Teenage Vampyrs, Enchanteds, and Shapeshifters join the Otherworlder Academy to train to fight off a demon horde and save the Otherworlder realm.
Welcome to the rewrite of The Otherworlders! (This is v2 version, which explains the odd read to vote r...
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The next day the students gather in the school's underground training facility—a vast, vaulted space carved out from the castle's undercroft. Built partially underground with a dirt floor and large stone arches, the space has enough natural light streaming in that no artificial lighting is necessary during the day.
Rudimentary weight and practice equipment sit tucked in every corner of the facility and a quarter of the floor is layered with large blue gym mats. The students sit on benches or stand awkwardly around the makeshift sparring floor waiting to begin.
Their instructor, Master Ibrahim Achebe—a tall, muscular man with fierce eyes, sculpted African features and a dazzling white smile—stands before them.
"Good morning, class. My name is Master Achebe, and I will be your combat instructor during your time here," he announces. "I will also be your Ancient History and Languages Professor, but we'll tackle that at another time. For those of you who are curious—and I'm certain many of you are--I am a panther shifter, not that you'll witness my shifting prowess any time soon." He chuckles to himself, then begins to pace before them.
"Regardless," Master Achebe continues, "there are two things you need to know about me: One, I am the law in this gym—period. Two, I am a fair and simple man. Remember those two things and we'll get along just fine." He flashes them his dazzling smile and adds, "I also have two ground rules: One, other than illness or death, if you miss my class more than once within a two-week period, you will be expelled from the school immediately. And two, no magic or supernatural practices in my combat class until you're authorized to do so. Is that understood?"
"Yes, Master Achebe," the kids respond in unison.
"Good! Good!" He claps enthusiastically and says, "All right, then! Let's begin!" He walks over to the edge of the mats and props his fists gingerly on his hips. "Now, the objective for today is for me to assess where you are with your combat training and what skills you've been taught by your previous instructors. There will be no interracial sparring—not yet anyway—as I don't think you're quite ready for that. So, we'll begin with the Shifters. Patrick, Jake." He crooks his finger at them, then points to the mat.
Jake looks at Master Achebe expectantly and asks, "What do you want us to do?"
Master Achebe replies with a shrug and a smile. "Show me what you've got."
Jake and Patrick take their positions on the mat. Patrick has about 40 pounds on Jake, but Jake doesn't look too nervous. They hold their fists up before them and begin to dance around each other like two boxers in the ring. Patrick takes a swing at Jake, but Jake ducks out of the way. Patrick takes another swing at him, but this time Jake bobs, ducks, and pops back up with a right-hook to Patrick's jaw. Patrick stumbles back, then rights himself. A slow smile cracks across his face. Okay, now we're getting serious.
