image [https://i.imgur.com/CW9WQ50.png]

Midnight was fast approaching and Carmen rushed to the abandoned training facility. Once she arrived, Carmen noticed that the multi story arena clearly had seen better days. Most of the windows were broken, the walls were cracked and overgrown with vegetation, and part of the roof caved in on itself. This place definitely hadn’t been used for a number of years.

Carmen entered through an open window and headed towards the center most arena of the facility. Standing on the field was Bridgette and some of her friends patiently waiting with their arms crossed. They were dressed in their uniforms and upon their jackets was the Phoenix crest, gleaming in the light.

“Oh, I see you know how to be on time at least. How cute.” Bridgette said with a sarcastic chuckle. Carmen hopped onto the field and glared, still feeling confused by this meeting.

“What do you want with me? Why are we here?”

Bridgette glared at Carmen with dangerous eyes, clearly stewing up some kind of dark scheme in her head.

“I want to put you in your place with a duel. That princess act of yours sickens me.”

“Huh? But I’ve done nothing to yo-.”

As Carmen tried to reason with the blonde haired vixen, Bridgette aimed her palms downward and forced out her Core Energy.

Multiple golden bracelets shined and formed around her wrists, making a loud jingle as they settled into place. Carmen quickly stepped back and summoned forth Graviton’s Eclipse, assuming a pose of protection as she braced herself.

The ground began to shake underneath Carmen’s feet and a flurry of sharp rocks flew upwards, taking aim at her. Carmen swiftly leapt out of the way, but to her surprise, the rocks stopped mid air and followed after her with great velocity.

Carmen dipped and dodged the onslaught of sharp, spear-like rock fragments and sent some of them flying back with her gravity manipulation. She then turned her attention to Bridgette and dashed towards her, having found an opening on her blindside.

Just as she closed the gap to score a hit, a massive wall of sand flew out of the ground to protect Bridgette. It was almost as though the sand had a mind of its own, providing assistance without any direction from Bridgette.

‘What? When did she?’

Carmen was completely caught off guard as she flipped backwards, wondering how Bridgette knew the direction of her attack so early on.

“Is that really all you’ve got? Pfft, and here I thought that the Belouis Family was this all powerful entity. Seems like you don’t take after your sisters at all.”

Carmen gave Bridgette a red eyed glare once she composed herself. She then pointed her rapier towards Bridgette and proceeded to thrust it forward. A burst of immense gravitational weight was applied onto her, causing Bridgette to crumble to her knees from the sudden force.

“What!?” Bridgette exclaimed, acting surprised by how strong this burst of energy was.

Carmen wasted no time as she bolted towards her, fully prepared to put an end to this fight with the next volley of blows.

However, once she reached her crouched opponent, Bridgette smirked while slightly shifting her palm on the ground.

“Tch, too easy.”

Carmen, at the last second, noticed the ground had shifted into sand. Just as she glanced downward, a massive sandy pillar flew out of the ground and slammed into Carmen’s chest with incredible force. The wind was completely knocked out of her and she flew upwards from the visceral momentum.

The effect of Carmen’s gravity was lifted, allowing Bridgette to quickly stand up and aim her palm at Carmen. A flurry of sharp, sandy rocks surrounded her as she continued her upward trajectory. Once into position, they rapidly collided with her a multitude of times, cutting her body and clothing all over.

Carmen yelled out in pain at the non-stop onslaught, unable to do anything to stop it. Moments later, the same pillar from before flew back around and knocked into her stomach, sending Carmen careening into the ground with a massive crash.

She laid at the center of the destruction, badly battered and breathing heavily from the assault. Bridgette approached from a short distance and crossed her arms as she looked down at Carmen.

“Pfft, what a joke. Did you seriously think I fell victim to that obvious attack of yours? Why would you just rush in like some amateur? If this is you actually trying, I’m shocked they let you into this school.”

Bridgette couldn't help but let out a hearty chuckle, finding this duel to be incredibly amusing. Carmen gave no response as she struggled to her feet, wiping the blood from her busted lip and gripping her stomach.

“So, is that it? Well, this was boring.”

Moments later, Carmen began to glow a deep tinge of purple once she resummoned her Manifest. Bridgette, now intrigued again, smirked while she awaited Carmen’s next move.

