Jared Wreath
Starting a new year at a new school was never easy for anyone. Getting used to the new location, finding your way around the grounds, finding the classrooms and lecture halls, not making a fuss for the teachers, getting to know the other students, making friends. For some these issues are easy enough to deal with, though almost everyone screws up with one of them. For a sixteen year old, having just left the relatively safe and protected world of Secondary School, facing the struggle of further education and the expectations of the real world could be terrifying, problematic, arduous, even depressing. Jared was not free from any of these feelings. He had been shaking up a cocktail of emotions within his brain as he arrived at the academy on that first day. Anxiety had been the main ingredient at that time. Anxiety brought on by his previous experiences with schools, students and social expectations. Broadhurst Heroism Academy had not surprised him in that respect. A couple of the other students didn't seem to like him very much, managing to get through the Physical lessons was tricky and already he'd said and done one or two things to upset others in his presence. Being told to shut up by another student during a lesson had been quite awkward.
Yet Jared didn't feel especially unhappy with how his first day at the academy had turned out. Sure, there had been those moments of embarrassment; being outed as the Progenitor's son, admitting your lack of a Quirk in front of the class, coming last in a race – though technically it was not an actual race, as there was no competition or reward for the first place. But between those obvious blisters of humiliation there were a few sweeter moments. In making it to the Academy he had proved he was capable of becoming a hero, something which many others had doubted. In walking there by himself every morning he had proved he could be independent, and keep a track of time. He was only late the once, and after that he began to leave home earlier to avoid such awkward arrivals. In coming last in the race he had made friends with another student, and had continued to talk to him for the rest of the week. These were all small things, certainly, but they were the rocks that would form the base of his mountain, which he would have to continue building till it passed the clouds.
The week had passed by in seconds. In that time Jared had been successful in turning up to the academy every day, paying attention to every lecture, making notes on each subject, pushing himself further with physical training, and keeping up with the friendships he had made. Maisie seemed to be in a similar state as him. She had been more anxious than he to start their first week at the academy, yet she had already acclimatized to the unusual environments and unique lesson subjects. She had not made a complete change to her personality – she was still the shy, socially awkward, eager and excitable young woman he had met within the tall grass – yet it seemed she was being more open and friendly with those around her. While she had not made any new friends, she had started talking to Jon after Jared introduced them, and while she did not seem to like Tate or Mitchell very much she would at least say hello to them. Jared had never completely been sure why she had wanted to study at the academy, though he was happy she was there, and by the look of it she was happy to be there too.
During their PE lessons, Jared and Jon continued to work together, encouraging each other to keep pushing on and do that bit extra to pass their limits. It should have been strange for the teenage relatives of the countries two strongest heroes to have developed a friendship and not a rivalry, yet to Jared it felt perfectly normal. Jon was not like his father, nor many of the other students studying with them. He seemed to care more about helping those around him, and less about his image, fame or rank. Jared had never met the Number Two Hero Supermassive, nor did he know much about him other than what was shown in the comic books and news. Considering that he was Jon's Uncle, and that Jon aspired to be like him, Jared couldn't imagine him being an unkind person at all.
The other lectures had been fairly interesting, which Jared was a little surprised by. He had always been so bored during lessons at secondary school, not because he was too smart or too stupid for them but more because he just had no interest in any of it. He could not say the same thing about the lessons at Broadhurst Heroism Academy. Ravenhead's lessons about Quirks History and Law were intriguing. The aspects that Jared had not known about before, such as Quirk Danger Levels, had been fascinating to learn about, and the stuff he had known about, such as the First Hero; Heracles, had still taught him some new information which he had not been aware of before. Ravenhead had further described the many laws which Heracles put in place during their Quirk Law lesson with him on that Friday evening.
As well as the lectures with the avian number ten hero, the Junior Class had also had lessons with Aries on British Law and Criminal Psychology that Wednesday and Thursday. British Law was less about the specific laws surrounding Quirks and the general laws of the country, including the history of that law and why it is in place. Jared found that Criminal Psychology was especially interesting, as Aries went through all of the various motives a person could have for performing a criminal act. Their first lesson had been about looking at these reasons in depth, and understanding how easily a person could be convinced to use them.
The next Monday the class had Geography with Mr. Mikhaelov. This was the only lesson they had with the profound Russian Hero; Dubstep, other than Physical Education which they had with all three of their teachers. Jared had found it strange that someone who was neither born nor living in Britain would be teaching them about the geography of the country, though Dubstep had explained that he worked across the whole of Europe, and that part of his job as a Rescue Hero involved knowing the quickest and safest routes through hazardous or clustered environments. Knowing the layout of a city also fell into this requirement, and it was this bit of information he was choosing to focus upon during the lesson.
Jared had spent most of their lesson studying the map of Galafrei City and the region it sat within. As Jared already knew, Galafrei City was built upon the southern half of London, while Scarow City was built upon the North. What he had not known were the names of the districts that had once made up the county, nor which districts were on which side of the wall. By comparing the original map of Greater London and the current map of Galafrei and Scarow, Jared could see a very clear through line. Scarow was much larger than Galafrei, almost twice the size. Though there were a greater number of districts located on the south side of the wall, the ones mentioned on the north side were bigger in size. The massive metal structure had been built to the north of the River Thames, with the City of London at the very edge of the wall. That district was now known as Central Galafrei, or the Heart of Galafrei. The wall then spread out from there, following the river. The district of Westminster was sliced in half as the wall passed through it, along with the north sides of Kensington and Chelsea, and Hammersmith and Fulham. The southern remnants of these three districts became the single district of Sontarr. The wall then continued to follow the river west, cutting Hounslow off the map and finishing at Richmond upon Thames. The wall spreading east took a northern angle around the edge of Tower Hamlets, skimming the border between Newham and Waltham Forest and then cutting straight through Barking and Dagenham to return to the river and completely ignore Havering. The remaining northern district were surrounded by the wall as it spread and imprisoned them inside like criminals in a cell.
Dubstep recounted further information about the city, including the number of men needed to construct the London Wall, the square mile length of both Galafrei and Scarow, and the tallest building within each. He then proceeded on a tangent about the wall, and mentioned how the only way to get through was at one of the checkpoints in each region of the city. He then corrected himself, and stated that at one point criminals and villains had attempted to use the sewers that linked underneath both cities as a way of traveling between the two undetected. That method had since been dealt with, as outposts were placed within the connecting pipes under the wall to stop and arrest anyone caught walking around down there.
