ã€ŠA War To End Them Allã€‹


 Chapter 1 - The National Empire Academy for Soldiers

    A fierce battle. Bodies pile in every direction. The sound of clashing swords rings through the battlefield.

    "We are not going to last for long if this continues!"

    "But what are we supposed to do?! They said reinforcements will be coming soon!"

    "If we don''t find a way outta'' here, we will be long done for before they even set a sight here!"

    Not good. We are completely surrounded by enemy soldiers. Most of our comrades have fallen victim to their swords already; my squad is one of the last ones remaining. How the hell can we escape this hopeless situation?!

    "We need a plan! Quick! If we don''t, we''ll be- Ahhh!"

    "Oi! Pull yourself together, damnit!"

    This is bad¡­ Seriously bad¡­ What can we do?!

    ...What can I do? ...Agh, I can''t even think clearly in this hell!

    "Adel, look out! Behind you!"

    "-What?!"

    An enemy ambushed me from behind. I managed to block his attack in the last second.

    "Fuck off to hell, you bastard!"

    Our swords parted and in the same moment I struck him down with a powerful slash.

    "Close call there..."

    "Ya'' kidding me? A second later and you''d be a dead man!"

    "Concentrate! We are still on the battlefield!"

    "Oh really?! Thank you, I did not realize!"

    "Quite down, both of you!"

    Before we knew it, another ambush from above faced us.

    "They even come, jumping from the cliff?!"

    "Shit! Guys, evade! Now!"

    Not all of us made it in time. I pushed one of my comrades away and instead, the attack hit me.

    I got smashed to the ground.

    "-Urgh! Come on! Move it, body! Get the hell up!"

    I struggled to stand up again, but it was in vain.

    In the meantime, the enemy soldiers took the opportunity and closed the distance.

    I watched as they came closer, unable to do anything.

    "Adel! Get the hell away from there!"

    I would if I could.... but my body is exhausted¡­ I can''t move.

    Is there really nothing I can do?

    Nothing?

    Is this the end?

    ...I can''t accept this!

    <hr>

    "So this is it, huh."

    In front of my eyes, a large campus dominated the area. A breathtaking view.

    I can¡¯t believe I actually managed to get into the Academy!

    Oh right, which academy you might ask yourself.

    The National Empire Academy for Soldiers, short NEAS, is the most famous training facility for young people, who are enlisted into the Empire Army.

    A handful of young men and women get the opportunity to apply at becoming an elite soldier for the Empire, that being a separate unit than the common army.

    At the time you hit the age of being able to enlist into the military, you are being tested upon your abilities and potential.

    About 90% of the people will become part of the common Empire army. The remaining 10%, who qualified themselves, are able to join NEAS. Being part of the elite is definitely something all would like to be. Instead of fighting in a large army, elite soldiers are divided into small squads and fight in special missions on the front-line.

    "Come on! It is starting soon!"

    "Mou~ I am already running as fast as I can!"

    Two girls in red, black uniform ran past me.

    Just like those girls, I am also wearing a red, black uniform. That must mean they were new Students at the Academy like me.

    "-Hey. Did you shit ya'' pants or why are you dozing off in the middle of the way?"

    I turned around. Behind me stood a blond, blue-eyed, boy. Just like me in the same outfit.

    "...Not really. I am just standing here, waiting for my fated love to finally meet me."

    I said that, with a clear tone of sarcasm.

    The boy watched me questioning for a few seconds before he started to laugh.

    "Hahaha! You''re a funny one!"

    He slapped my shoulder while saying that.

    "Thanks, it took me a lot of effort to come up with that one."

    I earned another laughter from him.

    "You are also a new student at the Academy, right? My name''s Jonath Ordwald!"

    Jonath, huh. Feel like I heard that one before.

    "I am Adel Habensburg. Nice to meet you!"

    I shook his hand, while he grinned pleased at me.

    "Likewise, Adel!"

    At the same moment, an announcement could be heard.

    "All new students are to be assembled in the Academy Announcement Hall! I repeat: all new Students are to be assembled in the Academy Announcement Hall!"

    Jonathand I both looked at each other in shock.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    "Dammit, we are late! Get yourself in motion, we definitely don''t want to get into trouble on the first day!"

    With that,Jonath ran at full speed towards the Academy. I immediately tried to catch up with him.

    <hr>

    WhenJonath and I entered the Announcement Hall, it was already filled with many academy students.

    To our right there were some seats that remained free, so we took them.

    Soon after we sat down, an older man stepped up to the stage.

    "Ahem-! First off, I would like to thank all of the here gathered brave young people, that have applied to become part of the elite soldiers of the glorious Empire! In the name of his Majesty the Emperor and as the Principal of this Academy I would like to offer my gratitude towards all of you!"

    He had a formidable and pride body posture. Just like a general.

    "So that''s the principal of this academy, huh? He looks like the type of man that could give you literal nightmares right, Adel?"

    Jonathgiggled after he said that.

    "Don''t say that out loud, he might hear you! If he gets mad, don''t expect me to fight him off for you, Jonath."

    "Eeehh~ so cold!"

    "-as you all already know, this academy is renown for training the best Elite Soldiers in the Empire. Naturally, this will be expected from your generation as well. I am sure that this is a heavy burden to bear, but you will be able to live up to our expectations! After all, you being accepted into this academy, is because all of you have the ability to do so!"

    The hall was filled with chatter and many seemed to be excited by his encouraging words.

    "However!"

    The Principal broke the chatter into silence.

    "This does not mean that you get to slack off! A rough training awaits all of you, in order to shape the young people before me into worthy soldiers of the Empire!"

    The voice of the principal got loud and sinister.

    "Seriously, he''s scary! The principal is only a few minutes on the stage and I can already imagine what he''d do with people he does not like, no ... I can literally feel it!"

    I agree with Jonath. The Principal of the Academy most definitely is a man with an intimidating aura.

    "It is now time to explain to you what is going to happen from now on. First off, your training. For the next months, you are going to be part of this academy and study all kinds of subjects, that are necessary for becoming an elite soldier, that being for example Battle-Strategies. You will also receive physical education, in terms of shaping your fitness and most importantly teaching you the arts of Swordsmanship."

    "Ouhhh yeah! That is what I have been waiting for! Gimme'' all ya got!"

    Jonathstruck his fist into the air out of excitement. Some of the nearby students turned their heads towards him.

    "You love sword fights, right?"

    I asked him even though, the answer was obvious.

    " ''Course I do! Just imagine the awesome battles coming up!"

    I nod in agreement. It''s not like I can''t understand where he is coming from, in fact, I feel the same way as he does.

    "The next thing to cover is that Elite Soldiers operate in squads. These Squads are to be determined very early on, in the academy already to be precise. This is why after this Entrance Ceremony, you will be divided into those. The Squads have already been pre-determined based on the results of your examination when you enrolled in the military."

    "So we don''t get to choose them on our own..."

    "Well, this is not some kind of school trip, after all, Adel."

    If they determine the squads based on the results of the examination... then this must mean that you will be matched with people that are about equally skilled as yourself.

    At least I think, that this is the case.

    "That is all for now. The National Empire Academy for Soldiers looks forward to taking care of all of you and expects great results in the future! -Dismissed!"

    With that, the Principal left the Stage and the students got up one by one to leave.

    "Let''s get outta'' here before it gets too crowded!"

    "Alright."

    After hearing the announcement by the principal, I had a hard time getting up from my seat.

    His voice definitely left a permanent impression on me.

    <hr>

    Jonathand I went towards the exit. Outside there were waiting several teachers in uniforms lined up in the Hallway. Unlike our uniforms, theirs were completely black and decorated with several badges and ribbons.

    "Please get to the main screen and check which squad you have been assigned to!"

    A female teacher among the lined up ones pointed towards a wall to our left, where a big screen was located.

    Jonathwas faster than me, checking on it.

    "Mhm, let¡¯s see ¡­ -Whoa, you kiddin'' me?!"

    "What''s wrong, Jonath?"

    I asked him while I walked up to him from behind.

    "Take a look at this, dude! We''re on the same squad!"

    Jonathgrinned widely as he hung his arm around me.

    "Does that mean, I have to stick around with you now?"

    I faked a disappointed facial expression.

    "Ya'' could at least try to be happy about it!"

    Hesulked at first but laughed afterward.

    "According to the information on the screen, we are assigned to Squad 10!"

    "And there are 3 more in our group. That means the squads generally consist of 5 people."

    "If you found out which squad you have been assigned to, please gather at the meeting place allocated for the specific one outside!"

    A nearby teacher called out to all the students in the hall.

    "We''re running from one point to another like some kind of treasure hunting."

    "Well, they are fun, aren''t they?"

    "...That was not my point, Jonath."

    "-Huh? It was not?"

    "...Forget it."

    I laughed as I gave up.

    Weird, I''ve only spent so little time with him and I already feel like I''ve known him forever.

    A smirk made its way on my face.

    Jonathand I went outside and saw that there were a lot of signs with numbers on them all around.

    I guess they represent the Squads.

    "Mhmm~ let''s see... 3...7...11... -eh?"

    "What''s wrong?"

    I askedJonath who looked perplexed.

    "I can''t find the spot for our Squad! Do ya'' see it anywhere?"

    ...It''s true. I looked around, but nowhere was our Squad meeting point to be seen.

    "...E-eh~ Do you guys also belong to Squad 10?"

    We turned around. Behind us stood a girl with short brown hair. She had the appearance of an angel.

    "W-Woah! How cute!"

    You idiot...

    What are you thinking, blabbering this out to her like that?

    ...Well, I can''t blame him. Looking at her, she is definitely the type of girl that would be the class idol in school. His reaction does make sense.

    "...Eh?"

    Naturally, the girl looked confused at him.

    Please don''t mess this up, Jonath. I''m begging you... mentally, that is.

    "A-ahh- sorry! Yeah, we are also in Squad 10! I amJonath Ordwaldand this here is Adel Habensburg!"

    "Pleased to meet you!"

    I smiled at her, trying to safe the first impression we make on her.

    Thankfully, she giggled.

    "Tehe~ It''s okay! I amRie Chartbeth! I look forward to working with you both!"

    "M-me too!"

    Jonathlaughed nervously and looked like he fantasized about her.

    That¡¯s why I gave him a knock on his head from behind.

    "-Urgh! Hey, what was that for?"

    "You had some scary thoughts there."

    "N-not true!"

    Rielooked at us and began to chuckle.

    "I take, that you guys are members of Squad 10?"

    A teacher approached us.

    "Yeah, we are! Do ya'' know why there is no meeting point for us here anywhere?"

    The teacher did not change his facial expression for a bit.

    "You are mistaken. There is a meeting point allocated to Squad 10. However, it is not here outside of the academy."

    "What do you mean?"

    I asked him confused. If it is not here outside, is it in one of the rooms?

    "Your Squad''s meeting point is to be found on the rooftop of the Academy. To get to there, walk up the stairs and follow the signs in the academy."

    With that, the teacher walked away, not waiting for our reaction.

    "Hey! What do you mean by that? Why is our Squad the only one that does not meet here?"

    The teacher paid no attention toJonath and disappeared in the crowd.

    "Tch~ What a load of bullshit!"

    "Jonath, there is no need to get upset. Let''s just go, I think the others might be waiting for us already!"

    Riehad a relaxed and positive atmosphere around her.Jonath was immediately affected by it.

    "W-well if you say so, Rie..."

    "You are too easy, Jonath." I thought to myself.

    <hr>

    Together, we made our way towards the meeting point. Right in front of the door to the rooftop, a white-haired girl in the same uniform as ours leaned towards the wall with her back.

    "Well, took you guys long enough, I guess."

    She said in a calm tone after spotting us.

    "Do you also belong to Squad 10?"

    I asked her, whileJonath andRie caught up from behind.

    "Yes, that is why I am waiting here for you all."

    She eyed us one by one slowly.

    "Isn''t there still one missing of us?"

    She concluded after counting how many we were.

    Now that she mentioned it, we also realized that there was still one member missing.

    "That''s true! We were supposed to be 5!"

    Rieseemingly got nervous.

    "Relax, Rie! It''s still early so I''m sure he or she will show up soon enough!"

    "It''s no use to wait here for the last person, we might as well go to our meeting point already."

    So she does not even think of telling us first, who she actually is, or who we are?

    "Wait up, we are now in the same Squad, so we should properly introduce ourselves."

    I proposed as a quick response.

    "Oh, you are right about that."

    She turned around from the door to us.

    "Then let me introduce myself first. My name is Leyrid Syldor. 18 Years old. As a fellow member of this Squad, I look forward to working with you."

    Her voice is soft and it is pleasing to listen to it.

    At the end, I could even see her smiling slightly.

    The others took it well and their mood lightened up.

    "My Name''s Jonath Ordwald!"

    "I-I am Rie Chartbeth~"

    They both now sounded relieved and lowered their guard.

    "And as for me-"

    "You''re Adel Habensburg, right?"

    Leyriddidn''t let me finish.

    "You know my name already?"

    I don''t recall telling it her beforehand.

    "Yeah, I more or less thought already that you had to be Adel."

    "And how comes?"

    Jonath, who was also surprised, joined the questioning.

    "The answer is pretty much behind this door outside on the rooftop. Let''s go."

    Leyridhad a teasing smile on her lips. I thought this already the moment we saw her, but she is a real beauty.

    Not in the same way like Rie, who has a cute and idol-like appearance.Leyrid had more of an... mature kind of aura, should I say?

    The three of us looked at each other and we decided to followLeyrid outside.

    As we opened the door-

    "-Huh?"

 Chapter 0 - Adels Monologue

    ¡­The world is so sick of it.

    Wars, wars, wars and more wars, it never stops no matter how much destruction it already brought over humanity.

    All that it has ever left behind afterward are crying children, mourning the deaths of their families, and survivors, suffering from never ending despair.

    However, if you had the chance to change the world without a cost, would you take it?

    If there was a possibility to end all suffering and pain without sacrificing any more lives, would you do it?

