A collective gasp erupted from the crowd, followed by a tense silence. The gaudily dressed noble trio stood in the path of the two foreign students and their retainer.

“W-well?” Hurb was clearly second guessing the casually thrown taunt now that he had a moment to look at the group closer.

They didn’t acknowledge him or slow their pace. When they were near enough to the now trembling nobles to reach out and touch them, the platinum haired male spoke to the female.

“These guys have all the power of a crippled brine shrimp. Why did I even come? Damn old hag said there were strong people here. That Robaru must be slippin’ to have gotten so messed up.” He gave an exasperated sigh and addressed the ‘brine shrimp’. “Yo, you little buckets of red paint really wanna die or what?”

“Misazel, you must not forget the rules.” The crystal clear voice of the female rang out as a clear command. The boy apparently named Misazel let out a ‘tch!’ and stepped back before the girl continued. “That said, such ignorant worms must be educated...”

Somehow the beautiful girl’s voice was more threatening than Misazel’s brazen threats. Before anyone could react further, the girl lazily traced a rune and whispered a few words before issuing a command.

“Grovel until your heads bleed. You are permitted to stand in one hour.” The command carried the weight of powerful magic, and the three nobles collapsed to their knees as if under the weight of intense gravity. They smashed their foreheads flat into the stone of the courtyard, wailing and whimpering in confusion. With that, the elven group walked past the prostrating nobles without another glance.

“That’s the Ruby Princess for ya!” Misazel clapped his hands above his head as he laughed in amusement.

“What in the world was that spell?” Zell asked both in awe and fear as Rin rejoined him.

“That was some incredibly high ranking variation of Dominate. I’ve never even heard of one that could be set with such a specific command, and an hour long duration would consume a hundred times the mana I have in my whole body. That girl is off the charts powerful.” Rin watched the group leave with wide eyes.

“That guy gives off a crazy dangerous feeling too.” Nin added as she joined them, she was still rubbing the goosebumps on her arms as she spoke.

Cora simply nodded in agreement with the rest of them. With few other options, they followed the crowd to the appointed area where a large stage had been erected and a crowd was gathering. The three nobles were paralyzed, but were carried by a few staff members one at a time in their prostrated frozen stiff positions.

Once everyone had finished checking in and was assembled before the stage, three people ascended to the platform and waited for silence. Agitha, dressed in her old green dragon scalemail stood between the dignified headmaster and another young man that appeared to be around eighteen.

The young man wore a blazer style blue jacket with several patches and badges adorning both lapels. He was tall and statuesque with a square jaw, short brown hair, and a permanent five o’ clock shadow that only rugged anti-hero types could pull off. Zell had no idea who he might be so he decided to risk a whisper to Rin.

“Who’s the cool looking one in the jacket?” He asked as quietly as possible.

“You don’t even know that much!?” She balked in a whisper. “Sheesh you’re so sheltered. That’s Juron Krees, the president of the student council and the MVP of the winter hunt last year. He’s a third year student but he already is supposedly as strong as a rank two hunter.”

“He’s scared of Agitha.” Nin observed with a smirk. Indeed the one called Juron had a sheen of sweat on his face in spite of the chill morning air, and his eyes continually shifted to look at the elf warrior next to him.

Before they could speculate any further, the magically enhanced voice of the headmaster echoed over the crowd.

“Welcome students! It is with great pride that I announce the commencement of this academy’s sixty first year of education and training. You students represent the future of this kingdom, and a few of you even the world beyond that. This year is a historic one as we welcome back the founder and director of the academy herself, the legendary level four hunter lady Agitha Defaria!” An explosive cheer erupted that carried on for nearly a minute before the headmaster could continue. “She has generously decided to assume her former role as Master of General Fitness, a course that hasn’t been in effect for many years. We expect that you all will do your best!”

The headmaster finished his short speech to a scattered and tentative applause. None of the students had ever heard of such a class. He continued once more after the applause faded.

“You all have been given class assignments based on certain criteria within your registration testing and other factors...” The headmaster stopped speaking when Agitha raised her hand next to him. Oh gods, now what?

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Since it seems this academy that I founded has drifted away from my vision over the years, I have decided to correct some things. First, we will return to a purely merit based system of class structure. I’m afraid your family ties and contributions will no longer affect your class standing whatsoever. Keeping with that theme, we will be holding a single elimination supervised tournament for each class in order to determine your individual ranks free from any social influence.”

Agitha’s short speech caused a sudden, massive divide in the crowd. The majority reacted with absolute elation that they might suddenly have a chance to excel, while the wealthy and noble students gritted their teeth in silent fury.

The headmaster wanted to sink into the dirt and never emerge again. This was a nightmare. That old hag had just painted a target on his back for every single noble parent in the kingdom, and they were all bound to be furious with him. After all, he had been padding his own finances with their donations for years.

“Well, Grasseater? Anything to add?” Agitha leaned over and asked quietly. A huge vein had appeared on Grasius’ forehead but he merely shook his head and spun on his heel to storm off the stage.

“The tournament will begin at the Whiterock Arena tomorrow at dawn. Be early! Missing your match is an automatic failure and will result in a probationary F Ranking! Good luck and welcome to the REAL Monster Hunter Academy!” Agitha shouted as the crowd fell silent, even the angry nobles were in awe of her sheer presence.

The silence didn’t last long. As the ramifications of Agitha’s speech settled into the crowd, a storm of excited speculation began swirling and gaining strength.

