2 Gallandwell High
Five and a half years later, John got off the bus on shaky legs, clutching his bag to his chest. Ever since that fateful day in the forest he had spent all of his time studying or training to make it here, and now that he was back his legs where shaking and he was barely managing to fight off a panic attack.
That's right, today John enters Galandwell High, the most prestigious cultivation high school on the continent. Now, many of you may be wondering what the hell he's doing training 24/7 for nearly 6 years to go to a school located in the depths of the very forest that he's terrified of... and you wouldn't be alone. Every chirp of a bird, rustle of leaves, roar of a lion nearly makes him jump out of his skin.
However, there are two things that terrify him even more then this forest. Ever since those days spent on top of the tree John had been terrified of being alone. At night, he would often sneak out his room and turn on the TV while sleeping on the couch to listen to the voices of people. His worst nightmare is graduating from school and moving on to life by himself, while those hateful monsters hop around him cheerfully with their beady little red eyes laughing at him.
Taking a deep breath, John forced myself to think about the amazing school he had managed to enter and forget about it's location. Galandwell high is the most prestigious school in the nation for a reason, the minimum requirement to enter is to reach the body refinement realm and become a cultivator before graduating Junior High.
A recent survey taken shown that 99% of students don't manage to break through until they turn 17, while only .4% manage to make it in time for the cutoff to Gallandwell. Most students who manage it fall into one of two categories; powerful families who feed their kids incredible treasures since birth, and geniuses who start training in the womb. The amount of focus and work it took for John to break through after wasting the first 9 and a half years of his life playing video games and watching TV was insane.
Yet, Gallandwell is the only high school where they teach taming. That's right, despite the fact that thousands of cultivation high schools cover the entire continent of Pangea, only this one school has the balls to actually allow their students to learn how to care for, and fight with monsters. Can you imagine the lawsuits and financial risks that could come from giving a teenager that kind of power?Not to mention the fact that taming isn't exactly a safe occupation...
Smiling, John managed to convince himself for the 48th time since he got on the bus that it was worth it to enter the forest again. Soon, John would sign a soul contract with a beast and never again would he be alone. John could care less about how strong he became, although being strong enough to survive the inevitable bunnypocalypse would be nice.
Shuddering in fear, John spoke to himself "Why do you have to keep thinking about scary shit, just get through the next few years and you'll never have to come here again!"
John thought that in my fear of the forest, he'd been the last person off the bus but he nearly jumped in surprise when someone behind him laughed. Turning, he saw a boy his age wearing a hunting vest and carrying what looked a lot like a rifle, but couldn't be because only Seniors where allowed to carry weapons outside of special events in Gallandwell High.
"Scared of the forest?" The boy asked, "Don't be, there are formations all around the school. Without them, a monster tide would've swallowed it up years ago."
John looked at him with a bit of disdain, "Duh! Everyone knows about the formation, hell I wouldn't of gotten on the bus if I didn't know about them."
"Then why are you scared?" The guy asked as he made sure no one else was looking before he hit a button on the side of his rifle. A foam like substance covered the gun, hardening and turning it into a meter long cane.
John's jaw dropped as he stared at the disguised weapon and the boy put his finger to his lips while he leaned in and whispered to John, "You'd have to be insane to enter Gallandwell Forest without a weapon of some sort, maybe that's why you're so scared."
Shaking himself out of his shock, John glanced around to make sure they were alone and whispered, "Where can I get one of those?" Examining the foam stick hiding the rifle, John realized that he couldn't tell the difference between it and wood. Reaching out his hand, he brushed his fingers across it and was surprised to find that it even felt like wood.
"Rifle you can get anywhere, the camouflage system is pricey though. My dad wouldn't tell me who he got it from, but he did say it cost more than a car."
Whistling, John shook my head in dismay. "Too bad, with one of those I could kill quite a few bunnies."
"Bunnies? Why would you want to kill a bunny?"
"Bunnies are EVIL." John said, a manic look in his eye, "They act all cute and cuddly and when you go to pick them up they turn pink and try to impale you on their horns!"
The guy just shook his head in disgust and walked past John while saying, "I have no idea what happened to you, but you need to see a shrink if you're more worried about bunnies then the dragon that's supposed to live around here."
Following behind him, John joined the que of about 40 students waiting to be told where they're assigned a dormitory. "Dragon's are scary, but they don't pretend to be your best friend before they try to eat you. At least you know where you stand with them!"
Snorting, the other kid kept arguing with John about the various beasts and monsters that were known to exist in Gallandwell forest that were far more scary than bunnies. He knew all of this of course, but couldn't help but argue his case. It always baffles John how no one else seems to understand the true menace that is the bunny. They replicate at insane rates, look so damned cute that you can't bring yourself to hurt them, and when you turn your back on them they try to impale you!
Finally getting to the front of the line, John listened as the other kid handed over his letter of invitation and said, "Mike Compton, aspiring hunter."
Hunters are people who travel deep into danger zones to kill monsters and beasts to sell their carcasses. High level hunters can make millions off of a single kill, just a few days ago an Elephant Demon was taken down by a solo hunter in the Laughing Meadow Prairie. Despite it's nice name, Laughing Meadow is considered to be suicide to hunt in due to an incredibly powerful laughing gas. It's both a contact and aerosol poison meaning that if you dare to enter the the prairie you have to do so in a hazmat suit, or be an incredibly high level cultivator that can cut his body off from the surroundings with a powerful barrier. Anyway, the Elephant Demon's tusk sold for nearly 500 Million Credits alone. The hunter hasn't sold off the hide or meat, but I've heard that many collectors are offering billions for them.
The receptionist took his letter and scanned it through the system, making sure his picture matches with their information and pointed to a hand print and DNA scanner. A few years ago, some rich kid had killed a new student that looked like him and pretended to be him for nearly three days before anyone figured out what'd happened. Rumor has it that not only the kid but his entire family disappeared over night. Since then, security to enter the school went through a major overhaul.
A green light came on, and Mike was handed a key along with a paper telling him how to get to his room. "Freshman are not allowed to carry weapons of any form outside of practice ranges, practical training, and excursions into the forest. Personal weapons can be kept in lockers right over there." She pointed at the locker and then looked pointedly at Mike's walking stick. "I have to admit that getting a camouflage system that high of a grade is impressive for a highschool student, but rules are rules..."
Mike looked crestfallen as he walked over the weapons lockers and started to go through the process of putting his rifle away.
Walking up to the receptionist, John fumbled with his bags as he searched for his letter of invitation. Finally pulling it out, he was a bit embarrassed at it's crumpled up state but the woman didn't even bat an eyelash as she put it through the scanner. Putting his hand on the DNA and hand print scanner he said, "John Caplin, I hope to join the taming department."
Looking me up and down for a moment, she said, "The taming department at Gallandwell is difficult to enter, and requires you to pass a test held tomorrow at 9 A.M. If you wish to join, be here at 8:45 to sign up."
Smiling, Jon nodded and said, "I knew about the test, been studying for years to get ready." Grabbing his new key, he headed towards the entrance to the dorm and started reading the paper.
