The First Days since Reincarnation
To Lorist, that theory regarding Battle Force awakening couldn't be more wrong and he held the opinion that research efforts into Battle Force awakening was heading down the wrong path. It was just like one of the Confucian sayings in his past life: everything starts off pure and unblemished until it is tainted by the whims and agendas of those in power. The sycophantic[1] Grindian historians were somewhat like that. For the sake of gaining favor with the nobles, they were willing to come up with nonsensical theories regarding the relationship between Battle Force awakening and noble family bloodlines to justify the necessity for the exalted, towering existences of the noble families.
That line of thinking was contradictory as well. If the history on the origins of Battle Force was true, then that would mean that the Sword Gods and Saints from whom the noble families had descended were merely cannon fodder created by the magi. In the battles depicted in 'The War of the Gods', army after army of Sword Gods were sent to die on the battlefield. There were easily thousands of Sword Gods in an army and most of them perished anyway. Even most Sword Saints could only barely survive should they possess miraculous luck. Lorist really wondered what the nobles thought about the fact that their ancestors were created to be expendable human shields.
Even though the original owner of Lorist's body was a noble, having been raised in a society based not on familial heritage but rather individual merits in his past life, he could not appreciate the difference in status between the nobles and the common folk as the inhabitants of this world did. To him, he still felt like he was that small time urbanite craftsman past his forties who's busy managing his little workshop.
That fateful night, he only met up with his former comrades for some drinks. How and why did he wake up in Norton Lorist's body the next day? The small time workshop owner was shocked and frantic. Fortunately, the body unto which his soul had reincarnated had been badly hurt and could not move in bed for two whole months, giving him enough time to reorient himself and assimilate the memories of the body's owner. And given the original owner's detestable personality, his caretakers could not be bothered to pay much attention to him, allowing the sudden switch in behavior go unnoticed.
In his past life, he was born in a small town in the Jiangnan Province of China into a relatively well off family, which, incidentally, also had a tradition of martial cultivation. His grandfather was a practitioner in the ancient Chinese medicinal arts and was also a martial arts expert who had trained to the realm of the Dark Stage. He recalled that his house had an Eight-Immortals Table[2] that had a small bump on the surface with a diameter of a small winecup. In his childhood, a red-faced man from Henan came to challenge his grandfather. His grandfather poured himself and the man a cup of wine, made a toast, and slowly pushed the winecup against the bump on the table until the surface of the table was completely level and flat. The red-faced man stared wide-eyed, saluted his grandfather, and left without touching his wine.
His father has always had a weak body and his second and third uncles worked far away from home. His grandfather raised his father and his siblings very strictly and had forced them to learn Chinese medicine since their childhood. They trained incessantly: in the morning, they memorized the meridians of the body while in the night, they studied recipes for herbal concoctions. Their days were tough, but nevertheless fulfilling. During Lorist's childhood in his past life, he was very playful and caused much trouble in that little town he lived in with his cousins.
But he got sick of his insipid lifestyle and wanted to explore the vast world around him. Given his poor grades in high school and his tendency to get into fights, he eventually quit school and joined the army.
His seven years in the army was not an uneventful one. He worked his way up to the rank of a sergeant. But the times have changed; the country desired peace and stability and society has shifted its focus towards the economy instead. The army, once beloved by the people, has fallen out of the citizens' favor and gradually faded into the background, solemnly enduring and silently protecting their country. When the next conscription period arrived, he retired from the army after getting news about his parents' ill health and returned home to inherit his father's crafts workshop.
The transition from a soldier to a businessman wasn't an easy one. From making souvenirs to forging antiques, he did whatever he could as long as it paid off. Thinking back, the hopes his grandfather had placed upon him to become a famed practitioner of Chinese medicinal arts and perpetuate the family's traditions were never fulfilled. Years later, he made quite a bit of money off his business but gained quite a bit of weight. He couldn't recall how long it had been since he last trained in the Aquametal Technique.
Even though he got married and had several kids, owned a luxurious car, and lived in a grand mansion, he still felt that his life was empty and devoid of any meaning. That was why occasionally, he would meet up with his old comrades to have some drinks and talk about the good old days while they got drunk on the nostalgia. Who knew, during one of these drinking parties, he woke up in the body of Norton Lorist the next day.
According to the memories of Lorist, also referred by many as Locke, his family had been enfeoffed a dominion in the northern highlands of the Krissen Empire. Although his father was only a baron, the land enfeoffed to the Norton family was incredibly vast, though most of it were desolate mountains and the population under their rule only numbered thousands. His family was not very wealthy, with only a small town and castle under their control as well as a small copper mine that served as their main source of income.
Originally a hunter, the progenitor[3] of the Norton family joined the army of the founding emperor, Krissen I, as a scout after hearing a call to arms echoed by a group of traveling bards. He has since experienced hundreds of battles and accomplished many deeds, winning the trust and favor of the emperor and granted knighthood, despite being of peasant birth.
Following the campaign that had stabilized the foundations of the empire, Krissen I asked his loyal vassal what he wanted. The Norton family founder said that he wished to return to his homeland and live out the rest of his life there. Looking at the old knight whose hair had already turned white, Krissen I let out a long sigh and took out a map. Seeing that the northern highlands were mostly desolate mountains, he drew out a large area and granted the territory to the knight, who was subsequently styled baron, and granted him the highly-ranked Blazing Battle Force manual, hoping that the baron's descendants will continue to safeguard the northern borders.
In present day, seven generations had elapsed since the first ancestor of the Norton family. Lorist's father had two other brothers. He was the eldest among them and had inherited both the land and the title while his second brother, Lorist's second uncle, joined the royal guard in the capital. Lorist had never met this uncle of his. He only heard that his second uncle was doing quite well in the capital. His third uncle was the head of business affairs of the Norton family and also the one who brought Lorist to the Dawn Academy.
In his memories, Lorist's mother was a pretty and gentle woman. His grandfather on his mother's side was a great merchant who incidentally had used quite a sum of money to purchase a title for convenience in future business dealings. He also had another uncle, his mother's brother, who was a hardcore bibliophile. Lorist had a strict father, a reckless and brawny elder brother and a loving mother. His childhood was a happy one until that day when his mother died from giving birth to his younger brother, causing him to lose her for good. He was only seven at that time.
Lorist, who was no longer the center of attention in his family, had always blamed his mother's death on his younger brother. He felt that his younger brother had taken away his precious mother as well as the affection given to him by his family, and considered him to be the main cause for his woes. He despised his brother from the depths of his heart.
It only took one year for him to awaken his Battle Force at the age of thirteen after he started to receive the Norton family's formal training, resulting in him gaining much praise from his usually strict and serious father for greatly exceeding his expectations. Happily walking into the garden, he saw his brother sitting near the well, playing with one of the female servants. Feeling a sudden rush of hatred, Lorist pushed his younger brother down into the well.
The servant screamed in terror and within a moment, he was instantly surrounded by people. Feeling great rage, his father slapped him hard and knocked him out cold.
He woke up in a small bedroom and saw the head butler, Gleis, looking in his direction with a contemptful gaze. He informed Lorist that he was grounded until his father decided on his punishment. Before he left, he told Lorist that his brother had been rescued and had suffered no physical injury but was in a state of shock and was down with a cold due to being submerged in cold water for too long.
Three days later, the verdict had been set: he was to be exiled from his homeland to Morante City where he would further his studies. Without any summons from his family, he was forbidden to return to his home.
Both his elder brother and the head butler pleaded for his sake, but his father was resolute with his decision, reasoning that in the harsh and desolate environment of the northern lands, the Norton family wouldn't have survived this long without unity and harmony among the family members. "The thing Lorist did greatly shocked everyone; he had attempted to murder his blood-related, five-year-old brother! Even if he was forgiven this time, it would only sow seeds of conflict and disharmony in the family. That is why I have decided to exile him," declared his father.
Frightened beyond his wits after waking up in a body of a fourteen-year-old youth, the confused workshop owner suffered from conflicting and intertwining memories and couldn't reconcile his two contrasting identities. Ten days later, he managed to calm down and conjectured that maybe, he had crossed into a parallel world, much like the plotlines of the many webnovels he had read.
Although he had inherited the memories of the young Locke, the world in which he had reincarnated still awed and mystified him to no end. Given the extent of his injuries, he was wrapped up in bandages and looked very much like a mummy. Unable to move and wracked with pain, coupled with the longing for his folks of his past life, it wasn't uncommon for tears to be streaming down from his eyes.
After more than ten days, the workshop owner finally accepted his predicament and steeled his resolve to continue to live on as Norton Lorist, or, Locke. To better understand this new environment, he paid his plump, freckled caretaker more money and requested her to read to him books about the history of this world. The original owner of the body took no interest such topics and had little information about it in his memories.
The plump female caretaker brought him a book titled 'The Ten-thousand Year Annals of Grindia'. Lorist was initially shocked at the title because a civilization that could have ten thousand years of recorded history must be a rather advanced one. Though, after the caretaker started reading, Lorist understood that most of it weren't proper historical records but rather a collection of myths and legends one after another. Only the final two to three thousand years sounded more accurate.
According to the legends, the fairy race ruled Grindia millenniums ago and humans were merely a small race that lived under the rule of the fairies. At that time, the fairy race had been in conflict with the dragon race for thousands of years and the humans, who were under their protection, also suffered as a result. Amidst the long years of war, a tribe of gremlins used their wisdom and intellect to create a never before seen type of magically-powered war machines and achieved victory for the fairy race.
