Magicapita

Later that day, after the magicademics were completed, Cæ finally found time to return to his Capture the Flag team.

It had been merely a day since he last saw them, perhaps a bit longer, but with how many things had happened in little over a day, it certainly felt like he hadn't seen them all in a week.

CLACK

The door to a training facility opened as Cæ walked right through with a bag slung over his shoulder, wearing the athletic uniform of the magicademy. Inside the spacious combat facility was a wide, well-lit training space with all the necessary enchantments that made it fit for rigorous magical training.

At the very center stood nine students and ten coaches, gathered and all but ready to commence training.

"Sorry I'm late," Cæ called out to them as he put his bag away, stretching his arms as he reached them.

Almost all of them instantly turned towards him with a serious gaze and scrutinizing eyes. What had happened in the match yesterday hadn't left them. They were, in fact, particularly stunned by the sequence of events that had blown their mind insofar as how much they had escalated.

A simple match to determine a leadership had erupted into what was bound to become a legal battle between two powerful families in two different companies.

Cæ arrived before them, directing a sweeping gaze across all of them with a knowing expression.

"Before we begin," Cæ remarked. "Does anybody here have any problem with my leadership anymore?"

Not a single one of them dared to even make a sound. Cæ had proven that he was more than fit to be a leader with a perfect plan that completely swept and overwhelmed his opponents. The sheer audacity and yet the brilliance of the plan made even his greatest prior skeptics like Kyrell Singe remain silent and unmoving.

"Good…" Cæ remarked with a nod. "As all of you know, Miranda is no longer part of magicademy, much less our team. And that means we have had a vacant spot for a new member that the student council has already decided on today…"

He gestured to a nineteen-year-old girl who stood a little apart from the rest of the group. Her hair was short and dark, stopping before her shoulders, while her body was thin and lean. She carried herself with slumped shoulders, with a magic staff in her hands serving as a magic conductor.

"Would you like to introduce yourself formally once more?"

She shuffled nervously with a nod. "Um… my name is Mari Lorsan and my field of specialty is domain divination magic."

Cæ had green-lit her addition to the team in the Student Council just some time prior, after going through all the possibilities that President Mileila had given him.

She used domain magic to scan entire areas with divination magic applied to the domains, making her very useful in finding their opponent team's flag. She was exactly the kind of person who could replace Miranda without affecting the team dynamics, for she would more or less be taking the same role as Miranda fulfilled, although Miranda also had combat capabilities.

Mari, on the other hand, was much weaker in combat, which was one of the reasons Miranda had been chosen. In terms of how much of an asset she was, Miranda was better, but he was glad he didn't need to deal with the haughty, arrogant woman anymore.

"The recent events that have happened must have come to all of you as a shock," Cæ's gaze returned to all of them. "I wish I could tell you that it would be a one-time thing that would never bother you ever again and that it is merely in the past, but unfortunately, I can't guarantee that. The simple fact of the matter is that this will most likely bother all of you for some time. However…"

His tone grew more encouraging. "I believe that we do not need to allow the memory of this unfortunate event to bother us. We do not need to allow it to hamper what we must do, what we came to be a part of this team to do. Remember why you are here."

His words riled up their ambitions and passions, stirring them out of the dark cloud that Miranda's attempted murder had left in the atmosphere.

"The Magic Contest is an opportunity that you will likely only get once in your life," Cæ continued with a more charged tone. "An opportunity for fame. For wealth. For power. For recognition, prestige, and glory. If you perform well, it will be an instant boost and will land you many offers from powerful companies and families looking to hire some of the brightest talent."

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Those from more humble backgrounds were especially fired up for these prospects, while the wealthier students were more reserved about the job opportunities and the money aspects.

What they instead sought was the prestige and glory that it gave them. They wanted to make a name for themselves by their own merit rather than simply live in the shadow of their family forever.

Silian, in particular, burned with desire for this. His green eyes sharpened with determination at Cæ's words. What he was especially eager for was recognition for his own merits and abilities, not just his family, and not even the fact that he had a lot of talent and potential.

This desire had especially burned hard after his defeat at Virlyd's hands, which made him feel like his achievements weren't all that much.

"We will achieve all of it."

Cæ's strong voice drew his attention as Silian peered into his stormy gray eyes that were clear in their determination and certainty.

