Chapter 17：Cadet

The Sun, looking like a green ball of fire, condensed with power, seemed to gaze in her direction. Suddenly, Heima felt her head spin, her eyes losing their focus, and her legs turning numb. She plopped to the ground, heaving ragged breaths, her eyes turning normal.

"Heima!" Gita rushed to catch her, tumbling to the floor together with her. She hurriedly sprang to her knees, holding the wheezing Heima on her lap, shouting for help.

A hand rested on her shoulders, subconsciously making her screams come to a halt. "Child, let me take a look at her."

An old woman, white hair that reached her hips, grizzled skin reached out to touch Heima, silently observing her body, taking note of a couple of drops of blood that leaked out of her eyes. She then waved her hand over Heima's eyes, emitting a pale blue light that converged like water. Immediately, Heima opened her eyes, looking perfectly fine, her skin having gained a rosy complexion.

"Thank you," Heima inspected her eyes and found they were not hurting anymore. She then turned to the old lady that had healed her, thanking her. The old lady smiled, "You were not prepared to look at that, hence affecting you. I had warned that lad before, but that stubborn child didn't listen to me…if only…"

The old lady sighed, walking towards another student who screamed while clutching his eyes that bled profusely. She repeated the same process, healing him in an instant, making the surrounding children look at her with awe. She then performed a cursory glance at everyone, noting no more injured students before swiping her glance above the dais, at its centre.

She swiped her hand in the direction, creating a loud boom as something seemed to have smashed into the walls behind the dais, making a human-sized hole. Dusting her hands on her clothes as if she had just swatted a fly, the old lady walked towards the dais, her back hunched as she patiently climbed it.

Walking towards the podium, the old lady picked up the mike and tapped it twice, checking its sounds. "Good morning students!"

"Good morning Madam!" All the students stood up, greeting the old lady. Her previous actions had won their admiration. Heima too followed the lot, standing up with the greeting. She found her body healthier than before, her mind also regressing to her days before the Induction Ceremony, becoming filled with cheerful thoughts.

"My name's Mary Veera; you can call me Madam Mary. I am the Principal of this Academy, the one in charge of you for the next one year. On behalf of the academy, for inviting you here before schedule, I would like to apologise. Hence, to make up for it, let me give you all a small present."

The students turned excited at the prospect of getting a present, whatever it might be. After all, it was something handed to them for free, and, the allure of anything 'Free' was irresistible to them. The students witnessed Madam Mary raising her hands high, a pale blue colour converged towards her palm, increasing in size.

It looked like a ball of water, spinning mid-air, growing in size until it was as big as a watermelon. The ball of water then split into hundreds of tiny wisps, flowing towards all the students present, entering their bodies. Followed by surprised exclaims, the students felt their skinny bodies gaining some mass, and their tense nerves relaxed.

"How was that? Did you like my present?" Madam Mary chuckled when the auditorium was filled with deafening cheers, making her shut her ears. Seeing the lively atmosphere, Madam Mary pursed her lips, her gaze softening as if the ones before her were her own children. After some time when the crowd had calmed down, Madam Mary continued her speech.

"Starting from today, you will be spending the next one year in this academy, away from your family. Even though we have allowed your parents to accompany you, it will only be permitted until the end of this month. Starting from next month, you will be all on your own."

She then noted the gazes of students who were injured just now, "You would face many life-threatening situations here, so much so that you might want to quit. But, let me get this straight."

Madam Mary turned serious, making the students sit up straight, "The only way you can quit is through death. I repeat, once you have entered here, as long as you are alive, you will continue to fight for our city. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Ma'am!" The students echoed, their collective voices shooting through the roof.

Seeing their brisk response, Madam Mary felt happy, "Good, that's the spirit. As expected of the future pillars of our city. Now, the way you are taught here and in your previous Academy might be different. First of all, there will be no classrooms; you all will undergo a collective lecture in the auditoriums. For general knowledge lessons, you will assemble here. For others, the details have already been posted on your bulletin boards."

