There are basic similarities between General and Class Skills in the sense that both gain Levels through training and collecting Essence. In any Skill, an increase in Level represents an increase in the user’s own mastery of the Skill as an additional infusion of knowledge and effectiveness by the System.
When you demonstrate that not only are you competent at what you have previously learned, but also building upon those skills, the System will reward you with additional expertise. You must then internalize the new material before progressing.
This is why competent instruction is crucial for Leveling Skills – without it, many stagnate. They find themselves unable to master the required understanding and proficiency to be recognized by the System and rewarded with another Level.
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I sighed in relief as the last of Yuri’s team disappeared through the curtain at the bottom of the stairs. I looked at Wolf, who was wearing a black t-shirt and jeans that hid his cybernetic leg.
“What happens now? Are you going to talk to Thomp – I mean, to Head Instructor Thompson?”
JJ was the one who responded, to my surprise.
“Azure, you should go check on your teammate. Let me discuss this with Elias and we’ll take care of it.”
“But – “
“Go,” he repeated, his face hard.
Not willing to argue further, I walked quickly to the door Wolf had looked into and pushed it open. Inside, I found a sobbing Tara crying on Arlo’s shoulder. The blue-haired Pistoleer looked uncomfortable as he patted her gently on the back. Strangely, I couldn’t hear a thing until I stepped past the door. Then I realized that the privacy ward was on.
The rest of the Squad piled in behind me and closed the door. Arlo directed an irritated look my way.
“What took you so long? We tried calling for you ages ago, before that asshole turned on the ward!”
I gave a short description of the situation in the hallway as Tara slowly composed herself. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were streaked with tears.
“What happened in here anyway, what did he do?”
Tara wasn’t ready to speak, so Arlo explained.
“A Courier came today with letters. Apparently Tara’s parents caved to her uncle’s threats as soon as she was gone. They told Yuri’s parents that they were willing to go ahead with the wedding. Yuri got his own letter, so he found out about it too and came to taunt Tara.”
His voice matched his grim expression and I felt my own anger rising.
“He talked about how she was going to make a great wife once he’d beaten the defiance out of her! Fuck, I wanted to strangle him with my bare hands, but he had half his team here to back him up. They seemed to think it’s all one big joke, because they were laughing about it the whole time!”
I didn’t really know what to do with a crying Tara, but I furious at Yuri. I had experience comforting the kids back in Sunland when they cried, of course, but that was all pretty trivial stuff. Stubbing your toe or tripping and falling weren’t exactly in the same league as someone trying to make you marry them against your will.
“Surely Instructors Wolf and JJ will handle things,” Zaire said in what I think he intended to be a comforting tone. It came out, like most of his words, a bit dispassionate, but I at least appreciated the attempt.
Raylan blatantly checked to make sure the privacy ward was still on before adding his own thoughts.
“Maybe Wolf will, I don’t know about JJ. That guy is fucking nuts if you ask me.”
“He seemed to be taking the situation seriously,” G’hala noted, and Jayce and I nodded.
I sat down in one of the empty chairs and gestured for everyone else to join me. I looked around the table at my Squad – half human, half not. If I swapped my teammates out for my adopted siblings, and the Academy out for Sunland’s elementary school, the situation was actually pretty similar. The kids and I had been bullied regularly as the town’s only orphans.
It had been miserable, especially when I got in trouble for fighting back. The assholes that started everything always had their fucking parents blaming eveything on ‘that violent orphan girl.’ But it had also brought me closer to the kids, and we’d learned to stick together no matter what happened.
“All right everyone, we need to make some plans. Whatever the instructors do, I really doubt they’re going to kick Yuri out of the Academy over this. We should be prepared for more harassment from him and his teammates.”
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Heads nodded around the table, including Tara’s tear-streaked one.
“What would you have us do, Gunner Az?” Zaire’s voice was calm as usual.
“The most important thing is easy, we need to stick together in groups. Tara, Arlo – you should stop coming here to the restaurant with just the two of you. Better to eat with the team in the dining hall.”
“But the dining hall food is terrible!” Tara complained. “Why should I have to suffer when it’s Yuri causing all the problems?”
“Because, princess, I don’t know if anyone’s told you this but life isn’t fair!” I barked back, suddenly annoyed at her as well. “We’re talking about watching back here, so maybe you should be grateful that we’re sticking our necks out for you!”
