The students were attending first aid class. Today was a practical instruction on the basics of first aid. A well regarded skill in the expeditions. Advances in medicine resulted in a turnaround of nearly eighty percent of soldiers surviving deadly wounds.

  Tvira had decent knowledge on medicine. She proved to be the best in the class, being able to do many of the basic procedures perfectly. It was no surprise she was one of the few who aced the field medic exams. She taught the rest of her squad during their trainings.

  Avryn was curious and asked her plenty of questions. She told him part of her upbringing prepared her. Flowers and herbs were a few of her favorite things growing up. Her adoptive mother helped nurtured that love of plants. An uncommon site in the northern parts of Veilund, her home.

  The sound of the mortar and pestle pounding, coupled with the aromas of combining such ingredients into medicine were a fond memory. Just thinking about it helped calm her mind in darker times.

  “Are you considering the instructor’s offer?” Rinna asked.

  Since Tvira had aced the exams, she was offered extra credits if she volunteered to tend to the soldiers who recently returned from the expeditions. An official report had a huge number of injured. It was concerning since it was a huge spike in numbers since last time.

  “Perhaps, perhaps not. Selfish as it may sound, but I prefer not to waste my time and efforts,” she crossed her arms.

  Avryn detected a hint of sadness in her eyes. His eyes met Valoche at the next moment, and they shared some understanding. Avryn moved to break the awkward silence,

  “Well, no one’s gonna judge you for that. You have your reasons,” he reassured her.

  They were interrupted by shouting from across the hallway. A scream followed, and then a huge thud. They moved to see what the commotion was about. Two students were having a dispute. A larger man was picking on a freshman.

  Avryn examined the uniform of the larger man. He was a sophomore judging by a stripe just beneath the Academy’s insignia.

  “Listen here, small fry. I own this block. When I’m walking, you make way,” he pinned the freshman on the locker.

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  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” his voice trembled.

  Rinna recognized the sophomore,

  “Wildcat Weylen Kelper,” she told the squad.

  Avryn intended to interrupt but he was halted by Rinna. She advised him to stay put and let the instructor handle this. The situation was escalating. Weylen’s voice was starting to boom across the hallway. Other students were frozen, even some were mesmerized into not moving.

  “Someone call an instructor, quickly,” finally, a reasonable voice spoke.

  “That man has a wild temper, it fuels his strength,” Rinna explained.

  “Oh, so like Valoche in a way?” Avryn connected.

  The man in question puffed out his chest,

  “Not as good, though,” he smirked.

  Weylen was about to punch the fellow freshman. Avryn could not stand by and broke free from Rinna’s grasp. He hollered to Weylen. The man turned to him and glared.

  “Ha?” he snickered.

  “You shouldn’t put your hands on a fellow student. Violates the Code, you see,” Avryn mediated.

  Weylen tightened his grip on the student’s collar, it popped out a button.

  “And you shouldn’t interrupt my business, freshman.”

  Rinna sighed. She asked Valoche and Tvira to stay put. She knew just the instructor for this job. The crowd had grown bigger. Avryn and Weylen continued their verbal back and forth.

  “Come on, man, he already apologized, didn’t he?” Avryn gestured.

  The sophomore curled his hand into a fist and wound up for a punch,

  “Yeah, and this’ll make sure he doesn’t do it again.”

  Avryn made his move. He grabbed Weylen by the arm and forced to face him instead. The freshman ran and disappeared into the crowd. Weylen snickered again.

  “I’ll take it in his place,” Avryn smiled.

  His words earned some confused murmuring from the crowd. Was he insane? Why would he do that? Those questions circulated among them. Weylen couldn’t help but laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

  “I see now, we got a hero type, huh? This your good deed for the day?” he mocked.

  Avryn shook his head,

  “No, just a guy who hates bullies. How about you take on someone your own size,” he patted his cheek.

  He dared the man to strike him. Weylen’s mocking grin turned into a furious frown. His eye twitched, and his fists were visibily shaking from the sheer anger.

  “Let’s see you keep that energy after I knock your ass out,” he thought.

  He wound up his fist. He turned from his hips and delivered a strong hook to the side of Avryn’s jaw. It crunched from the impact.

  “How about that, punk?” he smiled.

  He couldn’t follow through with the punch. Avryn was a wall. It caught him by surprise. Avryn smiled all throughout, with his eyes closed. It was barely a flinch. Some of the seniors had joined the crowd. Leandros was about to intervene but saw this unexpected development. He wondered who has this kid who just tanked a punch from Wildcat Weylen.

  “You’re not gonna do anything?” his friend asked.

  He gestured to not move,

  “Actually, let’s see how this plays out,” he went into thought.

  Avryn expected more from the man dubbed a Wildcat. He supposed he wasn’t angry enough to deliver a powerful blow. He was being budged by his fist but he continued to resist.

  “Fellow students,” he took to a formal tone. “If I retaliate, this would be seen as doing so in self defense, am I right?”

  “Only if you do the exact same thing back, and nothing more,” Leandros exclaimed from the back.

  Avryn acknolwedged Leandros. He turned back to Weylen,

  “You heard our senior, so now I get to punch you back. It’s only fair, right?” evil intentions rose within his voice.

  Weylen pulled back and punched him in the gut. Avryn tanked that shot, too. He stood up straight.

  “Make that two,” he raised his fist.

  He took a swing and his fist met with a metal hand. There was only one person in this Academy who possessed that prosthetic. Avryn looked up, and his assumptions were realized. It was a physically imposing instructor. He had unruly hair, wore a bandana. His instructor uniform had a torn sleeve from where the metal arm prosthetic was.

  Avryn had a nervous smile,

  “Hi there, Professor Ursain.”