The students all gaped in shock and confusion, the revelation causing numerous explosive remarks to fly across the hall.

Most of the young academy apprentices were dominated by a feeling of dread, particularly those who were directly involved in the mysterious journey.

Professor Windsor looked around the academy hall illuminated by pale golden light, his eyes calm and composed, as if having expected such a response from his students.

He took in the image of their confused faces, their eyes fixed intently on him as if pleading with him to offer an explanation to soothe the fears encroaching on their hearts.

The taciturn professor shook his head helplessly, feeling that his students were young and still quite inexperienced. He didn't seem to understand why they were so freaked out about a situation of mere distance disruption, as he felt that there were just too many inexplicable phenomena existing in the world to be so amazed over something so minor.

He took one last glance at their questioning gazes, sighing deeply and coming up with a naughty idea.

He coughed slightly, before waving his hands in dismission, as if the issue wasn't as serious as they were making it out to be.

"Ehem... Anyway, it's not time for me to touch on that specifically. What I want to explain is the nature and origin of Oddities in general. I will speak on the distance disruption of the Naric Sea travel route a little later."

All of the students gasped in unison, their mouths almost falling off their faces.

Even Elias, who was usually the most composed student in his class year couldn't stop his face from twitching, as he felt his emotions raging with instant annoyance.

If this d*mn professor wasn't going to explain it to them outright, then why did he make mention of it in the first place!?

The students suddenly felt like hungry fishes seeing a yummy-looking worm floating silently in the waters, only for it to turn out to be an artificial bait made by fishermen to lure them in. It was unacceptable!

Faced with the menacing stares and eyes burning with rage, Professor Windsor acted totally oblivious, humming a silent tune to himself as he walked back to his desk on the podium.

Elias almost spat out blood at his very moment, feeling like his teacher was acting quite shameless and unlike his usual self.

All of his classmates didn't even know how to react, as they all kept staring at their professors back with incredulous expressions.

The man was usually known to be quite cold and very straightforward, since when did he learn how to bait and make jokes?

After rummaging through the pile of books on his desk, Windsor seemed to have found what he was looking for, as he then walked back to the front of the podium amidst the silent stares of his students.

He still acted oblivious to the current atmosphere, but couldn't quite stop a hint of mild amusement from appearing on his otherwise cold face.

Elias felt his blood boil at the sight of the subtle smirk on the man's face, feeling that he would have moved to give him a good beating if he wasn't their professor.

The man read through the book in his hands at a leisurely pace, before snapping it shut and posing a question to his class.

"Now for the matter at hand... Do any of you know what 'Oddities' are?"

The abrupt question seemed to pull the students back into concentration, as most of them instantly dove into thought.

A lot of them hadn't even heard the word prior to that moment, causing them to wonder what the potential meaning of such a peculiar word could be.

Even Elias suddenly felt lost, as his personal study sessions had yet to broach the seemingly concealed topic.

After a bout of silence, a hand slowly rose from the crowd of students, causing everyone, Professor Windsor included, to seem quite surprised.

He didn't expect any of his students to have had past experiences dealing with the term, but after noticing the identity of the person in question, that surprise slowly ebbed away.

The figure rose with grace akin to a blooming lake flower, her bright yellow hair shimmering like gold in the glow of the bright morning sun.

Her eyes held the subtle essence of life, her very presence in the hall radiating the subtle blessings that came with being in tune with nature.

She seemed quite timid and shy, flinching under the gazes directed at her as she tried her best to conceal her characteristic pointy ears behind her curly hair.

She was one of the highest-ranking students in the academy's written exams—as well as the second princess of the elven royal family—Princess Auriel Celynn.

Professor Windsor gazed at her with a calm expression, giving her the floor to speak.

The young lady took a deep breath to fight back her anxiety, before finding the courage to speak. "Good morning, professor. I shall now attempt to answer your question. The term Oddities seems to refer to a general term used to categorize entities or objects that are capable of displaying supernatural abilities, and was first imposed by our academy's founder during the earlier stages of the Old Testament Calendar.

"Oddities are anything that has observably unique characteristics, causing them to deviate away from preestablished physical laws while granting them the ability to interact with the world on a much deeper level than they should normally be capable of doing."

She then paused, apparently being embarrassed by something.

"I do not know exactly how they are capable of doing so but if I were to guess... I would say that they have some type of connection to the ether around them, causing them to exhibit numerous types of supernatural characteristics."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She respectfully bowed to her imposing professor on the podium, feeling like her explanation was quite insufficient. "That is all I know professor, as I wasn't allowed to be privy to the exact details even with my standing as the second princess."

Professor Windsor calmly nodded, permitting her to take her seat.

It was already quite a feat for her to have a general idea of the nature surrounding these paranormal entities, as general information about Oddities was usually restricted to anyone who wasn't a holder of a divine blessing.

This meant that she had pieced together her explanation purely based on deduction and observational analysis, which was no small feat, to say the least.

Professor Windsor felt like the girl was quite intelligent, and was only held back purely due to her timid personality.

He gave the elven princess a nod of admiration, before suddenly directing a disappointed gaze to Elias.

Noticing the gaze directed at him, Elias slowly twitched, not knowing what to say.

The meaning behind the gaze was clear; how come this timid young lady—who didn't have the resources of the academy's archive at her disposal and was ranked below the top 10 in the class—could come up with an answer yet you, of all people, could not?

This meaning was glaringly obvious, causing Aamiya beside him to hardly suppress a chuckle.

Damien gazed at his friend with sympathy, causing Elias to feel quite helpless and indignant.

He tried his best to maintain his calm and collected facade but was inwardly calling on the Benevolent Mother to cause fungus to grow all over his professor's head.