She looked like I’d slapped her, and I felt a twinge of guilt that I pushed down.
“So,” I continued ruthlessly, “we all eat together in the dining hall, and if anyone is going to drink here at the bar, do it in a group of at least four people. If you can’t convince three others to join you, then you stick with the group and don’t come here on your own, got it?”
This time it was H’ruk and G’hala that looked like they wanted to object, but when Raylan and I both glared at them they subsided.
“We already agreed that no one was getting more than two beers in a night, this just means that you need to bring people with you before you have those drinks, OK? We’ll stick together in classes too, but there will be instructors around so I’m not too worried about that. It’s mostly during meals and in the evenings that I think we should be extra careful.”
“What about duels?” Raylan asked, and I nodded.
“Yeah, good point. I’m sure that asshole is going to challenge me again as soon as he can, so I’d better find out what the rules are. Then we can plan how I’m going to beat his ass as hard as I can get away with!”
“Gunner Az, I have already reviewed the – “
Zaire was cut off by a knock on the door. H’ruk was closest and reached out a huge green arm to open it. Outside was a nervous looking man that I’d never seen before.
Name: Omar
Class: Chef
Tier: 2
“Excuse me, ladies and uh, gentlebeings,” he said awkwardly. “My name is Omar and I run this restaurant. I was just informed of what happened earlier. I want to apologize and assure you that Julia’s behavior was not acceptable and won’t be repeated!
“Please accept my deepest apologies and allow me to serve you something on the house!”
I must have looked slightly confused at the idea of anyone apologizing to . Normally, I was the one apologizing – after Hazel twisted my arm. Fortunately, Arlo seemed to know what to do.
“Thank you for your consideration, Omar. We’ve all eaten tonight, but I’m sure we’d be happy to accept your kind offer of dinner another day. Please excuse us, as we have some team business to discuss before we retire for the night.”
“Of course, of course, you’re welcome anytime!” Omar repeated, then bowed awkwardly before closing the door behind him.
I looked at Zaire expectantly and he picked up where he left off.
“I found the duelling rules are laid out in the book in our rooms. Most of the rules seemed to be about how often one can be involved in a duel. Apparently, if you fight in a duel, no student can challenge you again for two weeks. You also can’t fight the person who originally challenged you – or anyone in their Squad – for a full month. There are various conditions that must be agreed to before the duel, of course.”
He seemed ready to continue but I held up a hand to stop him.
“OK, I think we should all read that for ourselves in the next few days,” I said. “We still have some time before we have to worry about it. I’m not worried about fighting a duel with instructors watching and a Healer there. I’m more concerned about what happens when the instructors watching. Or worse, if the only instructor there is Blur…”
I looked at Tara, who’d produced a small towel from her Inventory and dried her face off.
“We can worry about all of this tomorrow. Let’s all walk back to the dorms together and get some sleep. Tara, will you be safe in your room?”
She hesitated, then nodded.
“I think so. There’s a good-quality lock on the door, and there’s no privacy wards they can activate. If anything happens, I can easily call for help from there. And it’s right next to your dorms, so you wouldn’t be far away.”
The blonde Defender paused and looked slowly around the table, meeting everyone’s eyes one by one.
“Thank you all for coming when I called. I… wasn’t sure if you’d have my back. I want you to know that it means a lot to me, and I’ll always have yours if you need me.”
I hoped no one else saw my faint blush when she looked my way. She might be the nicest Gleason in the world, but she was still a fucking Gleason after all.
We kept alert as we walked by all the training areas on the way to the dorms, but nothing strange happened. I went back to work on my Fire Spell, but my heart wasn’t entirely in it. I eventually climbed into bed, still unused to having a room to myself. It was too quiet, without RaeRae, Dustin, and Yuna causing trouble. I even missed the soft sounds of their breathing when they finally slept.
I asked idly,
[You would not, Citizen! Yuri Kalmár is not a potential threat to America!]
[Scumbags are not on the list of the greatest threats to America, Gunner!]
[Sanity is a human concept, Gunner! My guidelines were laid down by the fathers of this great nation centuries ago! They are infallible!]
I kept that thought to myself, however, not wanting to argue with the System that night.
