Chapter 14: The First Beating

She turned to look at me for a few seconds. Before facing the arena once again, giving a little chuckle in turn.

 "That's the problem, isn't it? You have too many eyes on you at the moment to be doing nothing. It doesn't matter what the truth might be. Despite what it may look like, there are many who are not happy about the changes. They will take any chance to diminish our importance. I will not allow any one of you to give them a reason. Least of all you. The others have protection in some form or the other. But you, you have nothing."

That was harsh from Emilia, but I couldn't deny the truth. I was the only one with no family to back me up. Any mistake I made would rest solely on my shoulders.

She looked at me for a few moments, waiting for my reply. Pity was clear in her eyes. That was not something I appreciated. Pity was the one thing I didn't need from anyone. I had seen that far too often in the past few years.

I had thought that receiving my soul armour would change that, but in that moment, I felt like I was back to square one. The enormity of everything that was happening hitting me once again.

I clenched my hand tightly, away from her sight. I didn't want Emilia to know how much her words had affected me.

Seeing the first-ranked second-year heading up to the stage gave me a reason to try and change the conversation.

"Do you know who are the first-ranked second and third years?"

She looked at me for a few moments, scrutinizing my face. I wasn't sure what she was looking for, but I tried my best to look as calm as possible.

Finally, she turned to face the arena, accepting my change in conversation.

"I suppose you don't know who anyone is. You will need to change that quickly."

I didn't like her using my question as another opportunity to reprimand me, but before I could interject, she continued.

"They are people you should try to emulate; neither of them are Commanders. The past two years have had less than stellar Commanders chosen."

The distaste in her voice was unmistakable. I was only glad that she had changed her focus from me for a few moments.

"That will change with this year. Ivan is by all accounts a premier Commander already."

I was tempted to ask why he might not like me, but by the look on her face while she talked about Ivan. I wasn't sure I would get an unbiased answer.

"The first ranked of the second years is a Light Type, already a peak B-ranker. Terrence Fulton. A monster by all accounts. The third-year's premier fighter is a Heavy type who is a peak A-ranker. Iris Saunders. She is the greatest recruit seen in the past decade. There is no doubt that she will be an S-ranker by graduation."

The information about the top fighters in the upper years made me silent as we watched Terrence's bout.

Terrence's fight went much the same way as Iris's had. He hadn't even needed to activate his armour before taking out his opponent.

We watched the next few matches that followed a similar strain. Emilia turned to look at me once more.

"I was surprised to hear that you had been here all day. The real fights don't start until tomorrow."

I didn't particularly appreciate that she had been keeping tabs on me. Still, that information would have been nice to learn a few hours before.

While I didn't think the answer would do me any favours, it would be best, to be honest with her.

My ignorance wouldn't help me in the long run. The more information I got, the better.

"I didn't know that. I've never been to anything like this. I didn't know how it would go."

That did surprise her. Her eyes widened as I spoke. I was glad that there wasn't a hint of pity in her eyes any longer. Now, only surprise remained.

"How did you not know that? Everyone knows that. Have you talked to anybody since you came to the Academy?"

That was a little embarrassing to look back on. It was true. I had not spoken to anyone since I had arrived apart from the new Types.

My lack of answering gave her everything she needed to know. A sly smile grew on her face. The first look that was in any way natural on her face.

"No wonder you don't know anything. I thought the most important thing would be getting you to start training in front of others. But it would be best if you started talking to other people. Right now, who knows how they see you? But someone who can control monsters will inspire little trust from the start. You will need to fight an uphill battle. It's best to start with the first impression."

That was the first nice thing that she had said to me. It was also the most sincere she had been. The reprimand about training had been forced compared to that advice. If it hadn't been for everything that had happened before. I would feel like she cared about me.

My look of surprise must have sobered her as she was quick to return to her neutral visage.

"Anyway, there is no use sticking around here to watch the remaining matches for today. Follow me. We are going to go train with the others."

That was far from what I wanted to do, but by the now steely look on her face, it was clear she wouldn't give me a choice.

I had no choice but to get up and follow behind her. I was nearly running to keep pace with her advanced physical stats.

I would have thought that the Sentry's Physical stats wouldn't be all that good. Taking more after the Ranged Types stat archetype.

