Not far off from where Beat and Zaniyah were, Chester was having a different sort of problem. He had finished filling a hole with water and freezing the top layer of it. Hopefully, that's what Chickadee wanted to have done since he was the one that had put a hole there in the first place. Neither the blacksmith or Irving were giving him much instruction. With one working on creating walls and pitfalls and the other partially buried small clay pots everywhere.

“What are these?” He called out to Irving. When Irving looked over, Chester pointed to one of the pots.

The letter in his pocket buzzed. Irving had sent him a message by letter. “Explosives. Don't step on them.”

“Who granted you the use of this many explosives?!” Chester felt around his pockets until he found his protection pendant. The damn idiot should have warned him to put that on before he had entered the field.

Once more did his letter buzzed. “I made them.”

“That isn’t safe!”

Irving looked at him from across the field and shrugged. The dangerous nature of explosives and elementalists were the same to him. He didn't see why one would be allowed and not the other.

His apathy made Chester let out an exasperated sigh. From what he knew, Irving was from the awkward section of the Coral Kingdom that was part of the mainland. He had heard people there were... Odd. Irving seemed to act like death and violence was as commonplace as reading a book or enjoying some good weather.

It worried Chester. He knew that Irving had come to the entrance exams as part of a small squad. Most of them were forced to withdraw from the exams when a group from the Violet Region gave them food poisoning. Chester sometimes pondered if any of those ignorant fools ever made it home afterward. Now that he understood Irving's skillset better, he doubted that any survived.

Chester was raised in Ivesbourne, which was located a few days south of Fogbloom. His uncle had fought in the war when Chester was a child. He was fascinated by the stories that his uncle brought back with him. As an elementalist, his uncle had been assigned to defend a group of clerics, and he married one of them after the war had ended.

That type of scenario fascinated Chester. Not the romance aspect, but the idea that an elementalist could save people. Elementalists had so few roles available for them. Either in construction or serving as living weapons for the army. Sure, Chester understood the importance of his training as a tool of war but had never developed a taste for it.

He also didn't have a taste for being stuck in a squad with a sex-crazed captain and a squadmate who was obsessed with being her personal knight. On the other hand, Chester thought that he shouldn't get into this mess between them. Then again, it seemed like playboy Veximarl had nearly every girl twisted around his finger. Chester didn’t approve of that either.

Since he knew Chickadee preferred men and that Veximarl had stated that they were dating during the class meeting, he knew he couldn't trust Chickadee's opinion if he asked. Anais would no doubt also be biased. Veximarl had helped her with her hearing disability. Chester suspected that Veximarl’s assistance and general friendliness was simply a front for his womanizing nature. He just didn't have enough evidence to prove it.

“I think I'm done here,” he eventually announced to the other two. Chester hadn't done much aside from creating a few ice and water traps. "I plan on remaining in the field to set off the traps. Is that alright with you two?” Both Chickadee and Irving waved a hand but Chester was unclear on what that meant.

“They don't talk much.” Chester twitched as Mila sneaking up on him. She suddenly yanked on his arm as he took a step away from her. “Careful! There's a bomb there!”

Chester stumbled towards Mila. “... Thanks.”

He realized that he had braced himself by grabbing onto her waist and quickly lifted his hands. Without waiting to see if she was going to follow him, he started to make his way quickly off the field. The anxiety he felt from standing around like this was bad for his health.

Mila kept talking while she followed him. “No one could figure out where Krogastein disappeared to. Since the teams would’ve been uneven, I was sent to work with defenses. I’ll partner with Irving, so don’t worry about figuring out where I need to be when it comes to planning.”

She wasn’t someone Chester had had the opportunity to talk to often. Tish had attempted several times to play nice, but Mila always said a few polite words before excusing herself. Chester couldn’t blame her. Tish was mainly concerned with gossip or matchmaking. By simply having Tish as a captain, Mila was wary of both himself and Evan.

Now that he thought about it, Mila must have been lonely. Peter's attempts to flirt ensured that Mila also avoided Moontear. She only had Irving to talk to, and Irving wasn't even capable of talking. Communication by letter no doubt got exhausting after a while.

Though Chester could relate. Tish wandered about and often talked to barracks staff. Evan had started to go on patrol more frequently. Chester was left to his own devices, which was either reading or meditation. Yet his seclusion was a choice he made for himself. He had a feeling Mila didn’t like being isolated.

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“... You didn’t want to take the day off?” Chester didn’t know anything about Barcus, other than the fact that they had taken the written test together during the entrance exams. The guy seemed like an ass, but that didn’t mean Mila wasn’t close to him.

Her usually cheerful face faltered for the fleetest of moments. “... I’ll be fine as long as I keep working.”

“Right.” He frowned when her smile faltered again. “... How did they split up the teams?”

“Cress took over and insisted that it be men against women.” That sounded like one of Evan’s ideas. “He said that attraction between the sexes has gotten in the way of legitimate training and that we needed to focus on being serious.” Chester could agree with that. “Then Alton stated that it was unfair since there were only five women, minus myself, and that he should be on a team with Sybil.

