"Amara?! What are you doing here?!"
Kaito's voice came out almost squeaky, like a choked cry. In the infirmary with its resting beds and a yellow lamp to light the place, Opame and Bairon were confused by that woman and Kaito's reaction.
"Wait a minute, do you know this woman, Kaito?" asked Opame.
"Geez... what a beauty.... I mean... who is she, Kaito?" amended Bairon.
Amara walked past Kaito, briefly stroking his hair, and went straight to the bed where Bairon was lying. Without saying anything she looked at the boy for a brief moment and positioned her hands on him, emanating a strong, solid healing aura that closed his wounds.
"My little Kaikai and I are acquaintances from a long time. From the time he still had charming black hair and stood around cleaning glasses."
"It was in a bar! I mean... I didn't go to the bar, I worked there to earn money!
"But aren't your parents rich? What did you need money for?" asked Bairon with his eyes somewhat locked on his new caretaker's face.
"Just because my parents have money doesn't mean I can't work. I did it to get some change.
The woman finished healing Bairon and walked over to Kaito, looking at him closely as if examining him from top to bottom.
"You've grown in these months...and you seem stronger...ah, forget what I said about the black hair, because this is much better now! You'll be a hit with the girls!"
Amara's gaze shifted to Opame, who blushed and quickly denied taking a step back.
"Me and that white boy ain't got nothing! I don't even know him well!"
"So... you're going to make a hit with the boys, Kaikai?" Amara's gaze went from Kaito to Bairon.
"I don't want to be a hit with anyone! I just want to study and train the best I can. If I get strong I'll show the world that people like me can go far."
Amara arched her eyebrows, shook her head and walked past him, going to sit in her swivel chair on the other side and grabbing a lollipop from her pocket.
"My little Kay and your beloved friends, take a look around."
"What's to look at?" asked Kaito.
"Just look!" reinforced the cleric.
The three looked around and soon turned to the woman.
"Okay, good, we looked. What's up?" asked Opame.
"Tell me, what do you see? Don't you see that I'm trying to teach you a moral lesson here? Work with me!"
"A dark room?" tried Bairon.
"A hidden room?" amended Opame.
"An message..." said Kaito almost talking to himself.
Amara pointed her lollipop at them and gave a wink.
"Exactly! The three of you got it right! This infirmary is hidden in the second basement. A place to receive people who get seriously injured, which would only be the lower ranks. The D and C classrooms are even lower. This is the world you want to change, my dear little Kai. Do you understand the huge problem you have in your hands?"
Kaito pondered that place. Below everything, hidden, dark, and without any windows. How could an infirmary be in such a remote place? It didn't irritate him as much as it should have, but it did make him think.
"I don't want to change the world, I want to prove that I can do things. It has nothing to do with changing the world."
"Wrong!" said Amara immediately "if you beat the other ranks it will prove that a lower rank can beat a higher rank. That would piss off the folks upstairs, and believe me, Kaikai, that people hate to be uncomfortable. Just the thought of someone lower trying to break their good life is horrible. You had to see how they acted when Selize destroyed the famous Azorius Khan in a duel! It was the end of the world for them."
Hearing that made Kaito think. He knew all that, and he was willing to go ahead to prove that he could be stronger himself. Whether it would change things or not, he didn't care, because what he wanted was to climb the ladder of strength himself.
"I don't care. I'm going to win the higher ranks and do whatever I want. If someone wants to come with me, let them, but if I have to do it alone, I'll do it without any problem!" said Kaito filling himself with courage.
"But what's all this talk about 'if no one comes with me'? I was here first, my friend, and I've been challenging high rank for a lot longer," said Opame.
"And I've been fighting with higher rank too.... even though it hurts a lot... even though they are the ones who challenge me and force me to accept..." added Bairon.
The three began to argue among themselves and Amara watched this with a laugh on her lips.