However, the machines greatly polluted and damaged the environment and a faction of nature-loving fairies revolted, causing another conflict to erupt. The surprising thing was: the lofty, nature-loving fairies who vowed to teach the other faction a lesson were decimated under the might of the gremlin-made magical war machines. In the end, the gremlins rose to supremacy and became the masters of Grindia.
Despite that, the gremlins who were by nature curious and intrigued by the mysteries of technological discoveries and inventions had no intention of ruling the continent. After a hundred years of chaos and anarchy, the beastmen from the western part of the continent invaded and brought with them a bloody trail of death and destruction.
The gremlins' mighty war machines fell one after another to the suicidal, savage assaults of the blood-drinking beastmen with their thick, tough hides, bringing an end to the rule of the gremlins.
The beastmen who had just ascended to the apex of the Grindia continent erected a reign of fear and violence, eventually prompting all the other races to unite and revolt.
This was the start of yet another war that lasted hundreds of years. The humans strived to learn every type of craft from the many other races who were struggling against the beastmen. They studied the arcane arts of magic and warfare from the fairies, construction and forging from the dwarves as well as trading and engineering from the gremlins, and, with their large numbers, became an indispensable force in the war against the beastmen. When their beastly oppressors had finally been chased back to the wilderness in the west, the humans took up the mantle of the strongest race of Grindia.
After that came the prosperous golden age of the magical civilization which lasted thousands of years until the mages initiated a large scale war with the gods. The end of the magical age came suddenly as the magical energy on the continent started to dwindle inexplicably.
[1] sycophantic: adj. behaving or done in an obedient way in order to gain advantage. Source: Google
[2] Ba-Xian Table: See Wikipedia.
[3] progenitor: noun. An ancestor or parent. Source: Google
Battle Force and His Days as a Mercenary
During the two months he lay in bed recovering from his injuries, Lorist spent all his time to gather information about Grindia's history, geography, folk tales as well as travel journals to gain a rough understanding about this new world he found himself in.
To Lorist, this world seemed quite similar to Medieval Europe at first glance, given that it had stuff like titles and knights. In his past life, he had also forged a number of knight armor replicas and sold them for a high price online.
The people here greatly resembled white caucasian Europeans, but according to his observations, the culture in this world was far more advanced than that of the people of the Middle Ages in his previous world. However, the food culture did seem quite primitive here. He was served oatmeal, black bread and mashed potatoes with salt almost every day and 'suffered' without end to the point where he suspected that the reason his caretaker was so plump was due to her sneaking away all the delicious stuff from his meals.
With his mind full of such thoughts, he asked one of his caretakers, Kelly, to see if he could have a different menu for his meals.
Kelly said that this was the staple menu for the sick students of the academy.
Lorist responded by insisting to be served the regular meals instead.
And so on the second day, Kelly brought over a piece of black bread, some mashed potatoes and a bowl of vegetable soup (with only two leaves in it) which replaced the usual oatmeal.
With a face full of tears, Lorist ate the food feeling utter anguish and despair.
One of the differences between the people here and Europeans was the way they put their surnames in front followed by their given names at the back in a way that was similar to the Chinese naming scheme. In a book covering the topic of noble family history, it was stated that during the thousand years of darkness, brave warriors who challenged the magical beasts on their own and returned alive would be granted a title by the village chief. Names like Whitemont, Tusk, Hawksoar, etc. would be appended before their names and, in time, those titles became family names. Norton, for example, meant raging bear in the ancient language of the fairies.
The most glaring difference between this world and his own was the presence of the two moons in the sky. The first larger silver moon was called Daphlyn and it was personified as the Silvermoon Goddess and also known as the Goddess of Love. The smaller, blood-red-colored moon which hung in the night sky like a crimson, crescent fang was called Sufanna the Bloodmoon Goddess and also served as the Goddess of Vengeance. According to the legends, when Sufanna reveals itself as a full moon, it would signify the beginning of another major conflict on the continent.
Both the Silvermoon Goddess and the Bloodmoon Goddess were wives of Singwa, the God of the Sun, Light and War. That was also the reason why in Grindia, marriage between a man and two women was permitted. But one could only be allowed to do so if one was economically able to support having two wives. The status of the second wife was not one whit inferior to that of the first wife and both wives were entitled to the same amount of love and care from the husband. That was why most people, even nobles, only took one wife to avoid too much hassle.
The more Lorist read about the history of the world, the more confused he felt. That was because the Grindia Continent was very large and humans only occupied a third of it. The rest of the uncharted territory were comprised mostly of desolate plains, forests or mountain ranges. But the many culture and history books he had browsed through had maps of the continent that were mostly similar to each other. It is said that these maps were left over from the age of magic and had been mapped by the magi during their travels around the continent.
The language used on the continent was known as the common language. All people on the continent spoke that language and no alternative dialects had ever developed. The script resembled alphabets and were comprised of 32 characters which could be formed into words by putting two or three characters into a diamond-like shape. In the books, it was said that this language had been developed by the magi specially for the humans' use. The magi also knew several other languages of other races including that of the ancient fairies, dragons, gremlins as well as some other tongues that contained mysterious magical power.
The most surprising part was the maps shown in most books were drawn on a planet. The only difference is the planets in this world were known of as planar worlds. Some books from the age of magic described that there were other planar worlds and they were also sphere-like objects that were suspended in the empty void of space.
If the maps accurately depicted the Grindia Continent, then the legends about the magi must have been true; there was simply no other explanation. If that were the case, that meant that the civilizations on the continent evolved in a straight path that greatly relied on an individual's training in magic followed by Battle Force, unlike the civilizations in his previous life which pursued advancements in science and technology instead.
It was at this moment when Lorist suddenly felt interested in the mysteries of Battle Force. After carefully researching his hand-copied version of the Blazing Battle Force manual and using it to train, he came to understand that the key to channeling Battle Force was blood circulation.
The people of Grindia call the points where blood vessels intersect 'nodes'. The human body has 72 major nodes and 360 minor nodes as well as another 1080 miscellaneous nodes. Through sensing the elemental energy in the surrounding environment, one can increase one's blood circulation rate and will the blood to circulate through specific nodes in the body, resulting in the generation of a unique, explosive life energy that can be harnessed to greatly increase one's strength, speed as well as reaction time. This was the power of Battle Force.
To Lorist's surprise, Battle Force also came in various types or attributes. Recalling the Chinese medical books he had memorized in his childhood, different parts of the human body corresponded to one of the five different elements. The skin, nose, large intestines and lungs belong to the metal attribute. The tendons, eyes, liver and gallbladder belong to the wood attribute. The bones, ears, kidneys and bladder were of the water attribute. The blood vessels, tongue, heart and small intestines corresponded to the fire attribute. And finally, the muscles, spleen, mouth and stomach belong to the earth attribute. However, Battle Force had more than 5 different attributes categories.
The nodes from the eyes to the jaw produced light type Battle Force. The nodes from the back of the head down to the tailbone produced dark type Battle Force. Water type Battle Force came from the nodes around the kidneys and bladder. Nodes from the right chest up to the gallbladder and liver produced wood type Battle Force while the nodes around the right abdomen corresponded to the fire type. The left chest trained in metal type Battle Force while the left abdomen nodes trained in the earth attribute. Finally, the several major nodes from the shoulders up to the upper thighs produced wind type Battle Force. Besides the more common attributes, some exotic kinds of Battle Force attributes like the blood attribute or the ice attribute existed as well.
In most cases, the training of Battle Force involved picking several major nodes on the body to form a pentagram (a five-pointed star) or a hexagram (a six-pointed star) and speeding up and isolating the circulation of the blood in the body through the minor nodes in between the star shape to manifest Battle Force. To reach the point where manifested Battle Force can be projected according to one's will was the main aim of training. Lorist felt that the theory behind Battle Force training was very similar to the art of training the internal energy of the body that he had come across in his past life.
However, Battle Force training was not as flexible in that one cannot train in Battle Force of different attributes. For example, if one trained in an earth attribute Battle Force, one cannot train in any other Battle Force with different attributes. While training in other attributes would not cause one any serious harm, one would be forever stuck and be unable to advance to the next level. Then again, many different types of Battle Force techniques existed. There were roughly more than ten low-ranked null attribute basic Battle Force techniques that only allowed one to train up to the Iron rank at most; these were commonly used by armies to train their soldiers.
There were two main advantages that came with training null attribute Battle Force. First, there was no attribute requirement and anybody could train in them. Second, it was relatively easy to train in null attribute Battle Force techniques: one could quickly and easily sense the elemental energy, and the pentagram points used to manifest null attribute Battle Force only required the activation of a small amount of minor nodes, reducing the difficulty even further for practitioners to grasp the flow of the energy.
It is common practice to introduce students in Battle Force awakening courses to basic Battle Force techniques before allowing them to pick a mid-ranked or high-ranked technique with attributes that suit them when they reach the Iron rank. However, most Battle Force manuals on the market only allowed one to train up to the Silver rank. Gold rank Battle Force manuals were relatively rare and cost a small fortune.
Very much interested in the Blazing Battle Force technique he possessed, Lorist trained hard in that technique and was not worried about not having the rest of the technique from Silver rank onwards because according to his inherited memories, his third uncle comes to visit him once a year to check up on him and provide him with some money to pay for the school fees. That's why, he thought he could ask for the rest of the technique once he trained to the peak of the Iron rank. But who knew right after three years he came to the world, his uncle stopped visiting without notice and vanished without a trace. The year after, the third prince of the Krissen Empire sparked a civil war and permanently cut Lorist's contact with his family in the far north.
