The previous day left Cormac in high spirits. Not only did he look forward to the skills this school might teach him, he found a first friend to talk to. Well, that friend found him. Gavin had his share of peculiarities, especially whenever he talked about magic, but he seemed like a nice guy. Cormac did not even experience any nightmares in the night, which was a first.
Though Cormac and Gavin spent their morning talking about the institute in their lounge, they haven't met any from the other residents, which was a shame. Cormac wanted to meet all their roommates sooner rather than later, naively hoping they would join the duo, but it was not meant to be. At least not yet, surprisingly, Cormac kept hope in that.
All in all, he felt incredibly refreshed and prepared for any upcoming classes, as he and Gavin strode out from their common room.
Most of the classes they took today ended up being boring, as introductory classes are wont to be. Mostly going over the semester curriculum and what students can expect to learn. The political and battle strategy classes had promise, but Cormac threw away any aspirations to be an economical genius. The self-eating beast of finance was a hurdle he had no enjoyment of slaying.
But both Cormac and Gavin were positively shaking on their way to the physical training class.
"Is there a reason for you to take this class too?" asked Cormac, his breath straining while keeping up with Gavin's quick step.
"I may be a wizard, but good physique never burdened anyone. I can't solve everything with magic." a corner of his smile quirked up. "Not yet at least. Plus, don’t forget I am a first year too. I couldn’t choose my classes either."
"Oh yeah, you seem to know where everything is. Makes it hard to remember you are just as green as me."
"I wouldn’t go that far." replied Gavin with his usual grin. Cormac just jabbed him between his ribs with a finger.
When they got to the arena, most others were already seated and the instructor stood down on the platform, already talking. It was the same man that talked to them yesterday. The imposing man stopped his speech to glared at them and Cormac and Gavin quickly tried to disappear into the crowd. When they settled, the man nodded and started.
"Since I have just started, I will go over the first few things again, in favor for the slower ones among you," some of their classmates shoot a glare at the pair, they just mouthed sorry back. "You will refer to me as Master Norman. I will be your teacher for physical training in this semester and some I will continue to teach with sword-mastery and intermediate physical training in the second semester. The point of this class is to prepare you for your daily life and for stressful situations both. You will undergo training for you muscles, with running and weight lifting, as well as mind and body, where you will learn to move with grace and flexibility."
"I understand that some of you do not possess the drive necessary to continue advancing on the field of your physical self after this class, but I expect you to show your very best during it."
The man gestured to the earth with his arm, then he swiped it aggressively towards the sky. Four stone pillars erupted from the ground around him, all reaching some eight meters. Master Norman put his fists together and bowed slightly, a gesture Cormac thought might be from the man's past. Then he arched his back and hit the pillar with a full swing. His fist penetrated through the pillar and kept enough momentum to break even the second one. Master Norman climbed in between the last two standing, breaking them with kicks while he pushed himself higher and higher. Before the tip of the pillar even had time to start dropping, he hit it again from the top, sending it quickly towards the ground.
Then a wave of dust erupted from the arena, hiding whatever was happening inside it.
When the dust settled, Master Norman was patiently waiting in the middle of the platform, his arms nested behind his back. There was no sign left of the pillars, not even rocks or a pile of sand. There was nothing.
"This is the lowest strength you should aspire to be. Now, we will start with the practical side of things. If I call out your name, You will stand up and walk over here. Where you will be paired and tasked to fight with your opponent. You will fight bare handed, with reserve. I want none of these fights to look like a battle to the death. The opponent that either pushes the other or beats him to an obvious state of loss will be the winner. As will always be the case, the winners will be given merit for their victory. Now."
The silence of the class turned to light murmurs, as everyone talked about the surprising turn of events. Cormac knew these types of situations. Surprise challenges. He knew them so well that his body was reacting even now. Even before the instructor said his name, Cormac felt the familiar sense of danger. The primal fear he knew too well.
