Cain P.O.V

Cain’s morning was bad. He woke up late, only to find that he didn’t know where his class was going to be. It was a good thing that his dorm wasn’t far from the classroom. Even still, there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead as he sprinted up to the classroom’s door. The room only had one entrance. He stopped there and used his sleeve to wipe away the sweat. Then he took a short breath and entered.

The classroom was archaic. It had three rows of long desks with two aisles separating them. He was in the back of the classroom, and he stared at the many filled seats. There were about thirty seats in the room and nearly every single one was filled. Right by the front of the room, Clo sat by himself at a table meant for three. It was one of the smaller tables near the window against the opposite wall. He would’ve liked a window seat. The buildings for the classrooms had good views. This building was actually placed in the middle of a park, so the view was especially nice. Sadly, every window seat was taken. In fact, the only other empty seat in the room was beside the maid girl from the other day. Both Clo and the maid, Sarah was her name, had auras of unfriendliness.

He looked over both seats and sorely wished he had arrived a day later. Should he just sit on the ground? It might get him in trouble with the teacher, but he gave the idea more consideration than it deserved. Then he scuttled over to the seat by Sarah. He didn’t say anything right away and waited for the maid to see him. Thankfully, her senses were good, and she nodded at him once.

“Hello, healer Cain. You may take the seat if you wish, although there is more room available near the front.”

The maid stressed his position as a healer a lot, and some people whispered a little at the conversation. He ignored them, and let the sudden relief drag him toward the seat.

“No, I don’t, uh, think that’s a very safe idea.”

He gulped as he stared at Clo. He was the only one sitting alone. Everybody had either seen a recording of the fight or heard about it, and they were appropriately cautious. Sarah and Abigail who was sitting against the window glanced at him. Having just noticed Abigail for the first time, he rapidly greeted her.

“Oh, hey Abigail.”

He felt bad for not noticing her. It said something about how much of the room was dominated by Clo and Sarah, that he didn’t even notice the other kids much. Especially, when he did look around now and saw how attractive they were. It was usually the case with people who went to the academies since they were all so fit, but he still couldn’t believe how many people looked like models. Body modifications? It didn’t matter to him if it was. Beautiful was beautiful and handsome was handsome. People who cared about that kind of thing were dumb.

“Hey, Cain. You know, It's kind of funny that your healer with your name.”

Abigail said it without much consideration, and Cain only smiled awkwardly in response. What did she expect him to say? Yes, it is somewhat ironic that my name doesn’t match my class. Or maybe, yeah if only I was an assassin. He wasn’t forced to come up with something as the teacher walked into the room.

The students hadn’t cared much for his entrance, but the teacher had an air about him that drew the eye. Everyone, even Clo, who Cain hadn’t seen even flinch so far, turned toward the teacher. Cain stared too. The teacher wasn’t physically imposing and was actually shorter than Cain was. The way he dressed was interesting and outdated. He wore an old-fashioned black suit, like the kind people wore in spy movies. The man’s sandpaper skin stood out with the dark colors of the suit, and he smiled as he walked toward the front of the class.

Cain watched in silence and realized that everyone was quiet. The room had buzzed with whispered conversation before, but now it was chillingly silent. He tried to cough or clear his throat, but felt his mouth frozen shut. That realization turned to alarm, and his hands darted to his face. Maybe he could pry his lips open.

“You need not do that, Cain Wolfe. And I do apologize for the scare. I simply wanted to give you a small display of my ability.”

The teacher’s voice wasn’t deep. It had the robotic touch of old cybernetics, and Cain wondered why he didn’t fix it. The pressure vanished with the teacher’s words, so he hesitatingly asked the question.

“Your voice, what’s uh…”

He trailed off realizing too late that it was probably an inappropriate question. The teacher didn’t bat an eye and just kept smiling. He even nodded indicating that he heard the question.

“Good question, though most people tend to ask about how I manipulated the room first. I will answer nonetheless. My throat was injured by volcanic ash. I didn’t have the best tools at the time and settled for what I could find. This was the result, and nothing can be done to fix it without a lot of pain. Let’s just say I’m not fond of excruciating pain.”

The teacher chuckled, laughing at his own remark. None of the students did, and Cain’s lips did not open again. Perfect, his teacher’s humor was dark. The sarcastic thought was accompanied, by a question from another student.

“Um, can I ask the other question? That is, how did you manipulate the room?”

