Taizhou Academy's prestige is known throughout the whole of the Eastern continent. But it wasn't always like this. A few hundred years ago, the academy was ostracized for its unorthodox means of combining Eastern and Western martial arts.
Qi and Mana, Magic and the mystic arts combined to develop techniques that would otherwise be impossible.
Their prestige was even more elevated when Cortana, a western hero, defeated the Evil Monarch almost 5 years ago now.
And no one was as proud of this fact as the academy's most loyal teacher, Senior Professor Hamburgdole.
Professor Hamburgdole was born and bred in Taizhou. Yes, he is not a westerner. He was so fascinated by the western culture ever since he was young that he decided to change his name.
Hamburgdole is on his way to the elite class as he was tasked to be their homeroom and history teacher, and this was supposed to be his first day meeting the academy's future talents.
He wasn't the most talented nor the most powerful teacher in the academy. But still, he was the most suited one to teach the basics to the elite class. Afterall, he was well-versed in both the western and eastern arts.
As he was approaching the classroom, he couldn't help but notice a frantic noise coming from it.
He rushed in panic as he was worried that something bad might have happened to his young new students.
He opened the door, and lo and behold- the elite class. Children flailing around like monkeys. Crying, begging, and calling for their moms.
Lo and behold, the academy's prestige.
Hamburgdole quickly noticed the instigator of this messy situation- a small, menacing, cackling golden haired boy.
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"HAHAHA! RUN! RUN FOOLISH MORTALS!", Viel was still at it. He couldn't let go of this sweet oppurtunity to shock and startle people.
"I AM THE BRINGER OF DE-"
"What is this madness!?", a commanding voice immediately resounded in the room.
All the chidren who were panicking looked over to the direction of the voice. Their scared expressions turned to smiling as a presence of an adult can finally be felt.
They immediately ran towards Professor Hamburgdole and hugged him.
"P-please sir! Please save us!"
"Mommy... please call mommy!"
"I wanna go home!"
Hamburgdole was bombarded by the cries of children. He quickly looked at Viel, the instigator of this whole madness, and told him to explain what was going on. In which Viel replied-
"I...it wasn't me!", Viel quickly looked around in panic as his eyes settled on an isolated girl.
"It was her!"
"W-what!? N..no!", the girl instantly denied. The girl Viel pointed at was no other than Violet.
"Enough! I know exactly who is at fault here! You are all dismissed! Our lessons will start tomorrow. I expect all of you to gather your wits and act accordingly as the academy's elite class!", Hamburgdole quickly reprimanded the whole class.
"And you!"
"Y-y-yes sir, professor sir!?", Viel saluted as Hamburgdole pointed at him in a scolding manner.
"If anything like this happens again tomorrow, I will have you suspended"
"N...no sir! It will not happen again sir, I will make sure to watch over this girl sir!", Viel grabbed Violet by the shoulders, still implicating that she was the cause for all this disturbance.
"W-what!?", Violet quickly slapped Viel's hands as she defended herself to the teacher.
"Psst. Just play along, I will give you this candy after. hehe, eh, what do you think, miss", Viel whispered into Violet's ears as he secretly showed her a bag of candies.
"Y-you!"
"Enough! The lot of you go home now!", Senior Professor Hamburgdole once again commanded as the children watch him exit the classroom.
One by one, the rest of the students also left. The only children remaining in the classroom were the top scorers of the entrance exam, excluding Xiao Pei, as he already went home before even entering the class.
Only Diao Mei, Wei Song, Violet, and of course Viel were left inside.
"Phew, that was close. Here you go, friend", Viel had a wide grin on his face as he slowly gave something to Violet.
"F-friend!? W-who said I was your friend!?", Violet quickly harrumphed the other way. But, as she accidentally glanced at the seemingly delicious looking candy at Viel's hand, it made her resolve waver.
"F-fine! But you still owe me!", Violet quickly grabbed the piece of candy on Viel's hands.
"Yay! First female friend, get! Hehe, Grandpa Ling will be proud", Viel placed his hands on his mouth as he chuckled in a cute manner. "My name is Viel, what is yours?"
"M-my name is Violet. Grandpa Ling?", Violet curiously asked.
"Yes, my Grandpa Ling said that I should befriend a lot of girls once I get in to the academy. He said it will give me the chance to have many wives when I grow up, hehe.", if Grandma Ling heard what Viel just said, she would surely beat the hell out of Grandpa Ling.
