I calmly sat in Professor Lee's office and looked around curiously.
It was a large room with all the walls except for one covered in bookshelves. Instead of books, the shelves had different weapons, gadgets, and knickknacks displayed, many of which I had never seen before.
The professor sat at the large desk in the center of the room, her back to a large window that took up the whole wall. She stared at me in silence for a couple of moments before speaking.
"Asani Martin."
"Professor?"
"What am I supposed to do with you."
"Pardon?"
"Two fights in the two days you've been here and one of them was with the third-rank student from the Isolde clan. I've never seen somebody as low-ranked as you cause so much trouble in the short time you've been here. Do you have a death wish? Are you suicidal or are you just stupid? Is this some method to get you expelled?" She asked me as her eyes flashed yellow.
"Not particularly?" I shrugged, "It doesn't matter who they are, I don't appreciate anyone attacking me out of the blue and I don't have the type of personality to willingly take a beating to keep the peace. Even if I lose, I'll definitely do my best to fight back and when I'm stronger, I'll soundly beat them up so they won't mess with me again. Besides Evelyn Isolde attacked me first. Anyone who was at the scene can verify it."
Professor Lee tiredly rubbed her eyes. "They won't. No student is going to testify against a top-ranked student from the 9 clans. The white-ranked ones won't want to offend her and the black-ranked ones are too afraid of being retaliated against. Nobody is going to risk their neck for a black-ranked nobody like you. You've made a powerful enemy on your first day and I highly doubt that Evelynn Isolde will let it go. People who want to make a good impression on her and her clan will continually attack you."
"Is that right?" I stared at her in an unsurprised manner. The influence of rank and the 9 clans was something I knew about, I just didn't think it would be so prevalent at the academy which was supposed to be neutral ground. I didn't expect that a single incident would be blown out of proportion so much and for Evelynn to be so petty.
"It is. And it's quite unfortunate because I like you. You seem to have a certain chaotic charm about you which is why I want you to be successful even though you seem to be sabotaging yourself at every opportunity. I would hate to see you get destroyed like this. So I have a proposition for you."
"Oh? Let's hear it."
Professor Lee thoughtfully examined the student calmly staring at her as he relaxed in the chair before her. Despite being dragged to her office and boldly confronting Evelynn Isolde, rather than being afraid, he looked bored and expectant.
"What rank are you? F?"
"…Why?"
"And from what I've seen, your gift allows you to summon weapons? They seem to have different effects. I saw an attack phase through you earlier and realistically no low-rank student should have been able to slice through Evelyn's leg if she wasn't paying attention. It looked to be made by a small knife which means it had an extra attribute or your mana is inherently sharp. Which is it? What's the limit? The strength of the weapons you create? How often can you use it? Can you select the effects? What other gifts do you have?"
As the professor grilled me with remarkable insight after only seeing my gift twice, I could only hold a poker face and respond neutrally. "…what does that have to do with anything?"
"I've told you before. I'm the head of the discipline committee in charge of keeping the campus peaceful. I'm putting together a task force of strong students to help with the discipline and incidents that happen on campus. Putting a bunch of hormonal teenagers with newly gained powers and a sense of importance is a recipe for disaster and trouble. Adding in the arrogance that many of these students have due to their family or perceived greatness and you have a volatile bomb waiting to explode. Despite the rules of the academy, students continue causing trouble throughout the academy, from the top-ranked ones to the bottom-ranked ones. The professors are stretched thin enough trying to deal with the sheer number of students and I'm stretched thin trying to run everywhere. Across the entire 5 years, we're dealing with hundreds of incidents a day. We simply do not have enough hands to stop the troublemakers who go around fighting each other and destroying property and the academy refuses to hire extra outside help due to security concerns which puts me in between a rock and a hard place."
"Oh. Sounds rough. What does that have to do with me?" I asked her with an indifferent smile.
"I admire your spirit even if you don't make the best decisions. Regardless of whether it was a black-uniformed student or a third-ranked student, you weren't afraid to fight back. I'd like to have you join the discipline committee."
Hearing her words, I burst out laughing
"Why are you laughing?"
"I'm sorry professor, I just thought it was funny. I'm pretty sure your words were 'strong' students. The last time I checked, I was ranked last in my year. I don't believe I would be considered strong under any circumstances."
