Shiro: [K-K-Kō-Kō-Kō…]

Kōkatsu: [Ah? Somethin’ up, Shiro? Yer actin’ all strange n’ shit.]

Shiro: […Well…it’s just…it’s odd to see you here…is all.]

Kōkatsu. A girl who had been staying at this school for the past two years yet never attended class since her first day, was now sitting directly beside Shiro.

A scenario such as this, was truly confusing. Why she had been here, the choice of doing so now, everything that had been happening relating to Kōkatsu at this very moment, made no sense to Shiro.

Kōkatsu: [Oh? Ah, I see. I guess this scenario would be kinda weird wouldn’t it, huh? Yahahaha!]

Shiro: [Y-yeah…it uhhh…would.]

Kōkatsu: [Well, I guess I should probably explain myself, and I like ya anyways, so I’m willin’ to make an exception this time. I mentioned it yesterday, but there was somethin’ ya said that I liked.]

Shiro: [Something I said? If I recall correctly, you brought that up when–]

Teacher: [Class, while I do appreciate all of you getting to know one another, I would prefer if we were able to begin our lesson. Please take your seats.]

Before Shiro could finish her sentence, the teacher had asked the whole class to settle down and prepare for the lesson. As this was happening, Shiro had noticed Kōkatsu in the corner of her eye ripping off a small piece of paper, and she had begun to write on it.

The small piece of paper was then slid across Shiro’s desk by Kōkatsu, and Shiro looked at the incredibly messy writing on it.

We’ll talk after lunch, I have some important shit to say. Plus, I gotta thank you for your help.

Help? What had she been referring to when she wrote that?

Did she perhaps mean what she mentioned earlier? About how she had liked something Shiro had said?

Whatever the case may be, it could wait till the lesson was over.

Mrs.Mamiya: [Alright class, allow me to introduce myself to all of you. My name is Mrs. Mamiya, and I will be your teacher for the educational area of the godhood tests. There should be some things to note right off the bat regarding this. Number one, these lessons will take a large period of your time compared to the average school curriculums. This is largely due to this being your first step towards becoming a full fledged god or goddess. So as such, your time here for the next few weeks will be learning the basics of everything, and also trying to put what you’ve learned into practice with written tests. I’m sure many of you would like to engage in some of the more physically taxing tests, but rest assured, as long as you can pass this, the following steps should be what you’re looking for. The second thing I would like to note is that, even if you do not pass the educational area of this school, you will still have a chance at continuing through the course. So don’t be too discouraged if you aren’t the greatest in this area. The gods would just like to see what you might be capable of, and where you shine best! And with that out of the way, let us begin the lesson!]

Shiro had been quite happy over this info. It was not as though she had been dumb or anything of the sort, but to have a reassuring message that if she were to not do as well in terms of learning and writing over something physical related, that she would still be given a chance, provided a calm feeling within her..

While she had peacefully smiled at this info, she could once again hear the ripping of paper, before hearing a hand slide across her desk.

Btw, remind me about the steps to becoming a god later when we talk. I wanna break it all down for you.

Though she had not seen who handed her the paper, telling by the hand writing, it had been quite clear who it was. Along with the fact that Kōkatsu's paper she had for studying now had two corners missing, the evidence was lining up more and more.

Mrs.Mamiya: [Now, to begin today’s lesson, I’d like to go into the basics of things that many of you already may know. It might seem a bit redundant, but it’s always good to give yourselves a nice fresh reintroduction to what you may already know just in case you forgot some details! Let’s start off with the basics of your very own bodies and energy. Firstly, as many of you are aware by now, and have known since the day you were born, each of you was likely born with a specific element to use. These can range from fire, water, ice, thunder, earth, wind, light, and dark. For many, you will likely only have one of these many elements but there are a few cases of people who have two of them. In fact, in extremely rare cases, it’s been documented that there are people who existed who were capable of using all eight of them.]

After hearing the teacher speak about elements, Shiro simply looked down at her right index finger. For a short second, a green spark had flashed around it.

While she had done this, a hand once again slid across her desk.

I don’t like gloating but there’s a chance I might be that one of those rare cases she was talking bout

She looked to her left, to now see a paper that could almost be comparable to bread without its crust. The only bit of crust this bread-like paper had left was the top left corner that remained intact.

Mrs.Mamiya: [An important job with these elements is finding your own unique ways to use them. As you go through our program here, try and think of many different and creative ways you can use it to your own benefit, and truly be able to call it your own! But be careful with how you use it, as there is a limit to how much of your element you can use for a set period of time. You can of course increase this with proper training, but you will likely always have a limit to it. Now, there is a chance some of you do not have an element to use, or perhaps your element isn’t as good as you would hope. But there is no need to fret, as this is where we will discuss the area in which your stamina can be used to a much higher power with Matōki!]

