Jack's POV
The soft glow of morning light filtered through the window, casting long shadows across the room.
I blinked a few times, adjusting to the dim lighting as I turned my head toward Aaron's bed.
He was still curled up beneath his blanket, his back turned to me, and his blackish-purple mane spilled over the pillow, rising and falling in sync with his slow breaths.
I sat up, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.
My mind drifted back to last night, and a small, unshakable warmth settled in my chest.
I never thought I'd actually enter a relationship, let alone with someone I cared about this much. I had considered it before, of course—what it'd be like to share my life with someone—but no one ever quite fit, nor did I feel right bringing them into the chaos I deal with on a regular basis.
That is, until I got to know Ark.
I paused, my fingers tightening slightly around the sheets. A memory surfaced—back at Thornbranch when I said goodbye to Mom.
"I wonder if that is him…" I thought absently, shaking my head.
It didn't matter right now. I had the present, and for once, I didn't feel the need to overthink the future.
Getting out of bed, I got dressed and, surprisingly, did not wake Aaron.
Once I was ready, I took one last glance at him, still snoring softly, before sighing and silently slipping out of the room.
I made my way down the hall, stopping in front of Ark's door. Knocking lightly, I waited for a response before pushing the door open.
Ark was still asleep, his white ears twitching slightly as he mumbled something under his breath. I walked over to his bed and crouched beside it, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Ark," I said quietly, shaking him a little.
He stirred, his eyelids fluttering open as he blinked up at me groggily. A sleepy smile stretched across his lips as his gaze settled on me, still half-lost in a dream.
"I love you…" He murmured.
I chuckled softly, brushing a strand of hair from his face. "Love you too, but you should get up soon. You will be late for class," I said easily, watching as his expression remained unfazed.
Then, a pause.
Ark's ears twitched.
His eyes widened.
I saw the exact moment realization hit him. His entire body went rigid, a deep crimson blush creeping up his face as he stared at me in horror.
"…Wait." His voice cracked slightly. "I—I wasn't dreaming?"
"Nope." I grinned, watching as he buried his face in his hands with a groan.
"I… I can't believe I just…" he said before the memories from last night finally surfaced in his mind, and he froze.
He peeked at me between his fingers before lowering them and giving an embarrassed smile.
I laughed lightly. "Relax, it was cute." I stood up, stretching. "Anyway, you should probably get ready. We have class in an hour."
Ark nodded frantically, still flustered, but I could see the ghost of a small, shy smile on his lips as he got up.
Satisfied, I turned to leave, stepping back into the hallway.
That's when I spotted Araki talking with someone—a monkey beastman. His roommate, if I remembered correctly. What was his name again…?
Ah, right. Nex Tup. 'Next up.'
(Nex looks like a human but has monkey ears, feet, and a tail.)
I snorted quietly at the name before approaching. "Morning," I said as I walked up to them.
Araki nodded, but Nex looked a little distracted. His tail flicked anxiously behind him as he glanced at me, then back at Araki.
"You good?" I asked, noticing his expression.
Nex hesitated before sighing. "Just… first-day jitters," he admitted. "I'll get over it."
I nodded. He didn't know me, so I wouldn't press. "Well, good luck with classes."
He gave a short nod before I continued down the hall, heading back to my room.
When I stepped inside, Aaron was still asleep.
I raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously?" I muttered.
Walking over, I nudged his shoulder. "Aaron, get up."
He groaned. "Mmm… five more minutes…"
I grabbed my spear, leaning against my bed, nudged him hard with the blunt end, and shouted, "You are under arrest for murder!"
He instantly shot up in a panic, holding two daggers in a combat-ready position.
'That got him up,' I thought with a smile, and I backed up.
He looked around but found only me standing there.
"What...?" he said, looking confused.
I shrugged and said, "First thing that came to mind to wake you up."
He gave me an annoyed look and calmed down before grumbling. "Fine, fine, I'm up."
I smiled and went to finish getting ready.
Once we were both ready, we left the room and met up with the others—Ark, Orin, Zek, and Araki—before heading to the cafeteria for breakfast.
~1 and a half hours later~
A few hours later, we sat in a classroom that looked oddly similar to the lecture halls from Earth. But looking at the students, I frowned slightly.
