Another week has passed and Aria's class is back in training mode with their assigned trainers. Each person has been given the task of developing their own Unique Art, a powerful skill that is unique to the user and developed through their proficiency and style of fighting. Unique Arts can be either offensive or defensive in nature. If someone were to try to replicate a Unique Art, they would need the same proficiency as the owner of the skill and a lot of practice, unlike with regular Offensive Arts.

Thud...! Thud...! THUD...!

In the training grounds, Aria is sparring with Razor instead of Olivia in an effort to become more accustomed to fighting agile opponents. However, Aria has practiced with her wooden spear for so long that Razor takes advantage of the state of its durability.

[Unique Art: Piercing Vortex!]

Aria uses her new Unique Art, which she developed with Olivia's help. The attack involves a series of piercing thrusts with her spear and sometimes appears as an illusion of a vortex quickly closing in on Aria's opponent. However, Razor has been eyeing the state of Aria's weapon for so long that he goes for an aggressive move, parrying Aria's attack and breaking the spear. In a moment, he is behind Aria with a knife at her throat.

"You're a scary one, glaring at me like that," Razor comments. "It's good that you're treating this like a real battle, but never mind." He lets out a sigh.

'Even if I wasn't going serious, I might have lost that...'

"Ah, sorry," Aria returns to normal.

"Your skill with the spear has improved tremendously, but just remember you have a small opening when you commit to a wide swing. A group of enemies might turn on you just because of it," Olivia critiques.

Before Ace's fall, Aria's fighting style was described as an expressive dancer twirling her spear elegantly while also keeping her opponent at bay with an aggressive approach. However, this past week her fighting style has become more barbaric, consisting of wide, aggressive swings that make it more unpredictable what kind of attack she will launch next, but this aggressive factor had caused a concern for Olivia.

"I'll... keep that in mind," Aria responds.

"Thank you for joining us for training, Razor," Olivia says. "I know you only known Ace for a few weeks, but it looked like-"

"It's fine. I'm not bothered by it," Razor immediately cut off Olivia's sentence. "Most importantly, I heard the king will mobilize the army soon."

"What?! Already?! What about the Heroes? Did the other kingdom start rallying their troops?" Olivia raises her voice, looking worried. She glances at Aria and becomes even more concerned for her and her classmates.

"What's going to happen to our dungeon exploration? Is the king sending us to fight already?!" Aria asks angrily.

"...You guys will be exploring to floor 50. If the situation worsens with the other kingdoms. Perhaps less. The moment your dungeon exploring is cancelled, you'll know it's wartime for everyone," Razor explains. "You didn't hear this from me. I just happened to overhear the King's conversation." He shrugs his shoulders.

"It's fine, Razor. I'll let my friends know," Aria says before leaving the training grounds, dismissed by Olivia.

Aria had wasted no time going a complete sprint out of the building. Knowing that Aria is gone, Olivia turned to Razor and asks.

"Razor, how long do the Heroes have before they're mobilized?" With a troubled expression.

"Who knows? You're going too, right?" Razor replies.

"Isn't it obvious... I have nothing to lose. Who's going to watch over her if I don't go," Olivia says.

"That's true. We need her and the others to survive. I'll handle things with Hal from my end when you're gone," Razor says.

"We're not crazy about the King's secret plans, right...?" Olivia clutches her left arm, showing her troubled expression.

"I hope not. For now, I'll keep an eye out for anything strange," Razor says.

Aria had returned to the dorm where her friends have already prepared lunch. Everyone greeted each other and talked about the progress of their developing Arts. While Alan holds Ace's old formation plans that the two of them had devised, he waits for everyone to finish their plates.

"Sorry I know we're sick of reminding our current situation. But it's better to talk about our upcoming schedule and the rumours of war coming closer to us." Alan stood in front of everyone as he spoke in a serious tone.

"No the rumours are true. Razor, Ace's former trainer told me about what will happen." Aria spoke out.

"Huh...? Really? What's going to happen now?" Hilda had her arms on the table as she leaned closer to listen to Aria.

"At best we'll be exploring to floor 50. But if not then..."

"We'll be forced to prepare for the upcoming war." Freya stepped into the discussion.

"Tch... not something I'm ready for."

"It can't be helped."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"How long must we stay here?"

"It's already been at least two months."

"I can't believe we've lost Ace two weeks ago."

The noise started building up in the dining room. Everyone gave their thoughts and dissatisfaction of their situation causing concerns for everyone. Alan slammed the table with his hand grabbing everyone's attention towards him.

"For now we should focus on our objectives. I know we just lost Ace but we can't just let him waste his sacrifice for us." Alan gritted his teeth as he mentions Ace's name.

"Isn't it cruel to send us to war? So soon as well?" Hilda asked.

"I don't like this idea either." Caspar joined it.

"Even so, our lives are on the line if we try to refuse the King's offer how else are we supposed to survive? And even if we want to go home we can't" Freya said. Her explanation was true to their situation. Everyone went silent knowing that it was pointless to argue.

"Well, moving on to our opponents, Ancel was kind enough to tell me what kind of kingdoms we'll be facing," Alan took charge of the discussion reminding everyone to focus on the situation at hand.

"And how many Kingdoms are there?" Vella asked.

"Well, there's five. The Flerea Kingdom known for their Phoenix Knights and fire mages, the Aegis Empire a force to be reckoned with having the development of golems , both the Cromor and Alinia Kingdoms the kingdom that is rumoured to be the first ones to fight us and finally the Hagi Kingdom a kingdom that lost to its Demi-humans and Demonfolk slaves."

