behind her.
"All I know is that you people are using your positions as seniors to look down on us," Claire said with a serious tone, her teeth slightly gritting. "I don't care who you are or what you are. All I care about is that you threaten my friend over an accident, capisce?"
"Well, I've got to give it to you, kid—you've got heart. But this is the real world; those attributes don't work here," the oldest senior, leading the three, said with a boastful smirk.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but we're the seniors," one of the seniors asserted, emphasizing their authority.
"Heh, you're just juniors. Neither you nor she has any authority over us," the third senior added, boastful in tone.
Claire stood her ground, pulling out three arrows from the quiver strapped to her back. She held the tails and pulled the string of her bow, aiming the tips of her arrows at the three seniors, ready to fight if necessary. Her yellow eyes locked onto her foes as the three women readied themselves for battle, forming combat stances.
"So you'll solve this with violence? Fine. If it's violence you three want, then it's violence you'll get," Claire declared, a confident smile painting her face as she prepared to take on the three seniors head-on.
"I guess you don't know the implications of reality, huh?" the apparent leader breathed in before speaking, closing her eyes momentarily.
Claire glanced at Rose for a moment before looking forward once more. Understanding her motive, Rose took several steps back, as if she knew what Claire was capable of, standing aside and letting her do as she pleased. The leading senior opened her eyes, her disdain intensifying. The three seniors gritted their teeth in contempt, the leader positioning her staff forward, commanding her fellow seniors to attack Claire.
Without hesitation, Claire immediately shot her arrows at the two charging students. They deflected them with their naginata and curved sword, sending the arrows into nearby tables and chairs and nearly hitting the nearby students. This allowed the leading senior behind them to cast a light magic spell towards Claire as Rose watched in fear.
"A light magic spell?" Rose thought in fear as she watched from a distance.
Claire glared, then rushed to a nearby cafeteria table, stepping on its edge to flip it to the side in front of her. The table blocked the spell, causing a white explosion of magic that knocked back both the table and Claire slightly. The two seniors then launched simultaneous attacks. First, the curved blade aimed a strike from below. Claire managed to narrowly evade by leaping up just seconds before the blade could strike her. Then she contorted her body, narrowly dodging the second attack from the senior with the naginata, who was striking from the side.
"That was close," Claire thought as she narrowly dodged the attacks, her mind in disarray over the unfolding event she was witnessing.
As the battle unfolded, Rose watched in terror from a distance, her eyes blurring and hands shaking vigorously. The crowds of students and staff watched in anticipation to see how the battle would conclude.
Claire gracefully landed on the ground after evading the dual attacks. She pressed her hands onto the floor before transitioning into a controlled handstand. Propelling herself into the air with a flip, she grabbed several arrows from her quiver and quickly nocked them to her bowstring. Before touching the floor again, she aimed her arrows at the two seniors who had charged at her with their blades, leaving the two, and their leader from a distance, in shock.
"Well then? That was real close. Is that all you got?" Claire smiled as she held her bow, pointing and threatening the seniors with her arrows.
The crowd of staff and students watched with mixed feelings. Some were in awe, while others were indifferent. The seniors, filled with disdain, sided with the three aggressors, while freshmen and even some other seniors were in awe of Claire's skill and her will to defend her friend, who stood in terror yet couldn't help but feel awe for her.
As more onlookers joined, the three senior students began to feel a sense of shame and mockery, particularly their apparent leader. Her fury intensified with every passing moment, fueled by the escalating humiliation brought by Claire's mere presence. Her disdain intensified, her hand shaking in anger like a candle refusing to burn out.
The leading female student gritted her teeth, enraged with fury. She conjured balls of fire and hurled them in Claire's direction. Realizing this, Claire shot her arrows at the first barrage of fireballs behind the two seniors she was threatening before leaping onto the cafeteria tables. The other two seniors charged toward her, eager to launch a coordinated attack.
Claire glanced at the incoming balls of fire, predicting where they would hit. She evaded them by flipping and leaping, dodging the hurling fireballs from the enraged senior. She even countered some with her arrows, hitting the fireballs mid-air while upside down from her flip. Some were blocked as Claire stomped onto tables, launching them into the air to block the fireballs. Simultaneously, she flipped away from the two seniors with their blades, who struck at her. They then showed her their Stellar Skills: the one with the naginata, who she now noticed had long brown hair and eyes, extended her blade forward five times. Claire stepped back while on top of the table to dodge. The one with the curved blade, who had orange long pigtails, delivered two slashes in a cross pattern. Although both Stellar Skills were completely unknown to her, they awed her despite the danger they posed.
Claire then took two arrows from her quiver, stretched them on her bow, flipped back to gain distance, and landed on another table. She released the arrows, disarming the two seniors by hitting their weapons. They stood in utter shock, with nothing to do. The leading senior, who Claire finally noticed had short red hair and eyes, became more enraged, her fury matching the red in her hair. She conjured a large ball of fire, glaring at Claire with an angry glance.
"Burn..." the senior spoke in utter anger, her eyes filled with disdain for Claire, who stood above the table with her bow in hand.
