Sparring Session
2210 Words
We arrived at the commoners' dorm, as told by our homeroom professor. We expected her to be here by the time we arrived, only to see no sign of Terranium.
"Is she not here yet?" Tem questioned.
"She did say to meet her here, didn't she?" Flora asked.
"I know I heard her say that," Bruce confirmed.
"Maybe something stopped her on her way here?" Belle suggested.
"She even said she had to get something from her office when she left," Dora pointed out.
Dylan stretched his arms out and rubbed his eyes with a light yawn. "I hope she gets here soon. The sooner we get... whatever she wants with us over with, the sooner I can either catch some z's."
"When are you not catching any z's?" Felix said in a joking manner, summoning out a Magic Circle, in which I raised a brow to.
"What are you doing?"
"She practically promised she wouldn't leave us to ourselves again. Even if she didn't mean to, she may as well be breaking that promise. Might as well give her a good reminder of what happens if she turns her back on us again."
I and several others could not believe what he was suggesting.
"Tell me you're not really insinuating you're going to prank the teacher simply for being late," Mindy said.
"Okay, I'm not 'insinuating' it. I am doing it!"
At Felix's confirmation, I and the rest of the sane members of the class could only facepalm in disbelief. Everyone else?
"You know, that actually sounds like a good idea," Taurus spoke. "She even claimed she wanted to teach us something, especially since we got 'overconfident' for our place on the exam. Maybe we should show her that we are prepared for whatever responsibility will come, and help her prepare instead."
"Dude, that's a little harsh," Leroy told him. For a brief moment, I thought he was being sane when he said that. "... Then again, she kind of deserves it." When he added in that statement.
"Come on, guys. That's not fair on her," Azalea said.
"Yeah. If something did come up, that's not her fault," Philia told them.
"Ah, come on. At least think of this as us taking the time to improve on our magic. I'm sure she'll understand then," Felix retorted.
"You really think you can just pass it off as simple training?" I questioned.
"Well, we have been using this place the past few days to train, haven't we? The professor knows it herself."
"He's not wrong," Shaun agreed.
"Regardless, you do realize that if you go through with this, she probably won't take it so kindly," Lilith warned.
"You're overreacting. Besides, we can even just say we're reinforcing our dorm. I mean, really. Look at this place," Leroy gestured.
I didn't need to look to know he had a point about our dorm. While it was... usable, for lack of better words, it was also quite shabby. Not only that, but it was only big enough to house a few people. We did make this treehouse in one night, after all. It could use some remodeling.
... Not using our newly obtained budget, though. That was for class, not for our dorm. That being said...
"While I am all for remodeling the dorm, that doesn't mean I will allow you to set up pranks to our professor," I told them. "Besides, she actually has a good point. We can't let this one victory go over our head. Ranks are subject to change every month; the headmaster said so himself. Professor Greenwood is just looking out for us."
"'Looking out for us'? She should first be celebrating with us. Relishing the fact that we- the supposed failure class- are a whole lot more than just mere failures," Taurus reasoned. "We proved the rest of those idiots where we really stand. The last party we had was to celebrate the result of our training. This party? To officially celebrate getting ranked second."
"Wasn't the last party to celebrate us showing our first-year peers they were wrong about us?" Sheera questioned, eating an apple.
"And making our marks on the exam?" Kyle added.
"Well, yeah. Those, too," Taurus said. "But really, she needs to lighten up. Be happy with what we did."
"Yeah, and the nobles who look down on us? If they do try something, we can always just pay them back in full," Leroy suggested.
Before I could say anything to at least get those minds out of their heads, another voice spoke before me. "And you say the other nobles were bad? How are you any different in that aspect?"
We were all taken aback by the familiar voice, which echoed all around us, rather than come from one direction.
"Professor?" Austin gasped.
Next thing any of us knew, large vines emerged out of the ground, with some of them swinging at us, in which we all managed to avoid. Once I saw one vine hit the ground, I was baffled to see a crater its size and shape form on the ground. It did not take long for us to huddle together, backs against each other, surrounded by these large vines.
"Azalea, please tell me you're doing this," Hailey pleaded.
"No, this isn't me," Azalea said.
Just as she said that, something else popped out of the ground. That 'something' was a large yellow flower bud, slowly coming to full bloom, revealing Terranium sitting inside.
'Well, now we know what affinity she is...' I thought.
"So you guys were saying something along the lines of how you are prepared for anything, and should be helping me prepare for danger? You poor souls... You have no idea who I am," she said.
I shuddered at the sight of her, especially in the presence of the mana she was releasing, all while casting this spell around us. One look was all anyone would ever need- specifically at how calm she was being- to know how strong our homeroom professor was, what she may be truly capable of.
