It was a warm and sunny day. The birds were singing, kids were playing, and most importantly the...
King's Academy for the Prodigious
- Thread starter Khawy
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- Original Fantasy
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Summer's End
Khawy
TITANNNNNNNNNNN
- Location
- The United States of America
It was a warm and sunny day. The birds were singing, kids were playing, and most importantly the adults were still working. It was a week before the new semester starts.
Somewhere in the vast world of Nexus, on a particular hill surrounded by a sea of trees, sat a building resembling a majestic castle with a banner proudly flapping on the gates. The golden letters embroidered onto the banner spelled out - King's Academy for the Prodigious. A school for adventurers.
This was not just any old adventurer school, however. It was one of the top 6 adventurer schools in the entire world. At sixth place, the Academy garnered a lofty reputation. Of course, certain expectations would come for being such a famous school.
And that was why the Headmaster, the eponymous Drac O. King was currently in his office, signing some important documents and papers pertaining to the future of the school. His large, bandaged hand swiftly moved from one paper to the next, sunglasses keenly focused on the mountain of papers on the desk. The tribal symbols and writings on his bandages quivered and shook in correspondence with his annoyance.
The mummified headmaster was having troubles with the roster. Not with the students, mind you. He already had figured on how to group all those brats together. Rather, the teachers were his concern.
For the first time in his years as an educator, he had never come across this particular issue. Which was surprising to say the least. Since, after all, he had been the first and only headmaster of King's Academy, for about two hundred years and running.
Really, this was a head scratcher. Honestly, if it weren't for that damned war a while back, this would never have happened. And the fact that some of his very own teachers got involved with it, didn't make this any better, even worse was that those idiots got the student body involved in it too!
They were just kids, dammit!
*Crunch*
Looking at his right hand, his gaze settled down on a broken pen. Headmaster King sighed, and threw it gently into the nearby garbage bin, along with all the other broken writing utensils. Reaching into his drawer, he grabbed another pen. He silently lamented over how people don't make them like they used to.
Just as he was about to resume his work, a knock came from his door.
"Enter." King said, his deep and dignified voice tired from long nights of work sounded barely as authoritative as he would like it to.
The door gently pushed aside, a young suited man walked in with another stack of paperworks. Black, mid-parted hair lifted by a bandanna, framing a youthful, energetic face. Light gray eyes glanced over the room, taking a slight interest in the full garbage bin before settling on the paper-covered desk and the bandaged man in a pinstripe suit behind it.
"Sorry to say, sir, but you still have more paperworks to go through." The young man's jovial tone elicited a light chuckle out of the the mummified headmaster.
"That I do. Now, set them down over there in the corner, with the rest of them, young Amet." Signing his name onto yet another document, King tilted his head toward said corner.
The helpful young man nodded, walking over with a jaunty stride in his steps. Amet's eyes wandered over his boss's desk; his eyebrow lifted at a curious piece of document. Carefully putting down his stack onto the desk, the young assistant looked closely at that paper.
"Sir, have you not finalized the teacher roster yet? The semester starts next week." Amet casually said. Normally, anyone would watch their choice of words and tone around the large, muscular Headmaster. But Amet was a bit special. See, he wasn't just any assistant. He was the Assistant Headmaster. As an educator, King was clearly the superior one, but as a person who knew how to get things done, Amet's work ethic certainly impressed the Headmaster enough to allow such flippancy.
"Indeed, in all my years as headmaster of this fine institution, I have never encountered a problem like this one." King's sunglasses looked up, the man laid down his pen to the side. Stretching his arms above himself, fingers interlocking to break up the cramps. The symbols over his bandages ceased to stop in their shaking; King let out a breath, allowing himself this momentary relief.
"And that is?" The young man continued, walking in front of the desk to get a better look at the curious document.
As expected, it was a list of names. Not just the new students, but of the new teachers too.
"As you may have realized, that particular paper contains my current woe. You see, young Amet, I'm facing the particular issue of how to assign the homeroom teachers for the incoming freshmen." Headmaster King leaned back on his chair, hands coming down to his desk, fingers steepled over it.
"Yes, that would explain why you have that list of names, sir. However, that still doesn't explain why you took so long." Amet said, cupping a hand over his chin.
Headmaster King leaned in over his steepled fingers, sunglasses staring directly into Amet's questioning eyes. The tribal markings over his bandages slowly shook in anticipation.
A second became two, two became three. The mummified man's mouth began to move.
"They're all equally inadequate." He answered.
"Oh." Amet replied. "No wonder these names looked familiar. You sure it was wise to hire them in the first place?"
"Of course!" King gently laid his hands flat on his desk, passions overflowing. "What with that war, and recent openings in our staff, we have to ensure that our students receive the best education we can possibly offer."
"Sir, that still doesn't explain why it had to be them." Amet countered.
"Young Amet, what's the mission goal of our academy?" The Headmaster countered back with a question.
"To pass down valuable life experiences to build a better future, sir." The young Assistant Headmaster solemnly answered with his back ramrod straight, hands to the side.
"Yes, and if it weren't for that, I wouldn't even hired you in the first place." King said. "Give them a chance, Amet."
"Oh. Of course." The young man turned to the side, he sheepishly coughed into his hand. "Fair point, sir."
"Anyways, I have already sorted the new freshmen into six groups. But I can't seem to decide on the homeroom teacher placement." King said, casually spinning his pen in the air.
"Why not work from the bottom, sir? You know, pick the most capable one of them to handle the most rowdy group of kids." Amet offered up his solution.
"Like I said, they're all equally inept. But you may be on to something... " King ceased to spin his pen, his bandaged face scrunched up in contemplation.
"Then, why not put their names in a jar and draw lot from it, sir? To pick the homeroom teacher for the worst group of freshman, and then work from there." The young Assistant Headmaster asked.
The strange writings over the Headmaster's bandages suddenly began to glow in a bright light.
"Great idea, my boy!" Headmaster King said, slamming his hand down on the desk. The pen flew straight up, right into the ceiling tile. And as for the important documents and papers, as expected, they scattered all over the room. Thankfully, his desk was in one piece.
"Don't worry, sir, I will help you clean up and get through those papers." Amet laughed lightly, as he reached into his back, gripping onto something that was definitely not there before - a clay jar. He grabbed a paper from the air as he handed the jar to his boss. "But let's get the homeroom teacher business sorted out first, sir."
"You know me so well." King smiled, accepting the young man's offer.
Nodding his head, Amet looked at the paper in his hand. Noticing that it was the list of new students and teachers, he reached behind his back and pulled out another thing that was definitely not there before. In an instant, Amet carefully sliced through the paper with godlike precision and accuracy, only cutting out the teacher's names in perfect rectangles. An ethereal knife disappeared in motes of light as he grabbed the six names out of the air.
"Here, sir." The Assistant Headmaster said, as he dropped the paper slips into the jar.
"Great job as always, young Amet." Said young man scratched the back of his neck at his boss's praise.
"Think nothing of it, sir."
The Headmaster let out a breath in amusement, before turning his head to the side and reaching his hand into the jar. His face made no indication whether his eyes were close or not, but they were definitely closed for this serious occasion.
The office grew still as he drew a slip.
The name of the newly assigned Class 4-F's homeroom teacher was…
[] TRM-1N8R, or as most people would call it - Tim. It was a droid found in one of the Dimensional Cracks' dumping sites. For some odd reasons, it liked making metaphors relating to the acts of killing and allusions to a 'machine utopia'. What a silly joker that tin can was. However, it was amazing at calculations and deciphering mathematical puzzles, so it was obviously going to be the new geometry teacher.
[] Neftafaro III. An undead necromancer, supposedly a warlord whose empire spanned across multiple worlds. He too was found in one of the Dimensional Cracks' dumping sites. So, take his claim with a grain of salt. However, his necromancy was quite powerful and daresay breath-taking, so he may had a point. Anyways, he's the new history teacher. He was quite grouchy when hired for the position.
[] Yao Ling. A young man who fought in the War of Reckoning, the war that recently concluded and involved some of the teachers and students of King's Academy for the Prodigious. He was hailed as the Hero of Reckoning for defeating the ring leaders behind the conflict. Known for his hotblooded personality, he was definitely a bigger-than-life figure. Despite his astonishing swordplay that rivaled even the current Seven Heroes of Nexus, he applied to the Academy as an art teacher.
[] Maeve Morgan. A cursed woman found crawling through ancient ruins and Monster-infested dungeons. Wherever she went, trails of Monster corpses followed. The common cause of death seemed to be a fist-shaped imprint. From head to toe, the fragile, sickly woman was covered in eldritch black tattoos. She was hired as a physical education teacher, specializing in melee combat. She is strangely quite energetic.
[] Maximillien de Gounod. A mage who was found guilty on numerous criminal charges, one of them being negligent disposal of dangerous test subjects. He was sentenced to indefinite imprisonment, because the authority at that time did not have the means to execute him. Sealed within a tree for over a century, the newly freed mage was scooped up by Headmaster King for unknown reasons. He was assigned to be the new alchemy teacher.
[] Gigiluluga Xantha Telephyskal Zelotsusaka Belingula. A mouthful of a name, most people called "her" Gigi. A creature that insists that it is a normal female organism. A creature that resembles a Monster more than any other weird life-forms found on Nexus. The Headmaster suspected the she came from another dimension, but there wasn't any records of her coming through the Dimensional Cracks. She negotiated with the Headmaster to attain her biology teacher position. Do not stare directly at her for too long.
----
Welcome, one and all to King's Academy for the Prodigious! This will be my second quest, and technically first one alone. That one is a bit of a long story.
Anyways, that aside, let me get to the juicy part - the mechanics.
School Rules
Teacher Qualifications
Headmaster King had strange hiring practices. He preferred to recruit unique individuals who piqued his interest. All for the sake of finding all kinds of experience to be imparted to his students.
So, of course, you - the teacher, just like your colleagues - are a particularly Talented individual. Talents are more of an abstract concept. They denote the character's general traits and abilities. And as a teacher of King's Academy for the Prodigious, you are practically oozing with valuable experiences.
As long as I can internalize what they mean exactly to that character, I will apply them to the situation. Anyways, Talents won't be revealed until you pick a character. The short bios should give you guys some hints as to what each teachers might have, even if some are very vague.
A Guide to Students' Health and Happiness
The only mechanic that this quest will follow pertains to the students of Class 4-F. It's called Class Prep Level. It denotes the level of readiness the Class has, and how well they can handle obstacles thrown their way. I,e. midterms, school projects, school dances, combat tests, monster attacks, etc. It is your job as teacher to bring out the best in your students and hopefully max it out by the end of their fourth year.
Class Prep Level will act as a modifier on a 1d100. It will determine the degree of failure or success for the class as a whole.
Class 4-F currently has the Class Prep Level of 0.
Raising Class Prep Level is your job. They are going to be tiered by an increment of 10, meaning that the first 10 levels of Class Prep Level will have the same XP requirement, 11-20 will have the same, 21-30, etc. Except for level 0, it's special. You get the idea. However, getting something like level 10 to level 11 requires a special method to level it up. You will know it when you see it.
1-10 Needs 10 EXP (Garbage)
11-20 Needs 20 EXP (Lower Than Dirt)
21-30 Needs 40 EXP (Dirt)
31-40 Needs 50 EXP (Incompetent)
41-50 Needs 160 EXP (Getting There)
51-60 Needs 320 EXP (Competent)
61-70 Needs 640 EXP (On the High Road)
71-80 Needs 1280 EXP (Respected)
81-90 Needs 2560 EXP (Successful)
91-100 Needs 5120 EXP (Great Teacher [Insert Name Here])
To earn EXP, you have to be a good teacher and properly teach the class. EXP is earned at the end of each school week, outside of special circumstances. How you go about doing your job will affect the amount of EXP you will earn. The Class Prep Level reflects your ability as a teacher, the reason why it's 0 is because all the player character choices are all equally inept as teachers. Normally, these people wouldn't be hired without some extenuating circumstances, but those circumstances are currently at played. In any case, both students and teacher will sink or swim together.
Of course, at the end of each term (2 terms per semester, 8 weeks per term), Headmaster King will grade you accordingly. This is how Achievements and Titles are earned. They're cosmetic, but they're nice and shiny. Some rewards are tangible and will have an effect on the progress of this quest. Those will be kept secret until you unlock them.
This should be obvious, but sometimes you will hit a stumbling block when you work on leveling Class Prep Level. Usually, you will need to identify the problem student and work out their issues. But occasionally, certain Events must be accomplished before you can raise your Class Prep Level. Those will either show up when you are particularly close to a certain Class Prep Level or happen as a result of how you handle certain tasks.
Student-Teacher relationship is important. Your working relationship is also important. Actually, relationship in general is important. So, there will be a tab calls the Social Web where I will keep track of who's who and why are they important.
Anyways, I'm really new to this sort of stuff, so a lot of this are subject to change.
Somewhere in the vast world of Nexus, on a particular hill surrounded by a sea of trees, sat a building resembling a majestic castle with a banner proudly flapping on the gates. The golden letters embroidered onto the banner spelled out - King's Academy for the Prodigious. A school for adventurers.
This was not just any old adventurer school, however. It was one of the top 6 adventurer schools in the entire world. At sixth place, the Academy garnered a lofty reputation. Of course, certain expectations would come for being such a famous school.
And that was why the Headmaster, the eponymous Drac O. King was currently in his office, signing some important documents and papers pertaining to the future of the school. His large, bandaged hand swiftly moved from one paper to the next, sunglasses keenly focused on the mountain of papers on the desk. The tribal symbols and writings on his bandages quivered and shook in correspondence with his annoyance.
The mummified headmaster was having troubles with the roster. Not with the students, mind you. He already had figured on how to group all those brats together. Rather, the teachers were his concern.
For the first time in his years as an educator, he had never come across this particular issue. Which was surprising to say the least. Since, after all, he had been the first and only headmaster of King's Academy, for about two hundred years and running.
Really, this was a head scratcher. Honestly, if it weren't for that damned war a while back, this would never have happened. And the fact that some of his very own teachers got involved with it, didn't make this any better, even worse was that those idiots got the student body involved in it too!
They were just kids, dammit!
*Crunch*
Looking at his right hand, his gaze settled down on a broken pen. Headmaster King sighed, and threw it gently into the nearby garbage bin, along with all the other broken writing utensils. Reaching into his drawer, he grabbed another pen. He silently lamented over how people don't make them like they used to.
Just as he was about to resume his work, a knock came from his door.
"Enter." King said, his deep and dignified voice tired from long nights of work sounded barely as authoritative as he would like it to.
The door gently pushed aside, a young suited man walked in with another stack of paperworks. Black, mid-parted hair lifted by a bandanna, framing a youthful, energetic face. Light gray eyes glanced over the room, taking a slight interest in the full garbage bin before settling on the paper-covered desk and the bandaged man in a pinstripe suit behind it.
"Sorry to say, sir, but you still have more paperworks to go through." The young man's jovial tone elicited a light chuckle out of the the mummified headmaster.
"That I do. Now, set them down over there in the corner, with the rest of them, young Amet." Signing his name onto yet another document, King tilted his head toward said corner.
The helpful young man nodded, walking over with a jaunty stride in his steps. Amet's eyes wandered over his boss's desk; his eyebrow lifted at a curious piece of document. Carefully putting down his stack onto the desk, the young assistant looked closely at that paper.
"Sir, have you not finalized the teacher roster yet? The semester starts next week." Amet casually said. Normally, anyone would watch their choice of words and tone around the large, muscular Headmaster. But Amet was a bit special. See, he wasn't just any assistant. He was the Assistant Headmaster. As an educator, King was clearly the superior one, but as a person who knew how to get things done, Amet's work ethic certainly impressed the Headmaster enough to allow such flippancy.
"Indeed, in all my years as headmaster of this fine institution, I have never encountered a problem like this one." King's sunglasses looked up, the man laid down his pen to the side. Stretching his arms above himself, fingers interlocking to break up the cramps. The symbols over his bandages ceased to stop in their shaking; King let out a breath, allowing himself this momentary relief.
"And that is?" The young man continued, walking in front of the desk to get a better look at the curious document.
As expected, it was a list of names. Not just the new students, but of the new teachers too.
"As you may have realized, that particular paper contains my current woe. You see, young Amet, I'm facing the particular issue of how to assign the homeroom teachers for the incoming freshmen." Headmaster King leaned back on his chair, hands coming down to his desk, fingers steepled over it.
"Yes, that would explain why you have that list of names, sir. However, that still doesn't explain why you took so long." Amet said, cupping a hand over his chin.
Headmaster King leaned in over his steepled fingers, sunglasses staring directly into Amet's questioning eyes. The tribal markings over his bandages slowly shook in anticipation.
A second became two, two became three. The mummified man's mouth began to move.
"They're all equally inadequate." He answered.
"Oh." Amet replied. "No wonder these names looked familiar. You sure it was wise to hire them in the first place?"
