Fieldtrip!

Lights of green and red fill my vision, blinding me if not for the fact I shed my eyes quickly with my arm. It takes a moment for my eyes to adjust and as they do I slowly raise my head out of my arms.

A cold wind rushes almost knocking the hat off my head. Barely, I'm able to hold onto it before it can do so.

It's cold. I'm alone. It's dark and I don't know where I am.

Definitely an odd predicament I find myself in. A situation that no matter how much I mull it over I can not find an explanation for.

So, it's time to find an explanation.

From the location to the very clothing I'm wearing I have no recollection of any of it nor do I have any knowledge of what it is. Then again my knowledge is limited. Using Akari's memories it's easy to assume I am in his world and in his clothes.

Seeing how this is impossible I would have to assume this is a dream. Most people aren't practically concise when they dream but who'd have thought I have quit the knack for this type of thing?

"Hello, Akari?" I woman's voice calls behind me.

I turn around but don't see anything. Only an ever-expanding dark forest. Snow covers the ground. The trees have red and green lights coming off them but their source is hard to find.

"Akari??" Again a woman's voice echoes through the forest.

I turn around once more. This time is no different. Hmm. Wait a moment. It is different. This time on the snowing ground is a red spot that stains it. I check myself and there seems to be no cuts.

"Akari!!!" This time a scream.

My vision clears to see an odd sight. In contrast to the cold around me, heat resonates warming me up. The source of the heat coming from a nearby wooden cabin. The cabin burns and it burns bright.

Inside a voice screams Akari's name.

"Hmm, another nightmare it would seem," I say bored.

Then in a moment, I return.

My face lifts from its dropped position where it just was a few moments ago. The bumpiness of the vesicle I find myself in jolting me awake. In my lap, a little girl poking my face.

"Morning! You've been out for about 30 minutes!" Kira says.

It seems I had fallen asleep not too soon after we had entered the carriage for the 'field trip'. Luckily it seems my fellow passengers have decided not to interrupt me. Even Kira waited until I was awake to lecture me.

The rest of the students seem a tad farther from me than they should.

It's only a small carriage so the maximum number of people you can fit in here is quite small, maybe only 6 or so yet with the little space these people have they decide to make it even smaller by sitting as far as they can from me.

Comical how they act like that with me when there is an actual murderer in here.

"Well hello again, cat," I say to the assassin who tried to kill me a few nights ago.

"Shut it, pervert," She says, not bothering to look at me.

How odd I don't remember her entering but then again I did fall asleep quite fast so it's possible she was late to get on or she came on to try and assassinate me in my sleep. However, if she was trying to do the latter she might have to wait another 5 minutes.

Before the person who tried to kill me makes another rude comment Jade who is sitting next to her elbows her in the arm. In response the assassin says "Sorry…" Then mouthing something that I can't quite understand.

"Her name is Eira by the way," Jade says. "Eira Nightshade," Eira adds.

"Ahh yes, I love putting a name to a face. Now I get to humanize my would-be murderer!" I say

"Oh come on don't be like that. Didn't we already explain that Eira was just there to distract you for a bit?" Jade says while holding a rectangle-covered object that is concealing what's inside.

Kira nods her head. "Even though I would do nothing to deceive Master I thought of no other way to distract you without causing suspicion"

"So at the time, I was fighting the… Distraction you were doing what exactly?" I inquired further,

Jade holds the rectangle tighter. "Well let's just say I needed Kira and I needed to prepare something while you weren't in your room. That's what this is for." She says of course gesturing to the item she's holding

"May I see it?" I ask

Kira quickly replies "No." She says in a monotone voice.

Jade quickly gives a more reasonable response. "You know you weren't even supposed to see this thing but it would so happen this field trip is a great excuse for… Something…."

So if im understanding everything correctly Both Kira and Jade wanted to prepare a gift for me but the only way to do so was to distract me away from my room long enough to get it ready.

And they decided their form of distraction was to spread rumors of a murderer and then send Jade's friend to pretend to try and kill me.

"Huh cool," I say.

I will say the hardest part about this whole thing is having both Kira and Jade in the same space with each other. Two people I treat very differently for my own gains. It's also odd how the few strangers here are acting more distant than normal.

"And I'm assuming the murder was never caught? In which case I assume that…" I start to ask.

"Yes, as of recently there have been some pesky rumors that you are the murderer but don't worry it's only spread amongst the students, the elites at that." Jade turns to the other students with a mean look.