Lorist wasn't too perturbed by the loss of contact with his family and was even a little thrilled, given that the original owner of his body was exiled from home in the first place. He would no longer have to worry about his identity being exposed anymore. The problem was his living cost: he probably wouldn't have any trouble with food; he could always go to McDuffin's roadside stall, or, in the worst case, eat the meals provided by the academy as all three meals of the day were already included in the school fees. The food provided definitely wasn't delicious, but he could live with it. The real problem was paying the tuition fee.
At that time, Lorist had already been at the academy for three and a half years. Having obtained his certification for both his knight training and accounting professional courses, he could already graduate without problems. However, in the three years since Lorist had crossed over to this world, he had already formed close relationships and familiarized himself with the city and already considered Morante City his home. Where would he go even if he were to graduate? Having just broken through to the Iron rank at the age of 18, with Lorist's abilities, it was indeed a little bit early for him to go exploring the foreign world.
Additionally, for the sake of better understanding the world of Grindia, Lorist applied for another two extra courses just last year in herbalism and magical beast studies. He subconsciously thought that the more he learned, the better off he would fare and adapt in this world. And, much to his advantage, he was reincarnated into the most developed and civilized city on the continent and not some run down village in the desolate wilderness, saving him much time and effort in learning about the world through trial and error. Who knew where he would end up should he be a little less fortunate as he was.
A professional course would cost around five to eight gold Fordes per semester. Magical beast studies was relatively simple: one studied the subject simply by looking at drawings of the magical beasts and memorizing any effective means to kill them as well as the valuable parts each beast had. One would not have much trouble passing the course if one's memory was good enough. Herbalism, on the other hand, was much more demanding. One had to be able to differentiate one herbal plant from another, understand the appropriate methods of storing different herbs as well as experimenting with different combinations of herbs. The experiments usually took up quite a bit of money.
During the first three years, Lorist's third uncle usually brought him some new clothing and delicacies every time he came over to visit him and also left thirty or so gold coins, sometimes even more when business was good, for him to cover his living costs and tuition. Lorist wasn't reckless with his spending either. He only used the money on paying servants and buying books from time to time and ended up with up to thirty gold Fordes in his savings.
To McDuffin, thirty gold Fordes was a rather large sum. But to Lorist, it was only enough for about a year and a half to fund his studies and other necessities.
So, he searched for other means to earn money for the sake of remaining in the city. He was subsequently brought to a mercenary guild by some of his friends and successfully registered as a low-ranked Bronze Mercenary and started taking up missions.
Despite that, given Lorist's experiences in his past life and his good eye for opportunity, he got a good idea for a business during one of his missions and roped a few friends in to gather some starting capital. Buying a large number of beast furs, he commissioned some tailors to sew them into backpacks that were very commonly seen in his past life. Being a new design that did not hamper movement and was conveniently and quickly equipped onto one's back, his stock of 400 bags got sold out in an instant the moment he brought them back to the mercenary guild. Lorist and his friends each earned a share of more than ten gold Fordes and struck a few more times when the iron was still hot, earning him another seventy to eighty gold coins.
Right when he was about to start a leather factory with his friends to mass produce these backpacks, he noticed that there were a lot of ripoffs on the market which greatly lowered the price of each bag, causing Lorist and his friends immense anger and frustration as he gave up on the notion.
That business venture made Lorist quite a name among the people of the mercenary guild and earned himself some respect from his friends. In actuality, Lorist had a bunch of other ideas that could earn him more money, but he thought it was better to stay low-key and not attract too much attention to himself. The money he had on hand at that time was already more than enough for him to live without worries. Since then, he spent most of his time at the academy studying and occasionally took up some mercenary missions. During the holidays, he would form small teams with several close friends and go on expeditions to kill some low-ranked magical beasts. Spending his days rather leisurely, he was already among the ranks of the mercenary veterans within merely three years.
Dynamic Vision
On the sixth year of his new life when his current body was 20 years old, Lorist discovered something troubling.
Lorist had fared pretty well for the past few years and had already grown from being a low-ranked errand running Bronze mercenary into an Iron ranked mercenary veteran.
Lorist was also quite well known in the Dawn Academy, given that he applied for another three professions after completing his magical beast studies and herbalism courses, among which included archaeology, ruin exploration as well as language studies. Having been among the ranks of the mercenaries for quite some time, he came to understand that the legends surrounding the magical civilization was not without basis and was true to a certain extent.
In one of his excursions with his buddies a year before, Lorist visited an already excavated small ruin that was said to be a tower that used to be a magus's residence. The colossal tower that reached out beyond the clouds described in books was no longer standing, but the discovery of the three basement floors shocked them. Large, smooth walls made from stainless steel shone like a mirror, seemingly unworn from the passing of time. Lines stretched across the floor up to the walls and intersected to form a complicated, three-dimensional magical formation diagram and chunks of neatly-arranged rocks with archaic fairy script could be seen in the vicinity. These could be the cornerstones that served as the foundation of the magical formation.
Every one of them in his group dreamed about gaining boundless wealth and fame for discovering this ruin but felt it wasn't too realistic. Most of the ruins that humans once inhabited had already been excavated and studied and were no longer of much value with only a few exceptions that possibly lay hidden somewhere in the lush, dense forests or the desolate mountains. Given their abilities and the magical beasts that lurked around such areas, however, it would have been a suicidal effort. They could only daydream in vain of the glory and riches that awaited.
Lorist however was ecstatic and marched forward with enthusiasm. Having read 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone' in his past life, he had always been fascinated with magic and wanted to become a mage himself. Too bad he arrived on the Grindia Continent a little too late. Had he crossed over to a few thousand years earlier into the age of magic, his dreams in becoming a great magus might just come true.
At that time, Lorist, having just recently obtained his qualifications in magical beast studies and herbalism, was wondering which courses to sign up for next. Given that Dawn Academy's archaeology, language studies and ruin exploration courses were quite highly-ranked, he decided to sign up for them during the following semester.
Ruin exploration refers to the research and study of the architecture and the purpose of buildings left behind from the age of magic as well as the means to excavate such ruins with as much care as possible to avoid damaging the ruins. Archaeology dealt with the distinguishing and handling of artifacts found in ruins and was concerned with determining the purpose and worth of such artifacts. Language studies was the hardest of the three, given that the languages of the fairies, dragons, gremlins that the magi used were said to contain mystical power and people without magical affinity could not truly grasp the language; even if someone did manage to learn a couple of words, he would only be able to make similar sounds but be unable to reproduce the archaic power contained within each word.
These magical languages by nature could not be easily passed down through the generations. But the magi of the time frequently inscribed the script of these languages onto stone tablets to record important information. These days, the field of language studies can only rely on the characters on the tablets to slowly decipher the actual meaning of the words by matching the drawings that was occasionally found next to the characters. So far, the largest achievement in the field of language studies was the ability to distinguish words of the fairy language from that of the gremlin language. Not much progress had been made however in understanding the language of the dragons.
These three courses were closely related. Lorist quite cynically summed up the essence of these three courses into two words: grave robbery. The only difference between this and actual grave robbing was that it was legally endorsed by the various powers on the continent and it was common practice for people to raid and explore such ruins, loot the artifacts inside and auction them off to gain wealth and fame. Archaeologists, however, were dissatisfied with such a phenomenon and deemed such acts destructive and unethical.
Lorist believed that once he obtained those qualifications, he would live a rather adventurous life as both a researcher and explorer, venturing around the continent in search of thrills. What he didn't expect was that the act of applying for all three courses would draw so much attention to him. If he were to graduate with qualifications in seven professional courses, while he may not be the first in the academy's history to do so, he wouldn't be too far off from being the last one.
Attending these courses weren't that much of a burden to Lorist. What he was truly worried about was his stunted Battle Force training due to the lack of the following Blazing Battle force manuals for the higher levels.
This wasn't an uncommon occurrence in Grindia. Descendants of noble families intentionally brought Battle Force or swordsmanship style manuals in parts with them in fear of the techniques being leaked out and would only request for the rest of the manuals when they reached a certain level. But Lorist could not do so as he had already lost contact with his family for years. The Krissen Empire in the north was in much chaos due to the infighting among the three princes of the empire and caused Lorist to be unable to reach out to his family. Seeing that the conflict was likely to continue for a few more years, he wouldn't be so stupid to wait and do nothing until the day he manages to contact his family finally comes.
Even if he had the patience to wait, he had to continue training to keep his body in peak condition. Already resigned to his situation, he motivated himself to train in some other abilities.
Just a few months after he crossed-over and started training in swordsmanship, he noticed that this body of his had a unique gift of dynamic vision: it was the ability to accurately focus and see the trail of objects moving in high speeds.
Lorist wasn't too unfamiliar with the ability either. When he was still a soldier in his past life, in one of the training drills, he was in charge of leading his special ops team stealthily into the base of the other side, thinking that it was going to be a piece of cake. He didn't expect all his team members to get eliminated from the simulation by merely one guy and decided to rush into him with a grenade in hand, intending to perish along with him. The sensors on their uniforms let out some smoke, which signified their 'deaths' in the training exercise. Offering that other soldier a cigarette, he curiously asked how he managed to avoid the concentrated barrage of bullets. Most people wouldn't be able to survive such an assault.
That guy cockily told Lorist that he wouldn't be able to pull off what he did and explained that his natural gift of dynamic vision made any fast moving object appear slow in his eyes. That's why he was able to easily avoid the bullets and was practically invincible as he struck Lorist's teammates down. The only thing he didn't expect was Lorist's suicide bombing and was trapped in a corner without being able to do anything in retaliation.
