Aida rolled out of bed the next morning with her stomach tense. She had gotten thoroughly manhandled by Levi the evening prior, but she had used her remaining mana to Heal herself before she collapsed into bed. Even though it was just one match, and Levi was likely holding back against her, Aida still felt better having had that little bit of combat experience. Nevertheless, her nerves would not relinquish her body due to the upcoming placement matches.
Sue met her out in the hallway, giving her a tight-lipped smile along with a perfunctory hug. The two girls went down to breakfast in silence.
The energy in the cafeteria seemed to vibrate with excitement, though several individuals were tense. Sue and Aida both noticed the board, crowded with students, displayed along the cafeteria wall at the same time. A petite girl with short, pale yellow-green hair turned around, noticing them.
“The lineups are up!” Darting over to Sue and Aida, the girl looked at Aida with an apologetic expression. She had a shaggy bob cut, chunks of hair framing her cute round cheeks and darker green eyes. “…your first opponent is Dev.”
Instinctively activating the character profile, Aida took in her information.
Character Profile: Lily Moon
Elemental Affinity: Wood
Class Rank: 16/30
“That’s okay,” Sue said bracingly. “You’d have to face off against him eventually.” Stalking towards the board, Sue perused the listings, devolving into incoherent mutterings.
“Thanks Lily,” Aida said softly, giving the girl a small smile. Lily hovered uncertainly, wanting to comfort Aida but not knowing how. “It’s better to just get it over with.”
Aida approached the board. It was separated into five columns, each column headed by an element. Each column was further separated into its own table, displaying the matches that would happen each day. Aida traced her eye down the Water category.
Day Ring 2 Ring 4 Ring 6 Sparks Levan Bota vs. Lara Lorr Devinne Flau v. Aida Loreh Weyn Bure v. Lyn Trippe Mist Devinne Flau v. Lyn Trippe Weyn Bure v. Lara Lorr Levan Bota v. Aida Loreh Shoots Aida Loreh v. Lara Lorr Levan Bota v. Lyn Trippe Weyn Bure v. Devinne Flau Ore Levan Bota v. Devinne Flau Weyn Bure v. Aida Loreh Lara Lorr v. Lyn Trippe Loam Aida Loreh v. Lyn Trippe Levan Bota v. Weyn Bure Devinne Flau v. Lara Lorr
Aida released a breath. At least she only had to fight one opponent a day; she wouldn’t have to worry about conserving her mana, which she was certain would have made it even harder to try to climb the rankings. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves…I still might not be able to climb the rankings.
“Wow, talk about unlucky, huh?” a warm, deep voice floated into Aida’s ear. Jerking to the side, she looked up at Levi, who had placed his face over her shoulder and was perusing the Water matches.
“What do you mean? Looks like a normal day to me,” Aida quipped, quickly sliding out from underneath Levi. “How do your matches look?”
He shrugged, supremely unconcerned. “Nothing to worry about.” His eyes moved over to scan the other columns. “The real matches will happen next star cycle.” He seemed lost in thought, but then glanced down at Aida with a half smirk. “Next cycle is when we’ll get matched against the other elements of the same rank, so we can finalize our rankings, remember?”
“Right,” Aida said automatically. She glanced over at Sue, who was running her finger down down the list. “How are you doing, Sue?”
“Hm?” Sue looked up, lilac eyes shining. “Great! My matchups are lined up pretty well with my strategy.”
“Do you really need a strategy?” Aida asked skeptically.
“I do! My strategy to beat Ezra relies on making sure I don’t reveal my new moves too early,” Sue said mulishly. Sue looked at Levi, hovering behind Aida. “What’s your strategy to beating me, Levi?”
“Wasn’t planning on it,” Levi said matter-of-factly. “Being third in the class grants me just as many perks as being second or first.”
“If you’re not careful, Caleb Tulver is going to take your spot,” Sue warned.
“Fourth place grants me just as many perks as being third.”
“If you’re not careful, Sue’s not going to respect you,” Aida said under her breath.
“Touche!” Levi winked at Aida before turning back to Sue. “My strategy is secret.” He swept around Aida and Sue, shepherding them with his arms towards the ordering counter. “And part of my strategy is to make sure we’re all well-nourished for today’s matches.”
While waiting to receive her food tray, Aida noticed Pritchard and his posse enter the cafeteria. Pritchard’s eyes slid smugly over Aida’s trio, and focused onto the match board. His mana began bubbling around him as he stalked towards the board, his boys drifting after him. Aida focused on the last boy trailing after the group with a bored expression on his face, flicking open his profile again briefly.
Character Profile: Devinne (Dev) Flau
Elemental Affinity: Water
Class Rank: 5/30
Dev was tall, probably as tall as the male leads. He had a good-looking aristocratic face, with slicked-back platinum blond hair (Aida could guess where Pritchard received his hair inspiration from) and flinty blue eyes. Aida frowned, contemplating her opponent. Just looking at his physical characteristics and making assumptions about his aptitude, Dev seemed like a prime candidate to be a male lead as well. Dev glanced at her as he passed, sending a tingle of electricity through her body.
Focusing to regain her balance, Aida probed his energy, trying to get a sense of who he was.
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Dev, unlike Pritchard, was balanced. The energy he exuded was completely stable and unruffled. Even as Pritchard began crowing about the day’s matches, shaking Dev’s shoulders, he merely brushed Pritchard’s hands off him with a liquid grace that indicated his potential combat prowess.
