"Please, gods, have mercy upon our souls. Do it…."
That was the exact turning point when the Mess Hall became… well, a fucking Mess!
"Alright! Let's make sure to hand all those out!" Lizzy happily prattled as she took out countless flyers. Where had those even been? It was as mysterious as enticing.
As for the messages…
Follow Teacher Gale → Gain Eternal Life!
First Public Lesson Free! → Why wait? Try it Now!
Handsome Teacher Gale → The Golden Crow's Choice!
100% Of Disciples Satisfied! → "My PP Doubled Since Joining his Class!"
There were so many messages, all putting Teacher Gale on a pedestal. Seeing this, the Head Chef wasn't sure whether to laugh or despair. This guy really was one hell of a character!
"Aight, boys. She won the cookout, so distribute those! One with every meal, no exception! Just slip them in every dish to ensure every student receives one!"
"B-Boss, but won't the other Teachers get mad?"
"The Mess Hall isn't supposed to take sides."
"Also, those messages are a bit…"
But the Head Cook showed the mettle that had made him their leader. He shook his head, his white Chef hat shaking in unison as he freaking poured his heart out.
At that moment, he was reminded of the youngster full of passion he once was.
"Who cares about politics? This goes far beyond, FAR beyond!"
"Lowly staff? No, we're the ones who feed the world!"
"This is… a Cook's DIGNITY!"
He suddenly felt so damn free. Screw regulations, screw overthinking! Here, he had a genius and a crazy recipe full of possibilities. At that moment, he only cared about cooking itself!
That's when the Head Chef turned toward Lizzy. Had he inspired her a little?
She had the potential to represent the Academy on a national scale!
She was so young, devoted, and…. GONE?!
"G-Guys, where did they go?!"
Approaching, a cook awkwardly slipped a note into the man's fingers.
"Gone to the Next Training stage! Good Luck with everything!" — Lizzy, Teacher Gale's cutest student.
W-What?! The Head Cook suddenly had a VERY bad feeling. No, seriously, what the hell had he just done?! It was at that very moment that a riot broke out in the Cafeteria.
Seeing the commotion, a sighing Mess Hall Lady approached a certain wall.
Days Without a Riot → 474 and Counting!
Days Without a Riot → 4̶7̶4̶ a̶n̶d̶ C̶o̶u̶n̶t̶i̶n̶g̶!̶ Zero!
As she glanced at the rowdy students, her heart couldn't help but tighten a bit. Why?! What the hell had happened to make them all so furious?!
Actually, it had gone like this…
"T-Teacher Gale flyer?! Blasphemy"
"Who handed it out?! Find the culprit!"
"It's that guy! Look how suspicious he's acting!"
"Dumbass, that's just my face! Wanna fight? I'll crush you!"
And now it was a full-on riot. Then, as the poor Mess Hall Lady saw one of the flyers, she knew. The days of peace were over, for Teacher Gale had set his sight on them.
As for what would happen next… GULP!
In fact, Fatty Zhang was just wondering about that.
"Say, do you think the students in the Mess Hall will like the flyers? What if they don't even notice them?" Zhang, having just snacked, was sociable again.
"Hehe, don't worry about that. Our job is to trust in Teacher, that's all! Besides, we're here already!" Lizzy exclaimed.
And as they saw it, they all gasped.
It was massive, burning hot, and seemingly throbbing in excitement… It was a towering volcano that seemed to have an entire civilization hiding inside it!
As for how they could tell…
— Ding! Ding! Ding! —
Rhythmic, powerful, and crazy fast!
"T-The Bellows, it's really something! Compared to it, we're so damn tiny!" Lizzy's breath escaped her as she gawked at the Blacksmith compound.
"I wonder how quickly one could grill a steak in there. Then again, with its size, maybe we are the steaks instead?" Fatty Zhang philosophically added.
"Training, now…"
Luckily, Ajax was there to eloquently bring them back to their senses, and with this, they quickly delved into the belly of the beast. At the entrance awaited a paladin-like student.
"Identification Please!"
"Here it is! We're supposed to—"
"Follow me!" That's all the student bothered to say.
Take offense? They didn't. They were far too busy glancing all around in shock. There were caves absolutely everywhere, the sound of clanging metal echoing out of many.
"I'm surprised there aren't any noise-canceling formations."
"There are. That's why you haven't gone deaf yet."
"Wow! As expected of the forging department!"
Talk about insane! Then, before long, they were guided to a cave that looked somewhat bigger and far messier than the others, its entrance questionable.
Large empty alcohol bottles…
Trash piled up in front?
A puddle of vomit?!
Seeing their reaction, the blacksmith student chuckled:
"Pfft— Not what you expected? Hehe, I don't know what you did to piss off your Teacher, but good luck! If you do make it out alive, then just retrace your steps till the exit!"
