The next morning, after being served their breakfast, all the new students were given five sets of their school uniforms to wear by the Watchers. These uniforms would be the only type of clothing the school would provide for them.
The Watchers did say there were ways to get different kinds of clothing elsewhere in the Life Academy. However, the Watchers refused to elaborate further when questioned about where exactly any of them could find such a place.
But on the bright side, while the general design was always the same, the students could pick their own colors to adorn themselves with.
The first part of the uniform was a thin jacket which the students could choose the color of, with small ties inside to seal it up with. On the jacket’s chest were the Life Academy’s symbol, a hammer and an anvil. To be worn under the light coat was a plain, black, sleeveless shirt. Lastly, there were sturdy and baggy pants of matching hue to the jackets.
When given the option, Jareck chose a light green for his uniform, as the color was the same as his family’s church and reminded him of home. Meanwhile, Key went with the default white color, the boy not understanding the appeal his fellow kids found in customizing their fashion. Additionally, while Jareck kept his uniform tied up properly, Key did not and allowed his jacket to flap about.
Once every one of the new students had received their new clothes, Hadai arrived on the scene. After making sure all of the kids were fully dressed, Hadai had everyone follow him to what would be the start of their new classes.
After taking their first math, science, and literature courses, Key and Jareck, alongside all their classmates, were guided to the Starter students’ dining hall.
Jareck was looking forward to this meal, his memories of the church dinners that his parents held filling his expectations. The friendly atmosphere and satisfying food of these public gatherings raced through his mind like a halcyon dream of peace.
However, Jareck simultaneously noticed that Key seemed as if he were sick to his stomach, with the sickness getting worse the closer they got to the dining hall.
Jareck found this especially odd since it had been hours since breakfast, and Key hadn’t had any other snacks that could have given him problems up until now. In fact, Jareck struggled to remember if Key had consumed any of the fruit smoothie or protein bar the Watchers had given them for breakfast in the first place.
But the goggle-adorned boy couldn’t worry about his new friend’s possible fasting for long as the doors leading to the dining hall were opened in front of him by Hadai.
“Alright, brats. In the dining hall, we trust you to eat unsupervised. So if you get into any trouble in here, you’re on your own. Killing’s still not allowed, but after Bull’s little scuffle last night, I think ya’ll understand that fighting’s not off the table,” Hadai explained as he stepped aside.
Upon entering the dining hall, the most notable trait of it was how huge the area was, easily accommodating all two thousand seven hundred and ninety-three of the Starter students. However, while the size of the room was impressive, the dining hall wasn’t the kind of place Jareck was accustomed to eating.
The design of the hall was stunningly ornate. Decorating the room were tables and chairs of finely crafted stone and wood, wonderous chandeliers which provided light, and along all the walls were fabulous tapestries and paintings of numerous historic figures and significant moments.
Despite the suggested refined atmosphere of the decorations, the current dining hall inhabitants' wild behavior reinforced anything but.
All the children in the room were behaving as if completely unhinged. Food was flung about as the boys and girls ran amuck and tried to wreck the room. The only factor that prevented the kids from succeeding in totally destroying their surroundings wasn’t the Watchers, as there were none in here. Instead, it was simply due to the room and all of the furniture having master craft levels of durability.
Bluntly speaking, it was impossible for these children to even chip so much as a painting without a top-tier combat Gift.
The only section of the dining hall left untouched was the northern wall. On that side of the room, a series of paintings decorated the vertical surface, with each one growing larger the higher up it was hung. On the bottom were some of the current teachers and Watchers, with Jareck and Key recognizing Hadai’s portrait amongst them. In the second row from the top, there was a short line of paintings with each one depicting a person in blue and gold robes. And above them, the lone massive portrait of the top row sat.
The top image was of a bald man wearing a thin yet ornate crown and adorning himself in garments similar to what Jareck recognized as a librarian.
Even as young as he was, Jareck knew who the man depicted in the top portrait was. And he also understood why no one, not even the reckless children, wanted to risk dirtying his likenesses. After all, everyone in Cercive was taught from birth to show any images of the divine Continental Warlord a level of respect second only to the genuine article.
For this reason, Jareck felt his heart in his throat when Key asked him, “Hey, Jareck. Who’s tha’ bald guy in the painthing up there?”
“What? Seriously?! You don’t know?” Jareck exclaimed while the two walked into a lunch line leading up to a table filled with food.
Shrugging as the dining hall doors closed behind them, Key dully answered, “Uh… Yeah?”
Pointing at the Continental Warlord’s painting, Jareck exclaimed, “That- That’s Warlord Jungun! Our ruler!”
Folding his arms as he tilted his head, Key remarked, “Really? Tha’s wa’ he looks like?”
Flabbergasted, Jareck told him, “Yeah! Haven’t you ever seen him in a book or movie before?”
