I'm sorry for the huge delay my beloved readers u.u
I hope you enjoy it :3
Chung was carefully polishing his destroyer the moment Elsword entered the room. He carried a bunch of unhealthy snacks and a big bottle of soda. Once he entered the room he let himself drop on the bed and threw some snacks towards Chung.
"That's a big gun you've got there" Elsword said, eyeing Chung's cannon.
"It's comparable to my destroyer in size right?" Chung answered without looking at him.
Elsword jokingly hit him on the back of his head. Chung was usually a lot more relaxed when they were all alone in the room. There's no way Chung would joke about his manhood and his beloved weapon in one single phrase in any other situation.
"Jokes aside, what are you going to do with it?" Elsword asked.
"Today is my first Military training class. They asked us to bring our personal weapon If we have any."
"Oh, that explains why you were so excited today."
Elsword dig through a whole snack bag in mere seconds to Chung amazement. He finished maintenance on his weapon and put it back into the cylinder bag to carry it. Before leaving, he made sure to secure some of the snacks Elsword brought under his bed.
"By the way, the second years told me that class is one time only. I guess there's not much to learn about being a soldier. But that also means that all students are in the same class despite their academic year." Elsword said.
"I see; I hope I don't get stuck with any weird senior them." Chung said, waving his hand as he left the room.
He left the dorms in quite a rush. Truth is, he didn't knew were the class was going to be celebrated, so he was checking the schedule on his Elshard when he hit something. He lifted his head to see, and regret seeing; he ran into Raven. Again.
"What is your god damn problem kid? Not once but twice?!" Raven asked quite annoyed.
"I am sorry, I was checking where military training is being held and…"
"Yeah, excuses and more excuses… Follow me if you're going to that class and stop being an idiot." Raven said giving a rather hard push on the freshmen back.
Chung realized that Raven wasn't wearing his uniform, he was wearing a weird black suit that hugged his body. A long white coat draped over the suit. More importantly, he carried a long sword sheath on his belt.
"Are you attending military training too?" Chung asked.
"Why would I be guiding you if I wasn't?" Raven replied.
For the rest of the jog Chung didn't said anything more. After a little while walking they reached a bus stop inside the campus. A row of students were making a line. Every one of them was carrying a weapon or some sort of device. None of them was wearing the school uniform and that made Chung feel kind of weird for being the only one doing so.
"Don't worry about it, newbie; they'll lend you a recruit uniform once we are there."
"Are we going outside the campus?" Chung asked.
"You'll see once we are there." Raven answered before getting in line.
They were called by name and rode the bus. It wasn't a long trip. They exited the campus and headed south. Once the buildings became shorter the bus stopped. They arrived at a skipper station. Roll was called before they boarded the skipper.
The skipper was a small sky ship designed to transport small groups of people over small distances. They took off from the station and flew over Altera. Fifteen minutes later they landed on a small floating island that was situated in the south shore of Altera, a few meters under it.
"We are now below Altera's sky level. If you don't know about it shrimp, sky level equals to sea level in floating Islands." Raven said to Chung as they stood up.
"Yeah, I knew about it, but thanks anyway." Chung said, without obtaining any response.
They disembarked. The small island was totally occupied by what looked like a training camp. There were obstacle courses, firing ranges and other kind of facilities. A man wearing a full red commander suit came closer. He was taller than any student and had many scars adorning his face. He wore a serious look all the time.
"Attention, all students salute instructor Edan!" The man who accompanied the students shouted.
Most of the students didn't know what to do exactly, so they just formed a line and waited for the man in red to speak.
"Alright maggots. You are here to learn the way of the soldier and for nothing more else. In the three months this subject lasts I will teach you how to obey your superior orders. That goes without saying that I don't want to hear about any of you slacking off or acting smart." Edan said.
He looked at the students faces.
"Here you have to say Yes Sir!" Edan said before heading to a big building in the field.
The students followed him without a word. He was quite the oppressive teacher.
"Now get in there and grab a uniform or a weapon if you don't have anything suitable."
Chung walked into a big basketball court with tables occupying the sides of the play area. There were uniforms and various weapons lying in them. From swords to guns including magical wands and staffs. He grabbed the uniform; it was just a green pair of pants and a white t-shirt with heavy boots. There wasn't anywhere to get changed and since he was the only one wearing the uniform he just looked for a hidden place beneath the stands to get changed.