"…."
"Eh, Lizzy, what's happening?"
"Not sure, we're supposed to meet a regular Blacksmith?"
That wasn't the plan! She had organized it all and— Wait, what if Teacher Gale had planned a surprise for them? Knowing him, it could totally be the case!
But before she could explain…
"𝕮𝖔𝖒𝖊 𝖎𝖓, 𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖍𝖚𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖘..."
The entire Cave entrance shook.
T-This voice, it wasn't human! It was too profound, too cavernous, too—
— Tap! Tap! Tap! —
Seeing as Ajax was already heading in there, the others followed suit. But they had barely crossed a few meters when it happened.
Out of the depth of the cavern…. MANA! So much of it that it seemed to take physical form! As for that form: yellow eyes, red scales, and wings?!
They suddenly understood who, or rather what, they were facing. D-Dragon?! At the Golden Crow Academy?! At this moment, even Lizzy lost her cool.
Yet, she forced her court-circuiting brain to work…
"Hello there! We're Teacher Gale's—"
𝕴𝖙 𝖒𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖜𝖍𝖔 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖆𝖗𝖊
𝕭𝖊𝖋𝖔𝖗𝖊 𝖒𝖊, 𝖆𝖑𝖑 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖋𝖑𝖊𝖊𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖆𝖓𝖉—
𝕷𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖍𝖚𝖒𝖆𝖓, 𝖜𝖍𝖆𝖙 𝖆𝖗𝖊 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖉𝖔𝖎𝖓𝖌?!
Ajax had already stepped inside what turned out to be an even bigger inner cavern and was… stretching while undressing?! Then, as soon as he was done, he bowed.
"I'M READY! I'LL MAKE TEACHER PROUD!"
He didn't just shout it; he thunderously did so, his voice making the walls shake!
Then, he suddenly realized that he couldn't actually see the dragon. What if he had bowed the wrong way? He thus did it a couple of times in all directions just to be safe.
…. What kind of idiot was he?! Was that the reaction to have when facing a Dragon?! At this moment, a certain mage playing with illusory magic felt like coughing blood.
T-This… was so damn awkward! What was up with that respectful and diligent attitude? How was he supposed to scare them now?! Ah, he had it! A world-shattering cough later…
𝕴𝖙 𝖒𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖜𝖍𝖔 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖆𝖗𝖊
𝖂𝖍𝖔 𝖐𝖓𝖔𝖜𝖓𝖘 𝖜𝖍𝖔 𝖞𝖔𝖚𝖗 𝕿𝖊𝖆𝖈𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖎𝖘 𝖇𝖚𝖙—
𝕷𝖎𝖙𝖙𝖑𝖊 𝖍𝖚𝖒𝖆𝖓, 𝖉𝖔 𝖞𝖔𝖚 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖓𝖐 𝖙𝖍𝖎𝖘 𝖆 𝖌𝖆𝖒𝖊?!
Ajax had once more stirred up?! This time, he showed an eager-to-help expression, reached deep inside his pants, and brought out a few flyers?! He put them all neatly in a pile.
W-What was that? He looked so proud of himself, too, a certain mage utterly confused. Luckily for him, Lizzy was there to explain the situation.
"T-Those flyers explain who Teacher Gale is…"
"…."
"…."
"…"
Did this thing not care who Teacher Gale was? That had to be because it didn't know who he actually was! Those flyers would definitely explain it all!
Hearing this, a ginormous claw suddenly extended from the shadows, grabbing the stack of flyers and disappearing. This left them a couple of seconds to observe their surroundings…
A large cavern, its walls covered in darkness.
An opening at one end, fire burning inside. A forging furnace?
Then, on the opposite side, a pile of dark mana crystals. Some fuel?
That's when the voice resounded one last time.
𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖈𝖗𝖞𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖑𝖘, 𝖉𝖗𝖔𝖕 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖒 𝖎𝖓 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖛𝖔𝖑𝖈𝖆𝖓𝖔...
"YES, DRAGON SIR!"
Ajax instantly shouted heartily, going to grab a crystal. But he had merely touched one when his body started… burning!! Yet, Lizzy actually calmed down upon seeing this.
This actually was the training her Teacher had shared with her. Still, did this mean that everything earlier had just been a test to see their reactions?
Ashamed, she resolved to do better next time.
'You win this one, Ajax'
But while they got on with their training, Ajax on fire, a certain mage was having an aneurysm in the shadows. This, this… THIS!
Dragon prank? It was nothing compared to this Teacher's shamelessness! Those amazing flyers? There had to be even more, right?! He NEEDED THEM!
Soon, a new message would appear in the Mess Hall:
Days Without a Riot → Zero!
Days Without a Dragon → Also Zero?!
If only the students knew the chaos they had released…