The bundle of cards they gathered was amazing. Nero was sorting through them in an effort to... catalog all the impounded cards.

"Are you sure we have to turn them in?"

"Absolutely," Glom replied nonplussed. "There was a time when teachers kept the cards they apprehended, and some started to use them or even sell. Soon the greedy ones were trapping students and racketeering cards. No good. The Lyceum's morals are strict and we must uphold ourselves to the highest standards. The rules say we have to deliver the cards apprehended to the clerk-in-charge. The same guy that has your badges."

"Okay, but why did they call me teacher?"

"You two are wearing a teaching assistant's uniform. You won't give any lectures, though. We are here."

They entered the administrative building and Glom took them through the maze of corridors and small rooms until a counter where a lizardmen clerk was looking bored.

Glom jumped on the counter. "Hello, Mattie!"

"Professor Glom, how may I help you?"

"These are research assistants Nero and Altia, we are here to pick their badges."

The lizardman stared at them for a moment. "I'll get them."

He returned with two silver plaques with a leather strap to put around the neck or attach somewhere else. He gave Nero and Altia their badges, collected their signatures on the receipt, then handed each a booklet.

"These are the staff handbook. Read them."

After he was done, Glom continued. "We also disbanded a group of students trading cards on the lawn. They abandoned some cards, here are they. Nero, could you please?"

Nero put the pile of cards that were burning a hole in his hands on top of the counter. The clerk looked at the pile and then back to Glom.

"I suppose you didn't catalog them?"

"No time for that, it happened literally five minutes ago."

Mattie sighed and leaned his snout next to the squiig. "Why did you even bother?" He asked with dismay in his voice.

"Not me, assistant Nero. He had just read the regulations and decided to act on his own. The kid has initiative!" Glom chuckled.

"Look, Glom. Take this thing away from me. I didn't see it, you didn't see it, the crows ate the cards on the lawn if someone asks. I am not doing a catalog of five hundred cards, most of them white. Is there any blue or higher in that pile?"

"No, sir," Nero asked immediately.

"You got your badges, take what doesn't exist away from my counter. And Glom, please clean your paws before jumping on my counter. And Nero, is it? Nero, you need to learn which rules to enforce and when to let go. Don't earn the student's enmity."

"Sure thing, Mattie. You are a sweetheart!" Glom jumped down.

Nero scoped the pile of cards in his bag. They left the building in a hurry.

"See? Problem solved. We did our part, and got permission to keep the cards," Glom said once they were out of hearing range of most people. "Have fun with them."

"But what about the 'enmity of the students'?"

"Don't worry. They won't beat a staff member. Now, I'm hungry, how about we grab some lunch and get some takeout for those two eggheads? I bet they are drowning in Essence infuser parts right now."

Glom led them to the Lyceum cafeteria. Their badges allowed access to the staff area. He pointed at a pile of metal trays and three lines. One for medium-sized races, another for small or low-to-the-ground races, and another for larger races. A half-giant in black uniform was walking slowly through the latter line, filling what Nero swore could well be a tower shield with a pile of food, mostly meat.

"You two take that line over there, mine is that way."

Nero let Altia go first. There was a series of pipes going across the line where you could slide your tray on and pick food to put on it. The variety was great and catered to several races. From raw meat to insect parts, from fruit to smelly gruels, anyone's taste - and distaste - was represented there. Altia picked roast meat, grains, and salad while Nero got a bird breast with mashed potatoes, cooked vegetables, and broccoli.

After filling their bellies and talking to some teaching staff that approached the new faces with enthusiasm, they left the cafeteria with two boxes of food for the gnome and bat-kin, the former had a more standard meal loaded on the dark bitter greens and Bezzias' lunch box had only fruit of several types.

As they crossed the open field again, Nero spotted a group of students approaching. Glom's ears twitched and the squiig professor pointed at a fixture, two stone benches with a square stone table in the middle, in the shade of a tree. Nero saw a pattern of eight by eight squares painted black and white in the middle of the table and found that decoration intriguing.

"They don't seem very friendly," Altia remarked.

"I think it is the group that was trading cards," Nero speculated.

