Beastry I

I quickly found a seat to sit. The class was the same one as before with Teacher Kendro. It was wide and had enough seats for more than a hundred students.

"Hey, I got this seat first!"

"I didn't see anyone here when I sat down!"

"Do you think I care? Get up from my seat or else I'll teach you a lesson!"

"I'd like to see you try."

Two boys were fighting 4 seats away from me horizontally for a seat, although there were many other seats.

I inspected the area and saw that Elise sat in the 3rd seat before the ones they were arguing for.

I wanted to get up then go over there to sit but my legs didn't listen to me. It was constantly telling me that there is a high chance of me getting my ass kicked now that The Leech isn't in its normal state and every other one of my skills are just for killing, not incapacitating.

I stood up and switched seats with Elise, at least that would be better than getting into a fight I wasn't sure I would win.

"Tsk, you can have the stinking seat."

"I also don't want it anymore."

'Useless fellows. Just wait until I kick your asses. You'll cry for your mommy.' I cursed in my head as they left.

Ben was sitting on the left side of Elise and Arleore at the right. While Bruce is sitting at my left and the walkway at my right. So everything was fine, Ben would just have to give any boy a look to put them in their place.

A muscular man that was about 10 feet walked into the class from the door at the side of the pulpit. He had an angry-looking face and a scar right across his left eye. He wore a tight white long-sleeve buttoned shirt that outlined his muscles vividly, black trousers, and a pair of black shoes. He had silver hair with five strands covering his right eye.

"Today you lot will be learning the basics of beastry. Those of you that want to either become hunters and explorers would have to listen attentively.

"You all should call me Mr Joe. Anyone that calls me otherwise will perform 50 push-ups right on the spot!" Mr Joe instructed.

"Sheesh… I dunno why they persist in making us scholar-mages learn these things." I turned back to look at the boy behind me and not-so-surprisingly, I was met with a familiar face.

Luis Circo.

'Don't classify me with you bunch of weaklings.' I said to myself, not replying to his earlier comment.

"Bro, you know, I came to sit here because of that girl you switched seats with. I couldn't get a chance because of you! You better not hit on her or else…" Luis's voice trailed off as I turned to look at him sternly.

"You're really asking for a beating aren't you? Don't 'hit' on any of my friends until you and them get to 15, got it?" This Luis dude needed a stern warning. He just couldn't shut the hell up about girls for once.

"H-Hey there's no need to threaten me, I was just joking. Ok?"

"..." I just faced the front of the class. His bickering was starting to become more annoying.

"But how did you manage to make friends with warrior-mages?"

"Weren't you at the battle royale organized by Grandmaster Windstrum?" I only said that so I won't need to explain much.

"Yeah, I was. That girl from before was the winner, very and also strong. I'll really appreciate it if you introduce me. But that doesn't explain how you know them."

'I see. I thought they would remember someone they hate…'

"Oh yeah, I really enjoyed that game, but there was this kid everyone got annoyed with. He was ugly, weak and cowardly to the extent he even set some of his teammates ablaze when he tried to counter-ambush the other team," Luis spoke with looks of pure hatred and he continued, "I'm sure I can take him on."

'This annoying idiot!' I tried to call myself down. I smiled and looked at him.

"Oh damn, you're him! You're even uglier than before in person. I guess that magitech device just amplified your looks. I'm so glad your face didn't break it."

'Luis…' This foul-mouthed scholar-mage was even worse than me in practically everything and I was being dissed by him. I wanted to mend his broken mouth and put him in his rightful place.

"It's nice you know how I do my things," I took The Leech out of the inventory then licked the sharp part of the dagger like a maniac, "So I suggest you keep your mouth shut if you don't want me to feed your organs to my dogs."

Luis immediately retreated and sat with his back glued to the back of his chair as he looked at me in terror.

I smiled and let out a silent laugh at his expression, 'It's what he gets for calling a handsome young man like me ugly.'