In a matter-of-fact tone, Key explained as they approached the food table, “No. I never learned how to read, and I never gah to see a movie.”
The instant Jareck realized the severity of what Key said, that he was illiterate, he felt a pang of guilt.
Not only did Jareck feel he’d been insensitive, but there was also the fact that Key must have been powerless to follow along whenever the teachers told them to silently read passages in their books.
However, before he could get out an apology, the pair were stopped by an older girl, possibly eleven or twelve.
She’d been standing nearby the food table, chatting with her two friends and chowing down, when she overheard Key and Jareck’s conversation. Fiendishly amused and at the insistence of her friends, this girl cut into the youngest class’ line and was smirking devilishly at the boy with crimson hair and hideous eyes.
“Did I hear that right? The ugly little baby doesn’t know who our Warlord is? You can’t even read?” She sarcastically asked unnecessarily loudly.
While Jareck clenched his teeth and took a step back in fear, Keyaxel simply nodded his head and answered frankly, “Uh-huh. My name’s Key. Who’re you?”
At the same time, the girl’s loud voice had gathered the attention of onlookers just as she’d wanted.
What?! She’s making fun of you, Key! Beat her up! Jareck wanted to shout out loud. However, his sense of self-preservation and upbringing to be gentle with women stopped the words from escaping his mind.
Furrowing her brow, the older girl leaned toward Keyaxel and asked, “What? Are you stupid or something?”
With a genuine smile, Key answered, “Yeah! Everyone says I am. Are you stupid too? You forgah to tell me your name.”
A cacophony of chuckles came from the cafeteria audience as the girl’s friends grumbled with annoyance. At the same time, the girl’s face grew flushed as she clenched her fists in rage.
“You… You stupid, ugly, guh…! Stupid! I’ll gash your eyes out!” Once the girl screamed her jumbled rebuttal, jagged, boney protrusions grew from her joints.
Although Key had no reaction to the threat beyond mild bewilderment, Jareck was plenty terrified on his friend’s behalf.
“You wanna fai’ me? Why? You still haven’ told me your name, remember?” Key replied in earnest.
As the crowd laughed harder, causing her eyes to water with embarrassment, the older girl pulled her fist back.
Before he knew what he was doing, Jareck jumped in front of Key, shouting, “Hey, hold it!”
Halting her assault, the young girl looked impatiently at Jareck, blurting out, “Huh? What do you want?”
Wishing he knew just the words to say to de-escalate the issue, Jareck’s mouth stayed closed as his throat whimpered out noises of distress through shut lips.
Once it seemed like the girl was about to shout something else at him, Jareck managed to stutter, “I- I- I… My friend was just… He, um, just wanted to… Eh, wa, ba-.”
Raising her pointed fist back up, the bone-covered girl screamed, “Shut up, loser! If you can’t talk, I’ll pummel both of you!”
As soon as the girl said this, her pupils fully dilated as if in shock. Then, she suddenly hunched over and gasped for air.
Looking to his left, Jareck saw the Monster glaring daggers as its fist was buried in the boney girl’s stomach.
“No one tries to hurth’ my friends,” the Monster said as he pulled his fist back and stood up straight.
All at once, cheers of disdain, amusement, and encouragement rang out from the onlookers. Despite the different tones, the one unifying trait amongst all the voices was their desire for the fighting to continue.
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‘Keeping fighting?’ Yeah right. I was scared, but Key showed me that when he hits someone, they go down and stay down. Jareck proudly but internally chastised the dining hall.
However, after a few coughs, the bone girl stood up straight again, to both his and Key's shock.
Growing even thicker plates of bone, the bone girl shouted, “That hurt, you little bastard!”
Clumsily yet quickly, bone girl retaliated with a punch of her own aimed at Key’s face.
In turn, Key raised his arm to block the punch. This reaction resulted in the boy’s forearm absorbing the blow as the girl’s bone plates cut into his flesh and broke his forearm.
Although his face had been spared the damage, Key was sent backward into the food table as his fractured arm gushed blood.
“Come on! Get back up and get her, little blood stain!” One of the older onlookers cheered as various foods fell on Key.
“Eh, that’s what the puke gets for being a smartass,” another voice commented.
Looking at Key with horror as he laid spread out on the table, all Jareck could do was ask on reflex, “Hey, are you okay?”
From the corner of his vision, Jareck saw the bone girl getting ready to throw a kick at his face. In response, Jareck let out a childish shriek as he quickly jumped back, avoiding being stomped on.
Admittedly, if it hadn’t been for how telegraphed the bone girl’s attack was, Jareck never would have had a chance at getting out of the way.
“Hey! Hold still!” The bone girl yelled as she gave chase to her second victim.
