As we left the student council office, Cinder grabbed my arm. "What. The. Abyss. Was. That?!"

"Legal-ness?" I shrugged.

"You just... steamrolled the entire student council! And Father Matthias is your guardian now? How did you even...?"

"Paperwork," I grinned. "The true magic of the universe. You were there when he adopted me into his digital heart, were you not? My picture's totally gracing his office."

"When did my mom even...?"

"Sent her an email," I said. "While we were chilling in Lance's... Lancer. She answered pretty quick and signed the form. She wants me to supervise you during delving as our team's Quartermaster. Guess I impressed her by actually making you come down to breakfast."

Cinder's eye twitched.

"I feel like you're digging yourself a very deep hole," she hiss-growled.

"Nah," I said. "The hole was always there. In fact, this entire Omnid city was built atop a big magic hole in the ground. Just think of me as a.... hmmm.... A spider, weaving information-webs above the hole. The longer I exist in Leviathan's Cradle the more devious and tough my web becomes and more Cinder-flies get stuck in it."

"Why is our team name 'I love you'?" She demanded, snout stretching out to reveal rows of sharp teeth as my spider-comment clearly hit a nerve.

I grinned at her instead of a reply.

"Well?" She demanded.

"I just wanted to hear you say it," I laughed. "It's nice to be appreciated."

Cinder's entire body ignited with an explosion color. She took a swing at me with her claws, which I neatly dodged.

"You absolute... insufferable... Arghhhh!" She sputtered, feathers bristling around and under her See-Mass sweater. "Change it! RIGHT NOW! I'm not effing saying it!"

"Make me!" I laughed, taking off at a run down the black marble stairwell towards delving class deep below the ground. "If... you can catch me!"

As I ran, laughing, Cinder's wings erupted behind me, her feathers shifting through irritated reds and determined oranges. Her Quetzalcoatl heritage gave her greater running power than my collection of stolen hexasuits.

She caught up to me, just as we burst through the doors, a few seconds late to class.

As Cinder tackled me, we tumbled across the classroom floor in a tangle of wings and limbs. Her claws were digging into my collar, her ocean-blue eyes blazing with fury as she pinned me down.

"I'm going to effing murder you, you chuppy kno...!" She snarled loudly.

"Novitiates!" A cold, razor-sharp voice cut through her threat.

Cinder froze, the rainbow of color draining out of her body.

"Sup Zalimar?" I waved from under Cinder. "How's it teaching?"

The classroom fell silent.

Instructor Zalimar Evernacht stood at the front of black slate and dark marble gothic auditorium, his skeletal form draped in a long, black, billowing academic robe. The silver fire in his eye sockets focused on me.

"Mr. Glock," Zalimar's voice was a snarl that carried to every corner of the room. "Care to explain why you and Ms. Nova are wrestling on my classroom floor?"

"Just getting my daily dose of love, cryptids and murder," I said. "Hope you don't mind!"

"Stand. Up." Zalimar's voice could have frozen hellfire. His silver-flamed eye sockets burned with barely contained rage as he loomed over us at his black podium.

The entire class held their breath. I noticed Emerald looking down at us as well.

I carefully extracted myself from under Cinder, who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here. Her feathers had shifted to mortified blacks and grays.

"Twenty points from both of you," Zalimar's voice dripped with cold venom. "And detention tonight. Now take your seats before I decide to make an example of you both."

I helped Cinder up. The entire class watched in silence as we made our way to our seats.

"As I was saying before we were so rudely interrupted," Zalimar continued, "today we resume practical applications of delving theory."

The class hummed excitedly about visiting Shandria and their plans for the market.

"For those of you who managed to pass the written exam at the end of last semester," Zalimar stated, his silver flame eyes burning into me with obvious contempt, "we will be conducting our first supervised expedition to the Shandrian Market on Arx in two hours from now. The excursion will last approximately two hours of Earth-time and one week of Arx time due to the temporal dilation. Those who failed their exams... or haven't had their exam yet, will be taking it today in the training room with Coach Canard and will NOT be participating in delve activities."

Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

His gaze lingered pointedly on me.

I raised my hand, interrupting him mid-sentence.

The Lich stared at me. "Yes, Mr. Glock?" he practically spat my name.

"Just wanted to submit my exam papers," I said cheerfully, pulling out a thick stack of forms. "Sorry for the delay. Had to get them properly notarized by the cathedral."

"Cathedral? What cathedral?!" the Koshchei growled.

"If you will allow me," I walked casually to the podium and handed the papers to him.

Zalimar's skeletal hands snatched the papers from me, his silver flame eyes scanning the documents with obvious suspicion. His jaw actually dropped slightly as he saw Father Matthias' ornate signature and seal on every page.

"These are..." he started.

"Fully completed and certified," I finished for him. "Including practical field experience documentation from my previous delving work with the Triumvirate Slayer's Cathedral's youth outreach program. Oh, and I've already registered a new delving team with the student council."

"A delving team?" Zalimar's voice dripped with cold contempt. His silver flame eyes flared brighter as he practically shredded through my paperwork. "You? Really? A... nullborn, leading a team?"