Carmen raised her rapier up and started to trace an inky black symbol in the air, preparing to activate Graviton’s Eclipse special ability. The room started to turn purple and the air grew colder as the light from the moon above slowly disappeared.

‘Hmm, maybe she isn’t so useless after all.’

Bridgette noticed the rapid increase of Carmen’s Core Energy, feeling interested in seeing what would happen next. However, before she could unleash her Manifest’s power, they sensed the presence of people coming towards the facility.

“Who’s in there!?” Said a distant voice closing in on their location.

“Hmph, we’ll have to continue this next time, Belouis.”

Brigette sent a cheeky wave before she and her friends dashed out in an instant, leaving Carmen by herself. Carmen quickly followed suit and hobbled her way out of the building, sneaking by the guards and instructors that were investigating the building.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Carmen eventually got back to campus, limping along as she walked towards the boys dorm.

‘What room did Rivell say he was in again?’

She crouched along the edge of the building until she saw Rivell’s face through a window, illuminated by a lamp. He was in the middle of reading a book, clearly doing some studying before classes started. Carmen knocked on the window softly, trying her best to not draw attention to herself.

Rivell looked over and saw Carmen in all her battered and beaten glory. He rushed over to the window and opened it, helping her inside.

“Carmen! What happened to you!?” He asked with great concern.

“It’s nothing, I just got into a duel. Can you heal me?” Carmen replied, shifting her weight so she could get more comfortable.

Rivell nodded and quickly summoned forth Rose’s Testament. The deep green book glowed brightly as it automatically turned its pages, settling on an empty one.

He forced his Core Energy into his Manifest and Carmen was immediately covered in glowing petals. Her wounds began to heal rapidly, sealing up all cuts and eliminating any bruises. Rivell’s Manifest was as impressive as ever, having healing abilities that many nations would kill for.

“There, are you feeling better?”

Rivell stepped back as the petals fell off of Carmen and floated away into the air. She was back to normal, not a single scratch on her.

“Yeah, much better. Thanks Rivell. There’s no way I could go to the infirmary in that state. They would ask way too many questions.”

“No problem! But, who the heck did you duel to end up like that?? I haven’t seen you that beaten down since the war!”

“Honestly, I have no idea. Her name was Bridgette or something and she was crazy strong for a first year.”

Carmen crossed her arms as she looked around Rivell’s room, wondering where his roommate was.

“Geez Carmen, you should be more careful next time. I won’t always be here to heal you if you get in trouble again.”

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine. I only lost because I was caught off guard by her abilities. The next person that crosses me won’t be so lucky, that much I promise.”

Carmen’s confidence came surging back as she walked towards the window.

“If you say so…”

Rivell sighed and hoped that Carmen would stay out of trouble, knowing how she could get when it came to taking on challenges. She thanked him again for his assistance and swiftly made her exit, hopping out of the window before rushing back to her dorm.

Once she was in the comfort of her own room again, Carmen removed her tattered uniform and showered before heading to bed. The moment she laid her head down, many thoughts raced through her mind.

‘Geez, there are some seriously strong people at this school.’

Carmen stretched her arms out as she played back the fights with Mariah and Bridgette in her head.

‘I look like an amateur compared to these guys. I might be in over my head here… Nah, who am I kidding, those were just flukes. No one at this school has as much combat experience as me, that much I’m sure of. Next time, I’ll beat them easily.’

She smiled as her confident delusions calmed her nerves, helping her fall asleep even though so much was going through her mind.

image [https://i.imgur.com/d60vRFl.png]

The first day of classes had finally begun as Carmen quickly rushed down the hall, forcing her way through the crowds of students navigating the intricate hallways. After a stressful trek, she made it to her first session, National Resoteran Studies.

The classroom was laid out in a half circle, having multiple rows of long seats surrounding the open space below. On the wall was a large board that took up 75% of the surface area and on each side were multiple charts. A male instructor was writing on the board as students funneled into the room, finding their seats.

Carmen walked down the aisle and took a seat in the third row. While she laid out her books, a couple of female students approached the row and got her attention. Carmen looked over and smiled.

