Karl and Dana headed back for the main floor of the dorms, where there should be dinner served right now, and silently hoped that the other students had not noticed who got out of the helicopter.
That hope was in vain, as the moment that they entered the cafeteria they were surrounded by other students that they trained with, including all the others from the special training class.
"Alright, spill. What happened to you two that you came back a day late in an army helicopter? That is badass, by the way, but our mission barely took an hour." One of the other first year students asked, while the girl beside him nodded.
"Well, you see, it was just a minor lack of communication. The town we were sent to, with the intention of having us eliminate a group of Irontusk Boars headed by an Awakened Rank beast, had been overrun by Goblins an hour before we left. It was too late for the Academy to see the update, so we were delivered to an empty town with no idea what we were supposed to do.
We just killed every monster that we could find and waited for someone to come get us. They didn't seem to be in a hurry to do that, so we called in the morning when we were sure that the Goblins were all dead." Karl explained.
"And how does that relate to you both having Awakened Rank black badges now?" One of the other students asked.
"The Special Forces team that came to get us vouched for us, and they let us do the test when we got back instead of waiting until the end of the semester or having to beg a professor. We both passed, so we got the badges right away." Dana informed him with a smug smile.
"That's just not fair. If we had been the ones to get sent there, we could have been the first to get our badges." One of the other students complained.
"We nearly got killed by a single Shadow Cat, and it hadn't quite reached Awakened yet. If we had to face off against a whole tribe of Goblins, we would be missing persons right now." His partner reminded him.
"It wasn't that bad." The boy defended himself.
"Other than the seventy stitches, the broken hand and the loss of your sword?" One of the other students asked.
"It was just a little mistake, the cat caught me by surprise."
The students laughed as Karl and Dana made their way to the counter to grab a meal, and quickly rearranged their seating pattern so that the two of them would be placed in the corner, where everyone could see and talk to them.
"It looks like you two are famous today, so you might as well enjoy your time in the limelight. Now, tell us more about the fight with the Goblins." One of the students insisted.
By the time that they were done, it had been nearly two hours of giving every minute detail of their overnight adventure, and Karl was becoming increasingly certain that they had narrated the details of each action that they had taken more than once.
If Hawk could talk, they might have dragged it out for another hour, since the students wanted a blow-by-blow recounting of the entire fight on a level that not even Sergeant Rita's official reporting required. But it felt good to be popular for the moment, and with the Black Badges, they would be entitled to some extra credits from the school every week to upgrade their rooms and lifestyle.
Dana's first thought was to get some soundproofing for her bedroom so that she didn't have to hear the neighbours training at every hour of the day, but Karl was stumped.
They were going to bring him resources for Hawk free of charge, and he wasn't sure what he needed. Plus, his room was perfect the way that it came. Sure, he could redecorate, but that wasn't really necessary, and they had to be in uniform on campus, so even if he was a fashionista it wouldn't matter. He could get some more notebooks, and maybe a tablet so he could digitize all his information, but that was about it.
When they finally escaped the cafeteria to head to their dorms, the sounds of explosive attacks were echoing through the hallways. The noise was coming from the two doors on either side of the stairs, where the large square rooms for warrior training were.
Dana sighed in resignation at not being able to sleep, but Karl had a better idea.
"There is a hammock on the balcony if you'd like. It's quiet, and the only one likely to wake you up out there is Hawk, unless it starts raining. I don't know if the spell around the greenhouse balcony actually stops rain, since it hasn't happened since we arrived." Karl offered.
As soon as he said it, Karl realized that he should likely get an award for the most awkward way to invite a girl to spend the night in your room ever, but she clearly needed the sleep, and even when they got to his door, he could still hear the first year students frantically training on their day off.
The news that two of the students had made it to Awakened Rank had spread like wildfire, and everyone who thought they had a chance to be next was working hard, as well as those who were a long way from the goal, who realized that they might be the first to be shunted to the slow progression courses.
It was a necessary part of the Academy's curriculum, and they weren't really the slow classes, they were the regular classes, but as time went on, the top third of the class would be moved up to special training, leaving the others behind.
Karl was among that group for all of his training, while Dana was already there in the Saturday classes, with a good chance that she would be gaining a personal tutor in the next few days. They were already way ahead, and only gaining more ground on the rest of the class as they got the sort of special treatment that the true Elites enjoyed.
But while the special treatment that the most powerful got was enviable, the fact that they seemed to be together as a couple was enough to provoke jealousy in the hearts of many students.