A girl with thin circular glasses spoke. Glasses were a fashion choice, and an odd one in his opinion. They could be used instead of an optical implant or contact, but it was rare to see. That being said, she was still pretty and had black hair cut into a short bob. The teacher turned to face her and spoke. As his words left his mouth, it drew everyone’s attention back to him.

“Well, Sabrina Ether, It is a manipulation of my aura. Aura gifts are common but are among the most versatile a person can find. Silencing a room and drawing attention to oneself are rather simple applications. At one point this year, I will teach you a method to acquire an aura gift. It will be common, but as I said it does not matter very much. My own is common.”

“You can give people gifts?”

A boy near the front spoke. Not Clo, but someone with short blond hair that was so spikey it belonged in a cartoon. His face was hidden, but his shoulders weren’t, and they were large. His voice was deep enough to match his muscles. Cain found himself staring for a moment, but again the teacher’s words drew his attention. For a moment, it seemed like the teacher was looking at him. A shiver ran down Cain’s spine as he realized that the teacher’s eyes were black. He couldn’t tell where the man’s pupils ended. It was creepy and not in a dangerous but sexy kind of way.

“Yes, it is possible. Arthur Pendragon.” The teacher paused as he said the name, before continuing smoothly. “Ok, Arthur Pendragon. Yes, I, or anyone with my level of understanding of a gift, could teach it to another. Some can just be given. You will get the most fundamental form of the gift, but you can upgrade it in the same way. Again, it is an offer. If you believe you will acquire an aura gift on your own, then feel free to reject the offer.”

The student, Arthur, shook his head adamantly.

“N-no. I just didn’t know if it was possible.”

The teacher didn’t stop smiling, though it seemed to become a bit more genuine at that reaction. Even his eyes softened, and he no longer seemed so imposing. His voice still drew any wandering eyes or thoughts like a light for a group of moths.

“Ok, I think that’s enough mystery and excitement. Sorry for frightening you, I just like to show off when meeting new kids. Let me introduce myself properly. I am Mister A, or Professor A if you prefer that. I would tell you my actual name, but it is sadly no longer my secret to tell. I would encourage you to look, but it would not be available to any of you.”

The teacher glanced toward him again. He groaned internally. Seriously, what had he done now? The answer was nothing as his next comment wasn’t directed at him.

“Sarah Kaminari, the libraries of your family won’t have anything either.”

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Abigail P.O.V

Abigail jumped a little as the teacher mentioned Sarah by name. She hadn’t really been paying attention to the class so far, but that surprised her. It was rare, extremely rare, for Sarah to make any kind of mistake. The teacher’s words surprised her too. What did he know about her family? And why wouldn’t her family have information on him? The teacher didn’t give Sarah the chance to reply and kept going.

“Now then, let's get into the actually important material. I will introduce you to the class, and the purpose behind a physical classroom. I’m sure many of you would’ve expected a fully digital class. The option was available, but you and nearly every student rejected the choice. I assume that was by recommendation of your parents or the academy itself. The gift-giving nature of the teachers is one of the primary reasons behind that. The other reason being all the practical lessons that we can give.”

A student raised their hand. The gesture was unexpected since nobody had done it so far. It seemed like the right thing to do with how the class seemed to become more traditional. The teacher turned toward them and nodded.

“If the teachers are so capable, why would they, or you, stay as a teacher?”

It was Clo who asked the question. Abigail frowned at the offensive question. How could a student be so rude to a teacher? Even if he was right, it was still unacceptable. Sure, it was a third-rate academy. Sure, the teachers here probably weren’t as good as her childhood tutors, but that didn’t matter.

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“By choice. Clo Vilnius, I have chosen to be a teacher because I like it. It’s a far better life than you can imagine. And before you, any of you decide to look down upon or ignore a teacher, know that any of us could move to the center world if we wished. I have personally been offered several positions on Athos. However, that work didn’t suit me.”

The teacher didn’t bat an eye at the insult and replied to it simply. Abigail noticed it now though. The teacher always used the student's name in his response. Then he came to the final part of his statement, and Abigail shot to her feet. She wasn’t alone as several students stood to gape at the teacher. One of the standing students laughed and spoke with incredulity.

“No way. You’re lying. No one would leave Athos!”

Abigail didn’t recognize the student who spoke, but he was dressed richly. Advanced devices littered his desk, arm, and face. He had obviously dyed red hair that was combed back and slick. It made him seem like a gangster. He gave words to the thoughts of everyone who had risen. Athos was practically a dream to anyone who of it. The world at the true center of the universe. To live there was to be a legend. Nobody would reject the offer. The world was meant for those at the apex of the universe. Those whose ranks bypassed worlds and were instead on the scale of a universe. There was no chance this teacher was one of those people.

