Chapter 50: Career Paths

The helicopter lifted off and turned toward the east, flying high over the treetops, and roughly following a river. "It's beautiful from up here." Dana spoke into the microphone, nearly drowned out by the noise of the helicopter. "It's like nothing you'll get to see on the ground. You two did good down there. I don't know what the Academy originally sent you to do, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't for the Goblins. I checked while we waited, and the other teams of students all went to take out a handful of magical beasts and then called for a ride home the first afternoon." The team leader informed them, now that there were no more curious ears around to overhear them. "I thought that might be it. There was a group of wild Irontusk Boars near the town. That was a nice light start to the day, and at first, we thought that might have been it, but then we realized that all the houses were empty, and they hadn't just brought everyone inside to wait." Karl agreed. "So, you just started to scout the town for Goblins and then killed them all until we showed up?" One of the other special forces soldiers asked. "We thought that we might have underestimated the teachers, so we cleared out all the Goblins and then called in on the hotline in the government building, but they didn't believe us and threatened to send the military police. That ended up being you, and they asked that we stay on the phone until you arrived so they didn't have to put out a search warrant for us." Dana laughed. The soldier rolled his eyes in amusement. "They're a bunch of idiots. I'm sure the boss went over proper protocol already, but calling them is usually a last resort. Getting in contact with a military unit or the Academy directly will make your lives a lot easier. Do you think that they're going to give you a promotion after this? I see you've still got the first year Common Grade badges on, but there's no way that either of you is still Common Grade. We saw the fog and the bodies, that is definitely beyond the skills of two Common trainees." "We will see. If they do, it will be great. You know how it is at the Academy, power gets respect. So, if we can get them to give us the black badges, we will at least be able to show off to our fellow first year students." Karl agreed. The special forces team laughed at their own memories of school. They were also among the first to advance, so they knew very well that there were plenty of social benefits that couldn't really be quantified about being the first with the black badges. Then later, when you moved up to the Bronze Ascended badge, usually in your second year, you were among the real powerhouses. With the body enhancements of the warrior classes, Ascended Rank brought about huge changes to their physique, and it was at that point when they could be called truly superhuman. Karl could already jump up onto the roof of a single story house, but that was still plausible, by Elite standards. When you could throw someoneover the house, then you were getting into the feats associated with the Ascended. "We're not far from the Academy now. It will be about another half an hour before we arrive, but you should prepare yourself for a lot of questions from the students. It is the off day today, and you're returning in a special forces helicopter. I wouldn't call that subtle, so your friends will want to know what you were up to." The pilot laughed as he gestured to a spot in the distance that should be the Academy. The helicopter wasn't flying particularly fast, and the side doors were open, allowing the team members to let their legs dangle out the side while they were held in by a safety lanyard. Normally, that would be concerning, but Karl had seen them rappel down ropes from that same position, so it couldn't be too dangerous, no matter what it looked like. As they got closer to the Academy, they could see all the students out in the yard relaxing and studying, and Karl could see all the heads turn as they noticed the sound of an incoming helicopter. It wasn't the sort of noise that you would hear every day, so it attracted a lot of attention, especially when it started to set down on the helipad next to the main building. The doors were open, so everyone could make out the two white and gold student uniforms among the dark green special forces outfits, and the innate need to know all the school's gossip kicked in. "The teachers should be out here soon. They want a statement from you on what happened during the mission, so I wouldn't count on keeping your day off." The Pilot informed them as the rotors began to slow to an idle. "Yeah, I was afraid that would happen. But hey, if you guys put in the good word for us, maybe we can get those black badges right away." Karl joked. The men at the door unhooked themselves and stepped down to offer a hand to Karl and Dana as they exited the aircraft, while Sergeant Rita and two teachers that Karl didn't recognize were jogging across the field toward the helipad. "It looks like we're in for it right away. Sergeant Rita is my personal tutor." Karl informed the team member beside him. "She's not all bad. But if I recall, she really loved her physical fitness, so as her student, it might be difficult to see." The man joked. "She is pretty good, honestly. But I've got a class that nobody has seen before, so she's always pushing for every bit of new information. This report will be a long one." Karl explained. Dana seemed to recognize the other two teachers, so they must be from the mage classes, and they were gesturing for everyone to come meet them, not just Karl and Dana.