Chereads / Hidden Among Monsters / Chapter 2 - Ramson Academy

Chapter 2 - Ramson Academy

"Ahh!" Kio screams as he finds himself holding onto a tree, far off from the ground. Looking around, he notices that he is back on earth, and currently stuck in a tree that is a few meters into a forest.

'What da hell!' Kio thinks as he reaches out for a branch that is close to him, so he can begin to make his way down to the ground. 'Where did Willa send me, and why so soon? I wasn't done asking questions,'

"What questions do you still have?" Willa's voice asks as it pops into Kio's head, slightly startling him. Looking around, Kio quickly makes his way down the tree to firmly plants his feet on the ground before answering.

'I see we can communicate through my head, that's helpful, but will you always be able to hear what I'm thinking?' Kio asks as he sits down on the ground, waiting until he has all the answers he needs before doing anything else.

"Of course not, all you have to do is block me out, was that all the questions you had for me?" Willa asks back, seeming impatient to get going.

'No, I was also hoping you could tell me who my targets were, and how I'm supposed to go to the school. I mean, I didn't even have a human body until a few minutes ago,' Kio says.

"Oh, that's simple. I know someone who works at that school and had her create an account for you. She doesn't know much about you and thinks that you're my nephew who came to live with me for a while. Since the school is a coed boarding school, you will be living there until your mission is complete. Also, the list of people you must take care of our already ingrained in your mind. Whenever you look at someone, you will be able to see a red flag above them if they need to be taken out. The flags will also show you what powers you will receive once you have taken them out, but not what powers they have. You should be careful to choose who to take out first, as it may have an impact on your future missions. Things as how popular they are in the class, what powers they have, and their physical capabilities are all important things you should take note of,' Willa says as Kio listens closely to everything she tells him.

'Got it, also I was wondering about my fighting capabilities. I never learned how to fight, so I may be at a disadvantage when it comes down to it. What should I do then?' Kio asks, wondering how he is supposed to take out kids who have been using their bodies since birth, as well as their new powers.

"Well, for the most part, they shouldn't know how to use their powers too well yet, and you would be surprised how many people don't train their bodies. Even if some of the students have been sixteen for a couple of months, they aren't allowed to use their powers freely until they have completed two years at the academy. So you should be at pretty much the same starting point as they are, but it will become more difficult as time passes because the academy teaches their students how to use their powers properly. The more students you take out at the beginning, the easier the rest of the year will be for you. I have to go now, if you have any more questions, figure it out yourself. The academy will be right in front of you when you leave the forest, and you should follow the students into the auditorium to figure out what class you're in. Goodbye now. Have a good first day," Willa says before going quiet. Kio tries to bring her back to ask a few more questions that he had, but she doesn't respond to his calls.

"I guess I should leave the forest now," Kio says as he walks out from the trees and looks around. In front of him is a large white building, with a slanted glass wall on the front. Plastered on the glass is a large image of a rams head, with two icy horns and flames shooting from its mouth. Walking towards the building are students, some of which are grouped together, and others walking alone. . Looking around, Kio notices that a few of the students have red flags above their heads, which causes a slight burst of rage to build up in his chest before he calms it back down. Sighing, Kio joins the students and heads towards the doors at the front of the building.

"Identification?" Asks a man, standing at the doors and checking the students before they can enter. Since the school doesn't enforce a dress code, students must have their ID card them at all times.

Stopping in front of the man, Kio reaches into his pocket and pulls out the ID card that Willa had given him. Glancing at the front before handing it over, Kio turns red at the last name Willa had chosen for him.

"Ah, so your name is Kio Goldenrod... Um, go ahead and enter," The guard says as he tries not to laugh. Lowering his head, Kio walks past the guard and goes through the door,

'Dang it, Willa. Goldenrod? Really?' Kio thinks as he looks around to see where the other students are headed.

"All first years, please come this way. You will be sent into the auditorium to learn about the academy, and what class you will be placed in," A young woman calls out, as she holds open a door that leads to a dark auditorium. Following the other students, Kio walks into the auditorium and finds a seat that is in the middle. Sitting down, Kio looks around and marks out the students that have a red flag above their head.

