I yawn as I sit down at my desk. A little bit of air and time to think did wonders. Am watches me from behind her desk, "So, any questions before we move on?"

"Uh yeah. So in Tariant... I mean Titan, Neo cores are extremely rare. Yet you are just wearing them as an accessory. So are the cores easy to obtain here?"

She taps her pen against the table and answers, "Yes. Neo cores are actually one of the main products produced here. Or hunted, I suppose. There is an entire faction that spends all its time hunting shells for their cores. Cores with high shades are really common but are pretty much useless in a fight. So they become jewelry. Or other entertainment items."

So not all cores are useful. It's kinda weird to see the items that are practically worshiped in Titan be daily accessories. I guess that shows how little I truly know about the world.

"So let me ask something else. If these artifacts can boost the power of shells or whatever, why don't they just obtain them immediately?"

"Good question. We're not sure. We have seen other shells have an artifact in their possession, but it seems that only some artifacts affect specific shells. It seems more like artifacts attract shells, and they have some "desire" to protect it. Not use it."

"What did you mean by most artifacts are useless?"

She stands up and snaps her fingers, causing the board to go blue, " Well, let's give you an example." She taps the screen several times, and the list of artifact names pops up again. "Take this, for example." She taps an image, and a wooden carving of a man appears. "This is the wooden doll. It has no powers, enhancements, or specialty. But it was being fiercely guarded by a shell. Or let's look at this."

Am brings up an image of a rock. Nothing is special about it. It's just a rock. "This is a rock." I wait for her to elaborate, but she just stands there. Looking at me. If this is a joke, the punchline is an ass.

"So, what exactly classifies something as an artifact? Does it just require a ruin and being guarded by a shell?"

Am shakes her head, "Nope. All artifacts emit an aura. Something that can only be felt by a Siphon. Why, we don't know. But we've had Siphons just stumble across them in the wild. No ruin and no shell. They are a complete enigma. Just like Siphons."

So, they follow no rhyme or reason? Just like shells and Siphons. I narrow my eyes. Shells and Siphons. "It's weird that both shells and Siphons can sense the artifacts and can also be strengthened by them. Is there a connection?"

Am's eyebrows shoot up in surprise. She grins, "My, aren't you an observant one? It's true that the two share many similarities, but finding the common denominator between them has been difficult. A shell and a Siphon are fundamentally different. Shells are monsters that do not adapt. Siphons are humans that are the exact opposite and adapt to whatever situation they are in, just like any human. So far, the connection between the two is a mystery."

Am clasps her hands together, "Now, that is enough questions. I will now go over what your job as a secondary is. The specifics, if you will." She tosses a pen and notebook onto my desk. I sigh. Right, this is a school.

*************

By the time the lesson is over, the sun hangs low in the sky, "And finally, you must keep the mule up and running." I let out a yawn, and Am checks the time, "It's getting late. I believe this is it for your first day." I nod sleepily and stand.

"Before you go, take this." Am tossed me a thin piece of black glass six inches tall and about as wide as my ring finger is long. I inspect it, but there is nothing on it. "Tap the middle." I do as she says, and a green hologram screen pops up. "This is called glass. It's sort of like a miniature version of the projector I used today."

"Woah."

"If you tap it twice, it will shut off, and if you swipe up on the glass, the screen will move in front of you. There's an instruction manual on how to use it. Now tap the small icon with the map."

I put my finger over the screen and pressed. My finger goes straight through.

Am lets out a sigh, "You need to hover your finger over it."

"Ah." I hover and do as she says, and the screen turns into a map that depicts the building I'm in with shocking detail.

" Close your fist and hover it over the screen, and then open it." I do as she says, and the map zooms out. I can see a red arrow where I am and a flashing blue dot near the top of the map. "I already programmed the glass to ping your room. As long as you follow the map, you'll be taken to your apartment."

I nod and thank her. "Now, take this. You'll need it for tomorrow." She hands me a metal rectangle about as big as the glass, "This is a weapon slip. Show it to the guard tomorrow with your glass, and it will allow you to carry your weapon."

I scratch my head, "Why do I need my sword?"

She smiles, "Tomorrow is weapons and shell combat training. Be prepared to get your ass kicked."

"Great," I mutter as I exit the classroom.

