"Good morning class!" Mrs Schlart called out with an expectant voice.
“Good morning Mrs Schlart.” The class called out in unison, with Jack following along slightly behind. It sounded very old fashioned and odd to be doing this, but considering all the other wild shit he'd experienced recently, this one was fairly tame.
"So, for those of you that did not show up for our end of school announcements yesterday," Mrs Schlart continued, gazing at several faces Jack didn't see yesterday.
"As well as being in DETENTION!" The teacher let that comment settle to a few groans and sighs from the people involved. "You may have noticed our new classmate! Jack, would you like to come to the front and break the ice with a few questions?"
No. No he really wouldn't like to do that at all! But that wasn't the kind of question you said 'no' to. Besides he couldn't show weakness in front of the guys that threatened him...or the girls. Definitely not the girls.
"Yes ma'am!" He replied with false enthusiasm as he walked to the front as calmly as he could pretend to be and looked to the class. He was nervous, but he hoped not everyone would be as hostile as the Red Legion Aspirants with their red armbands on their sleeves. Indeed, there were several new and eager faces in the crowd he had yet to speak to. It gave Jack a little hope
"Well I guess I'll start with the first question." Mrs Schlart added with a smile. “What are you most looking forward to doing in school?”
That was a good question, though Jack had already thought of the positives that morning. “It’s hard to pick one, but I’m looking forward to meeting new people and learning about magic and history!”
“I think you won’t have long to wait! I’ll give you your timetable when you get back to your seat,” Mrs Schlart gave him a warm look before looking across the rest of the class. “Does anybody else have any questions for Jack?”
Jack was worried for a second that nobody wanted to ask anything. It had happened a lot back on Earth with bored students, but apparently the homeroom class was very interested in him, with many hands raised. Unfortunately the first question came from one of the Red Legion Aspirants that had threatened him earlier.
“How experienced are you in combat?”
The snake-like creature seemed to be the least physically imposing of that group, but Jack had a feeling they were still dangerous in their own way. Still, he held his nerve and kept firm eye contact and an assertive smile. “Very. I have older brothers and cousins that taught me well."
Jack decided not to elaborate on that point. He had no doubt they’d find out soon enough.
Next question was awkward as hell.
“Are you open to mating rights?” one of the girls at the front asked, her two friends giggling as she did. All of them were squat, brown-skinned aliens with blond hair, and wore a notable excess of golden jewellery. What was up with this school uniform policy anyway?
“Uhm...Maybe?” Jack replied with a nervous smile. He didn’t really know how to properly answer that one, and tried his best to avoid a total ‘WTF?’ expression.
“Which gods do you worship?” The speaker was a serious aquatic looking boy at the front with dark blue skin, two large, black eyes and a flat nose.
“Well I grew up in a Christian culture back on Earth, but I’ve been agnostic most of my life,” Jack replied, deciding to answer honestly despite the confused looks of his class. “Though recently since my arrival I’ve come to learn about Astara and the other patron gods of the Temple of Hope."
"That's a happy coincidence as you've been placed in Astara House!" Mrs Schlart added with a smile. "We have several other Astara's in this class I'm sure will want to talk to you about House activities!”
The boy looked pleased at that answer, as his friend next to him, a short bipedal rat-like creature with a friendly smile, asked his question.
"Do you play any sports?" A good question! Jack wasn't exactly in peak physical condition but both his school on earth and his older brothers had pushed him into doing some.
"Well I used to play football and rugby at my old school. In my spare time I practised some mixed martial arts with my family. I’d be happy to show you sometime if you don’t know what that is!"
That was a bit of an exaggeration. He'd done a little bit of karate and judo at a local club, one of his older brothers had taught him some boxing, and his cousin had done 'the talk' on knife defence and improvised weaponry, though his favourite by far had been watching MMA and Pro Wrestling on TV with his father. But his classmates didn’t need to know that yet.
"Alright we have time for one more question before you need to go to your classes," Mrs Schlart interjected. “Anyone else?"
There were a few hands raised as Mrs Schlart made a motion of trying to pick, but one stood out to Jack. Against one of the walls was a girl staring right at him, reddish pink skin with two goat-like horns fidgeting with her hands, as if she was conflicted about whether or not she should put up her hand. Maybe she was just shy. Eventually Mrs Schlart picked a white-feathered avian looking creature, with a thick pointed beak and spectacled eyes looking at Jack with warm interest.
