I had expected a stable hand or even a worker of some kind.

I was surprised to turn around and find another first-year bearing down on me.

I wasn't sure what was going on with the others with soul armour.

I had thought I was average height. But every other person seemed to tower over me.

His black hair was similar to my own, but other than that, we bore no similarities. His eyes were almost as black as his hair.

He had a handsome face, but it was curled up into a sneer

While the single star on his uniform didn't worry me. What did concern me was his Type.

Around his left arm was a simple bracelet. The gold sparkled in front of my eyes.

If that wasn't enough to tell me who I was dealing with then. The commander emblem that was clear to see on his lapel made it even more so.

The golden eagle that inspired respect from everyone.

I had run into the most powerful person in my year. While I was curious if that would be true in the future. For now, all of us would still have to respect the Commander.

He would be leading us in many group drills. He was another person I didn't want to get on the wrong side.

Why he was even here, I didn't know, but either way, I had to try and get on his good side.

"You aren't allowed to be here."

I didn't get a chance to plead my case before he began dragging me away.

"Hey, wait... I'm allowed to be here."

He didn't listen as he continued dragging me.

While the connection with the Wolf had given me some strength, it was still far from enough to deal with the strength of a C-rank commander.

I wasn't sure if it was rising stress or the Wolf could sense something else.

But behind the iron doors, it began to bark again, this time without my control.

The first year dragging me didn't care about that, but that quickly changed when there was a boom behind the door.

My monster had attacked the door.

While it hadn't done much damage, it was clear that the stables hadn't been built to handle a monster.

While the door was still standing strong, the surrounding wood had already begun to buckle.

That pulled both the Commander and me to a halt.

I quickly focused on my connection. One of the few things I had practice with.

For the first time I could feel it's change. Instead of a calm and peaceful tether, it felt turbid and rolling like a storm had arrived.

Mental commands were doing no good to calm the monster down.

So, in the moments of distraction, I managed to pull myself from the Commander's grasp and ran towards the door.

As no mental commands were working, I had to resort to shouting my commands over the noise.

"Stop!"

There was a brief moment when I worried that the monster had gone out of control.

As soon as I shouted, the frenzy stopped. It took a few moments before I was convinced it had worked.

After a few moments of silence, it was clear that my Wolf wouldn't be attacking the door again.

It was then that the Commander caught up to me once again.

"It's you?"

I wasn't sure to be offended by the disgust in his voice. Nothing about my first encounter with the Commander had been pleasant so far.

"What about me?"

I hadn't intended any frustration to leak through, but I wasn't sure how good I was at doing so.

His dark eyes bore into me for a few moments. Countless emotions rushed through his eyes.

That made me worried about how he would react.

"You're the Tamer. You?"

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That wasn't a good sign. The disgust in his voice hadn't lessened a single bit. I really didn't want to get on his bad side. The Commander would have a lot of power and influence in the Academy.

"Yes, I am. Nice to meet you."

Despite my annoyance, I still wanted to be polite to the man.

His continued stare was testing my patience.

Finally, he came to some resolution in his mind.

"Remember your place. You don't deserve that Type. Steer clear of me whenever you see me."

With those pleasant words, he was quick to turn around and leave.

I still wasn't sure what exactly had happened. But I had somehow made the enemy of the most powerful student of my year.

I couldn't make sense of what he said.

Looking at the stables, I had quite a few more worries.

While the Iron door had stood strong, the cracks along the wall inspired a little less confidence.

I didn't want any stable hands returning and wondering what had happened.

I wanted to keep my monster more than anything. Without it, I was worse than even the weakest F ranks.

I had wanted to find out when I could tame more beasts. While Frank had been evasive, Olivia had made it clear that it would be a while before I could attempt to tame another beast.

They did not want any monsters going out of control in the centre of the Academy.

In truth, they didn't want any monsters at all nearby.

That didn't make my future any more straightforward. At the same time, the other new types would have no problem progressing in a more regular fashion.

It was only my special attributes that I could grow of my own volition.

While the Terror Wolf would grow up, that would be a far slower process than the growth of anyone else in the Academy.

Until something changed, I would be an E-ranker for the foreseeable future.

I was too out of it to do anything but practice mental commands.

That was how I spent most of the afternoon. Trying to ignore the rising feelings of missing my siblings and the mess I had already gotten into.

