The news that got to hear wasn't what she had been expecting. Not by far.
"…yes Miss Wallice, it was three of them. All masked up! They remained incognito all through the first round."
Wallice listened with rapt attention even though couldn't wait to hear about the Yamata girl. Her team members knew better than to bore her with inconsequential information like silly gossip. But if they were talking about this mysterious team, then they must had been pretty something.
"Ibneiah, tell me what was so special about this particular team that I haven't heard about."
Wallice knew her team in and out. They were a perfect balance. There was the optimist, the realist, and the depressing pessimist. She could always count on Ibneiah to tell it as it was, without any prejudice or bias.
"Macbeth's right miss. Asides from the fact that they were all in perfect harmony with each other, there was also the fact that their faces were hidden the whole time. No one seems to know them. And of course, their skills were off the chart, a little bit advanced for their stage as high school students."
Wallice nodded. Ibneiah was always so methodical, even in narration. Ibneiah had systematically broken down the team, by starting with the least of their most disturbing qualities, and gradually made his way to their most disturbing quality- their skills. Wallice appreciated it. But it was the last part that had her hooked.
"You say their skills were advanced? How advanced?"
Ibneiah hesitated for a bit. Wallice noted it and was immediately curious. He finally replied her with two word;
"Blood Blade."
The two words hung in the air like a funeral dirge, only without the melody, but accompanied by the horridness. Wallice wasn't one to be easily shocked, neither was Ibneiah. But the both of them were visibly puzzled.
"Are you sure? Are you positive it was the Blood Blade?"
Ibneiah merely nodded.
Wallice was thrown into a mental roller coaster. It couldn't be! Blood Blade? At the first stage of Caesar University's freshman try outs? Impossible! Wallice done her research well on every prospective star among the freshmen this year, none of them had the juice or experience or guidance that was necessary to pull this off! None of them!
But it wasn't as much as the failed research that disturbed Wallice. She was willingly to admit the fact that she hadn't done her homework properly. However, she just couldn't get over the fact that Blood Blade, (an inhuman technique so grotesque that it hadn't been seen in public for a long time) was the subject matter in the first round of a freshman's tryout at Caesar University.
This obviously called for an in depth investigation. If Blood Blade had truly been used by a member of an inconspicuous team of masked students, then, she had to find out what was going on. It was like bringing a dragon to a chicken fight. She would know. She was after all a dragon blood.
So, Wallice dispersed the meeting and went to find the one person she was sure would give her answers; Mabel.
Mabel on the other hand wasn't available. It turned out she was the most sought after person on campus. And this had put her in a difficult position because she had received strict orders from above not to divulge any information at all. But Wallice wasn't in the know about the politics going on. She desperately needed answers and that was all she needed at the moment. So, a few moments later, when she found herself being obstructed at the entrance to Mabel's office, she didn't know how to react.
"What are you talking about? This isn't a social call, I need to see Mabel stat!"
The guard at the door shook his head firmly. "Sorry miss, but I cannot-"
"Miss?!" Wallice glowered at him."Did you just call me miss?! Do you not know who I am?"
Wallice was a hot head. By virtue of her own status, bloodline and fearsome reputation, she was very prone to being the aggressive one in any given situation. It wasn't a character flaw or anything of the sort. It was just who she was. It was part of her, and it brought out the very best in her, and paradoxically, it also brought out the worst.
Another reason Wallice was a bit shocked was because things like this didn't happen all too often with her. She was used to getting her way in most places. Not because she was proud or aggressive (she was actually both of these things), but it was majorly because she was always on the right side of things. Right now was one of those moments. Wallice had every right to see Mabel.
There was a student amongst the high school students who not only had the capacity to execute a well defined Blood Blade attack, but had demonstrated his willingness to use it by flaunting it so publicly. If this wasn't a problem that required Mabel's urgent attention, then she wasn't sure what would. All that stood in her way was this annoying guard.
The guard was a professional. He knew enough not to loose his cool. He had met far more dramatic and obnoxious guests before, so it wasn't his first rodeo. The best thing was to stay calm. It was likely that his calmness would further infuriate her, but as it stood, that was his best bet.
"Forgive me if I gave off the wrong impression Miss Wallice, I know exactly who you are. But I am under strict orders not to admit any guests to see Miss Mabel."
Wallice took a step back mentally. The guard knew who she was, it wasn't just that he knew her her name, it was the familiar tone with which he had casually said it. Like he knew her and what she was capable of. There was no doubt about that. But it didn't make it any less odd.
If he knew who she was, and was still refusing her entrance, then it could only mean that this was not a frivolous move. He wasn't just making the conscious decision to deny her an audience with Mabel, he was definitely acting on a higher authority and that was just about it. She noted his stance, determination and the distinct bored look at the edges of his eyes, all of this suggested that he had probably done this at least several times today already.
Wallice began to see a much clearer picture of what was going on. Of course it made sense, by the looks of it, some other lead teachers had already been here to complain. And if the University was turning them away then, it meant that they were already aware of the situation. Perhaps, they even had a hand in it.
Since it was clear that she wasn't going to make any headway here, she eyed the guard with as much vitriol as she could muster, and walked out of the administrative block. The fresh air greeted her outside the toxic space she had just exited from, and she was reminded just how tense she had been a couple of minutes ago. The air outside was calm and sweet, but Wallice didn't give a damn about that.
There were a lot of things she needed to iron out. And a walk was just what she needed. Mentally, she arranged things in an orderly fashion, and then began to go over them one by one. Anyone who saw Wallice in that moment would have seen her walking determinedly towards a pre-determined location. But she was really on auto pilot. Physically, she was on the go. Her body moving was moving, but her mind was far away from bome.
The first thing she had to do was simple; she had to get as much information on the culprits as possible. And so far, she had close to nothing. Wallice suddenly remembered Ibneiah's description of the team who had launched a Blood Blade attack and recalled one very interesting fact- they had all been masked! Every single one of them.
With immediate alacrity, the dots began to connect in Wallice's awfully suspetful mind, and a very scary picture began to form. She didn't like it one bit, and she definitely hadn't even considered it as a possibility before now. But from everything she was seeing, it seemed like Caesar University had snuck in three teachers as undercover agents to test the students. She almost kicked herself in the gut for not realizing this sooner.
Of course it made sense. How could a mere high school student have the skill to casually pull off a technique that was so sordid, it hadn't been witnessed in a pretty long time. It made so sense at all. And now could the University not know about it? Of course they knew, it was most likely a plan that had been hatched in one of those ostentatious board room meetings. If this whole plan had been to test the high school students, then she didn't blame them at all.
Wallice herself had seen the lineup for this year's tournament. She had scouted out any possible threats to her team's victory, and had been relieved (and frankly a little disappointed) by what she saw. Only the girl from the Yamata family had been worth preparing for. The others might have been bright in their own schools, but on a regional stage, they were still very ordinary.
Wallice thought that the University had probably seen this too.
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