Simple Defense I was brutal to say the least. The Fire boy was persistent in picking up the pace and kicking me as hard as he can without hurting me. That was easy to do, since I don't bruise or mark as easily as some of the other Trainees. His grin of malice turns to one of triumph. His enjoyment of my pain isn't undermined when it's my turn to pretend to kick him. If possible, he injures me when I'm supoosed to be pretending to injure him. I find it ludicrous.
Finally, it's high noon. Teacher Strakturus lets us go free to have lunch. We only have a little bit. Our next classes will start within a few movements of the sun. I run out of the training grounds, keeping away from the Fire boy, but still staying within the midst of the crowd. He can do nothing to me here. I feel his aggravation. I hurry on. Martin and Tria are waiting at our meeting spot. I spot Zen coming and then Hera and Clarisse join us. We all wait for Mire, then head to lunch.
"Etiquette sucks like barnacles!" Clarisse cries. "My teacher is a complete bullshark. I can't wait until we switch classes at the tri-month."
"You and me both," Tria agrees. "The teacher for my Survival class is actually pretty hot, but the class is like trying to climb an evergreen tree, sticky and no fun."
"Working in the mills wasn't that bad," Martin comments. "At least it wasn't hot. There was wind moving throughout the place the entire time. It was kind of relaxing."
"Speak for yourself," Zen mumbles. "I was stuck on sewing duty. I pricked my fingers at least 20 times."
"Well, I liked my class," Hera rumbles, still having her Earth accent. We all lost ours a long while back. "It was useful."
"What did you have?" her cousin asks.
"My specialty class," Hera replies.
Everyone looks at her suddenly. Specialty classes. They are by far the best classes and the one everyone looks forward to. In your specialty class, you get to transform inherit the powers of each Element for the whole class. I'll be able to see what Wind is like. Hera had Fire.
"You have Fire as your specialty class, right?" Zen asks.
"Yes," she replies. "It wasn't as pleasurable as I would have thought."
We all make our way through the lunch line and to an empty table in the dining hall as Hera tells us of her specialty class. We are all rapt, even though they didn't do much. First day in specialty classes usually aren't too exciting.
"Really, it wasn't all that fun, to be honest," Hera says in an attempt to make us leave her alone. "We just talked about what we would be doing for the rest of the tri-month."
"But that's what's so exciting!" her cousin exclaims. "We want to know what we will be doing!"
"You don't even have Fire," Hera chides. "You have Earth."
"Does it matter?"
"Yes."
"Oh come on, Hera. Please?"
Hera sighs. "Fine. We basically are going to get to have the Elements' powers for the tri-month, but only in the classroom."
There was a moment of silence before everyone erupted into a chorus of exclamations. The boys are all excited. Zen gets to have his powers back for the time being. Tria looks less excited, but Clarisse looks pleased. Martin, Hera, Mire, and I all have different Elements. We eat lunch, discussing what we are going to do in each class. We are all looking forward to our classes. Time passes quickly and before we know it, we are off to our next classes.
I had Division Culture.
The class was in the center of the Palace. It wasn't too far from the dining hall, so I didn't have to rush like the others. The classroom, unlike the training field, was on the second floor and small. There were about twenty tables lined up throughout the classroom. Some Trainees are already there. I don't see anyone that I know, so I take an empty table and decide to tempt fate.
