"As you already know, there has been a massive dropout for both Classes Beta and Charlie for the past three days due to the incident that happened." The class murmured among themselves as Westeria explained the situation. They are in their classroom. "Therefore, the other classes took the massive class promotion exam to fill out the vacant seats. There are a few students from Class Beta and Class Charlie who didn't drop out and requested to transfer to our class instead."
"And right after the first-class promotion exam before that. Sheesh." Fred muttered, then looked at Ryan. "No offence, Ryan."
"I-I'm fine," Ryan answered. He almost filed a dropout letter to the principal but changed his mind after what happened a week ago, prompting him to remain in the academy. "I feel sorry for the other students, though."
"Um, sir?" Sephiram raised in hand that caught their professor's attention. "I heard that demi-humans will be attending this school starting today. Is this true?"
Westeria put his hand on his chin, thinking before answering. "Seems you heard a lot, Davis. That is correct. There will be demi-humans, or rather Beast tribes, with a few faeries and elves will be transferred to this class from the west branch. You all heard about it, right?" again, the entire class murmured.
"Beast tribes?" Anissa wondered but her face was worn with worry. Hope that she heard was wrong. "Don't tell me-"
"Don't worry, they are the semi-primal beast tribes. They won't bite. " Misty reassured her.
"Semi-primal beast? Are they different from the Primal Beast?"
"The Semi-primal beast is a beast tribe that is pacifist in nature, but they put up a fight if necessary," Misty explained. "Their appearance is like us humans, but they have animal tails and ears, depending on their species."
"But Anissa dear," Nadeshiko chimed in. "you mentioned about the Primal Beast, right?" Anissa nodded in reply.
"I recommend not to mention those in front of the Semi-primal Beast," Nadeshiko warned. "Or to any demi-humans on this matter."
"Wait, is there something wrong?" Anissa asked. "And before you guys begin to worry, don't worry. I never encountered any of those anyway. Just from the rumours back in the mainland."
"Ms. Davis, seems like your brother didn't tell you about them." The three girls jolted as Westeria was standing in front of them, in fact, in front of Anissa's seat, with a 'we're so sorry, sir!' coming from Nadeshiko and Misty. "But since that is an interesting topic you are discussing," he looked at the class, smiling. "I decided to give you a quick lesson before your new classmates arrive."
He went back to the blackboard and faced the entire class. "Has any of you know about the Thousand Year War?"
"Is that the war between the humans and beast that took place four hundred years ago?" Carol asked.
"Yes. It is called the Thousand Year War because the war between the humans, led by the Royal Family, and the Primal Beast, led by the one who called the Beast Lord, has been warring throughout the centuries." Westeria explained as he took a chalk and wrote the topic on the blackboard. "The Beast tribe has been declaring war on the humans for the land's dominance for centuries. The beast tribe took every method necessary to win, even using other demi-human races for their gains.
"Even though they are fighting against the humans, there are some of the beast tribes who are opposed to the war and they rebelled against the Beast Lord by siding themselves with the humans. They are the Semi-primal beasts, who are pacifist in nature but due to the abuse that the Primal beast inflicted on them, they fight back. Because of the revolt of the semi-beast as well as other demi-human races, the war ended when the Crown Prince slayed the Beast Lord when he realized that his pawns were against him. As punishment, the King decreed that all Primal Beasts must be slaughtered, and the Semi-primal Beast would be the new Beast tribe as a reward for their bravery.
"When the Vampire God descended a hundred years later after the war, the demi-humans including the new beast tribes, evacuated into this land alongside with the humans and living among us up to this day as a gratitude to the Royal Family for sparing them. Although there are some discriminations between them and the humans, the relationship between the two races is peaceful for all of us are now hunted by the Vampire God. Ms Davis, you knew about this from the mainland, right?" Anissa shook her head in reply.
"I see," Westeria said. "The Primal Beast are now extinct, and they are forbidden to be mentioned by the demi-human races because of the memories during the war. So, I'm sure that all of you must understand their feelings about this topic. Any questions?"
"None, sir." Everyone answered.
Just then, a knock on the door resounded throughout the room and Westeria looked at the door. "Good timing. Your new classmates have arrived. Come in."
The door opens as Ciel and Cassidy enter the room with a woman with long, wavy blond hair with ringlets on each side of her hair with them. "These two," Westeria introduced, his hand waving towards Ciel and Cassidy. "Are Ciel Sirius and Cassidy Hathaway from Class Beta. They are the only ones from their former class who didn't drop out. Ciel is one of the top two students along with Ryan who took the class promotion exam a week ago before the incident. And this," his hand waved further towards the blond woman. "Is Ingrid Leblou from Class Charlie. She is the only one in her class who didn't participate in the Team Battle exam last week due to family reasons. She requested to be transferred here herself due to, well, it's up to you students to find out."
"Cassidy Hathaway from Class Beta, nice to meet you." Cassidy was introduced to the whole class.
