Chapter 91 Syllabus

After the limo ride, Jake and two other young Sullivans, Adonis and Nora, were dropped off in a gravel parking lot that sat next to the sea, where seemingly others were waiting for something or someone to arrive. A few minutes had passed, and Jake was still talking to his newly acquired friends he made during the entrance exam.

"Hey, there are a lot more people here than I thought there would be," Jake said aloud, scanning over the crowd of people. There had to be around twenty, no, maybe thirty people standing around waiting, some speaking and making conversation with each other. On the other hand, there were those standing a bit away from the crowd, trying their best to be isolated. They unintentionally came off as loners.

In the former group was Jake's newly discovered cousin, Adonis, with his slicked back hair, trying to flirt with a few girls standing close to him. One of them blushed as she tried to pull away, but the young man smiled, pulling her in closer. "Where are you going, baby?" Adonis seductively asked. "Don't run, I want to be close to you." The woman giggled like a schoolgirl as Adonis planted a kiss on her neck.

Also within this social butterfly group was a familiar young woman with purple hair. She was making conversation with a small group of people. This young woman with purple hair was Amethyst, the same girl that had been stabbed numerous times during her match in the third phase of the exam. The parts of her body that were exposed were wrapped in medical bandages. Clearly, she wasn't at a hundred percent, but she was in a better state now than after she had won her match.

On the opposite side of the spectrum were the loners. There were a few, like the blonde-haired young man that wielded the massive broadsword. That blade was nowhere to be seen now, but he was as cool and quiet as ever. He silently leaned against a pole with his eyes closed. Near him was Nora, who was sitting on her suitcase with her face aimed at the ground. She blindly stared at the ground, her mind equally filled with every thought in the world and nothing at all.

Jake still scanned the crowd of people, impressed at how many were going to be enrolled at the academy. As he looked, Zack responded to his earlier statement.

"It probably would have been more if this year's exam applicants weren't such scrubs," Zack said. "Hey!!" Biscuit and Gabby shouted, offended by Zack's comment. The spiky-haired young man smirked as he waved their offense away. "Most of these guys are getting in because they come from important families that have close ties to the government, so they can pull strings so their little snowflake babies can make it into the academy without taking the entrance exam," Zack snickered at his own comment as he scanned his own eyes over the crowd. "And the others are former students that didn't graduate last year but were fortunate not to fail out, so they came back this year," Zack stopped eying the crowd and turned his attention back to Jake, Biscuit, and Gabby.

When he did, all he saw were confused looks on their faces. "What?" Zack asked Jake, looking bewildered. "Is it something I said?"

"What do you mean by 'not fortunate'?" asked Jake.

"What do you mean by 'fail out'?" asked Biscuit.

"Why are you such a know-it-all, spike head?" asked Gabby.

After they asked their questions, all three squinted their eyes, looking at Zack. The young man processed what they all asked. He chose to ignore Gabby's question and focus on Jake and Biscuit's. Then, his face morphed into one of similar confusion.

"What are you guys telling me? You don't know how grades work in the academy?" The three looked even more stumped. Biscuit shook his head as his ears drooped down. "Sorry, I don't. I didn't even know we were going to be given grades. I thought this was a military academy," said Jake.

"You didn't answer my question, spiked head," commented Gabby. Once again, Zack ignored Gabby and focused on what was important. "Of course, we receive grades. Yeah, it's a military school, but it's still a school," Zack rubbed the back of his head as he turned and scanned the crowd of people waiting once more. "You see," Zack said, facing the three again, "depending on the amount of students or cadets there are in a year, only a small amount of them will graduate. Usually, it's potential ten graduates a year, sometimes even fewer than that." "DID YOU SAY TEN?" the three shouted in surprise, so loud, in fact, that they drew the attention of a few eyes. As Zack rubbed his aching ears, he continued, "Yep, the graduate pool is pretty small. The Gardenia Military prefers quality soldiers over quantity." The three were shocked, but not nearly as much as Jake. He looked around, looking at everyone. "So, your…" "Saying, 'Out of all these people, only ten will graduate,' yep," Zack responded, shaking his head in agreement. "That's why it's important to keep an eye on your grading percentage."

"What's that?" asked Biscuit, his ears now perked up, intrigued by what was being said.

