The drinks from the vending machine rolled on the ground.

The only thing I could hear was my heartbeat. The only thing I saw was Agon’s crumpled body. Had I just eliminated this world’s chance of being saved?

When was the last time I punched someone? I don't even remember. Maybe during the junior year of high school. No, even then the fight never went straight to fists. We just ended up pushing each other.

Thank God there was no one around us! Now I can just sneak away from here and no one will know what happened.

While I was thinking of how to get away with murder, Agon stood up. Blood dripped down from the corner of his lips, as he looked at me with an unreadable expression on his face. He then chuckled. "Thanks, I get it now."

Get what? I just punched you. Didn’t slamming on a vending machine hurt? But as soon as I thought of that I remembered Agon was a shounen protagonist. Taking hits and still getting up was one of his main characteristics.

Agon dusted himself off. Wiping the blood from his lip with a sleeve. A wide smile appeared on his face. "Now I'm awake again. I will become the Sage! The strongest exorcist to ever live!"

With that said, he ran off.

I stood there with my mouth agape, as Agon ran out of sight. I quickly came to my senses after one of the drinks in the broken vending machine fell and created a loud banging sound.

Immediately, I ran in the opposite direction from Agon. There was a broken vending machine, and I wasn't going to take responsibility for that!

It was early, but it was only a matter of time before someone came out.

At least we didn't become friends. Agon, as the main protagonist, obviously will get his own group of friends. I didn't want to be part of any of that. In truth, I don't want to be involved with Agon in any way.

As the main protagonist, he is a trouble magnet!

..

Arriving at the Basics Class, taught by Professor Chain. Agon had some blood dripping from his head. But I acted as if I didn’t notice anything. No one else made a fuss about it. So when in Rome…

Instead, I kept my eyes on Professor Chain. In the manga, he was known as just the chain guy. He had a pretty cool Exorcist Ability. If it wasn't obvious to everyone already, his Exorcist Ability had something to do with chains.

I sat at the back of the class, next to my boy Bets. He was the perfect friend to have. With his scary figure, no one ever approached us.

"Today we will learn about the basics of exorcism. If you want to learn more, you can take other special classes in these subjects," the teacher wrote down three words. "Rituals, talismans, and barriers that ward off evil spirits. These three are the basics of the basics that every exorcist needs to know how to do. Some of these can also make up for the weakness any of your future Exorcist Abilities might have."

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These were something that wasn't touched much in the Manga by the main character. Agon was always more of the punch-stuff guy. But these talismans, rituals, and weak barriers could help my chances of survival. So I noted them down and made a mental note to check the library for any books on these subjects.

First and foremost, I would have to find the library. From the Manga, I knew there was one, but not its exact location.

Thoughts about telling someone else about what would happen crossed my mind again. But I dismissed such thoughts once more.

If the higher-ups caught wind that I had knowledge of the future, they would torture it out of me. At best, I would become a lab rat, never to be free or even see the sun again.

"This week we will be learning some basic Ord energy control. Though first we will try and awaken it."

Thankfully for this class, let’s just say I had studied ahead.

…

The rest of the class went by with the teacher trying to make everyone try and sense their inner energy. Sei succeeded on his first try, which was expected of a talent like him. While Anika already used her energy on her 'first try' which I suspect she already knew how to do before joining the academy.

While walking out of the class. I read the book which serves as an introduction to Ord.

'Ord stands for Order, as Exorcists used the energy to restore order to the world. Ord isn't just a spiritual and physical energy. But in the long past, Ord was also known by the name Obsession Energy…'

Like with every school book, the explanation was needlessly long. Essentially, what this page was saying was that feelings mattered on Ord and Exorcist Abilities. A pyromaniac would have an easier time creating a fire ability, than an ordinary person. Even if both created a fire ability, the pyromaniacs’ would be a lot stronger.

After the Basics Class, the class separated into different groups and all went to a different classroom.

I was with the Beast Master class, which was in a stadium-like underground building. Like those stadiums for boxing events, though the place didn’t seem like something that had more than a thousand seats. Maybe it was used for tournaments?

In the middle of the stage was a light green-haired woman, who looked youthful and in her early twenties. She had a bright smile on her face, and her deep blue eyes were like sapphires.

The young woman waved at us. “Hello everyone! You must be my new students, right? I’m so nervous! This is my first time teaching anyone!”

Every student stopped in their tracks. The way the teacher spoke was so unconfident that it would make anyone doubt her abilities.

Since the main character was a Warrior, I never saw the Beast Master Class teacher. I didn’t know the teacher for Blaster either. But I did know the teacher for Creators, which was our basics teacher too, Mr Chain.

“You can sit on the stands and I will explain some of the basic rules of Beast Masters,” she smiled and everyone found their own seats. Altogether we were seven students in this class. Which wasn’t a lot, so each of us would have the opportunity to get personal attention from the teacher.

The teacher’s face grew serious as she said the next part. “The first and foremost rule that I want to teach you is that Beast Masters can create an ability that can enslave humans too. If you do something like that, even without committing a crime. You will be executed.”

One of the students raises his hand and asks. “Can I ask why that is so? Couldn’t we use some strong rogue exorcists as frontline fodder?”

Seeing another fellow background character say something like that brought a chill down my spine. In the modern world, a person could grow up without ever needing to kill something with their own two hands. That wasn’t the case here. Killing was normal, and in some kingdoms prisoners were used as slave labor.

“Well, the clear reason is a bit complicated. But to simplify it: someone took control of the emperor, and no one noticed for quite a while as the emperor had no one to meet him. During that time, that was the incident which had sparked the first exorcist war.” The look in her eyes showed that she was hiding something.

I also knew she was hiding why someone would do something like that out of nowhere. But I wasn’t a shounen protagonist to ask dangerous questions like that. Some secrets are better left buried.

“Anyways, enough about all this depressing stuff,” she smiled brightly and twirled around. Causing her short skirt to float and almost flash her panties. If this was a Manga or Anime, it would be the perfect chance to input some fanservice. “Even amongst Beast Masters, there are two types: Summoner and Tamer. Summoners will summon a beast from their Ord, which will be loyal to them. Though the Ord consumption will be quite big. Tamers on the other hand can tame a demon and put it under their command.”

The Beast Summoner class also continued with explanations that I didn’t know much about. Technicalities with certain techniques, like how you shouldn’t force tame someone else’s dog or you will get fined.

..

I asked around a bit and a couple of senior students in the academy showed me the way to the library. I immediately started reading academic books on the human body.

If I wanted to ensure my own survival. I had to step on some people’s toes. First and foremost I must confirm some things that I knew from the Manga and make sure the rules were the same as I remember them.

After that, I will create an Exorcist Ability with the power to control a human.