22 - Week passing

True to how she assumed, she was able to meet all the teachers. She got a peak and took part in some of the club activities. There were the typical sports and art clubs. A history club that was learning directly from the undertakers that lived those times. There was even experimental spell craft - food, paper or candle wards testing and making.

She had a taste of the extra curriculum provisions or a witness to them, like current top students taking area-rank-assigned jobs from undertakers. She made a good impression on all the teachers who overlooked her age. She struggled slightly with the stand-off types. She was moved to 1st grade due to this, despite her age. She is only 5. A few years before she should be. But this was as if it was a natural progression and her interest to learn helped. She hardly spoke still, she has been glared at by other people otherwise if she did. Her voice was exactly like her age, but her tone and words use aged her.

"Welcome to the all-inclusive boarding school for the outcasts. Each of you was sent here due to your abilities that would otherwise be forbidden, taboo or controversial to use. You know the world of spirits and the lie the rest of the living world believes. Became disconnected from many peers, had problems fitting in or you are from the bloodline of the specialist." The same introduction as before and a befitting opening to their newly turned pages, "This class is about bringing you all to the national standards. You are graded by state law mandatory exams. You may progress faster and skip or get sent back if you fall behind. It's you that must fit on the international league table standard and the country average. You get bonus benefits if you make above the state average." Lea fazed into the sort of watching everything, everyone else. It was nice to hear this introduction again. She picked up the little tells some have for shock or the class attitude towards learning. Being in a class who are highly motivated, the better across-class

test scoring. There is a benefit to working out who will bully you, the snitch and the cheat. The real sour bad taste is if someone is already painted a target on your back or you had already made enemies by not playing to social cue.

She fits in for now as silent wallpaper, playing the underdog long game. She isn't purposely trying to ruin her education for her protection nor was she trying to compete with any top score makers. Those top of the class is pushing themselves for the sake of themselves and family. Or they are kept in this school instead of prison (some with abilities are sent here by court order)? That's why the information welcome pack is an interesting read if you bother.

"You are all mid-term joining and are now known as the fall class. You have to work extra to level yourselves to the other classes. You have three exam periods to determine your stay here or instantly fall a grade. As you know, that isn't an option for most of you." The teacher posed a moment and time stopped for demons to pass out a simple mental math exam. Paper turned over to hide it.

When the demon came to Lea, putting the paper on the desk. She waved at them for a second.

"I am not trying to ask any favour to have me in your service nor do I want a demon servant. I simply wanted to know if my test can be printed on coloured paper. If it isn't possible, don't bother." The demon raised a brow of her acting within stopped time and made a slow gaze over to the teacher. The teacher heard every word and was also sort of stunned, "I have dyslexia if that helps to know." The sheer fact that she pronounced her disability correctly added more about her. She is the only student acting in stopped time.

"You time her separately." The teacher demands knowing now she can act in stopped time, "But she will start at the same time as everyone else. I allow her request for future coloured paper prints if the materials are long reading or exams like this." The demon nods in service and poked the page, using a cast to change the page colour. The white is now a tinted creme. It is sufficient for her needs.

"Thank you." She stays polite as always, regardless of demon or undertaker. She also showed understanding that this was the teacher's allowance in thanking them too. Now the time was back.

"In front of everyone is a mental math exam we will be doing. You only need a pen. When you have no other things on the desk other than paper and pen. We will consider starting. Any attempt to cheat will be not tolerated for this."

The students shuffled things, even though Lea throw her pencil case in her bag and zips it under her desk. She posed showing one or two pens and allowing the demon to check for new issues. Having a spare unmarked pen as backup prevents her from going back in her bag for any reason. Not the only student being checked for hidden extras. But she shows honesty and she waited even as time was frozen a few little times for school bags to be taken to the front. Even hers. Respecting this testing process.

"You may start at the clock striking on the hour." They relax and watched the ticks. Finally, the clock strikes the hour and someone freezes it. She hissed.

"Seriously? Who needs to interrupt this?" She commented. The demon timing her laughed and accepted that she waited for the clock. She will not turn it over until she was allowed. It would seem that now someone else was busted for being like her, acting in frozen time. Now they had a demon too and a less than pleased crossed arms. Time began and now she turns her paper with everyone else. Officially now she started regardless of the stopped time or not. She made it to the last question and then back around to the beginning for any she wanted to skip for convenience. It was a hard paper, so the questions were things they had yet to be taught. But putting her soul education at her best, she had methods she memorised for such tests. She may still have the wrong answers. The point of this test was to catch cheats who would use their abilities to further themselves academic wise.

