132 - A new day

*

"... Of course it's normal. Humans aren't designed to take this amount of stress. That's what Onee-chan are for, helping their little sister out." (Cress)

"Hahah, then... Aren't my circumstances inhumane? Rather it's very ruthless and cruel. I don't think...there's enough humans for this to happen to everyone.

For every person, there are many cultist and enemies to attack them, if that was the case, the citizens would be outnumbered and conquered. By that paradigm, there simply isn't enough existing people for this to be feasible. Meaning this situation was an anomaly, possibly exclusive to myself. Dragging Onee-chan in...would be unforgivable... "

"... It's useless to blame anyone here. Just be happy and do your best to live a normal life! I'll be here with you. "(Cress)

" Y.. You promise.. ? "

" Yeah, forever. "(Cress)

For the first time, she flashed a smile as brilliant as ever, eclipsing even the hospital lights. As if drawn to an unnatural source, my eyesight could not be ripped away from her beauty for a short moment. This... Would be a silly goal. But regardless, it was still a goal. A purpose. As whimsical, foolish, idiotic, and spur of the moment as it is, to protect that smile, still seemed like a true objective to work towards. This time I was protected by her, my will had crumbled into numerous pieces. But even if I was the one to defeat Kuraver, I'll always understand deep inside that I was the one saved.

***(next day)

Walking through the main gate, there was a noticeably large gap in the main walking path. Having honed their skills, roughly 60% of students could sense a non-hiding presence from behind, just walking in a radius of 20 metres was able to make them give way. It was a rather strange experience, with this anyone would notice that they were being avoided. With closed eyes and straight lines to represent the eyes and mouth on my face, an imaginary sweat drips down my temple.

Going through the magic automated doors, I proceeded to head towards my classroom. The smooth marble tiling could even be felt under my shoes as a couple of students slid and fell on their first day here. Firmly planting my feet in a stable manner, I reached the far end of the building where the stairs were located to climb up. Pressing each foot strongly on each step, and making sure the stairs don't collapse from my strength, I finally persevered to the classroom entrance.

Opening the door, I was met with a cold air-conditioned breeze and some rather icy stares.

"..."

Ignoring the blatant pressuring, I walked my way to my seat, before collapsing down into a resting position.

"Uwaa~ I'm tired~" I whisper to no one in particular.

"Huh? You... Could defeat sensei... And you became tired from walking?" (?)

"Hmm~? I mean it's exhausting mentally when everyone avoids you for some reason... I didn't want to stand out at all~~"

"huh- I see. So there IS pressure from getting too much attention. " (?)

" Of course there is! Who do you think I am? The charismatic Onee-chan?"

"So you Are~ siblings." (?)

"I've been wondering for a while now, but who are you?" Slightly lifting my eyelids, my hazy perception clogged my mind as I tried to make sense of my surroundings. A familiar old man enters my field of view, his features vaguely resembling a certain someone...

"UWAAAH! AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "

"Relax! Relax! As a teacher, of course I would have a revival item! Though the penalty was to lose 50 levels! So all the skills I gained back yesterday are all gone! You can properly relax now! You look like you've just seen a ghost! " (... Kuraver-sensei)

"THAT'S BECAUSE I DID! Anyway! If you were here you should have started the lesson! "

"Well, you were laying your head on the table, I was getting you back for brutally murdering me yesterday." (Kuraver)

"That's rather petty..."

"Hahah! You don't come across the experience of being killed everyday!" (Kuraver)

"... Wouldn't that make Lilith a criminal?" (Raiku)

"Wouldn't that make us criminals for giving emergency aid?..." (Piure)

"That's all taken care off by the certificate Cress showed yesterday. While Lilith was sleeping off her amputated and newly regrow arms, I discussed the legality issues and apparently the incident will just be forgotten. So everyone, I would like to start off with an assignment. Forget that incident ever existed, or you will quite literally become a criminal due to the Queen's decree. "(Kuraver)

" The Queen's decree... "(Hisa)

" Your class is Element noble, as a noble of sorts you should know what that is, right? "(Kuraver)

" Isn't that common sense... "(Astriv)

" Easy for you to say... Heir of sword family, isevail... "(Natalie)

"You're a noble as well! What gave you the right to refute that statement..." (Astriv)

Unlike yesterday's interupted lessons, class could flow as usual. A single day of setback was surprisingly easy to catch up on, due to the sparse nature of information in the curriculum. There were less theory exams than there were practical exams. Strange as it is to train 10-12 year olds, the students make it on to better statuses in their careers as high ranked adventurers, bodyguards, or military personnel with what they had learnt.

Class 3 was a rather rare case with multiple well-known noble heirs and an incident on the first day. As much as they tried to cover it up, children will be children and spread rumours. As they were rumours forged by children, not much attention was paid onto the incident, and fortunately, the media didn't lay their eyes on it.

A rebuttal that solidly refutes the validity of the rumours, was the fact that Kuraver-sensei was still alive and kicking. His presence had changed a little... Not in a way that anyone would expect. Unlike his usual gloomy and strict self, he had apparently changed into a more cheerful stature, though he remains tough on the standards of our learning.

Our lessons were the same as the ones we took the day before, though they were rotated around so the order wouldn't be the same. Mondays and Friday would have the same schedule since there were only 4 subjects. Magic handling, physical combat, field handling and finally, basic literacy. Our literacy in particular, included simple calculations that would slowly transition into something more complex in the second and third year.

As the schedule was rotated, today we started with physical combat training, first thing in the morning. Uninformed, the students could not ascertain if the grading followed the usual format of testing ability, all at once, or that we would slowly be evaluated with every passing lesson. If it was the latter, what would be the specific rubrics that give us the passing conditions? Questions would only continue to pile up as some students stared at their peers around them.

'I'm surrounded by monsters. How do I compete?' was not an uncommon question. Considering that they witness the scope of each other's abilities yesterday, this was in fact the normal response. A level 500 defeating a level 700 is simply not something a sane person can immediately accept.