By the time the lecture ended, it was five o'clock in the evening. Jared was already feeling tired, having pushed himself extra hard during the PE lesson that morning, and was not looking forward to the walk home. The weather had been getting rougher as they entered the early days of September, and rainclouds had been forming as they left the field. As the class was ending, Dubstep stopped before letting anyone leave.
"Oh, I just remembered. Before I let you go for the day, I have an announcement."
Jared sat back down with a groan. He had just gotten his legs to support his weight, and now he had to wait for the teacher to finish speaking again. Dubstep clapped his hands together, which created a small reverberating echo similar to the sound of feedback from a microphone. A few members of the class flinched.
"Since ve've now officially gotten through the first veek of the course, I've been given permission to discuss the upcoming exams vith you all."
There was silence from the class, as everyone listened to him with curious and eager ears.
"In addition to the written exams upon the subjects ve study in class, there vill also be two physical exams this term. The first vill be a combat exam, vhich vill take place on the tventy-ninth of September, three veeks from now. In this exam you vill be picked at random to fight each other, and you are permitted to use your Quirks vhen doing so. The second is a Criminal Apprehension Exam, vhich vill be focusing upon your abilities to vork as a team and hunt down a target. This exam vill take place on October Tventy-Eighth. Ve vill be able to give you more information towards the date, so for now ve recommend you spend as much time as you can training. Failure of either exam vill not result in expulsion, so don't panic about that, but it may vell result in having to take further classes outside of academy time."
The moment he stopped talking the class began chatting with each other. It seemed to Jared that everyone was excited at the prospects of being able to fight each other. Combat was something most heroes got to partake in, so naturally everyone had been expecting the chance to beat each other up. Jared was also rather excited at the prospect, though unlike most of the other students he was also very nervous. He was, after all, Quirkless. Would the teachers be taking that into account? If not, would he be able to manage a fight with any of the other students. The only person he truly believed he could beat in a fight was Maisie, yet he didn't want to hurt her, even if it was part of an exam.
"Also, before you go, I should add that, as of this Friday, Mr. Morse vill be running a Self-Defence Class every Vednesday evening, from six to seven PM. It's open to anyone who vishes to join, though ve recommend that those with veak or non-combat Quirks take the class in order to prepare for the upcoming combat exam. All you need to do is show up on the day and our beloved goat man vill assist you in vays of fighting each other." He gave them a cheeky grin. "Now, since I can see you're all ready to head off, I'll let you leave. Do svidan'ya! Dobroy nochi! Good Night!"
"What do you think of this self-defence class?" Maisie asked him the next day, as they both sat down at one of the refectory's tables.
They had just finished their second History of Quirks and Heroes lecture with Ravenhead. Neither of them had been able to discuss the subject of the new class until now, as they had both been focused upon completing Ravenhead's homework. Jared had chosen to look up a hero named Hades, whose Quirk was called Hellfire, and it allowed him to summon black fireballs from his hands. It turned out that many of the first heroes took their names from Greek Mythology, and Hades was one of the more interesting figures in that number. In Jared's research he had discovered that Hades was the first known hero to abandon the Hero Movement and become a Villain. This did happen every now and then, but in this case he had been one of the most famous heroes in the country. There was no record upon why he had left the movement, but it was recorded that he was eventually killed by Heracles. Jared had been forced to stand up in front of the class and recite this information to them. That had not been as fun.
"It sounds like a fantastic idea." Jared said in response to Maisie's question. "Though I'm not quite sure what we'd be learning."
"Since it's about self-defence, I imagine they will be teaching us how to protect ourselves from attacks, rather than focus upon delivering those attacks back." Said Jon.
As well as Jared and Maisie, there were a couple of other students with them at the table. Jon Laverick sat opposite Jared, while Payton Moon, the boy with the moth wings, was seated beside him with his wings drooped across the back of his chair. He and Jon sat together on the front row of the class during lessons, and as such they had become friends over the first week at the academy. Jared had not yet spoken to Payton, though he seemed like a nice person. At the very end of the table sat Tate. None of them were quite sure why he was there, though he most certainly was making himself known by butting into their conversation every chance he got.
"Sounds like a load of boring bullshit." Tate stated with a knowledgeable smirk. "I mean, why would any off us need to be taught how to fight? We all have Quirks, we can just use them."
"I don't" Jared reminded him.
"Even with our Quirks, who's to say they will be useful in every fight." Payton joined in, folding his arms around his waist in an unconsciously posh manner. "Not all of us have super powerful Quirks, and even if we did there will be scenarios where they're made useless. Having that additional training would be very useful to us."
"Are you going, Jared." Maisie asked him.
Jared smiled eagerly back at her. "Yeah." He said with excitement. "Why wouldn't I? It's there for us to practice before the Combat Exam, so we should go get some experience."
Maisie nodded back at him, sharing his eager expression. "I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to go. Honestly, the concept of the combat exam scares me a little. I don't really want to hurt anyone."
"What are you doing here, then?" came the interrupting voice of Jason Jones from the table behind them. They all turned to look at him. He was leaning back on his chair, looking at Maisie with a disappointed and yet somehow angry expression. "Heroes have to fight villains. If you don't want to fight then why are you training to be a hero?"
"Not all heroes deal with criminals." Jon reminded him. "Some purely focus upon rescue efforts. If Maisie does not want to focus upon fighting criminals then that is her choice."
"Will you be going to these self-defence lessons, Jon?" Jared asked.
Jon smiled back at him. "Of course. I imagine a hero like Aries could teach us a lot about combat and fighting hand-to-hand."
"I don't see the point in it." George joined in, calling across his table from the seat opposite Jason. "We could just use our Quirks to get through it."
"Maybe you and Jason could." Payton argued. "Jon probably wouldn't struggle much either. I imagine he can kick like a horse if he can raise his legs."
"Rather flattering of you to assume that." Jon muttered awkwardly to himself.
"But I don't have a Quirk like yours, neither does Maisie, and Jared doesn't even have a Quirk. For us, a lecture like this would be vital. It wouldn't be fair for us to go up against you without it."
Jared was rather grateful to have his weakness acknowledged. Not everyone would take that into account. He had been in a couple of fights before, not the sort that Heroes experience, more playground scuffles. When those happened the person he was fighting with would usually forget that he was at a disadvantage, and they would use their Quirk upon him straight away, no matter what it was. In never felt fair when that happened. He at least wanted a chance to hit them back.
It was unfortunate that Mitchell decided this was the perfect time to insult them all as best he could, because otherwise it would have been a nice moment.
"Then why don't you all just fail and go home if you're not good enough to win?" He snapped at them in a mocking voice. Even Tate had not been especially impressed with that comment, though he was not as annoyed as the rest of the table.