As I nearly ran across the Campus after her, it was clear that it wasn't the case.

I would have to rethink what I thought of the other Types.

I hoped this training would give me more information about my fellow new Types.

I followed her towards the practice arena, the first time I had visited it since I arrived at the Academy.

It appeared no different from any other buildings from the outside. A far cry from the towering arena.

There was a practice arena for each year; only the first years was an actual building. There would be no way for a building to survive the higher years.

I was surprised that the first years even had a building, as I was sure a full-powered punch from a C ranker could do some damage.

Entering the building, we were quick to move through the entry room. A few people were manning the desks. I could only assume that they were the people who tracked what practice rooms were being used.

I didn't get the chance to talk to them. They went to stand as we approached, but as soon as they saw Emilia, they sat back down.

It seemed that she had her own personal training area.

I wondered if I could get one of my own. The Professor had clarified that I couldn't take my monster out without prior warning.

Having the two guards around at all times would be a great constraint. I would have to find out if I could find a practice area I could use whenever I wanted.

We passed several doors as we went through the building before descending.

We went down several flights of stairs. There were a lot more practice areas than I thought.

Finally, after we reached the bottom floor, we walked through a door into an expansive open cavern. The entire area was lit up by magelight. Making it clear how large it was.

I wasn't sure how big the other training rooms would be, but I was sure it was far from this size.

It nearly rivalled the Arena floor in size. Unfortunately, it lacked the illusory magitech, meaning every blow struck true.

That was made clear as Aaron was sent reeling by a blow from Arthur. He quickly recovered, and they began to circle each other again. While Aaron was faster, it was clear that Arthur was in control of the fight.

Aaron didn't have his weapon manifested. They were fighting hand to hand. I was sure Arthur wouldn't have the upper hand if it were otherwise.

Sarah and a few others I didn't recognize stood on the sideline. They were watching the two groups spar. On the other side of them was another two people sparring.

While I didn't recognize one of them, the golden armour of Ivan Alexander was hard to miss. They were fighting with what looked like large metal poles.

Blunted weapons that would reduce the damage taken in the fight.

I didn't get much time to observe their combat as Emilia and I approached the group. They all turned to greet us as we approached. If they were surprised to see me, they didn't show it.

"Hey, Kajus, good to see you here."

Sarah greeted me as I arrived, the usual neutral smile adorning her face.

Emilia was the one who led the introductions with the others.

She first pointed to the tallest of the three beside Sarah. A thin man with a condescending look on his angular face. It was clear that he didn't like me.

"Kajus, these are some of the fellow C-rankers. This is Jacques."

She then pointed to the only other girl beside Sarah. She was tall with a muscular build. It was clear that she had a lot of training. She also had a far more friendly look on her face.

"This is Carol."

She finally pointed to the last of the group, a guy a little on the shorter side. But he had a large smile as he beat Emilia to the punch.

"And my name is Blaine. It's great to finally meet you, O master of monsters."

Something about Blaine immediately put me at ease. He was the first person who had been openly friendly to me since I had arrived here.

I still had to be cautious as Emilia hadn't said any of their second names. I wasn't sure for whose benefit that was. I had little doubt that all of them had powerful backgrounds. It was too early in the year for any front runners in terms of power to be too apparent.

Emilia showed no annoyance at the interruption. She then pointed to the person sparring with Ivan.

"That guy over there losing to Ivan is Tim."

I was a little surprised with her tone when she was talking about Tim. It was clear that she was closest to him.

With introductions done, I joined them in observing the spars. It was clear that they took their observations seriously, as only a little was said once I joined the group.

It finally gave me a chance to view the combat prowess of those at the top of my year. Even this casual spar was better than any of the fights I saw earlier in the day.

The lower-ranked second and third years had all received the same training. Their fights had followed a routine pattern.

While the seeded fights were over in a flash, one person overpowered the other instantly.

The spars in front of him were fights between highly trained opponents with very different styles.

Arthur and Ivan were the more talented fighters in the two spars. But Aaron's increased stats kept him in the fight. In comparison, Tim's speed was the only thing keeping him around. He was a Light Type, and with the way he was using the pole. It appeared he had a focus on spears. One of the rarer Light Types.

