Calista Elise Medley

  First-Year One Student

  Level 2

  XP: 35/100

  HP: 100/100

  EP: 45/100 Warning

  RP Status: Unknown— -7 RP

  Weakness Lvl 16

  “Good morning, Miss Calista Medley. It is now 6:15 in the morning of September 6th, 2349 in the city of Washington D.C. Good luck on your first day at Fistborn Academy.”

  Task Acquired: Go to Breakfast in the Mess Hall— 15 EP

  Calista was slightly startled when AIDA didn’t mention her home city, but then remembered where she was. She groaned and wrapped herself back up in her covers. She couldn’t sleep one wink the night before, her stomach so wrought with anxiety that the sleep capsule couldn’t do anything to put her out without compromising her health.

  The Coach Meet and Greet had initially been exciting, but Calista found herself terribly intimidated by the coaches’ big names, high Levels, and superior Reputations. Most of them were quite cold and serious, making her afraid to even speak. They all gave her brief descriptions of the courses they were teaching before ushering her off to the next person.

  During Lunch, Calista sat at a table with a bunch of Earthians, but couldn’t bring herself to make an introduction and start talking to people. Everyone seemed to know each other already, roughhousing and shoving each other as they made jokes Calista didn’t understand in the least. She’d sat quietly with her food the whole time, only ever getting some quick glances from others judging her outfit.

  She’d later retired to her dormitory and let Lindsay explain everything about herself. As she trained and progressed, Lindsay would not only update her stats, but direct her to specific disciplines and weapons she could use in the future. The weapons themselves would evolve according to her unique fighting style, and she’d eventually pick a preferred weapon like all the great fighters had.

  Lisa White’s favorite weapon was a pair of nunchaku, which Calista wanted to try. They didn’t seem too difficult, from what she saw in fights.

  Lindsay herself would evolve into a weapon if she stayed in the competition long enough… if she even got on the team. She had a lot of work ahead of her.

  Calista was suddenly shot out of her capsule, as if from a cannon, and she landed on her rear in the middle of the room. “Ow! What the glitch, AIDA!”

  “It wasn’t her.” Lindsay left her slot in the capsule’s base, her blue eyes looking at Calista sternly as she hovered over her. “You need to get your butt up.”

  -2 Rel-P

  “Holy Trojans. Don’t do that again.” Calista rubbed her behind and went to the window, seeing numerous students already walking along the pathways below. How could they be so energetic at this ungodly hour? How did they not have dark circles under their eyes?

  “Come on, be more excited! It’s your first day!” Lindsay flitted over to her. “You gotta have a good breakfast if you want to get your EP up. You’ll need a lot more than that for a successful day.”

  “Do they have strawberry pancakes with sugar-free syrup?”

  Lindsay stared. “Uh… they have pancakes. You’ll need something better than that, though.” She flew behind Calista and pushed her away from the window, leading her to the clothing selection. “You’re a full-blooded human, so-”

  “Could you say ‘Earthian’, please?” Calista felt embarrassed as soon as the words left her mouth. “Sorry. Never mind.”

  “Uh, it’s fine…” Lindsay said. “I can say ‘Earthian’.”

  +2 Rel-P

  “Anyway, I recommend high protein and iron, like eggs, beans, and meats. If you don’t eat meat, there’s non-carnivorous options. Although, with your condition, I really think eggs are a good choice. Just don’t get anything too big; your body’s not used to it and you might get sick.”

  “Okay… what about omelets?” Calista entered the station, changing into her uniform bodysuit.

  “Perfect!” said Lindsay. “Has just enough calories, shouldn’t make you sick, and has a lot of muscle-building nutrients.”

  Calista exited the station. She’d included the ‘CM’ necklace she always wore— it would stick to her skin when she danced, so she figured it would do the same while she trained. “I’m used to eating pretty little. I’d have 1,000 calories a day, at most. My mom wanted me to get my weight down to 105.”

  Lindsay stared at her again, her eyes in wide, blue circles. “You’re 5 foot 9… you’re already 110 pounds. She wanted less?”

