NOVEL FROG Chapter 20: Incompetence
–Hey, are you okay?– Zoey asked worriedly as she ran to help Scott, having to squeeze her way to him since everyone else was in the way, and they were all so absorbed by the current run that most didn’t even notice Scott lying on the ground. He found comfort in hearing her voice, but he could only respond with a weak nod and faint affirmative hum, which wasn’t enough to ease Zoey’s concern as she still tried aiding him.
–You did good. I know it was hard, but at least you finished with a good time…– Zoey added optimistically, but she was mostly ignored as Scott remained still and continued panting from exhaustion. She kneeled right next to him to check on his injuries, but since he was covered in mud, she only noticed where his pain was coming from when he groaned from the slightest movement of his left leg. Zoey tried to wipe the mud off his legs to uncover the several cuts below his knees, which had already stopped bleeding but still caused great discomfort when Scott tried to stand up.
–I’m fine, it’s nothing…– Scott mumbled in restrained pain, adamantly refusing any help from Zoey as he stood up on his own. He struggled to get up, and since he didn’t let Zoey help, she frowned with skepticism, but mainly concern. She looked around in search of Candy, who already had her eyes on Scott after noticing how he collapsed, but before Zoey could call her, Scott grabbed her by the arm to pull himself up.
–Come on, I’m good, see? Besides, I’m used to getting a little dirty…– Scott said lightheartedly, faking a confident smile to draw Zoey’s attention, who didn’t buy it but at least found it amusing. His bad attempt at seeming tough made her giggle, and seeing as he could now stand on his two feet without problem, her worries were left behind, alongside Scott’s pain.
–Right, just next time you should try to stay clean in case we get paired for an exercise…– Zoey responded teasingly, making Scott laugh nervously, but leaning into her response with a more flirtatious smile. He was still grabbing her arm to support himself, but when he remembered this, he immediately backed away to not get too close. Zoey didn’t seem to mind, though his reaction definitely caught her off guard. They laughed it off, and Scott walked over to the plaza to clean himself a little while Zoey stayed behind to watch the last couple of runs.
As he tried to wipe all the mud off his back, Scott distracted himself with a quick glance at Crisis, who seemed too focused on watching the rest of the students complete their run like everyone else. He fixed his gaze on Candy specifically, then looked down at his cuts and checked how serious they were. There was a fountain in the middle of the plaza, so he used some of the water to wash away the mud over his cuts, and once they were clean, he seemed more relieved to see that they weren’t deep enough to cause concern. He finished up cleaning and got back on his feet, walking back to his classmates with an energetic attitude and even a little excitement. And now that he was done with the circuit, he could watch how the others failed, or at least see if they would perform worse than him.
With the last students finishing their runs, the rest were surprised by how the morning passed by rather quickly. But even with the initial laps around the field, the various long-winded speeches about the training course, and everyone having their turn with the circuit, it was still bright outside, not as cloudy as before, but it was well past afternoon. Despite this, Scott and the other students were kept entertained watching how their peers failed at the obstacle course, even though they all had similar performances, except one that was extraordinarily agile.
It turned out that the two guys who spent the entire class teasing Scott didn’t really know how to save much time; they just followed everyone else’s approach, just slightly faster than Scott. They really only beat him on the first exercise, as well as saving more time running since his pace was slow, so they still managed to get faster times than him. They made sure to tease him about it when they finished their runs, but Scott kept ignoring them, paying more attention to the last student to run the course.
Everyone’s times, even Zoey’s, didn’t compare the fastest student, a guy around the same age as Scott, slightly shorter than him, with short dark blonde hair and a more feminine face and figure. He was the complete opposite of Scott’s bullies, but that’s what allowed him to HAVE the best time. He was able to replicate most of Kiwy’s movements, all but the ones that required her claws. Managing to mimic her for the most part, he ended barely under a minute, which was clearly the record, and let everyone know that the competition for the nickname was over; there was no chance to beat him.
With him being the last to run the course, Panda ignored all the other times and immediately congratulated him for his victory, but surprisingly, he wasn’t really excited or proud, just relieved. The other classmates seethed in envy, but now that everyone had completed the circuit, they had time to rest while they waited for Frost, Nitro, and Kiwy to come back. They had been in the office for about half an hour, taking much longer than when Candy, Panda, and Tricky were there, but they finally left the shack, with Frost immediately approaching Panda so he could take a look at all the times that he had written down. The students waited with bated breath, even though most of them already knew their results, but they were still nervous to see Frost’s reaction, which unexpectedly turned out to be fairly normal.
