1 Ch.1: Unexpected Awakening (1)

"You're all a day away from turning 18 which means that it's time to test your combat capability!" The teacher said while laughing as he paced around the classroom.

"But teacher, we've did that 5 times in the same week already! Can we do something else?" Someone exclaimed. It was true, everyone in the classroom except the teacher had to have their combat capabilities tested 5 times.

Instead of responding, the teacher laughed.

After laughing for a minute straight, the teacher stopped pacing and faced his students.

"Today, you'll all be paired into groups of 5 and each hunt a boss monster. If you fail to pass the test, you'll be expelled from the academy. This academy doesn't expect weaklings nor people who constantly complain." The teacher with a serious expression. This was the Black Cloak Academy, although not famous, it wasn't a pushover of an academy in the least.

Shock and surprise was written across every student's face as they listened to their teacher. Although the test sounded absurd, they'd expect nothing less from such an academy. If they went to some average academy then they'd just need to find a random monster and kill it, but this academy was different. They all knew they couldn't afford to fail this test!

"Oh no, how am I gonna pass this test..." Liam was in a dilemma. Since he could remember, he was sort of an outcast. It wasn't because he had poor communication skills, it's just that for some reason anyone he tried befriending wouldn't even give him the time of day. One common thing he also noticed was that they'd all leave as fast as possible.

He would tell his teachers about this but they would always reply with a simple, "Just try harder." Liam hated that answer, it felt like his teachers were pitying him for some reason. It would cause a horrible feeling to erupt from within his body.

...

'Hmm...What was that boy's name again? Lang? Liam?' The teacher went back to his desk after announcing the news to the students. Since he wanted the best results from them, he personally paired the students together, although he made it seem like it was their choice.

As he watched the students chat with each other, he saw someone in the back of the classroom. Since he was the teacher, it was only normal for him to know each of the student's names, but nothing came to him when he looked at the student in the back.

The student didn't bother trying to talk to anyone and no one else seemed to pay him any attention, the teacher found it odd so he approached the student.

"Do you know the group you're apart of?" He didn't bother waiting for the student to notice him.

"H-Hm?" Liam was zoning out so he was startled when the teacher came up to him and spoke.

"U-Um, I'm apart of...I don't know." Liam gave up on trying to make up a lie as he didn't have enough time.

The teacher pointed diagonally to the left before speaking.

"You're apart of that group over there. Although it seems like you all get to pick your groups, for the best results, I personally grouped you all up." The teacher was blunt with his words. If the other students heard him right now, they'd be extremely upset but it wasn't possible thanks to their loud talking.

'That group?' Liam looked suspiciously to the left where the teacher pointed. To his surprise, it was a normal group of people that were happily talking with each other. Liam immediately felt nervous as he looked at them. If he went over there and just said, "I'm supposed to be in your group, so yeah." all of a sudden, then it would create an awkward situation for all of them.

The teacher didn't wait for Liam to respond and went back to his desk.

'What am I going to do? There's no doubt if I group up with them they'll probably abandon me somewhere.' Liam could feel his head starting to hurt the more he thought about his situation. He decided not to think about the situation anymore and to deal with it when needed. Liam put his head down and tried his best to go to sleep in the middle of everyone talking.

As he was just about to fall asleep, someone asked a question that all the students were interested in knowing.

"Umm, Teacher? When is the test?" Most of the people talking quieted down to hear the teacher's answer. It didn't matter to them when it was since they were all grouped up with their friends, well, that's what they thought.

"Tomorrow." Most of the students went back to talking after hearing the teacher's answer while some were excited. Only a few were nervous or unhappy, including Liam. Since everybody knew each other they were grouped with, they didn't have to worry about getting to know their teammates since they did multiple tests with them.

Just as the students started talking again, a wide grin appeared on the teacher's face.

"Oh, I'm sorry everyone, I forgot to say something. I already personally picked you all's groups. I'm such a klutz, Teehee!" There was no need to even describe the students' reactions. They looked at their teacher disgustingly for more than one reason. The first reason was because they'll most likely be grouped with people they don't know, which meant they somehow had to get to know the person within a single day.

It didn't help that the teacher didn't tell them what group they were in either! The second reason the students looked at their teacher like this was because of what he did at the end of his sentence. They were just barely refraining from jumping him together and ripping him to shreds.

Seeing his student's disgusted faces and glares, the teacher kept grinning before going back to his desk.

The only thought running through their heads as the students looked at there teacher was, "He's a dirtbag."

'Bringgggg'

The students were awoken from their murderous thoughts as the academy bell rang. It meant that school was over for the day and that they could finally go back to their dorms. The one who was the happiest was Liam, he wanted to hurry up and leave the classroom. The only place he felt comfortable at was his dorm since no one would bother him, although that had it's downsides too, for instance, no friends.

"I'll see you tomorrow!"

"You coming to my dorm later to do Miss Jenkins science homework? There's no way I can do that rocket science myself."

"Bye!"

Everyone packed up and head out of the classroom, some anxious, some excited, and some still disgusted by their teacher. Ironically, Liam was the last person to leave although he was the happiest to go. He waited for everyone to leave the classroom first then he'd leave, he did this since the start of the school term.

As he packed his things, he quickly left the classroom in the direction of his dorm.

--An hour later--

Liam laid on his bed as he stared at the ceiling of his dorm.

'Why can't I make friends? Do I smell bad?' Once again, for the 10th time today, Liam questioned why he didn't have any friends. It definitely wasn't because he smelled bad, he tried his best to appear friendly and approachable but it didn't seem to work. Eventually, it became his routine to double down on his hygiene.

