Sparring Session

"Get a grip. You are an adult, and these are kids." I told myself.

Ding—!

[7 editor credits have been rewarded]

To my surprise, a red translucent screen popped up in my vision the next moment.

Acting out and making a fuss like a kid… That's what is deemed interesting?

Wait…

I jerked my neck to the left and looked over at Chris Wright.

He was sitting on his spot, clenching his fist while mumbling something to himself. His face was red due to the sheer amount of anger he was holding back.

Ahh, I see now. I've triggered a young master.

"Class, attention!"

A booming voice swept over the classroom and redirected everyone's attention by force to its owner.

Behind a podium on the raised platform that was placed at the front end of the classroom stood Liz with her usual annoyed look plastered on her face.

After making sure everyone was paying attention to her, she began speaking.

"Now that you have been at the academy for five days and have had a chance to become accustomed to your new surroundings, it is important to familiarize yourself with some rules.

"Although the academy has provided you with a list of rules via email, I would like to explain one of the rules in more detail.

"It is important to understand that, regardless of your background or any outside support you may have had, it will not matter at this academy."

As she said that, Liz took a good look at every 'young lord' and 'young lady' present in this class. For some reason, she looked at me too. After a brief pause, she continued

"Money won't work here, so don't bother trying to show off your family's wealth to anyone in this city.

"But now, a question arises, if money doesn't work here, then how does this city's economy function?

"As you may already be aware, most of the city's population consists of cadets in training. As cadets, you will be expected to adhere to strict discipline. The reward and punishment system will be utilized to ensure that this discipline is maintained.

"At the end of each month, you will be awarded 'merit points' based on your academic performance of that month.

"In addition, your academy rank will increase the total number of your merit points through the use of bonuses. The higher your rank, the greater the bonus applied to your merit points.

"In this city, you can purchase nearly anything with enough merit points. This includes both basic necessities and luxurious items.

"For the first month, everything in the city will be free. However, after the end of the month, you will need to earn 'merit' and pay for everything you use.

"There are many ways to earn merit points, such as doing well in training drills or selling mana beast parts to the academy and many more.

"In contrast, there are only two ways of rising in academy ranks. The first is to perform well on semester-end exams and in combat tournaments. The second is to challenge a student one rank higher than you to a duel. If you win the duel, you will advance in rank.

"This academy is designed to prepare you for service in the United Military by providing a competitive environment that helps you become stronger and more resilient.

"In times of war, physical strength and resilience can be crucial for survival. By training hard and striving to become as strong as possible, you can increase your chances of success in the military and in any challenges you may face."

After causing the entire class to fall silent with anxiety, Liz nonchalantly continued speaking. "That's all for the rules. Now let's get to the roll call."

Sigh.

I don't know who came up with the idea to put thousands of young adult teens into one single city and completely strip them of their backgrounds and wealth, but I admire the sadism.

Maybe I should just barge into the Central Government and beat the hell out of them. I was seriously starting to consider it.

The world is filled with wars, deaths, and tragedies.

After all, the world is currently facing two extinction-level threats: Vampires on land and Kalis in space.

Over the course of seven centuries of warfare, the soldiers of the Union Military have developed several strategies for fighting against them.

But even still, there were numerous wars with uncountable casualties.

However, not all wars were fought against Vampires and Kalis.

There were few instances when humans had to fight against elves, dwarves, and even fellow humans.

There were many reasons for this.

First and foremost, Vampires can compel other races and control their minds. They can make you fight against your own kind.

The second reason is the power struggle.

Yes, power struggle.

Since the last few years have been relatively peaceful and the world isn't in any immediate unforeseen danger for now, the struggle for power has been presumed.

People have started fighting themselves instead of the threats they should be focusing on.

Yeah, I know—foolish power-hungry bastards.

Anyway, the third reason was even more foolish: the difference in races.

Elves are too prideful. Dwarves are too rude. And Humans are the greediest of them all.

I can understand the first reason but the latter two reasons were just downright insane. Here they are conscripting young teen adults to die in war yet the adults are more concerned about their power. 

This is another reason why I am so disappointed in today's Government.

So needless to say, a few conflicts were unavoidable and one should be ready to fight at any given moment against anyone to maximize their chances of survival in this world.

In simple words, what they want is that a good cadet should be ready to face any kind of danger that's thrown at them.

That's why, after Liz was done with our roll call, we were sent to the training field.

Currently, we are going through a drill exercise called 'anti-personnel combat training,' the first thing in the morning.

Now I personally don't have a problem with it, but it's really hard for me to go easy on these kids.

Since the total amount of power I can harness is not more than 2%, there won't be any risks of not being able to hold back.

But my fighting experience alone will be enough to defeat anyone and that may catch the attention of the Instructors. Since it's a spar, I can't even forfeit. I guess I should try my best to not stand out.

Anyway, it's an hour-long class where cadets spar against each other with their preferred choice of weapons.

It doesn't need to be the weapon they chose during the Weapon Selection; it could be anything.

After all, a soldier should at least know how to get around using as many weapons as one can.

They could use any martial arts as long as it's not lethal. They could also use mana in their attacks.

So for that, everyone was gathered in the concrete training field and since it was technically our first day, we were using practice weapons.

Practice weapons were made of wood and carbon fiber to make this class a little less painful for the cadets.

Looking around, I could see the potential main cast paired up against other main casts for this training drill session.

Nero was sparring against Chase.

Elijah was barely holding his own against Quinn.

Aster was valiantly going up against Anastasia.

Ah, Joe couldn't have made it more obvious as to who the main characters are.

Young cadets sparring against each other, bonding and enjoying themselves for a little while.

But currently, my situation is not looking good. 

That's because I was paired up with Amelia.

Yes, the very girl Lucas tried to assault.