The class was held in a lecture hall belonging to the Science Department.
The Hunter Class and Hero Class sat on either side of the room, occasionally throwing heated stares at each other. Raidou managed to get Nanami under control, and Kazumi blatantly ignored Obanai. Liam's gaze landed on the small Vampire who had attacked him, and she turned around suddenly, as if noticing.
"Tch," Liam clicked his tongue, turning his gaze away.
I wonder who's taking this class? Liam thought.
In a few moments, his question was answered.
Out of the door walked two people: Jet, and Spirit.
"I guess joint class means joint teaching," Lee muttered quietly.
Liam turned his head to him as they all stood up to greet Jet. "I guess that makes sense. There are multiple threats out there."
"Welcome, sir!" the Hunter Class chorused.
On the opposite side, the Hero Class reeled back in shock, and a few of them muttered about their sanity.
Jet laughed and waved for them to sit down. "At ease, kids."
They took their seats, a few of them hiding their faces in embarrassment.
"Alright everybody!" Spirit grinned. "Welcome to your first Threat Assessment and Adaptation class!"
The sound of party poppers and fanfare filled the air, and a few Hero Class students covered their faces in embarrassment from their teacher's antics.
"Wait a damn second," Nanami muttered. "Isn't that... Spirit?!"
The entire Hunter Class fell silent at the realization that a veritable celebrity was in front of them, then for the exact same reason, they began to whisper among themselves.
"Settle down," Jet ordered, silencing them.
"Good. I want you all to pay attention. You are allowed to record this lesson with your CIDs. After the lecture, questions will be asked, so listen carefully. If you're one of my students and you get a question completely wrong... well, I'll leave it up to your imagination."
A shiver went down the backs of his pupils.
"Ah, in that case, the same can be said for my students," Spirit said with a dark smile.
A shiver went through the Hero Class, and some of them glared at the opposite side as if it was their fault.
"Ah." Spirit chuckled as she sat on the podium reserved for lecturers. "You see, that hostility of yours is classified as a 'threat'."
Many members of the Hero Class turned to her in surprise.
"And now, it's up to the Hunter Class to interpret that 'threat'. That is 'assessment'."
"And after 'assessment'," Jet continued, "it's up to them to make a move based on that information. In other words: 'adaptation'."
Several students nodded, understanding the brief explanation.
"In more technical terms," Jet said, snapping his fingers. "A 'threat' is a statement, action, or situation that warns of danger, harm, or damage."
On the wall above the two teachers, a large white panel lit up, showing Jet's explanation. He continued:
"An 'assessment' is the systematic process of gathering, reviewing, and interpreting available information to understand the nature, severity, and implications of a situation.". I trust you all understand?"
"Yes, sir!"
Jet nodded. "I'll give you a few seconds to absorb this properly."
His words began typing themselves out on the screen, and a few seconds later, he continued as promised.
"Finally, 'adaptation' is the process or result of changing to better fit new conditions, environments, or challenges. In a nutshell, this lesson is about identifying a problem, understanding it, and coming up with ways to solve it."
Liam blinked repeatedly in surprise and growing excitement.
There's an actual CLASS on this?!
For someone like Liam, whose thought process mirrored the subject to some extent, it was an unexpected boon.
Lisa, who was sitting farther to the left between Hannah and Zoe, glanced in his direction.
Looks like PaxWiki's about to get a software update.
She chuckled quietly, and—
"What're you smiling at?" Hannah asked as she turned her head to the right. She noticed Liam, then turned around with a mischievous grin.
"Oh? Lisa~ Don't tell me you can't keep your eyes off him for—"
"Shut it." Lisa slapped a hand over Hannah's mouth and focused on the lesson. Spirit was speaking this time.
"There are several things that can be classified as threats, but the main goal of this class is to help you focus on the assessment and adaptation part. We'll focus on assessment for now. In a week or two, we'll begin adaptation."
"This is a pretty useful class," Obanai muttered as he glanced in Kazumi's direction.
"True that," Chul replied.
"Meh," Jayden chuckled as he put his hands behind his head. I don't really need it. I have my Venma after all."
A boy who looked like a taller, older version of him looked back and snapped: "Just because it corrects mistakes doesn't mean you adapt fully."
Jayden chuckled. "Relax, big bro. I'll be fine."
His brother clicked his tongue and turned away.
"Oh my."
Almost every student in the hall jumped out of their seat as Spirit appeared beside Jayden's row.
"What's this? Are you distracting each other from my class?"
Jayden froze up and began to sweat. Why is she so scary whenever something doesn't go the way she expects?! It's so confusing since she's rarely like this!
"U-um... well, I was... er..."
Spirit sighed and put a hand to her forehead.
"You've completely failed to answer my question properly. On top of that, you don't seem to be paying attention. If you had, you'd realize how the very lesson I'm teaching you can help you in this situation."
Jayden's eyes widened a little, and he glanced at the seat in front of him. His older brother was looking at Spirit, completely ignoring Jayden's presence.
"Looks like you'll be running punishment laps today," Spirit smiled coldly. "Prepare yourself."
Jayden blanched as Spirit vanished and reappeared at the teacher's podium.
"You keep saying 'my' lesson. Aren't we both teaching it?" Jet smiled.
Spirit giggled. "Oh, I didn't know you were that sensitive. Are all Hunters nitpickers like you?"
