Before Lionel knew it, his official first day of school finally arrived. He woke up early at six, left his room in ten minutes and followed everyone downstairs to eat breakfast. It seems a few students have noticed and acknowledged his presence, but most of them ignored him.

Naturally, they questioned his presence in the dining area. Lionel answered to the best of his abilities, but answered carefully. He still doesn’t understand Kaius’s behavior from yesterday, but heeded to his advice of keeping to himself. Now, Lionel seems to slowly understand what Kaius meant by obsessed.

What would you normally do when you meet someone for the first time?

It could be one of these choices.

a.) Greet them and ask for their name or introduce yourself first.

b.) Greet them and ask them how they are doing.

c.) Asking them to share something about themselves.

d.) Initiate some small talk.

And there are more options, however…

These new schoolmates of his immediately jumped on him.

“What’s your grade in your previous school?”

“Any awards?”

“What’s your average score?”

“What’s your score for the entrance exam?”

“How much mana do you have?”

“What’s the most powerful spell you know?”

“Do you make potions? What kind do you brew?”

What was with all these questions? For a first meeting, they were pretty forward and aggressive, especially when it came to Lionel’s education and magic. Lionel was slowly starting to understand Kaius’s words now. He’s starting to get how interested or rather, competitive, these people are towards him despite being new. It prickles his skin in a way he doesn’t like, including the strange fluttery feeling in his stomach.

Lionel wasn’t one to judge, nor was he one to assume how other people feel, perceive or such, but he can tell these people were odd in a not so good way.

Lionel decided not to answer explicitly, but answered as humbly, politely and vaguely as he could. Everything snapped into place when one of them rolled their eyes and another clicked their tongue.

Yeah, these people are weird…Lionel can’t help but think as they all disperse and leave him to have his breakfast.

Finally, thank you for the peace and quiet.

After a few more minutes, breakfast was over and they all headed to class.

As they walk through the courtyard, from the corner of Lionel’s eyes, he glimpses a procession of figures, their heads draped in white cloth. They move with a deliberate calm, their steps serene and almost soporific.

They must be the Adineas’ followers…

Lionel hadn’t realized he stopped walking in favor of observing the Goddess’s followers, and so he hastened his steps to catch up with the rest of the students.

Lionel felt like he couldn’t get along with any of them, so he simply trailed from behind and followed them to the hall of classrooms like a haunting ghost. He might as well be wearing the veils of the Adineas Followers. With his schedule in hand, he moved forward with certainty, aware of the location of his classroom. He locates Room 106 easily.

Once he reaches the classroom, Lionel waits at the back of the room until every student is seated so he could find his own seat. He finds a few free seats in the room, some must be absent, he concludes. In the end, he randomly chose a random free seat at the back.

A few minutes later, a teacher finally arrived.

A woman in her fifties with short brown hair. She spots Lionel and smiles softly at him.

“You must be the new student. Good morning, My name is Lilia Dewitt. You may call me Mrs. Dewitt.”

“It’s nice to meet you Mrs. Dewitt, my name is Lionel Wesholm.”

After the brief introduction, the teacher immediately headed to her spot, behind the teacher’s table. She cleared her throat and pulled out three pieces of paper from the desk drawer. She places them side by side on the table.

“Before we start class, I have finished checking the test results between Jonathan Astor and Jane Addawick.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Eh? Test results just between two students? Lionel wanted to ask his deskmates, but the classroom rules come to mind, which ultimately makes him quiet. Everybody else was quiet too when Lionel glanced to see how others reacted.

He gulped down his saliva when he saw the blank faces on each of his classmates’ faces.

Mrs. Dewitt continues and calls the two students, “The two of you, please come to the front and face your classmates.”

Two students from the third row from both sides of the class stood up.

Jonathan Astor from the right, a pretty tall guy with a fit build. He has brown, messy, curly quiff hair and olive-colored eyes. Jane Addawick from the left is tall, but not as tall as Jonathan. She has very short, dark hair that it wouldn’t be a surprise if someone mistakens her as a man from afar.

The two walked down the steps and did as the teacher told.

And they were now facing every single student in the classroom as if they were on stage.

Mrs. Dewitt cleared her throat and lifted the paper in the middle of the table. She reads, “The test was conducted on the fifteenth of this month at five o’clock in the afternoon in this very classroom. The main subject is Arithmetics with a time limit of exactly one hour. Jonathan Astor is a B-Class student while Jane Addawick is an A-Class student. As requested and agreed by the two in front, their results will be publicly announced.”

The next second, the teacher flipped their test papers over. The names and scores of the paper fly out of the paper and glow bright violet in the air in large letters and symbols.

