When Miles opened his eyes, he was a little bit surprised to see Brian's smiling face very close to his.
"Did you have an unpleasant dream?" Brian asked with a concerned expression.
"What time is it?" Ignoring Brian's question, Miles asked as he got off the bed.
"It's seven o'clock in the morning," Shane answered as he walked out of the bathroom. "The alarm rang twenty minutes ago and we have thirty minutes to change into our uniforms before all first year students are to assemble on the field. So you've got nine minutes and a few seconds left." Shane added as he put on his clothes.
"Damn." Miles mumbled as he rubbed his forehead with his right hand.
"Are you okay?" Brian asked again in a concerned tone.
"Yeah, just a bit of post-traumatic stress from a bad dream." Miles honestly replied. "I'll also need to get ready too." He said before he walked into the bathroom.
Inside the bathroom, Miles stared at himself in the mirror for a few seconds before he suddenly scoffed for unknown reasons.
"I'll definitely make them all pay tenfold." He uttered in a low voice.
Miles was able to dress up on time and in a short while, he was standing on the large field with all the other first year students.
At exactly thirty minutes, the instructor accompanied by five other trainers walked to the front of the crowd.
"For those of you that showed up later than instructed and met me here on this field, stand apart from the crowd." The instructor said to the group of students that arrived at the field late.
"Good morning to you all, I'm John and I will be the instructor in charge of your training this semester." He paused for a split second to allow his words to sink into the crowd before he continued to speak.
"I know that some of you have very prestigious backgrounds and most of you have lived comfortably all your lives. However, I'm going to remind you all by telling you that things will be different as long as you remain a student at this academy."
"It's mandatory to comply with all training instructions given to you by me or my subordinates here and defying them will have consequences. Now if you all take a look at your bracelets, you'll discover that they have been fully activated. The same amount of points has been assigned to you all and increasing it depends solely on your efforts." John paused again and scanned the crowd of students.
"Does anyone have any questions?" He asked with a stern expression.
After waiting for a couple of seconds without a response John discarded the topic. "Since that has been settled, we shall now proceed with our first lesson." He loudly announced to all the students.
"what is the most critical factor for all psykers?" John threw out his first pop quiz to the students.
"The answer is speed sir." One student standing in the middle of the crowd answered.
"You're wrong..." John immediately rejected the answer. "....Anyone else have an opinion?" he asked again.
"Knowledge of your opponents will help you to formulate a plan to always counter their every move, ploy and skill. I think intelligence is the most critical, sir." Another student also tried to answer.
John remained silent for a minute. "That is an excellent answer but it's not the correct one."
"The most critical factor is power you dimwits. Everyone else knows except you two blockheads." Matthew said abruptly with confidence.
"Then you should also be aware that you're also a blockhead because you simply gave an incorrect answer." John said with a straight face.
All the students were unable to control their urge to laugh while Matthew furrowed his eyebrows in disappointment.
"Does anyone else have a reasonable answer?" John asked out again.
"Stamina," a voice said in a solemn manner.
John focused his attention on the student speaking as he was intrigued by the opinion of the student.
"All factors are equally crucial as they complement one another to create a balance. However, without stamina they lose harmony and collapse." Miles' explanation was short but dignified as he captured all attention towards him.
"What's your name?" John asked with a smile.
"Miles Castillion, sir." Miles curtly replied.
"Hmmmm, Miles you're the first student to earn points from an instructor at your level this semester. You shall be awarded five points for answering the questions correctly." John declared and pressed the tablet he was holding.
Miles heard the beeping sound of his bracelet. He checked it and saw that the amount of points he owned had indeed increased from the initial fifty points every student had to become fifty-five points.
"Thank you sir." He bowed slightly.
Brian curiously leaned closer to Miles to confirm if the points had been added. A smile spread across his face as he commented, "Wow, who would have thought you were actually a nerd?"
"As you've heard, Miles is absolutely right. Stamina is the most essential factor a psyker must have in abundance because you never know when you might come across a monster wave. Even if you're a psyker with a high power capacity, speed and intelligence, it would still be impossible for you to last long in a long battle if you lack stamina."
"Therefore, this year's activities are all based on improving your physical capabilities more than training your respective abilities. As a result, your first task every morning will be jogging for two hours to the top of that hill under the supervision of your trainers including me."
John said while pointing towards a hill far away from the academy.
"All of you buckle up your shoes and get ready for some hiking. I'll be leading the way and as for those of you that arrived late, you will run around this field ten times after we return while others rest."
"All of you buckle up your shoes and get ready for some hiking. I'll be leading the way and as for those of you that arrived late, you will run around this field ten times after we return while others rest."
Without further delay, John began to lead the company into the woods in the direction of the hill.
While they jogged through the woods, John repeatedly glanced behind him to see which and how many students were holding up well.
He had a few expectations from students like Matthew, Shane, and a few other popular students that were from elite clans.
However, he was both surprised and delighted to see so many other students keeping up with the pace.
"This year's admissions are extraordinary, even that girl is performing more well than most boys at this point. If the heirs of the elite clans slack there are many other exceptional students that can take their spots immediately." John said to himself as he took a quick glance at Miles and some other students.
******
The day was very hectic for all the students. Jogging from the academy to the hill and returning back took a total of four hours, exhausting them all.
Some students were unable to complete the whole journey and collapsed halfway.
However, they were only allowed to rest for no less than thirty minutes before they began another set of training which continued for the rest of the day.
Miles, Shane and Brian were returning to their dorm room when a boy suddenly called out Miles' name from afar.
In the blink of an eye, he suddenly teleported right in front of them. "Hey Miles, nice to meet you again."
"Aren't you Kelvin?" Miles asked for confirmation.
"I'm kinda upset that you almost forgot about me." Kelvin joked.
"Sorry" Miles apologized. "Guys, this is Kelvin. My first acquaintance at the Academy." He introduced Kelvin to his roommates.
"I'm Brian."
"Shane."
Both Brian and Shane smiled as they introduced themselves.
"Nice meeting you. Are you guys heading back to your dorm now?" Kevin scratched his head as he asked.
"Yes, we are going back to change our outfits and go grab lunch at the cafeteria. Is there any problem?" Shane asked with a straight eyebrow.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I saw Miles earlier today during training, but couldn't approach him. I was just trying to ask if he would like to hang out later." Kelvin replied hurriedly.
"It's cool guys, he is nice." Miles smiled slightly.
"Alright, why don't we meet at the cafeteria because right now I really need a cool shower?" Brian suggested as he was feeling uncomfortable by how sticky his body felt.
"Cool, I'll give you my bracelet number so that we can easily contact each other."
Kelvin exchanged his number with Brian immediately. "I'll also be going now."
After Kelvin left, Miles smiled broadly before he continued heading toward the dorm while Brian and Shane followed behind.
After the hectic of continuous training and exercise.
"Why did you have that creepy smile on your face?" Brian suddenly questioned Miles after a short while.
"What creepy smile are you talking about?" Miles pretended to be oblivious to what he was talking about.
"Wait, don't tell me that you are attracted to guys?" Brian remarked which made Miles abruptly turn to look at him.
"What are you staring at me for? Nobody has ever told you that you're too attractive for a guy."
Miles was completely speechless as he didn't know what kind of response to give. So he just continued walking in silence.
"You just couldn't resist asking that, could you?" Shane muttered while shaking his head as he also walked past Brian.
"Come on Shane, don't act like you weren't curious as well." Brian retorted casually but he was totally ignored.
When they arrived back at their dorm, they were surprised to see Mathew and his goon standing in front of their door.
"Hey Castillion, I was waiting for you." Matthew said as he leaned off the wall.
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AUTHOR NOTE
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