1744 points.

I hadn’t even realized how many points I had been accruing, but they had accumulated to such a degree while I wasn’t even paying attention.

I had received a whopping six hundred points as a result of my ‘community service’. The rest were gathered due to my performance on the monthly assessments, which I never bothered to look into.

In the aftermath of the monster attack, I had become something of a minor celebrity in my friend group. I was one of the few people they knew who had assisted with the defense, and so I was beset on all sides by requests to recount every detail of what occurred that day.

As I was attempting to be more sociable, I acceded to the requests people had of me, sharing my experience with them. For many of them, it was the first time they were subject to such an attack, and they spent the majority of the time during the attack safely holed up in their dorms or in a classroom, whimpering and frightened. Hearing about my perspective on the battle might have been just an entertaining story for some of them, but for the few who wished to truly know what the battle was like while being reluctant to voice their desire, the tale could have been enlightening as to the true conditions of combat.

Of course, there were others in the academy who had assisted with the battle as well, and some tales were shared more frequently than others, but the strangest thing kept happening.

Somehow, people who were never present for the battle found themselves the heroes of the stories being passed around, while others, like myself, were disdained and scorned as bitter and jealous glory hounds and attention seekers.

And the oddest coincidence? Somehow, in what I’m sure was a completely natural set of circumstances, the heroes of the stories were all noble youths. There was absolutely no way anything untowards was happening behind the scenes. Of course not, perish the thought.

Riddis and Orddis, whom I saw on a nearly daily basis, tried to distract me from the disparaging comments being said about me and the other commoner volunteers with all the possible purchases I could make with my stash of points.

The academy set, the official name for the outfit created by the academy, cost nine hundred points. The material was made of a blend of plant fibers and silk, but it had multiple enchantments sewn into it that bestowed different effects onto it. Not only was it capable of automatically adjusting its size to the wearer, it could also change colors or even become multiple shades similar to camouflage, repel moisture such as sweat or rain, and was even capable of making minor repairs if one fed essence into it.

An ‘unending’ water canteen, which turned out to be just a regular canteen enchanted with a couple water formations and powered by an essence stone, cost one hundred eighty points.

A tent that was capable of repelling insects and had its own perimeter alarm was three hundred thirty points.

Weapons of all kinds were available for purchase, but I still hadn’t decided what exactly my fighting style would be, and so I put off buying any weapons for later.

A personalized and custom set of armor with all the latest enchantments only cost eight hundred points, but I’d probably only buy something like that at the end of my time at the academy.

Finally, the rarest item, which cost one thousand five hundred points, and required three months advance notice before purchasing.

A spatial ring, which probably broke the laws of physics, as it could contain a dorm room’s worth of items, according to the testimonies of other students who had bought one, while limited to the shape and size of a normal ring around the finger. Measuring it out myself, the total was just under five thousand cubic feet.

Now, for most people, I could see how this could be a life-changing, earth-shattering, almost heavenly treasure.

For me? At best, it would act as a smokescreen for my beast space. Spending so many points on something that would be a decoy seemed a bit…well, I didn’t need to listen to the frantic and hysteric screams of my frugal side to know that it would ultimately be a colossal waste of resources.

In the end, there was nothing urgent I needed to buy that instant, so I postponed any purchases, and just flipped through the catalog of rewards, listening to the rest of my friend group clamor about what they were looking forward to buying.

“Have you done Professor Vanyriel’s assignment on your ideal companions yet, Rhaaj?”

I turned away from the rest of the group who were animatedly discussing the possible rewards on our lunch table, and looked at Venaca, who had questioned me.

She had integrated with the rest of our friend group well, though it did take her a while to open up and become less formal around us. Much more so for me than everyone else, even the higher nobles, and while I was confused as to why, I didn’t particularly care enough to ask her straight-up, which would only end badly for me.

“Yeah, I finished it last night. All things considered, it wasn’t too bad. One for defense, one for scouting, and one for travel.”

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“Sigh, I wish I was lucky enough to have three bonds at once,” she exclaimed wistfully.

As we learned in taming class earlier in the year, everyone had a set limit of how many tamer bonds they could keep control of. It was something innate to each person, and there were a number of factors that affected it, but the most important two were one’s essence capacity and mental fortitude.

A simple test of taming tiny rats let everyone in class know how many bonds they could maintain. The professor and I could both hold three, while for most other students it was two, and Venaca was the sole person in class who had one. Thankfully, the professor taught us a relatively less painful way of breaking bonds, and so we weren’t all stuck with rats for the rest of our lives. Being the person with the lowest bond capacity in class must have been a sore spot for her, but the fact that she was opening up about it showed that she was starting to be a bit more, well, open about things.

“Zha, remind me to inform my father about the declining quality of the academy in recent years,” a haughty female voice rang out behind us, with a quiet “Yes, my lady,” following up after her.

Turning around, I saw a familiar group. A group of about ten students, a few of which I remembered being present a few weeks ago when I was intentionally pushed to the ground like a piece of lint. The ‘noble heroes’ of the academy, who had apparently mastered time magic, because of course that was a real thing here, as they had magically been in two places at once on the day of the attack. At least, according to some witnesses who recalled a few of their number pulling out their hair and whining about the lackluster defenses of the city.

