Warning: The following content may contain graphic depictions not suitable for some readers, please view at your own discretion. (No, it's not sex.)
Two Day Later:
I put on my school uniform, changed into my Ashen appearance, and put on my inari mask.
I had put on the monocle for the first time yesterday, spending about an hour writhing in pain before the pain finally receded.
I then had to spend another 2-3 hours getting used to having two separate brains to assign tasks, but now, I could effectively truly multitask two things at the same time.
I also had to change the shape of the Inari mask with some magic to fit the monocle underneath and hide it, as it was going to be a part of my Akimitsu appearance, so if it appeared on Ashen, then my two identities would be exposed.
I took my time, leisurely walking to training room 1, as there was still an hour before the appointed time.
'So, let's review.'
'Seven of the ten students are going to be part of the future hero's party. '
'The 8th student, Class 2 Rank 1, Rentt Matheson, son of the captain of the royal guard, becomes the future protector of Elvira Astor and is mostly a character that protects the plot, getting involved at just the perfect moment to save the princess, and in the process, save the protagonist. Specializes in protective Earth spells and offensive Wind spells.'
'Class 3 Rank 1, Marcielle Foyer, second daughter of the wealthiest merchant in Laramil, is the most likely successor to his mogul empire as her siblings are incompetent. Is able to keep rank 1 due to a special artifact that boosts her power the more money she gives it, the backlash is that the effect only lasts for an hour before it consumes all her money forever, and after the hour ends, she'll develop a fear of a random thing for 24 hours.'
'Finally, the Empress, the most powerful of the 3 (SS) ranks in Laramil and a person that can competently wield every single stigma, although she tends to prefer the light and fire stigmas. Background is self explanatory and is expected to die in 3 years. Is essential to my plans, SHE CAN'T DIE!'
Oh, and if you were wondering why some people, including the Empress, knew that she was dying in 3 years, it was due to the fact that all the Empresses had a life span of only 30 years.
This was the particular backlash of the process through which Empresses were born.
This was a completely horrible process that, in my opinion, the author went way to deep in detail into.
First, each Empress gave birth to both a boy and a girl.
At the age of 12, the boy was killed, and put into the "machine" an 8 star artifact.
The girl was then sedated and put into the machine.
The machine would then extract two eggs from the girls body and then fertilize it by taking the boy's sperm whilst using his body as a catalyst for the two babies birth.
As the two babies were born, they would be secluded for 6 years, until the girl was released into the real world for her "commoner training". At the age of twelve, the girl would then go through the same process as her mother, basically having children at that age. They would then enter the L and then they would graduate early when their mother died and would become the new emperor. Then, they would die at the age of 30 and their daughter would take their spot.
I could confirm that this process was still going, as in my memories, Elvira had disappeared for a week when we were 12.
So, she was technically a mother with a 3 year old baby now, something that was really messed up as she was literally only 15 and the baby had been born from a union of her and her brother's genetics.
Well, enough of the weird disgusting stuff, the good thing was that the protagonist was able to find a way to break this, cycle of incest? Well, he succeeded in both killing the Monarch and finding a way to prolong Elvira's life.
I was planning on saving the current Empress in the same way, breaking the cycle before the protagonist, and making "her" owe me a favor, increasing my survivability as I needed "her" powers for a certain scenario.
Back to the present, I had finally reached training center 1, which was at the base of the Western Mountain.
I entered and prepared my lecture materials, as I planned on giving a lesson that the whole class needed to learn today.
Well actually, I had reserved the first Monday of every month for all my students, so that I could teach a new concept to all of them at the same time, before spending the rest of the month individually teaching them personal applications of that concept.
As I finished setting up, I heard the door open and close.
Looking over my shoulder, I saw that all the Class 1 students had waited for each other and had entered together.
My watch said that there was still 5 minutes left until the appointed time, so I ignored them and finished the last little bits of preparation.
At exactly 1 minute before the time, the two valedictorians of Class 2 and Class 3 respectively entered.
They exuded an air of confidence and superiority as they sat themselves far away from the Class 1 students.
Then, at the exact moment that the clock hit the appointed time, the Empress appeared out of thin air.
"Clap! Alright, now that everybody's here, I'll introduce myself. You may all call me Ashen. I am the 13 year old mixed blood Class 1 Rank 1 student that will be teaching you all for the rest of the school year."
"So, I would like to welcome all ya'll to An Introduction to Fighting Demonic Humans."