Manifest War: The Weapons Within

Carmen made her way into the auditorium and upon entering the doors, she was greeted by a massive room with multiple floors and thousands of blue colored seats. They all faced a large stage at the front that was illuminated by crystal chandeliers hanging above, glistening and sparkling from their radiance.

Students from all walks of life were pouring in from every side, entering through the multitude of doors located throughout the auditorium. Carmen eventually found a row of empty seats and made her way to them. As she walked, she heard various whispers and murmurings about her.

“Oh, is that the Belouis princess? She’s so pretty.” , “I wonder if she’ll talk to me.” , “Of course not, she’s royalty. We’re plebeians compared to her.” , “I’ve never seen silver hair before, so cool.”

Carmen simply smiled at all the comments before taking a seat.

‘This is so awkward. Why’re they making such a big deal about me?’

She started to feel a tad nervous again, but thankfully, her nerves were quickly calmed once she heard a familiar voice.

“Ah, Carmen! There you are!” They said with an excited tone.

She looked over her shoulder and saw Caleb Ravenfell coming down the steps. Her face lit up as their eyes met and she immediately felt excited to see a familiar face. While he walked towards her row of seats, all the surrounding female students ooo’d and ahh’d at his dashingly charming looks.

“He’s so handsome!”, “Who is that?!!?”, “Look at his body, oh myyyy.”

The girls couldn’t believe their eyes as he passed them up. But to his surprise, a different, more distinct voice spoke up once he got closer to Carmen’s seat.

“Sit over here with us, Caleb!”

The voice loudly said with an eager tone. He shifted his attention to the right and saw a beautiful blonde girl with piercing blue eyes. She had fairly voluptuous features and her presence was quite intense compared to the other students, an absolute looker by any man’s measure.

“Ahh, maybe next time Bridgette, sorry.” He said with an apologetic smile. Caleb proceeded further and finally got to Carmen’s row, happily taking a seat next to her.

“Did you get here late or something? I was looking all over for you earlier.” Caleb asked with a smile.

“No, I don’t think so. Zalthia got caught up with something that slowed us down a little.”

Carmen lightly chuckled before they began to chat and catch up with one another, causing Bridgette to take notice.

‘He can’t be serious right now. How does he even know that Belouis girl’?

Bridgette’s face scrunched with great disgust as she annoyingly gritted her teeth. Her hostile glare could burn a hole into the back of Carmen’s head if she stared any harder.

Within that same moment, the lights in the auditorium went dim and focused on the stage at the front. An old gentleman with purple robes, bushy white eyebrows, and a short white beard stepped onto the floor. As he approached the podium, his hunched over posture caused his face to be slightly shrouded in darkness. He stopped in front of the wooden stand and cleared his throat before speaking.

“Welcome to LaVeda University! I am Headmaster Quinn and I’m so delighted to see so many first years in attendance this semester. All of you have come here with the hopes of improving your skills and hitting that next step in your journeys as Vestas. Whether that be academically or combat wise, we are here to cultivate your young minds and help you reach your goals. I find it so admirable that even in your youth, you still want to push to greater heights. Let this year be the beginning of your next level!”

The room erupted in applause, prompting him to continue his speech for a few more minutes.

Once finished, he stepped aside and introduced the principal of the school. Headmaster Quinn motioned for her to come over and she casually approached the podium, her heels sounding heavy with each step.

The woman was quite tall for her age as she seemed to be in her mid to late forties, and her short brown hair accented perfectly with her amber colored eyes. She adjusted the silver rimmed glasses on her face before placing her hands on the edge of the podium, now staring out at the sea of first year students.

“Hello students, I am Ravala Tidus, but you all may refer to me as Lady Ravala.” She said with a stern, deep voice.

“It is an honor to be able to serve you all for the next three years and I am truly humbled by everyone’s desire to learn at our educational establishment. However, LaVeda University has an exceptionally high standard that we expect every single student in this room to uphold. If you fail to meet our expectations or willingly step out of line, trust me when I say that there will be repercussions. This is a place of learning and we do not tolerate foolishness, do I make myself clear?”

Lady Ravala's voice bellowed with a terrifyingly dark tone, glaring at the first years with unending seriousness.

“Yes Ma’am!” Said the students loudly in unison, their response breaking the heavy tension. Lady Ravala simply gave a half smile and nodded, pleased by the reply.

“Good. I expect nothing less from those hand picked to attend LaVeda. Now, I would like to turn things over to a couple students that have been in your shoes before. Students that have gone through the LaVeda process and absolutely thrived. Please welcome third year students, Rosemarie Lofton and Castell Pruitt. They have a few words to say to you all.”

Lady Ravala turned her attention to the left, pointing out a female with fiery red hair and a male with glasses, accenting against his jet black hair. The girl walked up to the podium first, bowing her head to the principal once she arrived.

She was fairly built with deep green eyes, freckles decorating her face, and a sword sheathed at her hip. Her uniform was different from the one everyone else received, having red accents along the trim of her skirt and a long jacket that reached past her knees. The presence of this girl was very strong and everyone’s attention was immediately captured.

“Who is that?” Carmen asked with a whisper, feeling curious about this student.

“Oh, you don’t know? That’s Rosemarie, the no.1 ranked student at LaVeda. You see that flower crest pinned to her jacket?” Caleb whispered back, pointing towards the girl at the podium.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“That means she’s one of the LaVeda Dahlia’s. That status is reserved only for the eight most elite students at this school. You either need to be incredibly skilled as a Vesta or the most academically bright student in LaVeda to even be considered.”

