"So where are the Matriarchs?" Ana was in the middle of a 20 kilometer run, after completing his early morning routine of 1000 pushups, 1000 situps and 1000 squats which every hunter, no matter the rank, needed to complete within two hours before their physical education classes started at 8 am.
"Unlike us hunters who are quite disciplined, the matriarch candidates like to party more, so they wake up late often, and that's why their classes start in the afternoon and sometimes continue through the evening." Toti, who was running beside Ana, explained indirectly why Klara and her group were in the gymnasium last night; basically they were cutting their detention classes to smoke.
So in summary, the hunters had classes from morning till the afternoon and the Matriarch classes started after that.
"Huh…" Ana found this coincidence of having hunter and matriarch class timings being different, just so that he can easily attend both, another one of the many funny jokes that his life keeps playing at him.
Just a few hours ago, Madam Angeline scolded Ana for being so reckless and imprudent and that's why she has asked him to meet her tomorrow again for 'disciplinary conduct measures' and to provide counseling to Ana, who according to Madam Angeline, was too 'dangerous' to be left alone and that's why she has given Ana her personal number and threatened him with jail time if he tries to skip the counseling, and also she'll be looking after Ana's wounds and body to check and monitor the aftereffects of the curse.
With little time on hand, Ana hadn't been able to search for the culprit who cursed him and also for some reason, Madam Angeline, who kept receiving multiple calls from someone, sent him back to his dormitories.
And after Ana returned, Toti explained the huge ruckus of how Klara's hunter died and whatnot but Ana just ignored it all, along with ignoring the little detail that Klara was insistently asking about Ana's name, which thankfully, Toti hadn't revealed because of his loyalty (fear of being exposed) and also it's an unspoken rule among hunters, to not oust each other's names to a matriarch, afterall, there are many dangerous things that can happen to one if they do.
"Argh, no more!"
Another student who was running behind Ana and Toti collapsed due to exhaustion.
"Huh, most of the guys here are weak." Ana commented on how more than two thirds of their class (First Year Hunters) had fallen behind in the mandatory warm up routine.
"Oh, that's normal." Toti, who wasn't even sweating the tiniest bit, replied. "Not everyone is D-rank like you, Ana."
"Yeah, right…" Ana wasn't getting tired because his body was synced to a SSS rank power source, but he had no fighting potential to call himself a D-rank.
"Hmph." Suddenly, a random guy with black hair glared at Ana and ran past him.
"What's his problem?" Ana wondered whether he had something stuck on his face.
"Oh don't mind him." Toti introduced him. "He's just a little… jealous that you are able to easily keep up with the top hunters in our class on your first day."
When Ana had first come to the field, many students had stared at him since nobody really knew who he was and when Toti had tried to introduce Ana, Ana had only pulled him away and prevented any such formal introductions from happening.
So right now, all of the students were secretly staring at this new transfer student whose name and details, not even his social media, nobody knew because conveniently, Ana didn't bring his ID badge with him or make the effort to set a good first impression.
However, everybody understood that he was at least upper E-rank because of how easily Ana was completing the arduous routine.
"Oh, what's his name?" Ana was a little keen on finding out the name of his new punching bag, not saying that he was going to go and punch him, but just for the sake of it.
"His name is Dima, and he is an E-rank hunter." Toti then began to explain the top guys one by one. "And in front of him, that guy is Garold, the strongest hunter in our class, also called the 'Northern Spear', and behind them is Feya, she's D-rank too, and people call her 'The Wind Mistress' and beside her is…"
Ana, while eager to listen to Toti's speech, suddenly laid his eyes on a girl that was sitting aloof.
She had long black hair, and her height looked perfect, but she was a little chubby under her collar bone, that is her breasts were as big as Angeline's, and that was enough to catch Ana's eyes.
"Hey, who's that?" Ana asked Toti by gesturing towards her with his chin.
"Huh? Who?" Toti turned to look towards the girl that was sitting all by herself in the corner of the field, "Oh her? She's Anya, the weakest hunter in our class."
Ana immediately stopped running.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Toti stopped too, "What? Did you suddenly start to like her or-"
"Toti, come with me." Ana started to walk towards his new target.
…
..
.
"Tatiana, come on. Let's be friends."
"Yeah, you're always sitting alone."
"..." Tatiana had nothing to say to the two guys, her classmates, who were pestering her, while she stood by herself in the corner of the running track.
She had always been very weak, but thankfully due to her awakening as a hunter, she found hope, a path to support her financially struggling family.
However, the academy had been brutal to her.
After joining, she learnt that all the matriarchs only wanted male hunters and female hunters like her were considered low quality disposables, and the fact that she was an F-rank, and one of the weakest too, her physical assessment being the second lowest in her class, only complicated her predicament more.
Long gone were her days where she had people she could trust and call friends, and now here, in this snake-filled-dual faced Hunter Academy, Tatiana understood that everybody only wants to use each other for their own gains, everyone looking for the smallest opportunity to bite each other, hurt each other, dispose of each other.
And in the middle of this tough competition, without getting a single contract offer from any matriarch, multiple swindlers like these two guys infront of her were trying to befriend her, but Tatiana couldn't be swayed, so easily.
She needed to get a contract, and for that, she was ready to make connections, she had to, if she truly wanted to pull her family out of poverty, and exactly for that, she had to find a strong hunter like Garold or Feya and get into their group, so that she could increase her chances of getting to meet a Matriarch that might support her.
"Tatiana, come on, pay a little attention to us."
"Yeah, how can you survive here if you don't have any friends?"
Tatiana was getting irritated at having random weak bugs pester her, and she wished that if she just had to get all this attention, why couldn't she get it from Garold or atleast the guy she liked, Sergei?
She ignored the two bugs near her and focused on Sergei, a guy so good looking that all the girls in the academy, even the senior matriarch candidates, came to talk to him personally. Often called the 'The Second Coming of the Human War Machine', a title given to him by the media after he helped the Phoenix guild in one of their dungeon clearings, his vast potential was compared to the current Human War Machine, the strongest S-Rank in Lower West District.
"..." But such a man had no interest in Tatiana, and she had to look at him from the sidelines as Sergei cozied himself upto Garold and Feya, all three of them the strongest in their class, and Tatiana had to witness in despair as she saw Sergei smile and talk to Feya.
"Tch." Clicking her tongue and wondering whether Sergei liked Feya, Tatiana unwittingly found a new student, someone she hadn't ever seen before.
He had grey metallic hair, and he had muscular biceps, and for some reason, he was holding a guy in his arms whose head he was using like a wrecking ball as he ran and charged straight into a male classmate.
"What the-?!" Tatiana was shocked. "What is he doing?" She wondered if that guy was crazy.
Tatiana quickly ran closer to the scene to see what was happening.
"I'm a D-rank." The grey haired guy laid down his human wrecking ball and put his hands in his pockets. "So don't try to mess with me or I'll call my powerful Matriarch."
"!!" Tatiana's running body stopped.
Her eyes were hit by a magical wonderland of enigmatic salvation as the D-ranked, handsome boy, turned his eyes towards her for a brief moment.
Signals of opportunity, and an itch for inclination suddenly consuming her from the inside, she muttered unconsciously, "You have a powerful Matriarch?"