    If you believe that there is such a chance - to make the world perfect...This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ... you are delusional.

    However, it is possible to reduce suffering.

    Ending everlasting wars, diplomatic conflicts, hate and despise towards others.

    "But how can we end wars?"

    The answer is quite simple: with a war.

    All that is needed is one big war, one that decides upon worlds destiny.

    ¡­Why?

    If there is one nation, powerful enough to make the rest bow before them in respect, no one would dare to oppose them, or create conflicts that risk ruining peace, right?

    At least, this is the ideology that my home-country, The Great Empire has.

    After being a nation that suffered from the greed of others, the Empire rose anew from the ashes, to restore what was ones ours.

    ¡­What is my opinion on the Empire''s ideology?

    It doesn''t matter.

    What the Empire says, is justice.

    What his Majesty, the Emperor says, is right.

    It is not our job to judge the decisions,

    It is our mission to carry out the will of our nation.

    We are the spine of the Empire,

    We are the swords that soar through the Battlefield,

    We ... are Soldiers.

 Chapter 2 - The Encounter

    As we stepped outside, the fresh wind blew us into the face.

    The four of us stood on the rooftop, alone.

    ¡­At least we thought we were.

    ?-Huh?¡°

    Jonath looked to the front.

    A woman, in a completely black uniform, stood on the other side, with her back to us.

    Her long dark-brown hair waved in the breeze.

    ?E-ehm ¡­ excuse us, please!¡°

    Rie stepped forward.

    ?¡­Hm?¡°

    The woman turned around. It was only then, we saw that she was smoking. I¡¯d guess her age to be in the late twenties.

    Unlike the rest of the students and teachers, she was armed with her sword.

    I could see that she began to smile.

    ?You''ve finally made it here, it seems.¡°

    ?Are you our last member?¡°

    ?Not quite, but thank you that you think I am young enough to be a student here~¡°

    She dropped her cigarette and at the same time, her facial expression became serious.

    ?I don¡¯t have much time to spare, so let¡¯s get started.¡°

    That was a quick change of character. Just a second ago, she had a soft smile on her lips and just like that it changed to the facial expression of a fearless warrior.

    ?Started? What do ya'' mean by-"

    He didn¡¯t get to finish his sentence as the woman threw a side-kick at him in the same moment.

    We couldn¡¯t even blink before she closed the distance between us and her.

    BAM

    ?-Urgh!"

    Jonath was immediately knocked to the ground.

    Seriously, how fast is she?!

    ?What was that for, lady?!¡°

    Jonath said, as he pushed himself up.

    ?It¡¯s a test, Jonath.¡°

    Leyrid, who remained silent up until now, spoke up.

    ?A test?!¡°

    ?That¡¯s right.¡°

    The woman, who just knocked him to the ground, answered.

    By her body posture, I can tell, that she does not really perceive us as a threat.

    She is more relaxed than she should be when attacking someone.

    ?It¡¯s you against me. Now.¡°

    ?Seriously, what are ya'' talking about-"

    Another kick flew into his direction.

    Jonath barely managed to dodge, by jumping behind.

    ?There are no questions on the battlefield. Come at me with all you¡¯ve got!¡°

    All of us switched into a fighting posture.

    There is no talking out of this now. Our only option is to fight her ¡­ but four against one?

    ?You''ve asked for it!¡°

    Jonath threw a left punch at her ¡­ but she blocked with ease.

    Immediately, a counter-attack onto his wide-open stomach followed up.

    ?-Argh! Shit!¡°

    She tried to close with a spin-kick, but this time Jonath managed to block with his arms. However, he still sank to the ground by the impact of that kick.

    He is clearly not able to fight her further.

    This created a short opening that Rie used to throw her fist aimed at the head of the woman.

    ?Too naive!¡°

    The woman wanted to grab her fist, but the attack from Rie was only a feint, as she used the swing of her fist to rotate and do a spinning kick aimed at the legs.

    ?Eh? Good idea, but¡­¡°

    The woman simply closed the distance between her and Rie to stop the kick, by putting a leg in the way of the flying direction.

    ?-Kyaah!¡°

    Rie lost her balance and the woman punched her to the ground without any mercy, just like she did with Jonath.

    Only Leyrid and I remained.

    ?Lend me your aid!¡°

    ?With pleasure, Adel.¡°

    We both attacked from left and right at the same time.

    I made an attempt to strike the woman with a quickly swung elbow, which she dodged by ducking.

    ?Too slow~¡°

    Leyrid threw a low-kick at her in that situation.

    However, the defender quickly jumped to avoid it.

    Her reaction time is outstanding. We can¡¯t even touch her, no matter what we do.

    There are not many options left after this. In terms of combat skills, there is a clear difference between us and her.

    That''s why Leyrid and I made a last attempt by trying to catch her off-balance, as she just landed back on the ground, and we both threw a quick punch from both sides.

    It seemed that it would connect...

    That only, at first glance though.

    She blocked both punches with one hand each and simply shrugged it off, smiling self-confidently.

    ?-Shit!¡°

    I shouted as she followed up by throwing both of us head over to the ground.

    We now encountered the same fate, just like Jonath and Rie.

    ¡­That¡¯s it.

    We¡¯ve been defeated.

    We lost four to one, in an outstandingly awful performance.

    ?I can¡¯t believe it¡­¡°

    I said while realizing our loss.

    How could we outnumber her and still lose without hitting her once?

    ?You guys did well.¡°

    ?What?¡°

    I couldn''t believe what she was saying.

    ?How exactly did we good? We just got annihilated!¡°

    ?Well, you miss the point. I never expected you to win against me in the first place.¡°

    ?-Eh? You did not?¡°

    Rie was also confused.

    If she did not, then what was the purpose behind beating us up?

    ?Quite the contrary. It was not about winning or losing, but rather HOW you lose.¡°

    ?I still don''t get ya'', lady!¡°

    Jonath tried his hardest to understand what she was talking about, but he quickly gave up.

    The woman sighed.

    ?Okay, let me be more precise. This test was not about you winning against me. It was about measuring your abilities.¡°

    ?And we did well?¡°

    I asked her. She certainly didn''t seem upset about the result.

    ¡°Exactly! You showed me a wonderful performance! Most of the squads tested by me just attacked with plain, chaotic and quite boring moves. You guys, however, used a variety of skills, took opportunities when you saw them, and the best thing of all: you''ve already worked as a team!¡±

    She then looked at Leyrid and me.

    ¡°Especially you two! I am really amazed by your combined, well-timed attacks! Even though you were still one member down.¡±

    ¡°W-well thanks, I guess...¡±

    ¡°Yo Adel, Rie, ya'' alright?¡±

    Jonath got up and asked concerned.

    He then walked over to Rie.

    ¡°Y-yes, I''m okay!¡±

    She took his hand to get up.

    Meanwhile, I got up and helped Leyrid back to her feet.

    ¡°So does this mean all of the other Squads just now, did face the same test?¡±

    It would be logical if they did at least. Maybe this test was to rank the Squads based on the results.

    ¡°No. Your Squad was the only one to do it.¡±

    She put on a faint smile again.

    ¡°Huh? Why is that so?¡±

    I asked confused. So it is not to create a ranking... Then what else could there be to it...?

    After short thinking I added:

    ¡°Is it because we did badly at the examination?¡±

    Another option could be that we would need to prove that we are on par with the other Squads at this Academy.

    The woman chuckled a bit.

    ¡°Not at all~ You did quite well, in fact, you guys were the best of all!¡±

    All of us were surprised and we looked at each other. Only Leyrid wasn''t fazed by it.

    Did she know about this all along? Maybe that is why she knew my name already. At least, I can''t think of another option right now.

    ¡°I''m not sure if I follow ya''. So we were tested because we had the best scores in the examination?¡±

    ¡°That''s right, Jonath.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°¡­So you already know our names as well.¡±

    I said after we were surprised by it. That means Leyrid was not the only one, that knew them beforehand.

    ¡°Everyone here knows your names already. The reason why you all, Squad 10, meets up here is that you are the most talented ones.¡±

    ¡°But we are not the first ones, correct?¡±

    Leyrid smiled as she stated it like it was obvious for her.

    ¡°Good observation, Leyrid. It is exactly as she said. Every year, there is one Squad, that excels the others. That Squad is tested on their true potential up here.¡±

    So this test wasn''t an exception then.

    Actually, did we just got a huge compliment?

    ¡°W-wow, we are the best?¡±

    Rie had sparkles in her eyes as she was overjoyed by it.

    There it is again, her idol-like aura that immediately affects you, the moment you see it.

    Quite the powerful weapon the more you think about it.

    But there is still one thing we don''t know yet.

    ¡°Okay, I get the picture, but the question remains, that we still don''t know who you are.¡±

    I confronted her with a serious tone.

    ¡°Ah~ You''re right about that, Adel. I still haven''t introduced myself yet.¡±

    Like on command, she made a prideful pose and her tone got serious again.

    ¡°My name is Vinelda Augustalis. I am the current leader of the 20th Stormtrooper Force, thus not a teacher of this academy. This year, I took over the task to examine the new promising Students of the Elite Soldiers.¡±

    All of us stood in amazement. No one could believe what we just heard.

    That is, all except Rie.

    She just looked at each of us nervously as if she was surrounded by aliens.

    ¡°E-ehm~ What exactly is the Stormtrooper Force, if I may ask?¡±

    She raised her hand and asked, as she was a bit ashamed that she was the only one, who did not know what it was.

    ¡°Rie, are you serious?!¡±

    Jonath gasped as he couldn''t believe what she just said.

    ¡°I-I''m sorry, I just don''t know it...¡±

    Leyrid chuckled for a bit in amusement, before she began to explain to Rie.

    ¡°The Stormtrooper Force is a special unit in the army, just like the Elite Soldiers. However, there is always only one current Stormtrooper Force. They are considered the best Soldiers in the whole Empire.¡±

    ¡°T-the whole Empire?!¡±

    ¡°That''s right. This special unit is formed and named by the Emperor himself. They have the highest ranking in the entire Empire and are considered Heroes of our Nation.¡±

    Rie now grasped the situation we were in and immediately got as overwhelmed, as we were.

    ¡°A-amazing! Vinelda you are a Hero?!¡±

    ¡°Well, that is how we are generally addressed as, yeah.¡±

    Vinelda took out another cigarette and began to smoke again. Her arms were crossed and she still had that pride and noble aura around her.

    Unlike the aura of the principle, hers was not sinister. It was ¡­ powerful should I say?

    Well, it at least made everyone respect her immediately, I can say that much for sure.

    ¡°But why is the leader of the Stormtrooper''s here in NEAS to fight a bunch of newcomers?!¡±

    Jonath was still nervous around her, given her position as the best Soldier in the Empire.

    Now that I think about it, it certainly is weird for her to be here, when she shouldn''t have that much free time as one of the most important soldiers.

    Vinelda took another puff of her cigarette.

    ¡°Well, it is kind of our duty to scout for the next generation of the Unit.¡±

    ¡°Y-You mean that we all will become the next Stormtrooper Force?!¡±

    Jonath shouted in excitement. I also got affected by it and it made me grin at him. That really does sound incredibly awesome if you think about it.

    ¡°No. Certainly, you have the chance of becoming part of them later on, but there is definitely no guarantee that you will. All I am saying is that you can qualify yourselves to be considered as potential future members.¡±

    Jonath and I got shot down as fast as we got excited.

    That actually depresses me now. A part of me really did hope that, but we got a bit too much into it, it seems.

    She did say, however, that we could be considered as potential members. What could it take in order to qualify oneself for the best unit in the Empire?

    ¡°Then what are the requirements to qualify yourself for it?¡±

    I then asked her, as I got curious.

    Vinelda thought for a short moment before she answered.

    ¡°That would be for example that you have to be an Elite Soldier first. Without being one, there is absolutely no possibility to become part of the Stormtrooper''s.¡±

    That means that from the beginning ¡­ only the 10% that got accepted into the Elite Soldier Academy like NEAS have the chance. That is not much to begin with.

    ¡°The reason for that is simple. Only people who are good enough to be an Elite Soldier can pull off becoming strong enough to be a Stormtrooper.¡±

    That makes sense. After all, this Unit is considered the strongest in the Empire. No way, it is that easy to get into this Force.

    Vinelda is actually becoming more and more amazing when you think about how much she must have done to get her position. The largest part of the army never makes it further than being a normal soldier. An Elite Soldier is already something incredible.

    ¡°A-and what would be another requirement?¡±

    Rie also got curious and asked for herself.

    Vinelda began to grin slightly in a sadistic way. Remember, when I said before that her aura is not sinister like the one of the principal? I take that back. Hers is even more terrifying now ... way more.

    ¡°That would be~ ¡­ That you need to be able to survive long enough in this war.¡±

    All of us were shocked ¡­ no scared is the right word. The air around us almost froze.

    While it was logical what she said, it was the way how she said it, that gave us that frighten.

    ¡°What are you surprised about? It''s only natural that we can''t have members in the best Unit if they fall quicker in Battle than we can find new ones.¡±

    She then dropped her cigarette, followed up by a soft smile.

    ¡°But that shouldn''t be bothering you guys now anyway! You are at this academy to become Elite Soldiers.¡±

    Yeah, the way she changes her attitude from frightening to a wise and caring adult is just as scary.

    At that moment the door opened widely. A boy with dark-red hair came out.

    He had his uniform top hanging over his left shoulder and wore the white shirt beneath only.

    ¡°What''s this lil'' party up here about? Going from one place to another really is annoying!¡±

    He seemed to be displeased and annoyed. Also, his way of speaking had an aggressive sub-tone.

    ¡°Look who finally decided to show up.¡±

    Vinelda crossed her arms again and looked at the boy coldly.

    I don''t know who he is, but that tension building up here is definitely bad.

    ¡°I just didn''t feel like it, no big dea-¡±

    Just like Jonath, the boy was cut off mid-sentence, as Vinelda threw a spinning-kick at him.

