Let's see...Fire Cavern is really easy. Quistis has some interesting lines here, and she shows signs of a charming and witty personality. Unfortunately, this does not last the course of the game. I guess she's mostly trying to flirt with Squall or whatever, so when he shuts her down and she gives up, that part of her personality is lost. A shame, really, because it's interesting, and then she becomes very serious and business-like after Squall tells her to go talk to a wall. Ifrit is an easy fight. It's weird that he thinks he's some amazing warrior when Garden classifies him as a low-level GF. Delusions of grandeur and all that, I guess.
After the battle, you're told to go back to your room and get changed into your cadet uniform for the SeeD Field Exam. I mess around a little bit with cards and manage to build up my deck a bit. As I said before, I do like how Square attempted to make Balamb Garden seem like a more "lively" place, with how NPCs are always moving around. They're not always staying in the same place for the whole game, and the game regularly updates their dialogue. In the end, they're still just random NPCs, but I appreciate the effort all the same.
When you get to the front gate, Quistis introduces you to the rest of your team. You're part of Squad B, and your fellow squadmate is Zell Dincht. Quistis says he's a lively fellow, but Squall says he's just loud. After Zell shows off his mad skills and bro-smile and thumbs up in a short FMV, he seems stunned to be in the same squad as Squall. He offers to shake hands, but Squall's not having any of it. Zell decides to look for a common bond between them, and he decides that common bond is their seemingly mutual disdain for Seifer. He says he heard that Seifer whooped him pretty bad, but Squall insists that it was just training, not a real fight, though Zell doubts Seifer sees it that way.
Quistis interrupts them by letting them know that this Seifer dude is their squad leader. I'm not sure why anyone thinks appointing Seifer as the squad leader is a good idea. He's already failed multiple SeeD Field Exams because he has no cooperative spirit, so yeah, sure, make the guy the leader this time. Good plan! Surely a guy who refuses to cooperate with anyone will make an excellent leader! The weird thing is that one of the guys at Balamb before you load onto the boat calls them the problem squad, and he guesses it can't be helped with a rookie instructor. Like, are these squad assignments just decided by random draw or something? If this has "disaster" written all over it to you guys, why are you letting this happen?
But anyway, Squall notes that Fujin and Raijin are tagging along as usual. Seifer acts all boastful about being the Squad Leader, and he says "Teamwork means staying out of my way! It's a Squad B rule! Don't forget it!" Once again, excellent decision making appointing this guy as the leader. Quistis wishes Seifer luck, and he replies that he detests people wishing him luck. She should save those words for a bad student who needs them. Quistis excellently replies by wishing him luck once again, which prompts Seifer into telling Raijin and Fujin to add her to "The List," whatever that may be.
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"I can set you free, mate."
"My freedom was forfeit long ago!"