ã€ŠSteel Citiesã€‹ Prologue 1 Steel City Oberon, Ilad Kingdom ¡°Are you sure now is the time?¡± ¡°Positive, today will either mark the beginning of a new period in history, or the continuation of this oppressive one...¡± ¡°But if we fail this time, then they¡¯ll have to start from scratch and without us to help th¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry, we won¡¯t fail¡± ¡°How do you know?¡± Smirking, the man answered his young companion ¡°Because this time we¡¯re the righteous ones, we WILL bring peace and end to this long conflict¡± ¡°Ballen...¡± the young companion said softly, touched by the words his long time friend had spoken. He, Gello, trusted in the words of Ballen and what he stood for. Their unending conflict would end, and they were going to make sure of it. The radio behind Gello started to crackle and come to life. <> Reaching back for the radio Gello responded immediately. <> <> Grunting in response, Gello started to ready the prototype. ¡°We have 5 minutes Ballen, We should get moving.¡± Moving away from the window and letting the blinds fall back into place, Ballen started checking his equipment while calling over the rest of the crew. ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s get moving guys!!¡± Immediately 6 other men came from the room next door. Nothing but silence and the soft clattering of clips going home on guns, and the shuffling of holsters engulfed the small hotel room, no one spoke a word. Suddenly off in the distance a deep hum could be head, and soft vibrations attacked the room. ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± In a single fluid manner, almost like a practiced motion, the entire group left the room and began the walk to the elevator and ride to the rooftop of the building. From the rooftop the group hesitated not even for a second, fanning out and lying prone the entire group laid out their weapons ready to ambush the unsuspecting patrols. All of them but Gello, he stood at the edge and prepared what looked like a box with a laser pointer attached, setting it up to a small portable laptop, and then taking a seat on a nearby box. The entire process took less than 2 minutes, so they sat silently and waited. From the edge of the building all Gello could see was a black city. A bleak and dreary land, smoke billowing from factories at every corner of the city. Below him on the grey and lifeless streets he could see lines of people with empty eyes walking to whatever work they had to do to survive, forced to live in horrible conditions. It will end soon, just wait a little more... Almost as if on queue to his thoughts, the bright mechanized patrol unit appeared in the distance, the hum becoming louder and vibrations more prominent. That floating machine which is built by the same people who it attacks and ¡®polices¡¯, it had finally come. The radio began to crackle once more <> <> <> <> <> <> By this point the patrol unit had reached almost half the street and was about to pass by their building. ¡°Fire on my signals guys¡± Gello shouted over the almost drowning humming noise. ¡°Roger that, Today we¡¯re gonna make a statement boys!¡± Ballen responded, followed by an ¡°HO-RAH¡± from the rest of the group. Almost past us¡ NOW! Pointing the box down and over the ledge toward the unit that had just passed them, Gello activated his prototype. After a second passed of seemingly nothing happened he screamed ¡°FIRE!¡± If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.On queue all of the soldiers got up and started shooting down at the patrol unit. 1¡.2¡.3¡.4¡.5¡. ¡°My god it¡¯s working! the bullets are landing¡± In a more confident voice Gello started shouting and shooting. ¡°Quickly fire the launcher!¡± In response to his cries two trails of smoke shot off toward the patrol unit that was now slowly attempting to try to turn around. Two large explosions hit the patrol unit and it was blown back a few feet. Ballen taking the initiative leaped onto the robot and began shooting directly into the cockpit, then moments later threw in a grenade and leapt off it and back into the hotel building. One last explosion and the slow creaky fall of the machine marked the end of it¡¯s operator¡¯s life. The oppressive hum had disappeared, and the sky looked clear for a moment. ¡°We did it!¡± ¡°Yes!¡± ¡°It worked!¡± Cries of joy and happiness permeated the air that was only just previously filled with tension. But the deep humming of more robots cut through their celebration. ¡°We need to move now!¡± Ballen shouted, and following suit Gello grabbed his equipment and hastily started talking into his radio <> <> the radio was quickly cut off for a half second and then a more serious voice returned <> <> <> As the daunting hum slowly increased the small group had already started moving. Now that Gello was off the radio he looked over to Ballen to figure out how they were going to escape four and possibly more units. ¡°Split up!¡± Ballen shouted ¡°Everyone groups of 2, opposite directions, good luck!¡± That was all that needed to be said, the group split off in seemingly random directions without another word. Gello went with Ballen as they ran north across the closely packed rooftops in an attempt to escape that oppressive hum again, the clear skies had disappeared and they were returned to their harsh reality. _______________________________________________________________ ¡°We¡¯re trapped! They have us surrounded on both sides of this building!¡± Gello hopelessly shouted. ¡°Looks like it.¡± Ballen replied curtly. They both could not escape the gravity of the situation, and there was no sense in denying it. Both soldiers understood that. After a small pause Gello took a short gulp and thrust the prototype machine into Ballen¡¯s hands. ¡°You have the best chance of making it back to base with this. Anyone can operate the thing, only you can lead us with it. We need you alive more than me...¡± Ballen couldn¡¯t argue against those words, it was nothing more than the absolute truth. Gello was one of many engineers who worked on the prototype and was important... but was easily replaceable. Experienced combatants were not so replaceable. Gello spoke with only logic to the end. Ballen gave a short nod and turned to walk away toward the bottom entrance of the building they had holed themselves up in. They both knew what to do, and Gello only readied himself to provide as much time as possible. *craaash* *BANG* *BANG* ¡¡¡.. *POP* Gello threw two grenades through the window to draw attention then leapt out toward their robot nemesis. After the two explosions, his flying body quickly entered the robot¡¯s sight. A half-second had gone, and so was Gello and Ballen, however the difference was while Ballen was still in one spot, Gello was in multiple. Chapter 1 Magic City Ersatz-Domum, Ilad Kingdom ¡°Come on! just take it! We¡¯re just trying to help y¡¯know? You need all the food you can get right?!¡± ¡°Haha, look at you, if you don¡¯t take our generous gifts how is your mana capacity gonna grow!?¡± ¡°Hooh! Head¡¯s up, Kiri! There¡¯s a nice piece of fruit headed your way!¡± ¡°Hahaha! Nice, direct hit! Oy Kirio! why don¡¯t you have some Cheerio too!?¡± Ignoring the laughing and constant food being chucked at him, Kirimara Z¨¦i kept walking forward, in his head the words being spoken around him were already lost and now only hung stagnant in the air never reaching his ears. Whether they realized that or not, his classmates didn¡¯t much care and kept up the rain of food as the stream of students began leaving school with the setting sun in the background. Of course Kiri was given a wide berth to ensure that as much food as possible could hit or interrupt him. In fact the sight was rather surreal when taken from an outside view, a single student walking slowly through the pack of students attempting to exit school grounds, while parting the river of students like he was Moses and it was the Red Sea, while assorted foods pelted him from random directions. The sight of a single student walking through this rain of food, getting hit by globs of lunch and walking on as if nothing happened, indeed there was no other such sight throughout the whole of the Ilad Kingdom. But for however strange it might be, this was a commonplace event within this school, and was even affectionately known as ¡°Extra Help¡± for the evening, though ¡°Extra Help¡± was considered more than just the ¡®farewells¡¯ at the end of day. In fact ¡°Extra Help¡± was multiple events, there was ¡°Extra Help¡± during lunch, ¡°Extra Help¡± in the morning, ¡°Extra Help¡± during class, even ¡°Extra Help¡± during combat practice. In summary ¡°Extra Help¡± was every moment a teacher wasn¡¯t watching, and even then it was restricted to specific teachers. Of course Kiri wasn¡¯t the only one to receive ¡°Extra Help¡±, but he did receive it the most for two specific reasons and simply put they were, one being he had been targeted the longest, and received the jealousy of students that envied the ¡®special attention¡¯ that he got. ¡°Kiri, wait up!