"Leading a team? Nah," I said. "Cassiopeia Nova is the Team Captain. I'm just the team manager and supply boy."

"A supply boy?" Zalimar's skull-face twitched with cruel amusement. "How... quaint. Just because those ass-wipes from the Silver Wing party permitted your kind to attend this institution doesn't mean you belong here, boy."

"Interesting perspective," I smiled pleasantly. "I'm sure the Board of Education would love to hear your lovely views on mix-blood diversity and inclusion. Perhaps I should schedule a meeting?"

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. Frost began forming on nearby desks as Zalimar's rage manifested physically.

"Are you threatening me, boy?" he hissed, his academic robes billowing with unseen glacial wind that made my skin crawl.

"Not at all, sir," I maintained my pleasant smile. "Just making conversation. Now, about today's practical - I assume we'll need proper delving gear? As my team's Quartermaster, I brought enough for my entire team."

"Let me make something perfectly clear, Mr. Glock," Zalimar's voice dripped with icy venom as he loomed over me. "This is not some game. Arx is not a playground for nullborn scum to play at being delvers."

"Of course not, sir," I replied, maintaining my pleasant smile despite the frost forming on my clothes and hair. "That's why I brought proper equipment. Safety first, as they say."

"Safety?" He let out a harsh, cold laugh that made several students flinch. "You think a few pieces of borrowed gear will protect you? Your kind lacks even the basic magical capacity to properly utilize delving equipment above level twenty. You're more likely to get yourself and your... team killed. Did nobody tell you this, you poor miserable child? Nullborns are incapable of wearing high level armor, incapable of casting spells, incapable of wielding magic weapons, incapable of interacting with Kitlix!"

"Actually, sir," I pulled out more paperwork, "I have documentation showing successful completion of all required safety training and equipment certification courses through the cathedral's program. Would you like to see those as well? They're in that stack you're holding, along with... the lawsuit."

"Lawsuit..." Zalimar blinked with his silver glowing fire-orbs. "What lawsuit?!"

"The one you've just been served," I said with a wide grin. "For unjust discriminatory practices and negligent oversight. And speaking of oversight..." I pulled out a fake silver ID card with the winged sword emblem of the Silver Wing party. "Alexander Glock, Junior Representative of the Equality Division. I'm here investigating the suspicious deaths of Sarah Nisteroff last semester. You remember Sarah, don't you, Instructor Zalimar?"

The temperature dropped even further. Ice crystals formed in the air around Zalimar.

"How dare you..." he hissed. "You dare come into MY classroom and serve me a LAWSUIT?! Accuse me of being unjust?!"

"This isn't an accusation," I said. "I'm serving you a class action lawsuit on behalf of half-blood students... Sarah Nisteroff - 2024, abandoned overnight and chopped up by Shadowbeasts. Elek Rodrigov - 2023, killed repeatedly during training exercise by arrows. Marcus Chennik - 2023, left in Magnolish dungeon for a week by himself. Thomas Willard - 2023, devoured in the Whispering Depths dungeon. Petv Yavna - 2023, tricked into heavy drinking and chopped up by Shadowbeasts."

I glanced at Emerald. The dragoness swallowed nervously, clawed hands tightening. I moved onto the others.

"Olga Kcasnik - 2022, tricked into going out at night and chopped up by Shadowbeasts. Datri Volk - 2022, left knocked out in a field overnight and chopped up by Shadowbeasts. Thomas Willard - 2020, eaten by a Snargboar and rescued only after 29 hours. Marcia Alvarrez - 2019, beaten to death by Homporisks. Peter Dunnik - 2017..."

"SILENCE!" Zalimar roared. The stack of papers in his hands ignited with white flames and shattered into sparkling bits as if it had been bathed in liquid nitrogen. "You pathetic... vile...."

I took a step towards him, ice forming around my See-Mass sweater and hexamesh layers.

"You DARE?" he hissed, each word dripping with venomous contempt. "A nullborn, a scab-blood NOTHING, standing in my own classroom and accusing ME?"

"Yes," I continued, my voice steady. "Now, where was I? Right. Peter, died from a hellhounder attack. Lekosh Nokil - 2015, a half-Thunderbird student who mysteriously disappeared during a routine dungeon mapping exercise. Her body was never found, but rumors suggested she was deliberately left behind when her team retreated. Bracelet retrieved too late."

Zalimar's skeletal hands clenched, frost forming around his bony fingers.

"Milla Stazo, 2013 - a quarter-human Kelpie student who was 'accidentally' assigned to a high-risk delving mission despite being severely under-equipped. She was the only casualty in her team. Repeatedly."

The silver flames in Zalimar's eye sockets flared even brighter. His iron-covered fist emerged from his robe, skeletal hand creaking.

Come on, smack me. Make it a good one. I know you want to.

"Kira Wentigom - 2010, a half-blood Cherufe student..." I read on, repeating what Yulia whispered in my ear.

"ENOUGH!" A metal-covered hand shot out, crackling with dark ice.

Before I could react, Zalimar's skeletal fingers struck me square in the chest, flashing upwards and ripping up my face as he sent me flying.

Then the back of the classroom wall met my spine and I felt nothing but pain.