First Assignment [1]

"Get up."

The rain was heavy today, and I was currently getting my ass beat by some random fucker. The sky was grey and so were my emotions.

I simply felt nothing at the moment.

"This guy really is weak?"

"I thought weaklings weren't allowed in this school."

I felt like a completely blank piece of paper with one thing written on it, a question.

"Why?"

"Cause why not?"

I didn't even know the names of these people and yet here we are in this fucked up situation. They really asked me why not huh? They're really just doing this for their own entertainment.

I was confused.

"See you around."

Are they really hitting me cause I'm weaker than them?

"What kind of fucked up comical situation is this? Doesn't this only happen in movies?"

My lip and nose were bleeding, but other than that, there were no serious injuries, just a few scratches and bruises. The group of guys left me laying behind the dormitory. Gathering my strength, I pulled myself back off the ground.

I stumbled to my room suffering some pain from where they kicked my legs. Though I managed just fine and planted myself on top of my bed.

"Hahhh-"

Letting out a sigh of relief, a wave of fatigue had suddenly begun hitting me. The world slowly faded to black as my eyelids lost the strength to stay awake.

****

Beep beep-

"Ah!"

Hearing my alarm I shot out of bed at extreme speeds like a rocket taking off to space. I moved my eyes and looked at the alarm clock to see what time it was.

'7:00 AM'

Class should be starting in half an hour, so I jumped out of bed and changed into my sleek uniform. The scratches and bruises from yesterday had to be covered up as well so I put some bandages on my face. They covered underneath my left eye and my right cheek.

'This should be good for now.'

After checking my face, making sure I didn't have any exposed scratches I made my way to the cafeteria to grab a quick bite before heading to class. The weather was still a bit gloomy but personally I preferred it this way, the cool weather was the perfect temperature for our uniforms and I just prefer it when the sky is a bit more grey. After stopping by the cafeteria I walked to class with no rush.

Bagel in hand.

According to Professor Naomi today would be the day we would get our first assignments as trainees. From my prior research I found out that a lot of Aethra students took up bounties or extra work outside of studying and that they were occasionally assigned specific missions to do.

'I wonder what she has in store for us.'

Thinking back on yesterday, I could never see the faces of that group. I was also confident in my ability to beat their asses since RC use is forbidden unless you're training, but I was caught off guard. As I was walking out of my room, they clocked me in the head with something. I think it was a vase.

RC does enhance human durability exponentially, but of course, I didn't have a single ounce of that energy within me. Although I couldn't see their faces, there was one thing I could gather from them.

It was their voices.

I was approaching in on the classroom and other students were pouring into the room along with me. As we took our seats, Naomi got up to the front of the class once more and began the lecture.

"Good morning class. Today is the day you guys actually have to do some work. You'll be getting your first assignment assigned today and it will be due on Friday in two days."

'It's been like this since the first class…'

80% of the class was just fawning over Naomi and so they didn't hear a single thing about what she was saying. Don't get me wrong, Naomi was an absurdly attractive woman with a certain charm, but it's shocking how many people in here are just focusing on her and not her words.

"Haa-"

I let out an audible sigh and pressed my right hand against my forehead.

"Are you alright Keir?"

Grabbing my attention from across the row of seats was Nathan, looks like he heard me sigh.

"Yeah I'm alright, just feeling tired."

Nathan stared at me with furrowed brows before speaking up.

"What are all those injuries from?"

Looking in his direction, I squinted my eyes and paused for a moment before returning an answer.

"I ran into a lamppost."

"Oh uh alright then, hope you heal up quick."

Nathan's eyebrows lifted up like he didn't expect an answer akin to the one I had given him. Not long after the brief exchange between us some of his friends came up to his seat and started laughing with each other. Seeing this I looked around and saw all of the students forming their own cliques and laughing with each other.

Except one student.

A girl with long blonde hair and golden eyes actively writing in her notebook. She looked like a very preppy yet popular girl. She was also the first to be called on attendance since she was the strongest in our class.

Class Rank #4, Jenna Leclair.

It seemed as if everybody in the room was intimidated by her, this was likely due to her being a Scion. Although she didn't seem bothered by it at all, in fact she seemed oddly used to it. She was also actively taking notes on what Professor Naomi had laid out on the board which were battle strategies and tactics.

Everybody seemed lost in their own little world and I felt separated by a wall, an unbreakable wall.

The wall of strength.

"Alright class the Headmaster just told me what you're all gonna be doing for your first assignment of the year."

Chattering amongst the class had started due to the anticipation of getting the chance to fully immerse ourselves at Aethra.

Crossing her arms and standing in front of the class, Naomi announced our assignment with elegance and maturity.

"Each and every one of you students is being assigned a task. This task is relatively simple and straightforward. Successfully complete a bounty of any type, whether that be saving a cat from a tree or hunting down a criminal. Bounties can range from anything you can think of."

The class was listening closely to her instructions and quickly understood their assignment.

"Class is dismissed, good luck!"

The assignment was due in two days' time and I had to find a bounty close to my level, which would more than likely be easy to do. If I want more interesting bounties then I could go to a bounty guild. There was one problem with this idea though, due to the fact I had no membership at a bounty guild.

I do know somebody that does though.

Making my way out of the classroom, I went back to my dormitory and changed into more casual clothes. I pulled out my phone and went to my contacts.

—CONTACTS—

- Rachel Licht

- Reed Licht

- Celia Licht

- Kiran Azar

- Charles <

…..

Clicking on Charles's name, the phone started to ring for a while until he picked up.

"Hello Mr. Licht, what can I do for you today?"

With a smile, Keir replied quickly.

"I was wondering if we could meet at the Bounty Guild in around an hour if you weren't busy."

The audio went silent for a moment before you could hear Charles thinking about the suggestion Keir had made.

"Hmmm- I should be done and closing up shop by then so sure, I'll help you out with whatever you need Mr. Licht."

"Thank you Charles!"

After the confirmation from Charles, I hung up the phone and exited the room wearing a black hoodie with a black baseball cap and tapered cargo pants. I headed for the Aethra metro station after showing security my student ID and hopped on the train.

The weather was still a bit gloomy, and it had started to rain a bit.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed this weather plus it gave plants water so I guess that's a positive.

Within 10 minutes, I was back in the main city of Haneul and I walked to the store Charles worked at. On my way there I spotted him closing up shop and walked with him to the bounty guild.

"So what are you looking to achieve at the bounty guild Mr. Licht?"

As we walked, Charles started getting curious as to why I was so sudden about meeting the guild.

"It's for a school assignment. I need to complete a bounty near my level."

"In that case sir, you'll have plenty to choose from."

He wasn't wrong, the lower your rank was the easier it was to find a bounty, although the pay wasn't always good.

"Here we are sir, I present to you the bounty guild."

What greeted my eyes was a massive modern building with state-of-the-art design and technology.

"Shall we then?"

Beckoning me to head inside was Charles at my side.

"Yeah, let's go."