17. To New School V

Ardbolg's appearance caused quite a bit of an uproar in the auditorium, and the excitement Ricaud showed instead of calming down the students resulted in Aaricia the Flamethrower, who seemed to have finally rested enough, appearing in front of the Robust, giving him a kick, straight into his knee.

"Stop acting like a kid finding a new toy and help me clean before the last trial" she told Ricaud, who just smiled with a short "sorry".

To Mattheia this appeared as a really funny scene, mainly because it was actually the Robust who was taking care of the Flamethrower making a fuss earlier on, and now the roles changed.

"They kind of look like an old marriage" he said to Sherkhan, without thinking how the two teachers would react.

First, they just blushed, but a moment later he realized it was something he should not have said. Fortunately, headmaster jumped in to calm down the situation.

"Man, teachers here sure are eccentric" Sher commented once they went back to the spot where Kashia was standing.

"You say that, but you look really happy now" the angel girl pointed out to muscleman student.

"Do I?" he seemed to not realize that he was smiling "I guess agreeing to come to this school wasn't a bad idea in the end."

"Why is that? You didn't want to get here?" Mattheia was actually curious.

Sherkhan nodded.

"You see, swordsman skills are something my family cares about the most. Gerhan swordsmanship is quite famous, so it's not like we really need much of additional education to begin with." the gaze he gave the other two seemed to be telling them "you know about Gerhans, right?" as if it was obvious "Still, my father keeps saying that the times are changing and I need to be ready for anything that may happen in future. I was actually quite reluctant about the idea since I didn't think I could find anything interesting in this school, and here you are with this crazy sword chanting."

Kabanos family heir sighed.

"I don't have an idea how this happened, so you can't be sure it's actually the thing you are thinking."

"Even if not a skill, you managed to call your sword, which in itself is a big deal. Either way, let's be friends" he suddenly extended hand to Mattheia "I want to learn from you, and you can rely on me to provide any assistance you may need."

The boy hesitated for a moment, but accepted a handshake from Sher, who also requested the same from Kashia afterwards.

Now, the last, final trial remained, and contrary to the previous ones, it was not supposed to happen in the auditorium - instead, newcomers were led to a separate stadium building - a round-shaped area surrounded by a magical barrier.

Once everyone entered, there were many who wondered why they were not going through all the trials instead, and only the last one was to be held in here. Apparently, the answer was quite simple - erecting the barrier required quite a bit of resources and mages who were responsible for the duty needed both time and peace of mind, hence rowdy events were to be held first separately, and only final test requiring the barrier was planned for the stadium.

Until now, all teachers responsible for the process already managed to participate in handling of the trials, but in case of Aaricia the Flamethrower - she was forced into jumping in sooner than planned, as the final event was her responsibility.

"Welcome to the part many of you were waiting for, and my personal favorite magic handling course!" she smiled widely "Well, it may be considered mainly magical activity, but it does not mean you cannot use other tactics. After all, this trial is completely different than the others." now, she looked around, her smile not changing even a bit "Ok, it's enough hiding, time to show it to you."

Once Aaricia clapped her hands, the area that was appearing to the students as a blank stadium changed into a complex area with small paths, buildings, plants and also some living creatures.

"Apologies for playing this trick on you, but tradition is tradition. This course you see is your challenge - pass it through and you get the full score for this stage. No worries if you fail on the way, you will sure get some points as long as you enter. But beware as you cannot know what dwells inside and what awaits you at finish line."

"This teacher sure seems to enjoy the show" Mattheia commented to Kashia and Sher.

"I actually enjoy a nice fight, so as long as it feels interesting, I'm going to play that game" Sherkhan replied, while stretching his body, looking quite excited and having shiny eyes. From the side he looked like some bulked up puppy.

"And I'm actually getting slightly tired" Kashia yawned "Did you have a look at the sky? It's nearly dusk, and we are supposed go in there..."

"Your main job is to reach the other side of this course" Aaricia was close to concluding her speech "Any questions?"

"Is flying allowed?" it was angel girl who immediately raised that question. Couple of people laughed.

The Flamethrower, who was smiling all the time, suddenly gave those who laughed a cold stare, then turned to Kashia, smiling again.

"All your skills and abilities are allowed there, dear. Though I need to warn you that some skills may prove less useful than others, or completely useless. One of the key parts of this test is your decision-making, so think carefully about actions you are taking. Anything else?"

"What about others on the course? Is this a competition? Or should we cooperate?"

Aaricia squinted her eyes mischievously, continuing to smile.

"It's up to you. Your only target is to get to the other side of the course. Though I would rather not see you trying to kill each other - I have a right to intervene."

"Are we going all at the same time?"

"No, the order is set based on your prior results, and that was actually what I was planning to say after the questions round. However, we won't tell you how exactly the list was prepared, and no - it is not straightforward highest to lowest or lowest to highest - so don't try to guess who has the best scores."

Students started talking to each other - everyone wondered how exactly would teachers sort the people based on the scores if not the most obvious way. Still, the chitchat was becoming less frequent soon after as Aaricia was sending people inside at a high pace.

