All ten contestants that had resided within Strangers Manor had all gotten aboard the airship and stood on its deck. Soon the platform they used to board had slowly began to recede until it completely returned to the ship.
With the platform no longer extended the ship began to rise up into the air and soon gave a full view of the entirety of Basttenhoven. The sight of this was a first for Lucas who keenly admired the view.
"Amazing!" He exclaimed genuinely as he experienced what it felt like to be in an airship for the first time.
The other contestants however never really showed how they felt about it, including Aron who had also been experiencing his first time aboard an airship. Aron only leaned against the rail with his hood up as he faced the front view the ship gave.
'Gr, I can only see his back' An irritated Oxin thought to herself before finally turning to scan the other contestants.
As she did this, the other contestants all began looking at each other either directly or stealthily, aside from Aron who didn't seem to care and Lucas who was distracted. freew ebnov el
'I feel an odd presence of mana on here. I can't tell how strong it is but I'm sure it means the people present are capable.' Mirai thought to herself as she felt a strange tingle on her skin ever since the ship became fully boarded.
"Hmph. Just weaklings everywhere." Jagu on the other hand scoffed at everyone he laid his eyes on. Not seeing anyone who caught his eye simply by looks alone. Jagu would soon turn to Aron and prepare to speak, however Aron spoke first.
"Do we fight each other or others?" Aron muttered and caught everyone's attention before he turned to face them.
"I was told the journey has always been about potential students competing against each other for supremacy, so much so that death is a common occurrence during this process. So although they said this phase shall remain the same, it's obvious the real focus this time will be the aristocrats against the commoners." Aron quickly explained before walking passed Jagu and heading towards a door leading into the airship.
"Sounds like you're just making excuses to because you want the shelter of a group." Jagu replied irritatedly and caused Aron to come to a halt before lowering his hood and walking up to Jagu.
"I'm just looking at it logically, working as a group would be less taxing that fighting both sides. However if you insist then I'm fine with the latter, but just how sure are you that you can best me in fight to the death." Aron looked Jagu in the eyes and asked bluntly with a smirk on his face.
As Jagu looked into Aron's eyes, he felt a strange chill invade his body. This feeling although rare, was still familiar to Jagu, this feeling was fear. Jagu found himself unable to retort.
'My instincts are telling me he's dangerous.' Jagu grit his teeth at Aron but didn't utter a word, nor did he even move.
"No reply? I'll take that as you agreeing to the former then. If you all tire each other out now you'll all just become easy prey for others later." Aron turned away from Jagu and advised before proceeding to enter the interior of the airship.
Although what he said held some truth, the real reason he wanted to work as a team was to lessen the danger he'd strength. After all even the strong have sometimes fallen to the weak due to lack of knowledge or preparation.
So until he got a good grasp of the situation a team was an appropriate choice.
Even after Aron left, Jagu didn't utter a word. Instead the large Komi let out an annoyed growl before going inside as well.
"They both think too highly of themselves, no matter how talented they are, they can't hope to compete against an aristocrat who has received training since a tender age and has had everything they need to improve themselves." Sharla crossed her arms and expressed her view on the matter in a displeased tone.
"I disagree Sharla, I think that not only is it possible but we shall bear witness to it. Everyone here is very talented after all." Mirai added in her ever so gentle voice before leaning on the rails and closing her eyes.
After Mirai did this, the remaining contestants averted their gazes and simply looked at views the airship had to offer.
Hinako and Jin stood close to each other silently without uttering a word. Not too far from them, Evanora was doing the same all by herself. Despite Oxin being on her own as well, she seemed more upbeat and energetic than anyone else present.
The only person who seemed to have taken an initiative in trying to interact with the others was Lucas who approached Scarlett.
"Uh, Hey. It's pretty impressive to make it in the top ten so I'm guessing you're working hard to provide for your family back home as well. You know and change how aristocrats view us haha." Lucas laughed nervously as he attempted to spark a conversation.
"I'm an only child, my father is dead and my mother is nothing but a cheap tavern whore. I'm working hard for myself and nothing else. I couldn't care less about how aristocrats see me or others, I only really care for money." Scarlett replied bluntly before looking away from Lucas rudely.
A little further away from Scarlett and Lucas, Jin showed a faint smile on his face and shook his head.
"Is something funny?" Hinako asked in a rude uncaring way but Jin turned to her to answer anyway.
"The idea of aristocrats changing who they are just seems funny, it's like finding a virgin whore. A part of me can't wait until we face them, it will be a sort of justice don't you think?" Jin asked while showing a helpless expression and heaving a sigh.
"That is not the reason we are here Jin. Put aside your honor and principles aside for once and focus on the bigger picture or everything our parents died for would have been for nothing." Hinako warned in a low yet serious tone before going silent.
Meanwhile in a well decorated room within the ship, Aron was casually laying on a bed with his head facing the ceiling.
"So far everything is moving just as Ariel explained but it's too early to truly be sure. Best I just lay down until things become interesting." Aron concluded before closing his eyes.
Soon night would fall without anything of note occurring so the remaining contestants simply returned to their own assigned quarters.
The night was tranquil and silent with only the sound of the air gently moving against the airship. But just a little after midnight had passed, the sound of an explosion had reached the airship, instantly alarming everyone.
"What was that?..." Lucas who had been laying on the bed in his quarters quickly got up and questioned before rushing out of the room.
By the time he got to the deck, he found eight other contestants standing on the deck looking forward. Jagu, Oxin, Mirai, Sharla, Jin, Hinako, Scarlett and Evanora had all gathered and were all looking at the sight of the explosion.
In the slightly far distance two other airships could be seen hovering in the skies. One was grand and luxurious like the one Lucas and the others were on, while another was simple but was in bad condition as many damaged areas could seen on its surface.
Just as the contestants were observing from afar, a bright light had emerged from the deck of the luxurious airship and shot towards the simple one.
Another explosion followed but this time, the simple ship began to slowly descend to the ground below before crashing violently onto the ground.
"What's going on?" Lucas asked in a curious tone and with narrowed eyebrows as he watched the scene unfold.
"Are you blind or just stupid. It's like contestant ten said, the aristocrats are targeting non aristocrats. Did you really think they'd let people like us enter the academy and threaten their all so fragile egos?" Scarlett rudely replied with a frown on her face and her arms crossed. While Sharla who stood not too far from her narrowed her eyes as she noticed something.
"Judging by the way that ship is turning, we are next." Sharla pointed out causing everyone present to show a serious expression.
"So what? We just have to attack them first." Jagu growled and suggested as she showed an excited look.
"That won't work." Jagu's excitement was cut short as Aron finally decided to come up to the deck. Jagu was not the least bit pleased by this and was ready to retort when all of a sudden Scarlett stepped forward and spoke first.
"He's right. A battle here is one between airships and that's one we can't win as their ship is far more equipped for battle. We'd have to be ground at least be able to fight on equal terms if confronted" Scarlett explained hurriedly and almost immediately Lucas raised his hand.
"Can't we just talk to them?"
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