Hunter's Academy (Veller) (28 page)

Master Voreing was instructing the cadets in the diversity of the different cultures, although it appeared that he didn’t have much patience for the different cultures and described most of them as heathen, primitive or uncivilized. Master Adams switched his lessons from literature to logistics and they began to study more
advanced mathematics under Master Rooqack.

The lessons that they were learning were becoming more and more practical, thing that they could actually use as Hunters, things like dealing with officials and superiors, their position on the social ladder, the proper way to apprehend a fugitive and the paper work that followed. Every day they were being brought deeper and deeper into the inner workings of the Guild, which appeared to exist for the same reason as any business existed, to make a profit. Sure, the guild provided services such as the delivery of packages, the protection of caravans, the apprehension of fugitives, and the procurement of information, but it was all done for the sake of profit.

At first it was a disheartening reality for Kile who viewed the Hunter as more of a noble profession, a savior if you will, rather than a businessman, but the more she learned the more she realized that no organization, no matter how much good it did for the society as a whole, could survive without funds. So they learned another valuable lesson, that not all assignments handed out by the guild were on the up and up, that they may be required to do things that might go against their moral character. They didn’t come out and say it and Kile was sure that if she asked, they would deny it, but the hunter’s were not above bending a few laws. This must have been too much for a few, since they lost another five cadets.

They had started out as one hundred and twenty, and in a matter of two years they were now down to only thirty five as they stood in the field, waiting on Master Boraro. Nobody knew what was going on, since none of the staff ever informed the cadets ahead of time when changes would be made, but after
the roll was called, and the breakfast was consumed, instead of reporting to class, they were to report back to the list.

Master Boraro stood, waiting, and the remaining thirty five cadets waited with him. Perhaps he thought some more were coming, or maybe he hoped some more were leaving, it was difficult to tell with Master Boraro as he stood with his hands clasped behind him, his shoulders back, his chest out and his eyes fixated on a few individuals who were
unfortunate enough to be standing in the front line.

Within a few minutes, Master Folkstaff arrived. He took one look at Master Boraro and just shook his head. The two hunters standing side by side were a direct contradiction to one another, and they both knew it.

“At ease.” Master Folkstaff said as he took his place before the cadets.

Boraro shot him a look that
clearly stated he thought Folkstaff had overstepped his authority, Folkstaff just shrugged him off.

“It would appear that we have a lot fewer cadets th
an we had before.” He said as he looked up and down the ranks, and unlike Master Boraro, he appeared to be generally disappointed.

“You’re probably wondering what this is all about. Well, this is
your second year evaluation survival exercise, one of the hardest examinations that you’re likely to face during your last year here. It will test everything that you have learned so far, although the test rules are simple, it will not be easy. There are three items out there, in the wild, you have five days to find them, and bring them back here. You will be broken up into groups of five, and you will be given what supplies you think you need for those five days, beyond that… pretty much anything goes.”

“Do you have anything to add?”
Folkstaff said turning to the weapon’s master.

Boraro looked at him, but said nothing, and he didn’t look very pleased about it either. Something had obviously changed for this exercise, something that the Weapons Master didn’t agree with, which meant it could only
work in the cadet’s favor.

“If there is nothing else, then you have three hours to form up a group of five cadets. If you can’t find a group, you will be assigned to one. Once you have your group, report to either Master Boraro or myself for group evaluation. If we feel your group is well balanced then we will sign off on it, if not, we may have to reassign members. You will also have to choose an instructor from the list on the board and report to him. He will go over the details of this exorcise
and provide you with the key items that you will require. If there are no further questions, please, form up your groups.”

None of the cadets moved, they just looked to the Weapon Master. Boraro grinned as he slowly turned his head toward Folkstaff. This was some kind of power struggle between the two of them and the cadets were caught in the middle.
Folkstaff didn’t seem to notice or didn’t really care as he walked back to the Office.

“Dismissed.” Boraro bellowed as he turned and followed the other Hunter.

The Cadets began to scatter, some already forming up in groups other wandering around aimlessly, Kile headed toward the notice board.

“I have a feeling this is going to be the easy part.” Daniel said as he came up alongside her.

“What, the test?” She asked him.

“No, forming up into groups.” He laughed.

She reached the notice board and looked down the list of instructors. Beside each name was a tag to be removed by the group, that way, no more than one group per instructor per instructions. She quickly grabbed the tag marked for Master Adams. If she was going to have to listen to the rules of this little game, she would rather have them explained to her by someone that didn’t want to see her fail.

“Don’t you think the group should pick together?” Daniel asked, not that he really cared one way or the other who was going to explain the test to them.

“Yeah.” She replied. “But I also know that there are a lot of instructors here that wouldn’t think twice about sacrificing four cadets for the opportunity to fail one.” She replied.

“Good point.”

“So, who is in this group… I am assuming that this is our group.”

“Of course.” Daniel replied, looking at her as if she had just uttered the strangest thing he had ever heard.

“Well, it's just that… I haven’t been around during practice too much and… well… the way Carter feels towards me. I thought you might not want me in your group.”

“Carter talks, quite a bit actually, but he doesn’t mean what he
says.”

“That must be very difficult for him.”

“I mean he was just blowing off steam that day, it’s nothing personal, it just… Carter.”

They found Alex sitting on the top rail of the fence waiting for them. They found Carter leaning against one of the post beside him.
He turned only when Alex tapped him on the shoulder.