"I don't believe rank is a good indicator of strength or character. And I don't believe you're weak, rather you're simply untrained. But you have a good head on your shoulder, are not too arrogant, haven't picked a fight as far as I've seen and you're not afraid to fight back if one comes up. More importantly, you don't seem to be tied to anyone's side. A one-man island if you will.
If you're concerned about strength, I can assure you that it's currently not bad. I've trained Evelynn Isolde before and I know she outclassed you skill-wise, rank-wise, and talent-wise. Even if she was going easy on you, you still managed to injure her which is quite impressive. If you accept my offer, I plan on offering you training until you are up to par before having you openly join the committee. As you know I'm one of the many professors in charge of teaching combat to the first years so you can be assured of my skills."
"Hmm. And what would be in it for me? Honestly, it seems like a lot of work and a good way to garner hatred among students if I'm constantly getting them in trouble."
"Well for one, apart from your required combat classes I would personally train you. I don't mean to brag, but at this academy, I am the best at making students combat-ready. Even professional heroes come to me for training every once in a while"
"I can become combat-ready by taking my classes and training throughout the year. I don't think I need personal training."
"It would be more efficient if I trained you. Analyze me. You did so before, right? I'll allow you to take a look at my status screen."
At my surprised look, she laughed.
"Anybody sensitive enough can notice those things, I just don't care. I suggest you only do it to people you're certain you're stronger than and not to any professors. Some of them might not take it as well as I do. Go ahead, take a look."
[
Rebecca Domare-Lee
Age: 35
Rank: A
▷Stats:
[Strength – A]
[Stamina – A]
[Speed – S]
[Perception – S]
[Vitality – A]
[Magic power – A]
[Intelligence – A]
[Enhanced senses: S]
Gifts: ▷Trainer (S), ▷?, ▷?,
Familiar: Flame Lycanthrope, Water Lycanthrope
Mana attribute: Water, Fire
]
"Got a good look? Take a closer look at my trainer gift."
[
Trainer (S): The ability to efficiently train any being that is considered 'alive' *
* Cannot be used on self.
Insight (Passive): Gauge the potential of an individual and determine the best path to training.
Communication (Passive): Regardless of species and language, your instructions can be effectively understood by any being that is considered 'alive'.
Training Session (Active): The user can boost the efficiency of training up to 30% on any being with a lower rank*
*Efficiency increases by 5% for every rank below the users.
*Can only be used on a being once every 72 hours. Limited to 4 beings.
*Can be stacked on animal-like beasts twice.
*Affects all stats as well as gifts.
*Training session lasts for three hours.
Copy Cat (Active): When the other party is willing, the user can copy and utilize the gift at a level matching the user's rank during a training session *
*Training session lasts for three hours.
Heal (Active): During a training session, the user can continually cancel the injuries and restore the used mana of the trained individual as long as the user's mana lasts*
*The trained individual will still feel the pain of any injuries sustained.
*Injuries can be taken on by the user instead of the trained individual at a doubled rate
*Training session lasts for three hours.
]
Seeing the impressive set of skills, I couldn't help but whistle. Professor Lee was someone whose details weren't expanded in the original novel. All I knew was that she was a combat instructor for the first years who occasionally personally trained students she thought had the aptitude to get stronger. Since none of the main cast joined the disciplinary committee, it was something that glossed over.
"You…are a monster. That is a seriously overpowered gift"
"Thank you but it's nothing special." Professor Lee said, but there was a proud smile on her face.
"As you can see my gift is meant for training people. I can turn a rock into a diamond given enough time. I already apply my gift to well-performing students during classes but I'll reserve a use for you until you reach E-rank which should take about a month if we train every day while forcing potions down your throat. Then you can become a member of the disciplinary committee."
"Hmm. I admit that getting trained personally by you would be amazing, life-changing even, but that's not enough. What benefits would there be for me apart from personal training from you? Eventually, I would reach E-rank. I'm not in a rush. I don't need to do something so troublesome" I asked her calmly. There were plenty of other students she could ask who would jump at this opportunity given all the benefits she offered. I needed to understand why she was offering it to me.
"You should be in a rush. Do you think Evelyn Isolde will let the humiliation today slide? You forget who she is, who her friends and family are, and what power those people carry. Do you think Lionel Lionheart won't ask the dean to do something if she asks? Or other students won't attack and injure you at her behest. Or that she won't attack you again?" At the professor's candid answer, I could only stay silent.