Luca then suggested that he should be on the women’s team since he was new, but Dew and Thistleweed complained. Thistleweed said that it wouldn't be fair if both healers were on one team, and Dew muttered something that I couldn't understand but I assume that it was sexually inappropriate. Cress became irritated when Tish suggested that Tuton join their side as team captain. Tish and Cress then yelled at each other until it was somehow decided that Cress would be the captain of the women’s side while Tuton would take lead over the men’s team.”

So that was Evan's motivation in this. Evan had asked Chester before on what his thoughts were about having Tish removed from leadership. He didn’t have an official opinion. If Evan had a problem, he should have taken it to Blu. Now it seemed as though Evan was bent on publically proving to the rest of the squires that Tish was incompetent.

Chester's hand has been forced. He didn't have a choice but to approach Blu himself, which he had been avoiding. Blu's position as a doctor meant that she had to stay at the barracks but that didn't mean that her squad couldn't go on missions. She said that she would only approve of them once she was confident they could work as a unit… Which was now unlikely to happen anytime soon.

He glanced over to Mila for a moment before looking away again. “I believe that Evan is planning a coup within my squad. As a member of the disciplinary committee, what is your opinion on this?”

Mila reached into her pocket. “I should make a report on this.” She winced when Chester grasped her wrist.

“I would rather report it to Blu first,” he quickly replied.

“I see... Yes, I suppose you should try that first.” Mila considered the fact that Beat may attempt something if she reported it. Beat could be a very scary person. Such a matter should be handled by a knight first. “If you had asked me for my opinion a week ago, I would've said that Tish should keep her position, but... I’ve been reading a lot of reports about what happened to the third years, not to mention the stories that the others brought back with them from Carapace.

Battles with tainted beasts, the deaths among our peers, even what happened to Barcus... That’s the reality of what we’re training for and I find myself... Jealous of the experience that Baron and Grimstone gained from being out there. They’re better off because of it.

I look at the rest of us and I know they don’t understand. This is still some sort of vacation. We're away from our families for three years, put together with a bunch of other kids, and we can't get it through our heads on how important our time here is. We’ve already wasted most of today doing nothing instead of training. Because of that, I don’t believe that Tish is capable of leadership.

At the same time, I don't believe that Cress is a good choice either. He seems like the type that would want all of us stripped of our personalities to become soldiers. Braytons is about enhancing our unique talents. I don't think he understands or agrees with that philosophy… I know that we’re still squires and that we’re not supposed to be perfect because we’re still learning, but I wouldn’t trust either to be my captain.”

Chester listened carefully. Mila had said more in these fleeting moments than he had heard her speak the entire time he had been at Braytons. Apparently, she was a talker. Noted. He let out a long exhale then nodded to himself. In the end, he had to agree with her. While Baron and Grimstone were out there getting stronger, Macestar had only become worse as a team.

“I will bring my concerns to Lady Blu after today’s lesson." This was beyond his ability to fix on his own and he didn't think Tish or Evan would take anyone their age seriously.

“Do you need me to go with you?” Now Chester was the one tilting his head. “As you said, I am a member of the disciplinary squad. Lady Blu may request that Sir Dalkirk be informed and I can help you file a report with him. Plus, Tish is probably right.” She gave him half a smile. “I should make more friends while I'm here, and you seem okay.”

Chester stared at her blankly for a moment. He conjured an ice-cold aura around his hands and placed his fingertips against his cheeks. It was his coping mechanism for when he had to deal with something unexpected. This soothed the headaches he felt whenever that happened, though his headaches only seemed to be getting worse as of late.

Such a sight concerned Mila. “Are you alright? ... I was also considering asking Anais if she wanted to be my friend. Maybe Gwyn and Ivy, but those girls from Fogbloom are a little to high class for me... I'm kind of intimidated by it, to be honest.”

“Reese enjoys conversation. She could use the opinion of someone as level headed as yourself.”

Especially after Anais had told him that she and Naiov were almost dating. That's exactly how she had put it. “Almost dating.” In his opinion, Anais was having some sort of mental crisis and needed some woman who wasn’t Tish to give her advice.

Mila sighed with relief. “That's good... She seems like the shy type and I didn't want to scare her.”

“... I would appreciate it if you were to come with me to see Lady Blu. Having your perspective would help,” he replied. Mila nodded and smiled at him again. “I am also in need your advice on a different matter. Sir Pegasus has stated that I move too sluggishly in combat and I understand that Bronzescale focuses heavily on agility training.”

“I have a two hour break before my Bronzescale duties begin today and I'll bring Irving with me. He's helped me a lot with my own footwork... I think the two of you would get along.” Chester made a face. “I know that using a letter to talk with him is weird, but I'll help translate for you if you want. When he rambles, he tends to write in shorthand and it’s hard to read at times. He’s actually a very interesting person once you get to know him!”

“I'll keep that in mind.” Chester had his doubts, but he didn’t want to force Mila to be in a situation where they would be alone together. “Thank you,” he replied.

Mila checked her letter as it buzzed. "Irving says that Sir Stonetoe is approaching, so I'm going to get into position." She smiled at Chester. "Relax. Sir Stonetoe will probably get annoyed with us and call of class off early. Then we'll go see Lady Blu and do some self-studies." She formed her hands into fists. "We'll be nice and busy!" It sounded like she was saying that more to reassure herself rather than to encourage Chester.

He faked a smile in return. “Thanks,” he repeated. “I appreciate it.”