    ¡°-Tch!¡±

    He barely managed to block it with his arms, but he has been pushed quite a few meters behind.

    ¡°Hey hey~ what a rude way of greeting someone.¡±

    He grinned even though it was clear for the eye that Vinelda''s attack hurt him badly.

    ¡°Don''t get cocky, Ralph Lirthgen! Just because you got good results in the examination does not mean that you get to do what you want.¡±

    She looked at him with a piercing gaze. Even I got the shivers, even though it was not directed at me.

    ¡°Oh? How scary~¡±

    Ralph was either extremely confident in his skills or an absolute airhead for trying to provoke her.

    Vinelda then turned around to us. She was now in a bad mood.

    ¡°This troublemaker here is your up until now missing member, Ralph Lirthgen. His personality is quite bad as you can see, but you shouldn''t underestimate him. He is actually quite skilled and on par with all of you.¡±

    I see ¡­ so my guess is, that he is the arrogant, delinquent type of man.

    Jonath walked over to Ralph and reached out his hand with a welcoming smile.

    ¡°I am Jonath Ordwald, glad to meet ya¡¯! The way you just blocked her attack while still being able to stand was awesome!¡±

    Ralph, however, looked at his hand with disgust.

    ¡°Get that shit away from me!¡±

    He slapped his hand away. Jonath and Rie were left astonished.

    I kind of expected that reaction. He won''t be that easy to work with, it seems.

    ¡°Let''s get the things straight from the start! I''m not your guys best buddy and I couldn''t care less if we are in the same Squad!¡±

    He then pointed his finger towards me.

    ¡°The only one here who''s at least got the right to breathe the same air as me, is Adel over there!¡±

    ¡°Huh? ...Me?¡±

    What did he mean by that? I don''t remember seeing him ever before so he shouldn''t know me either.

    ¡°You got quite the remarkable results in the examination. Of course, I was better, but at least I don''t have the urge to vomit when I see you, unlike the others!¡±

    ¡°You care to say that again?!¡±

    Jonath grabbed Ralph by his collar. He was pretty pissed and threatened him with his fist.

    ¡°Get your hand off me, you punk!¡±

    Ralph glared at Jonath intimidatingly.

    ¡°Would you brats stop wasting our time, so that we can continue?¡±

    Vinelda stepped in and was still in a bad mood thanks to Ralph.

    ¡°-Tch! Fine.¡±

    Jonath let go of him and returned to Rie.

    Ralph on the other hand simply brushed the wrinkles on his collar away.

    ¡°Let me give you all a piece of advice. Always keep in mind why you are attending this academy. You are not here to live out your youth! This is still a training facility for the military.¡±

    We all looked troubled at each other.

    I mean, she is right. This is not a High School, after all. We are preparing to go to war. We should not let this slip our mind, or else we could take things too lightly.

    ¡°The other Squads should already be done with their introductions and are probably on their way to the lecture rooms. You''d better be not late.¡±

    ¡°Vinelda, may I ask a question?¡±

    ¡°What is it, Leyrid?¡±

    ¡°Why did you personally show up to test us? Wouldn''t it have been enough to send a substitute or another member from the Stormtrooper Force here, to take over the task? I am sure that the leader of the best Squad in the Empire normally shouldn''t have the time to play with students around.¡±

    Vinelda smiled and seemed to be amused by the question.

    ¡°Quite sharp, are we? You are right, I am actually pretty busy and my comrades are currently fighting in a mission on the eastern front.¡±

    ¡°Without their leader? Isn''t that, like, extremely risky?¡±

    Jonath joined the conversation.

    That also bothered me. We know that it is the task of the Stormtrooper''s to find replacements, but it certainly would have been enough to send a regular member here, instead of their leader.

    ¡°Jonath, if they would be that weak without me, they would have never become part of the strongest Unit in the Empire.¡±

    ¡°W-well yeah, but...¡±

    ¡°Let''s just say that I was really interested this year in the promising new Soldiers.¡±

    She then mustered each of us one by one.

    ¡°-and I have not been disappointed, to say the least.¡±

    Rie and Jonath grinned at each other happily.

    Ralph just leaned towards the wall and acted like he did not care.

    ¡°I will visit the academy from time to time, to check up on the students here and their progress. We will see each other soon enough again, so don''t you dare to laze around!¡±

    ¡°YES, MA''AM!¡±

    All of us, except for Ralph, saluted to her and after that, took off back into the academy building for the upcoming class.

    ¡°Adel, you stay with me for a moment.¡±

    Vinelda said as I wanted to go together with the others.

    Jonath looked back to me at the door to see where I was, but I signaled him to go ahead without me.

    ¡°I have a question for you, Adel.¡±

    ¡°What would that be?¡±

    I asked her after Jonath left and I turned back to her.

    ¡°Why do you think we fight in wars?¡±

    ¡°...Eh? Why this question...?¡±

    I am not really prepared for a philosophical topic, to be honest. I guess I''ll just say what comes to my mind first.

    ¡°I ¡­ I think it is to protect our Nation and the people who live in it?¡±

    ¡°A good answer.¡±

    Good job, me! Seems like I managed to satisfy her with it.

    She then looked for a brief moment at the landscape around us.

    It was made up of many hills and a lake. The Sky was azure blue, flowers bloomed in a vast variety and even some birds flew by as the sun colored the sight in bright, golden light. If someone were to paint a peaceful and beautiful nature, this would most definitely be the right place for it.

    ¡°¡­But you know, that is not entirely true.¡±

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    She turned back to me.

    ¡°War itself is the result of a disagreement. What the reasons for it are, is irrelevant. In war, only the strong survive. Who remains at the end, will be considered right. That is why you should never miss the big and obvious hints when trying to get the whole picture.¡±

    She then rested a hand on my shoulder.

    ¡°In the first line, even before thinking of protecting others and anything else, you need to protect yourself. You need to think of your own survival first. The reason we fight in a war is in order to survive.¡±

    ¡°...Why are you telling me this, Vinelda?¡±

    She then took her hand off my shoulder and turned back to the landscape.

    Her hair took flight again in the breeze.

    ¡°I want you to lead your Squad. Every single one needs a leader, in order to function correctly. I think, that you are capable of doing this. You need to establish a connection between you and all of your Squad members. If you don''t, all of you will be just getting in each other''s way on the battlefield, reducing your chances of survival drastically.¡±

    I think I got what she is trying to convey to me. It is true, that only an efficient working Squad, is a useful one ¡­ but me...?

    ¡°I agree with you. A leader is definitely a must for a Squad. But why does it have to be me? Is it because of my examination result?¡±

    Vinelda just smiled a little bit, not showing any other reaction.

    ¡°I know more about you and the others than you think I do. Your results are not what lead me to my decision.¡±

    She then walks past me, patting my head for a brief moment.

    ¡°I look forward to the results of your Squad, Adel.¡±

    With that, Vinelda left through the door, leaving me alone on the rooftop.

    ¡°What a weird woman...¡±

    I said thinking loudly, before I also left, trying to catch up with my Squad members for the class that is about to start.

    Me leading our Squad? I don''t know about that... but on the other hand, it''s not like I can deny a request from Vinelda. I am not that reckless to risk my life for disobeying her, like Ralph.

    I think I''ll just talk about this with Jonath later on.

    ¡°...-Wait. Where do I even have class?¡±

    Oh no... I should have asked Leyrid first.

    This is not going to be fun, getting scolded by the teacher for being late on the first day.

 Chapter 3 - Adel VS Ralph

    "Is that all ya'' got, Adel?¡±

    Jonath charged at me with his sword, wielding it by simultaneously attacking from left and right.

    ¡°You''d better not underestimate an opponent, who is holding back against you!¡±

    ¡°Sure thing, I''ll keep that in mind while finishing ya'' off!¡±

    Jonath proceeded to follow up with amateurish attacks, completely ignoring his defense. Well, I am still an amateur too, so I can''t lecture him about that.

    He tried to finish with a horizontal strike. It was obvious that he was already exhausted, as his attack was slower than the ones before.

    ¡°-Heh~ You''re overconfident!¡±

    This is why I managed to strike his sword from beneath out of his hands.

    The sword flew in the air and then finally pierced the ground behind him, leaving him defenseless.

    ¡°Seems like I''ve won, Jonath.¡±

    I said smiling, while I pointed with the tip of my sword to his chin.

    He just shrugged with his shoulders while sighing and raised his palms in the air.

    ¡°...I give up.¡±

    Cheering from the crowd around us arose. Many other Squads looked like they were amazed by our performance.

    ¡°Adel is incredible! That move at the end was so cool! -Kyahh~¡±

    ¡°But Jonath was also amazing! And his looks are wonderful~¡±

    We could hear some girls in the crowd chatting with each other.

    From the other half of that crowd, Rie was running towards us while she was waving with her hand.

    ¡°Good work, you two~¡±

    ¡°T-thanks, Rie!¡±

    Jonath was again completely overwhelmed by her positive atmosphere.

    Of course, both of us were incredibly happy about being praised by her.

    I began to grin amused by it at him and he did the same.

    ¡°Next time, you''ll eat dirt!¡±

    ¡°I look forward to it, Jonath.¡±

    He and I then shook our hands, which got supported by the cheering around us.

    It has been 2 weeks since we have enrolled in the Academy. We received a lot of lectures about various Subjects for Soldiers and have begun our swordsmanship training. Of course, a certain someone was overjoyed when we did that.

    At that time, all of the Squads got to know each other a bit. However, it was pretty obvious that Ralph did not participate much in group activities.

    Just now, we had our first Show-Match in front of the other Squads. The supervisor for swordsmanship wanted Jonath and me to do it as the first ones. Seems like we managed not to embarrass ourselves in front of the others since we are all still new to handling swords and one on one combat.

    ¡°It was a good Match to conclude today''s training session. I expect just as much the next time from all of you! With that, you are all dismissed!¡±

    The supervisor announced the end of class. After saluting to him, all of us made our way to the cafeteria for lunch.

    From the crowd, there was a white haired girl that stood out. It was not long until she saw us.

    ¡°Ah~ there you guys are.¡±

    ¡°Oh, hey Leyrid! Good morning~¡±

    ¡°Good morning, Rie~¡±

    Leyrid joined us on our way. Now that I think about it, I did not see her just now in class. Should I ask her about it? ¡­ Actually, I am more concerned about the fact, that I have been incredibly hungry for a long time now...

    ¡°Man, I''m starving!¡±

    ¡°I know. I skipped breakfast earlier just like you did.¡±

    ¡°No no, you don''t understand, Adel! I am literally that hungry that I think you need to carry me to the cafeteria!¡±

    ¡°...Don''t drag me into that, no way I have the strength left to carry you.¡±

    Jonath looked at me with sad puppy eyes, not letting go of his lazy scheme.

    ¡­Seriously, give it up. I won''t do it.

    ¡°Why didn''t you eat anything earlier?¡±

    ¡°Well, Leyrid, a certain someone thought that it would be a good idea to do some early jogging in the morning before class while neglecting to keep track of time.¡±

    ¡°Hey! I swear the time flew by faster than usual!¡±

    Leyrid watched us while smirking teasingly.

    I think she sees us as some kind of entertainment show for her.

    When we arrived at the cafeteria, it was filled by many Squads already and so were the tables.

    After grabbing a plate of today''s menu, we found a free table after long searching.

    ¡°Ohhhh! Look at all this stuff here! It was totally worth to wait for it!¡±

    Jonath watched his plate with greedy eyes. Just like a hunter upon its prey. It was filled with a variety of vegetables and meat stripes. On top of it, there was a lot of brown sauce dressing over the food.

    ¡°Well then, thanks for the meal!¡±

    He did not wait long and began to eat the meat. All of us just watched him how he was overjoyed by finally being able to eat something.

    It made us laugh and we decided to dig in as well.

    ¡°Did anyone of you see Ralph yesterday?¡±

    Leyrid then spoke up. We looked at each other thoughtfully.

    ¡°Well, you know him. He hates everyone and won''t do anything to get close to us. He is probably sitting on the rooftop by himself.¡±

    I pretty much said what everyone here was thinking. We all know how he behaves by now and it is no real surprise to us that he went missing again.

    ¡°Yeah, he is always complaining about us and goes wherever he pleases! Ya'' shouldn''t waste your time with him.¡±

    ¡°Jonath!¡±

    Rie glared upset at him. Of course, that intimidated Jonath. He''d never want her to be mad at him.

    ¡°...sorry, I went too far.¡±

    ¡°However, we can not leave things as they are right now. I think that a confrontation with him is in need.¡±

    ¡°Confront him? How do you plan to talk to him, exactly?¡±

    I asked Leyrid, who simply smirked in her usual teasing way. ¡­Does she think I am an idiot, or what?

    ¡°Well, we know that the only one he does not despise entirely is you, Adel.¡±

    ¡°So you want me to scold him?¡±

    ¡°No, of course not. That would just antagonize him even more.¡±

    ¡°...Then what do you mean?¡±

    Leyrid giggled a bit before tipping with her finger on her lips as if she was mocking me.

    ¡°Why don''t you challenge him to a one on one Show-Match? He is always going on about his great skills. If we show him, that he is not that outstanding like he thinks he is, then we might have a chance that Ralph will start working with us. He just needs to realize that he needs us, besides, it would be a great opportunity to see what he is capable of~¡±

    Is she for real? She wants me to fight Ralph? That sounds like a stupid idea... but it''s not like we have any other plan to fix his attitude...

    I took a deep breath before I answered her request.

    ¡°Okay, I understand. I am going to challenge him, Leyrid.¡±

    She was seemingly pleased with my response and Jonath gave me a thumbs up to motivate me.

    ¡°-but! I can not guarantee that I will win against Ralph. I don''t know how good he is, or what kind of style he has. That is why you should not be upset if I lose.¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, I am sure you are going to be fine~¡±

    Seriously, what is with Leyrid? Without realizing, I just did exactly what she wanted me to do, just like the other day when she wanted me to do the chores for her. A manipulative woman for sure...

    She does not even seem to think for a moment that I could lose, is she that naive?