Sighing, she continued, "A misconception people have is that rules are meant to protect them and that they are applied equally to everyone but that's wrong. Rules are only for those with no money, no power, and no influence. Otherwise, they don't exist. And those from the 9 clans are used to living their lives as If rules don't exist. The only people they respect are their clan heads and those that they believe are above them. That's fine in the real world, but it's something I refuse to allow to continue in the academy."
"And you think this disciplinary committee can do that?"
"I do. A lot of incidents happen like the one today and things are not caught or reported in time due to a variety of reasons. Even if the incident is handled, witnesses recant their statements or aid with coverup along with some professors. With students on the committee actively handling incidents and being witnesses, and with me backing the committee, I'm sure incidents will be cut down drastically once students begin to get penalized. Others will not be afraid to speak up as well."
"Naturally, if you're on the committee, I will prevent anything from being done to you. If students bother you, 9 clans member or not, you can directly beat them up with no consequence and if any staff members bother you including Helen Lionheart herself, I'll handle it." The professor finished confidently.
"…you sure are doing a lot for a student who you don't know and has gotten in trouble with you twice. What's the catch?" I narrowed my eyes at her coldly. Nobody would have this much good will for free. There must be something she wanted.
"Well for one, I have a feeling you will become strong and I happen to like nurturing strong students. Consider it a hobby if you will. Secondly, from what I've seen from you in the past two days, I have a feeling that you'll be involved in a lot more incidents. And rather than lose sleep and gain more gray hairs, I figure why don't I just use a troublemaker to tie up the other troublemakers and get some free labor out of it? Since you're already a target thanks to your actions today, once you're on the committee, the incidents will come flowing to you as people target you while others will calm down and watch the show. It's like killing two birds with one stone." The professor grinned happily, her blue eyes twinkling.
"And finally," the air around her immediately became heavy, as her eyes narrowed and her finger pointed at me, "I've told you this and it's still true, you reek of blood. Despite all the smiling you do, your eyes are cold. I don't know what you did before or what kind of life you've lived, but I have a feeling that if I hadn't interrupted today, you would have found a way to kill Evelynn Isolde or seriously injure her. I've warned you, none of that on my campus or I'll kill you myself. Rather than have you run loose, I'd rather keep you under my watch."
"I wouldn't have killed her." I smiled innocently. I would just severely injure her so no potion would work, stab the hand that dared to stab me, shoot the foot that stomped on me, and smash the mouth that dared talk shit. Nobody would die.
"Somehow, I don't believe that." The professor sighed once more. "Anyways, what do you say?"
"About joining? You make a tempting offer, but it's not enough. It's still more losses than gains for me. You get to spy on me. You send me around on errands. I'm going to get attacked constantly either way so why bother with all the extra work? It sounds tiring. You can't force me to say yes so give me something more enticing so I can accept." I asked slyly. If she said no, I would still take her offer, but if I could get a little more out of her, my plan could move ahead further.
"…then what exactly will you want student Asani?"
"300,000 credits?"
"No." Professor Lee immediately rejected me. "What else?"
I pretended to think for a moment, before speaking, "I want four things apart from the training you will give me. A pass to be able to leave the academy at will not just on weekends. A way to visit dungeons outside of class and visit the hero marketplace. A way to sell goods to students on campus. And a little flexibility in the way that I treat problematic students if I join the discipline committee."
"The first and second ones are easily done. I'll have an access pass delivered to you and since I'm the professor in charge of the dungeon exploration club, all you have to do is join. The club takes trips to dungeons at least once a month to hone skills and students can sell goods they recover after completing the dungeon and visit the hero marketplace. Regarding the third, selling goods on campus is something outside of my jurisdiction. Why are you asking for that?" Her eyebrows arched.
"Lina Meraki and I are planning on being in a partnership. We plan on launching a little service to sell some goods to students at a discounted rate. I'm doing my part to ensure we can make it a successful venture." I replied smoothly, selling Lina's name out without lying.
"Meraki hmmm? As I said, it's not in my jurisdiction but I can give you an introduction to Professor Art and a guarantee since you'll be joining my committee. If he approves, you can give me the goods, I can help promote it in my classes. As for your final request….?"
"I need details concerning being a committee member. What exactly is the plan?"
