As Sirette finished her speech, silence befell the classroom as all the recruits started to settle down, not because she convinced all of them, but at the very least, those who were not unconvinced still calmed themselves and realised that there's still a lesson taking place.
Seeing that the class had returned to calm, Dr Vin stood up from where he was sitting and walked to the front of the class and then began to address the class. "Well…I never expect it to become this huge of an argument. I had taught a class once, the class was filled with students with huge potential. So I allowed them to misuse that potential, not keeping check on them like a teacher should do and this led all of them to their untimely death. They offered themselves to be food for a Lord Class Xion by wanting to capture him alive for experiments. They ransacked the place and killed a lot of his subordinates but they found none there, not the Lord Class Xion and not certainly the other aides he had but they only found a young girl who was strange," Dr Vin paused a while and then continued his story
"Not wishing to disappoint me, they abducted the girl, thinking that her strange and mysterious existence would still be of help to Sanctuary and gain my admiration. When the Lord Class Xion arrived, he was insanely furious. Turns out the little girl my class abducted was his child and well…he had a deep fondness for that child," Dr Vin continued his story as he continued to walk aimlessly on the podium.
"I learned that day that Xions do indeed have emotions, especially those in the higher classes. It was something that should have been expected after all, if there are Xions with good enough intelligence, they could also develop emotions but we never considered this due to bias and our pride as a human. It was information that was never considered. In his rage he began to hunt down my students with the trail they left when they attacked," he said, his voice becoming quite heavy
Sliding his hand on the screen after tinkering a bit on his terminal, an image was formed on the display screen. A male, seemingly in his early twenties could be seen on the screen. As the students were invested in the story, Nieve, the silent girl as she was now dubbed, abruptly stood from her seat as she stared intently at the image on the screen.
The noise and disruption made Kael's eyes to involuntarily drift towards the girl who now had garnered the attention of the recruits in the class, who were wondering why she reacted that way.
Her eyes still fixed on the screen, she questioned Dr Vin, who was now perplexed by her sudden interruption. "If I may ask, what is his name, Teacher?" she questioned, her voice a lower pitch than she originally sounded like. "Jun Flayer, that's his name. Is something wrong, student Nieve?" Dr Vin questioned as he looked at his student whose eyes were trembling.
Kael noticed her clenched fists from where he sat so he was also quite perplexed with this situation. After some silent and somber seconds, Nieve bowed her head and spoke. "I'm really sorry, Teacher, for the interruption. He looked like someone familiar to me which made me react as such but after you said his name, I can confirm that he's not the one and it was only some semblance. I'm truly sorry…" Nieve said solemnly
"I see. It's nothing major, student Nieve. If you are okay now, you may take your seat," Dr Vin said as Nieve nodded her head to show her acceptance and then retook her seat.
Unbeknown to anyone in the classroom, Nieve's thoughts began to spiral and twist as she barely held herself together while she mumbled to herself.
NIEVE POV
"It's him. It's really him. The person that caused everything…Jun Flayer" I said my eyes lingering on the image that was displayed on the screen.
"No..Calm. I still have something I need to do" I clenched my hands as I began to count in primes, a little calm myself. "100,007, 100,019, 100,043,…"
END
"He went to a small base where he was able to contact Sanctuary for backup but when we arrived, we saw Jun who in his hand was holding the young girl tightly, not wanting to let go, though his clothes were soaked with his blood. "Teach. I caught her. We did well, right?" That's what he asks when we meet and as I nodded, he fell to his death, a warm and accepting smile plastered on his face" Dr Vin concluded his story, his eyes red from tears he wished to shed but his composure and years of experience helped him compose himself.
"Do you know why I told you this story and even the information I gave you before? If you paid close attention, you would have realised that what caused this accident is nothing but a lack of information and also a student's desire to gain appreciation from his admired teacher. You all are humans so you should know your limits and what you can do. I have told you the truth of the situation and what happens if you try to do more than what you can to gain something not as valuable as your life such as admiration and so on." Dr Vin said, going into his real reason for why he told a bunch of new recruits such crucial information.
"Curiosity, Pride, Ignorance and much more. They are humane qualities but are also flaws in a world as dangerous as this," Dr Vin spoke as he tapped on the display screen which changed to the image of a girl with long curly brown hair, framed by her green eyes that seem to stare into the hearts of those who looked at the picture.
"Serial name J-U-001. That is what the Xion that my student Jun was awarded by name. My selfish desire to make sure that his death isn't in vain nor forgotten and also a reminder for me," Dr Vin said solemnly as he stared at the picture of the Xion but not with hate but pity and regret clouding his eyes who did have their time.
"Even now, I still don't understand why Jun did that and why when he should have hated me who didn't reel them in, he was so happy to receive my recognition? But that guilt wills till eat me everyday I wake up" Dr Vin commented as he then stepped down the podium where he stood before.
"The time for this lesson is over. You are free to move classes before the week that the Elective courses are to be submitted back in. I hope you make the choice that you feel is best for you. Don't take revenge, nor responsibility nor duties into your criteria. Instead, I want you all to sit and think to yourself, what do you want for yourself and is going through this worth it for your goals?" he stated as he stepped out of the silent class.
In a corner of the classroom, one of the students murmured to her peers. "Hey, didn't that Xion look like Nieve?" she questioned in a mocking tone. "Haha. true. I totally see it now," her other peer echoed her voice. They were the same students who originally questioned the validity of Nieve's rank but now they're blatantly comparing her to a Xion.
"Don't you think that's a bit much?" Kael spoke out as he faced the girls who were surprised by his butting in. "Comparing someone to a Xion? That isn't something you can say even as a joke. How can you compare a human to such a monstrous being?" Kael commented to which Nieve turned her eyes to face Kael but not with the warmth or kindness that he was expecting but with disdain and hate instead.