    <hr>

    After we finished lunch, we began to look for Ralph. The Academy Area is pretty huge, making it difficult to think of all spots where he could be at the moment. Our first pick was the rooftop, but to our surprise, he was not there like we expected him to be.

    ¡°Not here. Where do we look now?¡±

    ¡°Let''s check some of the lecture rooms and the boy''s dormitory, Adel.¡±

    We continued our search for him after looking at the places Leyrid suggested, but Ralph was nowhere to be seen. Not even in his room at the dormitory.

    Of course, we could not get inside without a key, but after asking a teacher to open it for us, the room was empty.

    ¡°Do ya'' guys think he went outside in the forest, or to the river?¡±

    ¡°O-or maybe he went back to the capital?¡±

    True, those are possibilities and places we did not search for him, but at the same time, I don''t think that he could be at any of those locations.

    ¡°No, we are not allowed to leave the area of the Academy and I don''t think that Ralph would risk getting expelled from NEAS.¡±

    ¡°If ya'' say so, but then again, we still have no clue where he is.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    It was then that we heard a faint voice. It sounded like aggressive screaming or rather yelling.

    ¡°Ya'' hear that too, or am I imagining things?¡±

    ¡°No, I hear it as well.¡±

    We looked outside his window and to our surprise, we saw Ralph in the backyard of the dormitory, training by himself with a sword. All of us were confused, as we thought that he would be lazing around somewhere.

    ¡°Do ya'' see the same thing I am?!¡±

    ¡°Y-yes! He is training in his free time!¡±

    ¡°-Hm? Where are you going, Leyrid?¡±

    I asked the girl who made her way to leave the room.

    ¡°Isn''t it obvious? We know where he is, let''s get him while he is still busy.¡±

    ¡°Pretty impatient, aren''t we...¡±

    It''s no use disagreeing with her. We followed her outside and it did not take long to get to Ralph.

    ¡°-Hyah! Take this! How about a lil'' of that?!¡±

    Ralph was really concentrated on his workout and he did not realize that we were present yet. He continued to swing his sword in different directions and it took a while until he finally finished.

    ¡°Huh? Do you punks have some kind of business with me?¡±

    He then said after noticing us. It does not seem like he is in the mood to talk, then again ¡­ I don''t think he ever is so it doesn''t matter.

    Leyrid just smiled. Not even Ralph''s ranting can shatter her self-confidence.

    ¡°Well, it is Adel right here who actually does have something with you to talk about, right?¡±

    She just looked at me teasingly as if it would amuse her to throw me in the lion''s cage.

    I''m gonna get back at her for this...

    With that in mind, I mustered up my courage and stepped forward to face Ralph.

    ¡°I don''t like your attitude towards our Squad. Ralph, you are also a member of this group here. That is why you should try to get along with us.¡±

    ¡°And what makes you think that you got the right to boss me around?!¡±

    ¡°Vinelda kinda gave me the task to manage our little group here. You know, I''d like to avoid getting her angry by failing at it.¡±

    Just thinking about how she''d throw me over and over to the ground because I did not what she wanted from me gives me the chills.

    ¡°Listen here, pal'', that is not my problem! I already said on the very first day that I got no intention of being your guys best buddy! Just don''t get in my way on the battlefield and we won''t have any problems, you got me?!¡±

    My words don''t get through him. Is a duel between him and me the only option to convey our thoughts?

    I sighed and clenched my fists.

    ¡°...Then would you like to prove it to me, your strength?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Where does that challenge come from, lil'' Adel-boy?¡±

    ¡°You said yourself that you don''t need us in a battle. If that is so then you should have no problem defeating me. I doubt the enemies on the battlefield are any weaker than I am right now, so if you can''t even beat me, you will die for sure against them.¡±

    ¡°Brave words coming from you there! Well, it pissed me off anyway that you think you''re on par with me! Just because I acknowledged your results of the examination on the first day, does not make you more than just a punk in the end!¡±

    ¡°You better watch ya'' mouth there!¡±

    Jonath stepped in. I appreciate his good-will, but Leyrid wanted me to do it so I have to clear this myself.

    ¡°It''s okay, Jonath. Let me handle it.¡±

    ¡°-Tch, if ya'' say so...¡±

    ¡°Are you done with your stupid chitchat? I think Adel-boy here wanted me to rub his face across the mud!¡±

    ¡°We''ll see about that. How about we settle this in the training facility?¡±

    The training facility is the big hall where we had our Show-Match earlier. It is essentially the location for swordsmanship sessions and official Matches between students.

    Ralph agreed, of course, making things easy to get our plan in motion. The problem remains, however, that I still don''t know how the fight will go. I guess that I''ll just have to try my best and see if it works out.

    We entered the hall and at the same time, the lights went automatically on by our movements. It was empty since all students are either free now or still have extra lectures they take.

    ¡°Alright kiddo'', I don''t want to drag this out unnecessarily, so let''s get started.¡±

    Ralph went over to the field and took one side for himself.

    ¡°You better make him shut his mouth, Adel! I get anger issues just by listening to his voice, it''s seriously irritating me!¡±

    ¡°My goal is not to injure him, Jonath. If he realizes that he has to work with us, it''ll be enough.¡±

    ¡°Do as ya'' please, Captain.¡±

    At that moment, Rie tucked my uniform from the side. As I looked to her she had a slightly worried expression on her face.

    ¡°Make sure not to get hurt, okay?¡±

    I smiled and gave her a pat on the head.

    ¡°Sure, I''ll see to it. Thanks, guys!¡±

    ¡°-Hey! How long do you think you can make me wait over here, huh?!¡±

    I turned to Ralph''s direction and then left my Squad-Mates. On the other side of the field, there was a sword distribution shelf, where I borrowed a sword from the academy. Ralph already had one so he just remained on his side of the field while watching my actions.

    ¡°Better pick one that does not break easily, because I sure won''t deal soft blows on your sorry ass!¡±

    ¡°Don''t worry, I also don''t have any intention of holding back.¡±

    The reason for that is, however, that I won''t stand a chance if I don''t make use of everything I got. He does not need to know that.

    We took our marks and switched into battle-position.

    Okay, now is the moment of truth. Am I able to defeat him? Ralph got one of the best if not the best results on the examination. His attitude also shows that he is quite confident in his skills. I don''t think that he is just bluffing, so he will be tough to deal with.

    Ralph stood on the other side wrapping both of his hands around his sword and clenching them with visible force. On his face, there was a sinister grin, full of fighting spirit. I see, so he is going to use an aggressive style, like his personality, it seems.

    I, on the other hand, only wrapped one hand on the grip of my sword holding it in front of me. My other arm stretched to my side. It is a more commonly used style. By utilizing this position, you have more control over your balance and overall, you are able to fight in different ways with it. Offensively, defensively, focusing on speed, or on versatility, it depends on the person how you want to fight with it. It should also be harder for Ralph to predict, how I will fight with it.

    However, just because I can kind of see what style he utilizes, that does not mean I can counter it, and Ralph knows that. Normally, it is a disadvantage to disclose information to your enemy, but I don''t think that this concerns him. He knows, whether or not I know his thoughts, he is simply going to overpower me anyway.

    So what I have to do is...

    ¡°Are the participants, Adel and Ralph, of the Show-Match ready for battle?¡±

    Leyrid''s voice rang through the field. She stood at the side of the field and behind her was a console for the facility. She entered our data in the system and on the big screen in the hall, there was a picture of me and one of Ralph depicted.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I sure am ready to wipe his cheeky face from the academy!¡±

    ¡°I am also ready, Leyrid.¡±

    Leyrid smiled for a short moment at me, kind of like a thumbs-up, and then turned around to the console, hitting a single button.

    The system voice resounded and announced the beginning of the match.

    ¡°All participants prepare for battle. The Match starts in 3...2...1-¡±

    BZZZ

    As the countdown hit zero, the match started with a loud serene buzz.

    None of us wasted any time. We both instantly charged at each other and opened the match with a powerful clash of our swords.

    CLASH

    The sound of it filled the whole hall as we stood in front of each other, pushing our weapon on another.

    Just like I expected, his strike was powerful. I had a hard time trying to keep up with his sheer force. He had almost no problems at all pushing my sword to me. I even needed to step back a bit, in order to keep up. This strength of him...

    ¡°What''s wrong, Adel? I expected more of you, the one who rivaled my score in the examination! Don''t tell me that my teammates are that pathetic, that they are not even able to withstand a single blow? Hahaha!¡±

    ¡°Adel!¡°

    ¡°Adel¡­!!!¡°

    Followed by his laughter, I got concerned shouts from my friends.

    See, Leyrid? I told you from the beginning that this will be extremely hard.

    But ¡­ I also said that I will try to beat him, and I don''t intend to let their expectations down!

    ¡°Don''t worry, Ralph! I am also just getting started!¡°

    ¡°Oh, I sure hope you are! Otherwise, it would have been pretty dumb of you to challenge me, pal''!¡°

    We then parted our swords and jumped backward. Ralph did not hesitate to charge repeatedly at me, one strike being as fierce as the other.

    ¡°-Shit¡±

    All I could do was trying to block them, one by one as they kept following up on each other.

    ¡°Oh no ... Adel...¡±

    Rie looked worried from the sidelines at Ralph and me.

    Leyrid did not seem the least concerned and laid her back against the wall, still smiling at me.

    There were short opening between his attacks, however, because he needed a short moment to regain the necessary body-posture in order to deliver those powerful strikes.

    I think that this could be my chance to turn the tables to my favor. All I need is one good hit on him.

    With that, I took the opening and slashed my sword from above, just like he did before. That should pack enough strength, to bring him down!

    It was when my hope of victory went up high as I unleashed the strike when Ralph crushed it again. All he did was throwing his sword from the side at mine to block my attack without putting much effort into it. Yet, this was enough to stop my sword from coming any closer to him.

    No matter how hard I tried to push myself further in order to match his strength, my hands could not move any closer.

    ¡°Did you seriously think, a weak move like that could do any harm to me?!¡±

    ¡°-Tch! Leave me alone, will you!¡±

    We parted again, now being in the same position as we have been after the very first attack.

    What does he mean by a weak attack?! It is literally the same thing as he did! Is he calling his own move weak?

    ¡°Adel, the hell do ya'' think you''re doing?! That''s not how you fought against me!¡±

    Jonath shouted at me, where he and the others stood.

    ¡°Listen up, buddy! If ya'' wanna beat him, then stop doing cheap copycats and fight seriously!¡±

    ¡­Copycats? Fighting seriously? What do you think I am doing over here? I am already putting all of my strength into these attacks!

    While I am in deep thoughts, Ralph kept attacking me furiously.

    ¡°Stop dreamin'' you punk! Are you disrespecting me?!¡±

    ...Copycat...meaning no imitations?

    Wait... That''s it! Ralph was not referring to the move itself as weak, but to my execution of it!

    I am a complete idiot. I thought I would be able to beat Ralph using the same moves and fighting just like him when he is clearly better at it!

    What I need to do, is doing it my own way and not how others do! I beat Jonath before, meaning that I already have found my own way of fighting!

    Finally, I pushed back against Ralph''s sword again.

    ¡°-Oh? Did you finally decide to take this seriously, kid?!¡±

    ¡°Yeah, sorry I kind of wanted to try out, how you can fight like that. It''s pretty plain, you know?¡±

    Ralph just grinned amusedly at me.

    ¡°Big words coming from someone who is losing!¡±

    We backed off from the clash of our swords. Ralph did not want to give me an opportunity to retreat safely and proceeded to attack me the instance we parted.

    I won''t fight poorly like before. This time, I''ll show you what I have learned already!

    I blocked his attack, but not like before. This time, I spun around and clashed my sword with his horizontally. The impact was so great, that Ralph almost lost the grip of his sword.

    ¡°Wha- the hell was that, punk?!¡±

    ¡°A nice little move I learned before the match against Jonath!¡±

    I smiled at Ralph. Finally, I can fight him back. I found hope again that I could beat him.

    ¡°Just like that, Adel! Way to go!¡±

    Jonath shouted again at me, but this time, he was enthusiastic.

    I may have not the same raw strength as Ralph does, but I have many other areas where I exceed.

    Ralph had to back off as he was thrown off-balance which gave me tons of openings to strike.

    Unlike his fierce fighting style where he puts a lot of strength into a single attack, I made use of my higher speed and balance-control. That is why I could deal many strikes from different directions with varying strengths in them.

    Left, right, from above or beneath, I made use of all possible open areas where I could deal a direct blow at him. In some of them, I integrated spinning to strike with even more power and more speed.

    It was clear that Ralph had a lot of problems, trying to keep up with my attacks. While he has power, he is not nearly as fast as me and his stamina is getting drained away with each hit he is blocking.

    ¡°Why, you little- Don''t underestimate me!¡±

    Ralph went for a counter attack as I charged the next strike.

    He made a fast spinning-kick to negate my attack and immediately put a lot of his remaining strength into a powerful strike from above.

    ...I see it, the direction his sword is going to fly down. I can avoid it!

    I took a half step to the side, leaned forward and swung my sword from beneath. When it connects like that, his sword will soar through the air, making me the winner.

    This is it, victory is at last mine!

    RRRRRRRRR

    ¡°ALERT. MISSING PERMISSION FOR MATCH DETECTED. CURRENT ACTION MARKED AS A VIOLATION OF RULES. DATA TRANSMITTED TO ACADEMY STAFF.¡±

    Our fight was interrupted by the loud serene and announcement of the academy system. We froze in our current pose, our swords only being inches away from each other.

    ¡°-What is going on here?!¡±

    Jonath shouted startled. He was visibly irritated by the announcement just like the rest of us were. Even Leyrid was surprised and looked at the main screen in the hall.

    ¡°-Tch! I expected as much, but not this early!¡±

    Ralph said while backing off from me.

    What did he mean by that? Not this early?

    ¡°You knew that the system would give off an alarm?¡±

    I asked him then. The room was still filled with the sound of the alert from the academy system.

