The next day as usual Ben and sister went to school. Ben was seeing the world on a whole different angle. It was exciting for him. His training in the facility prevented him from having sensory overload. Bu he could see all the vibrant sights much further from him. He was happy that he got to start the journey of a martial early.
They reached the school and went their different way. In Ben's class, everyone was discussing about the news report from the previous day. They were all shaken by what happened. One day, they all had to undergo the martial seed implantation and now they were apprehensive about it. They also asked Ben about the legal contract. Ben just told them that his contract was fine and that he had read the document carefully. The bell announcing the start of the school rang. Then there was announcement for final year students to assemble in the indoor stadium for an address by the principal. In the speech, the principal assured the students that the implantation procedure is safe and that the incidents that has happened is being taken care of. He also emphasized on the importance of the procedure.
Ben could understand some of it was just propaganda. The government could not afford to have people going out of country to get the meridian seed implantation. So the government did everything it can to prevent this including propaganda.
The speech lasted for about 30 minutes. The crux was that there is no risk in martial implantation and they should not go to other countries.
Before the start of the class, Ben was called to the office where he met Delvin, the Principal Absal and Mahaansh. Ben sat down and principal Absal began to speak , "Well Ben how are you?"
Ben answered , " I am good principal, thanks for asking." Absal said, " I can see that you are adapting fast to the martial seed implantation. With this implantation you have elevated yourself to a higher form of life. But to ascend to heights of the martial potential, you need to maintain consistent effort. As such, it has become necessary for us to revamp your curriculum. It is not feasible for you to study subjects with other students as it is a slow for you. So your curriculum and evaluation will be different. Since you have a martial type meridian seed, you will train in your martial capabilities more. The other subjects, you will have to study on your own. It is not mandatory for you to come to school everyday till your first evaluation one month from now. If you don't pass that, a schedule will be made by the school based on your performance. You are free to ask doubts to your teachers and also to train at the school facilities. Mahaansh will help you with your training with a schedule for the time being. But if you pass the first evaluation, the martial studies will also be at your convenience. There will be regular school work and the points will also be calculated by using necessary equivalencies. Do you have any questions?"
" No sir." Ben answered. Albas said, " Well then young man, your lessons with Mahaansh will start today and so good luck."
Mahaansh and Ben went to another corner of the school where there was space for training. Unlike the regular training ground, this one was bigger and made with stronger materials. Yet it still had many marks of combat happening in it.
Mahaansh started to speak, " So Ben let us start. First let us have a proper spar. I want to know your strengths and weaknesses."
Mahaansh and Ben went to the centre of the arena. Mahaansh did not adopt any stance. He just stood there. Ben could feel the threat from him. He was serious and adopted a classical stance with one hand towards the opponent and another close to him and one leg forward. Seeing Mahaansh not making a move, Ben began his attack. He moved at a stunning speed and punched Mahaansh. It was a straight move, with no intent of feint. Mahaansh simply dodged it. Ben struggled to stop himself from hitting the wall. Then he turned back and struck again. This time he attacked with the moves from the 'Agastya Parvam'. He punched and kicked combined with the manoeuvring techniques he knew. But none of it touched Mahaansh.
Suddenly Ben sensed something. He ducked down. Mahaansh missed his kick. He raised his eye brows. But in an instant, he followed through with an attack. His punch landed on Ben's gut lifting him from the ground a bit, along with a slight shockwave emerging from his back. He sat down on his knees clutching his stomach. The he began to vomit what he had for breakfast.
Mahaansh said, " Remember this feeling. It is experienced by every martial artist at least once in their lives." Ben did not have the mind to retort that. He just sat there. Mahaansh continued, "I can see that you are pretty flexible with your martial arts. You know some moves but your combat instincts are a mess. But I can't blame you. You have not gone into life or death situations. Well there are ways to fix that." After that Mahaansh gave Ben some tips here and there and again had a sparring session. Ben was beaten again. Mahaansh then formulated some plans based on Ben's martial seed. This included regular sparring session, simulated scenarios and gaining knowledge regarding animals and finding out his Shamanic beast companion.
The simulated scenarios soon started. He sparred with some beginner knights in it. This included a sword wielder, an energy manipulator and a yogi. He won 2 out of 5 simulated sparrings. He then went on a knowledge gaining sessions regarding animals. He read about some animals and also was given some videos regarding their habits. He could not connect with any animals shown that day. During the break, when he said about his flexible schedule to his friends, they glared at him. If he was not a Martial Knight, or if they were Martial Knights, they would have beaten him by now. Knowing this Ben pretended to be smug about it. They did not continue like that for long and then turned to casual banter between friends.
During the next few days, Ben's days were mundane. The need for sleep was reduced considerably and thus Ben had time to do his works for regular subjects. Ben did sparring and exercises in the school and meditation at home. His meridians got stronger slowly but steadily. The penetration rate increased to about 78% in a few days. During these days Ben had learned the habits of quite a few animals. The one he connected with more were lupis and canis. Both were essentially almost the same species. But one was predominantly wild and large while the other was small and domesticated.
After a few days Ben was deeply interested in lupis. So he began to study more about the different type of lupis. Soon, he found an animal that interested him among the different types of lupis- the Aether Lupis.