The teacher stood up from his desk, using all eight of his paper-like tentacles to walk out of the room. The monsters got out of their seats, but since none of them possessed legs or feet, they simply hopped out of their chairs and onto the floor.

The monsters followed their teacher through the hallway, a bizarre parade of hopping and bouncing little creatures. Alwin was one of them, hopping along with the rest, his gaze darting everywhere in wide-eyed curiosity.

There were no windows, just white walls on both sides. The only decorations in the hallway were the wooden doors, evenly spaced apart, presumably leading to various rooms. The doors were made of sturdy-looking brown wood with silver handles that gleamed under the artificial lighting of the light-producing crystals that hung from the ceiling.

Alwin had a strong urge to pull the handle and explore whatever lay beyond those doors, but his sense of adventure would have to wait. His jelly-like body was already feeling heavy with fatigue. He hopped along, hoping the sleeping quarters weren't too far. Each bounce felt more labored than the last. The sleeping quarters better be nearby.

Fortunately, the sleeping quarters were only a short hop away. When Milvus reached the door, he stretched out a tentacle and pulled the silver handle. The door swung open to reveal a room filled with a dozen beds, six on either side. Each bed was perfectly identical, featuring a white mattress upon a metal bed frame that was pushed up against the wall.

To Alwin, the sheets looked as soft as marshmallows. What were the chances that they tasted like marshmallows too? Probably minuscule, but that didn’t mean it was zero. Hopefully. Alwin would have to experiment another time. Right now, all he wanted to do was lie down.

The students all claimed a bed and jumped on top of it. Each bed was just the right size for them. When Alwin hopped onto his bed, he felt the mattress yield beneath him with a delightful softness. It was like hopping on a cloud—a comfy, inviting cloud that promised a good night's rest. He settled in, his jelly-like body sinking slightly into the plush surface, and let out a sigh, ready to drift off into a peaceful slumber.

Unfortunately, Milvus wasn’t done talking.

"This is a coed bunk, so both boys and girls will be sharing the same room. Try to behave yourselves," Milvus said. "Also, the bathrooms are over there."

Milvus pointed towards the end of the room where a door sat. A single tentacle stretched out from one end of the room to the other, twisted the knob, and pulled the door open. From his bed, Alwin peered into the bathroom. It was filled with toilet stalls, obviously. There were also a couple of sinks lined up against the wall, and showers tucked into the corners of the room.

"Be in the classroom at 0800 tomorrow. Cafeteria opens at 1800 and lights out at 2200. Breakfast starts at 0700. If you guys can't find the cafeteria I'll seriously question your abilities as Core Monsters. There are signs all over the academy. If you guys need anything, just call for me," Milvus said, closing the door to the sleeping quarters.

The teacher had left, along with his desire to fall into a deep slumber. Now it was just the twelve of them alone in a room. So what now? Maybe he could spend his time contemplating the meaning of life as he spiraled into a twenty-minute life crisis. Or he could try to make small talk with the other monsters. Decisions, decisions, decisions. What should he do?

"Hey there," the voice of a girl rang.

Alwin turned his head to the left, well not really, he just moved his entire body in that direction. Standing in front of him was a round green creature. He recognized her as the girl who sat to his left in the classroom.

"Hi," Alwin said.

"My name's Uchronia," she said. "I sit next to you in class."

"I know, you're the one who was laughing at me earlier."

"And I'm Gulosus. You can call me Gus for short," said a voice behind Alwin.

Alwin looked behind him, which again involved turning his whole body, and saw the orange-brown creature who sat on his right in the classroom. Well, at least that settled the question about what he should do now.

"And I'm, Alwin."

"Yeah, I heard."

"Yep. So... nice weather we're having?" Alwin asked.

"None of us have ever been outside before. What are you talking about?" she said.

"Oh man, you should see the look on her face," Gus chuckled.

Alwin was forced to swivel his body around once more, facing the girl with the leaf for a tail. Uchronia would have furrowed her eyebrows if she had any, instead, the areas around her eyes scrunched up. The look on her face was hilarious. It was a mix of annoyance, confusion, and ‘what in the world is this dumbass talking about’ all rolled into one. If there were a trophy for making the funniest faces, she would have won it hands down.

