Murmurs ran through the group, a common question arose among the students as to the meaning of the word 'Actualization', and other students began to reply or look baffled at their lack of knowledge, but the teacher suddenly silenced the lot of them.
"It is not my Job to explain basic knowledge to you, but it is my job to expand on the rules of the game, and there are three in total."
He raised a hand with three fingers outstretched, and the crowd looked at him with a mix of confusion and intrigue.
"Rule one, lethal force is prohibited; as such, the use of weapons is also prohibited. Rule two, if a player is unable to fight or otherwise immobolized they will be removed from the field of play."
A slight smile flashed on his face for half a second before he continued.
"And the final rule, the game will not end until one of the teams' Actualizations is captured or dispersed."
The members of the crowd who understood what he had said looked around with mixes of confusion and fear on their faces. Sacril was, of course, part of the other group, but before he could question anybody, the teacher clapped his hands together in order to silence the class.
"Alright! Now with that settled, I suggest all of you stay as still as you can. There will be some slight turbulence in a couple of seconds."
Murmurs questioned what he was talking about and what was going on with him today ran through the crowd, but the teacher paid them no mind.
His fingers were clasped together, and his lips were moving as if he was chanting something.
Suddenly, the classroom around them distorted, and Sacril's mind went foggy; his entire surrounding area had turned into something like colorful TV static.
The sensation was extremely unpleasant, and he suspected it would have been even worse had he been moving. He waited a few seconds before moving his arm, and it suddenly unblurred, and once he moved the rest of his body, his eyes refocused on the surrounding area.
The entire class was standing around in a similar daze; they were no longer in the class, but in a forested area, and there was no sky above them, just a great grey dome hundreds of feet in the air.
A couple of others began to move, and some collapsed to the ground. He suspected that these were the ones that had been talking or moving before they had been teleported.
The ones that had fallen began heaving or throwing up, appearing to be in terrible pain.
a dozen or so feet away, the teacher stood, and there was some sweat on his face, indicating that at least some effort was used to transport the students.
But if he was in pain, he didn't show it.
A soft thud was heard to his right, and he looked over to see a woman standing in a spot where there had previously been no one.
She had an elegant, almost ethereal appearance, with long, light purple hair, a beautiful face, and an amazing figure, which was enhanced by her long dress and business-like top.
Sacril swallowed before nervously averting his eyes.
She scanned the crowd before heading over to the teacher; her lips began to move, but the teacher hurriedly raised a hand.
A complicated expression was on his face, and she put her hands on her hips and sighed.
"Still doing that, are you? Oh well."
The teacher ignored her and turned to the class.
"Everyone, please come to attention. I would like to welcome you all to the Fifth Cities Simulation Center."
Sacril's jaw nearly hit the floor. The fifth city was well over one hundred kilometers away from the third city, and they had all been instantly teleported there.
It was clear why there had been so much feedback.
The teacher made sure everyone had taken that in and continued.
"I will explain how this is possible after this event. This is only a training event, so none of you will get too injured. I would like to introduce you to the co-head of this exercise, Returned Mariette.
Sacril had thought the woman had seemed imposing, and she did indeed end up being a returned.
Mariette nodded with a small bow.
"Thank you all for having me. I would like to introduce your team's Actualization."
The air shimmered, and Sacril was overcome with fear.
Something far stronger than the returned in front of him was coming.
With a cracking sound, the distortion blew apart, and an armored man suddenly stood where it had been.
A pressure emanated from him that threatened to drive the crowd to its knees, and even the teacher and Mariette looked uncomfortable for a few moments.
Then it subsided.
With a cough, the teacher looked to the class nervously.
"This is Vassal Albert, he is-"
"I am Albert Iron-Breaker! Lord Of The Iron Fortress of Bang!"
Everyone stared at the man, who had just loudly introduced himself.
He awkwardly stood without continuing for a few moments before the teacher picked up where he left off.
"Um, well, as I was saying, the other team also has an actualization at their disposal, likely of the Vassal stage, which means that it will be impossible to fight, of course."
He proceeded to hold up a yellow block with two black lines etched into its surface.
"For the purpose of the examination, the actualizations have issued these seals, which can temporarily restrain them, and send the signal to end the game. Each team will have a seal, and they are activated if an individual can get it within ten feet of the actualization."
Albert Iron-breaker smiled widely and proceeded to point directly at Sacril.
"I choose him!"
Everyone stared at the sacril blankly. The teacher seemed annoyed and shook his head, but grudgingly spoke again.
"Each team will have one person with the seal. If they are immobilized or the seal is taken, it must be retaken at all costs. It seems you have been chosen to be the first carrier of this seal, Sacril."
Sacril was a little annoyed that he was chosen so quickly, but he supposed it would be useful for him to head to the enemy team's back line as quickly as possible.
After all, there was one person he had not seen since he had attended the third cathedral's awakened student program.
Unel, who he suspected was in another dormitory of the cathedral, and who he hoped he would be facing in this showdown.
How strong would his friend have gotten after all this time?
He suspected he would soon find out.
A blue flare far away in the distance, Mariette raised a hand, which glowed for a moment before firing an identical red flare far into the sky.
Both she and the teacher disapeared leaving behind blurry afterimages that faded away slowly into the air.
Albert Iron-Breaker let out a great bellow, his mustache waving in the wind, and a mechanical voice rang out through the entire area.
"Game Set"