Saurai was thinking about the impending combat exercise when Kevin came beside him and said, "Wow, I didn't know there would be someone else other than me crazy enough to reject Delphine. That was cool."
Saurai didn't understand him, he had simply followed Kevin's example so he said, "You did the same."
Kevin replied naturally, "I'm different from you. I come from the Welser family."
Saurai tried to recall the name, and some fragments of memory clicked together. He remembered that the Welser family was one of the richest families on the ship, controlling the majority of the bio-farms. They practically provided most of the employment on Artemis-5.
Now everything made sense: why Andy didn't dare. and hadn't retorted him, and why Delphine seemed to be tolerate Kevin. Saurai began to worry about his decision but for now, there was nothing he could do anything about it.
Kevin looked at Saurai, placed a hand on his shoulder like they were old friends, and said, "Don't worry. You're like my brother now, since you stood up to that icy witch. No one can touch you."
Saurai was confused by his statement, when had he opposed Delphine? He was amused by Kevin's interpretation. He just nodded, though he knew not to rely too much on someone's verbal assurance. He thanked Kevin Welser, and they both walked toward their respective class groups.
Saurai returned to Bryn, who was now joined by Coral. They seemed to be discussing their new weapons.
When saurai came back Coral Directly asked, "Why did Delphine call you?"
Saurai recounted the whole incident in detail. Even Bryn was shocked, since he also didn't know Saurai was the top scorer of Class 1-E. At the same time, he looked worried.
Saurai said, "I didn't oppose Delphine or anything. Why should I be worried about her?"
Coral looked at him like he was an idiot, then leaned in and whispered, "You should've followed the others' example. Instead, you followed the one person you shouldn't have. Don't you know the Welser family supports the current royal family? Of course they'd oppose our ship's commander since he's outcasted by the current royalty."
Saurai nodded. "I understand. I'll be more careful about Delphine."
Coral said, "We're not too worried about that. It's Andy you should be careful of. His father owns a big waste management company, like mine. I've heard bad things about their family from my father."
Saurai replied, "Oh."
Bryn nodded. "Yeah, I know Andy. He's vindictive. He'll take revenge over the smallest things."
Saurai said, "Yeah, I get it. But you guys are exaggerating. I didn't oppose anyone."
Coral said, "Maybe. Still be careful since I saw him eyeing at you. By the way, why didn't you want to be class rep?"
Bryn chimed in, "Yeah! You get 100 points for becoming class rep and 50 points every month after that. You also get access to special areas like labs and the advanced combat zones. Plus, free standard meals in the cafeteria. Ofcourse, you also get some responsibilities with the position but it's understandable."
Saurai was shocked. "What?" This time, he couldn't hide his reaction. But then he thought, Maybe after two days, I should accept the role. He hadn't officially declined yet. If the benefits were this great, it might be worth the risk. He reminded himself he needed to plan more carefully around his memory lapses.
Coral and Bryn now realized Saurai hadn't known about the perks. He'd missed a huge opportunity.
They looked at each other, both silently amused at Saurai's misfortune.
Then they heard Bruce's voice echoing across the training field.
"Everyone, stand in rows with your class. Break time is over."
Coral waved goodbye and went back to her class group.
Bruce continued, "I hope everyone is now familiar with their weapons. We will begin the first phase of the combat exercise. In this phase, you'll fight against dummy bots inside the arena rings. Each ring will contain ten cadets and there are ten rings so the first session will have 100 cadets in total. Who will participate in combat training ,phase-1."
He continued, "Your task is to battle the bots while coordinating with your teammates in the ring. Different body parts award different point values: a hit to the head is worth 3 points, to the hand 1 points, to the stomach or back 2 points. If you disable a robot, you'll earn 10 points. But if a robot knocks you out of the ring, you lose 10 points. Survive for 10 minutes in the ring and you'll earn 50 points."
The dummy bots used in Phase One were humanoid and sleek. It's about the size of an average adult with matte black plating, jointed limbs, and a floating hover-disc where feet would normally be. These hover modules let them zip around, pivot fast, and even shift direction mid-air.
Each bot had no face but just a single glowing sensor eye that pulsed red when active. They were unarmed and designed for close-range simulations. Their limbs were padded for safety, but they moved fast, with rhythm-based reflex codes that changed every few seconds. This made them unpredictable and sometimes easy to read but sometimes not.
They attacked with swipes, shoulder bumps, or low sweeping kicks. not to injure, but to test awareness and coordination. Some could emit a short-range disorientation pulse, simulating magical interference and forcing cadets to refocus.
The bots could be set to Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced mode. First-year cadets were assigned Beginner difficulty. Unless instructors deemed a mismatch, which was pretty rare sight.
Even though Saurai didn't know much about dummy bots, something about them felt familiar. It was like a memory had resurfaced. Perhaps his old self had trained with machines like these before.
Bruce began announcing the names of cadets selected for the first round of combat practice. Saurai was placed in the third group of ten, assigned to the fifth ring. To his surprise, Vani was also on his team. Bryn was in second group, Saurai did not recognize any of the other cadets assigned to his ring.
As Bruce's voice faded and the cadets began to shuffle into their respective rows, Saurai stood still for a moment, gripping his staff a little tighter. His mind was racing not out of fear, but with calculation. Every piece of information mattered now. The combat rules, the scoring system, the social hierarchies forming so quickly around Delphine and the others. it was all part of a larger structure he was still trying to understand. He wasn't strong yet, nor socially powerful, but knowledge... that was something he could gather and that was something he was good at processing. And in this place, that might be just as helpful thing.