"You two stay silent. I am the ranking teacher here, you don't even nod or shake your heads. They won't try to hurt you but they may goad you into doing something stupid. Yes, I'm looking at you, Mr. Nero."

Altia chuckled, Nero, sighed. She grasped his hand and they waited. Soon the students arrived and opened in a semicircle around them.

"Hey, new guy. Did you earn those brownie points for enriching the coffers with our cards?" One of them, a cat-kin with black fur, asked.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Nero noticed that most of them were indeed cat-kin, with some other beastkin races represented. Their faces of scorn toward the two in white were hard to endure.

"Now, now. Nothing of that," Glom answered. "If you were the ones sitting on the grass trading cards, you know you were in the wrong. You know the penalty for doing that. The Lyceum has regulations and rules, and they exist for a good cause."

The tiny squiig gadgeteer was ignored by the cat-kin student wearing red. "So, can't you speak for yourself? Or are you too afraid of what your little boss here will do if you disobey him?" he taunted Nero.

"I just don't understand why you were doing that on the grass. Isn't there an official spot for trading cards? I heard there is one, and I was looking forward to seeing it."

They laughed at Nero. He didn't understand why, but he was sure he hadn't said any joke.

"No, moron. There's a card shop that sells our cards back to us but there's no area for trading cards."

Nero stood tall. He faced bone-pulverizing and wife-stealing knights with levels over two hundred, it wasn't this mewling brat that would talk over him.

"Well, I think there should be one. Honestly, trading cards are vital to one's development. Where do you get your cards?"

Nero's question confused them. "I buy my cards with my stipend like any normal person," He chortled and his retinue laughed with him.

Glom decided to remain silent, just observing. Nero retorted. "Well, good for you. I need to delve to get mine." Another round of laughter. Nero checked but there was no hyena-kin in the middle. That was racist of him but they indeed laughed horribly.

"And apparently, steal as well."

"The cards were delivered to the clerk, as regulations demand. That's as much stealing as the King charging taxes."

That riled up the cat-kin student. "Look, you muckraker, you don't dare speak of His Majesty!"

Nero shrugged. "I just stated that His Majesty has the right to charge taxes. As the Lyceum has the right to enforce its rules. And I'll speak praise to His Majesty's wise rule anytime, may he long live."

Nero had no complaints about the King. The black-furred boy was about to berate Nero but he held back. He lowered his hand and just stared with his slitted eyes.

"Who are you?" He finally asked.

"I believe you approached me first and I am part of the Lyceum staff," Nero answered, hinting that the student should introduce himself first.

"I am Hugo d'Loffeur, third son of Marquis d'Loffeur, level cap one hundred and sixty-eight."

And in this context, the third son meant he had two siblings whose level cap was higher than him, not the order of birth. Nero asked Altia with his gaze only, one eyebrow raised, 'is that supposed to be good?' His wife slightly pulled the corners of her mouth in an indifferent frown as to say, 'I don't know'. Or so he read her expression.

"Nero, assistant researcher."

"What is your level cap?"

"None of your business, student," Nero tried to not sound derisive but he may have failed. "Now, if we finished our spitting contest, we could work together to develop an area where people could freely trade cards when no lectures they are enrolled are taking place. What do you think? Because if you allow me to speak frankly and off-record, this whole card-seizure is bullshit."

Hugo was angry at Nero's dismissal but then his proposal tugged at his heartstrings. Then he remembered the stiffness of the Lyceum regulations and traditions.

"That is never going to happen."

"that's illogical. The campus has a building dedicated to dungeonology, and gathering cards are an intrinsic part of that activity. Trust me, I know what I speak of. I'm a professional muckraker, after all."

Another peal of laughter from the crowd. Nero could see some of them relaxing but Hugo seemed adamant in taking bloody victory home. Maybe because he is freaking nobility, Nero thought.

Hugo raised a finger, "Listen up, commoner! I demand reparation--"

Nero totally ignored the guy. "Professor Glom, does ranks matter here? I thought that in this hallowed grounds of learning all were equal."

"And you would be correct to think so, research assistant Nero. The color of one's blood has no hold over the relationships here. We just hope our students are as civil toward the staff as we are to them."