Jet shook his head. "No need to be rude, Spirit. I thought Heroes were nicer even behind closed doors."
The two smiled at each other, but the sparks flying between them were potent enough to make their students shiver.
"That aside," Jet said as he turned away. "Now you see how broad the scope of this subject is. Since we're starting with Assessment, I'll outline the process, then the phases behind it.
The process of Assessment is simple. First, observe. For example, you notice a change in your environment using your senses. For example, rain clouds appear in the sky above, and through your five senses, or maybe a weather report, you notice them.
Second of all, analysis. You process what you observed by comparing it to past experiences or knowledge you already have. For example, you start to think: what exactly does this situation lead to? What does it mean for my schedule? Something like that.
Third, decision making. You weigh your options based on your analysis and choose the best path forward to achieve your goal. An example would be realizing you have an umbrella to stop the rain, or that you could rush to nearby shelter.
Fourth, you take action or implement your decision in active engagement with the situation. Or, using the previous example, you go with either option. Personally, I'd take the umbrella."
"Yeah, yeah, get on with it," Spirit chuckled as she sat on the podium again and crossed her legs. Jet rolled his eyes and continued.
"And finally, the review. Reflect on what you've done and evaluate the final outcome to see if your choice worked, then store that information for the next time you face a similar situation. You can come up with an example yourselves."
Liam nodded. I'd definitely go with the umbrella, and carry one around just in case. I'm guessing that would be adaptation?
Nanami raised his hand.
"Yes, Chirin."
Nanami stood and asked: "Sir, don't we go through this everyday? Why do you need to break it down?"
Jet smiled. "Good question. The answer is: to make you more conscious of the decisions you make from now on."
The room fell silent.
"Should I say this? Why did I do this? What should I wear? All these questions and more have passed through your minds at some point, because they are conscious thought."
Jet paused for a moment, then Spirit continued.
"For those who act on impulse, these kinds of questions don't pop out that often, mainly because they move by 'instinct'."
Jet nodded, remaining silent.
"However, when you take on professions such as ours," Spirit said as she waved at herself and Jet, "Impulse can become a major hindrance. You can't face a Villain and suddenly say: Oh, I'm stronger, so I can win!"
Spirit's eyes narrowed, and her voice rose a little. "Never forget that you have more to lose than them. Innocent people may be around, their lives, livelihoods, and hopes rest on your shoulders. And you Hunters are no exception."
The Hunter Class looked at Spirit, some of them surprised.
Jet smiled. "Exactly. Don't forget, some monsters, rare though it may be, manage to make it into cities. And besides that, while on the hunt, you have to constantly take gear, your comrades lives, and your own strength into account, and that's just a few things."
Jet took a pause to let his words sink in.
"In short, the whole breakdown is to make you aware of what you should be doing in times of crises, and as we progress, the line between all five stages will begin to blur. That means you would have reached the stage where—"
Spirit's image wavered, and three loud thwacks could be heard before it stabilized with her fist in Jet's palm. Jet was still smiling at the students, then he slowly turned his head towards her.
"Woah."
"Awesome!"
"That was badass."
"Sick."
Both Jet and Spirit chuckled, and Spirit took the reins and faced the students. "You can reach the stage where you can do something similar to this without wasting a single second."
The students broke out into applause, and Spirit bowed. Jet covered his mouth and looked away with a chuckle, then he waved at the students to silence them.
"But before you can even consider doing that, you need to follow the rest of the class attentively, understood?"
All forty-nine students chorused: "Yes, sir!"
****
"That is officially my favorite class," Liam said as he walked out of the hall.
"You can say that again," Lisa said as she stretched.
"That is officially my favorite class," Liam chuckled.
Lisa rolled her eyes at him and looked at her CID. "What do we have after this?"
"Geography."
Lisa sighed deeply as they began to walk towards their classroom block. "Ugh, Plateau's class is so boring~!"
Liam laughed. "Plateau" is what Nanami had called their geography teacher after he walked out, because:
"His head is flat, and he teaches geography."
And so, most of the class had taken to calling their geography teacher that. Behind his back, of course.
"So," Liam said as they got closer to the class. "You wanna hang out today?"
"Hm?" Lisa looked up from her CID. "Oh, sorry, I can't. My group's meeting in the library after school, so I can't hang out."
Liam raised his eyebrows. "That's great. I was wondering when you'd make new friends."
Lisa scoffed and slapped his shoulder. "Don't be an idiot, PaxWiki. It doesn't suit you. Who do you think needs friends more, huh? Me, or you?"
Without missing a beat, Liam answered: "You."
"Why, you..."
Liam chuckled at the death glare she gave him.
"I'm used to being alone, Lisa," Liam waved at her. "You, on the other hand, aren't."
Lisa fell silent, and Liam noticed the shift in the mood. She pursed her lips and looked away, then sighed.
"I guess you're right. I never got used to being alone, since I was always surrounded by people who cared about me. But... you know."
"Your Venma."
"Yeah. I avoided people then, and I thought I was prepared for it now."
She turned to grin up at him. "I'm so glad you were here too. I probably wouldn't have been able to handle it."
Liam fell silent, taken aback by the smile.
"Lisa! Come over and check this out." Ruby waved as she jumped out of the crowd that was their class.
"Coming!" she waved back. She turned to Liam with a grin and punched his shoulder. "See ya!"
"...Y-yeah."
Liam put a hand on his chin as Lisa walked away.
What was that?