    ¡°Don''t tell me, you did not know that unofficial fights like these are prohibited by the academy! Are you complete airheads?!¡±

    All of us looked at each other in shock. No one knew about this rule. Leyrid neither from the looks of it.

    ¡°-Ahh! Screw this! See for yourself that you get your asses out of here as soon as you can, punks!¡±

    Ralph warned us as he ran towards the door, making his way outside.

    ¡°Oh, and Adel-kid!¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°That fight ... Not bad, you are better than I thought. However, you better don''t get cocky! Next time I will teach you a lesson you won''t forget!¡±

    With that, Ralph left, leaving us four behind.

    Leyrid immediately ran after him and turned at the door towards us.

    ¡°Come on guys, get going! The teachers are going to be here soon!¡±

    ¡°-Ahhh! What a hassle!¡±

    Jonath shouted and ran to the door. Rie and I followed them outside, hoping we will not run into the teacher''s open arms.

    About Ralph ¡­ I don''t know whether he acknowledges us now as his Squad-Members or not. However, I do know that this was a great step in the right direction for our groups future.

 Chapter 4 - An unexpected Visitor

    "...Well? How do you explain this incident?"

    Fear ran down my spine as I watched into her gaze. If looks could kill someone, these eyes would have annihilated an entire army by now.

    I should elaborate on what happened, which lead me to this mess.

    Yesterday, Ralph and I had our unofficial Match in the training facility. Before we finished that fight, however, the academy system gave alert to the staff because we had no official permission to hold this Match.

    We managed to escape from there before any teachers could arrive and we thought that we would be safe.

    I mean, how should they know it was us, right?

    Yeah ¡­ about that...

    ¡°Did you really think that we could not trace back the data, that has been entered into the console at the training facility, young men?¡±

    This time, it was the academy principal who scolded us.

    Right now, Ralph and I are currently in the Academy Directorate. In front of us is the big desk of the Academy Principal, who is still giving off his intimidating aura.

    ...But that is not the main cause of the intense atmosphere in the Directorate...

    Next to him, sitting on the edge of the desk is a woman we know too well.

    It is the same woman, that can give you a feeling of security, or everlasting nightmares just by looking her into the eyes.

    ¡°I thought, I would pay the academy a visit after my last mission to look after the newbies. Yet, the first thing I am hearing is that apparently, two members of Squad 10 have violated the Academies Rules by participating in an illegal match. How exactly do you want to explain that to me?¡±

    Her gaze has become sinister again. I am fearing for my life right now, no, even Ralph next to me is losing his composure.

    My mind went completely blank. It is as if the prey takes a last look at his predator before it gets torn into pieces.

    ¡°E-eh, w-well you see, Vinelda ¡­ it was a test! Yeah, a test!¡±

    I started to blabber something out, hoping that it would work out. I gave Ralph a small knock with my elbow so that he would catch onto it.

    ¡°-Uh? A-ah! Yeah, that was it! We wanted to try something out, we learned in the lecture!¡±

    ¡°Oh? So that was it? I see, so you just practiced a bit, right?¡±

    Vinelda''s voice became softer and the intense atmosphere lifted for a moment.

    Good job, Ralph! I think we can pull out of this one!

    ¡°Yeah! It was just practice! Haha!¡±

    I laughed nervously. Ralph, who stood next to me, also felt some sort of relief at her response.

    ¡°And you want me to actually believe this stupid lie?¡±

    There it is again. That dark aura of hers as well as those sinister eyes.

    Yep, we are screwed. No doubt about that. We are going to die here.

    The thing is, she is never getting loud or aggressive when she is angry. However, her voice becomes cold, the eyes radiate darkness and she simply puts a hand on her hip. Normally, the last thing should not be threatening, but in her case, that exact body posture signals that she is in control of the situation and no one else.

    ¡°...No of course not, Vinelda...¡±

    ¡°Now, now, Vinelda. They are still new to the Academy. I think that they simply did not know that it was prohibited.¡±

    ¡°If you say so, Principal.¡±

    The principal then turned towards Ralph and me again.

    ¡°I am willing to oversee this incident, just this once. It is remarkable, that you put the effort into your training and at getting better. However, for the next time, please stick to our Academies rules. They exist to regulate order here and to ensure your safety. I hope that we have an agreement, young men?¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡±

    Ralph and I saluted to the principal and Vinelda in unison.

    ¡°Very well. You are free to leave now.¡±

    ¡°We''ll excuse ourselves then.¡±

    Both of us bowed towards them and then turned around to leave the directorate.

    ¡°Who would have thought, that the principle is actually a pretty decent man?¡±

    ¡°I know, right? That atmosphere around him gave me a completely different impression of his personality!¡±

    At that moment, the now closed-door behind us opened again. It was Vinelda who came out of the directorate.

    ¡°Adel, I''d like to talk to you a bit. Ralph, you can leave.¡±

    Ralph just looked at me and whispered:

    ¡°...Good luck, pal''...¡±

    After that, he went on and left me with Vinelda alone.

    Thanks for the well-wishes, Ralph.

    Vinelda then closed up to me from behind as I watched him leave and put a hand on my shoulder with a firm grip.

    ¡°Please don''t kill me...¡±

    ¡°Calm down, I am not mad anymore.¡±

    I exhaled in relief and turned around to her.

    ¡°...Then why?¡±

    ¡°I actually want to praise you, Adel.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Come on, I see it in an instant. You actually managed to befriend Ralph.¡±

    ¡°I would not call it befriending... but I guess the distance between us shortened.¡±

    Vinelda simply put a faint smile on her lips and looked pleasingly.

    ¡°Even so, you still did well. I thought you would need way more time for someone as stubborn and hot-headed as Ralph. That is why I also will oversee the incident this time, as a little gift from me.¡±

    Oh wow, thanks for this extraordinary gift! I brought myself into danger, fighting Ralph, exactly for the reason to be treated like a delinquent from all!

    -is what I would have liked to say...

    But there is no way I am going to do that in front of her.

    Vinelda then walked past me in the hallway.

    ¡°I am going to stay at NEAS for a few days. The Stormtrooper Unit has a week of rest before engaging in a new mission.¡±

    I was dumbfounded by the words I heard.

    ¡°...You''re going to what?¡±

    ¡°Did you not listen to me? I said I will be staying at this academy for a few days!¡±

    You''re kidding, right? Of all the places to spend her free time, she chose our academy?! ...Just thinking about the fact that she will be at all times nearby...

    ¡°Instead of dozing off in the hallway, you can help me to bring my luggage to my room, Adel.¡±

    I looked to the end of the hallway and exactly as she said, there were two large bags at the corner.

    ¡°...Sure thing, Vinelda.¡±

    There was no point in telling her off, so I just grabbed the bags and followed her lead.

    We walked outside of the Main-Building. It was a sunny July-day and we could see many students walking around the campus and enjoying the weather. Of course, some of them looked at me as I followed the renown Vinelda Katsumi with two bags in my hands.

    What would they be thinking now? That I am some kind of personal butler of hers?

    Our tour ended at the girl''s dormitory. Vinelda walked before me inside.

    ¡°-Eh, you know that I can''t enter this dormitory as a boy, right?¡±

    ¡°It''s alright if I am with you. Now, come inside already.¡±

    ¡°...Yes, Ma''am.¡±

    I followed her inside in the dormitory. It does not look any different from the boy''s dormitory. The floor had the same red carpet and the wood from the doors and the ceiling were alike.

    If I had to spot any difference, it would be that there was that sweet scent of perfume in the air.

    After walking a couple of stairs up, we arrived at the highest floor. It looked vastly different from the ones before, as there was only one room up here.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

    ¡°We''re here. Right through this door.¡±

    There was only one which was, unlike the others, completely white and looked smoother. As Vinelda unlocked the door, we entered her room.

    ¡°-Wow!¡±

    I was amazed. ¡°Room¡± was an understatement for what I saw. It was pretty much a suite already, with expensive and modern decoration. Behind a big and black table, the wall was made out of glass, allowing to have a panorama view across the academy campus.

    The view was quite similar to the one on the rooftop, but it''s, even more, relaxing to see it from inside.

    ¡°Thanks for the help, Adel. You want something to drink as thanks?¡±

    ¡°-Eh? No, it''s alright, I don''t want to bother you any longer.¡±

    Vinelda just went into the kitchen and grabbed something out of the fridge, without saying anything.

    When she came back, she grabbed my hand and gave me a bottle of soda.

    ¡°My bad, it was not supposed to be a question. What are you looking so confused? I always repay a favor.¡±

    Huh, she is a nice person after all... even though I don''t get my say in any of this.

    ¡°Well, I''ll take you up to the offer then. Thanks.¡±

    I drank the soda while checking out the furniture of her suite. All of it was of high quality and there were even some great paintings on the wall from the capital and the landscape around us.

    In the meantime, Vinelda sat down on the couch and held a glass of wine in her hand. I did not even notice her going into the kitchen again to get it.

    ¡°Adel, about the match...¡±

    Shivers rain down my spine as I heard those words coming from her.

    She is not going to scold me again, is she?

    ¡°Who won in the end, actually?¡±

    ¡°-Eh?¡±

    ¡°Did you not understand my question?¡±

    I felt the relief inside of me. So she was not going to get mad again, lucky me.

    ¡°N-no, I did. The match was interrupted by the alarm before we had the chance to finish it. I had a really hard time at the beginning, but after that, I managed to turn the tables. I was actually about to end the match at that time and secure victory.¡±

    Vinelda smiled a bit and took a sip from her wine.

    ¡°You should not jump to conclusions like that, Adel. A fight is not over until there is a clear winner. You can never know what might happen, maybe he still had an ace up his sleeve.¡±

    At that time, it did not look to me as if he could counter my attack in any way, but I guess it''s true that I should not take that victory for granted.

    I finished my soda and put it in the kitchen where the empty bottles belong to.

    ¡°Thanks again for the drink and the advice Vinelda.¡±

    ¡°No problem. Make sure not to cause trouble again with your Squad while I am here. Next time, I will deal personally with it.¡±

    ¡°-Urgh... Yes, Ma''am.¡±

    With that, I left her room and made my way outside again.

    After looking a bit across the campus, I saw Jonath and Rie sitting at a fountain.

    It did not take long for him to notice me and as soon as he did, Jonath waved at me.

    ¡°Look who came back from the dead!¡±

    ¡°Very funny. You do realize, that it could have cost me my head?¡±

    Jonath just laughed at my response and gave me a clap on my back.

    ¡°Well, what matters is that ya'' managed to get out of there alive!¡±

    ¡°Yes, we were worried about you, Adel.¡±

    Rie smiled gently at me. Her cuteness never fails to impress.

    ¡°We got some other problems, however.¡±

    ¡°What do ya'' mean?¡±

    After explaining the situation to Jonath and Rie they certainly looked surprised. I went on about how Vinelda was going to stay at NEAS for a few days and what happened in the directorate before.

    ¡°Woah, ya'' serious?! She''s gonna be here at all times?¡±

    ¡°Seems like it.¡±

    Jonath was unsure how to think of that, but I think that he is taking it way better than I did.

    ¡°But you were also lucky because the principle helped you out! You could have been in serious trouble if it weren''t for him.¡±

    Rie talked as if she was scolding a younger sibling. Did you forget that it had been your guy''s idea from the start to have that match against Ralph?

    ¡°Where did Ralph go anyway? Is he still avoiding us?¡±

    ¡°I don''t know. It is probably not a good idea to pursue him any more, or he might snap at us again.¡±

    ¡°Sounds about right. We don''t wanna ruin our progress with him.¡±

    After looking at them both I realized that there was another member of our missing.

    ¡°Is Leyrid not with you, today?¡±

    ¡°She was here a few minutes ago with us. A few girls came, I assume friends of hers, and she left with them.¡±

    Rie leaned backward and swung a bit with her legs. She seemed pleased that Leyrid made friends.

    ¡°I see, that''s good then. How about we go to the library and prepare ourselves a bit for tomorrow?¡±

    ¡°For tomorrow? Why that?¡±

    Rie and I looked at Jonath annoyed. Is he serious?

    ¡°Jonath, are you telling me, you forgot that we have an exam about the various swordsmanship battle-styles and basic war-tactics?¡±

    He just simply sit and stared at me with an empty gaze for a couple of seconds.

    ¡°-Shit, ya'' right! How could I miss that?!¡±

    Yep, just as I thought. He totally forgot it.

    ¡°That means, that you are not in the slightest prepared, right?¡±

    ¡°-E-eh... yeah....¡±

    I sighed and Rie giggled at Jonath, who just realized that he did not even think of studying for the exam.

    ¡°Well, let''s go then. We''ve got a lot of rehearsal to do. Can''t let a fellow Squad-Member fail, after all.¡±

    ¡°Adelii!¡±

    Jonath looked at me again with his puppy eyes. It is really uncomfortable to watch him doing that.

    He then jumped up from his seat and stretched himself a bit.

    ¡°If we''re gonna cram the day before the exam, it''ll work out somehow!¡±

    ¡°That depends on you, Jonath.¡±

    The three of us went to the main building for the library. When we arrived, there were some other students present. We are not the only ones to cram before the exam, it seems. The look on the student''s faces differs, one looking confident with what he''s reading, while some others were stressed out.

    That is to be expected before the exams. The stakes are quite high because if you can''t pass the exams, there is no way that you will graduate being an elite-soldier.

    I think it is said that you just become part of the regular army. Normally, all students here want to avoid this and become an elite.

    And then there is Jonath, who, without a care in the world, lays back and enjoys himself.

    The library was quite huge, filled with many shelves and books from different time-periods.

    ¡°Let''s look for some books about our topic. I think the teacher mentioned that the ones from Karlsenstein would make good learning-materials.¡±

    ¡°Gotcha'', leave it to me!¡±

    Jonath was all fired up for the cramming.

    Rie got affected by his enthusiasm too.

    ¡°I will take a look as well~¡±

    We then split up and wandered through the library, gathering books for the study session. I found some quite interesting ones, that covered topics like efficient timing and retreat-operations.

