“Yes, sir.” Sevs nodded. Probably shouldn’t have done that. He probably shouldn’t have skills yet, let alone a tier II skill.

“Not even a day in. How did you get it so fast? You typically play a monk?”

“No, sir. Normally INT. I had an interesting tutorial, though.” Sevs wasn’t ready to give it all away, but maybe Zim would buy if he trained a lot in the tutorial; he would get the skill quickly.

“Low level, but still, that was quick.”

Zim turned back to the group, “Who’s next?”

The looks Sevs got were less hostile but a bit warier. Jason gave him a look saying they would talk about it later.

The rest of the squad took their turns getting beat up by Zim. There were varying degrees of success. The chubby kid tried to tackle Zim and got socked in the gut so hard he threw up. “Don’t be lazy, think.” Zim admonished.

One of the girls straight-up slapped him. Sevs was shocked, and it seemed like Zim was too. He rubbed his cheek and threw her across the room. “Much better. Let that be a lesson. Sometimes an ambush can be obvious, but it might still work.”

The day continued like that. It was hell. They would run until they couldn’t, then they would fight. When they couldn’t move anymore, they got a drink of something that refreshed them. Just a little, though. Just enough so that they could keep going. But never enough to feel one hundred percent. In between workouts, they learned the basics of hand-to-hand combat. Sevs had a bit of a head start, but some who had better stat distributions learned faster. Also, this was different from what Sevs was used to. A lot of it was the same. Footwork, for example, didn’t change much. But the forms were adapted to work while wearing armor. Also, they needed to fight against people with armor. This changed not only the moves but also the goals. It was more about weapon control and getting space. Or taking away space from an opponent.

Many of these concepts were too high level for the others to get as they were only learning the basics. However, Sevs noticed and paid attention to the differences. This kept him ahead of his classmates. Eventually, they were let go. It was 2200, and the mess hall had stopped serving dinner. They all still filed in anyways to eat the rice bricks. They were to be woken at 0600 again, and they needed to eat and sleep.

After they got back to the room, Sevs went to use the toilet and brush his teeth. When he got back, not everyone was in their beds. Next to Sevs bunk, a couple people were waiting for him. They were some of the ones that were the most resentful of him. Sevs just groaned. These people had watched too much TV. Or maybe not enough. They should know how this goes.

“We’re going to need you to do us a favor.” The short one on the left said. Of the twelve of the other children, nothing made these seem too special. There were six girls and six other guys. They ranged between ten, with Jason and fourteen, the tall girl at the extremes. This distribution was pretty normal as well. So nothing stood out too much between these two. Sevs wasn’t sure if they were stupid, but it wasn’t these people he was concerned about. The fact they weren’t even trying to hide was an issue. If no one was going to say anything or step in, Sevs might have a harder time making connections than he would like.

Out of the corner of his eye, by his boot, Sevs saw Jason giving him a wink. Okay, maybe he wasn’t giving everyone enough credit. They might have an idea of how this would go. And were just here to watch the fun.

“What favor would that be?” Sevs asked. He kept his voice from being confrontational. Measured and reasonable was the way to go.

“Maybe stand out less. Just don't make us look bad in front of Zim.” The same one answered.

“So you want me to try less?” Sevs asked. That didn’t seem like the right way to start a confrontation. What if he changed the script? “I’m sorry, I don’t think I got your names. How rude of me.”

Honestly, he didn’t know anyone's name besides Jason. There hadn't been a time in the day since waking to talk, and at dinner, they were too tired. Sevs looked at the one on the right and asked, “What is your name?”

The girl shifted slightly. This might not have gone the way she was expecting. Still, she answered while she looked Sevs in the eyes. “Soshal.”

“And you?” Sevs asked the boy on the left.

“Robert.”

“So I don’t think I can do anything but my best. What will that mean?”

“That you’d be a jerk,” Soshal muttered. Huh. That was odd Sevs thought. Maybe he was the one reading too many stories.

“And maybe we would have to give you something to slow you down,” Robert said threateningly. Rising his fist to Sev’s face. Ah, there it was.

“Wait, what? That wasn’t…” Soshal spluttered. Sevs was now thoroughly confused. Were they threatening him or not?

“Well, I’m Sevs. It's nice to meet you,” Sevs said, reaching out to shake Roberts's hand. Robert also seemed confused. He had to lower his raised fist to shake Sevs hand, but he did. Sev grinned. What an idiot. Sev tightened his grip and pulled him face-first into the bed frame behind him. As he dropped to the floor, Sevs let him fall.

“I think there has been a misunderstanding here. I’m not going to do anything other than try to improve myself. But that doesn’t mean I won’t give you all some consideration. I will do my best to help anyone I can. If they ask for it, that is. Even Robert.” Sevs said to the room while nudging the boy with his toe.

“It was nice to meet you, Soshal.” He continued. Sevs turned to the group, but before he could say anything else, the oldest girl dropped from the bunk above him. “Wait. Sevs?”