"Alright students, please settle down," Alexi's stern voice cut through the murmurs, instantly silencing the room.
"First off, you all did extremely well for the first stage," he continued, his gaze sweeping across each student with intensity.
"That being said, you aren't out of the woods just yet. There are still the second and third stages to complete, scheduled for the day after tomorrow. Make sure you prepare yourselves accordingly. That will be all," he concluded, signaling the end of the session as he dismissed them.
The students gathered their things and made their out of of the room, chatting amongst themselves.
With the room now empty, Alexi's serious demeanour melted away, replaced by disbelief at what he had just witnessed. How could such a young girl display such extraordinary skills?
Truth be told, Alexi was pleasantly surprised by every student present today. He hadn't held high expectations, given the underwhelming performances of previous years.
No one had captured his attention enough for him to invest time in training them. He had been prepared to be ruthless, showing no mercy in his teaching approach, expecting another batch of students ill-suited for the combat department. However, each student had exhibited a surprising level of skill, wielding their weapons with mastery that he couldn't ignore.
He struggled to contain his excitement as he observed their potential.
He was grateful now that he had listened to the Headmaster Rheas' advice about taking on the new recruits. They possessed remarkable talent, and Alexi found himself brimming with enthusiasm, brainstorming ways to develop and refine their abilities.
Lost in his thoughts, he didn't notice two individuals entering the room until one of them called out to him.
"Alexi!" Alcione's voice broke through his reverie, attempting to get his attention.
Startled, Alexi looked up to see a smiling face and another with a stern, almost grumpy expression. Recognizing them, he couldn't suppress a groan.
"It's Instructor Alexi to you," he grumbled, acknowledging their presence.
Alcione flashed Alexi an innocent smile. "C'mon Alexi, we all grew up together, no need for formalities."
"Right," Alexi relented with a nod.
The three men came from affluent families and had been close since childhood. Despite Alexi being five years older, the maturity of Lucien and Alcione bridged any age gap.
Alexi had treated them like younger brothers in their youth, but as they grew, he developed a deep respect for them as equals.
"What brings you guys here?" Alexi inquired.
"Lucien wanted to observe the new recruits in training. He's hoping to find a few who might be of interest to him," Alcione explained, nodding towards Lucien.
Alexi raised his eyebrows in surprise. It was unexpected news.
"Did anyone catch your eye?" Alexi asked Lucien, his grin widening.
Lucien shot him a knowing look, prompting Alexi's smile to grow broader.
"The students this year are remarkably skilled. They exceeded my expectations," Lucien admitted. "But the girl with the red hair surprised me the most."
Alcione nodded in agreement. "You wouldn't expect it from her appearance, but she proved herself with every weapon she handled."
"I didn't anticipate her choosing the guns. Most lean towards blades," Alexi remarked.
"Of all the weapons she used, the guns seemed to be her forte," Alcione added.
Lucien's expression softened slightly. "Weapons aside, I hope her hand-to-hand combat skills match her proficiency."
The trio exchanged thoughtful looks, contemplating the potential of the new recruits and what lay ahead for them in their training.
"I'll bet you 100 units she's just as good," Alexi declared, interrupting their contemplation.
"Oh? I'll take that action," Alcione responded eagerly.
They both turned to Lucien, expectingly.
"Betting on people is wrong," Lucien stated firmly, his expression serious.
"Oh, come on, it's just a friendly wager. And you won't have to pay 100 units if you lose," Alcione teased, trying to lighten the mood.
After a moment's hesitation, Lucien relented with a sigh. "Fine. 100 units if she loses then."
Alexi and Alcione exchanged surprised glances at Lucien's agreement.
"As I said, weapons aren't everything. Judging by her physique, I doubt she has the strength to overpower anyone, let alone endure long-distance running," Lucien shrugged nonchalantly.
"Whatever you say," Alexi replied, accepting the challenge with a grin, while Alcione chuckled softly at their friendly banter.
Now that Kenneth was aware of her weaknesses, she started to train like hell in her downtime to build muscle and also increase her stamina.
Body decomposition was her main goal for the next few months as she wanted to quickly change her muscle density as well as her strength.
Luckily for her, Kenneth 1.0 body had a lot of potentially due to her Fera blood which would allow her to grow quickly. In fact, after doing some extensive research on Fera's, it would only take her a couple months to her the results she needed given how strong their regenative abilities were.
Since Kenneth had started going on her runs, she wasn't too worried about the speed test they would be taken soon. She knew that she probably wouldn't get the highest score, but she would make it up by doing well during the hand to hand combat.
Kenneth then got ready for the day as she made her way to her first official class. Looking at her schedule, she had Combat Strategy as her first class in the morning.
Every building required an identification card to go in.
The badges served as a form of identification when entering buildings specifically targeted for the fighters division. Once given entry, she walked along the halls trying to find Classroom B. As she walked along the halls she noticed a couple cyborgs making rounds and helping any new student find the classrooms they were looking for.
Kenneth could instantly tell that rather than being guides, they were more for security. She wondered why there was such a need for security when they were in such a secluded area with almost nothing around them.
She shrugged her shoulder's, deciding not to think too much about it. She knew that the overly couscous side of her would take over if she paid this situation mind.
Walking into the classroom, she felt several pairs of eyes on her but she disregarded them. It was only until she made her way at the back of the classroom where she assumed she'd go relatively unnoticed that she began scanning the room.
There were a couple of students who were already there. She counted ten boys and five girls excluding herself. A couple of them formed a group as they chatted away while a few kept to themselves like she was doing.
Kenneth then felt a pair of eyes on her and saw Durian the boy who was showing off yesterday. He glared daggers at her before looking away, turning his attention back to the his group.
When they noticed he had been sharing at her and asked what was wrong, he shook his head and moved their attention to something else.
Kenneth slumped into her chair and pulled out her virtual watch. Unfortunately for her, the uniform didn't have a built in hood so she was unable to hide her presence.She really didn't want to stand out anymore than she had.
Kenneth only realized much later that she might've overdone it during the test. It's not like she didn't want to be noticed. But she knew that once you showed how talented you were, people would start to take notice of you and expectation would be forced on you as well.
Luckily she had dialled it back quite a bit. She didn't want to show all her cards just yet. As Kenneth was heavily criticizing herself, the teacher walked in.
The woman looked to be in her mid thirties with short blond hair and green eyes. She placed her things on the podium in front of the classroom and introduced herself.
"Hello class. Welcome to Combat Strategy. my name is Leela Stein and I will be teaching you all things combat related. First of all, can anyone start by explaining what combat is?"
The class was until a girl raised her hand to answer the question.
"Yes, go ahead."