Selena woke up a bit haggard from her muddled thoughts last night. She left like she was stuck in a huge conspiracy that could ruin her life if she made a single misstep.
Now was not the time to think about other things, she has a huge battle to participate in today there was no reason to be distracted.
She quickly dressed as the three commanders were ready to go. The other two class representatives were slowly approaching their respective commanders and were ready to depart when signaled. Selena approached her post near Commander Lance and gave him a greeting.
She then turned towards the class and gave them a greeting as well before starting her small speech.
"Everyone, today is the day where everything we learned gets put into action. We all have our roles to play and we are vital to winning this war. Do not hold back and remember that I will always have your back. I may not be a powerful force who can lead you into battle but I will be your powerful backing that you can fall back on when things go wrong. With my support and healing, you have nothing to fear, on average, I believe all of you guys can perform better than the other two groups of classmates!" Selena says confidently while boosting the spirits of the class.
The people in her group slowly digested her words and realized it made complete sense. They may lack a powerful leader like Ivory or a powerful Fighter like Fiona but won't Selena's unorthodox spells allow them to make mistakes without any suffering?
The smiles on the faces of the class became brighter as they started to cheer for Selena. She smiles and then leads the class towards the direction of Commander Lance.
After everyone got together, they departed towards the direction of the final stronghold.
"Finally, we are back again," Commander Zenat says as he stares into the distance and spots the stronghold.
When they arrived, Commander Zenat positioned the soldiers who would shield and the ones who would shoot arrows appropriately. The best of the three groups all got into positions and prepared to attack.
The stronghold slowly filled with people as they prepared to defend their territory.
Unlike last time, the Kortz Shield was brought out immediately and the faces of the commanders immediately chilled.
They could not get used to the fact that the southern tribe had such a good supply of Kortz, the more common the metal became, the worse it would be for their empire.
"Fire!" Commander Zenat screams as he signals the archers.
The arrows land on the shields of the guarding southern tribe soldiers but they did a little more damage than last time.
Commander Zenat was confused because they didn't change a single thing about the archers or the arrows, he looked back and realized that there was a little sweat coming from Selena's face.
"Did you do that?" Commander Zenat says in surprise.
"I am just doing my part Commander," Selena says in a firm tone.
Commander Zenat laughed out loud and said, "Good, Good, I never quite understood your mother but it seems like she was right about that magic. I'll thank you in advance then".
"Alright everyone, we can't lose out, Fire!" he says once more in a loud voice.
The archers fired again and this time, the magicians from the Class joined in.
Despite having many different shields made out of Kortz, there was not enough to handle every single mage from the graduating class.
Slowly but surely, the Kadence empire got the advantage in this war. They effectively blocked the arrows from the Southern tribe and their attacks were slowly chipping away at their defense.
The fireballs created by Commander Flamor and Zenat were obviously the strongest and caused the southern tribe to use their strongest Kortz Shields to block them. This caused the two commanders to not do as much damage as they should be doing.
Unfortunately, they did not realize that there was another magician who could do damage that was almost comparable to that of the two commanders. As another one of Fiona's magic fireballs landed on a southern tribe soldier and completely disintegrated him into ash, The southern tribe knew this woman was trouble.
"That little girl of yours is quite something, huh Flamor" Duke Zenat says with a face full of surprise.
"Of course, the next generation is in their hands, we just have to look after them," Commander Flamor says with a voice full of pride.
Commander Zenat nodded in approval and kept focusing on his attacks. eventually, he realized that the a huge amount of enemy soldiers on the left ended up frozen or either falling over the wall.
He was confused until he noticed that floor seems to be very wet in certain spots along the wall. He slowly pieced everything together and turns towards Ivory.
"Young Mandeline, you are quite the intelligent one aren't you?" Commander Zenat says with a surprised tone.
"It's nothing commander, with the powerful offensive we already have, I figured it would be better if I used my mana to disturb their frontline and make it easier for you" Ivory says with a smile.
Commander Zenat smiled back. using water magic to wet the floor enough so that ice magic could freeze a huge amount of people takes a lot of mana and it's not worth doing if there are a limited amount of mages. He would never even consider it when he was fighting last time with just Flamor. But with this many mages on the field, it is great for her to use this to her advantage to increase our attack mages.
