During lunch break, the First Red badges reunited except for the arrogant noble that had left the dormitory yesterday. Zac had told them his name was Jorik. Apparently, he knew who he was or something, but Mahon hadn’t been paying attention at the time, too focused on recovering from the hard training.

Once at the campus refectory, they had to wait for every higher badge to enter before them and so they were last to access the canteen. There were enough meals for everyone and even more, so that was not an issue. No, the thing was that they didn’t have any choice. When they came inside, they saw at least five different possibilities in the menu. On the tables, however, only one was not already emptied. And not the best one, obviously.

Anyway, after the harsh physical training they could eat anything and they finished the platter to the last crumbs. It was better than the street food Mahon had bought during the last two months and he enjoyed the tasty food. But the other nobles only found it average, so he said nothing about it. He had much to learn about this new world he knew nothing about.

Their hunger satiated, the topic drifted to one’s choice of specialized training for the afternoon. They had been given a paper with a long list of possible activities, but they didn’t have the time to browse it yet.

Professor Rym hadn’t lied when she said they could do everything they wanted. The list had close to a hundred different classes. Specific physical training, unique weapon training, strategy and alchemy were the main possibilities, but they were so much more like scouting, cooking, writing, memorizing, resting, equitation, psychology, anatomy, crafting…

“I think I will go for sword, hammer and ax as my three lessons!” Allen said.

“Three weapons? Yeah, I think it’s probably the best choice to make.” Zac agreed. “Though I hesitate with spear rather than hammer.”

“It’s a hard choice…” Allen sighed.

“Don’t you think we should take non-combat related lessons?” Kali intervened. The man was short and did not fare well during the morning training session. Not to the level of Mahon, of course, but he was still at the bottom.

“Maybe as a fourth lesson?” Zac questioned.

“Agreed. I feel you would miss too much by switching a weapon course for something else. We are going to join the army. You have to be good at fighting!” Allen completed.

“Thanks for your advice, mates!”

“And it’s not like you can’t switch at a point if you don’t feel like it.” Zac added.

“Oh, right! I forgot about that… That means we could try all the weapon lessons before choosing the best three!” Allen exclaimed.

“Allen, you’re a genius! No need to choose between spear and hammer, I can try both. You better be ready, guys. It won’t be long before we all choose what we eat before anyone else!”

Mahon was eyeing the men in front of him, turning his head to one or the other with every sentence they added to the conversation.

Are they really this stupid?

He exchanged a glance with Wyrran, his silent roommate, sitting on his left. He stared back at him and in the man’s eyes Mahon could read the answer to his thought. Yes. Definitely.

Wyrran sighed and intervened in the conversation.

“Guys, you can’t think like that. Although weapon lessons are appealing, it is useless to learn how to fight with every weapon there is. Besides, you would not even be able to carry a spear, hammer and ax at the same time on the battlefield.”

“Ah… That’s a good point. But...” Zac considered, his enthusiasm a little dampened.

“Look, you saw how I fare during the training session, right?”

Wyrran was the best of the First Red badges regarding physical achievement. He was even close to the level of the best of the First White badges, the rank just higher than them. It didn’t mean a lot now, as the badges were attributed through one’s nobility, but the man still was in the best half. Whereas all the other First Red did poorly on the workout. It was irritating to realize that nobility was almost a reliable parameter to sort them.

“Yeah, you did very well!”

“True. So you can trust me on it, right?”

“I guess so… What’s your advice then?”

“Picking one weapon is more than enough. I would advise to go for sword first as it is the standard weapon. Once you know how to use it, it may be worth trying a few other weapon lessons to find another one if you still want to. For other lessons, since it appears you need stronger muscles than you have now, I would suggest choosing at least one physical training session. And if you have the will, you could even go for two. Otherwise, choose something interesting but not physical so you can rest. Maybe a strategy or an alchemy one?”

“Wow, brother, you put so much thought behind this! You’re the best!” Allen exclaimed. It seemed the man loved speaking loudly.

“Change of plan, Allen! What do you think about the basic pill concocting lesson?” Zac and Allen started another lengthy discussion about the advantages of one lesson versus another.

Soon, Mahon stopped following their discussion. Wyrran had said it all. The best combination was a mix of a weapon, a physical and an intellectual lesson. In other circumstances, Mahon would have gone for this exact combination himself, but he already knew how to fight with multiple weapons, including an excellent mastery of the sword and the spear.

Of course, it was a mastery he had acquired in Nightmare, but everything was still in his mind and he just lacked a body strong enough to execute the moves he knew. In fact, the school was only useful to learn about Ratho and train properly until he had his body back. Everything else, Mahon already knew about it. Sure, it could be interesting to learn about Ratho’s strategy and specific fighting ways but Mahon was not a Last Red just for show.