"Of course!" King gently laid his hands flat on his desk, passions overflowing. "What with that war, and recent openings in our staff, we have to ensure that our students receive the best education we can possibly offer."
"Sir, that still doesn't explain why it had to be them." Amet countered.
"Young Amet, what's the mission goal of our academy?" The Headmaster countered back with a question.
"To pass down valuable life experiences to build a better future, sir." The young Assistant Headmaster solemnly answered with his back ramrod straight, hands to the side.
"Yes, and if it weren't for that, I wouldn't even hired you in the first place." King said. "Give them a chance, Amet."
"Oh. Of course." The young man turned to the side, he sheepishly coughed into his hand. "Fair point, sir."
"Anyways, I have already sorted the new freshmen into six groups. But I can't seem to decide on the homeroom teacher placement." King said, casually spinning his pen in the air.
"Why not work from the bottom, sir? You know, pick the most capable one of them to handle the most rowdy group of kids." Amet offered up his solution.
"Like I said, they're all equally inept. But you may be on to something... " King ceased to spin his pen, his bandaged face scrunched up in contemplation.
"Then, why not put their names in a jar and draw lot from it, sir? To pick the homeroom teacher for the worst group of freshman, and then work from there." The young Assistant Headmaster asked.
The strange writings over the Headmaster's bandages suddenly began to glow in a bright light.
"Great idea, my boy!" Headmaster King said, slamming his hand down on the desk. The pen flew straight up, right into the ceiling tile. And as for the important documents and papers, as expected, they scattered all over the room. Thankfully, his desk was in one piece.
"Don't worry, sir, I will help you clean up and get through those papers." Amet laughed lightly, as he reached into his back, gripping onto something that was definitely not there before - a clay jar. He grabbed a paper from the air as he handed the jar to his boss. "But let's get the homeroom teacher business sorted out first, sir."
"You know me so well." King smiled, accepting the young man's offer.
Nodding his head, Amet looked at the paper in his hand. Noticing that it was the list of new students and teachers, he reached behind his back and pulled out another thing that was definitely not there before. In an instant, Amet carefully sliced through the paper with godlike precision and accuracy, only cutting out the teacher's names in perfect rectangles. An ethereal knife disappeared in motes of light as he grabbed the six names out of the air.
"Here, sir." The Assistant Headmaster said, as he dropped the paper slips into the jar.
"Great job as always, young Amet." Said young man scratched the back of his neck at his boss's praise.
"Think nothing of it, sir."
The Headmaster let out a breath in amusement, before turning his head to the side and reaching his hand into the jar. His face made no indication whether his eyes were close or not, but they were definitely closed for this serious occasion.
The office grew still as he drew a slip.
The name of the newly assigned Class 4-F's homeroom teacher was…
[] TRM-1N8R, or as most people would call it - Tim. It was a droid found in one of the Dimensional Cracks' dumping sites. For some odd reasons, it liked making metaphors relating to the acts of killing and allusions to a 'machine utopia'. What a silly joker that tin can was. However, it was amazing at calculations and deciphering mathematical puzzles, so it was obviously going to be the new geometry teacher.
[] Neftafaro III. An undead necromancer, supposedly a warlord whose empire spanned across multiple worlds. He too was found in one of the Dimensional Cracks' dumping sites. So, take his claim with a grain of salt. However, his necromancy was quite powerful and daresay breath-taking, so he may had a point. Anyways, he's the new history teacher. He was quite grouchy when hired for the position.
[] Yao Ling. A young man who fought in the War of Reckoning, the war that recently concluded and involved some of the teachers and students of King's Academy for the Prodigious. He was hailed as the Hero of Reckoning for defeating the ring leaders behind the conflict. Known for his hotblooded personality, he was definitely a bigger-than-life figure. Despite his astonishing swordplay that rivaled even the current Seven Heroes of Nexus, he applied to the Academy as an art teacher.
[] Maeve Morgan. A cursed woman found crawling through ancient ruins and Monster-infested dungeons. Wherever she went, trails of Monster corpses followed. The common cause of death seemed to be a fist-shaped imprint. From head to toe, the fragile, sickly woman was covered in eldritch black tattoos. She was hired as a physical education teacher, specializing in melee combat. She is strangely quite energetic.
[] Maximillien de Gounod. A mage who was found guilty on numerous criminal charges, one of them being negligent disposal of dangerous test subjects. He was sentenced to indefinite imprisonment, because the authority at that time did not have the means to execute him. Sealed within a tree for over a century, the newly freed mage was scooped up by Headmaster King for unknown reasons. He was assigned to be the new alchemy teacher.
[] Gigiluluga Xantha Telephyskal Zelotsusaka Belingula. A mouthful of a name, most people called "her" Gigi. A creature that insists that it is a normal female organism. A creature that resembles a Monster more than any other weird life-forms found on Nexus. The Headmaster suspected the she came from another dimension, but there wasn't any records of her coming through the Dimensional Cracks. She negotiated with the Headmaster to attain her biology teacher position. Do not stare directly at her for too long.
----
Welcome, one and all to King's Academy for the Prodigious! This will be my second quest, and technically first one alone. That one is a bit of a long story.
Anyways, that aside, let me get to the juicy part - the mechanics.
School Rules
- No dice in general. As you can probably tell, all these teachers are very unique and capable individuals. So, I'm probably going to eyeball on what they can do by going through their traits and abilities.
- No write-ins, unless I ask for them.
- Speaking of write-ins, they will usually show up in high stake situations, so do take care on how you write them.
- For the most part, this quest will be freeform.
- Have fun! And don't forget to call out on my shit should something really shitty happen, and don't be afraid to point out what's wrong with this quest either!
Teacher Qualifications
Headmaster King had strange hiring practices. He preferred to recruit unique individuals who piqued his interest. All for the sake of finding all kinds of experience to be imparted to his students.
So, of course, you - the teacher, just like your colleagues - are a particularly Talented individual. Talents are more of an abstract concept. They denote the character's general traits and abilities. And as a teacher of King's Academy for the Prodigious, you are practically oozing with valuable experiences.
As long as I can internalize what they mean exactly to that character, I will apply them to the situation. Anyways, Talents won't be revealed until you pick a character. The short bios should give you guys some hints as to what each teachers might have, even if some are very vague.
A Guide to Students' Health and Happiness
The only mechanic that this quest will follow pertains to the students of Class 4-F. It's called Class Prep Level. It denotes the level of readiness the Class has, and how well they can handle obstacles thrown their way. I,e. midterms, school projects, school dances, combat tests, monster attacks, etc. It is your job as teacher to bring out the best in your students and hopefully max it out by the end of their fourth year.
Class Prep Level will act as a modifier on a 1d100. It will determine the degree of failure or success for the class as a whole.
Class 4-F currently has the Class Prep Level of 0.
Raising Class Prep Level is your job. They are going to be tiered by an increment of 10, meaning that the first 10 levels of Class Prep Level will have the same XP requirement, 11-20 will have the same, 21-30, etc. Except for level 0, it's special. You get the idea. However, getting something like level 10 to level 11 requires a special method to level it up. You will know it when you see it.
1-10 Needs 10 EXP (Garbage)
11-20 Needs 20 EXP (Lower Than Dirt)
21-30 Needs 40 EXP (Dirt)
31-40 Needs 50 EXP (Incompetent)
41-50 Needs 160 EXP (Getting There)
51-60 Needs 320 EXP (Competent)
61-70 Needs 640 EXP (On the High Road)
71-80 Needs 1280 EXP (Respected)
81-90 Needs 2560 EXP (Successful)
91-100 Needs 5120 EXP (Great Teacher [Insert Name Here])
To earn EXP, you have to be a good teacher and properly teach the class. EXP is earned at the end of each school week, outside of special circumstances. How you go about doing your job will affect the amount of EXP you will earn. The Class Prep Level reflects your ability as a teacher, the reason why it's 0 is because all the player character choices are all equally inept as teachers. Normally, these people wouldn't be hired without some extenuating circumstances, but those circumstances are currently at played. In any case, both students and teacher will sink or swim together.
Of course, at the end of each term (2 terms per semester, 8 weeks per term), Headmaster King will grade you accordingly. This is how Achievements and Titles are earned. They're cosmetic, but they're nice and shiny. Some rewards are tangible and will have an effect on the progress of this quest. Those will be kept secret until you unlock them.
This should be obvious, but sometimes you will hit a stumbling block when you work on leveling Class Prep Level. Usually, you will need to identify the problem student and work out their issues. But occasionally, certain Events must be accomplished before you can raise your Class Prep Level. Those will either show up when you are particularly close to a certain Class Prep Level or happen as a result of how you handle certain tasks.
Student-Teacher relationship is important. Your working relationship is also important. Actually, relationship in general is important. So, there will be a tab calls the Social Web where I will keep track of who's who and why are they important.
Anyways, I'm really new to this sort of stuff, so a lot of this are subject to change.
Day 1 - Adolescent Assignation
Khawy
TITANNNNNNNNNNN
- Location
- The United States of America
"Well then." Headmaster King said, staring at the slip that he drew.
"If things don't work out, I will work something out with the TA's, sir." Amet replied. "I'm sure that some of them will gladly assist the new teachers."
The Headmaster nodded, putting the slip of paper aside. Now that he had the foundation, the rest sorted itself out.
Another busy day for the working adults…
-----
One week later
All was well with the world. No Monster incursion, no terrorist attack, no countries going to war with one another over the pettiest reason, and most importantly, the students have arrived on time.
Returnees and newcomers alike walked through the courtyard of the majestic adventurer school. Idle chitchats and gossips reverberated throughout the courtyard, youngsters frolicking around with nary a care in the world. However, there was an edge in this seemingly ordinary atmosphere, the undercurrent of worry and unease that seemed to seep into a conversation every now and then.
There were dark words flowing about, a foreboding omen to the more superstitious students. Sightings of an unsupervised Monster in the academy.
This tension grew. Hushed whispers and muffled footsteps, talks of Monster infiltrating the campus spread. Of a creature made of putrid, rotten flesh and vile tentacles, loitering by the school's garden.
Words quickly spread, first by a student who came very early to class, then a pair of gossiping girls, to a boy drinking some suspicious liquid, and finally to the students dispersing from the ballroom. The more curious and reckless of the students however took it upon themselves to find out if the rumor was true.
You really don't know what was up with that rumor. Or the concept of rumors actually, now that you think about it. Rumors were a strange alien concept to you. You really don't get why mortals feel the needs to talk about things other people are doing, rather than doing it themselves. But enough of that, you have not fully grasp the subtleties of a conversation, so you were not going to dwell on it.
Instead, you were going to water these beautiful plants before attending the entrance ceremony.
"Holy shit, are you seeing this right now, man?"
"Yeah, what the hell, did Franken let loose one of his creations again?"
"Nah, can't be, dude was fired, remember? "
"Oh yeah, I heard about that. So it was really true that King rooted out a bunch of teachers, huh. Man, what a bummer, Miss Qilin was hot too."
"Yeah… I'm going to miss her. Anyway, looks like that thing doesn't even know that we're here. Let's get a little closer…"
Putting that aside, you were really enjoying being out here in the sunlight. It was not something you could really do these past few...days? Or was it weeks? Maybe even months? Who knows, it was definitely an extended stretch of time. Anyways, Assistant Headmaster Amet had requested that you hid your presence until the time is right. What with your aesthetics, you saw no points in refuting it, so you agreed. Now that it was the start of the semester, you can finally come out of the containment facility.
You noticed that your watering can just went empty. Oh deary, it seemed that you still were not used to this plane. Things were finite around here after all. Look liked it was time for a refill.
"Quick, it's getting away! Take pictures while it hasn't seen us yet!"
Your lower tendrils slithered across the warm green grass, students stepping aside for you as you make your way to the fountain. Such nice and respectful boys and girls. You really did the make right choice to come teach here.
"Oh gods, what is it doing? Is it trying to poison the water supply?"
"Someone, go get Mister Eagle! We have a crisis on our hand!"
"It was the government, I tell you! They're putting chemicals in the water to pollute our minds and bodies. They're going to turn us into Monsters!"
"Shut up, dumbass. And stop hanging around that stupid janitor, only bullshit spews out of that guy's mouth."
Oh, what a lively bunch! Even if they were talking about a bunch of nonsense. You supposed that this was how adolescents communicated with one another. It was somewhat interesting actually. According to your studies, mortals acted like buffoons at a certain age period, but then spontaneously lose most of that trait later in their life. So, in a way, you were observing a sacred ritual that will become obsolete in time.
Looking carefully at the brim of your watering can, you saw that it was full. You poked a finger in. The water moved under your touch, swaying back and forth. Satisfied with the amount of water, you slithered back to the garden.
"Wait, is it just watering plants? Boring."
"Ughh, what a waste of time. I'm leaving."
"Man, we missed it."
"Missed what? We came and saw the walking tentacle thing everyone was talking about. All it did was water some plants. It's actually pretty interesting though, seeing something that looks like an abomination doing menial tasks."
"I get you. But nah, it's something else. Apparently, some chick saw a half-naked werewolf running around, with three other half-dressed dudes trailing him."
"What."
"Yeah, man. Got even more news, get this. Seems like the chick passed out, she said it was because of the overwhelming odor of alcohol on the werewolf."
"Woah. What a legend."
"I know, right? Looks like some dudes were partying hard on campus-ground. The Assistant Headmaster isn't going to be happy about this."
"Shit, do you know who they are?"
"Nope, my source is telling me that they're new around here. Not sure if they're transfer or freshman though. Either way, those guys have got some balls on them."
"Mad respect, yo."
Wow, they were still chattering. Such a lively bunch indeed. You hoped that the students under your care were just as lively. Everyone was so full of energy around here, very different from your home plane. Life here seemed fun!
"Excuse me. May I have a moment of your time?" A smooth, gentlemanly voice called out to you.
"Yes. How can I help you?" You replied, craning your pale, fleshy neck towards the man.
"Ah, such a melodious and lovely voice, there is only one person you can be. Miss Belingula, I would like to introduce myself, I am Niall, I teach the Dungeoneering course in this fine academy." The tall, gaunt man said. Now that you can actually see him, he appeared as what his voice suggested.
A gentleman, even if his limbs were longer and thinner than they should be. Dressed in a high quality suit, the man was the pinnacle of fashion.
However, his most notable feature was not his sense of style. Rather, it was his head.
Or lack of one.
Where his head should be was an elegant treasure chest. A treasure chest with rows of very sharp teeth. A treasure chest that was chomping down on his neck.
You can clearly see the drool dripping down from its mouth.
Must be a fashion statement.
"Oh, thank you. I've been working on my vocal cords. It took quite some tries before I've got it to a satisfactory level." You said, pointing to your neck. "Nice to meet you, Niall. You can call me Gigi. How come I've never seen you around until now?"
"I was unfortunately preoccupied with a task the Headmaster gave me. That was why I wasn't there for the welcoming party for you and the others." Niall said, a shadowy limb crawled out of the treasure's gaping maw, taking a napkin from his breast pocket and dabbed some drools off from his suit. "However, I have heard of you from our fellow colleagues, and I knew that I have to meet you."
"Hm?" You asked, rotating the rest of your body.
"Yes, to finally have someone like myself on the staff. If you need any help adjusting to normal society, you can come to me anytime. You can find me in my classroom, Class 2-B." Once the shadowy limb had finished cleaning up, it retreated back into the treasure chest with a slurp.
"Oh! Thank you for the offer. But I thought I was the only one that came here…" You tilted your head in curiosity. You were quite sure that the others weren't interested in this plane.
"We may not come from the same place, but your situation is quite similar to mine when I first started here." Niall said, voice sombre.
"Ah, I see. You didn't mean it literally." You nodded at this astounding revelation.
"Quite." Niall chuckled. The treasure chest chuckled too. "Although, I did not see you during the entrance ceremony; in fact, I only saw that Yao fellow out of the new hires. Pleasant man, if a bit of a handful."
"Wasn't it supposed to start at 8 o'clock?" You asked, putting down the watering can.
"That was forty minutes ago, Gigi." The dapper man sighed in exasperation.
"But that's...." You looked up to the bright, orange celestial object to determine Nexus's relative position and angle. "Oh! You're right! Sorry, I am still not used to here."
"It's fine. I was like that too once upon a time." Your colleague waved off your concern. "Anyways, it's getting quite late for us teachers to loiter around here. Class is about to start soon. It was nice meeting you, Gigi. I wish you the best of luck."
"You too, Niall."
The Dungeoneering teacher waved farewell, taking his leave. You returned his wave. The treasure chest waved back with its shadowy pseudopod.
What an interesting man.
You pushed the flesh in your back outward. Muscles and tendons pulsing as bones calcified and broke at a rapid pace. Veins and arteries extended into the budding appendages. Flesh molding, keratin overlaying, skin membranes stretching, and boness thickening. Finally, you made yourself a pair of wings!