¡± As soon as the feminine voice pierced the air, the onslaught of food began hitting an invisible wall around Kirimara, and not much later the torrential downpour of uneaten meals ended. ¡°tch, She¡¯s here already¡± ¡°Ahh~, way to go, the guardian angel is here.¡± ¡°Kitaaa~, the golden knight!¡± ¡°huehuehue, Kaneru-sama!¡± ¡°Oy, wasn¡¯t there something wrong with that last line? Hey who said that!?¡± ¡°¡°¡±¡°.......¡±¡±¡±¡± _________________________________________________________________ ¡°Kiri! Wait up already!¡± ¡°Oh, Sanada, sorry I didn¡¯t realize you were there.¡± Looking up from the book he was holding Kiri stopped just outside the gates of the school and paused for his sole friend to catch up. ¡°Jeez, look at you! That¡¯s why I said you should wait for me!!¡± Finally taking note of his appearance Kiri realized there were chunks of random food particles on his face, in his hair and generally all over his body. ¡°Ah...¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me, you didn¡¯t notice it right?¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°...¡± ¡°It¡¯s a good book so...¡± With not a single scent of doubt in the words he exhaled, Sanada could only take in what he had said in disbelief. Throughout the day this had gone on repeatedly, and the same response was continually given to her. There was no lie in his words either, truly he had not even noticed the food plastering him from different directions, the excessive aggressiveness in class towards him during combat training, or even during class. Whether he just didn¡¯t care about it or he had gotten completely used to it after years of similar treatment the result was the same. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. ¡°Ahhhh! why does he have to be so ...! Mo~ See if I care anymore!¡± Sanada yelled, then stormed off in a fit of rage. She paused for a moment and silently muttered ¡°You weren¡¯t like this before, why did you have to be the one I¡¡± ¡°Eh? What was that? I couldn''t hear you¡± Kirimara asked. ¡°Ahhhh Dammit! Nothing!¡± She yelled in frustration, before running off back into the school. In response to her seemingly erratic and irrational actions Kiri simply sighed while saying ¡°What¡¯s wrong with her? She wasn¡¯t like this when we were kids I¡¯m pretty sure, and during the tour either¡¡± Again he sighed before recollecting what happened during the tour, where they had unwittingly been reunited after almost a decade. Nothing ridiculous popped out in his memory of the event, he remembered showing her around the school, pointing out the various important locations, and then showing her out. In fact the only ridiculous thing about the whole situation was why a sophomore (at the time) was giving her (a prospective freshman) a tour in the first place. The idea that a random sophomore like him would be called in right before his junior year started to show a transfer student around was nigh ridiculous. The only reason he was called for the job was because the Principal found him while walking down the road, and then pushed the responsibility on him. Maybe it would forever be a mystery¡ ><><><><><><><><><><><><><><<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>< ¡°Ahh~ this sucks!¡± Sanada yelled while she slumped against the side of the school. Who would have thought that her childhood friend and crush would be at the same school as her 8 years after they parted! To make it worse they didn¡¯t even recognize each other at first, only after she met him in class did she realize they were the same person. During the tour he had been so¡ Apathetic? He slowly went through the tour like he didn¡¯t really care, and showed no enthusiasm at all. She thought he was a very dull and gloomy person for the majority of the tour, all the way until the very end. That¡¯s when it happened, a simple trip at the end of the tour going down the stairs, and who saved her as she fell down the stairs? None other than the tour guide himself, and after he caught her as she fell, he stood up and enchanted her heart. Was it the gap he showed between his previous character and the one he showed at that moment, or maybe the fact that he saved her, or possibly both? Whatever it was that caused it, when he stretched his hand out to her while giving that stupid grin it was too late for her. By the time he left her at the gates with the words ¡°I¡¯ll see you in school, future kouhai¡± and another silly smile she couldn¡¯t forget his face. From then on, the story goes something like this: On the first day of school, she realized her true love was the same person as her childhood crush when *cough* *cough* coincidentally *cough* running into him throughout the day. On the second day of school, her ¡®true love¡¯ realized this same fact. On the third day she saw how he was treated, and pestered him to allow for protection. On the fourth day of school, her true love gave to her¡ this current exasperation. Throughout the whole process, he was nothing like how she saw him during the tour and it was beginning to affect her. The feeling of having no chance was slowly creeping up her heart. (A/N): Next Chapter will be next week sometime, in the meanwhile tell me what you guys thought of the writing ''style'' I''m not gonna lie, I tried imitating what Lv1Slime did and how he rights (sort of in the japanese style is what I mean). Really do like his work though, if you haven''t already I highly recommend reading "The Monster with no Magic". Chapter 2 "So what''s this about?" "Exactly what it looks like" Kirimara responded curtly. Currently he was being accosted by his adoptive father, while said father flashily threw what looked like a manilla folder on the table between them. "Oh? So you applied for this, this, grant? Why couldn''t you ask me directly for it instead?" the man in front of him responded slowly. "Does it really matter? Seriously, it''s just for the library after all." His father had to pause and draw in a breath. In all respects his son was technically correct, all he had done was apply for a higher access level in the library. Adding to that, in most cases he would have never even known that such an application was even sent either. The only reason he knew was that during the application process when the application processors tried to locate his public information, they couldn''t retrieve the proper information. When such a serious error occurred, the topic was immediately brought into the headmaster''s office. It just so happened that the headmaster of Zephine academy, Alexi Zei, was the guardian of the same person who applied. The matching names could have entirely been a coincidence, but in the end it wasn''t and Alexi found out about his son''s secret application. Of course Kiri would never need to know those things, and he wouldn''t. In fact Alexi silently swore to himself immediately that he would let Kirimara imagine how exactly the documents in his hand came to be there. "How did you even find out that I applied anyway?" And there was that same question. "I''m the head of the school, how could I not know who has access to the 4th floor?" Zei immediately responded. To some extent this wasn''t entirely false, as he did get an updated list every 3 months on who exactly had access to 4th floor and above, but he had just received his updated list last month. Again, normally in this case he would never have even know about his son''s actions until another 2 months. But not knowing any of this Kirimara could only accept his father''s explanation and take it in stride. "So do I have access now or not?" he finally