"And that's how the dormitory rules work," a beautiful woman with reddish hair and eyes said with a smile as she stood in front of the teacher's desk,
"I hope no boys will try to sneak into the girls' dormitory."
Daphne Sloan, the class teacher of Section A, where Arianell and Shyamal are the class leaders.
"She is talking about you, Azariah," Oliver, who was sitting beside me, mumbled, "don't try to sneak in at nigh—arggh."
"Shut it," I interjected as I slapped his chest, making him cry out in pain.
"Do you have a thing for my tits or what? Why are you slapping it so much?"
"Why are you calling them tits?"
"Wait... no, that's not wha—."
"Would you guys keep it down," Ethan grumbled as he sat beside Oliver.
"Dude, you smell like milk; be glad I am sitting beside you," Oliver ranted, glancing at Ethan as he rubbed his chest.
"I do?" Ethan asked, sniffing himself.
"You do; even I can smell it," I replied, even though I couldn't, "why do you think the girls are sitting away from us?"
Ethan laughed awkwardly as he shifted a little away from us.
"Talking about milk," Oliver whispered softly as he smiled proudly, "you know I once drank breast milk of a female Minotaur."
"....Why the fuck did you do that?" I asked, looking at him with disgust.
"Come on, I drank it out of curiosity," he replied, shrugging his shoulders.
"Wait....I thought there were only male Minotaurs; I never heard about a female one," Ethan chimed in, with a frown on his face.
Oliver tilted his head in confusion as he looked at him, "Nah, there are...the shopkeeper clearly said it's from a female Minotaur—."
"There are no such things as female Minotaurs," I interjected, glancing at him.
"Then what did I drink?" With a frown, he mumbled softly.
"Was it white?" I asked.
"....Yes."
"Was it viscous?"
".....Yes."
"Was it creamy?"
"....Yes."
"Do I need to continue?"
"Ahh, fuck... no," he grumbled, his face turn various shades of green.
Black lines appeared on his forehead, and his eyes dropped down as if he'd lost a part of himself.
"It's fine, buddy... at least you're a step ahead of Aimar in adult stuff... even though yours was kinda gay," I said, patting his shoulder and shaking my head.
Then I asked, "By the way, did you spit it out or swallow it?"
"Shut up, fucker," he replied, glaring at me.
Then as he remembered something he continued, "And... Aimar also took a sip of it... he said it was tasty."
"Pfft—." Ethan muffledly laugh at the situation.
"Three boys at the last seat, please stand up," Daphne said, looking at us.
"And we're fucked," I mumbled as all three of us stood up.
"Can you please repeat what I was saying just now?" she asked with a smile, looking at us.
Oliver replied with utmost confidence, "That we should be punctual with our studies."
"Wrong. Anyone else?" she asked, looking at me and Ethan.
I remained silent and so did Ethan.
"Remain standing for the rest of the class and listen to what I am saying," she instructed, and we obediently nodded our heads.
"So... as I was saying," she continued with a smile, shifting her focus to the class, "for the first year, it will be the easiest academic year for all of you."
'I doubt that....'
"And all you need to do is make sure you guys have a fun and relaxing year," she said, leaning on the desk.
'Whoever is going to follow her advice is bound to die even before half the academic year has passed.'
[Why so negative?]
'Dude, they are in Ethan's class, and protagonists and trouble are like rabbits in heat, they always fuck each other.'
"And after the weapon selection in a few days, you guys can go check out clubs," Daphne continued, catching my attention. "There are a lot of exciting clubs for boys and girls alike."
"Those who will be in the club can also participate in the house competition that will be held in three months' time," she added, causing the attention of the class to shift.
"Ma'am," one of the boys raised his hand to ask a question.
"Yes?"
"What's a house competition?"
"In simple terms, it's a competition between the four houses: red, green, blue, and yellow. It's like one big event before the midyear exam," she explained as she strolled around the classroom.
Ringgg!!!
But before she could continue, the bell signaling the end of class rang, marking the end of the first day at the academy.
"Well, that's it for today," Daphne said with a smile as she gathered her belongings, looking at us. "I hope you guys have a wonderful first year."
"And she jinxed it," I mumbled to myself as I watched her leave.