"You mentioned yesterday that you were a Deathworlder, but you don't appear to be undead? What's up with that?"
Alright, Jack would need to make some things up here.
"Well firstly no, I'm not undead, we don't even have undead where I am from."
There were some shocked whispers among the class. Had he said something bad? Electing to ask Alora later he carried on.
"The conditions on my world, Earth, can be very difficult to live with. We have a higher gravity than anything I've seen here…"
Again shocked whispers.
"...our climates change pretty dramatically as well across seasons and locations, we get a lot of tectonic instability which causes quakes and volcanos in parts of the world, and we have a moon that messes with our seas and oceans. We also have a high tolerance for substances that could kill other beings."
Technically that part was true as well, though he didn't mention those 'other beings' were household pets and other animals. The class was stunned. Even the Red Legion aspirants gave each other shocked looks.
"Wow! That sounds amazing!" Mrs Schlart added. "Of course if you have any more questions you'd like to ask Jack I am sure he would be more than happy to talk about it right?" She looked to Jack who gave a nod and a smile. "Please do!" He replied enthusiastically as he looked to the rest of his homeroom class.
"Excellent!" their teacher continued. "So I've taken a little look at your timetable and I can see your next lesson is Mathematics with Mr Szarite. Does anyone else here have that next?"
Several hands were raised, including both Sephy and Chiyo.
"Good, just follow everyone else! Your teachers should have been informed that you've joined the class, and if there's any problems just give them my name! And with that - class dismissed!”
***
“Just your luck that your first class is the most boring subject!” Sephy grinned as she, Jack and Chiyo made their way up a floor and down a corridor, several other groups from their class keeping close and listening in.
"My mother always tried to convince me and my brothers that maths was fun," Jack replied with a smile. "That's complete crap but at least I was kinda good at it. I just hope it translates well here."
You can't be worse than Sephy! Chiyo messaged Jack with a smile.
"Hey I resent that!" the Skritta replied, feigning hurt. "Besides I copied your homework, remember? I'm good for another day."
Jack and Chiyo shared a conspiratorial grin as they lined up at the entrance to the class.
"Do we sit where we like or is it allocated seating?" Jack whispered to Sephy.
"Depends on the teacher. Assigned seating here, gotta stick with the 'boring' track record after all!" Sephy gave Jack a quick smile as there was movement at the front of the line, as the teacher took registration. "And Chiyo's right, you need to stop worrying."
"Ah! This must be the new student!"
The speaker was slightly shorter than Jack, an avian being with dark black feathers, tufted up and turning grey in some areas. His piercing, owl-like spectacled eyes were staring down a long white beak at Jack, who, to his credit, didn't take long to realise that this was the teacher.
"Yes Sir, I'm Jack, I'm part of Mrs Schlart's form class."
"Excellent. I'm Mr Szarite. I hope not too much of Sephirina's bad influence has rubbed off on you. I understand from your initial aptitude test you possess enough mathematical knowledge to join us; however, if there is anything you do not understand, be sure to speak to me after class and I will give you extra homework to catch up.”
“Um...thanks Sir,” Jack replied unenthusiastically at that prospect.
“Don’t mention it," the teacher replied, not having noticed the look on Jack's face. "I’m placing you next to Miss Chiyo. Everything you need is on the desk.”
They were ushered in, but not before Jack turned to Sephy with a raised eyebrow.
"Sephirina?"
"Shut up," Sephy replied with a playful slap on Jack's arm.
As they took their seats, Jack quickly skimmed through some of the pages of the textbook. Fortunately, most of the problems and equations he saw looked to be ones he knew how to do. As the rest of their classmates were accounted for and took their seats, many stared at the new student in curiosity. Avians and aquatics, four-legged and not-legged, the variety of species was as fascinating to Jack as he was to them.
"Right," Mr Szarite began. "I hope you have all been studying hard because we have a written test today!"
With those words, Jack's anxiety came back in full. A test? REALLY?
"But before we do that we're going to warm up with a few quick mathematical questions!" the teacher chimed enthusiastically, as if he had just announced that they were going to Disneyland.
"Sephirina!"
