There were about twenty four cadets on the field, scrambling around as they followed their tethers to find their teams. Elysia fshed me a brilliant smile, and I couldn't help but return it as my ay slowly settled down.

  Getting fronted by Raging Sparrow aeam like that had set my nerves on fire. But now that the ice had been broken, and we were finally getting a glimpse of what this exercise would be like, I could feel a sense of excitement and wonder creeping in.

  "You okay?" Elysia spoke gently, toug my arm.

  I jolted, nodding. "Yeah, yeah. A bit nervous, but it's a good nervous. I'm actually kinda gd Frostburn jumped in like that the way he did."

  She frowned, her eyebrows twitg with fusion. "Really? Who is he, anyway?"

  I let out a soft sigh. "He's another emergency tract holder, and he came off as a total ass at orientation. The guy grates my nerves, but I think he's more plicated thahink. That looked like it was calcuted to make Sunlit Majesty throw the first pund get the heat off me. Not sure why he went that far, but I wonder."

  She snorted, shaking her head. "Well, either way. If he hadn't stepped in, I would have had to say something. And trust me, it could have gotten far uglier."

  Her eyes twinkled as she turo smile at me, and I could sense a hint of pyfulness in her voice.

  Elysia was still a bit of an enigma for me.

  She was the stro girl in this css by a signifit margin, but she seemed to almost downpy it. She had been so nervous when she approached me and Strawberry during orientation, but here she was, all smiles and fidence.

  Even though we were magical knights, everyone seemed to have their own weaknesses and insecurities.

  It was refreshing, in a sense.

  She'd offered to meet in our civiliaies in a group chat with Strawberry, but Strawberry hadn't been fortable with it. I was also leery. Just because someone seemed friendly at face value didn't mean we could fully trust them.

  Elysia bent over, looking at me with a ed expression. Then, I blinked in surprise as she turo gre at Raging Sparrow and Sunlit Majesty who were being led away with Frostburn at the ter of the group.

  "They are so not getting away with that," she hissed as Tesseract lifted the barrier to a training field, gesturing for the three to step through.

  "Hey, it's no big deal," I shrugged, fidgeting as we followed our tether to the field entrahey're just three magical knights with egos."

  She rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Oh, e on. They could have at least picked a better time or pce to strike. Seriously."

  Frostburn turned back, fshing me a sneering smile as he waved goodbye.

  "Maaan those twoing to be the death of me..." Ace suddenly spoke from my side, gng at me with a strange look.

  I shook my head, "Hey, they're your teammates. You gotta keep them in line somehht?"

  She blushed, grinning sheepishly as she fidgeted with the buttons on her magi's outfit and her domino mask. "Ha! You got me. I'm the most levelheaded, but Sparrow's a real handful. And Sunlit Majesty is a bit of a diva. I trust them with my life and try not to get in the way too much when they get like this, but geez. You really 't bme me, right?"

  I nodded, watg as the rest of the css filed out through the entrao the barrier-covered fields.

  "Well, I'm going to find the unlucky folks I'm partnered with. Ciao!" Ace spun around, waving goodbye as she scurried over to a group of three fused-looking standard admissions students.

  Elysia and I looked at our purple tether, and shared a simultaneous nod. It was time to find our st partner for the exercise.

  "I wonder who it's going to be?" Elysia mused, tapping her as she spun around to walk backwards as she talked to me, her eyes wide with wonder. "Do you think it's someone from the emergency tracts like you? Someone who came in with a team?"

  I shrugged. "Who knows... but we'll find them quick, don't you worry!"

  She giggled, and turo walk ahead with a bounce, leading the way.

  The barrier opeo reveal an opehat cut through a full length of the isthmus the academy was located on, with rocky terrain and jagged cliffsides on the left side of the field. At even a curs was obvious the school had set up a massive obstacle course, and Elysia's eyes lit up as she spotted a stream running through the right side and flowing through the ter of the field.

  "That would make for an iing teambuilding exercise..." Elysia smirked, crossing her arms as she appraised the yout.

  I turned, furrowing my brows in curiosity as I followed the tether toward a massive tree that y colpsed over a bend in the river.

  And then, I paused, my gaze drawn to a petite, blonde-haired girl dressed as a stereotypical angel, eyes closed with a serene smile on her fa a prayer position. I reized her as one of the magical girls at the emergency tract orientation. I'd talked to her briefly, but hadn't gotten her name or even a bit of her personal information. She'd been quite tight-lipped.

  I sloroached her, tilting my head as she hummed to herself, her aura a warm, pink and yellow light. She didn't seem worried or hurried at all.