"It's pretty simple, we have sensors around most of the campus to detect unauthorized magic use and all disciplinary committee students will have a pager that will alert them of incidents close by. Your job is to break up the incident with whatever force necessary and bring in the culprits to the professor on duty."
"What if the culprits get injured?"
"As long as they don't die or seriously cripple themselves, anything can be fixed in the infirmary."
"Will I be getting paid for this?"
"Of course not. Why would you get paid?"
"...because I'm working? Isn't the only consequence for breaking the rules a fine?"
"Accurate. Most incidents involve students fighting in unauthorized locations with their gifts which results in a fine."
"So the academy is getting paid while I'm laboring for free. Wasn't this originally the professor's job? You all get a salary as well but you're utilizing students free labor. How is that fair? I can't be the only one who has complained about it."
"You are. Just think of it as an unpaid internship. Guilds like to see that kind of initiative when looking for applicants." Professor Rebecca Lee shrugged.
"How much do students get fined anyway?" I asked curiously
"20000 minimum per incident depending on the damage done. After every 5th incident, it doubles."
I whistled.
"The academy is raking in the money I see. I want a cut."
"What?"
"Look, professor. I'll be honest. I'm broke. I need money. Doing this is going to cut into my money-making time even with all the other benefits. In fact, I'm not asking for much. Just look the other way as I collect some change before bringing students in. I won't even take much"
As the professor quietly thought my words over, I added my final carrot.
"I promise I'll be discreet. And in fact. I'll only extort the extra rich, extra bratty students. I won't touch anyone else. And think of it this way, if I take extra money from them, won't they have to think twice before causing a problem."
"…I will pretend you never said such words to me. Since you seem agreeable, I'll assume we have a deal. Training, protection, an introduction to Professor Art, and a school exit pass correct? Show up to the eastern field at 4 a.m. tomorrow to begin your training."
"Pardon me? What time did you say?"
"You heard correctly. I don't have time to train you in the evenings so you have to come early. We'll train each day for four hours before class except for weekends until you have reached D-rank. It will be tough so I recommend you buy some recovery potions otherwise you might be too injured to move during your regular classes."
"Aren't you supposed to provide that as my professor? You're the one training me." I stared at her incredulously. And what kind of training was she planning that would leave me too injured to move???
"Why would I do that? Do I provide your food, clothes, shoes, and tuition as well?" Professor Lee blankly looked at me.
"Since you're teaching me, you should provide tools for teaching."
"Rejected. Anything unhealed by my gift is on you. Get out of my office Asani. See you at 4 a.m. sharp on the eastern field. And please, try to keep your head down and out of Evelynn's way. I don't want to have to deal with any more incidents concerning you for a while."
"No promises. Can I at least look at the weapons on your shelf?"
"Is this for your gift or just curiosity?"
Asani: "…."
Rebecca Lee: "…."
Asani: "….curiousity?"
We both stared at each other in silence before she sighed and clutched her head.
"Get the hell out and make sure you go to the infirmary to check that shoulder. And tell Miss Isolde to come in."
"Alrighty. Can I at least have another potion before I go? Just in case I get attacked again. I do seem to be attracting a lot of trouble."
The professor stared at me in disgust before she removed a potion from her desk drawer and chucked it at me.
"Out!"
"See you tomorrow!" I happily waved at her as I caught it before placing the potion in my pocket and leaving the room.
As I walked out, I locked gazes with Evelyn Isolde who was still wearing her bloody socks and shoes while holding her spear with her hand.
"You-"
"The professor said you should come in. Goodbye." I interrupted before she could start spouting black rank like a broken record. Without waiting for a response, I walked out whistling as walked to the infirmary. It would be nice if the school nurse could give me another free potion to analyze. After all, I needed all the source material I could get for operation - School Convenience Store.
Step 1, I needed to make sure I could successfully craft a potion with my ability. Once I had that settled, all I needed was for Lina Meraki to come back to me once she analyzed my brick, if she was interested in teaming up, we could slowly start raking in the money. She would provide goods I could analyze and I would craft them for a low price while she sold them.
Even without her though, it seemed like an amusing opportunity had fallen in my lap. A way to beat people up with no consequences and although Professor Lee hadn't accepted my extortion proposal, she hadn't explicitly denied it either. It had turned out to be a decent day. I almost wanted to thank Evelynn Isolde for picking a fight with me. Almost.