Manifest War: The Weapons Within

Up on the top floor of LaVeda university's main building, Headmaster Quinn was going through some paperwork and finalizing content for the first year’s combat exam. Suddenly, he felt a cold breeze blow by him, causing The Headmaster to look up from his papers. He saw a man wearing a white, featureless mask and a clean kept tuxedo.

“Ahh, Watcher Delandy, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Headmaster Quinn asked with a smile. Delandy bowed his head and took a seat at a nearby chair.

“I came to hear a report about the progress LaVeda has made since we started our intervention. How have your underachievers been performing so far?” He said in a sly and proper tone.

“Yes, yes, of course. Well, things have been going splendidly. The Harpy class of students are seeing an overall strength increase of 65% compared to students last year. Thanks to this increase, we’ve been able to regain a large portion of our funding back!” Quinn’s reply was quite playful as he went through his report.

“I was even able to get Queen Azhane Belouis to sponsor the exam tomorrow! The Belouis Family usually only provides support for DuneVeil Academy, but with one of their members attending this year and the incredible growth we’ve shown, they found the opportunity worthwhile! Funding should no longer be an issue going forward.” He added with determination, setting his papers to the side.

“Good, good! We hadn’t heard from you, so naturally we became a bit curious as to why you were so silent.”

“Oh, my apologies for the lack of communication! You see, some of the students have had some… well.. Complications, if you will. I simply didn’t want to bother you all with such trivial matters.” Headmaster Quinn’s expression shifted to that of someone very nervous, afraid to reveal such information to this man.

“Complications?”

“Yes, yes, but we’ve got things under control. Absolutely nothing to worry about.” He replied, his leg slightly shaking.

“I see… Well, no matter. I will report this back to Selivus and inform him of these so-called, ‘complications.’ If you have no further questions or requests, I shall take my leave.” Delandy stood from his chair and gracefully bowed his head. The Headmaster did the same and in an instant, Watcher Delandy disappeared from the room.

The next day, LaVeda was abuzz with excitement and anticipation for the combat midterm. Students were making last minute preparations and talking with their teams to discuss strategies. Elise looked out their dorm window and saw all the first years rushing towards the main building.

“Looks like it’s almost time to head over.” Carmen said as she stepped next to Elise, feeling a bit nervous with each passing second.

Elise quietly replied with a simple nod, her face filled with indifference. Just as they finished gathering their things, they heard a knock at their door. Before Elise could walk over and open it, they heard Mariah shout from outside.

“You guys ready?!” She said with her loud and boisterous voice. Elise opened the door and saw Mariah shooting her a confident grin while she punched her fists together. It was clear that she was eager to get things started.

“You’re so loud. We’ll go deaf before we even start.” Elise remarked with incredible amounts of sass in her voice.

“Pfft, you’ll be fine! Now let’s goooo!” Mariah quickly grabbed Elise’s arm and started to pull her along. Carmen swiftly followed after them once she zipped up her bag, joining up with them on their way to the assembly hall.

During their walk, they surprisingly ran into Caleb Ravenfell. He was with his team, but the moment his eyes met with Carmen’s he stopped in his tracks.

“Ah, hey Carmen! You ready to do this?” He asked with his usual charming smile.

“Yeah, as ready as I’ll ever be. Good luck to you and your team!” She replied, trying to keep their conversation rather short.

Just as she started to walk away, Caleb grabbed Carmen’s arm to stop her. She looked back and felt curious as to why he did that.

“Hey, uh… After the exam, can we talk? I’ve got some stuff to… Uhh, ask you…” The nervous cadence to his voice was incredibly uncharacteristic, surprising Carmen quite a bit. She simply smiled and nodded.

“Sure, I’ll look for you.” Caleb let go of her arm and smiled back, feeling relieved that her answer was a positive one. They said their goodbyes and headed their separate ways.

Inside of the main building, the atmosphere in the hallway grew quiet. The students that were flooding the halls, split and bowed to allow a highly important figure to walk by. Queen Azhane Belouis, escorted by Felicity of Six and a few guards, strutted past the students as they made their way to the royal viewing room.

“Woah, there she is! I’ve never seen her in person.” - “She looks so nice” - “Damn, she’s hot!” - “Is that a member of Six? I want to join them one day.” Could be heard from all around as the students admired the Volairen Queen’s presence at LaVeda. Azhane simply smiled back as she continued to navigate the halls.

“All these students are so cute in their uniforms. This really takes me back.” She said to Felicity, noticing all the attention they were getting. “You seem pretty popular as well, Felicity.”

“Hmph, you should be glad you didn’t come here with Lady Zalthia, Your Majesty. You would be stuck in this hallway for an eternity.” Felicity chuckled, remembering all the times Zalthia would be bombarded with autograph requests and questions.

Azhane laughed at the thought and as they rounded the corner, she saw Carmen approaching from the distance. Carmen’s face lit up and she quickly rushed over to Azhane, giving her a hug. Elise and Mariah immediately bowed their heads in the presence of royalty, feeling a bit nervous.

“Oh Carmen, how’ve you been? I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve been good. Happy you could come out and see my performance in the midterm.” The smile on Carmen's face could melt ice with how radiant it was.

“Of course, seeing you perform was priority number one for me today. Plus, I couldn’t wait to visit my Alma mater again, it's been so long since I’ve walked these halls. ” Azhane gently moved Carmen’s bangs out of the way and kissed her forehead. As she separated from her face, Azhane noticed that she left behind lipstick.

