Chapter 11

Constantly running event timers, or CRETs. A fairly new invention based on the time run from when you first start playing a game, until the first major events start to occur.

CRETs were one way game developers found ways to constantly force a story forward, even in an Otome game. Effectively the premise is that these events were going to always happen, but when they happen should be random.

Originally, if you conduct one playthrough they will be at the senior year of your first playthrough, by which time you will hopefully be strong enough to battle the different events that pop up periodically.

CRETs were a novel way to spice up game play, particularly on replays, where the timers for CRETs were set to random intervals, and almost always one CRET was set to go off at the introduction of the game.

This was designed to spark action, which was needed to create scenarios where you as the Main Character, Claudia, were forced to team up with your retainer and at least three of the male leads. These were the first three males that you happened to come across in your mission. Of course, the two most likely to form a core for any relationship with you, Prince Priam and Prince Galvis were the two that were often the hardest to find in the introductory sequence.

Most of the time this would be something minor, like a dungeon break, where a swarm of monsters were released upon the prospective students, these were considered the easy starts. The medium start sequences were where roaming bands of monsters flooded from the forests fleeing some ancient evil. An evil that you will then be forced to hunt down and kill within the first year of your time as a student.

Then there were the hard starts, these were everything from having to face the primordial monster of terror that would eventually force the monsters of the surrounding forests to swarm the city. Or the military envoy from the dark continent coming and all but attacking the University on the backs of wyverns. The military envoy was often considered the hardest and one that many hoped would happen in their senior years, as very few spells or attacks could hit flying creatures. Making the mages flying on the backs of flying creatures an absolute nightmare to deal with.

Most often the way to deal with these flying magicians was to hide within the magical library, shell up, and wait for the mages to get off of their flying mounts and enter the library where they would proceed to take a few key items, before attempting to burn down every book present.

Knowing that taking out the library was the primary goal of theirs, as they ultimately wanted to prevent the future nobility of the continent from being able to defend themselves from subsequent attacks, it made sense to hole up in the library and defend yourself there. This of course, implied that you were on campus and inside the walls of the vaunted University before this particular CRET arrived.

Also, this CRET would set off a domino of other CRETs all involving the dark continent and their subsequent sped-up invasion timetable.

Most people when faced with this scenario on the intro scene ultimately went for an immediate restart, knowing that this CRET would be cycled to the back and would only happen on year four of the next playthrough.

Why is there so much focus on this last CRET, well in case I miss my guess, these ominous dark clouds that are suddenly being called in by weather magic from the northeast is a prelude to the first wave of dark continent scouts.

Thunderclap.

“Huh? What’s that?” People cried out.

Even the professors and Magister of the school all looked confused at first.

“What? Why now? This shouldn’t happen until Senior year?” A familiar voice calls out indignantly.

Hearing that voice I know two things. First, I know that voice belongs of Claudia Von’Roseblade, the MC of this story, and second I know that she like me is a player in this world. That or she finally got the Precognition affinity to work from the very beginning.

I never could, though having the Precognition as one of the three affinities offered to Claudia often helped explain away how you just knew certain things that you hadn’t found the clue yet. So long as you could adequately guess where certain key event makers were, and then find them, your explanations were accepted without complaint.

Personally, I thought it was a great use of power and way to encourage people to complete multiple playthroughs.

Between Precognition and Psychometry, you had a valid excuse for why you knew anything about what people would do, or what people did.

That said, other than a few theatrical cut scenes, you almost never got visions of the past or future. This was a key selling point for replayers, like me, as they didn’t have to sit through hours of cut scenes repeatedly. That or they only had to sit through the new ones once. Once it was marked as seen on your account, you never had to watch them again. And you could go back to your title screen and watch them at any time.

Here the scene would be something close to a quick close up of Princess Claudia first disembarking from her carriage, and then seeing the dark clouds roll in from nowhere. Then having the wyvern riders from the dark continent open up by firing giant balls of fiery plasma down at the unsuspecting students.

These scenes were the ones that did the best, as some people tried to run and hide, only to find that everywhere exposed was quickly burned down. The carriages were the first pieces of kindling targeted by the mages. From there, groups of students and faculty were targeted. Then finally any individual who was still trying to run was eventually caught. The city gate was closed, meaning students couldn’t run into the sanctuary of the university.

Even the woods was a bad place to run as all the riders did was begin encircling you with burning trees and forest shrubbery, before you ultimately burned to death.

The longest anyone ran was for an hour and a half, finally hiding under a burnt log in the forest.

