Countermeasure

Thomas left the blacksmith in a hurry with a grin on his face. The new daily quest excited him in two ways. Not only could it make him stronger, but Thomas would discover whatever his new skill, "Arcane Foresight" does.

By the time Thomas reached the classroom, he was heavily panting and checked his pocket watch.

"Right in the nick of time somehow…" Thomas was completely out of breath.

He opened up the classroom door and headed on inside. Cassie immediately turned her head.

"I was told you were going to be late. Glad that you can join us on time," Cassie said and turned back around to face the class.

Everyone in class was chatting eagerly and this confused Thomas and his group.

"Did we miss something while we were gone on Friday?" Alex whispered to Corbin.

"Why are you asking me for?! I was absent with you!" Corbin complained about Alex's stupid question.

Thomas had a slight laugh but tried to keep it quiet. Alex turned to Thomas.

"You think this is funny, do you?" Alex put his arm and playfully strangled him.

Cassie fired a water spell right into Alex's face.

"Please remain quiet, I will explain Monday's schedule and what lies in store for this week," Cassie sighed at their childish behavior.

Alex was not pleased at all that Cassie targeted him now twice in two weeks.

"But... everyone else was talking! Why are you targeting me for?!" Alex stood up and nagged while pointing at the entire class.

"Did you say something?" Cassie villainously smiled and readied another spell.

"No… please continue! Sorry to have interrupted you," Alex smiled back nervously and sat down.

Cassie began explaining that on Friday during their absence it was decided to start mock-battles on Monday. A real battle would later be held during Friday amongst all of the first-years. This was to prepare them better for what was to come.

However Corbin and the rest already figured out that this was the countermeasure response for the demon attack. Cassie must have brought it up to the academy's principal and decided what the next best move would be for the first-year students.

"You may assign mock-partners amongst yourselves, however if there is a clear lack of division I will randomize them," Cassie explained with a strict voice.

Alex smirked broadly.

"This is more like it!" Alex was excited.

Thomas could not really blame him. Both Corbin and Alex already mentioned they prefered battling more than reading, and now they could vent out all the frustration from the hierarchy crap. Olivia raised her hand.

"Yes, Olivia?" Cassie gave her the word.

Olivia stood up before speaking.

"On Friday, can we hold a mini-tournament amongst the first-years?" Olivia glanced back at Alex right before finishing her sentence and sitting down.

Cassie held her right hand against her chin for a second to ponder with both eyes closed.

"Sure, why not!" Cassie agreed to it and everyone in the classroom stood up and shouted out of sheer excitement.

The only two people that did not were Thomas and Emily. He spotted her sitting slightly diagonal across. Thomas grinned to himself. Maybe this was the time he would see Emily, a half-elf in action?

Cassie led them back to the large building that was slightly above west of the North-Western wing, the same one they had taken their entrance exam in. On their way there, Corbin and Alex mischievously grinned together and approached Thomas then put their hands around his shoulders.

"Yo, Thomas! Let's have a little bet who will win on Friday!" Alex instigated the challenge.

Thomas sighed, "Fine, I bet on Alex, how about you two?" Thomas grinned back and took them by surprise.

"Not fair! You have to bet on yourselves!" Alex immediately complained.

"Did you state any such rules prior to announcing the challenge?" Thomas challenged his claim.

The three of them stupidly laughed and chose not to bet at all. Thomas managed to outwit Alex and cancel the bet altogether. However Olivia approached them.

"Interesting… I bet on myself," Olivia stared at Alex and beamed with confidence.

"Are you sure? Would be a shame to injure that pretty face of yours," Alex sarcastically stated in attempt to annoy her.

Olivia did not take the beat and walked away, then turned around for a second.

"See you on Friday," she smiled.

"Tsk… she is no fun!" Alex did not enjoy Olivia's response at all.

Once their class arrived at the building they were divided amongst themselves into pairs of two or groups of three. Thomas tried to look for Emily to see which group she landed in out of curiosity, but there was no sign of her.

"Looking for someone?" Corbin asked and Thomas shook his head.

"What are we waiting for, let's start!" Alex clapped his hands together.

"I have been dying to battle Thomas for a while now," Alex licked his lips all excitedly.

Corbin told Thomas not to worry about it. Alex had a strange habit of doing so whenever he was excited prior to a battle. Thomas scanned Alex in an attempt for weaknesses, but none were revealed, however something else surprised him.

[Name: Alexander Keene]

[Appearance: Red Hair, Red Eyes, 5'10]

[Race: Noble Human]

[Ability: Fire]

[Known skills: Flaming Sword]

[Level: 5]

[Vitality: 25]

[Strength: 25]

[Agility: 25]

[Intelligence: 25]

[Stamina: 25]

Thomas was now able to inspect and peer into Alex's stats.

"Was there a level gap before or something?" Thomas pondered while slowly unsheathing his sword.

Alex stomped the ground twice with his foot, "Come on, I want to battle already!" he fussed childishly.

When Thomas' sword was fully unsheathed Alex and Corbin were both in awe. It was of a perfect arms-length for Thomas and had a prismatic engraved gem in the middle of its grip. The sword appeared extremely light, yet dangerously sharp.

"Hahaha!" Alex laughed, "I knew you would surprise us, now let's see what you are made of!" Alex rushed towards Thomas with a large grin and prepared his flaming sword.