Jun thought that the day of fights against the Sergeant would be a one time thing and that they'd return to the same training he had given them in class as before. She was very wrong. Her next Practical Spellcasting class found Professor Lorne leading them back to the Arena, where the Sergeant was waiting with another section of students, among them the rest of her team. Sitting next to Aya, Keira, Cian, and Michael felt strange. The awkward tension between Aya and her made everything feel off, and while everyone else seemed content to ignore it and carry on as usual, it didn't feel like that to her. As much as she wanted things to go back to how they were before, she just didn't know what to do and just withdrew, hoping the awkwardness would fade on its own.

"Now that the rest of the mages have arrived, we'll begin," the Sergeant said, nodding at Professor Lorne. "As you may have heard from your peers, the other section of this class fought against me in groups and were allowed to use all of their abilities without restriction. I have decided to spread this opportunity out and make it a permanent part of your training. Training will now consist of mixed ability sparring, physical conditioning, and fights against professors from both the Combat Mastery and Magical Combat Mastery Departments. Going forward, all Practical Spellcasting students will be joining us, even those not in the Combat Branch."

Several shocked grumbles broke out among the mage students at this announcement.

"Are you serious? I'm a mage and a noble, not some grubby commoner destined to die in a ditch as a common adventurer? I won't be part of this!" A haughty looking boy sporting a gold school medallion said angrily, standing up and stomping towards the arena exit. "We'll see how Baron Vorn feels about this!" Several more students stood and followed the boy towards the exit, each wearing a gold or silver medallion.

Jun, and many of the other Combat Branch students, stared in shock as the Sergeant allowed the noble students to just walk out. Just as the first nobles stepped through the exit, the Combat Branch Professor finally spoke. "There will be times when you can only rely on your own power for protection. Be it against an assassin that slips through your defenses, a criminal waylaying you in the street, or monsters breaking through as a city's defenses fail, there will come a time when you need to defend yourself, whatever your station in life. However, I will not force the unwilling to learn. Should anyone else unwilling or unable to learn to defend themselves, they may also leave."

Gasps and mutters broke out amongst the students at the Sergeant's words. The man's insult wasn't buried too deeply, and most picked up on it immediately. A few of those with silver and gold medallions in the Combat Studies Branch frowned and glared, some at the protesting students, but some at the Sergeant even as they stayed firmly seated in the arena. Among the exiting students, several stopped for a moment at the implied insult, their faces coloring with indignation. A small few towards the back even returned to their seats shame-faced, but the rest ignored him and left.

The number of students that left overall were fewer than one in ten, but that left the arena swelling with hundreds of non-combat students.

Following the exodus of noble students, class that day was strange. The first half was almost like their first day all those months ago as the Sergeant and the teaching assistants led them through basic conditioning exercises until the non-combat students started to collapse. From her position among the other Combat Branch students, Jun couldn't help but feel an amount of pride at the easy workout. Where the crafters and other students were dripping with sweat and gasping for breath, her brow was still dry and her breathing easy, as if out for a simple stroll around a park. It was a good reminder of how far she'd come in just a few short months.

The second half of class was where things changed. "Combat Branch students to the sand for individual sparring."

More than half of the students in the arena crowded into the stands, groans of pain and exhaustion forming a low background buzz of noise as the Combat Branch students made their way down.

Jun assembled on the sandy arena floor with her classmates as dozens of smaller circles appeared. She saw Cecilia and the other assistants dragging out new racks of training weapons, far more than she thought the school might possess.

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"Listen up." The Sergeant's voice cracked through the buzz coming from the arena's seating. "You are permitted to use magic and abilities for these fights but no lethal or crippling attacks. Anyone who purposefully violates this rule will be expelled. Myself, the other professors, and our assistants will be acting as referees. If they tell you to stop, you stop. You ignore them and keep fighting,they are authorized to use any force they deem necessary. Each of these rings are numbered. When you hear your name, report to the assigned fighting ring."

