‘What? What is she talking about? Aren’t we already at DaiKar?’

Maestro Lauren points to the iron fortress sitting in the center of the circle formed by the multiple peaks of this forest.

“Starting three weeks from now, you will all be going there daily to become the best [enlightened] you can be!”

I remember seeing it on our first day but I had forgotten its existence since no one else seemed to pay it any mind. I just believed that it was used as some sort of storage space or living quarters for the instructors. However, now looking at it again, it is truly incredible. It is as if a large rectangular, indestructible block has been anchored to the ground in this place. Its aesthetics might not exactly be pleasing, as it hardly fits with the rest of the forest, but it appears to have been built to survive any kind of man-made or natural disaster. Its walls are of onyx black, and few tinted windows are spread along its surface. Its height is only slightly less than the mountain peaks. As if to announce its affiliation, melodica’s crest is painted on the center of what I assume to be the front of the building. They are not currently operational, but I notice multiple protruding platforms sporting lightowers which likely scan the surroundings once the sun has set.

A trainee raises his hand to question Maestro Lauren, he waits for her to give him the permission to speak and exclaims,

“Forgive the interruption! My understanding dictates that the second quarter will start in only three weeks… what will we do until then?”

She raises an eyebrow, but does not answer, as if waiting for something. The trainee immediately understands the problem.

“I-I meant, what will we do until then, Maestro Lauren!”

She smiles in approval, her smile appears sincere but it still sends chills down my spine.

“I’m glad you asked! Until then, I will hammer the basics into you even harder than I have before! I still think some of you aren’t quite ready to go just yet but the higher ups say the curriculum must go as planned regardless. There’s even some things I'm not allowed to teach you, can you believe that?! Either way, I’ll make sure you’ll at least have the minimum level to survive!”

All of our expressions darken. Whenever she states that she wants to ‘revisit the basics’, it is never a good sign. It means an excruciating amount of physical training, to a degree where even an [enlightened] will be left utterly drained. The worst part of that training, however, is the rotation combat system she has created. It is quite simple: Battle zones are marked by lines, in pairs, all of us enter a zone. As soon as both opponents have entered the zone, they fight until Maestro Lauren claps her hands. When that signal is heard, they immediately switch opponents, rinse, and repeat. There is no rest until we can no longer raise our instruments. Even then, she might force us to continue the exercise.

Not only is it taxing on the body, it is also mentally straining. This exercise involves instantly fighting a new opponent at a moment’s notice. An opponent who uses a different [melody], a different instrument, and a different fighting style. This means that I have to change my entire strategy every time she claps her hands. She is well aware that we dislike it, but she pays it no mind. She claims that this is exactly how it goes on the battlefield and that she is simply preparing us for the real world.

‘Great… The next three weeks will be fun…’

She wastes no time, immediately starting the training regime she has prepared for us. By the end of the day, every single muscle of my body is sore, some I did not even know I had. When Maestro Lauren finally decides to end the training, I head to the dorm, shower, change, and, as per her request, I visit Maestro Lauren. I venture outside of my living quarters, hoping to find her on the training field. Not to my surprise, there she is, meditating. I slowly make my way towards her, hesitating with each step to get any closer. I can’t imagine she has already forgotten about my blunder this morning, Maestro Lauren is not the type to forget. As I approach her, I can’t help but expect the worst. When she hears my anxious steps kick dust as I traverse the field, she stands up with a smile and shouts,

“Alden! Why don’t you come closer! Let’s have a talk!”

I smile nervously.

“Yes, Maestro Lauren! Coming right away!”

I hastily reach her destination. Nearly tripping over my own feet. My hair stands on end when I stand before her.

“No need to be so tense! I really just wanted to talk to you!”

Maintaining my smile, I reply.

“H-How can I help you, Maestro Lauren?”

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“You can’t, but I can help you!”

I stare in confusion.

“That little girl from your mission, you wanted to adopt her right? Well, it’s ridiculous for an eighteen year old who isn’t even home most of the time to adopt a nine year old girl…

‘Figures…’

“....but, as I promised I would, I pulled some strings and managed to at least get you to the interview stage! I put in a good word, but the rest you’ll have to do through your own abilities! Aren’t I simply awesome?!”

My eyes widen at the statement. I fail to immediately find the appropriate words. My mouth agape, all I can offer is incomprehensible gibberish. Not bothering to wait for my response, Maestro Lauren taps me on the shoulder and offers me a thumbs up. She then turns around and prepares to leave the peak, as she does every night. When her back is turned to me, I pull myself together, and offer the most grateful bow I can.

“Thank you Maestro Lauren, really, thank you!!”

She raises her right hand in the air as if to dismiss me and jumps off the mountain peak, disappearing out of my sight. I can hardly contain the burst of joy filling my entire being. When I turn around, Sylvia stands in front of me.

“Not the expression I would have expected after having spent some alone time with Maestro Lauren. Has… Has she finally made you go insane?”

