The Ranch

Kai's POV (1)

The comatose Tih is taken back to his apartment and set down on his bed. The bodyguard leaves to find his coworkers and see what happened with their boss. Kai hooks up the feeding tube and all the other things he got from the doctor. He wraps himself up in ice and bandages before leaving. He heads back to the market and finds Lucien and Sher to tell them what happened.

Sherlock is surprised to find out the newbie from the circulating rumors is Tih. Kai finds out that rumors of the man's part being cut off by a newbie has already spread across the entire market, it'll have spread to the entire island by the end of the day. Kai hands Sher the communication watch parts before grabbing some grub at the cafeteria, then heading back to check on Tih.

Seeing him in the same position, completely unresponsive, he leaves him alone. Kai takes a quick nap before heading to the lecture hall for his first day of classes. He first takes his Environmental Engineering class, before heading to the assigned classroom for Parkour. He meets up with the other two along the way and they go in together.

Sitting down, Kai guesses that about thirty people joined the class. Seeing some of the newbies with grumpy expressions indicates that they weren't left with many choices.

While the students are conversing in murmurs, the sound of a someone popping open a window open echos throughout the room. The only windows in the classroom are on the ceiling, Kai recalls. The students looks up to see the man that opened a window, scale his way down the wall of the room. At ten feet in the air, he jumps down, completing a forward roll. Rolling into a standing position, he greets his new student with a lively welcome,"Greeting, New Students! And Welcome To My Parkour Class. You Can Call Me Instructor Henri."

The young man in his early thirties, is average in height and has a slender build. Thick, bushy, brown hair in a side swept undercut connects to a balbo beard. He has a triangular head shape and a rosy skin tone. A joyful smile is permanently plastered onto his face. His actions and mannerisms lead the students watching to believe him to be very eccentric, but nice and easy to get along with. A single brown star and green star are attached to his military uniform.

He speaks in a fluid motion," It's Our First Day, So Lets Start Off With Something Easy. Run To The Mountains Within Thirty Minutes." The sunny smile remains on his face.

The student look at him in confused stupor. One child calls out," N-now?"

"Yes, But Now You Only Have Twenty-Nine Minutes And Forty Seconds. Ah, And If You Don't Make It In Time, You'll Fail This Class."

His words light an outrage in some of the soldiers,"That's insane! It takes us multiple hours just to jog there?! How can to expect us to reach it in time!"

"Yeah! What gives? What you're asking for is almost impossible."

"What's the point of running there anyways! Aren't you just trying to torture us and swingle is out of our money so you don't have to work?!"

"Right!"

"Yeah!!"

More and more students join in as their confidence as a group increases. The classroom is chaotic as the instructor's smile only deepens, his countdown being drowned out by the cries of noisy children.

Kai, Lucien, and Sherlock glance at each other before making their way out of the classroom, along with a couple of the other smarter children.

The "protesting" soldiers are currently very unstable. Arguing against an instructor is a huge unspoken rule. The only reason the current situation is possible is because most of the students are newbies. The rule have yet to be ingrained in them, so they're more willing to go against the rule.

They're also given more confidence, because they're in a group. The moment soldiers start to notice people sneaking out, the protesters will lose their foundation and they'll all scramble to the mountain, it's just a matter of how much time they'll waste.

Instructor Henri is well aware of the situation. He watches the scene with a warm smile. The instructor created this situation on purpose to weed out all the useless trainees. He does not want to put time and effort into training weak-willed and small-minded students. Instructor Henri watches as a few newbies sneak out of the classroom, thankful that some of his students have potential.

Kai, Sherlock, and Lucien dash down the halls and out of the Lecture Hall. The group heads east on a linear path to the mountains.

Already panting, Lucien questions,"Do we really have to run the whole way?"

"Until we can think of a better option, yeah." Answers Kai.

Lucien is about to whine when he trips on a rock. Sherlock and Kai pause to help him up before they continue. The land underneath their feet is uneven. The path they've chosen is filled with small mounds and uneven ground. Rocks and trees can be seen occasionally.

There's another, slightly longer path to the mountains which is smoother, but Kai and Sherlock chose this one for a reason. They're currently running on a hill with a minuscule incline, it's not discernible unless you've memorized the map of the area.

Once they reach the top of the hill, they can slide their way down the steeper end and will end up in front of the electric board that indicates the start of the mountain region of the island, which is where Sherlock is assuming the finish line is. Although it sounds quite convenient, the path to the decline is rocky and uneven, which is why the path is rarely taken. Although the newbies were taken to the electronic board at the mountains, they took the easier path and didn't know this path existed, so the trio are the only ones on the path.