Isabelle trudged into the classroom and looked around. So, this could be what it felt like if I attended a class here.

Isabelle walked over to the desk and sat behind the counter. This might be the only time she felt this kind of power, and it’s in a classroom, of all places. She wasn’t sure whether or not this was sad. Isabelle looked down. The faint glow appeared in her vision again, only this time, it came from the drawers.

She reached over and pulled them open. Inside, she found a supply of crystal spheres and a picture frame. Isabelle picked up the picture and studied the person inside but didn’t recognize him at all.

The figure appeared to be an older man with grey hair, a mustache, and a clear circular bowl on his head. A door opened behind her, causing the girl to jolt and nearly drop the picture. She snapped around, only to find another older woman approach her.

“Oh, you frightened me,” Isabelle told her.

“Apologies, ma’am.” The lady adjusted her glasses and replied coolly. “I didn’t know there was going to be someone else in here.”

“Ah, sorry about that. I was just...”

“Exploring the new school grounds? It’s understandable. I’m not mad at you.”

“You’re not?”

“Of course not. It’s fine if you want to look around the new school. Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. My name is Glenda.”

“I’m Isabelle. Are you a teacher here?”

“Why yes, I am,” Glenda replied. “You must be the new student.” She noticed the picture in Isabelle’s hands and asked if she could have it back. Once Isabelle complied, Glenda stared down at the image with a frown. She held it close to her chest and sighed, on the brink of tears.

“Um, are you ok?” Isabelle asked.

“Yes, I’m fine.” Glenda walked back to the desk to put the picture away. She closed the drawers and stared at her hand on the handle. After another heavy sigh, she turned back to look at Isabelle with a small smile. “So, how do you like the new school so far?”

Isabelle looked at the floor and scratched her head. “Uh, well, it’s too soon to tell.”

“I understand,” Glenda said. Her fingertip glowed as she twirled it around. Soon, a pamphlet appeared out of thin air. “I was about to hand out these to students, let them know their goals. You can learn how things work around here.”

“That sounds great.” Isabelle chirped.

She took a seat from across the room as Glenda fused a crystal sphere with one of the new orbs and placed it on top of her desk. The device transformed into a fancier model. The visuals it displayed appeared like a holographic presentation.

“Are you ready?” Glenda asked before starting. “You’ll need to pay attention. This is very important.”

“Well, I don’t know much, but ‌I’m still eager to learn.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Glenda said. With a snap of her fingers, the presentation began.

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

It displayed a holographic depiction of their world. It zoomed in on one of their old schools before it got demolished. Figures of different people came together, fighting one another to reach the shiny object in the air before the other team did.

Glenda cleared her throat as she began her speech. “Every school semester, our line of students participate in a series of events. The main event, though, is something like capturing the flag. Only instead of capturing the flag, the goal is to capture an entire planet.”

The presentation continued as it showed a few figures looking over some maps that contained a bunch of different planets in the universe.

“People complete tasks alone or with their teammates,” Glenda continued. “They also try to find and capture a planet from all over the world. Mainly to take control of them, while also trying to prevent other teams from taking over themselves and stealing their pickings.”

Isabelle followed the presentation so far, but parts of it still left some questions in her head. She raised her hand to get the teacher’s attention.

“I have a question. What if there are inhabitants on those planets?”

“Excellent question. I’m glad you asked.”

The presentation showed two separate spheres. One showed smaller characters and a more prominent figure looming over them as the rest knelt down and bowed. The other one showed the planet in flames as the less significant ones knocked over a statue of the towering figure. Afterwards, they marched over to attack the bigger figure with their back turned.

“As you can see, you had two choices on the matter. You can either protect the inhabitants like saviors, but it’d be more time-consuming and stressful. Or ‌you could take over the entire planet and capture the civilians there as well, but the residents might oppress you and make your life miserable.”

Strange, Isabelle should feel excited about all of this, but something didn’t seem right. Something about it just didn’t resonate with her, but she couldn’t quite picture the specifics. It should’ve been an easy decision for her. She’d pick the former in a heartbeat. That didn’t sound as fun as she imagined, however.

However, her partner wanted to do the latter. Did Benjamin know of the consequences beforehand? He didn’t seem like the type that’d want a life like either of these options. But what else was there for these students? How had this tradition kept going for as long as it did? If it had been going on for a long time, how come they only got attacked once? It wouldn’t be fair for the planet’s inhabitants, regardless of what option she and the other students did. But–

“Is something the matter?” Glenda asked, snapping the girl out of her train of thought. “You’ve been staring off into space for a while now...”

“Oh, yeah, um...” Isabelle tapped on the desk and bit her lip.

So many questions went on in her head that she wanted to ask about. She couldn’t describe some of them well.

Should she speak up? What would happen if she spoke out of line? Should she just go along with it? Isabelle inhaled and exhaled before replying.

“Doesn’t this seem morbid?”

Glenda paused, letting what she said sink in. “Well, when you put it like that, it does sound pretty morbid.” She replied, rubbing the back of her head. “But you don’t need to worry. Nobody gets hurt or killed by any circumstances. It’s all in good fun here.”

“Everyone seems to take this whole ‘tradition’ thing seriously, Gig— I mean the principal, especially.”

“Well, the principal wants students to do well at magic and teamwork. Like I said, it’s all in good fun, almost like a game you play when you’re younger.”

What games do these guys play when they’re younger? Isabelle thought, scratching her head. Are the residents from other planets okay with that, too? Do they even know what’s going on?

“If it’s too much for you to handle at once, you can have this.” Glenda picked up a book from her shelves and handed it to Isabelle. She explained that it contained information she just mentioned, and more.

“Thanks so much, Glenda.”

“No problem. Continue exploring the rest of the place to your heart’s content.”

“I will, and I’ll check out the book later tonight, too.” Isabelle’s eyes widened as she glanced at the clock.

“Oh shoot, the tour! I almost forgot! I gotta get going!” She jumped off her seat, grabbed the book, and left the room.