She gently moved her hand upwards and reached into a purple void that appeared out of thin air. Azhane pulled out a dainty, pristine white handkerchief and proceeded to wipe away the excess lipstick.

“How was your birthday? You never updated me on anything.” Carmen questioned as she waited for Azhane to finish, eager to hear about the events that transpired.

“Oh, it was a fun time. Best birthday I’ve had in a while if I’m being honest.” Azhane’s eyes sparkled in a way that Carmen hadn’t seen before, causing her to grow quite curious.

“That’s good! But uh, who did you end up choosing to marry? Is he not here with you?” She asked, looking around in every direction. Azhane gave a light chuckle as she put the handkerchief back into the void.

“You’ll see when you come home for winter break and let’s just say, I gave him the day off.” As Azhane playfully quipped, Carmen looked confused and glanced over at Felicity, hoping she would provide some answers. Felicity simply shrugged and shook her head.

“Oh ok, I see…” Before Carmen could pry a bit further, Azhane turned her attention towards Mariah and Elise, changing the subject.

“So, who are your friends? Care to introduce them?” Azhane asked, giving them a warm smile.

“Oh yeah, sorry! This is Elise and Mariah. They’ll also be my partners for the midterm.”

“Ah, I see. Well, it’s very nice to meet you all. I hope she hasn’t caused you too much trouble.” Azhane lightly chuckled, giving Carmen’s friends the warmest greeting possible.

Elise and Mariah nervously accepted her greeting and after a few moments, the encounter officially ended. They said their goodbyes and finally went their separate ways. Azhane and her entourage continued down the hall, eventually finding the royal viewing room. Elise looked over her shoulder and pondered a brief thought.

‘Is she really a Calamity Class Vesta? I didn’t sense an ounce of Core Energy coming from her.’ As she wondered, Mariah called out to her, telling her to hurry up and stop lagging behind. After navigating through the main building, they arrived at the crowded assembly hall.

All the first year students had gathered and were patiently awaiting instructions. Tensions were high as no one knew what the combat exam would consist of. After a short while, Lady Ravala walked onto the stage and quieted down all of the students so she could begin briefing them.

“As you know, today is your midterm combat exam. This year we have decided that the exam will be conducted with teams of three. The reason for this you might ask? Well, it’s to see how well you work with others. Do you have good team work? Can your abilities be shifted to benefit others as well as yourself? Can you be a good leader? All of these questions and more will be tested during this exam.” She said with a great deal of authority.

“For this year’s test, the format will be an elimination, free for all. Each team will be placed in random, isolated locations within the playing field. Each team will start off with three tokens, one per team member. The end goal is to have the most tokens out of all the other remaining teams once the test concludes.” She added, pointing at a hologram screen that laid out the details.

“Now, I bet you all are wondering, how do we get more tokens? Well, there are various locations on the map that have tokens hidden. Some areas might have a creature to defeat or a puzzle to solve in order to obtain the tokens in that location. Or, you can simply fight the other students and take theirs. The choice is entirely up to you all, however… The moment your team no longer has tokens, you all will be ported back here and your exam will end.” Lady Ravala pushed up her glasses as she continued to go over information.

“Make sure you handle this midterm with great care, because the results from this will determine your ranking at this school going forward. So, do try to last as long as you can.” The room became filled with chatter as Lady Ravala finished talking. Students started to discuss the format with their respective teams, devising new plans to execute.

The instructors quieted down the assembly hall once again and Lady Ravala cleared her throat, getting everyone’s attention.

“The location for this exam will be held within an isolated plain down in the Core Depths. You all will enter through the grand portal and be transported to a random spot within this plain. Once you arrive, the exam will officially begin for your group. The midterm will last for three days inside of the Core Depths.” Once Lady Ravala mentioned the exam length, the hall became raucous with confusion and concern.

“Settle down! Time moves differently in the Core Depths. Three days there are only three hours here at LaVeda. Rest assured, you aren’t going to be missing any previously scheduled plans or activities.” She concluded, calming down the crowd of students. After answering a few questions, she dismissed the first years and directed them to follow the instructors to the LaVeda Grand Portal.

Everyone made their way to the lower levels of the school and entered into this large chamber. Along the walls were tall tapestries, one for each class, and the floor had a giant LaVeda University crest intricately etched into the marble. At the end of the chamber was a massive, double door that was partially open. This door was a minimum of three stories tall and had very detailed designs etched all over them.

“Woah, that door is huge! Never seen anything like it.” Mariah said with wide-eyed wonder.

“Yeah, this is insane. Makes me kind of nervous.” Carmen replied, joining Mariah in her admiration of this grand spectacle.

“Pfft, no need to be nervous! These chumps won’t know what hit em’ once we get in there. Top ten rank will be easy!” Mariah grinned deviously as a fire lit in her eyes. Elise let out an annoyed sigh and remained silent while she prepared herself to start the test.

As the group of students approached the door, the instructors told them to get in a line with their respective teams. Once everything was organized, the opening in the double doors began to glow a blinding gold color.

“Alright everyone, the exam is about to begin. Once you get to the door, simply walk through the portal. Time will start once you arrive. Good luck!” An instructor said loudly, making sure that everyone understood what to do. One by one, the groups entered the portal until Carmen’s team was next up. They stepped through the portal and vanished from the room.