Chapter IV.XII (4.12) - Combat F, Second Semester

  And he was back in the familiar courtyard with his Combat F classmates. He moved to go stand next to Evie. The Kekkon girl nervously nodded at him when he caught her eye. Her porcupine quills seemed to droop a bit more than he remembered from last semester. He wondered if that was due to stress or something more mundane like them growing out longer and bending over their own weight.

  “How was your spring break?” he asked.

  “F-fine.”

  “Anything fun?”

  “I helped Ms. Jackal with administration work.”

  “You stayed here?” Even as Kizu said it, he realized how obvious that was. She wasn’t going back to the Tross Tundra where her tribe would attempt to smother and hide her away. Where else would she go?

  “Y-yes. I…I studied and advanced some rankings.”

  Kizu couldn’t help but smile at how awkwardly the shy girl boasted. She clearly was both proud of and embarrassed of the fact that she had improved.

  “How’s your combat ranking now?”

  “I…never competed after our placements,” Evie said quietly. “I don’t want to hurt anyone.”

  “That!” Arclight boomed from across the courtyard. “That right there, will be addressed this very class!”

  Evie stiffened and looked over in the professor’s direction. And she wasn’t the only one. All the students looked to Arclight as she approached, a bit of a bounce to the large woman’s step. She appeared immensely pleased about something.

  “I apologize for eavesdropping,” she continued. “For those of you not enhancing your ears and picking out juicy bits of gossip from the crowd, Ms. Alito was just discussing with Mr. Kaga about our current ranking systems at the academy. Which leads me to today’s announcement! The contests and criteria for the combat rankings have been updated for the new semester! Gone with the old, out with the new!”

  There was some murmuring and shuffling, but even those who looked interested in the news also appeared equal parts skeptic. These were the pacifistic and inexperienced students of the academy. Kizu suspected that the higher level combat classes would be more enthusiastic about the announcement.

  “But I am getting ahead of myself.” Professor Arclight spread her arms wide, as if threatening to crush them all at once in a massive hug. “Welcome all! The second semester of Combat F begins! I’m so incredibly proud of each of you here. I know some of you might feel a little miffed about still being assigned to our class for this semester, despite moving up in the rankings, but worry not! There is still so much to discover! Now sit! Sit down and let us discuss for a bit about the foundations of our class structure.”

  Kizu and the others sat down on the grass. He winced slightly as the dew soaked his pants. Nobody else appeared particularly thrilled about the prospect of being damp either, but none of his peers disobeyed. Though he noticed a couple students awkwardly squatting.

  “First! Let me reiterate once again! I am proud of you! Every single one of you has improved. Remember, this is still only the beginning and you’ve already experienced accelerated growth. You are amazing individuals!”

  Beside him, Evie fidgeted and wrung her hands at the compliment.

  “This semester will be entirely different from the one that came before. This is the class dedicated to putting those skills you developed into use and interacting with the world, albeit in a controlled environment. To do so, I have an arrangement with the local constables. Your assignment for each quarter of the semester will be to take on a request to the local town quest board. Once chosen, I will advise you each individually on the best way I believe your current set of skills can be utilized and grown from the assignment. Class time will be dedicated to developing those skills to accomplish your goal.”

  “Not all the quests are combat related though,” a student spoke up. “What if we chose something like finding a lost pet? Or what if it’s time sensitive?”

  “Excellent questions! The constable office has marked down half a hundred different assignments that they believe are both suitable for your skills and achievable. And not all of them are purely focused on fighting! Finding a lost pet? To me, that sounds a great deal similar to scouting and reconnaissance. Information gathering is of vital importance in combat. Blowing something up with elemental magic is just one small part of fighting. It may be flashy, but fireworks don’t solve every problem. Let’s touch back on the lost pet example. Will you use stealth? Bait? Traps? Persuasion? There are dozens of different angles in which to approach the solution. And that’s exactly what I want to see from you all! You all have talents! I strongly urge you to choose an assignment similar to this if you believe your skills are well suited for it! Any one of your class subjects can be applied in this class if you approach the task with the proper amount of creativity. This is the class where you truly dedicate yourselves to putting our spells into action!”

  Kizu smiled. He liked the sound of that. An excuse to set his books aside and actually go and experiment with his spells. And the constables would be forced to work with him if he was under Arclight’s authority.

  “Do we get to keep the reward money?” another student asked.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  Arclight threw her head back and laughed. “Of course!”

  Arclight answered half a dozen more questions before moving on to the next point of interest.

  “As promised at the start of class. I will now dive further into the changes in the ranking system. As you all know, last semester you were able to compete in fighting competitions on the weekend to move up or down the combat leaderboard. These were overseen by me, an authorized officiator of duels as defined by the laws of the Hon Empire and Tross government. However, I decided there needs to be change with this system. We are not barbarians and you are all still children. I moved to alter these competitions. So, instead we will be moving from student versus student competitions over to a system of summoned beasts. Each grouping of the rankings will have its own beast to overcome. A panel of judges from the Battle Club will decide the points earned from the fight.”