You stretched them out, flapping as you lift yourself off the ground. Once in the air, you continued to rise. Gaining elevation until you reached a sufficient height. You looked for your assigned classroom, angling your body towards it.
With a resounding crash, you entered the classroom.
And all at once, eyes turned toward you.
And you looked back.
A strange scene greeted you. Actually, it wasn't a scene. It was a multitude of events, all acting in tandem to one another.
A well-dressed boy with glasses was quite close to a pale, fanged girl, teeth and fangs baring as if they're going to bite each other's face off. Three other students was behind the glasses-wearing boy, making exaggerated movements and gestures.
A dangerous delinquent boy was lifting a smiling boy by the collar of his uniform. Two weak looking boys and a mousy girl cower behind the perpetual smiler.
A spiky haired boy playing a card game with another student, a boy who seemed to be made of nothing but muscles.
A handful of students seated in the back row, trying to pretend that none of this was happening. Judgemental glares and looks of contempts were thrown around. An elegant, blonde girl casted the coldest piercing gaze of all.
A shifty-looking boy immersed in his magazine, on its cover was a picture of a crossbow. There was a girl hovering over him. The boy was in his own little world, he didn't even notice that the girl was staring at him intensely.
Huddled together in a group, another set of students were chatting and typing on their mobile handheld devices. They talked rather loudly to drown out the commotion.
An eyepatched girl dressed in a modified uniform stood at the front of the class, on top of your desk no less, about to scream something with her finger pointed towards the ceiling. It seemed that you interrupted what she was going to say.
In this chaotic scenery, everyone stopped what they were doing and gave you their full undivided attention.
You rose to your full height and took in the scene. Everyone was so chock full of energy, you can already tell that it was going to be a great year!
But first, you need to address...
[] The eyepatched girl standing on your desk. From your studies on mortals, you knew that standing on furniture was a rude and bad behavior that should be frowned upon. Proper decorums and socially-accepted behaviors must be enforced, lest your students become lowlife scums!
[] The angry delinquent and his violent impulses. It was in the teacher's manual and school's policy that bullying is prohibited. You need to mete out the proper punishment upon this boy before he starts hanging around the wrong crowd.
[] The argument between the pale girl and the glasses wearing boy. This particular scene seemed familiar to you somehow. Ah yes, it was from your studies on romance. It seemed that this couple was having some issues and decided to air out the dirty laundry in public, so to say. However, you were having none of that, not in your classroom at least. That couple should resolve their issue without dragging everyone along with it.
[] The issue of the students bringing out distracting items, like cards and mobile handheld devices, in the middle of class. As an educator you will not tolerate the students being this disrespectful! Well, that was what the teacher's manual recommended for you to do in this situation.
---
And teacher's profile updated~
"If things don't work out, I will work something out with the TA's, sir." Amet replied. "I'm sure that some of them will gladly assist the new teachers."
The Headmaster nodded, putting the slip of paper aside. Now that he had the foundation, the rest sorted itself out.
Another busy day for the working adults…
-----
One week later
All was well with the world. No Monster incursion, no terrorist attack, no countries going to war with one another over the pettiest reason, and most importantly, the students have arrived on time.
Returnees and newcomers alike walked through the courtyard of the majestic adventurer school. Idle chitchats and gossips reverberated throughout the courtyard, youngsters frolicking around with nary a care in the world. However, there was an edge in this seemingly ordinary atmosphere, the undercurrent of worry and unease that seemed to seep into a conversation every now and then.
There were dark words flowing about, a foreboding omen to the more superstitious students. Sightings of an unsupervised Monster in the academy.
This tension grew. Hushed whispers and muffled footsteps, talks of Monster infiltrating the campus spread. Of a creature made of putrid, rotten flesh and vile tentacles, loitering by the school's garden.
Words quickly spread, first by a student who came very early to class, then a pair of gossiping girls, to a boy drinking some suspicious liquid, and finally to the students dispersing from the ballroom. The more curious and reckless of the students however took it upon themselves to find out if the rumor was true.
You really don't know what was up with that rumor. Or the concept of rumors actually, now that you think about it. Rumors were a strange alien concept to you. You really don't get why mortals feel the needs to talk about things other people are doing, rather than doing it themselves. But enough of that, you have not fully grasp the subtleties of a conversation, so you were not going to dwell on it.
Instead, you were going to water these beautiful plants before attending the entrance ceremony.
"Holy shit, are you seeing this right now, man?"
"Yeah, what the hell, did Franken let loose one of his creations again?"
"Nah, can't be, dude was fired, remember? "
"Oh yeah, I heard about that. So it was really true that King rooted out a bunch of teachers, huh. Man, what a bummer, Miss Qilin was hot too."
"Yeah… I'm going to miss her. Anyway, looks like that thing doesn't even know that we're here. Let's get a little closer…"
Putting that aside, you were really enjoying being out here in the sunlight. It was not something you could really do these past few...days? Or was it weeks? Maybe even months? Who knows, it was definitely an extended stretch of time. Anyways, Assistant Headmaster Amet had requested that you hid your presence until the time is right. What with your aesthetics, you saw no points in refuting it, so you agreed. Now that it was the start of the semester, you can finally come out of the containment facility.
You noticed that your watering can just went empty. Oh deary, it seemed that you still were not used to this plane. Things were finite around here after all. Look liked it was time for a refill.
"Quick, it's getting away! Take pictures while it hasn't seen us yet!"
Your lower tendrils slithered across the warm green grass, students stepping aside for you as you make your way to the fountain. Such nice and respectful boys and girls. You really did the make right choice to come teach here.
"Oh gods, what is it doing? Is it trying to poison the water supply?"
"Someone, go get Mister Eagle! We have a crisis on our hand!"
"It was the government, I tell you! They're putting chemicals in the water to pollute our minds and bodies. They're going to turn us into Monsters!"
"Shut up, dumbass. And stop hanging around that stupid janitor, only bullshit spews out of that guy's mouth."
Oh, what a lively bunch! Even if they were talking about a bunch of nonsense. You supposed that this was how adolescents communicated with one another. It was somewhat interesting actually. According to your studies, mortals acted like buffoons at a certain age period, but then spontaneously lose most of that trait later in their life. So, in a way, you were observing a sacred ritual that will become obsolete in time.
Looking carefully at the brim of your watering can, you saw that it was full. You poked a finger in. The water moved under your touch, swaying back and forth. Satisfied with the amount of water, you slithered back to the garden.
"Wait, is it just watering plants? Boring."
"Ughh, what a waste of time. I'm leaving."
"Man, we missed it."
"Missed what? We came and saw the walking tentacle thing everyone was talking about. All it did was water some plants. It's actually pretty interesting though, seeing something that looks like an abomination doing menial tasks."
"I get you. But nah, it's something else. Apparently, some chick saw a half-naked werewolf running around, with three other half-dressed dudes trailing him."
"What."
"Yeah, man. Got even more news, get this. Seems like the chick passed out, she said it was because of the overwhelming odor of alcohol on the werewolf."
"Woah. What a legend."
"I know, right? Looks like some dudes were partying hard on campus-ground. The Assistant Headmaster isn't going to be happy about this."
"Shit, do you know who they are?"
"Nope, my source is telling me that they're new around here. Not sure if they're transfer or freshman though. Either way, those guys have got some balls on them."
"Mad respect, yo."
Wow, they were still chattering. Such a lively bunch indeed. You hoped that the students under your care were just as lively. Everyone was so full of energy around here, very different from your home plane. Life here seemed fun!
"Excuse me. May I have a moment of your time?" A smooth, gentlemanly voice called out to you.
"Yes. How can I help you?" You replied, craning your pale, fleshy neck towards the man.
"Ah, such a melodious and lovely voice, there is only one person you can be. Miss Belingula, I would like to introduce myself, I am Niall, I teach the Dungeoneering course in this fine academy." The tall, gaunt man said. Now that you can actually see him, he appeared as what his voice suggested.
A gentleman, even if his limbs were longer and thinner than they should be. Dressed in a high quality suit, the man was the pinnacle of fashion.
However, his most notable feature was not his sense of style. Rather, it was his head.
Or lack of one.
Where his head should be was an elegant treasure chest. A treasure chest with rows of very sharp teeth. A treasure chest that was chomping down on his neck.
You can clearly see the drool dripping down from its mouth.
Must be a fashion statement.
"Oh, thank you. I've been working on my vocal cords. It took quite some tries before I've got it to a satisfactory level." You said, pointing to your neck. "Nice to meet you, Niall. You can call me Gigi. How come I've never seen you around until now?"
"I was unfortunately preoccupied with a task the Headmaster gave me. That was why I wasn't there for the welcoming party for you and the others." Niall said, a shadowy limb crawled out of the treasure's gaping maw, taking a napkin from his breast pocket and dabbed some drools off from his suit. "However, I have heard of you from our fellow colleagues, and I knew that I have to meet you."
"Hm?" You asked, rotating the rest of your body.
"Yes, to finally have someone like myself on the staff. If you need any help adjusting to normal society, you can come to me anytime. You can find me in my classroom, Class 2-B." Once the shadowy limb had finished cleaning up, it retreated back into the treasure chest with a slurp.
"Oh! Thank you for the offer. But I thought I was the only one that came here…" You tilted your head in curiosity. You were quite sure that the others weren't interested in this plane.
"We may not come from the same place, but your situation is quite similar to mine when I first started here." Niall said, voice sombre.
"Ah, I see. You didn't mean it literally." You nodded at this astounding revelation.
"Quite." Niall chuckled. The treasure chest chuckled too. "Although, I did not see you during the entrance ceremony; in fact, I only saw that Yao fellow out of the new hires. Pleasant man, if a bit of a handful."
"Wasn't it supposed to start at 8 o'clock?" You asked, putting down the watering can.
"That was forty minutes ago, Gigi." The dapper man sighed in exasperation.
"But that's...." You looked up to the bright, orange celestial object to determine Nexus's relative position and angle. "Oh! You're right! Sorry, I am still not used to here."
"It's fine. I was like that too once upon a time." Your colleague waved off your concern. "Anyways, it's getting quite late for us teachers to loiter around here. Class is about to start soon. It was nice meeting you, Gigi. I wish you the best of luck."
"You too, Niall."
The Dungeoneering teacher waved farewell, taking his leave. You returned his wave. The treasure chest waved back with its shadowy pseudopod.
What an interesting man.
You pushed the flesh in your back outward. Muscles and tendons pulsing as bones calcified and broke at a rapid pace. Veins and arteries extended into the budding appendages. Flesh molding, keratin overlaying, skin membranes stretching, and boness thickening. Finally, you made yourself a pair of wings!
You stretched them out, flapping as you lift yourself off the ground. Once in the air, you continued to rise. Gaining elevation until you reached a sufficient height. You looked for your assigned classroom, angling your body towards it.
With a resounding crash, you entered the classroom.
And all at once, eyes turned toward you.
And you looked back.
A strange scene greeted you. Actually, it wasn't a scene. It was a multitude of events, all acting in tandem to one another.
A well-dressed boy with glasses was quite close to a pale, fanged girl, teeth and fangs baring as if they're going to bite each other's face off. Three other students was behind the glasses-wearing boy, making exaggerated movements and gestures.
A dangerous delinquent boy was lifting a smiling boy by the collar of his uniform. Two weak looking boys and a mousy girl cower behind the perpetual smiler.
A spiky haired boy playing a card game with another student, a boy who seemed to be made of nothing but muscles.
A handful of students seated in the back row, trying to pretend that none of this was happening. Judgemental glares and looks of contempts were thrown around. An elegant, blonde girl casted the coldest piercing gaze of all.
A shifty-looking boy immersed in his magazine, on its cover was a picture of a crossbow. There was a girl hovering over him. The boy was in his own little world, he didn't even notice that the girl was staring at him intensely.
Huddled together in a group, another set of students were chatting and typing on their mobile handheld devices. They talked rather loudly to drown out the commotion.
An eyepatched girl dressed in a modified uniform stood at the front of the class, on top of your desk no less, about to scream something with her finger pointed towards the ceiling. It seemed that you interrupted what she was going to say.
In this chaotic scenery, everyone stopped what they were doing and gave you their full undivided attention.
You rose to your full height and took in the scene. Everyone was so chock full of energy, you can already tell that it was going to be a great year!
But first, you need to address...
[] The eyepatched girl standing on your desk. From your studies on mortals, you knew that standing on furniture was a rude and bad behavior that should be frowned upon. Proper decorums and socially-accepted behaviors must be enforced, lest your students become lowlife scums!
[] The angry delinquent and his violent impulses. It was in the teacher's manual and school's policy that bullying is prohibited. You need to mete out the proper punishment upon this boy before he starts hanging around the wrong crowd.
[] The argument between the pale girl and the glasses wearing boy. This particular scene seemed familiar to you somehow. Ah yes, it was from your studies on romance. It seemed that this couple was having some issues and decided to air out the dirty laundry in public, so to say. However, you were having none of that, not in your classroom at least. That couple should resolve their issue without dragging everyone along with it.
[] The issue of the students bringing out distracting items, like cards and mobile handheld devices, in the middle of class. As an educator you will not tolerate the students being this disrespectful! Well, that was what the teacher's manual recommended for you to do in this situation.
---
And teacher's profile updated~
Last edited:
Day 1, Part 2 Youthful Escalation
Khawy
TITANNNNNNNNNNN
- Location
- The United States of America
"You there, violent boy with the other boy in your hand. Stop that." You scolded him. "Bullying on school's ground is prohibited and will not be tolerated."
The violent delinquent dropped the boy in his hands. His eyes widened as he began to realize that you were speaking to him. The other students were watching this development.
You took this opportunity to close the distance between yourself and the boy, tentacles dragging across the cool stone floor. You adopted the stern teacher pose from your teacher's manual. According to it, the pose was a guaranteed way for your students to take you seriously.
"Now, what is exactly going on here?" You asked, the delinquent boy flinched, taking a step back. In the corner of the black pits you called eyes, the other boy breathed a sigh of relief. He also has his eyes trained on you.
"Who are you supposed to be?" The delinquent took this moment to speak first. His deep bass voice reverberated through still room.
"Can you not tell?" You asked, tilting your skull cage. Oh darn, it seems that your students don't even know who you are.
The boy shook his head.
"Why I am your homeroom teacher!" You pointed your fleshy hand to yourself. "Gigiluluga Xantha Telephyskal Zelotsusaka Belingula, but for some reason people from this plance can't say my full name, so you can call me Miss Gigi." You proudly raised your pale thorax.
"Miss?"
"What? That thing is a chick?"
"What is the meaning of this? Where's the hot female teacher! This was supposed to be the start of my cherry high school life!"
"Get a life, nerd."
"Shut up, you play children's card games!"
"Oh good, she's not competition. Biggsby is all mine."
"Huh? Sasha? You said something?"
"Oh nothing, deary~"
All at once, the class erupted into a cascade of noise and energy. Ah, that how should it be. While your teacher's manual recommended that you have a hold on to your students, it also recommended you create an environment where the students do not feel oppressed.
Honestly, you don't really understand the concept. How can you do one thing that is mutually exclusive to the other, but still do the other thing in tandem to the first thing?
What a strange way of thinking.
But never mind that, you still have a situation at hand.
"Miss Gigi, I will say it frankly, I'm doing everyone a favor if I beat the ever-loving shit out of that snake's face. Right here and right now." The delinquent jammed his fists into his pockets, tilting his chin at the smiling boy. His voice rumbled with barely contained anger.
"Ouch, that hurts, Zon. I thought we were friends. I mean, you, me, and these guys." The boy swept his arms to the side, indicating the three other students behind him. They look confused and scared. "We got along pretty well during the entrance exam. What gives?"
"What gives? What gives?! You know what gives, Tycho. You know full well what you did." The delinquent - Zon took a step forward. However, you held your appendages, stopping him from doing something that was totally against the school policy.
"Mister Zon, please calm down. You are disturbing the rest of the class." You tilted your skull cage to the side, showing him how much of a disturbance he was. Some students were crowding around you, including the couple and their three hanger-ons. Some of the students got their mobile handheld devices out, ready to use that photography feature you heard about. Even the eyepatched girl got down from your desk and joined in on the crowd. "If you have any issues with your classmate, please them bring up to the faculty or me. And beating up a student you claimed is a snake is not conductive to school's policy either. He have limbs, he can't be a snake. He's a lizard."
Perfect, just like how the teacher's manual instructed.
Zon's eyes widened in surprise. The other boy - Tycho sputtered in disbelief. A laugh came from the crowd, and before you knew it, the situation lightened up.
"Yeah, you're right, teach. I guess a lizard will keep on shedding its tail when it's most convenient to." Zon stepped down, not before throwing one last glare at Tycho.
"Hey, that was uncalled for. My fragile feelings are hurt, you know." The smiling boy replied with an exaggerated gasp, his hand on his chest indicating that his fragile feelings were indeed hurt. But going by his voice and tone, Tycho's feelings were not hurt.