Once everyone was ready, Edan lead them to the obstacle course. It was composed of a tall wall with a rope hanging, a big pond of dark water, a bunch of barbed wire near the ground right above the mud and a lot more of weird contraptions.
When Edan was about to start he was interrupted by some of the students suddenly whistling and complimenting someone. When Chung was able to see who was the one causing the ruckus he got his arm pulled by Raven. The look of the senior was enough to make him stay in line instead of getting distracted.
The receiver of the cheers was a girl, probably as young as the younger students; who was wearing a white adjusted suit that hugged her skin making her look nude from afar. As she came closer, Chung saw a blue core on her forehead and some pink stripes that ran across the suit and some estrange gears floating behind her back. The newcomer glared at the students who were whistling at her, which made every one of them freeze instantly. For some reason that Nasod gave out a deadly aura.
"And this Nasod you see here is mistress Q, she will be taking care of the experienced recruits, so if any of you already have any kind of experience in this matter, please follow her" Edan said.
Some students separated from the group and left with her, while others groaned in disappointment.
"Hey, that one never held a weapon before." One of the remaining students said.
"Enough chatter. We are going to see how much of a soldier you are right now. You will face the obstacle course, and you better get a good time out of it!" Edan shouted.
The recruits were placed at the start, right under the tall wall with the rope and Edan let them start the course by turns. It wasn't as bad as Chung thought earlier. Most students were able to complete it as if it wasn't so different from a normal P.E. class. Chung noticed how Raven easily completed the course even before the two students that started before him. He was incredibly fast and really strong. On the tall wall he skipped half of it with a single jump before grabbing the rope. Jumping over the puddle was like a game for him. It was quite formidable seeing him ace the test so easily. It actually inspired Chung a little. He only did military training at home, the house servants being his partners they never were too exigent on the little prince. However, it was weird for Chung to think that guy with such skill usually spend his days bullying people for fun. He looked at his senior face, it brimmed with determination. Almost like he placing his own life on the rope, even thought it was just a class exercise.
Half an hour later everyone had their turn. Edan gathered the students with the results. He looked at them once before going back to his notebook.
"Ok, the time is not as bad as I was expecting, good job. However let's get serious." Edan said before going back to the course's start and shouting.
"Now I want you to repeat this test carrying your weapon of choice, and you will repeat it until you match your previous results or collapse from exhaustion. No complaints, get moving now!"
There were some groans and complaints though, Raven looked around, almost all students carried a suitable weapon, then he spotted the junior he was looking for. Chung had already placed his huge cannon on his back. It did so with a weird harness he carried with the cannon. It looked durable and the carrier didn't seem too bothered with the supposed weight of the gun. However Raven knew it would be troublesome.
Edan gave Chung the sign to start and the former quickly grabbed the rope hanging on the wall and started climbing it. It was going fine until he reached half the wall. The cannon was swinging around so much that Chung found it difficult to keep stable on the rope alone. To make it worse every time the cannon hit the wall the impact made Chung slide down a bit centimeters.
"That thing must be light for a Hamelian like yourself but remember that it's still on your back!" Edan shouted seeing the student struggle to keep his weapon in place.
Chung had no choice but to step down and secure the cannon on the harness better. But it was no use since his own movements swayed the cannon, making the climbing a pain again. He tried to use his legs against the wall as a way to keep it more balanced, but that made the rope break, making both the cannon and gunner fall.
"Get back up and find another way."
Chung stared at the wall. It could be easy to pass over if he fired a round beneath him to propel himself, the recoil of the cannon was more than enough to launch them.
"Need some help?"
Raven was standing now next to him. Also a little queue has formed since the rope broke. Surprisingly enough Raven lifted the cannon with his mechanical arm without effort. Chung never thought he would know a human other than a Hamelian knight who could be able to lift the cannon. Raven then tied the remains of the rope around the cannon and offered the other end of the rope to him. Chung grabbed it quite perplexed and then Raven launched the cannon with his Nasod arm. The cannon passed over the wall and fell on the other side, acting as counterweight for the rope. Being so heavy itself, it lifted the two of them effortlessly. Being pulled up by the rope until passing over the wall themselves. They landed at the other side, were the cannon was lying over cracked ground.