  "Hey, there," I grinned, giving her a friendly wave.

  She bliurning to me with a fused look on her face, before she noticed the tether eg us. "Oh, hey there Lux. Looks like we're on a team, huh? I didn't get to introduce myself the other day, but I guess I go by Love Angel Aurora these days. It's a pleasure to finally talk to you."

  Her voice was soft, and there eaceful aura arouhat was difficult to pce. Like she'd been in seclusion for her entire life, but had just emerged to a newer, brighter world. It was one of the weaker auras I'd seen, but it had a distinctive quality that seemed to envelop you with warmth and uanding.

  Elysia waved, strolling over to stand beside me as she noticed Aurora. "Hi there! I'm Elysia. Pleased to meet you?"

  She tilted her head curiously, taking in Aurora's serene appearance. "I guess we're a team for this exercise, huh?"

  Aurora nodded, smilily as she stood up and raised her wings. She was small and slender, and stht around my height. "Yes, I suppose we are. And I'm curious to see how this exercise will py out. Let's make sure we learn well and work well together, shall we?"

  I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

  As awkward as I'd felt just a minute ago, I felt like this would be a smooth aertaining css. Aurave me the impression that she'd be very easy to work with, at least.

  I smiled, nodding nodding at Elysia. "Looks like we got another friend, hmm?"

  Auriggled, shaking her head. "Don't get me wrong. I'm happy to be w with you.

  Then, she smirked, her eyes twinkling as she o Elysia and me. "I 't help but feel curious about something. You two seem to be friends. Were you surprised to get partnered up?"

  "Surprised? Uh, well, yeah. I guess you could say that," Elysia mused, biting her lip. "But it's good to mix it up a bit and see what we do in different binations, right? I just hope we'll get the ce to run as a real team someday."

  She leaned forward, a mischievous smirk on her lips as she whispered, "Hopefully after we get these egomania check..."

  I chuckled, nodding. "You're talking about Sparrow aeam, right?"

  Elysia rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Those idiots are just the tip of the iceberg, Lux. I've noticed that there's some real tough petition amongst the standard admissions students here, and they were giving you the stink eye after that debacle back there. But... it shouldn't be that much of a problem for us, right?"

  "Us huh? Well, I guess I see why you're optimistic." I smirked, blushing as I shifted unfortably. It looked like Elysia had thrown her hat in the ring with me. It was a little fttering, but I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy with it.

  She'd tched on to me, and I could tell that she took some kind of strange enjoyment iime we've spent together. It wasn't bad, but it still tickled my brain for some reason.

  After all, we didn't know each other that well. There was something there that was b me, but I wasn't sure what.

  A, it was o have such a capable aermined ally in my er.

  She tinued, winking at me with a knowing look. "Not that we uimate the chaos and plications that e with real magical knight teamwork. I have a feeling our esteemed instructor split us up the way we are food reason, don't you?"

  Aurora tilted her head, her eyes wide with wonder. "How insightful! I wonder what kind ement she has in mind."

  I folded my arms, trying to ighe lingering questions and s in my mind. It wouldn't do me any good to get ed up in w now.

  Elysia suddenly paused, her cheeks blushing with excitement. "ht! Aurora. Sorry, I fot to ask you something. I was w if you'd mind talking about our powers while everyone else finishes setting up?"

  Aurora nodded, gng at the barrier entrao the training field. There were still a few cadets milling about, getting anized aling in with their teams.

  "Sure," Aurora whispered, a small grin pying on her lips. "Go ahead, Elysia."

  Instead of speaking up, Elysia turoward me with an encing smile. "Why don't you take point, Lux? It'll be good practice."

  I swallowed nervously, shifting my weight to my as Aurora beamed at me.

  "Me? Are you sure?"

  Elysia smiled, shrugging as she fluffed her dress. "Sure. It might be fun. After all, I think I've already figured out what this whole exercise is about. It's just a gut feeling for now. Anyway, how would you best summarize your abilities and mine?"

  I paused, sg up my face as I sidered her question.

  "Well, I'd say both Elysia and I are le fighters. Elysia... well to be blunt, she could probably take down any individual cadet in this css of twenty-four down in a one-on-one. She has some wide-area frost abilities, and an eously vicious hand to hand bat style that rounds out her pybook. I'm also a le fighter, and I have a pretty standard low-level skill set with beams, rapid fire bolts, barriers, and some light manipution. I do have a couple of trump cards I'm relut to py that will pletely drain my pool in seds, though."

  Elysia beamed, g her hands gently. "A fine summary that reveals just enough of yhting style while not giving away too much."

