Later that day, Ty and Offshore had completed the formalities and left the enforcer building. They got in a GV (general-purpose vehicle) to make their way to the government base where all the other people were being kept. The ride was mostly quiet, due to Ty being deep in thought about what he would be doing and what type of people he would meet once he got to the location, save for Offshore occasionally trying to start conversation. Eventually, they made it to a small looking bunker and got out of the GV. They walked in, only to find a singular elevator leading downward. Ty looked at it anxiously, knowing that going down there would truly start his six years of servitude to the government. Although technically it started when he signed the papers, this made him really feel it.
Him and Offshore got on the elevator, and he pressed a button. Immediately, the elevator started to go down, making its way towards his new home. After around a minute of dropping, the elevator finally stopped at an alloy sliding door, this one the same material as the cards Offshore had brought to the room. With a hiss, the doors slid open to reveal a large room, with people the wandering through occasionally, with ages ranging from twelve all the way to twenty. A few glanced at him and Offshore as they walked in, but it seemed that new people coming in was common, as their gaze didn't linger for long.
"This is it Tyson, your new home for six whole years. I'll take you to your room and then you can mingle with your peers."
Offshore then led Ty to his room. The place in itself was simple all things considered, with a virtually bare bed, a desk, a sturdy-looking chair, and a lamp on the desk. The entire room was the government standard forest green, but that was his favorite color anyway, so he didn't mind. Offshore eventually left him to get acclimated, but since there wasn't much in the room to begin with, he simply put his cards in a drawer and left, as he assumed they were too important to carry on his person.
Leaving the room and going back down the hallway of endless doors, some the same and some much different from his own, he eventually made it back to what seemed to be the common area. The people here seemed normal, but Ty knew better than to think that. Each person here had honed a skill to its upmost perfection and was a prospect for becoming a Noble rank powerhouse.
Speaking of, the rankings he was thinking about were posted on the wall of the room, with names beside them. There were seven ranks on the wall, the first to seventh ranks that people could achieve in this world: Serf, Peasant, Apprentice, Knight, Royal Guard, Noble, and Prince. The first Adoubement a person went through would raise them to the Serf rank, while also granting them a profession and one to three unique abilities tied to it. Every Adoubement after that would evolve the profession and unique abilities, granting it increased power and providing another unique ability. There were also general skills that anyone could learn.
As Ty was lost in thought looking at the board, he felt a tap on his shoulder, and a light voice came from behind him.
"Excuse me, are you new here too? I got here just yesterday and don't know anybody, so it'd be nice to befriend someone in a similar situation!"
Ty turned around to see a beautiful girl around his age. She had long ginger hair, which was rare considering that gene was supposed to die out completely in just a few years.
"Yeah, I'm new. Frankly I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing right now either. Everyone seems so busy. I'm Tyson, but please just call me Ty."
"Well, hello there Ty, my name is Ariel."
Before she could continue, a voice sounded on the intercom that was apparently in the ceiling.
"Every student please make your way to classroom A. Now that everyone has been accounted for, classes can now start."
Neither Ty nor Ariel knew where classroom A was, but seeing where the other students in the common area were headed, they promptly went and followed.
Eventually, they made it into a large room with curved, elevated forms rather than individual desks. A man in a mask shaped like a crow along with a short top-hat stood at the lowest point. All the forms in the room were directed at the desk where he was standing, so Ty assumed he was the teacher.
"Everyone may choose any seat they like… This will be your position for a year at least so choose wisely… class will start as soon as everyone has taken their seat…"
The teacher seemed to pause for a moment before turning to the board behind him and writing a name.
"You… children… may call me Professor Croft. I teach wilderness survival. We will mostly focus on the environment here on Earth; however, my class will be ever present due to the myriads of places you will go during your growth…"
Ty didn't know what exactly Professor Croft meant, but he decided he would look for a seat and worry about that after. He spotted a large open area near the middle and started to walk over there, with Ariel quickly following.