By the time I needed to leave for the orientation, I was close to being able to send a basic mental command.

I had been able to recreate a little of what had happened when the Commander dragged me.

Moving the connection in a certain way.

While it wasn't controllable as such, it was clear that it made the Wolf start to act.

In truth, I had no idea what I was doing. I had to think that whatever I had to do for mental commands was different than any other type.

After all, it wasn't calling the name of a skill in my mind. It was trying to get another entity to follow a specific action.

I was glad that it had no problems listening to my voice.

And that no one had come to check on the monster.

I didn't know if they knew I was here and didn't bother checking. Or if they were secure in their cage. The Wolf was only E-ranked, after all. It couldn't do too much damage.

The fact it has been able to do as much as it did was a surprise.

I wasn't sure if I had managed to bring out extra strength or if they had underestimated my wolf.

Heading out in the fading sunlight, I made my way to the back of the Academy. Towards the public entrance

I could see the Arena I had to get to. I didn't even need a map; I could follow the sight easily enough that it only took a few minutes to get there.

Two soldiers were waiting at the back entrance, happy to wave me in.

Stepping into the Arena, I again had to hold back his awe.

It was an enormous oval amphitheatre. I had no idea how many people it could sit, but it had to be tens of thousands.

I could never afford to see one of the Arena's matches. But I had heard plenty of stories about how incredible they were.

The magitech to make it all possible was only in this Arena. Nowhere else in the world could do so.

I followed the path around the base of the Arena, looking in awe into the battle area, knowing what would come in the future.

There, I would have countless simulated practices and fights where there would be no risk to my body or life.

The magitech had been created around the same time as the Sage's Will. No one had been able to replicate or even understand it so far.

Against the Arena that could hold thousands, the few new Cadets were hard to spot.

They had gathered at the lowest point of the north side of the Arena.

Opposite where he was now.

Many had come from the other side, where the only other entrance to the Academy was.

One that I hadn't been allowed to go through.

As I made my way closer to the group, the enormity of the Arena only grew more real.

I and all the others were so small compared to the size of the Arena.

Finally reaching the others, I took the stairs up a few rows of seats.

I had seen the new types gathered on the first row of seats.

There were no free seats, so I had no choice but to go up.

They didn't notice me arrive, but I did notice who was sitting right beside them, having a nice chat by the looks of things.

The angry Commander seemed to have no problem with the other new Types. In fact, he seemed more than friendly with them.

I went to a new row alone, not wanting to squeeze by anyone.

It was clear that most of the people already knew each other.

There were very few C rankers like me that were on the outskirts, sitting alone.

"TO ATTENTION CADETS"

The shouted order cut across the conversations and had everybody standing to attention.

Most were on their feet instantly, while I took a little longer.

I still wasn't used to the military orders.

Along the arena floor, a group of people came into view from one of the hidden entrances.

It took them only a short time to reach the area before us.

They lined up in front of us, each looking serious.

It didn't even take a minute from start to finish; during that time, not one of the standing C rankers had flinched.

All of the instructors stood to attention. Except for one, a broad-shouldered figure with a grey beard that matched the long hair falling behind him.

I couldn't place his age.

He stepped in front of the other instructors to address us all.

"You are the future of humanity. Take a look at those beside you."

His voice thundered out, augmented by the Arena. It echoed all around us.

"You are not expected to fight now. Nothing is expected of you now. But a day will come when you will join the war and be the first line of defence between the hordes and humanity. It is here where you will be moulded. You will be shaped. You will be broken. We are here to train you. You are amongst the greatest of humanity's future. If you do not reach your full potential. Humanity may fall. All of you are now part of the Human Defence Force. You must take pride and honour in that fact. But you should also prepare yourself. While you have started above the others. Each and every one of them is eyeing the seat you are in."

The man took a few moments for that to sink in.

"I am Headmaster Woods. I am responsible for all of you these next few years. I will give you every opportunity to grow. But it will be up to you to reach your potential. By being here, you have proven yourself to the Sages Will. But starting tomorrow, you must prove to humanity they were right."

Headmaster Woods paused. He then gestured towards the others standing behind him.

"Every person behind me will teach you to the best of their abilities. But none will be more involved than the person I am about to introduce. Having joined the staff recently. Please welcome the former General. Chief Combat Instructor: Stuart Drake."