"Here we are!" Alix's guide stopped in front of one of the larger training field doors. "This is where all of the first years are." Alix nodded to the man.
"Thank you for serving as my guide." Alix slightly bowed her head in appreciation.
"Don't worry about it. Have a-"
"You are no longer of any use to me. Now leave." The teacher was shocked by the girl's sudden shift in tone. She had gone from polite to cold in the blink of an eye. The man decided not to take the girl's shift in tone personally. He waved goodbye and went on his merry way.
"Alright, let's get this over with." Alix groaned before walking through the door. Once through she noticed that, though they were outside, there were still walls closing off the field.
"Yo! Mama Wolf!" Alix turned to see Eric excitedly hopping while waving to her. "You made it!" Alix nodded and walked over. Holiday was the only person she really knew here anyway so she may as well hang around him.
That was the plan at least, but she was suddenly cut off by a group of students.
"Hi there, I see that you're one of us!" Alix was confused but after a quick glance she understood what the person meant. Every single one of them had "A-1" etched onto their badges signifying that they were in the A class.
"Move." Alix spoke coldly and attempted to walk by. She was stopped by a hand gripping her arm tightly. She turned and saw a girl with short brown hair glaring at her.
"Do you think you're better than us kid?" Alix closed her eyes and took deep breaths to calm herself down. She carefully reached her hand around and gripped the arm that was holding her.
"I do not think that I am better than you. I simply do not know a single one of you despite your acting as if I do. Now unhand me before I showcase to our peers just how dominant I will be in this class."
Alix and the girl glared at each other for what felt like an eternity until someone intervened. Someone with an S-class badge shining in everyone's faces.
"Now now children no fighting on the first day. Why don't we leave little miss pretentious on her own for a while?" It was none other than the girl that Alix burned into her memory just yesterday.
"I'm sorry, Senior Dandelion. I did not mean to make a fuss." The girl slowly released Alix's arm and bowed apologetically. Alix didn't notice this, however, as her eyes were completely focused on Dandelion.
"What? Do you have some sort of problem with me?" Dandelion spoke indifferently but Alix's fists clenched so tightly that one could assume that it was a personal attack. Alix took another deep breath before plastering a smile onto her face.
"None whatsoever, senior. I will be on my way." She turned and continued to her original destination. Once she was far enough away from Dandelion Alix's smile dropped replaced by a look of pure anger. Eric noticed this and swallowed nervously.
"A-are you alright, Mama?" Alix's fiery stare landed on Eric and he almost collapsed from the sudden temperature shift.
"I'm fine, Holiday. Why don't you focus on your own issues instead of acting like I have any." Eric stood shaking in fear. He nodded vigorously not saying another word.
'I should give her some space.'
"Alright, let's get this thing started already." A woman's voice echoed across the field. The students turned to the door seeing the owner of said voice.
"I am Rasque Bizen, the Lead instructor of you first years!" Alix recognized the woman as the one that lead her to the girl's dorm the other day just before she also told her that her monsters couldn't stay.
Trouler snorted at the woman in his own sign of animosity. 'Calm down, Trouler. You should refrain from picking fights with people because of minor inconveniences." Alix ordered the little red. Trouler nodded but continued to glare at Instructor Bizen.
'That's rich coming from you.' Mo joked.
'Do I need to get the jar and shake things up a bit?' Mo's heart-rate accelerated instantly. He shook his head quickly. "Then keep your mouth shut."
"Quiet!" The instructor shouted ending all conversations across the field.
"I don't care if you're from some big shot family or one of those shitheads from the Port of Filth. To me, you're all just new blood waiting to get spilt on the battlefield. Though, with my help we can hopefully avoid that." The woman's words sparked fear in several students but that seemed to be the point.
The woman whistled loudly causing some students to jump. Several people, that seemed to be older students, came marching into the room holding several weapons. The woman pointed to the ground in front of her and her helpers threw the weapons they had on to the ground then backed against the walls.
"Every good warrior has a weapon of choice. I see some of you brought your own from home. Guess mommy and daddy wanted you to show out." The instructor looked around the field and approached one of the boys that had a sword sheathed on his side.
"You know how to use that thing boy?" The student was shocked to be suddenly approached by the instructor.
"U-um I gu-guess I do? My dad showed me a few techniques when I was younger."
"Oh really?" The boy nodded. The instructor seemed to have been impressed that he had experience. He had done a good job. While he was thanking his father in his head the boy the boy noticed that the instructor was holding something now.
It was a sword. It looked eerily similar to the one that his father gave him but that would be impossible. His father had this sword hand crafted by the family blacksmith so no other sword could possibly be...
The boy reached for the hilt but his hand grasped nothing. When he looked down to his hip in noticed that his sword was gone. He instantly began to panic until he remembered that the instructor was holding a similar sword.
"Um, ma'am?"
"What?" The woman asked coldly while analyzing the weapon.
"Would that happen to be my weapon?"
"Not anymore." The woman snapped her fingers and her helpers scrambled across the field snatching any personal weapons from the students. They all tried their best to fight back but they were easily overpowered by the older kids.
All except a certain mountain boy that pushed the person trying to take his weapon to the ground. The senior went to try again but was stopped by a strong hand resting on his shoulder.
"Let him keep it for now. I'll get it later." The helper nodded to the instructor and ran back to his original position. Bizen glared at Eric for a moment before continuing her speech.
"Just because you were taught how to use a weapon doesn't mean that you were meant to use that weapon. People all over the world believe that the weapon that their mother or father used in battle is the same one that they are destined to wield but that is a fool's thought!
Every person, be they blood related or not, is different. They may be able to learn the ways of their parents but that does not mean that they will ever be their parents!" The students took in the information with fascination in their eyes.
Several of them had never even considered deviating from their families' path. The instructor continued.
"From this point onwards we will conduct a compatibility test. This test will help you each locate the weapon that best suits you. That will determine your the concentration that you fall into. Now, there is a very good chance that you may stick to the weapon the you were originally taught but you may also not.
Be open to the idea of independent choice. Do not let your parents choose your path for you! You are on your own here! No one is going to tell you what path you should take anymore! You must discover it on your own!" The students listened. Several had tears in their eyes.
"Each one of you will fight the seniors against that wall over there with their weapon of choice. There are a total of six weapon types on the ground here. Your first assignment is to battle a senior with each weapon one time. Once you do that bring me the weapon that you felt the most comfortable with. Understood?"
The students stood in silence as they were still shaken by Bizen's words.
"IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?!" The instructor's shout woke up the students up as they all stood up straight and replied.
"UNDERSTOOD, MA'AM"
"Then grab a weapon and start sparring!"
"Yes ma'am!"
"What if we prefer not to use weapons?"