"A Kingdom that fell from within...?" Freya commented.

"Wait, we'll be facing Cromor and Alinia first?" Warren asked.

"Yeah, Ancel told Glenn and me that they're on the move. Compared to their military, Ancel is pretty confident in this Kingdom's army."

"Then what about the Heroes that are summoned to represent their kingdom? Do we know how many there are?" Aria asked. Her question reminded everyone that they're not the only ones summoned in this world.

"Damn it, I forgot about that possibility." Alan looked down with his hand on his forehead showing great concern. "It's hard to tell if they're some adventurer helping their kingdom or an actual Hero..."

"Obviously, they'll be told the same thing. Help gather the Dragonstones if you want to go home." Vella added.

"Could we try talking them out of it?" Hilda suggested. "They have the same goal as us."

"How would that work? We'll be in the middle of a battlefield there won't be as much time for talking." Bryce joined in the discussion.

"In this situation, it's best not risk joining another kingdom or let others join us." Freya had her arms crossed as she expressed her suggestion.

"Why is that Freya?" Warren asked.

"Well for starters. An enemy kingdom could see us as spies, likewise goes the same for the other Heroes, plus Regis doesn't look like the type to accept a new ally."

"Maybe that's for the best..." Hilda said holding a saddened expression.

"It'd be too chaotic to communicate in a battle anyway." Warren added.

"For now I'd rather focus on our survival. I don't want to take any chances after losing Ace." Alan leaned on the table with his hands together, he closed his eyes remembering everyone's reaction to Ace's death.

"You're right, I don't plan to show mercy in this war. We have to repay Ace's death by surviving." Aria said in a cold tone.

Everyone looked at her with surprise. Aria's whole demeanour has changed dramatically as her facial expressions are much more stern and hardened compared to her usual self. Despite her acceptance of Ace's death her rage and anger are comparable to a ticking time bomb waiting to explode.

"Yeah... you're right Aria... it's killed or be killed. We have to stick together if everyone wants to survive." Alan replied.

"Aria you're scaring me with the way you express yourself now." Vella pointed out.

"Is that so? If you lost Warren here and now would you be the same cheerful self?" Aria's tone slowly shifted in annoyance.

"Of course not..." Vella slowly backed away in concern.

"Exactly. If it weren't for Ace I might not even be alive today if it weren't for him."

"Right..." Vella regretted addressing Aria's change. The innocent girl that she's known throughout high school is now a broken mess. The girl she's used to conversing about desserts and dreams is now distant from everyone. The eyes she once held beaming with energy and happiness is now dulled and empty only to be fueled through anger and rage.

The mood became heavy in the dining room with everyone hesitant to change the conversation. Aria stood up knowing that she was the one that caused this atmosphere.

"Sorry. I'll be outside."

Aria went and sat down on one of the garden chairs. Around her, she was surrounded by several flowers all in different types and colours many that she's never seen before. She pulled out a photograph the same one that she'd always look at, the couple shot of both her and Ace. Once she finished reminiscing of the old times she looked up to the sky wondering what Ace would always think about as he'd do the same.

"I never asked him how he'd started this habit of his...'

She looked at the photo once again. It captured a rare moment of Ace's gentle smile and next to it was a smiling Aria. The moment she was about to place her hand onto the picture of Ace, someone appeared behind her.

"Freya..."

"What? You weren't expecting anyone to visit you?"

"I made things awkward there. So this is surprising."

"I mean you're harder to approach ever since. That doesn't mean I'll just stop from trying to talk to you."

"Ah... I see." Aria held a small smile.

"If you can smile like that then you're not completely broken."

"Is that so?"

"You sound more distant like your old self and a bit like Ace before."

Freya remembered the time where Ace looked dead inside, she thought he was eventually overcoming his mother's death only for him to revert to an even emptier self. Yet only Aria knows the reason why.

"That was because someone dear to him was one of the disappeared during that time. It was the reason why he went to the library often during that time." Aria explained.

"So that was it, it all makes sense, someone from 2-3... That idiot never told me anything." Freya eventually pieced everything together relating to Ace's depression during his final year of middle school. She looked at Aria noticing that she was in a somewhat similar state. "And here you are following his footsteps. You have the same moody look when you transferred in too."

"You shouldn't worry about me I won't hold anyone back. Not this time again, I'll make sure to do my part."

"You're broken inside. Are you sure? In all honesty, for what I believe, Ace's sacrifice was the best-case scenario for our entire class. The amount of injured from the one fight alone. No one was able to take on that enemy by themself. It was either him or everyone." Freya said in an empty tone.

"And yet we're going back! After what happened?!" Aria lashed out. "Who cares if we're getting increased escorts. It's the king's fault for bringing us here!"

"The King's fault... I do believe so as well. Back when you attacked him, I almost summoned my bow to shoot him straight away to back you up. But I couldn't...! I lacked the resolve compared to you. It makes me angry! If he's so strong why must we be used as pawns?!" Freya eventually let out an angered tone. "I might look calm at times but I'm deeply angry at the King, I wonder how many of us will die under his command. I don't want to drag everyone else into it. So just remember, the class's survival comes first."

"You're right. At this point, it's my only drive. As long as everyone survives. Ace's sacrifice won't be in vain." Aria held on to her chest in pain.

"Right now, we're just at the calm before the storm. Do you really think we're all going to survive?"

"We have to, I wouldn't know how I would face Ace if we fail."

The class have only just little time before the war breaks upon them. Only time will tell what will happen soon.