The void beast didn't stand on ceremony. Jonathan hadn't shot it, this time, but that didn't do anything to reduce the beast's fury. It screeched at him and lashed out with a pair of tentacles.

Jonathan brought his saber across in a broad sweep. The snap hiss of the blade was complimented by a sizzling noise, then a pair of thumps. He'd managed to cleanly sever the attacking tentacles.

The void beast's screech took on a crazed edge. Jonathan had already stepped forward, intending to pursue if the monster shied away after being hurt. He'd overestimated the beast's survival instinct. Instead of chasing down a retreating monster, Jonathan found himself facing a mass of tentacles whipping out in a frenzy. It seemed the monster's instinct was to respond to a failed attack with more attacks.

It was this same mass of tentacles that had spelled Jonathan's death in their first contest. This time, though, he wasn't just putting his arms in between himself and the oncoming danger. No, now he had a beam of plasma in his hands. Jonathan swept his saber forward, looking to catch as many of the incoming strikes as possible.

He chopped through one, two, three tentacles with a sizzle and a plop, his swing gradually losing momentum as it carved through more and more of the void beast's flesh. Jonathan used the reaction force to help himself slide to the right, dodging the bulk of the attacks that he wasn't able to interrupt.

The tentacles tore up the ground as they hit. The pristine white surface behaved something like concrete, shattering into pieces under the void beast's assault. Jonathan made sure that his mech's feet were firmly planted so that he didn't stumble over the rubble.

The beast's crazed assault was whipped into a fever pitch, but Jonathan was ready to bring the saber back across in a reverse stroke to catch its retaliatory attacks. Before, Jonathan had been forced to endure the shriek of tearing metal as his mech was ripped to shreds. This time, he enjoyed listening to the shrieks of agony as he cut the void beast to pieces.

When he had trimmed off about three-quarters of the monster's tentacles, the void beast's primitive brain finally realized that it was in danger. It drove a pair of tentacles into the ground, looking to fling itself away using the same method it had used before to fling itself at Jonathan.

As soon as he saw what it was trying to do, Jonathan activated his flight pack and leaped forward, slashing through one of the supporting tentacles before the monster could make good its escape. Instead of launching itself away, the single tentacle just pulled the beast off balance. From there, it was just a matter of chopping the beast to pieces until the system finally told Jonathan that the thing was safely dead.

He smiled and deactivated the beam saber, placing it safely back in his holster. Jonathan's grin faded a bit when he learned that he'd only received an evaluation of 90 percent completion, but it couldn't keep his mood down for long. After all, he'd improved in one try from a failure to an almost perfect pass. He was on the right track. All that was left was to polish his efforts until he got full marks.

That would be a task for later, though. Jonathan had only used half of his four hour allocation for the day, but the stress of combat had been far more draining than the movement tests that he had been taking before. Besides, it was almost time for lunch. He could always come back and finish his daily training later.

Jonathan logged out and pulled himself free from his training pod. Next to him, Philip's pod was still lit up as his roommate explored the virtual world. Jonathan shook his head with a wry smile. Philip wouldn't be leaving until the system kicked him out.

He sent Philip a message letting him know where he was going and made his way out of the virtual training hall. As he did, Jonathan couldn't help but take note of the changes in the building over the last few days. The hallways that had been nearly deserted the first time he'd visited now hosted a steady stream of foot traffic. More and more of the pods had the green light indicating they were in use or the orange light indicating that their trainee had used up their daily time allocation.

The students at the Royal Academy might come from privileged backgrounds, but they were certainly willing to work hard. Or maybe access to the virtual training room was an enticing novelty. Time would tell.

Jonathan walked down the path to the cafeteria that was already becoming a familiar trip. The surroundings certainly felt more like a real training academy now that other students were around. Jonathan was only really close with Philip, but it was still invigorating to be surrounded by people his own age.

Well, his own physical age. Jonathan wasn't quite sure how to figure his own age given his situation, but he hadn't been much older than the incoming academy students when he had died. He had an extra well of experience to draw on, but it wasn't like he had any memory of being old. He still felt a little estranged from his peers, but now that the gap in experience between them was closing it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been back in primary school.