asked, trying to move the conversation along now. "Hahh~, yes tomorrow you will be able to access the 4th floor, but honestly you won''t find much that''s useful for you there. Ah, here''s your new card." So saying Zei passed a black card over the table to his son. The name ''Kirimara Zei'' was printed in bright silver lettering along one side of it. Grunting in response Kiri picked up the card and inspected it shortly before putting it into his breast pocket. He knew that his father was probably right, most of the fourth floor was allocated to either high level combat spells or random quality-of-life spells which might not make sense to some, but given the fact that if done wrong those quality-of-life spells could be worse than the combat spells it was the right decision. In fact there was a famous story of a certain child attempting to cast ''Dry'' to help his mom and ended up dieing in a horrible fire. Well, despite how dark that got, apparently the little boy found the spell because the mother had access to those spells and happened to leave it out somewhere. That story became the fear of mother''s and their children everywhere. "Thank you father, I''m going to sleep for tonight" _____________________________________________________________________________ Walking through the elevator doors, Kirimara stepped through and took in his first view of the 4th floor of the library. Initial impressions? ¡®Dusty¡¯. The journey wasn¡¯t too difficult, it was the same process for access to the 3rd floor in that when he entered the elevator he had to slide his card before the buttons on the panel lit up. There were a total of 6 floors in the library, 4 of which Kirimara had access too. On the 6th floor held all the ¡°Highly confidential¡± and ¡°Black Ops¡± operations that the kingdom has done, as well as secret documents from all the way up to 80 years ago. The 5th floor also held some less confidential information as well as a record of dangerous criminals, some of their possessions and depending on who, some of the magic they used. This type of magic was usually considered black magic, but it was also sometimes considered a country¡¯s ¡®secret¡¯ or ¡®unique¡¯ magic. This was the kind of thing people died trying to keep within their country and not leak out, that was how serious access to the 5th floor and above was. The 3rd floor was just books and record on history, or more specifically they told of the more ¡®unkind¡¯ parts of history that were normally kept out of school textbooks for ¡®the children¡¯s sake¡¯. The official statement regarding this was that the government didn¡¯t want ¡®the wrong impression¡¯ built among children before they had a ¡®full understanding of the circumstances¡¯. Everything else was kept on the first two floors of the library. Of course most students could easily get access to the 3rd floor, but would have to show a clean record and higher level of academic achievements. The 4th floor was similar in this, but was more limited and was only available to the top 10% of students. Of course that meant that Kirimara was one of that 10%, and that was a sore point among many of his peers. ¡°Ah here we go, this is it.¡± Kirimara suddenly muttered, pausing while pulling out a rather dusty looking book from a nearby shelf. He couldn¡¯t quite read the title so he dusted the cover off a little, then proceeded to sit down at a nearby table. The book in question had no real importance to him, but the author did. Kirimara had read several of his books on the 3rd floor, using his silver with gold lettering card, and really liked the author not only as a person but for his work. He wanted to continue reading his books and immediately applied for access to 4th floor, in reality that was the only reason he did so. Though Kirimara couldn¡¯t deny he liked his new card better than the standard silver card with black lettering that all students got for access to the library, or even the one with gold for access to the 3rd floor. Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. ¡®well, it¡¯s not really like it¡¯s important, the barcode is what matters¡¯ Kirimara thought to himself. His arm slowly reached up to rub the base of his neck before he continued to read. __________________________________________________________________________ ¡°Good afternoon class¡± the teacher announced after walking in. She put her books and miscellaneous things down on her desk before continuing, ¡°We have a new student today, he wasn¡¯t able to come for the first couple of days of the semester due to travel issues but he¡¯s here now, so everyone welcome him!¡± As she finished saying that, a blonde haired man walked into the classroom with confident strides. In less than a second he was already observing the class with a cool, confident, and calm gaze. ¡°Hello everyone, my name is Alan Custos, please treat me well. I¡¯m a senior like you guys and have just moved here from the western border. I¡¯m new to this city so I hope that I can get along with everyone and learn about this wonderful place.¡± Finishing his introduction with a bow, Alan slowly walked to the back of the classroom and took up an empty seat two rows over from Kirimara. ¡°Ah, Mr. Custos that seat is taken¡± ¡°Oh, my bad, how about this one then?¡± Alan asked, now pointing to the seat right next to Kirimara. Turning to face Alan from his window seat, Kirimara nodded toward him and said ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s open.¡± before he returned to reading a dusty book that looked as if it could fall apart any day. It had been less than a day since Kirimara stepped foot into the 4th floor but he had already made himself home. He had already learned two spells and was working on a third, and was appreciating the author very much. ¡°Hey, nice to meet you, I¡¯m Alan¡± said his new neighbor. ¡°Yea, nice to meet you, my name is Kirimara,¡± he responded, shaking the hand that Alan had extended towards him. ¡°Kirimara? That¡¯s a unique name, did you come from the east somewhere?¡± ¡°Eh? Oh, yeah¡± Kiri quietly responded, before turning back to his book. Alan proceeded to watch him for a minute longer, waiting expectantly for the conversation to continue, however Kirimara simply reached behind to scratch his neck and proceeded to ignore him for the rest of class. ________________________________________________________________ ¡°Alright guys! Listen Up! Today¡¯s practicals class will be split into two parts, the first is hand to hand combat and the second is machine technique,¡± in response chuckling started to rise from some of the male students in the group, to which the teacher glanced towards Kirimara before continuing, ¡°Since Alan is new here I¡¯ll have him partner up with Kiri for the first half and Daniel for the Second.¡± Now the slight chuckles had faded into slight grunts of disapproval and annoyance, almost like a pet that didn¡¯t get their treat for their troubles. Alan located Kirimara easily and trotted over to him, before asking him ¡°Hey Key, shouldn¡¯t you change out of your uniform for this?¡±. ¡°Key?¡± responded Kirimara, grunting annoyedly, before taking a look at himself. He was still wearing his standard uniform, dress shirt, tie, cardigan, slacks and loafers, while the rest of class had already changed into sports clothes and footwear. Scratching the base of his neck, Key curtly responded with a simple ¡°Is there really a need to?¡± Slightly miffed at the response Alan just shrugged in response and said ¡°Your loss then¡± before getting into the standard combat ready position with knees bent and two hands up. Key didn¡¯t say anything in response this time and just stood there, bringing Alan to an even more bothered state. ¡°Aren¡¯t we suppose to be practising fighting right now?¡± ¡°Yea, just come at me with whatever you want, I¡¯ll tell you what to fix from there.¡± ¡®Cocky son-of-a-bitch isn¡¯t he?¡¯ Alan thought to himself before again shrugging away his thoughts. ¡°Whatever¡± Alan sighed, before dropping into a slightly lower stance and angling himself sideways. ¡®Left roll, right punch to the face, duck then left strike to his ribs? No, too obvious, right punch to the ribs, elbow with the left sweep kick right then grapple maybe? Yea let¡¯s go with that¡¯ Settling his mind Alan prepared himself for combat, he would take this fight seriously even if his opponent wouldn¡¯t, he needed to. Still, something about Key¡¯s stance, his breathing even, the pure lack of care in his eyes, that made Alan off-ease. ¡®Go!