"If you want to get stronger, take the classes, study, train hard and understand yourselves and your enemies" she stood up and opened the infirmary door "But for now leave and go to your rooms. The bell will be ringing soon, and I don't want anyone here while I have a beer."
The three of them left the room, Kaito being the last. Before leaving, however, he turned to Amara and flashed her a sweet smile.
"I'm glad you're here. It was a very nice surprise."
"Imagine if I stayed away from my frightened little boy!" she said, stroking Kaito's hair once more, "Now go to your room, you scab!"
Kaito left the room and Amara closed the door immediately. The cleric took a deep breath and walked over to an unoccupied bed, throwing herself on it at once and staring at the ceiling for a while feeling a heaviness over her chest.
"Lance... I hope I did the right thing by coming here... I hope I can help him in the way he needs..."
* * *
The walk back to class was unusually quiet. Kaito had expected everyone to tease him or for his material to be destroyed in some way, but none of that had occurred. As he entered the room he still received heavy looks from everyone, especially Saphyra, but not a word had been directed at him.
"Our blood carries the genes and attributes of our generations. This world was once a place of knights and wizards fighting dragons and other monstrous creatures. Today those creatures are all trapped inside the Tower and no longer walk among us hunting humans. The threats have passed, but the blood remembers and strengthens. The blood carries this history forward, as data to be passed on to the next generations. So if you are a warrior, some ancestor of yours was a warrior. And if many warriors reproduced with other warriors the blood is refined, having more strength and generating a more powerful blood. This applies to any class!
"Mister Caligan, and how do the tras-, I mean, the Bloodless arise?" asked a strong, tan-skinned boy with very dark red hair further back.
"First of all, Mr. Gundahar, we address this group as F rank, as it is pejorative to speak otherwise. And as for your question..." the teacher faced Kaito, who looked at him with real interest in the class "the emergence of an F rank can occur in two ways. One is when the blood of two opposing classes cancel each other out, creating a being with no class at all. In that case that would be the mages and warriors, the clerics and the rogues, and a few others."
"But professor Caligan, my parents are a warrior and a mage of the same rank, and in my brother's case he became a S rank battle mage. How did that happen?" asked Kaito.
The professor stared at the boy again and gave a deep sigh. He didn't like that boy, but he couldn't help admiring his interest in his class. What he wanted most was for the other classes to show that kind of interest.
"Well, Mr. Arturis, blood has strange ways of being conducted. Two opposing classes can just nullify one of them and beget another. A mage and a warrior can beget a mage, or a warrior. On a lesser chance, almost zero, they can beget a battle mage. At an even lesser chance they can generate a rank S battle mage. Chances are that one of your ancestors might be a battle mage and that was in the blood of one of your parents."
"Professor, what about in the case of a Bloodless? What are the chances of that kind of shit happening?" was Hakon again, teasing Kaito.
"I thought I said that kind of term was not welcome, Mr. Gundahar. One more time and I will have to take action." the teacher said looking at Kaito, who was just writing down the lesson and making arrows for his theories "But answering your question, an F rank is an even lower chance. It is a complete nullification, and that is almost impossible. Often it causes a miscarriage, but in the very rare case where there is life, a F rank can occur. That's why these people reprensent only zero point two percent of the world's population."
Kaito realized that he was wrong earlier. His classmates really didn't mess with his stuff or do anything direct with it, but that didn't mean they accepted him as one of them. On the contrary, they seemed irritated.
"So I need to stay away from mages so I don't have a shitty Bloodless kid! Good class, helping me to stay safe from having an useless child" Hakon teased Kaito a third time.
"The teacher asked you to stop talking this nonsense, but apparently you are too dumb for that!"
The voice that took the teacher's lead came from Saphyra, who stood up in irritation and turned to Hakon at once.
"Wait a minute! You're telling me that you, little wizard, became friends with this trash just because you talked to him a little bit?" said Hakon pointing and laughing, "so do this, stay away from me with your wizard blood so I don't give you a Bloodless as a gift."