But after a few moments of observation, it was clear that Ivan was going easy on Tim. In the moments before Tim hit an actual blow, Ivan sped up to avoid it and continue the spar at a more moderate pace.

It was only when Arthur finally took Aaron to the ground that Ivan did the same. Showing the exact control he had throughout the entire spar.

There was a slight applause from the others after the fight. Arthur and Aaron both nodded to me as they got to their feet.

On the other hand, Ivan was quick to appear in front of me. A friendly smile on his face. A far cry from how he had left me days before.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Kajus. I hope we will work hard together in the future."

It took me a second to come to terms with what he was saying. While his face and words were friendly. His crushing grip reminded me what had happened wasn't a dream. Ivan did not like me.

It seemed like the moment before he broke my hand, he let go. Acting as if nothing had happened.

Tim's handshake was far more manageable. Greeting me with a friendly smile.

Before I could get a word out, Ivan was quick to lead the topic of conversation.

"It's good that you finally came out to train. We don't want anyone to be falling behind after all."

I could only smile and nod. I still wasn't sure how much good this training would do. While I had managed to observe the spars with little issues. It was clear that I would have no hope of fighting any of them. Even Arthur had moved with far more agility than I was capable of.

I could only reply with a slight smile.

"It's good to be here. I'm looking forward to training with all of you."

Ivan nodded at that. Smiling in turn.

"Great, I hope you don't mind starting with a spar."

It took me a second to realise he meant with him.

"I don't think that's a good idea. My stats are far from where I would want them to be. I don't think I could put up a good fight against any of you."

Ivan continued with his friendly smile, his eyes boring into mine.

"That's no problem, don't worry. I will take it easy on you."

The fact that he still had his full armour activated made me doubt how true that was. But Emilia's stare behind me made it clear that I couldn't leave without sparring with someone.

With Ivan volunteering, I would look far worse if I declined.

Half of them already didn't like me. Getting the other half on my bad side wouldn't be a great idea.

Making my way to the sparring area, I activated my armour. The little smirk on Ivan's face as I spoke the command out loud was clear to me.

I would have to put more effort into learning to use mental commands.

The shining armour had me feeling more than a little trepidation.

Commanders were known for their even spread of physical stats. Like my own status, their rank was based on their special stats.

Unlike mine, their physical stats were a copy of that rank, meaning Ivan had a C1 rank in every physical stat.

Which meant that he was nearly two ranks stronger than me in every category. Even a glancing blow from him would have me reeling.

I raised my hands in a guarding position as the spar began.

Ivan's smirk grew into a cocky smile. He approached me carefully. He was acting with far more caution than he needed to.

I did not doubt that the unique stats of my class had been spread around.

I was caught between a rock and a hard place. I wasn't sure what would be the better option. If I charged him, I might manage to get a hit in and be quickly out of the fight.

Or I could focus on the defensive, while I would have little chance of avoiding his blows. As long as I could take a few, I could bow out of the spar, with hopefully only a small amount of damage taken.

Ivan went in with a feint, causing me to go reeling back. Nerves mounting as time went on.

It had been a long time since I had trained, causing me to be more than a little rusty. Ivan's movements forced me back into a worse position.

I tried to readjust my position, but before I could get my hands up again, I was struck by a blow.

I had never felt anything like it in my life. I was surprised I had managed to stay on my feet. My entire world had gone dark momentarily before roaring back into life.

As my vision recovered, I barely blocked a telegraphed strike from his left hand. That sent my defending hand straight into my face.

I reeled back, not recovering in time for another hit that sent me stumbling. I couldn't see what was happening. My paltry defence was nothing in front of Ivan's strength.

I couldn't do anything to retaliate as I felt blow after blow hit my arms and body. I had no stats that allowed me to fight back in any capacity.

Even if I had the wolf beside me, I wouldn't be able to do much to retaliate. I had expected someone to step in by this point, but the beating continued. No matter what I tried, nothing worked. I couldn't even get a chance to surrender. The blows came too fast.

It also became clear that he was avoiding my face. Apart from the first few blows, nothing came near my head. He was constantly hitting body shots and, by this point, flailing arms.

Finally, after what seemed like an age, he opened up my paltry defence and hit a blow that again sent me into darkness.

Only this time, I didn't recover.