They nod their head like they understand what she said and scoot a bit closer to us but still obviously far away.

With that whole thing figured out we continue our way to the destination. Which has yet to be defined.

I attempt many times but am unsuccessful in falling asleep again. The time also does not pass with a friendly conversation. Eira hates my guts too much to talk. Jade seems to be going through a tsundere phase right now and Kira seems to be content and won't speak unless I say something first.

So we continue on the short journey in an awkward silence…

Which then gets broken up by huge explosions that only get louder the closer we get to whatever is causing the sounds.

Whatever is making these sounds is so intriguing many people in our carriage lean outside to get a look at what it is. Even Kira climbs over me to get a look. So moving Kira aside I take a look for myself

The first thing I see is everyone doing exactly what we are doing. That means looking like total idiots leaning halfway out of the cart trying to see what's ahead of us. I even see Ren almost fall out but she gets pulled back inside before she falls.

Looking in the direction everyone else is looking I get to understand what exactly they mean by a field trip.

It's a battlefield.

The closer we get the easier for that idea to become a reality. 

The rhythmic clattering of hooves and the distant clang of steel reverberate through the air as we approach the crest of a hill. The landscape unfolds before us like a canvas painted in shades of war.

On our side, there are some disciplined-looking soldiers in a tight-packed formation. They wear clad in gleaming armor and wielding disciplined ranks of spears and shields. The lack of mages makes me question the explosion I heard earlier.

The army opposing them is too far for me to see but I guess I will just half to put the blame on them for that. Yet I see no holes or rubble. Odd.

The carriages finally come to a stop and all of us are rounded up and told where to stand for instructions. A man named Daou comes up to speak to us wearing an unkempt suit.

"Welcome students of the Katursh Dai Academy! Welcome to your once-a-year field trip of experience. I hope you find this time as fun as you do informative. You may now disperse and hang out in the designated area. Please do not go too close to the cliff so to maintain safety." He says on a podium.

The announcement is met with silence and confused looks from all the students.

"Oh, also there are some picnic supplies offered for free at the obligatory stand." He finishes.

It might have been due to that last statement or the extra time people got to understand what was going on but either way people's reaction one by one started changing. Most people shrugged and decided to go along with it. Some were even seen excitedly running towards the picnic supplies.

One of those many people is Kira and then Jade who soon follows her. I am about to follow them as well before Daou catches my attention. Well, it would be hard not to…

Daou puts a hand on my shoulder "Heya champ long time no see."

"Who are you?" I ask honestly.

Daou then puts on a face that I can almost feel myself involuntarily laugh at.

"Oh come on kid really? You're joking, right? It's me Daou! You know the guy that saved you twice now?"

"What, so we only met like twice… The first time I wasn't even really there."

"So you do remember me! I was the guy who met you and your sister at that burning town and then saved you from the death sentence in court. You should be thanking this humble accountant."

"Right and how exactly has a simple accountant become a lawyer and then a speaker?"

"Ah well let's just say this this simple accountant has had a few promotions recently. The only reason why I'm even here-" Just then it's like he remembers something really important. "Right so how is everything going with you? Had any murderous, rebellious maybe even some treacherous thoughts lately?"

"Not yet" I reply, finding a snack nearby and eating a few.

"Not yet~ Hah ok umm nice! Well, I'm glad to hear it, ah thought it would be nice if we changed it to 'not ever' Hah you know? More sticking power that way."

"Yeah yeah, I have no plans in doing any of that rebel stuff. All right?"

We continue talking on the hill overlooking the battle quite far away. Around us, people start setting up blankets and putting down baskets on the hill.

Hmm overlooking the battlefield though something seems a bit off…

"Well, that's great to hear, though people would maybe like a bit more insurance…"

"Yea well, how about this? You see the left flank of that army?" I say pointing to the edge of the left formation. "There's an ambush laid up ahead. That army group has to go through a forest where you can see the enemy hiding.

Daou looks at me with one of his signature looks but after he takes out his binoculars and stares for a few moments his attitude changes.

"Oh my… Uh well, it's been very good catching up with you but it seems like something has just come up so uh I will uh see you later." He says as he rushes off.

As it would so happen the same time he is rushing off Jade, Kira, and the Murderer walk past him and toward me. Though Jade doesn't carry anything instead there seem to be two hybrids carrying some stuff for her.

"What? You too weak to carry your own stuff?" I ask Jade.