Aida gulped, bringing her tray to the table Sue and Levi were heading towards. Maybe it was just because she didn’t know Dev, but he gave off an aura that made him seem much more dangerous than the other top students; not even Ezra made her goosebumps pop.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~
“All right, settle down,” Professor Havi said wearily. “As you are all aware, today marks the first day of your placement matches. However, there has been a change in the match rules this year. Unlike last year, the evaluation does not depend only on if you win your matches. Quiet, please,” Professor Havi admonished as excited murmurs spread among the class. His spectacles glinted sternly as the students settled back down before speaking again. “As I was saying, the evaluation will consist of a point system, where if you win a match, you will earn two points for that match. If you lose a match, you earn zero points. If, however, you perform an amazing feat, or the match ends very nearly equal between you and your opponent, you may earn one point, despite losing the match. These points you earn will be used to finalize your class ranking. Are there any questions?”
“Professor, what qualifies as an amazing feat?” Tera Trippe, the twin sister of Aida’s Day 5 opponent, asked. Interestingly enough, twins did not have to share the same element. Lyn was Water with hair the color of thunderclouds, while Tera was Earth with caramel-colored hair. They also did not seem to share the same level of ability, as Tera was ranked in the upper half of the class, while Lyn was ranked closer to the bottom of the class.
“There are no strict guidelines as to what qualifies as ‘amazing,’ but this point system was implemented in order to afford some more balance to disadvantaged elements. In that scenario, the combatant at an elemental disadvantage may do something clever to surprise and shock their opponent, despite ultimately losing at the end. As for these first rounds of placement matches, the guidelines are more ambiguous.” Professor Havi paused to push his spectacles up his nose as he contemplated. “We will be evaluating your level of mana control and efficiency, so you will certainly not earn a point for merely expending all your mana on one impressive technique early in the match that does not even strike or affect your opponent. We will also consider tactics, your ability to evaluate your opponent while under stress. As I said, be clever about it.”
Seeing there were no further questions, Professor Havi continued explaining the rest of the evaluation cycle. Like the first star cycle’s matches, the second star cycle would also be round robin style. Except while the first cycle’s matches were among the same elemental peers, the second cycle’s matches would put them up against the other elements who ranked in the same level in their own peer group, with the total points from both cycles determining final rankings within that bracket. Professor Havi drew a table on the chalkboard as he explained.
Rank Fire Earth Metal Water Wood 1 - 5 Kozu Earth 1
Metal 1
Water 1
Wood 1
6 - 10
Fire 2
Gemma Metal 2
Bruce
Wood 2
11 - 15
Fire 3
Earth 3
Lloyd Water 3
Havi
16 - 20
Fire 4
Earth 4
Metal 4
Water 4
Wood 4
21 - 25
Fire 5
Earth 5
Metal 5
Water 5
Wood 5
26 - 30
Fire 6
Earth 6
Metal 6
Water 6
Wood 6
“Let’s use this as an example: if we have completed this first star cycle’s placement matches - let’s say I would be ranked third among the Wood elements - during next cycle’s placement matches, I would be pitted against Fire 3, Earth 3, Professor Lloyd, and Water 3 to determine my final ranking, while Professor Kozu would be pitted against Earth 1, Metal 1, Water 1, and Wood 1. Any questions?”
Aida raised her hand. “How do the cumulative points work? For example, what if you finished the cycle with the same number of points as Professor Lloyd…who would be the higher rank?”
“Final rankings will ultimately be at the discretion of the instructors, of course,” Professor Havi said. “Please keep in mind this new point system is merely a tool for helping us evaluate your ability level, and not treat it as a rigid system for you to game in order to earn a higher ranking than you deserve.” He glared sternly around at the class, eyes lingering on a girl with long deep-blue hair. She gazed stoically back at him, her chin resting on her palm. Despite her relaxed posture and relatively stable energy, Aida could feel her tension in keeping it all together. She opened the girl’s profile.
Character Profile: Lara Lorr
Elemental Affinity: Water
Class Rank: 8/30
Based on Professor Havi’s chart, Lara probably had the chance to be in the top 5, if only it weren’t for Dev. Aida looked back down at her notebook, where she had written down her match order for the week. Hello to Lara on Day 3.
Glancing around the classroom, Professor Havi continued on in his gravelly voice, enunciating clearly. “All right, if there are no further questions, let me remind you why you should do your best in these placement matches. Not only will your rankings grant you opportunities to learn more advanced theory and practice more advanced techniques, following the same format as previous years, but this is also your final year where prestigious adventuring companies and defense units will come recruiting.” A ripple spread through the class, as friends gave each other meaningful looks.
“The higher your preliminary rankings, the more opportunities you will have to interface with the recruiting bodies, and the more likely you are to receive a job offer upon graduation. Of course, they will attend the final placement matches at the end of the year that finalize your ranking for this graduating class, so there is potentially an opportunity for you to impress them then…but as you all know, networking and building positive relationships is a long-term development. Are there any further questions?”
“No, Professor Havi,” the class recited, vibrating. Professor Havi’s speech had further stirred Aida’s class’s energy levels, making them all eager to get out of the classroom for one reason or another.
“Good. Now let us all proceed to the combat field. The Fire elements will begin their matches first…”