  “That’s just how I grew up, okay? We needed our bodies to be malleable for mods,” Calista said defensively, looking away in shame. She had to open her big mouth.

  “No, I didn’t mean to sound like that. Sorry. You’ll get your muscles up soon. After your first week, I think you should book a time in the Infirmary so you can get some reconstruction meds in your system. It’s uncommon, but it’s not completely unheard of. You should be fine.”

  +2 Rel-P

  “Not fine enough for the team, though…” Calista muttered.

  “Relax, there’s plenty of first-years that don’t make the team right away. Lots of big names had to wait a few years. They usually make up a minority of the team— most that do make it are Guild members.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “What members?” Calista asked.

  “You don’t know about…?” Lindsay paused and giggled. “I’ll tell you later. Let’s get you through breakfast first.”

  ===

  Harrison ‘Cheater’ Smith

  Student Coach

  Level 406

  XP: 47/100

  HP: 100/100

  EP: 85/100

  RP Status: Controversial— Points Uncalculated

  Weakness Lvl 10

  Harrison stepped out of his closet, dressed in his uniform, which was a little different from the others’; it was mostly red with blue circling his abdomen and shoulders, a reverse version of the regular attire. The most distinguishing features were the Student Coach patches on both his sleeves. They were circular, glowing orange patches that read, Harrison Smith, SC-10, which surrounded a large ‘K’ for Kappa— his corresponding letter. If he had a Guild, it would be called Guild Kappa.

  He wondered if in the next twelve years he had left in the academy, he could become someone admirable. Maybe he had fans in the new class willing to learn from him. There had to be at least one, right?

  Fanbases were always the most unforgiving communities. Once they felt severely betrayed, they never gave their former idols a chance to explain or even apologize. They’d throw them in cache to be scourged upon for the rest of time.

  The worst part was that he hadn’t even done anything wrong. People just didn’t like him.

  There were plenty of students here that treated him okay, acknowledging the Student Coach uniform and patches, but he knew they only respected him out of formality. To directly disrespect a Student Coach, regardless of Rep Level, was against the academy bylaws. Their way of protesting his position was leaving him Guild-less.

  He went to the Mess Hall, which was noticeably fuller than usual, the new students replacing the graduated ones. The Versus School’s meal times were always booked during the other students’ class times to avoid overcrowding; later on, the hall would be ebbing and flowing with Fighting, Journalism, and other students with their unique schedules and varying lunch periods.

  The tables were more packed and animated, leaving just one empty; the glowing orange one that stood at the end of the long line of colored tables belonging to the different Guilds— no other student could sit at these, not even outside of Meal Breaks. It was a constant reminder of how everyone saw him.

  As he stepped inside to get to the Student Coach table, a student brushed past him, nearly knocking him over. “Oh, I’m so-” The girl stopped short, her green eyes widening when she looked up at his face.

  Harrison couldn’t help pausing, raising a brow. He didn’t often get this reaction. “You okay?” he finally asked.

  She blinked, looking down as her porcelain skin turned red. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s fine,” Harrison chuckled. He couldn’t help noticing how thin her waist was, almost like a stick. Was it just the way the bodysuit fit her?

  Calista Medley

  First-Year One Student

  Level 2

  “You must be one of the new ones. Calista, right?” he said politely.

  “Correct,” the girl said. “And you’re Harrison Smith, tenth best student in the country, best fighter on the planet.” She blushed again. “Sorry, that was rude.”

  “No, you’re okay. That’s correct. You need help finding a seat, Calista?”

  “Um…” She looked towards the full tables. Harrison noticed a few students looking at them; probably wondering why this girl bothered to talk to Cheater. “I’m good. I’ve got a seat.”

  “Okay. Good luck on your first day. Welcome.” Harrison offered another smile and walked away, brushing his brown curls back. It felt pretty nice to be genuinely admired by someone for once.

  +5 Rel-P

  New Person: Calista Medley

  Positive Acquaintance

  He arrived at the table and sat across from Catherine, who smiled, her mulberry eyes twinkling. “Made a new friend, eh?” she said.

