Cæ's choice was a no-brainer, as far as he was concerned.

Serulia was a powerful asset, and her illusion magic was stunningly powerful, even in limited circumstances like a closed combat arena with limited space where she could hide. He knew that it would especially shine in an environment like Capture the Flag. If not for the fact that the combat competition harbored vastly greater prestige, she likely would have applied for Capture the Flag or Hide and Seek from the very get-go.

Hide and Seek had a more raw compatibility with her skillset, but the fact that it was a game that was far too detached from any real profession in the magic industries in the real world was unfortunate. Capture the Flag was also a game, of course, but it bore a greater resemblance to operations conducted by the mage corps or by mercenaries.

Serulia was likely being mindful of her image when choosing it instead of Hide and Seek.

STEP

She stood behind Cæ, folding her arms and glaring at Miranda with open hostility as though she herself had been insulted.

"My turn." Miranda sharpened her eyes. "I choose Dranst."

The choice made sense.

Dranst possessed remarkably powerful long-range magic, and despite relying entirely on magic circles, his casting speed was comparable to that of body-casting, for he relied on a grimoire that contained the magic circles that he used. It got rid of the necessity of needing to cast a two-dimensional magic circle midair with one's imagination, reducing the time it took while preserving the advantages of magic circles.

He simply shifted his thick circular spectacles, never once looking up, before wordlessly walking behind Miranda.

"Then…" he turned to Lorden Adanbami. "I choose you."

The young man stiffened up. "I-It's an honor!"

He marched behind Cæ with a nervous expression, trying to quell his pounding heart while he stole glances at Cæ.

"I choose Lyarna Vilana." The smirk that emerged on Miranda's face was one of smugness.

Cæ simply stared at her silently.

He could tell what she was thinking.

She and Lyarna were the only serious divination mages in the student team. By taking Lyarna, she deprived him of any good divination resources from the students, forcing him to rely on whatever he got from the trainers.

"I choose Silian Sylvester," Cæ remarked, before turning to him with an eying gaze.

The seventeen-year-old adolescent glared at Cæ with displeasure in his green eyes, remaining where he stood for several seconds, before heaving a resigned breath and walking over to Cæ's side.

Many frowned at Cæ's choice.

They had expected him to pick the only other finalist from the combat selection process, Seol Gordnt. While combat was not directly proportional to one's value in Capture the Flag, it was still extremely important. Even Miranda frowned, staring at Cæ with suspicion in her purple eyes.

"…I choose Seol."

Cæ remained unmoved by her choice as he simply waited for Seol to get to her side before turning to Hyoken Sirura, the final remaining student.

"I choose you, of course."

The young man huffed lightly, clearly displeased at having been chosen last. He simply walked over to Cæ's side, folding his arms.

"Thus, we have chosen our teams," Cæ remarked. "In three days, in the forest-environment general-purpose field of the magicademy, we will host our Capture The Flag match, and the leader of the winning team will become the leader of the student team. Any objections?"

"None," Miranda coldly retorted. "See you in three days."

She walked away with her team, with a gait charged with determination to defeat Cæ and claim the leadership spot.

Cæ simply watched her leave the facility with a knowing gaze.

"Why did you choose me?" Silian glared at Cæ with daggers in his green eyes.

Cæ simply turned to him with a calm, yet intense gaze.

"I chose you because you are a fit mage for Capture The Flag. It's as simple as that. Nothing more, nothing less."

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Silian simply stared at him with knitted eyebrows before walking away with a light huff.

"If you think I'm participating in this farce while taking orders from you of all people, you're kidding yourself."

The nine members in Cæ's team and the two trainers who sat out the selection process watched the young man leave with mixed emotions.

Many gazed at him with disapproval.

Others gazed at him with confusion.

"Is this all the heir of the Sylvester Family amounts to?"

Cæ's voice was loud and bold.

Silian froze mid-gait.

The air tingled with tension.

The atmosphere grew electric.

Silian slowly turned towards Cæ with a murderous expression on his face.

"Provoke me again with my family's name."

His tone was laced with anger.

His green eyes flared with fury as his hand slowly reached for his wand holster.

It stiffened many of the students watching him, causing them to tense up and reach for their wands as well.

Cæ, on the other hand, simply gazed at him with a relaxed posture.

"And what will you do if I do?"

His tone grew more relaxed as he said some of his intensity, cooling down the heat in the atmosphere with the calming body language he projected.

Silian's perilous eyes sharpened as he glared at Cæ from the corner of his eyes, his head only slightly turned backwards.

