Chapter 2: Arthur - part 1

In a small district belonging to the Brazilian republic, located in the south of the territory near the coast. A military school began its afternoon classes, which start at the beginning of each year. As usual, there were only a few pupils in each class, around 10. None of these children had even reached puberty, some of them were only around 7 years and a few months old, so the scene was obviously not silent, even though there only a few children, their conversations and laughter easily reached the corridor; it was a typical classroom where even the warnings about not carrying weapons in the classroom without permission from the coordinator were present. After a few minutes in which the children were talking without caring how audible their voices were, a man who appeared to be around 40 years old entered the room.

As soon as the man entered the room, the children were silent as they watched him. The man didn't have his right arm, and, in its place, there was a prosthesis made for combat, but which could also be used in everyday life. In addition, the man had a scar on his face, which even though he was wearing an eye patch over his left eye, the scar was still apparent and could be seen as it started above his eyebrow and extended to the end of his nose.

The man remained silent while he waited for some of the children to return to their seats. After everyone had sat down, he turned on the digital whiteboard and wrote a few words.

"Professor of history and theory of the soul. William".

After writing down his name and the subject he would be teaching, he turned around, and after scanning the room, he began his speech in a manner extreme like a commander giving orders to his soldiers.

- My name as I wrote it on the blackboard is William, as you can see, I don't have a surname, that is, I don't come from a family that controls the districts, or a family of war heroes and entrepreneurs. I don't know how many of you have surnames, but here in this academy this is irrelevant, you will be assessed entirely on individual performance, even when a team is formed the assessment will still be individual. - William paused as he observed the reaction of his future students and couldn't help but sigh internally when he realized that some of the children didn't seem very pleased with his words.

- To make it simpler to understand, in any military institution, be it this school, or any other institution intended for our preservation. Your family's influence couldn't be more irrelevant, so I hope you strive for results, any questions?

-...No answer in reply to William's question....

- Great, since none of you have any questions, we can start the lesson. First, in today's class we'll focus on learning the basics of history. From tomorrow onwards, we'll alternate between magical and war development history, as well as technology. Classes that focus on social issues are not part of the basic syllabus; of course, everyone here can study them, but that's only possible after your first year at the institution. After all, we must focus on developing military strength first and foremost if we want to maintain the line of defense to survive... Again, do any of you have any questions?

This time one of the students in the room raised her hand when William paused and looked at them; the brown-eyed girl with dark hair who raised her hand. When the teacher didn't answer, she started shaking her arm to try to get his attention. After checking that no one else had raised their hand or shown any intention of speaking, he allowed her to speak. - Feel free to ask any questions you may have," he said.

After receiving consent, the girl asked her question.

- Professor, social issues are extremely important for leaders or administrators. Some of us here are part of families that take care of these issues for all our generations. If we must know that, why not teach us from the start?

- Interesting question, I believe you are one of these "some", could you introduce yourself?

The girl stood up, then pulled up the hem of her dress and bent her knees slightly as she leaned over and introduced herself - My name is Rebeca Clypeus, I'm 7 years old and as my surname suggests I'm from the family responsible for central and south - said Rebeca.

Then William waited for the girl to stand normally and replied nonchalantly - Well, I can understand your concerns. After all, the country is only divided into four sections that connect to the central district via the underground. So, for your family, which is mainly responsible for this section, the social issue is just as important as the military one. - William paused and then continued. - But we can't create timetables with your family in mind, and I believe that you've had lessons from your parents about this, which should be enough for now, and about preparing capable people to help with the administration, you shouldn't worry about this either. Thinking simplistically, isn't it only natural that those who oversee administration today teach their children? Of course, I understand, and society also understands that this alone is not enough, since the rulers obviously need competent helpers, and that's precisely why, after you've learned the basics, we'll move on to intermediate subjects, where you'll be able to choose to add social subjects to the curriculum. - After that, William remained silent, just waiting for Rebecca's answer. But before Rebeca could say anything, a chubby boy with blond hair and blue eyes raised his hand, and before the teacher allowed him to speak, he asked his question.

