After giving his announcement over the speaker, Cyno straightened out his white lab coat as he flicked his spiky white hair into place. Using a nearby mirror, he checked if he looked alright. While he usually wasn’t a perfectionist or cared all that much about his appearance, he was a working adult so he should at least look the part in a professional setting.
Adjusting his black and gold blazer, along with his headband like headphones. He then tugged on the blue scarf to make sure it wasn’t sagging too much. He had to say.
I look pretty good for my age. He snickered since he in fact knew the comedic truth behind his appearance.
Character Info/Appearance
[Cyno Basa Yuno Teaching Attire]
Description: Fashionable but with great functionality, the headband holding down his spiky white hair is actually a personal device and mini holo projector. He can work and take data down at any time…or….he can watch movies and anime, anytime he wants to relax.
image [https://i.postimg.cc/LXfMCkVP/1696798168276.jpg]
Getting his rimmed glasses on, he took a breath. He was calm, and this would be a piece of cake. Stepping out from the hall and up onto the podium at the auditorium’s center, he gazed out and up at the lines of seats that were filled around him with students. Thousands upon thousands of students were in attendance.
This was a first day orientation, and it was meant to help the first years settle in. This class event involved the upperclassmen as well and was usually held at every turn of the academic year. With everyone so close, the numerous students could mingle and get to know each other.
While the building used for this purpose was only a one-time deal a year, this place would always be open for them to study, or hang out when outside their usual classes.
“If I could get your attention, please.” Cyno spoke into the mic and all the students settled. Hearing no further chatter, he continued.
“Thank you. Now to first start the new academic year, I’d like to bring attention to the people around you. As you can see, Andromeda academy accepts all kinds of students. Here, students can vary by age, experience, ethnicity, and most strikingly of all, appearance.”
What Cyno was referring to was how a numerous number of the attending audience were of ages that you wouldn’t expect in a usual academy or school setting. Additionally, some even had physical characteristics like horns or a tail, making them seem like creatures that had popped out of a fantasy story or folklore from around the world.
“As you know, the process of becoming an explorer is very skewed in other academies, sometimes separating students by age and other characteristics. At Andromeda, we treat you all as one class. While you may all have your differences, we expect that you will all treat each other kindly and as equals. There is no “I” in team, as you all very much know, so with that in mind, let’s move on.”
Cyno then took a swig of his coffee and set it on the podium, and this time it had a double shot of espresso since he had gamed more than usual these past couple of days. He’d keep his fatigue and that previous fact a secret from his students though.
With a wave of his hands, Cyno materialized Holo screens out of nowhere from the audience’s perspective. They were startled but Cyno took no time addressing that and began presenting his topic and himself.
“You may already know my name, but I am Cyno Basa Yuno and I was a researcher during the Starfall Calamity War. After, I took up a position here at Andromeda as the teacher for Explorer Basics 101. My class is mandatory, so I will see you all once at least, but besides that, let me explain a few important details about Andromeda.”
The floating holo screens in the air then changed over to show the types of training the students would be involved in. From pictures and videos of mock battles, simulated training, field training, and in class education.
“Andromeda prides itself on being the best academy that makes the best explorers, and while many other academies say otherwise, in my opinion they’re likely just wrong. There is a good reason behind why I can say this with confidence.” Cyno paused and he could tell that a few students seemed tense. He didn’t want to overly spook them with expectation, so with an assuring tone he allayed their worries.
“You don’t need to worry about failing, and while I would tell you to relax, I believe your cautiousness in approaching becoming an explorer is correct. We all forget, but the war was only 20 years ago. In that short time we have rebuilt and have made progress in restoring the peace. That is the job of explorers, and while I would love to instead continue my research on the star depths, we all mostly understand the reason we are here. Maybe we have different goals such as fame or fortune or something else, but before you can think about that, I need to explain how Andromeda’s graduation system works. This is likely old news to your upperclassman, so humor me for now.”
A chuckle ran between the upperclassman and the underclassman wondered why. What was so funny, exactly?
Not minding it, Cyno cleared his throat as if telling the upperclassman to not spoil anything.