Ah, this must be what that strange social phenomenon you read about - sarcasm. What a confusing concept. Why do mortals say what they don't mean?
"Your face is going to hurt even more if you don't shut your trap." Zon said from his desk, legs spread out, leaning back on his chair.
"Love you too, buddy. I'm sure we can talk out our differences later." Tycho replied with a wink. The crowd dispersed, each students going back to their desk now that the commotion was dying down. His ever-present smile did not quite reach his eyes.
"She should have punished Zon more. That guy is a handful."
"What are they fighting over anyway? We're friends in class so I'd certainly get them tickets at discount."
"Gods, can't they see that they will never be awesome as me? So why bother fighting over it?"
"Oh no! I hope Aodinia, Zeke, and Yu are alright, it must have been so scary."
The elegant, blonde girl's gaze lowered in intensity, from a raging blizzard to a cool breeze.
An intelligible string of indignant words from the eyepatched girl. Was she a pirate? You'd like to meet a pirate.
And lastly, a boo came from the spiky-haired boy playing card game with his muscular friend.
The three other students that were previously cowering behind Tycho were fettered. Limbs shaking and head turning, eye wide in confusion. Tycho flashed them a reassuring smile as he walked pass by. The two weak-looking boys, a scrawny and a chubby, and the mousy girl all let out a breath.
With that shenanigan settled, you walked to the front of the class, bringing out the attendance roster from your desk. As soon as the class period officially begins, your students quiet down and sat in their seat like good little students. You went through the attendance roster, noting down your students' appearance and what stood out about them.
For obvious reasons, the names Zon Maddem and Tycho Makaveli stood out to you. They were currently the two students that drew everyone's attention. You also recognized the eyepatched girl - Catala Ogurah Danic Randangian. You felt a strange kinship with her. You were not sure why, but it was there.
Just as you finished taking attendance, the school broadcasting system came on. A familiar voice emanated from the speakers above.
"Welcome to King's Academy for the Prodigious, students." Amet said. "I know that you all are stuck in vacation mode, but I plead you all to slow down and think carefully of what you will do from now on. Yes, that means not throwing a party or drinking copious amount of alcohol on campus. At King's Academy, we believe that students learn best from experiences, so if any cases like this ever pop up again, be assured that I will personally handle your education. That is all."
Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed the glasses wearing boy - Kei visibly shrunk into his seat. One of his friends pat him on the back with a cocky smile. The pale, fanged girl - Steffina - continued to give him the stink eye. You really should talk to them about this lover's quarrel at some point.
Afterwards, homeroom proceed normally as the teacher's manual would like you to believe. There were some chatter and several students playing on their mobile handheld devices. But all in all, it was much calmer than earlier. Seemed like everyone exhausted themselves while rough housing in your room.
The agenda for today, you went through the each and every one of your students' introductions.
"Hi, everyone! I'm Akemi Hayashi! You may recognize me from the idol group Stardew Valley Drop. I like to sing and dance for everyone on stage! I hope that we all get along this year!"
"Hm? Who, me? Narshian Deen, you should have my name memorized because I am absolutely perfect."
"I'm Larissa Abelgor. I don't have many hobbies, likes or dislikes. I guess I am a pretty boring person."
"Lloyd Boltrun. I play sports I guess. My favorite one is water polo."
"Hello. I'm Biggsby Mason and I would like to get along with everyone this year. If you have any problem with math classes you can come to me for help."
"Ah, you're so kind, Biggsby~ Oh, right. Sasha Smalls. I practice archery."
Class went on like this, you tried your best to memorize and note down their general attributes. So many students! So many to keep track of! Wew, this was going to be a tough job
Finally, the bell rang, you dismissed them to their next class. However, you stopped a certain student from leaving of your classroom.
"Zon, I would like to speak with you later. Please drop by my class during lunch period." You asked worriedly. As a teacher, you needed to work with this boy lest he joined a gang and become a criminal.
Oh the horror.
To your surprise, Zon nodded civilly.
Yay. Maybe he wasn't a total lost cause just yet.
Now that your homeroom period ended, it was officially time for you to start teaching. You were hired as the biology teacher and you were quite sure of your knowledge on the subject. After all, your Greater Self was composed of so many species you can't even track of anymore. Surely, somewhere in there you can draw your information on the fauna and flora.
"Miss Gigi? The heck is a necromorph?"
"Miss Gigi, I'm sure that's not a griffon, that's a hippopotamus."
"That's a pelican, Miss Gigi. Not a parrot."
"Yes, Miss Gigi, platypi are a thing. I'm not sure why, but they are."
Oh right, your Greater Self was composed of all sort of creatures that fell into the rift of the Dimensional Cracks. Duh, of course they were not going to be Nexus-exclusive.
Well, on the bright side, you did educate them on creatures from different dimensions. You were not going to let this one little defeat get you down! You had a whole eight weeks ahead of you!
"Oh gods, we have eight whole weeks left with her."
Lunch time came, and Zon showed up as promised, a bag of food in his hand.
"So, teach, you want to speak with me about something?" The wayward delinquent asked.
"Yes, it's about your problem with Tycho." You replied.
Zon sighed, putting his bag of food on a table.
"Figures. Like I've said, I would do everyone a favor if I get to pummel his shit-eating face in." He cracked his knuckles to make a point. But you have no idea what he was trying to insinuate. "Bastard is a filthy lying snake who needs to be humbled."
"Violence is prohibited." You crossed your appendages, the pseudo-limbs sinking into each other.
"He deserves it, for what he did to me. I want to beat that waste of skin and make him pay for messing with me!" Zon growled, his fist instinctively slamming down. Once he realized what he had done, he quickly uncurled his fist and laid it flat on a desk.
"Sorry, I have a bit of a temper."
"Oh, that's fine. You mortals get very excited about certain things, I understand." You nodded. "Now, can you tell me what exactly he did to you?"
Zon looked to the side, refusing to meet your the black globes you called your eyes. Muttering something under his breath.
You leaned forward.
He leaned back.
You keep leaning.
He stepped back.
This wasn't working…
[] No! You're going to keep pushing this matter. You have to have him open up to you or he will keep getting into scuffles with Tycho. You need to show him that you're a reliable teacher that is always available to help.
[] Maybe you should back off. As a fellow solitary creature, you can tell that he wanted to be left alone. Maybe he would be insulted if you don't trust him to handle his own problem. He was a delinquent after all.
[] If he refused to open up, fine. Send him to the guidance counselor, Mr. Eagle. If he refused your help, then maybe Mr. Eagle will have a better chance than you do. He was the go-to person for help after all.
-----
And student's roster is updated!
The violent delinquent dropped the boy in his hands. His eyes widened as he began to realize that you were speaking to him. The other students were watching this development.
You took this opportunity to close the distance between yourself and the boy, tentacles dragging across the cool stone floor. You adopted the stern teacher pose from your teacher's manual. According to it, the pose was a guaranteed way for your students to take you seriously.
"Now, what is exactly going on here?" You asked, the delinquent boy flinched, taking a step back. In the corner of the black pits you called eyes, the other boy breathed a sigh of relief. He also has his eyes trained on you.
"Who are you supposed to be?" The delinquent took this moment to speak first. His deep bass voice reverberated through still room.
"Can you not tell?" You asked, tilting your skull cage. Oh darn, it seems that your students don't even know who you are.
The boy shook his head.
"Why I am your homeroom teacher!" You pointed your fleshy hand to yourself. "Gigiluluga Xantha Telephyskal Zelotsusaka Belingula, but for some reason people from this plance can't say my full name, so you can call me Miss Gigi." You proudly raised your pale thorax.
"Miss?"
"What? That thing is a chick?"
"What is the meaning of this? Where's the hot female teacher! This was supposed to be the start of my cherry high school life!"
"Get a life, nerd."
"Shut up, you play children's card games!"
"Oh good, she's not competition. Biggsby is all mine."
"Huh? Sasha? You said something?"
"Oh nothing, deary~"
All at once, the class erupted into a cascade of noise and energy. Ah, that how should it be. While your teacher's manual recommended that you have a hold on to your students, it also recommended you create an environment where the students do not feel oppressed.
Honestly, you don't really understand the concept. How can you do one thing that is mutually exclusive to the other, but still do the other thing in tandem to the first thing?
What a strange way of thinking.
But never mind that, you still have a situation at hand.
"Miss Gigi, I will say it frankly, I'm doing everyone a favor if I beat the ever-loving shit out of that snake's face. Right here and right now." The delinquent jammed his fists into his pockets, tilting his chin at the smiling boy. His voice rumbled with barely contained anger.
"Ouch, that hurts, Zon. I thought we were friends. I mean, you, me, and these guys." The boy swept his arms to the side, indicating the three other students behind him. They look confused and scared. "We got along pretty well during the entrance exam. What gives?"
"What gives? What gives?! You know what gives, Tycho. You know full well what you did." The delinquent - Zon took a step forward. However, you held your appendages, stopping him from doing something that was totally against the school policy.
"Mister Zon, please calm down. You are disturbing the rest of the class." You tilted your skull cage to the side, showing him how much of a disturbance he was. Some students were crowding around you, including the couple and their three hanger-ons. Some of the students got their mobile handheld devices out, ready to use that photography feature you heard about. Even the eyepatched girl got down from your desk and joined in on the crowd. "If you have any issues with your classmate, please them bring up to the faculty or me. And beating up a student you claimed is a snake is not conductive to school's policy either. He have limbs, he can't be a snake. He's a lizard."
Perfect, just like how the teacher's manual instructed.
Zon's eyes widened in surprise. The other boy - Tycho sputtered in disbelief. A laugh came from the crowd, and before you knew it, the situation lightened up.
"Yeah, you're right, teach. I guess a lizard will keep on shedding its tail when it's most convenient to." Zon stepped down, not before throwing one last glare at Tycho.
"Hey, that was uncalled for. My fragile feelings are hurt, you know." The smiling boy replied with an exaggerated gasp, his hand on his chest indicating that his fragile feelings were indeed hurt. But going by his voice and tone, Tycho's feelings were not hurt.
Ah, this must be what that strange social phenomenon you read about - sarcasm. What a confusing concept. Why do mortals say what they don't mean?
"Your face is going to hurt even more if you don't shut your trap." Zon said from his desk, legs spread out, leaning back on his chair.
"Love you too, buddy. I'm sure we can talk out our differences later." Tycho replied with a wink. The crowd dispersed, each students going back to their desk now that the commotion was dying down. His ever-present smile did not quite reach his eyes.
"She should have punished Zon more. That guy is a handful."
"What are they fighting over anyway? We're friends in class so I'd certainly get them tickets at discount."
"Gods, can't they see that they will never be awesome as me? So why bother fighting over it?"
"Oh no! I hope Aodinia, Zeke, and Yu are alright, it must have been so scary."
The elegant, blonde girl's gaze lowered in intensity, from a raging blizzard to a cool breeze.
An intelligible string of indignant words from the eyepatched girl. Was she a pirate? You'd like to meet a pirate.
And lastly, a boo came from the spiky-haired boy playing card game with his muscular friend.
The three other students that were previously cowering behind Tycho were fettered. Limbs shaking and head turning, eye wide in confusion. Tycho flashed them a reassuring smile as he walked pass by. The two weak-looking boys, a scrawny and a chubby, and the mousy girl all let out a breath.
With that shenanigan settled, you walked to the front of the class, bringing out the attendance roster from your desk. As soon as the class period officially begins, your students quiet down and sat in their seat like good little students. You went through the attendance roster, noting down your students' appearance and what stood out about them.
For obvious reasons, the names Zon Maddem and Tycho Makaveli stood out to you. They were currently the two students that drew everyone's attention. You also recognized the eyepatched girl - Catala Ogurah Danic Randangian. You felt a strange kinship with her. You were not sure why, but it was there.
Just as you finished taking attendance, the school broadcasting system came on. A familiar voice emanated from the speakers above.
"Welcome to King's Academy for the Prodigious, students." Amet said. "I know that you all are stuck in vacation mode, but I plead you all to slow down and think carefully of what you will do from now on. Yes, that means not throwing a party or drinking copious amount of alcohol on campus. At King's Academy, we believe that students learn best from experiences, so if any cases like this ever pop up again, be assured that I will personally handle your education. That is all."
Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed the glasses wearing boy - Kei visibly shrunk into his seat. One of his friends pat him on the back with a cocky smile. The pale, fanged girl - Steffina - continued to give him the stink eye. You really should talk to them about this lover's quarrel at some point.
Afterwards, homeroom proceed normally as the teacher's manual would like you to believe. There were some chatter and several students playing on their mobile handheld devices. But all in all, it was much calmer than earlier. Seemed like everyone exhausted themselves while rough housing in your room.
The agenda for today, you went through the each and every one of your students' introductions.
"Hi, everyone! I'm Akemi Hayashi! You may recognize me from the idol group Stardew Valley Drop. I like to sing and dance for everyone on stage! I hope that we all get along this year!"
"Hm? Who, me? Narshian Deen, you should have my name memorized because I am absolutely perfect."
"I'm Larissa Abelgor. I don't have many hobbies, likes or dislikes. I guess I am a pretty boring person."
"Lloyd Boltrun. I play sports I guess. My favorite one is water polo."
"Hello. I'm Biggsby Mason and I would like to get along with everyone this year. If you have any problem with math classes you can come to me for help."
"Ah, you're so kind, Biggsby~ Oh, right. Sasha Smalls. I practice archery."
Class went on like this, you tried your best to memorize and note down their general attributes. So many students! So many to keep track of! Wew, this was going to be a tough job
Finally, the bell rang, you dismissed them to their next class. However, you stopped a certain student from leaving of your classroom.
"Zon, I would like to speak with you later. Please drop by my class during lunch period." You asked worriedly. As a teacher, you needed to work with this boy lest he joined a gang and become a criminal.
Oh the horror.
To your surprise, Zon nodded civilly.
Yay. Maybe he wasn't a total lost cause just yet.
Now that your homeroom period ended, it was officially time for you to start teaching. You were hired as the biology teacher and you were quite sure of your knowledge on the subject. After all, your Greater Self was composed of so many species you can't even track of anymore. Surely, somewhere in there you can draw your information on the fauna and flora.
"Miss Gigi? The heck is a necromorph?"
"Miss Gigi, I'm sure that's not a griffon, that's a hippopotamus."
"That's a pelican, Miss Gigi. Not a parrot."
"Yes, Miss Gigi, platypi are a thing. I'm not sure why, but they are."
Oh right, your Greater Self was composed of all sort of creatures that fell into the rift of the Dimensional Cracks. Duh, of course they were not going to be Nexus-exclusive.
Well, on the bright side, you did educate them on creatures from different dimensions. You were not going to let this one little defeat get you down! You had a whole eight weeks ahead of you!
"Oh gods, we have eight whole weeks left with her."
Lunch time came, and Zon showed up as promised, a bag of food in his hand.
"So, teach, you want to speak with me about something?" The wayward delinquent asked.
"Yes, it's about your problem with Tycho." You replied.
Zon sighed, putting his bag of food on a table.
"Figures. Like I've said, I would do everyone a favor if I get to pummel his shit-eating face in." He cracked his knuckles to make a point. But you have no idea what he was trying to insinuate. "Bastard is a filthy lying snake who needs to be humbled."
"Violence is prohibited." You crossed your appendages, the pseudo-limbs sinking into each other.
"He deserves it, for what he did to me. I want to beat that waste of skin and make him pay for messing with me!" Zon growled, his fist instinctively slamming down. Once he realized what he had done, he quickly uncurled his fist and laid it flat on a desk.
"Sorry, I have a bit of a temper."
"Oh, that's fine. You mortals get very excited about certain things, I understand." You nodded. "Now, can you tell me what exactly he did to you?"
Zon looked to the side, refusing to meet your the black globes you called your eyes. Muttering something under his breath.
You leaned forward.
He leaned back.
You keep leaning.
He stepped back.
This wasn't working…
[] No! You're going to keep pushing this matter. You have to have him open up to you or he will keep getting into scuffles with Tycho. You need to show him that you're a reliable teacher that is always available to help.
[] Maybe you should back off. As a fellow solitary creature, you can tell that he wanted to be left alone. Maybe he would be insulted if you don't trust him to handle his own problem. He was a delinquent after all.
[] If he refused to open up, fine. Send him to the guidance counselor, Mr. Eagle. If he refused your help, then maybe Mr. Eagle will have a better chance than you do. He was the go-to person for help after all.
-----
And student's roster is updated!
Last edited:
Day 1, Part 3 Nostalgic Observation
Khawy
TITANNNNNNNNNNN
- Location
- The United States of America
You leaned in closer, the gaping abyss staring at Zon's face.
His face reddened, eyebrows ticking.
You pushed closer.
"Okay, teach! Personal space!" Zon held his hands up, and you stopped. "Just stop with that creepy stare alright?"