Lorist was really envious of that man's natural talent but was told that it could be learned with sufficient training. He said that pilots would also need to have good dynamic vision but the training process was extremely nauseating to most people and encouraged Lorist to try it out and experience it for himself.
The man sighed and continued to say that his natural dynamic vision was unlike those that people could obtain from training in that it put a lot of stress on the mind. While the vision one could obtain from training was certainly inferior to his, it was more than sufficient for the average person for most intents and purposes.
At that time, Lorist didn't understand why that man sighed and did some reading on the internet about the ability and discovered many training methods one could use to train one's dynamic vision. One of the methods involved sitting on a chair that turned at extremely high speeds and having someone hold large cardboards with words written on them beside the chair and trying to read the words on the cards while spinning around. Within merely ten minutes of trying it out, he collapsed feeling intense vertigo and discomfort and couldn't stomach any food for up to two days.
It is said that if one perseveres through the training, in time, one would be able to see clearly the faces of passengers through the windows of a speeding train.
But the intense discomfort caused by the training made Lorist think that such an ability wasn't worth the pain. He subsequently gave up on the training.
The present Lorist, however, fully understood why that man sighed on that day.
Initially he was exhilarated to discover that his new body had this ability. Through intense focus, he could even see each distinctive flap of the wings of a passing fly. In sword battles, no matter how agile and quick the opponent, Lorist only perceived a slow moving sword and could easily come out with a counter to break his opponent's move.
However, the utilization of this ability was extremely mentally taxing. Before, he wasn't able to use it for too much a time. As he used this ability more and more, however, he noticed that his mental endurance increased in tandem with the amount of time he could sustain his dynamic vision. Even when he was not in deep focus, his sense of the environment around him had grown ever more sensitive; a fact he figured out during one of his magical beast hunts.
The main problem, however was that his body's reaction couldn't catch up with his senses'. When he first discovered this ability his Battle Force was at the One Star Bronze rank. For a time he could still keep up with his improving dynamic vision as his Battle Force grew and was unparalleled among his peers in swordsmanship, causing him to be appointed as an assistant swordsmanship instructor.
But ever since he got stuck at the Three Star Iron rank, Lorist found that his movements couldn't keep up with his ever improving dynamic vision. In time, his body would no longer be able to keep up with his reaction time.
Given his performance as an assistant instructor a year before, he was then promoted to a full-fledged instructor. But that incident caused many Silver ranked instructors and students much dissatisfaction and even prompted many Silver ranked students to challenge him to duels. It was then when Lorist first encountered the problem of his body's movement speed.
Given the complete defeat of the first few Silver ranked students who challenged Lorist on behalf of a swordsmanship instructor, that instructor decided to join the fray himself. When the duel started, Lorist began to feel pressure; this was a man who had rich experience in real life battles and was not like some people whose skills were visually impressive but outright impractical. Every strike of his was fast, damaging and straightforward. Some of his moves were even willing to suffer a small hit in order to land a bigger one!
Under Lorist's intense concentration, the moves of the enemy were broken one by one. To the people watching the duel, Lorist's moves were flexible and flawless. But he himself felt the opposite: there were a few times when he clearly found weak points in his opponent's strike but his body wasn't able to move in time. There were also a number of times when he could clearly see the trajectory of the sword but was only barely able to avoid them. That duel only ended with his narrow victory.
Aquametal Technique
I can't continue on like this, thought Lorist as he decided to use a very troublesome method to get out of his training limb: training in another mid-ranked Battle Force technique of the same attribute up to the Silver rank temporarily and return to the Blazing Battle Force once he obtains the rest of the technique.
This method of training was not unprecedented, but it really pushed the cultivator's perseverance and concentration to the limit. Even if certain Battle Force techniques had the same attributes, there were fine differences between the nodes used to form the hexagram circulation path in the body. That was especially the case with the minor nodes involved in the circulation. If any unnatural changes occur, such as the formation of unintentional connections between certain circulation nodes, it would cause even more complications. The cultivator must first forget and suppress their previous training habits before training in another technique from scratch.
There really was no easy way to go about this.
By the sound of its name, the Blazing Battle Force seemed to be of the fire attribute. Lorist had no way of confirming the type, however, as the hand copy he possessed only had the name on the cover and jumped right into the hexagram circulation diagrams for the Bronze and Iron ranks, not containing any shred of additional information at all.
Therefore, he spent a small fortune and obtained a mid-ranked fire attribute Scorching Flame Battle Force technique. It is said that one could reach the peak of the Silver rank with it. But, when Lorist opened the page, he was dumbfounded.
The Scorching Flame Battle Force technique's hexagram circulation diagram differed too much from that of his own technique. That was especially the case with all of the major nodes. How could he bring himself to train in that?
At first, he reasoned that the difference was due to the technique being mid-ranked while his own Blazing Battle Force being a high-ranked technique. But then again, no matter the rank, Battle Force techniques of the same attribute should not differ so much in terms of the major nodes. To further investigate the issue, Lorist purchased a few more mid-ranked fire attribute techniques and compared them. The rest of the techniques had node points that were largely similar to those of the Scorching Flame Battle Force but were all incompatible with those of his own Blazing Battle Force. That could only mean that the Blazing Battle Force was not a fire attribute technique.
Gosh, what other attribute could it be if it wasn't a fire type technique?
Without a choice, Lorist got several other mid-ranked techniques of different attributes among which included water, wood, metal, earth, even ones with light and wind attributes. After some careful research, he concluded that the Blazing Battle Force had no connection to any of the attributes of these other techniques. This was a very worrisome conclusion for Lorist and made him reconsider whether the Blazing Battle Force was a fire attribute technique after all, with the cause for the different diagrams being the difference in rank.
But something happened during this time which removed the notion from his mind. Due to the lack of progress in his training, Lorist decided to focus his thoughts elsewhere during the academy holidays. He formed a small party with a few other friends and decided to go to the Sunset Mountains to hunt some low-ranked magical beasts.
The Sunset Mountains was the home of a rare magical beast called the Gold-horned Flamefox. Its fur could change according to the seasons: the colder the temperature, the redder its fur would turn, making the demand for its fur very high in the market. And the golden horn of the fox also emitted a fragrance which repelled bugs. It was also rumored that once the horn was ground to dust, it could improve the endurance and performance of the 'male organ'. This caused the Gold-horned Flamefox to be hunted to the point of near extinction.
Lorist and his gang were fortunate enough to discover the trails of a Gold-horned Flamefox during that trip and had spent three days and nights before finally tracking down and slaying the beast. However, as they prepared to depart from the mountains, they discovered some people who lusted after their haul.
Places like the Sunset Mountains had always been lawless areas where the strong devoured the weak. It was common for adventurers or mercenaries to be on their guard for other humans as they hunted magical beasts.
Having been hunting low-ranked beasts around the outskirts of the mountains, Lorist's group did not attract any unwanted attention from the other hunters. But that changed after they got the Gold-horned Flamefox.
The ones who blocked their path were seven Silver ranked mercenaries who belonged to a mercenary group with a reputation for robbery which was based at at a town near the mountains. That mercenary group probably started paying attention to Lorist and gang when they were purchasing some necessities at the town and decided to send seven Silver ranked experts to take the spoils by force.
Lorist's group only had five people with three Iron ranks and two Silver ranks. Fully aware of the disparity in power, the robbers not only demanded Lorist's group to hand over their haul, but also to leave every equipment they had on their hands besides their undergarments behind. Charade was also present in the group at that time and was at the One Star Silver rank. Being the miser he is, he got enraged by their demands and attacked without another word. The rest of the group soon followed suit and went all out on their attackers.
To the robbers' surprise, three of them instantly fell to Lorist and his gang. Two of the remaining four were preoccupied with keeping Lorist at bay while the other two cried out for help under the relentless attacks of Charade and the other three of Lorist's gang.
The struggle ended with Lorist sticking his blade through the back of an escaping robber. Of the seven Silver ranked mercenaries, two were dead and five others were hurt badly. This was the first time Lorist had killed since he crossed over to the Grindia Continent, and to his surprise, he did not feel an ounce of rejection or nausea following the act of killing.
The deathly miser stripped the seven mercenaries of all their belongings, staying true to his name and leaving them stark naked. The group of five profited a little from this fight and even found a high-ranked earth attribute Battle Force manual on the body of the guy who attempted to escape but was struck down by Lorist. It was called the 'Myriad Mountains Battle Force'.
But nobody in his squad trained in the earth attribute and Lorist himself didn't know what his attribute was. The Battle Force manual was useless to them and was better off sold off for a few hundred gold coins.
But Charade remembered that Lorist was collecting Battle Force manuals for research purposes in order to break through the Iron rank. Additionally, Lorist contributed most to the previous fight and handled five of the robbers himself. Had it not been for Lorist's abilities, they would be hard-pressed fending off seven Silver ranked mercenaries. And so, the rest of the group came to a unanimous decision and decided to give Lorist the Battle Force manual.
After splitting the spoils and returning to Morante City, Lorist started to analyze the high-ranked earth attribute Battle Force manual. Comparing it to a mid-ranked earth attribute Battle Force, he discovered that they had many similarities. Most of the major nodes that constituted the hexagram circulation paths were roughly the same, with the only difference being the high-ranked technique having more complicated paths among the minor and miscellaneous nodes between the major nodes.
