The Saturday went smoothly after the encounter with Mia. Henry had went out and had gotten the groceries. His parents didn't make a fuss, and he had spent the day with his friends. The next day Henry went to get the health check up he scheduled. In the end all was good, his cuts thankfully weren't infected. The school day finally rolled around, and Henry dragged himself out of bed. Leaving the house, Henry listlessly looked up at the clouds. Mornings were always slow for Henry even after being chosen by Bas.
"Morning." Charles greeted.
"Morn." Henry replied, Jared however was like a zombie. Henry watched as Jared's feet pulled each other forward. Underneath Jared's eyes were dark circles reminding Henry of a panda.
"What's got you all looking like a certain endangered bear? You stay up all night watching saucy videos?" Henry poked Jared as he asked.
"Hells Diver." Jared's deadpan voice responded.
"Ah, that game. So, how was it?" Henry and Charles curiously looked at Jared. They too had gotten the game, but it was already past noon when it the game was on sale. Both Henry and Charles possessed the self-restraint to not play it the night before school started. On the other hand, Jared either lacked the foresight or possibly did not even care for the consequences.
"Perfect." Jared preached his evaluation with hidden enthusiasm.
"Wow, that's a first." Charles commented in surprise.
"Very, usually you would just go on about the many flaws and imperfections. I kind of want to play it now." The review had Henry's imagination run wild.
"Me too." Charles added before they reached the school gate.
"You three, go put your bags away quick and go to the auditorium." A teacher ordered as he gestured them to run along. Confused they followed his instructions and put their bags away. The hallways were quite crowded because of whatever was happening. So, Henry got curious and asked one of the teachers in the hallway about the matter.
"Oh, it seems your homeroom teacher forget to tell you guys. Well, the school just received lots of funding from a wealthy tycoon, so some new teacher are coming in. This should be to give them a warm welcome so the regular." The teacher's eyes lit up when talking about the money.
"Thank you." Henry hurriedly joined up with his friends. It was obvious the occasion didn't matter one bit to them, treating it as just another day. Henry and his friends made it to the auditorium and sat next to his classmates. Once everyone got settled a teacher who usually took the lead in these types of events got up on the stand. The handsome teacher grabbed the microphone and welcomed everyone with a charismatic smile.
"Students, teachers, and the other staff members welcome! Before I get into the good news, it's best I get through the bad. Unfortunately, principal Paristol is currently dealing with a medical emergency and is unable to attend sadly…" A silence descended the auditorium for a few seconds before the speaker continued,
"However as the tides lower they bring the unexpected. Thanks to Bram Stoker for his great generosity, everyone give a loud and warm round of applause." The announcer gestured towards a blond bearded man in a blue suit. The symphony of claps were loud, yet unenthusiastic. Everyone assumed this to be Bram Stoker, but most of them didn't care that much. Henry happened to notice Mr. Stoker had twice the average amounts of mana. Compared the sea of people Henry had seen at the mall though, it wasn't anything crazy.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
"Once again, thanks to Mr. Stokers kindness we can bring aboard many more new staff. Please give a warm welcome to the five new teachers joining us!" This time many more students put more effort into clapping, even a few whistled. The male student body who created most of the noise had their attention on a female teacher. This female teacher had bountiful orbs to say the least, but Henry wasn't focusing on that. Instead it was the fact three of the new teachers possessed greater than average amounts of mana.
Why did this matter? This is because so far from what Henry has seen, anyone who has more mana than average pretty much had an awakened bloodline ability. As for the one's Henry has yet to confirm like Catelyn, he couldn't say for sure. It wasn't like Henry could just walk up to Catelyn and ask her if she had a bloodline ability. That would be suicidal! Who knew what kind of bloodline ability she had or if she was even friendly. It was best not to ask anyone because they could easily deduce that Henry himself could detect others who have awakened. Henry didn't need to mention the huge amounts of both attention and danger that would attract. Last Henry checked bloodline awakeners were rare, so just what was attracting all these people?
[Mysterious Mirror Boy - Quest Progress: 30%]
"Folks seeing as that I've bore all of you enough, I will start speeding things along. First to corroborate our new teacher, the school has decided to add a few new positions to the student council. While it may seem unnecessary, the new teachers will bring new clubs and logistics. The student council will help alleviate some of the burden." The announcer went on.
"A new vice leader for the student council has been selected. It is a new student who has proven his talent for leadership and hard working nature, Keith Stoker. The two other students given this opportunity-" The announcer continued, but all his words fell onto deaf ears. A young man with blond hair who resembled Mr. Stoker stood up and introduced himself with a confident smile. It was the mysterious student without a reflection! Henry was a hundred percent sure, the mana signature matched and the amount was only slightly larger. The only reason Henry didn't notice him earlier was there was too much noise, or to be specific mana. It would be like looking for a someone in a packed concert, except you had no means of contacting them. Essentially, impossible unless through pure chance and luck.
[Mysterious Mirror Boy - Quest Progress: 60%]
Upon recognizing Keith as the reflection less student, Henry connected many puzzles in his mind. Firstly, Keith's father, Mr. Stoker happened to "donate" a ton of money to the school. Then Keith got the role vice leader of the student council, it was very unusual. This subtle corruption wasn't overlooked by Henry. He even wanted to know why Keith was even doing this in the first place. BAS notified him once again, but this time it was something new.
[Chain Quest unlocked, please complete current stage of Chain Quest, Mysterious Mirror Boy to advance to the next stage. The Earth Rumbles, Chain Quest Progress - Stage 1: Incomplete]
The sudden Chain Quest came out of no where. Henry for stunned for a good second before he recovered his wits. It wasn't that Henry didn't know what Chain Quests were, but it was just BAS never mentioned them. Asking about any of BAS's functions got him no answers, BAS seemed to prefer to keep them unknown.
"Many new clubs will be opened this week, so if you plan to sign up for either the Mixed Martial Arts, Pottery, or the Mythology club please hand your parents the club form. They will be located at the desk besides the front of the stage." The announcer gestured to his right of the stage where a teacher sitting at the desk waved towards the audience.
"Students who want to try out the different clubs in the afternoon can find their respective assistants and follow them. Keith will assist the MMA club-" That was all Henry needed to hear, nothing else mattered. He just needed find a way to confirm Keith had awakened a bloodline ability and whether the phenomena was the result of that. The Mixed Martial Arts club was the perfect way to find out. Henry planned to pry open any secret or mystery Keith held, both to fulfill the quest and satiate his curiosity.