Without warning and while leaving behind a trail of his own blood, the ragging Monster jumped from the table and ran at the bone girl as soon as she started screaming at Jareck.
“Whoo! Go get her, blood stain!”
Unfortunately, with that cheer giving him away, the bone girl saw the Monster coming and turned to face him.
Despite the broken left arm she’d given him, Key didn’t stop when he realized that the bone girl was ready for him, only narrowing his glare.
Once more, Jareck found himself moving without thinking. Before he knew it, the goggle-wearing kid was throwing himself at the bone girl, pushing her at her waistline with all of his weight.
Fortunately, this was enough to knock her off balance. And as the bone girl stumbled sideways, Key ran up and punched her the same way he’d hit Tros during their sparing match.
After being struck in her liver, the bone girl let out a cry of agony as she crumpled into a fetal position in front of the first-year boys and gripped her side.
The instant bone girl was beaten, Key’s hostility seemed to vanish in an instant. In its place, his usual friendly and eager attitude had returned as he smiled at Jareck.
“Wow. Tha’ was scary,” Key said while using his good arm to pat Jareck’s back. “Thanks, bro. She would’a kicked my buh’.”
Ignoring the gratitude, Jareck looked at Key’s broken arm and asked him, “Isn’t your arm ‘sposed to be healing, Key? And doesn’t it hurt?”
Glancing at his wound with disinterest, Key shrugged and answered, “I gotha’ ee’ firs’. And I guess eh' hurths’, but I’ve had worse.”
“What…?! Wait, wasn’t breakfast enough for your Gift?” Jareck asked.
“Uh… Well, I did nah’ eath’ my breakfas’, actually.”
Before Key had a chance to elaborate on his meal skipping, someone yelled at him and Jareck, “You little shits are dead!”
Finding who threatened them, Key and Jareck saw the bone girl’s friends, a boy with enlarging muscles and another girl growing spikes from her pores, running at them.
As soon as the pair understood that they still had more older kids to deal with, Jareck’s face went white while Key got into the best fighting stance he could with his injury.
Despite Key’s willingness to keep going, Jareck knew they didn’t stand a chance.
That girl growing bones already broke Key’s arm. Even if his arm was okay, he can’t fight both these guys. And I got lucky with that push. I know I can’t really do anything to help.
Picking up speed as his muscles grew, the bulky boy came rushing at the friends faster than either of them could keep up with.
But just as the bulky boy was about to flatten one of their faces, Jareck and Key’s vision was filled with what looked like crystals. They then felt that wall of crystals fall onto them, but not before it suddenly transformed into Fellirick.
Fellirick’s school uniform was a royal purple color. And while he did have an undershirt, it was white instead of black. Additionally, he had a white scarf wrapped around his neck that was so long it touched the floor.
As the boys caught Fellirick and helped him up, they overheard the bulky boy screech in pain as he rolled on the floor, clutching his newly broken fist.
Once he was on his feet, Fellirick adjusted his jacket’s collar and said, “People with strength-based Gifts have a tendency to think they’re unstoppable… They aren’t. So once they actually get hurt, they typically fold like a tower of cards. And our friend here just learned that the hard way.”
Fellirick then turned around and asked Key and Jareck, “Anyway, I would ask if you’re both okay, but it’s clear that while Jareck is unharmed, Keyaxel is injured quite badly.”
Disregarding Fellirick’s callous tone, Key told him, “Hey, wai’! There’s another one!”
Shaking his head, Fellirick pointed behind himself and sarcastically said, “Oh no. Well, it sure is a good thing that Maveric is taking care of her.”
Peering their heads around either side of Fellrick out of curiosity, Key and Jareck saw Maveric holding a trident to the spine girl’s face as she stayed back.
The uniform Maveric wore was a sort of metallic silver color. And keeping his jacket untied just as Keyaxel did, it was obvious for anyone to see that Maveric didn't even bother wearing the undershirt the school provided. That said, he did have strange armored pads strapped to his elbows and knees.
“You wanna test out whose spikes are tougher!?” Maveric asked with eager madness as he leaned his weapon forward slightly.
Impressed, Jareck remarked, “Oh, wow… Wait, where’d you guys come from?”
“We were just eating on the other side of the dining hall when these slow-witted individuals decided to start a ruckus. Fortunately, I was able to get here in time to jump in front of that lumics’ punch. Now then…”
Turning around once again, this time to look at the spine girl, Fellirick told her, “Excuse me, Ms. Porcupine. Could you take your nimrods to the Patchers? The walking pile of bone probably has internal bruising. And not that he ever made any good use out of it, but the big one needs his hand put back together.”
“Yeah! Get lost before I skewer you,” Maveric proclaimed as he slammed the head of his trident against the ground in front of the spine girl.
Pulling her spikes back into her body, the girl took a step back from Maveric as she gulped audibly. Making her way around him while staying out of trident range, the spine girl grabbed her friends by their shirts and went to drag them out of the dining hall.
