Once everyone is seated, the General looks around and then at his colleague.

General Gray: "Head count?"

HFF Teacher: "Everyone is accounted for General."

The man takes a second and clears his throat. There is a slight echo within the large room as his deep voice bellows.

General Gray: "Good morning, if you don’t already know, I am General Gray.

The reason you all are here this morning, is to advance your skills in both hand to hand combat, as well as sword training.

This society, kept in hiding from those aliens and that dragon, inside these hollowed out mountains, is only possible if there are soldiers willing to fight back as well as help create a functional law enforcement.

For that, I would like to thank each and every one of you."

While the General continues his introduction, behind Tristan and Stephanie, within earshot, two students with antagonistic grins are whispering about the couple.

Student: "Aye Zeke, peep the cutie with the pigtails."

The other student, Zeke, a brown eyed 18 year old with half a shaved head and half long red hair tied in a ponytail tail. chuckles while holding his arms out, fist closed. As if he were pretending to ride a bike.

Zeke: "Shii, I’d turn them into light green hand bars if you know what I mean, hehe."

Tristan grimaces and his fist tightens. He’s about to turn around, until Stephanie puts her hand on his with a smile.

Her smile makes the loving young man blush and face back forward.

General Gray: "So, with that being the basic rundown and the focused purpose of this scheduled training time, I now feel the need to ask you all...

Which one of you in this room believes they are the strongest fighter here?

Pleas don’t be modest here."

Shelly(whisper yells): "katsu nooo!"

General Gray: "Whoever it is, will be the first official ’King or Queen of the Mountain’. It’s usually referred to as a ’Hill’, but because of our current location, ’Mountain’ is a more fitting term."

Shelly(whisper yell): "please don’t!"

General Gray: "Everyday following these necessary practice sessions, the ’Ruler’ will have to fight any willing challengers of the day.

If they defeat the challenger or challengers, they keep that prestige."

Shelly(whisper yelling): "katsu! i really don’t want to!"

General Gray: "However, if the King or Queen is defeated by the challenger, they must step down and are replaced by the winner.

In two years, I’ll have the students with the most accumulated days overall, battle for a special prize before the first excursions out of these mountains."

With nobody willing to put a target that big on their back during the first day, there’s a moment of silence...until...

Katsu: "SHELLY CAN KICK ANYBODY’S ASS IN THIS WHOLE ACADEMY!

STUDENT OR TEACHER!

SHE IS THE GREATEST!"

The proclamation echoes throughout the gymnasium.

The other students who don’t know the high energy personality of Katsu, give him looks and others snicker at him.

Shelly is so bright red, she is giving off heat waves, while hiding her face from her peers.

With a flabbergasted stare, Tristan’s eyes dart back and forth between the over confident adopted brother and his completely embarrassed foster sister.

Tristan(thinking): *Di-Did he really just announce that because he wanted someone to take the bait and get a negative reaction?

Or is he truly that confident in her skills?*

One of the ignorant students behind Tristan, Zeke, stands up and smirks at the overzealous student.

Zeke: "Do you not hear yourself?

You sound like a complete clown right now, Dude.

That makes you the bitch in the relationship, you know that right?

What, you let your girlfriend fight for you?

Does she tuck you in at night before going out with her real boyfriend who isn’t filled with estrogen?"

There are scattered laughs around the bleachers. From the furthest corner, Bethany isn’t laughing. Instead, she is biting her finger.

Bethany(thinking): *Confidence like his, is kinda hot...*

Suddenly, everyone in the gymnasium feels the hard stomp of a foot on the bleachers, cutting off the laughs, and they all look back at the front.

Tristan(thinking): *Hook, line, and sinker.*

Shelly, with one foot on the bleachers, is looking right through the shit talker, Zeke, with a 1,000 yard Below Sanpaku stare.

Her nose is twitching and a low growl coming from the blonde as she grinds her teeth.

Tristan: *Now, is she really as skilled as her friend is hyping her up to be?*

Tristan’s eyes widen as he moves from Shelly to Katsu. The instigator to the situation, is smiling and bobbing in excitement.

Shelly(to Zeke): "Apologize..."

Zeke: "What?

Ha, no.

I don’t care who y-"

Shelly: "I said, apologize to Katsu right now, and sit back down.

Before you get hurt, punk ass."

Next to Bethany, a few students in the back give an instigating "ooooooouuuu".

General Gray stays silent and watches the tenacity of the brave young woman confront the inappropriate heckler.