"Hey, do you mind if I sit here?" Someone asks, standing next to Kio and pointing at the seat that is to his left. Turning his head, Kio notices that the boy is quite lean, with curly brown hair that lightly covers his brown eyes and tanned face. Looking above his head, Kio notices that the boy doesn't have a red flag above his head, and shrugs his shoulders.

"I don't mind if you sit here," Kio says as the boy sits down happily, before turning to reach out his hand to Kio.

"Hi, my name is Toby, and my power is cloning. What about you?" Toby asks as Kio hesitantly shakes his hand.

"My name is Kio, and I can..." Kio trails off as he thinks about what power to tell others he has. If he says he can turn invisible, then people might wonder where he was when bodies begin to appear, but on the other hand, if he says he can create spike, then people might connect the wounds on the bodies to him. In the end, Kio decides that hiding the fact that he has spikes will make it easier to cover his tracks. "Camflauge my body to match my surroundings," Kio finishes saying as he demonstrates his power by blending in with the chair behind him.

"Oh wow, that's pretty cool. I hope we get placed in the same class, so we can hang out more," Toby says as Kio quickly reappears before anyone notices. At that moment, the lights in the auditorium dim, and a middle-aged man with a sword on his back walks out onto the stage.

"Hello, welcome to Ramson Academy, my name is John Talon and I am the president of the Academy. Today I will be telling you what classes you are in, and what to expect from them. I will also tell you about how things work, as you are all first years, and this is your first time here. If you have any questions during my speech, please wait until it is over to ask them," The man says as a white screen lowers behind him and pictures of previous students begin to appear on it. "Now then, starting off will be the classes. You will be put into classes of thirty students each, and with students that have different powers than your own. This will be because at the end of the year there will be an exam that pits the classes against each other and test you to see how well you know your classmates. This will also teach you how to work with people who have powers that are different than your own, and how to best utilize your own power in any given situation,"

John continues to talk about the classes and what students should expect from them for the next hour before a young lady walks out onto the stage with a stack of papers in her hand.

"We will now pass out the class that you will be placed in. It has a map on the back of it that shows where your classroom will be, and how to get to it," John says as the lady throws all the papers up into the air. As the papers begin to fall to the floor a large gust of wind swooshes into the room and collects the papers before flying them around the room and into the hands of the students. Looking down at the paper in his hands, Kio sees a large S-1 written on it. Glancing over at Toby's paper, Kio sees the same thing written on his.

"Haha, I guess we will be in the same class after all," Toby says as he sees Kio's paper and smiles happily. "You know, I heard there were around a thousand students this year, so they had to go all the way up to room G-2 to fit them all in. But it makes sense, considering Ramson Academy is one of the best Academies in the country," Toby says as he turns the paper over and looks at the map on the back. Kio also looks at his map and begins to pinpoint areas that would be best for taking care of business.

"Since you all have your maps, you can go ahead and head to your classes now. By the way, each class has exactly fifteen boys and girls in it, and the classes also have dormitories connected to them. Since it is your first year here, you will not be allowed to leave the campus yet, but there will be three meals a day provided in the cafeteria," John says before walking off the stage and allowing the students to go about their business.

Getting up, Kio and Toby head outside to find the building they needed. Since the Academy taught the students for the next four years, there were also four buildings for them. Each building was large enough to hold all the students and allow them to do different things inside them as well, but the last two buildings were a bit smaller because students could decide not to continue with power training after they turn eighteen. However, if they did that, then the students wouldn't be allowed to use their powers as freely as those who did finish all four years.

"I think this is it," Toby says as he looks up from his map and points at the red building in front of them. The red building had a large 1 on the front of it and multiple windows that allowed light to shine inside. Walking up to the building, Kio follows Toby inside as they look around to see where their class is. After searching the building for an hour, the two of them discover that they are lost.

"Alright, we passed the cafeteria, pool, gymnasium, garden, and multiple club rooms, but we still can't find the part of the building that leads to the classrooms. What are we missing here?" Toby asks as he looks around the library they were currently in.

"Have you guys checked upstairs yet?" A young female voice asks from behind Kio.