Two days later, the group was ready for another ranking day. Caeden and Lily had walked Erik and Cat through mnemonics and Ki Creation, getting them caught up. Only Erik was interested in learning Ki, but he would need another teacher. He still refused to use weapons beyond his own fists, which meant the method Blaine had taught them wouldn't work since it relied on a sword or other bladed weapon.
They were all headed to the same building for ranking matches. It wasn't the one they had been to last week, but similar enough. It was another bronze building with needless flair and accents in the architecture. This one was four stories tall, much bigger than the previous one they had been in, and much more in line with most of the structures on campus.
Once again, all four of them were in the same building for ranking day. It seemed that the Academy was aware of friend groups and tried to keep them together. Lily hypothesized that it was in preparation for next year when they would be taught group tactics. Having a pool of people that had already self-segregated into effective groups would make that easier. Caeden remembered the bear-lady, Juliette Ursine, from last week had come in with a group of other Sun Seats that seemed friendly with each other.
Once again, they had arrived ahead of everyone else. They went up into the observation room, which was significantly larger than the previous one. This room could seat well over a hundred. Possibly several hundred people. Caeden wondered if that would reflect on the size of this group. He said as much to Lily.
"Probably. We know that the actual ranking matches change. Maybe what we're doing today requires a larger group?" She shrugged.
"Group combat?"
Lily's brow furrowed. "No, I don't think so. We're supposed to start group tactics next year. This is only the second week of rankings. They wouldn't throw us into group combat this early."
"What are our rankings anyway? I never checked." Erik jumped in. He was sitting idly stitching his robe back together. A knife had fallen out of the sky and almost impaled him on their walk over. Caeden assumed it was from a duel gone wrong or something similar. Eri had dodged, obviously, but the knife still split the edge of his sleeve.
"We're all top 100. Lily's 4th place, while I'm 27th, you're 30th, and Cat is 99th." Caeden rattled off. He had checked the day it went up. The rankings seemed fair, even in the unfair circumstances they had been in. Whatever criteria they used didn't base their rank solely on wins and losses but also on skill. He was sure that their ranks were lower because of the fights they lost. This also strengthened his and Lily's guess that they grouped people of similar skill and IP for ranking day. Everyone they had faced last week, everyone who had been in that same building, were all in or near the top 100.
"Neat." Erik didn't even look up. It was more of an idle question than actual curiosity on his part.
"Hopefully, we do better this time around. Last time was stacked against us, which was such bullshit." Cat frowned. Caeden knew her rank being so much lower than theirs bothered her. She was working hard to try and catch up. In the last day alone, she had come up with an interesting mnemonic that managed to increase her combat capabilities massively. He was excited for her, hoping that Cat would manage to get a true victory. She deserved it, even if she complained a lot.
"We'll do much better, I think." Lily ran a hand along her infused gloves. They were clipped to the sash of her robe, ready for her to put them on. "We're much better equipped this time around."
Only Lily and Cat had infused weapons, while everyone now had an infused shirt under their robes. Caeden had made four yesterday. They were a base of more ivory bamboo, but with plates of ironwood to cover the vitals. The infusions he had added gave increased defense against basically all physical attacks and allowed the clothes to adjust to the user's body.
Caeden had looked up the ether, flame, and rendering methods needed for that infusion after their talk with Blaine. These shirts would dampen blunt force attacks and turn away small blades while resisting larger ones. Caeden had contemplated adding some form of energy resistance, but they could be facing anything, so he decided to reinforce the broad physical resistances offered by his choice of materials instead.
Erik and Cat had grumped about wearing them. Erik, because he thought it would make his evasive fighting style harder with the added weight, and Cat because the white and grey shirt went against her style. Caeden proved to Erik that the shirt was incredibly light, considering its defensive capabilities. As for Cat, he just got the material dyed black, and she was happy with that. It was a lot easier than arguing with her.
It didn't take long for other students to begin filtering in as small groups roughly equal in number to them. Some were as few as two, while others had six, but not more than that. It added some legitimacy to Lily's hypothesis. The school wanted people to form groups with complementary power sets on their own. Caeden had a sudden interest in what would happen next year when group combat training began.
