"An Eonborn is essentially something born from strong eonweave concentration," Jack explained as he walked around, "a strong concentration of the energy results in the birth of one, which is called the parent, which later gives birth to many others... Nichole, are you listening?"
"Ahh," Nichole snapped out of her thoughts, "Eonborns are bad creatures."
"Are you still thinking of my fangs?" Jack flatly looked at her.
"Can I see them, please?"
"No."
"Pretty please?"
"Nope," Jack sighed, "I only told you because of your brave endeavours in getting me the herbs, but now I regret it."
"Sorry sir, it wasn't my intention to cause you discomfort," Nichole slightly bowed, "but sir, I do have a question."
"What is it?"
"Whenever I'm using the sword, it feels like a string that swings like a whip, like I can change the trajectory of the blade itself without having to stop."
"Silk sword, it's silk sword, and at the selection, why did you give up?"
"What do you mean, sir?"
"You definitely could have continued, maybe even win, why did you quit?"
"I could have?"
"Neither of you had the edge, you could have gained the upper hand."
"To be honest, I felt weak, I felt like I could barely hold up against him," Nichole looked down at her hand, slightly trembling.
"I'll teach you something, but let's finish this first."
"Like what, sir?"
"My method around magic," Jack smirked, "but we have to finish this before getting into that."
"It's an Eonborn, it's scary, we killed one and now sir will teach me how to kill more," Nichole got up eagerly, wanting to escape the boring lecture.
"Are my lectures boring?" Jack looked at her disheartened.
"He..." Nichole paused, fearing she might have hit a spot, "it's not boring, it's just not interesting."
"They mean the same thing," Jack closed the book and put it aside, "I guess it's because I'm lacking in many aspects of teaching."
"Don't say that, I think you're an awesome professor."
"Yeah, yeah. Let's just get to it."
_________________________
"So, how do you like Garth?" a woman with green eyes, dressed in a large white coat and a black shirt inside asked.
"He's a pain, my control over him is wavering, but he definitely feels different from Doggy," Finn replied as he summoned a humanoid corpse from his shadow. "Well he was fun."
"You can keep him," she waves him off, "I can't use him."
"Really? Can I keep him?" Finn asked excitedly.
"Yup, our lesson today is going to be different," she stood up, her figure lighting up under the sunlight, "we're going to learn how to be one with the dark."
"Uh, why'd you always get so poetic, Miss?"
"Oh dear boy," she walked over, slightly tapping on his forehead, "we work with forces beyond a normal world, a poem is a way of expressing ourselves, and we connect with our expressions."
There she goes again, her thoughts are pretty similar to a mage, Finn stared at her, "But Miss, expressing intention, we express our intentions over ourselves, isn't that a martial artist?"
"Are your intentions different from your expressions, do you perhaps hold something deep, something dark perhaps?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Whatever, today I'll teach you how to express yourself."
"Really, that's the lesson?"
"I told you, we're all about expressing, isn't that how you control a corpse, letting it express in your stead?" she looked at the corpse standing beside Finn.
"I mean... I'm sorry for doubting you, Miss, please accept my apology," Finn slightly bowed in respect, I shouldn't question a professor.
"Good boy," she took a step back and looked at him with expectant eyes, "now you're ready to learn, so corpse control, how did we do it?"
"By focusing my intent and using netherane, I was able to fill up the corpse with my energy, letting me form a core and move it as I wish."
"Now, we apply the same law, not on a specific medium, but on the natural elements we find around ourselves."
"That's possible," Finn looked at her, "Miss Serati, I thought the only things we could take over was something that had seen life?"
"Not life, but rather presence, and that's a rule we can bypass later on."
"Huh?"
"Oh, you have no idea."
_________________________
"How many points do you need?" Donatello asked Nichole, "and why do you look so tired?"
"I didn't win any points in the first round, so I needed to make fifteen points to qualify, and I was learning," she replied half asleep.
"Hey, what's this round?" Finn popped in.
"We get to choose a monster of our choice, and we need to defeat it," Aileen replied from the sides. "If you choose a G-Rank beast and defeat it, you'll get a whopping five points."
"What if we chose a G+ Rank beast?" Nichole asked Aileen.
"Are you planning to, well then you'll get a single merit point, coming to a total of six points."
"Then it's decided I'm picking a G+ Rank, I need some points, I was the only one who lost the first round."
"Don't push yourself," Donatello placed his hand on her shoulder, "while it's commendable, you shouldn't force yourself."