"Ciel Sirius, formerly from Class Delta and now former Class Beta briefly. Nice to meet you."
"Ingrid Leblou, from Class Charlie. Hope to make your acquaintances."
"And that's for our new students from both Class Beta and Charlie," Westeria concluded for the three new students. As he heard some footsteps outside the classroom, he added: "And now for your new demi-human classmates, please come in."
Seven individuals entered the room, their appearance amazed the entire class, even the three students who were still standing in front of the class looked at them with awe.
The first person who enters the room is a male semi-beast with the ears and tails of a white tiger. He is wearing the academy uniform under his red coat with white fur. His unruly short silver hair equally matched his ears, had sharp grey eyes and a handsome face. He is carrying a crane with a green gem embedded in its handle.
The second person entered next to the white-haired semi-primal beast is a female semi-beast with the ears of a brown rabbit. She is wearing the academy uniform underneath her long black hooded jacket. She is wearing white sneakers and her black socks are high above her knee. Her brown hair is fashioned in a single braid and her big red eyes are shimmering with excitement.
The third person entered next to the female semi-primal beast is a large male semi-primal beast with the ears of a brown bear. He is wearing the academy uniform, but his white blouse is unbuttoned by two, showing his chest. Unlike the other two who are buttoned with their blazers, he wears his blazer like a jacket and its necktie is only hanging on his shoulders. He is masculinity handsome with equally brown eyes and hair. Upon seeing the big semi-primal beast, Lena only quivered in fear and began to slowly sink under the table to hide. Nobody noticed her, anyway.
The fourth and fifth individuals are a pair of twin faeries; one male and one female, with short platinum blond hair and short pointy ears hidden underneath their hair. They have rose patterned markings on one side of their face starting beneath their sapphire eyes (left on the girl, right on the male) and they are ethereally beautiful. They are wearing the academy uniform, but the girl is wearing knee-high sandals that cover her legs.
The sixth person who entered next to the twins was an elf with long white hair and his long pointy ear was shown between his hair. He wears a golden circle around his forehead and has calm golden eyes. He is wearing a white scarf wrapped around his academy uniform. Like the faeries, he is also ethereally beautiful.
And lastly, a woman with folded wings that resembled that of a swan entered the room. Her almost floor-length, wavy blond hair is swaying as she walks towards the group. She is unearthly beautiful with green eyes. She is wearing the academy uniform but unlike the other girls, her skirt resembles a dress that covers her entire feet. The males were mesmerized by her beauty.
Sephiram looked at the ten individuals in awe when he felt a sharp pain in his head. He clutched his head in one hand, one eye twitching in pain as memories began to flash in his mind, that he had seen these individuals before. The pain quickly went away a moment after the images flashed on his head. No one in his class noticed him in pain.
The silver-haired semi-primal beast noticed that one of his new classmates clutched his head in pain, only to be okay a moment later. He wanted to speak when Westeria introduced them to the class. "These seven demi-humans are from the west branch of the academy that passed the school transfer exam a week ago. They are now your new classmates along with the three class transferees starting today."
"My name is Serena Titania. An Aegir. A pleasure to meet you." The winged woman said in a pleasant voice.
"Legos Nicola. An elf. A pleasure." The elf saluted.
"Faustus and Flora Ymir." The male faerie introduced himself. "Make a move on my sister and you're dead meat."
"Brother!" Flora chastised her twin. "Don't mind him. Let us work together." She said with a smile.
"Hi!" The brown-haired rabbit waved her hands in excitement. "Name's Chloe Safara, a rabbit Semi-primal beast. Hope we are friends!"
"Hercule Titus is the name." the large semi-primal beast introduced, pointing to himself. "A bear semi-primal beast. Hope that my little half-sister didn't give you any trouble!"
"Wait, little sister?" The entire class looked at Lena, who was now hiding under the table in shock.
"You're a semi beast?" Leon added.
"I'm a half-semi-primal beast, all right!" Lena admitted, pouting. "My mommy's a full-blooded human and I'm fully human in appearance. And besides," she stands up and points her finger at the silver-haired semi-primal beast. "What on earth is Lord Krishna doing here?!"
"Wait, Krishna?" Mark asked then his face realized where he heard that name from. "You mean one of THE Krishnas?"
"Wait, is he famous?" Anissa asked. She is now confused.
"Krishna is a hero of the Semi-primal beast tribe. His descendants are here in Libertas!" Mark explained.
"And his heirs are named after him," Marcus added. "Their clan is one of the most important figures here in Libertas. They are super rich!"
"Still hasn't changed, Lena," Krishna said in his smooth baritone voice. "Hercule, rein your sister in if you have time." He told Hercule.
"Yo, you know Lena, she's a bear cub with claws." Hercule stepped back. "She is more feral if she's reined further."
"Whatever," Krishna smirked then changed to his serious expression as he walked towards the class, handing his cane over to a surprised Chloe, who only held it.