The last group to enter was a surprise that caused Lily to bolt up from her seat and Caeden to grunt in surprise. There was a short, heavily built man with long blond hair tied back in a ponytail surrounded by four other students, all with badges proclaiming their allegiance to Sun Seat.
Ander was here, with friends.
He immediately spotted Lily and started walking toward them up the steps of the bleachers with a confident stride and a cocky smirk. "Hello, Lilliana."
"You can't be here." Caeden was the first to speak. Lily looked like she was an inch from throttling her brother. She was practically vibrating; she was so angry.
Ander looked at Caeden with a sneer. "I wasn't talking to you, continental. But, for your information, ranking match scheduling trumps your little restraining order. I'm allowed to be here, just as much as you. More so, considering my superior lineage and skill."
"Says the guy that got his ass kicked in under a minute." Erik laughed. He hadn't looked up, fiddling with his robe still.
"Look at me when you speak, trash." Ander's smug sneer slipped into a snarl.
"Man, I just don't want to go blind looking at your ugly face." Erik shot back casually, completely unphased.
"You dare?!" Ander screamed, raising a hand with blue arcs of lightning crackling between his fingers.
Before he could move, a shard of ice blasted past his face, cutting his cheek. "Leave us alone, Ander. Or else." Lily coldly offered up an ultimatum.
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"Grr," Ander growled, then gripped his bleeding cheek. His skin shifted, turning into writhing electricity for a brief moment. When it reverted back to skin, the cut was gone. "Liliana, these people have changed you. Corrupted your pure Meteoris spirit. Don't worry, I will destroy them and free you from these wastes." he then turned and stomped away.
Caeden felt the temperature drop rapidly as ice crystals started to spontaneously form in the air. Looking at Lily, her face was red with veins visibly throbbing in her forehead. She was so angry she was unconsciously manifesting her shroud. "Lily."
"Don't." She cut him off. "I don't care what it is. Don't even say it. I'm going to kill him. I swear I will. After everything he's done…I don't even care. I never want to see him, ever again. If he has to die for that to happen, whatever." Her face hardened, the red fading even as she tensed up further. Lily sat back down, but every muscle in her body was quivering, waiting for release.
Caeden wanted to say something, anything to ease the emotions running rampant through his friend. She was obviously in pain and waiting for an outlet. He just wasn't sure what he could give her that would actually help. Her wounds were deep, and old. It simply wasn't anything he could fix. So he remained silent, accepting that this wasn't his fight, and there was nothing he could do.
They waited for the matches to start in silence as other groups talked around them. Lily was still acting as an air conditioner, bringing the temperature in her immediate area down below freezing. Caeden ran his fingers across his scarred hand. It had developed into something of a nervous tick. He wasn't sure how they would deal with Ander. He was confident Lily could beat him, but the rest of them was more of a toss-up depending on the rules of the spar.
Finally, a teacher entered the observation room and started to explain the rules for this ranking day. "There will be three rounds, like last week. First, since we have a much larger group this time, a battle royale. Groups of ten will be set against each other, the last one standing wins. There are no limitations on equipment or cooperation. However, only one person can win. If you form teams, you will have to fight them even if you defeat everyone else."
"The rules of the second round will be announced after the first round is done. Make any preparations you need to. The first group will be announced in five minutes." He then turned his back to the students, looking down over the much larger space of their arena.
"So that's why they had the larger group. And the larger arena. I wonder if the second and third rounds will be variations on the same idea." Caeden spoke.
"So, we team up if we're in the same group, then duke it out for the winner?" Erik asked. He had managed to get his robe sorted out and was now smiling eagerly. "This sounds like fun. More than last week, anyway."
"Sounds good to me." Cat nodded.
"This is actually a good opportunity for you, Cat. Fits right in with your new technique." Caeden nodded.
"I fucking hope so." Cat sighed, "If it doesn't work for this, I'm screwed."
"You'll win," Lily spoke up for the first time. Though her voice sounded a bit…cold. "It's perfect."
"Cat." At that very moment, the teacher started calling names.