¡¯ Alan ran at key and began the fight. ¡°The Ribs? Too easy¡± Key suddenly whispered into Alan¡¯s ear. Alan didn¡¯t even have time to register what had happened before he went tumbling the other way with a tooth flying out. As Alan threw the punch Key grabbed Alan¡¯s fist with his left arm and pulled it, throwing Alan off center and open. Key took this chance to pull his face close to Alan¡¯s ear before kneeing into his stomach and striking him across the jaw with his elbow. With a final kick he sent Alan flying. ¡°*puh* what the hell?¡± Alan muttered, spitting out the blood from his mouth. ¡°You threw the punch too early, as a result you overstretched your arm leaving a weak point that I could exploit. Keep yourself centered, don¡¯t spread yourself wide.¡± Alan got back to his feet and entered his stance again but this time it was slightly different. ¡°Hmm?¡± Key mumbled, ¡®What changed? He doesn¡¯t look any different at all...¡¯ The air around Alan had suddenly changed, and once more he charged at key, but this time he was prepared. (A/N): Sorry I never got around to uploading this, I just can''t stop getting sick. Because I missed a few weeks I''ll be uploading 2 more chapters later sunday-ish, so everything will be back on schedule. Chapter 3 ¡®Duck, roll, punch, block, roll, block, dodge, punch, roll, roll dodge, roll¡¯ Alan wasn¡¯t getting any time to think at all, solely relying on his instincts. Anything he attacked his opponent with had been turned against him, trying to press in close just resulted in him being hard pressed like he was now, trying to stay further back only left him open and at a disadvantage. ¡°Your relying too much on reactions, try to anticipate more, think where to strike before you do it¡± Alan knew that! God, he knew that! His old instructor used to say the same thing, but right now he wasn¡¯t getting anything to take advantage of, he physically had no time to strike with. His opponent felt like a towering monstrosity to him right now. The worst part of this whole scenario was that he couldn¡¯t even faze him! That guy! There wasn¡¯t even a speck of dirt on his uniform, and he didn¡¯t even look tired. ¡°Ok! That¡¯s enough everyone! We¡¯re moving on to the next half!¡± the Instructor suddenly shouted. The 2 or 3 students watching Alan and Key¡¯s fight turned towards the stands surrounding the sandy arena they had all been practicing in. Only a few machines could be out on the field at a time so practice was generally kept to one-on-ones. ¡°Alan, Daniel! You two are up first!¡± The class instructor again shouted. Alan watched Key simply walk over to the stands sit down and pull out his book and look as if nothing happened, before shrugging off his past half-hour of failure and start towards their combat teacher. Key was a monster so he should expect no less from this ¡®Daniel¡¯ persona. ¡°Today we¡¯ll have you and Daniel practice ok? I know you''re a new student so we¡¯ll see how you do for about 10 minutes then we¡¯ll switch you with Kiri over there, got it?¡± Nodding, Alan leaped into the giant robot that had popped up behind him. He didn¡¯t even look at his opponent for fear of what it might do to enrage his emotional state, like with Key. Flicking on the controls and proper switches the robot he was occupying roared to life and he could hear a deep annoying hum start to permeate the air. ¡°A mark-II, Training class Praes hm?¡± Alan muttered to himself. Alan went over the design schematics and proceeded to carefully watch his opponent as his praes also powered up and released it¡¯s drone like noise. ¡°When I say go, start the fight and don¡¯t stop ¡®till I say so!¡± Shouted the instructor before running off to the stands. ¡°Go!¡± Within seconds Alan had launched himself at his opponent with speed that wasn¡¯t normal for a slow and dull praes like the training one they normally used, and Daniel was caught off guard. Throwing up his robot-hands, he quickly brought up his shield just in time to receive the sudden blow thrown at him. ¡®tch~, I wanted to end this quickly¡¯ Alan thought to himself, before pulling the training blade from his back. ¡°Too close!¡± shouted his opponent, before he too pulled out an overly large blade that perfectly fit for the size of their machines. Both combatants stood stock still measuring each other before their blades suddenly lit up with power. This was the true value of fighting in the praes, they were able to take what people normally used as magic and expand it into indestructible fighting tanks. The two fighters began gliding across the field firing spells at each other and striking with magically enhanced weapons before Alan finally took his opponent down. With that the Instructor called an end to their match, saying something like ¡°Winner stays on¡± before Key stepped onto the field and swapped machines with Daniel. ¡°The first guy was too easy, does that mean they were saving worst for last?¡± Alan muttered to himself again, before beginning his fight ____________________________________________________________________________ The answer to his question was no. Key could barely keep up the shield to a level that could block his attacks, let alone fight back with anything more than physical blows. When he the fight ended he was surrounded by the cheers of his classmates, saying stuff like ¡°Wow! You really beat Dan! He¡¯s the best in our year!¡± and ¡°Can you tutor me or something? You¡¯re really good!¡±. In the end he couldn¡¯t comprehend what had happened, his goal was to remain low-key and off the radar as much as possible! Key was at such a ridiculous level in combat that he estimated that the Praes fighters were just as dangerous. Now not only was everyone aware of his skill level, but he had basically shown off to his whole class. Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. When the commotion had finally died down and everyone began streaming back to class Alan watched Key as he strolled to the exit while reading his book. ¡°Confused right? I don¡¯t blame you,¡± the instructor said, coming up behind Alan ¡°He¡¯s a ridiculously high level fighter, hell he could probably fight most of the teacher head on - all at once.¡± Sighing now, the combat teacher continued ¡°Unfortunately for him we don¡¯t need fighters, his ability to use magic, and even how much mana he has, is pitiful in comparison to the rest of the school. It¡¯s like he was born Right-handed, in a place that only wants people Left-handed.¡± Alan listened to the words as he watched his teacher look back at the two machines. ¡°If this was a decades ago, he would have been priceless! Hell he could probably kill mages with his bare hands, but...¡± trailed off the tired instructor, looking at the machines and walking away. There was no need for him to finish, Alan understood perfectly. Even with Key¡¯s level of talent, it was useless, the machines in front of him were mass-murdering vehicles of steel that trumped everything but high level magic. Nothing outside of Ilad could beat it and fighters, no matter their ability levels, were useless. Key could kill a hundred magicians but he¡¯d never be able to get the one inside the lunks of metal. Alan turned to watch Key as he was exiting, watched him as he brought up his arm to scratch the back of his neck. Watched as he briefly pushed down his collar to rub what ever bothered him, and for a millisecond, Alan watched as something revealed itself - grinning it¡¯s ugly head off. Did he really see it? Was it his imagination? ¡®A barcode?¡¯ ___________________________________________________________________________ ¡°I¡¯m off it? Why!¡± ¡°We don¡¯t need him under surveillance anymore, the case has been cleared¡± Two men were standing behind a tree, near a school. ¡°It¡¯s only been a day! I¡¯ve barely even started!¡± ¡°Regardless you don¡¯t need to investigate any longer, look I¡¯m just telling you what came down from the top.¡± There were two distinct voices, one younger and one older. ¡°Don¡¯t you think that¡¯s a little fishy! I mean¡ª¡± ¡°Don¡¯t you think I know that!? I agree, but I can¡¯t do anything here! I¡¯m tied to a leash now...