"Gus, can you just come over to Uchronia's side, or Uchronia move over to Gus' side? I don't really want to keep turning," said Alwin.

"I'm kinda lazy. Can you come over?" said Gus.

Uchronia rolled her eyes and sighed, "Fine."

She hopped over to the other side of Alwin's bed and placed herself next to Gus. If she could shoot daggers out of her eyes, Gus would have been a dead monster.

"Great now that we're all on the same page. Same side? Same… something?. I don’t know. I don't have to keep turning around," said Alwin.

"You're not even facing us!" said Uchronia.

"I know. I just did it for comedic effect," said Alwin, turning his body around one last time to face them

"Really? It wasn't that funny," said Uchronia.

"I found it funny," said Gus.

"Whatever," she sighed. "If I'm gonna be frank, the only reason why I came up to talk to you was because I wanted to know what species you are. I figured that since we sat next to each other it'd be easier to introduce myself."

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

"But you aren't Frank. You're Uchronia," said Alwin.

Uchronia let out another groan and rolled her eyes once more.

"I'm a Leafling. What are you?" she asked.

"Furball," said Gus.

"And I'm a Dark Slime."

The voice had come from behind Alwin. Who could it have been? Maybe he should just turn around again to check, but the constant swiveling was becoming a chore.

"Hey, could you move over to this side? I'm tired of moving about so much," said Alwin.

"Move? For a chump like you. In your dreams. Oh wait, that's where you were in class, weren't you? All sucked up inside your daydreams."

"That's very rude," said Uchronia.

"And I'm very lazy. Why don't you come over here," said Gus.

"I agree with Gus. It's hard to argue with a person whose face I can't see," said Alwin.

"Give me one good reason why I should move over and not you," said the voice.

"Well, first of all. It takes less energy for one guy to move instead of three. And second of all, I have run out of reasons," said Alwin.

Uchronia let out another heavy sigh, while Gus giggled.

"Tell you what, chump. I'll move over not cause you gave a lame reason, but just to get closer to this gorgeous Leafling."

The guy hopped on over, squeezing himself in between Uchronia and Gus. At least now, Alwin could finally get a good view of him. The boy was the exact same shape as Alwin, the exact same color as Alwin, the exact same size as Alwin. What else could you expect? The guy was a Dark Slime just like Alwin.

"Don't touch me you slimeball," Uchronia said, backing away from him.

"Don't be like that. I'm just trying to get to know you a little better, that's all. The name’s Bion. What's yours?"

"My name is go away or I'll make you go away," said Uchronia.

"I thought your name was—"

"Zip it, Gus," she said.

"Maybe you should leave me, Gus, and ‘go away or I'll make you go away’, alone," said Alwin.

Bion shot the three of them a glare so hot, Alwin felt like he might get first-degree burns. With a huff, the Dark Slime hopped away to another bed where a Leafling and Furball were getting to know each other.

"I think that guy has a type," said Alwin.

"Dark type?" replied Gus.

"No, you dingus. He means the guy likes Leaflings," said Uchronia.

Bion was flirting with the girl, and his charms were working. She was blushing, giggling, and acting all bashful and lovey-dovey. At least that's what Alwin guessed. He couldn't tell if she was flushed because she was flattered or because she feared for her life, but Alwin was trying to not live up to his species’ name and opted for the former.

"Yeah, that makes sense too," said Gus. "I'm looking forward to dinner, I'm starving here."

Gus's stomach suddenly growled. Talk about impeccable timing.

"I'm quite hungry too," said Uchronia.

"I'm more tired than hungry. I might just skip dinner," said Alwin.

"Can I have your portion?" asked Gus.

"Sure. So what now?" said Alwin.

"I don't know. Ask questions about each other? What's your favorite food?" said Gus.

"I want to know what was your experience like inside the simulation. What kind of humans did you battle?" said Uchronia.

