“Morning, boys.” Rena greeted Shiloh and Cree who were already in the classroom. They were seated at the back of the class. As Kyra and Rena walked towards them, she felt most eyes staring at them, sizing them up and getting a read.
“Well, you certainly took your time. Homeroom started like ten minutes ago. You know we waited for you girls? Only until we realized that we were dumbasses for waiting.” Weirdly enough, Shiloh did not seem to be annoyed. He was just teasing as far as Kyra could tell.
“It was fine. We didn’t really tell them that we were going to wait for them. Besides, our homeroom teacher is even later than both of you are,” Cree said.
Rena simply shrugged, “I wouldn’t have cared if I was late anyway.” The table conveniently had four seats for all of them and Rena sat down beside Shiloh.
“Huh. You’re not wearing your jacket today.” Cree directed at Kyra. Kyra looked at him funny and replied, “Well yeah, I like to change up my style every now and then.” It wasn’t much of a change but Kyra liked to switch it up every now and then. She decided to wear her jacket around her waist. She wanted to make her family emblem less obvious. Obviously, she could have just opted not to wear her jacket but Kyra loved her jacket too much to just leave it. Plus, her jacket hides various weapons and utility, although, her katana was more than enough. This, she was sure of.
“Aren’t you gonna sit down?” Rena asked. Kyra was scanning the class, observing if anyone was of interest. She did spot Aimi and Boomer at the front. “Yeah.” She placed her katana on the table and sat down.
Some time had passed. Everyone had gotten restless, waiting for their homeroom teacher, especially Rena. She had dismantled and reassembled her pistols more than once now. “Man, where is our homeroom teacher?” Shiloh had an irritated look across his face. He felt that the Academy having a school-like curriculum to be a waste of time. Like most, he came here mainly just for the power of Arts.
“Yeah. It’s been about thirty minutes since the bell rang.” Cree remarked. According to the school’s schedule, the day starts with an orientation with said homeroom teacher. The room got louder and louder as everyone in the class was talking over each other. Kyra and the crew were unbothered by all the noise. They were barely speaking with each other, only making occasional remarks. Except for Kyra who had been quiet.
Kyra had her head resting on her hand and was thinking about why her family wanted her to attend the Academy. She felt like there was a catch to it. This whole time she had been pretty much left to her own devices. Kyra didn’t think that her siblings being former students were the reason behind it. There were other reasons she could think of but she did not have any concrete evidence. Before she could think about it any further, a man burst into the classroom.
Her eyes widened upon realizing who it was. The man walked over to the teacher’s table and sat right on it. “Alright. Quieten down. I did not want to be here but yet here I am. Let’s get this orientation over and done with.” There was not any doubt. It was Monty Summers, one of the world’s top master swordsman, said to have even invented several sword styles. Maybe, she will at least act interested being here. She needed to find a way to establish a connection with him.
“So ummm…. What was it again? Why the hell did I have to take this job….” Monty mumbled to himself as he pinched his nasal bridge.
“Oi! If there’s nothing to do, can’t we leave now?” Boomer shouted.
“Ned…. You can’t just shout at a teacher,” Aimi was shocked that Boomer just lashed out.
Monty, on the other hand, didn’t seem to mind it and was actually considering what Boomer had to say. “You know what? Fuck it, class dismissed. All of you can leave.”
Boomer was the first to leave, along with Aimi and another two that Kyra did not recognize. Aimi apologized to Monty but he waved it aside. Soon, one by one, people started leaving.
“You guys go on ahead. I have business with him,” Kyra told the rest.
“What kind of business?” Cree asked.
“Nothing too special. I just need something from him,” Kyra smirked.
Kyra approached Monty and stood in front of him. “And what do you want?” Monty questioned. “I want you to teach me,” Kyra replied. Monty immediately chuckled out as soon as he heard.
“I don’t know if you got the hint but I am not even interested in teaching in this snobby academy,” Monty explained.
“Well, I don’t care about the school’s bullshit. What I want is what you have to offer. Your sword mastery skills and talents. I want to be your apprentice and learn everything.”
“Sorry. I don’t do apprenticeship.”
“Three hundred thousand credits every week,” Kyra rebutted. Now, she had his attention.
Monty was stunned and rightfully so, three hundred thousand credits was a lot of money and every week? She must have been some rich family’s brat to be able throw this much at him.
“Alright, I’ll bite. What’s your name, anyway?” Monty asked.
“Kyra. Kyra Fukagi,” she presented her name.
Monty’s expression changed slightly but he hid it well and returned to his poker face. Kyra, however, caught it. It might not mean much but people, in general, have different responses to her family name. For his case, it was not of shock but of realization.
