Of course, Rian knew how important it would be to choose strong teammates for this examination.
After all, it was one of the sections he remembered reading in the original novel where Orion could’ve gotten the first-place reward but decided to be stupid.
And in that case, Rian knew that he would need to assemble the best mega team in order to gain access to the most overpowered consumable in this world, fittingly called:
Liquid Fate.
As the name suggested, the elixir allows its drinker to temporarily be able to spin the odds in their favor however they wanted for five minutes.
Apparently, Headmaster Selene had received it from the Church of Helmios to be given out at this exact moment from some kind of prophecy the two sides cooked up.
Whatever the case, it was something that Rian would like in his hands rather than Declan, who was the original recipient of this potion.
Though looking at his scowling face was enough to give Rian satisfaction. The guy really thought he could get through the backdoor, only for Selene to go mess things up.
Still, the guy wasn’t the top candidate for no reason. Despite being the same age, Declan was already an early-stage 4-Star Mage.
So if Rian wanted to win, he needed some firepower. Yet, just as he was about to recruit his strongest piece, she was nowhere to be seen.
He eventually managed to spot her with a group of girls. From his memories, Rian vaguely remembered seeing those girls in Eidelgard Prep. They had been Charlotte’s friends, but he didn’t stick around long enough to know how close they were.
Eventually, Charlotte caught him staring and gave him a soft frown, pointing towards her friends and mouthing the words "they asked me first..."
’Ugh...I’ve been dragging Charlotte around for long enough. And it would be pathetic of me to chain myself to her just because I’m her fiancé on paper.’
"Good luck."
He mouthed back before walking off.
Though it wasn’t all bad. With Rian’s knowledge, assembling a decent enough team wouldn’t be too hard. He knew pretty much every side character in the story after all.
[5 minutes later...]
’WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY DOES NO ONE WANNA TEAM UP WITH ME?!’
Rian sat nearby at the base of a grand staircase, holding his head in gloom and despair.
Apparently, the original Rian Rosenheim was quite ill-tempered when he did manage to attend Eidelgard Prep. He was constantly weak and sometimes made fun of, so obviously, the guy grew bitter toward everyone around him.
’Valid...but why does it have to come back to haunt me now?!’
Add to the fact that the Rosenheims were literally just engulfed in a catastrophic event over in Eisenbran, it made sense why no one wanted to team up with him for fear of getting caught up in the politics.
But Rian decided not to give up. A man never gives up on his goals!
[3 minutes later...]
"No, sorry. I already have a team."
’DAMN IT ALLLLLLLLLLLLL!’
Rian somehow found himself sitting on the same steps he was just at before.
There were only two minutes left to form a team. Most people already had one, and in this cramped hall, Rian had no idea who was still available.
But just as he was about to give up, someone tapped him softly on the shoulder.
"Uhmmm..." Julius’s voice came from behind. "Rian, do you have a team yet? I know it’s preposterous of me to ask but—"
"Yes! You can join my team, yes!" Rian cut him off, springing to his feet and grabbing him by the shoulders.
"Are you sure?" Julius flinched and shrank back a little. "I’m quite..."
Before Julius could finish, a cheerful voice came from Rian’s right.
"Excuse me! Do you still need two more people?"
He turned toward it, only to stiffen at the sight of the two girls approaching.
The taller girl had long, dark-blue hair with her bangs swept to one side. A small flower ornament rested above her right ear, accompanied by several neatly tied ribbons.
But what caught Rian’s attention were her piercing golden eyes that seemed to be able to stare into his soul. He could tell that she looked a bit more outgoing than the other girl to her right.
Half a step behind her stood a smaller girl with large goggles perched on her head. Her pink hair had been pulled up in an efficient ponytail, with parts of it covered in soot and dust. More of it smudged her sleeves and the fingers clutching her bag’s strap.
Her red eyes scanned Rian and Julius. As soon as she recognized them both, she quickly tugged on the other girl’s sleeve.
"No, no! Marie, we can’t team up with them!"
"Why not?" the blue-haired girl glanced back. "They’re missing two people, and there are two of us. That works out perfectly, does it not?"
"That’s not what I meant!" the pink-haired girl lowered her voice, although Rian could still hear every word. "Look at who they are! That’s Rian Rosenheim and Third Prince Julius Eidelgard!"
"So?" the blue-haired girl answered nonchalantly. "Eidelgard Academy has a merit-based system and they preach equality, do they not?"
’These girls really did come out of the boonies...’
Rian recognized them both—Marie Bell and Eliza Schmidtz.
He was going to seek them out sooner or later, but hadn’t expected both of them to be here at once.
Eliza was a once-in-a-century genius artificer and mechanic, who was able to build almost anything if you gave her enough time and materials.
Marie, on the other hand, was also a genius in her own right. But what made her special was the fact that she currently held an ancient physical trait that was said to be lost to time—
Abyssal Eyes, belonging to the demi-humans. It was the ability to perceive minute changes in mana as different colors...similar to heat vision.
And those very same eyes were directed straight at Rian’s face.
"Say..."
"Do you have something in your right eye?"
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