¡± ¡°What?¡± ¡°Something strange is going on here, and something big is happening east that has the upper brass concerned. Look here, they said you were off the case and you¡¯re not supposed to be investigating any more, but they haven¡¯t given you a new case yet *wink*. For now, just stay here and ¡®take care of yourself¡¯ ok? Don¡¯t bring attention to yourself either!¡± One of the men, wearing a black coat and clearly looking out of place, started to walk away into the forest before- ¡°Wait!¡± ¡°What is it? I can¡¯t stay much longer...¡± ¡°He had numbers, a barcode I think.¡± the younger one said. ¡°Like yours?¡± ¡°No, right here¡± the younger man responded, pointing to the base of his neck. Nodding the older man raised his hand to his chin, ¡°I understand, I¡¯ve never heard of one like that either, I look into it...¡± and with that he left, melting into the forests¡¯ shadows. Stepping out of the shade the younger man began his trek back to the school, before a male voice called out and began walking with him. ¡°Hey Alan! What were you doing over there?¡± ¡°Nothing I just wanted some fresh air.¡± ¡°Ah I see, that¡¯s cool, so did you hear...¡± (A/N): Dun dun dun, the plot is real! Hopefully my writing has remained nice and grammatically proper and doesn¡¯t sound horrible. IDK I¡¯m glad to take any advice I can get that¡¯s what this series is for, (maybe ¡®The Group¡¯ will do a review eventually? who knows :P that would be nice) after all. I did release a little earlier then I said just because I didn¡¯t feel like waiting longer in case I forgot. P.S. Sorry if there are spacing problems my bad Chapter 4 ¡°This one seems quite useful, purifying water...¡± muttering to himself, Key was in the library flipping through the book in front of him. The first week of school had finally ended and it was currently the weekend. ¡°Normally no one would have any use for this kind of thing but it could be kind of find, and who knows? I don¡¯t see why not to learn it...¡± So far Key had managed to learn a ¡®Drying¡¯ spell, a spell to protect him from the rain, another to carry heavy objects, and a third to easily clean just about anything. He could have been able to learn much more, but for that he could only blame his poor talent in magecraft. ¡°Ah, Professor did you need me for something?¡± Key suddenly mumbled, before he flipped the page of his book. ¡°Yes, actually I do,¡± said his combat instructor, Professor Schuld, while stepping out from the side of a nearby bookcase, ¡°I came here to tell you there¡¯s an important meeting you¡¯re supposed to be attending when school starts again, and then there¡¯ll be an assembly afterward which you¡¯ll have to be at.¡± Coming over from the bookshelves he dropped a slip of paper in front of Key before moving back from the table a little. ¡°You came here just to tell me that? Couldn¡¯t you have just sent a student or secretary?¡± He lightly responded. ¡°Haha, well despite how intelligent you are that¡¯s wrong on two counts!¡± His teacher happily retorted. ¡°First,¡± he said while grinning and flashing a card with red lettering on it, ¡°How many people have access to this floor in the first place? Second we can¡¯t risk any of those few people ¡®forgetting¡¯ to deliver the message since they¡¯re, well, uninvited". ¡°Haha, I understand professor, is there anything else you need from me?¡± Key said, nodding lightly. Clearly the man in front of him had quite a bit of standing for him to have access all the way up to the 5th floor. ¡°No, you¡¯re free to do your reading, the meeting will be held in the student council room as soon as school starts. Your teachers have already been notified and you¡¯ve been excused from class. It¡¯ll most likely take all day as well.¡± ¡°Oh? What¡¯s this meeting about?¡± ¡°You¡¯ll find out in a couple of days!¡± his teacher said, before finally leaving towards the elevator. _____________________________________________________________________________ Alan wasn¡¯t entirely sure why he had been invited to the meeting, but when he walked in he knew it was high-profile. After a full week of being in school, he had picked up a couple things about the school. One of those things was the existence of a group of top-tier students and faculty members labeled ¡°The Black Cards¡±. The students within the group didn¡¯t necessarily have black Library cards, but they did have the ability to obtain one. The fact of the matter was that everyone waiting in the student council room for this meeting was, to the best of his knowledge, a member of the prestigious ¡°Black Cards¡± which was quite amazing seeing how there were only 150 such people in a school with around 3,000 students. That being said the mystery of why he was there became even more difficult to understand. He knew that meetings like this weren¡¯t uncommon and happened frequently throughout the year when big changes needed to happen or be discussed, however there were only something like 40 students there and the meeting would start shortly. Then, strolling in as if it was nothing, Key walked in, sat down, pulled out a thin binder and began writing something down furiously. Since he was the only familiar face Alan knew, he decided to approach Key while being not at all curious about whatever was making a high-level honor student like Key write so quickly. ¡°If you write any faster, you¡¯ll burn a hole in that paper¡± he said, to which he only got a grunt in response. ¡°What¡¯s got you so worked up anyhow?¡± This time Key paused and quickly glanced up before returning to his work. ¡°I need to finish Professor Toll¡¯s homework before, oh wait, never mind¡¡± as if realizing something Key suddenly stopped writing, perked up and put his binder away somewhere in the desk he was sitting in. ¡®Is he unexpectedly the forgetful type?¡¯ Alan thought to himself, before he asked if Key knew what the meeting happened to be about. ¡°No Idea, though it looks to be quite serious.¡± Key replied. Before Alan could ask how he knew that, with a bang, the door shot open and two important looking people strolled in. The first an aged man, probably well into his 40¡¯s or 50¡¯s, the second a youthful young woman maybe in her early 30¡¯s. Though, really that was pure conjecture, it wasn¡¯t necessarily true. Alan watched as the two strolled to the other end of the room, which he took as a moment to really survey the room. It was rather long, with several student desks pushed toward the back where he was. In front of him was a horseshoe shape made of three long desks. On the right side of the room was a wall of windows with which the entrance of the school could be seen, with its throng of students strolling in. On the left was just the entrance into the room. ¡°Everyone¡¯s here correct? Good I¡¯ll begin then,¡± the old man mumbled to the woman next to him before sitting at the head of the table ¡°I¡¯m sure most of you are a little confused as to what is happening.¡± Now motioning to the woman next to him, he leaned back in his chair waiting for her to finish her expectation. ¡°Two weeks ago, every school across the country received the same notice, the one declaring the re-instatement of the Apex protocol, most of you don¡¯t know what that means so I¡¯ll explain properly. 30 years ago, the war against the Yavell empire came to our country, and the king had a problem. That problem, to put it simply, was that he couldn¡¯t properly organize his war resour;ces and specifically the students who were being drafted. In order to fix that, he established an inter-scholastic tournament, in which every school in the country was forced to send their best students to compete in various events so that a proper hierarchy and skill level could be distinguished. It worked perfectly and was considered to be one of the main reasons we survived the war, as well as it became a great past time for the whole country to enjoy. With that in mind does anyone have any questions yet?¡± She said finally, pausing her history lesson. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. One person raised their hand and asked ¡°Why re-enact the Apex Protocol now?¡± ¡°Save that question for the end please, any others?¡± Another student raised his hand ¡°We aren¡¯t at war anymore, what do we gain from participating in this tournament?