Insect Tamer's Ascension Chapter 504. Formations and the next battle

That warning silenced even the more bitter-looking students.

Theo took one last look at his camp before leaving with the others. On the way out, Cassie glanced at him and gave him a deep nod of gratitude.

Theo simply nodded back before making his way to the next building.

His next class was Combat Formations and Command Basics.

When he entered the room, the students there were already seated in a far more orderly manner than in the previous classes.

But the strangest part was that most of the students were different from the one who had attended the camping class.

The professor entered a minute later, and Theo could tell right away that the man had a military background.

His back was perfectly straight, faint scars marked his face, and one hand remained behind his back the entire time. If Theo ever were to see a military man in the future, he knew this would be it.

"I am Halren Voss," the man began in a heavy voice.

"In this class, you will learn why most groups fail before they even start a battle."

The statement was very vague, making Theo instinctively search for it in the book before realizing something.

’This professor teaches more than in the book...’ Theo thought.

While that was undoubtedly a good thing, it almost made cramming things from the book far less effective. For this class, detailed notes during the lectures felt like an absolute necessity.

"You may think strength is what decides victory," he said in a deep voice.

"But it is not. Your position, order, role and clarity decide it far more often."

That single line alone was enough to make Theo write it down immediately.

The professor continued.

"You will learn the purpose of frontliners, flankers, ranged attackers, support units, and reserve roles. You will learn how confusion spreads through a team and how a leader either fixes that... or dies with it."

The entire class remained silent.

"There will be no special treatment in this class. If your formation is weak, I will say it. If your command is useless, I will say it."

Theo felt like he was already starting to like this class.

The explanation continued for a while longer before the professor finally began drawing the first formation diagrams on the board.

By the time that class ended, Theo felt like his mind had become even more active than before.

But the day wasn’t over yet.

The last class before sunset was Beast Affinity Development Theory.

This professor had a completely different vibe.

He looked neat, composed, and a little too sure of everything he said.

"My name is Selvarin Kest," he introduced calmly while observing the class.

"This course will teach you how affinity shapes the path of a beast and why many tamers waste both their own talent and the talent of their beasts."

"You will learn which pairings are stable, which are wasteful, which are misleading, and which can never truly grow without special circumstances."

That line made Theo’s pen pause for a split second before he resumed writing.

The professor kept his hands behind his back and continued further, "By the end of this year, you all should be able to look at a tamer-beast pair and judge whether they are growing properly... or simply surviving under poor decisions."

Theo couldn’t help but feel the class was going to be very useful in many ways.

And just like that, before he could even sink deeper into thought, the first day of the second year finally came to an end.

Theo returned to his dorm, where both Clara and Elias were waiting for him.

Before he could tell them that they needed beetles and evolutionary material to experiment, an overwhelming sense of exhaustion hit him.

After freshening up, he immediately went to sleep.

That night, both the attendants witnessed Theo sleep like a log and wake up only the next morning.

Theo regretted it deeply. Part of him feared that the classes were already pushing both his mind and body too hard.

But at the same time, he couldn’t help but pity himself for trying to do even more while his mind already felt so cramped at the moment.

After having a really filling breakfast from a nearby restaurant early in the morning and then eating again in the cafeteria, the second day of classes began immediately.

The day itself was far from peaceful, but the best thing that happened was Theo securing the first place with a 99% score in the efficiency evaluation of his camp.

The professor even made a detailed report praising what appeared to be intentional planning and management within Theo’s camp, claiming it would benefit him greatly in the future.

And as expected, the muscular boy Theo wanted to approach had secured the second spot.

But the boy didn’t even glance toward Theo even once.

The second day passed as well, and on the third day, Theo received another message from the student body head.

"Your next tournament fight is against a third-year student, Theo. It’s three days from now, so make sure you are ready for it," Selmira said, concern visible on her face.

Before Theo could reply, she continued.

"This fight won’t be on the same level as the previous ones. Third-year students already specialize in specific combat styles they have discovered they are good at. You are not there yet."

And before Theo could open his mouth to speak, she interrupted him once again.

"And the headmaster told me about the deal he gave you... for you to make it into the Kingdom Games team, you will need to win six more tournaments. I honestly don’t know how you’re going to do that... Theo"

This time, Theo stopped himself, waiting to see if she was done yet or not. Once he was sure she was done, a smile appeared on his face.

"I have a trump card up my sleeve, Selmira. Don’t worry about me," he said while massaging his hand after today’s training.

"Three days from now, I will be victorious again, and no one will be able to stop me."