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Chapter 1 - The Incident

15th September, 3152 - Monday

Today is the worst day ever...

Everything was going well, where did I go wrong? I woke up, got dressed in a pair of jeans and a zip up hoodie, had breakfast and left the dorm rooms for school. Stopped by a pastry shop, bought a melon bread and continued on my way to the main building. Upon arriving at my locker, I scanned by ID card to open it and... everything went downhill.

People like to play pranks, you see, and I was a victim this time. The moment I opened the door, something from within sprung out. Luckily, I managed to dodge it with whatever it was barely grazing my nose. Unluckily, for the person standing behind me, it hit them right in the back of the head and caused them to fall forward into their locker. Subsequently, that little tumble caused an entire column of lockers to fall, due to how they were placed. If I had been in any other situation, I would have admired the domino effect. Well, at least there aren't many people here so I wouldn't be stared at.

Although, back to the situation at hand. I now have my back pressed against my locker with a hand around my neck, and a pair of beady, red eyes glaring murder at me. Now this is what I call a pinch.

Whilst pondering about how to proceed in the face of my imminent demise, someone else comes along and stands behind my executioner.

"Oi, piggy. If you have time to be picking on midgets, why don't you go lose some weight instead?" My ears twitched at the deep voice that sounded from behind the boar.

Did he just call me a midget? Like, I know I'm not exactly well built and muscular like tigers normally are, but I'm not a midget... The boar beast-man, who still has his hand around my throat mind you, flares his nostrils in anger and abruptly turns around.

"Who the-!" he begins, but stops himself.

Now that I'm free to move, I lean a bit to the left so I can see around the boar's body. And holy crap, I was not prepared for the sight that I saw. There, dressed in black trousers and a tight button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, was Aroga Wulf, a black wolf beast-man with a white underside. The top few buttons of his shirt were undone to reveal some of his chest and you can tell he knows how good he looks, if that smug face was anything to go by.

"A- M-Mr. Wulf!" The boar in front of me stammered. "I'll get out of your way, ahahaha..."

And with that, I was left to stare at my saviour? I'm not sure if I can call him that or not. You see, at this university, there's a hierarchy. There are the bottom feeders - those who do favours for the higher ups to get by, the normal folk - that's me, the popular kids - all the good looking girls and jocks, the teachers, the gangs - there are many different gangs and they go about doing their own dirty business, and lastly there are those at the top of the food chain: the elite - that's him, Aroga Wulf. Only the headmaster has authority over the elite.

I went in ascending order so, as you can see, gang members and the elite have more power than the teachers do. The elite are composed of different members who excel at certain subjects and are handpicked by the headmaster himself, with Aroga as their leader. Students also receive money based on their ranking, so the elite, being the top ranking students in the entire school, receive the highest amount and are the most prosperous. With the amount of wealth and control the elite have, they may as well own the school, frankly speaking. And did I mention that Aroga here is only one year older than me? No? Well, he's one year older than me, making him 19.

"Hey, is this how you treat your knight in shining armour?" Ah, it seems I'm being spoken to. I should say something.

"Err, sorry?" Wow, that was lame.

"I asked for your name." Aroga repeated, shifting his weight a little from where he stood with his arms crossed.

My tail twitched slightly from the nerves. This Aroga sure knows how to be intimidating when he feels like it. "R-right. It's Ryker." I stammer. I saw one of Aroga's black ears twitch forward slightly as he raised an eyebrow.

"Family name?" He asked.

"... I don't have one."

Aroga looked at me for a moment before casually walking towards me. You know, up close, I can see why all the girls flock to him. He's kind of hot, with those golden eyes of his. And he did just save me from whatever nasty plans the boar had in mind... maybe I misjudged him.

"Hm." He hummed.

Then, in a quick motion, he swiped the melon bread out of my hand and walked away.

"I'll be taking this as payment." He smirked, holding up the paper bag containing the pastry.

No, I definitely did not misjudge him.

"Oh, and the name's Aroga Wulf." He said from over his shoulder, as he began to walk away.

I know that. You'd have to be living under a rock buried in the sand, under the sea on a different planet to not know who the infamous Aroga Wulf was.

