Academy (2)

"Everybody line up!" A man shouted. He had broad shoulders and was standing tall at the height of at least two meters. Max and the others recognized him by only his voice alone. He was their teacher.

If you looked at the man you would feel conflicted. His long white hair and face full of wrinkles gave him an elderly feeling, but his body didn't make him seem old. Under his black shirt you could see muscles bulging out, looking like the shirt was so close to being blown off by them. He wore some casual camo pants as well, which reduced the feeling of intimidation he was giving.

He was, in fact, pretty old. Sitting at the age of 73, one couldn't believe what they were told but that was indeed the truth. The old man was called Eric and was a veteran teacher in the academy. Serving for something around 40 years into teaching younglings he was quite experienced in teaching, which evolved in him being one of the best teachers in the academy. This was due to his unusual way of training the youths under him.

He would tell them to group up in teams of five. He didn't assign them in teams but he let them choose which ones would be their future teammates. After doing so they would be competing against each other in a rivalry meant for their evolution.

Max didn't have a complete team of five when Eric told them to group up, the originals being Ashley, Rya, Ken, and of course, Max. They searched for a fifth partner to join them and that was when Anna joined the group.

What Eric actually meant was that they would, at a maximum, have five people in their teams so Max chose to go with the limit he was allowed. Four people, excepting himself, wouldn't be hard to guide through battle and so he didn't think twice about adding another person to their group.

Old Man Eric had a warm smile on his aged face as he was watching his pupils getting into a line. He began counting them one by one until he reached the opposite end of the line.

"Nineteen, everyone is here..." He looked around for a second and then "Tell me, how was last week for you and your team?" Eric asked as he pointed his finger at one of the children in line.

Will saw the pointed finger at him and cursed in his mind. He was the leader of one out of five teams in the class, including Max's team of course. This was a rough week for them, he and the rest of his team were defeated by a group of Low-Grade Magical Beasts and so most of the week they recovered from the injuries they sustained.

Old Man Eric had a keen eye, and even though not that noticeable for a lot of people, his years of experience and through the control of magic over his body he could point out small details, like the small bruise on Will's cheek, or the purple spot on the back of his hand, no matter how much he tried to hide it. Eric knew that he was beaten quite badly, for him to still have these bruises. The defeat of the leader would mean the defeat of the team in most cases so he wanted to hear him out.

"We were ambushed by a group of Low-Grade Magical Beasts, we weren't ready for it and got beaten by them. Thankfully we managed to leave with no casualties." Will said, watching the warm smile on Eric's face. Eric looked at him.

"And you think you can lie to me this easily?" He looked at Will with eyes full of disdain.

*Gulp* Will swallowed his saliva, he had to admit his mistake in front of the whole class, what shame will it bring upon him. He paused for a second, watching Eric, but seeing him becoming impatient he took a step forward and began speaking.

"As the leader, I take full responsibility.." He looked at Eric with fearful eyes, he took a glance at the other people in line, then continued ".. I... got greedy and suggested to attack the small group of Low-Grade Magical Rabbits, they were only three. My other teammates advised me to not do it but as I was filled with greed I persuaded them until they accepted my offer. After we initiated the fight more Magical Rabbits came from the forest and we were barely able to escape." Will once again looked fearful at Eric, he knew he was about to get lectured big time.

As he finished his last sentence he took a step back, aligning himself back into the row of 16-year-olds.

"If, as a leader, you won't recognize your mistakes your party is doomed to fail, don't care about honor! The life of your comrades is a hundred times more important! Putting it into greed's hands is never good! Remember what happened and never do it again!" Eric scolded Will. As he was scolded, Will took it to heart. He may be prideful but he knew the words were not said to belittle him, they were guidance from a Medium-Tier Mage after all.

Eric looked mad, his red face could be an easy way to identify that. H looked in Max's direction, then, as Max expected, he pointed his finger at him and said "And you? Will you lie about what happened like him?" Eric said, annoyance could be identified in the tone of his voice. He was always guiding them but they were still fearful of telling him their mistakes, how one's master not be mad, after all guidance is the only reason people get a master!

Max then took a step forward and said.

"After careful consideration, and with the majority of the votes approving, we went to test our abilities on an almost Medium-Grade Magical Boar that still was evolving from his Low-Grade form. To secure the final blow and to protect my teammates I took the full blow of the boar with one hand, leaving the other one ready to strike with my spear. I've managed to protect my teammate and killed the boar but in the process... I broke my left arm, which is currently healing." Max said honestly, sugarcoating the words he used. He knew it was in no way a good idea to lie to Eric.

Eric nodded his head and approved, not saying anything to Max about how he should've proceeded. Young people will always try and test their limits, which was both a good and a bad thing, but he didn't act because of greed and first considered it, then asked for the opinion of his teammates.

After asking how the week was for the other 3 team leaders, Eric addressed everyone once again.

"Today, as the first day of the two weeks of training, I have an announcement. In a week's time we will be going hunting with the whole class. You guys will be guided under me, and will experience fighting in larger teams."