"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Krishna only passed through, ignoring Lena's outburst. He stopped in front of Sephiram's desk as the former was still adjusting to make the pain in his head go away.
Sephiram jolted as a hand slammed on his desk. He looked up who was in front of him and came face to face with Krishna, face leaning towards him.
"The name's Krishna Sliversnow XV." He introduced himself to Sephiram. "I hope we can be friends."
Sephiram doesn't know how to respond as the man in front of him leans closer to his face. Instead, he shouted out of nowhere:
"You're too close, bro!"
*
"I'm sorry for what Lord Krishna did to you, Sephy." Lena apologized as she munched her lunch in the gloom. The fourteen of them are in the rooftop garden for lunch. "I never knew that guy had an interest in you."
"I'm fine." Sephiram accepted her apology. "You guys seem to know each other. Did you live in the West district, Lena?"
"Uh-huh, bewore mommy and I leawing thew west distrwict to liwe withw gwanny." Lena said while chewing her food.
"Wow, I never knew that Lena is acquainted with the future leader of the Demi-humans," Ian said in awe.
"The Sliversnow Clan is one of the most important clans in Libertas," Sasha explained to them. "They are the ones who maintain the peace and order of the West District. All the citizens living in that district have faith in that clan."
"They also have a seat in the government," Leon added. "They maintained the relationship between humans and demi-humans as peacefully as possible."
"The demi-humans don't exist in the mainland, right Anissa?" Misty asked Anissa.
"Yes," Anissa answered, setting down her fork. "Any demi-humans' presence is immediately executed by the vampires because they are considered as a threat."
"I'm so sorry for them." Nadeshiko's voice was filled with pity. "But why did you mention about the Primal Beast earlier, Annie?"
"Yeah, we forgot to ask because Sir Westeria gave us a boring quick lesson about the Thousand-Year War." Fred chimed in.
Anissa looked down as she thought if she would tell this information to them or not. This is the only information that she didn't tell the government because this will affect the relationship between humans and demi-humans. Now that they had demi-human classmates with them, she had no choice but to tell everyone. She looks up at them with a serious expression. "It's because before Big Brother Augustus found me and left the mainland," she said in a shaking voice. "I heard some rumors that there are some survivors of the Primal Beast tribe roaming in the mainland."
Silence filled the air as the group didn't move an inch from what they heard. They have a grim expression on their faces as they process this new information in their minds. They knew that this information would bring bad news for the demi-humans, for there are some of their abusers who survived the Thousand Year War.
"That spells bad news to the demi-humans, Annie." Mark breaks the silence.
"Why didn't you tell this to the government sooner?" Sephiram asked in a worried voice.
"I fear that this will affect the relationship between the humans and demi-humans." Anissa reasoned. "Plus, I'm not so sure if this rumor is true or not."
"What should you do, then?" Mina asked. "I think telling this to the government is the best solution for this?"
"B-but Annie said that this affects the relationship of the two parties." Ryan retorted.
"We should keep this information a secret for now," Sasha suggested to the group. "As Anissa said, this rumor needs some validation. We can't jump to conclusions so hastily whether this is true or not. Since the government is too focused on the Vampire God, they will ignore and overlook this new information at hand."
*
A dim light was illuminated in a very dark room. There are four pillars surrounding the center of the room, with chains entwined around each pillar. At the center of the room surrounded by the chains connected to the pillars is a large obsidian crystal with a size fitting for a human which is imbued with magic incantations. Said incantations began to diminish but a hand reached out far from the incantations, basking it into a glow. The incantations returned to their original glow as it illuminated along with the dim light.
The Vampire God put down his hand as he observed the crystal. He finished strengthening the spell surrounding the crystal and when he saw that it was working well, he looked at its condition longer.
Footsteps echo throughout the room, and they stop when they see the Vampire God's presence.
"My Lordship, now and forevermore." The voice spoke in reverence to the Vampire God. "I bear some good news in your presence."
"Did the last of those savages have been eliminated?" The Vampire God asked without turning his head to see who was talking to him.
"The last batch of them has been dealt with." The voice replied in confidence. "As of this day, the demi-humans are no more."
"Don't be so sure." The Vampire God spoke with a hint of irate and warning in his voice. "There are some of the surviving Primal Beasts scattered throughout the mainland. I want them gone before they can regroup and take their vengeance."
"Yes, My Lordship. We will be sure that this will be dealt with." The voice answered with respect.
Silence filled the room for a few seconds until the Vampire God spoke again. "How's the situation on that isolated island?"
"The mine operation in the isolated island is going smoothly." The voice answered. "We will still wait for General Piers' update."
"Make sure that no one will know about the island. That island served as a punishment to those who disobeyed me and to those rebels who defied my orders."
"Yes, My Lordship." The voice vanished after he said the words.
The Vampire God looked at the pillar one last time before he decided to turn back and leave the room. Before leaving entirely, he said these words.
"Weakening the spell will not set you free after four centuries. Stay inside the crystal and rot, Beast Lord."