'I better head to sleep if I want to be ready for the test tomorrow.' Just like that, Liam fell asleep.

--The next day--

'BEEP, BEEP, BEEP,'

An annoying noise sounded next to Liam's ears signaling him that it was time to get up. Only a minute later, Liam got up and threw the alarm at the wall in front of him.

"I'm up! Oh..." Liam quickly realized what he did.

"Oi! I'm doing something in here man! Keep it down!" Someone behind the wall said. The only problem was that Liam could hear loud moans coming from behind the wall.

'This guy wants to die telling me to keep it down! Does he not know how loud he is?' Liam already had a headache as soon as he woke up and he was grumpy, not the ideal way to wake up. Usually he doesn't have these kinds of thoughts, they only appear when he's grumpy or when one of his teachers takes pity on him.

Ignoring the person behind the wall, Liam got up and took two showers consecutively just to make sure he didn't smell. He made sure to put on the best deodorant and cologne he had. No matter how good he looked or smelled, no one would approach him, but he still didn't give up. He quickly changed into a new set of clothes, which were not surprisingly just another school uniform.

By now, he had washed away his grumpiness and violent thoughts and was ready to go. Well, that was until he remembered he had a combat test today and it he was in a group. Although this made him nervous, it also made him excited. This was his chance to finally make friends!

Liam grabbed his backpack and left his dorm and quickly made his way to his first class of the day. As he opened his door, he was still able to hear the moans coming from the form next to him, although they were only louder than earlier.

Liam was too excited to let some violent thoughts or annoying guy in another dorm stop him from finally having a chance at making friends.

"Hey you stupid idiot! Schools already started! Stopping watching porn and get up or you'll be expelled dumbass!" Liam shouted despite multiple people around him. Instead of avoiding him, some of the people laughed as they listened to him.

"Y-You! Stay right there you motherfucker! I'll teach you not to mess with me! Agh! Fuck!" The guy inside the dorm was angered and embarrassed from what Liam said. He wanted to crush Liam like a piece of paper, but forgot to pull up his pants and wipe the lotion from the floor so he slipped and fell.

Liam didn't wait for the guy to open the door and quickly left and headed to his classroom.

'Hahaha! Why was that so funny?' Liam had never experienced such a fun feeling. It felt even better than being happy about going back to his dorm. Liam laughed along with the other students as he made his way down hallway.

--2 hours and 15 minutes later--

Instead of gloomily sitting in the back of the class talking to himself in his head, Liam had a visible grin painted across his face. He was still thinking about what he said to the guy earlier, he wasn't even worrying about what would happen if the guy confronted him.

'What's he smiling about...?' Miss Jenkins thought to herself as she finished writing the formula for creating a Clumerika Potion on the blackboard. Clumerika Potions were relatively easily to make and were of considerable value. They could heal major injuries if concocted perfectly but even if an apprentice alchemist made his first potion, it was still be able to heal maybe 1/3 of a major injury.

Miss Jenkins focused mainly on alchemy and maybe the intermediate study of energies. Long story short, most of the students didn't like her class because of this, there were too many things they had headaches over. Despite knowing this, Miss Jenkins continued to teach both subjects to he students. She had a passion for alchemy and a minor interest in energy which is why she continues to teach these subjects when she could simply switch to something like assembling a weapon.

Although she taught these subjects, she didn't have to.

"...Miss Jenkins, are you going to continue?" One of the students asked.

"Oh, I'm sorry so like I was saying..." Miss Jenkins was awoken from her daze by the question of a student.

Although most students didn't like Miss Jenkins class, there were a few who did including Liam. He was interested in alchemy but that was it, he wasn't too interested to try and conduct his own experiments or anything.

"Liam? Are you going to answer the question?" Miss Jenkins said as a few people turned around to look at Liam.

"Oh, that guy? He never answers any questions, I don't blame him anyways." Multiple people muttered to each other before turning back around and waiting for the teacher to pick someone else.

"To make a Clumerika Potion, you need 1/4th of a pound of dew grass, 1/5th of a pound of frenzy boar blood, and 1/3rd of a pound of water or liquid minera, although liquid minera is recommended as it amplifies the effect of the potion." Liam answered without stuttering and the grin still across his face.

Multiple people snapped their heads backward in Liam's direction in surprise. Everyone in the class knew he kept to himself and never talked, and when he did he would just stutter the entire time.

Miss Jenkins was shocked as well as she listened to Liam's answer. Initially, she asked him to answer the question just because she saw him grinning for an unknown reason. Although Miss Jenkins isn't the type to embarrass her students, it was rather odd that Liam was grinning since he never he talks so she thought he was thinking of something inappropriate so she asked him the question on purpose.

"...Correct." She said before going back to writing on the blackboard and teaching the class. The students also turned back around and impatiently waited for the class to end.

Meanwhile, Liam was on the verge of having a panic attack. He crossed multiple barriers that he had problems with in one go. First his face was actually visible the entire time during the class, second, he actually answered a question WITH other people looking at him, and third, he didn't stutter once! He could feel his heard basically beating out of his chest right now.

--30 minutes later--

'Bringgggg'

"Alright, that'll be all for today, you may all pack up. Make sure to do your alchemy homework, you don't have to worry about energy studies. I heard you all have a combat test today so I think alchemy homework is enough." Miss Jenkins said while erasing everything from the blackboard.

Every student in the class packed their bags at light speed and left. The only person still there was Liam, who was just now packing up and getting ready to leave. He was trying to by some time to encourage himself not to be nervous.

After taking a few breaths, Liam walked out of the classroom.

'Time to do this stupid combat test...'