–Alright, it seems you all did pretty poorly, but that’s to be expected. At least no one took more than two minutes, so congrats for that, I guess…– Frost said casually before walking over to the start of the obstacle course while everyone gathered around. They seemed relieved to hear his response, and while he wasn’t impressed, it looked like no one, in particular, was getting chided, or even worse, receiving a bad nickname, though that didn’t mean they weren’t tense. They shut up and paid close attention as Frost resumed speaking, but one student wasn’t pleased by the way Frost disregarded the results, and as he was the only one to break the silence, everyone turned to him, letting Frost know exactly who dared to talk back to him.
–Weren’t you going to give a nickname to the person with the fastest time?– the same bully with light brown hair asked boldly, making everyone around him step back to not be near Frost’s gaze as he immediately stared at him. The guy dropped his self-assured attitude as soon as his eyes met Frost’s, but he didn’t take back his question, managing to look him right in the eye and wait for him to respond. However, it looked like Frost would take his time to answer, first approaching him slowly with subtle hostility, not making his intentions clear right away like usual, which fueled the student’s uncertainty. But as Frost got closer, the student did grow curious to see him think, which could only mean one thing.
–Right, I almost forgot… What is your name?– Frost asked in an overly cordial tone, which did have a sarcastic undertone, though the student failed to pick up on it. His teacher’s attitude was still enough to make him nervous, but he looked more flattered and hopeful after Frost responded positively.
–I’m Shane… Shane Walker– Shane replied with pride, cracking a chuckle as he turned to his classmates with the same cocky expression he had before. Frost nodded in response, taking a good look at him as if he were considering his skills and assessing his value. Seeing this, the student tried to remain modest, yet his grin showed that he truly believed he would receive the honor of the first neat nickname in class. However, his expression flipped as soon as Frost smiled mockingly.
–Did you really think you had the fastest time, Shane?– Frost asked with disdain, getting closer to Shane to make him sweat. He was so caught off guard that he couldn’t help but explain himself to avoid provoking Frost any further.
–Umm, no, I jus-...– Shane replied nervously as he struggled to look at Frost’s sneering eyes for more than a second. But since Frost didn’t have time for his excuses, he cut him off immediately, not wasting any more time on him as he turned around and walked back to his previous position, standing firmly in front of the entire class. And even though they wanted to, the students didn’t have time to laugh at Shane’s reaction. They all stayed silent and looked forward like obedient soldiers as Frost continued speaking.
–Yes, I will give a remarkable nickname to whoever performs best in my lessons… But you seriously expect to get it on the first one? If that were the case, you’d see everyone around the base with great names, but it isn’t that simple…– Frost said with the same level of contempt, now facing his students again and addressing them like usual by now. They all seemed a bit disappointed to hear this but were still relieved to not be chastised like Shane, though he knew he got off pretty easy, at least until Frost continued.
–A lazy, good-for-nothing like Shane has no right to receive a prestigious nickname, none of you have. You might have the potential to earn one, that’s another thing, though I don’t see it that way… The way I see it, you all are incompetent weaklings who know nothing about anything, including the ones that performed well. But don’t worry, I’m going to make sure all of you learn what it takes to be a competent soldier. You might not succeed, but you’ll have the knowledge, and that’s the point of this program…– Frost added with increasing intensity, almost sounding furious as he lectured his students, who were all too scared to say a word or even nod after hearing how Shane got called out. They continued staring at Frost as he diminished their skills and berated them for seemingly no reason, though most of them weren’t as surprised by this point. They just took his harsh words to heart, regarding it as fair and constructive criticism that hopefully would become useful in the future. But since they had nothing to say, Frost was pleased to see their compliant reactions and decided to move on.
–So, since it’s still bright outside and you won’t get lunch yet, I think we should continue with more exercises. What do you say?– Frost asked with a sudden change of demeanor, turning more enthusiastic on purpose to annoy his exhausted students, who collectively sighed but had no other choice but to comply. Frost chuckled but then instantly became more obstinate as he couldn’t sympathize with them.
–I don’t want to hear you complain, but luckily, if you want to take it out on someone, this next exercise will be perfect for you…– Frost added in a teasing manner, showing a complete lack of compassion, though he still managed to catch everyone’s attention and spark more interest. Eager to hear his proposition, the students listened closely as Frost elaborated on the next lesson.
–That’s right, we are going to see how you perform in a basic combat duel against each other. Choose who you want to fight now, or I will make the pairs. Hurry up…– Frost explained briefly, shocking most of the students with the idea, but giving them very little time to process the instructions. They panicked to find partners as soon as he was done talking, but among the many who didn’t get to process the idea of the next lesson, Scott just looked around in confusion. He was anxious to ask someone else to be his partner, and as he accidentally met Shane’s menacing stare, he quickly turned around, only for him to chase after him already.