¡± ¡°Good question, firstly you¡¯d bring prestige to this school and most likely the title of ¡®the best¡¯, second you¡¯d probably be scouted by some agency or government organization and probably be set for life. That is, of course, if you win¡± That quickly shut the last student up, but perked the attention of several more students at the same time. ¡°Now moving on, everyone here is considered as a potential candidate for participation. The only ways to avoid participation is out of serious consider for a medical condition, expulsion, or simply not being as good as another candidate. This is because there is a chance of death during the matches, and the tournament is considered highly dangerous. You also have the right, as candidates for the starting line-up, to understand why the Apex protocol has been enacted. Make no mistake however, you are all required by law to never speak a word about this. Failure to comply will result in expulsion and execution. Understood?¡± Everyone began nodding at once; no one could mistake the seriousness of the atmosphere. The woman began to hand out manila folders to each student. ¡°Within, you¡¯ll find the documentation on the death of a patrol unit from Oberon. You may keep these and the report attached. The report holds information on the YRA, the ¡®Yavell Republic Army¡¯, a rebel group attempting to incite a rebellion and reclaim the Yavell territories. The information within was from 2 months ago, I suggest you all take a look at the contents.¡± So saying, Alan flipped open the folder. The documents had all the dates and names blacked out with some kind of marker but the general idea was still clearly legible with the background information they already had. The YRA had come up with some method to take down the shields on Praes machines and get to the operators. If what the documents were saying was true, this was extremely dangerous. The only reason they managed to suppress Yavell was because of the Praes to begin with. It was lucky they managed to build it; In fact the first versions used in the war were horribly faulty prototypes. The history behind how they managed it was pretty illustrious, but the main point is when the Praes lost it¡¯s effectiveness, the Ilad kingdom would lose its trump card over the world. ¡°This is the part you can¡¯t take home, and the one I advise all of you to forget ever happened once you leave this room. Since then there have been numerous other incidents,¡± while saying that she pulled up a holographic in the center of the horseshoe arrangement for the students to see. Indicating to several faces and images of Praes wreckages she continued ¡°in total, we¡¯ve had 6 more attacks throughout Oberon, and the YRA have already established an encampment in a quadrant of the city which we no longer have any access too. Not only that, but intel suggests that some of the surrounding countries have started to back them in an attempt to start a war.¡± There was a sharp intake of air, and the sound of people¡¯s breath catching in their throat resonated in the air. The next few words that came out of the woman¡¯s mouth were unmistakable. ¡°Next year, the king will be starting a peacetime draft and mobilization of troops to the borders will happen shortly after. There might not be a war now, but don¡¯t expect that to stay true.¡± Cutting off the woman, the man in front of Alan suddenly started talking, ¡°Even if that¡¯s true, our main problem isn¡¯t the Steel Cities anymore right? Even if they can take down Praes machines, it seems to be in limited use, and probably not that effective yet. Wouldn¡¯t it be safer to focus more on external enemies first?¡± ¡°That¡¯s a good point, but that¡¯s got nothing to do with this meeting. I¡¯m sure that will be something to deal with when you graduate, so for now, please stay a student a little while longer,¡± taking the question in great stride the woman politely smiled ¡° the only thing we need to worry about is the tournament.¡± ¡°Well, with that the background is done! Let¡¯s get down to business now!¡± suddenly the older man cut in. ¡°This is the part some of you are not going to like, so first let¡¯s do this¡ is there anyone who can¡¯t fight for medical reasons?¡± No one raised their hands, most of them were perfectly healthy and none had any serious medical issues. ¡°How about those who¡¯d prefer to be expelled, rather than fight?¡± this was dangerous for Alan. Most of the students were all too eager to earn prestige and fame, or just fight in general, however Alan had a debate on his hands. Risk exposure, or take expulsion and lose all contact with his target? Was it worth following a supposed ¡®harmless¡¯ subject? It had already been clearly stated he wasn¡¯t an issue¡ No something is still odd about him, his name and background are complete mysteries and with the news he just recieved, Alan simply needed to find out what was going on. In the end he didn¡¯t raise his hand, no one did. ¡°Perfect, let¡¯s get started with the difficult part now¡¡± (A/N): I''ll release the second chapter later today, when some of the other authors calm down with all the updates. In the meantime, the few readers who are out there I would love to read a review and see what I can improve and do better on. Thanks! Chapter 5 ¡°Right, so I want the room split into two halves, on this half, the currently active student council members,¡± as he spoke several students walked over and formed a singular row ¡°and on this half I want everyone else.¡± Several more rows were formed, and when everyone finished moving around the old man spoke again ¡°Ok, take a look, there are currently 5 members of the student council still active since elections haven¡¯t happened yet. This year we won¡¯t have any elections, as of this moment you five are no longer part of the student council. We¡¯re deciding the new student council today.¡± At that Alan could clearly see the shocked expressions of specific students who began looking at each other, most likely the other previous student council members. ¡°Now, tradition is that the starting lineup for the tournament has to be made of student council members, though the backups and second string don¡¯t have to be. As you know, there are only about 20 spots, so as you can guess we¡¯re going to have to make some cuts here¡¡± Pausing he looked back at the holographic screen that was still displaying the information on the 6 deaths. Nodding to the woman again, the screen changed to display several names, presumably categories. ¡°These are the different events that have been included this year.¡± Red Night Blitz Obelisk Incursion Capture the Orb Strike ¡°I''ll be giving you each a pamphlet so you understand what they are. In the meantime I¡¯ll tell you the 3 students who have automatically been selected as main Student Council members. That would be, Daniel Harrison, Alan Custos and Kirimara Zei.¡± Immediately there were cries of outrage, but not because Alan was on the list of 3 like he had believed, but because of the last name mentioned. ¡°Are you kidding! He¡¯s absolutely useless¡± ¡°What¡¯s with that! A crappy magician like him!¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t he almost fail the magic final last year? How could we let him on!¡± The majority of the students present immediately became riled up, everything they thought made him unworthy began piling up, but the worst ones stayed stagnant at the back of their minds ¡®It¡¯s because the principal¡¯s your father isn¡¯t it?¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s because you have a name like you came from the east! They just don¡¯t want to look bad.¡¯ ¡®You probably just bribed the teachers or something!¡¯ ¡®Everything important, you suck at, you just happen to be better at everything else.¡¯ The upcoming tournament would mean a lot to their futures, it was an opportunity unrivaled, the fact that a seat that could have been theirs had been taken by someone they thought lesser of was taken hurt their prides massively. The value of magic in this country was above all, you could be born from a cat with a rat as a father, and a face made of literal feces and still make it big, as long as you had enough Mana. Alan had a rightful spot among them, as he had beaten their best Praes operator the day he arrived, but Key not so much. It was like preparing a team for the olympics with limited space and saying ¡°We need XXX, since he¡¯s the best badminton, table tennis, and archery person we have¡± to them. ¡°Whatever you may think, none of you can beat him in martial arts and we have 3 such categories. If we want to take home the trophy we need those wins, and only the main council cabinet can participate in more than 1 category. Two of those competitions are 3 on 3, so if you think you have value as a fighter than you still have that chance to prove yourself.