Breakfast couldn’t be more awkward. The other new students let Calista sit at their table, but they hardly looked or talked to her. After a couple introductions from some friendly Earthians, the conversation ended as fast as it started.

  She tried not to let it bother her, hiding her insecurity behind a perfect smile. She’d excitedly eaten her breakfast and gone to her first class when the AIDA announced the end of the period. She had to focus on her real priority: her new career. It was the first day of what could be a thriving and lucrative life for Calista. As long as her ex-Socializer persona was unknown, she’d have a chance.

  She took a look at the first few classes on her AIDA band schedule:

  7:30 AM: PWU-CO Warm-Ups— Gymnasium 1D, Training Center

  8:00 AM: PC1-CO121 Combat— Gymnasium 1D, Training Center— Mathta, Usda; Stisin, Jenna; Somali, Julius

  9:00 AM: CT1-232 Weaponry— Classroom 108-VW, Versus Fighting School— Forforran, Jiles; Gowon, Taraji

  10:00 AM: CT1-365 Disciplines— Classroom 113-VW, Versus Fighting School—Sactha, Nila; Martínez, Gustavo

  11:00 AM: Break; Mess Hall is open for snacks

  Task Acquired: Attend Warm-Ups period in Training Center— 5 XP

  Using the AIDA band, she followed the directions to the gymnasium. In the hallways, there were small HARPs installed in every other corner, giving broadcasts from many news outlets and important figures; mainly the two final Planetary Leader candidates. Some were ignored while others had a few clusters of students watching and listening. Calista spotted a few familiar faces, including Xavier Hennett and Yvonne Macon.

  “…the new freshman class of the Versus Fighting School starts classes today…”

  “…contenders that are most likely to be admitted to their country teams for the second time in a row…”

  “…Axiom Station has experienced their third raid in a row this month alone…”

  Calista finally reached her destination. The gymnasium was equipped with lines of CDSims, combat mats, and a large HARP-ED screen against the far wall— a HARP strictly for education. Everyone was either talking or doing basic stretches all around the well-lit, red-and-blue room.

  Was she supposed to stretch? If people saw her stretching and warming up, it would better their impression of her, right? Maybe someone could come and stretch with her.

  Calista went to a vacant corner and started stretching, copying other people around her. She then got down to do some push-ups. She’d managed to increase her limit to thirty push-ups, but she did need a break halfway through.

  She breathed rhythmically and tried not to cringe at the sweat building on her skin. Obviously, fighters had to put up with a lot of sweat, even with the absorbers in their suits. She’d get used to it. Her arms started to grow weary as she lifted her body up for one more push-up before her ‘break’.

  A foot suddenly slipped into her wrist, knocking her off-balance. She grunted as her face landed on the mat. She looked up, finding the Mercurian boy with rocky red skin smirking down at her. “Oops,” he said, stepping over her with two of his friends. “Sorry, girlie.”

  -3 Rel-P

  Calista sighed, ignoring the chuckling boys as she resumed her push-ups. When another shadow passed over her, she flinched, falling down again. Her face burned with shame.

  “Give yourself a break,” Lindsay advised, speaking to her through her Status Chip. Calista felt weird hearing a disembodied voice in her ears. She’d have to get used to it; Lindsay would likely be her only ‘friend’ here. “Your muscles aren’t built for this kind of strain yet. If you force yourself, you’ll do more harm than good.”

  Calista listened and instead went back to stretches. She easily did a split. “So… fighters make friends, clearly.”

  “Well, yeah. They’re not antisocial. Friendships can get you far in this world, if you can believe it.”

  “Really? I thought that would just be my community.”

  “Not to that extent, but it’s a factor. Making friends with high-rep students can get you into a Guild.”

  “So… what is that? I don’t remember.” Calista stretched her hand to one of her feet, easily touching her toes.

  “Guilds are special groups in Fistborn where students can get extra training from Student Coaches. There’s ten SCs, so ten Guilds. The higher the coach’s rank, the better the training and the perks. But you have to show the coaches you’re worth recruiting if you want any hope of getting in— they have minimum Rep and stat requirements, but every now and then, they’ll make an exception. It’s very rare, though.”

