Syzslic creeps up on me as I'm making wild guesses about the height of an ape and the best ways to strike at their vitals. Thankfully, he seems to be back to his usual self. The calm and calculating exterior is back up, hiding the instability I'm sure lies below.

(The hunters will be here shortly. In the meantime, let's set up the ring.)

Syzslic grandly waves his hand over the edge of the ring and a shiver travels down my spine. Some sense of the mana working in the background?

(When the prompt appears, select the option closest to what you will be teaching. The options available are based on what you're sufficiently proficient in by the standards of the gods.)

I wait patiently, somehow still irritated by the extremes he keeps jumping between. Somehow he keeps using longer and longer words via telepathic communication so he's intentionally trying to ramp up the quality of his vocabulary.

I clench my fist, allowing no other indication of my emotions. Maybe my opinion of the great chief has shifted significantly today, but I don't think he's a bad person. I'll see this through to the end, but the sooner I can get there, the better.

Permission given to teach in:  Basic Training Ring. Please select your role: (+)11,625

I select the menu extension and just as the screen warned me, the list of professions that appears seems to go on forever. I try to quickly scroll through the alphabetical list, but taking too long would just alert Syzslic and warrant another round of odd mendacious and annoying questions.

I think of the word 'Sensei' and instantly the list scrolls down and sensei appears in the centre of the screen, between Secretary and Sentinal. I'm tempted to see what I could even teach about being a Sentinal, as I'm clueless on what earthen experience qualifies me to teach it.

I'm worried that this means I'm qualified for an equally long list of classes, which is a daunting prospect. But I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. Maybe ill just keep the first court guardian one for a while. Depends on what it gives me.

I select Sensei, and the list disappears for an instant before being replaced by a shorter, but equally complicated table.

Teaching role:  Sensei Intended lesson:  Mixed Martial Arts Student Body:  Skalean Hunters (7) Maximum proficiency available:  Martial Arts (10) Maximum rewards available: +1 Body per 5 levels gained by students. (14)

+1 mind per student that reaches level 5.

I scan through the information given, confused by most of it.

Based on how much I know about martial arts as a whole, I can apparently raise their skill level to a maximum of ten. But I don't have such a skill. And Michael told me that skills gained outside of classes were incredibly difficult to gain and mostly useless. This screen seems to be telling me that I can fairly easily teach this skill to others.

I wonder if this is because the mercenaries don't know about this way to teach skills. Maybe Michael was just unaware of whether they did this. He was never really educated in part of a classroom. But the simulator at the base certainly would have qualified as a place to teach... something that only the higher-ups would have known about.

"Ugh..."

All this overthinking the who's, what's and why's of how the system works is giving me a headache. I don't know shit and everyone I've met aside from the snarky snake aren't telling me shit either.

I need a vacation. Maybe I'll join an arena.

Something about mindlessly punching people is really appealing to me right now. I might also have to teach them, but using the hunters as punching bags will have to do.

Speaking of, a grunt behind me alerts me that they've arrived, each carrying their hunting weapons. Like the first time I saw them, they use mostly well-formed clubs and two wield fairly crude bows too.

(Are you ready to start the lesson?)

Only if you're ready to translate.

Syzslic blinks away the attitude I throw his way, displaying his not so endless patience.

First things first, everyone put your weapons down. This lesson is the last line of defence if you have lost your weapon. Your body must become your weapon.

The hunters look approving. They probably weren't expecting all that much from me, but if there's one thing I know how to do, it's inspire. There was a perk I could have selected for my soul I think, something that would have made it easier to make people follow me. Not necessary.

The hunters all follow my directions without complaint and I usher them into the ring.

Student Body has arrived.

Begin lesson?

I'm not sure why the system has become so present, almost micromanaging what I'm doing. But I mentally accept regardless and each of the hunters focuses on invisible screens of their own.

I'm briefly unsure of what their screens would even display, as I've seen no evidence of them having any sort of written language. Perhaps the system telepathically tells them the information they want to know in the same way Syzslic talks to me; with the message interpreted by the recipient.

Everyone line up in a row. I want to test your strength.

The hunters line up in the same order that I duelled each of them. The visibly youngest first, then the two bow users, then the largest four.

I stand opposite the first Hunter, Danis. The height difference between us obvious for the first time. The hunters are no taller than the average human, but I'm so damnably short.

I mentally sigh and cast barrier on my right hand.