"Who's to say you would win your fight?" Jon snapped at him. "If you went up against Jason or George, how would you win? What could your Quirk do to beat them in a fight?"
Tate quickly tugged at Mitchell's cord to shut him up, and the ghostly brother did not look at all happy about this.
"I don't think we'll be going." Tate told them quietly. "I don't think we'll be needing it. Mitchell and I can deal with anything we're facing."
"I think I might go, actually." Maisie told them, after taking a moment to think about it. "Even though I don't really want to fight anyone, it might be worthwhile just to learn how to defend myself."
"Actually I think we'll go too." Tate said, suddenly changing his mind.
"I thought you said it would be a load of boring bullshit?" Jon reminded him.
Tate shrugged awkwardly, caught in his contradiction. "I changed my mind. It sounds like a great idea." He said quickly.
It seemed that each of them had made up their minds as to whether they would be going to this class or not. Jared wondered who else would show up. He hadn't had much of a chance to get to know the whole class yet, and maybe now he would get that chance. If nothing else, he was hoping to see what he would be up against in the Combat Exam.
The next day Jared stayed behind after school. As Aries ended their lesson on British Law he hurried to the changing room out on the field and got into his sports clothing: a pair of knee-length grey shorts and a black vest, as well as his iconic blue hoodie, white trainers and sports socks. It seemed that he was the only person with this plan. Everyone else had left, even Jon and Payton, who he knew were going to the class. The changing room was eerily quiet, which Jared found to be unnaturally chilling. He quickly left, and headed for the room where Aries had told them the class would be taken.
Jared took the stairs of the main building up to the first floor, and followed the short corridor to a single room at the end. He pushed the door open and entered. Inside the room was brightly lit, with white walls and soft blue padding on the floor. Aries was already inside, sat waiting against the wall, wearing his grey hoodie with the hood over his head. He looked up as Jared entered, surprised to see a student arriving so early.
"We won't be starting till six." Aries told him as he entered. "You're welcome to wait here till then."
Jared sat against the far wall, away from his teacher. It felt rather embarrassing to be sat alone with one of his lecturers, even if the man was a renowned hero. He experienced that common anxiety that the teacher may try to talk to him, maybe even be personal with him. That possibility was terrifying to any student. It seemed that Aries was not interested in talking to him, however. He did not seem like an especially talkative person, and he certainly did not ramble on during classes like Ravenhead and Dubstep tended to do. He always said what he was supposed to say, and nothing more. Though other than his initial greeting, he said absolutely nothing else. He just sat there with crossed legs, head held low in some form of meditation.
It took half an hour for the next student to show up. One of the girls, who Jared had not yet spoken too, walked in, wearing a large winter coat. She looked uncomfortably hot with the article of clothing upon her, yet she was adamant to remove it. Aries nodded his welcoming to her, and told her the same thing he had told Jared. She also took a seat next to the wall, though it was many feet away from Jared. Jared couldn't help but find that a little insulting.
A few minutes after her the other students began to arrive. First came the boy who sat beside Maisie, the one who had told Jared to shut up. He came dressed in a dark purple shirt, which paralleled his spiky purple hair. He gave Jared a look, before standing against the far wall with his hands in his pocket. After him arrived Jon, who joined Jared beside the wall. His feet left dents in the padded floor. Then Payton arrived, followed by a short redheaded girl, then Tate and Mitchell, then a girl with long blonde hair, and then finally Maisie. It seemed that this would be the only members of their class who would be showing up. They were not the only students at the academy who came along to the lesson, however. There were also a couple of the students from Class Senior there as well. Before Maisie had arrived, four adult figures had entered. One of them had been a young man, not much older than twenty. Another had been a middle aged man reaching somewhere in his mid-thirties. The other two were elder, one man and one woman, with greying hair and many wrinkles. Those last two had especially surprised Jared. He had not expected two elderly people to be studying at the academy. Sure, it was open to anyone young or old, yet it still surprised him to learn that two older people would be interested in becoming heroes. He didn't want to doubt their capability, but he wondered if they could actually manage it.
When everyone had finally arrived, Aries stood up and started the class. He had them line up against the far wall, as he stood before them with his hands behind his back.
"Thank you for coming along to this additional class, all of you." He said with a humble bow. "As you will have already been told, there are two upcoming physically exams this term, one at the end of the month and the other in October. These lessons will be taking place every Wednesday from now to November. I will do what I can to teach you all how to defend yourselves in close quarters combat." He ran a finger through the air, following the line of students. "But first, a head count. Who is here today?" He pointed his finger to the girl on the left end of the row. "Name?" He asked casually.
"Barbara." The blonde girl said, a little nervous to have her teacher's attention.
Aries moved his finger across to the next student. "Next?" He asked.
"Aaren." The redheaded girl stood next to Barbara said, bowing back to her teacher. She was wearing a sleeveless white martial arts gi and shorts with a black belt tied around the waist. Underneath she appeared to be wearing a black tank top. She looked like she had gone all out to look the part. The rest of the class were either wearing sports clothing or light casual wear, other than the girl dressed in the thick winter coat.
It was her who was next in line. "Catherine." She told him with a quiet voice, hiding her mouth underneath the raised collar of her coat.
Next up were the two younger members of Class Senior.
"Nicholas." Said the middle aged man, as the hairy finger pointed towards him.
"Felix." Said the twenty year old man next to him.
Aries continued along the line, having each student state their name.
"Niall." Said the purple haired boy.
"Tate." Said Tate
"And Mitchell." Added Mitchell.
Unimpressed, Aries moved his finger across to the nervous girl in the summer dress.
"Maisie." Said Maisie.
"Jared." Said Jared, feeling rather uncomfortable with the idea of stating his name like this. Surely the teacher already knew their names.
"Jon." Said Jon to his right.
"Payton" Said Payton.
And finally, at the end of the row, were the two elderly members of the class.
"Elijah." Said the man; a tall, slim, pale figure, with lanky, frail looking arms and long legs. His grey hair was combed back, leaving his large forehead without a fringe.
"Madge." Said the woman; a short, plump, tanned individual with flowing white hair. She had her hands clenched together in front of her, and they were surprisingly bony looking.
With the greetings over, Aries bowed to them and took a step back. "Let us begin. Have any of you had previous martial arts training?" He asked.
Two hands shot up. One belonged to the old man and the other to the redheaded girl.
"Then, for you, I expect this first lesson may be rather boring, as you'll probably have been through this before." Aries told them. "The purpose of these classes will be to teach each of you how to defend yourselves from all manner of attacks, from simple punches and kicks, to armed assault, to weak, strong and even lethal Quirks. Today we will begin with the basics. We'll start off with a very simple forearm block. This move is used to stop attacks directed at your upper body."
