Chapter 2: Cain
As if the steady glare of the sun wasn't bad enough the AC was busted and there were still five hours left before he could bail. Cain's dislike of school was re-affirmed as he tried (and failed) to pay attention to the old man's lecturing. He already knew everything the "teacher" could teach him so why bother listening? His window seat was only making the sun's heat affect him worse, lulling him into a drowsy state.
If any of his classmates knew what Cain was thinking, they would be overcome with the desire to slap him. They were students of the most prestigious Contractor academy in the world, Weiss Academy! You couldn't even attend Weiss Academy without backing from an Emerald Ranked Contractor. This meant only those who had deep family backgrounds or those with powerful parentage could attend.
There had been rumours of a wealthy family attempting to buy places for their heirs. The Academie's alumni had heard of it and crushed the family in successive duels for their riches, tiny worlds and businesses. The family couldn't even send their heir to a low-level Contractor academy and their unfortunate heirs were consigned to be low ranking trash for their entire life.
What his classmates were unaware of was that Cain had already studied advanced Contractor knowledge from the time he could read. For 7 years he had done nothing but consume knowledge and temper his willpower. Cain could be said to be the strongest first year in Weiss Academy, at least in terms of theory and willpower. The only thing that held him back was his finances. His father would get him any books he needed and train him with the most efffective methids but refused to give him any allowance at all saying that "a man has to stand on his own, my son, or else he should die of shame!"
Cain was currently lost in thought, mentally reviewing his research from last night on wolf type Contractors. Cain had been shocked to find an interview on the Battlenet with a young Silver Tier professional who had raised his Flame Wolf Contractee up to Tier 3. Exclusive wolf type Contractors who could rise to Silver Tier were rare enough for the interview to gain Cain's attention. The video had been a showcase of the Flame Wolf, interspersed with the Contractor's commentaty or answers to questions. The sheer size of the beast had been stunning, but the elemental control was what had truly impressed Cain.
The Flame Wolf had created a coiled-up wheel of liquid flame in the air as it evaded its opponent, luring it in until the scarlet flame wheel had descended and incinerated the opposing Contractor's small army into ashes and dust. He was broken out of his daydreams by a pen which flew over his slumped back. The stimulus roused Cain as he identified who had thrown the pen at him.
"Sleeping on the first week? I can't imagine that even you know everything about elemental interactions already Mr. Adams. If my classes are so boring to you then feel free to leave!"
Old Mr. Smith was glowering in his direction, his forehead creased. Never in all his years of preparing young people for their first Contracts had he seen a student so disinterested in his knowledge, so blatantly bored. Don't want to be here? Fine, but at least pretend to care!
"I mean I would any other day, but we have willpower training today, and if I skimp on that my old man'll beat me to hell"
Cain still had the wounds from the last time he had skipped class to go watch a Contractor duel. His father had been pleased to see him look for information on his own initiative, until he had let slip that he had only done it to avoid class. After that admission, under the guise of "enhanced willpower training" he had suffered 50 lashes of his father's belt. Cain lost himself in thought again, failing to notice that the class had burst into laughter at his nonchalant attitude.
Cain's class liked him well enough, but no one had been able to befriend him as of yet. His toned muscles and large stature scared off most guys who didn't want to look weaker than him and no girls would approach him either. To call him handsome wouldn't be correct but his ruggedness had a certain appeal, which these immature girls didn't know how to deal with. The bell chose to ring at that moment, breaking Cain out of his inner thoughts. The class had all begun to pack up their laptops and were poised to sprint to the canteen. Today was pizza day!
"Now before you all go barelling out that door I have a big announcement" declared Mr. Smith.
Announcements were a double-edged sword. It could be that the class were below average for their willpower scores and they would need to stay for afterschool lessons or it could be that some senior who had graduated was going to come in next week and be a condescending prick offering "Contractor advice from someone who's doing it professionally". Some barely graduated amateur wanted to lecture him? Cain knew he didn't need tips from a future failure, destined to remain in Stone Ranking forever.
Cain still honestly would've preferred the former despite his disdain for the latter, at least the Academy couldn't throw him off a cliff "to train your decision-making skills under pressure". His father's training methods never failed to make Cain shudder when he recalled them. It had turned out the correct decision hadn't been to curse at his father for being a crazy psycho. He had then been made to run 100 laps around their training gym, as a "consequence of failure".
Reality had deigned to throw a curveball however and the announcement from Mr. Smith had stunned the entire class. They had known this one was coming but to hear it this early in the year still was a shocker! Most people on the Battlenet forums had said they wouldn't get this until they were trained for a month or two on account of trainee Contractors occasionally frying their brains into mush on a dive.