"Hey Ty, would you like to sit together?"
"Ah sure, I don't mind if that's what you want."
Truthfully, he wanted her to, since she was extremely pretty. However, he didn't want to say it out loud, since that would be just too embarrassing.
"Ahh! Yay! Let's get going then! I don't want someone to take our spot!"
She quickly held his hand and lead Ty over to the middle forms. He had to suppress a blush from appearing on his face, although it didn't really matter due to his dark skin. She couldn't see it anyways. His face still burned as they sat.
Eventually, all the seats were filled. Ariel was to his right, and a girl with light green streaked hair was to his left. He would have looked around more, but his focus went to Professor Croft once he started talking.
"Alright class, settle down… I said this earlier, but you may call me Professor Croft, and my class is about wilderness survival…"
The masked man paused to make sure that all of the students were listening.
"What do you think will kill you out in the fields...? Is it a monster you think? Well that would be wrong. What will kill you first is hunger. What will kill you first is a tsunami, a forest fire, hell even a disease. The ancient humans also left messages on the walls, some of which detail treasures or more importantly dangers. What if you were headed into the maw of large, cave-looking demon and didn't know it?"
He made his hands look like an animal's maw and clamped it shut to make his point.
"You would have died. All because you couldn't care enough to learn a few dead languages. Luckily, for the first month your schedule is fixed to have your field days cut and have two extra learning days. In that time, you will become masters of surviving out in the wild… And especially avoiding diseases, hehe…"
Ariel beside him whispered, "Hey Ty, this guy seems like a total creep…"
"No talking in my classroom while I'm teaching please, Ariel."
She immediately turned away from Ty with a red face, not realizing he could hear her from that far away in the long room.
"As I was saying…"
Professor Croft continued with the class, and introduced many seemingly simple topics, such as knot tying, floating in water, and even hair tying. Finally, after what seemed like ages of introducing new topics and whatnot, Professor Croft stopped.
"That seems to be all my time for today class… But please, try to remember all that I taught today. Your next class well be held in an hour's time, please be here at that point and be in your seat, Professor Seahawk would appreciate it, hehe…"
After that, he left the room, and the students soon followed, filing into the common area into cliques. Some went to their rooms to rest, and some went to some other area, to do who knows what.
Speaking of, where was the bathroom? Ty hadn't been in ages and was really starting to feel it after a fifteen-minute lecture about bowel diseases.
"Hey Ariel, do you know where the bathrooms are?"
"Oh yeah, they're just down that hall down there on the left. They are also marked for boys and girls, so be careful. And don't go to the end of the hall, that's the cafeteria. That means you had gone too far. In fact I-"
"Ok thank you for the info, I gotta go bad. See ya in a bit!"
Eventually, in an hour's time, everyone was back in their seats, waiting for the next lecturer to walk in.
And soon enough, he did.
"Heyy dudes and dudettes! I'm Professor Seahawk, although you sand-lickers can call me Hawk if ya want. I teach Adoubement research. That means that you'll learn all about what to do in those freaky trials."
This class played out largely the same as the last one, save for the difference in subject. Just a lot of topics introduced.
"Two things before I go you ankle biting kids. One is that the room will be a bit different in like, an hour, so be back in time for Turbo's class and whatnot. Other thing is that you chumps will need a notebook at the least for me and Croft's classes, so be prepared!"
After that, the same scene as before played out, with the teacher leaving first and then all the students.
"Say, Ariel… Didn't you say that there was a cafeteria at the end of that hall I went down earlier? I'm kinda hungry, we should go eat."
"Ooh, look at Ty… Already inviting me out on a date to eat I see, what a forward man you are…"
Ariel said that and winked at him playfully.
"Whatever, I'm gonna go on my own if you don't hurry up."
Ty and Ariel made their way down to the cafeteria, joking with each other along the way.