Location:Imperial Academy Faculty Tower – South WingLevel 3: Staff Briefing Hall – Reserved for First-Year Progress Meetings
The mood in the faculty room was a complex potion of curiosity, disbelief, and resigned dread.
Scrolls hovered midair. Names flickered across enchanted parchment. At the center of the oval table sat a stack beled “Css 1-M & 1-S: Squad Pairings – Evaluation Post-Mock Battle.”
At the top of the pile was one squad name, circled twice in crimson ink.
Squad 7
Lucien Wyrhart
Rielle Eltan
Eli Marren
Gram Whitlow
Professor Tolwin, head of Magic Theory and part-time soul-crusher, squinted through his bifocals. “Squad Seven. Hm. That’s the one the students are calling… what was it…?”
“The Mad Mix,” Mistress Helsha muttered, stirring a foul green substance in a teacup she never actually drank from. “Or the ‘Why-Gods-Why’ Quartet, depending who you ask.”
“The chaos combo,” added Instructor Drask from the Sword Division, sipping something that suspiciously smelled like whiskey.
A long silence. Then the glowing parchment lit up with the squad’s individual profiles.
Sword Division Review – Two Battlejunkies and No BrakesInstructor Drask waved his hand, pulling up Rielle’s and Eli’s combat profiles.
Rielle Eltan
Sword Rank: 6 (Mid-Tier Advanced)
Mana-Enhanced Physical Combatant
Battlefield Performance: Aggressive, Efficient, Ruthless
Notes: Dispyed capacity to csh evenly with uppercssmen of Rank 6. Ambition noted. No sense of restraint. No fear of death.
Eli Marren
Sword Rank: 6 (Mid-Tier Advanced)
Wind-Speed Agility Duelist
Battlefield Performance: High-speed strikes, unpredictable form
Notes: Thinks sleep is optional. Sparred with three instructors voluntarily. May be feral.
“They’re freaks,” Drask grunted. “Talented freaks, but freaks.”
“They’re fifteen,” another teacher muttered.
“Rank 6 at fifteen,” Drask snapped. “You don’t train that. You survive it.”
He folded his arms and gnced at the hovering roster. “If they don’t die, they’ll be Rank 3 by the time they graduate.”
“For reference,” he added, “our ranking scale is simple.”
Swordsmanship Combat Ranking System
Rank 9 – Novice
Rank 8 – Basic Proficiency
Rank 7 – Combat-Ready
Rank 6 – Trained Duelist
Rank 5 – Arena Competent
Rank 4 – Battle-Tested
Rank 3 – War Capable
Rank 2 – Empire Elite
Rank 1 – National Threat
“They’re climbing faster than any group in the st decade,” he finished. “That’s not normal. That’s obsession.”
Magic Division Review – One Lazy Prodigy and a Brewing MenaceMiss Elira—still smiling sweetly, Lich butler looming behind her—swiped her hand to bring up Lucien and Gram’s reports.
First: Lucien Wyrhart
Elemental Affinities: Fire, Wind, Earth, LightningCore Status: Stage I – Substage C (Crystallization Complete)Threat Type: Battle Mage CandidateSummon: Fire Serpent – Mid-Tier Combat CssificationStrengths: Tactical Thinking, Mana Control Precision, Elemental ComprehensionWeaknesses: Motivation. Physical endurance. Sarcastic tendency to emotionally cripple opponents mid-duel.Performance Note: Did minimum effort during exam but used terrain, opponent emotion, and team synergy to dismantle enemy strategy without taking damage. Cssic low-heat prodigy type.
Professor Tolwin raised an eyebrow. “Rare four-element affinity. Stable core. Should be burning through second-stage refinement already.”
“He could be,” Elira said brightly, “if he didn’t dodge half his training drills by pretending to be studying a mana resonance diagram.”
“He was studying it,” Mistress Helsha muttered. “He just used it to reflect sunlight into his opponent’s eyes during the duel.”
“Eborate, passive-aggressive genius,” Tolwin murmured. “Dangerous.”
Then came the real concern.
Gram Whitlow
Core Status: Not applicable – Specialized in Alchemical ConstructsPrimary Discipline: Potion AlchemySecondary Aptitude: Explosives and Chemical ChannelingStrengths: Potion development speed. Mana resistance. No self-preservation instinct.Weaknesses: Everything else.Incident Count This Week: 5Performance Note: Drinks untested potions like they're breakfast juice. Once made Eli’s boots faster by accident. Once reversed his gravity for seven minutes. Still handed in all homework. Suspected to be part samander.
“We’ve had to double-lock the alchemy supply room,” Helsha grumbled.
“He snuck in st week using a disguise spell and a barrel,” Elira added helpfully.
“...He doesn’t know disguise spells,” Tolwin said, blinking.
“Exactly.”
Conclusion: They Might Kill Each Other. Or Save the Empire. Fifty-Fifty.The profiles hovered, glowing ominously. Drask grunted. Tolwin rubbed his temples.
“I vote we separate them,” Helsha said ftly.
“I vote we observe them,” Elira countered sweetly. “They’re interesting.”
“Interesting is code for ‘future paperwork,’” someone muttered.
“Let’s be honest,” Tolwin said, finally. “With their current trajectory, this squad is either going to be Academy legends…”
“Or bring the whole pce down in fming, potion-soaked chaos,” Drask muttered.
“Again.”
Meanwhile, in the Dorm – Lucien’s ThoughtsI y on my bed, staring at the ceiling.
Outside, Eli and Rielle were still sparring with glowing swords. Gram was brewing something that smelled like mangoes and sulfur. My summon was wrapped around my mp like a sleepy scarf.
I hadn’t heard about our “Squad Evaluation” yet, but I could feel the stares in css, the whispers. The expectations.
Too bad for them.
Because I didn’t come to this school to be great. I came because my father guilt-tripped me, my mother packed my things, and Rielle would’ve dragged me by the ears.
But now that I’m here…Maybe I’ll make something of it.Or maybe I’ll just keep letting the sword maniacs do the punching while I handle the explosions.
Either way—
Tomorrow, I’ll burn someone’s boots off.For educational purposes.