"You can call me Aro, though."

And with that, he was gone. With my melon bread. My melon bread was gone.

This is definitely turning out to be the worst day ever.

~

"Eh, you really spoke with THE Aroga Wulf?!" Came an excited exclamation from the seat next to me. "Details. Now."

Meet my friend, Elucia Evericia, a husky with white and pale navy making up the colours of her coat. Her long, violet hair was brushed aside and held in place with a silver butterfly hairclip. I've known her ever since I was 5 and we've been together ever since. We were both ecstatic when we received our results and discovered that we made it into the same university.

Halcyon University is located on the top right of the continent, near the ocean. In the past, this continent was originally two separate countries named Japan and Australia but they are now one, large continent: Utopia. Reason for this name being that it is the only continent, currently, in the entire world that is completely free of those monsters. We call them the Arcana, as that seems to be a fitting name for them, plus some of them exhibit particular traits which would attribute them to certain tarot cards. For example, we know that one of the leaders of the Arcana resides in a tower off the coast of the neighbouring continent. The Arcana are viscous and strong, but what makes them dangerous is that they possess the intelligence of when they were once human, like how we beast-men retained our intelligence. As such, it has become of war to see which species will take the planet for themselves.

The university itself is rather normal, updated with the latest technology with approximately 1500 attending students. What makes it stand out from the rest of the universities in Utopia are the reviews it receives for its combat department. Halcyon University is responsible for 50% of the warriors who go out to battle and those from Halcyon generally have a survival rate of higher than 90%. To get into this school means to have a better chance of living. But that and my best friend weren't my only reasons.

Every other student has at least partial knowledge on using a certain weapon, but I didn't. From a young age, I had been hopeless in learning the ways of combat and no matter how hard I tried it just didn't seem to click. The only reason I managed to get into the university in the first place, despite completely failing my practical examination, was due to my near perfect grades in my other subjects. I worked my tail off, I tell you. Having been orphaned since I was born, my mother dying at childbirth and my father in the line of duty, I grew up without the love or nurturing that most other kids my age would have received on a daily basis. I wanted to be someone. To be recognised. Not just some orphan that nobody cared about. After being told about how I lost my father, I had decided. I would follow his path and avenge him by defeating every single last one of those monsters while donning my family name. I had no given name, so I decided to just make my family name my given one.

"Ah, well, I didn't really speak with him." I reply, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the way Elucia's amber eyes were piercing through me. "We just exchanged names and he stole my food."

"Aw, that's boring. I was expecting for something to happen."

After the whole incident with the boar and Aroga, I quickly fled the scene to avoid having to deal with the mess that had happened. Luckily, it was still early in the morning so not many students or teachers were present to witness anything. Plus, it was only a week into the start of the school year so I was still reasonably unknown to most students. That didn't prevent the rumours from spreading either way though, as word about Aroga speaking with some random tiger at the scene of the crime soon got out and I was almost immediately confronted with Elucia.

"How did you know it was me, anyway?" I asked her. We were both sitting in one of the grand classrooms as we waited for lessons to start. The classroom itself was a large, high ceiling room with rows of white, joint tables and joint seats that were split into three columns, the rows ascending the further to the back of the room they were. One column on the left side, one on the right, and one down the middle directly in front of the stage where the person teaching would stand. Elucia and I chose to sat in one of the lower, middle rows with me at the edge of the table next to the stairs. We figured it would be easier to get out that way, if we ever needed to in an emergency.

"Well, I fir-" Elucia started, before I abruptly interrupted her.

"Never mind, it's too early in the morning for your drawn out explanation."

"Suit yourself."

The room was soon filled with students and an old eagle walked in with a suit case. Placing my student card into the slot on the edge of the table, the glass surface on the table lit up with a touchscreen keyboard and a screen. Your ID card is everything in this University. You use it for work, you use it as a pay card, as a key... everything. The lecture passed by smoothly and, after two hours with a different professor coming in during the second half, it was time for break.

"Hah..." I let out a sigh and lean back in my seat, taking my ID card out in the process.

"Say, Ry."

"What?"

"You look nice today. Did something happen?"