- Professor, but if the subjects are optional, how do you know that people are going to study social subjects? You know, they don't seem that important," said the boy.

- You idiot! Of course, social issues are important, or do you think people don't matter? How can we improve the environment we live in? - Rebecca said while showing extreme irritation, then looked at the teacher, and with an angry face asked him - Professor, how do you know that people will choose to study this subject? - Despite being angry at what the boy said, Rebecca still found his question relevant and thought it was important to know what the largest school in the entire southern section had planned for this subject area, and as she was anxious, she didn't even notice the childish way that obvious anxiety showed in her eyes, which were fixed on the teacher as she waited for an answer.

William sighed, then massaged his temples with his left hand; after a few seconds he replied.

- First, I'm going to be straightforward and say that the school doesn't really care whether you choose this subject or not, so it's optional... - William noticed the frown on the little girl's face and a smile briefly appeared on his face before he continued. - Before you get angry about this, let me explain why this subject isn't a priority. - William waited to see the girl nod in agreement, and surprisingly the little boy who had raised the question also nodded, showing that he was paying attention. - Well, I can't guarantee that my explanation carries the principal's opinion or the whole truth of the matter accurately. As you know, I'm an army captain who was recently dismissed and I'm not very familiar with these issues, so I'll just present my considerations before we start the lesson, if you want to be sure about that you'll have to go to the coordination office after class... All right, so Rebecca and... - William stopped talking and stared at the boy who had asked the question for a while; then he realized that he hadn't introduced himself yet. He stood up and made a quick introduction.

- Good morning Mr. William, my name is Matheus... and I'm 10 years old.

- Good morning, Matheus - William smiled at Matheus and motioned for him and Rebeca to sit down, then asked - Do you agree, if I respond with my point of view? -They both nodded simultaneously.

After both children had given their consent, William paused for a few seconds to consider, after which he explained his point of view.

- Well, my opinion is really simple on the subject. Social policies are important...- William paused for a moment and then continued - ... Extremely important, and that's undeniable. But they're still not the most important thing, you must consider that to think about how society should be organized and how we can improve the quality of life, there must first be a society, in other words, we must survive... - After another short pause, he continued - Of course, the world has been at war for six centuries. It's not enough for demons to be able to possess anything and change their constitution to become stronger, the most dangerous ones can not only change their constitution, they can decide not to change their constitution and that's the most dangerous thing since they can simply walk around in the middle of our territory until they have some work to do and I say it from experience when I say that when they do their work hell on earth is what we receive, thanks to that we're always on high alert; that's without considering those who might come with their real bodies... – William realized that the students hadn't understood his last words and decided to leave them aside since they weren't relevant at the moment. - In addition, there are still humans who have surrendered and formed armies against their own kind. Bearing this in mind, how can we make improving the quality of life a priority?

William paused for the third time to make sure that all the students had absorbed what he had just said. He then looked at his students and said: – This only reflects my point of view; you are free to have your own. Well, anyway, I think that's enough for you to understand why these subjects don't have priority. – Both Matheus and Rebeca just nodded while appearing to be lost in thought.

Seeing the looks on the children's faces, William smiled and said – Let's start our lesson, today we're going to talk briefly about history. Tomorrow we'll have a bit of soul theory, organize your tape recorders, I don't like using the blackboard or written materials. Then we'll have an oral lesson, if you have any questions just interrupt – William took his position and began his speech.

- We will start today's class by studying the period corresponding to the war, and the beginning of the A.W. War. - William positioned himself in front of the digital board, wrote the date "January 20, 680 A.W.", just below the date he wrote "basic bibliography" and began displaying images on the electronic device, the images serving only as a reference that could be used to better introduce the subject. After preparing the material for his class, he said: - This is the basic bibliography of the course, if you have any questions outside of class about what I'm going to talk about, you can consult these books and of course ask me about them in the next classes. Now I'm going to go through the basic content, remembering that if you have any questions, just ask me.