[Jonathan Astor - 92/100]

[Jane Addawick - 84/100]

“...”

The entire classroom remained silent, expressions unchanging. However, the pair in front held different emotions. Jonathan Astor started to laugh and Jane looked like her whole world had fallen apart. She was clearly shaking, breathing heavily as her fists trembled.

“I win!” Jonathan raises his fists high and proud.

“Jonathan Astor, congratulations.” Ms. Dewitt said, “Your points have been accumulated into your overall grade. Winning against an A-Class student adds bonus points. As a result, you have become an A-Class student whilst Jane Addawick becomes a B-Class student. As the winner, you will be rewarded and Jane Addawick will be punished.”

Was Lionel hearing this right? Reward and Punishment?

Why does this sound so…familiar? Lionel is too focused on the scene in front of him to think of anything else.

This is the first he’s ever encountered such a concept like this in tests. He also felt quite uneasy with Jane’s state and Jonathan was too ecstatic that it made his stomach twist. He feels bad for Jane and doesn’t like the way Jonathan reacts to his win. It was too much that Lionel could also feel the humiliation.

The teacher turns to Jane and reveals her punishment first, “For your punishment, you will enter the Dungeon of War for twelve hours the next day.”

“N-No…please…” Jane helplessly whispers.

Dungeon of War? Lionel was itching to ask his deskmates.

The teacher turns to Jonathan, revealing his reward, “Once again, congratulations. You have been promoted to an A-Class student. You have the right to ask anything of the loser within twenty-four hours. If you do not officially submit your request to the faculty, your reward will become invalid.”

There was a blank sheet of paper that the teacher prepared, placing it on the desk.

“I’ll submit it now.”

Jonathan walks over to the table while spinning the pencil he pulled out of his pocket playfully. He quickly writes something down on the given paper while snickering.

He smirks at Jane as he holds the request.

“You’ve been on my nerves since the first day of school.” He steps closer to Jane, then leans forward. She didn’t like how close he was, intimidating her by stepping into her space. Jane had to hold back from breaking down right then and there as he revealed his request,

“Don’t lock your door tonight.”

“...”

“And submit.” Jonathan handed the paper to Mrs. Dewitt, gaze never leaving Jane’s frantic look. He bumps into her shoulder before happily going back to his seat. The moment Jonathan stepped on the stairs, he completely changed expressions. His joy turns to sobriety. It was like he suddenly came down from a high and sobered up. It was like he never even won at all.

Is everyone here bipolar? Lionel couldn’t help but think.

Jane is left standing in front of the class in disbelief.

Mrs. Dewitt says, “Your request has been received. Jane Addawick, if you do not comply with this request, then the Academy will have no choice but to force you to do so. For an assurance measure of Jonathan Astor’s request, the school will confiscate your room key.”

Mrs. Dewitt extends her palm to Jane.

“...I-I understand Mrs. Dewitt…” Jane slowly reaches into her skirt pocket, retrieving the silver key and dropping it on Mrs. Dewitt’s palm.

“Speak properly, Ms. Addawick. You are a student of Wisiria Academy.” Mrs. Dewitt scolded firmly, “I will not tolerate such a speech delivery.”

“I understand Mrs. Dewitt.” With that said, Jane made her way back towards her seat. She looked lifeless, like all the soul left in her body was drained out like water. Lionel feared that she would trip or fall when she got to the stairs. She honestly looked like she had no hope left in her world anymore.

What is going on with this school?

Reward and Punishment?

“With that settled, we can now move on to our next agenda. As of today and moving forward, we are joined by a new friend. Mr. Lionel Wesholm, please come to the front and do a brief introduction. After that, we can start with class.”

Suddenly, everyone’s sights were on him. He felt a shiver run down his spine and it was no surprise that he felt anxious and jittery at everyone’s stares. It was like they were piercing through his body, scrutinizing every single detail about him. Lionel suddenly remembers Kaius’ words.

“You made a mistake.”

“Just mind your business for now.”

“Just listen to me if you want to survive.”

Lionel doesn’t even know much yet, or even have a basic grasp of what really is going on in this school. But his intuition tells him it was bad. No, it’s worse than bad most likely. There was something strange going on, some sinister feeling that coiled around his throat.

He had to listen to Kaius.

Not wanting to cause anything by asking, he decided to follow the teacher’s instructions and made his way to the front of the class. Sweat dropped from the side of his face despite the room being anything but heated.

I have to observe first. He mentally tells himself.

Once he made it to the front, he forced himself to smile at his classmates.

With an overly cheerful tone, he introduced himself.

“Good morning everyone. My name is Lionel Wesholm, it’s a pleasure to meet you all.”