The teacher took a step backwards across the mat, and spread his legs wide, arms to his side. He let his hood fall down, revealing his thick eyebrows, receding hairline and curving brown horns. He held his arms up in front of him, and with a grunt he extended the right arm sideways, still bent upward. His other arm was pulled back, his balled fist tense beside his hip.
"In order to perform this technique, you need to extend your arm out, like this." He explained. "Then, when your opponent makes an attack, you react thusly." Aries swung his extended arm across sharply, placing it before his chest. "This is an inside block. If my attacker were to aim for my face with a punch, this would block them." He said with a grunt. "Now, if your attacker were to strike from the side instead, you should react this way." He swung his arm back out to its original position, still tense and bent up. "This is an outside block. Both can be used in succession when timed right, so you won't be left open to attacks. All it requires is fast reflexes and timing." He relaxed himself, standing with both legs together once more. "Now, if you all find a space on the mat an arm's length from anyone else, give this a try for yourself."
Jared took a spot near the back of the room, not far from Maisie, Tate and Jon. He made sure none of them were too close to him, and took up what he presumed to be an adequate fighting stance, legs wide and arms up. The rest of the class had done the same, though some more impressively than others. The senior class members didn't seem to have much of a struggle with this, though to his left Maisie was finding it difficult to get comfortable with her stance. She was both trying to stand ready and not lift her skirt up too high. Jared wasn't sure why she had thought it would be a good idea to turn up wearing her usual dress.
The class attempted to copy the display their teacher had given, each throwing their own spin upon the technique. Aries stood by and watch, throwing his feedback in when he felt necessary. "You're bending your arm too far across, Felix. You'll end up spraining yourself. Too much force behind that movement, Payton. You're trying to block your opponent, not punch him. Catherine, take your coat off. You're sweating too much. You won't be able to move freely with it on." Even though the teacher had made a very good point, the girl refused to remove her coat. She looked ready to collapse, and they had barely even started.
After a minute or so of this, Aries finally let them stop. He folded his arms across his chest and under his armpits, lowering his head.
"Not awful." He said with a hint of doubt. "But not great either. Though you are here to learn, so improvements were always going to be necessary."
He scratched at his beard, then took up his fighting stance once more, placing his left hoof in front of his right and standing sideways on to the class.
"Next I will show you a technique for blocking kicks to the lower region." He held up both arms in front of his face. "This move is called a low block. It requires the extension of one's arm towards their thigh, as such…" He sharply swung his left arm down, swiping it across his upper left leg and leaving it extended there for them to see. "The legs are a vital week point of any fighter, and your opponent will most likely know this. To quickly take out a target, you aim for his knees. If he can't stand, he can't fight. You don't want to make that mistake. Don't forget to protect your legs." He relaxed again and took a step back. "Now, you. Please be careful not to hit the person beside you."
Once again, the class were left to re-enact the actions Aries had performed.
"Now, we're going to look at some countering techniques." Aries said after a minute of this. "I need a volunteer."
Several hands shot up, but Aries picked the one belonging to one of the senior students. Felix stepped forwards and approached the teacher.
"Just stand there." Aries instructed him. "Now, I'm going to show you all how to perform a shoulder throw." He raised his hands up. "Mr. Hunter, would you mind holding your hand out?" Felix did as he was instructed, looking rather unsure as to what the teacher would do next. "This technique is used to bring your opponent to the ground and stun them. When your opponent swings in with a punch, simply strike them under the arm like this."
Aries raised his right arm to block Felix's outstretched fist, and with his other hand he pushed into his chest, just below raised shoulder. Felix winced very slightly.
"Bend your knees, lean forward, turn slight away and strike out their foot with your heel, while pulling their arm over your shoulder." Aries did this, and with a painful gasp Felix lost his balance and was pulled against the hero's back. "Then, when you have them over your back, stand up straight, lean forwards and pull their arm over your shoulder. Their body will follow it." Aries tugged his student's arm downwards, and with a shocked cry, Felix Hunter flew limply over his shoulder and landed hard upon the soft mat flooring. He lay there wincing and stunned.
"Bloody hell!" Tate muttered.
Aries offered his student a hand, and Felix took it gratefully, rubbing his back in pain.
"Now, I would like you all to partner up and try this for yourselves. Take it in turned to be the attacker and the thrower, and please do be careful not to hurt each other."
Jared turned to his left, hoping to ask Maisie to be his partner, only to notice that Tate was already talking to her. The cocky young man was grinning at her, rubbing his cheek with anxiety.
"Wanna team up with me?" He asked her eagerly.
Maisie gave him a rather uncertain look, and blinked at him a couple of times. "Not really." She admitted. "I was actually hoping to team up with Jared."
Jared smiled. It was nice to hear that his friend wanted to work with him. While Jon may have been more capable of helping him, he didn't exactly want to be kicked by him. Those large metal feet were very heavy, and he would rather not have his foot crushed by one. Maisie may not be as sporty or as physical as he was, but he had more trust in her.
He was about to speak up, when he felt the sharp grip of a hand upon his left shoulder. He turned. The redheaded girl in the martial arts gi was standing to his left, looking at him with an unreadable, emotionless expression. In her eyes was an oddly determined look.
"Train with me." She stated.
Jared looked at her, flustered and flabbergasted. "O-okay?" He managed to blurt out, before the girl tugged at his arm and pulled him to the side. She led him like a dog on a leash to a space near the edge of the room, away from Jared's friends, as the rest of the class began to form groups. He could see Maisie watching him from the other end of the room, confused and slightly upset. The person she had wanted to partner up with was being dragged away by another girl. She was eventually forced to work with the blonde girl, as the both of them had not managed to find anyone else. There thirteen members of the class, and she did not want to work with Tate. Fortunately he had resorted to using Mitchell as his sparring partner.
"Why are you…?" Jared tried to say as he was shoved onto a square of mat near the wall. The girl shushed him, giving him a stern look.
"You're the Progenitor's son, yes?" She clarified.
Jared blinked. "Yes. What does that have…?"
"I want to help train you." She told him.
Jared's mouth opened, but only a confused groan came out.
"Sorry?" He managed to splutter out.
"You're too weak as you are." She continued. "You're scrawny, slow, you don't stand up for yourself. You won't survive the combat exam like this. You need to toughen up. I want to help you."
Jared continued to stare at her. Right now he could not think of her as anything other than crazy. "Why?" He eventual asked, after his throat found his voice once more.
The girl looked away, chewing her lips. "Because you remind me of someone I admire." She admitted. "I'm not interested in explaining any more than that. Now, let's get started."
