Start of the Semester

Jien watched Julie walk out of the room with a stoic calmness in his eyes. He couldn't force her to see the value in his strategies if she didn't want to. To begin with he was sure that she realized their value, just didn't agree with their means. He was sure that this argument would continue long into the future and honestly didn't want to bother trying to smooth things over at the moment. The girl's heated outbursts seemed to burn more of his energy than the multiple back-to-back fights combined. He could only hope that she would either cool down with time or find other ways to vent her frustration than picking arguments with him every day.

As these thoughts were flickering about, he pulled out several copies of what appeared to be the same leather-bound book and set them on the table. "Andrew, Robyn, Alys, these are your copies. Read them during your spare time and ask if you have questions. I will do my best to supply you with the various items needed, though it may take a short while given that I will need to find out where to go to prepare some of the alchemical solutions." With those words spoken he turned his attention back to the book in his hands and ignored the rest of his unit members.

The other new members hesitated for a moment at hearing Jien's statement. He had spoken it in his usual volume, not calling out to them directly, leading them to understand that he knew they and the others had been watching. Eventually they mustered up the courage, exiting their rooms and acting somewhat apologetic as they quickly grabbed a copy of the book before retreating and shutting the doors behind them.

The only member who had not seen or heard the discussion between Jien and Julie was Rosalind, who merrily exited the shower in a clean uniform, humming a tune as she entered her room. She saw Jien reading, just as he had been when she entered so she thought that nothing had happened. The only thing that tipped her off was the fact that when she entered the room, she saw the others reading a book she knew to be full of the strategies Jien had worked long and hard with them to come up with and write down. She had a much more worn version of the same book, having survived several years' worth of reading and rereading, filled with countless scribbled notes of her own.

Like this the evening passed in relative silence, the members of the unit taking turns cleaning up before heading to the mess hall for dinner. This was followed by more silent studying and finally everyone turned in for the night. The next day would be as long and exhausting, if not longer now that they had identified several groups they could train with on a regular basis. If they continued to spar with these groups, they were all bound to improve and as they did the difficulty would increase, bringing them further.

When they all awoke to the toll of the bell their bodies creaked and groaned. This was especially true for Robyn, Andrew and a lesser extent Alys. Of all the members present it were these three that weren't known to have fought much in the past. Alys had but not in this same manner, and while Robyn had worked in the mines with her parents at times, she had used muscles she didn't know existed in the two sparring matches, mainly the second.

The whole unit of ten members met up in the communal area of their flat and Jien led them in some stretches after seeing the newer members struggling a bit. Out of all the members Julie seemed the most satisfied with the fact that he was leading them in this exercise. This was something she herself did on a daily basis because each fight she participated in was meant to end her life. If her limsb locked up on her for any reason she would die. This practice had kept her breathing for as long as she could remember.

Soon they had finished their group stretches, choosing to make it a routine that they would carry forward with. They made their way toward the Central Administration once again to obtain a place to practice again. Along the way they met with Carmichael, Bennet and Rebecca, followed each by their own unit members. The three members had gotten together after Jien and his unit had left, deciding to stick together and try and get Jien's advice during this short period before classes would start. Even Bennet begrudgingly accepted that this would be a good thing in the long term. On top of it all, he was now supposed to act as an errand boy for Julie and the other members of her unit. He regretted ever placing such a bet now that it had been turned against him but with the others having witnessed his defeat he would have to swallow his pride and follow through.

Jien was slightly surprised to see the group of thirty waiting for them but in the end accepted that this would likely become the new norm. He wasn't opposed to this since it would in the end help him build the contacts he would need to succeed in the academy and going forward. After the initial meet up of the four units they entered the Central Administration, and the four leaders worked with the staff members to once again acquire a joint training area.

The morning started just as the last, with individual training, though Jien found it interesting that the other three units seemed to be copying his own training methods. This was followed by a joint trip to the mess hall for lunch, where Julie flexed her right to order Bennet about, forcing him to bring her food and drink in the first of what was bound to be a number of possibly humiliating errands. The tall boy could only grimace and do as he was asked.

Following the meal they all returned to the training field and began a round robin of sparring matches. Rather than focusing on full face offs against each other they worked with Jien and his members to better understand how to improve their own battle methods. At times Jien would stop a sparring session and provide input where he felt it could help, while they did the same for him. This continued until dinner, where they once again ate together before breaking off and heading to their different residences.

This pattern continued for the next several days, until finally it was time for the semester to begin. The new students felt anxious, but also felt a vast amount of anticipation. It was time for them to experience and learn what their parents had and their parents before them.