  Kizu’s heart fell. “Does this mean we won’t be able to duel students directly anymore?” He’d wanted to challenge Harvey. He’d promised the Tainted boy a fight.

  “Hm?” Arclight raised a singed eyebrow at him. “You sound disappointed, Kaga Kizu! I assumed you would be elated by this news! Regardless, I have decided that for top students there will be an allowance to continue duels. You must be within the top 200 students and both parties must consent ahead of time for these to be put into action.”

  Top 200. Kizu considered that. He thought he could manage that by the end of the semester. It largely depended on just how challenging these new summoned monsters would be and if they had protections against spatial magic. The main question was whether or not Harvey could match his growth.

  “Now that we’ve gotten questions and the new syllabus out of the way, let’s move on to class!” Arclight clapped her hands, sending a shockwave through the entire courtyard. Kizu’s monster leg instinctually gripped the dirt under him, claws digging into the soil, but all around him, students toppled over onto the grass. Only a scattering of others managed to keep their footing.

  A door leading into the academy banged inward from the force. A moment later a humanoid creature waddled out. It was at a height with a gnome, covered in blue fur, with big eyes and a dopey smile. It carried a stack of papers on its head, which pressed down its triangular, cat-like ears.

  “Thank you, Gulp!” Arclight said. “Please set those down in front of the students.”

  Several students backed away as the creature, Gulp, cheerily plodded up to them. It smiled up at them and made several wet noises with its throat. Kizu could see where the name ‘Gulp’ came from.

  Gulp bent over in a bow and dumped all the papers into a perfect stack on the grass in front of them. Then, looking supremely proud of its work, the creature waddled back in the direction it came.

  Kizu glanced over at Evie, wondering if the girl was startled by the monster. Instead he saw her mouth open and a sparkle in her eyes, usually concealed by her quill bangs. She took a small step in the direction of the retreating creature.

  “So cute,” she whispered.

  “Wha-what is it?” one of the other students asked. This student was on the ground, staring at the door Gulp had disappeared into with wide eyes.”

  “He is a Kokokokyu,” Arclight announced to them all. “We recently met while I explored the southern islands of Hon.”

  “Why is it here?” another student asked. “Is it safe?”

  “Gulp is a new assistant I’ve taken on. Treat him with respect. Or you’ll have a meeting with my fist.”

  “Is the academy not paying enough for a normal human assistant?”

  Arclight’s eyes narrowed. “This line of questioning is bordering on disrespect.”

  A chill blew through the courtyard and the students clamped their mouths shut, suddenly silent.

  “No other questions?” Arclight’s cheery disposition returned in an instant. “Excellent! Now take a look at the previously completed quest list. All of these have been completed by my previous Combat F students.”

  Kizu bent down and picked up a random page.

  Jelly droopers escaped the attic. Please round them up. They like to stick to overhead surfaces and will discharge mucus in drips beneath them.

  Reward - 8,000 yennies.

  Under the address, there was a sketch of a goopy creature stuck to the ceiling. It looked like a jellyfish suction cup. Beneath the listing, a different handwriting continued.

  -I found the stupid monsters. They’ve gathered inside a tree hollow. But they all clumped together and I can’t get them out now that they’re stuck together.

  -I’ve decided that if they don’t want to come out, I’ll take the tree with me. Today I’m cutting it down.

  -Bee hive higher in the tree! This job is so ass! Bees!

  Quest complete!

  Kizu stared at the message. It was signed at the bottom by a name he didn’t recognize followed by Constable Kimura’s official stamp.

  “Take your time and look over the different papers!” Arclight encouraged. “These are examples you’ll need to follow.”

  “This one was completed by three students. Does that mean we can work together?”

  “A keen observation and an excellent question! If you find a quest I deem as worthy of multiple people, I will allow you to take it on as a unit.” There was a stirring in the class as people looked to their friends. “However! This is not a guaranteed shortcut to success. Your odds of success for this appeal will largely depend on how you present yourself to me. If you approach me with a proposal and breakdown of how your unique skills synergize for the assignment, I will be far more likely to accept.”

  Kizu continued to look through the different completed assignments. Nothing spectacular caught his eye. In fact, they were nearly all even more mundane than the first. He couldn’t help feeling a bit disappointed. But this was an F class, so maybe his expectations were a bit too high.

  “Ex-excuse me.” Kizu barely heard Evie’s voice beside him. It was little more than a whisper. But this time it wasn’t to him that she was speaking. Arclight, from the other side of the courtyard, turned on a heel to face the Kemon girl and gave her a beaming smile.

  “Miss Alito! You have a question?”

  “If we partner with someone…can we accept more difficult assignments?”

  “Absolutely! I’ll take both of your combat rankings into account while judging your level of capability.”

  Evie bowed in thanks then turned to Kizu. She hesitated for a few seconds, then finally asked the question.

  “Do-do you want to partner with me?”

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