60: The game

The game

"We would like it if you help us win in the next mock-battle!" The man who talked to Ed first was the one who initiated the conversation. It seemed that although it was normal to lose, they still felt frustrated enough to ask help from Ed.2

"We don't have a lot of time; I don't think I can help you." If they followed last week's schedule, the mock battle would be happening tomorrow. Ed didn't have the confidence to make them into winners with only one day's worth of time.

"We'll accept any training you throw at us! Just please help us!" "Please!" Lots of people now started asking for his help which attracted the attention of other people in the restaurant. Ed felt helpless at this and asked them to stop and listen to him.

"Even if I were to help you, I could only do it today. And since we have classes, we don't have as much time as we'd like." Even if Ed decides to help them, he could only do it after classes, leaving them with even less time.

"We can ask our teacher to postpone today's classes. Instead, we'll have a training session." One of the classmates proposed.

"We can do that?" Ed was surprised since he didn't know such a thing was actually possible.

"Yes, the academy does encourage training outside of the usual preset classes." After hearing this, Ed didn't have any problem. He was planning to challenge A class anyway since he wanted to have higher access in the library. 'Training with my classmates doesn't sound like a bad idea' Ed thought that he might as well topple A class with E class. 'Wouldn't that be poetic' He thought.

"Alright, I'll accept." Once he said that his classmates had smiles showing on their faces. "However don't expect much since we don't have a lot of time" He continued.

"We'll go get the teacher's permission right now!" They hurried out after saying that. Ed looked back to his friends' side after finishing his talk.

"Would you guys like to join?" He tried to reel them in since he didn't want to be alone.

"Sure, it sounds interesting." Hayato immediately agreed since he enjoyed Ed's company.

"Okay" As usual Emilia answered while sounding cold.

"I'll be coming as well; I might get the chance to fight you!" Ellie also seemed eager to join in hopes of fighting Ed.

"Please don't." Ed didn't want to fight her. If he loses she'll accuse him of not fighting seriously. And if he wins she'll keep bothering him with challenges until she wins. Ed was well acquainted with such people.

They spent most of their time talking. They were joined by Stephanie who seemed to have slept in today, and then Leon. They also told Stephanie about the change in today's program and she agreed to come as well. After eating, they all headed to their classroom to know what had happened with the teacher.

"You guys will have access to one of the training halls of the academy. Good thing you chose this, I didn't want to teach today either." Their teacher, Harry had bloodshot eyes and was glad he didn't have to teach today. He also gave them the access card to the training hall. They all made their way to the hall and entered. The students, who had come today, other than Ed's team, were ten people. Some of them looked unwilling but still came since asking for help didn't matter as long as they won.

"We have 15 people here, with my friend Suika that's 16," Ed spoke as Suika jumped around. "We'll split into four teams of four people and have our own mock battles." Ed was explaining his idea for training.

"Instead of a flag battle, we'll be playing tag," Ed spoke while smiling. "One group will be 'IT' while the other group will be running. The game will end when everyone is caught or ten minutes had passed. You are free to use any abilities as long as you don't injure the others; this is only training and not a battle."

Ed finished his explanation. Although people were skeptical at first, they knew this was a simulation game of fighting without actually fighting. Ed had chosen this game since he couldn't close the gap between E class and the other classes in one day. So, they would have to rely on their ability to outrun others and win.

The students started to choose teams. Ed was in a team with Suika, Emilia and the man who was badly injured last week in the mock battle. Hayato was with Stephanie and a couple of their classmates while Ellie was with another group of students. Ed had chosen to divide his team to make the other teams as strong as possible.

Ellie also chose to go alone on that team since she wanted to fight everyone else. Soon enough, the first match started and it was Ed's team vs. the remaining students who wanted to stay in their original team as much as possible. Ed's team was playing as 'IT' and quickly finished the game. The other team didn't have a great cohesion and were prone to panic as soon as something went wrong.

Ed made sure to keep in his mind all the mistakes they would make, and after the training, point them out. This would help formulate strategies that would help them overcome their weaknesses.

The next match was Hayato vs. Ellie. Hayato's team was 'IT' and with Stephanie's help, they were able to catch people very quickly. Only Ellie was able to stay safe. The match continued for a while before Hayato decided to show some of his powers. He used Ice magic to make the floor unsuitable for running. However, this backfired since Stephanie couldn't use Earth magic. And Ellie simply used QI on her feet allowing her to break the ice.

The match that followed was Ed vs. Ellie. He was running this time and made great use of his movement skill. He was able to keep up with Ellie who was using enhancement magic to make her speed increase by many folds. In the end, he stalled her enough so time would run out.

The match-ups continued for a while until Ed decided it was time to stop. He was amused a lot when he saw Suika catching people by making herself like a rope and trapping them. She also never got caught, shocking everyone other than Ed.

Ed had seen enough of his classmates' performance and knew what to point out to help them.

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