First Day

「 CHAPTER 1: First Day 」

The sounds of the cold wind whistling in the night. The curtains slowly moved as the breeze blew. In a dark room, a faint noise can be heard.

Muffled vibrations and loud music start playing under the pillow of a sleeping young man.

Still half asleep, Kayden woke up from the noise and very slowly sat up. He reached for his phone tapping it a couple of times while his eyes still closed shut. He opened his eyes trying to check the time and was immediately blinded by the phone's brightness.

Kayden yawned. "4 am? already?"

He sat still there for several seconds and after a couple of grunts fighting the urge to sleep more, he finally gave in and laid back down. He slept for 5 more minutes.

***

Doom is upon us. No. Doom is upon me. I don't want to go to college. Actually, I hate it. Just thinking about it makes my stomach churl. I've heard countless times from my friends who went to college that it was pretty much hell and It's the worst. I took an IT course because I know a few things about computers and I love playing video games. And also my college friends suggested it to me because It isn't as hard as the others so I felt reassured.

After a warm breakfast and a freezing cold shower early in the morning, He puts on his school uniform from the clothes rack right beside his bedroom mirror. He took a few steps back away from the mirror and took a good look at himself. He was wearing slim black pants with a white polo with a tie underneath a gray blazer giving him a clean and professional look.

"I look... kind of good huh?" Kayden smiled striking poses left and right in front of the mirror indulging himself in self-praises. Unknowingly to him, his mother was watching him by the door looking concerned for his son.

"I hope he doesn't make a fool of himself there." Mother sighed.

***

Despite being very outgoing and extroverted, Kayden gets shy and nervous meeting new people, especially in a place he doesn't know. He was pretty upset that he wasn't going to the same school as his friends in high school but he knew that eventually someday they'd meet again. But to his surprise, on the day of the entrance exam for his college university, he met his childhood friend Cad. He was delighted and surprised to see him and fortunately, both of them got accepted as classmates.

"Ma! I'll be heading out first!"

His mother replied shouting while cooking in the kitchen:

"Okay! Take care! Don't make yourself look like an Idiot!"

Kayden made an ugly face mimicking what his mother said.

He reached for his phone and checked the time:

"It's 4:58 am already and it's freezing out here. I'm surprised I even woke up on time after playing all night with my friends."

He slept for 2 hours.

While Kayden was walking and shivering from the cold, he heard a familiar voice from behind. "Hey Kay!" It was Cad.

The two bumped their fist and walked together to the tricycle station. While the two were waiting for an available tricycle, Cad turned his head to look at Kayden and asked:

"I've been meaning to ask you..."

Kayden tilted his head and looked at Cad.

"Huh?"

Cad looks blankly at Kayden and asked in a monotone serious voice: "Are you a fucking vibrator?"

Kayden was still shaking from the cold.

Both of them went silent waiting for a ride. But soon the silence was broken when Kayden burst into laughter and shortly after Cad laughed with him. The day is looking good.

A while after they got a ride, Cad was scrolling through his phone and Kayden was just looking outside. Suddenly, Cad's phone was on Kayden's face.

"Hey check this out, man. I can't believe AI-generated videos are getting more and more realistic."

Curious enough, Kayden took the phone and scrolled through the post. There he saw realistic footage and images of what it would seem like a dragon barely visible in each frame. Kayden thought nothing of it as he was exposed on the internet since he was little to know that the post was fake.

The thought of real-life dragons existing in the real world seems cool and exciting for Kayden and It could be scary if it is what movies and books portray them to be.

During the long commute, they had to take, both of them took the chance to catch some sleep and rest a bit. When they finally got off, they had less than 30 minutes to get to their class which starts at 7 am.

They went to find another jeep going to their school and immediately got a ride. After another 25 minutes, they were able to get to their school with 5 minutes left to get to class.

They both looked at each other and briefly smirked. Kayden went on one knee like an athlete getting ready to run while Cad was hopping in place, shaking his hands and stretching his neck. Both of them had a serious look and after a couple of seconds, the two both dashed from the school gate racing who would get to their classroom first.

The building's hallway was empty. It was understandable considering it was still very early in the morning and some staff weren't probably at school yet, which was perfect because there's no one who would scold them. Kayden suddenly remembered that their class was on the third floor and quickly headed to the stairs as well as Cad. Instead of simply running up the stairs, Kayden decided it would be easier and faster to jump and climb from the stairs railing to the third floor. He vaulted on one railing and climbed the other so flawlessly like a professional traceur. Cad was left speechless after seeing what his friend could do.

"What the..."