"Jun, report to ring 43."

Jun jumped as she heard her name to Keira and Michael's amusement.

"Good luck Juju!" Keira called out.

"You got this Jun." Michael nodded at her.

"Thanks! You too! I mean, uh, when you have your fights. Both of you." Jun stammered, cringing with embarrassment. "Uh—" Before she could continue making a fool of herself, she heard her name being called again and rushed off to her designated ring. It took a minute to get there, and by the time she arrived she found a professor holding a clipboard waiting next to another student. The professor looked to be middle aged, his skin pale with dark bags under his eyes. His dark, short cropped hair was messy like he'd just woken up, and his rumpled suit gave her the impression that he slept in his clothes. But all of that paled in comparison to the bright, shining silver aura lined with streaks of gold that surrounded him and seemed to be constantly reaching out to things with eager curiosity. As she approached, she saw a streamer of the silver and gold light reach out towards her.

Ignoring the strange light, Jun stepped up to the man. "I'm Jun, is this my ring?" She asked, gesturing towards the ring behind the professor marked with a red "43." The man simply stared at her, leaving her questions hanging in the air. The man frowned as he continued to stare at her and Jun shifted uncomfortably at the attention and opened her mouth to speak again, only for the professor to finally say something.

"Ah yes Jun, you're finally here. You're a mage trainee correct? Don't need any of that outdated weaponry for this then. Hurry on in and let's get going. You've wasted quite enough time." He said quickly, snapping his fingers at the ring behind him. Turning around to the boy impatiently waiting next to him, the professor made an idle shooing motion at him. "You too Mr. Morrel. Get a move on. The sooner you two beat your heads in against each other the sooner this charade is done!"

Jun glanced at the boy the professor called Mr. Morrel, noticing the barely concealed irritation on his face. Noticing her look, the boy glared at her and spun around before marching into the ring, taking a position with his back to her.

Sighing, Jun walked over to the nearby weapon rack, ignoring the professor as he muttered about outdated weaponry as she carefully chose a training sword and shield. Like the other training weapons she'd used in the past, the gear was well balanced though nothing special. Armed, Jun entered the ring, passing the irritated boy to take the far position.

"Slow commoner," she heard the boy mutter as she passed by him.

In position, she got a better look at her opponent. A dark grey aura streaked with silver surrounded him, pulsing radically with anger and impatience. Golden locks framed a delicate looking face with well defined piercing blue eyes. His lips seemed unnaturally red, like he was wearing lipstick. In fact, the closer Jun looked, the more she noticed the signs of heavy cosmetics, something she hadn't noticed anyone wearing before. His pale cheeks were a bit rosier than seemed normal, as if her were wearing blush. His eyes seemed lined to make them look bigger and pop out a bit more, and his skin seemed almost matte, like it was covered in some kind of foundation. Besides the makeup, the most eyecatching thing she noticed was the silver school medallion proudly displayed on his chest.

"Done staring at your better, wench?" He sneered. Before Jun could reply, he snapped around to the impatient Professor. "Hurry up and start this farce Wendel. I've no desire to waste time with a common wench like this."

"Right, right, begin on my mark. Fight to surrender or incapacitation or whatever. 3-2-1-go."

Jun hesitated for a moment at the abrupt way the professor started the fight, a moment her opponent took full advantage of. Jun barely had a split second's warning as she felt his mana move to raise her shield and cast a barrier before it shattered as something ate through her spell's mana and a speeding car slammed into her shield. Stumbling back from the force of the attack, Jun's eyes widened as the sensations in her mana senses finally caught up with her conscious mind. Jagged, chaotic, barely contained energy reached out for her, spending its strength to slam through obstacles as it sought the shortest route to her.

"Oh you blocked it," the boy chuckled menacingly. "Maybe you'll be worth something as a practice dummy after all." The boy raised his hand with a flourish as sparks of electricity shot into the air.

Shit, a lightning mage.

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