"I wonder what marquis d'Loffeur would say if his sons would start to behave like back-alley thugs," Altia finally spoke. "Because that's what I am seeing here. And you are delaying the delivery of masters Bezzias and Tinkwezilsky's lunch. I would hate to tell them the reason for the delay. I'd have to be honest and tell them your name." She showed them the lunch boxes. "And I don't think professor Tinkwezilsky likes his food cold." She locked eyes with Hugo. "Research assistant Altia, one hundred and seventy-nine, if you need to pin a name to the face. I don't need to use my family name, do I?"

Maybe it was Altia's charisma, maybe it was the name of the professors. Nero knew it was nothing like that. While he rolled in the verbal mud with Hugo, Altia just observed from a moral high position. That she spoke last and dropped her awfully high-level cap as a second thought, made the noble kid ingrained conditioning immediately put himself below her, as they usually rank themselves by a level cap.

"I see," Hugo hissed. "You, Nero. Do you believe you can create a place where students can freely trade cards?"

"I have to talk to the chief of the dungeoneering department first."

"Chair. The leader of the department is called 'chair', Nero," Glom corrected him.

"Yes, I am sure he knows that the knowledge of cards, skill combos, is a vital part of delving the Dungeons. We will create a space for students to trade cards."

"In their free time. Truancy cannot be allowed or encouraged." Glom added. "But what assistant Nero said has merit. I think we can offer a new discipline, yes. That may work!" Glom exclaimed, excited. "I will draft the syllabus for a new discipline called 'Study and Evaluation of Dungeon Drops 101'! Assistant Nero will help me with that. In this discipline, the practical credits will be through assessment and trading of cards then moving into build analysis and viability of card combos."

The mood of some students lit up. Nero wondered why that didn't exist. It was obvious that they should delve... or not? He recalled the disgust and sadistic pleasure they had when calling him a muckraker. Someone that scrapes the dungeon filth. Fitting but demeaning at the same time. He put everything together and the conclusion was that each of these brats was a golden spoon that grew into power through the power of their families, not their own. Spoon-fed Anima crystals and with minimal delving in pleasant Dungeons - and yes, they existed. Nero was even planning on visiting one - they reached their levels without any practical skill.

"Well, we shall see. We'll meet again, Nero," He said in a haughty tone and then his voice did a hundred-eighty, becoming almost pleasant to hear. "Lady Altia, I must take my leave now."

Hugo and his troupe stormed away. Nero was feeling angry, jealous, and flabbergasted at the same time. Glom's eyes were dreamy, probably drafting his syllabus in his head. Nero scooped the squiig in his arms and they went on their way.

"Hey, professor Glom, I believe this Lyceum does not see many professional Adventurers, do they?"

He shook out of his stupor and jumped out of Nero's hands. "No, actually not. The tuition is expensive, and most of our students don't need to delve to earn a living."

"Yeah, I figured out. And what was that, lady Altia?"

Altia gave him a cold stare. "What, jealous? That good-for-nothing blue blood could have a cap of six hundred for all I care. Don't you trust me? Would I trade my Nero Zero for any other?"

"Oh, speaking of that, Nero," Glom interrupted their fight. "I must say I am really happy that you found your own path. I left Hom that day with the heaviest heart. But when Tinkwezilsky returned and told us the tale of the level zero that stood up against a knight colonel, well. I must say I shouted just a bit."

"Bah. Is that an apology? No, really! Glom, you helped me, you did all of that and I know for a fact that my father is scarier than Valawhoagain. I don't accept your apology because there was nothing. We're friends."

"Friends?" The squiig chirped as if tasting the word.

"Yeah, of course. You gave us the hint we needed when you told of the Anima crystals. On how I can use them as much as I want."

"Oh, that's wonderful. Nero, I accept your friendship in the spirit which it is offered."

"Sure, man."

"You are still going to be my teaching assistant for the course we'll make. You'll get to see tons of cards. In fact, we already have some starter teaching material."

Altia chuckled. Nero smiled and raised his thumb. "Sold."

Then he tapped his bag, just to make sure the cards were still there.