With a groan, Sephy got out of her seat and stood up.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
"Last year, Xhargul could lift 160 units. This year, they can lift 580 units. By what percentage has he improved his lifting ability?"
Sephy looked to be pondering that one for a few seconds before confidently confirming.
"Xhargul is on steroids!"
The class laughed at that one as Mr Szarite gave a deep sigh, looking to Chiyo to answer, who stood up, saying nothing as usual, her facial expression shifting as she gave her answer telepathically.
"Thank you Miss Chiyo, 362.5% of 160 equals 580. Next question goes to our new student Jack.”
‘Fuck’. Jack thought to himself as he stood up similar to how Sephy and Chiyo had done, all eyes on him.
“What is 53 x 108?”
‘Double Fuck.’ Jack thought. He’d need to break this down.
‘53 times 10 was 530. 53 times 2 was 106, so minus that from 530 is… 424. That covers the 8. Add that to the answer of 53 x 100, which was 5300 and you get…’
“5724 Sir,” Jack replied after a few seconds of intense thought, eliciting a rumble of anticipation from the room.
“That is correct!” Mr Szarite answered in apparent surprise with shocked sighs and whispers from the other students. “I expected you to take longer and to use paper, but you didn’t require it. How curious…”
Jack sat down as the teacher picked on several other students. It wasn’t that hard of a question realistically, though he knew why the teacher would expect the use of paper and more time for long multiplication. Jack just didn’t realise that was an option when he was expected to stand up. As they were handed out the tests Jack realised that there wasn’t anything he hadn’t already learned or was at least somewhat familiar with, though whether that was just for today or in general, he didn’t know.
In the end, Jack had finished the test about 10 minutes before the deadline. He could see many in the class looked to be struggling, though a few not-so-subtle glances towards him from a few of them indicated that maybe they were just distracted. Only Chiyo also looked to be finished as she turned to Jack and gave a soft smile. He could feel the sensation of her trying to reach his mind to speak telepathically, but as before, Jack could see the look of frustration apparent on her face as she was unable to do so. They knew it could work, eventually. She had managed to say 'hello' to him the first time. He didn't know how to open his mind to her, but he tried his best.
"Time's up!" Mr Szarite called to the rest of the class, to general moans from most of the students. He pressed a button on the wall behind him as all papers zipped off the desks towards him, forming a kind of windowed wall. It was apparent that there was some kind of process going on, as papers exchanged places in some kind of order, before two were highlighted with an orange glow.
"Very interesting, we have two top marks today," the teacher murmured, with a few interested whispers from the class. "It's no surprise that Miss Chiyo continues her winning streak, and the other student with top marks is Jack. That's a good start! Give them both a round of applause!"
There was a small round of polite applause, which still mostly drowned out Sephy's whisper behind them.
"Nerds!"
The next class was a little bit more interesting. The English, French and German classes Jack was used to weren't really a thing here, and since mmetic translators were standard for everyone, learning new languages was mostly redundant in general, so Communication and Literature classes focused on vocabulary, grammar and culture texts.
Unfortunately, the practice of over-analysing works of fiction to a ludicrous degree in order to find some kind of hidden message was very much the same over here compared to home. The teacher, an androgynous, quadrupedal, blue-scaled, plant-like being simply called ‘Ohrvaask,’ had wasted little time in assigning trios of people to work on a task of analysing a centuries-old diary belonging to a travelling merchant, the students naturally having no say in who they’d be grouped with.
Jack wasn't too impressed when he was matched with an equally disgruntled Red Legion aspirant from before. It was the snake, Svaartal, the cowardly one that sucked up to the big guy of the group. As he walked over to their table, Jack could just tell this wasn't going to go well. He decided to just try his best to be professional, maybe through working together they could get along after all.
He made a start by skimming through his copy of the text as Svaartal did the same. It looked alright, a little boring and nothing too inspired at first glance. It certainly wouldn't be the worst thing he'd ever read. That honour would go to a terrible Harry Potter fanfiction his friends showed him one time for a laugh. He couldn't even get through the first chapter of that without his head hurting, and he certainly couldn't imagine the kind of degenerate that would read the entire thing…
"Um ...hello!” A quiet voice spoke up.
