The team arrived at the meeting spot and found Scharf leaning against a large oak tree at the far end of the wide grassy field. Next to his left boot sat a long black case with a black sheath stacked on top of it.

"You're late…" he groaned through gritted teeth that held a cigarette in place. 

Magnolia suddenly snatched Sturm's wrist and rolled back his sleeve to reveal his watch. Frustrated by the girl's invasion of his personal space, he immediately yanked his arm free of her grasp.

With a coy smile slipping across her lips, she replied, "Excuse me, captain, we're on time…"

"Which is why you're late," Scharf started, dropping his cigarette on the ground and stomping it out, "While you were 'on time', the enemy was early. You're all dead."

The three candidates glanced back and forth between each other. Visibly confused, they said nothing. Scharf exhaled sharply through his nostrils, his disdain obvious. He then placed his foot atop the case next to him and used his boot to drag it forward, before kicking it across the ground toward the cadets. Still, the group took no immediate action.

"Get your things and get ready to fight," Scharf instructed with an annoyed wave of his hand.

Magnolia's eyes lit up in surprise. "A fight? Already?" she inquired, "But we haven't even settled in, sir."

"The enemy doesn't care if you have settled in," Scharf snapped back through a stiff jaw, steadying a fresh cigarette to be lit by his single hand.

Accepting that she would be unable to get a rise out of her captain, Magnolia rolled her eyes and slinked over to the case. Sturm, close behind, stepped up to retrieve his sheathed blade before attaching it to his belt with a pair of metal clasps. 

"Now then, it would seem you have at least one thing in common with the Hurricane..." Magnolia teased.

She then knelt down, unlocked the black case, and flipped open the lid to reveal a lavish mahogany violin adorned with intricate French curves. Next to the instrument was a razor-sharp bow that gleamed in the sunlight. 

Magnolia smiled as she retrieved the two items and rose to her feet. "Illustrious, is it not?"

Eyeing the violin, Sturm struggled to predict what the girl's special gift could possibly be. In fact, until this point, he hadn't given it much thought at all. Everything about Magnolia exuded fragility. She invoked the image of a show poodle, hardly the poster child for a world-class super-soldier in the making. Still, if she had been admitted to the academy, she must have had notable talent. What formidable power could require the use of a musical instrument? That was left to be seen.

Magnolia dragged the bow across the violin's strings, letting out a sickening screech, giggling as her allies cringed. "What's the matter, you don't think I'm talented?" she prodded.

"Knock it off," said Scharf, lighting his cigarette and returning the lighter to his pocket. "Get to the five-meter line, Wald."

The training field was a large, rectangular arena marked with ten white lines on either side; each denoting five meters, for a total of 100 meters. At the center, between each five-meter line was a circle three meters in diameter. One hand awkwardly clutching both the neck of her violin and the bow together, Magnolia gave a passive-aggressive curtsey before taking her place at the designated line.

"Is she always like this?" Alvarez inquired.

Sturm groaned and stretched his arms behind his neck. "I really hope not."

"Alvarez, take the opposite side," Scharf commanded.

Immediately, Alvarez obeyed. He made his way past Magnolia and faced her at the opposing five-meter line. 

"Excuse me, what is this?" Magnolia spoke up, "I was under the impression I would be fighting Sturm. This foreigner isn't even armed."

Eyebrow raised, Alvarez replied simply, "And you are?"

A self-assured smirk fell over Magnolia's rose-tinted lips. "Indeed, I am. Quite dangerously so."

Sturm stepped off of the field and sat on the ground next to Scharf's boot.  Down here, he would be free from the pungent cigarette smoke that swirled above his head. Though his mind had been preoccupied with other subjects until now, the thought of seeing two other knight candidates in combat excited Sturm. If these two were to be his comrades, it would be in the boy's best interest to understand their strengths and weaknesses to the best of his ability.

"First to hit the ground or suffer a technical fatality loses," Scharf said aloud from the sidelines. 

"Technical fatality?" Magnolia tilted her head, puzzled.

Sturm too was unfamiliar with this term.

"A technical fatality occurs when a person is placed in a situation that would result in their death, should it have occurred in a real combat scenario," explained Alvarez.

Magnolia dragged the bow across her violin's chords once more with an ominous scratch. "Is that so?"

"Enough wasting time," said the captain, "The battle starts now."

Startled by the match's sudden commencement, Magnolia swiftly positioned her violin under her jaw, leaned on her hip, and ran her bow across the instrument. The melody started out light and unassuming but swiftly devolved into a bizarre pulsing patchwork of varying volumes and progressions. To Sturm, looking on from the sidelines, it was clear that there was something nefarious about the warped tune that seemed to pluck at the very chords of his psyche. Though initially unfazed, the twisted song soon began to have an obvious effect on Alvarez, who swayed slightly against the weight of his own body. His dull, unfocused stare made it apparent that some form of sound-induced hypnosis was at play. Picking up on this, Magnolia grinned menacingly before quickly closing the distance between them, kicking up grass in the process, and readying a strike of her bow, in one fluid motion.

Self-satisfaction oozing from her wide, arrogant smile, Magnolia taunted, "A tragedy that you'll be retiring from the academy so soon!"

However, just before the sharp edge of the blade-like bow was brought down on the boy's throat, a tiny orange face, adorned with large, black eyes, emerged from his collar. The glistening creature inflated its throat and let out a vibrating, high-pitched chirp. Immediately, Alvarez's eyes snapped to Magnolia’s, and he blocked her weapon with one raised forearm. 

"What?!"  cried Magnolia.

Capitalizing on her surprise, Alvarez grasped the violin bow and swiftly disarmed the girl. He then took her back and seized her around the neck, causing her to drop her wooden instrument in a panic. Eyes closed, she thrashed frantically for a moment before attempting to smash Alvarez's nose with the back of her head. Unfortunately for Magnolia, she was far too short and was unable to do any real damage from her precarious position. Despite this, the defiant girl continued to struggle viciously until she felt the icy touch of metal gently press into her jugular. Shocked, she froze. Alvarez had disabled Magnolia with her own violin bow.

"Y-you-" she growled before being cut off by Alvarez.

"Keep your mouth shut and don't move," he snapped, releasing her from the tight hold and pointing toward the bow which still rested against her throat.

Though she kept her body perfectly still, Magnolia glanced down from the corner of her eye to see a small, bright orange frog waiting patiently atop the violin bow.

"Elimination via technical fatality," announced  Scharf, a hint of disappointment apparent in his voice.