99 99 The Draw
Only one of their four choices being picked was great news. The more friends who stayed behind, the better, especially when they were taking three out of every five competent witches from the Academy.
Not long after breakfast, every student was called to the grounds for the draft announcement. They slowly gathered in the field behind the school while the defence force guarded all the walls.
“Greetings, students. You know why we’re here, so I will just start. The draft will begin with the teams that volunteered or were assigned in advance.
First up, The team of Cassie Noxus has been drawn. Second, Mandy Higgins is drawn, and the Noxus Family has volunteered to grant you a trained team. Alice Moore, you have been drafted, and the Noxus Family has granted you a trained team, as all of their other candidates were not picked.”
The list went on and on through the selected Nobles with teams while Noor and Parker made their way over to console Cassie and the girls.
“Maybe we will be picked too and sent together.” Parker offered.
“No, we put you and Noor at the top of the list for a Noxus Family team since you were alone here. One went randomly, so you are safe. Make the best of it and try to become High Nobles at the end of the year.” Cassie whispered.
“Thank you so much. Come back safely.” Noor cried before pulling the Witches into a group hug.
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They had just begun the regular draws and instructed the Witches who had been picked to find a team, or they would be assigned one when Roger and his team came over with Mandy, who was frowning and holding her stomach.
“Seriously? Already?” Cassie asked, making the Witch blush.
“I don’t know what you mean,” Mandy replied quietly, not looking her in the eyes.
“You can absorb the energy straight into your aura. It’s a unique secret skill of the Noxus Elders.” Wolfe whispered as if the rest of the group didn’t know what had happened.
“Oh, wow. That’s a lot of new aura, days worth even. This is the best present ever, in these circumstances anyhow.” Mandy told him, frowning as she recalled that they were still going to the front lines, where she much not have time to build her strength.
“They informed us both early this morning, so we didn’t have to search for each other,” Roger added, ignoring the implications of the situation.
“Well, I’m happy for you. You team looks good. Just play it safe until the monsters are cleared up. Have your Witch pack a few spell books and a copy of the Adventurers Handbook as well. The utility spells will save as many lives as any gun.” Wolfe congratulated him with a pat on the shoulder.
The rest of the team were all enforcers, hired muscle for jobs that couldn’t be completed peacefully. That should be enough to form a front line, and Mandy was a second-year Witch. Plus, she was well-read, so she should know enough to defend them.
Alice Moore turned out to be a girl from the regular class who barely passed the exam, having good marks in Lightning and nothing else.
She had just been visiting the Class A area to get help from a friend but had been put on the list for a team.
Not long after Roger arrived, she came over to express her tearful thanks, along with the team, which included one of the Noxus border guards that was a friend of Wolfe.
“We had extra armour amulets made. They’re not much to look at since we didn’t know who would be using them, but they’re as strong as we could make them.” Mary offered, handing out ten wooden discs.
“Well, you’re much stronger than I am, so I’m sure everyone will be grateful. Do they take much to activate?” Alice asked.
“No more than a regular armour spell, but you’ll have to do it five times in a row every morning. Hopefully, you can manage that. If not, ask the Noxus Elder to help. The Family has a secret technique.” Wolfe suggested with a wink at the big man in his early thirties.
“Elder Wolfe, you honour me. I’ll do anything I can to help.” He agreed, smiling down at the Witch beside him.
“Just make sure she keeps her strength and morale up and practice your power-sharing until you don’t need to be touching her to do it. That’s enough to start with.”
“I can do this. If they’re as strong as your Demon Armor, we really might be alright.” Alice replied, clearly psyching herself up.
“That’s the attitude. Now we just need to wait for everyone else to find groups so we can all find out where we are being sent.
They were waiting around for the process to end when it became apparent that they had brought many more Guardians than they had Witches to go with them. Only a few groups, like Wolfe’s, had multiple Witches, but there were hundreds of Infantry recruits left over.
Chances are, they would not be going back to the city. They would be sent to the front as reinforcements to replace lost and depleted units. It wasn’t exactly glamorous work, and it brought them to the most dangerous spots, only a few days behind the first wave.
“You lot, with me.” a Defense Official instructed, pointing to all three groups with Noxus men in them.
“You’re all stationed along the east side. These two are to be placed together in the Eastern Main force, while the group with all the Witches will be sent to the outer flank.” She clarified, pointing to a map on her clipboard.
“How many are going to the flank?” Wolfe asked, seeing a lot of red dots in the middle of the line with names listed below.
“I am not sure. All of my other assigned groups are going to the main line. You will be the last stop before I return for reinforcements.” She explained, with a frown creasing her delicate features.
By best guess, she had only graduated a few years earlier and was likely still in her obligatory two years of service, so she really might not know anything, but being the only group in this bus load going to the flank was more than a little unnerving.