- Michael -

Of course it had to be her.

I walked up to Jennith whose eyes were glued to her datacard as she busily analyzed her model of our fortress.

“So… are we partners?” I asked. She looked up from her screen and saw everyone standing in pairs.

“I totally forgot that I gotta partner up too.” She said while face-palming. “Sure, let’s be partners Maxwell.”

“My name’s actual Michael.” I clarified. I was going to let it go but at this point I swear people are doing it on purpose.

“Alright Michael, can you build a scaffold right here?” She said, pointing at the ground in front of her.

“How wide?”

“About…” She clicked her projector and a large hologram of a platform appeared on the ground. “...this big.”

“You could have just opened with that.” I muttered. I raised my hand and began conjuring a script to lift some earth from the ground and fit it into the blueprint. The ground began to rise and fill in the hologram and I twisted my wrist, changing the dirt into stone.

“Hmph, you’re pretty good.” She praised haughtily. She walked over to the platform and slid her hand across its surface. “I didn’t expect you to be so good at alteration.”

“I practiced a few things in my free time. It can be useful in combat.” I responded.

“Well, if that’s the case, there’s a lot of stuff you can help with.” Another hologram appeared on the corner of the platform. “Like this pillar for example.”

“Got it.”

Our building process went on like this, with each pair of students helping to piece the fortress together. Most of the other pairs would have the type one mages create the shape and the type two change the material. Since I could do both, Jennith just threw up a bunch of holograms and started working on the construction as well.

“You’re not too bad with vectors yourself.” I pointed out.

She finished placing a large block of stone above the doorway. “When you’re studying architecture, vector magic is pretty much a necessity if you wanna get anywhere in your free time.”

The rest of the hour went on pretty smoothly from here on out… besides a few incidents of students dropping large blocks of rock everywhere.

“What the fuck are you doing!”

“Well sorry! I’m a battlemage, not a fucking construction worker!”

Alright, the rest of the hour went smoothly for us. We finished the shape of the building that looked like a mush between a medieval castle and a modern military base. I can’t say I like the design but it’ll do. All the students rounded up in the designated core room and stood in a circle on one side of the chamber.

“Isn’t it kinda dark in here?” Gregory remarked.

“We haven’t installed the lights yet you dolt.” A girl beside him said. I could only assume she was his partner.

“Why’d I have to partner up with you.” She complained.

Gregory shrugged his shoulders, “It wasn't all bad was it? The construction went smoothly.” He pointed to the pedestal for the core and smiled. “And look how cool the design is.”

The pedestal for the core consisted of a hexagonal pyramid at the base and a mirroring structure coming from the roof. There were several interconnecting pieces and carvings embedded into the structure and while it didn’t seem like they actually did something they did in fact look cool, like something you’d see in one of the Pillars to Heaven.

“Well, I guess it did.” She responded, pretending not to care. It was clear she was fond of him. “So, what’s your plan Jennith?”

“Hmm, well we gotta install the lights as you said. The weaponry and main defense matrix also need to be initiated. You guys should already have the plans on your data cards.”

“Yep, we got them.” A boy said.

“Alright, then we’re good. Gregory, Manthus, Feona; You guys and your partners will handle the weaponry. Ettia, you and your partner will be with us. We”ll be working on the field barriers surrounding the base.”

Jennith tapped her datacard and the girl named Ettia checked hers. “I’ve sent the blueprint of the field over. The details aren’t ironed out but try to make do. Let’s get to work everyone!”

All the groups scattered through the halls of the base and we left the building along with Ettia’s group. We stopped a few yards out from the entrance and Jennith turned to face the three of us.

“So we gotta place some barriers around.” She turned and looked at me. “What did you have in mind?”

“Well, we only need enough to hide small groups and block their line of sight. Just some walls and small bunkers to provide cover should do the job. Some traps wouldn’t hurt either, even if they don’t land.”

“Even if they don’t land?” The boy beside Ettia asked.

“Yeah. Even if they’re lackluster, just their presence along with the potential for ambushes should make the enemy more paranoid and cautious on their approach. That should slow them down quite a bit, at least more than an open field.”