"Guess we're gonna see. Wish me luck." Cat stood up, grabbing the bag she had brought with her. It clinked metallically as he slung it over her shoulder. "Can't believe I got called first. What are the odds?"
"This will be interesting," Caeden noted. "That new technique is a real killer with the setup we managed."
"..." Lily had gone back to not speaking.
"Ok then," Caeden muttered. He wasn't sure what to do with this new, quiet Lily. She had been less vocal when they first met, but this was another level. He focused down on the arena, genuinely wanting to see Cat's spar, and also to distract himself from Lily's sudden shift.
There were ten students in the arena now, all of them eyeing each other up, trying to figure out who was the biggest threat. Caeden judged their IPs to be in the 1000 to 2000 range. Last night, Cat had reached 2000, so several of her opponents were looking to her as the main threat. She was going to be fighting an uphill battle. Luckily, she had an answer.
Everyone moved to equidistant points around the edges of the arena. Several positioned themselves close to Cat, blatantly staring her down. She had three of the nine other people in her group gunning to take her down immediately. The teacher spoke.
"Begin!"
Two students rushed for Cat while the third started forming a ball of what looked like magma in their hands. Other students began to head for each other, ignoring Cat and her three attackers. They could deal with the aftermath of that fight once one side lost.
Immediately after the start was called, Cat spoke. "Spectral squad."
Wisps of pale white shroud leaked from her mouth, flickering into green flames before dissipating. Twelve forms manifested in front of Cat, all lined up. They were pale human silhouettes with thicker clumps of ghostly white where armor would be. Eyes of flickering green flame glared out at the two approaching enemies. The arena's size gave them a few precious seconds before the enemy was upon them.
Cat didn't waste an instant. She pulled a package from her bag and unfurled it behind her line of spectral soldiers. Nestled in pockets sewn into the cloth roll were twelve short swords forged by Caeden. In unison, the soldiers dropped to a knee, reached back, pulled a sword from its sheath, and stood, weapons ready. All of them held their new weapons with experience and purpose, not clumsy in the slightest.
When Cat had learned about mnemonics, her first attempt had been to smooth out the creation of her spectral soldiers. They were an invasion technique at the time, meaning they were metaphysical constructs without mass. They could only interact with other shrouds. Cat had a hard time physically manifesting her shroud. When she tried to make a mnemonic, it worked. In fact, it worked better than expected. Her previously thoughtless, mindless soldiers took on a will of their own.
Previous iterations of her spectral soldiers were like puppets Cat had to direct. These new ones could think and act. They followed Cat's order unquestioningly, but did so independent of her direct supervision. More than that, they were physical manifestations, capable of fighting normally. Even more than that, they seemed to gain skills equivalent to the role Cat assigned them. These spectral manifestations had the knowledge and training of an actual soldier. Even Cat had no idea how this had happened, but it was a massive boon. The only downside, every soldier was an enormous hit to her shroud. They cost nearly a hundred IP to make.
So, in the face of her two approaching attackers, Cat simply said, "Defensive formation!" And the soldiers formed up in front of her, waiting to receive the enemy, who they outnumbered six to one. Meanwhile, Cat formed some new units. "Spectral assassin." She repeated this three times.
New shapes took form out of swirling white. These were cloaked in ephemeral robes with hoods drawn up to disguise their burning green eyes. Cat pulled out another roll which held six knives. Three were the fire daggers Caeden had made, along with new ice variants in the same vein. They would shoot out ice along the blade at will. Each assassin took one of each variant, then vanished along with their knives. Her shroud-created units gained special abilities based on their intended purpose. The assassins could turn invisible, and the soldiers gained ghostly armor, making them more durable.
The following fight was overwhelmingly one-sided. Cat's initial attackers fell almost immediately. The two front-liners were ganged up on and pinned in seconds, overwhelmed by superior numbers with superior weapons. The back-liner creating lava got a knife to the throat, courtesy of an assassin. With a third of the competition out of the way, and the others too busy fighting to notice, Cat managed to clean up any winners that emerged from the scrum quite handedly. Her mini-army was just too much for any group of one or two that managed to survive their own battles. No group large enough to challenge had banded together of the remaining six.
"Well, that went even better than expected." Caeden smiled.
"..."