It was the first day of the new school year and the campus of the Crystal Academy was filled with students and professors alike. The professors and a few of the older students guided the newer students into a large courtyard near the center of the campus, where chairs were set up in rows of 10 seats each in front of a stage and podium. The students began to take their seats, often sitting near their friends or people they already knew.
At the entrance to the courtyard, a crowd had gathered around two figures. One was a tall male with blonde hair and pointed ears, marking him as an elf. He held a noble air and was glaring quite angrily. In front of him stood the target of his anger, a slim figure with black hair and amber eyes. What caught a lot of attention though, was the large white hawk with bright red eyes that was perched on the figure's arm.
The figure was of course Kyōi, and the white hawk was xeir new friend, Albert, in his true form. He had asked Kyōi if he could remain with xem since he had nowhere else to go in the city. Kyōi had asked via a letter, and the mysterious headmaster of the academy had agreed to allow Albert to accompany xem to the school, as long as he remained in his true form while in the presence of other people.
The reason for the elven male's anger was of no fault of Kyōi or Albert. The elf had purposely bumped into the raven-haired avian, before trying to berate xem and flaunt his rank. "How dare you walk into me and not apologize! Do you know who I am? I am Luke Stormcrest! One word from me and you could be arrested for harming a noble! A commoner like you should know your place! And what's with the little bird? This isn't a zoo."
Albert glared at the elf boy, clearly displeased at being referred to so disdainfully, but could say nothing about it without revealing his status as an Avian. Kyōi ignored the elf's rank since it made no difference to xem. "This bird is my companion, a Thunder Hawk." Xey refused to apologize since nothing was xeir fault.
Technically, xey weren't lying. Albert had told xem that he had a rare affinity for lightning mana, so technically he could be called as such. True Thunder Hawks though, were a species of bird-like beasts that were capable of moving at lightning-fast speeds. They had feathers that ranged from yellow to white, so normal adventurers would believe it possible that Albert was a mere Thunder Hawk.
Just as Kyōi was about to use one of xeir skills to show that xey weren't just a pushover, a professor appeared between the two. The professor was the mage instructor from the entrance exams and Kyōi could easily recognize him, but failed to recall his name, or if he ever even said it. The professor smiled and nodded politely towards the elf before speaking. "Is there a problem here young Luke?"
The elf gestured towards Kyōi angrily, contempt audible in each of his words. "Yes. This commoner boy walked into me and is refusing to apologize." The professor immediately turned towards Kyōi without bothering to ask for xeir input, his tone was also filled with contempt. "Well, what are you waiting for? Apologize immediately!"
Kyōi's eyes narrowed and xey responded sarcastically, "I apologize and pray to the gods that they grant you the grace to avoid walking into others." Xey immediately walked off to go find a seat, leaving behind the offended elf and mage instructor.
Kyōi chose a seat towards the back of the courtyard. Since xey had good eyesight, xey didn't need to be close to the stage to see it clearly. Albert took off to move to a perch on a nearby rooftop, allowing xem to rest xeir arm. After all, Albert's true form was by no means small. This meant he was heavy, which caused xeir arm to become tired quite quickly.
Once all the students had taken a seat, an old man who introduced himself as the vice headmaster of the school approached the podium. His voice was loud and clear, enhanced by the microphone attached to the podium. He began a typical school speech, one that was almost identical to the speech given by the principal of the university in Kyōi's previous life, though the headmaster's speech had less about studying and more about magic and training. Kyōi tuned the speech out and instead took a look at the newest feature of the system.
[Species Points Shop]
[Species Points: 15]
[A shop that can unlock new skills based on the user's species. Available skills will be refreshed every day that one or more skills is bought.]
[Active Skill: Cry for Help]
[^This skill activates a distress beacon. The beacon can be set to be sent to others of the same species that are classified as 'allies' or a specific target. 15 Points]
[Passive Skill: Immortal Flame]
[Temporarily causes the user to become invincible when hit by any fatal damage or instant-kill skills. Reduces current HP by 50% once invincible state ends. 25 Points]
[Passive Skill: Flock Telepathy]
[^Unlocks a form of mental communication that allows members of the user's flock to communicate silently and instantly. 30 Points]
The skills currently available in the Species Points Shop were fairly useful, but they seemed to be pretty expensive, since Kyōi had no idea how to get more of the points, besides quests. As if reading xeir mind, the system answered the unspoken question.
[Species Points can be obtained by completing quests such as [Birds of a Feather I] or completing tasks that would help save various species from extinction.]
"And what kind of tasks do you mean by that system?" Xey mumbled under xeir breath so the other students and teachers couldn't hear xeir words.
[Tasks to help save various species from extinction include: Preventing the premature death of a member of an endangered species; Uniting the scattered Avian flocks from all over the world; Creating an area(s) that acts as a sanctuary for endangered species; Rescuing captive endangered species from becoming pets or slaves; Etc.]
"So I'm supposed to stop the extinction of a bunch of species? Is that the entire purpose of the system?"
[Yes.]
Kyōi sighed inaudibly, but mentally accepted xeir fate. As long as it didn't interfere with xeir life as an adventurer or require xem to kill innocents, xey didn't really care what quests the system assigned and would accept all of them.