The next morning Michael reluctantly put on the emerald green robes of the Alchemy house and left his room with Wilkas. Nightmare was called to another classroom where they trained the familiars. Since Nightmare was curious about the other dragons and the magical beasts, Michael let the dragon go.
The robes were similar to the robes worn by the Hogwarts students with a few adjustments. There were clear signs to guide them toward their first class. Through the labyrinth of corridors, they reached a red oak door that had the sign 'Combat Hall' hanging above.
The combat class took place on the first floor, Class 86. In the Classroom, an iron chandelier hung from the ceiling, as well as a huge dragon's skeleton. On one end of the classroom stood a projector that was activated by magic. Several desks and tables could be found in the classroom as well as some sets of large windows. Calling it a classroom was an understatement, it was a large hall big as some throne halls.
The classroom was gloomy as curtains had been drawn over the windows, and was lit by candlelight. Portraits of various fighting forms and battlefields adorned the walls. Some portraits were showing people who appeared to be in pain, sporting grisly injuries or strangely contorted body parts. Inside the classroom, nobody spoke as they settled down, looking around at the shadowy, gruesome pictures.
All the houses were required to take combat classes. Hence, the hall was filled with students wearing various color uniforms. When Michael and Wilkas entered the classroom, the students sitting in the front row stared at them, and immediately a look of scorn appeared on their faces. Wilkas got the worst of it because many just ignored Michael but almost half of the students were staring at Wilkas with disgust, especially the elves.
In the classroom, elves occupied the first three rows in the front. The humans sat behind them and dwarves and orcs occupied the tables before the last row. No one sat on the last row except for a few beast-men.
Because the last row attracted less crowd, the row was pretty empty.
Michael did not attend any schools but still, he liked to sit on the last bench because, in his mind, that's where the legends would sit.
A few human girls made space for Michael to sit beside them when he was walking to them. However, Michael ignored them and went to the last bench.
Wilkas slid into the space to get to the place near the window. Michael placed the stack of books in his hand on the table.
"Look, the elves you beat up last night" Wilkas nudged Michael's elbow. Michael looked at the front row where the elves were staring at him. When his gaze fell on them, they quickly looked away as though they were never staring at him with killing intent.
Wilkas began rummaging through the books one by one. Every single book was a couple of inches thick and heavy.
"You know how to read?" asked Michael,
"I'm not illiterate thanks to Mentor Orc"
"Mentor Orc?"
"That's what we call him in the slums. No one knew his real name or why he spent his time teaching the orphans in the slums"
Wilkas was grateful to the orc and Michael could see that in his eyes. They looked at the orcs who occupied the middle benches. Unlike the rest of the students, the orcs were sitting in silence reading their books. They did not seem violent at all despite their scary looks.
The dwarves were the rowdy kids as they already started to tear the pages from the books and build ships, ducks, and all kinds of things and threw at the human girls.
"You're gonna learn combat by reading books?" snickered Michael seeing Wilkas reading the thick black book.
"Why else do we have this book?"
Michael just shook his head before leaning back on the wall and stretching his legs out. He used his hands as pillows to cushion his head. The longer they spent without a teacher, the louder the classroom became.
The elven girls were staring at the door eagerly waiting for their combat teacher.
Creak!
Almost half an hour past their class time, the door creaked open. Wilkas craned his neck to see the professor who was intimate with sixty-sixty last night entering the classroom with a honey bun and a large mug.
Gaya approached the teacher's table located at the front of the classroom before a large blackboard. She placed the mug on the table,
"Get your asses up!"
Gaya slammed the table as the students were shaken by her. They immediately stood. To attract less attention, Michael too stood up. However, he was laughing inside so much. He couldn't wait to see Gaya's atrocities as the combat teacher.
"Didn't anyone tell you to stand up and greet the teacher when they enter the classroom?" asked Gaya looking at the classroom.
"Wait, you are the combat teacher?" the dwarves murmured,
"You have a problem with that you short fuck"
The elves almost coughed up blood when they heard her yell at the dwarves. The dwarves were stunned beyond words. None of them expected to get yelled at like this. Many doubted she could be their teacher because she was too young and too unruly.
