Class Rivalry

Mr Lindt watched with an impassive gaze as the eight children lay dead on the cold floor before him.

Well, not really  dead, but Altair felt he was close enough. They had run a further three laps of the training hall before the wicked Elf had satisfied his sadistic heart and let them off, but no one was in any shape to go anywhere. Classes had finished for the day, so they were in no rush to leave, and Altair was grateful no classes awaited after this. As he lay sprawled out on the ground, he heard Alexander give a death rattle beside him. 'Shouldn't have talked so much, you bastard' Altair thought in smug satisfaction at the fact Alexander was too exhausted to keep talking. The boy had been boring into his ears the entire lesson with his chatter, and Altair was grateful for the quiet now. Well, as much quiet as you could get when 7 other children were gagging their lungs up beside you.

Zeze and Nezra were also on the ground, having exhausted themselves completely in their race, which Nezra had been the winner. Altair couldn't see a clear winner until the very end, but the boy had pulled slightly ahead at some point and Zeze had just been unable to close that distance. The girl was sulking to herself now, while Nezra was grinning like a shark even as he looked like shit. Altair wondered when he would be able to do the same, before comforting himself by reminding himself that Endyr would absolutely destroy the two of them. Then he felt ashamed for comparing a Grandmaster to two Mortal children and stopped thinking about it. 

"Alright kids, you've had long enough to catch your breath, up you get. Starting next week, we'll be focusing on weapon training so be prepared for that. Oh yes, and it will be a joint activity between the First Years, so you'll be working with the other Classes. Make sure not to embarrass yourselves in front of the other children."

Altair frowned at the somewhat cruel words Lindt had spoken but focused more on what he said about joint lessons. If he would be working with other First Years, does that mean Sia would be participating too? He was looking forward to the idea of that, especially since he had yet to see her Technique that Raphaniel had given her. 

Beside him, Alexander also reacted to Lindt's words, as he sat up with a frown. "Joint lessons huh? Well, I suppose the peace had lasted long enough...Damn, I am so not bothered to deal with this, why does the school have to be so annoying?" he muttered to himself in exasperation. Altair looked at him in curiosity, causing Alexander to smile and expand on what he'd just said. "There is an intense rivalry between Classes in a Year, and Class A always gets it the worst. Sky Cross hosts a Tournament at the end of the year you see, and the winners gets super big rewards. Dealing with the most powerful competitors beforehand has been the strategy of the lower Classes for decades. Ah, this means the other kids will be constantly watching us,. and trying to figure out our Skills and Techniques. A few will even pick fights, and Le'garde tactically allows it to "foster strength" as he puts it. It's just kids ganging up and bullying others though."

"I heard about it" Elizabeth chimed in from the side, her voice tired. "Apparently, kids from the lower Classes go around forming gangs and picking fights at every opportunity. All the faculty turn a blind eye to it, as do the powerful Nobles, all as long as certain people aren't touched at least. The Princess over there will obviously be fine, but people like me with no backing will be hassled to the ends of Orvonia. Ah, a word of advice a Senior passed on: don't feel pressured to accept any duels or challenges you're not comfortable with. There's just no point engaging with them. And the other Classes can only act in combat training, malicious targeting outside of class will be classified as bullying and punished."

"What's the limit?" Altair asked with a frown. Elizabeth scratched her cheek in thought before answering. "Uh, that Senior said things rarely escalate to the point of losing a limb, but being knocked unconscious is within the realm of possibility, even if quite rare."

''"Rarely to the point of losing a limb" meaning people have lost limbs before here. Great, this is just what I needed right now, to be heckled by weaklings and inferiors.'

Altair cursed the system Le'garde set up in Sky Cross before standing up, wrinkling his nose at the pungent smell of sweat. "Well, I doubt they would pick a fight with me, unless they don't value their reputation in the slightest. How do people like Zeze and Alexander fare on the "bulliable" list?"

"I'm fair game for other powerful Nobles" Alexander lazily answered, not yet bothered to move. "As you said, no one that values their reputation will pick on a little kid, but most of us are children ourselves, so don't expect too much in terms of maturity. Especially since people like you tend to attract fists with ease."

"Aren't you getting us mixed up" Altair retorted with narrowed eyes. "You seem to be allergic to keeping your mouth shut, and the Legendry's are not particularly well liked anyways. Put those two factors together, and I'm starting to think I should avoid hanging out with you for the next few weeks."

"Ouch!" Alexander laughed with fake pain. "To be honest, I welcome anyone foolish enough to challenge me, my skills have gotten rusty thanks to that Elf refusing to let us use weapons in training so far. Hmm, by the way, your sister will likely be targeted too."

Altair's head snapped around as he glared at Alexander. "What do you mean" he spoke calmly, undermining the intensity of his gaze. "Like you said, House Atrazark and Legendry aren't very well liked by our peers, and yours is worse off than fine. There's blood in the water, so to speak, and the sharks are certainly aware of it. While there would be heavy consequences, both politically and within Sky Cross, making your sister suffer an "accident" during a duel is a non-zero possibility. Eh, I suppose you aren't too safe either now that I think about it."

Altair fell silent as he rapidly went over everything Alexander said, trying to calculate the probability of someone using the school's system to kill him and Sia. They were pretty high.

'Fuck, this couldn't be worse. Even if the Churchlings stay out of this, just the Nobles would be sufficient to kill me. Why did I have to be reincarnated in a falling House of all things?! Even a Commoner would be better than this!'

In reality, he already had a theory why this body was chosen as his vessel. The System had refused to answer directly, but he had used it top narrow down the possibilities into something readable. 'The original Altair probably died in the womb, and really early at that. A Curse or some sort of contraception given by Mother's enemies would be the culprit. Hah, it seems my fate has been set since the start. In that case, the only option left to me is to break it.'

Destroying Fate was never easy, but had been done before. Plucking an individual string from the tapestry of your Fate was the easiest thing, like removing your future death, while unravelling the tapestry entirely took a lot more effort. Even then, Altair doubted it would be enough to survive, and that it would at best buy him some time. Fate was just one big tapestry in itself after all, and the loss of merely one would barely put a dent in its' machinations. The set course would continue on regardless, and even the act of breaking free from Fate was part of Fate's calculations. As a Denizen of Infinity, and a former Administrator of the System, Altair knew the terror of Fate all too well.

'That's why someone like Weaver is worse than ten normal Gods. And that name is so cliché, a God of Fate calling "Weaver" of all things, why don't you just stick a note and a flashing light on your forehead? Actually, all the Gods have generic names...what is up with that? Does Orvonia grant a God a new pseudonym upon Ascending?'

In the Main Universe, certain words had a universal meaning regardless of world. Therefore, Altair assumed it was the same here in the Infinite Universe, and that the Gods of Orvonia chose new names to represent "Their" Authorities. 'Bah, it's still childish!'