  “She bumped into me.”

  “Mm. What do you think of ‘er?”

  He shrugged. “She’s nice. I just met her.”

  “A supermodel, too,” Kalis snickered. “She looks like she’s on a runway at a pageant or something. You see how she walks? All…” He imitated Calista sashaying exaggeratedly, bringing out chuckles. “Where does she think she is?”

  “Imagine her fighting with that weight. She looks like she could break in half from one punch,” Li Mei added, her thin, orange eyes curving with laughter, sparkling lightly.

  Harrison didn’t say anything, instead eating his eggs. He had noticed the girl’s walk— it was smooth and confident, and as Kalis said, it was as if she were on a fashion runway.

  “You don’t find her odd, Harrison?” Reilly asked.

  Harrison sighed. He really didn’t feel like dealing with Reilly’s indirect insults. His English accent made him all the more condescending. “I met her two seconds ago.”

  “You can get a lot out of a person by simply observing them for a few seconds.”

  “Isn’t she that one that fainted when she saw blood?” Delaine asked.

  “A lot of people fainted.”

  “Yeah, but I remember hers. She just looked at her glove and…” Delaine imitated Calista passing out.

  “She got in?” Kalis scoffed. “Standards are getting low.”

  “They’ve been low. That admissions board is slacking for sure,” said Melsen. “Next thing you know… anyone can become a Student Coach.” He deliberately gave Harrison a glance.

  -4 Rel-P

  “I don’t think they’ll loosen up that much,” Elisa interjected, glancing at Harrison with a bit of pity. “Us SC’s will always be the best. We all have different fields of expertise, you know?”

  +2 Rel-P (Elisa)

  “True, but… you have to admit Fistborn could use some higher standards. Don’t want a bunch of impostors getting a spot in this academy, do we?”

  “Melsen’s right. Let’s face it, we could use some better quality so other planets don’t mock us all the time,” Disaris said.

  “It’s all a matter of improvement,” St?sten said. “It’s our job to shape everyone up while they’re still green.”

  “We can’t assume someone’s future off of the first few seconds of knowing them,” Harrison finally spoke. “I’m sure there’s a lot of newbies here that don’t look like much, but will get better.”

  “Of course. People like her just need some coaching, right?” Disaris said with a nod. “Maybe she can be your student. She’ll need something easy to start with. And, since you’re both the same species, you should know what to teach her, right?” He smirked mockingly. “Your expertise in… creating alternative ways to succeed should get her far regardless of her skill level.”

  -6 Rel-P (Disaris)

  Harrison inhaled. He was not in the mood for any of their antics or comments about his career. He’d have to hit them back with equal force.

  “Speaking of our students… by the way, Disaris, how’s Gronin?” he asked with a wide smile. Gronin Tufts was a student that got expelled from the academy a couple of years ago. Disaris had just been made Student Coach, and Gronin had been one of his Favorite students. His rep had taken a hit when Gronin was discovered consuming illegal strength enhancers, causing his expulsion and arrest. To this day, it was a sore spot for Disaris.

  The bulky-shaped Voraxmartian’s smile instantly faded. His blue face tinged a bit in red. Unfortunately, he didn’t inherit his Voraxian side’s inability to blush.

  “He’s got a couple more years to go in prison, right?” Harrison continued. “You should visit him sometime. Maybe if he gets released on Versus parole, he can come back as your star Favorite.” He smiled, eating his eggs with satisfaction.

  -10 Rel-P

  Approaching Sworn Enemy Status

  “You don’t get to ask-”

  “You walked right into that one,” Reilly said, rolling his eyes.

  “Shut up.”

  “Alright, let’s stop bothering ‘im,” Catherine laughed dismissively. “He’s not called ‘One-Punch’ for nothin’, Harrison. Let Disaris calm down.”

  “Sure. I know when to respect someone.” Harrison smiled again, relishing in the second-ranking student’s death glare. He was eager to settle grudges with him in the tournament. He was dying to show old Disaris ‘One-Punch’ Okione how strong Cheater was.