    ¡°-Hm? What''s this?¡±

    One specific book cached my interest. It was a history book. I took it from the shelve and looked at the cover.

    ¡°[The History of the Great Empire] it says...¡±

    I opened the book and quickly scanned through the pages. Most of them explained the various ruling periods of the Royal Family and the different Emperors. On the page, however, there was a map of the continent. It depicted the various countries and land-borders.

    Based on the colors of the provinces, one could tell in which year they belonged to a country. The Great Empire lost a lot of land in the past centuries. We were told as far as I can remember, that the other countries feared our strength and united against us with the goal in mind, to weaken the Empire and its might. I can tell from the depicted years and colors, that the Empire lost about half of its territory to the enemies. The war then ended about a hundred years ago, leaving the Empire as the defeated nation.

    About 60 years ago, the people in our country rose up and demanded justice for the cowardly nations of our continent as they all had united against us, in order to outnumber our army. Thus, with the support of the Emperor and the Royals, the [Redemption War] started.

    A war, to regain the land that was once ours. The war, that should bring us back to being the most powerful nation, so that no country would oppose us ever again and its people.

    Basically, the war to end them all.

    ¡°...This is strange...¡±

    While the provinces, marked as former territories, certainly seemed to be part of our country, I never heard of them in our history books. They are a bit far away as well from those I know about and which are in our possession currently.

    Well, maybe they were not that historically important to tell anything about them. For now, I''ll keep what I found for myself. Just to be safe.

    I put the book back into the shelve and went back to the table we agreed on meeting at later.

    Jonath was already sitting there with Rie and a couple of books.

    ¡°Did ya'' get lost in here or something?¡±

    ¡°No, just looked at some interesting books.¡±

    As soon as I sat down, we exchanged the books we found with each other. Rie got a couple of books, that covered our topic pretty well.

    ¡°Ahh... I said that I wanted to cram, but this is way too much, man...¡±

    ¡°You got yourself into this, Jonath! Now you have to bear with it!¡±

    Rie looked at Jonath in a serious manner and managed to intimidate him pretty well.

    Huh, did not know that she could be that demanding. The more you know...

    ¡°F-fine, no need to look at me like that...¡±

    Rie smiled again cutely, seemingly pleased that he gave in to her order.

    ¡°Then let''s get started right away, we got a lot to cover about this topic.¡±

    ¡°How about we start with timed decision-making on the battlefield?¡±

    ¡°Got no objections against that.¡±

    We started by looking at moments, where an assault is considered as effective and when it is not. I would consider most of it as common knowledge, but it is always good to cover that an attack is suicidal if there are no advantages whatsoever for our own troops.

    ¡°Eh? Why shouldn''t ya'' pursue the enemy when he is fleeing out of a clearly lost battle for them? It would be way better to chase them and finish them off, wouldn''t it?¡±

    I shook my head, denying his statement.

    ¡°No. You can never know whether a retreat from the enemy is a strategic trap or if they have reinforcements nearby to cover them. Therefore, chasing after them blindly would only put you and your comrades in possible danger.¡±

    ¡°...I see, then it really is a dumb idea after all...¡±

    We continued our scramming and answered all kinds of questions that we had for each other. Especially Jonath had a lot, ranging from reasons for retreating to immediate decision-making on the battlefield.

    After a lot of time has passed, the library got more and more empty as the students left one by one.

    Before we knew it, dusk set on the horizon behind the academy.

    ¡°Man, I am tired out! How long have we been sitting here for exactly?¡±

    ¡°A couple of hours I''d say, Jonath.¡±

    Rie closed her book and folded her hands.

    ¡°Okay guys, good work today~ I think we should call it a day.¡±

    ¡°You say it, Rie! I can''t get a clear thought anymore!¡±

    I chuckled while looking at the defeated Jonath.

    ¡°Let''s just hope you can make the exam tomorrow.¡±

    Jonath grinned at me and pointed at me with his finger.

    ¡°You bet I will! In fact, you better watch out, ''cuz I will get even better scores than you!¡±

    ¡°Sure, I hope you will! Then we don''t have to be concerned about a failing member.¡±

    ¡°...You were actually supposed to tell me that you are not going to let that happen, Adel...¡±

    Rie and I laughed with him and then left as the last ones the library, making our way back to the dormitories.

    After bringing Rie home, Jonath and I went to our room.

    ¡°Do ya'' think Leyrid and Ralph gonna'' be fine on the exam?¡±

    ¡°I''d say that you don''t have to worry about them. Ralph may seem like the kind of guy who takes things lightly, but we saw that he is quite serious about improving himself.¡±

    They both got great results on the examination for a reason. Ralph is quite the hard-worker and Leyrid seems to be way more skilled, than what we saw from her up until now.

    But I guess that is going to confirm itself tomorrow.

    Vinelda is also here for the next few days, so we should better avoid failing, or she''ll deal with us personally as she said before.

    I looked out of the window at the moon which illuminated the campus. On peaceful nights like these, you might forget that this country is involved in a horrible war.

    I don''t know what will await us in the future, but the way things are right now won''t last forever.

    No matter how much we enjoy ourselves currently, the day will come where we see the end of our life as it is up until now. Thinking about it makes me uneasy.

    ¡°Yo, Adel! Ya'' going to sleep or not?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, yeah, don''t worry.¡±

    Jonath was already in his bed in our room. No wonder, after our cramming session.

    Well, even though I don''t know what is going to happen in the future, I can be quite pleased with our current life.

 Chapter 5 - Memories I will cherish forever

    ¡°Time''s Up! Put the pens away and hand the exam sheets to the front! Don''t forget to put your names on them!¡±

    Chatter broke out in the lecture room as the teacher announced the end of the exam. Many students immediately talked to their seat neighbors about the just finished tasks. Some had worrying expressions on their face, others were enthusiastic.

    All Squads have been scattered around multiple lecture rooms, since we were so many. None of mine have been in the same room as me.

    To be frank, the exam went pretty well for me. I could remember the answers to most questions since I saw them yesterday in the books we had been studying in the library. Who would''ve thought that the cramming session has been just as useful for me as for Jonath.

    ¡°Yo, Adel! Did you do well on the exam?¡±

    A boy with light-brown hair and a warm smile approached me. His name is Roland Gathenbod, he is a member of Squad 7. I''ve talked to him many times since we came to NEAS and he is a very kindhearted man. He is also pretty popular with the girls I heard.

    ¡°Yeah, I did not have too much trouble remembering the answers to the questions.¡±

    ¡°Glad to hear that! I was worried, you were affected by Jonath''s carelessness.¡±

    ¡°Don''t lump me together with him! If it wasn''t for Rie and me, he would have forgotten that there was an exam to begin with!¡±

    ¡°Haha~ I''m just kidding, Adel.¡±

    Roland chuckled softly. He gave off a similar positive vibe as Rie.

    ¡°-Heh, I bet if we were in High-School, you''d be the typical popular guy, Roland.¡±

    ¡°W-what are you saying...? Jonath fits that role way better than me.¡±

    Roland blushed a bit awkwardly.

    ¡°That airhead would be the class clown at best.¡±

    I looked annoyed to the side.

    Roland began to grin.

    ¡°You both get along pretty well, don''t you?¡±

    Before I could respond to that, the lecture rooms door opened and the boy in question came running inside towards me with excited eyes.

    ¡°Adel!¡±

    Jonath shouted my name as he stopped at my desk.

    ¡°What''s wrong, Jonath? Did you fail that hard?¡±

    I asked him, of course with a tone of sarcasm. If he failed it would be quite troublesome actually.

    Jonath, however, simply grinned widely and pointed with his thumb to himself proudly.

    ¡°Exactly the opposite! I completed the questions without breaking a sweat! I was the first to finish as well!¡±

    Roland and I were surprised hearing that.

    ¡°Really? I actually needed quite a lot of time for the tasks on the second page. Especially with the planning of the correct Battle-Formation with the given situation.¡±

    Jonath twitched when he heard Roland''s explanation, and his grin seemed way more forced within seconds.

    ¡°-Eh?¡±

    ¡°The questions on the second page. Were they no problem for you?¡±

    Roland asked Jonath again, tilting his head to the side questioning.

    Don''t tell me...

    I looked at Jonath and his proud and enthusiastic expression vanished completely from his face, leaving a shocked look on it.

    ¡°You''re kidding, right? You seriously forgot to turn the sheet around and complete the second page?!¡±

    Roland raised his voice in concern for Jonath, who stood like an undead before us.

    I began to laugh loudly. He really is an airhead.

    ¡°Arghhh!!!!! You gotta'' be shitting me! Even though, I did so well on the first page!¡±

    Jonath sacked to his knees, screaming out his frustration.

    ¡°Well, there''s still hope. As long as you did well enough on the first page you should be able to pass anyway.¡±

    I then eased his mind. Jonath looked at me with hope.

    ¡°Really?! Thank god! I thought it was over for me!¡±

    That was a quick change of mood.

    ¡°You can say that after you got your results, Jonath!¡±

    At the same moment, a blonde haired girl came to us from the other side of the room.

    ¡°Roland, we have a Squad meeting in Room 291 in 10 minutes, did you forget?¡±

    The boy in question looked at her and smiled gently.

    ¡°Of course not, Helce! I''ll be there!¡±

    ¡°You say that, but last time you almost didn''t come at all because you hung around with that Adel!¡±

    ¡°Hehe~ sorry, sorry!¡±

    Roland chuckled as a response and then turned around to Jonath and me.

    ¡°I did not introduce you guys yet! This here is Shrogers Helce, a fellow member of Squad 7. She is a very kind girl, but often takes things too serious.¡±

    ¡°Maybe, because you don''t take things serious at all, Roland!¡±

    ¡°And these two here are Adel Habensburg and Jonath Ordwald from Squad 10!¡±

    ¡°Nice to meet you!¡±

    Jonath grinned kindly.

    Helce faced us then, also smiling.

    ¡°I have heard a lot about your Squad already, it''s an honor to meet you! Thank you for taking good care of our leader~¡±

    She then mustered us one by one and turned around to leave.

    ¡°Okay, the others are waiting already, I''ll be going then.¡±

    ¡°I go as well! See you around, Adel and Jonath!¡±

    Roland joined her as she left.

    ¡°That Helce girl is really pretty, don''t you think, Adel?¡±

    ¡°Huh? You think she is better than Rie?¡±

    ¡°Of course not! Rie is the only number one!¡±

    ¡°...Hehe~ Thank you, Jonath!¡±

    Jonath turned shocked around and to our surprise, Rie and Leyrid stood behind him out of nowhere.

    ¡°R-Rie?! Why are you here?¡±

    ¡°Why not? Leyrid and I wanted to celebrate together with you that we finished our exams~¡±

    Rie was in high-spirits now that she got the study work done.

    ¡°We were also looking for Ralph, but it seems he went to train again already.¡±

    Leyrid joined into the conversation.

    ¡°If you are worried about his exam, you shouldn''t. He seems to be a delinquent who does whatever he wants, but he is actually very serious about him being high-ranked. Ralph won''t risk getting bad marks by neglecting to study.¡±

    With that I seem to have eased the mind of Leyrid.

    ¡°It''s good to see that you trust him, Adel.¡±

    ¡°Well, trust is essential in a Squad, isn''t it?¡±

    Leyrid didn''t reply to my statement, but rather simply approved of it by showing a faint smile and a nod.

    ¡°Anyways, Rie and I thought of going to the Swimming Pool of NEAS after the exam. Care to join us?¡±

    Now that I think about it, I haven¡¯t been at the Pool once yet. It would be a good time to pay it a visit now.

    ¡°Sure, we are free for today from lessons anyways. I¡¯ll tag along. What about you, Jonath?¡±

    We looked at him, but he seemed like his mind went completely blank as he just stared in the air and muttered to himself.

    ¡°¡­the pool ¡­ Rie¡­ the pool¡­¡±

    ¡°Hello? Can you hear me Jonath?¡±

    I waved with my hand in front of his face to check if he was still there.

    ¡°Ohhhhhh Yeah! We are going to the Swimming Pool together!¡±

    Jonath screamed out of excitement and jumped around like a child.

    I think your intentions are a bit too clear to see, Jonath¡­This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°Well, that settles it. Let us meet at the Campus Centre in about an hour. Don¡¯t be late~¡±

    Leyrid was pleased with Jonaths reaction and with that, Rie and her left the room.

    ¡°Adel ¡­ this day is going to be awesome!¡±

    ¡°Hearing that from you, makes me think if it was a mistake to come along.¡±

    ¡°Now, now, don¡¯t be like that~¡±

    Jonath hung his arm around me and grinned widely.

    He definitely has planned something already¡­

    We made our way back to our dorm and started to pack our bags for the upcoming event.

    ---

    ¡°Hey, Adel, which one of these swimming trunks looks cooler on me? The black one? Or is it the white one?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know ¡­ white I guess.¡±

    ¡°Alright! Now I gotta¡¯ find a good outfit! But it¡¯s so hard to decide¡­¡±

    ¡°What are you ¡­ a girl?¡±

    ¡°Well, excuse me that I care about my appearance!¡±

    In the meantime, I already packed my stuff and was ready to go. I also changed into summer free time clothes, a black shirt paired with cargo shorts.

    My mind always wanders since yesterday to the discovery I made in the library. Although, it wasn¡¯t something groundbreaking, it still came to my mind from time to time making me even more curious about it.

    ¡°Hey, Jonath. Did you ever heard of a place called Kargtal before?¡±

    ¡°Huh? Ehm ¡­ no I didn¡¯t. Never. Why are you asking?¡±

    ¡°¡­No particular reason. Forget it, it wasn¡¯t important. Are you ready to go?¡±

    ¡°Yeah! All packed up! Let¡¯s hurry, we don¡¯t want them to wait for us, Adel!¡±

    So Jonath never heard of it before either. I just picked a random province of those many, that were new to me from that map.

    Well, it doesn¡¯t necessarily have to mean anything. It is probably just some smaller, unknown one, like the other ones.