"Will you pull out your wand and attack me with your magic?" Cæ asked him with an almost mundane tone. "Will you launch a fireball, just as you had done that day?"

Silian shook at those words.

The others were not present or had not heard of the rumors; they simply raised an eyebrow with a hint of confusion.

Silian, on the other hand, gazed at Cæ with a severe expression, turning around as his glare met Cæ's stormy, gray eyes head-on.

"Will you try to kill me, just as you had that day?"

"I WASN'T TRYING TO KILL YOU!" Silian roared back with a guttural tone as he panted from the effort, glaring at Cæ with graveness in his green eyes.

The emotion in the air grew high-strung as the tension in the air grew palpable. The dim light in the training facility only dwindled as the waning light of the setting Sun in the auburn twilight sky only darkened with each passing minute.

The darkness seemed to feed on the negativity that lingered in the air, growing stronger.

"…Then why do you walk away?"

Cæ's voice cut through the silence like a hot knife through butter.

Silian gritted his teeth, opening his mouth momentarily.

But no words came.

His jaws clamped back against each other as he clenched his fist with growing frustration.

"Whatever resentment you may have against me…" Cæ remarked with a knowing tone. "Ask yourself, is it more important than the Magic Contest?"

If those words did move him, then he did a good job not revealing it on his face. He was far too proud to allow himself to appear so easy to sway, especially to Cæ of all people.

"You can go away if you want," Cæ remarked. "But this Magic Contest is a good opportunity to show people that you're more than just a rich boy like the rest of them, mooching on their family's wealth and success. It is an opportunity to show the world what you're truly capable of. It is an opportunity to make sure that people remember more than just your humiliating defeat against Vilryd when they think of you."

He gritted his teeth.

Yet, he didn't say a word.

Cæ heaved a sigh.

"Think about it." He turned around. "We'll be meeting in my dorm room tomorrow morning. If you truly care more about your resentment with me than this precious opportunity, then you don't need to come. You will have told us that you're a childish brat who can't let go of a single incident that happened more than a year ago now."

Cæ projected maturity beyond his years in the way he handled Silian.

It was all projection, of course.

His eyes sharpened with intensity once they turned away from the adolescent.

In truth, he was just as petty as he was accusing Silian of being.

He hadn't forgiven the brat for trying to kill him, no matter how much he denied it. That wasn't what Cæ was like as a person.

He held grudges.

Profoundly deep grudges.

And of course he did.

He wouldn't have seriously and truly genuinely vowed to burn down the entire world that made his life miserable if he didn't hold grudges. His ultimate ambition was a reflection of the grudges he harbored.

Still, he put aside his feelings of resentment toward the kid when interacting with him.

If he were to be truly acknowledged as a leader by everybody in the group, he needed to try to meet them where they were at and compel them to acknowledge him as a leader. Silian leaving his team was something that would reflect badly on him in the eyes of the other members, rather than reflecting badly on Silian.

Thus, he re-contextualized the situation for the adolescent by reminding him of what was important and deliberately avoided finger-wagging him for his attack on Cæ more than a year ago.

That didn't work on kids his age even when their parents did it, why the hell would it work if Cæ, someone Silian clearly hated, did it?

Thus, he simply reminded him of what was important and also avoided forcing him to make the choice right then and there.

Silian was clearly in a bad headspace and had been getting emotional. If Cæ gave him an ultimatum then and there in the bad mood that he was in, he would have definitely made an irrational choice and chosen to leave the team.

It was a choice he would regret very dearly immediately after, of course.

But, he was also far too proud to ask Cæ or the Student Council to let him back in.

That was why Cæ allowed him to make the choice the next morning after he got some sleep and could return to a normal state of mind. By then, his rationality would have returned to override the resentment in his heart, and he would choose to join the team strategy meeting even if it was a little uncool on his part after making that fuss.

That was Cæ's plan to have him continue being a part of his team.

His time as the leader of Trinity Housings and the leader of the Slum Talent Acquisition Force had taught him about the finer points of leading people.

People were not rational.

They were emotional beings.

His job was not to fight with his team when there was a major disagreement, but to manage them.

To get them to act the way he wanted them to without using anger, force, or fear.

It required a more subtle art of manipulating people.

And it was one that Cæ had slowly begun to gain proficiency in.

"A lot has happened today," Cæ told the students and trainers alike, gazing at his watch. "I will not be able to conduct a meeting tonight, we are also approaching curfew, so it is best to wrap it up today and start afresh tomorrow. And rest assured…"

His tone was steeled with certainty and confidence.

"I have no intention of losing."

His stormy, gray eyes sharpened.

"We will win, no matter what."

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