20 Day One

By the time lunch came around the next day, John's head was about to explode after his first class. When his dad had told him to pick up a professional class or two to appease his mom, he'd figured taking formations would be simple and useful for surviving in danger zones. According to the Encyclopedia of Beasts and Monsters, it is almost impossible to tame the high level and rank monsters without making use of formations so it seemed to be a perfect match. Unfortunately he hadn't known going in just how MUCH information he'd have to learn, and how fast.

Anyway, Mike and Steven walked into the lunch room to find John sitting at a table by himself, his head in his hands as he stared blankly at his still full tray of food unable to muster up the energy to pick up his fork. "What happened to you?" Mike asked as he sat down, stealing a piece of cake off John's tray while he was too out of it to notice.

"Formations class." John shuddered, finally lifting his head from his hands. "I used to think I was smart, now I know I'm an idiot."

"Duh." Steven said with a snort, "Formations is the hardest hardest subject in the entire school, what'd you think would happen."

"I don't know, that I wouldn't be completely fried after a single class? At least I have a week to go over all the materials and do the homework. Still, if it keeps up like this I don't know how long I'm gonna last and I still have to worry about Runesmithing on Friday."

Mike shrugged, eating with even more force. "You'll get used to it. Gunsmithing was a total nightmare for me, we spent the first half of the class going over theory and then we went into the shop to try and make firing pins. I swear I must've ruined enough material to make an entire gun and I didn't even manage to make a single one that passed."

Steven chuckled smiling smugly as he said, "I had the morning off, I just rolled out of bed half an hour ago."

John and Mike both glared at him with such hatred on their faces that he couldn't help laughing at them. "Come on guys, it's just the first day, it'll get better."

Somewhat mollified, the three of them made their way over to the combat building together after cleaning the table. "So how do you think they're gonna teach stealth?" John asked, he'd never trained a combat technique before so he was a total novice.

"No idea, my dad used to bring me into low-level danger zones and throw me in after teaching me a couple of new techniques. He always said the only way to get good at something is to do it over and over again with serious consequences for failure. Asshole used to wait to the absolute last moment before he saved me. Said running away is the most important skill any potential hunter has to learn." Mike said nonchalantly as they strolled into the combat training building and made their way to room 225.

"I don't know if I'm jealous or if I should be calling child protective services..." John said with a laugh.

"Trust me." Mike said as he opened the door to the classroom, "It was fun and we never, ever told my mom about it."

Stepping into the classroom, they were surprised to see so many people. Like room 115 in building three the room had been altered somehow, turning it into a small clearing in the middle of a gigantic forest. Looking around, John realized that the room extended far beyond room 115 in building three going on for several kilometers in each direction at the least. Frowning, he crouched down to examine the floor and felt the energy of the room. "Got it!" John exclaimed, a smile on his face as he realized how the school made so many of these rooms. Now that he had been through the first day of formations class John could recognize the telltale signs of a massively powerful one. Taking a closer look at it, he paled slightly and stopped focusing on the formation. It was far too powerful for someone like him to mess with, that much energy would disintegrate him in an instant if he wasn't careful.

"Alright, this is one of the most popular classes in the school so we'll be breaking up into two groups." A massive hulk of a man who looked like he'd been on the wrong end of a dragon fire appeared seemingly out of thin air. His bald head was crinkled with scar tissue, his face seemingly half healed and as John watched he noticed a tiny patch of dead skin fall off to be replaced by undamaged skin.

"What the hell happened to him?" Mike asked quietly, but no one had the time to respond as the teacher started calling off names and pointing to the forest where several upperclassmen waited along with another teacher.

By the time he was done calling off names, over a hundred students had jogged off to join the other teacher leaving only 40 behind in the clearing. "Everyone in this group managed to join one of the 4 clubs, meaning that you showed exceptional qualities and thus we expect much more out of you than the others." The massive man said as he started walking to the other side of the clearing from the other students.

"I know that several of you already have stealth abilities, but for the first month of class you won't be training how to use those. Instead, I'll be drilling the basics of how to hide when you find yourself unable to use those techniques. Several monsters are incredibly sensitive to mana, meaning that unless you've reached an incredible level of proficiency in them they act as nothing more than beacons when in a danger zone. Also, there will be times when you find yourself forced to save every last ounce of energy you can in order to survive."