I glance at Elucia before returning my eyes back to the ceiling. "Dunno." I consider myself a rather average looking tiger. My fur is white and pale grey, I have white stripes and my eyes are a clear, ice blue. My lack of vibrant colours made it easier for me to blend into the background. Right now, I wore a simple, off white hoodie and a pair of washed out, loose black jeans. Plain, comfortable and easy mobility. Staring at the ceiling, it's times like these that I like to think.

Despite this post-apocalyptic world that we live and fight in, we're actually rather well of. The university is built on vast, flat land and is surrounded by beautiful and vast vegetation. One of the reasons for this was so that we could prevent as many species of plant life as possible from going extinct. As a result, the atmosphere and feel changed depending on whereabouts you were around campus. It's a sunny day today as well, with a gentle breeze-

"Hey, aren't you going to compliment my looks either?" Elucia asked, putting a halt to my train of thoughts.

"You look nice today. Did something happen?" I repeat in a bored tone.

"Ugh, it's so frustrating talking to you when you're being lazy." She huffed.

Elucia was wearing a navy blue mini skirt with a matching long sleeved jacket with silver trims, a white button up shirt underneath. I suppose she looks good, but she was always the type to take care of her appearance so it became somewhat of a norm for me.

"You better liven up soon, we have combat training next period."

The grimace almost instantaneously appeared on my face. Closing my eyes and letting out a sigh, I finally get up from my seat and move out of the classroom with Elucia. We agreed to get some food from the café so we made our way down to the bottom floor. Once we arrived, we saw that it was packed as usual, students walking about everywhere and sitting at tables chatting. Having come into the café late, the lines were a lot smaller now that most have finished making their purchase, so Elucia and I quickly bought our food and made our way to an empty table.

"So," Elucia started, as she took a bite of her pasta. "What are you going to do this year?"

"What do you mean?" I ask, looking down at my sandwich. I knew perfectly well what she meant.

"Stop playing dumb, you and I both know you're useless when it comes to handling weapons."

"Jeez, no need to rub it in..."

"What are you going to do, though?" She asked, sipping at her chocolate milkshake. "You can barely attack someone with a knife and that's only because you cook."

It sucked because it was true. Thanks to my expertise in the kitchen, I've learned how to use a knife properly which aided me in using one in combat. But cutting up a dead fish was nothing like going up against another combatant, I could only transfer so many of my kitchen skills into actual combat. The first week was to allow students to settle in and get used to university life, but now that we're in the second week, all first year students will begin to attend the combat sessions.

My tail twitched slightly in my lap as my brow creased at that thought. What would I do though? In one situation, I could probably play it off as being just nervous, but that act would most likely last about a week before people start getting suspicious. People would most likely ask questions and then I'd be pulled away by either an instructor or senior and confronted. There would be a high - I'd say around 74.7%, chance of me being re-entered for the exams. If not, an 18.2% chance of being instantly being dropped from the school. That gives me only a 7.1% chance of managing to lie my way out of it where I would then either be told to sit out and watch or be told to continue the class. Of course, there could be other variables that could affect the outcome that I am currently unaware of... In another situation-

"-u listening? Utopia to Ry, anyone in there?"

"Hm?" It seems I'm being spoken to, again.

"Man, you really need to listen when people are talking to you." Elucia sighed, slumping back into her seat.

"Sorry."

"As I was saying-" she begins.

"Attention, first year students, attention. Please make your way to the training grounds as the first combat lesson of the year will shortly commence. I repeat..."

"Ugh, couldn't they have waited for me to finish speaking with you." Elucia complained, getting up from her seat and taking her empty drink and pasta container with her. "You ready?"

I stood up from my seat, holding the tip of my tail in my hands.

"You'll be fine. Knowing you, you probably have everything planned out, or at least some method of stalling until you figure out something."

"Yeah..." I reply, unsure of my own words. Taking my rubbish with me as well, Elucia and I both placed our trash into a bin as we walked towards the training grounds that were located outside. Once we arrived, students were already standing around in front of a stage that had been set up. I'd say there were roughly 400 students present. Many were socialising, getting to know other first years or just having a friendly chat as they waited.

