3 Orientation

Walking through the door with his bag, John glanced at the paper the receptionist had given him. 'Thank god' he thought to himself as he read it. He was expecting to be rooming with tons of people, but he somehow managed to get a room all to himself. Reading the rest of the note, it was just a reminder to be at the main auditorium at 3 for the orientation.

Shrugging, Jim crumpled it up and stuffed it into his pocket before turning to Mike who'd just finished with his rifle. "Pity about your rifle, was a good try."

"Nah, I'm happy it happened now. The armorer told me the penalties for freshman caught with unauthorized weapons..." Mike shuddered.

"It can't be that bad, can it?" John asked as they walked into the elevator that'd just arrived, punching the 6th floor.

"Apparently, Gallandwell doesn't believe in suspensions or kicking people out. Instead, they throw you into the forest by yourself for a week and if you manage to survive you can come back."

"DAMN!" John said in shock, his face paling as he remembered his experiences in the forest, "That's hardcore!"

He nodded, glancing at the floor he hit he asked, "You on the 6th floor too?"

"Yeah, I'm in 681, you?"

Glancing down at his note he said, "682, guess we'll be neighbors."

A few minutes later, they opened the door marked 681-690 and found themselves standing in a common room with a couple of couches, a TV, and a kitchen. Walking past the empty couches, John headed into room 681 and found it to be kind of cramped, but smiled in surprise when he saw the bookcases covering the side of the room usually reserved for the 2nd bed from floor to ceiling.

"He actually came through!" John was nearly jumping up and down in excitement as he ran over to examine the books. His dad had asked if he wanted anything for getting into Gallandwell and John had told him he wanted the complete Encyclopedia of Monsters and Beasts. All 120 volumes, each with several thousand pages of descriptions on habits, weaknesses, stories of Hunter's who'd managed to kill them, and Tamer's who'd managed to tame them. Many people have said that without memorizing the encyclopedia you cannot become a qualified Tamer or Hunter. Because of that, it's nearly impossible to access it in the library. John had heard that while Gallandwell has multiple copies, only Juniors and higher ever get the opportunity to actually read it.

John's dad got me the first 10 volumes at home, saying that he only needed them for the first year of school and that he'd get the rest after John got to school. John had spent weeks memorizing each and every detail of the first 10 volumes down to a tiny spill of ink that the original author had left behind by accident while describing single-horned snakes.

Noticing a yellow post-it note stuck next to the 11th volume, John read it. "Congratulations, work hard! When you leave the room remember to close the false wall and don't let anyone know you have these! - Dad"

Confused as to what he meant by false wall, John realized that under the post-it note was a hand print scanner. Placing his hand on it, he watched as the bookcases retracted and the wall fell to the floor covering them up as if they'd never existed.

"Damn, how did he manage to get that installed?" John asked himself in confusion, but forgot about it when he realized that it was already 2:30 pm. "Shit, I'm gonna be late!" John ran out the door, trying to remember where the main auditorium is.

35 minutes later, John skidded to a halt in the basement outside a mostly closed door. Opening it slowly, he breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that more than half the seats were unfilled and no one had started yet. Sneaking in as inconspicuously as he could manage, John found a seat near the back and thought, 'Why in the hell is the auditorium in the basement!'

Pulling out his phone, he was surprised to see it actually had bars. Ever since he'd gotten into the forest the phone had been disconnected. This was common to most danger zones, the mana in the air disrupting signals. Some special devices are used by Hunters and Tamers when they venture deep into them, but in order to buy and use them you have to pass a qualification test to join one of the guilds and students almost never passed.

Ignoring the excited buzz of conversation around him, John shot off a thank you text to his dad before opening his favorite game in the world. 'Tamer Sim 101'. It was his mom's present for getting into Gallandwell, rather then a game it's more of an educational device that helps to prepare you for taming monsters. The game starts off with you wandering through a prairie and taming a low-level monster. After figuring out how to tame the monster, you have to train it and head to more and more difficult areas before at a high level an arena opens where you can use your monsters to duel each other. It's the most accurate game ever made, and costs so much John thought he'd die of sticker shock when he downloaded it.

Using his brainwaves to move the character through the prairie, John dodged all the bunnies that they wanted him to tame. 'I don't care if it's in a game or in real life I will NEVER tame a bunny, instead I'll come back after taming a Leopard and kill them all!!!'

While wandering around the prairie looking for something other than a bunny to tame, he'd ignored the state of the room and so he was surprised when a squeaky voice came through the speakers. Shutting down the game, he looked up to see a 3 and a half foot tall man wearing a custom tailored suit and floating a couple of feet off the floor.

His squeaky voice came again, "Settle down, settle down." About half the room kept ignoring him, forgetting that anyone who can hover a couple feet off the floor is not someone you want to mess with.

"ENOUGH!" The squeaky voice disappeared as an image of a massive dragon appeared behind his back and he roared out with a deep voice in anger.

Sure enough the room went silent in an instant, and the smile returned to the small man as his annoying voice returned. "I am Donovan Parker, head of your class. For the next several years I'll be in charge of you, what classes you are in, what clubs you can join, whether or not you graduate, I'm in charge of it all!" The image of the dragon appeared behind him again as he spoke, apparently he was still pissed that half the students had ignored him.

Taking a deep breath, he let it go and continued on in his squeaky voice, "Gallandwell High isn't like any other school, what we focus on isn't mathematics or literature, although you'll certainly be learning that here, but rather how to survive and thrive in the danger zones. That being the case, we have different requirements for you to move to the next grade than any other school. In order to become a Sophomore you need to reach the third level of body refining and reach a basic proficiency in a weapon of some sort. To become a Junior, you need to reach the 6th level of body refining and reach a medium level of proficiency, to become a Senior you need to reach the 9th level of body refining and an expert level of proficiency. Finally, in order to graduate you need to join one of the 4 profession guilds!"

The sound of murmuring started to build up into a crescendo as shocked students couldn't believe the requirements to graduate. None of them even had a training manual yet, the school requiring their students to use one of their manuals in order to join, but the real kicker is the requirement to join one of the guilds in order to graduate. There are hundreds of smaller guilds that provide similar services as the top 4, but the top 4 are the most powerful, prestigious, and difficult to join.

The Defender's spend their time in Dangerous Zones close to reclaimed areas, making sure that monster tides can't destroy the rebuilt cities. They are famous for wearing heavy armor and carrying massive shields.

The Hunter's Guild brings together the most talented and powerful hunters, giving them a place to trade and sell their goods safely. Before they came into prominence, it was common for vultures to wait for hunters to return with their kills and steal it from them. That's all but disappeared because of the Hunter's Guild hunting down anyone, no matter their background, who dares to do such a thing.

The Tamer's Guild is a place for talented Tamer's to train and helps with buying the goods you need to maintain your monsters and beasts. They have a close relationship with the Hunter's Guild and several of their members are allowed to join the Hunter's Guild as well.

Finally, the Maker's Guild started off as the Alchemists' Guild but expanded quickly as all professions rushed to band together for safety. The Maker's Guild is a place where any type of artisan can join so long as they reach a minimum requirement of ability. Members of the guild are protected by the policy that anyone who attacks a member will die a painful and slow death. So far, no one had managed to escape them, not even the late Prime Minister Gato.