Kyra and Monty moved to the cafeteria where they were each enjoying a waffle with a chocolate ice-cream scoop on it on the expense of Kyra’s wallet. She didn’t particularly mind paying for it. To her, all of this to get a living legend to train her was worth it. She could always take more jobs. Not to mention, the Academy’s in-built cafeteria had really classy desserts and drinks. How did Kyra know this? It was because Rena and her spent their morning here. It was open for all faculty and students at any time, be it before, after lessons or during lessons.
“Man, I haven’t eaten breakfast…. I will have you know that I’m not cut out for teaching,” Monty explained. “What do you even want me to teach you? How to hold a sword?”
“Why are you even here? In this Academy of all places. The legendary sword master has humbled down and decided to become a teacher against his better judgement. I believe that’s not the case?” Kyra asked mockingly.
“Ah…. Well…. I lost a bet and now I’m forced by Alkiel to be a slave in this school.” Monty scratched his head in frustration as if he just relived a really bad memory.
Monty was lying about the truth. Kyra could at least tell that much. But she was not too bothered by it. It was not much of a main concern for now. She determined that what he said was true to a certain extent. From first impressions, Alkiel seemed like a bitch from the get-go. Well to be fair, Kyra just didn’t like her. There could be more behind of what Monty said but it was not that important right now. Right now, she needed Monty to accept her being his apprentice. Whatever suspicions she had; she could deal with it in the future. She had a feeling that it might come into play.
Kyra moved in closer, almost like a whisper, said, “Other than teaching me everything you know, I need your help with something else. A new st-”
“Look, Kyra. You expect too much from me. You may think of me as some “legendary” swordsman. All I did was copy others and improve on it till it becomes something entirely new,” Monty interrupted, trying to get his point across.
Kyra stared at Monty silently. She wanted to make it clear that she was not letting him go. Monty let out a heavy sigh. “Fine. I do need any kind of loose change I can ahold of….” He mumbled.
“Okay then. I will wire you your money every Sunday, regardless if we have a training session or several or none. Think of it as a contract of sorts.”
“I admire you people being able to throw money all around the place.” Monty scoffed. “You ever had apprentices before?” Kyra asked.
Monty pondered about it before answering. “I used to have one which is why I can tell you now that I am not fit to have apprentices. But whatever. So, do you want to start now?”
Kyra thought about what he said. It can’t be that bad. Sure, one might call her behind selfish and a typical rich girl just flaunting her assets. But she needed this. For too long she had been narrow-minded. It was time to branch out. What better way than have Monty Summers be her master.
“Nah. Tomorrow is fine. I will contact you.” The two exchanged their personal contact information. Although, the school’s ID have their own contact information. Kyra much preferred to use their own lines. Who knows if the school had a record of every call made, message and email sent? Monty seemed to share the same consensus.
Monty left, not before finishing his waffle. “See you tomorrow, master.” Kyra decided to order another waffle. While waiting for it to arrive, Kyra sent a message to Asa to brag about her apprenticeship. She got an instant reply, saying that her sister didn’t give a fuck. Well, it was to be expected. But she had bragging rights this time. Kyra would like to add that Asa too was trained in swordplay in the past but slowly switched to firearms and eventually the sniper. ding Kyra looked up at her phone and saw a new message from her sister. Now, this was surprising.
Wait u said monty summers? That sword master guy?
Yea Im under his apprenticeship.
Huh interesting
Kyra closed her phone and finished the rest of her dessert. Maybe she should try out the other desserts since she was here.
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Rena wandered around the school for a while. Her friend, Kyra, was busy with something so she was alone. She could have hung out with the boys, but she barely knew them. She rather had Kyra with her. The two had explored the Academy for a bit in the morning but spent their time in the cafeteria before reluctantly heading to class. She took out her ID and looked up the school’s directory. Rena immediately put her ID down and continued wandering. Her mind could not comprehend the complexity of the school’s map, so she decided to let fate decide for her.
Somehow, she had wandered into a shooting range of sorts. She had caught a whiff of gunpowder and followed it. The students were all firing different types of weapons, from pistols to machine guns. Rena was impressed from the get-go.
“Whoa! Hey! Who are you? What do you think you are doing here, you goddamn exhibitionist?” Rena was stopped before she could take another step.
“Fuck do you mean? I’m just taking a look around. I’m new here,” Rena got visibly frustrated but calmed herself. It was her first official day in the Academy. She could not make a mockery of herself.
“Oh right. I completely forgot that there was new fresh meat today. Silly me!”