No matter how hard I try, I cannot quell my happiness. I answer with glee.

“Look who’s making jokes now. Did you need something? I’m in a good mood so shoot!”

Sylvia frowns.

“No, seriously, the only other time I’ve seen you this happy was when you were eating your younger sister’s bagel, did something good happen?”

Beaming, I reply.

“You bet! But let’s not talk about that right now, what’s up?”

She sighs.

“I think you’re already aware, but you need to speak with Ivana.”

My smile fades.

“... I know. I’ll get to it when I feel like the time is right. She won’t even look me in the eyes right now…”

Slowly and painfully, the three weeks of grueling training comes to an end. Though it was far from pleasant, thanks to it, I’ve had the chance to explore my abilities. I have discovered a few things, learned a few more and have developed my fighting style slightly during that time. What I haven’t done, however, is talk to Ivana. She avoids me like the plague. Going as far as even running away from me when when I approached her. I understand why she’s doing this, but I’ll have to fix this problem sooner or later.

We are all assembled as Maestro Lauren gives another one of her speeches. She pretends to cry as she speaks.

“*Sniff Sniff* The allotted time has come to an end, I can’t keep you here any longer… You’ve finally reached that age when you have to leave the nest…”

No one dares utter a word, but I can tell what they all think just from their expressions. Everyone seems to be somewhat happy that our time with Maestro Lauren is over and our life at DaiKar truly starts. Mockingly, she shatters our expectations.

“Just kidding! You’ll come back here every afternoon and you’ll practice what you learned even further! Mama will still be there for her babies!”

Our hopes are crushed, turned into dust.

“Now that this has been said. Get out of here and head towards that big building over there! The doors will be opened once you arrive and you’ll enter a waiting area with chairs and tables. Find a place to sit and just wait for someone to tell you how to proceed from there! See you later!”

Wasting no time to heed her words. We all jump off the mountain peak and scale the side all the way to the bottom. It takes us no more than a dozen minutes to do that and reach the entrance. We are all much better than we were six months ago.

Once we reach the entrance, a man dressed in black who seems to be part of the staff hands us a watch that he instructs us to wear before entering. He claims that this identifies the wearer as a DaiKar student and permits entry into most areas and facilities. I obey and enter DaiKar’s first floor. I find a seat towards the left end and settle down. Sylvia joins me, followed by Ivana. I am quite surprised at the sight of Ivana but I imagine she must be simply tagging along because Sylvia is there. Not all of the other peaks have reached this place, hence, most of the floor is empty. This makes it easy to see that, among those who are here, cliques have formed. Even Rowan has found his entourage, seemingly all individuals from great families. I can tell just from the way they converse. Our three person squad pales in comparison to their large group.

We do not remain three for much longer, however. Another heads towards our table. It is a student from Lauderdale, Adam Lockwood, from the great Lockwood family. He addresses Sylvia before sitting down.

“May I sit here lady FullCastle.”

“Do as you’d like Adam.”

He bows.

“Then excuse me.”

Remembering that not all heirs are the same, I extend my hand to him as a form of greeting. We already know each other, but we’ve never really spoken before. There wasn’t much time to do anything on that peak besides eat, sleep and train. It is for that same reason I had never really talked to Ivana before that mission.

I do not have high expectations, at best he’ll ignore my hand, at worst he’ll do what Sebastian did and attempt to overpower me. It is a well known fact that I am a ‘commoner’. Unexpectedly he grips it tightly and offers me a warm smile.

“We haven’t had the chance to properly meet despite living in the same building for six months. I’m sure you know already, but my name is Adam, nice to meet you, Alden!”

I shake his hand.

“Uh, yeah, nice to meet you.”

He offers a courteous nod and then strikes a conversation with Ivana.

‘Woah, he’s…nice?’

He isn’t the only one to reach for our table. The next people to come sit with us are Alex, the mountain of muscle, and Zora, a petite purple-haired girl. They are the only two other commoners in the Lauderdale [enlightened] cohort of this year. Zora scratches the back of her head nervously.

“Well, y’know, we’re the only commoners ‘round here, so we oughta stick together, ain’t that right?”

I do not particularly dislike them. I point to an empty chair.

“Right, take a seat!”

She listens to me and they both sit beside Adam. Zora introduces herself curtly, simply stating her name and her enthusiasm at joining our table. She receives a warm welcome from the people at the table. An awkward silence fills the air as we somewhat expect Alex to do the same, but nothing comes out of his mouth. Zora nudges him and whispers through her teeth,

“Com’on, say somethin’ big guy! Everybody’s waitin’ on you!”

With an impassive expression, he introduces himself.

“... I am Alex.”

Zora facepalms.

Despite his… strange greeting he receives an equally warm welcome. All six of us are seated at the same table: Sylvia, Ivana, Zora, Alex, Adam and I. Though I’ve hardly talked to any of them before, excluding Sylvia whom I’ve grown rather close with, I sense that us six will spend much more time together from now on.