"I can carry whatever I like. I just felt like giving these Half-breeds some purpose." She says while looking down at them.

Oh, Jade, it's moments like these where I question why I don't kill you.

I move my focus over to Jade's murderous companion to see her reaction but she pays it no mind like it's normal. 

Sighing loudly I take a step towards Jade fully ready for what is ready to come next but something or someone stops me before I do. In front of me Kira, who was holding a basket, trips over a rock.

Luckily I am in the perfect position to stop her just before she falls face-first into the ground.

"Jeez Kira are you ok you almost fell." 

Kira looks surprised for a second before being filled with joy and then hugging me. "Thanks!" She says continuing to prepare the picnic.

In hindsight, Kira would have had no trouble stopping herself from falling and even if she did fall it wouldn't have done much anyway. It would seem both our actions were… Unpredictable…

"What a hero" Jade comments.

"Says the person that owns slaves," I say back.

Me and Jade are about to get into one of our traditional fights before Kira comes and breaks it up. She says something like "Why are you two always fighting? Can't you guys keep it friendly at least for this trip???"

Both me and Jade decided to cool it after that. Instead taking the time to finish setting up the picnic and sitting down, enjoying? The view. The battle seems to be in the skirmish phase as of right now. Throwing javelins and shooting arrows.

Some kids even seem to be getting impatient. It is true that there is so much build-up for such a one-sided battle. It might be that my random comment really went far up the ladder…

"Ahem," Jade coughs to get my attention. "Well this wasn't exactly how it was supposed to go, however, it seems that this was a perfect moment to give this to you." She says handing me the present from earlier

Kirra decides to chip in by saying "We made sure to put a lot of work into this so I hope you enjoy it!"

I look over to Eira but she has nothing to say to me it seems. So I decided to lean over and take the gift. The rapping seems surprisingly eloquent and high quality. Makes me doublethink opening it.

"Just open the thing!" Jade yells.

Well, I was never much of a fan of eloquent accessories anyway. So in one swift motion, the rapping surrounding the gift disappears and reveals…

"A sword," I say out loud.

Jade starts talking but that doesn't stop me from continuing to take the sword out of its scabbard. "You see Akari, this isn't just some normal sword. This is a masterpiece forged with the finest blackened steel that money can buy."

She continues as I get a good look at the blade ready to test it. "The craftsmanship involved is beyond compare, with the hilt adorned in obsidian and engraved with intricate runes. This blade, my dear Akari, is not just a weapon; it's a statement it is- wait what are you doing?!"

Jade's last statement there was most probably due to what I am currently doing to test the blade. With one of my arms extended fully out and the other holding the sword ready to swing downward.

For a moment it seems like Jade is trying to stop me but she is not nearly fast enough. My arm quickly jolts down the sword arm at my other arm. A burst of energy sparks at the impact spot creating a scary noise. The burst is small and short but powerful.

"What the heck was that?! Are you trying to hurt yourself!" Jade looks mad while she says that but I can only wonder if that's because she's worried about me or the expensive toy I'm messing with.

Without needing to speak a word Kira seems to try and clear up the confusion. "This is his way of checking if a sword is strong enough. With the strongest thing nearby being well, him."

"Well, he's bleeding," Jade says.

"Wait what?!" Kira says with a scared tone as she looks over to me to see a perfectly intact sword and one small drop of blood falling to the ground. "Ahh your arm!" She screams as she quickly starts pouring healing magic on the small cut.

 "Oh wow, it seems to have passed," I say marveling at this new blade.

After some quick examinations of the blade to find there was indeed no damage done to it I was forced to put it back in its scabbard yet I am still allowed to have it on me.

"And what is this for exactly?" I asked skeptical that Jade of all people would be giving me a gift.

"Oh don't say it like you expect me to use the sword as leverage or something. Geez look this is just my way of saying thank you for the training and how you have yet to take advantage of your position."

Oh is she, just being nice? To me?

"Oh uh, thanks I guess…"

With a bit more banter from Jade, we continue our wartime picnic like normal.

There's just one thing bothering me. True, I did get to test the blade but now I want to try it in action. The school is too far for me to teleport safely and I don't really have it in my plans to genocide anyone here…

If only there was a conveniently large amount of monsters nearby that are in need of slaying.

Hmm?

In the opposing army, I swear I see something. A bunch of monsters are ready in a nearby forest ready for an ambush. Was the enemy army really able to control monsters in this way or were they always there?

Well in any case.

I teleport.