Course Selection
The Dorm room was luxurious.
As soon as Mike focused on the interior, he was amazed by just how much he saw. He had expected a somewhat enclosed space with bunk beds and everything else one would typically find in a dorm room. That's what he saw when he checked online, so for him to walk into an entire living room was certainly surprising.
Moreover, the place was huge.
There was a kitchen off to the side that was fully furnished. The living room had couches and a holographic television. The temperature in the room was also regulated, and there were large windows that showed the school below, with Mike guessing the glass was one-way. There was a small drone that was charging in the corner, and he assumed that's what cleaned up the place when it got dirty.
He moved around, continuing to marvel at his surroundings. He found a door leading to a laundry room, another leading to a storage room, and there was even a visitor's toilet.
He spent a while just taking everything in, and by the time he was finished, he felt ready to check out his room.
There were two doors on opposite sides of the dorm room, one had a name he didn't recognize, so he assumed that was his roommate, and the other one had his name on it, so he went inside.
"Whoa." He exclaimed a little.
The room was also pretty big. Not overly so, but still very spacious. There was a queen-sized bed in the corner, and above it, slightly off to the side was another window. There was a small desk next to the bed, a closet, a desk, and a chair for studying, a mirror, and a strange platform in another corner of the room.
There were also two doors off to the side. The first one was a bathroom that was, unsurprisingly, well furnished, and the second one led to what seemed like a meditation room.
Mike took a moment to take it all in, and he allowed the realization that—yes, this was his, at least temporarily—to sink in.
He spent a while just standing there, allowing it all to wash over him, and eventually, he let out a sigh and walked over to his bed.
On it, there was a watch, not unlike the one he already wore, lying there. There was also a note next to it. Besides the watch was a uniform. A pair of black pants that had a multicolored line running down their sides, and a simple white long-sleeved button-up shirt which held the badge of the Academy on its breast pocket, and similar to the pants, had a multicolored line going up its sides up until the collar which was completely black.
Mike stared at the uniform for a few seconds before he turned his attention to the watch. He grabbed the note and read it. To summarize, it talked about how the watch was the official watch given to students of the school and what he was expected to use from now on. It then gave some instructions on its functions and how to transfer all his information from his current watch to it.
Mike read through it carefully, nodded, and activated the watch. He took off his current one and put on the new one. It asked him to bind it to himself which he promptly did, allowing the thing to take in his biometrics. Once that was done, he took it off again and placed it next to his old one. As soon as he did, the information started to transfer.
He returned his gaze to the uniform, and after a moment of deliberation, he decided to put it on.
He stripped to his small clothes and put on the uniform.
"Hm... it's kinda bi—" he was cut off as the fabric suddenly tightened to fit his physique perfectly. Once more, he marveled, both at the automatic fitting and the sheer comfort of the uniform.
"I can wear this for days." He murmured as he inspected his body. Then he remembered the mirror and decided to use that.
He looked at himself in the mirror, and he truly got a chance to take in his appearance.
White hair, blue eyes, toned physique that showed was a little visible even though his uniform. He really looked at himself and felt a strange feeling well up in his chest.
He thought back to his childhood, and all the hardships he had to go through while growing up. The lack of parents, not being able to experience any of the things someone his age should, all the things he'd gone through.
But here he was now. A student at one of the best Academies in humanity had to offer.
He sniffled for a moment and wiped at his eyes, allowing himself to be vulnerable for a moment, the weight of everything bearing down on him briefly.
After a while, he took a breath and wiped his eyes properly. He flashed himself a genuine smile before returning to the bed. The transfer had completed.
Without bothering to take off his uniform, he placed the old watch on the desk before putting on the new watch, finding that it fit him quite nicely.
He flopped on the bed and groaned, feeling himself sink into the soft mattress. He lay there for a moment, enjoying the softness, and almost dozed off, but he snapped out of it and quickly activated his watch.
He navigated through it until he got to the section he was looking for.
Course selection.
When he clicked on it, it showed the twelve Pathways Beatrice had shown him before, and he saw that he could pick select any of them as well as an additional one from any of the other Pathways if he chose to mix them.
After a moment of deliberation, he decided to look through Combat Arts & Strategy first to see what it offered. When he opened it, he was there were a total of 24 different courses under it. More than he'd expected, but it made sense when he thought about it. Combat was a broad subject with many ways one could go about it, so naturally, it was bound to be rich in terms of courses to study.
He cleared his mind and started looking into them closely.
[Combat Arts & Strategy Courses (24 Total)]
GENERAL COMBAT COURSES (8)
1. Close Quarters Mastery
Focuses on hand-to-hand and melee weapon combat. Enhances reaction speed, body control, and efficiency in close-range encounters.
2. Ranged Weapons and Ballistics
Covers firearms, long-range energy weapons, throwing techniques, and battlefield positioning.
3. Combat Conditioning & Endurance
Trains the body and mind to withstand prolonged battle. Emphasis on stamina, pain tolerance, and resilience under pressure.