Elements had been a common way for people to effectively use a power, whether it was for aiding others, for combat, or even for simple day to day tasks. There were some, however, who could not use their element very well, or perhaps they did not even have an element at all. However, that did not mean they were completely powerless. There was still something, something that all beings had in some fashion, which had been more complicated than the elements, but it still existed for those without that power. That power was the power of Demonic Chi, or Matōki for short.

Mrs.Mamiya: [Matōki can work in a variety of ways. Firstly, matōki is the very aura of one’s energy. Not all races have it in the exact same way as one another however many have some variation of it unique to their own race. For example, Kitsunes have matōki that flow with their elements, giving them a much larger edge with using both together or in the case of someone without an element, the ability to create one from matōki itself, or Dragons, who have matōki that focuses on power more than anything else. Giving them a much larger edge in combat. However, matōki can be rather draining to one’s being as it can cost your stamina, or, if you’ve run out of that, your very own lifespan to use. Thus it is recommended not to rely on it entirely. Also, it should be noted that the amount of matōki someone has can determine how strong certain things they do will be along with the pressure someone will feel with a lesser matōki. For example, two people who might be decently close in level might not notice anything, but if one of them were to have a smaller amount, they might feel as though they gained a slight bit of pressure upon their body. The higher one goes, or the opposite effect for the other, and the effects become larger and larger. So it’s recommended that much like you all are now, that you suppress your matōki until the emergency scenario where you might need all of it to flow through you. That said, many of you should be on a close level to one another in that field, so the effects shouldn’t be that bad.]

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Matōki is a powerful technique, but in the scenario where a fight may break out, or civilians would need to be saved, it was a technique that needed proper control. Otherwise, while you may try to help the situation at hand, if your level was far too high, it might put those people into an even greater level of danger.

While thinking about the possible scenarios where a risk like this could happen, Shiro finally saw it. The crust from the bread had finally been removed, as a new corner of paper was now on her desk. This time however was different, as the paper had a Y and a N on it, indicating a yes or no answer from Shiro.

Do you know about the weird shit involving matōki and all that?

It was a confusing question, but she had a general idea for what Kōkatsu was trying to ask.

Shiro circled the N for no, and handed the paper back to her. Only to then get the paper back a few seconds later, with it now flipped over to fit a new sentence on it.

K remind me about that after too I gotta talk about that as well

Shiro had turned and nodded, and as she turned her head back to face the teacher, she noticed something in the corner of her eye.

A pale girl with long blonde hair, staring at her with a look that she could only be one of disgust, before the girl slowly turned her head back to also face the teacher.

Mrs. Mamiya: [Matōki can improve a variety of things or give access to many abilities that you might not have had access to without it. Some examples include the ability to fly by coating yourself in it. Improving the power of an attack in battle by converting it onto the attack. The opposite as well, using it to defend yourself in a better manner which will decrease the damage you may take from an attack. Using it to sense the matōki of others, gaining the locations of your allies or possible threats that may be in an area. Using it to heal people who may be injured. Taking the matōki and turning it into a raw physical form, thus creating a matōki blast that you are able to fire. And the most important of all, Matōki Abilities, which are abilities formed from converting your matōki into whatever that you may wish for their ability to be. However, there are limits to what you can create with this ability of course, and you will only be allowed to use one. So if you need to create one, make sure to think long and hard on what you want it to be.]

Matōki Abilities were judged by many to be the best use of matōki out there. While many of the techniques were useful in their own right, the ability to make your own technique that you may find use in was incredibly helpful for all fields that existed. It was the perfect way to use such a fascinating power.

Mrs.Mamiya: [However, I’m sure there’s one area of it that none of you know, and that is the Advanced Matōki Abilities.]

A wave of surprise and confusion had filled the air, and the students had become unsure of what the teacher had been speaking about.

Mrs.Mamiya: [Advanced Matōki Abilities is a way to take your ability to an even greater level. There is a catch to this however. The ability must have a condition that you give it in order to reach that level. For example…]

The teacher had then picked up a ruler that was near the board.

Mrs. Mamiya: [Let’s say I tap on this ten times…and behold!]

All of a sudden, four feathers had sprouted out of the ruler.

Mrs. Mamiya: [While this isn’t an impressive ability at all, it gives you all a good example for how this will work. The harder the condition, the better your ability will improve when it becomes advanced.]

While the example wasn’t a great one, if someone were to make their condition incredibly hard to clear, then their ability after clearing said condition could be quite the massive improvement. This too, had been one of the reasons why the ability section of matōki was considered the best usage of it.