“I did. It was bland and violent. And, Steven Orange, before you ask, here is your proof. “

Everyone sat down as blue letters appeared in the air above the teacher. The screen was familiar to them, as every student could just as easily see it at the edges of their vision. Not that anyone was looking at anything but the words above the teacher’s head.

Universal Rank: Hidden

“Happy?”

The teacher probably wasn’t trying to be cruel with his words, however, Steven’s face had lost its color. Even from here, she could see the boy tremble. The teacher shook his head slightly.

“I’m not angry. I get that question a lot. I do want you all to understand something though. While not every teacher will be like me, they deserve my respect and yours.”

He wasn’t done talking, but another student raised their hand. It was the Sabrina girl from earlier. The teacher stopped what he was going to say and nodded to her.

“Can we get back on track? You may be interesting Professor, but I don’t think this is relevant.”

Sabrina was not hostile, but she was clearly dissatisfied with how the class was going. Abigail expected the teacher’s patience to run out. So many students had been rude to him, and, with his rank, he was probably used to a lot more. However, the teacher looked chagrined as he responded.

“Sorry about that. Yes, let’s get back on track.”

Abigail sighed as the lecture went in a more normal direction. The teacher explained what the academy did. Why students should attend classes and the general functions of the teachers. Beyond that, he began to share some things about the class in general. He even had everyone share their name as she did in grade school. Only after that, did he do something that she felt couldn’t be done digitally.

“Now that we have gotten over the basics, let's move on to competition structure. On top of the random teams that will be created for your practice trials, there will be competitions with the other classes every month, and at the end of the year, the best students will be sent to compete with the other academies. As such, we are going to decide upon class leaders. I require two people, please stand if you want the role.”

Sabrina, Arthur, and Steven stood at the teacher’s request. Abigail was quite content in her seat, though she was surprised to see Clo remain seated. He was probably the most capable in the class after all. A sharp pain in her side made her stand up sharply, and she glared at Sarah and moved her hands back in place.

“I see we have four volunteers. I love an enthusiastic class. Let’s have the students introduce themselves before casting a vote. “

The teacher excitedly waved at the students to walk to the front of the room. The other three did quickly, but Abigail just glared at Sarah, who had the gall to give her an expectant look. Cain being awkward as he was, gave her an encouraging fist bump. She glared at him too but walked down anyways. Even if it was a drag, she couldn’t back down now. The teacher walked over to the first student and gestured for him to speak.

“I am Arthur Pendragon. My parents did not realize what they had done until it was too late. As for my abilities, I am a tank with a skill that toughens my body. In any team even, I am confident in my ability to withstand an attack and give you all the opportunity to display your skills.”

Abigail nodded at the words. They were good and would certainly earn her vote. It was perfect. Now the other two just need to be good too, then she could say some nonsense and return to her seat in comfort. Steven was next and his tone told her that he would fail.

“I’m Steven Orange. I’m sure you’ve heard of orange holdings, and I am an ice mage. I don’t think I need to say anything else for myself. “

He was very clearly talking down to everyone, and he had an over-inflated opinion of his family’s position. What the heck was Orange Holdings anyways? She had never heard the name before. She shook her head along with a good portion of the class. Sabrina was next though, and she seemed intelligent.

“Hello, I am Sabrina Ether. For simplicities sake, let’s say that I am a sniper. As for what would make me a good leader is my experience in organizing and maintaining a team. I was the captain of several sports teams in and out of school. Also, I promise to maintain contact with everyone and set up practice and study groups.”

Her ideas weren’t bad, but she didn’t know when to stop. Abigail watched as Sabrina turned from a well-intentioned leader into someone nobody would want to speak to. At least, if they actually cared about what she said. The girl could talk, and she did so for nearly five minutes until the teacher raised a hand to stop her. She was the only one that needed to be stopped. When the teacher gave Abigail her turn to speak, he seemed amused by the whole situation. The other students looked at her desperately. They clearly wanted someone normal.

“Hello, I’m Abigail Kaminari. My friend Sarah is really good at everything, and she will help me with this since she forced me to be here. Also, I will record lectures and put them on the forum for our class.”

Abigail smiled at the student’s relief. They practically slumped in their seats at the obvious attempt at humor. She meant what she said, but they probably saw it as a joke. Good for them, and her since that meant that the other two wouldn’t be the leader. She didn’t want the job, but she didn’t want Steven or Sabrina to have the job either. That was the worse option in her mind.