He shakes his head with amusement, it seems like my time is coming to an end. As Flamor says, the future is in their hands now.
"It looks like the future of my Kadence Empire is bright, Come on Flamor, we can't lose to the young people" Commander Zenat yells with a newfound Vigor.
"Of course not, I'm still not ready to have my dear daughter look down on me for being weaker than her," Commander Flamor says as he turns up the heat.
With the support of Selena, the basic attacks of the army got far more deadly. With the offensive generated by Fiona, the critical strikes delivered to the enemy became very frequent. With the disturbance created by Ivory, the amount of soldiers that were dealt with without needing immense firepower kept increasing over time.
Soon, the enemy soldiers on the wall decreased to the point where the Kadence army can safely approach the castle wall. After reaching the wall, the Commanders started to tear down the walls while the other soldiers were blocking incoming attacks with either barriers or arrows.
The wall was broken down and many melee-based southern tribe warriors were ready to attack. Commander Lance led a charge in one direction while the other two commanders led a charge in the other two directions. The class representatives followed their respective commanders and provided support.
With so many mages assisting with powerful fireballs and Selena relying on healing and increased damage, both teams made immense progress in taking care of the remaining soldiers in the city.
It was a vicious battle but thanks to the large experience of the commanders and the formations made by the soldiers and mages, the losses were kept to a minimum.
The biggest problem against the southern tribe was their numbers and odd tactics, when brought to a frontal war like this one, the Kadence empire had nothing to fear.
Eventually, the last few remaining soldiers of the southern tribe was killed off.
There was an odd silence after everything was done. The graduating class who was filled with adrenaline was looking around, waiting for their next task.
Soon, a large sound was heard. They turn over to see Commander Zenat blowing on an instrument.
"The war has been won, we, the Kadence empire, on this day, is now, VICTORIOUS" he screams loudly while raising his weapon upwards.
Everyone else screams in response while also raising their weapons.
"Kadence! Kadence! Kadence! Glory be to our empire!" They all shouted as their bodies shook with excitement.
It took a long time for everyone to calm down, now that the war is finished, there is still a lot to do. What they won was a battle against the last remaining organized militia of the southern tribe, they still have many other residents of the southern tribe to deal with.
Given the fact that the war was lost on their side, Unifying their lands with the Kadence empire is a foregone conclusion.
The Commander smiled while looking at Marquis Flamor and Lance, "We have done great today. With this momentum, our military faction would hold an unprecedented amount of influence and it may be time for you to return back with your head held high" he says while focusing on Lance.
A smile creeps onto Lance face, he has waited for this day for a long time. "Yes Commander, I thank you and Commander Flamor for the support all these years" Lance says in a tone full of gratitude.
"It's nothing, don't mention it" Flamor says with a smile on his face.
"You're most likely our future emperor, it's only right to serve you" Commander Zenat says in a humble but firm tone.
Lance smiles, he can't let down the belief of the people who supported him all these years. He clenches his fists, "Empress, Jason, just wait for me, I will take back everything that belongs to me!" He says with a face full of determination.
In the other area
The class got together excitedly as they talked about their experience these past few days.
"I still can't believe you guys fought twice and no one even died, That's too great," one guy said while talking to Selena's group.
"It was nothing, Commander Lance was just too strong, we just had to support a bit from the back and we ended up winning. It's too bad we lost a few soldiers tho" the guy from Selena's group responds a bit solemnly.
"It's war and also a surprise attack, it's great that you guys kept the losses so small, don't fret over it too much" the first guy responds. "And speaking of support, I can't believe Selena was able to make those arrows so strong. I knew she was working on some weird magic but I didn't think it would be so useful" The guy added.
"Of course! That's our class rep, do you think she would not contribute her fair share" A member of Selena's group said with pride.
"Yeah she's helpful but she still didn't lead the team, my class rep however was able to understand the situation and helped us wipe out many of their frontline without relying too much on the usual fireballs. Now that's a true leader", a classmate from Ivory's group rebuked.
"Hmph, your class rep could only use such tricks because others were pulling the most weight. If we're talking straight numbers, my class rep took out more people than even the commanders, there's no need to even compare!" A member of Fiona's team interjected.
"But that's only because the enemies used their strongest Kortz on the commanders, naturally, they wouldn't defeat as many people as the others!", One classmate complained.