“What do you think of these, Bydon?” An average looking brown-haired boy asked one of his companions. “Nobles and commoners, all bunched together like a bunch of snakes, deciding who to strike next.”

A comment like that? It was like they were intentionally giving me a signal to jump in. Of everyone at the table, I was probably the one who cared the least about possible political ramifications, though the academy had attempted to separate themselves from political matters. Politely accepting their invitation, I stood up and faced the one who had spoken.

“It’s whom. Whom to strike next.” I said nonchalantly.

“What?” More than one noble looked at me in confusion, though a few in the back glared at me, whom I wholeheartedly ignored, as I proceeded to acerbically dismantle the one who had spoken first.

“Did you never learn proper grammar? The difference between using who and whom? Subjects and objects? Parts of speech? Sigh, it seems the quality of tutors must be declining if these are the results of their teachings.” I shook my head in mock disappointment as I heard the muffled laughter and giggles coming from my friends behind me.

A few of the nobles blushed in embarrassment, while the number of glares I received increased, and a short blond girl who had a sour expression as soon as I began speaking marched right up to me and smirked.

“So. you’re the foolish commoner who claims to be a hero. Dark skin from the south. Clothes at least a year out of fashion, and hanging with riffraff like the Gafft’s and…who is that? Some bastard daughter of a baron?” She pointed straight at Venaca, who had reverted to her previous state of being a timid mouse, and kept her eyes glued to her feet, physically hunching in on herself as if that would protect her from the words headed her way.

“Look at her! She doesn’t even have enough noble pride to defend herself! And you expect everyone to believe someone like you actually contributed to the city’s defense while carousing with trash like that?”

By now everyone in the cafeteria was paying attention to the little confrontation playing out in front of them, as conversations halted and shouts turned to whispers. Everyone in our friend group had risen out of their seats to stand next to me, providing some support. A few of the girls were next to Venaca, quietly trying to comfort her and whispering words of encouragement.

“Know your place, young lady.”

Riddis had spoken directly to the little blond, who whipped towards her as her eyes bulged out while maintaining a polite distance from her.

“What did you just say to me?” she whispered out, barely restraining her anger, as her fists were visibly clenched and her face was ruddy.

“It is not your place to discipline any student here. This may be a place of learning, but that doesn’t give you the right to criticize anyone as you wish.” Riddis said, her voice no less angry, but far more controlled than the blond in front of her.

“I am –” the blond began speaking before being interrupted by Riddis.

“I know who you are. But in these walls, who you are doesn’t matter. Only how you behave,” and Riddis displayed a faint grin as she continued, “Or are you claiming your father is so powerful, he can command the academy?”

The academy, although created by the four founders and named in their honor, was backed by the royal family. More specifically, the king. And as I had learned through both gossip and lectures, the king and those of his faction were attempting to fully separate the internal affairs of the academy from the politics of the outside world.

Riddis had given this blonde girl enough rope to hang herself with. Now that she had brought the academy’s name into it, and by proxy the king, acting willfully and thereby challenging the king’s prestige would only see the group of noble students punished, or perhaps they or even their families would face worse consequences.

And by the look on her face, the blond girl knew it, as she spat out something close to a threat.

“My name is Uraia Xurety, first daughter of Duke Xurety of the Azure Coves. I swear on the pride of my noble house, I will not forget what happened here today…and neither will you.”

Leaving those parting words behind, she and the rest of her compatriots retreated from the cafeteria, as our two groups exchanged silent yet hate-filled glares at one another before they walked out of sight.

A few moments full of tension passed, before the bystanders returned to their conversations and meals, no doubt discussing what just took place.

I took that as my cue to head off the lingering unpleasantness before it became too troublesome to deal with. Sitting back down in a relaxed manner brought most of my friends’ attention to what I was doing.

“Well, that was exciting. So, how much were those flying metallic constructs you were talking about? Two hundred points?” I asked dramatically as I browsed the rewards catalog, pointedly ignoring Venaca holding back tears as two other people were consoling her.

I just did what I hoped other people would do if our roles were reversed.

The rest of our table sat down and followed my lead, just quietly offering Venaca a smile or nod or a pat on the shoulder as they passed her by and continued our discussion of purchases.

I wasn’t as embroiled as most of the other students were in noble gossip, but I had heard enough to have a basic understanding.

Bastards, or illegitimate children, were an uncommon occurrence, as their birth involved infidelity, an act just on the cusp of something that could herald a vorander attack. That didn’t mean people never cheated, just that it was a lower rate than it should have been. At the best of times, illegitimate children faced persecution and scorn from society and most members of their family, but their coming here to the academy meant they knowingly walked into a lion’s den where the majority of people would push them down solely due to their status.

That was just how much the academy could change someone’s life. They were willing to endure ridicule and gossip and bullying in order to secure a better future for themselves. If anything, it would be harder for them than it would be for commoners, as the majority of bastards were nobles, meaning they had some reputation and standards to uphold and live by.

It was similar to my own goals, though what they were working towards was probably more permanent than my own goals were. Where I merely wanted to fit in and not seem like a clueless idiot every time I opened my mouth, they were hoping to move past the stigma associated with their birth and gain some measure of respect and acceptance from the community.

It was worthy of respect, if they could fulfill that goal.