The vote went as expected.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Clo P.O.V

The vote went exactly as Clo expected it to. Arthur and Abigail got the vote, though he felt like it was one of those situations where people just chose the best of bad options. Every single one of them sounded annoying. Arthur was tolerable he guessed, but everyone else was just awful. Steven was an asshole, Sabrina was cancer given voice, and Abigail was a princess. None of them were exactly good choices.

He sighed and waited for the teacher to end the class. It had been alright, and he was just as excited as everyone to get the aura gift. Clo was not so disillusioned to think he had the time or ability to be picky with his gifts. The teacher looked around at everyone and spoke as the students returned to their seats.

“Well, wasn’t that just great? Now for the final thing of the day. I have sent you all a series of exercises to help you raise your stats to 2. It shows you what to do at any given rank from 0 to 2. Take a few seconds to explore it while I explain a few things. Stats, as everyone knows, dictate your grade. Going from one grade to the next usually involves drastic changes in a person’s abilities. Similarly, there are smaller improvements when going from one threshold to the next. That is to say when going from 1.9 to 2. Once you reach two in three different stats let me know and I will provide you with the next set of exercises.”

Clo scanned through the list of exercises on his tablet as the teacher spoke and frowned. These were different from what he had found online. Also, they felt too easy. Some of them were flat-out ridiculous. He didn’t want to stand out, but he raised his hand. He couldn’t leave a question unasked. The teacher nodded and smiled as he had done with every daring student thus far.

“Why are these different than the ones I found online?”

“The ones you find online are designed for people with an average value of 1. It is not crafted for people between ranks. Nor is it appropriate or safe to over-exercise without a plan in mind. And I included several things for your mental stats as well, which I bet were harder to come across online.”

Satisfied by the teacher’s answer, Clo nodded slowly. He wondered if he could sell copies of the instructions online. It was worth looking into at the very least. Another student asked a question, and he could recognize the voice already.

“Wait, this says to watch horror movies to raise fortitude. Does that really work?”

Abigail’s voice was filled with suspicion. Did she think the teacher would lie? Why would he bother with that? Clo was surprised to see how many students shared her suspicion, and he shook his head slowly. Are they stupid? Anyone with the teacher’s kind of power would be able to do and say anything they want. He had absolutely no reason to lie or obfuscate anything. Clo didn’t trust people easily, but he understood what power meant, and in the case, it mean truth. The teacher would gain nothing by annoying some kids. So, it made sense to take his words at face value. That being said, Clo planned on training as much as possible.

“Yes, they will. As It lists though, that is only until 0.9. I would recommend you try it before thinking it is ridiculous. Many of you doubt these exercises, but I suggest you try them first. It will only take a day or two to start seeing results if your rank is that low.”

The words were somewhat cutting, and Abigail’s face colored with a little embarrassment. Clo watched her table for a second. Not because of her, but because of the girl sitting next to her. He thought he had a good sense for people and judged the maid girl highly. She was probably more capable than Abigail had insinuated with her words earlier. Was there a way to get her to work for him? His attention went back to the teacher as he dismissed the class.

“That’s all I have planned for today. These classes will usually be two hours long unless we have a practical lesson planned. Which will happen twice a week, on Tuesday and Thursday. You get the weekend off like normal too. If you want to find me for some personal or group training, contact me or sign up on my open schedule. It will be available on the class forum. Have fun, I will remain here for the next few minutes if you have any final questions.”

With those final words, the class dispersed. Several people left in pre-formed groups of two or three. Clo was about to do the same but saw a notification on his tablet. He hesitantly opened it.

Hello Clo,

This is your teacher. I have here several books and notes to get you caught up with the rest of the class on the normal subjects. They should be a little better than what you can find online. Also, I included many open secrets and general information on the trials and the game-like system it uses.

Read through them when you get the chance and ask me any questions if you have them. I am sorry if you struggled to keep up with the class, but this should help considerably.

From,

The best teacher, Mr. A

Clo looked at the message and glanced at the teacher who was happily chatting with some students. He nodded once in thanks and felt like the man saw him. Clo had a lot to study and practice now. This teacher seemed useful too. Was there any way to make him a subordinate? No, he didn’t think that was very likely. He packed up his stuff quickly, by sliding the tablet into a small carrying bag. He looped it over his shoulder, and it hung on his back gently. He looked around the room one final time before leaving. It was time to begin training.