"As if anyone would want to have a child with a piece of shit like you."
What Kaito said amazed everyone there, who turned to him and watched him get up and walk over to Saphyra's table. The F rank stared Hakon in the face while resting one of his arms on the little mage's shoulder.
"What are you doing? Get your arm out of there!" she said trying to disengage herself.
"You're a D rank, Hakon! (be quiet!) And if we take into account all this rank and blood stuff, the chances of you having a child as shitty as you are are huge. (stop moving, you'll ruin our style)"
The entire class turned to the dark red haired boy, who closed his fists and had his eyes glowing in a blood color. Suddenly Hakon leaped from the back of the room against Kaito like a wild, uncontrolled animal. Kaito prepared to defeat him right there, but before he could act a powerful wind magic passed from his side and hit Hakon still in the air, throwing him back to his chair and forcing him to sit down. It was as if strings of wind were binding the boy to his chair.
"Wind cuffs...?" said Kaito in a low voice.
"I thought I said I would not tolerate a third contravention of what I said, Mr. Gundahar, but apparently your barbarian blood is not content with not breaking the rules, is it?" said Professor Caligan pinning the barbarian in his chair with ample trepidation.
Kaito heard the barbarian name and turned to Hakon taking a closer look at him. Strong skin, bulging muscles, more hair than usual, slightly pointed canines, and blood-colored hair and eyes. There was one of the rare barbarians. Kaito couldn't help but feel interested in what he could do. Maybe he could borrow something from this fellow.
"Can you take your arm off me now? It hurts!" said Saphyra totally taken aback and stiffened in place.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Saphy! I got lost here." replied Kaito ready to take his arm off.
"Don't call me that!"
"Phyphy, then? Phyra? Take your pick!"
"I'm still not your friend! Stop calling me that!"
"Not yet? So that means it's only a matter of time!"
As the two argued the last bell sounded through the academy, ending the class. Professor Caligan picked up his material and walked to the door, but before he left he faced Kaito and gestured for him to come closer.
Without questioning, Kaito approached the professor with a wide smile on his lips.
"Is there a problem, Mr. Caligan?"
"Yes, there are some problems, Mr. Arturis" said the professor noticing that Hakon was a little calmer and releasing him from the magic "I know all the trouble you come to face in this academy and I say I am sympathetic to you, but I warn you to be careful. This class suffers enough already and may end up having more problems if you act without responsibility."
Kaito wanted to question the professor, but Caligan left the room without giving a chance for a dialogue. As soon as the teacher took some distance Hakon stood up in a rage and went to Kaito.
"If you think I'm afraid of your brother, I don't give a shit about him! I can beat you up and think about the consequences later!"
At this moment Kaito understood why the classroom was so quiet when he returned. Elynor had gone to meet him there, and soon everyone there knew that the two of them were related. It must have been a shock for them to know that they are brothers.
"Look, Hakon, I would fight you in a duel, but I already dueled today, so I can't do it again. There's combat class tomorrow and we can talk better there." said Kaito disentangling himself from him, grabbing his backpack and heading for the exit.
"Wait, what do you mean you've already dueled?! What kind of lie is that?" asked Hakon confused.
"Believe it if you want to. Now let me eat something, go up to my room and rest, because today was a heavy day. So see you guys and see you Hakon, I hope I don't have to see your face again today."
Kaito makes mention of leaving, but before he could set the foot outside Professor Caligan returned with a somewhat annoyed expression.
"With all your confusion I forgot to give you the student to room ratio. You made me go back two flights of stairs..."
He went to the board and pasted the paper with the names of the students and which room they were in. Everyone surrounded the notice, but still Kaito could see very well.
Room 5B
Kaito Arturis- Rank F
Hakon Gundahar- Rank D
Saphyra Vizzora- Rank D
Teodora Kalpea- Rank A
Kaito looked back and saw that Saphyra and Hakon's shocked expression was the same. Whatever happened with the room-splitting decision, it would not be a good thing.