12 First day of school

Sarah half-dragged Long Shen to his first class of the day as she had the same one. The entire time they walked she chatted with him about the different students, the teacher and how boring she found the class. Long Shen was feeling like he needed a break from Sarah so even if the class would be boring, he wouldn't mind. As they entered the room he noticed that everyone sat in pairs. One man and one woman. He looked at Sarah and asked, "Do we sit next to our roommates in our classes?"

She nodded and said, "Mhm, we have all of the same classes. I told you, I am your wife. You're stuck with me until one of us graduates." She chuckled.

Long Shen shook his head and smiled letting her guide him to his seat. One of the older women sitting behind them said, "Oh, Sarah they finally found you a husband? You got lucky he's handsome too. At least you didn't get stuck with a grumpy old goat like me."

An older balding gruff-looking man frowned and said, "Damnit woman, I said I was sorry didn't I? You know I was hoping for that breakthrough. I am getting close to my tenth year and I'm just a little on edge."

The older woman snorted and then said, "Tenth year and you are still taking year one classes, you are disgrace you old goat. Maybe if you worried more about that mashed potato brain of yours instead of cultivating you'd have broken through by now." The older man frowned and looked down clearly unwilling to continue the argument.

Sarah giggled and said, "Mina, this is Shen, he's a general prospect." She presented Long Shen like he was the grand prize on a TV game show.

Long Shen felt incredibly embarrassed as everyone in the class stopped what they were doing and stared at him sizing him up. He gave a little wave and then took his seat. The older man behind Long Shen coughed and sputtered, "Sarah girl, did you know there has never once been a human general. Ever. You saying he is a general prospect is like saying he is the greatest human who has ever lived. I know you are happy to finally have a roommate, but don't you think you are putting a lot of pressure on the young man?"

Sarah tilted her head and then said, "Old Bill, I am not exaggerating. Mr. Takei came by our table at breakfast the other day and said it himself. He said they were even going to give Shen the same resources a full bird colonel gets." Everyone in the class sucked in a breath. They started looking at Long Shen like he was a celebrity. The older women in the class were busy trying to justify how a relationship might work out between them with an age difference while the men wondered if they should suck up to him now so that he would remember them in the future.

The teacher entered the classroom causing the chatter to die down. He walked up to the podium and with a smile on his face said, "Oh, we have a new student! Welcome, Mr. Long I'm the history teacher, Mr. Kennard. Due to students shipping in and out periodically our classes follow an odd sort of curriculum. Normally in a history class, you'd start from the beginning and talk about each era. Because this class is geared for students coming and going we start from where the previous lesson left off, if you need any explanations to catch up just work with your roommate." He walked over to the holographic projector and called up an image of the universe and pointed to a cluster of stars, "On Friday we left off talking about the decline of the Elven Empire and the rise of the Angelic Hegemony. Who here can tell me the name of the angel who led the great revolt against the Elven Emperor Ki Blur IV? Come on, at least one of you paid attention in class let m see some hands." He looked around the room and then said, "Mr. Nyguen, how about you tell us?"

A short south Asian man stood up and said in a very dry voice, "The Angel of Death, Samael. He led the first Angelic division and swept through five galaxies establishing the first Angelic Hegemony."

"Very good, thank you Mr. Ngyuen. Of course, as we discussed before, Samael was named the Angel of Death by the Lord himself and led the Angelic forces all the way until the great deception. The year the Angel of Light found proof that Samael had been in league with the Elven witch Ona Sheff. Our Lord appointed the great Saint Michael as Taxiarch of all the Angelic forces." The teacher brought up images of them all as he spoke.

Long Shen remembered seeing the Angel of Light on the battlefield. He felt like his whole body had been crushed by an invisible pressure. With just a wave of his hand, he swept away all of the combatants. It was like everyone was an ant in front of his power even the Major and the other officers barely survived. "After Saint Michael took command of the Angelic forces one million years ago the Elves were driven to a single galaxy and finally to a single planet. Does anyone here know which planet the last of the Elves are currently living on?"

One of the men in the back of the room raised his hand, "There are rumors that the Elves might be here on Earth. The rumor has it that the Angel of Light is here on Earth because of that."

The teacher smiled and then nodded saying, "That's right. Ten thousand years ago the Angel of Light first descended to the Earth and brought cultivation to the human race. He asked for our help to track down the last of the Elves and rid the galaxy of their evil once and for all. Of course, it wasn't until the birth of the great prophets that humanity first encountered the first invasion by the Demonic forces. Some felt that the Demons came to Earth at the behest of the Elves in a last-ditch attempt to reclaim their place as the masters of the universe. That is all conjecture of course since no one has ever seen the Elves in ten thousand years."

A student near the back raised a hand and asked, "Mr. Kennard, is it true that the Angel of Light is the only angel that has ever visited the Earth?"

"Ah, very good question, thank you, Miss Duncan. Yes! The only Angel to have ever come to our planet is the Angel of Light. He brought with him the history of the universe and the Lord's word in the form of the many religions practiced in ancient times here on Earth. Once enough cultivators had emerged the Angel of Light returned and started to form the first Angelic Legion here five thousand years ago. As you all know, our human Angelic legions have since fought battles all over the Earth and in nearby systems against the Demonic Forces. As our armies have grown over the centuries the Angel of Light has groomed our leaders to prepare for a final battle against the Elves using the Demonic forces to hone our warriors into an elite battle force."

