The party was in full swing by the time that the shift change started, and the roast pig had been sliced, pulled, and prepared a half dozen different ways for the Academy students. The ones going to the line had eaten early, and that was the smell that had tortured the students who were coming off the defence shifts.
The Culinary Arts Professor waved at Karl as she saw him coming off the line and waved him over.
“This is considered a tradition in my home village. Take a bite of the beast’s heart for good luck, and to gain some of its power.” She explained as she handed him a small square of raw meat.
Karl smiled. He had a sword that granted him the beast’s life force, and a Holy Stone for luck, but a little more never hurt anyone.
Plus, both Hawk and Rae agreed with the practice, while Remi wondered what the attraction was with only eating parts of things. But Remi didn’t have taste buds the same way that the others did, so the taste of things was much less important to her than the texture.
Karl’s team grabbed plates and found a seat with their lunch, while they watched the older students trying to distract the kitchen staff so they could spike the party punch.
Unfortunately for them, the Academy already knew all the tricks, and they weren’t having any luck in their endeavour.
“Happy Birthday, Commander. Good work on the line this morning. I don’t think that I’ve seen an above rank kill go that smoothly in a long time.” One of the clerics congratulated Karl as he walked by to maintain order.
“Thank you, Brother. We’ve got some very talented warriors here, and the more we work together, the better we can predict each other’s actions.” Karl agreed.
Not that he had worked with that group before, but their actions were fairly predictable because the warrior with him didn’t use any skills that Karl hadn’t seen before, either from other Warriors or the Spellblades.
He walked off, and one of the Berserker Class students came over to say hello. Karl didn’t recall his name, but he recognized him from the group training Earthquake with Thor.
“Commander Karl. Good to see you again, and Happy Birthday. I hear that you’ve got the Inscription Class going insane copying books again.”
Karl chuckled. “Have they started trying to teach them to others yet? They will likely only work when you’re raging, and partially animal transformed.”
The Berserker sighed. “I thought it might be something like that. Professor Tank tried to explain, but you know how he is. Not big on words.”
That was not Karl’s experience with the big Berserker at all. Tank actually liked to talk out his ideas, from what Karl had seen.
While the party punch was being zealously defended by the kitchen staff, the off-duty teachers had found a loophole. Someone, most likely a nature priest, had been passing them flasks of liquor all morning.
The Principal stepped up onto a small podium near the outdoor dining area, where most of the off-duty students were gathered to eat and laugh, releasing some stress after the morning attacks.
“Good afternoon everyone. I already gave this speech to the morning crew, so I know this will be short. We realize that it is unconventional to have so many students out here on the main lines so early into their career, and we would like to thank you all for going above and beyond.
The right flank had a massive victory today, eliminating two Royal Rank Hill Giants, while the left and centre managed to hold against the main assault without a single permanent casualty.
That is our goal here. Zero casualties.
So, I would like to remind you all, if you are injured, back away from the fight and let the healers get to you. I know you’re all eager to prove that you’re an asset to your team, but you will be a longer-term asset to them if you get prompt healing.
We’ve got quite a few clerics here, as the Church has recognized the vital significance of the next generation of Elites.
But to top off today’s celebration, I would like to add one more fact for you. Today, we celebrated the advancement of our ninth student on the lines to reach Commander Rank.
That is a new record for the Academy. Never before have we had nine current students at the Commander Rank.
It is my belief that this is a sign of the favour of the Dragon Gods, blessing our students with a more complete System after the serum administration.
There are a number of other students who are getting close to advancement as well, and it is the official position of the Academy that we should have over a dozen active students at the Commander Rank before the end of the year.”
He paused, and Karl smirked at Dana.
“Do you think he means you? Because I think that you can do it. Commander by the end of the year.”
Dana laughed. “Well, if everyone else is doing it, I might as well. But we should likely have Tessa tested first, because I’m reasonably certain that she advanced today when she received the Red Dragon’s blessing.”
“High Priestess Tessa has a nice ring to it. I think that we should let her decide when to tell people, though. When she does announce it, there will be a whole series of events, and they will want her to go back to the Capital Cathedral for a while to do the High Priestess orientation and paperwork.
We’ve still got lots of time in our contract, so it’s better that we just let her pick on her own.” Karl suggested.
Dana smirked and looked across the table at where the bemused War Cleric was sitting.
“Why don’t we let Lotus advance first? Then they will be in such a panic that they won’t even register the presence of a new High Priestess of the Red Dragon.
You all saw them when Doug advanced, and that was amusing enough. I can only imagine what happens when Lotus becomes a High Priestess. They might just change the rules to not automatically give the title to Commanders.” She joked.
Lotus sighed. “You know, I can see them doing that. Some big speech about how the world is progressing and the prevalence of powerful Elites is demeaning the title of High Priestess, so they’ll move it up to Royal Rank until I advance again.”
Tessa laughed. “I can see it now, half the High Priests would be considered no longer qualified under the new rules, and would have to be grandfathered in just to keep you from being considered a High Priestess.
Maybe we will have to tame you your own monster so you can just stay as a Feral Priestess forever.”
Karl laughed. “You know, at one point Rae tried to claim Dana by pulling her into her space to bond her. Tessa might be on to something. If we find just the right partner, we might be able to get Lotus a permanent companion beast.”
“Why did she try to claim Dana?” Lotus asked, pouting that it wasn’t her.
“Because Hawk had grabbed Remi’s egg, and she thought it wasn’t fair that she didn’t get to pick someone.” Karl replied, attempting to hide his laughter at the memory.
“I remember that day, she vanished like four times, trying to take me with her.” Dana laughed, while shaking her head in dismay.
Rae almost certainly wanted her more as a trophy or accessory than a partner.
“I wonder how long it will be before one of them makes it to Royal Rank?” Ophelia asked.
They already had skills that were advanced beyond that of a Commander, so it was just a matter of energy storage and body growth.
“It shouldn’t be long. I think by the end of the year, we should have at least two Royal Rank beasts. Then the burden on me will be to increase their living spaces enough to advance the others.” Karl sighed.
They had been ignoring the end of the Principal’s motivational speech, and hadn’t noticed when the teachers had stopped to listen to their conversation.
“So, you think that Commander Karl really can reach Royal Rank by the end of freshman year?” One of the combat instructors asked.
The ladies all nodded, while Karl shrugged.
“Honestly, it’s a bit of a toss up when they will advance. But now that Rae has found Royal Rank targets to optimize herself against, I think that it shouldn’t be long.”
