Now, let's get one thing straight; since the dawn of time, men have always been the same. Just as nature expressly intended them to be. That's why the three boys around Carlo found themselves swallowing at the thought of ending up in bed with a nice pair of girls, even though they had unfortunately never had any practical experience in that regard. However, as one could easily imagine, even in their minds easily prey to temptation, they understood how it could be a terrible idea to have such distractions during such an important moment of their lives.

The poor guys couldn't even openly say, "And what can we do?" or "Separate dorms is a normal thing," because deep down they wouldn't have been so opposed to the idea of breaking the rules. Of course, Carlo had done it on purpose to have a laugh, but he was still surprised by his comrades' reactions.

"It's impressive that you're reduced to this at your age. You should have sex to get your mind off it. That's also training, or at least you can pretend it is for the necessary time," he said when he couldn't even stand the bouncing looks of his companions. He patted the two closest to him on the back in a ‘condolences’ way and concluded with, "Well, let's go eat. Even the ciccio has a hard time getting up with an empty stomach."

While Carlo understood what he meant only by intuition, Giulio and the others wriggled between coughs and hand slaps to quickly skip over the topic, then making their way to the much-desired dining hall.

"Oh, but," was Carlo's comment once he arrived in front of a wide building that looked more like a church from times gone by, almost entirely built of wood, than a place to eat a meal. The reason behind its grandeur, however, became quite clear to him as he noticed the rectangular stones that made up the supporting base, still solid even after an indeterminate number of years.

"They must have reused what was left," he commented in a low voice as his gaze became kinder. Then he said thoughtfully, "I wonder if she would be pleased to know that they used her work to put together a sort of restaurant. That cursed woman always had a soft spot for cibo onto," without bothering to translate the strange terms that occasionally came out of his mouth.

However, since hunger called, the boy woke up from his moment of reflection and called the rest of the gang who were waiting only for him. He charged towards the big wooden doors, now already wide open, and moved like a bull in the prairies straight towards his target. Giorgio did his best to try to hold him back and explain to him how he should buy the meal using Credits. In response, Carlo decided to ignore him and, using only his chatter, he filled his plate to the brim.

Just to be clear, the Academy staff had already been informed of his arrival and privileged position. Only a group of unfortunate people, like Roberto, had the misfortune of being engaged in their work while the others were waiting for the extraordinary meeting a few hours before. Poor thing, chubby and unlucky.

In any case, without shame or pride, Carlo grabbed the wonders that the world was offering him and then went to take a random table and start eating. The rest of the group followed him closely, trying to gain a free meal or at least a discount, but they faced an insurmountable wall. Martina arrived only a couple of minutes later, which is why she did not understand the reason for their disappointed expressions.

The daily dishes were not bad at all. As a first course, they were served risi e bisi, which is a dish made of rice and green peas, abundant and light. For the second course, there was a good lesso e pearà, in which the meat had been cooked so divinely that it melted in the mouth. The sides were limited to cooked vegetables and boiled potatoes. “It would be nice to have some polenta, too bad...” Carlo noticed, enjoying the meal and guessing that the menu of the day had probably been changed at the last minute.

In addition to this, discussing occasionally with the newly met guys as well as those of another couple of nearby tables, without any problem or shame, he discovered something halfway between nice and strange. Some of the dishes, in fact, had kept their original name, and Carlo had also heard a couple of typical expressions of that wonderful language that unfortunately no one among the present knew. Of course, at least for those few things, the people around him were able to connect the word to its meaning, but more by logic than by culture.

Well, it must have been a long time. Knowing that a little bit of Veneto remains is enough for me,"he said, laughing under his nonexistent mustache, continuing to stuff himself with food without ever slowing down. Watching him eat, Martina wondered how there was still food on his plate considering the pace he was keeping.

"So guys," Carlo resumed a moment later, scooping up a steaming potato like a rough fisherman with his catch. "What do you usually do in the afternoon? Tiziano, you mentioned that there are some public lessons and I'm curious to hear what they say. The approach to the subject is always the most important thing in teaching," making the others present think that even the Instructors were like recruits to him when it came to Cultivation. An impression that should only be, or at least Giulio hoped, an exaggeration on their part.

"Ah... So, yes, there would be public lessons in the afternoon..." Luigi was the first to reply, then remembering the bet with Giulio. He immediately looked for his opponent's gaze, only to be sucked into the ominous threat of compound fractures that the Platoon leader had made by moving his neck. A moment later, Giorgio himself hurriedly said, "During the week we are given the opportunity to attend up to five lessons by different Instructors, one per day except for Saturday and Sunday. Today, if I'm not mistaken, there should be Instructor Gianpiero... He's a relatively young man compared to the others but has become famous for his interpretations of the Cultivation Manuals. Although I've heard he can be a bit of a hothead at times..."