  "Right, thank you."

  "Aurora, what about you?" she whispered, gng at the petite angel. "Do you have a sort of... team strategy in mind, or anything that could blend well with ours?"

  Aurora cleared her throat, averting her eyes as she blushed. "Well, I'm a le girl like you two, but my abilities ter around support. I took the emergency tract to protect my family during the Cataclysm. And we had to depend on my older brother who is a Pioneer and lifelong kickboxer. My best skill is aal buff that amplifies the physical parameters of everyohin its radius, and my other abilities have to do with prote. I create shields and heal, but I'm not really much of a fighter. I do have a unique ability, but it's not something that's sistent..."

  She grimaced, biting her lip.

  "It's difficult to have faith, with the supposed gods of multiple pagan religions running around for a few hundred years. I'm still a devout Christian, though, and do believe I was given this opportunity by the grace of the Lord. My Signature Talent allows me to pray for providend receive immediate blessings and insight — including presce. The blessings have beey arbitrary with varied usefulness, but it has always allowed me to se the corruption of the demons that attacked us during the Cataclysm. It is what triggered my first transformation and saved my brother's life. We had been ambushed on a back alley by the demonic beasts, and I transformed on the spot when I prayed for our safety and his survival as the corruption began to take him."

  Elysia raised her eyebrows, turning to me with an impressed look. "Whoa. That's a pretty unique ability. Lux, would you be able to tell us how you could bine your skills with hers?"

  I tilted my head, frowning. "Hmm, well, I guess my shields and illusions would offer her some extra prote. It sounds like she would be the heart of our team, with both of us ag as the brawn and brains to her defense and support."

  Elysia nodded. "Excellent! Aurora, how about that?"

  She shrugged, twirling a golden orb of light over her palm. "It sounds like a good way to approach our strategy. We still have to hear from Miss Tesseract about the specifics of this exercise, but I'm sure that's going to give us more insight."

  I smiled, looking back over at the crowd. It looked like everyone had more or less settled into groups, with some students sitting down and chatting amongst themselves. Elysia walked up beside me, and smiled as she just stood in sileh me.

  The bay neck prickled as I felt like someone was watg us, and I spun around to see Aurora studyih a curious look in her eyes. Her golden aura was tinged with pink, and seemed to be w with some kind of active skill. Then, she gnced over at Elysia with a slightly ed look on her face.

  I furrowed my brow, whispering to her. "Hey, is there anything you want to add, Aurora?"

  She fidgeted, shaking her head as she opened her mouth and then closed it again, sighing.

  Just what was going through her mind?

  There was a small part of me that wondered if there was something I was missing. She was so serene and focused, and even seemed a bit suspicious as she evaluated us.

  But Auriggled, waving her hand. "Please, don't mind me. I just had a couple of thoughts on my mind."

  She o the other cadets, shrugging as she let her aura fade back to normal. "Anyway, we still have some time until this training exercise gets started. Any other questions?"

  "Nah, I'm good. I think we're ready for whatever's going to e our way," I grinned, my chest swelling with pride.

  She smiled back, and I couldn't help but find myself rexing as I saw her aura settle down.

  No wohe angel motif worked for her so well. She really did seem like she was in tuh something or someone greater than herself.

  It made me a little jealous, in a sense.

  "Oh, don't worry, dear." She blushed, shaking her head. "I'm not as fident as you and Elysia seem to be. I just believe in following the path set before me. It's not often that one enters such wonderful and talented friends, but I hope we work well together."

  Elysia tapped my shoulder, and I turo see her pointing up at the sky as Tesseract appeared in a fsh of silver light around twenty yards over the field.

  "Alright, kids. This will be quick, and hopefully enlightening. I do apologize for the bumpy beginning, but as long as we get to the exercises, we should be golden. And remember, this is just a dry run. I'll be watg closely for any discrepancies and surprises."

  She nodded, giving us a thumbs up before she zoomed off towards a jagged, rocky area at the back of the field. Then, she summoned a crete wall spanning across the field out of nowhere with a wave of her hand with eight entrahe tethers that had led the three of us together suddenly split and led us to the entran the right end.

  Then, she yelled from a distahe goal of this exercise will be simple. Gather in your teams, split up through the gates my tethers lead you to, and make it across the obstacle course we've created. That's all."

  I blinked as a slightly forebodiio up inside me.

  Elysia giggled, gripping my arm. "This sounds like it's going to be so much fun. I'm gon you take point, okay, Lux? Show us what you got!"

  Why did I have a feeling that we were in for one hell of an afternoon?