*****

Long Shen found that the classes taught at the Academy were much harder than high school level classes. The speed at which the classes were taught along with the sheer volume of information given was overwhelming. When he spoke to Sarah about it she laughed and said, "These classes constantly repeat the same information every few months because people come and go so often. If you missed something this time, you'll get it when that information comes around the second or third time."

After classes, they returned to the cafeteria and met up with the others. The girls were openly ogling Long Shen causing Jason, Raj, and Pierre to mope. A few students came by and greeted Long Shen wanting to shake his hand or ask about gaming together. A few of the more aggressive students wanted to spar with him in the training room. The rumor had managed to pass through the entire academy that Long Shen was a general prospect.

Ela licked her spoon in an overly sexual manner after eating some of her custard, "Shen, how were your classes, did you want that special tutoring?"

Sarah flipped off Ela and said, "Shen doesn't need your help, he's got me!"

Long Shen blinked a few times, as a gamer and former social outcast he didn't quite know how to read the atmosphere, "Um, well it was a little fast-paced for me. I am worried that I might not have the best grades. It as very interesting though, I learned a lot today. I think the history lesson was the most fascinating. I had never really learned much beyond the mandatory curriculum in high school which mainly covered the last two thousand years of history."

"Ugh don't remind me, I don't even know why we have to learn any of that crap anyway. They should be teaching us things we'll need in combat, not history and language. I kinda get how the math and science will be useful a little bit, but the history and language are worthless. It's not like the demons are going to run up and quiz us on the ancient history of the universe." Sarah grumbled.

Jason looked up from his meal and replied, "It's very useful Sarah when we promote to higher ranks we have a good chance of being part of the space forces. They travel to other planets and meet with other species. You need to know the star common language in case you have to work with them. As far as history is concerned, most of the Angels who are spoken about millions of years ago are still alive. There is always the chance you encounter them at some point."

Ting Ting giggled and said, "Some of the great human leaders of the past might still be with us too. When you cultivate to the rank of colonel your lifespan is counted in centuries rather than years. Knowing your history is very important if you meet them. You wouldn't want to offend a colonel that looks fifty but is really from the information age."

Jason nodded and smiled at Ting Ting. He turned back to Sarah and said, "I heard that Colonel Sanders is three thousand years old."

"Oh, yeah, he's the one who survived the battle of Fruit Ridge," Sarah said while nodding. "Did you guys do that sim in basic? My squad did we all died in like fifteen minutes. It was awful."

Ela nodded and said, "Mm, we did too. Same results. I was the team leader for my squad. I was so embarrassed after we were logged out. I didn't manage to get any coherent orders out. The Sergeant later told me it's one no one is expected to get a victory on. It's just a way to scare us into understanding teamwork and face the fear of death in combat."

Pierre grinned and asked, "How about you, Shen, you guy do that sim?"

"Yeah, we got a victory." He said as he chewed on some barbeque ribs. Everyone at the table looked at him to see if he was joking.

Pierre smirked and said, "Bro, you don't have to be a dick, I was just trying to include you in the conversation."

He looked up after wiping his mouth off, "No, I'm serious. My squad scored a victory." He looked around the table at all the expressions of disbelief.

Sarah cleared her throat and then in her normal perky tone spoke up, "Did you guys see Paula and Tran finally hooked up? They were feeding each other at lunch today."

"Wow, it's about time. They have been roommates for two years! I thought Tran was into guys or something." Ela shook her head and chuckled.

Raj laughed and said, "Naw, Tran just thought Paula wouldn't be interested in him. He's totally been into her for at least as long as I have been here, so what, five months?"

A tall broad-shouldered dark-skinned middle-aged man walked over to the table. He stopped at the edge and asked, "Which one of you is Long Shen?"

Long Shen smiled and said, "That's me, how can I help you?"

The big man looked him up and down, "A buddy of mine told me to check up on you, Li Xian, said you were in his squad?"

"Yes, I was in Squad 48 under Sergeant Xian." He smiled at the large man who seemed to be glaring down at him.

"Li said you managed to lead your squad to victory in the battle of Fruit Ridge. That was considered impossible before you did it. If you don't mind, I'd like to face off against you in the Squad Sim, we'll each lead an AI squad." His knuckles cracked as he flexed his large arms and turned his head side to side. "I'm Reginald Theus, I was Li's former Drill Sergeant. I'm dying to have a battle against someone of your skill. Would you mind?"

Sarah shook her head and frowned, "Reggie, everyone and their grandmother already challenged him today. Why don't you at least let me have him for a week before you start stealing all his free time with challenges, sheesh!"

Long Shen chuckled and then said, "Yeah, sure, I am up for it. My ID is God Shen, please don't pass that around by the way. It's like Sarah said, everyone is sending me challenges because of the rumors."

He held out his large hand to shake, "I appreciate that. I haven't had a good challenge the entire time I have been here. How about tomorrow at nineteen hundred?"

"That will be fine, thank you, Mr. Theus." Long Shen shook his hand gladly.

Jason chuckled and said, "Shen, you just agreed to challenge the king of Squad battles."