Chapter 802 Excursion Protocols
'It's been a week since Lucielle and I started life at the Academy…'
As Rey sat in his seat, staring blankly in front of him as the Instructor entered the classroom, his thoughts began to slightly trail.
'So far, I can say we've adjusted to life here pretty well.' He glanced towards Lucielle's position, and their eyes met at that very moment.
'Ah, yikes!'
He quickly looked away, but not before catching her smiling at him.
'Lucielle and I spend hours communicating through [Link], so in a way… I can say we've grown closer. Still, memories of that kiss sometimes flash in my mind, and that makes things very awkward for me.'
At the very least, Rey was thankful that he was the only one who remembered it.
'In any case, a lot of buzz has been going on lately.' Rey looked around him and he could see the overt expressions of excitement on the faces of his classmates. He knew why they were all like this.
'We begin our Excursion to the South tomorrow, and pretty much every member of the class is excited for it.'
In a sense, Rey was also excited.
He hadn't been to the South before, so he was pretty curious about a lot of things there. Of course, he made sure to do his due research about the place during the week he spent in the Academy.
'Unlike with the United Human Alliance's Library… the Library here contains a lot more information about this world and its inhabitants.'
He was able to find out more about the Giants and Dwarves—even down to their anatomy.
Rey didn't want to think about how the Dragons were able to generate such detailed information regarding these races, but he already knew.
'Apparently, it's not much different from how humans feel when dissecting rats…' He nearly sighed, brushing the thought from his mind.
There were also tons of material regarding the Western Continent, particularly the humans of H'Trae.
Far more than the United Human Alliance had… and slightly different too.
'Adrien was right. Even though the war has only been for roughly eleven years according to the Alliance, it seems like the Dragons have been at war with the world for over a thousand years.'
He still wasn't sure about what caused the discrepancy, and he hadn't gotten around to finding out all of that in great detail—not with his academic studies and research about South that currently occupied his mind.
'Lucielle is too busy learning about their Mana Circles and unique Spell Applications… stuff that humans in H'Trae are behind in.'
Everyone had their priorities, but that didn't distract him from the main task that he was in the Dragon Empire for.
'For now, though… let's go along with this.' Ceasing his elaborate thoughts on various tangents, Rey decided to focus on the words of Instructor Isra'il.
"It's important for me to remind you about the relevance of the Excursion that you'll all be participating in tomorrow, as well as the protocols involved."
The first thing Isra'il drilled into the minds of every student in the classroom was that this wasn't meant to be just a fun field trip. It was an academic journey, meant to expose the young Dragons to the other Continents that the Empire was conquering, and the way the Military operated.
This was meant to instill practical experiences into the budding minds of students, and also make them see the importance of the Military to the Empire.
Statistical research showed that students were more willing to work hard academically, all in order to be qualified enough to be dispatched into the Military, after being exposed to the battlefield at an early age.
The more often they were exposed to this, the better.
As absurd as all of this information felt to Rey, it reminded him a lot of his school back on Earth, and after spending a week here… the atmosphere was growing on him.
"So remember to learn as much as you can from this Excursion. Yes, you're going to have tons of fun—including actually killing a few enemies yourself, as well as being involved in their dissection and torture—but remember that it's more than just the fun. It's the learning experience… okay?"
"Yes sir!"
Rey was among the students that emphatically responded with excitement, but he was unsurprisingly disgusted by what Dragons considered "fun".
'It's a biological thing, apparently. All Dragons are born with predatory instincts that cause pleasure to be released to their body anytime they inflict harm on humans or sentient creatures that are deemed inferior to them.'
Even the mere thought of the act could cause many to experience arousal and positive sensations.
It was why even the innocent and young students were eager to get involved in warfare and slaughter their fair share of enemies.
They just couldn't help it.
"As for the protocol, there have been a slight change to the natural order of things, so listen attentively as I explain." Instructor Isra'il interrupted Rey's thoughts, so he decided to pay strict attention once again.
"All the students will be divided into two main groups. One group will first be taken to the Giant War Base and the second group will be taken first to the Dwarven War Base. I'll be dividing this class into two groups, and other Class Instructors are going to do the same for their respective Classes."
Shocked gasps escaped the lips of the students, but once Isra'il raised his hands to demand silence… everyone fell into a hush.
"The groups will be rotated after the first five days. So, after five days, the first group will go to the Dwarven War Base, and the second group will be taken to the Giant War Base. The rationale behind this is to prevent overcrowding in the camps we'll be occupying, since they aren't built to handle students from all three Stages at once." Once he was done explaining, the students all leaked a sigh of relief and smiled.
The arrangement was fair.
"At least, with this, you'll make good use of your 10-day Excursion." As he said this, the students nodded in agreement.
With the explanation of the rest of the protocols out of the way, Isra'il proceeded to announce the groupings of the class.
'As I feared…' Rey thought with a stifled sigh.
'... Lucielle and I are in different groups.'
The Class Representative, Mi'ja, as well as Adonis were also in the same group as Lucielle's—that is, Group 2.
A few other friends that Rey had made—like Chi'go—were also in her group.
As for his group, he had Mor'ucho, Lu'ffa, Geo'rge, Cyn'dy—the female twin—and a couple other oddballs with him.
For some reason, Rey felt the pairing was a little uneven—and not just with the number of students allocated to each group, which was bound to be unequal, given their total number.
'Most of the competent ones are in Lucielle's group. But, oh well… this is just an Excursion anyway.'
The twin siblings made a racket to be together, but Isra'il shut them down and told them that they would have to bear with it for ten days.
For some reason, that brought Rey all the satisfaction he needed.