“Sounds good.” Jennith concluded. “I need to talk to Professor Melwood for a second so I’ll be gone for a bit. Michael, you work with the other two while I’m gone.”

She left us there and ran off across the field towards the stands.

“How bout we get moving?” The boy proposed.

“Sounds good.” Ettia responded. They turned and quickly began working on the bunkers.

“Guess that’s that.” I grumbled. If they’re going to be working on the inner section, I’ll reinforce the border. I dashed up the field until I reached the translucent wall separating our side from the enemy’s. From a distance it simply looked like the other side of the colosseum was empty. Of course we knew that it was actually concealed using magic.

“This must be some pretty complex magitech if it can create such a large energy barrier.”

I picked up a pebble and flicked it through the barrier. It permeated the surface and seemingly disappeared into thin air. I was tempted to disrupt the program with magic but decided against it considering the potential consequences. I couldn’t imagine the amount of trouble I’ll be in if I broke a hundred-thousand dollar Magic device.

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I looked back at the base and noticed that a row of bunkers and watch towers had already been constructed. “Damn already? I better get to work before lunch, or that girl will kill me.”

I silently began working on the defenses as well, conjuring various short walls and small cubic buildings. From above, it might look like some kind of semi-circle maze with all the stuttering walls and bunkers lining the battlefront. For good measure, I pieced together a reinforced barrier at the very front to make their initial push more difficult and set up some pitfalls around the area.

This is getting really exhausting. Where is Jennith?

I worked backwards making basic encirclements and such until I reached the area where Ettia and her partner had been working. They were sitting under a large tent on wooden chairs created with magic. I walked into the shade of the recovery station and sat on one of the many vacant seats.

“What is this, a resting spot?” I said, heaving.

The boy whose name I still hadn’t learnt looked up at me. “You better hope it is. Looks like you need it.”

“Well yeah, after building all that… I would need a second to catch my breath.” I said, laboring to breathe.

That bitch, leaving and dumping all the work on me.

Out of the corner of my eye I spotted a table with water bottles and other refreshments freshly spread out. I quickly snatched up one of the bottles and ripped open the cap.

“Woah there buddy, you’re gonna spill that.” The boy warned.

I ignored his words and chugged the contents of the bottle into my dry mouth, emptying it in one go. I coughed and caught my breath while leaning forward.

“It’s pretty impressive that you covered such a large area by yourself. You must have a crazy LE pool.” Ettia praised.

The boy tilted his head. “LE pool?”

“Life Essence Pool. You know, the Essence within our bodies? Did you pay attention during class?”

“The only things I don’t pay attention to are the abbreviations you just up and invent.” He retorted. “Anyways, he didn’t do that by himself. He had Jennith to help him.”

“Um no, I didn’t get any help, Jennith ran off when we started remember?”

“She never came back?” He asked. “She passed by here earlier and dropped off all this stuff before leaving.” He gestured to the drinks on the table. “I assumed she went to help you.”

“I sure wish she did, I worked myself like a slave out there. You know how difficult it is to convert multiple tons of earth to steel?”

“Steel?!” Ettia shouted. “You changed the dirt to solid metal?”

“Well yes, but only for one barrier across the battlefront.”

The boy stood up to toss his bottle away. “A steel barrier across the entire battlefront? You’re a monster dude.”

“Oh please,” I waved my hand, “you should see the traps. Unless they’re walking with their eyes closed there’s no way they’ll miss’m.”

“Oh, I’m a field specialist. I can check them out for you.” Ettia offered.

“That’d be appreciated. It seems like lunch break is over anyways.”

The three of us grabbed our things and stepped out of the tent, walking down the field towards the battlefront. The defenses these two built were less compact than mine, mostly consisting of watchtowers that branched out from small walled areas that provided cover. Beside a few more walled areas and chest-height short walls, this layer of our defense seemed to favor-

“Hey, watch out!”

I stopped my stride and tried to see what was going on but it was too late. I felt my leading foot sink into the ground and the next thing I knew, I was free falling down a large pit.

I scrambled for something to break my fall and quickly attempted to conjure wind magic to catch myself. Wind began to push against my back and I got ready to steadily break my fall when all the air was knocked out of my lungs as I crashed into the hard ground at the bottom of the pit.