"W-w-wife!?", Violet covered her mouth as she coughed and almost swallowed the candy whole.
"I-is that true!?", suddenly, another female voice can be heard.
"Ah! Miss Mei!", Viel quickly acknowledged the source of the voice.
Diao Mei stood up as she looked at Viel with eyes ablazed.
"C-can I also have a...a..a candy!?", the always serious and always quiet Diao Mei shyly but resolutely approached Viel.
"Hm... of course! Now you're my 2nd female friend!", Viel unhesitantly handed him a candy as he quickly did a victory pose for getting another female friend.
Diao Mei nodded as she looked at Violet with fierce eyes.
"E..eh?", Violet didn't know how to react to Diao Mei's seemingly taunting gaze.
Of course, Viel, our young playboy, was oblivious of the situation as he approached the remaining existence in the room.
Viel slowly approached Wei Song and placed a candy on his table.
"With this, we are also friends, my exploding brother!"
Wei Song did not react as he just stared at Viel in a blankly manner. Viel didn't seem to mind as he just shrugged and returned to the two girls.
"So where are we off to, new fri-", before Viel could finish his sentence, he perked up and looked at an empty direction with a serious expression.
"V-viel?"
"What's wrong?", the two girls were surprised at this sudden change of attitude.
"It seems that we have to put our adventure on hold.", Viel said as he slowly vanished into thin air, without even a slight of warning.
"V-viel!? Where where did he go!?", Violet couldn't believe what just happened. Viel was just in front of them and suddenly, he was not.
"Viel!? Where are yo-", Diao Mei couldn't finish her sentence before a beautiful woman barged in to the classroom.
"Viel boy, I brought you some sweets", Elder Xing Cai aggresively entered the room as she waved a bag of sweets.
"Eh, where's all the kids?", Xing Cai twitched her face as she glanced at the 3 remaining people in the room.
"You, Diao's girl, did you see where the golden haired boy go?"
"Y-yes ma'am! He... he disappeared", Diao Mei stood up straight as she answered Xing Cai's question.
"Disappeared? Whatta you mean, girl?"
"He was here... but he suddenly vanished"
"!!!"
'Invisibility? No, if it was I could still sense him... could it be... Teleportation!? Impossible!', Xing Cai knitted her eyebrows. 'But if it was... I must let the matriarch know!'
"Okay, keep up the good work. You can have this", Elder Xing Cai handed the bag of candies to Diao Mei before she hurriedly left.
"Uuh..", both of the little girls were confused. Everything is happening so fast that they couldn't make sense of it. Will this be their life from now on if they stick with Viel?
With this thought, both the girls smiled and lightly chuckled, before Diao Mei once again looked at Violet in an intense manner.
They continued like this for a few seconds before deciding to finally leave the classroom.
Now the once lively classroom is empty, or is it?
"H-have all of them finally left!?", Wei Song searched the whole classroom nervously.
Yes, Wei Song still hasn't budged since the start of the whole fiasco. And the reason for this is...
He wet his pants.
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"Headmaster Fu, please reconsider! This boy is nothing but trouble!"
On top of the Taizhou Academy building, Professor Hamburgdole can be seen talking to an old man with a mustache.
"We should not have accepted him in the first place. The Golden Pavillion Elder seemed to be resolute in having the boy in her sect. Just give him to them! Please, Headmaster!"
"Hamburgdole, old friend", the headmaster massaged his mustache, "There is a saying, one must always be wary of a young one's parents, for they might be dragons lurking in the shadows. Do you know what this means?"
"Headmaster?"
"The boy has strange powers. I am sure, without a doubt, that there is an unfathomable master behind him. They might not take kindly to us expelling their protege. So tell me, what would you have me do, Hamburgdole?", the Headmaster looked at the window as he gave his sound reasoning.
"But Headmaster... we must find a way to control the boy! If not, it will hinder the other student's progress. The little boy is clearly a prankster!"
"I know, I know our predicament, friend. But if we do something, what happens if the boy's master gets offended? Do we fight!?"
"T-that's not..."
"I might be able to survive, but what happens to the city!? It will be eradicated! No, that must not happen... not on my watch", the Headmaster placed his palms on the window as his face was full of resolve.
"H-headmaster!", Hamburgdole was filled with admiration towards the Headmaster's speech.
"That is why...", the Headmaster slowly turned and placed his hands on Hamburgdole's shoulder.
"It is your responsibility now... I will retire", the Headmaster said with a stoic expression.
"..."
"...what?"