Spell cast

-10mp

Break the shield without using any skills. I need a gauge of your abilities when you have no other option but to use brute force.

Danis raises an eyebrow ridge at my magic, but when Syzslic relays the order, he takes a step back and expertly shatters the shield with a straight strike.

I move my hand out of the way fast enough to escape any of the remaining force of his punch.

I recast barrier, this time pushing more mana into the spell. This will be a good opportunity for me to test my limits too, so I repeatedly cast, making the shield stronger and stronger.

Finally, Danis fails to break the barrier charged with 29 points of mana. That's almost three times stronger than that I could originally cast, and I'm still not sure of my limit. I'm sure I could have overcharged a spell before gaining the Mana Death feat, so that limit was doubled, whatever it was.

I follow down the line, testing each of the hunters on their brute strength. Compared to Danis' limit of a 29 mana shield, each of the bow users fails to break a 20 mana shield. I'm a little clueless as to why they are weaker, but perhaps they've just invested their perks in a different direction. I would imagine that having a better mind stat would help when using a bow.

The next three hunters are stopped by barriers using 30, 33 and 39 mana respectively, and the final Hunter forces me to charge my barrier as much as I can before he shatters it without too much effort. As expected, the leader of the hunters is incredibly strong.

To counter his strength, I cast barrier on each hand, charging each spell as much as I can.

Multiple overcharged spells cast (×2)

-80mp

My spells are getting more and more expensive, but the two glowing hexagons prove too much once I let them combine to form the larger full-body shield.

A maximum effort punch from the strongest Skalean makes my arms shudder with the effort of maintaining the shield, but it's enough to stop him.

This exercise was partially to help me get an idea of how best to pair them off, but I also have to show them that my magic is stronger than they are.

I pair off the two bow users, then the next two and final two hunters. As he is closest to my own abilities, Danis has the unfortunate role of becoming my opponent.

The most important thing about Krav M'ga is the brutality and efficiency with which you take out your opponent.

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Use their weaknesses against them. Aim for vitals, aim for soft spots. As mammals, the apes will have weak sternums, throats and groins. Aim for a joint or two if you can, and don't ever forget that there are no rules in a scuffle. Do whatever you need to to make sure you come out on top.

I can tell my students are somewhat sceptical, so I try again.

You are lucky enough to have natural weapons that I don't. Unluckily, your opponents have similar advantages. Your teeth and claws are vital weapons.

I look over to Syzslic quickly and he raises an eyebrow ridge in an unspoken question.

Do you... Are you venomous at all?

The edges of his mouth curl up slightly and he opens his mouth widely to display not only his snow-like fangs but also a row of much smaller teeth, some of which are missing.

I can see a drop of a scarlet liquid forming on the point of each of his fangs.

(Yes, but it is a natural asset that has long since become inert. The ability to kill via venom injection is something that we as a species lost not long after we gained sentience and evolved beyond such hunting tactics.)

I nod slowly, unsure if I should be sympathetic at all.

Ok, let's continue.

The body of the ape is soft, and as I'm sure you hunters know, has a low defensive capacity. Their advantage is to attack with aggression in large numbers. So how do you deal with such large numbers?

I gesture to the class for their suggestions.

One of the bow users hisses something out loud, and I wait patiently for Syzslic to translate.

(She says, we should pick them off from a distance.)

I sigh internally. The hunters are not as smart as I had hoped. But that's ok. I just have to spoon-feed them the right state of mind.

You could do that, but you've lost your bow and arrows. What do you do?

There's a pause as she thinks of the answer.

(She suggests that you break off sharp tree branches and use them as projectiles.)

Honestly, I didn't expect that much from her. I'm somewhat impressed.

Not a bad idea. But now, you're surrounded with no trees close by. What do you do?

The female Hunter looks down, her brow furrowed. Another one speaks up. One of the strongest this time.

(He asks if you should aim for the head, using long sweeps to take out eyes.)

A very good answer. In smaller groups of maybe ten or so enemies, disorienting some of them will provide you with a window to escape.

I pause, realising the intention behind my lesson has changed dramatically. I don't need to teach them martial techniques. They have the strength and techniques of well-practised hunters to keep them alive. I need to teach them how to improvise. How to battle.

Whatever Syzslic wants their combat prowess to increase for, I don't think they need to learn how to fight. They need to learn how to win.