She seems to have finished the test early but she had the same amount of time as others. She lays her head down on the desk with paper turned over waiting for those unable to act in freeze time to their allowance of time. Papers are taken in by the demons, who all report who cheats and who has what abilities.

"Lea, I know it might have been in a moment where not everyone heard. But please do not shout out things or make comments."

"Forgive me. A spur of the moment. I prefer honesty in my policy." She stands and bows her head. The teacher waved her to sit down, she didn't need to be on showcase here.

"Billy, Lucy and George. Do not ever use your abilities to cheat things for yourselves." The teacher turns to a student in the first row especially, "Luke! You are a student here. Do not ever use your status or your servants. If anything, there is someone among you that has even higher authority and I don't see them cheating like you." The student slide glare at a student toward the back, who sits behind Lea. She felt this guy stare at her but really as she moved it was that his eyes fell to behind her. She doesn't look back or try to look for who.

"Moving on." A demon taking over and this was a test to see who hears, "You may leave class early if you know my answer. You have answered this question in paused time or write in secretly." They look at who heard and the engagement of interests.

"For everyone else who has worked out anything yet. I am going to break down the knowledge of why these school grounds are abnormal and why you see a lot of dark or demon entities around campus."

"Tell me what you know of the demon court systems. A sort of general sense of the answer than anything too technical." Lea sighed as she knows the systems well. Everything that was to do with spirit court business was a lot of her soul's progress to return to this realm. She has to now consider a summary of how best to explain the complexity. She simply took out a page from her notepad and began bullet-pointing the basic departments. In extra brown point fashion, she attempted the demon dragon language besides English notes. She got bored and doodled a little sign notes used by the court hunters. Her note takes from her by a demon. Who then folds it and gave her a paper class pass. She however denies accepting it. She was interested in how the teacher will phrase it and the sort of terms she is allowed to use among normal.

"Are you sure?" The demon lowered in a whisper. She posed her left hand like an undertaker court fan in reply. For that, they left her alone. She listens to the teacher carefully from then on. Speaking in laymen's ways and simply aspects or censoring parts for young minds.

"The little lady in front of you is a depth knowledge type. Yet you have enough level of knowledge to skip the rest of this class." She huffed that she might have made a foe out of the high ranker behind her. Either way, given she stayed this person did too. But eyes drill holes in her back. Things got interesting as the teacher invited in a pair of undertakers. They now spoke laymen's terms of what they do and why they will be seen around. Lea went a little pale of recognition. These two were a pair she has met in her soul live, she felt the memories spike her and run a chill through her. They don't recall her, know her or that her face this time around was different from before.

"Not to brag, but there is so much that limits you. You must never forget that you are living humans. You have basic needs that we do not. We may appear real to touch you. But we are nothing more than cold air. We do not need to eat, breathe or other living functions." Putting it mildly, she smirks. She was among the crowd that found humour in the statement or those that didn't take the news seriously.

"We ask those who have answered correctly to make it to an extra class with us now." The partner posed.

"So that be those that know code purple and Lea. You will know the codes we have soon." She is among four that stand. Backpacks are given back. She pocketed her pens. The notepad she had slid back from the trick she used before. She was the last little duck to leave the classroom but it seems suddenly the was first to walk in the line. Maybe it's her appearance of being young or that this was the way of things.

"Miss Lea, you have the best knowledge or have the better sight out. So may you help those behind you if they struggle for any reason. We ask the same of you, J." The boy sits behind her.

"I wouldn't know the translation that well so it is a joint effort." She shows respect by walking beside this J, "Please understand that I would rather respect the order that has been established where necessary. It is wrong of me to intervene in things. I also have nothing to show to prove any fancy titles among the spirits. So it is suitable for a more experienced with this network to speak."

"You had to deal with Clothus." this guy laughed.

"I would rather not. They are terrifying to look at." She is genuinely sickly from the mere thought of one.

"Right, because you're a living person. Your filtered veil can't see all of what is there. It's important to never assume as gifted, you see everything."

She lowered herself in comparison to him and like him in class. She hardly inputs things unless the adjustment was to save him embarrassment or to have a better impression of those they toured the many buildings. The undertakers explain the code colour system as they walked through. They don't go in-depth about it wasn't a human need to know? They do however whisper it to J, he seems to need to know. She overheard these whispers but chooses to not react to them. Even the serious case ones, she doesn't flinch about. They were back in class among their peers. Her desk is moved beside J, maybe as a sort of show of her position.

