CHAPTER 26
THE THIRD YEAR
Hans had dismissed Vanir and was on his way to his class. Soon he was joined by Chris, Delimira, and another face that he wasn’t sure of meeting. Allynna, accompanied by Delimira, nodded a little on seeing Hans, a way the Clandor royalty greets their equal standings. “Prince Parv,” she said confidently.
“Hey, there, Shrimp. Fancy seeing you near me.”
“Aren’t you going to show respect? I’m the princess of Clandor… the next heir in line, and you are the prince of another nation—”
Hans lifted the thin chain from the nape of his neck, bringing the gem pendant to his lips in a swift motion. With a graceful touch, he kissed the gem, like he was rubbing salt on Allynna’s loss of her precious gift. His smooth movement cut her words in mid-air as he boldly declared, "I don’t give a shit."
“Hans, stop it.” Delimira pulled him from the back, and Chris’s eyes were saying the same.
“Tsk! Guess your knights in shining armour are here, shrimp. Just go to your class, shoo…shoo.”
Allynna, not responding to his provocation, left silently. While Hans faced Delimira’s interrogative tone, “Just what is your problem with her? You are meaner than usual to her. She never did you any wrong.”
“Dunno! It’s just every time I see her, I want to irritate her. It comes naturally, I can’t help it.”
Both Chris and Delimira were startled by the answer. Whereas Delimira was speechless, Chris, laughing hard, suggested, “Oh, so you are one of those. Who bullies the girl he likes—”
“You out of your mind, Chris. Do you want me to repeat history?” Hans asked with a bone-chilling tone.
“Guess, I was. Buddy, calm down.” Chris gestured for him to breathe, and Hans let go of his abhorrent words.
While both of them calmed down, Delimira, who had been left behind a little quickly to catch up to them, asked, “So, Chris, are you taking any academics this year? I know Hans would ditch the class on the first chance—”
“Oh, I’m feeling like that too, Deli.” Chris glanced at Hans, “My buddy here became my lord to serve for perpetuity—”
“Let it go, Chris.” Hans interrupted, “That whole thing was just a way to take Arat off your back. Don’t take those words—”
“It is you who are taking the oath of a knight lightly, my lord. I can’t falsify my words.” Chris rejected it instantly and patting his chest confidently he said with an affirmative notion, “Your life is my duty now.”
“Whatever sails your boat, man. People are just becoming obnoxious on every passing day.” Hans mumbled, first it was Dietrich who derailed his plan, Allynna approached him and now Chris started being formal. He turned to Delimira and sighed in relief as he caught her eyes as they were saying what are you looking at, punk. He chuckled, “at least she never changes. I hate changes.”
“What are your plans, Deli?” He asked first.
“Academia, what else?” Delimira responded in an instant.
“Aren’t you tired of theory classes?” Hans asked, frustrated.
“It’s necessary this time.” She grinned, pointing, “There’s this place called Mystic Glade Dungeon that’s crawling with super advanced Golems. I want to clear it out, so I need to learn more about these golems.
Hans had lost her when she mentioned Mystic Glades. “Shit! I need to upgrade that place. Ancestor was right. Someone will definitely find out my secrets soon.” He became a bit nervous because he wasn’t sure if he could keep a poker face at Delimira. “Hey Winters, why did you choose that particular place?”
“You don’t know?” she asked, her confusion evident. She had assumed Hans would be the first to join the raid. She had discussed this with Chris, and he was also considering doing the same.
However, Hans shook his head innocently. So she explained, stretching her words, “ A pervert mage lives there. He tortures people by taking their clothes off and throwing them outside—”
“Wait, wait. What?” Hans halted her, confused. “What do you mean, people are getting stripped there?”
“Yeah,” she affirmed, “Just a week before, some of our seniors attacked the place and were thrown out naked. That was really embarrassing.”
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“The hell is going on there. I guess my autonomous network is doing something weird. Screw the upgrading, I need to overhaul it.” Hans cursed inside.
As they all left for their first gathering in their third year, Delimira tried to pursue Hans and ask him not to be so harsh on Allynna. So after taking in her sympathetic words, Hans finally asked her, “Just why did the elven princess approach me? I thought after knowing who I am, she would be miles apart from me at the least!”
Instead of Delimira, Chris answered, “I was in Clandor for a few weeks, and the situation there is really bad. The administration is unstable, and for a temporary peace, I heard that both royals and the Council decided to exchange wards. Allynna is soon to leave for the Council in exchange for the Council’s precious heir.”
“A peace bought through cowardice won’t last long. But how come her approaching me had to do anything with this?”
