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"Just what did you do to Lyra, to draw a reaction like this out of her?" Watching Lyra's response, Elise couldn't help a stir of curiosity, and in that same moment, the blankness that had welled up inside her quietly dissolved.
She was only an ordinary person, after all. There was no need to measure herself against a monster, all the more so when she happened to be on good terms with said monster.
"What could I possibly do to her? Eat her?" Luke shot Elise a look. These two genuinely deserved to be called the best of friends.
"Ahem." Off to the side, Roland gave a cough, cutting off the increasingly unfiltered exchange between the youngsters. The gazes from all around had begun turning strange, and his own daughter was mixed up in it besides. "Elise, get Luke and the others settled in. Rest in the Capital tonight, and set out for Celestial Academy tomorrow."
At her father's words, Elise finally registered the watching eyes around them, and a blush rose to her face.
Hm? Approaching Luke, Roland, much like Meredith before him, sensed that something about the young man's aura had shifted, and upon looking more closely, a jolt ran through him.
Luke has already broken through to the Monarch Realm!
At the Youth Training Competition, Luke had been merely at the Soldier Realm, a step below even Elise. And now, after a single exam, he had not only overtaken Elise but reached the Monarch Realm besides? Registering as much, Roland was thoroughly shaken.
You're only just now on your way to report to Celestial Academy, and you're already leaving everyone else with nothing to play for. Roland had never once heard of a Celestial Academy new student reaching the Monarch Realm. Even Lilith and The Supreme, back at their own enrollments, likely hadn't been quite this outrageous.
At the thought, Roland made up his mind. I'm locking this son-in-law down. Anyone who tries to snatch him away, I'll fight them for it.
Elise clearly harbored feelings for Luke, and if the two of them did end up together, then as her father, Roland had no objection whatsoever. His sole concern was that Luke's luck with women ran far too strong, which left Elise's standing anything but secure. He'd taken in the byplay between Luke and Lyra a moment ago as well.
Sensing that Roland's gaze carried much the same quality as Meredith's, Luke found it a touch odd, but he didn't probe. He merely offered Roland a nod of greeting, then reached out and recalled Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
With Red-Eyes Black Dragon's disappearance, the surrounding crowd wore looks of open disappointment, and then every last pair of eyes swung toward the three at the center of it all, faces alight with the eagerness of spectators hungry for gossip.
Paying the onlookers no further mind, Elise led Luke and Lyra away, while Roland set about dispersing the gathered crowd. "Have the lot of you truly nothing better to do? Rubbernecking your way right up to my own head, are you?"
---
A night's rest passed, and the next day, after bidding Roland farewell, Luke summoned Red-Eyes Black Dragon once more and set out with Elise and Lyra for Celestial Academy.
"Now that the novelty's worn off, riding a dragon isn't so different from riding the Cold Skylark. There's only so much room, unless you'd care for a taste of freefall." Perched on Red-Eyes Black Dragon's back, Elise gazed at the scenery scrolling past below, then spoke up. "I wonder what sort of trial the Trial Road holds this year."
"Each year's is different, but the Trial Road has never once been simple." Lyra's expression carried a thread of worry.
"Is the Trial Road difficult?" Luke asked.
"More difficult than the exam." Lyra nodded. "The exam is aimed broadly at all examinees, but Celestial Academy admits the finest students of each cohort. Testing us by the exam's standards alone would be a steep discount indeed."
Having said that much, a flush of pride rose across Lyra's face, since she herself was one of Celestial Academy's admitted students. But an instant later, recalling that Luke and Elise had likewise been admitted, and that both stood stronger than she did, leaving her the weakest of the three, her spirits visibly deflated. She even squatted down where she sat and began tracing little circles.
"She's got quite the flair for the dramatic." Watching Lyra's antics, Elise shook her head.
Luke, for his part, felt his impression of Lyra drifting further and further from the one he'd first formed of her.
"What Lyra means," Elise picked up where her friend had trailed off, "is that the tricky part of the Trial Road is how the rules and content differ with every iteration. Combat strength is only one part of the assessment. If anything, the Trial Road leans more toward testing a Card Master's adaptability."
"So it's not as simple as I'd assumed." A thoughtful look crossed Luke's face.
Inwardly, though, he wasn't the least bit concerned. If it truly came down to a fight, he need only link to the Eternal Sun, have Angewomon loose a Celestial Arrow to Guilmon, and even employ the still-incomplete warp evolution to push Guilmon straight to the Mega stage. With that, he was confident he could blast his way clean through the Trial Road.