[Ding]

The system alert goes off, telling me to check it, but before I get my chance, I see who owns the voice that spoke out earlier. A female wearing the student uniform with a bob cut approached me swiftly. The only thing to note about her is the band around her arm that says "Disciplinary."

"Assaulting a student first thing in the morning? Where do you think you are, a prison?" She points an accusatory finger at me.

"Hey, the school may be government-owned and not the best in the country, but don't call it a prison. I heard the food is better here."

"A big joker, huh? Mister…"

"I'm not joking. I've heard that the food is better here than in prison."

"What is your name? I'm going to report this matter to the faculty." She pulls out a paper pad. I saw briefly that the cover had the words disciplinary on it as well.

"Ellis Vincere," I reply shortly. I pull out a handkerchief and rub the blood off Flash Gordon. He doesn't have hands, so I have to do it for him.

"Didn't I tell you to put that rock away?"

"His name is Flash Gordon, and no, you said to drop him."

This pointless one-sided argument has brought the bystanders to form a circle around me, Flash Gordon, Val, this mystery disciplinary student, and Arlug, who is still on the ground. I'm not too worried about him. I can hear him breathing.

Breaking through the barrier made by students, what could be Arlug's father appears. If looking mean and big was hereditary, that is.

"Mr. Cobble, this student assaulted this other student for no reason."

Val, who has been quiet since now, speaks up against this allegation.

"This all started when that sack of fat started talking shit about ourselves and our parents." A hint of fear appears on Val's face when the realization of spewing profanity in front of an assumed teacher hits her.

Mr. Cobble, or whatever his name is, picks up Arlug like he weighs nothing, a commendable feat. He looks me up and down. I put the bloody handkerchief away.

"Why did you attack him? Was he peddling insults to your loved ones?"

This entire situation is getting out of hand. Why does Cobble talk like that?

"Yes." I bluntly replied.

"Did that warrant you knocking him out and breaking his nose? Did you know there was a chance he could have drowned in blood?" He looks down at me. I can't read his expression.

"He wasn't bleeding that much. I didn't expect him to go down so easily, either. I honestly thought that half-dwarfs had more vigor than that."

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The bobbed hair girl pipes up. I don't know why she is still here.

"It's highly offensive and dangerous to use stereotypes to validate your acts of aggression, and calling someone a dwarf as an insult is not only racist, but it sets a bad look for the school."

I look at her quizzically.

"I don't believe I am racist, and Arlug is a half-dwarf. His dad was a dwarf, and his mom was a human. He got his height from his mother. Was it the other way around? I'm sure he got his height from his mother, regardless."

As she is about to start up again, Mr. Cobble stops her, "I know his folks, and what he says is correct. But that does not justify your actions against Arlug. I'll send the both of you to the disciplinary committee until someone can handle the situation."

So he can speak sentences that aren't questions. Also, I knew Cobble looked too similar to Arlug, maybe an uncle or something. I would exclaim nepotism if I didn't bash his nose in.

"When you mean both, do you mean…" Val speaks up, a little hesitant, looking at this wall of a man. Maybe Cobble is a nickname and not his actual name. Or maybe, it's his diet.

"I mean him and Arlug unless anyone else has done something I should know about?" he says that last part of his sentence loudly and turns to look around. The bystanders immediately scatter like a colony of roaches caught having a midnight rendezvous on the kitchen floor.

Mr. Cobble carries off the sleeping half-dwarf to where I assume the healer is. The bob-haired girl turns to me.

"Well, that settles that, Ellis, now if you would follow me to the Disciplinary Center."

She turned and walked off before I could respond. I contemplated "making a run" for it, but Val noticed my hidden intentions.

"You are smarter than that, Ellis. Nothing bad's going to happen. There's no such thing as detention in college, after all."

That calms me, not the detention part. I couldn't care less about detention, but Val, insinuating that I'm the smarter sibling, perks me up.

"Hey, what were you thinking? You're too happy from that."

I walk after the bob-haired girl, ignoring Val.

"Don't Ignore me, Ellis Vincere! I know where you sleep!" She huffs like an angry bull.

I walk a little faster. Even though I'm the smarter sibling, Val still has way higher stats than I do.

"I have detention?"

"Yes."

"There is detention in college?"

"Technically, this is an institute, not a college."

The logic spouted from the women was infallible. Sitting on a chair, with her heels propped up against a desk unprofessionally, is a woman who is pretty enough to be the first crush and heartbreak of many young students. She has silky black hair that reaches her lower back. She wears stilettos and a dress that I have suspicions that it's not school appropriate. The bob-haired girl called her Professor Carmichael. She seems too young to be a professor. Maybe she is older than she looks, or she was that good at her job.

"Since you attacked a student before the activation of the uniforms, the length of time will be longer than usual. Also, if I heard right, you technically used a tamed beast against another student." She makes eye contact with Flash Gordon, or where I assume Flash Gordon would have eyes. She continues.

"I'm giving you eighteen hours of detention."

Maybe I do care about getting detention. Noticing my subconscious recoil, Professor Carmichael laughs a bit, and that causes the bob-haired girl to giggle as well.

"If you want, you can spend the first two hours here. The only thing going on is the dean giving his speech to the new students. It's a bore and lasts for two hours."

I agree with this immediately. I have a dislike for speeches like that, sitting in a cramped, dark room filled with strangers, trying to understand what the speaker is saying through all the filler. And gods forbid if there's a quiz at the end of it.

"That sounds good, professor Carmichael." I move a chair at the edge of the room in front of her desk. I sit there.

"Unlike you, I have to be at the dean's speech." She stands up and walks towards the door, but before she leaves, she says, "Oh, and you can watch Ellis and make sure he acts like a good boy."

The bob-haired girl was on her way out of the room. She stops and seems startled. She takes a second to regain her composure.

"Anything you say, professor Carmichael."