While Lex was in his politics class, learning the basics of the relations between the Hum nation and the others, Amelia was sitting with her usual group of friends.
“You’ll never guess who I ran into,” she said excitedly, before sharing Lex’s story. In this day and age, where everything in their society revolved around fighting the Kraven, the greatest celebrity was one who had fought a Kraven.
“Did he really face a Kraven though? Maybe he’s just lying to get your attention,” said Miscellaneous Friend A.
“No, this makes sense,” said another one of her friends excitedly. “You said his name is Lex, right? I heard a story about a survivor from Gristol named Lex! It wasn’t just a Kraven he faced. I heard it was the flesh of an Immortal! I heard he fought it off with his bare hands to save his fellow survivors…”
Unbeknownst to Lex, rumors of his unwitting endeavor had already started to spread amongst the student body, growing more wild and wonderful with each retelling. Whether it was by design or coincidence, the stars in Amelia’s eyes and jealousy in others were a clear indicator that his story had taken on a life of its own. As for whether there would be any consequences for this… Lex would soon find out.
*****
After his politics class, Lex had some free time before his first basic combat class. He did nothing special during that time and just reviewed the information he had learnt today in case there was anything important he missed.
Once it was time for class, he went over expecting to arrive at a gymnasium full of people, since this was the one mandatory class amongst all professions, but the reality was quite contrary.
He arrived in a small room with only 9 other students as well as the trainer, who were all waiting for him, despite the fact that he was early. He expected the trainer would motivate them to learn to the best of their abilities, but his expectations were once again superseded.
“This class is the basics of the basics, and it serves only one purpose,” the trainer said with the utmost seriousness. “That should you be in a life or death situation, you kill at least one Kraven before you die. As humans, killing at least one Kraven is your most basic responsibility to your nation, and to your race!”
The trainer did not look like he was kidding, and in fact looked a little disgusted with these students who could only fulfill the most basic requirements.
“I understand that not everyone is a soldier, and the Hum nation also needs more than just soldiers. We need farmers, we need scientists, we need teachers, we need accountants, we need all the cogs and gear in the machine that is this nation. And that is exactly who this class is for. You will not be burdened with more difficult techniques, you will not be burdened with relentless practice, you will not be burdened with elaborate attacks.
“In your life, as the lawyers and gardeners and anything else that does not require a soldier’s training, should you come into a situation where you need to fight for your life against a Kraven, it is best to consider your life already forfeit! All you need to focus on is taking down the enemy with you. And, if somehow you manage to take down two Kraven instead of just one, then consider your nation proud of your achievements!”
Lex was shocked by how brutal and direct the trainer was in diminishing the value of their lives, but none of the other students were. In fact, many of them were nodding along. In moments like this, it would have helped Lex if he had actually investigated the motto of the academy and learnt about the meaning behind it. But that would come later.
For now, the trainer continued, “Of course, if you feel motivated to do more, to learn more, to be more, after completing this mandatory course, you can take more advanced combat classes. They do not focus on damage for sacrifice and instead train actual warriors who may have a chance of fighting longer and harder. But the rest of you should just hone your skills here.”
Once the trainer was done with the ‘pep talk’, he immediately began the class. Each student received a personal trainer, with the main trainer supervising.
As soon as the training began, Lex realized two things. First, the thing their training was focused on was trading injuries and doing the maximum amount of damage in any exchange. For this, each trainer took special care in teaching them how to identify weak spots in the enemies defense.
They began, of course, with human targets because that was the body each student was most familiar with, and once the students showed some mastery of the skill, they would move onto Kraven, and even the other races.
The second thing Lex realized was this kind of combat was actually strongly suited for Lex. Obviously, at his current stage, it was not so evident. But later on, when his defense would be much stronger than the enemies he would most likely face, trading blows, when he was likely to not take any injuries, was a fast and easy way of winning fights.
Naturally, he would need to be better trained not only in combat but also judging the strength of his enemies before he could employ such tactics. But it was a good plan, for now.
After a long and arduous class where Lex learned as much theoretical knowledge as he practiced, it was time for his most unusually named class: strategic planning.
Did people normally perform non-strategic planning? Or did they normally make foolish plans on purpose? It was almost as if whoever named the class was doing some sort of mass naming of classes, and releasing them on the go, which caused this oversight. A sort of mass release, if you will.
But, even besides the name, this class had many oddities. There were only two other students in this class. Furthermore, usually Lex was the oldest or at least one of the oldest in his other classes, but this time he seemed to be within his own age group.
Lastly, the two students seemed to be wary of him. This was strange as Lex was sure he’d never met them, nor had he done anything too outrageous that he should develop some kind of reputation.
Just as he was about to greet the other students and inquire if anything was wrong, the professor stepped in.
“Welcome students,” said the professor as she looked them over, a mature lady with a no-nonsense look on her face.
“I am professor Adelaide, and I will conduct your classes for this subject regardless of whichever level you take, so it is best if you get familiar with my way of doing things as soon as possible.
“This is not a class that is available to everyone, and if you have been selected for this class, you have displayed some sort of level headedness under dire circumstances. This class is, and will be, the most important class you will take. You may be wondering why I say that. It’s because while every other class you take may be creating a foundation for your future, how you perform in this class will determine whether you live to see that future or not. After all, if you fail this class, that means you’re dead.”
Adelaide paused for a moment for her three students to absorb what she said before she continued.
“Unlike your other classes, this one will have a field test and the end of the course. The test will be different for each one of you, since you have different designations, and I will pass to you the details of that field test today, so you may already begin preparing. What will be the same for all of you, however, is that each test will contain some element of danger. If you are not able to overcome it, then that likely means you will die. In other courses, if you fail, you can get a second chance by applying again. In this course, the only second chance you will get is the one you create for yourself.”
Before getting into specific details about her course, however, she looked directly at Lex and said, “Lex, the legendary survivor of Gristol that fought off an Immortal with your teeth, I’ve heard a lot about you already. If half the rumors I’ve heard are true, then I look forward to seeing your performance.
Lex, who was staring at the professor with a dropped jaw, was unable to respond. Fought off an immortal with his teeth? What the hell? Suddenly, he realized something, and looked at his class fellows, and their wary looks suddenly made sense.
What were these rumors his professor was speaking about? How had they spread so fast so far? Before he had a chance to ask, the professor began their class.
