Manifest War: The Weapons Within

The instructor stepped to the side and approached a small pillar protruding from the arena's entrance. He placed his hand against it and proceeded to explain the test to Carmen.

“This assessment is very simple. When we begin, there will be multiple mechanisms that’ll emerge from the water surrounding the arena. The red mechanisms are the ones you attack and the blue mechanisms are the ones you dodge. You may use every ability in your arsenal as well as your Manifest to progress through this test. Points are earned or deducted by how well you act accordingly. Any questions?” The instructor said, trying to make the details as simple as possible. Carmen shook her head and began to feel nervous as she prepared herself.

‘Hmm, I know he said we can use every ability in our arsenal, but I don’t think I should use the skills from my Dark affinity just yet. Revealing that I’m a dual type right now would bring way too much attention to me. I’ll just keep it under wraps for now.’

As Carmen summoned forth her Manifest, a loud buzzer blared and the test officially began.

Suddenly, multiple blue and red orbs fired up from the water and quickly surrounded Carmen. However, to her surprise, the red orbs stayed completely still while the blue orbs slowly bounced around the arena.

Carmen leapt up and slashed at the red orbs with incredibly graceful movements, making quick work of the mechanisms scattered throughout. Within a few seconds, she had destroyed all of the red orbs and found herself back at the middle of the arena.

‘Pfft, they can’t be serious. Phoenix Class is as good as mine with tests this easy.’

Carmen chuckled to herself as she landed on the ground, loosening the grip she had on Graviton Eclipse’s handle. Unfortunately, this moment of respite was incredibly short lived.

Another buzzer occurred and within seconds, Carmen was surrounded by hundreds of blue orbs that were bouncing around the arena with impressive speed. Not only were the orbs significantly faster, but they were also smaller and denser than before.

Carmen quickly aimed her palm at the fast approaching orbs and exerted her Core Energy. However, before her gravity manipulation could activate, the orbs changed course and shifted towards a different direction. Carmen tried again but the orbs dodged her ability, rendering it completely ineffective. It was almost as though these orbs had minds of their own, acting with incredible foresight and precision.

Before Carmen could contemplate her next move, the orbs were suddenly on the offensive. They raced towards her direction, glowing a dull blue color as they brimmed with a surge of Core Energy. Carmen ducked her head down and sprinted to the other side of the arena, trying her best to dodge the oncoming onslaught.

This goose chase continued on for what felt like an eternity for Carmen. At this point, the goal of destroying the red orbs had completely left her mind and she made no attempt to complete the test properly.

Feeling fed up, Carmen decided to stop dodging and go on the offensive. She skidded to a halt and faced the orbs, aiming her rapier upward in the process. She fired off a volley of void energy bolts from the tip of her Manifest, rapidly blasting the orbs out of the air.

However, the moment her attacks landed, the buzzer blared loudly and the orbs backed off. They quickly retreated towards the water, disappearing completely under the moat.

‘Huh!? Why’d they leave?’

Carmen looked around with a confused expression until the Instructor walked over to the arena’s entrance.

“Alright Carmen Belouis, your exam has ended. Please exit the arena so you can receive your class assignment.” He said with a fairly unimpressed cadence, silently judging her performance so far.

Carmen nodded and swiftly left the arena, eager to find out where she would be placed. She gathered her things and approached the instructor, patiently waiting as he finished writing on his clipboard.

“Based on your performance in this test and your relatively high Resonance level, your class designation shall be Wyvern. Please hand me your uniform jacket to finalize the process.” The instructor held out his hand and patiently waited for Carmen to retrieve it.

Carmen picked up her neatly folded uniform and handed him the pristine, black fabric jacket. He aimed his palm over it and suddenly the jacket began glowing brightly. Within a few moments, a small silver crest of a Wyvern appeared. The light hit the crest just right, causing it to glint and sparkle as she pulled the jacket closer to her.

“That’ll be all Miss Belouis. Now please, make your way to the dorms and get yourself settled in. We look forward to seeing you once classes start in two days.”

The instructor slightly bowed his head and walked over to another student that was waiting for their test.

“Welp… Looks like me and Caleb won’t be in the same class.…” Carmen muttered softly, sighing as she walked away from the arena. While navigating the chamber, Carmen looked around at all the other first year students taking their tests.