“Who knows, maybe she wanted your sympathy. She is not well-versed in politics like her mother; she only knows sincerity.”
“And your point of telling me this nonsense?” Hans inquired.
“If you wish, you can tip this balanced scale. All you have to do is declare Parvian support towards the royals—”
“Chris, be careful there. You are my first knight. I can’t have you act like Clandorians’ spokesperson.”
“Sorry, buddy,” Chris apologised honestly. “It was my home, and I was treated well there. I just don’t want to see it burn in flames.”
Hans was silent for a while and after thinking, he gave a clear answer. “An imperial has no mercy, sympathy, or sense of guilt. We are not built like others. Her sincerity is the wrong way to approach me. I’m not my past self where I take decisions without thinking. There is a nation behind me, for god’s sake.”
“Just forgot it,” Chris apologised again, “it was wrong of me—”
“You missed the point, Chris. I never said I can’t get involved. I said the approach she is using is wrong.” Hans mused and went in first. Both of them shouted, surprised, and followed from behind.
“Tak! Tak!” A young woman in her late twenties entered the class. She had wavy dark green hair that swayed down her shoulders like a forest in motion. Her eyes sparkled with intelligence and kindness, framed by delicate glasses perched on her nose. A faint citrusy scent trailed behind her, leaving a refreshing trail in the otherwise stagnant air.
With a confident stride, she made her way to the teacher's desk, her presence commanding attention without a word spoken. The students' curious gazes followed her every move until she spoke.
“Settle down, y’all, and good morning,” she greeted in a voice that was both gentle and firm. "I'm your new homeroom teacher, and I'm looking forward to getting to know each and every one of you this year.”
Her words were met with a chorus of greetings and curious glances exchanged among the students. One of them asked, “Professor, I thought someone else was taking the homeroom—”
“Yes, he abandoned you all, so I took over.” She smiled softly and addressed the class, “Listen, you all know I’m the Castle master of Seekers, Thelma. I’m a very busy person, so I won’t be your mother. You’ve grown up and reached the third year.” She quickly counted the heads in the class.
Clearing her voice, she continued, “You’re around sixty or something. Many of your friends failed the second year and are now somewhere else in Floatlands, either at home or in another castle. Don’t mind them; this is the real beginning of your life as mana users, whether you’re a knight or a mage. The real work starts now.”
The class fell silent, but the students exchanged glances. “Thak! Thak!” She clapped her desk with her books and spoke again. “Look, let’s get this over with quickly. You all belong to different castles with different facilities, but after the third year, there’s a special perk for every castle.”
The students looked at her, curious. She answered warmly, “To pass the third year, you need to collect 1000 credits. The first option is to earn credits by taking courses. Regular classes reward you around 250 credits, and additional subjects carry different amounts. However, most students prefer the second option—”
“TASK HALL!,” cutting her off in mid sentence, students collectively answered.
“Yes, I can feel the enthusiasm, but let me finish first, okay?” Students nodded in unison, and she continued, “You are only allowed to take the meagre tasks offered for clearance level 1. The more credits you earn, the higher your clearance level shoots up. And now we are on the topic which I was talking about. The perks of your individual castle.”
The silence hung in the balance. Many of the members were informed beforehand, but they all wanted to confirm through their homeroom.
Thelma smiled gently and swiped her hair lock to the right. She said, “For starters, the castle members of Seekers were offered secret information which cost a spicy price for you newbies.”
“Prophets pay no taxes. Sentinels are offered heavy discounts on potions, while their counterparts, Talons, could borrow an artefact with no charge. And lastly, Guardians are offered free healing after any mishaps.”
“Why the discrimination?” A girl with auburn hair asked, raising her hand.
“So you fools don’t go solo and get yourselves in trouble. Believe me, you’ll get in trouble even with a decent group.”
“We can’t even leave Floatlands. What trouble we can get?” Hans quipped in silence, but his words were heard by Thelma. However, instead of getting angry, she just smiled politely and answered, “There are a lot of ways you can get your ass handed to you, Prince of Parv. Do you want to experience it?”
“I’d love to try, but I don’t want to drag these nice people into it. So No professor—”
“Wise choice. Moving on. Fill out the forms if you want to opt in for classroom education since you can’t change this after a week. You need to learn that you can’t catch the ship after it sails. Think hard because the tasks you can take without licking your seniors’ shoes only offer ten or twenty credits. You need to grind a lot if you opt out of the academics.”
“No taxes. Lucky me.” After Thelma said her piece, Hans rejoiced inside. He still remembered the horrendous price he had to pay in the name of taxes when he was suspended. The perks were made this way so no one attempts any task alone, but Hans had his own plans.
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