“Hey! You alright down there!” I heard the boy yell. I stayed sprawled on the ground and stared up at the two heads hanging over the edge of the pit.

“I’m too lazy to move. Just leave me here for a bit.” I muttered.

“What was that!” The boy yelled.

I sighed and slowly stood up. “I said, get me out of here!”

The ground under me began to shift and I was slowly raised up by a column of earth. I arrived at the top where the boy stood with his arm outstretched.

“Welcome back.” Ettia said, laughing nervously.

“What the hell was that?”

“Well, I did say I was a field expert right? Then of course I would set some traps too. It just happens that I forgot to tell you..”

She scratched her cheek nervously and averted her gaze. Is she looking for an excuse? Well, it’s not a habit of mine to stress people out when they make mistakes. Even if it causes me to fall down a 15 foot hole.

“Haah, forget it. If your traps are this good, I’m sure you could fix up mine.” I turned around and gestured for them to follow.

“Oh, and what’s your name?” I asked while we walked. I was tired of referring to him as ‘That guy that’s Ettia’s partner’ in my head.

“You didn’t know this whole time? We’re already a few months into the school year.” He responded.

“I never got around to learning it.” I answered. “I’m bad with names anyway.”

He laughed and patted my shoulder. “The name’s Alexander. You can call me Alex.”

I patted his shoulder back. “Yep, nice to meet you Alex.”

We reached the area where I had worked and the two of them stopped to review my work.

“You built all this?” Ettia exclaimed.

“Well yes, but it was only fun for the first twenty minutes” I griped. “After that, I was pretty much pulling the dirt out of the ground rather than building walls.”

“If this is you working while exhausted,” Ettia said, examining the barriers, “then I can’t imagine what the rest looks like.”

“There is no way you built this by yourself” Alex accused. “The concentration and mental exertion by themselves would wear you out before you could finish even half of this.”

“Hey, I think I was adequately worn out when I got back.” I quipped. “Plus- Oh, speak of the Devil.”

I pointed behind them towards the base and the two turned to see Jennith running up towards us.

She stopped a few feet away and grabbed her knees to catch her breath.

“I’m here!” She announced, catching her breath. “Did… you… finish yet?”

“Not much of an athlete are you?” I teased.

“Oh save it.” She hissed.

“I already finished the construction. Ettia was just gonna do a quick check on the traps.”

“Shoot. I was almost here, you could’ve waited.” She complained. “I needed to instruct the people at base about something.”

“Wait, so you really didn’t help?” Alex asked in disbelief.

“Well I was sure he could figure it out.” She waved off. “Cause he’s so talented.”

Is she still on about that?

“Hey, all's well that ends well. Let’s go check Mike’s work shall we?” Jennith said, ushering us along.

We went around the grounds and completed some detail work, Jennith revising some of the designs while Ettia cleaned up the pitfall traps. It was scary how hidden she could make them. Once they were done, you couldn’t even differentiate them from the plain ground. Even though there weren’t spikes at the bottom, anyone who fell in would break a bone or two if they didn’t use magic in time. My condolences to any future casualties.

The four of us returned to the fortress and as planned, the walls had been equipped with heavy weaponry to thwart the enemy students. Though we call it a fortress, the scale is not incredibly big as we will only have maybe six students defending it. It was more akin to a weaponized mansion with stone walls.

We entered through the main hall and proceeded up the main stairway to the core room. Inside, we found the rest of the team lounging on one side of the room, some looking at blueprints on their data cards while others were talking amongst themselves.

“Oh, there they are.” Creeth announced. “Welcome back Field Team.”

“Hello Creeth.” Jennith said. “Did you finish the external plating?”

“Yes mam I did.” Creeth said playfully. Jennith rolled her eyes and stepped into the center of the group.

“Good job with the construction guys. Tomorrow we’ll be entering the action phase so make sure your equipment is ready. Class is dismissed from here so we’re authorized to leave” She clapped her hands and everyone got up to attend the second period. I, on the other hand, had my training with Eric.

Oh I’m dreading this training already.