The training grounds themselves were rather coliseum like. It was set up on flat dirt with race tracks drawn around it. On the edge, there were seats for spectators, much like the seats in the classrooms, only without the tables. It also seemed unnecessarily large, though I'm suspecting that's because it was a multipurpose training ground. It was a nice day today, the sun out with little to no clouds and there was a gentle breeze in the air. The cherry blossom trees dotted around the school only served to make the atmosphere all the more serene. Noticing movement in the corner of my eye, I turned my head towards the stage and saw the headmaster of the school, a blue kingfisher, move towards a voice projector that stood in the middle of the stage.

"Greetings, first years." He begins his speech.

My ears twitched as a heard some students around me make noises of boredom.

"As you may already know, our university's style of combat training is rumoured to be the best in all of Utopia. We receive reviews, over and over, of how the students we produce have excellent fighting form and do the best in the wars against the Arcana," he paused for a moment. "But,"

With that single word, the atmosphere in the air seemed to change. I glance at Elucia standing beside me and it seems she sensed it as well.

"You will now all learn the true meaning behind fighting." The headmaster's voice became a lot stronger and bold. "We, at Halcyon University, possess all of the latest technology and that includes weapons. You will all abandon those pieces of scrap metal you currently own and, instead, use the weaponry from our arsenal. You will each only have one choice of weapon, so choose wisely. Once you have made your choice, changing will be forbidden."

The tension sure is thick now. Everyone is too nervous to make any noise.

"I will now introduce you to four, special members of the university who have kindly volunteered to help out this year." The headmaster shifted his body and looked towards the side of the stage. "If you would all join me, now."

All heads turned towards the direction the headmaster was looking and on came four beast-men - a wolf, a panther, a snow leopard and a lion. One of which I clearly recognise. Aroga's eyes quickly glance directly into mine and I swear he's smirking at me. Bastard.

Students around me started to mumble.

"H-hey, aren't they the elite?"

"I heard they were called the four gods."

"...Do you think I could date one of them?

"What are they doing here?"

The headmaster returned back to the voice projector and motioned for the students to settle down. "These four will help demonstrate today what it truly means to be a Halcyon warrior. They will also be helping out students of their choice throughout the year, so be sure to show them the respect they deserve. Now then, shall be get straight to the exhibition match? If all students would kindly move to the seating area while we prepare."

Students began mumbling again. I don't blame them. Where the hell did an exhibition match come from? "Were we informed of this?" I ask Elucia.

"I don't think so. The table we were given only said that there would be a two hour combat session."

Well, this is certainly a surprise. Once all the students had found their seats, which wasn't too difficult considering the seating area could easily fit in twice the number of students that were currently here, the four beast-men moved towards the middle of the grounds. The wolf, Aroga, motioned for the snow leopard and panther to step out, which they did.

"Ooh, he's hot." Elucia remarks from next to me, pointing at the snow leopard. The leopard was white with light grey spots, dressed in a white jacket that reached his knees. His trousers were tight, grey jeans that were tucked into a pair of dark grey boots and he wore no shirt. The jacket itself was left open and linked together with two strings of chains. Stylish, I must say, and the look nicely shows off his chest and abs.

His opponent, the black panther, had on what seemed to be a pair of black, motorcycle trousers and a sleeveless, tight red and black jacket. I think he likes black.

"Oh, wait, the panther's hot too." Elucia said.

"Slut."

I got a punch for that. I watch as the two feline beast-men hold onto their weapons, the snow leopard wielding a spear and the panther a katana. They both got into stance and started emitting an aura. Wait, what? Aura? Blinking my eyes a few times, I conclude that they were not deceiving me.

"Err...?" Elucia sounded from beside me.

Err indeed. I'm at a loss for words too, as is every other student that we're sat with, it seems. Aroga walked till he was in the middle of the two, but still a distance away, and brought his arm. Bringing it down swiftly, the panther on the right immediately drew his katana out in a slashing motion and a crescent shaped light shot out towards the snow leopard.

Said leopard quickly dashed towards the wave with his spear and began to spin the weapon around his body, twisting and turning and then jumping horizontally over the wave just before he was hit. Upon landing, he knelt down with the spear held behind his back and, within a second, dashed right at the panther, quickly closing the distance between the two.