-Friday Afternoon, 18th Of the 1st Month, Year 910-
After Noah finishes changing, we rush to Training Field A. We're way behind the other guys because of Noah. But we still manage to make it on time.
Mrs. Janson is standing in front of the other students in the middle of the field with a black and white tracksuit on. Seeing us arrive, she shakes her head, "You three just barely made it, if it wasn't the first day, I would make you all run a few extra laps."
"Sorry, Mrs. Janson!" We apologize to her before joining the rest of the group.
She looks at her watch and looks over to us, "Everyone is here now, so let's begin."
"As I said before my name is Fenna Janson, you can all call me Mrs. Janson. In my class, you'll focus on training your bodies by doing different workouts and activities. I'll push all of you beyond your limits and make you stronger than you are now. But before we get to that, I need to gauge your current physical abilities, so I can make arrangements for future classes and properly judge your improvements at the end of the year. So next week everyone will take part in a Fitness Exam. Any questions before I continue?" Hearing that, one of the students raises his hand.
"What's a Fitness Exam?" I have no idea what it is either.
"A Fitness Exam is just a series of activities for you all to do to test your current physical abilities," Another student raises her hand to ask a question.
"What activities will we be doing?"
"Each student will take part in six activities. First, Deadhangs to test your current Grip and Upper Body Strength. The average time for First-Years at the beginning of the year is 30 seconds, so expect all of you to at least be able to do that much. I expect a lot better at the end of the year, though," She pauses for a moment before continuing her explanation, "Second, A 1.5-mile run, to test your Speed, Stamina, and Lower Body Strength. The average time for this activity is around 11 minutes at the beginning of the year. Third, is an easy test of how many burpees you can do in 5 minutes."
A student raises her hand and asks, "What's a burpee?"
"It's this," She demonstrates for us, "You start off standing, then you squat and place both your hands on the ground. Then kick your feet back like this- ha- and you should end up in a plank position. Now- hup- return to a squatting position and stand back up. That's all."
Jun raises his hand and asks, "What's the average for that?"
"It's average 51 in 5 minutes. It's rare for First-Years to be able to do more than 70 by the end of the year, so I'm not expecting that many of you to reach that high, but I do expect you all to at least be able to do 40 by then," Seeing that there were no more questions, she continues, "After that is a 15-meter shuttle run and the broad jump. Both are meant to test your leg strength. But the shuttle run also tests your speed, reaction time, and stamina. While the broad jump tests your flexibility as well. The average for the shuttle run is around 30 laps, and the average broad jump is 0.6 meters for First Years," after making sure everyone is still following her, she continues, "Lastly is the Body Weight Conditioning Test, you'll do push-ups, pull-ups, and sit-ups for 2 minutes each, I don't keep track of any records for this one as it changes a lot from individual to individual. Those are the six activities you'll take part in, any questions?"
A few people raise their hands, asking her about the grading and other things. She explains to us that we'll get our grades in the mail a few days after the exam is over. A is the highest grade you can receive, and F is the lowest. So long as your grades average out to a C you'll pass the exam. But if it's a D or an F, you'll have to come after school for additional training. Also, there will be 4 student examiners here to help her on those days since there are so many of us, and she doesn’t want to drag the exam on for too long.
'This shouldn't be too hard,' I think to myself, remembering my Dad's training, 'He always told me, that although I'm not that talented with the sword, my body is one of my strong points.'
"Now that I answered all of your questions, it's time to divide you into groups. Form a line and one by one, come up and take a piece of paper from this basket. Each slip of paper has a number on it. That number is your group for the exam. After you get your number, wait on the side."
When she finishes her explanation, we start moving and form a line. We do what she told us and go up one by one to take a piece of paper from the basket. A few minutes later, my turn comes, so I go up and grab a piece of paper. Going over to the side, I open it, '3. That means that I'm in Group 3.'
"Ryner!" Jun calls out to me as I walk over to Johnny and the others, "What group are you in? I'm in Group 3."
"Group 3. Same as you," I show him my paper.
"Then let's have a competition and see who does better!" Jun suggests, sending me a challenging smile.
"Why?" I shake my head, 'We aren't fighting, so what's the point in competing?'
"To prove I'm stronger than you!" Saying that he points to himself as if it's obvious that he'll win.
"...Fine, let's have a competition," I smile back at him, 'I wasn't into it at first, but if you think you're stronger than me, then bring it on.'
"Alright, I'll beat you this time!" Jun laughs.
"We'll see," I shake my head and turn to my friends, "What number did you guys get?"
Jasmine and Noah are in Group 1 and Johnny's in Group 4. I'm a little sad that none of my friends are in my group, but I shake it off and smile, 'It's fine, we're still in the same class after all, and these groups are only for the exam.'
After handing out all the papers, Mrs. Janson tells us to "Go do something," while she cultivates. So we spend the rest of the class talking, asking Jasmine about her classes.