You drifted back, crossing your appendages together in triumph. Wew, finally you got through to him. One step closer to being a properly certified teacher!
Zon sat on top of a desk, sighing to the side. He massaged his right hand. You took a curious glance at it. There seemed to be a series of red curved lines running up his hand.
"Where to begin…" He took his time to organize his thoughts. "I guess it would have to be the start of the combat portion of the entrance exam."
"I had just gotten out of the written portion of the exam…."
----
The written exam was tough, Zon thought. He had prepared and studied for it, taking whole weekends off just to make sure that his bases were covered. Long nights of sweats and blood, eyes barely able to focus on what was front of him. The mental pain that he had to endure, from going through those practice tests repeatedly.
And it paid off.
He only had to guess on five questions, the rest came to him. He had saw them on his preparations, worked and reasoned through them as if it was second nature for him.
But now, it was time for the real test to begin.
The combat exam.
He had heard tales of this particular portion of the entrance exam. Some went into excruciating details about the gruesome Monsters the faculty employed and the ways the examinees were taken out, like a big tentacled Monster ripping people apart. Of how the faculty not only aggravate the Monsters, but also how they purposefully turn a blind eye when Monsters were close to deliver a fatal blow on hopeful students. Of course, he knew that those stories were bullshit, made up to scare off weaker candidates from taking the exam.
If the school had allow those sort of actions, then it wouldn't be standing to this day.
Hell, that would attract lawsuits and mudrakers like flies.
Rumors were just rumors, but that didn't stop the rest of his fellow examinees from shaking like tree branches in the middle of a storm.
As he was massaging the cramp in his neck, a mousy, glasses wearing girl accidentally bumped into him. Zon turned his gaze to her.
"Awawawa, I-I'm sorry!" The girl held her hands out, face scrunching up to the side. Her eyes did not dare to meet his. "Please don't hurt me!"
Zon sighed. Not again. Seriously, he was only tired from all those study sessions. Why do people keep doing this to him?
Thinking about it was giving him an even worse headache.
"It's fine." He said, but the girl continued to shake nonetheless. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you." He waved his face in front of her glasses.
The girl did not change her shaking stance. It seems that his words did not get through to her or something. What a pain in the ass.
He laid his hands on her shoulders, and the girl's eyes widened in surprise. Instinctively, she brought her arms to shield her face.
"Awawawa! Please forgive me! I don't know what I did but don't hurt me please." The girl pleaded out loud, bystanders turning their head to this little commotion. "Don't hurt me don't hurt me don't hurt me."
Zon grunted. Oh come on.
He stopped his shakedown of the girl, and leveled himself down to her eye level.
"Okay, knock it off. You can stop that now." His voice softer, he moved his hands away from the girl's shoulder. She peeked from beneath her huddled arms. His palms facing towards the girl to placate her. "Look, it's fine, I'm not going to hurt you, I was in your way when you walked into me, sorry about that."
"Y-You're sorry? But I'm the one that bumped into you!" The girl insisted otherwise, her meek voice gaining strength. "I should be the one that apologizing! Here, I'm sorry!" The mousy girl bowed with all her might.
Zon schooled his face, keeping it neutral to not show his annoyance. Why do people keep insisting making these grand gestures around him. A plain 'sorry' or 'thank you' would have been enough.
Zon nodded, accepting her apology, and walked past her, his hands jammed into his pockets. He threw a glare towards the onlookers, who in turn scattered.
"H-Hey, where do you're going? You can't just leave a lady hanging like that, especially after what you've done to her!" The girl all but shouted.
The onlookers resumed their mummerings and attention.
Zon's eyebrows shot up in alarm. Oh gods, not one of those types.
Quickly, he ran back and grabbed the girl's hand. Bringing her with him to the combat exam's station.
"There, happy?" He asked in a grouchy voice.
The girl elegantly responded with another wave of 'awawawa'.
He pushed through the crowd, with the girl in tow. Murmers followed wherever they went. What a pain.
Coming to a stop, Zon let go of the confused girl's hand. He turned towards her, his shadow looming over her small frame.
"The name's Zon Maddem." He spit to the side.
"Huh?" The doe-eyed girl once again replied with such elegance.
"The least you can do to make it up to me for getting the crowd riled up is giving me your name." He tilted his head towards a couple of gossiping bystanders.
The girl followed his sight, mouthing a small 'oh'.
"Aodinia Yoyorio." Her small voice was inaudible to Zon.
"Say that again, I couldn't quite catch that." He said, bringing his ear lower.
"Aodinia Yoyorio!" The meek girl screamed into his ear, causing him to jump back.
Zon brought his hand to nurse his poor ear. This was a handful, why was he bothering with this again? Oh right, because he wanted the girl to stop making a scene. But it seemed that making scenes was her talent or something.
"No need to shout, you could have just said it normally the first time." Zon said, with a hint of exasperation in his voice.
"S-Sorry." Aodinia stuttered.
"Stop saying that every single second. It's grating on my nerves." Said Zon, as he walked on ahead.
"Sorry!" The girl continued to apologize despite being told not to. "H-Hey, where are you going! Wait for me."
The girl tagged along quietly, her face down to avoid onlookers.
Zon shrugged with his back to her, strolling at a leisure pace to next testing site. His hanger on can come with him or whatever. It wasn't like he cared either way. Just as long she didn't cause any more commotion and he would be fine with it.
But why the hell were people still staring?
Ughhh, what a bunch of idiots. If they had time to gossip, they have to psyche themselves up for the test. Gods.
However, something caught his eye. For a second there, he thought he saw someone smirking at him. He suddenly stopped in his stride, Aodinia bumping into him with an 'ow'.
"My bad. That one was my fault." Zon quickly apologized. "Anyway, we're here now. Go do whatever you want."
"O-Okay…" The glasses wearing girl said, following after Zon like a stray puppy. The young man just clicked his tongue.
"Hey! You guys over there, you all look a little lost." An energetic voice called over from a distance. A young man with short, somewhat spiky black hair followed by a scrawny white-haired boy and a chubby, short boy.
Zon raised an eyebrow at the sudden intrusion.
"Yo, the name's Tycho. Thought my friends and I should come over and say hello. You guys sure look interesting." The smiling young man introduced himself. "A tough guy and a frightened girl tagging along."
"Hello, I'm Zeke, and uhhh, Tycho thought that we should get to know each other." The white haired boy said in a weak voice. Ughh, not another one of those type. He already had to deal with Aodinia.
"And I'm Yu, nice to meet you guys!" The chubby boy said sharply, his posture trembling from trying a little too much.
Zon narrowed his eyes. Something seemed...off. But no, he shouldn't judge someone by their appearance. Even if Tycho came off a little too friendly right off the start.
"I'm Zon, and that's Aodinia." He said, tilting his head towards the mousy, shy girl. "So how did you guys think you did on the written exam?"
Tycho made a face, exaggerating his discomfort, pulling on the collar of his shirt.
"Yeah… Didn't do so hot on it." He chuckled. "But I think I will get the combat exam down. Should be a breeze."
The other boys with him nodded fiercely.
"Yeah, we've got a plan!" The white-haired one, Zeke said.
"Tycho have got this whole test figured out!" Yu proclaimed. "We're going to ace it!"
Aodinia stepped from you back and turned her head curiously.
"W-What are you guys talking about? What did you mean by 'we'? You can't team up for the test." The girl said. "I-If we could, then what would be the point of the test then? If we can't clear the obstacles by ourselves then what's the point of us being adventurers?"
Zon stood silently, eyebrows scrunched up.
"Well, see, I looked through the rules and asked the current students about it, the test proctor is a surprisingly lax man." Tycho began explaining. "While the rules didn't say anything about teaming up, it didn't mention that we couldn't team up either."
He was right, the rules didn't say anything about it. The only thing that discouraged examinees from teaming up was point distributions. According to the pamphlet given to the examinees when they walked into the initial testing sites, it listed out how points were earned and how much the examinees needed to complete the test. So, if people were teaming up with one another, they would have to work distributing all those points to each individual person. However, that would create a situation where everyone would be teaming up, and that obviously would mean that there would be less points going around overall. The only way to get a guaranteed passing grade was to be the fastest team around. Which was an already farfetched plan….
"Exactly what are you thinking about, Zon." Tycho gave him a wink. Zon in turn felt the need to punch someone. "I'm putting together together a group of individuals whose abilities are compatible with each other. And that's why I'm extending my invitation to you guys."
"What do you mean by that? Where did you even learn that?" Zon asked, suspicions seeping in. Something really was off.
"Uh...That would be me." Zeke stepped in. "My eyes can see a lot of things. Like what special abilities everyone possess and the details surrounding them. But that's the extent of them, I can't really do much with them besides that… Ehehehe…"
Zon raised an eyebrow.
"Hey man, it's not like adventurers go off by themselves, they usually group themselves into a party of four to five people. Besides, with eyes like those, you are guaranteed to be in a party in the future." Zon stated offhandedly. "These school exams are pretty much the weird ones. I guess they want to see individual abilities and then focus on cultivating on teamwork afterwards."
"T-Thanks, man. I mean it…" Zeke twirled his thumbs, eyes looking at the ground. "It's just like Tycho said, my eyes can be of use to you guys."
Zon quirked an eyebrow at the aforementioned person. Who in turn replied with a weary smile.
"Yeah, I've been telling him that for a while, Zeke has just got to believe in himself more." Tycho answered.
Yu nodded his head vigorously.
"Yeah, his eyes are the key to our plan, we are looking for people with abilities that complement ours nicely." The chubby boy began. "But we had several issues trying to get people into teaming up with us. They think that we are going to hold them back."
Tycho nodded his head sagely.
"Yup, we were kinda bump out when those guys keep rejecting us or in some case already had plans with some of their friends." Tycho said.
"What makes you think me or her are going to join hand with you guys?" Zon asked. Their plan sounded reasonable, but he needed a little more than that to collude with them.
Aodinia, on the other hand, was seriously considering that. She scrunched her face in thoughts, weighing the pros and cons of this decision.
The two other boys with Tycho were shuffling nervously, muttering 'please' in small, feeble voices.
"Well, I really don't have an incentive for you to join us beside the already mentioned guaranteed grade." Tycho bit into his thumb, eyes looking into the cloud for inspiration. But then suddenly he snapped his finger. "Actually, wait, there's one thing though. See, before coming here I had some talks with a couple of friends in the school."
Zon piqued his eyebrow in curiosity.
Tycho smirked, carefully observing Zon's reaction.
"Heh, those guys have loose lips, so I was able to convince them to part with several important information pertaining to the Monster distribution for the test area." Tycho continued. "Of course, I don't have any of those written down, so you have to go by my words for this."
"I-I will do it! I will join you guys." Aodinia suddenly spoke up. Tycho continued to smile, and Zon continued to scowl. She gave Zon a beseeching look, hands offered. He kept his face stone cold.
"Welcome aboard, little lady. Glad to have you on the team." Tycho gave her a firm handshake, bringing the meek girl to his side. But as Zon was about to say something, the sudden loud yelling of the test proctor got their attention.
Right as the hopeful examinees take their place to listen the instruction being given, Tycho gave Zon one last word before making off with his little group.
"Offer is still open, but you have to hurry before the test begins." Words passed on, nestling deep into his ear canal, processing the information in them. Zon was really tempted.
The test proctor gave out his instructions. It seemed that due to the influx of more examinees this year and on account of the normal combat exam grader being absent for the day, they had to change how they will grade the exam for this portion. The proctor introduced everyone to the Combatscantron-bot. It was supposed to take the place of the usual grader, and it had an accuracy of 99.999%, so it was definitely certified to assess the results for this exam.
All the while, Tycho didn't look fazed at all, but rather with barely contained excitement.
After the recitation, the examinees were let out to the testing site, the ever-smiling Tycho approached Zon.
"So, what is your decision?" He asked.
"Yeah, I will take you up on that." Zon said, a ferocious smile tugging his lips. The red marks on his hand glew with dim light. "Where do we start?"
"Glad that you see things my way." Tycho said, with a pleasant smile on his face. "Now, let's go catch up with the others, and we'll talk on the way."
Zon nodded, following along. Might as well take Tycho up on his offer, there was no better chance than this. It was a great chance to get as high a score he could, for a better shot in being accepted and maybe obtain a scholarship. That would certainly lightened his burden.
As soon as Zon's rough, black hair was spotted, Aodinia waved her arms energetically to get his attention. Her eyes brightened up, seeing that Zon was joining them.
"Hey! Over here guys, the test is about to start!" Her voice carried loud and clear, despite the numerous chatterings between the others.
And that was how this little group was able to obtain the required points in the fastest time for this year's exam. With Zeke's eyes and Tycho's intel, the group was able to pin-point the highest scoring Monsters and carefully distributed the scores from their various kills. With Zon's strength and surprisingly Yu's lightning fast bombardment ability, they were able to take down the tougher Monsters with relative ease. The two took to the roles of bruiser and heavy damage dealer, respectively. Aodinia's magic was able to provide support and allow the two to fight without holding anything back. And even Tycho was able to distinguish himself with his knife-play.
Overall, the combat exam went extraordinary well for them.
The makeshift team, unfortunately, had to break up, since the exam was over. The five were sure that they had earn enough points to cover any failings they may have made on the written exam. Well, the four of them anyway; in Zon's case, he was sure that he going to definitely pass the entrance exam. After all, he only had to guess on five questions on it, and with the huge amount of points accumulated from slaying Monsters, there was no way he was not getting in.
With a carefree smile, Zon parted from the group with a wave as he strode into the school building.
Tycho's calculating gaze bored into Zon's retreating back.
--
Weeks later.
The result came in the mail, and Zon was excited to see his score. He had done the math countless time between then and now, and he was definitely sure that he passed the exam with flying color.
He had just got up, only dressed in his night cloth when he retrieved the mail. He quickly brought it over to his cramped living room.
He was surprised when the score didn't add up. In fact, the scores were much, much lower than expected.
It didn't add up at all. He mentally ran through the numbers and Monster slain, again and again, to make sure that nothing was wrong with his calculation.
However, none of the math added up, and the score in his hand refused to change.
All that could be heard from the small house was the enraged scream of a very angry man.
-----
"And that's why I want to wrangle that lizard's neck." Zon said, anger boiling up. "I'm sure that the bastard had something to do with it. There was no way the other guys with him could pull this off. I doubt Aodinia would do it either. It had to be him."
You nodded along. That was indeed one long story, but it certainly put things into perspective. It seemed that those two boys had some history together.
"Are you sure that it was him though?" You asked. "Accusing another student of cheating is quite serious."
"Yeah, I know, that's why I didn't go to anybody, especially when I have no proof to back up my claim." Zon slammed a fist on a desk, the red marks on his hand glew in intensity. "If I know how he had done it, I wouldn't be in this situation!"
You brought the manipulator on your appendage onto his back, humming a calm tune with your modified vocal cord.
"What are you doing, teach?" Zon asked incredulously.
"Shhh. I am initiating the placating protocol, to bring down the emotional high you're feeling." You supplied him with a straightforward answer.
"Heh, you're a bit weird, you know? But that's fine I guess." Zon breathed a sigh of relief. A look of melancholy graced his rough feature. "Thanks, teach, for hearing me out. It was great to get this off my chest. Even if the problem can't be solved, at least I have someone that know my story."
"It will be fine, I will find a way to solve this issue." You nodded sagely. Clearly, this is the first case for you to tackle as a teacher. And you had to do well to get your students to respect you!
The troubled boy nodded, he took his lunch bag and waved you goodbye, mouthing a small 'thanks' under his breath.
Hmmmm. Now what to do. You were advised by Assistant Headmaster Amet to send students to Mr. Eagle when cases like this popped up, but you did not. So what now? Minutes ticked by as you digested the information given by your student and the true face of Tycho. You certainly had information, but they weren't the full picture, so to speak. You certain had to speak to the smiling boy to get more pieces of the picture.
However, you were interrupted by the sound of a door opening.
In come the troublemaker himself, Tycho, with a small smile and a pleasant jaunt to his gait.
"Hello, Miss Belingula. Sorry to take your time, but I heard that you want to talk to me." The boy said, with a tinge of bitterness seeping into his voice.
Strange, you didn't mention anything of the sort. Well, not yet anyway.
"How did you mean?" You asked.
"Well, it's only the first day of school, I don't think you would know everyone quite that well yet." He said offhandedly, brushing aside your question.
Everyone?
"What did you mean by that? I do not doubt the students' integrity. I believe in their ability to not go behind mine or their fellow classmate's back." You stated, the others had reassured you that while students will do dumb things, you shouldn't judge them too harshly about it. They're young and stupid, as the Headmaster King would always say.
"But do you though? I mean, someone went out of their way to tell me that you called for me. So someone has to be snooping around." He said, face turning towards the broken windows. "Just because you're the homeroom teacher doesn't automatically make you know of everyone's plight."
"What?!" You raised your voice. What was he saying? He was your student, why was he acting this way.