Kayden was now at the front with Cad only a few steps behind him. At that moment, Kayden finally saw their classroom and burst through the door. The classroom once full of noise became silent by the sudden burst of their classroom door. All of the students inside turned their heads and looked at Kayden who was breathing and panting hard followed by Cad who was moments before dying. The two looked at the class trying desperately to act natural as if nothing happened. They both sat down and after several seconds the room was noisy again.

With heaving breathing and our polo wet, we just laughed together as we reminisced memories racing back when we were kids.

Kayden quietly said with a straight face:

"I think I remember my mom telling me to not make myself look like an idiot."

To which Cad casually replied:

"Well, you just did. Congrats."

After that, the two swore to never do that again.

***

At the age of 7, Kayden became neighbors with Cad and immediately became best friends. Surprisingly his parents were old colleagues or Kayden's parents so no wonder they always stop by their house to have coffee and chat. The two would always play outside whether it be super hot or rainy. They weren't just friends, they were like brothers to each other.

Three years has passed. Kayden had to say goodbye to Cad because they had to live in another country because of his parent's work. And after that, the two never saw or even contacted each other again.

Shortly after the sudden flashbacks of Kayden's childhood memories, their classroom door opened. A tall, handsome man entered the classroom which slowly silenced everyone. He was wearing slim black pants paired with shiny black shoes. White polo tucked into his pants complementing his well-built body.

At first glance, you'd think it was a higher-year student but the students immediately knew who he was. He was their professor. He gave off a cold aura and a professional demeanor. He walked up to the teacher's table and immediately got the whole class's attention. He began by clearing his throat and introduced himself:

"Good Morning Class, Welcome to the College of Munintupa. I would like to introduce myself first and it's your turn next. My name is Zendric Algona. I am 22 years old, and not far from you guys. This is my second year of teaching at this school."

The classes listened and stared at him. Some see him as a King of the north, some felt competition of looks and some were in awe knowing someone at that age not too far from theirs is a professor at a prestigious school. Kayden thought of him as a [ Genius ] and expecting him to be great at teaching and could great a path for them to successfully graduate.

"Once again, I am Zedric Algona. Call me sir Zed. Though I am a couple of years older than you guys, I am still your professor. Now it's your turn. Why don't we start with you handsome guy at the front."

Zedric pointed his hand to a young man politely listening to him and stood up. He fixed his not so messy hair and cleared his throat and the young man introduced himself:

"My name is Xander Carpio. I am 19 years old. I love playing sports and cooking..."

Xander was a handsome as Zendric, only, Xander looked like he came from a prestigious family with how his mannerism and how he talks. The girls who had heart shaped eyes for Zendric had the same for Xander as well.

Kayden was listening to Xander's self introduction and thought:

This guy... we're wearing the same uniform and everything so why does he look better than me? He looks so unreal, it's like a character came to life and sir Zendric too. Life is so unfair.

They're both practically like the King of the North and the Imperial Emperor or something. We just need our beautiful female lead and we're set.

"... Thank you for listening."

After Xander's introduction, everyone gave a round of applause. In the midst of their applause, Kayden suddenly felt a dark aura behind him. He turned to look at Cad who was pale as a ghost and shaking his leg nervously. He quickly understood his situation and decided to mess with him a little bit. He gave an annoyingly stupid face and told Cad:

"You're going to be juuust fine, my friend~"

The second person stood up sitting right next to Xander. She turned to her classmates and Introduced herself:

"My name is May Hermo! I am 19 years old. I love cycling, hiking and I competed in many swimming competition during my high school days."

May was tall, few centimeters taller than Kayden. She's almost as tall as Xander. She was beautiful with long straight black hair. Many boys inside the class was immediately captured by her beauty.

Woah! We finally have our main female lead ladies and gentlemen! The perfect candidate for our love triangle story in medieval fantasy setting!

From at point on, each and everyone of them introduced themselves and Kayden listened while patiently waiting for his turn. He observed that a lot of his classmates came from a rich environment with some wearing expensive watches and holding expensive phones. He stared down at his phone, humbled by the richness of his fellow classmates. After the peson sitting right next to him, It was finally his turn.

As Kayden stood up, all of his classmates looked at him with blank stares. It's as if they're waiting for him to embarrass himself. Kayden was nervous before and was now very nervous to even speak. He took a short deep breath to muster all of his courage and cleared his throat.

"Hello everyone, my name is Kayden Carnation. I am 19 years old. I love playing video games, read and... That is all thank you."

Kayden Immediately sat down with a straight face not showing any sign of emotions. His classmates clapped and looked away. Cad looked at him and gave him a thumbs up. Class soon started after Cad's introduction in front of the class. Surprisingly it went well for Cad, he had expected that Cad would be more nervous and shaky but it went well.

「 END OF CHAPTER 1 」