How To Survive A Calamity

The following day.

I was seated in one of the numerous chairs packed full inside of an extremely large hall of an auditorium. The hall was packed full with all of the first year students, and each of us were currently giving a round of an applause

"Finally..."

I could hear some say

"It's over..."

The excruciating three hours long speech from the headmaster's representative...was finally over.

The distinct figure of a middle aged man with sparse grey hair, wearing a suit, could be seen waving lightly with smile as he left the stage.

Strangely, both the headmaster, and vice-heaf weren't present or available at such a moment, and only a filling in representative cake to fill in for them with us.

The round of applause was booming from the numbers and the man who permanently took a painful three hours of our lives slowly exited the stage for a new group of people to rise to the podium.

A young lady with cascading locks of wavy blonde hair, and gem like green eyes stepped up with a dazzling smile. Right next to her sides was a male with dark grey hair and dull red eyes, and a young girl with wavy green hair and amber coloured eyes.

All three introduced themselves as the student council, with the blond as the president and representative.

"First of all, we'd like to begin, once again, with welcoming all of you to the Aegis institution of Awakened Heroes, and congratulations..."

The introduction went on from congratulating and welcoming us, to an extended introduction to the academy. From there began a period of listing and identifying the dos and don'ts, and rules and regulations of Aegis.

Some of which I was already familiar with and made aware of by Adrianne.

There were quite a lot of them as this section went into explicit details, but in the grand scheme of things, there were only a few that actually mattered the most.

It was considerable effort to keep my eyes open through the director's representative speech, and then this.

I always hated assemblies and orientations because of this...

Aegis was very explicit with their rules. Strictly speaking.

Most of them resulted in harsh penalties, like, straight up expulsion when broken.

"The hierarchy in the academy is Purley determined by skill and talent. External status or influence have absolutely no power within the wall for the institution. The same applies to outside relations and conflicts. As long as you are here, the only way to prove your standing is by your efforts.

The academy will provide you with every possible facility you might need to facilitate your growth and improvement..."

One of the most important part was the strict standing the institution took against external influences and power. Things like family influence or status mattered as little as dust inside of the academy.

In simpler terms, in here, daddy can't help you.

The hierarchy, as she called it was entirely based on the ranking system which was made to encourage fierce competitions.

The lower ranking cadets receive less favourable treatments to the higher ranked students. If anyone was dissatisfied with their ranks, all they had to do was work hard to raise it.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

And at the same time, those who lag to far behind will be cut off.

It was a simple carrot and stick system, really.

A truly terrifying one.

"On that note, various chances and opportunities will arise during the school years and semester for you to raise your ranking. For example, during the special exams, mid-terms, or even finals." The President added with a crisp voice.

Then her smile elongated, the glint in her green eyes sharpened.

"The opportunities aren't only limited to certain school events. We understand some of us might be eager to raise our ranks rather quickly due to certain personal reasons, that is why we have established a simple duel challenge system."

"What? A challenge...?"

"I think I've heard about that."

Like a small spark, the president's words ignited a whole flame of interest and murmurs from the crowd.

I silently watched from my seat, pretending to ignore the various voices and chatters of those next to me.

The dueling system was just as the name implied.

"You are always encouraged to challenge a cadet of a higher rank for their position in a battle of skills, wit, and technique. Whatever of your choosing, provided certain rules are followed and obliged to."

"Duels must be carried out with the consent of the involved parties, and a stake may be made. Wether it be Ranking position, privileges, or anything else."

"Similarly, on that note, a duel must be officiated and overseen by by the consent of an instructor. Any battles that happen outside the authority of the academy or teachers will be received as insubordination and a blatant disregard to the Academy's rules, laws and regulations, and a decisive punishment and penalty will be dealt.

Same thing applies when one party forces a duel on another without their shared consent."

"As duels to stake ranking positions are allowed generally, this is only possible with parties of the same year. It is a matter of choosing for the cadets to challenge a senior, but there will be no change in Ranking despite whatever the outcome may be. That is only possible amongs classmates of the same year." The President went on to explain in detail.

The dueling system was a rather common and popular aspect of the academy. A system that provides a small but significant chance for the cadets to display their worth and drastically rise or fall in the ranking.

It was as simple and straightforward as it sounded. A lowly ranked cadet may challenge one of a higher rank for their position. The outcome may determine wether if the lower ranking challenger rises to his opponent's rank, or ultimately remain in their initial position.

But just as how one may achieve a higher rank from taking on higher Ranked individuals, one may also drastically plummet and fall to a rank much lower.

The interesting part was, this was all determined by the ultimate outcome of the duel.

It's implying that a higher ranked cadet that is obviously far more skilled and talented than their challenger might end up losing their initial rank for something lower. In the end, a fight isn't only determined by skill and power, but also luck, wit and other factors... I mused silently to myself.

So while a skilled and talented student drops in the ranking, a weaker and less skilled cadet may rise, due to some of this factors.

That was why to many, the dueling system and the chance to challenge the higher ranked cadets was a massive opportunity to easily and quickly rise above.

While I was half-heartedly paying attention, a sudden thought struck my mind and I pricked my brows

"Ah."

Wait. Couldn't i just challenge someone of a sufficiently higher rank than me to rid myself of the lowest ranked cadet stigma?

When I had that thought, I began seriously pondering it, but ultimately disregarded it.

Well, at least for now.

The bottom rank was definitely a pain, but it was my talent assessment that was the most burdensome for me. I couldn't easily change that with a duel either.

The orientation gradually drew towards its ending with the last congratulatory speech and final words given by the council president and their representatives.

From here, we were 'briefed' about the system of the academy, and even lightly touched on the topic of the incoming social event, the First Year banquet, that was scheduled for Saturday this weekend.

The final speeches and thanks we're made, and soon all of the students were flooding the exit on our way out.

"Ahh, finally! I thought I my bones were going to rust if I stayed any longer."

Murmurs of relief filled the massive large crowd, most of them I could honestly sympathise with.

"Hehe, I hear you. But at least now it's over. Phew. I've got nothing on my class schedule after this, what do you think we should do next?"

'Good question,' I thought as I inevitably found myself unintentionally eavesdropping on a casual conversation nearby.

The exit to the large auditorium was long and packed full with students who were leaving. Because of that, it made it a bit of a pain to squeeze through, and took some time before I could finally see the sun again.

I stood just outside of the massive building and stared at the clear sky.

All of a sudden, I was free and now my head was blank.

The first introductory week of the semester was gradually reaching it's end. And as from next Monday, the first year classes will begin in earnest.

'Something tells me it'll be harder for me to be as leisure as I am right now.' I grimly thought.

I had a few reasons for thinking so.

I stared at the sky a little longer before withdrawing my gaze with a sigh. The students continued to walk past me and expand as they gradually dissolved into the surroundings doing whatever they wanted.

"It's still a little early. There's plenty of time, so I think I'll finally do that."

The most famed and renowned 'training facilities ' of the academy.

And the main reason why I was here.

Since I had nothing else to do, I finally decided to check out one of the prestigious training facilities the academy boasted about.

I had other opportunities to do so before during the week, but I've subconsciously pushed back on it for a while and instead focused on adapting to my new life in the institution.

I probably wasn't the only one who felt like that. The first week was like a calm before the storm, so I was certain there definitely would be those who decided to maximise the leisure the week gives them before drowning and wallowing by next Monday.

'Not like I'm any different.'

I pried my gaze off and shuffled on my feet. With that, I decided on my next course of action.

...