Chung thanked Raven and continued the test. Next was the pond jump, it was easy for him since he was already used to jump with the cannon. Crawling under barbed wire however proved to be ridiculously hard. The cannon would get tangled on the wire if he carried it on his back, but carrying it at his side caused the mud to stuck to it keeping it from moving. It took only 5 minutes for him to traverse the ten meters the barbed wire covered.
"Alright everyone, let's end it here today. After all, the course had been broken." Edan said, giving Chung a condescending look.
They gathered their belongings and waited for Mistress Q's group to arrive. When they arrived, Chung saw that Mistress Q wasn't wearing her weird suit; she was in her teacher uniform instead. The few students that followed her were in horrible conditions. They were covered in sweat that a clearly visible trail of sweat ran from their necks to their pants. And Chung even thought that there was a student missing.
"Student Patterson had to go to the infirmary due to a minor lesion on the ankle." Mistress Q stated after arriving.
"Damn it Q; I told you to be easy on the rookies." Edan said to his colleague.
"I only ordered them to proceed with the appropriated training considering their ages, genders, weights and heights." Mistress Q responded.
After returning the uniform and getting his clothes back, Chung and the entire class went back to the skipper. The way back to school went without incidents, except for the huge traffic jam that stalled them for about an hour. A lot of cars angrily sounding their claxons to a lorry that just got stuck on a turn.
"I never thought you would take a class seriously" Chung said to his senior Raven seeing the traffic would take a lot to clear.
"You call that being serious? It was just child's play." Raven answered, resting his arms on his nape.
"You could have left with Mistress Q group."
"Hah, after seeing the ones that went after her it's clear that I did well staying."
Some other students on the bus were also chatting. Chung picked up a theme that seemed to be repeating a lot. Something about the expedition.
"Raven, do you know what they are talking about?" Chung asked, lowering his voice.
"What, you didn't know? Why did you sign up for this class?" Raven asked "The expedition is what we will be doing at the end of the semester. The class will be separated in two groups. The ones with the best results will board one of the Nasod sky battleships while the other one will get stationed on a ground base. And we will be visiting the demon war frontline."
"A Nasod Sky battleship?!" Chung asked.
"Yup, so a lot of people are excited about it since they could be picked to be part of the Nasod Navy on the future. While the ones that will get stranded on ground… well… let's say they will spend the whole expedition peeling potatoes."
"Wait, so you are interested in joining the Navy?" Chung asked.
"That's… none of your business little man."
After saying that, Raven turned on his side and slept. Chung was puzzled about it. That guy wanting to join the army is something he would have never imagined before. But he also was excited now. A Nasod Sky battleship. The zenith of nowadays technology. He couldn't wait. Back at Hamel his father wouldn't let him ride such a war machine on his own. He was glad he was not at home anymore.
It was already night when they arrived at the dorms. Chung was thankful that tomorrow was Saturday. He was already heading for his room when Raven called him.
"Hey, kid, why don't you come with me for a drink?"
Chung hesitated. Raven was a bit rude to him the first time they meet. And even when he was acting so friendly today, he felt like it was kind of weird.
"I don't know, is already too late."
"Oh, don't be so lame and just come if you want."
Chung decided to follow him. They walked to the canteen, situated between a clothes store and a mobile shop on the lower floor of the dorms. Chung spotted Elesis and some other guys who were apparently waiting for him.
"What's this? Did you pick up a puppy on your way here?" Elesis say mockingly when she saw Chung.
"Nah, this guy here is cool, he survived today drills so at least give him a shot." Raven said.
They all got inside and walked to the darkest place. Situated on the most remote corner from the door. The waitress didn't take their order, she directly brought some glasses and a big bottle of transparent liquid that Chung doubted was water.
"I thought students weren't allowed to drink." Chung said nervously.
"We have an agreement with the bar owner. We keep the scum away and they let us do as we please."
He couldn't help but think that the scum was actually them. But preferred not commenting on it since he was sat with them.
Elesis started filling the little glasses with the unlabeled bottle and placed one right in front of Chung. He had never drank before, but in his mind his responsibility was fighting with his teenage curiosity. He just thought that a single one wouldn't hurt, and downed it the same way Raven just did.