"Your grading percentage determines where you, as a cadet, fall on the totem pole," Zack explained. "Depending on how well you do in your training, in combat situations, in the classroom, and all that other stuff, will affect how you're graded. Cadets that have an 85% to 100% grade are seen as high-tier students and will be able to graduate at the end of this school year if they're able to keep that grade."

The three cocked their heads to the side, confused. So, Zack elaborated, "Mid-tier students have grades that range from 60% to 80%. These cadets are seen to have skill and some talent but not enough to graduate. They're like half-cooked chicken; they need a bit more time on the grill till they're just right. So, mid-tier students, even though they don't graduate, they're allowed to re-enroll the next year."

Zack once again looked around at the crowd of people. Eventually, his eyes landed on someone, and he pointed them out. "Hey, you see that guy," he said.

The three's eyes followed Zack's finger till their eyes were on a short, heavy-set young man with a neat and tidy-looking haircut. "He's a returning student," Zack said. "He was a mid-tier for more than one year, maybe twice before if I'm correct. From what I remember, he isn't memorable when it comes to combat and physical training at all, but he does good in the classroom and coming up with strategies. And that's why he's able to come back."

"Wait, you know him?" asked Jake, but Zack hadn't heard him because he was turning in another direction and pointing at another person that he recognized. This time, it was a young woman. She stood with her hands on top of her head, seemingly staring blankly at the sky. But what the three noticed about her that stood out were her eyes. They were yellow and they shined like a cats, and similar to a feline, they were focused even though she seemed not to be paying any attention at all. "She was at the academy the previous year, like the other guy. She was a mid-tier, so like him, she wasn't able to graduate but was given the opportunity to come back. That's the luxury that's afforded to mid-tiers."

"Then there are the low-tiers," with saying this, Zack turned back and faced the three again. "A low-tier cadet is one with a grade that falls lower than the sixties. If they can't raise their grade, then at the end of the year, they're kicked out of the academy entirely and can't ever apply again. Hell, they can't even retake the entrance exam after that."

Zack was finished, and with that, he watched as Jake, Biscuit, and Gabby absorbed all of this information. The first to speak was Biscuit. "So, with there being a limited number of students that graduate in a year and with this whole grading system, you're basically telling us that this academy is competitive?"

Hearing this, Zack smirked. "You hit the nail on the head, Fido. This school is hella competitive. After a while, the people who you think are your friends can quickly turn to enemies. This school is cutthroat, and the academy and the government know it, and they like it that way. They believe it breeds better, stronger soldiers."

Biscuit looked down at the ground as he was lost in thought. "So, if I fail, then I can never come back? And if that happens, then I won't be able to meet him," the thought of him failing his goal that he had ever since he was a little pup made Biscuit shiver a bit. But then he resolved himself, "No!" he ended up shouting. "I can't fail! I have a dream to accomplish! I will meet him! I will stand beside him! I'm NOT GOING TO FAIL! I REFUSE!" Biscuit had snapped back quickly, but his shouting drew the attention of more surrounding eyes. This made Zack chuckle and made Jake smile. The young man reached out his hand and rubbed Biscuit's back. This shocked the young beastman and also made him wag his tail without his knowledge. "I'm right there with you, Biscuit," Jake said. "I'm not going to fail either, especially not after how far I've come to get here." Biscuit turned towards Jake as he shook his head violently in agreement. "Yes, you're absolutely right. We can't fail, none of us. We must be one of the ten to graduate this year." Jake smiled and shook his head as Gabby jumped up and down in excitement like the little girl she was. "Yep, yep! We're going to pass and beat all of our rivals! We'll crush all of them into the dirt!" Zack laughed. "Oh, I wouldn't worry about all of them." The three paused and looked at the spiky-haired young man. "If I know this academy the way I know I do, then the amount of people here is going to get trimmed down." Zack smirked as he placed his hands behind his head in a relaxed position. This confused Jake more, so he finally asked the question that had been growing since Zack started speaking. "Hey, Zack," Jake said. "How do you know so much, you know, about the school and other students and grades?" Zack looked at Jake as he smiled a full-toothed smile. "What, you didn't know? I'm a mid-tier cadet myself. I've been a part of the academy for three years now, since I was 12 years old." Zack then burst out laughing as if he had told a funny joke, but the three didn't laugh. They stared at him wide-eyed as they all screamed at the same time, "YOU WHAT!!!"