"Okay." Jared said, still confused but at least willing to go through with the excursive. It did not seem that he had much of a choice. "Are you going to tell me your name at least?" He asked.
"Aaren." The girl said, bowing stiffly. "Aaren Whitley."
Jared gave her an awkward smile, and extended his hand. "Jared Wreath."
Aaren took it, and gripped it firmly within her small fingers. Jared winced a little. Her fingers were like boa constrictors, wrapping tightly around his arm and cutting off the circulation. She shook his hand, with motions like a saw slicing through wood.
"So, who's going first?" Jared asked "You or I…"
He could not finish his question, as by the time the words had left his mouth, Aaren's free hand had struck him in the chest. Jared gasped, and lurched forwards, spluttering. With him winded, Aaren then turned around and struck out his foot. She pulled his hand over her shoulder, and leaning forwards she slipped him over and threw him to the ground. Jared landed loudly and painfully upon his back. He gasped in shock, and lay looking up at the ceiling. Aaren's face came into view, upside down. She smiled at him… or maybe it was a frown.
"Excellent, Aaren!" Aries praised from the other side of the classroom. "Fantastic performance. Perfectly placed."
Jared slowly rolled over, gasping for air. He weakly pushed himself up onto his knees and looked up at her. Even though he was down on all fours he was not much shorter than her.
"Next time, warn me before you do that!" He snapped quietly, gripping his chest in pain.
Aaren just raised a single mocking eyebrow at him. "Your opponent won't warn you. A hero cannot expect a villain to tell them what their next move will be." She raised a finger. "First rule of a fight: remain aware and focused."
"I didn't think that we'd started yet." Jared complained. "Now what, exactly?"
"Now, you do the same back to me." She explained with a shrug.
Jared blushed very slightly. "I'm not sure about that. I mean, I might hurt you."
Aaren gave him a cold look. "Are you really afraid of hurting a girl?" She asked mockingly.
"No!" Jared said, maybe a little too quickly. "Not that. It's just… you're rather..." He stopped talking after seeing her unimpressed glare.
"I've been doing this sort of thing since I was six." She told him sternly. "I can topple a fully grown man with little difficulty."
"Christ, I'm sorry." Jared said, made uncomfortable by the anger in her eyes. "I was just making sure it was okay."
Aaren hummed at him, not quite forgiving his poor judgement. She stepped back, and took up a professional fighting stance. "Just do as I did. Go slow for now, so you get the motion correct."
Jared also took up a stance; left leg forward, both arms up. He tried to remember the method which Aries had shown them, and tried to recall the exact motions and movements. Aaren slowly thrusted her right arm forward, so that Jared would be able to react to the action. He, also moving slowly, blocked it with his right arm, and followed up by pressing his left hand into her armpit, pushing her arm up over his shoulder. He then turned around and bent his knees, lifted her over his shoulder, stood straight, leaned forwards, and let her fall. Aaren hit the ground in front of him with the weightlessness of a feather. She did not stay down for long, as she quickly rolled over and jumped to her feet, barely so much as stunned by the impact.
"Good." She said. "Not great, but better than I thought you would do."
"Gee, thanks." Jared muttered.
"Now, try again. This time at proper speed." Aaren quickly entered her fighting stance, and it took Jared a moment to snap into awareness. Fortunately she waited for him to be ready.
She lunged with a punch again, this time not slowing down so that he could react. Jared caught her arm an inch before it struck his face. He very nearly panicked and forgot the next step. He repeated the actions, raising her arm over his shoulder, turning, pulling her over his shoulder while kneeling, leaning forwards while standing up, continuing to pull her. He was half way through the motion of pulling Aaren over his head He could feel her weight upon his back, moving upward. Jared only needed to keep up the motion and she would be down upon the ground once more.
Then something strange happened. As he yanked his arm downward, he suddenly felt the weight and pressure of the young girl's body fade away. As his hand came into view he saw that nothing was gripped in between his clenching fingers. To his shock, Aaren's hand had vanished. The weight of her body upon his back had not faded, however, and it was growing steadily more acute. Unable to take the pressure applied to his spine, he collapsed onto all fours. Aaren rolled off of him and landed upon her knees in front of his face, her hand phasing through the soft floor.
Jared looked up at her, saw her arm being pulled from the floor, regaining colour from its once grey shade. He glared at her, angry. "That's hardly fair." Jared groaned, coughing in pain. "Aries said nothing about using your Quirk."
"I thought it would be useful for you to experience a situation like that." She told him emotionless. "I wanted to see you react to an unusual situation. Incidentally, you failed dramatically. You barely did anything to regain control. You just let me crush you."
"I was still in shock." Jared argued back, his spine aching from the force which had been placed upon it. For such a short and skinny young woman, Aaren was shockingly heavy.
The girl sighed with disappointment, and offered him a hand. "Get up. Let's try again."
He stared at her hand. "How do I know you won't use your Quirk again?" He asked suspiciously.
Aaren sighed. "Fine. Stand up by yourself, then."
Grudgingly, Jared took her hand, and was grateful that she did not make it disappear as she had done before. He supposed that he could at least give her a little trust in training him, though he would have to keep his eyes open in case she tried something like that again.
The both of them continued to practice this form of grapping for several minutes, switching round positions every so often so that Jared could experience both the grappling and being grappled aspect of the act. Aaren argued that being able to practice as the target would help him prepare for the impact if he were to be grappled during a fight. There would be no soft flooring in an actual fight, after all. Jared found the experience to be strange. From the outside the repetitive action must have looked like a disturbing game of leapfrog. But there was something other than that, something more personal. He barely knew this girl, and she barely knew him, yet she was genuinely trying to help him. Though her aggressive and stubborn attitude didn't make it obvious, she was actually interested in training him. The more times he did the shoulder throw, the better at it he got. By the time Aries called for the class to stop, he had succeeded in toppling Aaren while she was using her Quirk. It hadn't been easy, as he'd had to find a different area to grab other than her limbs, which had given her a bit of a surprise. He'd had to awkwardly apologise afterwards. He never would have placed his hand there if he'd had a choice.
"Excellent work, everyone." Aries told them. Jared was surprised to see him smile. This was the first time he had seen such a grin on the teacher's face. Though admittedly they had not known him for very long, Mr Morse came across as the sort of man who rarely smiled at anyone. "You're all making some impressive progress." He folded his arms across his chest. "Now, we're going to move away from the defence and countering aspect, and focus a bit more upon safe and efficient fighting." He turned around. "First I'll need to get out some equipment. Just stay here, I'll be back in a moment."