Now, she’s just asking for a bullet through her head. Rena reached for her pistol.
“Well, since you’re here, let’s see your shooting skills. I see that you carry a pair of pistols. Here’s a challenge. Beat the score and you get to be an exclusive member of the range and armory. Discount on bullets and guns and all that. What do you say?”
“Deal,” Rena accepted. This was a worthwhile investment. She may not like getting her ammunition from unknown sources. But in an environment, such as the academy, the more resources the better.
“Good. I’m Tracey, by the way, in charge of this here facility.” The woman finally introduced herself. Tracey beckoned Rena over to an empty lane. “The targets of this range are slightly different; they are made of five parts. A head, two torso parts and two limbs. You will know what I mean when you see it. Each section you take down, you earn a point. Total score is 100 points and to get premium membership, you must obtain 90 points,” explained Tracey.
Rena walked towards the stand and pulled out her pistols from her pants. Tracey signaled over to the control room to start up the lane. The first target came up and Rena immediately got a clean headshot. However, the counter still displayed zero. Rena shot again and the counter number did not go up. She smirked as she finally understood how the targets work. When Tracey meant “take down”, she really meant destroy and obliterate the targets. Now, this Rena understood very well. She aimed both pistols at the head and continuously pulled the trigger until the head was blown away from its centerpiece.
Ding The counter went up by one.
Rena unloaded her clips and went for fresh clips. As she was reloading, Rena observed the target closely. There had to be an efficient way to deal with the segmented pieces. She only had six clips left, strapped around her legs. One shot was not enough to blow through one piece. Rena could not tell what kind of material was used. It looked like it was ceramic but if that was the case, the head piece would have been broken by her shot. It was just the torso left.
She could feel Tracey ridiculing her from behind. The pressure was on her now. Rena was not going to let some wise ass make a fool out of her. She racked her brain as hard as she could. At this point, she was open to anything. Ah, screw it. What if she concentrated her shot at the center of the target? She had nothing to lose in this challenge. Rena lowered her left hand and aimed with her pistol. She took precise aim and squeezed the trigger. It was at this moment that Rena felt she released something powerful. There was more kickback than usual from her pistol. Her eyes started to burn, and time seemed to have slowed. Was it the adrenaline? she thought to herself.
Two targets were up. This time, she raised both pistols and fired simultaneously. The targets broke into pieces. Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang bang The counter displayed a hundred points. Rena had gotten all the targets. She holstered her pistols back between her legs and immediately twitched. Rena always did enjoy the burning sensation of her pistols between her thighs but she had to admit it was hotter than usual. Tracey gave her a puzzled look and went on to congratulate her for getting the highest score.
“Hahahaha! You did well. Once you figured the trick and tapped into your potential, the rest is easy. You are now a member of our exclusive club,” said Tracey. Rena proceeded to hand over her ID so that Tracey could register her as a member.
“Come back some other time if you are still breathing. There’s lots of fun shit that you haven’t seen yet in the Academy’s Armory,” Tracey smiled sinisterly.
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Monty was in the break room alone. He sighed when he thought back to his interaction with Kyra. He did not think that Kyra would approach directly. He had tried to play the role of an uninterested instructor and left the class. It did not work. Was all this planned? Did they know that Kyra would be interested in him because they were both sword artists? The thing is, he read through Kyra’s file, there was not much to go on. Kyra was active a few years back but had since then been a shut-in. The report did not go into detail as to why she fell off the map. It did not help that the Fukagi Manor was a fortress and isolated. For years, maybe even centuries, various people have been trying to breach the Manor but to no avail. The Fukagis were a lack of better words, monsters.
A message came through Monty’s phone. Monty shivered with dread as he looked up his phone. An unfavorable trait, for a sword master, that he had developed lately. Nothing good came from his messages as of late. He took a deep breath before pulling out his phone. Monty knew it. They were asking about his progress with Kyra.
It appeared that you have come into contact Kyra Fukagi. However, it seems that you have strayed away from your initial duties. Although, the end result is the full potential of Kyra Fukagi, be reminded that you are no in position to make changes or demands.
Monty’s grip around his ID tightened. He did not want to be ordered around but he had no choice in the matter. One misstep could end everything.
Everything is fine I just have misgivings about being an instructor but I will help to unlock kyra’s full potential
Monty decided to reply to reassure them. All Monty can do now is play ball.
Noted. Do know that you and Kyra Fukagi are always under surveillance. Do not disappoint, Monty Summers.
Monty threw his ID across the room in a fit of rage after reading that last message. He silently swore that he will get back at whoever these people are.
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