Scratching his head in futility, he understood that the Blazing Battle Force he trained in definitely did not belong to the fire attribute given the glaring differences it had with other mid-ranked fire attribute techniques.
On one hand, he could only train the Blazing Battle Force to the peak of the Iron rank and could not advance from there. On the other, he couldn't figure out what attribute his technique belonged to and didn't dare to rashly pick up any other mid-ranked technique to train in. In time, his body would no longer be able to keep up with his ever improving dynamic vision. He didn't want his movements to be slower than his awareness during battle.
What should he do? How would he progress in his training? These thoughts kept Lorist awake for nights. Ugh… What's with this accursed Blazing Battle Force technique…
As he tossed about in bed one night, Lorist suddenly recalled the sight of his grandfather training in the Aquametal Technique. Startled by his sudden insight, he thought, That's right! Why don't I try training in the Aquametal Technique? That technique held an even higher place in his heart than the Blazing Battle Force as it was the hereditary technique of his real family in his past life!
He remembered the scene when he struggled to maintain the horse stance with his cousins under the instruction of his grandfather. He was surprised that he could still recall the training methods, Ki pathways, the body meridian map, the Aquametal foundations as well as the Aquametal Sword Techniques. It was like they were imprinted upon his soul.
With his eyes tearing up in nostalgia, he got off his bed and took up the horse stance, basking in the moonlight that shined through the window in his room.
The first form of the Bright Stage of the Aquametal Technique: Immutability of A Thousand Cliffs.
Be focused with a calm heart, breathe in thrice and let it out all at once. Let me meld into the void and forget my physical existence.
All of a sudden, a red sun leaped up from the oceans, illuminating the world. For some time, the oceans and rivers remained calm without a wave. Without warning, a giant tide rose from the seas and formed a great cliff in the middle of the ocean. The peak resembled a blade which cut through the giant, crashing waves with unwavering and everlasting vitality.
After some time, the raging waves started to weaken and calm. The vast ocean quickly returned to its former tranquil state and was smooth as a mirror. Only that towering cliff stood unmoving, proudly overseeing this vast realm.
Full of delight and surprise, Lorist slowly opened his eyes. The training speed was too fast! In his previous life, it took him three years of training under his grandfather's tutelage to reach the point when he could visualize that scene of the vast ocean in his mind. In this life, however, it only took him one try to enter that realm. This was unimaginable.
Now that he had mastered the first form, it would only take him two or three months of training for him to be able to start the second form, 'Timeless Waterflow'. In his previous life, he took three years to master the first form and six for the second. After that, he enlisted in the army but never quite reached the third form, the 'Robust Warhorse'. After he retired and inherited his father's workshop, he often neglected his training and only practiced half-heartedly. That was one of the greatest regrets he had in his past life.
The first three forms of the Aquametal Technique wasn't actually that complicated. The first form focused on the twelve standard meridians whereas the second and the third prioritized the unleashing of the eight extraordinary meridians[1]. Once the eight meridians worked in concert with the twelve standard meridians to form the Major Cycle, one would reach the peak of the Bright Stage and had a chance to progress into the Dark Stage.
But training in the first form required one to be able to feel the Ki flowing through the twelve standard meridians as well as visualize the realm of the raging sea to train and fortify one's mind and soul to the point that it would be unshakable by anything and be able to remain calm at all times, even if Mt Tai itself were to come crashing in front of oneself.
Lorist didn't expect to be able to reach this point in only one training session. Even though his body was sweating heavily, he felt energized and refreshed like never before. In his excitement, he picked up his sword and started swinging away. His body moved as his mind willed as his sword soared through the air. This feeling was hard to put into words. The lag between his intentions and his movements did not exist anymore.
Sheathing his sword, Lorist decided to continue training and stabilizing his foundations by practicing in the first form once more. However, just as he went into the horse stance, he was startled to find that his Battle Force had disappeared.
The Battle Force that lurked in his veins could not be felt anymore. Lorist let out a cold sweat, quickly sat down with his legs crossed and started to meditate. He tried to manifest them like he usually did and felt the circulation of Battle Force within the hexagram circulation path in his body. Just as he was about to let out a sigh of release, the Battle Force dissipated from his body.
What is going on? Frustrated that his Battle Force kept giving him problems, he tried again for a few times but the same thing happened over and over. Sheesh. I don't even want to care anymore. Let's go back to training in the Aquametal Technique, thought Lorist, disheartened.
Just as he was preparing to visualize the small realm after he got into the horse stance, Lorist felt that his meridians was filled to the brink with some kind of energy. Huh? Why does this feel so familiar? He calmed himself down and continued his inspection. Wait, isn't this Battle Force? Why has it gone inside my meridians? No wonder he trained that quickly in the Aquametal Technique. It was due to the presence of Battle Force.
But he didn't know whether training in the Aquametal Technique using Battle Force was a healthy practice or not. Nevertheless, the increase in his body's strength and agility that allowed his movements to synchronize with his will was beneficial. Lorist decided that he'll keep on training like this and cross that bridge when the time comes.
[1]See this page to learn more about meridians. See Wikipedia.
Incador Medal
After one year of cultivating the Aquametal technique, Lorist reached the second form of the Bright stage, Timeless Waterflow. The second and third forms of the Bright stage prioritized unleashing the eight extraordinary meridians and linking it with the twelve standard meridians to form the Major Cycle to achieve a state of robust vitality and harmonizing the polar energies of Yin and Yang within the body.
Following the unleashing of the eight extraordinary meridians, it would only take a few months to unleash the Yangwei and Yinwei meridians, after which one can train in the third form of the Bright stage, the Robust Warhorse. Lorist had not reached this level before in his past life. This technique he had inherited from previous family was pretty beneficial after all. The astonishingly fast training speed of the Aquametal Technique was so great a source of joy for Lorist that he forgot he was using Battle Force to train in it and made him feel extremely hopeful of his progress in the future.
But Lorist, deeply engrossed in his training, did not pay attention to the way others around him viewed him. He went to the academy as usual to attend his courses as well as coach his students in swordsmanship. Eventually, he stunned everyone in the academy with the 100% success rate of his first Battle Force awakening course.
Lorist met his first love since coming to this world around this time. Their similar history with their respective families served as a pivot for their growing intimacy and motivated them to strive and build their own happy future.
Nothing much changed until that day when Lorist had a talk with the fat, Deathly Miser.
"Hey, fatty… Aren't you looking at me a little funny? Is there something on my face?"
"I feel sorry for you. I don't know if you even know about it…."
"What are you feeling sorry for? Isn't my life fine as it is right now? I don't need your sympathy."
"Is that so? You say you're fine as you are? Locke, let me ask you. How long has it been since you've trained your Battle Force?"
"Umm, about that… It's true that I've been neglecting my Battle Force training. But that's hardly my fault. My family's Battle Force attribute is totally different from that of a majority of Battle Force techniques. And, given that I don't have the rest of the manual, I couldn't train in it even if I wanted to."
"Then what are you gonna do? Are you going to remain at the Three Star Iron rank forever? You're gonna wait for the conflict in your homeland to subside before reaching out to them for the rest of the technique?"
Shrugging his hands in futility, Lorist said, "What else can I do? It's not like that's getting in the way of my current life so I'm not in too much of a rush."
"Sheesh, you… Can't you just try harder?" said the fatty solemnly. "Didn't Instructor Claude say that you should continue to train in your Iron rank Battle Force until it reaches the peak density in your veins and go experience some life threatening battles? You might be able to stimulate the full potential of your Battle Force amidst the heat of battle and break through to the Silver rank even if you're using the hexagram circulation path for the Iron rank. Brother, you're already at the peak of the Iron rank. Perhaps, if you took another step and got a little push, you might just break through and become a Silver Swordsman! You can't just give up like that!"
"That's not the point. What are you so worried about? I'm passing my days just fine, why would I go out of my way to go fight life-and-death battles? I can afford to wait a few years. Who knows if I might encounter a high-ranked magical beast and perish if I did decide to go train… That's not a decision I can make lightly."
"Look at you… You're still so young, where has your ambition gone? You were not like this before. High rank magical beast aside, you were fearless and not hesitant at all when you pulled out your sword and faced off with five Silver ranked attackers. Magical beasts should be even easier to handle than the likes of men. Let's go to the mercenary guild and find a suitable date to go training and complete some missions in the meantime for some quick cash."
Shaking his head adamantly, Lorist said, "I don't have that kind of time now. I have my hands full with the academy and helping Wenna with her business."
Wenna was Lorist's girlfriend's nickname.
Charade let out another bitter sigh. "Love and women are the downfall of great heroes. Didn't you say that yourself? Look at the you now. Ever since you started dating Wenna, you've never left Morante City even once! You can't go on like that! You are definitely a person with a bright future ahead of you. Don't just idle about and waste your life away!"
"Haha, don't don't have such high expectations for me you cursed fatty. To be honest with you, I don't have any great ambitions myself. I only desire to get a large house on Brinn Hill when I earn enough and settle down there with Wenna and live out the rest of my life in bliss," said Lorist as he laughed.
Brinn Hill was located somewhere to the south of Morante City and was near the Golden Bay. It had great scenery and was one of the most expensive areas in the city to live in. Only the richest of the rich could afford to reside there.
Charade shook his head and said, "You're talking about tens of thousands of gold for a mansion on Brinn Hill. I think you're much better off spending only a few thousand gold coins to get a four-storey building in the southern sector of the city and collect some rent while you're at it. There's nothing good about the sea breeze on Brinn Hill either."