Once he was back to his former self and could do in Ratho everything he had done in Nightmare, the school wouldn’t be useful to him anymore. With this in mind, Mahon picked two physical training sessions. The faster he was physically fit, the better. As for the third specialized lesson, he was hesitating.

Alchemy was not appealing to him at all, and he already knew a lot about strategy. He still had much to learn about the differences between Ratho and Nightmare, but he counted on his roommates for that. Looking at the other courses, scouting tempted him. But he knew he stood no chance as long as he was not physically fit.

Back to the same problem...

A third training session was impossible even for him, who spent the last two months training every hour. The school’s sessions were way more intense than his own. Especially if they were taught by the same instructor as this morning. Browsing the list of lessons, he found one that might suit his needs.

Yoga?

It seemed perfect, as it would help him build a firm body without tiring him more than necessary. And besides, it could help him take care of his sore muscles from the other training sessions. The description of the course also mentioned flexibility and coordination, and both were appealing to him. He had trouble handling his body with the same precision he was used to. Not because of his body this time, but because of his mind.

He had spent decades in a more physically restrictive environment. And now he was adjusting his movements to a constraint that no longer existed. It seems the years in Nightmare did take their toll on his mind as well...

Thinking a bit more about the specialized lessons, Mahon decided to pick yoga, muscular strengthening by gainage and running. He would switch them in three or four months when he would have a stronger body. His decision made, Mahon came back to the situation in front of him and realized that Zac and Allen were still arguing about the lessons.

He smiled at the scene. Although he had been annoyed at their childish behavior, they had a contagious enthusiasm that was hard to ignore. And he much preferred a funny discussion to the serious ones he used to have in Nightmare.

Allen was so driven by the conversation that he was making large gestures with his hands to emphasize his point of view. The longer the conversation went on, the wider his gestures were, and the scene turned comical without them knowing.

At a point, Zac realized the others were chuckling at the scene and he played the fool with the still unaware Allen, trying to make him gesture even wider. A minute later, when the poor man realized what was happening, the group had so much trouble holding their laughter that they were red from the effort. In the end, they could not contain themselves anymore and they burst out laughing. Allen joined them a second later, understanding what triggered them. They calmed down with difficulty after a few rounds.

“Whew… It had been a long time since I laughed that much, thanks guys.” said Wyrran, wiping tears from his eyes.

“Hahaha, yes, I have the bad habit of getting too excited when I talk… and then this happens.”, laughed Allen. He mimicked what he had done just before and it almost sent them all back to hysteria.

“I appreciated the interlude, too! But back to serious topics... you all made your choices for this afternoon?” Zac was acting as the team leader and it seemed it didn’t bother anyone. No one knew why Zac took the role but nobody complained. Even in that short time they could tell Zac was kind-hearted and trustworthy. “Kali, you got your picks?”

“Yes, I will go for sword, arm strength and basic harvesting.”

“Good! Well, it seems good to me, what do you think Wyrran?” Wyrran, as the more experienced, had become the expert on the topic.

“It’s good. You can change later on if you find it too hard or boring anyway, so don’t worry.”

“And you, Mahon? What did you choose?”

“Running, muscular strengthening by gainage and yoga.” Mahon answered.

“Ah? No weapon lesson? No alchemy? You’re sure about your choices?”

“I think it’s good too.” Wyrran intervened, looking at Mahon. “It seems Mahon is a bit… behind regarding physical training, if I might say. So if he can follow all these lessons, he would catch up to us in no time. You do plan to switch after some time, do you?”

“Yes, that's the plan.”

“It’s good then. And sword is not that hard to learn, so you can delay the lesson for a month or two. We could even help you if needed.” He added.

“Uh…” Mahon coughed. “I already have some experience with weapons so it will not be a problem.”

“Oh? Really? How was it? What’s your main weapon? You already fought someone?” Allen asked with enthusiasm.

Zac perceived Mahon’s reluctance to answer the questions and interceded in his favor.

“Hey, Allen, don't be rude! He already has a lot to catch up on, he doesn’t need harassing teammates but supportive ones.”

“Oh, right… Sorry Mahon, you know you can count on me if you need to!”

Allen apologized, and Mahon gestured to him that it was not a problem. He was not sure yet what to think of his roommates. They were way too much enthusiastic and even a bit dumb sometimes. But they had bonded quickly, and it seemed a day was enough for them to be that supportive.

It felt strange to Mahon, but he had to admit he knew nothing about socializing. A dangerous fight was all that was needed to be friends back in Nightmare, and even then Mahon had stayed alone for a long time. Obviously, it had to be different here. They seemed kind enough to him, and he was actually happy to have these guys as roommates. He had feared they would all be like the arrogant Jorik and that he would have to be on his guard every single minute.

“We should go now. The next lesson is on the other side of the school and it will do no good to be late!”

Zac led the small group composed of Allen, Kali, Wyrran and Mahon out of the canteen and up to the building that hosted their first strategy lesson.