“Now we are four.” Alex announced proudly as he jumped down from the fence. “Who’s going to be the fifth?” Carter asked as he looked over the group.

“Why not Murphy?” Alex replied.

The other three
exchanged looks. Murphy had been coming to their sparring group on and off for the last couple of months, and was there a lot more than Kile had been recently, but there was clearly some reservation in including him.

“It’s not like we have much of a choice.” Daniel replied as he gauged Carter’s reaction. “We can either ask Murphy to join us, or see who Master Boraro saddles us with.”

“Fine.” Carter replied and clearly he was not pleased with the idea. He never trusted Murphy and he wasn’t one to hide his feeling on the matter either, but he also wasn’t one to tempt fate. There were still a few cadets that they could be stuck with who were far worse than Murphy.

“I know where he is.” Alex said as he went running off.

It didn’t take them long to find the big man, who was sitting alone at one of the tables in the Dinning Hall. He looked up when they approached.

“What’s up?” He asked, looking from one to the other.

“We have to get our group sighed off on.” Alex said as he sat down at the table beside the larger cadet.

“Yeah
… so.”

“Well, come on, we don’t want to be late.” Kile replied. She knew that Carter wasn’t going to make him feel welcome and Daniel was indifferent to the situation, but she knew how it felt to be the last one picked.

“You want me… in your group?” Murphy asked, and there was a general note of surprise on the big man’s face.

“Of course we do, come on.” Alex said as he tried to pull Murphy to his feet.

“Unless you’ve already been chosen by another group.” Cater added, and he couldn’t hide the fact that he wanted that to be the case.

“No… no… I don’t have a group. I was just going to wait and be assigned to one.”

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous. Come on.” Alex said, and Murphy slowly got to his feet.

Kile watched as Murphy followed Carter and Alex out the door of the dinning hall. For someone who had resigned himself to be the odd man out and found that there was a group who actually wanted him to join, he didn’t appear to be very grateful, in fact, it was almost as if he had expected it, but not in a good way.

“What’s wrong?” Daniel asked.

She was about to tell him, but shook it off. What could she tell him? That he didn’t look like he wanted to join. That might make Carter happy, but Daniel had already warned her about making false accusations, and even though Murphy wasn’t the son of a lord, he would still point out that she had no proof.

“Nothing.” She said as she pushed him forward.

They caught up with Carter and the others just outside Oblum’s office.

In the main foyer were two tables, one where Master Folkstaff sat, and the other where Master Boraro sat. Carter didn’t hesitate as he approached Master Folkstaff, something that Kile was grateful for but thought rather odd since Carter seemed to relate more with the Weapons Master than the survival instructor.

“So, you’ve got your group already assembled I see.” The hunter said as he unrolled a piece of parchment and looked the five members of the group over.

“Yes sir.” Carter replied, taking it upon himself to be the spokesperson of the group.

“Let’s see now…” Master Folkstaff said stroking his beard as he made some kind of mental note on each cadet. There was some hesitation, as if he was trying to decide whether or not to accept this group as it stood. “Two of my best students in one group, hardly seems fair.”

Carter gave a sideways glance at Kile, clearly he still had his doubts, but then she knew things that he didn’t, and she only returned the hint of a smile.

“Oh, why not?” Master Folkstaff said as he started to write down the names of each cadet on the parchment. “Did you pick one of the staff members to give you your instruction and your kit?”

“Oh.” Carter responded nervously. As the self appointed leader of the group, he wasn’t off to a good start.

Not wanting to embarrass
him, Kile handed the tag to Daniel and motioned for him to hand it to Carter, who then handed it to Folkstaff.

“Master Adams.” The hunter said as he read off the tag and noted the name next to the list. “I can understand the selection. He should be in his
classroom. He’ll explain the test to you in more detail.”

“Thank you sir.” Carter replied, and Kile would have sworn he wanted to salute the man.

As Master Folkstaff said, they found Master Adams in his classroom, sorting through his books. He looked up and was generally surprised to see the group at his door.

“Oh… please… be seated.” He said as he cleared off his desk.
“Sorry, but I’m usually the last one to be selected. My tag remains on the board until the last group has been created and they have no one else to go to.”

He picked up a large sack from the corner of the room and dropped it on his desk, then proceeded to untie the top

“So, are you cadet’s ready for this?” He asked as he tugged at the knot.

“We’re not really sure what this is.” Daniel replied.

“Don’t worry, it’s not as difficult as they make it out to be. I remember when I took my second year evaluation survival exercise, it was actually quite a lot of fun, well… for most of us. There was that one group, but you really don’t want to know about that. The purpose of the exercise is to test you on everything you have learned so far. That includes your survival skills, you combat skills, and your edge, but mostly it’s about thinking outside the box. Kind of like the final part of the entry examination.”

Kile
sunk down in her seat.

“So we can use our edge?” Carter asked.

“Of course, it’s expected. This is the closest you’ll get in the academy to your very first mission, so once you’re out there, anything goes. The Idea is that we can evaluate you, find out where your weakness lie and try to improve upon your skills in your final year at the academy. As you know, in your third year, your lessons will be more personalized. Now, let me hand out your class kit first, and then I will explain what the exercise really is. As you know, each group must consist of five members, and each member is responsible for one item, or one job within the group. For instance…” He said as he picked up the first item. It was a short sword and scabbard, about two feet long with the mark of the hunter on the hilt.