“Ahem! The goal of everyone here is to become an explorer. To do that, you usually only need to pass your classes and obtain an acceptable amount of credits at other academies, but that won’t work here. In order to truly graduate with a full explorer’s license, you will need to pass the Practical Training Class. While the name is simple, it is in fact not that at all. In this class you will learn everything you need to know to become the best. Should you pass and obtain the required credits, among other practical tests of your abilities, then you will be issued an explorer license with Andromeda’s full backing.”
A student raised his hand up, he seemed calm considering this sudden change in the curriculum’s norm, and asked his question in a steady pace as he was called upon.
“Yes, you! Your name is Richard Garcia if I am not mistaken. I knew your grandfather, a great man.” Cyno said, a thoughtful expression on his lips and a mummer crept through the audience.
“Garcia? As in, the hero of the west?”
“No way, that’s his grandson?”
“So!” Cyno clapped his hands, the sound echoing in the domed room. “What would you like to ask?”
“Thank you for your kind words about my grandfather, I’d like to ask more about this Practical Training Class? Is there anything else we should know more about it? It sounds important if it's a mandatory requirement for graduation.”
“A good question but I’m not at liberty to answer that. My role is to educate you on the fundamentals, practical application is not really my forte. But believe me, the instructors we have are the best for that class and they’ll truly prepare you for what you need to become an explorer. Just be sure to do your best and you should be fine.”
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
“I see, but are there any other conditions to obtaining an explorer license? Are there programs to help us get our foot in the door?”
“A few.” The holo screens changed over and scrolled through images of businesses and companies that catered to hiring explorers. Not only that, but notable profiles of explorers scrolled as well.
“Being sponsored by one of our many already licensed explorers is a viable option and so is taking part in an internship that could be offered in the future. You’ll have the opportunity, so don’t worry.”
Richard nodded, he found this option alluring. He sat down, and while he knew he drew attention due to his last name being well known with a hero from the war, he kept quiet and humbled himself as a few students egged him for more info about himself.
They soon quieted down as Cyno produced a chart on the numerous holo screens, showing the parameters measured for an explorer.
“This should all look familiar to you, so I’ll skip this and summarize. You have all been assigned an Explorer Rank and class based on what your initial evaluations told us upon your enrollment application. While explorer class is another subject I will touch upon in my class, let’s move onto Monster Rank as this is of more pressing concern.”
The students could tell that Cyno was giving them a warning and began to sit up at the edges of their seats. Pictures and drawings of commonly sighted monsters popped up and displayed themselves. A few more green and weak hearted students began to feel sick.
The descriptive images were somewhat off putting as the creatures were like mutated beasts from a horror film.
“So, about monster rank and class. By our own categorization, monsters are given ranks like everyone here, some are termed as C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS. These ranks are due to how the monsters from the star depths are incredibly deadly. The weakest creature in the star depths was measured to be able to fight toe to toe with a C rank explorer, according to UN standards. There are exceptions with how tactics can help turn the tide. Right now, informing you of the classification of monsters is more important as you’ll likely have to face them one day.”
“Will us first years have to fight them?” A student asked. Some wondered why he’d ask such a dumb question. Explorers were meant to do that, so whoever said it sounded like a coward.
“Indeed.” Cyno sighed heavily. “But we expect that you’ll face the weakest monsters first, such as how there exists a D and E rank monsters, which are less of a threat. But don’t let their rank deceive you, these creatures are of a mutated variant from our planet’s natural living animals.”
Cyno flipped through the holo screen display to show just how drastically changed these creatures were. Some had extra limbs or metal replacing their once organic limbs. It seemed like they were all frankenstein experiments gone wrong.
Taking to the next topic, the monster classes were broken down. Understood instead by size rather than roles like how explorers were classified, the breakdown went as such. The swarm class was the 2nd smallest class creature and moved in a herd consisting of 1,000 smaller creatures who ranged from the size of small animals like bears to modern tanks.
The drone class was what made up the herd, but they were of less concern, so Cyno saved that for later.
The next class up from swarm class monsters was tactical class, which could be as big as a building and moved in a herd of about 10,000. At this drastic change, the classification of monster ranking elevated to B and A rank and with this change, the need for large parties of explorers to combat these hordes of monsters was necessary.