4. Martial Forms of the World
Studies a wide range of martial arts and integrates them with aura and ability use.
5. Power Management & Flow
Teaches how to efficiently use internal energy during combat to prevent burnout and maximize effect.
6. Urban & Environment-Based Warfare
Trains students to fight in various terrains: cities, jungles, aquatic zones, zero-G, etc.
7. Advanced Weapon Handling
Mastery of unconventional weapons: chains, twin blades, energy staves, modular weapons.
8. Combat Simulation and Reflection
Students fight in AI-generated battlefields and receive neural feedback for analyzing and improving combat performance.
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ABILITY SPECIALIZATION COURSES (8)
1. Aura Combat Fundamentals
Tailored for aura-based ability users. Covers channeling aura into physical strikes, projection techniques, stat enhancement, and aura shielding.
2. Elemental Manipulation Tactics
Focuses on using elemental powers (fire, water, etc.) in combat. Teaches control, synergy, and creative applications.
3. Shifting Forms & Adaptive Fighting
For shapeshifters or those with form-altering abilities. Helps balance transformation with tactical awareness.
4. Defensive Ability Application
Teaches barrier generation, counter-techniques, redirection, and high-level defensive strategies.
5. Sensory Enhancement and Combat Awareness
For those with heightened perception, sonar, or psychic senses. Training in battlefield awareness and predictive movement. Also includes countermeasures.
6. Mind-Based Combat and Defense
Explores telepathy, illusions, mental shielding, and psychic disruption. Also includes countermeasures.
7. Weapon Manifestation and Living Constructs
For students who summon or create weapons, creatures, or tools from their abilities. Focuses on control, sustainability, and synergy.
8. Unique & Anomalous Combat Styles
A catch-all course for powers that don't fit standard folds. Helps students develop personal combat styles using unusual gifts.
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STRATEGY & TACTICAL COURSES (5)
1. Battlefield Strategy and Unit Leadership
Teaches command tactics, unit synergy, resource allocation, and quick decision-making.
2. Enemy Analysis & Tactical Exploits
Instructs students on how to identify weaknesses in opponents, study movement patterns, and develop counter-strategies.
3. Solo vs Squad Combat Dynamics
Trains students in both solo survival and team coordination.
4. Trap Deployment & Guerrilla Combat
Focus on stealth, battlefield control, sabotage, and ambush strategies.
5. Real-Time Tactical Adjustments
Simulations where students must adapt strategies mid-battle. Emphasizes improvisation and mental flexibility.
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WILDCARD/EXPERIMENTAL COURSES (3)
1. Creative Combat Applications
Encourages students to break the mold and combine abilities with creative problem solving in unpredictable ways.
2. Integrated Tech Combat
Teaches students how to integrate available technology with their combat style, especially personal gadgets and drones.
3. Zero-Energy Combat
Focuses on fighting without the use of powers or aura, in cases of suppression fields or nullification zones.
"Oh, all of these are nice." Mike mumbled as he looked through everything. The options were indeed broad and covered a wide range of things one could choose to do.
Mike found the part where it focused on abilities to be especially appealing, as he didn't need to wing things.
That said, he immediately selected Aura Combat Fundamentals as his first choice. It was quite obvious as it was in line with his 'public' ability. Moreover, his instincts told him that it was the right choice.
In fact, Mike didn't try to think too deeply about it. He read through it and simply trusted his instincts to guide him.
Hence, the subsequent courses he chose were Power Management & Flow. He knew that his Aura was closely tied to his energy, and greater energy control would make his Aura control better as well.
Following that, he chose Close Quarters Mastery. He didn't see himself using any ranged weapons, maybe techniques, but he believed that hand-to-hand co bat suited him better.
He then chose Martial Forms of the World ashis fourth choice. On his way to Proxima Centauri D, he'd spent a lot of time looking into Aura-type abilities and what suited them well, and he saw that those who excelled in close combat put a lot of emphasis on martial arts and fighting styles, and those styles usually synergized well with Aura use. Moreover, there were numerous styles that actively augmented Aura use and encouraged it, as it made them that more effective.
This was also the class Mike looked forward to besides the actual Aura classes.
As for the last combat course he'd pick, he finally hesitated for a moment, but he ultimately chose Enemy Analysis & Tactical Exploits.
Once more, Mike had done a lot of thinking on his way to the Academy, and in his research, he realized that just learning techniques wasn't enough. One particular video he watched explained that 'One can know all the techniques on the world and how to deploy them, but if they can't read their opoonent properly or know how to deploy these techniques effectively, it's only a matter of time before they get defeated'.
Mike understood that his lack of knowledge and formal training growing up already put his at a massive disadvantage compared to his peers. He may have the raw strength now that he was a Lupine, but he lacked a lot of things, so he wanted to train in most of the areas he was lacking.
With a sigh, he then started looking through the other courses to see what he could use to compliment everything else he'd selected