The lively class kept bickering back and forth about who they thought performed the best and the sun slowly set.
Selena walked around while sipping on her drink. She naturally overheard the things her classmates were saying but she left them alone. It's good to give them some time to have fun and enjoy themselves. She stared at the sky and reflected on the battle.
"Fiona really is amazing, to think she took out more people than the commanders" Selena quietly mutters to herself.
She was quite happy with her own performance, she was not sure how effective her magic to sharpen objects would be on the arrows but based on Commander Zenat's reaction, it seemed to be pretty effective. If only I fully mastered my non-offensive magic, I might have been able to enhance it even more.
My attack boost on the arrows then might be strong enough to destroy a shield Kortz if enough skilled archers were aiming at it. By then, wouldn't I have been the one who helped take out the most targets? Selena says with a growing smile on her face as she imagines a future where her contribution completely dwarfs Fiona's. She giggled until she heard a voice nearby.
"That Fiona really is powerful. I think she would make the perfect match for the commander. Only a woman like that is worthy of being the future empress" Damian says to Allen as they slowly walk.
"The future empress depends on who the Commander supports but I have to agree, with her by his side, he would have very little weaknesses. Her father will take over Duke Zenat soon enough so her family is more than strong enough to help him suppress his opponents and she's also a very powerful mage who can stand side by side with him during his most dangerous moments. It's nearly a match made in heaven", Allen says in an objective tone.
"But what about that woman the commander keeps talking to? The one that can't do offensive magic. I'm grateful that she cured the lake but can she really support the commander as his empress? No matter how I think about it, Fiona is simply way better" Damien says in a worried tone.
"Her family doesn't really participate in politics and she's not powerful at all, it seems like she'll only add to his problems. Burt who is our commander? He's someone who would rise above all obstacles and win in the end. So I'm not too worried no matter what happens, I only hope he makes the right decision" Allen says with a sigh.
"Yeah, I hope so!" Damien adds on as the two continue to talk about other topics.
Selena, who quickly used magic to block away her sounds, slowly walked away after hearing their conversation.
As she walked towards her tent, She heard a familiar voice.
"Selena! You did so well today. Congrats, "I didn't know your class was so powerful. That Ivory sure is smart and that Fiona is so powerful too, it's amazing. I was left in a daze" Lance says in a happy tone.
Selena gave a complicated smile, "Yes, thank you, Commander, You did well yourself too"
Lance froze at her use of "Commander", why does it sound so distant?
"Selena, are you okay? Did anything happen?" Lance asked worriedly.
Selena realized she was being too obvious and quickly apologized. "Sorry Commander Lance, I was a bit frightful due to what happened today. Forgive me but I'd like to rest" Selena said as she prepared to head back.
"Oh.. okay then..." Lance said cautiously. "Oh and have you seen my assistants? they should be near here somewhere."
Selena points in the direction she just left, "They should be over there" she says calmly.
"Okay, thank you" Lance says.
Before he leaves, Selena bites her lips and says quietly, "Your assistants... are they very trustworthy?
"What? Did they do something wrong? My assistants have never wronged me once and are always willing to look at the bigger picture for me. The emperor's eye is great but having that alone won't let me see everything I need to see. Damien is always thinking about me and Allen is so intelligent, he's able to understand the best action I need to take to ensure a better future. I trust them like they're my blood brothers, I wouldn't be here without them", Lance answers with a voice full of pride and trust.
Selena gives another complicated smile and understands that deep in her heart, what Lance said is correct. Even though she was the topic of the conversation and they didn't speak about her in a good manner, she knew they were only thinking about their commander and his future. They're good men who understand what's best for their leader.
"That's great, having people like that around you shows just how much of a charismatic leader you are," She says with a smile.
"Thank you," Lance says with a bit of a blush, "I'll go find them now. I'm about to head back to the palace soon and we need to plan out how we're gonna deal with the faction behind the Empress" he says with a heavy sigh.
"Good luck and I hope things turn out well," Selena says with a reassuring tone.
Lance smiles once more at her comfort and then heads toward the direction she pointed at earlier.
Selena heads back into her tent and stares at the ceiling not knowing exactly what she was thinking about. With her heart in turmoil, she slowly closes her eyes and falls asleep with a small tear streaking across her face.