"I need some refreshments," Oliver announced, grabbing his bag and heading towards Miley and Ashlyn.
I followed him, leaving Ethan behind.
"Do you have some refreshments, Miley?" Oliver asked, looking at her, while I approached Ashlyn.
"Why did you change your seat?" I inquired curiously.
When the class started, all of a sudden she and Miley changed their seats away from us.
"Miley wanted to have some girls talk, so...."
Ashlyn explained awkwardly, glancing at Miley.
"Is that so?" I mumbled, narrowing my eyes at Miley.
[Is she trying to separate you too?]
'Yeah, most probably.'
Hmmm, maybe breaking a few bones of hers will be enough for a warning.
[You know, if you do that, the simping twins will not forgive you.]
'...You're right. In the game, Azariah did exactly that... he targeted Miley to make the twins hate him.'
"What are you looking at?" Ashlyn asked, noticing my gaze.
"Nothing," I replied as I started to walk out, with Ashlyn beside me.
Oliver and Miley also began to walk behind us.
"Ahh, Az," she called out, making me look at her, her expression hesitant. "Can I call you... Az?"
"Sur—."
"No," before I could reply, Oliver interjected, quickly stepping up beside me. "Only the ones who are close to him can call him Az."
"Why are you jealous?" I asked, noticing his glare at Ashlyn.
"Come on, dude—Arghh." Oliver let out a startled cry as a raven-haired boy slapped his chest.
"What's up, big bro?" Grinning, Aimar asked, looking at Oliver as he arrived with Aaliyah.
"Again, why my tits?" Oliver grumbled, touching his chest.
"Should I massage them?" Aaliyah asked with concern as she approached Oliver.
"You want to touch my tits?" Covering his chest, Oliver asked.
"Ahh, n-no, I didn't m-ean—." She stammered, blushing furiously.
"You can call me Az," I replied, looking at Ashlyn, ignoring Oliver's idiotic teasing.
"No....I will stick with Azariah for now," with an awkward smile, she replied.
"Ok." I nodded before I asked, "you were saying something?"
"Ah, yes, can I have your number?" She asked, her mesmerizing golden eyes looking at me expectantly.
"....sure." I replied, passing my phone to her.
"You know, Christina will not be happy if she saw you doing this." Miley commented as she looked at Ashlyn who was typing her number and then at me.
"Ah, yes, Miley told me about your fiancée, Azariah." With a beautiful smile on her face, she said, passing my phone back.
[And she made your plans to seduce her ten times harder.]
I didn't reply as I looked at Ashlyn.
Standing in front of me, she closed her eyes with a smile as she joined both her hands in a praying gesture before she mumbled with utmost sincerity,
"May the Goddess Anastasia bless and accept your relationship, may she watch over you and bless both of you with eternal happiness."
All of us present there silently watched her as she mumbled those words twice more.
"What happened?" Ashlyn asked, looking around at all of us.
"Who is Goddess Anastasia?" Aaliyah asked as she glanced at Ashlyn.
"You don't know?" Ashlyn asked.
"I don't know either." Oliver replied, looking at her.
Ashlyn then looked at Aimar and Miley as they both also shook their heads.
"Let me tell you then," she said with a smile as we continued our walk, "you guys do know when humanity was first born there were Five [Primordial Gods] in heaven, right?"
All of us nodded our heads as it's basic knowledge.
"Goddess Anastasia is one of the [Primordial Gods]," she explained, her voice tinged with sadness as she continued, "The Goddess who was banished from heaven."
"Why?" Miley asked, frowning her brows.
"Well, because she fell in love," Ashlyn replied as she smiled softly, "She fell in love with someone she shouldn't have."
"And who is that?" Aaliyah asked as she arrived beside Ashlyn.
"It's not clear in the legends, but some say it's an angel whom she fell in love with and some say it's a mortal," Ashlyn replied, looking at her.
"So she was banished for falling in love?" Aimar asked.
"Yeah," Ashlyn replied, nodding, "and it's said when she was banished, two tears of blood trickled down her eyes, tears which contain her light and darkness—."
"The tears that can help lovers defy their fate," I mumbled, making them all focus on me, "the tears of eternal love—Dumal-Hubb."