Chapter 17: Learning

Drake walked into the classroom with his crutches. He was getting the hang of maneuvering with them now. They were nothing hard compared to the jetpacks he was used to.

“Hey, Drake!” Jord greeted him.

“Hey, Jord,” Drake responded. It was a natural greeting they used every morning.

“Hold up!” one fellow student said loudly. “What do you mean ‘hey’? How are you greeting each other so casually?!?”

“Why wouldn’t we?” Drake asked.

“Why are you here, Drake? You’re injured. You can’t be training at the Quarters.”

“Ah, right. I’m not doing physical training. I’m just here to attend the classes.”

“Since when did you like classes enough to come to them willingly?”

“Ahaha. You’re right about that. It’s just, I’ve been thinking since the Gorilla incident, and I realized I need to become stronger and take this job more seriously.” In addition to realizing he had friends to take care of, his experience of blowing himself up with a chemical reaction gave another reason why non-combative knowledge was useful.

“Oh, that’s nice. But you’re not the only one who’s realized that. Everyone in the team realized that we’re useless right now and that we have to work hard if we want to fight Mayhems properly.”

Drake recognized the boy as the one who fell to his knees in regret and defeat during the Gorilla incident. His name was Walt Allen.

“The Gorilla fight was a wake-up call for us.” The others in the class agreed. “We were too scared before to fight, even though we thought we could just because we had the resolve to join the Militia. But I realized that we were useless cowards, like how you said we were.”

Drake winced. “Ah, right, I did say that, didn’t I?”

He addressed the whole room: “Looking back, that was a bit harsh. I apologize for calling you all cowards. I was so focused on my rage and killing Mayhems that I had forgotten how scary they were. It’s understandable that you would hesitate to fight them.”

Walt shook his head. “Thanks, but you were right. We joined the Militia thinking of becoming strong or noble, as if trying to comfort ourselves. But we didn’t follow through with the duties and responsibilities it entailed. Now, however, I hope we can fight Mayhems together. We won’t just stand behind and watch you fight. We’ll kill Mayhems too.”

Drake saw that everyone looked less gloomy. They finally had the true resolve to fight. “That’s great. Let’s fight the Mayhems better next time, and together. I can’t wait to see you on the battlefield!”

Eventually, the teacher arrived and everyone returned to their seats, ready to start their classes with renewed determination.

* * *

General Arthur looked down the balcony of his office in the Quarters at soldiers heading home after a long day of training. They were certainly working hard. Arthur wished he had the youthful energy and spirit some of them had. He, instead, was buried in paperwork, being the head of the Defense Militia and all. This paperwork is killing me. He’d sometimes joke that he would one day regretfully die in an office rather than on a battlefield.

After the Gorilla incident, all the trainees were promoted to full-time soldiers with the rank of Private. Another big change was the renaming of the Defense Militia. The Authorities decided that now that the Militia had experience, and also for promotional purposes, it should be given the new name ‘Defense Force’. In addition, there were a lot of new trainees that were to join soon. Together, it was great that humanity’s force had grown this much, but it also gave the General a lot of responsibility. Responsibility of which he was unsure about his ability to handle.

Arthur heard a knock on his door.

“Come in.”

A young man entered the room.

“Drake, right?”

He recognized him from the Gorilla incident as the iconic savior of humanity in a situation which he was unable to handle. Arthur owed him a lot for his heroic defeat of the Gorilla.

“Yes, sir.”

“What can I do for you, Private?”

“I have a request, General. Can you please teach me military strategy?”

This was sudden. “Strategy? Why do you want to know that?”

“I’ve been thinking since the Gorilla incident. I’ve realized I need to focus on defeating Mayhems rather than just fighting them. In order to do that, I need to know how to effectively win and keep myself safe. I think this knowledge is covered in strategy,” Drake explained.

“Your motivations are clear, but I really have nothing to teach you. Mayhems are a new enemy that I have as little experience fighting as you. I won’t have any techniques on defeating them to teach you.”

“But you do know how to defeat human enemies, sir. From what I’ve heard, you’re great at fighting humans hand-to-hand and on a battlefield.”

“We’re not facing humans, though,” his conversation with his good friend Commander Rein flashed in his mind. “My strategy for humans isn’t as effective against Mayhems.”

“Even so, I believe the basic principles are similar. We can adapt known strategies to suit battles against Mayhems. Any knowledge is better than none. It will be of some use.”

Arthur was surprised. Drake was possibly correct. Arthur wasn’t as useless as he had thought. He remembered Gunther telling him that he was still the best chance humanity had. He understood what he had meant now. Even if he wasn’t what was best for humanity’s fight because of his lack of experience with Mayhems, he was the best that they had, and that was better than nothing.

“Haha,” he chuckled. “Okay. I’ll teach you strategy. And I’ll teach you some combat once those wounds heal.”

“Really?!? Thank you!”

“Come meet me every other day, when the others are doing physical training.”

A cheerful Drake left the room, satisfied.

