The next morning came too quickly for my liking. The dawn bringing in rays of golden sunlight that snuck into my room despite the heavy curtains. I got up and ate breakfast with the new extended family. My aunt and uncle and cousin and all my clones sitting together around our new, much bigger dinner table. Eating amounts of food that would have sent any normal person to the ER back in the real world.

After that, the school day was...

Shockingly normal. To a degree that was almost frightening.

We all sat down and listened to a Mr. Burrows go on about functions and the changes to Y as X increased or decreased. We went through linear functions and square functions and cube functions. Going round and round and round with numbers until I felt like my head was swimming.

'What the heck is this!? No one went over this before! It's like I skipped an entire term of... oh.'

Yeah. That checked out.

Figures Elsie wasn't just teasing when she said I had fallen behind.

I didn't need to sleep nearly as much anymore, so we had spent most of last night studying at Elsie's place before I made my way back home. I had assumed she was messing with me to some degree when she said I needed to kick things into high-gear and study as if my life depended on it.

Turns out she was underselling just how unprepared I really was. Perhaps to spare my feelings a bit.

Case in point, we had a small quiz at the end of the period. One that I was more or less sure I bombed.

Then we went on to do a book review. A little novel called the 'The Chrysalids'. With presentations being lined up for next week.

Naturally, I hadn't read the book. And the few pages I read through during class made little to no sense.

There was something about teens with Telepathy that lived in a society that hunted mutants and they were trying to hide it.

It was interesting at first.

But the whole thing was completely inconsistent because Telepathy in the book was nothing like the [Blended Consciousness] Skill or even like [Over-Mind].

It was more like, talking. Over long distances. In private.

Kinda like how phones worked.

It was still cool, but it seemed a bit anti-climactic for some big secret that was meant to give the heroes an edge.

Then I looked at the cover and saw that the damn thing was older than my grandparents.

Then I read some more and came across a girl who was killed away from the characters' POV because she had an extra toe. Then I started ruminating about how asinine that logic really was.

'Yeah. Because Jenny Six-Toes is totally someone that can collapse the entire social order of the world. What kind of imbecile would ever think this?'

Then I recalled that actual witch burnings had indeed been a thing back in ye-olden-days and ceded the point to the author.

And then I started wondering how I would fare as a character in this setting.

I imagined the evil dad trying to beat me. I imagined the spreading grin on Pool-Cecil's face once that happened and...

Yeah.

That would have been a very, very short story. With a very M-rated ending.

'Perhaps the author had the right idea after all.' I thought to myself. 'It gives a good lesson. And it's an interesting read.'

English class soon gave way to home economics. A class where cheating wasn't just accepted, it was encouraged.

The whole point, as it was explained to me, was not to show us how to run an efficient household, but to try and get us to think about new and innovative ways to use our Magic in everyday life.

I showed off how to grow a barn out of living trees that I [Spawned] in and that got me an A+ for the class assignment. The end-of semester class assignment that was worth 50% of our grade. Apparently other guys needed lots of time to think of something.

Regardless, that act all but assured I could breeze through the course with flying colors, given that I hadn't even showed off the Anti-Air Devastators Pool-Cecil had designed.

The [Life] Core might be a pain on occasion, but no one could deny it was one of the most flexible kinds of Magic in town. Least of all the new students who still marveled at anything Mr. Conan made.

The next few classes went by in a flash. Chemistry and Physics and Music coming and going with little fanfare. I was reminded time and time again that I had a lot of studying to do and I failed a couple more quizzes.

My mood was foul by the time I was finally let go. My head abuzz with so many things I needed to catch up on.

"You looked like you were having a bad time back there." Elsie teased from the side. Coming out of nowhere as she usually did.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"Was it that obvious?" I asked. Cringing.

"Oh yeah. You looked like the textbooks were burning your hands every time you flipped a page." She giggled. "I guess that's what happens when you take month-long vacations at the start of the school year. Naughty, naughty."

I whirled.

"Vacation! Your great-grandpa practically trafficked me into doing farm work and then my own coach beat me half to death! Uncle Uter is right about this! I have some share of the blame, but most of it is on you guys!"

Elsie nodded in faux-seriousness.

"True. True. Great-grandpa has been acting sketchy and coach Russell did crack your skull open. Guess that explains your recent grades."

She placed a hand around her eyes and pretended to wipe away tears.

"My, but what am I supposed to do? Coach Russell beat my boyfriend to the point that he became simple. How am I supposed to love him now that he drools all over the place?"

"Har de Har. I hope you got a few chuckles out of that."

"Nah. It ain't the same when you don't get all sulky and moody like you used to. You're cuter when you're upset."

I rolled my eyes and kept walking through the hallway. Stopping before one of the massive re-enforced steel doors and pushing it aside with a single hand.

Elsie chuckled at that too.

"You know, it seems almost nostalgic. Looking at you opening that door. I remember when you couldn't do that with both hands."

"Me too." I told her. "I also remember thinking that it was a good idea after coming across a Ripper for the first time. Now... I'm not so sure."

"How come?"

I turned to her.

"You can't really tell me that this'll do anything to stop a real monster." I told her bluntly. "I'm pretty sure I could've kicked this thing off its hinges at level 2."