¡± The old man finally finished, calming the large commotion that was building, even some of the younger teachers had gotten involved. Fighting ability in this part of the country had no value, since for the past decade and a half it had been looked down upon. Schools for martial arts had been considered worse than brothels, thanks to the propaganda and efforts of the current king. Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Though this was not without basis. For the past century, Ilad and many other kingdoms had been suppressed by that same ability, by the Yavell empire. Yavell was renowned for having the toughest, strongest warriors, and placed little value in anything else. Ilad¡¯s knights and soldiers were crushed like ants before the Yavell armies, and the only thing that kept them out of death was their magical prowess. It would only make sense then that their magical ability was valued so much higher than the dirty martial arts that came so close to defeating them. ¡°Moving forward we need to discuss the rest of this line-up, Angela, please pass them all the pamphlets.¡± Alan, receiving a slip of paper from the woman, started to read. Red Night: 3 operators from each team do a night drop in their Praes and fight to defeat the other team. Last team alive wins Blitz: 3 fighters from each team are selected, no magic is allowed and fighting is purely hand to hand. Last team alive wins. Obelisk: King of the hill type scenario. First team to reach the obelisk in the center of the map must hold it until the game ends. Whichever team completes their objective wins. Incursion: Similar to Blitz, there are 3 on 3 matches, however magic is allowed. There is a Last team alive, or the win who completes the objective, wins. Capture the Orb: There are two roaming orbs for each team on opposite sides. The sides are separated by a natural barrier, one team must find and return with their opponent¡¯s orb to win. Strike: The top fighters from each school face of in one on one battles. Anything except for Praes machines are allowed. ¡°The tournament lasts for 2 weeks. The first week is a preliminary round with Capture the Orb and Incursion matches as the main attraction, only the top 8 schools make it to the next week,¡± pausing to take a breath, the Old man who had still failed to identify himself continued, ¡°We want to make several teams for the prelims and one or two for the finals, 23 students in all. Those 23 will be our Student Council members for this year. The other 17 of you become second string, I want the 7 students called to come with me to the arena, the rest of you prepare for exhibition matches...¡± (A/N): So I''ve pretty much given up on waiting for that ''lull'' in releases, I was hoping for one of those periods in the afternoon where people haven''t updated for like 4 hours or more. I mean what is it, Easter break or something? Anyway, hope you enjoy the update, Ill post again sometime later in the week. Chapter 6 ¡°Alright! That¡¯s the last match, we have our top 16, among those are there any who think they can beat the 7 next to me?¡± shouted the man that Alan had now identified as Principal Zei, ¡°No? Good. I want everyone but Sara, Alexis and Kirimara to go back to class now. Also it should go without saying but, I don¡¯t want anyone to hear about this before the assembly.¡± Hearing that, the remaining few students started to file out of the room back to their classes. Alan took a single look back as he left, watching as Key strolled over to the principal while casually scratching at the back of his neck. After that he turned and left with the throng of other students. ________________________________________________________________________ Alan, while walking back among the throng of other students, couldn¡¯t help but notice the whispering that was accumulating from the classrooms they passed. Watching carefully, he could see some students craning their necks to check the faces of the individual people within their little mob. The Student Council room was in the center building and most Senior and Junior classes were on the extreme sides of the school, so the original group of 40 students split into to two groups and went in their respective directions, but either way they would be unable to avoid the attention of classes already in session. ¡°Hey, Alan!¡± called out one man from behind him, he was of average height with a thin but toned body and build. With his dirty blonde windswept hair he ran to catch up to Alan. This was the number two fighter, John Mallory, and he wasn¡¯t very happy about that. He also now happened to be the new Secretary of the Student Council. ¡°What¡¯s up? So it¡¯ll be me and you on the Student Council huh, Mr. Treasurer? Listen, I know we don¡¯t know each other too well, but if you don¡¯t mind I¡¯d like to make a proposal. What do you think?¡± Pausing for a moment, Alan carefully responded ¡°I¡¯m not against the idea, what is it?¡± ¡°The way I see it, me and you are outsiders here. The President and Vice President are both girls and childhood friends to boot, Kirimara has nothing at stake, and Daniel would stab his own mother in the back if he thought it could help him out. I say we help each other out, you know what I mean?¡± ¡°Not really, in fact I don¡¯t think you could help me and I definitely can¡¯t help you¡± Alan bluntly retorted. Raising his hand quickly as if in defeat, he smiled and said ¡°Alright, I see where I¡¯m not wanted, but I think you should give it some thought. Hell, I¡¯m fine as long as we agree to stay out of each other¡¯s way. If you change your mind just tell me.¡± before quietly stopping and taking an abrupt left into, what Alan presumed to be, his classroom. Mallory was truly one of the Student Council members, showing his adept political talent within seconds. In fact he was one of the five that had only previously been disavowed earlier in the day. He barely skated by in becoming a student council member, remaining as the 7th name that was called and he knew it which is why he wanted to get an ally as quickly as possible. Unfortunately now that he was a member of such a ¡®prestigious¡¯ group, Alan had his own problems to deal with. Mainly the fact that he was now in the public eye, and had no way of getting out of it. His goal was to lay low and off the radar so he could investigate quietly, but now he had to adapt. Rather than lay low, why not use his newfound renown to his advantage? It might be difficult but It would be the only way to do things without looking shady. He had to think of how to¡ª ¡°Ah, Mr. Custos, so good of you to join us¡± The reprimanding of his teacher broke him from his thoughts and he turned to observe the class for a second before turning back to his teacher. Nodding politely and smiling, Alan responded ¡°Sorry sir, the meeting lasted rather long and only just now finished.¡± ¡°Will Mr. Zei be joining us sometime soon as well?¡± ¡°No sir, he and a few other students were held back and will probably stay there until the assembly later today.¡± Accepting his explanation with a nod the teacher went back to describing whatever it was that he was teaching moments before Alan came in, while the man himself returned to his seat. _________________________________________________________________________ Peaking out from behind the curtains on stage, Alan watched as students streamed in from the sides. Turning away from the stage he walked back to where the other 39 students were waiting. Even if they hadn¡¯t made it to the top tier of the list during the match, these 40 were selected because they were the best even among the Black Cards, they would come along regardless. Finally after about another minute, the principal strolled onto stage and ushered everyone to quiet down and begin the assembly. ¡°Today is a grand day! Today, I announce the revival of the annual Spitze tournament. The country wide event to decide who is the best of the best!