Chapter 18: The End of a Long Day

"I will now explain how my classes will progress." Professor Sendra wasted no time starting her instruction. She also didn't separate the information between her two classes. Alex realized that this was actually quite ingenious. All first years were required to take spirit animal training, so anyone that would be in the introduction to scouting course was already here.

Spirit Animal Training would be taking place in this field every day. It would include conditioning for both contractors and their companions. The main focus will be on developing an understanding of how to compliment each others actions in combat. As such, this class would include regular combat training. Every week, on Fridays, there would be an series of fights. Victors and losers would be recorded. Our grade was based on our placement in the rankings and our growth throughout the class.

Introduction to Scouting would only be in this field on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Today was the only exception, as it was currently Monday. These would be practical skills test days. These tests could range from tracking a trail that professor Sendra set up in advance, or it could be properly butchering and storing a monster. The practical skills tests would normally reflect what was taught in the previous class, with the obvious exception being the final exam. Sendra merely mentioned that there would be one. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday the class met in the Scouting Hall on the other of the field they were now standing in.

Simply put, today the spirit animal training class was all about Sendra getting to know the spirit companions.

She possessed some kind of ability that would allow her to speak telepathically with them. Some she would ask to perform certain actions, others she would ask to attempt some complex maneuver. This was done so that she could grasp the current skills and growth potential of the companions.

All of the companions complied with the requests and things progressed smoothly.

Alex was afraid that Sendra would act as threatening as she did the day before. But professor Sendra remained calm and made no threatening comments or glances at any of the students.

By the time professor Sendra finished her assessment of the spirit animals, not only had class ended, the time allotted for the scouting class had also ended.

Alex had a suspicion that this was not an accident.

It was now just past eight thirty in the evening. The trio was getting tired and hungry, in no particular order.

"Well, I guess we are lucky that we are contractors." Tom said with little mirth.

"What do you mean?" Red asked.

Understanding Tom's train of thought Alex answered. "We have a higher than average constitution, because we are contractors, but think about students who aren't"

Red was stunned. He never even considered the fact that you didn't have to be a spirit contractor to gain entry to the academy. It was only at this moment that Red realized there was a group of students who were standing off to the side in the last class. There was only about twenty students in that group. How had he not noticed that?

"I guess I always knew that being a contractor was not a requirement for entry. I just never thought someone would get in without it." Red had stopped walking. His brow was furrowed. "How could they pass the practical assessment at our age without a contract though?"

Red and Tom were deep in thought, considering how they would get in had they not had their spirit animal companions.

Alex watched them struggle with the concept with a condescending grin.

Eventually the other two saw Alex's smug grin.

"If you think you are so smart then how would you have gotten in?" Tom said, venom dripping from his tong.

"The same way you got in." Alex's smile grew as he watched the understanding grow on their faces.

You didn't need a contract to interact with mana, it just made the process easier. Having a contract also raised the intrinsic limit on the amount of mana that a person could hold. No matter how gifted a student, no regular person could enter Rank 2 through mana. Attempting to do so would result in monsterification. Too many examples had been seen throughout history for anyone not to know this.

The look on Alex's face was too infuriating for Tom to handle.

"Oh, you mean the test you failed?" Tom asked with a snide look on his face. "The one you not only failed, but also managed to piss off the professor of in mere moments. Do you mean that test?"

The smile slowly melted off of Alex's face. "I may have failed the test and angered professor Keller, but didn't it get me my own house?" Alex shot back.

"Oh yes that glorious house. The one with no furniture. What was it called again. Ah, that's right, the compost heap!" Tom was now directly confrontational.

Red watched as this argument devolved even further. Tom and Alex had been friends for a very long time. Naturally, they had plenty of dirt to throw at one another. After a few moments, Red felt that he should break it up.

"Okay. Okay. Okay!" They were not paying attention to him. "Ladies!" He yelled. Now he had their attention. "Ladies, you are both cute. Can. We. Move. On." Red's voice dripped with sarcasm and derision.

The duo were so confused. They didn't know if they should be offended, be angry, or simply laugh at the absurd comment. They chose laughter.

"You are right. We don't have much time. Monsterification starts at eight forty five." Alex admitted. They now had to rush to their next class. Luckily, they were not terribly far away.

The last two classes of the day were in the same building. The Life Studies building was where any courses involving the study of flora or fauna was conducted. This was also the building that was situated near the green house.

They made it to their classes. Monsterification, or rather The Basic Theory of Monsterification, dealt mainly with how monsterification occurred in nature, how it could be prevented, what it actually did to animals, and historic examples of monsterification.

It was very interesting for Alex, but Red and Tom were too tired to care at this point.

The last class of the day was Introduction to Spirit Plants. Honestly, to Alex, this seemed to be the exact same class as the previous one. But where the former focused on animals, this class focused on plants. Both classes even had the same professor. He was a short, old, man with no hair to speak of and a dark tan from working in the fields. He spoke with a vibrant voice filled with mirth and life.

Alex really liked this professor. More than any of the others, he felt a connection to this professor. He reminded Alex of a grandfather.

From what Red told them between classes, Professor Jarilo had been a professor here longer than anyone else. He was also the only professor of any subject that was not a contractor.

This surprised Alex at first, but it didn't matter in the end. He was knowledgeable, and he was a good teacher. That was all that mattered.

Finally, they walked out of their last class at eleven at night. Starved with hunger, from having no time to eat dinner, they made their way to the dining hall and found it nearly empty. The smell of delicious food poured from the open doors of the hall, but it seemed that the other students from their class had chosen sleep over food.

It wasn't until nearly midnight that Alex made it back to his house with Eluril. No matter how tired he was, he couldn't sleep yet. He still needed to look over the list from enchanting, not to mention his daily energy practice.

It was going to be a long night.