Chapter 71 - Meet the Team

"Now that I've said everything I need to, you may leave, or discuss with your teammates, whatever it is you see fit! You'll soon receive an exhaustive list of details concerning the trial on your personal watches, Goodbye!"

He exits the room, leaving us by ourselves. I turn to Ivana and Sylvia. Sylvia has her eyes closed, thinking deeply about her situation while Ivana's are opened wide with her mouth agape, clearly displaying her shock. She stutters

"Y-you're telling me we have to work with HIM?! Absolutely Not!, No damn way, I'll talk to the dean himself if I have to!"

Sylvia opens her eyes and places her hand over Ivana's shoulder. "I understand how you feel Iva but...That won't work. Remember, the man said he was able to see all of our trials… and I'm sure he wasn't the only one who could do so. Yet, they haven't said or done anything about Feyrin. I'm of the mind that our complaints will not solve this issue, if anything, it might even cause us harm…"

Ivana turns to her, with her tone of voice even more agitated. "Then what do you suggest Vivi?! He's insane, and not just a little, he is genuinely sick in the head!! We can't work with him!"

With a long sigh, Sylvia replies. "Yeah, I know. That's why I'll keep him in check. If he does anything, I'll neutralize him before he can blink."

I fully understand the gravity of their situation. While I am not worried in the slightest that Sylvia can put an end to him in an instant, it is also true that no one knows what other tricks he may have up his sleeve. His [melody] seems to be extremely versatile, who's to say whether or not he has more to show us? As the reality of their situation sets in, I hear footsteps approaching us and look to my left to identify who they belong to. A man who fits Sylvia's description to the most minute detail is nearing our location.

'Speak of the devil'

Feyrin approaches us with a steady pace, hands behind his back. A large smile is curled upwards all the way to his eyes.Once he is close enough and has grabbed both of the girls' attention, he offers a curt bow.

"It is my honor to be working with you both, my ladies! I look forward to our accomplishments." He says.

Ivana clicks her tongue without even gracing him with an answer. She tends to be openly honest when it comes to letting others know how she feels about them. Meanwhile, Sylvia's facial expression contorts into one of distaste. She rarely lets negative emotions such as anger, contempt or sadness show on her face in order to keep up her image. Sylvia is the type of person to be loved by everyone because she treats them all with the same respect and decorum. Especially when speaking to anyone that she does not consider a friend, it's hard to tell what she is really thinking behind that enchanting smile and those deep blue eyes. This makes the expression she is currently letting show that much more surprising. It seems even she is having a difficult time holding herself together in front of Feyrin. However, She quickly regains her composure.

"Yes, let us cooperate… Hopefully, all of us will be able to act in the team's best interest." She tells him with a forced smile.

"Surely! Our two additional teammates have yet to be decided, so why don't we meet at a later date to further discuss our plans? I currently have matters to attend to, so let's regroup in the main hall when our team is completed!!" He replies. 

Once they've agreed to a meeting place and time, he leaves. The scene of them agreeing was quite strange to be honest. Sylvia did most of the talking while Ivana simply shot daggers at him with his eyes. He seemed unbothered by it, but I am certain he felt the intensity of her gaze.

"...Yeah, he gives me the creeps." I say once he's far enough.

"Right?!" Ivana replies.

With his departure, Sylvia and Ivana decide that it would be best to take the rest of the day off. The trial was draining and they indeed do have a lot to think about. As such, they leave the immersion pod room and head back to our mountain peak. They invite me to tag along, but I tell them that I would rather stay and quickly meet with my teammates before departing. Thus, they bid me farewell and return to their dorm.

'Alright, I've already met Ugo and Sophia… The other two were Camille Starforge and… Ray Burst I think. Let's look for them.'

I have no idea what they look like, but that is a problem with an easy fix. By searching for their name on the Showdown page of my watch, I can quickly gain intel on their general appearance which will make locating them much easier. Before I can do so, however, a sheepish voice reaches my ears. I turn around, and a woman with alabaster skin and red hair attached in a ponytail behind her head faces me. Her eyes are fixed on the ground to avoid my gaze, but I can tell that they are of an emerald green. 

While fiddling with her own fingers, she introduces herself. "A-are you Alden Thorne? My name is Camille Starforge and i'll be on your team for this trial it's very nice to-" 

'Is she accelerating?'

"-meet you and I hope we can get along well even if we've never talked before. Did I already say my name was Camille? Well in any case it's very nice to meet you. I'm sure we'll make a great team even though we've never fought together before, but I know how you fight so it's not a big problem and we have two months to practice anyways and I'm pretty good at teamwork. Oh, sorry, I did say my name was Camille, right?"

