18 Arena Sixteen: Friends And Foes II

I and Sebastian left the dorm and headed towards the main academic building. The others had either left before us, or hadn't woken up yet.

They would be late, but we couldn't afford to wait for them any longer.

The walk passed in silence. Neither one of us initiated any conversation, and it felt extremely awkward.

Soon, we saw the academic building in the distance. Picking up our pace, we meshed with the crowd of students entering the building.

There was a holographic screen with our names and designated classes showed in it, hovering just beyond the main door.

"I'm in class 3-A. You?"

I asked Sebastian, and he nervously answered.

"4-B."

"Ah... A floor above me."

"Y-yes."

The main academic building, which was, for some reason, separate from the building I had met Flora in, had six floors. The classes started from the second floor, meaning that the last class to be in this building was 5-F.

There were secondary buildings too with more classes to accommodate the remaining students. Each of the buildings came with its own defence mechanisms, general labs and infirmaries. As expected of the First Academy, they didn't cut any slacks while making this institution.

The Elliots' main building was right in front of the main academic building, with a passageway connecting them. It would be easier to meet with Anastasia if she was in that building.

"The c-classes will start... So I'll be going."

Sebastian looked at the numbers ticking on the screen before bowing towards me, and then left the corridor hurriedly.

Shrugging, I went up the elevator and reached the 4th floor. My assigned class was the nearest one to the elevator, so I didn't have any problems trying to find it.

With quick steps, I entered the classroom. But unlike what I was expecting, no one gave particular attention to me.

They were all nervous, it seemed. Most of them sat in their sits, looking around. Some had already formed groups, but they were a minority. Mostly the noble children had formed their own groups, commoners were, by default, excluded from those.

I found an empty seat near the front row and sat down. The buzzing around me slowly quelled down as the clock reached 8 A.M.

With the sound of the bell ringing, the door opened, revealing a middle-aged man with droopy black eyes. He had a wrinkled shirt on him, with a dark pants. His face was good-looking, but as he was sporting an unshaved beard and dishevelled black hair, most of the charm was gone.

He looked really chill, despite what Principal Flora had said before.

He stopped in front of the table and turned towards the students.

"So... Uh... I'm your homeroom teacher for the next five years."

"..."

Everyone waited for his next words. Seeing that, the teacher scratched his head.

"Uh... I'm not too good with the rules and all that, so I'll skip those and go straight to the point."

"All [Classes] except the Elliot class have something in common. That is the inherent skill. Or like some like to call it, Core."

He explained in an uninterested voice while all of us wondered what he was talking about.

"The cores are split into two types, Battle Type, or Type A, and Support Type, or Type B. While it is not known to most of the general public out there, other classes can actually participate, but only with their skills."

"..."

"Ugh... You guys are confused, aren't you?"

"Y-yes."

A student in the front nodded. The teacher sighed.

"You'll know as soon as your skills are awakened. Anyhow, continuing."

"Before, these skills would only awaken under intense pressure and danger, but nowadays we can awaken it manually using the Shard."

"The Battle Types range from buffing your allies to summoning a nuclear supernova. All of these battle skills are really powerful, like really really strong."

He gave an un-teacher-like explanation, but at this point, I had somehow grasped the meaning behind his words.

"But the downside is that, Battle Types can only be used inside the Stigma. While Support Type can be used in the real world to some extent. For example... You there. Can you come up?"

He pointed at me and told me to come up to the podium. Confused, I nodded and approached him.

"It won't hurt, but it might be a bit embarrassing depending on your morning."

"Eh?"

Without explaining anymore, he stepped back and held his hand up.

"[Poltergeist: Mist]"

With his words, suddenly a screen appearing in front of him, showing a video clip of me eating my breakfast with Sebastian. It showed Raymond who had brought us the food, and me gulping the bread down hurriedly.

"... What is this?"

Had a camera been hidden in the dorm? I knew there were cameras around the parameter, but even inside?

"Oh, don't worry. No one is spying on you or anything. This is my Support Type skill. It marks an object, and reveals what it was doing at a specified time."

My eyes widened hearing his words.