Elias and Professor Windsor had gotten quite close over the past week, causing both of them to feel much more comfortable around each other.

Elias never shied away from asking questions related to anything he found confusing, an attribute that made the seemingly cold and indifferent professor seem much more approachable around him.

It was quite obvious that Professor Windsor approved of his academic spirit, making both of them slowly form a deeper relationship that went beyond their starting point as teachers and students.

Elias quickly noticed that the professor had a soft and gentle side to him, and would sometimes say and do things that would make Elias doubt if he was the same person.

The current situation, as well as the earlier joke, were two perfect examples of such a scenario, prompting Elias to sigh in resignation while inwardly glaring at his teacher.

Professor Windsor noticed the ripples in Elias's composure, an observation that caused him to smile in satisfaction before diving back into his lecture.

Elias could barely control himself at the sight of his pleased smirk. The man was clearly enjoying himself on his behalf!

Lars was laughing hysterically in his head as well, a reaction which did little to calm his already flaring nerves.

Professor Windsor went back to teaching his class, leaving Elias to inwardly fume in silence.

"That was a good explanation, Miss Auriel, an explanation which did well to capture the foundational meaning behind the unconventional term. Well done."

The sudden praise from her usually cold professor caused Auriel's face to flush slightly, making her lower her head while murmuring a thank you in a low voice.

Professor Windsor simply nodded slightly, before turning back to the rest of the class. "Now as the young lady just said, Oddities have their foundation laid entirely in ether. They are nothing without ether, the same way we Disciples and Apostles lose our supernatural qualities and are nothing without it as well. But unlike us, who have a more balanced and tempered relationship with our etheric nature—which is mainly due to our possession of divine blood—these unconventional entities are created due to the oversaturation of this paranormic energy source."

He slowed down, giving his students the chance to properly digest the information.

"The ether within them totally ravages their material bodies, giving them abilities that break away from conventional physics and the natural laws of life, while also causing them to go berserk. You could say that if we divine followers of faith are the good side of the etheric nature, then Oddities represent the negatives, negatives which are more disastrous than they are good."

While all of the other students were absorbed in the explanation, Elias suddenly raised his hands, causing all the attention to be drawn to him.

Professor Windsor calmly permitted him to speak, his eyes looking at him with approval and pride.

Elias almost flinched under the professor's gaze, as the man looked like a father who had now found pride in his previously useless prodigal son.

He looked at his professor with a calm smile, not allowing him to notice the undercurrents in his emotions.

"My question is simply this; What makes these 'Oddities' vastly different from the mutated beasts previously taught to us in our previous course lectures? From what I can see, both the mutated beasts and Oddities both attain biological changes from overabsorption of ether.

"Is the difference simply in one having a more simple change in their inner biology while the other doesn't? or is there a deeper meaning to it? This also ties into another question I have, which is why they have to be differentiated and can't be covered under the same umbrella term."

Elias's flurry of questions instantly caused his classmates to narrow their eyes, as they all hadn't thought about these important questions.

Professor Windsor offered Elias a calm smile, before gesturing for him to take his seat.

"These are two very important questions, Mister Nor. I'm impressed."

Not giving Elias any chance to issue a response, the man instantly dove into his explanation.

"Now for the first question, you have basically answered half of it yourself. Oddities are vastly different from mutated beasts, in the sense that their biological changes are less simplistic than the latter. Mutants experience changes to their physical characteristics, whereas Oddities experience both physical and supernatural changes.

"A mutant might experience a change whereby they gain an extra set of arms, whereas an Oddities change would also stretch to them being able to manipulate the laws of nature. They might be able to shoot out crimson flames, change the qualities of water and even go as far as to turn back time. And yes, I didn't stutter, some Oddities are actually capable of manipulating time itself."

Exclamations instantly broke out throughout the hall, as the ability to manipulate a concept as stretched as time was something the students never thought could be possible for anyone apart from the gods.

Elias himself narrowed his eyes, as he didn't think artificially created entities could be capable of such a feat.

Professor Windsor took some effort to call the class to order, before resuming his lecture indifferently.

"Now as for if there is a deeper meaning to it, I would say that yes, there is. Mutated beasts are limited to biological beings, that is things that have life and are conscious and intelligent. But for Oddities, that restriction does not matter. The etheric change becomes so foundational that it is even capable of granting these changes to objects and entities without life. Anything can become an Oddity, so long as it has been oversaturated and exposed to ether long enough."

This answer once again caused Elias to fall into contemplation, as it went beyond the realm of his imagination.

What made the nature of living beings appear special in the world was the ability to be conscious, because with consciousness, it helped them to uncover and balance the line between the etheric and divine nature present within them.

This further helped them to grasp their apostolic identities, allowing them to achieve an equilibrium that also prevented them and their abilities from going berserk.

So with objects that don't have a naturally existing individual consciousness, Elias could only shudder while imagining what type of entity would be created in an object created solely based on the raging and unpredictable nature of ether.

Especially also since they don't have anything to act as a balancing catalyst, similar to the role of the divine blood of the gods in Disciples and Apostles.

Professor Windsor seemed to notice the grave expression on his student's faces, causing his voice to soften slightly.

"It seems like all of you have already grasped the implications present in my explanation. Ether is dangerous, so dangerous that even a balanced system with divine blood isn't enough to quell its disastrously raging qualities. Then can you imagine what would happen to beings and objects who aren't blessed with divine nature, but slowly become oversaturated and eroded by the pure nature of ether itself?

"When you come to think of it, the answer is quite simple and obvious."

The man paused, his voice turning chilling and grave,

"The answer is chaos.

“It's pure and utter chaos."