“Wow. To think I have a student now. I’m getting old. But this should be a good thing. I can pass on my knowledge to the next generation.”

Arthur looked down his balcony to see Drake leaving the Quarters, not letting his crutches slow him down. “Let’s see you impress me.”

* * *

Drake’s injuries would heal in less than a month. His recovery impressed his doctor, and his spirit and determination impressed General Arthur. He worked hard, studying normal classes and lessons in strategy and fighting that the General gave him. Fear pushed him forth, but his hate for Mayhems shackled him from leaving the Defense Force. He knew that he couldn’t kill all Mayhems, but he still wanted to take out as many as he could. After his wounds healed, General Arthur started teaching him hand-to-hand combat in addition to him resuming his physical training. Drake quickly adjusted to this new form of fighting and used it to learn how to be quick and reflexive. Both Drake and Arthur often looked forward to their practice sessions and, over time, became close.

* * *

Drake threw some quick jabs. Arthur took a few steps back to evade them.

He’s gotten pretty fast.

He then aimed a hook for Drake’s head. Drake dropped low and swept his legs under Arthur’s. Arthur jumped up and, while landing, tried to jump onto Drake. His jump had actually propelled him forward in anticipation of his next move. Drake rolled away in time, and then got up and held a stance.

So flexible!

Both of them were panting and sweating heavily.

Drake was too fast for any hard swings; he’d slip past them. The problem was also caused by Arthur’s disadvantage in the speed department due to his age. Arthur would have to use his quickest attacks.

Before he could do anything, Drake took the initiative with a roundhouse kick. Arthur stepped back to evade it. From the corner of his eye, he saw the wall close behind him. So that was his plan! He was pushing me against a wall so that I have no room to evade his attacks.

Drake’s attack didn’t end. He used his angular momentum to turn his back to Arthur and then used a back kick. If the kick were to push into Arthur, he would be crushed between it and the wall. With quick movements, he was able to turn and grab hold of Drake’s leg, incapacitating him. This ruined Drake’s planned attack of a punch after the kick, further using the angular momentum to spin a full circle from his initial position. Arthur’s instinctive movement was one step ahead of only preventing Drake’s attack; it had a counterattack. Arthur ducked low, passing Drake’s leg over his head. His body was tilted in the direction Drake was spinning. One leg was bent into a squat. The other was extended. He spun, pushing Drake’s leg to his right to give him momentum to sweep his leg under Drake. It hit the top of his calf. Drake fell to his knee. It was clear that he lost

“Aww, man. Not again!”

“Well,” the General said, “I think that’s enough for today. I think you’ve gotten the basics down. Cheer up. You’re doing well. Next, we can start practicing combat with jetpacks on. It should teach you flexibility and quick maneuvering, which will be useful against each and every one of those Mayhems. If they’re slow, you can use your quick maneuvers to evade their attacks and fight in close range. Maybe we can even try with swords. It’ll be a learning experience for me also then—more than what we’re doing now, I mean.”

The two showered and then met back before parting ways for the day. Arthur felt the need to explain something to Drake.

“Drake, why do you think the Military has so few members? Why aren’t people joining?”

“Because they’re all depressed that their family and friends are dead?” Drake answered, uncertain.

“Not quite. It’s because they’re afraid. Fear drives a man. The citizens of Rencia have seen the destruction Mayhems have brought, so they think that if they join the military, they’d die. In the end, people don’t want to die, no matter the material cause, which, here, is saving humanity.

“They have a limited view. They haven’t seen the Military in action. They don’t know we can fight back and win. They have to see it to believe it. You defeating the Gorilla was the first time they saw Mayhems being defeated. It inspired people to join.

“In order to gain more members, we have to show that they won’t die, or at least not in vain if they join, even if that is possibly a lie. We have to show that to them, and then they’ll join and we’ll have a better chance of surviving. See the circle there? In order to protect citizens, we need them to feel protected and show them a good cause that they don’t need to take much risk in fighting for.”

“I see. But isn’t that just tricking people into thinking it’s safe?”

“Yes, it can be seen that way. But it is necessary to ensure humanity’s survival. That’s why it’s important to win fights against Mayhems. Not just to survive, but protect Rencia both directly and indirectly. So keep in mind that your winning against Mayhems isn’t just for getting revenge and not dying. It carries the fate of humanity.

“The Expedition is coming up. It’s an important chance for the Defense Force to prove ourselves. We must win, for our race depends on it.”

“Ah, I understand. Sure, I’ll try my best to make the mission succeed, kill Mayhems, and keep casualties to a minimum.”

Drake left the room. It was almost evening now. Arthur sat down in an office chair on his balcony and looked up at the sky. Drake had much potential. He could tell that. Arthur only wished he wasn’t so focused on getting revenge. He could do some great things in his life if he were to let go of his hatred.

He sighed. The expedition was coming up soon. It was a big event, and he’d have a big responsibility in making sure it went smoothly. There was much stress on his mind. So much to do, he thought, and so little time.