There were fifteen students in total. And I did notice a few of them staring at me, probably wondering how I wasn't suspended or expelled after my outburst at the entrance ceremony but I didn't really care, my attention was elsewhere.
because, strangely enough, all of them were the commoners from the entrance exam.
I narrowed my eyes. 'Did all of us pick this class at this time?' I wondered.
Before I could dwell on it, the teacher walked in.
She was a tall human woman with long red hair, tanned skin, and sharp brown eyes. She looked to be in her early 30s and wore a dark blue, functional-looking dress.
More importantly, she was a fire mage. A strong one.
I could tell at a glance—she was around rank C, which was impressive for a human her age. My mother was B-rank and a few years younger than her, but she was still impressive nonetheless.
"Hello, students. My name is Amanda Arrow, but you can all call me Amanda," she said as she put a few books on her desk and turned to the rest of us.
The woman's gaze swept across the room before she frowned slightly.
"Are all of you from class 1-10?" she asked.
Everyone nodded.
"And you all chose Mana Manipulation as your first class?"
My group nodded, but the rest of the class shook their heads.
Amanda tilted her head in confusion. "Then why are you here?"
The other students hesitated before one of them answered. "We tried to sign up for other classes, but they were all full… except this one."
Amanda frowned, then looked at us. "Did you all have the same issue?"
We shook our heads.
"No, we picked this class near the end of registration. When we looked around, there were still several open classes," Zek explained.
Her eyes narrowed. She studied us for a moment before her gaze landed on me, probably because I had a different expression than the others.
"…You know what happened, don't you?" she asked me, and everyone turned to me.
I sighed, glanced at my friends, and said, "Yeah. The people handling class registration probably assumed I had some kind of rank, and since they were with me," I pointed to the others, "they didn't want to offend me."
She looked at my face and tried to recognize me, but could only find one thing.
"You are the one who fought the hellhounds the other day, yes?" she asked.
I nodded and said, "Yes, it was me. But I doubt that was the reason."
She gave me a quizzical look and asked, "Then what was it?"
I shrugged and said, "I did tell the Headmaster to 'fuck off' and somehow didn't get expelled, so…"
Amanda blinked. "Wait. That was you?"
I nodded and asked, "Were you not at the ceremony?"
She sighed and said, "No, I had some paperwork to finish, so I was late... Did the Headmaster really try and get you to marry her daughter?" she asked.
I nodded.
She sighed, muttering "Of course she did…"
She began rubbing her temples before sitting down at her desk. "…Do you have a rank I should be aware of?"
"No." I leaned back slightly. "I just have a rare enough magic type that the Headmaster doesn't want to expel me. Though if I push her too much, she might do it anyway."
Amanda stared at me for a moment before deciding not to press further.
Instead, she asked everyone to introduce themselves before starting the lesson, clearly trying to forget the previous matter.
Everyone took turns introducing themselves and giving some facts about themselves, like where they were from, what they could do, and what type of combat they specialized in.
Next, she asked the class, "Does anyone have any problems learning mana manipulation? If you don't want to take this class, I can try and get you into one you would like."
Most seemed conflicted about the class, but one person raised their hand and asked, "Is there any reason to learn it? I'm a swordsman, so I don't really see a point."
She smiled and said, "Mana manipulation can also be called Ki manipulation, as both use similar methods to control but have different results.
I understand you will learn it in combat classes, but it's a good idea to take this class to learn some special exercises or techniques mages use to get different results."
I was surprised she knew about that and was very intrigued to learn how she would go about teaching this class.
Everyone looked at her in shock, and almost everyone made up their minds that they would like this class, while some were on the fence, though not for long.
Everything was going fine—until the door suddenly opened.
Five noble students walked in, first-years based on the uniform they wore.
(Remember, the uniforms are not required by students; nobles just wear them as they are expensive and show off rank.)
they were talking very loudly and clearly didn't care that they were around 20 minutes late to class.
I looked at them and was very annoyed.
There were four girls and one guy, the guy leading the girls along, and they all were clearly in love with him.
I sighed. 'This is not going to go well,' I thought as I saw.
He scanned the room before scoffing, turning to Amanda. "Are we seriously expected to share a class with this trash? I expect me and my girls to be treated properly and not have to mingle with diseased pests."
I clenched my jaw.
From the corner of my eye, I saw the others shift slightly—subtle movements, preparing for a fight if needed.
"Here we go again." I sighed and prepared a few barriers just in case.