Chasing a New Dawn

Chapter 10: The Realities of Battle

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem: Three Houses or its characters, I only own Blythe, Celine, and the changes in the plot that I make in the war phase.
Enjoy!
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Last Time:

Before Dimitri left, Byleth called out to him. "Dimitri, hold on for a second."

Dimitri turned to look at Byleth with an inquisitive glance. "Professor? Is everything alright?"

"I have a favor to ask you." Byleth said to Dimitri. The blond-haired prince nodded to signify his attention. "Can you keep an eye on Blythe for me during the mission? She puts herself before others, and that can sometimes put her in danger."

Dimitri nodded, his blue eyes filled with resolution. "I was going to do that anyway. Blythe is one of the closest friends I have, and I won't let anything happen to her. Not on my watch."
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13th of the Harpstring Moon, Garreg Mach Monastery, Blue Lions Classroom (Late Morning), Imperial Year 1180

It was another day for lessons, so all of the Blue Lions were inside of the Blue Lions classroom. Byleth had a more serious face than he normally did during lessons, so most of the class came to the conclusion that Byleth was going to announce something important. Byleth hit the piece of chalk that he held in his hand on the corner of the chalkboard, his signal for the class to cease any conversations that were going on. “Now that you all have the recommendation for the class that I want each of you to pursue, we now will move on to training for the mission. Yesterday, I spoke with the Captain of the Knights of Seiros, and both of us came to an idea.”

”Why did you speak to Father?” Blythe questioned while she tilted her head curiously. She looked to her left, then to her right, to see if Celine and Dimitri had any ideas. Both Dimitri and Celine shook their heads in reply, they had no clue why the teal-haired Professor would talk to Jeralt about training. The rest of the class was at a loss as well. Byleth drew a battle situation on the board before turning to the class. "The Captain and I have set up a mock battle for you all to participate in. It would be your first experience as a cohesive unit against an organized enemy, which would be valuable experience for you all. Experience that you will need before the mission."

The Blue Lions listened with rapt attention. They wanted to know more about this mock battle that had suddenly been scheduled for them. Byleth, seeing that he had all of his class's attention, continued his explanation. "The battle will take place on the 18th of this moon. I have also arranged a way for you all to gauge your authority over a group of soldiers. You all will get more information about that in the coming days. Nevertheless, more of our lessons will start to take place in the training ground, since practice is needed before the mission."

"Professor?" Ingrid said while raising her hand up in the air. Byleth looked at the blonde-haired Galatea, and gave her a signal to say that she could continue her statement. “Will the training ground sessions be with training weapons or real weapons?”

”I will not force you all to use real weapons.” Byleth started to say. He then sighed while continuing his statement. “However, real weapons will take some getting used to. We will need to use real weapons on our mission, so it will be best to be prepared.”
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15th of the Harpstring Moon, Garreg Mach Monastery, Training Ground (Early Afternoon), Imperial Year 1180

Celine, Blythe, and Byleth travelled to the training ground, about a half an hour before Byleth's training ground session with the Blue Lions was scheduled to begin. Byleth spoke to the training ground monitor, and the three of them then entered the training ground. The teal-haired professor asked for Blythe and Celine’s help for this lesson, since he knew that they were used to wielding real weapons. Byleth could also see that most of the noble Blue Lion students have experienced combat with real weapons before, since it is incorporated into their demeanor. He figured that a spar between him and Blythe or Celine would be a good way for the class to see how real weapons are supposed to be used in training.