●●●
-Friday Afternoon, 18th Of the 1st Month, Year 910-
After Physical Training Class is over, we go to Combat Class, which is being taught by Mr. Weber. His class is held in the Battle Hall, one of the buildings in the Training Area.
The Battle Hall is a gray rectangular-shaped building with only one floor. The ceiling is curved inward like a plate with black lines that connect in the center of it.
Mr. Weber is standing in the middle of the floor, with a couple of other teachers waiting for us. So, we all walk over to him and stop in front of him.
He nods and introduces himself again along with his assistants before telling us about the class, "This year we'll spend some time on all the major combat disciplines in this Continent—Unarmed Combat, Swordsmanship, Bowmanship, Axemanship, Spearmanship, and Whipmanship. We'll start with Unarmed Combat. Any questions?"
"Is it mandatory to practice everything?" A student asks with a confused expression.
"Good question. The answer is YES. Although some of you may think that you have found the weapon that suits you best and may doubt the need to practice other forms of combat. But you're wrong! Even if you have found the weapon that's best for you, there are a lot of you here that haven't. To master a weapon, of course, you need effort and commitment, but above that is the most important factor, TALENT. Without talent, you can never realize your true potential, and you'll be forced to watch as your peers surpass you one after another…" He pauses and looks up at the ceiling, "...I have seen many people like that, who spent all their time trying to master a weapon they had no talent for. Those people didn't end up living happy and successful lives, nor did they meet their vision of strength. They were all forced to struggle because no one helped them find the best path for themselves."
We quietly listen to him talk without interrupting, "I don't want any of you to end up like that, struggling down a path that doesn't lead to the peak, never meeting your full potential. That is why I want you all to gain experience with multiple weapons, so you can find out what's best for you."
I nod with everyone else, thinking to myself, 'What's best for me? What am I good at?'
"Good!" He claps his hands gathering our attention, "I see all of you understand my intentions now. So before we begin the lesson, I'm going to pair you up."
'Pair up?' I didn't hear anything about this.
"I am going to pair you all up with one other person, forming 50 groups of 2. The person you're paired up with will be your partner in this class for the rest of the year. You'll train together during this class, and you'll be each other's responsibility. Meaning if that your partner is punished, unless there's a specific reason special only to them, you will be punished with them. If your partner is injured, it's your responsibility to take them to the nurse. If your partner doesn't participate, then you can't participate. If one of you is going down, you will be going down with them. This is one of the disciplines that I learned in the army. I don't want to hear any complaints about who I pair you up with. Does everyone understand?" He scans over us with his eyes.
I can feel a sword-like pressure being released from his body, pressuring us to give in. With everyone else, I answer, "Yes!"
"Good!" He nods and starts to make the pairs.
First, he split us in half down the middle, before making us form a horizontal line facing the person across from us.
'She's…odd,' I think to myself, staring at the girl across from me.
Her skin is pale like snow, different from most of the people I've seen since I left home. Her uniform is different from ours too. Although it's black, her jacket has long sleeves, and I think I can see some white fur-like material on the inside because she didn't button it up fully. It's as if she just threw it on, and she has dark circles under her eyes, making me wonder if she sleeps at night. While I'm looking over her, our eyes meet. She stares at me lazily, with her violet eyes half-open, 'I think she's in my class, but I don't remember her name.'
"The person you're facing right now is your partner! Walk over to them and greet each other, then form a circle around us and we'll begin the lesson," Mr. Weber announces before walking back to his spot in the middle of the room.
I follow his directions and walk over to the silver-haired girl across from me who looks like she's about to fall asleep, "It looks like we're partners, I'm Ryner."
"I know," She nods her head, "I remember you from-ahhn-History class earlier. I'm Juliana."
I scratch my head, feeling a little embarrassed, 'I didn't think she'd actually remember my name.'
After everyone joins the circle, Mr. Weber and his assistant show us a basic stance and a few moves to go with it. When he's done, he tells us to pick a training field and practice what he just showed us with our partners.
Juliana and I pick a field and practice with each other for the rest of the class. We take turns practicing some of the moves on each other, and every now and then, Mr. Weber or one of his assistants would come over and give us tips. Although Juliana didn't seem interested in the training and kept blanking out, I was still able to get some practice in. Like that, I lose track of time, and the bell rings, signaling the end of class.
After telling Juliana, "Goodbye," I meet up with my friends. Johnny greets me, looking pretty upset. I think Jun must have said something to him while they were sparing, 'I feel a little bad for Johnny, but I feel like those two really fit together.'
Jasmine seems fine for the most part, she's just tired and sweaty. Most likely because she isn't used to training like that. I'm fine because of my Dad and his hands-on training, but I don't think that Jasmine went through that kind of training. So this is probably new to her, but I think she'll get used to it eventually.
'As for Noah...I should probably take him home to rest,' I scratch my head before picking him up and carrying him back to the dorm on my back.
Author's Note:
Here's number two! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the chapter!