"As your classmate Thomas has turned 13 and is the last among the class to come of age, I am delighted to announce you will all be given co-ordinates to your first tiny world. We had an issue with the government releasing this particular world to a school, but we got it cleared up"
Cain eyed Thomas up, a scrawny boy, looked like he came from a powerful parentage. The aura of natural confidence was absent, so that ruled out the deep background option. Cain reckoned one punch would be enough. He wasn't dead set on punching him yet, but Cain had been waiting for this news for way too long. If he didn't let his resentment out now, then when would he? Satisfied that the offender who had kept him back had been identified Cain turned away from the wimp.
Admittedly Cain had only been delayed by four days, but this still warranted a light punishment in his mind.
The news of tiny world access had the rest of the class practically salivating as they all turned to whisper to each other. The allure of becpming a Contractor had the kids worked into a frenzy, all of them anticipating a world teeming with draconic beings and mighty kingdoms of magi and warlocks. They had all seen the worlds their parents controlled, and this fed their expectations.
Cain's expectations were much more grounded. He knew no school, not even Weiss Academy could force the matter of the first tiny world being weak and unassuming to allow for the teens to grow gradually. This was a well documented trend. They would be lucky if the world had any mana at all. Considering the Academie's roots though this would be one of the strongest and most plentiful beginner worlds. Thanks to the Academie's considerable prestige and successful alumni doing them favours they could enjoy small benefits like this.
"From this point on all classes are optional, you're all legally adults now and can decide on your own which classes are and aren't worth your time. Your student accounts will have the co-ordinates for the world in an email that should be arriving now."
The student's laptops practically flew out of their bags as they returned to their seats, all thoughts of lunch forgotten as they hurried to log into their accounts, ignoring the news about attendance no longer being compulsory. Cain was far more relaxed as he hadn't packed up to begin with. Navigating past his cluttered desktop and into his student email account Cain's mind had already kicked into high gear. All the pain, all the research and all those times he'd been thrown off a cliff were finally going to bear fruit.
Opening the email revealed a string of integers arranged in row after row with no discernible patterns linking one number to the next. The inbuilt integer calculation function, which all email programs were required to have, allowed the students to see their co-ordinate was 1,000,000 integers long! This elicited a collective cheer as everyone realised how long it would take to synchronise with such a powerful world. Cain was pleasantly surprised. He had previously scoured Battlenet forums and inquired in chatrooms seeking information on the integer string lengths for governmentally distributed worlds and the average he had arrived at was two million. This world being one million meant it truly was the cream of the crop.
Mr Smith continued his explanation, determined to ignore all the excitement in the class "Other schools will no doubt have given their students full analysis documents for their worlds detailing everything about the world and reccomending what to contract with- you will not receive this. Those who can't thrive on their own don't deserve to be here. At the end of term, you will all be tested. Those of you not up to the grade will be expelled!"
Contrary to Mr. Smith's expectations these statements didn't cause the students to fall into a blind panic, it seemed they either hadn't heard or were on their way out the door. Most of them were part of families that were strong enough to support them, coming to Weiss Academy was only a matter of prestige.
In fact, the only one left seated in the classroom was Cain who was deep in thought again. His internal thoughts were in disarray "No info means I'll have to scout the world all on my own, the integer string indicates we might possibly have a low to mid mana concentration, the school will be monitoring the world for external influences so those with a deep background won't be able to abuse their money and connections." Cain's analysis and intelligence were the skills he was most proud of, they had also been hardest for him to master. With these skills he realised the Academy intended to test all the skills they would need for operating as Contractors professionally.
There was one point which was irritating Cain however "What shape will the test take? Since I don't know, I can't decide in confidence where to begin building my power base." Cain broke from his mental sea and noticed everyone had left without him, only the teacher was left packing up his belongings. Cain decided to chance his arm and see if the old man would help him out a bit.
"Hey Mr. Smith, what will our end of term test be?"
The elderly man raised his head and upon seeing it was Cain, sighed. He desperately wished this child wouldn't come to class. His antics were disruptive, and he aced every written exam, despite only being in school a week! He was too much an anomaly and meant the students couldn't gain any confidence as his scores crushed theirs every time. If he gave him some benefits perhaps he would stop coming and instead focus on training his army?
"Well, Mr. Adams since you are the top student I suppose I can offer you this small benefit. The test will be a battle royale on a jungular type tiny world. Prepare accordingly, the losers will not only be expelled they will also be blacklisted in most major academies and syndicates. The top five in the class will also get the benefit of an accelerated timescale tiny world. I shouldn't need to explain the benefits that will bring you"
"Yep, no need at all Mr. Smith, I'll be going now.
Cain spoke as he was throwing his belongings into his bag, rushing to leave the stuffy classroom.
"Oh, and don't worry sir. I won't be attending class anymore"
As Cain left the room, still practically running, Mr. Smith laughed
"He's nearly too sharp for his own good that one"
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