There was a single entrance gate, but there were apparently several routes to choose from the very beginning. Looking from distance, Mattheia noticed at least four routes, each having different traits, for example ground could be simple dirt, grass or stone and while stage was big and quite open, two were closed from above due to plants growing everyone, creating a kind of tunnels.

Interestingly, other students kept going, but Mattheia, Kashia and Sherkhan were not called yet, and the number of those still outside was getting lower with every moment. It was to the point they even tried to ask, and ended up getting a cold look from the Flamethrower.

At the same time, they could hear screams of students coming from inside the course, and some were already thrown outside through the walls made of plants - observing how it worked, it seemed that teachers were supervising specific chunks of this unusual arena.

"I think we did really well, and that's why they are keeping us here for so long" it was Gerhan who commented on the situation "Each of us showed some good skills in at least one event. I wonder why would they set the order that way."

Kabanos shrugged.

"Or maybe it's just that they have a bad opinion?" he asked instead, but quickly smiled "Nah, I actually agree with you, though I'm not sure why would they keep those with better score in such manner. You know what this Aaricia said, right?"

"She only said that the order is not so simple" Kashia pointed out "It doesn't mean they couldn't keep some students in the actual scores order."

Meanwhile, Nine and Junie were observing the event from the sidelines.

"So, what's with this order related to scores, but not going with standard?" Nine asked "In the past they would keep the highest scoring ones for last so those who went first could get in their way, and make it harder for them to complete the course. Here, you are saying it's not the case, but I see some familiar faces still waiting outside."

Ricaud, who was standing next to her, smiled slightly.

"Oh, we did keep the best ones to go last, but the order in-between was done differently" he started explaining "You see, we observed their behaviors through previous rounds and identified some patterns. We are hoping that mixing the order with some personal and skill links can produce interesting results."

Nine looked at him, shook her head and sighed.

"So, you are saying that you actually sent people hoping they would make teams on their own and cooperate? That's an interesting idea, but do you really believe it's going to happen."

The Robust shrugged.

"Not in each case, though I must say I'm hoping for your students to go with this. The boy had really good results all the way until now, and I would place him in the very top. Sky People's girl excelled in one event, and was really good in two. I believe they will rely on each other. Still, that Sherkhan boy is someone I want to join them, and it feels we are on a good track here."

"So, can you two tell me why exactly are you doing this?" Junie, who was staying silent for a moment now, finally decided to jump in the conversation "Is it just some kind of initial rating?"

"I'm no longer sure since I graduated way too long ago." Nine said that in reply, gaving a Ricaud quite obvious look.

He just sighed and explained:

"Ranking is one thing, but what's more important is the right to become a class representative and select remaining members of class council."

Junie, who never went to similar school, still had trouble understanding.

"So, I guess it's good to have this privilege?" she asked.

Nine smiled when she heard this question.

"That's a pretty big deal. If class representative can pick others to support them, they can build an elite class, which means higher chances of showing off in general competition, then connections and possibilities in future."

"Oh, I see you still have this understanding of how this world operates" Ricaud laughed, while praising Nine "Though, I would expect you would despise such approach based on your past as Aukkleia of the Nine Magics."

She stopped smiling.

"My past has nothing to do with supporting my students, especially Mattheia. I was taking care of him for years now, and in his position he will need as many allies as possible to not lead a miserable life like mine."

The atmosphere suddenly got really cold.

"Woah, Kleia, don't be like that!" Ricaud decided to cheer her up "A lot has changed during the time you were away. I'll invite you guys to a drink later on. How's that?"

"If today goes well, I'll be up for your offer."

Just after the Robust suggested drinks to Nine and Junie, Sherkhan and Kashia were called first, and Mattheia followed. Interestingly to teachers observing the event, Sher just sat down at the crossroad, while Kashia - obviously wanting be done with the task as soon as possible - spread her wings and took off, planning to pass the course the way that seemed to be the easiest. However, the very moment she gained altitude, something flew at her with high speed, and she barely managed to dodge.

Angel girl seemed to feel that it was only a single obstacle, attempted to fly further, and then was attacked by a big, flying lizard.

"Okay, this is bad." she said to herself, while quickly flying downwards, noticing the beast is still chasing her.

At the same time, Sher - who was actually sitting at the crossroads to wait for Mattheia - stood up, seeing Kabanos is approaching, and looked into the sky.

"Fly here!" Sherkhan shouted to Kashia, then he turned for a moment to Mattheia "Take the side!"

By the time Sher instructed Mattheia, he was already running at full speed. The moment Kashia got close enough to the ground, and lizard closed to her, the creature got a nasty surprise - Sherkhan jumped in front, guarding Kashia by throwing a shortsword at lizard's head, hitting one of its eyes, and the disorientation of the creature allowed Mattheia to deal a heavy blow to the beast.

Lizard fell to the ground with a loud noise - the hit was so strong, it did not manage to make a single sound before falling.

"Is it dead?" Kashia asked, touching the creature with his leg.

"Hearing impact sound, I wouldn't be surprised if all its bones on this side were broken" Sherkhan was checking the creatures body.

"No point in worrying about it" Mattheia already sheather Ardbolg "We didn't even walk inside." he looked back at the entrance and only caught a glimpse of Aaricia smiling before she walked away "Let's get this over with. I already don't like this event."