"Isn't that violation of privacy laws?"

I asked in a chilling voice and the teacher widened his eyes, seemingly surprised.

"Hoh? You went there directly... Quite a sharp kid."

The teacher laughed and waved me back to my seat. Even more confused, I sat back.

"Of course, my skill is an invasion of privacy. And that's why unauthorized usage of the skill can land me in jail. So you don't need to worry much. I'm being monitored properly."

He chuckled and continued explaining.

"Anyhow, you can see that the skill is usable even outside Stigma. Don't ask me how, I don't know the principles myself. Even thousands of years of research couldn't figure it out."

"Most of the time, the skill turns out to be a support. And in the rare cases... I say rare, but every three [Class] holders out of ten have Battle Types... Well, your intermediate classes will be separated based on your Skill Type. While the protocol classes and the base classes will be the same, depending on what type of skill you get, you'll either become a soldier, if not a commander, or an Arena staff. Both of them are important jobs, so work hard. Any questions?"

He finally stopped to take a breath. A hand shot up from the noble side.

"Yes?"

"How many skills can someone have?"

"One. Well, there are super rare cases where a person can have two skills, but having ant more than that is impossible... Unless you are an SSS-rank. Even then, the chances are lower than 10%."

He briefly glanced in my direction before continuing. Did he know that I was an SSS-rank?

"You see, Skills have ranks too. For example, an S rank has a 70% chance of getting an A-rank Skill, and a 30% chance to get an S rank. The percentage remains the same as the rank goes down. F ranks have a 70% chance to get an F-rank Skill... Or they might not get one at all. Which is why they are considered as normal civilians."

"Well, that's enough explanations for now. Dismissed."

"Eh?"

All of the students let out a surprised sound.

"What? We'll go to the Shard Centre tomorrow, so classes are dismissed for today. You guys can't leave the academy premises though."

He shrugged and turned away, leaving the room.

In the end, he didn't even tell us his name.

...

I walked through the corridor at a leisurely pace. The halls were crowded with students chitchatting and mingling with each other.

I wanted to make some acquaintances at the least, but I had to find Anastasia and talk to her first.

But among the throng of students, how exactly was I supposed to find her?

Surprisingly, the answer revealed itself.

As I walked towards the corridor connecting the two buildings, I was suddenly blocked by a crowd. They were standing around the entrance of the connecting corridor, completely obstructing my sight.

"Come on, pick it up."

I heard a jeering voice from the middle of the crowd, and my heart started racing. I rushed through the crowd, elbowing and shoving students out of the way.

And soon, I reached the eye of the storm. There sat a familiar girl with long flaxen hair and pale skin. Her beautiful hair was drenched with some kind of sauce. In front of her was a boy a year or two older than her.

He had silver hair, and emerald eyes. His facial structure reminded me of Flora. But unlike her, he had this strange kind of presence. Seeing him gave me an urge to follow his bidding, but it wasn't as strong as the rejection I had felt from Roxy.

But to other people, it was different. Several girls and boys stood behind him, snickering at Anastasia.

That attitude, that face... It could only mean one thing.

"... Jeffery... !"

I gritted my teeth in frustration. He had reached her before I could.

"Come on, pick it up!"

He sneered at Anastasia, who was looking down, biting her lips.

Then I noticed the fallen cup of noodles. And the way it was lying, it seemed that someone had intentionally thrown it there, *only after throwing the contained noodles on Anastasia*.

But Anastasia didn't reply, nor she counterattacked. Seeing her dormancy, Jeffery's sneer turned into a frown.

"Can't you talk, bitch?"

He grabbed her hair and yanked her. Anastasia winced in pain, but still didn't talk back.

"Damn it!"

I lost my cool and dashed forward, throwing a punch at his face. Apparently, he hadn't anticipated that, as he flew backwards, crashing into the students behind him.

"... Arnold?"

I heard Anastasia muttering behind me, but I didn't look back.

"Tsk... This is going to be a pain."

I muttered as I saw Jeffery stand up. His eyes fell on me as his face contorted in pain and rage.

"HOW DARE YOU?!"