“Can we sit here?” One of the girls politely asked.

Carmen nodded as she scooted herself over, giving the girls plenty of space to sit down. Once they settled in, Carmen made note of their features. The girl closest to her had long, blue hair that was curled along the edges. Her pale skin and greenish eyes gave her quite the unique look.

The other female student had short brown hair cut in a bob. The left side of her hair was tucked behind her ear, showing off some flashy and expensive earrings. The girl with blue hair turned towards Carmen and began to make small talk.

“Thanks for letting us sit here!” The girl said with a gracious smile.

“Ah, you’re welcome!” Carmen awkwardly replied. She noticed Carmen’s nervous demeanor and quickly tried to quell her anxiety.

“Oh sorry, where are my manners? My name is Sandra and this is my friend Vida. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Sandra motioned towards Vida who was waving back, introducing herself as well.

“Hello, I’m Carmen. Carmen Bel-.”

Before she could even finish her sentence, Sandra completed it for her.

“Belouis. We’re from Volaire as well and I must say, Queen Azhane has been doing a splendid job running our nation. My father has met with her quite often for diplomatic reasons, so I’m very familiar with the Belouis Family. I love your hair by the way!"

Sandra's voice was filled with excitement as she stroked her hand through Carmen’s silky silver hair.

“Ah, I see. Well, I’m glad you’re happy with how things have been run. What kind of work does your father do? It must be pretty important if he meets with my sister often.” Carmen replied with a curious and cautious tone, finding Sandra’s actions to be a little strange.

“He’s the count that oversees the northeastern region of Volaire. Count Owens, you might’ve heard of him?”

Sandra responded rather quickly, almost as though she had hoped Carmen would ask this particular question. Carmen shook her head, not recognizing the name at all.

“Oh, well… Her Majesty definitely knows of him. I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to know that you’ve befriended the daughter of someone so high up. It’s almost as though fate brought us together today, don’t you think?”

Once again, Sandra’s face lit up while she stared Carmen in the eyes, her lips curling intensely.

Chills went down Carmen’s spine as she began to feel incredibly uncomfortable around this girl. Every word that came out of her mouth sounded so calculated and forced, as though she had some kind of agenda. Before Carmen could reply, the instructor raised his voice to get everyone’s attention.

“Alright everyone, it’s time for us to get started!” He exclaimed, his voice echoing along the halls as the students quieted down.

“My name is Walter Cromwell, but please refer to me as Professor Cromwell. I will be your National Resoteran studies instructor for this semester.”

He stepped away from the board and walked in front of his desk, leaning against it with his arms crossed.

“In this course, we’ll be covering everything there is to know about the history of the six nations that reside on the Resotera continent. How did these nations form? Who was responsible for establishing their borders? What conflicts arose between these nations? These questions and much more will be answered as we dive deep into the lore of Alaira.” Professor Cromwell said with an excited cadence, thrusting his arms outward as he hyped up his class further.

The students remained silent as he awkwardly composed himself, brushing his short messy brown hair back into place. He adjusted his thick glasses and rolled up the sleeves of his long, black robes while clearing his throat.

“Sorry about that, I tend to get a little ahead of myself when I discuss history.” He softly laughed, placing his hands behind his back.

He slowly rocked back and forth on his heels as he looked around the room.

“Okay, I think we’ll start things off with introductions. Tell me your name and where you’re from when it’s your turn. Let’s begin!”

Professor Cromwell pointed his finger towards the opposite end of the room, calling on a Male Siestian student to start.

This exchange continued on until all forty three students present in the room had introduced themselves. Feeling satisfied, Professor Cromwell began his lesson about the formation of the Lumen Theocracy and how it was the first nation established on Resotera.

After an hour and a half, the bell chimed loudly, signaling the end of class. Carmen gathered her things and stood from her seat, feeling eager to leave such a boring class. She quickly said her goodbyes to Sandra and Vida before exiting the room.

‘Man, I really thought I was going to fall asleep in there. Professor Cromwell seems like an interesting guy, I just wish he didn’t talk with such a dry tone. Ugh, and I have his class twice a week too.’

Carmen sighed as she made her way through the long hallways. She had a short break before her next class, so she took it upon herself to explore for a bit.