  She knew what Student Coaches were— Harrison Smith was one of them. “I just have to be friends with a Coach, huh?” Calista stretched to her other foot.

  “No, just impress them. Let them come to you. If you can meet one of their members and get into their good graces, you could be recommended. Just make sure they have a high Rep Level.” Lindsay updated Calista’s UI so she could see everyone’s Rep Levels under their general Levels.

  She instantly felt intimidated. Almost everyone in the gym had a much higher Rep than her, even the new students.

  The one Student Coach present had his tag highlighted in yellow. He wore a uniform bodysuit with inverted colors, red dominating instead of blue. His sleeves had yellow, circular patches. He talked to some members wearing the same patches, but they didn’t have the same uniform.

  So that was what the patches were for. They were Guild people.

  St?sten ‘Grill’ Durchdenwald

  Student Coach #8

  Level 406

  387 RP— Teacher

  Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

  “‘Grill’?” Calista inquired, stretching her legs out in front of her and bending over to touch her toes. She slowly breathed in and out.

  “He ‘grilled’ his opponent’s face with his Mercurian powers during a Team 16th-Final last tournament,” Lindsay said matter-of-factly.

  “Holy glitch!” Calista whisper-yelled, holding her stretch.

  “Relax. The guy had his helmet to protect him. He was fine. But that pain transference… whew! Not something to forget.”

  “LINE UP!”

  Calista scrambled out of her position, her UI blinking:

  Warm-Up Period in session!

  The students got into a straight line as fast as possible in no particular order. Calista’s back straightened and her forehead released a bit of perspiration. Three coaches marched into the gym, their faces wearing identical deadpans. Calista remembered only one of them from orientation the previous day— a Klausian woman with crystalline purple skin and sharp silvery eyes.

  Usda ‘Ice Hulk’ Mathta

  Coach

  Level 1,998

  586 RP— Teacher

  Jenna ‘Strangler’ Stisin

  Coach

  Level 1,985

  567 RP— Teacher

  Julius ‘Christmas’ Somali

  Coach

  Level 1,980

  422 RP— Teacher

  “‘Christmas’?” Calista muttered.

  “In one of his tournaments, there was an electric-themed map,” Lindsay told her. “He lit it up when setting off a bunch of traps— like Christmas. It’s dumb, I know, but most call signs are; the public makes them up, after all. They’re meant to be ‘on the nose’.”

  The Klausian woman stepped forward, the light glistening against her jagged, bald scalp. “Good morning, everyone,” she said, speaking through a translator; her mouth formed different words. “I would like to welcome our new Versus School students to the academy. For those unaware, I am Coach Usda Mathta, and I will be one of your Combat and Weapon Use instructors. As is tradition, I assess each new student’s abilities by sparring with them first. Whoever started classes today, please step forward.”

  Glitch. Calista swallowed and obeyed, stepping forward with ten other students. Coach Usda’s icy eyes roved over the line until stopping at the first student on her right— a doe-eyed Mercumartian man with smooth, grayish-red skin. “You. Come forward, please.”

  The man was confident as he strutted up, but Calista could see a bit of fear reflecting in his eyes. Klausians were not to be underestimated, even if he had Mercurian fire abilities to counter them. Klausians’ ice abilities were incredibly powerful, enough to rival Hajjians.

  “What fighting style do you think suits you?” Coach Usda asked him.

  “I’m partial to the Paeseoan Stabil discipline, ma’am,” he replied.

  “Very well. I will be using a Hajjian style called Jroak.”

  Calista’s throat dried. She only knew Earthian disciplines. She never thought of learning disciplines from other planets. What if the coach expected her to use styles from Mars or somewhere?

  One by one, the new students sparred with Coach Usda. She would either tell them to stop or knock them down, pointing out every single one of their flaws and essentially humiliating them in front of the class. For every student, the coach would use a different fighting style, all of them varying greatly.

  Soon, it was Calista’s turn. She wiped her clammy hands on her pants as she approached the coach with a nervous smile. She could see St?sten eyeing her in her peripheral vision.