"True, true, but it isn't meant to stop real monsters Cecil. It's meant to stop the odd Ripper who sneaks past the Dungeon doors or the odd bear that wanders into town at night."

She paused for a second to give me a meaningful look.

"Them, and the weather phenomena that will start appearing after Breaking Day."

"Thank goodness for underground bunkers." I muttered under my breath. "I thought it was overkill when we first came here and saw the house. Now I'm thinking I better spend some money to get it expanded."

"Well don't let me stop you." Elsie said seriously. "In fact, I think you could do a pretty bang-up job if you put your mind into it. Simply grow a bunch of Drones like you did back in the farm and have them dig out more rooms. Then you can [Spawn] in mutated trees to act as walls and columns so it doesn't collapse on your head. Play your cards right and you could end up having a pretty sweet side-gig as a contractor."

"When I'm not growing metric tones of food for the entire world you mean."

"Exactly! Now you're getting it!"

We made our way past the doors and out into the courtyard after that. Joining scores of our fellow students gathered around a sand-filled arena.

Elsie donned a ferocious smile and started stretching.

"Oomph! Finally! I love gym class!"

A whole bunch of students looked at her with dread plastered on their faces. All my copies included.

Quite a lot of them seemed like they had a few things to say, though in truth, they needn't have bothered. The borders of the arena still bore some scars from the previous class, where the 10th graders had been competing. It didn't take a genius to guess what the theme of today's class would be.

"All right. Glad you're all here." Coach Homer spoke suddenly. His voice cutting through the dread like a razor. "As you all know, we've been more or less focused on Endurance training for the past few weeks. This wasn't what the original lesson plan was, but we figured it was best to give you all some time to adjust to all the gains you made."

Dozens of eyes turned in my direction.

"That period of adjustment is officially over." He said plainly. "Instead, we'll be starting the dueling program back up. Single matches to start, moving onto pairs next week and full teams next month. The sessions will alternate between unarmed, non-magical matches, matches with blunted weapons and matches with full access to Magic. The usual restrictions apply. Any questions?"

Mike raised his hand.

"Yes, Mike?"

"Thank you coach Homer. The thing is, I... I don't wanna die. Can I sit this one out?"

A few chuckles rose up from the crowd, though they all died quickly enough once coach Homer turned his head in their direction.

"The usual restrictions account for level and stat differences." He said calmly. "I've already drawn up a chart that should account for all your needs."

He turned to a nearby shed and produced the chart in question.

"1 to 1 matches when the levels are equal. 5 to 1 in cases where level 1s take on a level 2. Adjusted for team composition and the stats of the 2s of course, so some of you will have one more or one less team member. Beyond that, the differences in stats are too much for fights to be fair, regardless of how many 2s take on a 3, so the 3s will be fighting each other. We don't have level 4s in this class so those are moot for now. We will also add or subtract a challenger if the balance isn't quite right."

He pointed at the newcomers who had been watching silently from the side.

"Go over to them and find four other teammates. You'll be taking on original Cecil. No Skills allowed."

I coughed loudly into my hand.

"Something to add Mr. Fowler?"

"Uh, yeah coach. I actually reached level 3 yesterday."

A few people gasped. More people took a few steps away from me. Almost as if on instinct.

"That's perfect then." He said without missing a beat. "You can spar against my baby brother."

"Carijo! Me cago en tu puta madre!" Julian spat. Saying something I didn't quite understand.

"I love you too Julian." Coach Homer said flatly. "Level 3 against level 3. You both hit it around the same time so this'll be more or less even."

"Comemierda!" Julian spoke up again.

"Actually, never mind." Coach Homer interrupted himself. "Skills allowed. Let's see what we're working with from Cecil's point of view."

There was an audible shuffle and I turned to see that everyone who had been standing near me had taken a few more paces away from me.

If people had been wary of me before, then they were now treating me like a stinking leper. One who hadn't taken a bath since the war of the three kingdoms.

"I'll tell dad!" Julian yelled. Now visibly reddening. While also stepping away from me.

"Good. I'm sure he'll love to hear about how you handed Cecil a resounding defeat. After all, you have been going on and on about how you could totally take him on, if only he didn't have his monsters."

Julian reddened further and I started to cringe from second-hand embarrassment.

"Look, coach Homer, he obviously doesn't feel okay with this. Can I just fight someone else?"

"Huh!?" Julian whipped his head to face me. "Are you saying I'm scared!? Of you!?"

I said nothing. Taken aback by the vehemence on display. Then I looked down and saw that his legs were practically vibrating. His knees hitting each other like maracas.

"Yes?" I answered slowly.

"That's it! I'm paying you back for the roaches today roach boy! You're going down!"

Julian stomped over to one end of the arena and coach Homer gave me a look until I did the same.

Then he raised his whistle to his lips and blew on it.

The next thing I knew was that my vision was spinning. My legs turning to jelly before I could blink and my arms reaching towards the floor to keep myself from falling head-first.

I felt another couple of hits breaking my arms before the pain started to register and by then, I was tasting blood and sand on my tongue.

The arena erupted in cheers. My eyes fighting past the blurriness to see that everyone except the newcomers were apparently elated by whatever had happened.

"Round one goes to Julian." Coach Homer declared. Ringing his whistle again. "Fighters go back to your spots and prepare for round two."