As she left, one final voice shouted, “I can’t believe you losers got your butts kicked by shrimps!”
With the situation handled, Maveric walked over to his companions, still carrying his weapons, and said, “Yo. It’s only your second day, and you two took down a fourth-year. Not bad.”
Tugging anxiously on his goggles, Jareck asked, “It isn’t? But didn’t you guys just beat two of ‘em?”
Shrugging casually, Maveric stated, “Yeah, but we’re awesome.”
“True. Our Gifts make us far better suited to combat,” Fellrick added.
During this conversation, the blood from Key’s gashed and fractured arm was dripping rhythmically on the floor. Soon enough, Maveric overheard the noise of the blood and noticed how badly the redhead was bashed up.
Tilting his gaze toward Keyaxel’s injury, Maveric asked him, “Hey, Key. Why aren’t you healing? Didn’t you say that’s what your Gift does? Haven’t you eaten?”
“No. I did nah’ eath’ breakfas’. And they star’ed talking with us before we got any lunch,” Key explained, seemingly unconcerned.
Pulling his hand away from his goggles, Jareck said with a tone of realization, “Wait… You said that before. Why didn’t you eat your breakfast?”
Rubbing his broken arm, Key answered nonchalantly, “Eh’ makes me think abou’ being hurth, so I don’ like eathing’ when I don’ have ta.”
“What…?! Key, you always have to eat,” Jareck told him.
“I do?” Key asked.
“Yes, indeed. No wonder you’re so thin. Consuming sustenance allows your body to develop mass and continue living,” Fellirick explained.
“Wow! Really?” Key asked.
And as Keyaxel’s eyes lit up with intrigue, Jareck looked at them and wondered if their sunken trait was a result of his new friend’s apparent undereating.
Resting his trident on his shoulder, Maveric asked, “Dude, are you dumb? Everybody knows you gotta eat to live.”
While Jareck was again offended on Key’s behalf, Key just nodded and answered cheerfully, “Yeah, I think so. Everybody says I am.”
His posture faltering, all Maveric could say was, “Oh… That sucks.”
“Indeed. Now, why don’t you two get something to eat? Preferably not from the food Key bled all over,” Fellirick told Key and Jareck while gesturing to the dining table.
Once Fellirick brought up the topic, Jareck felt hunger pangs in his gut as he clenched his shirt.
“Yeah. I’m hungry,” Jareck said before glancing at Keyaxel. “You’re gonna eat too, right, Key?”
Looking at the layout of meats, fruits, and vegetables, Key tilted his head and replied, “I guess so. I guess I ga-uh’ grab two meals if I wanna be full and heal my arm.”
Without waiting, Key started walking toward the table, only for Jareck to stop him by shouting, “Hey, wait! What if more guys try to pick on us?”
Gesturing with his trident, Maveric put Jareck’s fear at ease, “Nah. No one’s interested anymore. Check it out, Goggles.”
Looking at the other children in the dining hall, Jareck was surprised by what he saw. Until just a moment ago, the whole room was focused solely on their group. But now, everyone had gone about their business as if nothing had happened at all.
“You seem confused, so allow me to explain. Fights happen at this school on a near daily basis. Our fellow students will be intrigued while one is in-progress but will lose interest just as fast once the conflict has ended,” Fellirick explained.
While Jareck was visibly frightened, frozen in place, Keyaxel eagerly said, “So no more fais’ then? Cool. I’m gonna go ee’ and geh’ beh-er’.”
Seeing that Key was heading for the food table, Maveric asked Fellirick, “You feeling up for seconds, dude?”
Folding his arms, Fellirick replied, “No, I’m full. But I understand you wish to keep an eye on our new companions, so-.
“What?! No I don’t!” Maveric yelled.
“So I feel fine sitting with them while they eat,” Fellirick finished as if Maveric hadn’t interrupted him. He then made his way towards Key as the younger boy filled two plates worth of full meals, one of which he balanced on his head.
“Hey, get back here,” Maveric snapped as he followed suit.
While his new group of friends conversed and Key gathered up his food, Jareck thought about the revelation Fellirick informed him of.
Fight’s break out here every day? I… I… But mom and dad said this was supposed to be the best school ever… Am I going to survive in a place like this?
Before Jareck could worry much more, Keyaxel’s shouting voice derailed his train of thought, “Hey, come on, Jareck! You guys said food’s importan’, so come geh’ some stuff to ee’.”
“Okay, I’m coming!” Jareck yelled back, feeling somewhat at ease, before switching to a mutter, “I’m just being a baby. I’m sure things will be fine once I get used to it all.”
With one last deep breath to calm his nerves, Jareck marched his way toward Key, ready to grab some grub and sit a while with his friends.