As the group reached the forest, the giant man began to teach everyone there how to walk without leaving a trace of your presence. How to erase your scent, to make use of your surroundings, to break up your outline making it harder for you to be noticed... It went on and on, and by the end of the class John's head was starting to hurt again. It was as if the teacher expected everyone in the group to be able to memorize and understand everything the first time he said it, and whenever anyone messed up he'd dock them points.

"Alright, that's enough for today. We'll be in the forest for a week and then move on to other possible environments. At the end of the month there'll be a test that will involve you hiding from tracking monsters in several different environments. If you manage to pass it then you'll be given permission to buy Basic Stealth Techniques from the store for academic credits. I'd advise you work hard here in Gallandwell High, otherwise you'll find yourself being left behind."

As they walked out of the room, John was looking at his phone trying to figure out where his next class was. "I've got to get to the basement, apparently the shooting range is down there."

"Follow me." Mike said with a grin, "I've spent some time down there since its one of the few places I can use my rifle."

Steven waved goodbye to the two of them as he headed to his own class. He'd decided to take a hand to hand combat course, figuring he should know more than about fighting then how to use his cultivation method to crush people.

Walking into the basement, the John and Mike arrived a couple of minutes after the class was supposed to have started but found themselves standing along with over hundred other students not knowing what to do. Finally, an image of a girl flickered to life and a recording started.

"Pick a booth and close the door to begin class." The voice said in a monotone that couldn't quite manage to cut through the chattering crowd.

John just barely managed to hear it thanks to his increased sensitivity to sound, so he grabbed Mike's arm and drug him towards the booth's. "The hologram is saying to pick a booth." He said quietly, not wanting to give it away of everyone while they fought to be the first to enter a booth.

Entering a booth, John closed and locked it behind himself and was surprised when it started to move, dropping him down like he was in an insanely fast elevator. The same image of a teenage girl turned on and started talking. "My name is Jennifer, and I'm the battle school's AI. I'll be in charge of your marksmanship training.

As the AI talked, the booth came to a halt and one of the walls opened up to show a variety of weapons. "The basic marksmanship proficiency requires you to hit 100 out of 100 moving targets within 5 minutes at ranges of up to 4 kilometers depending on the weapon. In order to complete this class you will be required to reach basic proficiency with at least 2 of the major types of fire arms within three months."

Walking to the open wall, John's mouth dropped in surprise. Their were the normal guns like pistol's, rifle's, and shotguns. Then, there were grenade launchers, machine guns, missile launchers, artillery... "Damn!" John said in surprise, his jaw dropping in surprise as he looked at them. "Why even bother to learn how to use a missile launcher" John asked after he took a moment to think, "You can do just as much, if not more damage with a rifle after learning the proper techniques."

"Missile's can be incredibly effective at dealing with larger monsters and require less skill to use. Many members of local defense forces specialize in using them, however it is not recommended for anyone who spends time in a danger zone to carry a Missile Launcher unless they posses a spatial bag because they are heavy, bulky, and their propellant gives off a distinctive smell that monsters can track." The AI spoke again, her monotone beginning to annoy the hell out of John.

Looking through the various types of weapons and variations on choices John chose two pistols, remembering the pair he'd seen at the Maker's Shop. Since then, he'd been doing some thinking and come to the conclusion that he planned on letting his monsters do most of the fighting, but that didn't mean he should be completely helpless.

Thinking for awhile, he decided to pull one of the longer ranged rifles out as well. He might not be training to take down a Demonic War Elephant in a single shot, but having the ability to hit something from a couple kilometers away would always be useful.

As soon as he pulled out his choices, the weapons locker closed and the front of the booth opened to show a weapons range with targets ranging from the size of an elephant lumbering through the room to a bumblebee moving erratically as it rushed from place to place.

"Beginning baseline testing." The AI spoke as another compartment opened showing already filled clips of ammo.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" John cursed as he aimed carefully and fired at a bull only to have it dodge out of the way. "Since when do targets dodge in a firing range!"

The AI immediately responded in her annoying monotone, "You are training to fight and survive in a danger zone, do you think a monster will just stay still?"