*******

It doesn't take me long to figure out how the glass works. I can do everything on here. I grimace as I take a peek at the files Am sent me to study. Six hundred pages...Ugh. My stomach rumbles as I walk along the wall. Maybe I should look for something to eat. Alexander was kind enough to give me a card that had money on it. It has a limit on the amount I can spend at once, but besides that, I can use it as much as I want.

Using the map, I find a restaurant not too far from me. "Regal Academy restaurantnt." Reading the reviews, it seems popular with the academy students. I shrug and make my way to it. Much like everything else around here, the restaurant is in a boring gray building, but when I enter, I'm blown away by the inside.

Everything is made out of dark wood paneling. Tables made of the same shiny wood line the walls, and a small entertainment ring sits in the middle of the floor. A band plays relaxing music in the ring, and almost all the tables are filled. A waiter walks up to me and bows, "I see you are from the academy. Is there anywhere you'd like to sit?"

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I shake my head and say anywhere is fine. He nods and sits me down at a window seat. After getting me some water, he brings me a menu. I don't recognize any of the dishes here. Wyvern strips? What is garlic komi? Nothing sticks out at first, but then I notice something called Teret steak. Do they use the shells that are killed as food? Nothing goes to waste, I see. I order the Teret steak and mushroom soup. At least I know what a Teret looks like.

Setting the glass in front of me, I put my finger on the bottom and swipe up. Sure enough, the screen that usually sits flat against the glass projects in front of me like the board in the classroom. I tap the files Am wanted me to look at and groan. It's just boring stuff. Nothing about shells or ruins. I sigh and swipe it away. Maybe I should look more into the currency of this place.

I open this thing Am called a 'Browser.' It takes me a few minutes to get used to typing on the virtual keyboard under the screen. "Let's see now. Currency is the basic form of exch- man, I already know the definition." I scroll down and reach the currency exchange between Titan and End City. They use something called Shade. Light Shade is equal to a copper piece, Shade is equal to silver, gray Shade is equal to gold, and dark Shade is equal to platinum. If I remember correctly, my spending limit is five dark Shade per purchase.

I continue to mull over this until I notice a group of people glancing at me and whispering, "Can I help you?" I say irritably. I hate when people gossip. It never leads to a good ending. The group goes silent. There are six of them, all about my age. Two guys and four girls. They wear the same uniform I do. One of the boys walks up to me. He sneers, and his dark brown eyes look at me with disgust, "What's a secondary doing here? Don't you know this is only a place for actual students?"

Ah, I see. This is one of those clique moments in a book where the MC fights the guy cause he disrespects him or some bullshit like that. I open my mouth to tell him to fuck off when a chef walks out of the kitchen, "Everet! Didn't I tell your punk-ass not to go starting any fights? just because your father is a close friend doesn't mean I won't haymaker you into the hospital." The boy named Everet rolls his eyes.

"If you wanna fight, let everyone in on it." What!? The chef shoos the musicians off the ring and taps the middle with his foot. Holographic ropes appear around the arena, and he plops a glass jar on a wooden stool just outside the ring, "We got a fight, people! Calling all bets." Everyone in the packed restaurant cheers and starts lining up. They put slips of white paper into the jar.

"What the hell is happening?" I'm not given an answer as Everet walks into the ring with a grin.

"You coming, or am I gonna have to drag you kicking and screaming?" he taunts. I stand. I was never one to back down from a challenge in Titan, and I sure as hell won't let some guy who has never killed a man taunt me without kissing the floor. I crack my neck and step into the ring.

I see the people standing around the ring with their glass out. Probably recording. "What is this? You guys just have fights anywhere?"

Everet laughs, "Yeah, right secondary. Divers in training aren't allowed to fight outside of designated areas. This just so happens to be one. Think of it as an underground fight club." That gets a chuckle out of me. They call THIS an underground fight club? In Atlas those things take place in derelict ships or broken down buildings. Even saw one happen in a dead Bustal leviathan that had its insides taken out.

Still, I'm no stranger to challangers. Being the top merc brought a lot of attention. The chef comes inside the ring and holds his hand out, "Alright, you two, this is a friendly bout. I don't want to see no weapons. If your opponent surrenders or passes out, it's your win. The winner takes twenty-five percent of the bets. Fight!"