The door slid closed behind him, leaving the class by themselves. At any normal school, this would be a recipe for disaster. Leaving any group of students – child, teenager, adult or OAP – alone in a room with no lecturer was a guaranteed method of creating chaos. There would be arguments, fights, theft of school property, vandalism of the whiteboard. But today, at Broadhurst Heroism Academy – or at least with this class – that did not happen. They all stood there, behaving, as if the teacher was still in the room… well, most of them were behaving. Tate and Mitchell were the only two not at all interested in allowing their lecturers to trust them.
"Quickly, someone look through his desk!" Mitchell suggested with the eager and mischievous voice of a teenager.
"I doubt you'll find anything of interest." Payton told him.
"Maybe he's hiding some dirty magazines in the draws." Tate suggested.
They looked at him.
"Do you really think a teacher would bring that sort of thing with them to the school?" Asked Jon, who was genuinely shocked at the suggestion?
Tate shrugged humorously. "Hey, you never know." He said with a smile. There was a disgusted groan from most of the members of the class.
Jared had to admit, it was rather funny seeing Tate get judged for his depraved ideas. He certainly deserved it. Since they'd known him, Tate had been harassing him and Maisie non-stop. With Jared it seemed to be that he just liked annoying him, but with Maisie it seemed much more perverse. He had a strange fixation with her. He would constantly ask her personal questions, to a point where she was clearly uncomfortable. He would stare at her, kick the bottom of her seat in class, pull at her hair to get her attention. Every once in a while he would attempt to obtain a glance of her more private regions. Jared found it disgusting. Maisie was his friend. He couldn't stand the idea that someone would do that too her. The worst thing about it was that she never reacted. If it had been his sister Alexis that was the target of Tate's foolery, she would have slapped him hard across the cheek. Yet Maisie never reacted, at least not in a way that directly showed she disliked it. She usually just looked at him in shock, then went back to whatever she was doing. Jared couldn't understand why. Surely she didn't enjoy it.
A conversation had started at the other end of the room.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Jon said with a very monotone voice. "I don't read that sort of stuff."
"Oh come on!" Exclaimed Payton. "The man's a relative of yours. Don't tell me you don't know about the fight between Supermassive and the Nidhogg of Norway! That was one of his first big battles. Are you saying he never told you about it?"
"Never." Said Jon. "I don't read comic books."
Jared's eyes lit up like those of a terminator. With the quick movements of a cheetah, his sprinted across the room to the intriguing conversation, and attached himself to it like a limpet upon a rock.
"Did someone mention the Supermassive Comic Books?" He asked, already knowing the answer.
"Yeah. Apparently Jon is his nephew, yet he doesn't know anything about his uncle's history." Payton explained.
Jon looked at them and shook his head with annoyance. "I've told you already, I don't read comic books and I don't see my uncle very often. He's also not technically my uncle. I'm barely related to him."
"Did you ever read the Nidhogg comic?" Payton asked Jared, turning to him with a similar glint in his eye.
"Hell yeah!" Jared exclaimed. "The one where Supermassive went to deal with a small band of Scandinavian villains. Ah, that story was amazing! Who could believe a Quirk so simple could bring down so many bad guys!"
"My favourite part was when he ripped off one of the Nidhogg's horns and pinned his tail to the ground with it." Payton said with a voice verging upon ecstasy. "That moment was so god damn cool!"
"I thought the part where he locked the dragon's jaw shut with his Quirk right as it was about to breathe fire was more impressive." Jared told him. "I mean, the thing was massive. It must have been very strong. I couldn't imagine doing that myself, certainly not that easily."
"What's a Nidhogg?" Maisie asked, having approached them out of curiosity.
"The Nidhogg was a dragon from Norse Mythology." Payton explained. "Some asshole from Norway, whose Quirk made him look like a dragon, decided to take its name and cause havoc in Oslo. The heroes there at the time couldn't control him, so Supermassive was sent in to help stop him. It didn't take him very long at all."
"Please stop talking about my uncle already." Jon muttered to himself, clearly embarrassed.
"Yeah, stop nerdgasming over there!" Tate snapped from across the room, he and his ghostly twin having noticed their conversation.
Payton and Jared looked at each other and laughed.
"Dude, what copies of his comics do you have?" Jared asked with curiosity.
Payton began counting on his fingers. "All of them, I think." He paused. "Actually, I'm missing issue #1, #11, #37, #49, #66, #82, #99, #100, #101 and #107."
"I have a few of those at home." Jared told him with excitement. "We should totally trade some of them!"
"That would be awesome!" Payton said eagerly back.
From the corner of his eye Jared could see Jon shaking his head awkwardly. He had an expression upon his face which said seriously, guys, I'm standing right here, and I've no clue what you're talking about. Please stop it already. It's weird.
"Do you have many comics?" Payton asked.
"Loads." Jared told him in geeky excitement. "I have a whole shelf full of them."
"Then do you collect any of the Progenitor's comics?" Payton asked out of curiosity. "I heard a few were made of him in his early days, and I thought, since he's your dad and all, that you might…"
Jared's joyful grin sharply shrank into a glare of resentment. He sighed. He knew it was too good to believe that he had met someone who had the exact same interests as him and didn't care about his famous father."
"No." He said coldly. "I don't have any of his comics."
There was an awkward silence between them, with Payton surprised by Jared's displeasure and Jared's lack of interest in taking the conversation further. Thankfully Maisie broke the silence.
"Who was that girl you were training with, Jared?" She asked, pulled Jared away from what had once been a very geeky conversation.
Jared looked across at Aaren, who had been watching him talk for the last minute, and who quickly glanced away the moment she realised she was being stared at.
"Her name's Aaren." He told her, honestly. He looked back at Maisie. She seemed unusually quiet. Something about the stare she was giving him suggested jealousy, but of what Jared didn't know. "What's with that expression?" He asked.
"Nothing." Maisie said. "I was just curious. I hadn't seen you two talking before."
"She asked to practice with me." Jared told her very quickly. "She didn't really give me a choice."
"I wanted to train with you too." Maisie complained. "It's not that Barbara was a bad partner, she was very kind and friendly, but I still would have liked to -"
Maisie suddenly froze, standing straight in a sharp jolt of motion. Her eyes widened in surprise.
Jared looked at her with concern. "Are you okay?" He asked
Maisie said nothing. Very slowly she turned her head around, and looked downward. Jared followed her stare. Mitchell's ghostly hand was pinching the rim of her dress, lifting it ever so slightly up. He and Tate were both standing a suspicious foot away from her, looking in mere inch below her raised skirt. Then they looked up, and saw Maisie's uncomfortable expression and Jared's look of stunned horror. Mitchell looked back down at Maisie's dress again, then he let go and turned to his brother.
