Chapter 60: Orders From Above

The information turned out to not be all that bad. He had a few dozen items and protocols to memorize, but once he had seen them, they were mostly common-sense items, and they wouldn't be difficult to remember at all. He wrote down the emergency call numbers and essential protocols for meeting Elites with high positions on a cue card, and took it down to have the supply room laminate it on his way to dinner, but other than that, there wasn't much that he couldn't remember on the first day. "The top of the class has finally graced us with his presence. How does it feel to be the most elite of the first years?" One of the second year mages from his morning skills training joked when Karl entered the cafeteria. "I'm not sure, you will have to ask Hawk." Karl joked as the worker passed him the daily special, a fried noodle dish with large chunks of monster meat in it. "That's probably true, his skills are insane. I heard that they're going to move up your studies again, does that mean you're not going to get to practice with us in the mornings anymore?" The blonde boy asked. "I don't think they are planning to take me out of that training so soon. I heard from Sergeant Rita that they will change my close combat training partners, but they were already preparing to do that. Part of my abilities seems to be faster learning speed, so I'm doing really well in the mixed martial arts class, but I still can't block magical attacks fast enough or in large enough numbers that the morning class needs to change." Karl's reply made the other mages in the room laugh. If one Elite could block all the attacks from two dozen of them, did they really deserve to be assigned the same rank? Even if he could block half of them, it was already an unfair advantage at the same peak power level. But the nature of his skill, that the Rend could separate into multiple parts with a single cast, made it much easier to hit multiple targets, and the mages had to admit that both Karl and Hawk had impeccable aim. Again that evening, when Karl went up to his room after dinner, the hallways echoed with the sound of students furiously practising, and he knew that Dana would be waiting for him to let her in. He didn't even have to wait after knocking on her door, she answered instantly, as if she had been standing right behind it, and had her school backpack at the ready, packed with her books and a change of uniform for the morning. "I asked about a soundproofing measure for the room, but it's not cheap. We would need to take on at least one more mission at the same level as the last one to afford it." She apologized as she closed the door behind her. Karl winced at the sound of echoing attacks from the neighbouring rooms. "It's still a good place to practise, and once the others calm down it shouldn't be too bad. I can see why all the senior students like to spend time outside, though. Even here in the hallways it's loud, so in their rooms it must be terrible." On the far side of campus, in a meeting room facing a wall of security camera feeds, the school administrators watched the two young students walk into the second floor greenhouse room. "Are you certain that this won't lead to a premature pregnancy? I feel like we should separate them, for the good of their planned career paths." An older woman insisted. "Despite the appearances, they're two pure souls. I think that even if they were sharing the same bed, we wouldn't have to worry too much about it. Besides, there are prophylactics available for free, and we can have their individual counsellors recommend long-term birth control injections for both of them." The Headmaster replied with a shrug. "They're advancing much faster than the others, despite not having the strongest starts, should we put a camera in the greenhouse room to see what sort of training they're doing?" One of the other board members suggested. The Headmaster made an annoyed sound and shook his head. "Feel free to ask them, but I will not allow cameras in the students' dorm rooms. There are standards here, and I won't bend on that one." Every one of the Elites had some secrets of their own, and when they were exposed, they could expose weaknesses of their Class and abilities, which could put the Elite in danger from the human sort of enemies. It was better that the students could keep those weaknesses to themselves, the Headmaster had decided when he was appointed, and for ten years, it had been working very well for everyone. "Which one should be reassigned, or are we going to separate them into career training paths as planned?" The leader of the Elite Career Training Oversight Board asked. "The Beast Master is going to become a strategic asset if he can bond more than one pet. I say that we allow them a bit more flexibility than the other class leaders. Let them practice together, a solid bond between the two will help reduce his reluctance to go along with the testing later." The board's lead researcher suggested. The first old woman to speak gave a derisive snort. "You think that having a friend is going to make him more likely to go along with your plans to throw him into danger and study the growth rate and reactions of the bonded monsters? I know that young men can be hormonal, but he's not an idiot, he will just run away from any real threats, and you'll never get your data." "And if we send the cute idol girl with him?" The researcher asked. "Absolutely not. I have over seven thousand hours of work already planned for her, including three albums, hundreds of public appearances, and an advertising campaign for whatever the cause de jour is in five years after she has graduated." The Celebrity Development Officer of the board insisted. The lone military officer in the room just rolled her eyes. "She's a mage, and a powerful one if she keeps growing at this rate. Just like the Archmage, there is no reason that she can't have actual missions rolled into whatever song and dance nonsense you had planned because of her cute face. You are going to have to adjust your expectations. If she makes it to Commander Rank before she graduates, she will have too much authority for you to pressure her into showbiz anyhow."