Exchange Students

"Please welcome the exchange students from the eblor and celer races."

Together with the words of the professor, ten non-human students stepped into the classroom.

Five of them have brown skin with colorful hair and bark-like patterns on their skin. Their bodies radiated powerful mana, and their reptile-like vertical pupils were strangely intimidating.

Eblors.

Next to them, five individuals with distinct appearances followed. Unlike the eblors, their appearances varied, with some of them looking very human-like and others with exotic skin colors and strange-looking body parts.

Celers.

As soon as they appeared, the classroom was engulfed by a deafening silence.

Several students were too shocked to speak, and some others seemed still processing the situation.

Only Sylvia, Ley, and I were relatively calm. Even Hela seemed a bit anxious.

'This is a bad idea.' I could not help but think to myself.

What is the academy thinking? It's already questionable that they agreed to receive five eblors and five celers as exchange students, but now are they also putting them in the same class as humans?

No matter how I look at it, this is not going to end well.

That thought had just appeared in my head when a student stood up angrily from his seat.

"Professor, I'm against this!"

"Leon, sit down."

"Is the academy crazy!? Do you expect that we study together with these monsters!?"

"Sit down." Professor Javier spoke up again, this time infusing his voice with killing intent. "I won't repeat myself again."

Leon quivered and sat down, but his gaze was still dissatisfied.

He was not the only one. Almost all the other students had a gloomy expression. Even Andrew was frowning slightly.

Professor Javier stared at them with a stern expression.

"I'm informing you, not asking for your opinion. The academy is aware of your thoughts about the situation, but we consider this is going to be useful for your education. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. This is an opportunity to learn more about the enemies you are going to face in the future."

The expression of the students improved slightly, but not for much.

I let out a short sigh.

Although it may be true, I still think it's not a good idea.

"Do you want to introduce yourselves?" The professor asked to the exchange students.

One of the eblors, Hyacinth, nodded and took a step forward.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Hyacinth Losarig, and the ones with me are my twin sister Lily, plus Arche, Kiria, and Ide. We came from the Losarig Empire, and plan to study here for the next year. I won't ask you to get along with us, but at the very least, I hope we can interact respectfully."

"Thank you for the introduction." Professor Javier nodded and looked at the celers.

Unlike the eblors, though, the celers did not seem to have the intention to introduce themselves.

Professor Javier did not force them and just nodded expressionlessly.

"You can sit in any free seat. If you don't understand something, you can ask the teachers or student Jane."

He looked at me, making me force a wry smile and nod.

"Okay."

"Very well. Now, let's start the class."

Just like that, the class started.

The eblros and celers sat down at the right and left corners of the classroom respectively, away from the humans, but that did little to alleviate the atmosphere.

During the entire class, the classroom was enveloped in a tense air, as though a battle was about to start.

A couple of students were even circulating their mana, ready to unleash it at any time.

Despite that, Professor Javier continued the class, seemingly not noticing the delicate situation.

Eventually, the class came to an end.

"A reminder before finishing the class." He said. "The first midterms are three weeks later, and the deadline to submit the members of your group for this class is the next week. If you have not submitted it by then or if your group is incomplete, I'll fill in the members randomly. See you in the next class."

After saying these words, the professor exited the classroom, leaving behind the mess he brought with him.

I looked around the classroom and felt a headache coming.

The tense atmosphere had become even tenser, with the three parties exchanging gazes filled with hostility, killing intent, sneers, and malice.

'There are still fifteen minutes before the next class. I hope nothing happens until then.' I prayed in my mind.

Unfortunately, my fears were spot on.

Not even one minute later, one of the humans spat out a comment.

"Shit. Why do I have to be in the same place with these freaks?"

It was Lara, ranked ninth in the entrance examination.

Almost immediately, an eblor sneered back.

"The feeling is mutual. Do you think I want to be in the same room as dirty monkeys?"

"You!" Lara stood up angrily, her mana materializing around her in the shape of dozens of mana bullets.

The eblor did not fall behind. His mana burst out, pressuring his surroundings as a magic circle unfolded behind him.

Immediately, Andrew, Leon, Lars, Tierra, and Theodore stood up as well, their mana ready to be unleashed at any time, followed by the rest of the eblors, who took battle stances.

I could feel that Hela was also feeling agitated. Although she did not show any intention to fight, her curse strengthened unconsciously.

How troublesome.

At this rate, a battle is going to break out.

But I can't allow that. I was tasked with taking care of the exchange students, and part of taking care of them is stopping stuff like this from happening.

I knew I should have not agreed.

With a sigh, I cast Confidence. On a whim, I infused it into my voice, subconsciously filling it with my will to put an end to this.

"[Stop]." I stated.

Immediately, my will was enforced.

And Humans, eblors, and celers alike were affected.