The students nodded to her words, showing that they had already gone through the details beforehand, "In this academy, you will no longer be addressed as students. You will be called Cadets. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes Ma'am!" The children echoed.

"Good; now, as Cadets, you get some perks. First, you will get access to a 'Portal', a place where you can watch videos and surf through documents detailing actual raids, battle tactics, martial arts, etc. It is situated inside White building, the one situated at the very end of the academy."

Madam Mary paused for a moment to catch her breathing, "Second, you will be provided with a set of uniforms that range from battle wear, training suit, meditation clothes, etc. Third, you can issue weapons, armours, and many more to train and familiarise yourself with them."

She waited for a couple of seconds for them to digest the information, "And, last but not the least, irrespective of the degree of injuries you sustain in your training, be it broken bones, injured organs, or even severed limbs, don't worry. You have me here; I can heal you back to full health in no time. So, train to your heart's content." Saying so, she lifted her arm, showcasing her biceps in an effort to assure them.

On seeing that the students hadn't understood her joke, she sighed and continued, "Actually, we have a merit system in place here. You can get merit points from passing various tests we would conduct in different fields. Using the merit points you have amassed, you can exchange it for a myriad of treasures; treasures that you could never imagine existed, all accessible to you."

She chuckled on seeing the eyes of the students glisten upon the mention of treasure, "A file will be sent to your dorms later, detailing all the treasures and the corresponding merit points needed to exchange for them. You can consult your parents about them later. I'm sure they would be able to set a goal for you."

After that, she continued to talk about the decorum they needed to maintain, the curfew, discipline, and other topics. She then introduced the faculty that would teach them and the availability of various courses. One of the faculties passed them fliers that detailed to all the courses and the faculty who are in charge of the respective courses.

After everything was done, they were dispersed. Heima held the hands of Gita, chuckling as they rushed out with excitement. Their prior gloominess had abated to a great extent, thanks to the spell of Madam Mary.

"Call me Cadet Heima, officer Gita." Heima stood erect, her chin facing up, an arrogant demeanour exuding from her body language.

"Aye aye, Captain…I mean, Cadet Heima." Gita was affected by her persona, imitating her body language. A couple of boys from their class saw them, finding novelty in their behaviour as they too adapted such a persona. Acting like military veterans, they made fun of each other, making the atmosphere filled with laughter.

…

"Ouch!" Jyorta winced in pain, rubbing his head where a small bump had formed. During the martial arts class, when they continued with the boring breathing exercise as instructed by the PT teacher, Jyorta unconsciously fell asleep. He then woke up with a start, clutching his head in pain as he gazed at the hulking PT teacher before him.

"This is the third time today, Jyorta. Slack off one more time, and I'm calling your parents. Do you understand?" The PT teacher growled, exposing his ripped arms that were as wide as his thighs.

"S-Sorry," Jyorta said, holding his tears. He silently rubbed his head, massaging atop the bump so as to lessen the pain.

'Haha, that's the spirit Jyorta boy. Get more beatings so that I can invade your soul faster.' The blue soul laughed, using two separate tendrils that grew out of its soul to send a slap at Jyorta's murky soul, dispersing some of the murky substance sideways. Small bits and pieces of the murky substance flew far away, going beyond the range of Jyorta's soul, evaporating in an instant.

Feeling tired after the attack, the blue soul absorbed some energy from Jyorta's soul, replenishing its reserves, preparing to launch another attack at an appropriate time. After losing some energy from his soul, something stirred up from his body, burning certain muscular substances and converting them into energy. The energy then slowly gushed into Jyorta's soul, nurturing it while at the same time, polluting it.

'Restrictions of the body, and pollution to the soul as a result of desires; emotions and ego that weigh down the soul, forming restrictions around it. Thank goodness the Creepy-Haired man cleaned my soul, also making some changes to prevent mine from getting corrupted. Though, I should take note to not be hasty with my invasion, lest I get mixed with Jyorta's soul, losing my ego.' The blue soul thought, patiently waiting for its chance whenever Jyorta's body experienced an external stimulus.