"Now we'll take the Ancient Pledge!" the Combat King announced.
Hearing this, Param's face paled. Ancient Pledge? What Ancient Pledge?
He nudged his dorm-mate Surya Guna beside him and asked in a low voice.
"What is this 'Ancient Pledge' all about?"
His dorm-mate Surya Guna looked at him with a surprised expression. "Didn't you memorize the pledge written in the letter?"
"FOOk!" Param cursed inwardly as the batch started to recite the pledge. The pledge was filled with ancient words, which told how the ones taking the pledge would abide by the moral code of conduct followed by Martial Artists.
As Param didn't know the pledge, he could only move his lips and act like the others. His face was serious and filled with determination, as if he would cut his throat instead of sullying the moral code of conduct of the Martial Artists.
The Combat King who was leading the pledge was glancing at the students one by one. Being a Combat King who'd almost activated his blood; his hearing was sharp and could differentiate their voices. Thus, he immediately caught the only student who was just moving his lips along with the others. His face was stern and eyes filled with concentration, and the Combat King felt that even he would be impressed if he didn't knew that this damn brat was simply acting!
Param could sense the Combat King's gaze on him and he sweated. However his skin was thick and he maintained his stern look and kept looking in front of him.
When the Combat King realized this, he only had one thought about him:
Dog, Dog, DOG!
There was another guy seated in front of him in the other row. This guy was sincerely reciting his pledge when he felt Param's gaze on him.
As per usual reaction, he first ignored him and looked somewhere else. But moments passed, he kept sensing the guy from the other row staring at him.
He looked at him again and was shocked at his fierce and determined gaze.
Damn! Do you have some blood debt against me?
The Ancient Pledge finally ended and the Combat King once again took the lead as he once again spoke in a booming voice.
"Please accept the Warrior's Blood!"
The students moved with uniform movements and held the small cup of tea in their hands.
The tea cup was hot and the tea within still let out tiny streams of steam, which let off a faint, pleasant aroma. The tea inside was viscous and blood red in color, and weirdly didn't stick to the surface of the cup unlike water or other normal fluids.
Param was curious on seeing this, and he remembered that they were told that this tea was made out of a Light plant.
What were Light plants you ask?
They were the plants which were mutated just like the Homo Luminous, who were the successors of the Homo Sapiens. These plants had higher awareness, and could even actively attack or hide themselves when in danger. But the most important fact which made them very rare was that they could only be found in the so-called Radiation Holes!
These Light plants were very popular in the lands of the Peacekeeping Alliance, as they had found a way to process these plants to create powerful nourishing elixirs and healing medicines.
When Param consumed the Warrior's Blood tea, he instantly felt refreshed. Well, he actually didn't feel any much different than feeling a little refreshed. Thinking such, he furrowed his brows and smacked his lips.
Didn't the Combat King say that this was expensive stuff? What a waste of good money!
And he wasn't the only one to be having this thought. The other kids too didn't feel anything and stared at the Combat King.
The Combat King felt the innumerable glances on him and coughed.
"Be a little patient. It takes time to kick in."
True to his words, Param felt the extremely expensive tea take effect, and he felt a wave of adrenaline rush into his head as he closed his eyes. It was as if he had inhaled some cocaine, and the world around him almost started spinning.
"FOOk!" Param almost screamed out loud. A mysterious energy developed in his stomach, which then entered lower into his intestines, and then to every cell of his body. He felt as if his body was filled with endless energy; as if the wound on his shoulder was beginning to heal faster.
"Wonderful!" he spoke softly as he opened his eyes, still basking in the after-effect of the tea. Suddenly he thought of something and looked at the Combat King; his eyes filled with anger as well as sorrow.
Not just him, the other students also had the same reaction, as they realized that they would never be satisfied with any other liquid.
The Combat King once again was satisfied by their reaction, and his face was like that of a child whose mischievous scheme had succeeded.
He brought one of his hands which were behind his back, and waved them towards the batch of students.
"Disperse!"
The students retreated in a uniform fashion, in the same row they came from.
Soon night arrived, and Param and his dorm-mates spent their time chatting for a while until they went asleep.
A new day arrived, and the few selected who'd signed the Blood Contract gathered in another place, which was a large ground further inside in the Martial Club. From the previous hundred students, only thirty had signed up, with nineteen boys and eleven girls.
The place where their training would be held was a large field, almost the size of a professional football field. The ground was covered in soft grass, which was well maintained and without any footprints.
Four seniors, two young men and women, were already present in the large field and they quickly guided them into three rows.
At that moment a young man with a smiling face arrived. The figure of the leaping frog was brightly displayed over his chest pocket; apparently this person was an instructor.
The group of newbies was familiar with them as he'd instructed them before. They still remembered the day when they had to stand still in a horse stance throughout the day. Even remembering it made their limbs burst with pain!
He wiped his sweat with the sleeve of his forearm and glanced at the group of newbies. His smiling expression became stern as he looked at them and yelled.
"Before we start, I hope you understand the need to keep your exercises and techniques you learn here a secret! Especially the techniques which are a signature of the Club, under no circumstances are you to teach them to outsiders! If you violate the rules, under the Blood Contract, you'll be punishable by death!"
He paused for a moment to let the words sink in, and started with another topic.
"From now onwards we'll start your Rapid Foundation Training Program! Let me introduce these four. They are Alfred, Maya, Priya, and Ren, who are Martial Fighters and will be assisting me today! First I'll show you a set of stretching and warm-up exercises, which are called the 'Monkey exercises'!"
He signaled to the four in front of him and they started demonstrating the very first exercise not available to the outside world…
The Monkey Exercise!