The meal between Simon and Sunless eventually became one of silence and peace, and as usual, rumors began to spread across the academy.
If the two of them had just eaten once, those who had crushes and had sexual desires for Sunless would have ignored such a thing.
However, this was the third time both of them were eating together and those around them could hear their conversation so they knew that this was not business.
It was more like a date.
A lot of male and even female initiates were not pleased with this.
To Simon’s disbelief, Sunless told him that he would pay for her third meal tomorrow morning and not this night.
He did not want this, but in this situation, his hands were tied.
What could he do if she had no desire to eat dinner?
He could only release a sigh of frustration mixed with a tinge of regret.
After eating their meal, they both rested and Simon decided to go through his Grave Mark to search for an instructor he felt could teach him effectively.
The information of the available instructors appeared in his mind, and he sent his request to some of the instructors.
He also saw that there were some third years who were available to teach, but he didn’t choose them because their listed achievements were not that impressive to him.
Now, he just had to wait for the response of the instructors and he would see their price, training schedule, and possibly, terms and conditions.
When he gets all these information, he would then choose the instructor he wanted... that is if they are willing to take him as their student.
Time went by, and it was now time for their last class of the day- Tactical Pattern Recognition and Cognitive Warfare.
Unlike many of their previous classes which took place in their classroom, this class was taking place in another building.
Simon, Sunless, and their remaining classmates had to go to the lower floors of the academy for this class, and when they entered the class, they were met with a massive space.
It was like a massive hall but with torches and a massive array on the ground.
Simon and the rest were baffled and surprised by the array.
Some were even wondering where they were going to sit.
Tik
Tak
Tik
Tak
The sound of heels hitting against the floor echoed in the classroom, and everybody looked in the direction of the sound.
They saw their instructor.
The first thing Simon noticed were the curved black horns on her, and his expression became slightly solemn.
’A two horned demon.’
He continued his observation of their instructor.
She had slim figure and she was wearing a baggy black top but tightly fitted black trousers and black heels.
She was also wearing a plain dark grey mask with eye holes, allowing everybody to see her eyes.
Simon was taken aback when he saw her eyes.
’She’s blind in her right eye.’
Her right eye was without any light but her left black eye was perfectly okay.
She stood at the center of the array, then she slowly looked at the first years.
Some seconds later, she nodded.
"Welcome to the Tactical Pattern Recognition and Cognitive Warfare class. My name is Amahi."
"You shall call me Instructor Amahi. Do you understand?"
Majority nodded, and Instructor Amahi saw that none spoke, she was pleased.
"Good."
She turned and gestured to the array.
"This course is basically about battles and warfare. I’m going to be molding you into warriors who would bring terror even on the battlefield and not only in hidden places."
"This an array called The Mind War Theatre Array. It’s a mental array."
"All of you would sit inside the circle according to how I tell you to sit, then you’ll be pulled into a shared mental world."
"Your bodies would remain here, but your consciousness would enter a battlefield."
At the mention of a battlefield, Simon and the rest of the class were very surprised.
They looked at one another and whispers flew.
"Battlefield?"
"What’s she talking about? Are we going to enter a battlefield with our mind?"
"How does that even work?"
Many of the first years were lost and baffled, and just as the whispers were getting loud, the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground echoed in the hall.
Bang
Bang
They all looked at Instructor Amahi, and the eyes of some first years widened when they saw her holding a bronze spear.
"No talking unless you want to be permanently kicked out of class and fail."
Everybody immediately went quiet, and one could hear a pin drop fall.
Instructor Amahi nodded, then she spoke.
"I’ll first tell you some things you should know before entering the Mind War Theatre Array."
"The first thing you should know is that you can feel pain in there. However, you only feel 50% of the pain you’re meant to normally feel in the real world."
"This is also a way for many of you to get used to pain. Unfortunately, we can’t make it higher than that since many of you would most likely have mental breakdowns once you experience the pain of having your head cut off or your arm cut off."
Instructor Amahi shook her head in disappointment, then she continued.
"Yes. You can die in the Mind War Theatre Array."
"Mental exhaustion carries over to the real world, so try not to overexert your mind in there thinking it won’t affect you. Your body might not be affected by what goes in the mind battlefield, but your mind can."
"Also, once you die, you’ll be ejected from the Mind War Theatre Array and you might experience severe headache or even bleeding."
"So be careful." She said with an indifferent tone and gaze.
Some of the first years gulped, and one raised her hand to ask a question.
"Speak." Instructor Amahi said.
"Are we fighting against ourselves?" The girl asked.
Instructor Amahi shook her head.
"No. You’ll be fighting in one of the battles the Shadowgrave Clan as a whole fought in."