"Jeez, calm down, Miss Belingula." The boy held his hands placatingly. "All I'm saying is that you probably don't know what is going on with everyone. Nothing is as it seems, you know."
"I see what you mean. Of course, it's only the first day of class after all." You stated, nodding your head sagely.
"Yup, first day of class and all." Tycho sighed. "But for real though, for some reasons I'm getting quite the smacking around here. Like, just because I was about to get into a fight with Zon, now everyone is hounding me for the reason why he is so pissed off."
"Really? You don't know?" You asked.
"Ughh. Not you too, Miss Belingula." He palmed his face, eyes hidden. "People here talk too much. It's a pain in the ass, really. Just because of that little incident, now I'm being treated like a pariah."
"Oh, I'm so sorry." You said. He must have a poor day if he already was the target of several rumors.
"It's fine, Miss Belingula." He held a hand up, waving down your concern. "I'm just… tired, you know? Because people keep judging me by my supposedly 'shady' appearance, and how 'slimey' I sound like. Despite those people not even knowing me at all. Such a pain…"
"Oh you poor baby." You laid an appendage on his back, initiating another round of the placating protocol. "If you need anyone to talk to, I will always be here for you."
"Heh, thanks Miss Belingula. That's pretty nice of you to offer." He said, with a nice smile on his face. The boy sure did like to smile. "I think I will take it."
"So, the thing with Zon. What is going on with that." You asked, suddenly shifting the flow of the conversation.
"Yeah, about that. I have no idea. Guy gets mad at the slightest hint of provocation. When we teamed up together during the entrance exam, he would always charge on ahead without thinking." He shrugged. "I really don't know what grinds his gears, nor what he meant when he say that I know what I did."
"Really?" You asked.
"Yup, don't know a thing at all. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone else in this class." Tycho replied. "I don't know what would they gain from causing artificial drama, but I am quite sure that the true culprit has to be in somewhere nearby. They would have to be in the class, so that they can pick the fruits of their labor."
Ah, that's right, someone told Tycho that you called him in, despite not saying anything about it. As you loathe to admit, the possibility of someone else being the mastermind and using Tycho as a scapegoat wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility.
"Well, Miss Belingula, it was nice talking to you, but lunch is about to be over, so see you tomorrow and have a good day." Tycho said, waving you a goodbye. You waved him back with your manipulator.
Hmmmm… Certainly this was getting messier than you had initially thought.
You still have some classes left to teach, so you only had the end of the school day to actually start thinking about this conundrum. On how to handle it properly….
[] Initiate your own investigation! You have decided to push Zon open, so it was only right that you see this issue through its conclusion with your own manipulators. Yu, Zeke, and Aodinia were with Tycho and Zon, so they certainly would have something to tell.
[] Find the entrance exam's test proctor and ask him about the Combatscantron-bot. Find out if it's really 99.999% accurate as your some of fellow colleagues claimed. And find out what really happened that day. The faster you solve this case, the faster you can address the issues of the other students, like the eyepatched girl or that lover's quarrel.
----
AN: Jesus fucking Christ, just realized that I clogged a fucking flashback scene with romcom bullshit
His face reddened, eyebrows ticking.
You pushed closer.
"Okay, teach! Personal space!" Zon held his hands up, and you stopped. "Just stop with that creepy stare alright?"
You drifted back, crossing your appendages together in triumph. Wew, finally you got through to him. One step closer to being a properly certified teacher!
Zon sat on top of a desk, sighing to the side. He massaged his right hand. You took a curious glance at it. There seemed to be a series of red curved lines running up his hand.
"Where to begin…" He took his time to organize his thoughts. "I guess it would have to be the start of the combat portion of the entrance exam."
"I had just gotten out of the written portion of the exam…."
----
The written exam was tough, Zon thought. He had prepared and studied for it, taking whole weekends off just to make sure that his bases were covered. Long nights of sweats and blood, eyes barely able to focus on what was front of him. The mental pain that he had to endure, from going through those practice tests repeatedly.
And it paid off.
He only had to guess on five questions, the rest came to him. He had saw them on his preparations, worked and reasoned through them as if it was second nature for him.
But now, it was time for the real test to begin.
The combat exam.
He had heard tales of this particular portion of the entrance exam. Some went into excruciating details about the gruesome Monsters the faculty employed and the ways the examinees were taken out, like a big tentacled Monster ripping people apart. Of how the faculty not only aggravate the Monsters, but also how they purposefully turn a blind eye when Monsters were close to deliver a fatal blow on hopeful students. Of course, he knew that those stories were bullshit, made up to scare off weaker candidates from taking the exam.
If the school had allow those sort of actions, then it wouldn't be standing to this day.
Hell, that would attract lawsuits and mudrakers like flies.
Rumors were just rumors, but that didn't stop the rest of his fellow examinees from shaking like tree branches in the middle of a storm.
As he was massaging the cramp in his neck, a mousy, glasses wearing girl accidentally bumped into him. Zon turned his gaze to her.
"Awawawa, I-I'm sorry!" The girl held her hands out, face scrunching up to the side. Her eyes did not dare to meet his. "Please don't hurt me!"
Zon sighed. Not again. Seriously, he was only tired from all those study sessions. Why do people keep doing this to him?
Thinking about it was giving him an even worse headache.
"It's fine." He said, but the girl continued to shake nonetheless. "Look, I'm not going to hurt you." He waved his face in front of her glasses.
The girl did not change her shaking stance. It seems that his words did not get through to her or something. What a pain in the ass.
He laid his hands on her shoulders, and the girl's eyes widened in surprise. Instinctively, she brought her arms to shield her face.
"Awawawa! Please forgive me! I don't know what I did but don't hurt me please." The girl pleaded out loud, bystanders turning their head to this little commotion. "Don't hurt me don't hurt me don't hurt me."
Zon grunted. Oh come on.
He stopped his shakedown of the girl, and leveled himself down to her eye level.
"Okay, knock it off. You can stop that now." His voice softer, he moved his hands away from the girl's shoulder. She peeked from beneath her huddled arms. His palms facing towards the girl to placate her. "Look, it's fine, I'm not going to hurt you, I was in your way when you walked into me, sorry about that."
"Y-You're sorry? But I'm the one that bumped into you!" The girl insisted otherwise, her meek voice gaining strength. "I should be the one that apologizing! Here, I'm sorry!" The mousy girl bowed with all her might.
Zon schooled his face, keeping it neutral to not show his annoyance. Why do people keep insisting making these grand gestures around him. A plain 'sorry' or 'thank you' would have been enough.
Zon nodded, accepting her apology, and walked past her, his hands jammed into his pockets. He threw a glare towards the onlookers, who in turn scattered.
"H-Hey, where do you're going? You can't just leave a lady hanging like that, especially after what you've done to her!" The girl all but shouted.
The onlookers resumed their mummerings and attention.
Zon's eyebrows shot up in alarm. Oh gods, not one of those types.
Quickly, he ran back and grabbed the girl's hand. Bringing her with him to the combat exam's station.
"There, happy?" He asked in a grouchy voice.
The girl elegantly responded with another wave of 'awawawa'.
He pushed through the crowd, with the girl in tow. Murmers followed wherever they went. What a pain.
Coming to a stop, Zon let go of the confused girl's hand. He turned towards her, his shadow looming over her small frame.
"The name's Zon Maddem." He spit to the side.
"Huh?" The doe-eyed girl once again replied with such elegance.
"The least you can do to make it up to me for getting the crowd riled up is giving me your name." He tilted his head towards a couple of gossiping bystanders.
The girl followed his sight, mouthing a small 'oh'.
"Aodinia Yoyorio." Her small voice was inaudible to Zon.
"Say that again, I couldn't quite catch that." He said, bringing his ear lower.
"Aodinia Yoyorio!" The meek girl screamed into his ear, causing him to jump back.
Zon brought his hand to nurse his poor ear. This was a handful, why was he bothering with this again? Oh right, because he wanted the girl to stop making a scene. But it seemed that making scenes was her talent or something.
"No need to shout, you could have just said it normally the first time." Zon said, with a hint of exasperation in his voice.
"S-Sorry." Aodinia stuttered.
"Stop saying that every single second. It's grating on my nerves." Said Zon, as he walked on ahead.
"Sorry!" The girl continued to apologize despite being told not to. "H-Hey, where are you going! Wait for me."
The girl tagged along quietly, her face down to avoid onlookers.
Zon shrugged with his back to her, strolling at a leisure pace to next testing site. His hanger on can come with him or whatever. It wasn't like he cared either way. Just as long she didn't cause any more commotion and he would be fine with it.
But why the hell were people still staring?
Ughhh, what a bunch of idiots. If they had time to gossip, they have to psyche themselves up for the test. Gods.
However, something caught his eye. For a second there, he thought he saw someone smirking at him. He suddenly stopped in his stride, Aodinia bumping into him with an 'ow'.
"My bad. That one was my fault." Zon quickly apologized. "Anyway, we're here now. Go do whatever you want."
"O-Okay…" The glasses wearing girl said, following after Zon like a stray puppy. The young man just clicked his tongue.
"Hey! You guys over there, you all look a little lost." An energetic voice called over from a distance. A young man with short, somewhat spiky black hair followed by a scrawny white-haired boy and a chubby, short boy.
Zon raised an eyebrow at the sudden intrusion.
"Yo, the name's Tycho. Thought my friends and I should come over and say hello. You guys sure look interesting." The smiling young man introduced himself. "A tough guy and a frightened girl tagging along."
"Hello, I'm Zeke, and uhhh, Tycho thought that we should get to know each other." The white haired boy said in a weak voice. Ughh, not another one of those type. He already had to deal with Aodinia.
"And I'm Yu, nice to meet you guys!" The chubby boy said sharply, his posture trembling from trying a little too much.
Zon narrowed his eyes. Something seemed...off. But no, he shouldn't judge someone by their appearance. Even if Tycho came off a little too friendly right off the start.
"I'm Zon, and that's Aodinia." He said, tilting his head towards the mousy, shy girl. "So how did you guys think you did on the written exam?"
Tycho made a face, exaggerating his discomfort, pulling on the collar of his shirt.
"Yeah… Didn't do so hot on it." He chuckled. "But I think I will get the combat exam down. Should be a breeze."
The other boys with him nodded fiercely.
"Yeah, we've got a plan!" The white-haired one, Zeke said.
"Tycho have got this whole test figured out!" Yu proclaimed. "We're going to ace it!"
Aodinia stepped from you back and turned her head curiously.
"W-What are you guys talking about? What did you mean by 'we'? You can't team up for the test." The girl said. "I-If we could, then what would be the point of the test then? If we can't clear the obstacles by ourselves then what's the point of us being adventurers?"
Zon stood silently, eyebrows scrunched up.
"Well, see, I looked through the rules and asked the current students about it, the test proctor is a surprisingly lax man." Tycho began explaining. "While the rules didn't say anything about teaming up, it didn't mention that we couldn't team up either."
He was right, the rules didn't say anything about it. The only thing that discouraged examinees from teaming up was point distributions. According to the pamphlet given to the examinees when they walked into the initial testing sites, it listed out how points were earned and how much the examinees needed to complete the test. So, if people were teaming up with one another, they would have to work distributing all those points to each individual person. However, that would create a situation where everyone would be teaming up, and that obviously would mean that there would be less points going around overall. The only way to get a guaranteed passing grade was to be the fastest team around. Which was an already farfetched plan….
"Exactly what are you thinking about, Zon." Tycho gave him a wink. Zon in turn felt the need to punch someone. "I'm putting together together a group of individuals whose abilities are compatible with each other. And that's why I'm extending my invitation to you guys."
"What do you mean by that? Where did you even learn that?" Zon asked, suspicions seeping in. Something really was off.
"Uh...That would be me." Zeke stepped in. "My eyes can see a lot of things. Like what special abilities everyone possess and the details surrounding them. But that's the extent of them, I can't really do much with them besides that… Ehehehe…"
Zon raised an eyebrow.
"Hey man, it's not like adventurers go off by themselves, they usually group themselves into a party of four to five people. Besides, with eyes like those, you are guaranteed to be in a party in the future." Zon stated offhandedly. "These school exams are pretty much the weird ones. I guess they want to see individual abilities and then focus on cultivating on teamwork afterwards."
"T-Thanks, man. I mean it…" Zeke twirled his thumbs, eyes looking at the ground. "It's just like Tycho said, my eyes can be of use to you guys."
Zon quirked an eyebrow at the aforementioned person. Who in turn replied with a weary smile.
"Yeah, I've been telling him that for a while, Zeke has just got to believe in himself more." Tycho answered.
Yu nodded his head vigorously.
"Yeah, his eyes are the key to our plan, we are looking for people with abilities that complement ours nicely." The chubby boy began. "But we had several issues trying to get people into teaming up with us. They think that we are going to hold them back."
Tycho nodded his head sagely.
"Yup, we were kinda bump out when those guys keep rejecting us or in some case already had plans with some of their friends." Tycho said.
"What makes you think me or her are going to join hand with you guys?" Zon asked. Their plan sounded reasonable, but he needed a little more than that to collude with them.
Aodinia, on the other hand, was seriously considering that. She scrunched her face in thoughts, weighing the pros and cons of this decision.
The two other boys with Tycho were shuffling nervously, muttering 'please' in small, feeble voices.
"Well, I really don't have an incentive for you to join us beside the already mentioned guaranteed grade." Tycho bit into his thumb, eyes looking into the cloud for inspiration. But then suddenly he snapped his finger. "Actually, wait, there's one thing though. See, before coming here I had some talks with a couple of friends in the school."
Zon piqued his eyebrow in curiosity.
Tycho smirked, carefully observing Zon's reaction.
"Heh, those guys have loose lips, so I was able to convince them to part with several important information pertaining to the Monster distribution for the test area." Tycho continued. "Of course, I don't have any of those written down, so you have to go by my words for this."
"I-I will do it! I will join you guys." Aodinia suddenly spoke up. Tycho continued to smile, and Zon continued to scowl. She gave Zon a beseeching look, hands offered. He kept his face stone cold.
"Welcome aboard, little lady. Glad to have you on the team." Tycho gave her a firm handshake, bringing the meek girl to his side. But as Zon was about to say something, the sudden loud yelling of the test proctor got their attention.
Right as the hopeful examinees take their place to listen the instruction being given, Tycho gave Zon one last word before making off with his little group.
"Offer is still open, but you have to hurry before the test begins." Words passed on, nestling deep into his ear canal, processing the information in them. Zon was really tempted.
The test proctor gave out his instructions. It seemed that due to the influx of more examinees this year and on account of the normal combat exam grader being absent for the day, they had to change how they will grade the exam for this portion. The proctor introduced everyone to the Combatscantron-bot. It was supposed to take the place of the usual grader, and it had an accuracy of 99.999%, so it was definitely certified to assess the results for this exam.
All the while, Tycho didn't look fazed at all, but rather with barely contained excitement.
After the recitation, the examinees were let out to the testing site, the ever-smiling Tycho approached Zon.
"So, what is your decision?" He asked.
"Yeah, I will take you up on that." Zon said, a ferocious smile tugging his lips. The red marks on his hand glew with dim light. "Where do we start?"
"Glad that you see things my way." Tycho said, with a pleasant smile on his face. "Now, let's go catch up with the others, and we'll talk on the way."
Zon nodded, following along. Might as well take Tycho up on his offer, there was no better chance than this. It was a great chance to get as high a score he could, for a better shot in being accepted and maybe obtain a scholarship. That would certainly lightened his burden.
As soon as Zon's rough, black hair was spotted, Aodinia waved her arms energetically to get his attention. Her eyes brightened up, seeing that Zon was joining them.
"Hey! Over here guys, the test is about to start!" Her voice carried loud and clear, despite the numerous chatterings between the others.
And that was how this little group was able to obtain the required points in the fastest time for this year's exam. With Zeke's eyes and Tycho's intel, the group was able to pin-point the highest scoring Monsters and carefully distributed the scores from their various kills. With Zon's strength and surprisingly Yu's lightning fast bombardment ability, they were able to take down the tougher Monsters with relative ease. The two took to the roles of bruiser and heavy damage dealer, respectively. Aodinia's magic was able to provide support and allow the two to fight without holding anything back. And even Tycho was able to distinguish himself with his knife-play.
Overall, the combat exam went extraordinary well for them.
The makeshift team, unfortunately, had to break up, since the exam was over. The five were sure that they had earn enough points to cover any failings they may have made on the written exam. Well, the four of them anyway; in Zon's case, he was sure that he going to definitely pass the entrance exam. After all, he only had to guess on five questions on it, and with the huge amount of points accumulated from slaying Monsters, there was no way he was not getting in.
With a carefree smile, Zon parted from the group with a wave as he strode into the school building.
Tycho's calculating gaze bored into Zon's retreating back.
--
Weeks later.
The result came in the mail, and Zon was excited to see his score. He had done the math countless time between then and now, and he was definitely sure that he passed the exam with flying color.