  Task Acquired: Spar with Coach Usda— 3 XP

  “What style do you prefer, Ms. Medley?” Coach Usda asked her.

  “Um…” She glanced nervously at the others. “I-I’m not sure, ma’am. I… I guess I just know most of the basics?”

  “Did you study any disciplines in particular while you were preparing for your fight with Ms. Houdge?”

  Her face turned red. “N-no… I just studied her strengths and weaknesses and prepared myself according to her style. I guess I know karate and judo, maybe some boxing… sorta.”

  “Hmm.” The coach stepped back, getting into a strange fighting position; her feet were apart at shoulder length, her left foot forward, and her left hand was raised beside her head. “I will be utilizing a Klausian style called Tialet.”

  “O-okay.” Calista raised her fists and separated her feet.

  “Three… two… one.” The coach dove forward and threw a swiping knifehand at her head. Reflexively, Calista ducked, her heart jumping into action. She dodged the next swing, blocked the third, but stumbled while dodging the fourth. In no time at all, Coach Usda had swiped her knifehand below her ankle and knocked her off-balance. The shock sent awful pain through her body.

  -1 HP

  -2 EP

  Determined to avoid further embarrassment, Calista rolled over when she was knocked down, instantly springing to her feet and trying to ignore the ache. The coach didn’t let her rest, following her attack up with a knifehand to the throat.

  She swiped the woman’s forearm to the side, deflecting her blow, and attempted to kick her in the stomach.

  -2 EP

  Coach Usda blocked it with a knifehand, the impact stinging, and struck again, this time hitting Calista in the throat.

  -2 HP

  The blow was soft, but it still packed enough force to make the girl choke. As her hands reflexively flew to her neck, she was knocked down again.

  -2 HP

  Task Complete— +3 XP

  The coach waited a few moments before helping her up. The students clapped, murmurs echoing among them. Calista could see some smirks flashed her way, and her heart raced with shame.

  -3 RP

  “Your balance is a complete mess and you lack finesse. Your body lacks strength and firmness. Your attacks are far too predictable and there were openings everywhere. I was even going easy on you.” The Earthian girl’s face heated up, hearing snickers. “But it is our job to improve all of that,” the coach continued, nodding at the line. “You may return.”

  Calista obeyed, taking her place in line. She wanted nothing more to crawl into a hole and shut herself out from the universe.

  “Now. We will start with our warm-ups. When the Combat period begins, we will proceed to the mats and rotate in pairs.” Coach Usda went to talk to the other two instructors.

  Calista followed the stretches indicated on the HARP-ED, her eyes focused on the floor. She was afraid that if she met anyone’s eyes, she’d run out of the gym.

  “Don’t be too hard on yourself,” Lindsay advised. “Coach Usda tests every new student. She’s hard on everyone. You have high flexibility on your side.”

  “Doesn’t do much to beat someone,” Calista muttered. She stole a glance at St?sten, who was also fully concentrated on his stretches, his muscular, sandy arms rippling. “Say I got into St?sten’s Guild. What if I want to go to a higher one?” she asked Lindsay.

  “You can’t. When you join a Guild, you’re in that Guild for the rest of your time in the school,” Lindsay replied. “But all of them offer an extra hour’s training after classes, and you get some more Rep Points. Lower-rep students know not to mess with Guild members, especially Favorites. They’re the SCs best students, and messing with them can seriously mess you up. They’ll have a badge on their uniform besides their patches.”

  “God, there’s just so much to know. I feel like I’m in another world,” Calista sighed.

  “Miss Medley.”

  Calista straightened up, freezing under Coach Usda’s glare. “Yes, ma’am?”

  “Save your muttering for your dreams,” she said sharply. “Maybe if you stopped having conversations with your Pet like it’s a real person, you’d do your stretches more properly.” She pointed her icy finger at the HARP-ED screen, which had a different stretch displayed.

  Calista blushed again, hearing snickers. “Sorry, ma’am.”

  -3 RP

  Only the first day… how would she survive?