The gold piping on Jonathan's uniform was another source of estrangement. He'd suspected that it was important based on Philip's reaction, but he'd still been underestimating the level of esteem that was attached to the honor of being first in the year, an honor that he would hold until the semester started and the rankings adjusted to reflect the cadets' actual skill levels.

For now, Jonathan just kept a neutral smile on his face and made sure to nod pleasantly in greeting to everybody who stared at him as he passed by. He knew it would be foolish to put on airs that he couldn't back up with hard power. Even if he could back it up, Jonathan didn't believe in looking for trouble. The galaxy was dangerous enough even without going around deliberately picking fights.

Unfortunately, not everyone at the Royal Academy subscribed to the same philosophy, a fact that Jonathan was reminded of shortly after he finished lunch. The meal was simple but filling fare, and a far more pleasant occasion than the post-dinner conversation.

Chad Worthington invited himself over to Jonathan's table just as he was about to finish eating. He brought his friends with him, too. A boy and a girl who looked similar enough that they had to be siblings. Or twins, rather, if they were in the same academic year. The boy had a wiry, androgynous look to him, while his sister was an intimidating beauty. Their resemblance was enhanced by the matching looks of disdain they had trained in Jonathan's direction.

Chad's friends did have silver piping on their uniforms, just as he did. Jonathan would have liked to be on good terms with all of the future superstars in the class, but he had a feeling that it just wasn't meant to be.

Chad wasn't in the mood for introductions.

"I'm tired of waiting," he announced by way of greeting. "Let's have a match in the virtual arena."

Ah. No wonder Chad had been so eager to drop by once he saw Jonathan eating a meal by himself. And no wonder he had brought his friends along with him. Jonathan gave him points for doing at least a little planning, even if his use of peer pressure would ultimately come to nothing.

Official challenges weren't available before school was in session. Even once the academy's classes started, the official challenge system wouldn't be open to new students for another month. Chad was doing his best to make an end run around that obstacle. Well, he wouldn't be at the Royal Academy if he weren't at least a little clever.

What Chad had latched onto was the fact that the official challenge system wasn't the only way that merit points could be transferred between students. Students could transfer points between themselves in all sorts of ways. In many ways the merit points functioned as in-school currency. For example, if students wanted to arrange their own bouts in the virtual world and wager on the outcome, the school would allow it.

The official challenge system was useful because it put a framework of rules and regulations around the process. It also punished anybody who tried to abuse the system, whether it was with nuisance challenges or by ducking fights.

When it came to personal duels, of course, both parties had to agree to come to terms. If one side didn't want to fight, then there wouldn't be a fight. Chad had realized that and planned ahead, bringing along an audience in the hopes of shaming Jonathan into going along with his request.

"Not interested," Jonathan said, turning his attention away from Chad and piling his utensils and napkins in the center of his tray. He was about to stand and finish bussing the table when Chad recovered from his shock.

"Not interested? I don't understand, how can you be the top student if you aren't interested in a friendly match?"

Jonathan looked around the small group. As petty and obvious as Chad's actions were, Jonathan could admit, at least to himself, that simply brushing him off and running away would feel a little too much like cowardice for his liking.

Jonathan had come to terms with the fact that he would be dethroned from the top spot if he wasn't strong enough to hold it. He wasn't interested in using any technicalities to cling to the position for longer than he deserved. If Chad went through the challenge process and took his place fair and square, he'd try to be the bigger man and accept it with grace. That didn't mean that he wanted to speed up the process by walking into an obvious setup. Of course, Chad wasn't the type to give up after Jonathan patiently explained his point of view.

Fortunately, there was an easy way to end the discussion. "Even if I were interested, I can't."

"Can't?"

"I'm not in the virtual world yet," Jonathan said, standing. "If you want a friendly match, find Philip."

"Not in the system?" Chad asked. "You'll fall behind if you don't keep up with the daily quests, you know."

Jonathan shrugged. "Once I finish with the tests, I'll get right on that."

"You haven't even passed the tests yet?" Chad asked. "What kind of class leader are you?"

Jonathan shrugged, then picked up his tray and walked away. He could hear Chad behind him crowing about how the decoration on his uniform must be pyrite rather than true gold, but he didn't bother looking back. Ultimately the truth of their abilities would be revealed in the arena, not the cafeteria.