    After a couple of minutes we arrived at the Campus Centre, Leyrid and Rie already waiting for us.

    They also changed into free time clothes, like we did. Rie is wearing a cute short dress with a red shirt. Leyrid, on the other hand, wore hot-pants paired with a white top.

    ¡°Pretty daring clothing style, Leyrid.¡±

    ¡°A simple [Wow, you look amazing!], would have been enough, Adel.¡±

    ¡°Sorry, let me try again. Wow, you look amazing, Leyrid!¡±

    Even though, I said it provocatively, she seemed to be pleased by it.

    Well, it¡¯s not like I didn¡¯t mean it. She does look great.

    I could even see, how almost all boys in the surrounding area couldn¡¯t take their eyes off her.

    ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s go to the Pool! I can¡¯t wait!¡±

    ¡°Wait, Jonath. We are still missing someone~¡±

    ¡°-Huh? Who is it, Rie?¡±

    ¡°¡­That would be me.¡±

    Jonath and I turned around. Behind us was none other than Ralph himself.

    ¡°R-Ralph?! I never thought you¡¯d wanna¡¯ hang out with us!¡±

    ¡°Tch- What the hell is that supposed to mean, punk?! Are you saying that I am not allowed to join my Squad?!¡±

    Ralph immediately snapped at Jonath, who was surprised by his appearance.

    ¡°N-No, not at all¡­! I¡¯m glad that you wanna¡¯ spend time with us!¡±

    With that, Ralph calmed down again.

    He really does have a short temper.

    ¡°Well, it wasn¡¯t my idea anyway. Lil¡¯ Rie there was insisting that I¡¯d come after they found me training.¡±

    ¡°-Eh? Rie did?¡±

    ¡°Yes! I thought it would be more fun together with everyone~¡±

    She radiated her angel-like aura which affected Jonath immediately.

    ¡°Okay, then we have everyone here. Let¡¯s get going.¡±

    I then suggested.

    The five of us made our way to our summer event to celebrate our finished exams.

    ---

    ¡°Woah! There are quite a lot of students, who had the same idea, as we did!¡±

    ¡°It is summer after all, Jonath.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right, Leyrid.¡±

    ¡°Okey~ Leyrid and me will go change then!¡±

    Rie grabbed Leyrid by her hand and together they ran to the girls locker room.

    I gazed across the fairly large swimming area and saw the students jumping off the springboards and competing in races.

    The swimming pool does not feature many activities for free time, since this is a Military Academy and the sole purpose of this area is to do sports and train.

    ¡°What are ya¡¯ dozing off for? Move your asses into the locker room!¡±

    Ralph, who already went ahead, yelled at Jonath and me from afar.

    ¡°Yeah, yeah we¡¯re coming!¡±

    Jonath shouted and we followed Ralph to change into our swimming trunks.

    ¡°Alright, the last one to be in the water is a lame frog!¡±

    ¡°Hey, not fair, Jonath!¡±

    SPLASH

    All of us jumped into the swimming pool, finally feeling the refreshing cold water on this hot day.

    ¡°Ahhhh~ This feeling is frickin¡¯ amazing!¡±

    ¡°Ralph, you really are enjoying this, aren¡¯t you?¡±

    I teased him, now that he seems to be in a good mood.

    ¡°S-Shut up, after hard training, this is exactly what a man needs!¡±

    ¡°Hey, Adel~¡±

    Leyrid swam to me from the side.

    ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°You messed up earlier, complimenting my outfit properly, so how about my swimming suit?¡±

    ¡°-Eh¡­?¡±

    She is wearing a purple two-set swimming suit, of course, looking rather bold which seems to be her style.

    ¡°W-Well, it does suit you, I guess¡­¡±

    Leyrid giggled at my response.

    ¡°Tehe~ Thanks, Adel!¡±

    Again, she is teasing me, as if I was her personal entertainment tool.

    Now, because she mentioned her swimming suit, I couldn¡¯t help but notice how revealing it was.

    I lookedawkwardlyaway, so I wouldn¡¯t stare at her well built breasts.

    -Dammit! The fact that I am looking away means I already did!

    ¡°Haha~ What are you looking so flustered, all of a sudden?¡±

    ¡°L-Leave me alone, will you!¡±

    ¡°Fine~ I will go and get myself something to drink then.¡±

    With that, Leyrid stepped out of the water and walked to the locker rooms.

    In the meantime, Ralph went to jump from the springboard.

    Needless to say, he jumps from the highest one.

    ¡°Lemme¡¯ show you kids how this is done!¡±

    Many other students watched him sprinting on the board to the end and then jumping off from the height.

    SPLASH

    ¡°Ralph really is brave isn¡¯t he?¡±

    ¡°-Huh?¡±

    I turned around. Behind me was Roland in companion of his Squad.

    ¡°Roland? I thought you had a meeting with your Squad.¡±

    ¡°Yes we did, but he was trying to get over with it as fast as possible, so he could go have some fun.¡±

    It was Helce, who joined into the conversation.

    ¡°Haha~ I overheard when I was walking past Leyrid and Rie that they planned to go to the swimming pool and I had to keep thinking about it.¡±

    ¡°What was your meeting about anyways?¡±

    ¡°Ah, we simply talked about our current weak points and how we want to improve on them.¡±

    ¡°Oh¡­ that is actually a good idea, my Squad should hold that meeting as well.¡±

    ¡°Always trying to stay the top Squad, I see! Well, Helce wanted to do some marathon races to train her stamina, so we will be going then. Take care!¡±

    ¡°See you around, Adel!¡±

    With that, Squad 7 left us behind.

    Looking around, I spotted Jonath and Rie competing in holding the breath underwater.

    ¡°They really are playing around like children.¡±

    I thought loud to my myself.

    But it is a good think that they are still able to enjoy themselves.

    Soon, we will be going to war as well and the chances of surviving to the end of it is slim.

    Thinking about the possibility that my friends might die in this war tightens my chest.

    ¡°I swear, that I will do everything in my power to protect all of you on the battlefield.¡±

    ¡°¡­That is reassuring to hear this from you~¡±

    ¡°-Huh?¡±

    Without realizing, Leyrid came back and stood behind me, on the edge of the pool.

    In her hands she had two little bottles of water.

    ¡°Here. You can have one. I brought enough for all of us.¡±

    ¡°¡­Thanks, I¡¯ll take one then.¡±

    As she handed me a bottle, Leyrid sat down on the edge of the pool and hung her feet in the water.

    ¡°It really does feel like we live in a peaceful time, if you are so far away from the front-lines.¡±

    Leyrid then said thoughtfully. She looked at Rie and Jonath fooling around as well as Ralph.

    ¡°I know, but things won¡¯t stay the way, they currently are. The only reason, we are not risking our lives at the front-lines at the moment, is because we are training to become Elite Soldiers.¡±

    ¡°Yes, that is correct ¡­ Tell me, Adel¡­¡±

    ¡°Hm?¡±

    ¡°Are you despising the fact, that we will have to fight in this war?¡±

    She then said, with a grim look on her face.

    I took some seconds to think about what she said before answering.

    ¡°¡­No. It is our duty to defend our home and all the people living in it. The only ones I am despising are our enemies, who ruined our country a long time ago.¡±

    ¡°¡­ I see¡­¡±

    We watched as a couple of students participated in a swim race, trying their best to outperform each other.

    Roland was under those students.

    ¡°More! If you keep it up at this slow pace, you will never be on the level of an Elite Soldier!¡±

    The instructor, who was present here, yelled at them for not doing well enough.

    ¡°If not all of you finish this in under 25 seconds, every single one of you will repeat it once again!¡±

    Even though it was our free time, everyone still did their best to train even harder.

    That reminds me of our first swordsmanship lesson, where Jonath and I continued to train even after the lesson was over.

    We kept swinging our swords until we collapsed on the ground.

    ¡°Everyone¡¯s trying their best, to make our country proud of them.¡±

    I then said, after watching them for a couple of minutes.

    ¡°That¡¯s true. Even though, no one might remember them after they fall on the battlefield, they still want to prove themselves.¡±

    Leyrid looked up to the roof thoughtfully while saying that.

    I looked at her face, trying to understand what she was thinking.

    ¡°¡­How about you? Do you ¡­ despise that we will have to fight, Leyrid?¡±

    She gave it some thought before she answered.

    ¡°...Not specifically. I despise the fact, that I wasn¡¯t able to help my parents, when they fought for my sake on the front-lines. I despise how weak I was, not being able to do anything.¡±

    Leyrid then watched Jonath and Rie fooling around again.

    ¡°Because of this, I did my best to become stronger and I am still going to! In order to become someone that can actually achieve something. ¡­ that is why ¡­¡±

    She then looked at me again, with a cheerful smile on her lips.

    ¡°¡­That is why I want you to also rely on me ¡­ no, on everyone of us on the battlefield. I am glad that you care about protecting us, but I also want you to believe that we can do the same for you. We are a Squad after all~¡±

    I was baffled. Of all the answers, I expected from her, this was not one of them.

    Could it be ... that her parents also ¡­

    Out of nowhere, Leyrid began to chuckle, interrupting my line of thought.

    ¡°Tehehe~ Why are you looking so gloomy all of a sudden?¡±

    She leaned forward, to get a good look at my face, exposing her breast area again in my eyesight with her daring swimsuit on.

    ¡°Eh?! Y-You¡¯re too close!¡±

    I tried to get away from her a bit, so that I would escape this dangerous position for me.

    ¡°Hm? Now you are getting all flustered again~¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb, you know exactly why!¡±

    ¡°Fine~ I¡¯ll go and join Rie then.¡±

    With that, Leyrid handed me her empty water bottle and jumped into the pool.

    Of course, I would be the one to go and throw these into the trash bin for her.

    ¡­But I guess she does have a point. I should also rely on them in combat.

    Well, nothing good will come from standing here around, missing out on the opportunity to finally have some fun.

    ¡°Hey! Adel! I challenge you to a swimming race with me! I already got permission from the instructor so don¡¯t let me wait!¡±

    Jonath shouted from the other side of the hall where the starting blocks were.

    Behind him stood already a couple of students, waiting to watch the event.

    ¡°You could have at least asked me, before you make a huge contest out of it¡­¡±

    I said to myself, while I turned around and ran over to him.

    ---

    ¡°Mhm~ This day was amazing! Thank you guys for coming along with us!¡±

    Rie stretched herself and was overjoyed as we were back at the Campus Centre.

    It was already dusk at this time and the sun began to hide behind the horizon.

    ¡°Yes~ Even though I was looking forward to the race between Adel and Jonath, who would have thought that Ralph would join in and take the victory for himself!¡±

    Leyrid smirked at Jonath and me, knowing very well that it would rub salt in our wounds.

    ¡°Somebody had to show them, how it is really done!¡±

    Ralph clearly enjoyed the praise he got. Even though, he tries to not show it.

    ¡°Okay then, we will be on our way to our rooms. It¡¯s getting late so don¡¯t fool around too much.¡±

    Leyrid then took off with Rie, leaving us three behind.

    ¡°What are you going to do now, Ralph?¡±

    Jonath asked him.

    ¡°Leaving my bag in my room and getting some dinner afterward.¡±

    ¡°Oh! Sounds great! Can we join you? I bet Adel is as hungry as I am!¡±

    Jonath grinned widely at Ralph, who seemed to be annoyed by it.

    ¡°¡­Fine, just don¡¯t get on my nerves, ¡®pal.¡±

    ¡°Alright! What are we waiting for then?!¡±

    Not paying attention to Ralph and me anymore, Jonath took the lead while running towards our dormitory.

    I sighed for a short moment, before we made our way to our rooms as well.

    Considering everything that happened today ¡­ it was pretty fun.

    It is a great memory, I will cherish and be glad having made when I am going to fight on the battlefield.

    Together ... with my friends.

 Chapter 6 - An Upcoming Battle

    "That is all for today¡¯s lecture. Be sure to revise the material I handed out for you!"

    The teacher announced the end of class as the bell rang.

    "Uhhh¡­ Is it finally over? I am mentally exhausted!"

    "What are you talking about? You¡¯ve slept half the lecture through, Jonath."

    "¡­Yeah, but still, there were times I was paying attention."

    Jonath and I just finished our last lecture for today. To be honest, I am tired as well.

    The teachers definitely don¡¯t hold back when it comes to learning material.

    "Well, you guys are in luck then, because tomorrow is Sunday so we get to relax a bit."

    We turned around and saw that it was Leyrid, who approached us from behind.

    She was looking at us as if we were some little puppies she felt pity for.

    "Oh, now that you are mentioning it, you¡¯re right. I¡¯ve almost forgotten about that."

    I said, trying to hide the fact that I am actually very happy because of it.

    ¡°By the way, isn¡¯t Rie with ya¡¯ today?¡±

    Jonath asked, after waiting for her to show up.

    ¡°No, I think today she was assigned to the same lecture room as Ralph.¡±

    ¡°¡­Ehh¡­ is that so¡­¡±

    Jonath was seemingly annoyed hearing that from Leyrid.

    It is pretty amusing seeing his reaction. Sometimes you can read him like an open book.

    Out of nowhere, the loudspeaker began to ring through the lecture rooms.

    ¡°This is a notification for all students of the academy! Please make sure to gather in exactly one hour from now in the Academy Announcement Hall! The attendance is mandatory!¡±

    Having the speech finished, the female voice that rang through the speakers went silent again.

    All students in the lecture room stared shortly at said loudspeaker, before returning to their conversations.

    ¡°An announcement? Could it be that the results of the exam are going to be presented?¡±

    Leyrid then said, thoughtfully.

    Jonath immediately had a stressed look on his face after hearing that.

    ¡°I-I hope they won¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°You could at least try to be confident in your results.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s easy for ya¡¯ to say, Adel, because you did not forget the last page!¡±

    Jonath pointed with his finger accusingly at me.