“Ahem!” The young man on the stage cleared his throat loudly to no effect.

“Shut the hell up, we aren’t done yet!” Agitha roared above the growing din of the crowd. Unlike Juron, her voice commanded instant quiet.

“Th-thank you. Now please everyone take advantage of the open house orientation. Familiarize yourself with the campus and its facilities. There are no formal classes today but the staff will be on hand to answer any questions you might have.” Juron’s voice was surprisingly meek in spite of his impressive appearance.

“Director Agitha’s so amazing!”

“We’ll really have a chance to start on the same rank as the nobles!”

“We’ll just see what my father says about this rubbish!”

The crowd around Zell was a divided storm of exclamations. He simply shrugged and turned to the three girls next to him.

“Where should we go first?” He asked easily.

“We’re going home to train.” Nin said with a dead serious tone. “You two are coming with us. You’ve never been in a tournament before so you need grilled on the rules and basics.”

“Yeah no arguments there I guess.” Cora said with a nod.

Zell agreed and the four of them started to walk back toward the academy entrance. Zell hadn’t taken more than a few steps when a monstrously strong hand lifted him off the ground by his collar from behind. He gulped hard as an all too familiar voice reached his ears.

“Bait and you three, come with me.” Agitha said, offering no room for debate. Without another word, she began to walk quickly toward a cluster of small buildings on the other side of the field. Zell resisted being dragged like a grain sack for a few moments but eventually surrendered and crossed his arms with a disgruntled huff.

“Did those four offend the director?”

“I would hate to be him...”

Zell’s face was growing more flushed by the second, partially from his now choking collar but mostly from embarrassment. Mercifully they arrived at a small building that was really just a cleaned out equipment shed that Agitha was using while her office was being prepared. She dropped Zell unceremoniously on the grass and opened the door.

Inside was a simple desk and a few chairs. Agitha plopped down behind the desk and told Cora to lock the door behind her. Zell was grumbling and swiping the dirt off of his clothes as Agitha began speaking.

“I’ll be right up front with you kids.” Agitha started. “The main reason I returned to this school was to watch out for Zell and Cora.”

“Funny way to show it.” Zell grumbled. He looked up to see a wry smile and piercing violet eyed gaze aimed at him: the same stare she gave a certain half troll, half giant before carving it into a twitching pile of blood and meat. “Forgive me teacher!” Zell dropped to all fours and repeatedly smacked his head into the floorboards.

“Now where was I?” Agitha resumed. “My other reason for being here is to beat this place back into shape. The soft, incompetent trash hunters this school has been producing are an insult to me and useless to the kingdom. You four and a few others are going to work as my gatekeepers. I’m having you all paired against second year students that have obviously been passed with aid from their family’s money or status. Any second year that loses to a first year will lose their second year status and start over from the bottom. Based on the registration exams, there are only a few here that stand any sort of chance against you all so it’s very likely that you will meet each other in the quarter finals and beyond. The only way to show respect for your friends in that situation is to do your best. Lastly, get into the habit of calling me Director here. It grosses me out but do it for the other students and staff. Questions?” Agitha finished, looking at each of the four in turn.

“Is the rule format the same as the Free Fighter’s League?” Nin asked, citing the most commonly adopted set of rules.

“Yes. You’ll be restricted to blunted weapons and non lethal spells. The match ends when one fighter is no longer able to fight, yields, or leaves the arena boundary.” Agitha answered.

“I think I understand everything...” Rin said, obviously trying to process everything that was going on.

“Very well, do your best. You’ll all do well I’m sure.” Agitha stood up then, indicating she had said all all she needed to say. “Dismissed, except Cora could you stay a moment?”

Cora nodded but wore an uncertain look. She sat down in one of the chairs as the other three exited. Once the door closed, Agitha walked around the desk and took a knee in front of her.

“You look like hell kiddo, I heard about the nightmares.” Agitha said in a gentle voice that only a handful of people had ever heard. “If there is anything you need from me, or anyone gives you a hard time just let old Aggie know! Alright?” It was only a short message but the kindness in Agitha’s voice pierced Cora’s tattered defenses.

“I’m really scared. I feel like I’m losing myself somehow. Some of my thoughts are things I would never think, and I haven’t had a normal night’s sleep in so long.” Cora’s voice quaked and tears slid unchecked down her cheeks.

“I don’t know how to help you right now, but I promise I’m going to do everything I can which believe it or not is quite a bit.” Agitha reached up and rested her hand on Cora’s head.

Something about her tone made Cora believe her, and she was touched. A moment later, an ugly sarcastic voice crept into her mind.

“Since she’s done such a great job so far right? She let a mana lamprey cut me up and eat my mana for ten years.” Cora shook her head quickly and pushed the thought away but it strangely persisted. “If it weren’t for her I’d still have my damn body and my toys!” That thought made Cora shiver. None of that made any sense, ‘my body’? ‘My Toys’?

Cora sighed deeply and wiped her tears away. She looked carefully at Agitha, and the concern and kindness on her face was very real. Even if she had once failed to protect her, Cora would forgive her. Agitha was family and was reaching out, promising to do something real rather than just offering platitudes. Cora smiled her first genuine smile in quite a while, and suddenly threw her arms around Agitha’s neck. She didn’t know why she felt so victorious, simply overcoming the negative thoughts gave her a rush. Agitha returned the hug and picked Cora up to her feet.

After Cora said goodbye, she rejoined the others and they spent the rest of the evening preparing as promised.