Charade faced Lorist and continued solemnly, "Then again, brother, you should really make more effort in your training and get to the Silver rank quick so that nobody can say anything about your abilities. I'm only telling you this for your own good."
Feeling a little suspicious, Lorist asked, "What's going on? Is there something I should know about?"
"Sigh, the Silver ranked Instructors in the academy are probably plotting something. I think they want the academy to fire you as a swordsmanship instructor because of your Iron rank Battle Force. They think you're not fit to be an instructor for an academy that's ranked the top ninth on the whole continent. That's all I have to say. You go back to see your Wenna if there's nothing else."
Surprised, Lorist exclaimed, "What the heck! What does my Battle Force rank have anything to do with them? They can't make me resign as a swordsmanship instructor! Even with their Silver Battle Force rank, there's no one among them who can match up to me in a duel!"
"It's not uncommon for people to get jealous," said the fatty faintly, "Even with your Iron rank Battle Force, they wouldn't mind if you had better swordsmanship than them. What they didn't expect was that all the students in your Battle Force awakening course successfully awakened their Battle Force. Not only was this a miracle, it made them feel even more worthless. How do you think they'd feel when they can't even match up to an Iron rank instructor? They won't be satisfied until they kick you out of the academy."
If all of the SIlver rank instructor grouped together, the academy would probably be pressured to remove Lorist from his post.
"The best solution as it is now is for you to try breaking through to the Silver rank. Once you're a Silver Swordsman, they won't be able to do anything to you. That's why I suggested you to go experience some life-and-death battles," said Charade earnestly.
Letting out a bitter laugh, Lorist shook his head. He couldn't bear to tell Charade, who was earnestly concerned about him, that he was training in the Aquametal Technique he got from his past life and that his Battle Force constantly leaked through his hexagram circulation path into his meridians. There was no way he could explain it to him.
"It's too hard. Without my family's Battle Force manual, there's almost no way for me to break through without the following hexagram circulation path diagrams. You yourself said that the hexagram path of my Battle Force technique was like nothing you've ever seen. Even if I were to engage in life-and-death battles, there's no guarantee that I would be able to break through within a short time frame."
"Then there's only one other way for you to secure your position in the academy. Have you heard about our academy's Gold Instructor Badge?"
"I know about that. Didn't Instructor Claude have one himself? Instructor Welledor who's in charge of the knight training course, Instructor Wensen from the horse traning course and even Instructor Loboff from the herbalism department possess those too. Isn't that badge given to anyone whose Battle Force is at the Gold rank?"
"No, I'm not talking about that badge. There's another gold swordsmanship instructor badge in our academy. A hundred years ago, there was a One Star Silver rank student in our academy who had won 30 straight duels against Two Star Silver instructors and rose to fame instantly. The academy employed him as a swordsmanship instructor and even made him a gold instructor badge. However, the student joined the army and went to fight in the Battle of the Silver River and successfully killed three imperial knights who were all Gold ranked fighters during an assault on the town of Ried but subsequently died from his injuries after the fight. To commemorate his deeds, the academy preserved his gold instructor badge and decided that anyone who was able to gain 30 consecutive victories with opponents of a higher rank (even those 1 star above) would gain that instructor badge and receive the same treatment as normal Gold ranked instructors. But should one lose even once to anybody, one would lose the qualifications to wear that badge as well as one's position as a Gold ranked instructor."
Charade continued explaining, "Nobody within a 100 years has been able to get 30 consecutive victories like that student and the medal currently lies forgotten in the academy's hall of honor. Why don't you try obtaining that medal to avoid getting kicked out from the academy? I bet that it won't be too hard for you to win 30 duels."
"There really was such a thing?" Lorist rubbed his hands and continued, "I'm definitely getting this gold badge. Fatty, what was that student called?"
"His name was Raven Incador. Had he survived the battle with the Gold rank experts of the Krissen Empire, he could have become a Blademaster. It's a shame he died so young. The special gold badge is called the Incador Medal," said Charade while lamenting the loss of such a talented man.
"Alright, fatty, let's figure out what I should do next. You mentioned there was a group of Silver ranked instructors plotting against me? Give me the names of all of them. I'll challenge them one by one," said Lorist as he licked his lips deviously, like a predator deciding on which part of its prey to enjoy first.
The following ten days in the academy was rife with excitement.
Lorist sent out letters of challenge to the instructors listed by Charade but none of them really cared much about it and even thought that it was a joke. Some of the instructors even tossed the letters into the trashcan, laughing and exclaiming, "You think he's qualified enough to challenge us?"
Given their arrogant attitudes, Lorist no longer held back either. He barged into the class of several instructors and challenged them in front of their students. Feeling rage and humiliation, the instructors pulled out their swords and wanted to teach the impudent and disrespectful Lorist a lesson he would never forget. In quick succession, one by one the instructors were beaten and sent to the academy medical center.
The students of the academy were ecstatic. It wasn't every day when one got to see a proud, aloof instructor get beaten up by an Iron ranked instructor. As Lorist marched towards his next target, a crowd of students followed behind him and even told him the other instructors' locations.
"Instructor Locke, Instructor XX's over there. Are you gonna challenge him?"
"Instructor XX and instructor XX are over there, hold them back! Instructor Locke is coming over for them…"
"Over here, quick, Instructor Locke.."
The crowd was stopped by ten or so Silver rank instructors from advancing and the other instructors insisted that the academy management come in to handle the situation and take care of Lorist, who has disrupted their courses and sent seven of their colleagues to the medical center.
Some Silver ranked instructors hated Lorist to the bone and even shouted for him to leave the academy and that he was not fit to be an instructor there.
Following that, several Gold ranked instructors including Instructor Claude came over and investigated the issue.
Lorist told them this, "I want the Incador Medal."
The crowd was bewildered and didn't know what it was.
Charade, who was maintaining the order of the student crowd, explained it to the other instructors.
Following that, the gold ranked instructors finally understood that it was an academy tradition and even they could not do anything about it. They could only report it to the higher ups and await their decision.
Lorist was unfazed and believed that this commotion wasn't his fault. To begin with, he only did this because the instructors who ignored his letters of challenge and didn't treat it seriously.
Those who understood the situation looked pitily at the Silver ranked instructors, who started to feel pressured and anxious.
Without much delay, Academy Head Levins announced his decision. "Lorist, keep at it. It would be a shame to see the Incador Medal continue to gather dust. I'm rooting for you."
But he also mentioned that Lorist was not to disrupt the classes of other instructors and carry out the duels after work hours.
The Silver ranked instructors were stunned and made excuses to take some time off from work to avoid the calamity that was to come. Several others went to other academies and applied for jobs there. The remaining ones grudgingly agreed to duel Lorist under the witness of Instructor Claude and the other Gold ranked instructors and the jeering students. One by one, they lost to him and were finally let off.
The Pawn and the Announcement
Instructor Claude rushed into the Academy Head's room with a face full of worry.
Sitting behind a large desk and browsing through a document, Academy Head Levins lifted his head and asked curiously, "What's wrong? You look very anxious. Has a fire broken out?"
"Um, there's no fire, sir. Academy Head, are you going to just leave it be? Another three of our Silver ranked instructors have just resigned today," said Instructor Claude.
"Oh, I know that," nodded Levins as he stood up. "Would you like some tea or some macks?"
Macks was a beverage that was quite similar to a chocolate drink; the beans would let out a rich, fragrant aroma when ground and boiled with water. It was even rumored to be the favorite drink of ancient fairies as well as the legendary magi of the past and was quite highly priced.
"I'll be fine with some plain water. Right now the Silver ranked instructors are extremely afraid of being challenged to a duel by Lorist. If this keeps on going we'll be even more understaffed and will find it hard-pressed to maintain our usual classes. It's one thing if the students only spectate the duels, but they are also eager to see Lorist beat the crap out of all the Silver ranked instructors in the school. Every day a whole bunch of them would follow him around in anticipation of such a scene; it's quite pressuring and humiliating to the instructors Lorist challenges," explained Claude.
Levins lifted a silver kettle on the table and poured some water for Claude and asked, "Has Lorist lost a match yet?"
"No. He's fighting his 28th duel today and hasn't even lost one match, and I don't think he will either. I've seen a few of his matches and I believe those Silver ranked instructors wouldn't be able to put up a fight with Lorist at all. Most of them lose within ten sword bouts when dueling Instructor Locke," replied Claude.
"Then there's no need to do anything. We can stop him after he gets the Incador Medal."
"But Academy Head, 13 of the 28 instructors he challenged have already resigned due to the humiliation of losing to him in public. Even several of those who hasn't received any challenge from him left in fear as well."
"If they don't even have the courage to face failure, I wouldn't stop them from leaving. We don't need spineless cowards like those in the Dawn Academy."
Laughing bitterly, Claude continued, "Academy Head, say that as you may, but think about how we're supposed to maintain our regular classes with the sudden loss of more than 20 Silver ranked instructors. There are already three swordsmanship classes that can't continue anymore due to the sudden vacancy, with the students left with nothing to do but to wander around in the academy."
Slowly moving up to the window and gazing outwards, Levins said, "Claude, don't you feel that our academy has been stagnating for some time now, much like a pool of still water?"
"Hm?" Instructor Claude tilted his head as he did not understand what the Academy Head just said.
"While our academy has only 13 Gold ranked instructors, the Silver ranked instructors number a staggering 129 people! Even the rest of the Iron ranked instructors and the assistant instructors only number 42 people, with another 31 people being non-combatant professors who focus on other disciplines. The academy management staff consists of 45 people, the Enforcement Department has 68 and the other miscellaneous workers number 76 people. Apart from them are roughly 5000 students. Given that kind of ratio, don't you think the Silver ranked instructors hold a little too much influence?"