Jack turned around to look at the speaker, eyes widening in recognition. The third member of the group was the same girl Jack had noticed earlier in his homeroom class - the reddish-pink skinned one with dark hair and horns who was too shy to ask him a question. She still looked nervous, blinking rapidly with her yellow cat-like eyes and thin tail swishing in the air, so Jack quickly broke the awkward tension.
“You’re in my homeroom class, right? I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced, I’m Jack!” he said as the girl took her seat next to him.
“I’m Nya!” the girl quietly replied nervously, as if testing the waters. “And yes I’m…”
“Great, just my luck,” the sneering voice of Svaartal interrupted, as the briefly relieved face of Nya quickly shrunk back into a more fearful look. “I’m paired with the moron and the demonspawn.”
Jack ignored the snarky comment, not even looking at Svaartal as he smiled. “What were you going to say Nya?”
Nya still looked flustered by the mean comment but tried to carry on.
“Um...well...actually…” The girl looked nervously at Svaartal before deciding against it. “It can wait for another time…”
The snake snorted at that. “Honestly, for demonspawn you-”
Jack promptly decided he had enough.
“Look mate.” He turned to the snake with what was totally the calmest expression he could muster. “I don’t know if being an cunt for no particular reason is a requirement for the Pink Pussies or whatever the fuck your shitty club is called, but in case you hadn’t noticed, your mates aren’t here to back you up, you’re talking shit, and you’ve pissed me off, so unless you want me to send you to your friends in the White Wankers with your head up your own arse, I suggest you play nice.”
Nya, and several of the students around that could hear, covered their mouths in shock and stared at Jack in horror, though Jack had no idea why. Maybe they were just unaccustomed to standing up to a bully? He had thought his words were rather tame...
Svaartal’s nostrils flared and he stared daggers at the freakish moron. The Red Legion was one of the most powerful paramilitary forces across the galaxy that was feared by most, and this human had just insulted all of them, even after having the honour of being spoken to by Luviannestixxx herself! Jack did raise a point - his comrades in arms were not present here and Svaartal didn’t want to try taking the human on his own. But he would make sure that every single Red Legion affiliate in the school knew about this. The human would pay dearly for insulting them.
The rest of the class was uneventful, and though Jack tried his best to talk to Nya beyond the context of their work, there were not many opportunities to do so as the teacher kept patrolling the class. Svaartal was engaged in the task as well, though the gleam in the snake’s eyes every time he looked at Jack gave no doubt that he would be a problem. When the bell rang, both of his work partners left quickly. Svaartal gave Jack an evil grin as he slinked away, while Nya looked panicked at seeing it, and rushed off before Jack could stop her.
“Well, looks like you’ve been busy!” The voice of Alora called out to Jack as he left the class. He turned to greet her, her eyebrows raised and a knowing look plastered on her face.
Jack rolled his eyes and smiled. "I know that look."
"That's because you won't stop getting yourself into trouble." Alora snorted. "Chiyo told me what you said to Svaartal, though I suspect she was paraphrasing.”
Huh. Chiyo wasn’t even in that class. The fact she was watching him somehow was...a little disturbing.
"And was I wrong?" Jack replied as they walked down the corridor to the next class, several groups of students stopping and staring at the two of them as they went past.
"You couldn't have gotten the teacher involved?"
Jack turned to give raised eyebrows of his own at that. Was she actually serious?
"Well ok," Alora continued, conceding that point. "But what I'm saying is the Red Legion aspirants take insults very seriously, especially in this building with our age group. They'll be coming for you unless you make a show of apology…”
"Not happening," Jack replied curtly, trying not to lose his temper.
"Fair enough," Alora sighed. "And no, you weren't wrong to stand up to Svaartal, he's a bully." She put a comforting hand on Jack's shoulder. "I’m still allowed to worry though."
The next class was one of the ones Jack has always hated. Physical Education, Gym Class, Sports Education. It had many names, but it was all the same. The sports might be fun to play, and the exercise good for you, but that was all for nought, since no matter where you went the teacher was always, without exception, an asshole.
Jack was trying to be as subtle as possible as he changed into his sports uniform, obeying the one main rule of boys locker rooms.
Don’t look at anything. Ever.
“Hurry up you miserable slobs!” Master Kull, the leader of the posse of teachers, growled at them with yellow-slitted eyes, staring the boys down as they undressed and changed. He was another reptilian, huge with brown scales, jagged teeth like a shark and covered in jagged armour - complete with actual skulls on his shoulders acting as pauldrons holding a tattered red cloak, and a red armband similar to those worn by Red Legion aspirants.