"I am thankful but I can handle my matters myself," she commented as she turned back, not before glancing in the direction of the two girls. The confused Kael tended to Lark, whose face was twisted in amusement. "HAha. I guess she doesn't like you that much, Kael." Lark commented annoyingly as he barely held himself from bursting into complete laughter.
"Now you understand how normal boys get treated when they try to hit up girls. Welcome to the ground, dear prince….pfttt.." Lark said in composure at the beginning but not before busting into an uncontained laughter which echoed through the class, making Kael more embarrassed about the situation he found himself in.
Lark in his uncontrolled laughter soon received a bonk to his head courtesy of Monnae who then tried to comfort Kael. "Don't worry Kael. Nothing's wrong with you. She's just a weird person, okay?" her voice, low and caring, like…like a mother.
"Stop! I'm not a child that needs to be comforted by you!" Kael commented as he pushed away from the hug Monnae was offering. "Don't be shy, Kael. I don't mind your childish side," Monnae said in comfort.
"But I do mind!" Kael protested as he kept his stance firm, and after seeing that he was not going to change his opinion, Monnae dropped the hug, but not without a pout forming on her face and her mumbling a few words like "Bad Kael" to her defeated self.
"That's your karma coming back to you, Mon," Lark commented again not before he received another bonk to his head, effectively silencing him.
Just before their banter could continue, the alarm that signified the beginning of the next lesson rang and then an announcement was made to the class. The Second Class is Combat Classes. Students please report to the Arena where you took your Practical exams," then after that, the speaker became silent.
Heeding to the instructions given, the student began to exit the classroom in an orderly manner, albeit with some students with tensed faces and those with different varieties of emotions veiling their eyes as they walked forward.
Location - Arena in Pioneer's Academy
The students in their orderly form entered the arena through the side door and as they stepped on the circled arena, they met a man who was fiddling with the spear in his hands. His body chiseled by the fire of countless battles and experience, and his history sung by the scars that decorated his older face adorned with facial hairs which had now turned grey due to the erosion of time. With a sharp and hardy stance, he slammed his spear on the ground, drawing the attention of the students who had now entered the arena completely.
"Hello cadets. I'm Rend Calmlet who'll be in charge of your combat classes. Now to begin our lessons, I'll need each of you to pick weapons that are specialized to your fighting style. You can pick those you have not used before also but want to learn how. I just need you to select weapons you're comfortable with," he commanded as he tapped his pear on the ground rhythmically following what seemed like a pattern and after a bit, the floor of the arena gave way and then
through the hole, a shelf filled with all sorts of weapons presented itself.
With a hand signal, the students without hesitation walked to the armory and then began to pick their weapons they were compatible with. After some minutes, the students returned to their waiting spots and with them at least a piece of weapon.
Looking around, the sword had the most pick, followed by the spear and then the rest of the weapons began to be picked quite scarcely. "The first lesson in my lesson is finding your weapons. Most cadets I have seen always pick what they feel is cool or they have seen commonly but most times, it isn't what is best for them,"
"As I expected, most of you all choose the sword, although while nothing is wrong with picking a bladed weapon like a swords and its other sub types, it requires much technicality, adaptability and genius to be able to bring out the full potential and it's not something all of those who have chosen it have," he said.
"There are also some students within you all with a very interesting mixture of weapons," he commented, his eyes glancing at the direction of Kael and Monnae. After all, they were too conspicuous in their weapon choice. Kael picked a Katanna and then followed with a gauntlet, such an unusual choice of weapons while Monnae picked a bow and a medium length sword as her weapons, her options a bit more weird. Everyone knows that a long range weapon like a bow is very impractical when dealing with Xions because you have to be able to give a huge force output from your arrow to be able to pierce through Xion defenses so most cadets don't pick it as a weapon choice.
It requires a lot of technicality and mastery and also superhuman physicality, things that Monnae didn't seem to have. It was also strange because most other recruits who still wanted that long ranged capability would either choose the crossbow instead of a gun, which was much harder to obtain.
"Hey, Mon. Are you sure you can use these? This isn't time for jokes, you know?" Kael murmured to her, hoping this silly and stupid friend of his could change her weapons to something much more practical. "You're not much different from her, Kael. A gauntlet and Katanna? Really?" Lark commented as he investigated both Kael and Monnae's weapon choices.
"What do you mean, impractical? I know it's strange but this is what Master taught me," Kael commented as he didn't want to be grouped together with Monnae's foolish weapon choices. "Is that so? Then I guess it's fine. What about you, Mon? Why did you pick these weapons?" Lark questioned, hoping to understand her thought process.
"I don't think you guys should tell me what weapons are practical. And I think you have forgotten but I am second place in the Practical and these were the weapons I used, alright?" Monnae commented, her tone smug and full of confidence and determination.
"Just wait to be shocked by my prowess, guys. You'll both soon start worshipping me and asking me to train you, but since I'm such a forgiving and merciful friend, I'll accept your forgiveness with just some added favors," Monnae said, her tone heavy like she had just made such a huge decision and compromise.
"Sure…" Both Kael and Lark responded as they stared at Monnae who was lost in her daydream absentmindedly and then turning back to the combat teacher, Rend Calmlet. "Now, I'll want each student who has chosen their weapons to come up one at a time and explain your choice of weapon and the reason why you have decided to use that,"
"And after, I'll pick students to spar with each other. This spar won't include use of any Detel nor techniques you have been taught. I want you all to depend on what you understand of your chosen weapons, the sword, basic skills of slash and stab, an arrow's aim and fire and so on. I'll rate you all based on this and then access your skills. Recruits, now begin the classes now formally," he commented in his deep voice as he stared at the students.