Claire stood firm, unfazed even as the students and staff, as well as Rose, slowly took several steps back in fear of the large fireball. Even the two seniors knew how dangerous the attack was and rushed away in the opposite direction, clearing the red-haired senior's line of fire towards Claire. Unfazed, Claire grabbed an arrow from her quiver, a serious look on her face as she lowered her body slightly, stretching the arrow on her bow, preparing a precise shot at the senior casting her spell.
"Show me what you got," Claire spoke with confidence, further angering the senior.
"Haaaaa!" the red-haired senior yelled as she released her attack in Claire's direction.
"Claire! Get out of there!" Rose yelled from a distance.
Claire stood firm, taking a quick glance at Rose before smiling, then looking forward again. She adjusted her aim at the incoming ball of fire, closing one eye before releasing her arrow with precision. Using her Stellar Skill "Precise Fragment," her arrow turned crystal white, intercepting the large scorching ball of fire, piercing through it, canceling it out, and burning it away. A massive hole opened at the center of the fireball before dissipating. Claire's arrow also burned out in the process as she stood up straight once more and smiled at her foe.
The two seniors who had stepped out of the red-haired senior's line of fire stood shaking in fear as they slowly grabbed their weapons from the ground. The red-haired girl looked around, feeling the humiliation deepening as the crowd of students discussed the scene before them. She had seen Claire train at her home's garden, but never anticipated Claire's true skill—enough to hold off three seniors who had studied at the academy for years.
"Whoa..." Rose said in awe of Claire's abilities, standing at a distance, her eyes wide with admiration.
Claire stepped down from the table, retrieving the arrows she had used to disarm the two seniors, and returned them to her quiver. She smiled, confident in her ability to achieve victory against the three seniors. The students around them murmured about the recent battle, a mix of awe, confusion, disdain, and indifference filled the room. Among them was Kazuki, leaning against the wall near the exit, sipping a can of soda and minding his own business. Claire noticed him, felt a pang of embarrassment, then refocused on the red-haired senior glaring at her with disdain.
The red-haired senior's grip tightened on her magic staff, her face contorted with rage as she prepared to cast another spell. Claire, seeing the threat, readied herself for another barrage of fire.
"You're dead, freshman!" the red-haired senior yelled, her voice dripping with fury.
As the senior charged toward Claire, preparing to cast another spell, Claire reached for an arrow from her quiver. Suddenly, the school speaker in the corner of the cafeteria interrupted their fight with a burst of static, followed by a long, high-pitched tone. The piercing sound caught everyone's attention, causing some students to cover their ears as they looked toward the barely visible speaker on the wall, waiting for the announcement.
"Freshmen, you are to go to the academy battlegrounds within 10 minutes, just before 9 AM. Failure to do so will result in immediate expulsion, there will be no considerations for any student whatsoever. I repeat, to any students still not present in the academy battlegrounds, you are to go there before 9 AM..." Ann's voice rang out through the academy speakers, echoing throughout the entire school.
Claire briefly recalled how Ann had scolded Takumi for being tardy, imagining the wrath they would face if they were late. Ann's voice, even through the speakers, sent chills down her spine. The announcement repeated several times, becoming increasingly hazy in Claire's mind. The red-haired senior halted her spellcasting, her arm dropping as her fellow seniors sheathed their weapons.
"Hmph... You got lucky this time, just go," the red-haired senior spat, remnants of rage still evident in her voice.
"Huh? So you're just letting us go, just like that?" Claire asked, confused by the sudden change in demeanor.
"Just go. You wouldn't want to face her wrath, would you?" the red-haired senior responded, calming down, likely in fear of Ann.
"Right..." Claire replied with a hint of suspicion.
She stared at the senior for a few seconds before Ann's announcement echoed more clearly in her mind. Setting aside her fight and suspicion, Claire rushed to Rose as the freshman students started leaving the academy. Some ran out of fear, while others walked casually, confident in their ability to reach the battlegrounds on time. Ann's voice finally cut out with a brief static sound. Claire grabbed Rose's arm, causing her eyes to widen in shock.
"Um, hey!" Rose yelled, startled by Claire's sudden grab. She had also been quaking in fear from Ann's announcement, recalling previous events.
"No time!" Claire responded immediately, pulling Rose toward the cafeteria exit.
They left the sight of the three seniors, who regrouped after being defeated by Claire, a freshman. While rushing towards the academy battlegrounds as instructed, Claire caught a brief glimpse of Kazuki. He walked slowly forward, seemingly heading to the same destination. He returned her glance with a blank gaze as she reached beside him, making brief eye contact before she rushed forward, leaving him behind, still walking forward with an emotionless expression.
The seniors back at the cafeteria, however, discussed their next move. Their battle with Claire was sure to spread across the academy, and the red-haired senior stood in the middle of the three of them, seething with anger.
"So what are we going to do?" asked the brown-haired senior.
"Yeah, are we really just gonna let this slide?" continued the senior with orange pigtails.
The red-haired leading senior twitched her eyebrows, blinking twice before glancing at both girls beside her. Then, she looked forward again with a menacing smile.
"Oh, we'll show that bitch who she's messing with..." the red-haired senior said. "By the end of it, that bitch will wish she never crossed us..."