¡± In between the pause for theatrical effect, Alan could hear the murmurs of confusion in the crowd most likely because of the fact that they, like himself, had no idea what is was at first. ¡°Now, not only is this a great honour, and a chance to earn prestige and fame for the participants as well as our school as a whole, but is an extremely dangerous and deadly competition. It would not be an exaggeration to say we are lucky if half of the original team is alive by the end. That is how serious this tournament is. That is the risk these students take in order to gamble for the chance to bring home the title of ¡®The Best¡¯.¡± Again another theatrical pause. However Alan couldn¡¯t help but think about the blatant lie the principal just told this time, hadn¡¯t he essentially forced them to be participants? The way he was saying it, they might as well have given themselves up on a golden platter! ¡°Now, as per school tradition, the participants all need to be members of the student council. However due to the tournament being so soon, we cannot wait for elections and so through a series of matches we have determined the best fighters and operators that will be this year¡¯s student council.¡± This time a definitive unruliness took over the crowd. Some looked like they were about to stand up and protest, if they didn¡¯t have elections then there was no chance that they could even attempt to be on the student council this year after all. The student council was the most important organization in school, and being on it meant you had become one of the elite. The best part was anyone can be on it, or at least they could be before this year. At the same time this ruined their future chances as well, who would want to participate in a death game like that for only a short period of power? Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. The Principal roared angrily cutting them off ¡°Settle down now, or I¡¯ll have you suspended!¡± and with that shut down those few who had started to rise. ¡°Now, despite your feelings, nothing can be done, we can¡¯t send anyone unfit to this tournament, and it would be a stain on the school to say our best contestants aren¡¯t leading the school as they should. So, without further ado I shall introduce you to your new class leaders. Starting with the President, we have Sara Armini. For Vice President we have Alexis Serrano.¡± Armini, the smartest student in the school followed by Key and then Alexis. The Childhood friends as well as some of the best combatants in the school. Armini with an emphasis on ground combat, and Alexis as the better operator, a complimentary duo. ¡°General Secretary is John Mallory, and General Treasurer is Alan Custos. Finally for the Head of Morals is Kirimara Zei, and Head of Academics is Daniel Harrison. I¡¯ll now have these two introduce you to the rest of the student council.¡± As the Principal called out names, one by one the students stalked onto the stage and took a place behind the podium the principal was speaking at. After the last two names were called, Principal Zei took a step back from the podium and turned to walk away. After he had left, Key and Daniel both stepped forward toward the podium to take his place. Daniel quickly spoke first, almost fumbling over his words as he did so ¡°Starting with the Academics Committee, Club treasurer will be Victor Pascusto...¡± With nothing else left to do but stand there, Alan went over the rest of the information floating in his head as Daniel spoke. The main break down of the Student Council was that it was really 3 separate entities. Separating them were the 3 ¡®Heads¡¯ in charge of them, namely the President, the Head of Academics, and the Head of Morals. Those 3 positions are considered of equal power and counted as part of the main branch of the Student Council. The main branch, run by the president, was in charge of the general things, and mostly directed the separation of the two other branches. Essentially they made sure each branch got what they needed to operate, which was represented by the 2 Heads. They also had the final say, on everything. The ¡®Academics¡¯ half was more specific, they were in charge of controlling funds to the clubs, holding class events and functions, making sure classes had the equipment they needed, things like that. The ¡®Morals¡¯ half did everything else, they were in charge of security and the safety of the students. They had control over disciplinary actions with the exception of highly controversial or serious cases, and had the most influence in deciding which Club got space and where. The Morals Committee was also in charge of ensuring students are acting properly according to schools rules, as well as the maintenance and the purchasing of new combat equipment when needed. They were also the only ones authorized to use force of any kind on campus, with the exception of the main branch. ¡°And now for the Morals Committee...¡± The breakdown of the Committees was also interesting. On the Morals side, it was generally a chairman for disciplinary action, a treasurer, a secretary, and then members who specifically only go on patrol or were in charge of security. On the Academics, there were three treasurers, one for clubs, another for school functions and events, and a third for classes and school maintenance. There were also a few sub positions that had really no power, just to ensure there was some semblance of equality in power between the two committees. ¡°Thank you, now please stand and rise to congratulate your new student council!¡± Principal Zei announced. ¡®When did he get there?¡¯ Despite his confusion, Alan simply accounted it to the fact that he had been engrossed in his thoughts, perhaps too much so? Regardless he simply shrugged it off and left stage with the rest of the Student Council. _____________________________________________________________________________ ¡°Are you sure about that?¡± ¡°Absolutely, I have the files right here.¡± As if to confirm everything he had said, Alan waved the files at his handler. ¡°That makes more sense then, what about Kirimara, what have you found on him?¡± ¡°Mostly what we already know, he popped up 12 years ago in some border town claiming his village had been attacked, spent 2 years there, then left to Ersatz-Domum, here, when the war ended with Alexi Zei. What about you? Did you find anything on his barcode?¡± Raising a hand to try and calm Alan¡¯s eagerness, the man in the coat softly said ¡°Thats, if it¡¯s a barcode. I went through the files, I couldn¡¯t find anything on projects after yours, especially in zone 1 or here in zone 3.¡± ¡°Really? You¡¯re sure? 42 was the last one you could find?¡± Pausing for a moment, Alan looked away while rubbing his left bicep. Somehow he couldn¡¯t believe it. He definitely saw a bar code on Key¡¯s neck, and Alan would have known if it was a previous project. Was it possible he just happened to have something that only looked like a bar code? ¡°There¡¯s a library here right? What if we check floors 5 and 6?¡± Sighing, Alan¡¯s Handler replied with a ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do¡ try to find his numbers in the mean time ok?¡± before melding into the shadows of the forest. Alan was again left standing alone at the edge of the forest, unsure of what to do. This is the first time in all his life he had such difficulty with a case, and this technically wasn¡¯t even a case! sighing in frustration he began to trek back to his dorm. He needed to think of some way to get closer to Key, and to see that tattoo. There was no doubt in his mind that Kirimara wasn¡¯t the one who put that tattoo there, the real mystery was who did. (A/N): So I had this pretty much done save for that last part there, since like 2 days ago. For some unknown reason I just procrastinated so hard and ended up making 2 different collab stories, one with Cpt.Rachet and Daz/Dac, the other with Lv1Slime and Vanillaface. So yeah¡ Sorry it kind of got a bit like an info dump towards the middle there, I just had no real spot to put it elsewhere, and got it out of the way quickly. Plus i¡¯m introducing the student council members later so there was no need to hear it now and make it more info dumpy.