The next class is supposed to be Combat Primacy. Then I should be done for the day.
A laugh almost choked me. Done. What a stupid, civilian word.
Professor Medley's first lecture had just ended. Six hours of real time. It hadn't felt like six hours. It had felt like… a long, slow week adrift in a sea.
But hey… at least the professor gave us 20 minutes of free time, right?
Honestly, quite a lot, compared to Troy's strict standards. Plus the professor was cool as fuck too.
My brain was stuffed with timelines and the acidic aftertaste of truths that didn't match my memories much.
Very cool right?
Hell no… but seeing the professor blow out violet smoke after each sentence he spoke.
Hell yeah.
The official history of the 2093 Revolution seemed to be a bland, bureaucratic footnote. My bloody encore had been sanitized into a systemic data-corruption event.
They'd erased the music. What the fuck.
Now, I had the 'rest of the day' before Combat Primacy. The schedule said that. One lecture in the morning. The rest of the day. Then, the second lecture.
I checked the chrono on my ring. The 'rest of the day' was another twenty minutes.
Right. Troy didn't waste real time. The 'rest' was for a piss, maybe choking down a nutrient paste, and walking to the next hell.
Thankfully I don't need to piss. Though I really wish I could. What's weird is that I haven't felt the urge to drink blood yet.
It should probably begin soon. Other than that… Combat Primacy. Yes… Combat Primacy. The last class is scheduled for every single day.
The hammer blow.
It isn't even a lecture from whatever information I have managed to find out.
It's conducted in a time-chamber training facility. For six days straight.
Set to a ratio of 24:1.
So, one day in the facility is an hour outside. Six days of non-stop combat drills, simulations, and whatever fresh nightmares they'd cook up… would take six real hours.
I'd walk in after lunch and walk out before dinner, having lived through one hundred and forty-four hours of violence.
My first thought. Literally is that this is where they will find me out. Second thought… maybe it won't be boring.
Third thought… I don't quite eat lunch or dinner since I am a vampyre… but what if I finally feel hungry in the time chamber?
Well, let's see. I'll work something out.
"Aren't you the scum that violated the princess?"
The sudden accusation broke me out of my daze. I glanced up and took a breath.
Of course. The overenthusiastic vampyre hater blondie. Probably has a stick in his ass and a great sense of justice.
"Uhhh no? I think it was someone else. People tell me that but really we just resemble each other haha."
"….."
"Why are you even talking to this rapist bastard? Eww… looking at him makes me want to throw up.
The brown haired girl with the glasses and amber eyes spoke from behind him.
I touched my face a little. Am I that ugly? Boohoo. Makes me wanna cry.
I released a sigh.
I really don't want to attract attention. Meanwhile, the blondie stared at me with a look of disgust and slight bloodlust.
"You better watch out. Vesper. In Combat Primacy… anything could happen. Nobody in this classroom likes you…"
The blondie tilted his head to glance at the masses of students in the lecture hall.
…and almost all of them were looking at me.
Usually, I would smile and wave but I think that may upset them more in this scenario… making them truly ambush me.
"….."
"Really, I hate your guts bastard." Blondie spat saliva on the floor while almost all of them stared at me in disgust.
WHAT THE HELLY. I DIDN'T MEAN TO SMILE AND WAVE!
"I'm… uh.. sorry dude?"
I couldn't help but blurt out. It didn't seem like Blondie liked my apology. He glared at me again and walked away with a 'hmph'… his uniform billowing in the air.
Damn, that's a lot like Snape from those old Harry Potter movies.
More than that.
I'm royally fucked.
A sigh couldn't help but escape my mouth. Why do I always find myself in such situations?
Deep breath. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Keep it in for two seconds. Exhale for eight. Repeat it.
Alright, I think I feel better now. I tilted my head and instantly a thousand gazes looked back.
Nevermind.
I don't think I feel better.
Whatever… hmph fuck these assholes. I'm a vamp now. If they mess with me, I'll suck all of the blood in their veins.
Damn, that sounds gay.
Alright, I won't suck. I'll just elegantly hypnotise them to cut their own veins and pour it into a glass for me to drink from.
Yup. Yes. Si. Tu casa mi casa.
That est le best.
Aight. Time to head for the next lecture.
I left the classroom only when it was completely empty. Everyone was mostly heading toward the nutrient paste stalls to get some of them nutrients in.
Whilst I… the great… was heading toward the assigned atrium.
When I finally did reach which by the way took me fifteen goddamn minutes and that's just walking at a normal human pace… WHATS THE POINT OF THE BREAK! WHAT THE FUCK!
Soon all the cadets filled up the atrium. All of the first-year students were present.
It was a majestic sight. Thousands of first-year students… all scions of humanity. Heirs of great houses, children of nobility, peasants with great talent and potential, smart dudes… blah blah.
Though everyone was present, technology was so that from this single atrium… everybody would be transported to different training facilities at random… at least to begin with.
A low, sub-auditory hum began to thrum through the polished floor of the prep atrium.
It wasn't a sound you heard with your ears. It was a pressure you felt in your teeth.
The time-dilation field was powering up as the chamber complexes began opening ahead.
The doors were etched from the ground but they weren't much like doors.
They were massive, rune-etched slabs of dark alloy, shimmering with a heat-haze distortion. The air around it tasted like petrol and a little bit like coffee honestly.
The first-years shuffled in the atrium, their faces pale masks of controlled terror.
No one spoke.
The heartbeats were like rapid-fire drum solos against my senses. One girl was muttering what sounded like a prayer.
Why are they so dramatic? Is it really that bad?
I adjusted the stupid training simulator suit they'd issued us. It clung like a second skin, loaded with biometric monitors.
They'd track everything… vitals, stress response, neural load.
Let's see them track the undead and fucked in the head. Aka ME.
Though I instantly wished I hadn't said that… because if Lysbelle could hear my thoughts, what if this suit could, too?
…but nah that's just me being paranoid. Lysbelle is my sire and the monarch for fuck's sake.
Anyways…
A holographic manifest flickered to life above the doors that looked like portals.
Unilaterally the students began forming lines and one by one they walked through the lined-up portals.
When my chance came… instantly the same female robotic voice as the one that welcomes me when I enter my dorm… spoke into my suit.
[BLOODVAINE, VESPER]
[SIMULATION PROFILE: RUINED DOMAIN OF MOON VIABLENTIS]
[GROUP 67]
[PROFESSOR OLEUFA BELLENOIA]
The runes on the door flared white. The thrumming peaked like a silent scream turning into an explosion.
The massive slabs began to slide apart, not revealing a room, but a tear. A tunnel of warped, rushing light and distorted shadows.
This was it. My first lecture on Combat Primacy.
Six hours. Six days.
I took a step forward, into the dilated time, and felt the scarlet egg in my pocket give a single, eager, molten pulse.
Great. The abominations's excited.
[WELCOME TO THE CURSED BATTLEFIELD CADET!]
A shiver went down my spine.
Great even the voice sounds excited.