Everyone seemed so composed and prepared, handling their assignments with absolute skill and finesse. Compared to them, Carmen looked like an amateur that just learned how to handle herself in a fight. Her previous, over confident demeanor was quickly fading away with each passing second.

Eventually, Carmen made it to a clearing in the resonance chamber and saw that Caleb was standing there waiting for her. He waved and rushed over, feeling eager to see her class designation.

“Hey, did you get into Phoenix class?” He asked with a hopeful tone. Carmen simply shook her head and showed him her jacket.

“Nope, I got placed in Wyvern…”

She sighed heavily as all forms of excitement exited her body in one fell swoop.

“What!? I don’t believe that, there has be a mix up! You’re way too strong to not be in the top class. Maybe we can get them to reconsider since you’re royalty, I’ll tal-”

Caleb was quickly cut off by Carmen.

“No, I won’t abuse that type of power here. I’ll just stick with what they gave me. Plus, I kind of bombed the written portion of the exam. it’s not a big deal.”

Carmen embarrassingly chuckled as she remembered her struggles with the test LaVeda had sent after she applied.

“We’ll still see each other around though, so it’s not all bad.”

Despite his disappointment, Caleb eventually smiled and agreed. Before he could continue the conversation, Caleb heard his name being called out by some other students.

“Ah, I’ve got to go. I told them I would help out with something. I’ll see you later?” Caleb said as he was stepping away.

“Yeah, go ahead. See ya!”

Caleb waved and swiftly left the area, leaving Carmen amongst the crowd of first year students still getting tested.

As she walked towards the exit, she saw a girl step up and place her hand on the shard. It quickly shined a deep blue color, bathing the nearby students with a cool hue.

“Bridgette Vandel, you are a lower Sapphire Class Vesta with a resonance level of 8,600rlvl. You scored a 98/100 on the entrance exam as well. Please make your way to arena number four to continue your assessment.” The Instructor remarked to the girl with an impressed tone. Carmen looked on in awe at the student.

‘Oh wow, Sapphire class at our age? That’s insane. She must be crazy strong.’

The blonde haired student proudly stepped out of line and began walking towards Carmen’s direction. Carmen prepared herself to greet her, however she had no such luck.

“Hi, how are yo-.”

Before she could even finish her sentence, Bridgette bumped her shoulder into Carmen’s and kept walking. She had completely ignored her.

‘What was that all about? I know she heard me.’

Carmen annoyingly watched the girl get further and further away, her blonde hair swaying back n’ forth. She shrugged off the rude gesture and continued towards the exit. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice yelling for her.

“Carmen! You’re here!”

She turned around and saw Rivell rushing towards her, jumping into her arms. Carmen’s face lit up as she gave him a hug.

“Rivell! I didn’t know you were coming here. I haven’t seen you in months. How are you?” Carmen asked, feeling happy to see him.

“Ah, my Auntie pulled some strings and got me a recommendation to attend! She thought it would be essential for me to come here if I wanted to get better with my alchemy and health studies.”

They got to chatting about various things and catching up with one another.

“So what class are you in? I’m in Griffon with a focus on the academic side of things.” He said with an excited tone, pushing his glasses further up his face.

“Tch, I’m in Wyvern class…”

“Why are you so bummed? That’s a good class to be in!”

Rivell was surprised to hear her disdain towards such a highly rated class.

“I know, I just hate that I don’t know anyone in it.”

She began to feel nervous again, thinking about being on her own.

“I’ll really have to start completely over again…”

“I guess that’s true. Well, I’m sure there are a bunch of people that’ll be friends with you!” He said with a big, awkward smile. Carmen nodded, feeling a little better and continued to have a conversation.

“I’ve got to head to the library to get some books for my class. You want to come?”

“Oh, no I think I’ll drop all this stuff off at my room and take a bit of a break.” Carmen sighed as she looked down at all the things she was carrying.

“Fair enough. But hey, if you want to catch up later, stop by my dorm room sometime! I’m in room 118 in the boys dorm.” Rivell replied with a big grin. Carmen agreed and they said their goodbyes, heading off into different directions.

Carmen arrived at the first year girl’s dormitory and was in awe at the architecture. The marble building was gorgeously decorated and incredibly large, having four different wings jutting in each cardinal direction. Along the pathway leading to the massive oak doors were four immaculately detailed statues, casting their shadow over Carmen as she walked. She stopped to admire the marble Harpy, Griffon, Wyvern, and Phoenix sculptures, making note of their intricate poses.