Levins turned to Claude and said with a smile, "We have always put more focus on the actual abilities of a person when we intend to appoint someone as an instructor. Since when has it been based on their Battle Force? If it were like that, doesn't mean that a cripple like me who can't train in Battle Force should resign as the Academy Head as well? As Silver ranked instructors, not only do they not continue to strive for perfection, they harbored jealousy for people more skilled than them, banded together and formed their own hierarchies and even dared to put pressure on the academy when anything starts to go against their favor."
"This time, the reason I let Locke do as he pleases was partly due to Charade's support as well. It is time that we wake up the Silver ranked instructors of the academy and remind them that their status in the academy is not dependant on their Battle Force ranks but rather their actual skills. If there's anyone who's unsatisfied with this policy, they're free to resign for all I care."
Wiping sweat off his forehead, Claude said, "Then, what do we do about the suspended classes? Should we start recruiting new instructors?"
"There'll be no need. I already negotiated with the city's garrison general and will be having ten or so retired military officers who are all of the Gold rank to come over and be replacement instructors for a while. If we still lack people, we can appoint some promising students to be our new instructors, but only if they're truly capable."
"Duly noted. I suppose I'll make my move now," said Instructor Claude as he put down the cup on the table and turned towards the exit.
"Wait," said the Academy Head. "There's still two other things. First, when Locke gains his 30th consecutive victory, carry out a small ceremony to award him the Incador Medal. Second, put up a notice that states that instructors of the Dawn Academy cannot refuse challenges from other instructors or students. Those who do not comply should leave the academy. Hmph, if I don't force them like this, they won't continue to strive to improve their skills."
"No problem. It will be carried out."
"Oh, and you mentioned three classes having no instructors in charge at the moment?" Levins gave it some thought and continued, "When Locke gets the Incador Medal, assign him to take charge of these three classes since they lost their instructors because of him in the first place."
"Wow, is that for real?" thought Instructor Claude, speechless.
In only three sword strokes, Lorist forced the instructor he challenged to admit defeat.
This was his 30th duel. There was a small stage about the height of a person beside the dueling venue. It was like they knew without a doubt that Lorist would win. Instructor Claude stood solemnly by the stage beside a beautiful female student who held a box that was about 30 centimeters wide, presumably containing the Incador Medal within.
Lorist was still in a rather good mood after his victory; he found the duels he initiated for the past ten days to be quite addictive. The feeling of owning the other Silver ranked instructors completely was quite pleasant. Maybe he could negotiate with Instructor Claude about whether he could continue dueling for another twenty or more times and create another record within the academy and rename the Incador Medal after him.
Too bad Instructor Claude rejected the proposal immediately and pulled him up to the small stage. All the students cheered as Lorist received the Incador Medal.
During the ceremony, Claude announced two things. He first congratulated Lorist for obtaining the Incador Medal and the history and explained the tradition behind the medal. After the long speech, he finally said something that is of direct relevance to Lorist, that is, Lorist was to be treated as a Gold ranked instructor in the academy and shall receive the same benefits and entitlements as a Gold ranked instructor.
The second announcement came directly from the academy administration. From that day onwards, no instructor is to refuse a duel from students or other instructors for no justifiable reason and the result of every duel would play a part in the yearly instructor evaluations. Should an instructor refuse a duel for no reason up to three times or should they lose too many duels, the instructor will have to relinquish their instructor badge. The rules and protocol of dueling was also announced to the crowd, namely, an instructor may not challenge a student, a person of a higher rank may not challenge those of lower ranks, etc.
But that special rule concerning challenges directed to lower ranks didn't apply to Lorist because he was the holder of the Incador Medal. Since he got it by getting consecutive victories against opponents of a higher level in the first place, he must still accept challenges issued by Silver ranked instructors even though his Battle Force was only at the Iron rank. Lorist will lose both the Incador Medal as well as the Gold rank instructor privileges should he lose even one duel.
Unbeknownst to Lorist, he was serving as a pawn in the Academy Head's plan to change the academy's attitude and as a whip to pressure the Silver ranked instructors. He did, however, feel that the timing for the second announcement was a little too coincidental with his obtaining the Incador Medal.
Initially thinking of bringing his winning streak above 50, Lorist came to understand after the second announcement that there will no doubt be flocks of students and Silver ranked instructors coming to challenge him to take the Incador Medal from him. On the bright side, he would not lack opponents to battle against. But it was pretty unfair for others to be able to take the Incador Medal from him after winning against him only once while he had to get 30 consecutive victories against opponents of a higher rank.
Without giving Lorist too much time to figure out the implications, Instructor Claude went before Lorist and talked to him sincerely, "I have good news and bad news for you, Instructor Locke. Which would you rather hear first?"
Analyzing Claude's behavior but not finding anything weird about it, Lorist said, "Let me hear the good news first. At least it'll cheer me up a bit."
"The good news is during this month, there will be ten retired Gold ranked military officers coming to the academy to take on posts as Gold ranked instructors."
"Huh? I can understand that it is good news for the academy, but what does it have to do with me?" asked Lorist curiously.
"Because, the bad news is you have to take charge of the three classes that have lost their instructors because of you. You are to handle their swordsmanship classes until the end of this month before the new Gold ranked instructors come. This came from the administration so there is no ground for negotiations. Consider this a light punishment for stirring up so much chaos in the academy."
Already crumbling, Lorist complained, "Where would I find a place to teach so many students at once?"
"Just use the school field."
...
Looking at the noisy crowd of students that Charade brought over which easily numbered more than a hundred from the stone platform on the school field, Lorist exclaimed, "Gosh, didn't you say there were only three classes? Why are there five classes worth of students over here!?"
Charade said as he laughed bitterly, "Don't blame me for this. Who asked you to defeat all those Silver ranked instructors within only three or four bouts? Now, the students are starting to get picky about the standards of their sword instructors and no longer want the Silver ranked instructors to teach them. That's why they're here now."
"Sigh, it appears that I have to go down for a bit. They're taking so long just to get in line, talk about discipline…"
After making his rounds around the field, Lorist returned with a handful of letters of challenge. "I already received more than 20 challenges in a single class! How am I supposed to survive this!?"
Looking at him with a sympathetic face, Charade said, "What did you think the Enforcement Division is here for other than to regulate the students and maintain order? Now that you're a well-known figure in the academy, the administration has sent us to make sure there won't be a stampede."
"I don't think I can live on like this… Other instructors have almost nothing to do compared to the hundreds of challenges I've received within three days… Even the Iron ranked students want a part in that, I really don't know what's going on in their heads. Fatty, this brother of yours is starting to regret listening to you in the first place… The Incador Medal has brought me nothing but trouble," said Lorist miserably.
Charade replied in an encouraging tone, "Keep it together, brother. Even though you got a lot of challenges, I bet most of them were made in the heat of the moment. They are no threat to you, given that you can easily take care of them in two or three strikes. Even taking on twenty of them is only a warm up session for you. These are just small fry. What you should watch out for are those with actual skills that will come later. Oh, the students have got into their lines. Aren't you gonna start your class?"
Lorist looked at the students who were lined up messily across the field and savagely barked, "Practice the eight basic sword moves for a thousand times!"
Academy Head Levins
Overlooking the vast school field, Lorist stopped in his tracks and reminisced the times when he stood on the old platform instructing the hundreds of students who attended his swordsmanship class…
"Huh? You want to learn a high-level sword skill, but not the basic sword moves? You're saying that even three-year-olds can pull that off? Bullshit! You're trying to run even before you've mastered walking! Do you know the difference between sword skills and swordsmanship? Yeah, you. Answer my question."
"Wrong! Your explanation only barely scrapes on the surface of the truth! Listen up to what I have to say, no one else will be so good-hearted to tell you this in the future. Swordsmanship is about using the most suitable and efficient method to take down your enemy in the least amount of time. Sword skills on the other hand is the combined execution of several efficient sword moves. It's still too early for you to start training in sword skills! To do so would be akin to trying to build a house without first laying the foundation. The house would crumble instantly once a strong wind blows by."
"Now, as to why I asked you to focus on the eight basic sword moves, the answer is simple. No matter what kind of sword skill, it would definitely involve a combination of these actions: thrusting, slashing, raising, parrying, flicking, sweeping, swiping and guarding. I want you to train it to the point where all eight moves become a natural reflex movement of your body. This way, even if you can't see the path of your opponent's sword, your body would be able to react to the strike by using these basic moves and save you from certain death. Only when one trains to this point can one claim that they are able to defend themselves with swordsmanship.
"Oh, I forgot to mention that this is how I personally train as well. I believe you guys have seen how I took out those Silver ranked instructors. The main reason I won was because these eight basic sword moves have been ingrained into my body so deeply that they have become a natural reflex. What I relied on to win was the most reliable eight basic sword moves rather than some 'ultimate sword skill'. That's why I could win easily in only a few bouts.
"As for sword skills, I would only be harming you if I let you train in them before you master the eight basic sword moves. Without the basics, your sword skills are only good for spectacle and showing off and are of no practical use. Alright, enough of that. Focus and train in the basics seriously for a thousand times. Twenty of you whom I deem most focused will personally receive further instruction from me."
...
