Astrid sat up. She examined her location. It was outside the academy, and people were asleep still asleep on the floor, or sitting up chatting to another person. There was a huge hologram above them, counting down a timer. There was an hour left.
Mizuki was right beside her, doing a bit of exercise. When he noticed Astrid, he picked up his notepad. He looked very smug.
{Took your time! I finished in 20 minutes!}
Then he pointed at Mirage, on the other side of the crowd.
{She was the only one to wake up before me. In fact, I don't think she fell asleep.}
"Ah, okay."
She inspected the crowd. She spotted Mesh and his cronies. His cronies were awake; however Mesh was sweating profusely in his dream.
'I wonder what type of childhood he had.'
Astrid had gone to train for the rest of the time left, while Mizuki sharpened his blade. He wondered how he would be able to get his voice back. Unexpectedly, Hotaru approached him.
"Mizuki, am I right? Nice to meet you. I've been waiting to talk to you." She extends her hand.
Mizuki took it immediately, then a huge sense of danger hit him. Just by the shake of her hand, he could tell she was strong. He then scrambled for his pen.
{Ah, it's an honour. What is it that you wanted to speak about?}
"Uh...Notepad? What's with that?"
{Oh, I lost my voice the other day.}
"Unusual...Anyways, I wanted to talk to you about an opportunity. How would you like to be the president of the school council?"
The boy looked up, slightly surprised.
{We haven't done the 3rd trial yet, how do you know i'll pass?}
Hotaru grinned. "Was it not you that wiped out most of the monsters in the forest on the first night?"
This made him jump. {You knew?}
"Of course I did. So, how about it?"
{If you're willing to allow me, then I will take that offer. But don't expect me to do a speech or anything. After all, I can't speak.}
"Don't you worry about that. I'll deal with that curse of yours." Hotaru walked off, pulling out a sandwich from her pocket and devouring it.
Mizuki pondered on this curse of his.
***
Finally, the timer was coming to an end. With 3 minutes left, more people were waking up, including Mesh. The woke gathered around the entrance of the school and the asleep were moved to a nearby area.
Counting down the timer, Astrid was filled with excitement. She made it past two trials, and she wanted to know who she was versing. The crowd was booming.
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0!"
They shouted, as Hotaru exited the building in front of them.
"Settle down future students. All you here have, obviously, passed the second and will be moving onto the third trial. The duels. The rules have been switched up a bit due to some...unfair advantages." She glanced Mizuki. "So we'll switch it up a bit."
She waved her hand, and the hologram of the timer had changed to a matchmaking of every examinee.
"You will pass if you win, but if you lose, you might pass based on how you fought. Basically, how determined you are, i guess?"
The crowd understood and looked up at the matchmaking. Astrid found her opponent's name.
"Lilith Flaremore? What's with the dramtic surname..." She spotted Mizuki's name.
"Mizuki, you're versing...No one?"
He smiled sheepishly. {I had a little chat with Hotaru.... ^_^}
The woman was too stunned to speak, and looked back up at the projection.
"Mirage Cetera is versing Nagi Flaremore. Seriously? What's with these surnames?"
After the hologram disappeared, Hotaru spoke up.
"The duels will begin tomorrow afternoon. Until then, the training hall and gym is free for use. Good luck!"
Astrid obviously went to the training hall, and Mizuki headed to the gym. Once Astrid began practicing, she was approached by a blue haired, timid girl.
"P-pleasure to m-m-meet you, Astrid. I-i'm L-Lilith."
"Ah, you too. I hope we have a good battle."
'Wait, she looks a lot like...'
Someone shouted from behind them.
"Lilith! Where are you wondering off to?!?"
Mesh, who was called Nagi, came over to them.
"Lilith, what did I tell you about-" He noticed Astrid. His facial expression changed from a menacing one to an innocent one.
"Astrid, right? Seems you've met my sister. Lovely to meet you again. Go easy on her, will you?"
Before she got to reply, he looked at Lilith with hate, and dragged her by the hair out of the hall. Lilith whimpered in pain.
'Looks like they've got some family issues.'
After a few hours, Mizuki returned to Astrid.
{It's getting late, wanna book a hotel? Just for a night. We'll figure out things later.}
"Mm. Let's go. I'm tired."
On their way, they grabbed a bite to eat. When they booked, they got two rooms this time and Mizuki felt relieved.
Astrid put down her things, and got ready for bed. The day had gone by quickly. After that tormenting trauma, she wondered what else would come back to haunt her. Not like she could remember most of her past anyways. Laying down, she slowly drifted to sleep, hoping for an excellent day tomorrow. Little did she know what was waiting for her.