The other teacher inches up nervously besides him.

Teacher: "Umm, General Gray don’t you think we should-"

The General without moving his gaze from the scene, holds up his hand to stop his colleague.

Tristan is watching in awe as Shelly’s intimidating stare solidifies her seriousness about the demands and she is not looking away from her target.

Stephanie looks at Shelly, then at her new crown ring with a disappointed stare.

Stephanie(thinking): *When that guy was bad mouthing Tritty and I, all I could do was calm him down.

I can’t stop them, and I don’t want Tristan to get hurt in anything unnecessary.

But this girl Shelly, she’s... different.*

The aggressive student looks to his shrugging friend, and then he sucks his teeth.

Zeke: "Okay, you wanna go, you Bitch!?

Imma slap the fuck out you first, and then I’m stomping out your pussy, beta boyfriend!"

Finally, the General raises his arms, beckoning the two quarreling co-eds forward.

General Gray: "Okay, perfect!

You two, come on down, and step on the mat behind me."

Shelly doesn’t take her beautiful and irritated eyes off new enemy as he steps down and they move to the wrestling mat.

Katsu elbows his new friend and Tristan turns his head with a raised eyebrow.

Katsu: "This is going to be epic as hell!

Just watch..."

Tristan(chuckles): "You better hope you’re right, because if she loses, you’ll both look irreversibly pathetic and lose all credibility.

Word moves around fast."

On the rubber and foam mat, the General and the two contenders stand in the middle.

General Gray: "Okay, even though this is a wrestling mat, if someone goes to the ground, you let them up.

Grappling will become legal later on.

Everything else is clean.

I’ll stop the fight if I feel the need to.

You both got it?"

The ignorant student nods while Shelly doesn’t move her head at all. Her eyes still burning holes into the person who disrespected her purpose.

General Gray: "Okay...

Ready...

Set...

Begin!"

The unlucky student puts his fists up and steps closer. Shifting back and forth on his toes like a boxer.

Shelly stands there, waiting for him to get closer, without raising her fists.

Tristan: "Is she going to just stand there?"

He looks at Katsu and the infatuated spaz is glued to the pay preview worthy fight in front of him. His green eyes sparkling and a wide smile stuck on his face.

Katsu: "She’s so freaking badass..."

Zeke’s buddy comes up behind them and whispers in between Katsu and Tristan.

Zeke’s Buddy: "Just so you know, Zeke is a trained MMA fighter.

His fists are considered deadly weapons."

Tristan seems to hear the warning, but it goes in one of Katsu’s ears and out the other.

Shelly still hasn’t moved as her opponent moves closer, now one of his arms length away.

The unknowning man gives a cocky smile. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Zeke(thinking): *She’s scared frozen!

It was all a bluff, haha!

This dumb bitch!*

With a wound up and telegraphed punch, the unknowing student throws a viscous right haymaker for Shelly’s face, but to his chagrin, Shelly finally breaks eye contact and like the complete savage she is, headbutts her attacker’s incoming fist.

Katsu jumps up in excitement and bounces on his toes. Huge stars in his eyes with his mouth wide open.

There is a *CRACK*, the young man yells in pain and falls to his knees. Holding his clearly broken wrist and bruised fingers.

Zeke: "Ahhhhhhh!

My wrist!

You fuckin psycho bitch, what the fuck!?"

Tristan swallows his spit and turns back to see the ignorant friend is also dumbfounded.

Everyone else in the gymnasium is stunned, mouths open. Some girls are turned away from the gruesome sight.

Up top, Bethany’s eyes are wide while she still bites her nail.

With only a small red mark on her forehead, Shelly stands over the loser.

To the defeated, pride broken man, now looming over him is a blue eyed demon.

Zeke: "I’m down! I’m down!

Someone stop her, please!"

Shelly picks him up by the front his collar, and she holds the whimpering injured student up to her eye level.

Tristan looks at Katsu.

His green eyes are overflowing with happy tears and he’s smiling a proud smile.

Katsu(to himself): *sniffles* "Get em, Shelly..."

With everyone in the gymnasium watching as the snivelling losing fighter is being held up by Shelly’s unexpected strength, he looks up and makes eye contact with her but he immediately looks away in fear.

But Shelly doesn’t...

Shelly(eeriely calm): "Apologize...

To Katsu...

Now..."

Tristan Narr.: *And from that day, for the next two years straight, Shelly was the classes undefeated ’Queen of the Mountain’.*