Time really flies. It has already been three years since then. The Incador Medal had already been returned to the hall of honor and is awaiting its next owner. Ever since Lorist got the Gold ranked Battle Force instructor badge, he requested the academy to custom make a new badge which represented the status of a Gold ranked instructor in both Battle Force and swordsmanship and returned the Incador Medal to the academy. Anyone who wants that medal must once again gain 30 consecutive wins against higher level opponents.
When he asked for the special medal to be made, he said, "Wearing three different medals on my chest is way too unseemly. Someone might even take me for a badge seller! Why don't the academy make another medal that will represent these two?"
The academy administration found his reasoning to be sound and agreed to the request.
What is the old bastard up to this time, Lorist thought. He didn't believe what Charade had said about the academy desperately needing the money gained from the registration fee. If the academy was really that financially unable, it wouldn't be able to stay among the ranks of the top ten on the Grindia Continent.
In the three years Lorist has been interacting with Academy Head Levins, he came to the conclusion that Levins was a cunning and devious person. If one was not careful, one might end up counting the money Levins gained from selling oneself out without knowing! It was always wise to keep one's guard up when dealing with him.
Back when Lorist had decided to join the expedition to the Relic Islands to clear his mind of his relationship troubles as well as to take the opportunity to train against mid to high-ranked magical beasts and try to break through to the Dark stage from the Bright stage, he went to see the academy head to sign up for the expedition.
It ended up with Instructor Claude battling him to test his abilities. After that, Academy Head Levins used the excuse that Lorist didn't qualify to join the expedition with his Battle Force rank and forced him to agree to several conditions before finally giving him the greenlight.
Standing outside the office of the academy head, Lorist took a deep breath, calmed his ragged breathing from climbing up five flights of stairs and knocked on the office door
"Come in."
Lorist pushed the door open and walked into the room.
"Oh, Locke, you're back."
Nodding, Lorist said, "Yes, academy head. I've returned."
WIth a sincere smile, Academy Head Levins said, "Come over here and take a seat. Let me make you a cup of macks. The macks beans this year taste pretty good."
"Oh, academy head, you don't have to be so courteous. I'm not thirsty at all," said Lorist politely as he refused the offer.
"Just take a seat. You don't have to show any restraint here. Just treat this as you would your own home," replied Levins as he ground the macks beans in a small silver cup and poured the grinds into a silver kettle before adding some water to it and boiling it.
"Locke, have you heard about the duel notice the academy released on your behalf?"
"Yes I have. But, there's one thing I don't understand. Has the administration set this up just to collect registration fees from the challengers like Charade has mentioned? Is there some other reason that I'm not aware of?" Lorist was slightly dissatisfied as he was the one who had to duel all those people.
"Hehe, Locke, I know you have some thoughts on this, since the plan has been passed without your approval. I would feel the same if I were you. But I really have to trouble you as this is an urgent matter. I hope you can gain some face back for our academy and teach the other academies a lesson."
Leaning towards Lorist from his chair, Levins said, "The situation right now is a little complicated. Let me explain it to your from the beginning. I hope you will understand my woes.
"Do you know about the Yellow Ribbon Academy that's situated right next to us?"
"I do. They are quite famous for their butler training and bodyguard training courses," replied Lorist.
"Two months ago, their academy head, Sir Knight Yarisborg, passed away from a heart attack. It happened before he managed to write a will and to nobody's surprise, his children started squabbling over the inheritance. None of them wanted to succeed Yarisborg's position as the academy head and they decided to sell the place and split the money among themselves. Our academy immediately sent some people to negotiate and acquired the academy for a price of 180000 gold Fordes."
Levins seemed really proud of himself as he talked about the acquisition. Although the Yellow Ribbon academy was not particularly highly-ranked (it was ranked at the lower bottom among the twenty or so academies in Morante City), the academy did have a history of sixty years and the grounds it covered was one third of that of the Dawn Academy. 180000 gold Fordes for all that was a pretty good deal, even more so if one takes note of the fact that the Yellow Ribbon Academy is right next to the Dawn Academy. The Dawn Academy could easily assimilate the Yellow Ribbon Academy's resources and facilities by removing the separating walls between them.
"Oh, that's great. By assimilating that academy, ours will become more impressive as well. We might even rise in the ranks among the top ten academies on the continent," praised Lorist.
"That might be the case, but the burden of emptying our treasury of 180000 gold Fordes puts a bit of pressure on us as well," said Levins as he poured Lorist a cup of steaming hot macks.
"Here's some milk and honey crystals. Add as much as you please. Being the old man that I am, I prefer the original taste more," Levins said as he lifted his cup and gave it a light blow or two in an attempt to cool his drink a little.
"The tuition fee our academy collects amounts to about 70000 gold Fordes a year. The various societies also contribute roughly 30000. Including some miscellaneous business our academy owns, the yearly income of the academy amounts to 110000 gold coins more or less. It might look like a lot, but our expenditures aren't a small figure either. Every year the academy pays about 60000 gold coins to our staff and instructors and use 10000 to 20000 gold on teaching materials, most of which goes to the maintenance of lances and swords used in our knight training and swordsmanship courses respectively."
"Other than that, the academy provides up to 10000 gold in scholarships for needy students as well as up to 30000 gold for research, especially those conducted in herbalism. The expedition to the Relic Islands this year also cost us more than 4000 gold. In short, after deducting the upkeep from the revenue, the academy only ends up with about 10000 gold of profit annually. When times are bad, however, the academy might even sustain losses of several thousand gold Fordes."
Letting out a long sigh, Levins continued, "The 180000 gold Fordes used in acquiring the Yellow Ribbon Academy was no doubt an astronomical amount, but it was an opportunity that couldn't be missed to further strengthen and expand our academy. But from the day our academy was first formed till now, the highest amount of money the administration could bring out even after mortgaging several of our side businesses amounted to only 15000 gold Fordes. After the assimilation of the Yellow Ribbon Academy, some more money would need to be spent on modifying some infrastructure. That's why I decided to go to the Association of Academies to apply for a loan of 50000 gold Fordes for our academy's development."
The academy head seemed a little agitated at this point. "What I didn't expect was there was someone who dared to humiliate our academy! That bastard Weston said, 'Why don't you fire all your Silver and Gold ranked instructors? That way you'll be able to afford the assimilation! After all, I heard your academy has a Gold ranked instructor whose Battle Force is merely at the Iron rank, maybe you should promote the rest of your Iron ranked instructors to Gold rank and make up for the deficit! I bet their salaries are certainly much lower than instructors with higher Battle Force ranks'.
"What the heck is with that guy! He's just spewing rubbish! I immediately started arguing with him. You know what else he said? He accused us of making up a rumor about you, Locke the Silver Undefeated, for the purpose of attracting more students to our academy! He even said that several of the instructors that left after losing to you that year was actually forced to let you win on purpose so that you can get the Incador Medal to trick students into joining us!"
Seeing Lorist clasp his cup until veins showed up on his arms, the academy head's expression showed a satisfied smile. "In a fit of rage, I made a bet with that bastard. I said that you wouldn't lose even one match against all the Silver ranked instructors of the Saint Marceau Academy. Immediately after that, the rest of the academy heads wanted to join in the fray as well. In the end, the Dawn Academy made a bet against the rest of the academies, stating that if you defeat their Silver ranked instructors, we will get the loan of 50000 gold Fordes without having to repay it. If you are to lose even one match, we will have to pay back double the amount and even host a banquet to publicly apologize to them."
"Locke, please forgive me for my recklessness. I am truly apologetic for having signed you up for so many duels. I really couldn't swallow the insult and humiliation they were showing the Dawn Academy and carelessly agreed to the bet with that old bastard of the Saint Marceau Academy."
The Saint Marceau Academy was ranked eighth among the top ten academies on the Grindia Continent and the fourth among the twenty academies of Morante City, just one rank above the Dawn Academy. All the students and instructors of the Dawn Academy held surpassing the Saint Marceau Academy in the rankings as their ultimate goal. By the same logic, the people of the Saint Marceau Academy are also striving hard to prevent that from happening. The two academies were natural enemies. And the old bastard Academy Head Levins mentioned was Academy Head Weston of the Saint Marceau Academy.
Lorist stood up and said, "Thank you for the macks. It really tastes quite good. I'll take my leave now. Don't worry, I won't let you down."
"Don't be in such a rush. There's another thing that I have to settle with you," said the academy head as he tugged on a string that was connected to a bell. With little delay, a middle-aged female clerk came over from the neighboring room.
"Leanna, please bring me the file with Instructor Locke's name on it from the archives," instructed the academy head.
Receiving the file and opening it, he took out a copper key and said, "Lorist, as a dual Gold ranked instructor of our academy, you should have been given a residence by the academy administration. Before, we didn't do so because our resources were limited, but ever since the acquisition of the Yellow Ribbon Academy, we now have much more land than we previously had. That's why for the past month the academy has commissioned for a residential area for Gold ranked instructors to be built around the Moon Lake. Your house is labeled the 35th Moon. Just go over there and see Aunt Skali, the person in charge of your neighborhood."
Just as Lorist was leaving after he took the key, Academy Head Levins stopped him again and said, "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you two things. Your Battle Force awakening course will start in seven days with many more students than the last time, so we have moved the venue of the course to the great hall of the Yellow Ribbon Academy. The other thing is the academy has already approved the formation of the Swordsmanship Society and you have been nominated to be its chairman. The society can carry out its activities in the training hall of the Yellow Ribbon Academy. So, please draft up the rules and regulations of the society and submit it soon. The Enforcement Division has also suggested to appoint some of the elite members of the society as their reserve staff. Don't forget to discuss it with Supervisor Charade."
"Alright, academy head. I know what to do."