‘This place is incredible, and to think Azhane didn’t want me to attend…’

Carmen placed her hand on the Wyvern statue and looked up at it, feeling a bit annoyed that her sister almost kept her from such an amazing place.

As she walked the halls, Carmen noticed tapestries of each nation in Resotera as well as ones donning the four classes of LaVeda. Everything about this building was so nice, neat, and clean. Even the light from the large windows reflected perfectly against the marble floors, illuminating the steps while Carmen ascended the spiral staircase.

After a decent search, she finally found her door, number 207. Carmen held the rune up to it and immediately, a small burst of Core Energy radiated across the locks. Moments later, an unlocking sound occurred and the door opened automatically.

She entered and saw all of her things neatly put away, as well as a freshly made bed. Once she stepped further into the fairly large room, Carmen saw another bed on the opposite side of the room with someone on it.

A girl with fairly short black hair, messy bangs, sharp green eyes, and a petite build was laying down reading a book. The girl looked over and quickly sat up in bed, startled by Carmen’s sudden arrival.

“Oh hi, I guess you're my roommate?” She asked with a fairly blank expression.

“Hello, my name is Carmen. Carmen Belouis. Pleased to meet you.” Carmen replied with a curtsy and slight bow of the head.

The girl’s brow raised as she made note of Carmen’s sparkling silver hair, fiery red eyes, and royal mannerisms.

“Uhhh, okay… The name’s Elise, nice to meet you as well.”

Elise's tone was incredibly half-hearted, not even attempting to match Carmen’s proper etiquette. If anything, Elise seemed rather put off by Carmen’s fancy introduction.

Carmen sat her things down and took a seat on her bed. She looked up and noticed the Wyvern crest on Elise’s jacket as it hung on the wall, feeling relieved that there would be someone familiar in her classes.

“So, are you from around here?” Carmen asked with curious cadence.

“Kind of. I lived with my Grandmother in Olunas City. What about you?”

Elise closed her book as she shifted her body to the edge of her bed, now giving Carmen her full attention.

“I’m from Volaire, Ariana City to be more specific. My family has held the throne there forever, so needless to say, that’s where I was born and raised.” Carmen smiled, running her fingers through her silver hair gently.

“Yeah I figured you were some kind of royal or something. Why come to LaVeda though? Wouldn’t Duneveil Academy be closer to you since it’s in Volaire?”

“Well, I heard LaVeda is where the best Vesta’s go and that their program is second to none. I just had to come here and see where I stand!”

A fire lit in Carmen’s eyes as she clenched her fist with determination.

“I see…”

At this point, it was clear that Elise wanted to be done with this conversation, but Carmen insisted on continuing.

“So, what’s your ability and affinity? If you don’t mind me asking.”

Elise simply held up her hand as though cupping something in the air. Suddenly, streaks of green electricity danced along her fingers and palm.

“I’m an Electro Affinity Vesta that can manipulate the static electricity around me.” She replied nonchalantly.

“Ohh nice! That’s a cool ability. I’m a du-”

Carmen quickly caught herself as she was about to reveal something she didn’t want to.

“You’re a what? Couldn’t hear you.” Elise responded with a confused expression.

“Oh, umm, nothing. Sorry, I’m a Void Affinity Vesta that can manipulate gravity.”

Carmen aimed her palm at a small box on the floor and crushed it completely flat in an instant.

“Kind of like that, but on a much bigger scale.” She chuckled. Elise’s eyes widened a little, feeling impressed by Carmen’s ability.

‘Whew, that was close. I don’t want to reveal the fact that I have two affinities just yet.’

Before Carmen could keep the conversation going, Elise began to lay back down.

“Well Carmen, I wish you the best of luck at this school. As for me, you can just pretend I don’t exist. I’m sure things will go better for you if you do so.” Elise said in a more serious tone, opening her book to read again. Carmen was confused and taken aback by Elise’s seemingly sudden change of mood and tone.

“Uhh, O..Okay?”

She stared at Elise as she flipped through her pages silently.

“Alright then…” Carmen softly mumbled, not enjoying the silence in the room. She got up from her bed and headed to the washroom to freshen up as it had gotten late.