It was like swallowing a sip of fire. The fluid burned his throat and caused his insides to twist.
"Hey newbie, you'll end really bad if you try to imitate this old dog here." Elesis said laughing out loud while patting Raven in the shoulder.
Chung just gave back a nervous smile. He was already regretting accepting the invitation when Elesis placed a refilled glass in front of him.
"Take it slowly this time."
It was quite vexing for him since everyone was staring at him while he slowly sipped the glass. It was like if he were a little kid. The mood lighted up as they drank, Chung kind of let aside the alcohol for the night. He was listening to the crazy stories the guys were telling.
"Don't believe them. They are just trying to impress Elesis to do you-know-what tonight." Raven said, leaning against Chung with a lower voice.
"There's something I would like to ask you." Chung said, after turning his sight away from the wooers. "Why did you invite me tonight? I mean…"
"You want to know why I've been nice to you today? Well, I don't have any interest on picking on weaklings you know?" Raven said, getting back to his seat and closing his eyes as he laid back.
"I'm not a weakling." Chung said quite irritated.
"Yeah, whatever you say, your majesty." Raven answered jokingly.
"There's something more…"
Chung was about to reply when the sound of a glass shattering caught his attention. He looked in the direction of the sound to see a waitress that was looking quite annoyed. She was next to a table of three guys, everyone of them laying their eyes on her.
"Come on, little cuttie, why don't you stay with us some more." Said the tallest of them.
He was holding the girl's waist, which maybe the reason the glass fell. Chung felt nervous about it, he wanted to do something about her, but someone from his table already stood up and went over there. It was Elesis. She arrived at the table gathering everyone looks.
"What? You want to come to our party too, little girl?" The guy said.
Elesis didn't responded, she instead launched a fast jab to the molester chin. The hit was strong enough to kick him out of his chair, falling on his back. The other two guys quickly stood up, but Elesis was faster than them, grabbing the empty bottle on the table and smashing one of them on the head with it. He fell back on his seat unconscious. The last one was about to punch Elesis. She evaded one punch, the other one grazed her face and then she grabbed the guy by the collar of his shirt and by his belt with the other hand; threw him over her, falling the guy head-first on the ground. The first guy was getting back to his feet, knife in hand. Elesis reached her wooden sword on her back, and with a fast slung, she hit the man head with it. The sound echoed in the room and a small stream of blood ran across the man face, falling down too.
After that, Elesis came back and ordered the others to drag the molesters outside. Chung was amazed at the girl's skill to fight, he kind of expected her to be able to fight, but taking down three adversaries at the same time was quite the feat. Also, he couldn't stop looking into Elesis face, from the moment she first hit that man, she was wearing such a big smile.
"Well, that's what our agreement is about little boy." Elesis said to Chung when she saw him staring so intently.
She took her place back and faced Raven, who was nearly sleeping.
"Hey, don't you dare sleep through the night already. I have something to tell you about tomorrow." Elesis said.
"What is it?"
"I've been told those bitches from South High are going to bring weapons." Elesis said, trying to lower her voice. However Chung was still able to hear.
"So what's the problem? We'll carry them too."
She left the discussion at that and downed another glass.
Two hours left, it was already past beyond curfew. Elesis was so drunk she had to be carried. Unfortunately Chung was chose for the task along with Raven. They had to secretly carry her to her dorms without letting anyone see her. They somehow managed since there wasn't a soul in the streets.
"Are you going somewhere?" A voice called from behind.
Nervous, they turned away, just to find Elsword standing alone in the street.
"Elsword, you scared me." Chung said annoyed.
"What's up little one?" Raven said.
They waited for Elesis to say something but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.
"Chung, that guy can carry my sister alone; you should come with me and get to the dorms before the student council found out."
"Your sister?" Chung asked confused.
Then he realized why he felt like knowing Elesis. She was a lot like her brother.
"He's right, Chung, just go with him." Raven said, grabbing Elesis and carrying her on his shoulder.
Chung followed back Elsword to the dorms. In the end he didn't asked Raven what he wanted to know. But since they would see again next week didn't paid too much attention to it. He was now more interesting in boasting with Elsword about being able to ride a Nasod Battleship.