“Oh wow, I had no idea there was something like that here. She must be crazy strong then.”

Carmen continued to admire the red headed vixen addressing the crowd, enthralled by the silver and pink emblem on her jacket shining against the lights.

“Yeah, and the other guy is ranked no. 2. They’re both really strong.” Caleb added.

“Hello everyone, I also want to formally welcome you all to this amazing University. When I first arrived at LaVeda three years ago, I was standing in the exact same spot as you all. I was nervous and didn’t really have everything figured out just yet, but there was one thing that I did know. I knew that I wanted to challenge myself and become the best! I worked tirelessly every day, never giving up a single time and thanks to the guidance I received here at LaVeda, I reached even further than my goal.” Rosemare said with a loud, empowering bellow.

“With that being said, I hope that you all will take hold of your opportunities and carve your own path!”

Once her speech concluded, the entire hall filled with loud applause as the students cheered.

“We love you Rosemarie!” Some of the students yelled from the crowd, showing their utmost admiration towards her.

Rosemare smiled and waved before leaving the podium, allowing the other student to step up.

He looked out at the students with a fairly calm demeanor, pushing his glasses up with a single finger as he contemplated his words carefully. The lights reflected off of his immaculately pressed black and red uniform jacket, separating him perfectly from the white marble stage.

“My name is Castell Pruitt and I am the current student body president here at LaVeda University. I’m incredibly thrilled to welcome you all to our school and hope that your time here is as fruitful as it is engaging.” Castell said with a calm, yet deep voice as his Dahlia crest glistened.

“As President, I vow to assist you all in whatever circumstances you may find yourselves in, so please feel free to reach out whenever an issue arises. With that being said, make the most of your time here and do whatever you can to continue bringing honor to this prestigious school.”

\Castell clapped his hands together in dramatic fashion, prompting the students to start their applause. As he walked off the stage, Lady Ravala returned to the podium to make an announcement.

“Alright everyone, this concludes the orientation. Please make your way to the resonance chambers to get graded. You will obtain your class assignments once we run a few tests.” The lights came back on and all of the students began to stand up, clearing out of the auditorium.

“This is exciting! I wonder if we’ll be in the same class.” Carmen said to Caleb with child-like glee.

“Yeah, same. I hope we are!”

They exited through the doors and followed after everyone, navigating through the massive hallways.

The walls to their left were lined with large panel windows, bathing the halls with warm natural light. LaVeda’s floors were tiled with a light gray and white color that had an incredibly glossy finish, reflecting all of the students as they walked along.

While Carmen looked around, she couldn’t help but notice the sheer size of everything. It was clear that this school could easily house a thousand students. They eventually got to the resonance chamber and marveled at the impressively state of the art layout.

It was a massive, circular room with multiple Core shards hovering in various spots. Students were lining up at each one and placing their hands on the pillars. The many instructors inside would call up a student and have them go through the process of grading their resonance levels.

At the very back of the room were various arenas with different layouts. One of them had a field covered with floating circles spread out across the arena. Another was circular with a moat of water surrounding the center. The other two arenas looked like simple combat fields, having two opposite sides and a countdown hanging above the center.

Caleb and Carmen eventually approached a Core shard located on the left hand side of the room, getting behind a short line of students. Carmen tapped Caleb on the shoulder and leaned in.

“What class do you think you’ll get into?” Carmen curiously asked as she watched the students ahead of them get called up one by one.

“Hmm, probably Phoenix class. I’d honestly be shocked if they designated me as a Harpy or Griffon student. You’d have to be pretty inept academically or strength wise to end up in those classes.” He replied with a slight chuckle, finding the idea of being in the lower classes to be quite comical.

Before Carmen could reply, Caleb was called by the instructor. He stepped forward and placed his hand on the stone pillar. Seconds later, the shard started to rapidly spin. It shined brightly until settling on a dull purple color.

“Caleb Ravenfell, you’re an Amethyst Class level Vesta with a resonance of 7,000rlvl. And according to your chart, you scored a 93/100 on the entrance exam, very impressive. Now, please make your way to arena number three and wait for further instructions, the next round of testing will begin shortly.” The instructor said as she pointed towards the back of the room. Caleb nodded and turned to Carmen.

“Come find me once you get your class assignment!”

Carmen agreed and waved as her name was now being called by the instructor. She stepped up and placed her hand on the pillar. The shard began to spin and briefly glowed a deep black before settling on a shade of purple.

‘Hmm? Why did the shard change colors like that? I’ve never seen it do that before. Maybe it was a glitch?’

The instructor’s eyebrows raised as she was taken aback by the visual abnormality that just occurred. She eventually shrugged it off and began to read Carmen her stats.

“Carmen Belouis, you are a middle Amethyst Class level Vesta with a resonance of 7,400rlvl. You also seemed to have scored a 76/100 on your entrance exam... Hmm, with that being the case, please proceed to arena number two and await further instructions.” The Instructor commented with an unimpressed cadence, almost as though she were looking down on Carmen for her poor test scores.

Carmen nodded and swiftly made her way to the circular arena that was surrounded by a moat of water. She approached the opening and waited as another instructor flipped through pages on his clipboard. He nodded his head and wrote a few lines of text before glancing up at Carmen.

“Alright Carmen Belouis, today we will test your decision making and the overall potency of your ability. Please cross the bridge and stand in the middle of the circle.” He said with a simple motion of the hands, guiding Carmen along towards the arena’s entrance.

She sat her belongings down and heeded his request, finding her way to the middle as she wondered what the test would be. Carmen's heart raced and her nerves tensed up while she awaited further instructions.