After finding out their class assignments from Lops, the recruits were told to make their way to their first class and were swiftly dismissed. The first class of the day was martial arts. Wren had been assigned to class 3 for martial arts and so had decided to follow a group of recruits from his homeroom that would share the same martial arts class. He trailed behind them, making sure not to get too close, but not too far away that he’d lose them. There were about three of them, two boys and a girl, he didn’t know any of their names.

“I wonder what style of martial arts we’ll be learning?” The girl said to the two boys.

“I don’t know but I hope it’s something cool.” One of the boys replied. He was chunkier than the other boy, his robes were obviously too small and they stretched tight around his large frame.

“You reckon we’ll be breaking wood planks with our fists?” The other boy said.

“Of course not, we’ll probably start slowly, building up our bodies before they get to the good stuff.” The first boy said.

The girl shook her head and laughed, as she did she caught sight of Wren a few paces behind them.

“Hey, is he following us?” The girl whispered, but still loud enough for Wren to hear.

The two boys looked back in unison to see who she was talking about.

“I don’t know, but I’d stay away from him, you want nothing to do with a cheater.”

“I can hear you, you know.” Wren called out, anger lacing his voice.

“Oh we know, we just don’t care.” The chunky boy said laughing.

The martial arts halls were East of the central campus but it was not far, it was the first stop along the winding path through the forest that encompassed the island. Although the group Wren was following sped up their pace in order to lose him, it was not long before they all arrived at their destination.

There were five buildings, all of equal size lined up in a row. They were very nondescript, seeming to just look like five big warehouses from the outside. Painted on the side of each building was a number from one to five, delineating which hall the recruits should enter depending on their class. Wren was surprised that each class had their own martial arts hall, he would have expected for each class to just take turns using the one hall, that’s what it would have been like on earth. But the elementals didn’t spare any expense when it came to training their recruits. They wanted them to be the best of the best, so that when it came time to fight the Enoi, they would not only survive, but win.

Wren entered the building labelled number three just after the group he had been following. If he was surprised by the affluence of the elementals after looking at the outside, it was nothing in comparison to what he felt stepping into the building. Where the outside of the building had been made of cold grey metal, the inside couldn’t have been more different. The floors were made of a warm wood that had been meticulously polished so that it had a constant shine across it. Soft mats had been built into the floor, presumably for the rougher activities that the recruits would no doubt take part in at some point. Around the side of the room were small padded dummies that were stationed on wheels so that they could be moved to anywhere in the hall.

A group had formed towards the back of the hall and Wren moved to join them. The lesson would be starting soon and he didn’t want to miss out. There were about forty recruits in the hall, all first years from different classes. They were supposed to all be around the same level, having scored similarly on the physical tests they had taken the previous day, but Wren was sceptical. He was sure that some of the recruits would be stronger than the others, especially considering that the tests they took the previous day weren’t completely fool proof in deciding their classes.

They were gathered round the instructor who was standing idly by, waiting for everyone to arrive. He wasn’t much taller than Wren, who was considerably shorter than the rest of the boys in the class, but he had a presence that commanded attention and respect. In addition to his white instructor robes, he had a shaved head and dark gothic tattoos sprawled all over his body, down his arms, and up his neck. He looked badass.

“I think that should be everyone.” The instructor said. His voice boomed throughout the hall surprising the recruits. “My name is Instructor Snake, but just call me Snake. For the next year I will be teaching you the wind factions unique sect of martial arts.”

The recruits had given the man their unbridled attention. Not a peep was heard out of them he commanded that much presence.

“Now I have a few ground rules if I’m going to be teaching you this year. Number one.” He said holding a single finger up in the air. “You will arrive ON TIME. I expect you to arrive at least five minutes before nine, that gives you five whole minutes before the lesson starts, a minute after nine and you will not take part, you spend the whole session outside twiddling your thumbs. Is that clear?”

“Yes Instructor.” The recruits said in unison.

Snake held up a second finger.

“Rule number two. When I am speaking you will be silent. I do not want to raise my voice, believe me when I say you will not like it when I raise the voice. If I catch you speaking when I am, same as the first rule you will spend the entire session outside, no questions asked. Is that clear?”

“Yes Instructor.”

“Third and finally. And this is the most important. When I say stop. You stop. Martial arts are dangerous and I do not want another needless death this year, so if I tell you to stop, then you stop. Am I clear?” He said. Somehow this final rule carried more weight than the previous ones, maybe because there was no threat at the end of it, or perhaps just because of his voice. Either way, the recruits listened intently.

“Yes Instructor.”

“Good. Now who wants to learn how to fight?”