Once they left the hiding spot big enough for one, they found their retainer, all the other love interests, and all of the greeting professors were killed. Then they went in to find that the library had been completely destroyed and they had a game over as they were ultimately sent back home with half their face burnt, and no way to learn about magic.

Looking at what was about to happen, I couldn’t help but remember that hour and a half long torture video. The main reason why it was so clearly imprinted in my mind was I was the one who tried that crazy scenario. I had found the hollowed-out tree in prior playthroughs. I began running into the woods almost immediately, trying to see if I could salvage the intro. Of course, at the time my Attributes, Skills, and Affinities were all trash. While I knew the spells to cast, at most I would get a E+ rating on my spells.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

This time, things were different.

This time my Intelligence was a B+, my Magic was an A due to my breaking the tutorial. Even my affinities were exactly perfect for this particular CERT. As all my magical affinities were at a C, except for Arcane Repair which was at an A+. Mentally I kick myself for not getting that one last training session in and seeing if I could have made it to S rank in Arcane Repair, but right now this is the best I have ever been for this particular engagement.

Shivers.

I am in the middle of a perfect run, one where I have the ultimate character. I’ve met all of the hidden requirements that I always wanted. I have a surname before enrolling at the University, I have all my skills and Attributes maxed out or nearly maxed out, and I have all the skills I need to succeed right here and now.

Inhale.

As I breathe in, I see the first rays of fire raining down from the arcane wyvern riders.

The lights from the burning balls of death showing a stark contrast between the forced darkness caused by the dark storm clouds, and the magical spells that are sparking to life.

Boom!

The first blast crashes down destroying a royal carriage, it is the one with a blue seal. My mind looks for the name, but then falls short as I realize the declaration of war has already been signed, sealed, and delivered.

Exhale.

Smiling to myself, I realize this is going to be fun.

“AHHH!” People are running and screaming all around, trying to avoid the incoming fireballs.

As for me, I am in my element.

I’ve been through this battle so many times that I know how to move and what to do. If a fireball looks like it is coming right for you, then move forward. It is an odd optical illusion, but by moving forward you actually can avoid the majority of the blast.

That said, I’m in the back by the instructors, and there is a lot of ground to cover between the carriages that carried the members of royalty, and me.

This is perfect as it gives me time to lock and load.

Perfect Cast: Locked Far Vision

This is a modified version of the Beginner’s Far Vision I cast during the tutorial. With this I can throw my sight to a distant spot and effectively lock onto a target, rather than a location. This is perfect for tracking someone that is moving. Normally, this type of spell is meant to track the movements of people or hear conversations of people that are moving in a group. That said, noted spell masters like me found that by changing out the word Listen for See and you could lock on your sight to a spot.

Of course, this made it so that all you could see was one fixed spot, normally a spot on the neck or on the face of a person or monster. Utterly useless, until you realized that you could move the spell to a specific location. Then once you found the location you were looking for you could once again focus on using the skill Dual Casting, where you then rain down pain from a distance.

I admit, it is completely cheap, like sniping with magic from a distance with point blank attack spells, but super effective if you can do it, and best of all, the game allows it to happen.

Finding my spot on the first wyvern, a spot right where the neck of the beast merges with the seat of the rider, the air compression chamber of the wyvern to keep it upright, and on the softer underside of the wyvern, I adjust my sights, and then release my ultimate attack spells.

Perfect Cast: Intermediate Arcane Repair Bolt: Cast: A+, Damage with Casting Bonus S+.

Casting Cost: D

At the casting of the spell, I feel the gentle tug of energy as not one but two spells were cast at D ranking.

The system didn’t actually tell me those measurements, but that is what I gathered from all my practicing. My Arcane Repair is an A+, which is increased due to my perfect Arcane Repair casting bonus. And the cost of my intermediate version of the spell should be a C, but is reduced down to D thanks to my Precision Caster bonus.

These bonuses are the real reason why I don’t want to lose this start by taking a loss with the wyvern riders. Instead, I cast the spell once, listen for the distant attack.

KABOOM!

A giant spark of dark purple arcane energy erupts out of nowhere and slams into the lead wyvern rider, causing an explosion and the wyvern and rider both to immediately catch fire. Not just any fire, but a deep purple electrical fire of forgotten mana.

Within a second the wyvern is thrown backwards, and immediately begins spiraling downward. The beast is dead, but the mage on its back is seen frantically trying to cast spells, only to have the spells flash and fizzle out as their concentration is being pressed to the limits.

I drop the Locked Far Vision and blink once, then immediately lock onto the next closest target and begin casting.

Now that I know that this method of attack is enough to finish the job, I begin quickly but efficiently moving through the formation.

Lock, Load, Fire.

