“Is this an ingrained issue with authority, or a new thing?” Morgana asked cautiously, concerned that Karl’s anger might be the start of a bestial rage.
“It’s not really an issue with authority. I mean, Overlord Drake, and every one of the Princes that I’ve met so far have all been solid and intelligent leaders. Some of the others, not so much. I’ve always had issues with stupid people and the ‘give head to get ahead’ crowd.” Karl replied with a shrug.
Morgana choked on her coffee. “The what now?”
“Oh, sorry. I guess that bit of slang isn’t universal. It means the ones who suck up to the leadership to get better positions, raises and perks. The sort of pencil pushers who always know better than you, even if they’ve never done your job, and are happy to go whine to their superiors if they don’t think that they’re getting the respect they demand.” Karl explained.
Morgana smiled as she tapped a rhythm on the table and thought about what she had read in his file.
“I get it now. That’s why you get along with the church so well. They actually do the things that they ask others to do. For example, if they want monsters cleared, they send a cleric with the group who knows what they’re doing. There’s a front layer of competence, which the politicians and most of the luxury Elites lack.” She guessed.
Karl nodded and his posture began to relax. “I mean, every Elite who got the injection has the blessing of the World Dragon, right? Shouldn’t that be used for something more important than forensic accounting in a government office?”
Morgana laughed as the anger faded from Karl and the sense of danger vanished as if it had never been there. “I get your point. I am also not an office person. I prefer to be left alone with my potions. I used to sit in the gazebo for days at a time working on them.
Alchemy is my trade skill, you see. It goes well with my class skills, and fills in the gaps in the abilities that I have. I think that learning to explore might fill your need to be away from bureaucracy, but I’m not certain that it will fill the gaps in the abilities that you have.
Of course, you are one of the most versatile Elites that I have ever met, so I am not certain where the blind spots in your abilities are yet. But when we find them, we can consider adding a trade skill to your courses.”
Karl smiled at the dutiful teacher. “You make it sound like they’re really planning to keep me in the Academy for all four years. I am already a Commander, and by this time next year, I will be at the bottleneck and looking for a way into the Royal Rank, or possibly past that bottleneck already. By the time that I graduate, where will we be?
The estimates I have heard are two years as a Royal, so with a bit of effort I should be pushing for Monarch Rank as I start senior year, and then what? At that point, I might as well be here in the university because there won’t be much for me to learn other than some new combat skills at the Academy.
The Academy not really a place of higher education, more of a survival training camp for those with magical powers. I don’t need that much survival training, and the ultimate goal here is to have fun while I push my beasts to the peak of Overlord Rank, where nothing is a real threat anymore. Where I can make the rules, simply because I’m the one with the power.”
Morgana looked shocked for a moment. “A survival training camp? I suppose that would be how you see it, as you never followed a life plan or career path at the Academy. But there is much more to it than just building power. Networking, building connections, a reliable social circle that can help you through the rest of your life. That’s what the Academy is good for.”
Karl considered that for a few minutes as he thought about all the people that he had met since he left the Academy and started hunting outside.
“I think that is more true for those who are still Awakened and Ascended. When you’re a Commander, the others treat you more as an oddity or a teacher. We’re not really one of them anymore, no matter how much we want to be.
You graduated right before I started, right? So, less than half a year ago? When did you make Commander?” Karl asked.
“The week of the graduation ceremony.” Morgana replied.
Karl sighed as he gestured in her direction. “And now here you are, as a teacher, assigned by the Bureau of Elite Development, no longer a student of the Academy. You’re not on their level anymore. I made Commander before the end of the first term of the first year.
Out here, I’m leading Elite teams into combat, standing on par with the combat power of Generals and Regimental Commanders twice my age, sent as the rescue force when Awakened and Ascended teams can’t deal with the threats that they have found.
I remember that Sergeant Rita said there are about six Commanders per year in the graduating class out of hundreds of Elites. It’s like I’ve skipped the entire progression part of the Academy’s team building exercise, and I don’t really have a place there anymore.
No matter how nice the balcony that you left for me is.”
Morgana smiled softly as Karl explained his point of view. “You know, I wonder if this is also related to your class? Beasts grow up fast, ready to take their place in the world. Normally, freshman students keep that cute and naive nature for most of the first year, then they start to form cliques and factions during the second year.
You went from that cute naive kid during the first weeks to the jaded child soldier much too fast, and you’ve already formed your clique. Or should I call it a pack?”
Thor nodded enthusiastically in Karl’s mind. Their herd was a good one.
Karl chuckled. “Thor prefers herd. A Lightning Cerro operates as part of the herd.”
From behind Karl, Doug’s amused voice interrupted their talk. Karl hadn’t heard him open the door, so the Nature Priest was being extra sneaky today.
“Not all hope is lost, there is still some of that hopeless new student left. You should see him with Dana, it’s adorable. They’re clearly crushing on each other, but too shy to say it outright.” The Nature Priest joked.
Morgana smiled as Karl blushed before turning to face the intruder.
“Brother Doug, have you finished your meetings for the day?” He asked.
Doug shrugged. “Skittles was mad at me for shirking on my paperwork. He says you have to balance work with fun, so I spent the day catching up on reports. But I came to see if you two were coming to dinner. It’s about that time already.”
Morgana checked her watch and frowned. “It’s not dinner for like two hours yet.”
Doug shrugged. “Overlord Drake and Prince Axel wanted to have dinner now, so I’ve been sent to fetch everyone before they have to go. I think that they have enough information now to give a proper update to whoever they’re reporting to.
I know you and Jill are reporting back to the Colonel, so someone else wanted them to stay and keep an eye on us until everything was decided.”
The High Priest had a point. The Bureau already had their agents standing right beside the students they were most worried about, and Ophelia likely had Anise with her, or someone else from the Bureau, since she was with Karl’s team, and they were all away from the Academy and showing promise.
Sure enough, when they followed Doug to the cafeteria, Ophelia had Dave, Jill’s partner at the Bureau, sitting next to her, working on a lesson plan, while Dana and Jill were engrossed in a conversation about something magical theory.
Drake and Axel were sitting at opposite ends of the long table, so everyone was spread between them, while a number of doctors came in and out, adding reports to the files that the pair had assembled.
It couldn’t all be for Karl’s group. There were only nine of them here, but at least forty folders between the two Elites, and the doctors were bringing more of them every minute. That meant it had to be a general update on the state of the patients who were likely to be able to return to combat in the near future.
That notion seemed to be supported by the cautiously optimistic look that many of the doctors had as they turned in the files. If they were bringing reports of those who would be confined to the hospital for the foreseeable future, they wouldn’t look as optimistic.