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"Cormac, Aviana, Futen, Carl, Lepaves,…" Cormac ignored the other names, only focusing on the steps he was walking down on. With every step his body weighted more, with every step he felt the weakness of his bones.
His weakness was rather apparent, especially when compared to the others. He did not know what his name was, but one of his peers was the height of a mountain. He must have been at least three two times as tall as Cormac and he would fit threefold into his muscles.
He felt it again, the sense of danger. He knew he was going to be paired up with the strongest of them. He didn’t know how, but he just knew.
Master Norman took a look the group he called down, then he started pairing them up. Cormac was sent to the further half of the arena and he opted not to take a look behind him. If he did, it may stop him in his tracks, be too much.
He remembered the sense of helplessness he felt his whole life, the main reason why he even came here.
He turned on his heel, still looking vehemently looking at the ground, afraid of who he had been paired up against.
"Fighters prepare!" sounded the Masters voice over the arena. "Cormac, watch your opponent!"
Cormac averted his eyes for his Masters behest only to see that…her…
A beautiful girl was standing opposite to him, her long red hair made into a bun. Her green eyes watching Cormac, evaluating him, blazing with the heat for battle. Her lean form and long legs made Cormac gulp. She stood in a low stance, prepared to fight.
"Fight!"
As soon as the word left his mouth, the girl started running at incredible speed and before Cormac could have gathered his bearings, he felt sharp pain erupt in his midsection. He began tumbling behind him, smacking his head on the stone brick at the edge of the arena. Everything was slowly coming together, as Cormac was escaping his dizziness. The crowd was utterly silent, only broken by Master Norman's words.
"Cormac has been forced out of the perimeters of the fight. Winner Aviana. Next up Carl, Lepaves."
Cormac looked up at the girl, as she was leaving the arena to the seats. She was the most beautiful woman he has ever seen.
"You got your ass handed to you good huh?" asked Gavin as he wolfed down another of his seemingly endless portion of dumplings.
"You think?" replied Cormac angrily biting into piece of meat of his own.
"Don’t take it too badly though," he started again, small pieces of meat falling from his mouth. "She trains like all the time. That’s why she is never at the lounge in the morning."
"Oh that is why. Makes sense now that she…"
"Shush!" yelled Gavin and grabbed Cormac by the head, pulling him under the table together with him.
"Fucking…what the fuck are you doing?"
"Hiding dumbass. Don’t yell."
"Don’t call me a dumb…"
"Yeah yeah, now shush." his eyes portrayed the single emotion Cormac knew best - fear.
"…why?..." whispered Cormac.
"Just a…few classmates I don’t want to see. No biggie"
"What happened?"
Suddenly a group of people stopped at their table and a voice sounded from above.
"What you two lovebirds doing under the table? This is a cafeteria you pigs."
Gavin quickly stood up from the table, holding a singular tomato he grabbed from Cormac's plate.
"We were just looking for this, no worries. And lovebirds? Ha! What a great joke, really great."
When Cormac crawled from underneath the table he saw a group of four boys, all wearing a different uniform. They had a cape and their jacket wasn’t just black, they had lines of dark green running around them, making the jacket seem fancier.
"Who is this then? Found yourself a dead tree to cling onto?"
"A dead…Ha! You are just putting them out. You joke machine you. So…great!" Gavin was starting to sweat profusely.
"Alright, alright. I will leave you two to brandishing each other's sticks then." he said as he left. The laugh of his entourage disappearing into the crowd.
"That was?"
"No one of importance."
"Are you sure? It seemed like…"
"Deadly sure." Gavin cut Cormac off harshly.
"Ok." Cormac replied with his hands in the air. They both stood their without saying anything for a bit, thinking about what just happened.
"If your wizarding is as bad as your acting, you should change occupation." Cormac decided to say.
"You think?" quoted Gavin Cormac. Cormac just looked at him with anger, but erupted into a laugh when seeing Gavin's grin coming back. They both laughed like that for a little while. Then they finished eating.