Lock, Load, Fire.

I have my hand up, and there is obviously a slight blue spark jumping from my hand to an unseen space, before the spell disappears and gets recreated at the edge of my new fixed eyesight.

Over and over, I focus on my attacks.

By now, other professors have also taken to firing giant bursts into the sky.

These attacks are mostly futile, as the riders just dodge and weave out of the way of the blasts. This is part of what makes this CRET at this time so devastating, as no one can counter the riders. At least when you are inside the walls and in the library you can funnel and take away the rider’s number one advantage, namely their high mobility.

“Keep going girl, we’ve got you.” Lady Von’Graysing whispers into my ear, causing a shiver to run down my spine.

Fizzle.

There is a fizzle of my spell, as my attack spell rebounds and echoes back to my brain.

“Ahh, you need to put bells on or something.” I say, though I can easily see why I was distracted as I have my vision currently fixed on a fire breathing wyvern that is getting close enough to us now that it too can join in the attacks from the sky.

“Oh, sorry about that. Just know that you can go all out, as you are, and we will cover you.” Lady Von’Graysing states.

Hearing her words I can only nod, but I need to knock down this wyvern before it gets too close.

Squinting my left eye, I focus through the pain, and KABOOM!

This time the force is so intense and close that I am thrown off my feet.

Catch.

As I am falling backwards, strong hands reach out to brace me, I feel an explosion happening right overhead.

Dismissing my Locked Far Vision spell, I open my eyes to see the gentle blue glow of a protective dome. Then I see the crashing of a wyvern and rider.

“Ahh!” A bunch of students cry out, many try to rush past me and once again nearly knock me over. Fortunately, the strong hands of the Spymaster and a guard are there to hold me up and force the other students to flee around me.

Seeing the mage, I raise my hand to point towards the mage.

Then before I can cast, I feel a hand press my arm down.

“Save your magic kitten,” the spymaster states, then true to form, now that the mage is on the ground he is targeted by multiple mages and simultaneously impaled by a Rock Spike, burned by Fireball, and hacked to pieces by a Divine Paladin.

Knowing that the immediate threat is over, I once again turn my attention towards the sky, to see that I only see three of the wyvern riders. The only thing is that each is facing the wrong way and trying to get away with speed.

Seeing the fleeing riders, I realize that if they are left to go, then they can burn a path through the countryside and if left alone for too long, they will eventually rest up and leave the continent entirely, only to come back with an even greater force.

No, if I want to get the maximum amount of time between waves, I need to take down these last three. That is why I work even quicker.

Lock, Load, Fire.

Though this time, I just lock onto a wing, then using the Beginner’s Arcane Repair Bolt, I cut through the wing and joint of the creature, forcing it to collapse and fall to the ground in a spiraling descent.

Then not even watching the first one fall, I begin doing the same thing for the others, especially as they keep trying to rise higher and higher, probably hoping to get out of my targeting range. Little did they know that Arcane Repair Bolt is a line of sight spell, effectively making it infinite, so long as I can lock my vision on where I need to target.

Poof.

Slight pause.

Poof.

Poof.

The final three retreating riders crash to the ground, and with that, I let out a sigh of relief.

“Knight Paladin Upton, send out a detachment of Knight Paladins to ensure all of the wyverns and their riders are killed and accounted for.” Magister Carthwright states, apparently being the first to recover from the sight of a rapidly clearing sky.

By now the sun is once again shining, causing the dark overcast hue that had descended on the entrance ceremony to quickly clear up.

“Acknowledged,” Knight Paladin Upton said, he was apparently the knight that had been outside the protective barrier and been the one to actually pierce his sword into the chest of the wyvern mage rider.

“All prospective students, please form up, by Lady Von’Graysing over here. She is standing next to your Freshman Class Valedictorian in the black mask. Normally, we would have an introduction and calibration ritual where you could all showcase your talents and we could prove whom should be your Valedictorian, but I think we can all safely say Lady Laurain here is the clear champion, unless anyone still wishes to object?” Magister Carthwright stated.

Apparently, everyone knew it was me casting the spells to take down the wyverns and their riders. I understand the teachers and the staff, as their Perception attributes are at least C rank or higher and would therefore easily be able to see the way I was burning through my mana. Though I doubted many of the students could see that, a fact that was quickly proven by one speaker.

“I object,” and like that, I found that I would soon have to have my first interaction with the main character of this world and story. For the person that objected to my placement as the class Valedictorian was none other than Lady Claudia Von’Roseblade.

“An objection has been noted.” Magister Carthwright stated, then turning to me he stated. “What say you, do you accept the challenge to a magical duel?”