Jasmine Barley walked into the class just the day after her kidnapping incident and commanded the attention of the entire class.
Perhaps, she was indeed the Queen of the Second Years, a position I believe that Karmen would definitely disagree with. I dare to say, fight for if it ever comes to that.
"Is she stupid?" I thought.
I could see right through Jasmine's act.
I had saved her from her captors. I saw how much despair she was in, how much fear that gripped her.
How is she already back at school and smiling?
Something did not just feel right about this.
Was it family pressure?
That was the only thing I could think of.
Perhaps, her father — Mr Christopher Barley — had forced her to resume her classes in the academy.
It was not something beyond that kind of man, and that was most likely what happened.
The Barleys hid the fact that their daughter had been kidnapped from the world. I would not be surprised if they forced her to resume in the academy to avoid undue attention to her absence.
Her absence had already drawn my attention, maybe that's what they were trying to prevent.
But I could easily see through the fake shroud of confidence she cloaked herself with.
Her heartbeats were fluttering.
Her chest heaved and she tried hard to control her breathing, and damn was she good at that.
I would have missed it even.
But beyond all that facade was a girl who was afraid.
A girl who was traumatized.
"Jasmine, you've not healed enough to be in the world right now," I said to myself.
But who am I to tell her that?
I was simply another member of the Emerald class.
Simply another random boy she feels is beneath her, who she can trample on.
...
...
...
Jasmine stood in front of the class after making her bold declaration as if she was expecting everyone to react to it, and react to it in a certain way.
We all simply stared at her as she stared back at us, moving her head accordingly to get a full view of the class.
Miss Dorian Dandelion cleared her throat, snapping Jasmine back from her delusion.
"Miss Barley, please take a seat."
She blinked and shook her head, "Oh yes!"
Jasmine walked hastily to her seat, which was to my left.
The closer she got, the more I made my silent prayers. I didn't want anything tampering with my optimism today.
She sat down, not even glancing my way or anybody's at least.
With an unbroken gaze, she fixed her eyes on the board and the teacher in front, feigning concentration.
The truth was that Jasmine did not want anybody talking to her.
Ordinarily, I wouldn't say a word to her on a good day but trust someone to force me to.
And as I thought about it, notifications dropped.
"Shit!" I breathed.
[ Daily Quest ]
Quests:
— Ask Jasmine how she is faring [ Reward: 2 Pimp Points ]
— Make her feel comfortable on her first day [ Reward: 6 Pimp Points ]
"What the fuck is this!"
Of course, I couldn't voice out my frustration, at least not in Miss Double D's class.
"What am I? Her boyfriend?"
...
...
...
While I was bemoaning, I failed to notice something with today's daily quests.
However, I finally realised it and it was something that had never happened before.
A rarity with my pimp points.
"6 pimp points?" I thought, seeing the notification box.
That was not a normal occurrence.
The pimp system usually dished out one or two pimp points per quest and maybe three at most, if it's feeling benevolent enough.
Today, it was willing to reward me with six pimp points.
There was certainly something going on that I didn't know.
I looked at Jasmine, taking a glance and analyzing her to see if I could pick up anything.
There was nothing.
I knew immediately that the second quest was going to be a difficult one.
First, the system picks a target that is difficult to deal with.
Then, it goes on to offer a reward of six pimp points.
"At least I will get back the three pimp points I lost to Liz's Feminine Rage, argh. But I know I'm fucked."
That second quest would certainly prove difficult.
Not realising that I was still in the class, I chuckled with disappointment.
Everyone turned and looked at me.
For a moment, I was the centre of attraction. A performer with the spotlight focused on him.
"Yes, Mr. Nuttinson. You were going to help Gregory with his question, weren't you?"
That's true.
I had forgotten that I raised my hand earlier to answer.
I stood from my seat, ready to answer the question.
...
...
...
— Ruby Class, Second Year —
James returned to his usual activities as a warlock apprentice like nothing had happened the day before.
The same thing applied to Karmen.
Karmen sat behind him in the Ruby Class for Second Year scholars, giggling and making jokes that James had to pretend were funny.
It was as though nothing happened at all.
Karmen was acting like she had not experienced the shock of her entire life from seeing what James truly was and from encountering the Enchantress, Cream Pye.
She could not be blamed.
A person can only remember things that they have a memory of.
For Karmen, the memory of that incident was now lost. It did not exist anymore.
Cream Pye had compelled her to forget that she had witnessed such a traumatic scene.
James kept drawing circles around a name he had written on his book.
'White'.
Who was White?
Where did he suddenly come out from?
What was his mission?
Was he going to be a useful ally or a formidable for?
Those were the questions that James had written beside the name 'White' and only one had been answered.
White's actions were as clear as day that he was against their organization.
He had sabotaged them and pulled them one step backwards when he freed Jasmine Barley.
He was not going to be an ally.
His actions were not those of a friend.
James went on to underline the word 'foe' with his pen.
"Who are you?" James muttered.
James' benefactors had entrusted him with the mission of finding out who this White was and yet they left without any clues but one.
However, that one clue he had was a useless one — White was an individual that wears a white mask.
He was not going to do much with that information.
Ding, dong!
The academy's bell rang aloud, signalling the end of the class.
"This is going to be a difficult quest," James concluded, closing his book and finally paying attention to his teacher who had been there the entire time.
"I hope we are all prepared. We'll be heading out to do some practice."
"Yes, Mr. Clamon!" the class chorused
James scoffed in disappointment. "Tch!"