"... Yes, you did… Nice to meet you, I'm Alden"

I extend my hand towards her. 

She grabs it and we share a handshake. 

"N-nice to meet you. I'm glad we get to work together I've heard story about you and i saw your fight the other day it was so scary but so powerful at the same time it felt like I was watching a horror movie you know those ones where the bad guy gives you nightmares at night well I'm sure Peregrine will have nightmares I mean I did and I wasn't even there if I'm being honest or maybe it was a dream it totally could have been because you are kind of easy on the eyes but not in a weird way in the sense that I'm not confessing to you right now I'm just saying that it wouldn't have been too bad to see you in there even if you were scary an-"

' Did she just call me handsome?? Wait no, that's not what's important, I-I'm not even sure what she's saying anymore!!'

I interrupt her before she can continue. "Camille!"

She finally looks up to meet my eyes. "..Yes?" 

"From now on, let's try to keep everything we say to a single subject, okay?" I say.

She tilts her head in confusion. "Um, okay, is that not what I was doing?"

I sigh, close my eyes, and pinch the space between my eyebrows. Camille's confusion only grows.

'Just one normal person on my team, is that too much to ask for?!'

As if answering my prayers, someone taps me on the shoulder. This time it's a brown haired guy with tanned skin, his complexion slightly darker than mine. He is adorned with a small mole under his left eye which moves each time he blinks. Looking up to meet his gaze, I realize that he is quite tall and possesses an incredibly sharp jawline. What grabs my attention the most, however, are the markings on his forehead. There are red streaks of something resembling paint arranged in wing-like fashion on it. Swaying my attention from his forehead, He extends his hand to me.

"You're Alden, the guy they call the executioner, and you must be Camille right, the plant girl."

Camille gives him a nod, but before she can open her mouth, I grab his hand. "And you must be Ray? Nice to meet you."

He smiles and shakes my hand, then proceeds to do the same with Camille. She introduces herself as well and goes on about some nonsense just as she did with me. Ray seems a little taken aback and lets her speak, mostly likely hoping that she will eventually stop. Unfortunately for him, however, I really don't think she will. The next to arrive is Sophia who is dragging Ugo by his arm.

"I refuse to associate with not one, but TWO commoners!!" He shouts.

As she drags him towards us, Sophia replies. "Oh why don't you shut up for once. Let me remind you that you had to team up on one of those commoners and your chances of winning weren't even looking good."

A vein bulges on the side of his head. "Victory was assured, but you decided to interfere! It's because of you that he's here at all!"

Paying no mind to his claims, she throws him before the three of us and fixes her ravenous hair. Then, she claps her hands together and introduces herself.

"Nice to meet you all! My name is Sophia Thunderblade, of the great Thunderblade family! I know one of you quite well, but what about you two?" She says while pointing to Camille and Ray.

They both throw curious glances at me, while Sophia blows a kiss in my direction. By now, I am sure they must have a complete misunderstanding of our relationship. I don't even have the words to answer her and even if I did, I doubt anything I could say would make this look better. It looks like I will have to deal with this sort of teasing for the next two months. 

'Did she have to say it like that??'

"I'm Camille Starforge, of the Starforge family…" Camille says without adding anything else, which I find surprising. 

"Oh! A rival family ist it? Well, let's not let our families' conflict affect our relationship!" Sophia answers with a smile. 

Without wasting a moment, the introductions continue. "I'm Ray Burst, of… the lightfeather clan" He says with a polite bow.

"Hmm, I haven't heard of that one, but you're not bad looking at all, I approve!" To supplement the sensual voice in which she says this, she winks, which causes Ray's cheeks to flush, almost matching the color of the markings on his forehead. Clearly, he is weak to Sophia's teasing.

Ugo, who has regained his balance after being thrown by Sophia, also introduces himself. "And I'm Ugo Brightscar of the GREAT Brightscar family!"

"Oh? I didn't know a branch family of the Thunderblade could be considered 'great' now." Sophia adds with a smirk on her face.

Ugo's eye twitches and he glances at Sophia. Despite his murderous stare, she is not at all intimidated and responds in kind. With a glimpse of her smug face, Ugo's anger skyrockets even further, evident by his clenched fists and his blood shot eyes, but he does not find the words to answer her. With all of the strength he has, he represses everything, shuts his mouth, and diverts his haze from Sophia's figure. It appears that there is a hierarchy at play, and that there is a clear line that even Ugo, with all of his pride, cannot cross.

'This promises to be interesting…'