    Itis your own fault¡­

    ¡°We do have some time until we have to attend the announcement.¡±

    ¡°You wanna¡¯ spare a bit with me then, Leyrid?¡±

    Jonath suggested excited. He really takes every opportunity he gets to fight.

    ¡°I was rather thinking about going through the materials, the teacher gave us. That way, we can enjoy our free time later on~¡±

    What Leyrid said would be more convincing, if it wasn¡¯t for the suggestive tone and pose she did while doing so.

    Considering our first encounter, she can switch between a calm and calculative person and a teasing, charming girl in her free time.

    Maybe it goes to show that she opened up to us in the last few weeks.

    ¡°Sure, let¡¯s get over with it quickly.¡±

    I then agreed to her proposal.

    I am pretty tired after all these lectures so I want to be done with it and enjoy some time off.

    ¡°Ehhh?! Come on, don¡¯t do this to me!¡±

    ¡°Sorry Jonath, seems like we outvoted you.¡±

    Leyrid chuckled as she denied Jonaths attempt to ditch the work.

    ¡°Nrgh.. Fine, I¡¯ll do it.¡±

    We took a free bank with enough space for us all and started to work on the materials.

    It was mostly revision about stuff, we had covered for the exam such as timed retreats, analyzing the situation and more.

    ¡°Didn¡¯t we cover all of this stuff already?¡±

    ¡°Yes, it is just a revision, Jonath.¡±

    ¡°Then why are we doing this? The exam is already done.¡±

    ¡°Because it is important, that we don¡¯t forget this information.¡±

    I had to try hard to convince Jonath with my words, as I myself was not very motivated to go over this stuff.

    The exam is only a few days in the past, making it pretty easy to remember the studies we did.

    We continued to study for about another 15 minutes.

    ¡°¡­Okay, then this goes with that¡­ and we are done!¡±

    Leyrid said relieved. Even she had to push herself getting the work done.

    ¡°Really?! Thank god, I was about to quit!¡±

    Jonath threw the pen out of his hand and exhaled.

    ¡°We should pack up, because we have to assemble in the Hall soon.¡±

    I then suggested.

    The lecture room was pretty empty by now, leaving only a couple of other students here besides us.

    Leaving it finally behind us, after a long day, we were on way to hear the mysterious announcement.

    ---

    Entering the Hall, many other students were already present, filling the enormous room with loud chatter.

    I looked around, trying to find us three free seats.

    ¡°Hey, guys! Over here~¡±

    I heard a female voice shouting at us from the right side and I moved my gaze in that direction, trying to find the person shouting.

    ¡°Ah, look over there!¡±

    Leyrid pointed with her finger to a row of seats and it turns out that it was Rie, who was trying to get our attention.

    What was even more surprising is the fact, that next to her was Ralph as well, crossing his arms while glaring at us.

    ¡°Seems like you were faster than us here. Thanks for reserving us some seats.¡±

    I thanked Rie, as us three went over to her and Ralph.

    ¡°We are already here since the end of the last lecture. Why the hell were you punks so late?!¡±

    ¡°Leyrid wanted to go over the materials from the lecture, don¡¯t blame me.¡±

    Before Ralph got a chance to respond, the lights went out except for the ones on the stage.

    There he is, the man in charge of this place here.

    As the chatter vanished and it got quiet, the principal entered the Hall and took the spotlight.

    ¡°-Ahem! Stand up!¡±

    The strict voice of the principal rang through the hall and every single student immediately followed the order.

    ¡°Salute!¡±

    With the next command, all of us made the proper posture and greeted the principal by saluting to him.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Without making too much noise and waste any time, all of us sat down again for him to continue.

    ¡°Good. I want to thank you all for assembling here after your rough day. However, this is an announcement of utmost importance!¡±

    He is building up the tension here, ensuring that he has the full attention of everyone present.

    ¡°Many of you know already about this, but the time is nigh for your very first combat experience! As participating at least ones in the fights on the front-lines is an essential part of your training, it is obligatory to do so! The Military Council and the Emperor of the Great Empire himself have decided that you will deploy on the eastern front to prove your worth as an Elite Soldier! To be precise, it is in the province known as [Kargtal]!¡±

    I twitched at hearing the name of the province.

    What were the odds that one of the places that caught my interest in that book is the same area we are having our first combat experience.

    ¡°¡­Kargtal? Wasn¡¯t that the place ya¡¯ mentioned a few days ago, Adel?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it was that one.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Did you know that we would be fighting there?¡±

    It was Leyrid who asked me this time.

    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t. I am surprised as well.¡±

    ¡°Well, it doesn¡¯t matter! We are about to finally have some awesome fights coming up!¡±

    Jonath was in high spirits. He struck his fist to the front making a pose.

    ¡°I bet you will be the first one to die out there, ¡®pal.¡±

    ¡°No way in hell, Ralph! If anything, watch out that your ego won¡¯t drag you down!¡±

    ¡°What was that?!¡±

    Jonath and Ralph pressed their foreheads annoyed against each other, trying to overpower their opponent.

    ¡°Would you two please not make a scene here?¡±

    Rie got mad and glared at both of them.

    The two boys in question immediately stopped.

    Even Ralph seems to respect Rie.

    ¡°Hrm! I would appreciate it, if all of you could quiet down and listen to what I have to say!¡±

    As the room got slowly filled with rather quiet chatter, the principal demanded full attention again.

    ¡°I take that many of you noticed over the last week, we had a special guest here at NEAS. It is none other than the Leader of the 20th Stormtrooper Force, Vinelda Augustalis, herself! She is also the one, who wanted to hold this meeting!¡±

    As the principal announced her name, Vinelda entered the hall and went to the stage. The students in the hall began to applaud to her sudden appearance.

    The spotlight was now entirely hers, together with the admiration of everyone present here.

    ¡°Thank you, principal. I am sure everyone of you by now is excited, hearing of your upcoming first battle! However, this time, the timing of it could not have been worse.¡±

    Her confident voice rang through the hall.

    Huh? How come it is a bad timing?

    ¡°Before my Unit and me got our short break, we fought on the eastern front. This was due to an unusual growth in number of enemy soldiers. We predicted that they would want to try anything in their might to break our lines and make an advance out of a desperate attempt. As expected, the battle was very fierce and we lost many men. At the end of our mission, we managed to balance the numbers out again and we had a success, defending ourselves against the onslaught.¡±

    Hearing the words of Vinelda, the students got loud again, cheering because of her successful mission and another small victory for our country.

    She has not finished yet, however, as she signaled for everyone to keep listening.

    ¡°If the story would end here, then there would be no bad timing in your first field practice. Recently, I got word from one of my Unit members, that the situation seems to have gotten worse again on the eastern front. To be precise, even worse than before. Predictions say that the enemy has at least double the amount of our soldiers in that area.¡±

    Double the amount?! Then they got at least a million of them on their side!

    Why do they want to break our eastern front that desperately?

    ¡°Of course, we were always faced with being outnumbered and it was never a real problem, as our soldiers are stronger than the enemy ones. It is clear for everyone in the world that the Great Empire has the strongest soldiers and that they can take on multiple opponents. However, if they have that much more foes in a short brink of time, even our men will falter. It is also not easy to send units from other front-lines as reinforcements to them currently, which does not leave many options in terms of time we have.¡±

    The faces of the students got worried expressions on them now.

    It is true. No matter how much better our soldiers are, there is a limit to how much opponents they can take on.

    I rememberour first encounter. She said that she let her Unit fight without her for a short time. Seems like that was really risky after all.

    ¡°The Military Council has made their decision and there will be no delay for your first combat on the front-lines. In order to make up the time needed for the reinforcements, you will have to prove yourselves on the battlefield, as we need your help in this difficult situation. However, you will be accordingly rewarded for doing so. For example, you won¡¯t have to worry about dropping out of the Academy even if you fail your next exam. This means, by accepting this mission and proving your worth on the battlefield, you are being guaranteed to become an Elite Soldier.¡±

    I see. Not a bad reward, considering everyone of us want to graduate and manage to become an official Elite Soldier. But this also has a great risk, as it is a dangerous mission¡­

    I looked at my friends and they seemed to be as worried as I am. Even the usually calm Leyrid turns out to be affected by it.

    ¡°I am not going to sweet talk this mission. It is dangerous and will be bloody. Even more so, because all of you are still students at NEAS. It will be your very first combat experience and for some of you, it will also be the last one. Out there, on the battlefield, there won¡¯t be teachers nearby that are going to protect you. If you mess up, you will die. Should you be afraid of it, now is your last chance to drop out of NEAS and save yourselves. I won¡¯t look down on anyone who decides to do so.¡±

    Instead of chatter, all of us simply looked at each other, filled with worries. No one dared to say anything.

    We won¡¯t get anywhere like this. The people here don¡¯t want to make the first move.

    Guess I have to do it.

    Without giving it much thought, I stood up.

    The students around us turned their heads towards me as I did and waited for something to happen.

    Good, seems like I have the attention I wanted.

    Jonath and the others were wondering as well what I was doing.

    Even Vinelda was watching my actions.

    I didn¡¯t say anything. Words were not important right now.

    As everyone was looking at me, I followed up by moving my right hand to my chest and my left behind my back, making a pose.

    ¡°-Ah! That is where you are going with it, haha!¡±

    Jonath understood my intention and also stood up.

    Like a domino effect, Rie, Ralph and Leyrid followed the lead. More and more students stood up as well.

    I could even see Roland and his Squad doing so, while giving me a cheerful smile.

    At this point, about every single student in the whole hall was standing and making the salute pose as me.

    ¡°For the Great Empire!¡±

    All of us said in unison, directed at the surprised Vinelda on the stage.

    ¡°Well, would you look at that! Aren¡¯t we lucky to be blessed with such a brave new generation?¡±

    The principal walked up from the side to Vinelda. His voice sounded pleased instead of strict.

    She took a short moment, moving her gaze from one side of the hall to the other.

    ¡°Hm~ Yes, we truly are. I did not expect this kind of reaction.¡±

    Vinelda seemed to be quite happy with the outcome.

    ¡°Well then, it is decided! Don¡¯t go cry on me later on that you are scared! There is no turning back now!¡±

    ¡°YES MA¡¯AM!¡±

    Again, all the students shouted in unison.

    Seems like my plan has worked out quite well. The doubts are cleared now.

    ¡°Good. The Stormtrooper Force will be going ahead already, meaning I am going to leave the academy after this! You have a week of preparations to make! Don¡¯t slack off on your training, it could be your last one! Further details will be disclosed in the following days! That is all, you are dismissed!¡±

    Those were her last words, thus ending the announcement and leaving the hall together with the principal.

    ---

    After we left the Academy Announcement Hall, the five of us waited at the Entrance Gate of NEAS for her to come.

    As about half an hour passed, she finally appeared, carrying her luggage.

    I remember, how I had to carry it to her room, when she arrived.

    ¡°Vinelda, are you really going to leave already?¡±

    Rie asked her with a sad tone.

    ¡°Yes, I am. I need to meet my fellow comrades of the Stormtrooper Force as soon as possible. We still need to discuss our strategy and receive our orders.¡±

    ¡°I see¡­ it can¡¯t be helped then¡­¡±

    Vinelda gave her a warm smile to cheer her up and a pat on the head.

    ¡°Oh, by the way! That was a really brave plan of you back there, Adel~¡±

    ¡°Plan? I had no plan, I just merely stretched a bit¡­¡±

    Vinelda smirked a little watching me.

    It was as if she was seeing an other person, while watchingme.

    ¡°...You really do resemble him.¡±

    ¡°Huh?¡±

    ¡°Nothing, forget it.¡±

    She shrugged my reaction playfully off.

    ¡°I may have said it before, but I want to ask again: are you guys sure, that you want to participate in that battle?¡±

    Her tone got serious again, but there was a faint of concern in it.

    ¡°Of course! That goes without question!¡±

    Jonath shouted excited, he has regained his high spirit attitude and confidence.

    ¡°If we five are together, we won¡¯t have anything to worry about~¡±

    Rie said cheerfully, radiating with her positive aura.

    ¡°As if I¡¯d be scared of some lowly common soldiers!¡±

    Crossing his arms, Ralph ranted again, being overly self-confident.

    ¡°Hm, alright. How about you, Leyrid?¡±

    ¡°Tehe~ I believe, that Adel will hold up his promise to protect us.¡±

    She smirked teasingly at me.

    Oh great, you just had to say it in front of everybody, didn¡¯t you?

    If anyone is going to ask me, I¡¯ll just pretend that I don¡¯t know what she was talking about.

    ¡°I see, I will remember those words you said today. Let¡¯s hope that you will turn them into reality.¡±

    Vinelda said, as she was slowly walking past us, going through the gate.

    ¡°-Vinelda!¡±

    I suddenly shouted her name, stopping her from going further.

    ¡°Hm? What is it, Adel?¡±

    ¡°¡­Eh¡­ How do I put this ¡­ Be careful¡­¡±

    My voice became small and it was a bit hard for me to get these words out of my mouth.

    I don¡¯t know why I said it. I just had an unsure feeling that something might happen if not.

    She turned around to me again and smirked.

    ¡°Who do you think, you¡¯re talking to? I am Vinelda Augustalis, the leader of the Stormtroopers.¡±

    ¡°-Tch, fine. Forget it.¡±

    Vinelda then faced the way to the outside of the gate again.

    It was at this moment, that I could hear a quiet:

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    I started to blush a bit as she left us behind.

    Why did I just do this?

    ¡°Hey~ Adel, my buddy, what was that earlier from Leyrid? That part about protecting us?¡±

    Jonath hung his arm around me, grinning overly happy.

    ¡°¡­I don¡¯t know what you are talking about.¡±

    ¡°Now, now~ I am pretty sure that I heard something!¡±

    ¡°Like I said, no!¡±

    Seems like the day that will change our current lives is going to come faster than I anticipated.

    We only have a week to prepare.

    Furthermore, I don¡¯t know what kind of battle will await us.

    It is also highly unlikely, that every one of the Squads is going to survive.

    I fear what the future is going to hold for us. All I can do is hope for the best.