He avoided adding anything else and, indeed, cleared his throat as he tried to maintain a forced smile on his face. In a way, he could already imagine what kind of situation they would witness if everything went wrong. Not that it was exactly his problem, but since he was trying to tie himself to an influential person, it would be better if things went well for him in the future.

"Oh, interesting," Carlo nodded, meanwhile pouncing on the last little piece of meat he had left, not worrying about such frivolous matters. After all, the only thing that continued to spin in the antechamber of his brain was the fact that no alcoholic beverages had been served during lunch, not even a cold beer. The water, for goodness' sake, was good and drinkable but it also caused rust, so it had to be accompanied to promote the individual's health. Not wanting to think about it further, however, the boy shook his head and asked, "Shall we go?" said in his usual lightness.

It goes without saying, and without any external pressure, everyone from Martina to Giulio readily accepted his offer. Although, to be honest, only the girl was willing to do it among them. Considering the widespread ignorance of the rest of his comrades, they preferred to learn by hurting themselves rather than studying books or gathering Credits to buy useful materials for their Cultivation. One could say it was a very rough approach.

Anyway, the class schedule was still far away. In fact, even though Carlo took a second lap and chatted with others, the clock hanging on the cafeteria wall marked only 1:20 PM, forty minutes before the start of class.

However, not feeling like doing anything in life, Carlo promptly declined Giorgio's proposal to discuss Techniques or Cultivation. Instead, he chose a beautiful spot in the shade of a slightly yellowed tree, where the sun was still beating down hard at that hour, to lie down on the grass and relax. After all, the full stomach was making him feel a bit drowsy. Martina, Giorgio, Luigi, and Giulio stayed close to him, and to kill time, some even imitated him.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

While he was halfway between sleep and wakefulness, Carlo sighed lightly; then, without warning, he said: "Martina, right? I always get confused with names. Avoid straining your shoulder like that, it's not worth it at your age. Rather, focus on making your joints more flexible if you want to hit harder. I don't know who advised you to do it that way, but your body isn't suited for that kind of strain. Also, if you continue to develop the upper part of your body like that... it would be a bit of a waste since you're also cute physically..." Yawning once or twice without covering his mouth.

The most surprised by that sudden tip was, as was natural, dear Martina. However, even the boys, or at least those who were still awake since Giulio had really fallen asleep, raised their heads from the ground more or less at the same time. Giorgio, as Platoon Leader, asked her almost immediately, "Which shoulder? What are you talking about?" worried about a possible injury to his companion. After all, the next Simulated Encounter was getting closer and closer, although the exact date was still a mystery.

"I..." The girl didn't know how to answer for a moment. It was true that in recent weeks, immediately after a lesson from Gianpiero, she had decided to study a particular technique that put a strain on the upper body, and in particular, the right shoulder. In the last few days, she had even had trouble falling asleep at night due to the discomfort caused by her muscles at rest. That being said... how the hell did a person he had met about two hours ago know something like that?"

“Don't get upset over something so small," Carlo said, not even trying to stifle another yawn and turning to his side so that he could use his arm as a pillow. "It would be strange if I couldn't determine your physical condition. You have just started Cultivating, your choices are limited, and God only knows how many people before you have made your same choices, for better or for worse, in my time. So it's easy to imagine what's going through your mind. Later I'll think of something tailored for you anyway. I'm sorry to see such a young person ruin their future just because they don't know much about the world," finishing off with a sound that could have been either a burp or a snore with animalistic traits

"I understand, I understand..." repeated Martina a couple of times as she watched that boy who looked more like a sack of potatoes thrown to the ground than an expert, but she found herself believing his words with extraordinary ease. After all, she had been hiding her worsening condition for some time and he was the first to notice it, so she had the feeling of facing an individual fundamentally different from those she had met up to that moment.

And, to give her credit, it had to be said that she was not wrong about it. However, her mind had no way of processing what kind of creature that strange, wide-mouthed type was or had been. Not even a child's imagination can navigate such drifting seas. But here we are raising our voices too much, since I would like to remember that the same aforementioned creature had just belched loudly a second time before getting up, staggering a little.

"Is it time, what do you think?" he then asked the rest of the gang. However, he did not realize that, in the meantime, the boys from the mutual aid society had begun to bombard poor Martina with questions in an unfair three-on-one encounter. After all, rightfully so, a weakened or injured comrade could be a real pain in the ass to have within the Platoon. Luigi's expression, I have nothing to do with this vulgarity, let it be clear. However, after a little time had passed for personal entertainment, even Carlo realized that underneath those showy words... let's just say, there was a certain concern.