I faced forward and listened to Mr Joe's lecture along with the others.

"As you all know, animals also possess magic and they can evolve. Although not every animal. When the unknown entity that granted magic descended, knew species were born from the old and the existing species evolved. The reason behind this remains a mystery to this very day.

"Monsters are what we call these magic-wielding creatures and they can be found in caves. Monsters range from different grades, from grade E to grade S. They evolve as a natural cause of growth. They all possess a certain type of power.

"In my opinion, as a renowned veteran. I wouldn't like to say they wield magic. Magic is a different thing from the power they possess and since all we know is supernatural is 'magic', we called it magic. But it isn't related to magic and cannot even be called abstract magic."

'What the? Then how did I copy the evolved grizzly bear's magic-type?' Various questions were brewing in my head as he taught.

"They don't have mana-cores as we do. Their whole original heart is the mana-core. Their body is automatically reinforced with power. It is what I would like to call 'natural' for them. It's just like how we can think. It's natural to think, isn't it? Now imagine you can't think… but now you're already thinking. That's what I mean by natural. We'll go into the different types of monsters in the next class.

"Now, onto the next topic, dungeons. I'm quite sure some of you have heard of it but understanding it is a different thing. What are dungeons? A dungeon is said to be anywhere that is unexplored, dangerous and holds a certain amount of treasure. And take note, caves and dungeons are different.

"Caves are places where a monster or group of monsters reside. Dungeons are places where a certain amount of treasure can be obtained. The treasure could be gold, ancient scrolls, ancient grimoires, hidden knowledge, magical weapons and armour or some special artefacts like maybe the philosopher's stone.

"Dungeons were made by extraordinary people or monsters. They contain traps and an overwhelming number of monsters that protect the treasure. Dungeons are also graded from 0 to 3. The rarity of dungeons depends on the grade. Grade 0 is the highest and only one has been seen, which is the Alchemist's Lab. It is almost as big as a city and it is classed in majestic white and gold. It is also… upside down. It's still being analysed and no one has dared to go in after the first explorers entered and came out five seconds later as old people with grey hair and extremely wrinkled skin.

"Grade 3 dungeons are a common sight and some are just caves that are run by slightly intelligent monsters that know the value of things and probably keep the goods found on the dead bodies of hunters and explorers as part of its collection. Some even go as far as making their subordinates set traps for explorers, and when it has accumulated enough and gained considerable strength it advances to Grade 2.

"That's it for lectures. Now you can ask your questions."

Nearly the whole class raised their hands. Mr Joe was taken aback. He didn't dumb it down enough to the level of 11-13 year olds.

I understood everything apart from the 'beasts don't use magic' stuff.

"What do you all not understand?" Mr Joe massaged his temples.

"Everything." The class answered in unison. A bulge grew on Mr Joe's head.

'Sigh… it's hard for me to be in a class filled with dumb-dumbs.'

…

Mr Joe just finished explaining everything again and explained it as he would to a kindergartener.

"Any questions?" He asked but no one raised their hands this time, making him heave a sigh of relief. Until I raised my hand that is.

"What?!" Mr Joe asked, frustrated.

"What happens when, for example, I stab a monster in the heart and copy the type of magic they use? Since you said they don't use magic then what did I possibly copy?" Elise cast her gaze to me and I glanced at her. 'Hopefully, she won't think that's what happened to me.'

"Huh? That has never been heard of. How amazing would a mage be if they could copy the magic of another? Anyway, their origin is the same entity that granted us magic, so their power will just transform to your understanding of magic since it is somewhat 'similar' to what they have. Yes, your power signature and mana definition will dictate such."

'Hmmm… that makes sense somewhat.'

"I believe that is all. My time is up." Just a second after, the bell rang.

I received the quest to revise in the classroom, again. It was dark and a bit scary but I could withstand it.

After I was done, I stood up and went back to the dorm. In which I received another quest to sleep early.