First day of class

Today was the first day of class for the new cadets, the classes had been arranged to end with a training class. There was going to be an affinity test and other such tests that could be carried out, mainly for records purposes.

Chris and Naliaki were already dressed and almost at the cafeteria for an early breakfast before the start of class.

"What do you think our first lesson would be in the survival class today?" Naliaki asked as he walked inside heading straight get something to eat.

"I don't know let's just find Warren, he looks like someone who knows a lot." Chris replied as he took in the bustling room full of cadets with differing levels of excitement, as today they would be officially introduced to the mystic world of Mysterys and be taught how to survive its dangers. Chris could only shake his head at the naivety of his thinking, even if it was ok to be prepared for the dangers and enigmas that come with such undertaking. The truth is no matter how prepared the academy base could get you, at the end of the day it was going to be an individual battle with life and fate. It has been said 'No plan survives contact with the enemy' 

"Same way no one can make plans for the future, we can only try to prepare for eventualities that's all." 

"What was that? I didn't hear you." Naliaki looked up at Chris who had melancholy painted on his face.

"Nothing, I was just mumbling to myself about… life." Chris brushed off his concern as he focused on his modest meal, looking around every so often trying to spot Warren.

"I think you should just give up and eat your food with relish, Warren has learnt from his past." Naliaki said with undisguised mockery.

"Would I have had to do this if someone wasn't a fake titled noble scion?" Chris spat back in a biting tone beginning to eat his food with a new found aggression.

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Having left the cafeteria on time since Warren had decided to stay hidden from Chris, the new strategy was to wait for him in class. Walking into their first class, students kept trickling in, in groups of twos or threes maybe more. They could immediately spot Warren in his white battle robe and his chainmail jacket standing out like a sore thumb, he was amongst some students of lesser nobility and of common birth speaking animatedly about something that held them raptured in his words. 

Further away on the left side of the class sat a girl in colorful garb like a blooming flower, anyone with a bit of information could immediately tell she was of house flowering thorn given away by her colorfulness and her distinctively colored hair. At the forefront of the class with an immaculate posture and a cold disposition, sat a blue haired girl. She had on an androgynous attire, a matching sea blue trench coat to her hair over a white long sleeved silk blouse keeping mostly to herself with a few other girls of noble birth around her, all maintaining a healthy silence as opposed to Warren's group.

Chris and Naliaki headed towards the right back of the class room, where they took a seat whilst receiving weird glances of varying emotions occasionally from the other youths. After seating for almost twenty minutes, the class was almost filled to capacity and everyone slated to be in attendance was present… well, almost everyone.

Their first class was on forest survival and those with family that had already passed through the academy base, especially the nobles, had already started showing of their familiarity with the academy base. "I heard that Instructor Welsh who is to take us on forest survival has been stuck in the fifth tier for a long time and his life span would soon come to its end"

One of the students said with a deep sigh as though he was sad for a family member in the hospital, some of the commoners around them listened in to their conversation wanting to know more and occasionally stoking their egos. "A spirit Mystery has a life expectancy of almost three hundred years as long as they are not grievously injured or racked with accumulated injuries, but I heard Instructor Welsh isn't even up to three hundred years of age."

His statement caused all who heard him to feel the sorrow of death on behalf of the instructor in question. "I heard he was injured at sea, that his team ran into a tainted demon at sea more than a century ago leaving him as the only survivor. They say he is even lucky to have survived running into such a high class tainted."

"Isn't a tainted creature equivalent to a spirit Mystery? Then why would they suffer such crushing defeat?" one of the commoner cadets asked in an ingratiating tone, making the nobles proud of their knowledge. 

"You have a lot to learn my young friend. Yes, they are equivalent on paper, but soon you would co-- " the speaker was interrupted by a middle aged handsome man with sickly pale skin and an oblong face with greyed out white hair, who walked into the class and stood on the elevated platform and turned to face the students who had grown noticeably quiet.

"I am Welsh, I would be taking you guys on the course forest survival." He said with a frown on his face as he watched a red haired boy walk into the class with a swagger. "But before we start on the dangers that you need to survive, we are going to first learn about ourselves first." He looked at them all and made sure they were paying attention.

"Who can tell me about the rank of martial Mystery?" Welsh looked around at the difference between his students, there were those eager to learn as it was their first time coming in contact with this world then there were those who almost looked bored or even superior.

"You, yes hot head, you!" Welsh said pointing to the red head boy who had been the last to step into the class, eliciting a scowl from him at the nickname that was an indirect jab at his family's inherent nature of Mystery.

"It is the first rank of Mys-- "

"Introduce yourself first punk." Welsh cut him off for a brief etiquette session on how to speak.

He leveled a glare at Instructor Welsh at the teaching platform, the only thing stopping him from attacking may have been the knowledge that he was no match for the instructor. His family was known for their explosive temper due to the effects of their familial affinity. "I am Branan last son of house flaming raven, and I do not feel like answering such base question." 

Looking at his scrunched up face that spoke of murder, Welsh relented fearing the boy would blow a fuse. "Anyone whose brain hasn't been fried yet feel free to help us out."

"Instructor Welsh, I'm Lily of the house of flowering thorns." Lily said with her voice heavily laced with pride born of being a title nobility.

"Martial Mystery also known as the mortal realm is the start of our journey as Mysterys, it's the rank that we as Mysterys first get attuned to our Affinity and also build up our mortal bodies with our affinity or affinities." After a brief introduction into what she knew about the martial Mystery, Lily took her seat her pinkish yellow hair swaying seductively without too much dramatic flair.

"Very good Lily, I see you've been thought well and are not a muscle headed brute." From where he sat Branan's scowl got darker and he let out a snort trying as much as possible to calm his emotions in other to not give evidence to Welsh's mockery.

"All she said are facts, we are going to talk about all general knowledge relating to the martial Mystery rank. It's going to be an interactive class, and by that I mean I would ask questions anywhere I see fit. If you do not understand any part of my lesson by the end of the class, I am always going to be around to answer your questions… in our next class or you could also ask another instructor." He walked closer to the edge of the raised platform, the classroom was elevated the further back it went. "Now let us begin."

"The martial Mystery as you've heard is the first foundation, it's called the mortal foundation, hence the nickname mortal realm."