"W-Wait a second! What's going on here?!" Belle asked.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm doing my job as your homeroom professor," Terranium simply answered. "If my students are showing any sign that they are heading towards the wrong direction, I should steer them back on the right path. Besides, though I have seen videos of your performance during the mock exam, I have not experienced it for myself. How powerful you kids really are. This seems like a good time to do just that."
The second part out of the way, it was the first part that got everyone's attention.
"'Wrong direction'?" Tem repeated.
"What are you talking about?" Mindy demanded.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," Terranium said. "Though none of you had displayed your newborn arrogancy during the assembly, the moment you entered the classroom, away from prying eyes, you all believe yourselves to be untouchable, when the rank this class is at now is what we have for now. Not only that, but there's also your action before the assembly. Back during that barbecue party."
All of us were confused at that part of the scolding.
"Wait, what's wrong with the party?" I asked then.
"It is not necessarily the party that was wrong; it was the reason for it. To have a celebration for a reason as petty as that... If the other nobles are the ones in the wrong, what does that make you?"
"They were the ones looking down on us for so long! The commoners may have been recent, but for those of us who had been living in this very same city as those people?! You mean to tell me we cannot take the moment to celebrate over that?!" Ethan questioned.
"As I had said before, if you despise those people simply because they had been looking down on you all- whether it be due to your status or your reputation- how is how you are acting now any different from them?"
When Terranium put it that way, no one could say anything against her, not even me. I was already aware of how some of us were acting, but thinking back on it, I may as well be the same. For after all, back during the exam, when I was facing off against Edward, I didn't realize it until I saw that video, but when I fought him that time, I didn't fight to stall him; I fought him to get back at him for everything he and... and that household did to me. Although my situation may be different from everyone else's, there was one similarity to them; if I hated my family so much because they look down on me for the magic I used, what would've happened if I had defeated even one member of that family with the very magic they look down upon?
Spiritually speaking, I was the oldest one in this classroom- probably as old as our professor. But my body, and maybe my mentality... They were just thirteen years old, the same as everyone else. As such, though I may be considered an adult here in this world- though I was being mature and claimed that I was over what was done to me by them all those years ago- in truth, I really wanted revenge for what they did, give back the pain that was given to me. Thinking about it that way, if I despise those people for looking down on me for my affinity, and I show off my skills with my magic on them- brutally if I may add- how was I any better than them? How would I be any different from them?
Same could be said for my classmates. I know how they- how we- were often looked down upon by our peers in this academy. I wanted to help prove that they- that we- deserve to be here as much as anyone else, train them to be stronger than anyone else in the academy. But what would that do in the end? Make us stronger? Yes. Prove we're better than anyone assumed us to be? Maybe. Be seen as equals? ... That last one was hard to say. Especially if they act as overly confident and egotistical as they have been the past few hours.
"Be that as it may, at the very least, they will feel the pain they had dealt to us!" Taurus exclaimed. "Crossbreeds out of the way, those human nobles looked down on us for long enough! If we can't take in this moment- if we can't make them feel the pain they made us go through all this time- do you really think anything will change?! If it makes me act like them, then fine! At the very least, it also means we make them act like us. Or what? You think we like to be picked on by those guys?! I don't know about these guys, but I never enjoyed a single bit of it! And if you think it's wrong for us to get even a bit of payback on those people, then you might as well be just like them!"
I widened my eyes at those words, and narrowed them in a glare at the bull crossbreed. "Taurus!"
"Well it's true! She's taking their side. That makes her just as bad! And don't tell me she's only looking out for us! We can take care of ourselves!" he exclaimed.
"So you think you guys are strong enough to remain in second place," Terranium spoke then, just as I was about to continue to scold Taurus.
We all turned to her and saw her bangs had shadowed her eyes.
"Um... Professor Greenwood?" I dared call.
"You think if you continue on the path you guys are on, you will be respected by your peers? That if you continue to grow stronger, rather than respect people as you want to be respected, you rather they fear you, tremble at the sight of you, feel what you once felt before you showed your true worth?" she questioned, the mana around her getting stronger. "If that is truly how you all feel, then very well. How about we make a bet? A sparring session, if you will. All of you against one me. If you kids can manage to defeat me in three hours, I will forget this ever happened, go on with your lessons like normal, and never get myself involved in whatever you do outside of class time. Including whatever you will do to the other nobles. If, on the other hand, the three hours are up and you did not even land a scratch on me, you will do as I say for the remainder of your time here."
No one said a word at this proposal, not even Taurus this time. However, going by the mana she was giving off, something told me she was not just going to go on the defensive, nor was she going to let those neutral or aware about our current ranking off the hook.
"If you all understand, then I suggest you take battle position. Ready... Go!"
- Writer