Mrs. Mamiya: [Now, here comes an extra exciting part! If you end up clearing this course, and you become a full fledged god, then you will be granted a third type of ability, known as a God Ability! These have less restrictions than the average matōki ability, however in order to obtain one, there are a certain group of people you must discuss it with in order to gain it. I can’t go into the details of this sadly, but if you are able to make it to that level, you’ll understand.]

A certain group of people. This had confused Shiro. It would make sense if they had to speak to the gods about obtaining an ability such as that, but did that statement mean there was someone else? Some other group that had a higher authority over something like that?

Another slip of paper was now on Shiro’s desk.

By the way, remind me about those old god fucks up there. I gotta speak to you about them.

This note had been odd. For the first time, the writing wasn’t messy.

Before she could dwell on it more, Shiro’s mind had snapped back in focus to the class as a question was asked by one of the students

???: [Mrs.Mamiya! If I recall correctly, there is an extra step that one can take in order to achieve a much more exceptional level of using one’s matōki, is there not?]

The pale girl with blonde hair was the one who had asked the question. And from the way she spoke, she seemed very sophisticated and well refined in her speech.

Mrs. Mamiya: [Ah yes, quite right. There is one more area that we need to speak about regarding this. Thank you for bringing it up, Helig! Perfect Matōki Flow, is the name of our final area on this topic. As I have mentioned, using matōki can be draining on one’s stamina and as such, only certain quantities at certain times should be used. There is a way however to make sure you never lose stamina, and also increase all fields of your matōki to an even higher level. To do so, you must obtain the difficult power of Perfect Matōki Flow. It requires an immense amount of training to use as well as a mix of calmness with the flow of one’s emotions. That is only to use it however, as both areas must be even further improved if one hopes to perfectly master it. It’s incredibly uncommon, much like the ability to use all elements. The only well known person who was capable of this was the legendary hero herself, Airi Natsuri. It’s rather embarrassing to admit it, but if possible, I would like to meet her myself one day.]

Perfect Matōki Flow was barely used by any, and it was mainly due to just how difficult it was to truly use. There was one person however, one person who not only was able to use it, but had perfectly mastered the technique like no other person in the world possibly could have. That person was the almighty Airi Natsuri. A legend to many, nobody had ever truly seen her in action, but it was thanks to her actions that many had been saved and with those actions, it was known that she was no myth. She was someone who many either wanted to personally meet, or those with wicked intentions, prayed that she never would find them. There was one person however, in this very classroom, who not only met her, but had known her for quite some time. That person had known Airi since the day that they were born, had been cared for by her, and had even known about her last name changing, after marrying the man who she deemed a suitable, loving husband.

Shiro was aware of that woman. Airi Natsuri, or as she had known her, Airi Fuloreen. Her mother.

If there was anyone that believed Airi was a myth, Shiro was the person who could prove them wrong the best in that scenario.

Would they believe her? Probably not.

Could she show them as proof? Sure.

Would she? Probably not.

After all, Airi was willing to change her last name to gain peace and quiet for her family. If she were to go around spreading her name to others, it would cause more problems for Shiro and her mother.

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The rest of the lesson had been note-taking on info Shiro had already discussed with Kōkatsu, about how the gods serve their people, how the ruler of the world is able to speak with the gods, so on and so forth. As well as some simple homework questions for the things they had discussed in the class.

Shiro: [Jeez, they really weren’t kidding when they said these classes would take a lot longer than the average school sessions from before. I feel like my body would have completely shut down if I spent another ten minutes there. To think we gotta go back after lunch as well…oh well, at least the lunch break lasts a while.]

While making her way down to the cafeteria along with the other students in the school, Shiro noticed someone a few feet in front of her.

Shiro: [Hey, that’s…]

A pale looking girl, with long blonde hair. A girl who was incredibly intelligent and well mannered, that she had seen in her class just moments before. She had pure white clothes, much like Shiro. Only, unlike Shiro, who was wearing the school’s dress clothes in the shade of white, this girl was wearing a short dress that was in the shade of white.

Shiro quickly sped up her pace, and tried to speak to the girl.

Shiro: [You’re…Helig, right? It’s nice to meet yo–]

Helig: [Do not speak to me with your filthy mouth, you miserable cur.]

Shiro: [...huh…?]

The face that before seemed to be one of disgust, was most certainly one of not only disgust at this very moment, but also anger.

Helig: [Honestly, your race truly has no limit to how disgusting they can be. I don’t even need to speak to you to know how much you’d be willing to defile your own depraved body.]

With a lashing with her words, the girl known as Helig, had asserted herself to Shiro.

A vile hatred for Shiro, for whatever reason, had existed within her.

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