The brown haired boy ran down the corridor. He was late for class, having spent a good portion of the night playing Triple Triad for that Level 8 Summon card he so desperately wanted. A red, dinosaur like monster with Plasma blades for arms. Boy, did it look cool. Instead, he had lost the majority of his cards and a portion of his sanity that would otherwise have got him through this important day. It was his first training session in a real battle environment, he couldn't make any mistakes today. After so many theory tests on The Correct Handling of Weapons, The History of Magic, How to Control Your Summon; everything you need to know about battle without actually being in one, Takato Matsuda had finally passed them all, been given a weapon (He chose a longsword in the end, after standing in awe in the weapons storage room for 15 minutes) and was finally allowed to participate in the practical lesson. He would not screw this up.

He got there 5 minutes late. Not bad considering he only got up 10 minutes ago and it was a 5 minute (take 2 off for running the whole way, regardless of any other students that got knocked over in the process) walk to the outside the Academy. The Instructor instantly noticed him and bellowed in a voice that probably would have scared the lower tier monsters away before the lesson even started:

"Matsuda. Takato! You're late!"

"Y, ,y,, yes Sir! Won't happen again, Sir!" Takato was instantly taken aback and the nerves instantly took over his body.

"Where's your sword Matsuda? Can't do much battle practice without a sword…"

"DAMN IT!"

"*Sigh* We get a lot of guys like you Matsuda. All enthusiasm but nothing to show for it. You'll run laps. Keep close to us though. Don't want a monster jumping on you unprotected now do we?"

"No, Sir… Yes Sir..."

By the fifteenth lap Takato was walking it, watching all the others get their real feel for combat. A lot of them were clumsy with their weapons, easily overpowered by the low tier monsters they were fighting. Heck, they were all only Level 1. Still, it looked so much fun, far more fun than these stupid laps were turning out to be. So far Takato had been ambushed three times by these giant bug monsters that seemed to thirst for his blood. It made him run the laps faster but he didn't really appreciate the help, they obviously weren't training companions. The instructor was badass though. One shot from his gun and he instantly found his targets, completely depleting the monster's HP in that one attack, obliterating then in a second. Takato kept stopping to gape at the instructor, to then be shouted at to complete his laps.

Two hours later and Takato had passed out on the ground, only to be woken up by a swift kick by his instructor.

"Ouch! Bastard, why did yo… Ah, Sir!"

"Well, Matsuda, that's it for the day, I hope you've learnt your lesson. Do not forget your weapon again tomorrow or you'll be immediately put back down to theory. You'll have to pass all modules again before you're allowed to do practical again. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good, now, return to the academy. You're free to do what you want for the next few hours. Then, at 14:00 you are to report to the Training Centre where some Level 15 students will be demonstrating how to deal with the monsters kept there. Level 1 students are not allowed in the Training Centre without a pass and accompanied by a student that's at least Level 10 but we'll make an exception today. Weapons aren't needed as you won't be fighting. However, I'd take yours just to get you in the habit of actually having your weapon on you at all times, yes?"

"Sir. Understood Sir."

"Good, now get out of here before the monsters start filling up this area again."

Easier said than done, Takato had lost the use of his legs after two hours of laps. Eventually resulting in crawling all the way to his dorm room, he received some curious and sympathetic looks along the way. He was a baby student that had obviously felt the wrath of the battle instructor, this wasn't news to the higher leveled students. He reached his dorm in about 20 minutes, a miracle that he even got there. He set three alarm clocks for an hour ahead and put his sword in front of the door so there was no excuse not to pick it up. He collapsed on his bed and quickly dozed off.