I immediately take two steps back. Surely, this guy can't be that strong. Before I can even put my arms up, Everat dashes up to me. He swings with a left hook, and I bring my arms up, barely blocking in time. I hear an audible crack, and pain flares up my right arm. "Ugh." I retreat quickly, but Everet doesn't follow. Instead, he hypes up the crowd. I tenderly feel my lower arm. There isn't a break, but probably a small fracture.

The amount of power he outputs shouldn't be possible. Not compared to his muscle mass. Is he doping? No, that can't be it. Are the people here just inherently stronger than those from Titan? I do remember Zack saying something along those lines. Or was it Azu?

Everet spins around and puts his fist up. Even if he is stronger, he's not experienced in hand-to-hand. As long as I can react, this is over. Everet punches with his right, making the rookie mistake of shifting all his weight to his right foot as he does so. I dodge to my right, using his momentum to slam his body into my elbow. He stumbles back, clutching his ribs, and I punch his jaw with a left hook.

He takes an unsteady step back but recovers immediately. I grit my teeth. That's usually enough to send a regular man to the hospital. But he isn't smiling anymore. He throws and left jab followed by a right hook that I easily dodge and counter with a kick to the temple. He shakes it off and squares up again. These people have been trained to fight monsters, not other humans. I feel a grin pass on my face. He might be strong and fast, but he's not a good fighter. I'll show this undisciplined mess what it means to fight a killer.

He runs at me, but I'm already in motion. He swings, and I duck, hooking his arm to mine. I move behind him and grab his shoulder, pushing it forward as I wrench his arm back. It took more effort than I was expecting, but I feel his arm pop and the scream that accompanies it. I shove him forward as his arm limps to his side, dislocated.

By this point, the crowd was cheering for me, chanting, "Go secondary." I see tears form in Everts eyes as he moves to pop his arm into place, not that I'm going to give him the chance. I burst forward and move to punch his face. Instinctively, he goes to protect it, but I feint and slam my foot into his knee, bending it back at an unnatural angel. The entire crowd oohs in discomfort.

Everet lets a groan escape before I slam my hand into his throat, causing his eyes to bulge. Then I grab his other shoulder, ready to dislocate it as well. "I SURRENDER!" Everet screams. I pause just before I pull his arm. I let go, and he drops to the ground, a mess of tears and snot.

"We have a winner!" the chef yells. The crowd goes nuts as the ring powers down.

I look down at the kid and grin. I crouch down to look at him. "Please help me pop my arm back into place," He says, practically begging. Man, what a pussy. Crying over a dislocated shoulder? When I worked at the Orphan tower, Blade broke every bone in my body as "training." I shake my head, disappointed, and stand. He's a grown man. Why should I help him?

I turn to the chef, and he motions me to follow. All around me, people barrage me with questions. I ignore them as we make our way to the kitchen. "That was some great fighting, kid, but tell me, what exactly were you gonna do to Everet if he didn't surrender?"

I would've dislocated both his arms and then busted both his knees. If he didn't surrender by then, I'd start breaking his fingers one by one. But I can't tell this guy that. "You probably don't want to know."

He nods, "I'll take your word for it. Now, hand me your glass." I take it out and hand it to him. He presses his own against it and hands it back, "There you go. Got yourself two darkies. Quite the haul." My glass pings and two black orbs appear on the top right of my screen. That must be the currency. "Now, here's your food. I'll imagine you probably want it to go." I nod, and he hands me the stake in a metal container.

"Hey kid, before you leave, how'd you beat him? Even if you are strong for a sheep, Everet was still considerably stronger."

I shrug, "He's trained to fight monsters. If we had weapons, I would have lost without a doubt. But he's terrible at hand-to-hand and wasn't good at fighting humans while I was trained to hunt them down. Even if he is superhuman, he still has the same weaknesses."

The cook nods in agreement, "Word of advice, kid. Don't make it a habit of fighting in the ring. Even if you beat Everet, he's weak compared to most. I'm not sure how he even passed the academy entrance physical. He's more fit to be a bookkeeper or store clerk." I thank him and leave.

I'm not surprised at hearing how weak Everet was. And I sure as hell don't plan on getting into a fight here often. I know my limits all too well.