He had just got up, only dressed in his night cloth when he retrieved the mail. He quickly brought it over to his cramped living room.
He was surprised when the score didn't add up. In fact, the scores were much, much lower than expected.
It didn't add up at all. He mentally ran through the numbers and Monster slain, again and again, to make sure that nothing was wrong with his calculation.
However, none of the math added up, and the score in his hand refused to change.
All that could be heard from the small house was the enraged scream of a very angry man.
-----
"And that's why I want to wrangle that lizard's neck." Zon said, anger boiling up. "I'm sure that the bastard had something to do with it. There was no way the other guys with him could pull this off. I doubt Aodinia would do it either. It had to be him."
You nodded along. That was indeed one long story, but it certainly put things into perspective. It seemed that those two boys had some history together.
"Are you sure that it was him though?" You asked. "Accusing another student of cheating is quite serious."
"Yeah, I know, that's why I didn't go to anybody, especially when I have no proof to back up my claim." Zon slammed a fist on a desk, the red marks on his hand glew in intensity. "If I know how he had done it, I wouldn't be in this situation!"
You brought the manipulator on your appendage onto his back, humming a calm tune with your modified vocal cord.
"What are you doing, teach?" Zon asked incredulously.
"Shhh. I am initiating the placating protocol, to bring down the emotional high you're feeling." You supplied him with a straightforward answer.
"Heh, you're a bit weird, you know? But that's fine I guess." Zon breathed a sigh of relief. A look of melancholy graced his rough feature. "Thanks, teach, for hearing me out. It was great to get this off my chest. Even if the problem can't be solved, at least I have someone that know my story."
"It will be fine, I will find a way to solve this issue." You nodded sagely. Clearly, this is the first case for you to tackle as a teacher. And you had to do well to get your students to respect you!
The troubled boy nodded, he took his lunch bag and waved you goodbye, mouthing a small 'thanks' under his breath.
Hmmmm. Now what to do. You were advised by Assistant Headmaster Amet to send students to Mr. Eagle when cases like this popped up, but you did not. So what now? Minutes ticked by as you digested the information given by your student and the true face of Tycho. You certainly had information, but they weren't the full picture, so to speak. You certain had to speak to the smiling boy to get more pieces of the picture.
However, you were interrupted by the sound of a door opening.
In come the troublemaker himself, Tycho, with a small smile and a pleasant jaunt to his gait.
"Hello, Miss Belingula. Sorry to take your time, but I heard that you want to talk to me." The boy said, with a tinge of bitterness seeping into his voice.
Strange, you didn't mention anything of the sort. Well, not yet anyway.
"How did you mean?" You asked.
"Well, it's only the first day of school, I don't think you would know everyone quite that well yet." He said offhandedly, brushing aside your question.
Everyone?
"What did you mean by that? I do not doubt the students' integrity. I believe in their ability to not go behind mine or their fellow classmate's back." You stated, the others had reassured you that while students will do dumb things, you shouldn't judge them too harshly about it. They're young and stupid, as the Headmaster King would always say.
"But do you though? I mean, someone went out of their way to tell me that you called for me. So someone has to be snooping around." He said, face turning towards the broken windows. "Just because you're the homeroom teacher doesn't automatically make you know of everyone's plight."
"What?!" You raised your voice. What was he saying? He was your student, why was he acting this way.
"Jeez, calm down, Miss Belingula." The boy held his hands placatingly. "All I'm saying is that you probably don't know what is going on with everyone. Nothing is as it seems, you know."
"I see what you mean. Of course, it's only the first day of class after all." You stated, nodding your head sagely.
"Yup, first day of class and all." Tycho sighed. "But for real though, for some reasons I'm getting quite the smacking around here. Like, just because I was about to get into a fight with Zon, now everyone is hounding me for the reason why he is so pissed off."
"Really? You don't know?" You asked.
"Ughh. Not you too, Miss Belingula." He palmed his face, eyes hidden. "People here talk too much. It's a pain in the ass, really. Just because of that little incident, now I'm being treated like a pariah."
"Oh, I'm so sorry." You said. He must have a poor day if he already was the target of several rumors.
"It's fine, Miss Belingula." He held a hand up, waving down your concern. "I'm just… tired, you know? Because people keep judging me by my supposedly 'shady' appearance, and how 'slimey' I sound like. Despite those people not even knowing me at all. Such a pain…"
"Oh you poor baby." You laid an appendage on his back, initiating another round of the placating protocol. "If you need anyone to talk to, I will always be here for you."
"Heh, thanks Miss Belingula. That's pretty nice of you to offer." He said, with a nice smile on his face. The boy sure did like to smile. "I think I will take it."
"So, the thing with Zon. What is going on with that." You asked, suddenly shifting the flow of the conversation.
"Yeah, about that. I have no idea. Guy gets mad at the slightest hint of provocation. When we teamed up together during the entrance exam, he would always charge on ahead without thinking." He shrugged. "I really don't know what grinds his gears, nor what he meant when he say that I know what I did."
"Really?" You asked.
"Yup, don't know a thing at all. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it was someone else in this class." Tycho replied. "I don't know what would they gain from causing artificial drama, but I am quite sure that the true culprit has to be in somewhere nearby. They would have to be in the class, so that they can pick the fruits of their labor."
Ah, that's right, someone told Tycho that you called him in, despite not saying anything about it. As you loathe to admit, the possibility of someone else being the mastermind and using Tycho as a scapegoat wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility.
"Well, Miss Belingula, it was nice talking to you, but lunch is about to be over, so see you tomorrow and have a good day." Tycho said, waving you a goodbye. You waved him back with your manipulator.
Hmmmm… Certainly this was getting messier than you had initially thought.
You still have some classes left to teach, so you only had the end of the school day to actually start thinking about this conundrum. On how to handle it properly….
[] Initiate your own investigation! You have decided to push Zon open, so it was only right that you see this issue through its conclusion with your own manipulators. Yu, Zeke, and Aodinia were with Tycho and Zon, so they certainly would have something to tell.
[] Find the entrance exam's test proctor and ask him about the Combatscantron-bot. Find out if it's really 99.999% accurate as your some of fellow colleagues claimed. And find out what really happened that day. The faster you solve this case, the faster you can address the issues of the other students, like the eyepatched girl or that lover's quarrel.
----
AN: Jesus fucking Christ, just realized that I clogged a fucking flashback scene with romcom bullshit
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End of Day 1, Day 2 - Phenomenon Intercession
Khawy
TITANNNNNNNNNNN
- Location
- The United States of America
Hmmm, yes, indeed that shall be your plan of action! The students needed you, so you shall answer. As a teacher it was your duty and obligation to help out the wayward young ones and set them straight.
You silently nodded to yourself as you prepared for you afternoon classes. The school day was about to be over, you thought to yourself that you did a pretty good job on your first day.
Speaking of that, there were a couple of new hires that you should get acquainted with one of these days. A day was when the sun came down, but according to the calendars humans have many days in what they call a year. So yes, you have many days to make acquaintances of your fellow new teachers.
But right now, you had a more pressing matter to attend to.
It was the last period of the day, so you had to act soon.
At the corner of the abyss in the place of your eye, you spotted the easily-frightened white-haired boy, Zeke. Coincidentally, he happened to have your class for the last period of school. For some reason, whenever you glanced his way, he seized up and began shaking. Like one of those fluffy animal thing, those hippity-hoppity furballs. What were they called again? Mice?
Ah yes, he reminded you of a mouse, those white furry creatures you saw in several of the school's laboratories.
He was even shaking like one too, exactly like how those lab rats shook when Miss Maxwell was preparing one for her arcane demonstration.
You never knew that Nexus' animals' bodies were easily as malleable as your own.
As the last bell rang, you began your plan of action. You called the boy over to you.
"W-What did you need, Miss Gigi?" Zeke stuttered. He seemed to find the board behind you much more interesting to look at.
"I've talked with Zon regarding the entrance exam earlier today." You stated. "He told me of the relationship you, him, Tycho and the others had."
"Oh, did he? It's not like we did anything bad." The boy said, hand scratching the back of his head. "I mean, what we did was in the school's rules. Tycho made sure to find out if it was legal and everything!"
"The entrance exam? Oh no, no, no, that wasn't the part I wanted to talk about." You clarified, shaking your manipulators side to side to signify that wasn't what you wanted to talk about. "I want to talk to you about why Zon wanted to, as he would put it, do everyone a favor by punching Tycho in the face."
"I-I don't know about that! Why would I know about that." The scratching intensified. "I have nothing to do with that. We were just people that knew each other during the exam, that's all!"
You tilted your head.
Curious, he seemed to be perspiring more than a normal teenager of his species and age would.
"But according to Zon's story, it was your eyes that led Tycho, Yu and you to Aodinia and him." You said.
"Yes, that is uhh true." He answered, eyes still wandering all over your classroom but you. "But what would that have to do with why those two are fighting. I was just using my eyes to get an advantage on the test. Like all the other people who were in that exam."
You nodded your head, that was in line with what Zon had shared with you. However, there was something that made you curious.
"Of course, Headmaster King encouraged the younglings to prove themselves with whatever methods they could think of, in a way that wouldn't break the rule at least." You stated, paraphrasing the rules. "But with those eyes, you could have find other people to team up with."
"No one would have teamed up with Yu and me…" A look of sorrow came to the boy. "We were lucky when Tycho found us."
"Oh, it was Tycho who approached you?" You asked.
"I-I mean, I found him and asked him to join Yu and me. Yeah, that was it!" The boy nodded his head vigorously. Any harder and his head would have flown off its atlas and axis vertebrae.
"But now, you just said Tycho found you guys." You said, pointing his immediate contradiction.
"I uhhh. Yes, I mean no! I found him and convinced him to join us by telling him about my [eyes]. Yeah, that was it. Ehehehe…" Zeke laughed weakly.
You leaned in and stare.
He jumped away with a squeak.
"Please, Miss Gigi, don't do that! You're kinda-I mean, I don't like being stared at like that. It's uncomfortable." Zeke said, his voice hitching up.
"Sorry, it's a coaxing method that I have found to be effective in getting my students to talk lately." You answered, turning your facial area a bruised, vibrant red to simulate a blush to demonstrate your embarrassment. You backed off correspondingly.
"However, your scent." You circled around him, mimicking the facsimile of olfactory organs. "It smells of a scared animal. Are you afraid of something?"
The boy jumped back, turning his head from side to side, looking like he was caught in a corner like a rat.
"I'm not! And I approached Tycho of my own free will and recruited him!" The boy fumbled on his words, refusing to budge on this issue anymore. "I totally did. You can ask Yu about it too!"
You nodded your head, crossing your fleshy appendages together. You had a feeling that he will beat around the bush, as they say.
"I see, that will be all. You can go now, Zeke. Stay safe." You waved farewell.
"O-Okay? I mean, see you tomorrow too, Miss Gigi." The boy let out a breath and quickly absconded from your classroom with the speed of an average human male his age whose epinephrine was circulating vigorously in his veins.
You cleaned up your workstation, carefully putting your lesson plans and gradebooks in your desk. The invisible magic sigil briefly revealed itself as it locked your desk from curious passersby. Assistant Headmaster Amet had assured you that the magic lock was more or less impossible to crack by the students, and he had never been wrong before so you were inclined to believe him.
You slithered out of your classroom, and began your journey.
The student directory.
Indeed, while the students were leaving to go home, or go back to their rented apartment complexes in the nearby. However, some students decided to live on campus for the duration of their study.
You had questioned Zeke, but Yu and Aodinia were still out there. You don't know about their living situation, but it was within your right as a teacher to know of it if it was for the sake of your student's welfare.
Which this case of yours certainly was.
You waved your manipulator to anyone passing by you in the hallway. Being friendly was the first step to integrate yourself in normal society after all.
It was a couple of stairways and a few moment of aimless wandering that you finally found the student directory in the school's archive. That nice little dwarven lady managed to point you in the right direction when you were lost. That janitor was mean, giving you false directions like that and complaining about how you made his job harder by crashing through the window.
You shuffled through those very big books of records, skimming each cover for the relevant school year.
No...That one was four years ago. Not that one either, that was just the school's budget. Where was it...Ah! There was it, this year's student's directory.
You sifted through the pages, finding your homeroom and looking for names of relevant students.
Your manipulator gently slid down and across each page, treating the book with reverence. Amet would be very angry if it was destroyed. Even Headmaster King warned you not to get on the normally calm and gentle Assistant Headmaster's bad side.
Let's see… Yu Jianyi and Aodinia Yoyorio.
Unfortunately, they did not live in the campus' dormitories.
They lived in the nearby town of Pleasant Grove. Yu with his parents, and Aodinia renting an apartment.
You thought of going to town and have a nice chat with the both of them, but Amet warned you not to go anywhere near it.
Your Aura of Terror would cause a massive panic attack, or even worse, incite a riot. The majority of the townspeople would lose their minds from looking at you.
You closed the book with a huff and placed it back neatly on its shelf.
Coincidentally, you also found out that Tycho and Zon lived on campus. You've already talked with those two, so you would let them be. For now.
You slithered out of the room and began making your way back to your assigned living quarter within the school's basement.
However, on the way there, in a dimly lit hallway, you saw something interesting.
It was Kei and his three friends talking with what you assumed to be a couple of upperclassmen. You noticed that Kei was perspiring more than usual, but ultimately pay it no heed when you saw him locked arms with the senior students. They seemed to be having a good time laughing and cracking jokes.
Although, Kei's older looking friend, Ro'Weinn, seemed to notice your presence and quickly averted his eyes from yours.
Strange.
The group passed a corner and you never saw them again. For the day that is.
After that, you found your ways to your room. It was a sparse stony room, filled with empty shelves and a personalized sleeping pod smack dab in the center. However, in the corner sat a bookshelf that was filled with various books, chief among them were the school's manuals and rule books. You could see the various bookmarks you placed within each and every one of them.
You idly drifted toward your sleeping pod, letting the circuitry and magic sigils lulled you into slumber. You had a lot to do for the morrow, so it was best to rest for now...
----
Day 2 Starts
The birds were singing, trees swaying, leaves drifting, today was a rather windy day. But you wouldn't know, since the first thing you did getting out of your sleeping pod was to make way to your classroom and begin preparation.
Students filtered in, you caught a glimpse of Zeke skittering under your gaze. You looked at Yu, and he did the exact same thing as his friend. You looked at Aodinia, and she quirked an eyebrow at you. Zon stuffed his hands in his pockets, walking with a hunched back to his seat, while Tycho glided across the room with a spring in his step.
Strangely, you felt a gaze from the doorway. Catala's singular clouded eye stares intensely at you. You curiously tilted your head, but then she blinked and walked into class like a normal student. Well, as normal as she could be, what with all those modifications on her uniform.
You went over attendance, noticing how your class seemed much quieter this time around. Steffina and Kei weren't trying to munch each other's face off, although you spotted Kei with his face down on his desk. The others seemed to be staring straight at you wordlessly.
Of course, that must meant that they were paying respect to you! According to the Teacher's manual 'Second Chapter, Annotation 2f, on respect. It is important for the teachers to connect to their student, doubly so for the homeroom teacher and their class. In many cases, you are the first or second person a student will confide in. More broadly, a teacher is like a captain of a ship, responsible for her crew.' Captains are tasty, you idly noted. Gamey like jerkied jerk meat, all trying to steal your stuff or stab at you. '—for her crew. A ship a feared is mutinous, a ship pampered is craven. Beware small rebellions like inattentiveness and small gratuity like sloppiness in equal measure.'
Things went relatively well, they seem more willing to pay attention to you.
But before that, you needed to continue your investigation! However, unfortunately for you, Catala was making a ruckus about how you were a creature from beyond the fifth dimension that wanted to eat everyone's brain, and bombarded you with weird questions regarding your origin. You corrected her at every turn, first that you came from the gaping abyss of the Dimensional Cracks, that you didn't want to eat people's brain, you don't really derive nutrients from that, and so on.
Luckily, as the bell rang, you managed to get a word to Yu and Aodinia to meet you before they went home.
Other than that, your other classes went smoothly as yesterday. Now that you knew that platypi were indeed a thing, your head was no longer distracted by the thoughts of its impossibility.
The two students came as you asked, the evening sun outside the class casting a beautiful shade of red.
"What do you need, Miss Gigi?" Yu timidly asked. Aodinia stared at you with curiosity.
"About the Zon versus Tycho Incident." You rolled the capitalized I in your mouth-analogue receptacle, relishing in the word. Real True Crime detectives are mustachoid and gravelly voiced; you're internally disappointed no one has commented on your updated appearance.
They nodded, both looking rather uneasy. Yu looked this way and that, muttering Zeke's name under his breath. Aodinia glanced at the doorway before sighing, gesturing for Yu to go first.
He jumped, vibrating in place for long seconds, before relating what happened to you. It is much the same as what Zeke said.