Cyno then defined the remaining classes commonly known, which were Command and Lord class, which were respectively found in herds of 100,000 and 1,000,000 creatures.
These figures made many of the young students gasp and many began reconsidering the explorer’s life. Contrary to those weak of will, many here still showed staunch fearlessness due to their tougher upbringing since the end of the war.
20 years of peace had somewhat made some people soft, but not all of them.
Ikki, Stella, Amanda, Richard, and Nene were of this latter group, along with many more who smiled with toothy grins and swords at their sides, ready to fight and hone themselves to the bone in the pursuit of their own goals and ideals.
With his explanation finished, Cyno opened the class for questions. Amanda took the chance, and spoke up.
“You said before that Explorers were ranked up to A, but is there a rank above that? Like how the monsters could be ranked as S rank. I’ve heard about a rank in the book you published, it spoke of a Praetor Rank and you held it before. What exactly is it and what does it mean?”
Cyno's expression turned stiff and rubbed his aching shoulder from all this stress standing he was doing today. He sighed and got his explanation over with, sounding a bit troubled.
“That is complicated and a long story, but the short version is that the rank is just a mark of honor for those who were seen as leaders and heroes of the war. I myself was given the rank but my actual rank is as an A rank explorer. And while it is the highest rank according to UN standards, I would say that I am not much of a fighter myself. Does this answer your question?”
“Yes, but I have another.”
“Go ahead.”
“Your book also talks about your final experience in the last star depth of the war, could you tell us what you saw, what was down there?”
Amanda herself wanted to know out of curiosity, she had been orphaned because of the war indirectly, and had a somewhat habitual desire to know more about the war that ended before her birth.
What was down there in those star depths? How did it affect the world? And what could even do such a thing on such a massive scale?
She grew up with stories and vague answers about the war and her question. How horrible and tragic it was, but her mind kept coming back to the questions of what was down there and how did it cause all this trouble?
By how Cyno’s mood was somewhat turning somber, Amanda did reconsider asking her question now.
“I apologize, you don’t have to share if it’s too much or too sensitive a topic-”
“No, it’s alright, but while I do think that telling you what I experienced would be good for everyone’s development, it's best that I don’t elaborate.”
The audience somewhat booed Cyno since he was keeping secrets, he shrugged it off not caring but also not being overly rude about it. Instead, a playful smile came across him.
“Now, now, don’t get all worked up. I can still tell you a little. So listen closely.”
The students were now again on the edge of their seats, waiting as Cyno annoyingly paused purposefully to increase their anticipation by pretending to wipe his glasses clean. Put them up, the frame of his glass shone.
“What I saw down there was beautiful, it was like a world of its own. It had creatures I’ve never seen before and while they were deadly and somewhat ugly, they had quite the intriguing physiology.”
“Aw! Come on! Tell us straight already, will ya!” A student shouted, his excitement overflowing and his hand gripping as if waiting for a climatic reveal. Cyno chuckled at their reactions.
“Heh, I can see it in all your eyes. You want to know more. I can tell you all about it, but I know firsthand that finding out yourself is the better option, we are “explorers", so I’ll leave it at that for now. You all won’t find what you’re looking for if you don’t find it yourself. And, even I don’t have all the answers, I’m not a god.”
“BOOO! HOW CHEESY! JUST TELL US ALREADY!”
Cyno grinned happily to himself as the students began egging him on to spill the beans, but he kept his silence and took a bow.
“Boo me all you like, but it wouldn’t change a thing. Find your own adventure and lastly, Welcome to Andromeda, let’s all make sure to get along.”
With the orientation finished, Cyno exited stage left. While the booing was hurtful on his ears, it was a good sign that they had an ambitious batch this year.
Seems like the warning got their attention. Can they handle it? Or will they be too scared when the time comes? I just hope their practical training goes well, maybe a few of them will survive.
His ominous thoughts turned to his own paralleling experiences. He shivered and took another swig of coffee to both wake and warm himself up.
“Alright, now it's your turn.” He said to himself and knew someone was listening.