"I am Professor Steinmeyer. I came here to teach you noobs how not to get yourself killed. Now move your asses, we are going out"
And just as Gaya took a step towards the door, an elven girl raised her hand. Gaya looked over her shoulder to see her silver-haired girl from the front row raising her hand,
"What?"
"Aren't we gonna start with chapter 1?"
"Chapter 1?" frowned Gaya,
She made herself to the front row and snatched the book from another elven boy.
"Give me that"
The students realized their professor was reading the combat book for the first time in her life by looking at the surprised look on her face,
"What is this shit? You're gonna learn combat by reading books?"
"That's what he said" Wilkas mumbled,
"Basics of combat, how to defend yourself, magic defense, sword theory, dual wielding, archery" Gaya rummaged through the book before throwing it away,
"Only morons would expect to learn the art of combat by reading books. Unless your pathetic plan is to kill your opponent by boring him to death, you have to move your asses and try to grasp what I teach you. Leave your fucking books and follow me"
She turned again to walk towards the door when another elven girl raised her hand,
"I swear to god if you ask anything remotely related to the book, I will barbeque your ass and feed it to the giant eagles"
The girl quickly put her hands down. Although the elves were not at all delighted to see a human teaching them the art of combat, they did not dare to show their arrogance to Gaya because she held the position of the professor.
Everyone stepped out of their tables and followed her in an orderly manner.
"You know her?" asked Wilkas following Michael behind.
"I saw you saw"
"Saw what?" Wilkas was surprised,
"You know what"
"Where are we going?"
"She seems like a crazy bitch"
"No shit. I have a bad feeling about her"
"Lol she called you a short fuck, hehehehe"
"We are the same height, you moron"
The dwarves were bitching about Gaya while moving forward in the line,
"She is interesting"
"I feel we are going to learn a lot from her"
Compared to the dwarves, the orcs were such nice guys. They were praising Gaya regardless of how she acted. Michael was truly surprised to see how these orcs behaved. They seemed peaceful and friendly.
Several minutes later, they reached the outskirts of the forest spanning to the west. The forest was dark and gloomy. And radiated an eerie feeling.
The trees in the forest were malady-brown.
Grains of poison begrimed the bark and gleamed like witch dust. The smokey air and stifling atmosphere provided the perfect abode for those who worshiped the darkness rather than the light. In the dense shadows, spiders clutched their snare strings. Their webs shimmered like meshed steel dipped in silver.
The forest looked primordial, dark, and gloomy as the dark forest where Michael lives. Centuries-old trees with sprawling limbs guarded the darkness, blotting out any sunlight. Bewailing sounds ghosted through the trees. Whether it was from prey or a predator, only the forest could tell. It was truly a place to make everyone's veins freeze over.
"Form a circle," Gaya said, amplifying her voice with arch energy.
"I assume you all have your weapons with you"
The students nodded. Many were gawking at the forest. Their faces looked pale due to fear.
"Your first lesson, go to the forest and survive for thirty minutes. If you step out of the forest before the clock runs out, you will be on the roster to clean the latrines for a week"
The students were stunned. Their jaws dropped a few inches as one elf shouted,
"You can't do this. The black forest is forbidden to the students. You can't ask us to risk our lives"
Gaya stomped the ground as a pebble rocketed to her hand. With a swift kick to the pebble, she sent the pebble soaring towards the elf.
"Argh!"
The elf screamed when the pebble broke his nose. The pebble hit the elf right between his eyes with deadly accuracy,
"Go cry to your mommy, boo hoo"
The elf was too ashamed. His body shivered in anger as he had never been ashamed like this in his life before. He could not stand there anymore as he rushed away from the group.
"If you bitches are too afraid to roam around the safest areas of the forest, you shouldn't have come to Mazeroth. This is a place for winners, not for cowardly losers. Are you winners or spineless losers?"
Michael wondered why she was trying to send the students into the forest.
As expected, the students did not shout but mumbled the word 'winners' meekly.
"What is she doing?" from a distance, an elderly woman with a hunched back was looking at Gaya and the students. Headmistress Kayla stood beside her with a curious look on her face,
"Trying something new I guess"