Lesson

Ares sighed. He had no irreconcilable grudge against Victor despite being beaten half to death in the fight.

After another day of rest in the hospital ward Ares was released. He was looking forward to participating in the lessons that had now begun for the other recruits. Ares learnt from Joe during a visit that following his fight the rest of the tests had been halted; several lessons had began instead.

There were three core subject everyone took; then there was an optional module which everyone got to select. The core subjects were spell craft, combat practice and understanding of magic. There were four optional subjects which were history of magic, auxiliary magic, magic forging and alchemy. Alchemy and magic forging were far more popular than the other two subjects but had a limit of eight spaces each. Ares had been unconscious during the selection so he had only the choice of auxiliary magic or history of magic which were the least popular with only four students or so between them both.

Having been in bed for days Ares was eager to begin lessons and upon being released from the ward made his way straight to spell craft. On his was he met Den, Tracy and Joe. Den and Joe were very talkative discussing what Ares had missed. Tracy was strangely quiet; Ares wanted to ask her what was wrong whenever he spoke with her she would look away quickly and a red hue would rise up her neck.

When they arrived at the classroom Ares was once again surprised. The classroom was similar to an open field however there were around thirty identical domes dotted over the field encased in thin glass.

"Pick a sphere and enter." Joe said to Ares before making his way to his own dome.

Ares walked to a dome and placed his hand on the glass. Instead of meeting resistance like he expected Ares found he could walk straight into the dome going through the glass. Inside the glass the rest of the world blacked out and the inside of the dome appeared to look like a starry sky dotted with light and galaxies. Ares heard a voice in his head.

"Make your way to the centre and begin to meditate." Ares recognised the voice; it sounded like Mars.

"Where are you Mars?" Ares asked glancing around the enclosed bubble.

"Its telepathy you fool. I'm the teacher for this subject; sit in the centre and meditate." Mars said.

Listening to the advice Ares made the way into the centre of the bubble and sat cross legged on the floor. He then began to meditate.

Initially it felt stupid sitting there in silence but as time ticked on Ares connected to the room; the stars and galaxies visible to him resounded deeply in his body.

"Now you are immersed I want you to try to feel your magic core."

Having only very recently heard about the magic core Ares didn't really know what to do. He visualised a lake inside his body full of glimmering blue water. The lake slowly become more and more realistic to Ares until he was stood incorporeal next to a small lake of shining black. The lake was completely still, not a single movement could be seen on its pitch-black surface. The water wasn't large only seeming ten or fifteen metres across but its depth was unknown, he could see nothing within its inky darkness.

He stood staring at the lake examining its shape and size before being awoken by Mars voice in his head.

"Lesson is over. Make your way to the combat dome for next lesson."

It felt like only a minute or so but it had been over an hour. Ares smiled to himself; he realised he had seen his internal core and he was pleased at his progress.

As they made their way Ares chatted enthusiastically to Joe.

"It's been three days and I almost saw my core today; I could feel it." Joe boasted apparently proud of his accomplishment. Ares did not publish his success and instead complimented Joe which made him ecstatic.

Upon arrival at the combat dome Ares couldn't help but look at the other nineteen or so youths. Having been in lessons for several days together by this point various groups had formed. One group in particular seemed to be unhappy about his presence. Victor was in the middle of the group four others stood to his sides including the two from their dormitory. Ares hoped to himself that this wouldn't be a battle of any sort, it was clear that more than one person already harboured a grudge with him.

Once in the combat dome a grizzly old man approached the group. He had one metal pole like leg and an eye patch over one eye, he couldn't have stood at more than five-foot-tall but had a domineering aura about him. His unpatched eye roamed the group like an eagle quickly isolating Ares from the group.

"Finally, you came back, I hope you realise that because of your flashy performance on the test you caused my lessons to all be delayed." The man said.

Ares thought to himself calling it a flashy performance was somewhat unfair; he had been almost beaten to death.

"Whatever I don't care as long as you are here. I am quartermaster Iron. You will call me Iron, today you will join the rest of the group as you all have your tutor selected." Iron explained.

The rest of the group seemed pleased, from Ares's earlier enquires he already knew their previous lessons in the combat dome had been only combat theory.

"I will select you two at a time and take you into the other arena. When there you will spar each other. The third-year students will observe your performance and select their mentees from the results." Said Iron.

Ares hadn't seen any other students since joining the Space guild so wandered where they had been.

"The third year students only just returned from their graduation missions. They should be in the arena" Joe whispered to Ares.

"I don't wish to delay this any further; lets get rid of the problem child first. Ares and Ziggy follow me." Iron said walking off quickly despite his handicap.

Ziggy was another student on the other side of the group; he was fortunately not part of Victors groups.

Ares and Ziggy made their way into a smaller arena which was closed off with metal gates from the rest of the dome. There were small stands on either side of the arena full of seats. Around twenty teenagers were sat chatting softly as Ares and Ziggy entered.