"That's some nice people, eh!" he commented when he got tired of listening to them, accompanying the compliment with a pat on the head of both Giorgio and Luigi. Nothing too hard, but enough to get the message across. Luigi's subsequent curse word proved that the boy wasn't expecting the blow, and also served as a wake-up call for Giulio.

"Good morning, dear. Come on, it's time to go to school," Carlo pulled him up before his friend could realize he was still alive and at the Academy. Who knows what kind of dream he had had...

Leaving the matter aside for simplicity, as soon as the beauty and the beast found themselves standing next to each other without further incidents, the other three had the opportunity to do the same and leave for the building used for afternoon lessons. And, it must be said, leaving ten minutes early was a smart idea, since the campus of the Academy was large enough to almost get lost, despite the relatively small number of recruits enrolled.

In fact, even following the path traced on the ground by that stone road, the group had to walk quickly and pass several other buildings made mostly of wood and, to a small extent, dark stone. A good way to describe the feeling one could have while strolling around that place was that of crossing a suburban village, with groups of people hanging around here and there. Considering, however, how dangerous the art of Cultivation could be, both for the practitioner and for those around him, having such a large space available was a good thing. Plus, there was also a well-kept park with benches and tables just outside what the recruits called the 'shop,' a place where they could exchange their Credits for a decent variety of goods.

Carlo mentally noted to stop by in the following days to check if they had something good to drink as well, because if that was the case, then he would have to have them explain how these elusive Credits worked, of which he had already heard briefly mentioned. One thing at a time, he thought; since they had now reached their destination.

"Oh... Look at that thing," he said, in fact, as soon as he put aside his ideas about the future, observing with pleasure the grandeur of yet another building in that place. It was still built of wood, but unlike the cafeteria, Carlo could clearly see dark, more voluminous beams used as support.

But when a wide range of delicate aromas reached his nostrils, investing in robustness made sense. Especially because, if Alchemy was also taught or practiced besides the basic lessons, then in case something went wrong, not even those big pieces of carved wood could absorb the impact of the explosion without breaking.

"It may be an old saying," he muttered under his breath as he passed through the entrance. He didn't even notice that the boys who had accompanied him, as well as a few other young people present, were listening to him. "But when it comes to Alchemy, you can bolt it shut with iron if you like, but in the end, it's useless," loosely paraphrasing the words that an old acquaintance had told him in the past.

After this new pearl of wisdom, the boy was surprised to see how many people were already seated in the stands, feeling more like he was about to attend a sporting event than a lesson. The presence of other recruits, probably belonging to other years, in the front row seats slightly raised his expectations. Although, even though he intended not to criticize the interior decoration too harshly, he still found himself commenting, "They could have spent a couple more bucks and bought two cushions. Sitting on wood is more uncomfortable than sitting on the ground," sighing as if it were really an important detail.

Moving beyond his potential hemorrhoids and getting to the point, a man who seemed barely thirty entered the room accompanied, if one could say so, by a mane of jet black hair so free and abundant that it easily covered both his shoulders and back. An unusual sight considering the place, but one that Carlo didn't mind too much. Although the first thing he thought when he saw him was how someone with, and I quote, 'a stick up their ass' could keep such hair clean and shiny.

"Good afternoon, good afternoon..." Unaware of the issue, Instructor Gianpiero placed the two books he had brought with him on the lectern at the center of the 'stage’, then opened the relatively less deadly one to find a particular set of pages. The various recruits greeted him with more or less enthusiasm, never lacking respect, except for a coward easily recognizable by his worn-out attire sitting in the outermost rows.

"There are people of all ages, huh?" said Carlo as the Instructor finished his preparations, quickly becoming the only voice that could be heard in the area. "What should he talk about now?" he then asked the rest of his gang with the same enthusiasm with which you would ask about the type of sandwiches prepared by the local deli.

Martina, bless her, was the only one who knew something about it, since during the previous lesson she had been attentive until the final minutes... unlike other subjects. In any case, keeping her voice much lower than her companion's, she replied: "It seems to me that today's topic is related to the Solidification of the Cultivation Base. But he wasn't very specific about it..." She concluded as soon as she saw out of the corner of her eye that Gianpiero had finished his search and placed the bag he had been carrying over his shoulder on the ground behind him.

"Very well, guys," the Instructor started off with an enviable vigor, quickly surveying the faces of the students in front of him. He felt a little excited seeing their number and the fact that they had almost filled the seats. A small satisfaction that made him feel a bit superior to the fossils who criticized him for his age.

However, when he had placed the bag on the ground, something inside it, which was probably already in a precarious position, had opened slightly. Not enough to make everything inside spill out onto the ground, but enough to bring a slight hint of aroma to the dear Carlo.

From that moment on, he used only a quarter of his cognitive abilities to follow what the Instructor was explaining, thus laying the foundation for what would be a useful encounter for both of them.