Classes

Aura found the desk closest to him and sat down. There weren't many people inside yet, so he took his device and looked through the internet. He turned his head when he heard the loud sound of the door slamming open.

"Aura! I haven't seen you all summer, how have you been?" A teenager the same age as Aura rushed into the room and sat next to him.

"Alex! I'm doing well, just been training my monster."

"Me too, what type did you get?" asked Alex.

"A Leafy Marionette, I found it in the Whitewood Forest, not far from here."

"Aren't those quite rare? They look quite silly to me," Alex said while laughing. "I had my dad buy me an Iron Fisted Monkey. Now that is a monster for a man!"

Aura rolled his eyes. Alex had always been like this. In his previous life, his first contracted monster had also been an Iron Fisted Monkey. A monster that was good at punching and had well defined muscles, Alex had been attracted to its image at first sight.

Some more students entered the room, and Aura saw another familiar face.

"Ryan, over here!" called out Aura and Alex. The newcomer walked in and greeted them in turn. The three of them had gone to school together since they were young and were good friends. They began to discuss what they had done over the summer and monster training. As expected, Ryan's contracted monster was a Stormcloud Cat. The idea of shooting lightning was appealing to him, so he contracted a monster that could do that.

"What do you think we will learn in the new class?" asked Alex.

"Probably nothing much. Monster training is relatively new, and most of the information people have found out is relatively basic that most people can figure out."

Aura nodded. "Even if some people know some secrets, they likely won't share them. This class should be a good opportunity to improve our monsters strength and spar with other students though."

Alex and Ryan's monsters weren't that high level, like many students, they couldn't just spend all their money on spirit jade and other resources. Even so, they anticipated the idea of competition with other students. They continued to discuss the results of their monster training, and Aura threw out some suggestions that could be helpful to them.

Soon, some of people walked by and Aura's group overheard their conversation.

"Have you heard? Ivan, that rich kid, he has a monster that just reached level 10 yesterday!"

Alex and Ryan were shocked by that news.

"Level 10? Isn't that when monsters become super powerful?" asked Ryan.

"Yes, I read that they learn new skills at level 10. There's only a handful of them in the country," said Aura.

"It's those experience booster potions. No one knows how to make them but Starlight Pharmaceuticals, and they're expensive," complained Alex.

"I can give a few to you guys." Both Ryan and Alex shook their heads and declined, but Aura silently determined to give them a supply to them later. Before they could continue with their conversation, a middle aged female teacher walked in.

She introduced herself as Ms. Robinson, then called roll. After making sure everyone was present, she introduced the content of the new curriculum to the curious students.

"I know many of you are interested in the new mandated monster training class. This is a relatively last minute change, but the government has published some basic information that has been verified for us to teach. The main focus will be on basic exercises and practicing combat between students."

A student raised their hand and asked, "What if we haven't contracted a monster yet?"

"Good question. If a student doesn't have the financial ability to obtain a monster, the school will provide a basic monster to them. It will likely be one commonly found in local areas. A small allowance of spirit jade will also be provided to students in need."

After seeing no more questions, she continued. "There will also be a competitions. Those ranked highly will receive rewards of spirit jade from the government, so if you perform well you won't fall behind those with more resources. At the end of the year, the top ranked students will be able to go to the newly established national tournament."

Many students looked on with shining eyes. Get a high rank! Generous rewards and good opportunities!

"I'll remind you not to neglect your other studies. While there is less focus put on them, they are still required classes for graduation. Universities won't like students who give up studying and only spend time training their monsters."

After the basic introductions for the changes to school, she handed out some textbooks and started to discuss them and what will be expected of her students.