Jack hurried up and finished changing, as uncomfortable as he was being looked at by the teachers. As he waited for his fellow students, he was dismayed to see Svaartal and a few of his friends whispering something to Master Kull, who stared daggers in Jack’s direction with a growl before his expression turned into a sick smile. Jack felt deep down in his gut that something was going to go down.
“What’s wrong?” Nika asked him as the girls finally finished changing and joined the boys in the massive sports hall, separated into many class-sized groups based on perceived physical ability and limitations, with the two of them being in the top group. Sephy, Alora and Chiyo also gave him concerned looks as they joined their own groups on the other side of the hall.
Wait...Chiyo wasn’t watching Jack in the changing room too, was she?
He was about to answer Nika when Master Kull walked up to him, flanked by several of the Red Legion aspirants. The other students formed a ring around Master Kull, clearly waiting for instructions.
“So…” Master Kull got up into Jack’s face and leered over him. Jack fought to maintain eye contact and a stoic expression as best he could, but he still felt intimidated by Kull’s overbearing presence. “Not only are you a new student that has SOMEHOW made it into this group of the elite, but you also insulted my legion!”
Jack didn’t really know how to react to a teacher getting in his face like this, but he knew he could not allow himself to be cowed, especially not in front of so many other students, and especially not when the girls could see...
“That’s me alright....” Jack replied, setting his jaw and staring right at Kull without blinking. “...sir.”
“HOW BRAVE!” Kull replied mockingly, as he swung around to address the class. “LET’S SEE HOW BRAVE HE IS, CLASS!” Jack tensed, as he heard Nika give a low growl next to him. She had warned Jack of Master Kull as soon as she realised Jack was in her group. One of the most feared teachers in the school, an officer seconded to them by the Red Legion, Master Kull was infamous for his sadism and bullying, encouraging the many aspirants he had managed to groom.
“Well new meat!” he growled. “We have been practising melee combat recently, and it just so happens that today covers multiple opponents. RED LEGION ASPIRANTS! STEP FORWARD!”
To Jack’s dismay, seven students lined up opposite him - a few of them looking uncomfortable, but others looking eager. He recognised several from his form class, including Svaartal, who was licking his lips in anticipation.
“Choose the type of weapons you and your opponents will be fighting with, new meat!” Kull growled at Jack, as a holo display of blades, bats and other tools of termination appeared. What the hell could he say to that?
Wait...
“I choose unarmed combat!” Jack spoke as soon as the thought entered his mind.
Kull looked briefly confused before he smiled. “I would have chosen a quicker death myself, but have it your way!”
Wait...death?
“DON’T WORRY!” Kull spoke up so all onlookers could hear. “OUR MEDICAL DROIDS ARE VERY EFFECTIVE AT BODILY REPAIR AND RESURRECTION!” He leaned in close to Jack and whispered so only he could hear. “But accidents are known to happen…”
“Master Kull, this is dishonourable combat. Surely Jack should have fewer opponents or more allies; there is no possible way he could defeat so many opponents.” Jack looked up at the speaker in surprise. It was the avian boy from his form class that asked him about his Deathworld status. He was rapidly looking between Master Kull, Jack and the seven chosen students.
“OH?” Kull asked in a mocking tone. “Does anybody in the group wish to stand with the new meat against seven of the deadliest Red Legion aspirants I have personally trained?”
The avian was shook by that, white feathered hands rubbing intensely as he debated it in his mind.
“What is your decision, Crill?” Kull growled, getting up into the boy’s face and staring down.
“I…” Crill began. “I’m sorry…” He looked towards Jack in shame as he stepped back.
Jack nodded in understanding and began to focus on the group in front of him. This would be bad, as bad as the time he arrived in this strange galaxy, but just like then, he’d survive what was to come and defeat his enemies.
He felt a hand snap on his shoulder.
“I’ve got your back,” Nika said as she stood next to Jack in a combat stance, growling at the seven aspirants. Despite himself, Jack gave a confident grin and fell into a stance of his own as the other students moved back to give them some space.
It was time to kick ass and chew bubblegum.
And they were all out of gum.