"We have promising mid-term students this round." This is the last comment while the few paper answers and a board were placed on the desk. Raising the nose of what a little girl had to make her sit beside a demon lord. This demon Lord is a half-human that is the next to own the realm his father rules. This is why his depth of knowledge was abnormal. The majority has chosen to fear or avoid J for this. She was different from the rest in how instantly she treated him indifferently to a normal human. She doesn't overstep it in working out his demon. She has that grey area about her, she has something over him but she wasn't staking it.

"You scratched my back during the tour. It's only fair to help your poor grammar." He whispered. She said nothing in reply, sitting at her moved desk as she would normally. It seems he finds some of her expressions or left-hand gestures amusing. Helping his focus in class since there was someone that got him but wasn't trying to win any favour on purpose. She was genuine in her stride to do things herself and it's often him pointing out that she ever accepts corrections. He took a page from her, not forcing authority of age to make her listen to him, only that septal little things. She had to work out the main things herself, even if she knew. Pointing out the mistakes and then explaining why was often enough.

Lunch comes about and she didn't have any intention of using him or overstepping things. She quietly made leave. He was tied up in some affairs to not notice she slipped. It was apparent that he did want to make conversation in his free time, at some point. When he knew she was gone, he pouts slightly.

"She went to the main student cue." His close servant assigned to him said, "What exactly is the interest of a Trickster like her?"

"Her being a Trickster explains most of the things I was going to ask but even then... that doesn't work either." He crossed his arms and spoke softly. He pours his thought, "She not even trying to win me over or take my title. She is not a typical Trickster. A Trickster would bow to a lord, and be a servant under me. She's not even doing that. She treats me as a person than a title."

"Her background is mud. Her close family aren't doing well. Are you sure this isn't some long ploy?"

"She didn't hide that she acts within freeze time. She makes no demands or orders on lesser spirits. No servant and no wish to have one. They're sort of quirky little bits not align with the assumptions of Trickster. Too honest when she does but is hiding things." The youngest lord crossed his arms thinking things over, "I will respect that she carried a neutral ground. She respected not blessed me when I sneezed, an easy mistake for normal people. She doesn't want interest in my issues, she didn't ask me anything. Someone looking to gain from me tends to ask questions."

The personal servant moved away, a imp brought his lunch-packed paper bag of the sandwich deal. He stares at her desk just churning the last few thoughts. He had noticed her desk was empty and that the chair had a booster seat to it, that she was likely younger in actual age. However, her handwriting was already very neat but with time would be something a higher society calligraphy master could achieve. How she held her pen would change to suit the language written. Even drawing was was with fingertip only.

She was going to be interesting to keep an eye on, not as friends or foes.

"That little girl is broken." The class freak approached and whispered, "There is nothing normal about that freak. Don't get comfortable with it." It is not the first time that the fortune teller said odd things and has been proven right even if the others here distrust the fortune teller. The half-demon lord nods gently to accept the word of warning, "However, you should ask her for help if things are bad. Her reptiles eat bad entities." The raised brow is given to how the fortune teller shivered to sit back down like no god was going to save them from that nightmare. They had one last look, "If you don't believe me, asked the cats that follow her. They aren't cats." Back being shut down and keep their sanity intact.

"How dare you assume this!" The only know Seer of the class thundered, leaving the room with the punished servant on the floor. Relatively to it being confused about the relationship between them and the little girl. She is a wild card, a card to avoid wrongdoing in dealing with.

"Where did Miss Lea go?" Assistant teacher poking into the room.

"The school lunchroom." The class bully snarls and had their servant following her too. But it seems she did something to prevent the curses from working. The spell-casting backfired and was paying a cost to the bully. The teaching assistant stuck around, knowing she should be back here eventually. She was here before the bell among those that left too.

"Miss Lea." She didn't even sit down, "The schoolmaster requests that you should let any servants lingering about unauthorised spaces." She blinks a lot not knowing what that meant for a while and then she finally got it. Punched into her hand.

"Yeah, but there is an unauthorised gate there. You should have an undertaker sort that out." The assistant walked away with that being news. She now sits down, "That explains why Loki was sitting with that." The Lord students beside her sighed.

"What type of gate?" He asked.

"Morpheus thinks it is a pocket realm to a gloomy place." She gets comfortable for the class, "I don't have servants."

"So you're able to separate yourself. A mask and a living body." The demon lord ponders.

"Well, it's scarier if I did explain. Best not. There is a whole group of nightmare beings that follow the real me around." She settles with eagerness to learn, back to indifference and just trying to survive class without sleeping. She finds what she doesn't understand was often the basic assumption humans have, making it suitable that she sits with a guy that struggled with her. Other than what words to use, how they are said and what double meaning these things have. The actual educational part wasn't educational for her. She can already pass decently on an average exam, but she wasn't aiming to be a young genus either.