"Pink." He said in a not at all secretive voice.
Jared was glad that the muscles in his jaw were strong, else his mouth might have fallen open. "Dude!" He exclaimed slowly, feeling a bubbling rage within him. "That is not okay!"
"Don't look at me!" Tate exclaimed with bashful surprise. "I didn't tell him to do it!"
"But he did want me to do it." Mitchell added with a wink.
There was a moment of horrified silence. Half the class were looking at the twins with abhorrence.
"Pink what?" Maisie asked.
"Don't." Jared whispered to her quickly, and turned her around so that she wouldn't have to see Tate's blushing, mischievous grin.
"You shouldn't do that." Said one of the senior students who had spotted Tate and Mitchell's behaviour. "It's disrespectful and disgusting."
"Who asked you, grandad?!" Snapped Mitchell. Tate yanked his cord to shut him up. His twin was already causing him trouble.
"Ignore him." Tate told the older student with an embarrassed glance at his brother.
"You won't get much respect from your piers if you behave like that." The older student told him with a very knowledgeable and experienced tone.
"Who said I wanted respect." Tate asked. "I'm just here to have fun."
"That's a horrible motto for a hero." The old man from the other side of the room said.
"Well, it's been working out well for me so far." Tate told them both with confidence. "What's the point in doing something if you can't have fun while doing it?"
Jared couldn't exactly fault that logic on its own. It was always easier to perform a task if you enjoyed that task. However, he wasn't quite sure that it was a good idea to apply that logic to Tate's most recent behaviour. That sort of thinking might get him into trouble with the police.
Tate was about to talk again, when the purple haired boy behind him leaned forwards and whispered something into his ear.
"Shut up." He said, just loud enough for those close to hear.
Tate shut up, and said nothing else for the rest of the day.
Jared felt a cold tingle down his spine. He had felt it a week ago, when the same boy had told him to shut up during Ravenhead's class. He was still not sure why he had shut up. At the time he had presumed it was because of embarrassment. Now he was not too sure. Tate also seemed confused as to why he couldn't talk. Mitchell would not stop laughing at him, until the boy also told him to shut up, and then Mitchell was quiet too.
"I keep doing it." The boy muttered to himself as he turned away from the twins. He placed a hand in front of his face, specifically trying to cover his mouth. He mumbled something else, which was hard to hear past the muffling of his hand, but it sounded like "When will I learn?"
Jared was not sure what that was supposed to mean, but for now he would not let it bother him. It had just struck him that this had been the first time any members of the Junior class had been able to interact directly with the senior class during a lesson. Jared decided it was about time to take advantage of this opportunity and get to know some of the older students. He walked across to two of the older students, the man in his twenties and the middle aged man, who were talking at the left end of the room, and waved at them.
"Hello." He said
They looked back at him. The older of the two men waved back at him with a big smile.
"Hey." He said in a friendlier voice then Jared had expected.
"I don't think I caught your name." Jared said with the tongue of a diplomat. The man looked back at him, and gave him a humble bow.
"Nicholas Hauser." He said warmly. "Though I'd rather you just refer to me as Nick. And yourself?"
"Jared Wreath." Said Jared, bowing back.
"Oh!" The man exclaimed. "Then you're the Progenitor's son. I heard that you were training here."
"I'm not like what you imagined, am I?" Jared said with resigned disappointment.
"No." Nick said, surprised by his self-flagellation. "I don't expect anything from anyone. There's no point in me having my expectations of them. They are their own person, and I am my own. I am not capable of what they are capable of, and they are not capable of what I am capable off. There's no point in having expectations like that."
Why were these people not in my life up till now? Jared wondered to himself. First Jon, and now this Nick guy. Seriously, what it wrong with my father that he can't be like them?
"I'm Felix, by the way." Said the younger man beside him, waving his hand nervously. "Felix Hunter. We're both from the Senior Class, though I don't look it."
"What sort of Quirks do you have?" Payton asked intrusively, having decided to join Jared's conversation and bringing their small group of friends with him. "You both look more or less normal."
Nicholas smiled to himself. "Well, it's a little lacklustre compared to some of our classmate's Quirks." He admitted. "My Quirk is called Empathy. Basically, I can feel the emotions of anyone I touch and share my own emotions with them."
"Wow." Jared muttered. "That sounds like a really helpful Quirk."
"It is." Nick admitted. "I was a therapist for several years before this. I helped a lot of people. Then I decided to become a hero, so that I could help more and more people more efficiently."
"That's a very powerful Quirk if used right." Jon told him. "You'd make a great hero with that."
"I hope so." Nick said, blushing at the complements. "Thanks to my Quirk, I've been able to make everyone around me feel happiness. If not for my Quirk, I would not have met my wife. I would not have had my two wonderful children. Because of it, I can resolve any arguments or issues and make sure everyone understand each other."
"You sound like a god!" Payton muttered in awe.
"It's really not that tough to understand people." Nick said with a smile. "It only takes a little bit of empathy."
"My Quirk is nowhere near as impressive as his." Felix admitted. "Mine is called Cartographer. I can develop a psychic layout of any location by touching its foundations."
"That still sounds very useful." Jon told him. "I imagine many heroes could use a skill like that."
"Yeah, but it's not so good for fighting criminals, is it." Felix argued. "That's why I'm taking this class. Otherwise I can only really work as a backup hero or a rescue hero."
"Yeah, I can understand that." Jared admitted. "I'm here for the same reason. I'm Quirkless, so I can't really use my power to fight my opponents."
"Quirkless?" Nick said with surprise. Then he nodded, impressed. "Well done for getting this far."
At that moment, Aries returned to the classroom. He was dragging with him a bag full of gear. He threw it to the side of the room and unzipped it, pulling out a collection of punching gloves and punching pads. He placed them into two separate piles, then turned to the class.
"Split into groups of two, and start practicing your punches. Please only do punches for now. I'll teach you how to do kicks later."
"Jared." Said the voice of Aaren, who had crept up behind him while he was listening to their teacher. She gave him the same stubborn, almost emotionless glare.
Jared looked from her to Maisie. "Actually, if it's okay, I wanted to spend some time with my friend." He told her.
Aaren raised her eyebrows at his request, but eventually shrugged and nodded. "Alright. But next week..." She pointed a finger at his chest and prodded him in the ribs. "Next week, we continue."
"Okay." He said, looking away nervously as she turned to leave. He couldn't quite read that girl. He still didn't know why she was helping him. Even if he reminded her of someone she admired, who was that person and why did she admire them? He hoped dearly that she was not another Progenitor fan like that lizard girl. He didn't want to have to deal with two students chasing him for information and autographs.