----------------------------------------

Teaching role: Tactician Intended lesson:  The Art of War. Student Body:  Skalean Hunters (7) Maximum proficiency available:  Strategize (15) Maximum rewards available: • +1 mind per 5 levels gained by students.

• +3 mind per student that reaches each level 5 increment.

The system accommodates the change perfectly. Syzslic helps me change the very nature of the lesson according to the system with only a little encouragement.

It's obvious to me that he's no warrior and certainly not a leader capable of warfaring. He doesn't want to make it obvious, but he has no idea what's best for his hunters to become stronger.

They don't need improvements to their already impressive physical power. As the immortal phrase "brains over brawn" suggests, they need to know how to fight smart and fight hard.

With some gentle prodding to the creature that has absolute control over the arena, Syzslic forms a thick vertical wall that I use as a makeshift blackboard. Using carefully explained diagrams of various symbols, I push each of the hunters through the first few levels of Strategize.

I receive a notification each time any of them either gained the skill or a level and by the end of my several hour-long lesson, I've gained 2 points in mind from 14 total skill levels gained by the hunters as a whole. Most reach level two, but one of the archers only gains a single level. Rising ahead of the class though, and surprising me is Danis with three levels that were gained faster than the others. He seems to have a real knack for the memorization of formations.

Tired of mentally conversing for hours on end, and exhausted from demonstrating every detail from every tactic I tried to teach, I end the lesson and wholeheartedly congratulate the group. It's refreshing to do something like this when such a lesson on modern earth would be laughed at. Nobody takes tactical melee warfare seriously there anymore. Its a world of guns and has been for the last few hundred years.

That's not to say that I don't miss the fantastical weapons, as I wish I had my hands on them earlier. Soon, I hope to bring a similar weapon to my own hands in a place where I wouldn't have to license it.

The fond thought for the future leaves me puzzled over my more pressing present. I'm certain that whatever plan Syzslic has is to be executed in roughly a week. Possibly sooner now that I don't have to learn the biology behind body infusion from scratch. Whatever time I have over the next few days is probably going to be filled with more of the harsh magic lessons that push me close to breaking point, and lessons from me for the hunters. I'm certain I know which one I'm looking forward to the most.

The hunters leave the village quickly, likely to go on the nightly hunt. I hope they use some of what they've learnt today. Though I've no idea how exactly they hunt the apes we eat. Maybe the tactics I'm teaching them will be useless, but the skill they've got alongside it might be more useful.

(I'm impressed by your knowledge of the arts of war. Almost as if you've been to war multiple times before.)

I don't have the mental endurance left to deal with another round of suspicions and subterfuge, so I end this where it starts.

The lessons over, so I'm going to bed. I'll do another lesson at the same time tomorrow. And don't worry, I'll keep up with my infusion practice.

Before he can reply, I quickly pace away from the arena, another screen appearing which I read as I return to my hut.

Lesson complete. Levels gained: 14 Stats earnt: 2 Overall student satisfaction:  Medium

Huh?

I'm surprised by the system admitting information as personal as the satisfaction of the students. Everything I've seen from it so far has been purely numerical and calculating.

It's such a pain in the ass trying to learn about something that everyone knows about already. It's like everyone is in on a secret except me.

"A secret as big as a world. You must not be searching for it hard enough."

I stop dead in my tracks. That light tinkling voice seems to have come from the back of my mind, but I'm certain I heard it.

I look around, not recognising my immediate surroundings. I'm in the deep forest, somewhere I haven't been yet. There's no light apart from the rapidly sinking sun, and as the shadows creep higher than should be possible, I know that somehow in the few seconds that it should have taken to get to my hut, I've ended up somewhere else.

"The woods are deep and darker still. Where have you ended up? What will become of you?"

Another voice, similar yo the first, but somehow slightly different. Behind me!

I spin and immediately step back in shock.

Three young humans are standing there, naked. Each emitting a harsh white glow strong enough to hide most features. I can barely make out their eyes and mouths. The two in front smile mischievously at me, while the third behind them stares, impassive.

Despite the setting, I immediately try to take control, baffled by how they are here.

"A-are you all ok? What even are- How did you get here?"

The grins of the front two fade, only to be immediately replaced by equally sly smiles. They speak in unison, their voices beautiful yet chilling.

"Concern yourself not with our wellbeing when you are in much greater danger. The signs may not be piling up just yet, but before long, a threat will come to this world. A threat that may challenge even you, immortal."