Aodinia told her story. "I came from a small village called Glade. The caravan has just arrived the day before the exam and, um, I was really intimidated by the school. Over thirty minutes I saw a pretty masked lady in an elaborate dress, a skeleton in gaudy gold, a very tired-looking upperclassman, a man wearing a strange treasure chest hat and a Monster watering the flowers." She made sure to enunciates the specific terms properly, giving you an apologetic smile before faltering and awawawawawawa bowing repeatedly. Apologies not accepted. Probably. You don't know if Monster is offensive like monster, you'll surely maybe get her back for this slight.
You waved your appendage for her to continue, the nubs along its length cooing softly in an assuredly comforting manner.
With a gulp, she continued. "Then I met Zon, standing still like a statue. His aura reminded me of Potash, an ornery bear that lives near my village. He would come into our village at night and smashed our apiary, gorging himself on honey until he fell asleep." Aodinia said with a fond smile. At your quizzical look, she blushed slightly.
"Anyway, he reminded me of home. I tagged along with him and we teamed up with Yu, Zeke and Tycho. During the physical segment, I sensed no magic from Tycho, no enchantment on Zon. He just seemed to be really good with a knife.
"I'm surprised that Zon got angry about his scores. I thought he did really well too, but that's no reason to accuse Tycho. I saw Zon talking with the TAs, a large man and a small man with horn, this morning in a secluded area in the garden. Unless they were planning a secret assignation—awawawawawawa"
She blushed at her own words. What a strange girl.
Surprisingly, Yu spoke up. "Karlo!? He must have been trying to get permission for an Engagement!"
At your full attention, his voice quavered slightly.
"A-an Engagement is a formal duel between seniors to settle serious disputes, like rights to join the Tournament, ambiguous results for the Student President election and gasp—" He actually said 'gasp'. "—accusation of cheating! It was a very dumb and violent way of resolving conflicts but Headmaster Ace introduced it to his school and Headmaster King was like, well of course we'd need to do that too."
Aodinia gave him an unimpressed look. "That's dumb." "Hey, don't look at me. I didn't make the rule."
"Usually, it's only the teachers that can grant permission for an Engagement. I didn't know a TA can do that too."
The pair debated some unimportant minutiae as you searched your mind for an important deta—
"When is the earliest time the Engagement can be scheduled?"
Yu and Aodinia looked at each other, sharing your realization.
"Tomorrow."
[] Tell Tycho about this development. As a teacher, it was your duty to make sure that your students are sufficiently prepared for all kinds of troubles and obstacles life threw their way. You felt obligated to tell Tycho about the upcoming fight so that he can better prepared himself.
[] Convince Zon to rescind the challenge. As a teacher, you valued students cooperation and harmony above all else. In fighting between classmates will dissolve class unity. You didn't want that to happen simply because you were their teacher. You wanted Zon to not act too eagerly about this.
[] Investigate the TAs, getting them to retract the permission. As a teacher, when this sort of things happened, students should have come to you and not the TAs. You knew that TAs were given many responsibilities to better prepare them for the future. You were quite sure that they shouldn't have this much power though. Plus, Zon didn't seem the type to overlook you.
-----
AN: Thank you to my secret Beta for getting this update out on time, also a message from that secret Beta.
https://i.imgur.com/5loPj6v.jpg
That is all.
P.S: Gonna be updating about once per week, due to exams rearing their head. Hopefully, I don't lose too much steam by then.
You silently nodded to yourself as you prepared for you afternoon classes. The school day was about to be over, you thought to yourself that you did a pretty good job on your first day.
Speaking of that, there were a couple of new hires that you should get acquainted with one of these days. A day was when the sun came down, but according to the calendars humans have many days in what they call a year. So yes, you have many days to make acquaintances of your fellow new teachers.
But right now, you had a more pressing matter to attend to.
It was the last period of the day, so you had to act soon.
At the corner of the abyss in the place of your eye, you spotted the easily-frightened white-haired boy, Zeke. Coincidentally, he happened to have your class for the last period of school. For some reason, whenever you glanced his way, he seized up and began shaking. Like one of those fluffy animal thing, those hippity-hoppity furballs. What were they called again? Mice?
Ah yes, he reminded you of a mouse, those white furry creatures you saw in several of the school's laboratories.
He was even shaking like one too, exactly like how those lab rats shook when Miss Maxwell was preparing one for her arcane demonstration.
You never knew that Nexus' animals' bodies were easily as malleable as your own.
As the last bell rang, you began your plan of action. You called the boy over to you.
"W-What did you need, Miss Gigi?" Zeke stuttered. He seemed to find the board behind you much more interesting to look at.
"I've talked with Zon regarding the entrance exam earlier today." You stated. "He told me of the relationship you, him, Tycho and the others had."
"Oh, did he? It's not like we did anything bad." The boy said, hand scratching the back of his head. "I mean, what we did was in the school's rules. Tycho made sure to find out if it was legal and everything!"
"The entrance exam? Oh no, no, no, that wasn't the part I wanted to talk about." You clarified, shaking your manipulators side to side to signify that wasn't what you wanted to talk about. "I want to talk to you about why Zon wanted to, as he would put it, do everyone a favor by punching Tycho in the face."
"I-I don't know about that! Why would I know about that." The scratching intensified. "I have nothing to do with that. We were just people that knew each other during the exam, that's all!"
You tilted your head.
Curious, he seemed to be perspiring more than a normal teenager of his species and age would.
"But according to Zon's story, it was your eyes that led Tycho, Yu and you to Aodinia and him." You said.
"Yes, that is uhh true." He answered, eyes still wandering all over your classroom but you. "But what would that have to do with why those two are fighting. I was just using my eyes to get an advantage on the test. Like all the other people who were in that exam."
You nodded your head, that was in line with what Zon had shared with you. However, there was something that made you curious.
"Of course, Headmaster King encouraged the younglings to prove themselves with whatever methods they could think of, in a way that wouldn't break the rule at least." You stated, paraphrasing the rules. "But with those eyes, you could have find other people to team up with."
"No one would have teamed up with Yu and me…" A look of sorrow came to the boy. "We were lucky when Tycho found us."
"Oh, it was Tycho who approached you?" You asked.
"I-I mean, I found him and asked him to join Yu and me. Yeah, that was it!" The boy nodded his head vigorously. Any harder and his head would have flown off its atlas and axis vertebrae.
"But now, you just said Tycho found you guys." You said, pointing his immediate contradiction.
"I uhhh. Yes, I mean no! I found him and convinced him to join us by telling him about my [eyes]. Yeah, that was it. Ehehehe…" Zeke laughed weakly.
You leaned in and stare.
He jumped away with a squeak.
"Please, Miss Gigi, don't do that! You're kinda-I mean, I don't like being stared at like that. It's uncomfortable." Zeke said, his voice hitching up.
"Sorry, it's a coaxing method that I have found to be effective in getting my students to talk lately." You answered, turning your facial area a bruised, vibrant red to simulate a blush to demonstrate your embarrassment. You backed off correspondingly.
"However, your scent." You circled around him, mimicking the facsimile of olfactory organs. "It smells of a scared animal. Are you afraid of something?"
The boy jumped back, turning his head from side to side, looking like he was caught in a corner like a rat.
"I'm not! And I approached Tycho of my own free will and recruited him!" The boy fumbled on his words, refusing to budge on this issue anymore. "I totally did. You can ask Yu about it too!"
You nodded your head, crossing your fleshy appendages together. You had a feeling that he will beat around the bush, as they say.
"I see, that will be all. You can go now, Zeke. Stay safe." You waved farewell.
"O-Okay? I mean, see you tomorrow too, Miss Gigi." The boy let out a breath and quickly absconded from your classroom with the speed of an average human male his age whose epinephrine was circulating vigorously in his veins.
You cleaned up your workstation, carefully putting your lesson plans and gradebooks in your desk. The invisible magic sigil briefly revealed itself as it locked your desk from curious passersby. Assistant Headmaster Amet had assured you that the magic lock was more or less impossible to crack by the students, and he had never been wrong before so you were inclined to believe him.
You slithered out of your classroom, and began your journey.
The student directory.
Indeed, while the students were leaving to go home, or go back to their rented apartment complexes in the nearby. However, some students decided to live on campus for the duration of their study.
You had questioned Zeke, but Yu and Aodinia were still out there. You don't know about their living situation, but it was within your right as a teacher to know of it if it was for the sake of your student's welfare.
Which this case of yours certainly was.
You waved your manipulator to anyone passing by you in the hallway. Being friendly was the first step to integrate yourself in normal society after all.
It was a couple of stairways and a few moment of aimless wandering that you finally found the student directory in the school's archive. That nice little dwarven lady managed to point you in the right direction when you were lost. That janitor was mean, giving you false directions like that and complaining about how you made his job harder by crashing through the window.
You shuffled through those very big books of records, skimming each cover for the relevant school year.
No...That one was four years ago. Not that one either, that was just the school's budget. Where was it...Ah! There was it, this year's student's directory.
You sifted through the pages, finding your homeroom and looking for names of relevant students.
Your manipulator gently slid down and across each page, treating the book with reverence. Amet would be very angry if it was destroyed. Even Headmaster King warned you not to get on the normally calm and gentle Assistant Headmaster's bad side.
Let's see… Yu Jianyi and Aodinia Yoyorio.
Unfortunately, they did not live in the campus' dormitories.
They lived in the nearby town of Pleasant Grove. Yu with his parents, and Aodinia renting an apartment.
You thought of going to town and have a nice chat with the both of them, but Amet warned you not to go anywhere near it.
Your Aura of Terror would cause a massive panic attack, or even worse, incite a riot. The majority of the townspeople would lose their minds from looking at you.
You closed the book with a huff and placed it back neatly on its shelf.
Coincidentally, you also found out that Tycho and Zon lived on campus. You've already talked with those two, so you would let them be. For now.
You slithered out of the room and began making your way back to your assigned living quarter within the school's basement.
However, on the way there, in a dimly lit hallway, you saw something interesting.
It was Kei and his three friends talking with what you assumed to be a couple of upperclassmen. You noticed that Kei was perspiring more than usual, but ultimately pay it no heed when you saw him locked arms with the senior students. They seemed to be having a good time laughing and cracking jokes.
Although, Kei's older looking friend, Ro'Weinn, seemed to notice your presence and quickly averted his eyes from yours.
Strange.
The group passed a corner and you never saw them again. For the day that is.
After that, you found your ways to your room. It was a sparse stony room, filled with empty shelves and a personalized sleeping pod smack dab in the center. However, in the corner sat a bookshelf that was filled with various books, chief among them were the school's manuals and rule books. You could see the various bookmarks you placed within each and every one of them.
You idly drifted toward your sleeping pod, letting the circuitry and magic sigils lulled you into slumber. You had a lot to do for the morrow, so it was best to rest for now...
----
Day 2 Starts
The birds were singing, trees swaying, leaves drifting, today was a rather windy day. But you wouldn't know, since the first thing you did getting out of your sleeping pod was to make way to your classroom and begin preparation.
Students filtered in, you caught a glimpse of Zeke skittering under your gaze. You looked at Yu, and he did the exact same thing as his friend. You looked at Aodinia, and she quirked an eyebrow at you. Zon stuffed his hands in his pockets, walking with a hunched back to his seat, while Tycho glided across the room with a spring in his step.
Strangely, you felt a gaze from the doorway. Catala's singular clouded eye stares intensely at you. You curiously tilted your head, but then she blinked and walked into class like a normal student. Well, as normal as she could be, what with all those modifications on her uniform.
You went over attendance, noticing how your class seemed much quieter this time around. Steffina and Kei weren't trying to munch each other's face off, although you spotted Kei with his face down on his desk. The others seemed to be staring straight at you wordlessly.
Of course, that must meant that they were paying respect to you! According to the Teacher's manual 'Second Chapter, Annotation 2f, on respect. It is important for the teachers to connect to their student, doubly so for the homeroom teacher and their class. In many cases, you are the first or second person a student will confide in. More broadly, a teacher is like a captain of a ship, responsible for her crew.' Captains are tasty, you idly noted. Gamey like jerkied jerk meat, all trying to steal your stuff or stab at you. '—for her crew. A ship a feared is mutinous, a ship pampered is craven. Beware small rebellions like inattentiveness and small gratuity like sloppiness in equal measure.'
Things went relatively well, they seem more willing to pay attention to you.
But before that, you needed to continue your investigation! However, unfortunately for you, Catala was making a ruckus about how you were a creature from beyond the fifth dimension that wanted to eat everyone's brain, and bombarded you with weird questions regarding your origin. You corrected her at every turn, first that you came from the gaping abyss of the Dimensional Cracks, that you didn't want to eat people's brain, you don't really derive nutrients from that, and so on.
Luckily, as the bell rang, you managed to get a word to Yu and Aodinia to meet you before they went home.
Other than that, your other classes went smoothly as yesterday. Now that you knew that platypi were indeed a thing, your head was no longer distracted by the thoughts of its impossibility.
The two students came as you asked, the evening sun outside the class casting a beautiful shade of red.
"What do you need, Miss Gigi?" Yu timidly asked. Aodinia stared at you with curiosity.
"About the Zon versus Tycho Incident." You rolled the capitalized I in your mouth-analogue receptacle, relishing in the word. Real True Crime detectives are mustachoid and gravelly voiced; you're internally disappointed no one has commented on your updated appearance.
They nodded, both looking rather uneasy. Yu looked this way and that, muttering Zeke's name under his breath. Aodinia glanced at the doorway before sighing, gesturing for Yu to go first.
He jumped, vibrating in place for long seconds, before relating what happened to you. It is much the same as what Zeke said.
Aodinia told her story. "I came from a small village called Glade. The caravan has just arrived the day before the exam and, um, I was really intimidated by the school. Over thirty minutes I saw a pretty masked lady in an elaborate dress, a skeleton in gaudy gold, a very tired-looking upperclassman, a man wearing a strange treasure chest hat and a Monster watering the flowers." She made sure to enunciates the specific terms properly, giving you an apologetic smile before faltering and awawawawawawa bowing repeatedly. Apologies not accepted. Probably. You don't know if Monster is offensive like monster, you'll surely maybe get her back for this slight.
You waved your appendage for her to continue, the nubs along its length cooing softly in an assuredly comforting manner.
With a gulp, she continued. "Then I met Zon, standing still like a statue. His aura reminded me of Potash, an ornery bear that lives near my village. He would come into our village at night and smashed our apiary, gorging himself on honey until he fell asleep." Aodinia said with a fond smile. At your quizzical look, she blushed slightly.
"Anyway, he reminded me of home. I tagged along with him and we teamed up with Yu, Zeke and Tycho. During the physical segment, I sensed no magic from Tycho, no enchantment on Zon. He just seemed to be really good with a knife.
"I'm surprised that Zon got angry about his scores. I thought he did really well too, but that's no reason to accuse Tycho. I saw Zon talking with the TAs, a large man and a small man with horn, this morning in a secluded area in the garden. Unless they were planning a secret assignation—awawawawawawa"
She blushed at her own words. What a strange girl.
Surprisingly, Yu spoke up. "Karlo!? He must have been trying to get permission for an Engagement!"
At your full attention, his voice quavered slightly.
"A-an Engagement is a formal duel between seniors to settle serious disputes, like rights to join the Tournament, ambiguous results for the Student President election and gasp—" He actually said 'gasp'. "—accusation of cheating! It was a very dumb and violent way of resolving conflicts but Headmaster Ace introduced it to his school and Headmaster King was like, well of course we'd need to do that too."
Aodinia gave him an unimpressed look. "That's dumb." "Hey, don't look at me. I didn't make the rule."
"Usually, it's only the teachers that can grant permission for an Engagement. I didn't know a TA can do that too."
The pair debated some unimportant minutiae as you searched your mind for an important deta—
"When is the earliest time the Engagement can be scheduled?"
Yu and Aodinia looked at each other, sharing your realization.
"Tomorrow."
[] Tell Tycho about this development. As a teacher, it was your duty to make sure that your students are sufficiently prepared for all kinds of troubles and obstacles life threw their way. You felt obligated to tell Tycho about the upcoming fight so that he can better prepared himself.
[] Convince Zon to rescind the challenge. As a teacher, you valued students cooperation and harmony above all else. In fighting between classmates will dissolve class unity. You didn't want that to happen simply because you were their teacher. You wanted Zon to not act too eagerly about this.
[] Investigate the TAs, getting them to retract the permission. As a teacher, when this sort of things happened, students should have come to you and not the TAs. You knew that TAs were given many responsibilities to better prepare them for the future. You were quite sure that they shouldn't have this much power though. Plus, Zon didn't seem the type to overlook you.
-----
AN: Thank you to my secret Beta for getting this update out on time, also a message from that secret Beta.
https://i.imgur.com/5loPj6v.jpg
That is all.
P.S: Gonna be updating about once per week, due to exams rearing their head. Hopefully, I don't lose too much steam by then.
Last edited: