The military was for two people, pawns who have nothing better to do with their lives, and the true heroes who give up everything to fight for their nation and people. Kazi wasn't part of any of these two groups at all.
After listening to the children recite the oath, Sinko nodded in approval as he was satisfied with it. He could see the passion still burning in the eyes of the children from the speech given by the principal earlier. 'Seeing the younger generation like this warms my heart.'
"Alright, good. Everyone you see today in this class will one day be your comrade in battle, you will fight together and assist one another. In that note, I don't want to see anyone of you getting into fights with each other. Get along well." Sinko sounded absolute with his words, and the children could tell.
"Alright, let's start introductions. If I point at you, you will say your name, age, what clan you from, and your future aspiration. Let's start from you."
The children became excited as this section rolled in. The one that was pointed first, a girl, stood up with a bright smile on her face. "My name is..."
As for Kazi, he just analysed the situation and followed the crowed. Whatever the most popular dream was what he said.
"My name is Divara Kazi, I'm six years old. I'm from the Divara clan. My dream is to become the strongest sutori too!" After he was done, everybody applauded and it was the next person's turn.
Kazi had forced the smile this time to appear on his face. It was usually easy, but today he had gotten his fair share of disgust and wasn't feeling up to it.
After the introductions, class began. Just like Kazi expected, a military academy would definitely teach courses related to that. Actually, Kazi wasn't completely correct. They did list out all the courses they would be taking, but apart from the normal mathematics looking course and writing, nothing looked like a normal school course, it was all military related stuff.
'These people were just building killing machines, training death squads, I give up.' It played well for Kazi though, this too wasn't bad. It meant he would be sufficiently prepared for the world after he graduates in a couple years.
Soon, after the first class ended, it was time for recess; this was also lunch-break. Whoever brought food could eat quickly before time was up, they only had 15 or so minutes. Even in such limited time, the children still found time to play, it was really something.
Time went on with Kazi performing the same tasks everyday. Wake up, go to school, come back, train, sleep, and all over again. It was a boring life to say the least, but it was also good enough for the time being.
"I expected they'd be teaching us some fighting technique or something, but seems like that won't be happening for some time." That was the whole idea behind enrolling in the academy.
'Well, it's the only way to learn all the amazing techniques and become stronger.' He could already feel it, the technique his grandmother left behind for him that taught how to grow one's ora reserves was becoming less effective as time went by. The results he used to get after a day worth of practice now came in a few days of practice. 'I was the stupid one to think this would be enough.'
It had been two weeks already, and all he learnt from school were theoretical stuff. The classes themselves were a bit interesting, and Kazi tried his best to pay as much attention as he could. From weapons to tactical knowledge, it was all new to him. He was a bit sad to find out that a sutori couldn't fly normally, but in sense of combat, it also meant that there was no need to worry about aerial assault.
Apart from studying, Kazi also set a plan to make connections. If there was something he learnt from his former life, it was that connections were very important. 'I'm not completely certain yet that I'll have ultimate strength, and even then, connections are still helpful.' Kazi had long made up his mind, he was not going to give up easily on achieving ultimate power, but he wasn't going to risk his life needlessly for it.
. . . A few months later . . .
It had been several month of Kazi attending the academy. He had learnt a lot already, though nothing practical yet. 'That is going to change today.'
Today was a special day that everyone in Kazi's class and even the other classes were excited about. Their teacher had promised to bring them out on this very day to spar with one another, it also marked the beginning of their physical practical classes.
Kazi still couldn't exactly measure and compare his own ora reserves with others, so this was a good opportunity to do just that.
The academy had a very spacious field at the back that was divided into three sections with strong and sturdy wood planks. These sections marked the spaces for each of the different classes to hold all their practical classes. That meant there was space for class 1 all the way to 3. There was a general playing ground also, the training grounds weren't open to all freely.
All classes of the first year would practice together of course, the space was big enough.
"Alright everyone, listen. I will explain the rules now."
Once the teacher spoke, everyone suddenly went quiet as they paid attention. You could really tell just how disciplined the students were, even for their age.
"There will be different areas for the sparring. You are not to use any technique or ability during the fight, doing so will attract penalties. If you knock down your opponent, you win. If they surrender, you win. If they give up, you win. Now, I will share you into groups before we begin."
After sharing everyone, Kazi found himself among a group of students that didn't really seem that strong from their looks. He immediately attributed it to the fact that the teachers must have seen him a little weak and from a weak clan, but it was possible that he was only over exaggerating the situation.