"We have a great team. Great trainers and coaches, and great resources," Cæ replied. "We have everything that we could possibly need. We will win, and we will do everything we can to win."

The team soon began training rigorously as Cæ dedicated immense effort to his role in the team, which, just as it was before, was an all-rounder with miscellaneous purposes. His entire purpose was to adjust what role he played in each match in accordance with the circumstances, the environment, and their opponents.

His training was largely centered around helping him gain an understanding of what kind of role he needed to take and how he could play it. Not only did he need to gain mastery in defense and offense, but he also needed to understand how to execute the role he needed to play each time.

This was a complex task for him. While the roles that others had were more static and easier to master, he would need to learn how to undertake more dynamic roles, all while maintaining leadership over his team.

The first proper training session with his team was limited to head coach Sorwel establishing a framework of the kind of roles and parameters that Cæ needed to keep in mind.

"One of your greatest variables to consider will be evaluating what the strengths and weaknesses of your opponent team are," Coach Sorwel told him. "You will need to understand where your strength is most useful, and we will help you develop that intuition over the span of this academic year."

A good thing was that the head coach would be there for consulting and guidance, which would make his job easier, but still complicated and difficult.

The training proved to be a good step for the team to finally move on from the Miranda incident, which had shaken all of them. Ironically enough, Serulia was the least moved by it. The others had grown more silent about it while Serulia huffed about it, cursing Miranda out and how she would definitely get her revenge and justice.

All in all, Cæ was able to ensure that the training session ended on a relatively positive note. By the time they were done, the sun had begun to set as the orange tint of twilight covered the entire sky.

Cæ departed from the training session, heaving a tired breath as he headed back to his dormitory room. He still had work to do over the next six hours before he finally went to bed, as much as he wanted to get some rest, he simply had too much to do.

His market research for Project Hearthealer had been coming out well, and he had accelerated it ever since he managed to get the Vritra Family on board. He had begun fleshing out some of the finer details of his plan, allowing him to develop a greater understanding of what was happening.

Soon, he would have enough of a fleshed-out business plan for him to begin researching potential business partners that he could reach out to. He had already decided that he would need at least two business partners for this to be viable. A doctor and a hospital planner would be involved in the actual execution of the operations, while he would handle all the business matters.

His role in this business would be different from what it was in the Trinity Housings, where he was merely the strategic consultant. He would also need to take on more of what Feidin did on a day-to-day basis in Trinity Housings for his new business.

At least temporarily.

He didn't want to spread the pieces of the pie beyond three people, potentially diluting his share of the matter below fifty percent. This was his business idea, and the essence of why he believed it would be successful was because of the idea that he had conceived.

On top of that, he was bringing the investors with him in the form of the Vritra Clan. He had more than enough of a contribution to demand a majority stake in this new business venture.

'Searching for potential business partners is not going to be easy. I'm going to have to run through a lot of lists until I finally run into someone who is both fit and agreeable.'

Not only did they have to be very competent, but they also needed to be in a position where they were not only willing to take a risk by starting a new business. He wasn't sure about partnering with people who were already settled and had financial dependents, for these people tended not to be in a position to start a new business.

He had applied that criterion when searching for business partners for Trinity Housings, and it had worked out for him extremely well.

"Hey."

Cæ broke out of his engrossed thoughts as he found Serulia walking up beside him with an eager expression. He turned to glance at her, studying her enthusiastic expression, while several drops of sweat trickled down her dark skin. Despite her exhaustion from the training, she still appeared full of energy when walking beside him.

One wouldn't be able to tell that she had almost died in a cold-blooded murder.

"Hey," Cæ replied.

"What are you doing? Are you free now?" She asked with an eager tone.

Cæ shook his head. "Unfortunately, not. I have a lot of work to do."

"Boo."

"Don't be like that, your family is investing in me financially, you should be happy I'm working hard so you get some solid ROI."

"My family is more than rich enough," she huffed. "We can afford the loss. Come on, let's go to the cafe to grab a bite. I am starving!"

Cæ was about to retort when his stomach growled loudly, earning a bout of laughter from Serulia, who simply took it as a sign of agreement. Cæ simply heaved a resigned sigh as she grabbed his arm, dragging him along with her.