"Humans aren't that tasty, they taste like nothing. They had this weird texture too, but I don't know how to describe it. It was like eating air," said Gus.

"I'm just going to pretend I never heard that. So was your first human a male with a sword?" asked Uchronia.

"Mine was," said Alwin.

"Same here. His sword didn’t taste that good, it hurt my tongue, and it tasted like air too," said Gus.

"Then did he suddenly disappear and come back with a lady using magic?" asked Uchronia.

"Yup," said Alwin.

"That lady did not taste good too, neither was her staff or that magic bolt she threw," said Gus.

"You ate magic?" asked Alwin.

"Yup, wouldn't recommend it. They all taste bad and hurt your tongue," said Gus.

"Then after you defeated them, did a bowman join the charge?" asked Uchronia.

"Yea. That guy was annoying, his arrows tasted pretty bad too," said Gus.

Defeat the magic lady? Alwin was absolutely destroyed by her and the swordsman. And the two in front of him managed to take them down? They were that strong? They're speaking as if those humans were nothing more than a mild annoyance. Plus there was a bowman, right after the mage lady and swordsman were defeated? Did more people join in after that?

"Alwin? Hello? What are you thinking about?" asked Uchronia.

"What? No... I wasn't thinking about anything. What makes you say that?"

"Really, because it looked like you were thinking about something," said Uchronia.

"I think you're just seeing things."

How did she know that he was thinking about something? Was she a mind reader? Could she be reading his mind right now?

Testing. Testing. One, two, three. Can you hear me, Uchronia?

"Are you thinking about something again?" asked Ucrhonia.

"You are a mind reader!" exclaimed Alwin.

"What? No, I'm not reading your mind. You just make really weird faces whenever you're thinking."

"I do?"

So that's how the teacher knew he was thinking about something. It wasn't because the teacher was a mind reader. Unless... the teacher really was a mind reader and he was just pretending that he wasn't one. A shiver ran down Alwin’s spine, or whatever the equivalent was. What if Uchronia was doing the same thing?

"You're doing it again," said Uchronia.

"What? No. What were we talking about?" asked Alwin.

"Whether you knew how the bowman tasted," said Gus.

"What? No, we were talking about whether Alwin encountered the bowman after defeating the first two humans."

"I definitely did. One hundred percent did. Absolutely. Certainly. Definitely. Yep. A thousand yeses. Definitely met him after defeating the mage lady and swordsman," said Alwin.

Alwin, in fact, was lying.

"Right... " said Uchronia.

"It's almost six, let's go get dinner!" said Gus.

"Sure," said Uchronia.

"You guys can go, I think I'm just gonna sleep. Night guys," said Alwin.

"So I can get your dinner too?" asked Gus.

"Yep," said Alwin.

"Hell yeah!"

Gus and Uchronia hopped off towards the exit, along with the rest of the class.

Now he was alone. Alone with his thoughts. Alone to ponder about the meaning of life. Alone to stare up at the ceiling. Alone to wonder if the sheets indeed tasted like marshmallows. Only one way to find out.

He glanced around, ensuring no one was watching. When he was sure the coast was clear, Alwin opened his jaws wide and chomped down on the sheets. Cotton filled his mouth as he munched on the white fluffy material. It was bitter and he immediately spat the sheet out of his mouth. The part where he bit down was soggy and stained with saliva.

How was he going to sleep tonight? There was no way he was going to use a wet blanket. He needed a new one and he knew just where to get it.

Grabbing the corners of the bed sheet with his mouth, due to his lack of hands, he dragged it over to a bed. Bion's bed. With a swift turn, something he had inadvertently practiced over the course of his life, he tossed the sheet onto Bion's bed. Humming a simple tune, he grabbed Bion's old bed sheet and brought it back to his bed.

Now, Alwin was a happy monster and hopefully, his dreams would be sweeter than the bed sheets. But, the prospect of classes kept him up longer than he would’ve liked. Seriously, what were they going to learn in this weird academy? He’d have to wait until tomorrow to find out or he could be a bad student and not pay attention in class and thus leaving zero questions. Hopefully that wouldn’t happen.