Jared walked up to the bag and grabbed a pair of gloves and pads each, and took them back to Maisie. He had found a place at the middle of the room, far enough from the other students so that they could have space. He held the pads and gloves up to show her.
"Do you want to hit or take first?" He asked.
"I don't really know how to punch." Maisie told him nervously.
"Take it is, then." He threw her the pads, which she awkwardly caught in her arms. Jared began strapping the Velcro straps of the gloves around his arms, and flexed his fingers within the hard leather. It felt uncomfortable wearing this sort of apparel, yet it would protect his hands so it was worth wearing them. Maisie struggled to apply the pads to her palms, and Jared had to help her out. By the time they were ready, most of the other students had already started.
"Keep your arms steady." Jared told her and he raised his hands up in front of his face. "If you move it too much I might hit you by accident."
"I'm scared it will hurt." Maisie said fearfully, her arms wobbling like jelly.
Jared gave her a kind smile. "I promise I won't hit them too hard."
Maisie tensed her arms, and looked away frightfully. Jared began to jab at the pads. Each strike was slow and light, as he was doing his best not to scare Maisie. At first she flinched every time he lashed out, but as the lesson went on she began to relax more. She got used to the light thudding sensation upon her palms and even got slightly eager to watch Jared performing the attacks.
"You punch really well." She said after a while.
Jared shrugged, as he placed another quick jab upon pad on her left hand. "I suppose." He said, breathing heavily. "I never thought I was especially good."
There was quiet between them, with the grunts and shouts of the other students filling the room with an odd background sound.
"Have you been in many fights?" Maisie asked, after their shared silence had grown unbearable.
Jared looked at her. It was an unusual question for her to ask. "A few." He admitted, not especially proud of the fact.
"Oh." She muttered awkwardly. She held up the punching pads with wide arms, her wrists shaking with nerve. It seemed her arms were getting tired. "Did you ever start any of them?" She asked.
Jared gave a small chuckle. "Usually." He said. "Though they were asking for it."
"Did you ever win?" She inquired with curiosity. Jared's smile slowly faded away.
"Never." He said.
Quiet once more. From behind him came a painful shout from Tate. He had been practicing with Mitchell, and his twin had just punched him in the gut. Currently he was keeling forwards, trying not to retch across the soft floor.
"Did you every fight any girls?" Maisie asked suddenly.
Jared looked at her in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that sort of a question. "Once or twice." He admitted regretfully. "Though I never really argued with them much. There were a few girl who weren't too nice to me. It wasn't like they were weak and fragile, though. They could hit as good as they got."
"I see." Maisie glanced at the floor. "Would you hit me if you had to?"
Jared looked at her. "Not if I could avoid it." He told her, with an expression of pure horror at her suggestion.
"I'm glad." She told him with a weak smile. "I wouldn't want to hit you either."
Jared wasn't sure what she was trying to say, yet somehow that sentiment made his heart feel rather warm. He blushed very slightly.
"I hope we don't have to fight each other in the Combat Exam." Maisie continued, giving him a weak smile.
Jared smiled back. "So do I."
The door to the room sharply opened. Everyone in the class paused to look in its direction. Another student was standing in its shadowy entrance. The boy wearing the gothic dress from Class Junior looked in, eyes closed into squinting slits. Aries turned to him, and gave him a welcoming smile.
"Ty." He said in an unusually kind and warm voice. "You decided to come and join us?"
"I wanted to see the class for myself." Said Ty, his voice quiet and hoarse. He looked at the students within, then turned his attention to the teacher. "It's rather busy." He said emotionlessly.
"Yes, but there's enough room for you." Aries told him. "We don't have much time left but you can still join in with the last ten minutes."
Ty took another look at the class, and Jared noticed his eyes fix upon him. The boy had an unnerving blue gaze. His eyes were marked with veins and red spots, possibly from tears or tiredness. He had heavy black bags under his lower eyelids, and a gaunt pale face, like that of a bloodless corpse. He was worryingly thin, and even his black gothic dress couldn't hide this. Every detail of his body, other than his head, was hidden under dark leather clothing. He even wore gloves, making him look like a ghostly bride from a Victorian horror story.
"No." He said after a moment. "I don't think so."
"Are you sure?" Aries asked with concern. "You came all this way. You might as well join us for a bit. It's dark out there, and cold."
"I'm not staying." Ty told him stubbornly. "I just wanted to see how busy the class was. It's too busy for me."
"Alright." Aries said, disappointed and worried for the boy. "Well, it was good to see you, Ty. Will you be okay?"
"I'll be fine." The boy said.
"Okay. See you later."
"Goodnight, Kameron."
The door closed behind him. The class were left confused. Jared was surprised by much of what had just happened, but he was especially surprised to hear one of his fellow students refer to their teacher by their first name. Something about the way they had spoken to each other suggested that they knew each other, that their relationship was more than just teacher and student. Jared wasn't sure what to make of it, but he decided that it was not his business and chose to forget about it.
The lesson ended ten minutes later. After ending the class, Aries let them all go. It was getting dark outside. The sun was creating a purple hue across the sky as it shrank behind the wall of the academy. Jared left with Maisie, said goodbye, then walked home by himself. The weather was getting colder, rainier. Autumn was arriving and summer was leaving. And just as quickly as the changing of the seasons, Jared would soon be facing the Combat Exam.
Author's Note: I didn't originally intend for this chapter to be so long. It was supposed to be a short, filler chapter to bring in the concept of the Combat Exam in the next chapter. Then I got carried away with all the little details, as I tend to do, and it became this. I hope you enjoyed it non the less. I had a lot of fun researching stuff for this chapter, such as the districts of the London Region, Norse Mythology and Martial Arts Techniques. Wasn't expecting to do that much work for one chapter, but there you have it.
On a side note, I may have to take a while to write the next chapter. I am planning to split the Combat Exam into several chapters, so I won't write one massive chapter for the event, but I want to make sure that these chapters are as good as I can make them. It will be the first chapter with actually fighting in it, and I don't want it to become to tedious with detail.
Also, I want to avoid leaving these author's notes. I don't really like writing them and I wish to avoid putting one at the end of each chapter. I may leave one every now and then if I feel I need to explain something or apologize for an unexpected hiatus, but I don't really like getting personal and I want this story to be a story, not a blog.
Anyway, thank you for reading this chapter. Please leave any complements or criticisms in the review section. Seriously, it's very helpful. I got some good feedback on the previous chapter, which helped me fix a few mistakes I had made. I'm really grateful for that. Hope you stick around for the next chapter.