In a frenzy, Scott tried to run away, which wasn’t easy when crammed in with everyone else. He squeezed his way between people to find a better partner than Shane, who was right behind him and getting closer, and as he was about to give up, Zoey stepped in between them before Shane could lay his hands on him. Surprised, Scott turned around to see that Zoey had her whole arm wrapped around his shoulder and was smiling at Shane to tease him. In response, Shane just scoffed and walked back to partner up with his friend, the other bully, who looked almost identical to him.
–You are welcome…– Zoey said playfully at a confused Scott, who was still in shock but couldn’t help but smile to see that Zoey saved him from Shane’s grasp, although he still didn’t fully realize what was happening.
–Oh, thanks… I thought for sure he was just going to beat me up…– Scott replied in relief but was still weary of Shane, keeping an eye on him even when he was already far away.
–I’m sure he was planning to…– Zoey laughed, getting a nervous smile from Scott, who turned awkward as Zoey kept hugging him with one arm, which she soon stopped doing to face him directly. He stared at her in utter confusion as she was about to say something from the way she looked at him, but since she was waiting for him to speak first, they just stared at each other in silence for a brief second. And after seeing that Scott wasn’t really getting her hint, she grinned mischievously.
–I guess now I get to beat you up…– Zoey added with a devious tone, getting Scott to laugh nervously as he didn’t know what she was referring to, creating another brief awkward silence until he realized that she was going to be his partner for the duel.
–Wait, you mean we are going to have a duel?– Scott blurted out anxiously, to which Zoey calmed him down by holding both of his hands in a friendly but affectionate manner, making him shiver.
–Yea, I’m sure it will just be a friendly fight, and who else to fight than my best friend?– Zoey responded with a big, cheerful, and affable smile as she stared right into his nervous eyes until he responded. He froze for a second and began thinking hard about what to say, but even though he seemed glad to have Zoey as his partner, as well as flattered to be called her best friend, he couldn’t ignore a major worry floating around his mind.
–Umm, sure, but I don’t know if Frost wants a friendly fight. I’m pretty sure he hates us…– Scott replied hesitantly, but Zoey just took it as a joke and laughed it off.
–He doesn’t hate us, I think. He just wants us to be the best we can be and that’s why he is so strict. Didn’t you have a teacher like him when you were younger?– Zoey asked in a reassuring but lighthearted manner, but she only managed to make Scott more insecure as he had to think even more about his response.
–Not really. All my teachers were sweet women who couldn’t even yell at me. Frost here seems more than capable of yelling. I wouldn’t be surprised if he just killed someone if they said the wrong thing to him…– Scott answered with an awkward smile, failing to relate to Zoey. She began to worry about him, but before she could get rid of his anxiousness, Frost had already begun giving orders.
–Alright, times up. I hope you all have your partner because we are starting now, we don’t have all day…– Frost announced impatiently, forcing a few students to make their decision, including Scott. Without a choice, Scott reluctantly agreed to fight Zoey with a hesitant nod, and in response, she nodded back with a warm smile to cheer him up.
–So, who doesn’t have a partner?– Frost asked, and surprisingly, no one raised their hand. He was slightly disappointed that there was no student left out, but at the same time, everyone managed to form couples fairly quickly, so he and his teammates became excited to get the next lesson going.
–Good. You are also lucky that there’s an even number of you because whoever was left would have to fight me…– Frost added jokingly, although his comment got more nervous smiles than laughs. He didn’t pay much attention to his students’ negative reactions to his poor joke, and to not waste any more time, he asked Panda to bring him a sheet with the class list. Panda reached for Tricky’s backpack and pulled out the list before handing it to Frost so he could start calling people to the front.
And just as everyone prayed to not be called first, Scott and Zoey continued holding hands in anticipation of the first duel. They couldn’t have a more different reaction to the situation they found themselves in, but even though Scott couldn’t calm himself down, he wasn’t panicking, as he still had time to mentally prepare himself before he had to fight Zoey in front of everyone. He was struggling to focus, and while he was not in the best shape to fight, he did have some enthusiasm deep in him to put on a show, or at least have fun with Zoey. However, it all changed when Frost opened his mouth and announced which couple would fight first.
–So, we are going in reverse alphabetical order, so the first duel will be…– Frost added before he began reading the list. But while the other students kept staring attentively at their teacher, Scott immediately noticed that the person right next to him became anxious all of a sudden. He couldn’t figure out why at first, but right before Frost called the name, he realized Zoey had every reason to fear and that he was unlucky enough to pick her as his partner.