Afiguratively

True terror is to wake up one morning and discover that your high school class is running the country. - Kurt Vonnegut

———

1 1/5 Years Later

After his informative conversation with General Han, Yamamoto been trained, and trained himself, mercilessly. The past few days had gone by slow. General Han didn't want me to accidentally hurt myself during training so we went light. I couldn't wait to test myself against those who were as good or better than me. "You should start thinking about this road you're about to embark upon." General Han said suddenly.

Before, we had set out of the territory that belonged to the Shi family. I had only been outside of it 2 times. The first was when I first got into this body, and the second was when we left to execute those prisoners. The first time I set my eyes upon this place, I did notice the overall mood of citizens.

"These people will not care about you. While I do wish for you to go and become a Naval soldier, your dreams and aspirations will need far more than you might be able to give. This path will take every shred of mental fortification from you as your body is broken from your labors day after day.

You will have to crawl and desperately grasp at everything to be better. Your life will be grim, and to survive- no….to thrive, you will need to great it grimly.

There will be times when you feel as though going farther will be impossible, those are the days when the true character of a man is revealed, whether or not you fold of expand into something great is up to you and you alone. You must have it in mind, that anything and everything you do, will not be enough.

Remember, hard times forges hard and capable men, peace carves weak and compromising boys. We'll see what kind you'll be." He spoke with determination. And to be honest, it kind of scared me.

Though that went away quickly. "What, no faith?" Was all I could respond with.

"No matter my faith, what matters is yours."

Our horses trekked up to the gates surrounding the inner city. They weren't that magnificent, so I took no note of them. On the inside I expected to find a bustling and alive city…..what I found was a bustling city, but alive?

I could taste the terror in the air. I was again reminded that these times were dark indeed. Even the children walked with caution, carefully observing their environment for sudden changes and dangers. And none of these people were poor.

"I would wish you good luck, but my luck will be useless to what you're aiming for. All I have to say is, hopefully I can see you again." He said uncharacteristically solemnly. Surely he wasn't worried about my studies in the academy. No he's talking about my wanting to be both a sorcerer and a Celestial Dragon Guard.

I nod to him. He turns away on his horse and his figure slowly gets smaller and farther away. "What have I gotten myself into and where is Hanma?" I mumbled to myself.

——

Instructor Feyo POV

The Imperial Naval Academy. A place where young boys come to learn and study the arts, language, history and military of the Empire. Where they could bond and grown together. How pathetic!

Established in the reign of the Pearl Emperor by a unknown person of that era. It was, at first, meant to be that. How naive. You can't trust anyone, at all.

Ever since my assignment here, thats what I taught. Other teachers and tutors would preach about friendship, comradeship, partnership and other such hogwash. They didn't see it. They didn't see what a man can do to another man.

His greatest student is already close to graduating, at only 15! A genius amongst geniuses- "ATTENTION!" He yelled out, forcefully bringing himself out of his daydreaming. His voice reached all corners of the grand hall. Thousands of children, just entering teenhood from all across the province were here. Atleast the ones who had parents or benefactors that could afford the enrollment.

He felt all their eyes on him, 'Good.' They gazed upon his figure. He's a man of huge proportions, his arms and legs were as thick as tree trunks, muscles visible through his ceremonial military gear. Most there were terrified and intimidated by his face. Littered with battle scars, the most prominent one running from the left side of his jaw all the way in the middle of his bald head.

His eye was foggy and unfocused, 'blind' most of the kids deduced.

"It seems you all have a good grasp on what's expected of you. While you're here, the absolute best is going to be expected out of you all.-" Nervous glances and head nods trying to give encouragement were all seen by Feyo.

"-Stop! No one here is going to feel sorry for you. The people here are not your friends, we will put you under the scrutiny of attention to detail every single day. Tomorrow-" he took some time to look around the room. He saw how their eyes avoided his, how they sweated from just sitting there, how they gulped nervously. "-Tomorrow-" his eyes took on a chesire, cruel grin. "-Tomorrow....we start the hard stuff."