"Yep, he's right," Aileen said, "it's a good idea, but you can't end up causing harm to yourself."
"I'll keep in mind."
She's grown from the girl I met on the first day, I remember her from my past life, she wasn't even this confident, I guess this is a good change, Finn watched from behind.
...
"How long has it been?" a sweet voice came from behind, directly into Jack's ears.
"I was happy," Jack awkwardly looked back, a pair of hands around his neck, and a woman hanging on his back, "not having to see you for so long."
"Is that how you talk to your Boss?" Shia chuckled.
"Can you at least get off of me?" Jack looked around awkwardly as the teachers shot him and odd glare.
"And leave my favorite pillow? No way I'm doing that?" Shia's grip grew tighter, holding on tighter.
"You're getting off of me," Jack said, his voice firm yet unserious.
The aura around him grew colder, his entire body turning cold, even his breath coming out misty.
"You think this will get me off you?" Shia smirked as her aura grew from a subtle warmth to intense heat, "two can play that game."
"Ahh, I give up, do what you want," Jack toned down the cold as he folded his hand, his eyes on the arena.
"It's your student's turn, right?"
"It is."
"You're pretty warm."
"You're not pretty," Jack taunted, "oh, how I missed those days without you."
"You won't be missing me anymore because I'll be here for the whole week," Shia's grip tightened once more.
"Ah, damn it," Jack slightly mumbled under his breath.
"So, any new friends?" her hands went to his midsection, slightly patting it.
Jack's ears burned red, "Ahem, I met Charla, and um..."
"No one else?"
"No one else."
"How about Thomas?"
"He's been a great friend, he even told me of the time you barged in his private business."
"It was—"
Jack cut in, "I do not need to know that."
The others around the two pulled back, maintaining distance as they overheard their bizarre conversation.
"Can you buy me dinner?" Shia asked him, her voice shifting to a gentle tone.
"I can, only if you behave."
"Fine," Shia mumbled in disappointment.
"What was that reaction?" Jack's tone dropped in confusion.
"You're telling me not to be myself."
"Obviously, it's the best for me and others."
...
"Hey, why is Miss Shia hanging on to the new professor?" one of the professors asked a handsome man, it was Professor Rurin.
"I don't know, maybe she likes him," he looked over to see her laughing and tickling him.
"Honestly, I've been avoiding him because of the rumors and you know..." the other professor paused as she pulled back a strand of her auburn hair, her yellow eyes darting between Jack and Rurin who was taller than her while occasionally peeping over to Jack.
"It's not just you Miss Selena, everyone's been avoiding him, but it feels like the rumors are quite a bit exaggerated," Rurin scanned Jack, "nothing about him screams vile, viscous or stupid."
"I agree," Selena suddenly looked away after Jack randomly turned to meet her gaze, "he's pretty cute if you ask me."
"Cute?" Rurin shot her a look of confusion, "he doesn't exactly scream 'cute'."
"What do you mean? Just look at him, he's pretty innocent, how he blushes from her slight touches, to his reaction from her warm breath on his neck," her gaze lingers on him.
"What?" Rurin raised an eyebrow, "why are you looking at him like that?"
"Um... I—I'm not sure..." her cheeks flushed red.
"Oh, I get it, you like him, don't you?" he grinned. A thought passes by him. He grabs her by her wrist and walks towards Jack.
"No!" Selena pulled back in panic, but Rurin didn't stop. "He's not my type."
"You don't have to confess, just talk to him," Rurin continued without stopping while Selena's struggles came to a halt.
"But he's really not my type, can you stop?"
"I was thinking of talking to him, why don't you just come with me?"
"Now?!"
"Strike when the iron is hot."
Jack notices the two heading for him and switches to a polite demeanor, all while Miss Shia is hanging behind him.
Rurin let's go of Selena, extending his hand towards Jack for a handshake, "My name is Rurin, this here is Selena, I know we're a bit late on introduction."
"Oh, that's quite alright, with all the rumors it's only natural for you to keep your distance," Jack accepted his hand and shook it once his gaze fell on Selena who was behind Rurin.
Selena comes forward, "My n—name's Selena, nice to meet you," she bows.
Jack in turn bows back, "Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Rurin," a voice came from behind Jack, "what's up with the late introduction, I thought you were someone socially active."
"Ha, sorry Miss Shia, it's just..." Rurin paused, he couldn't casually mention the reason was the bad rumor circulating around him.
"It's alright Miss, besides I've been quite busy," Jack interrupted not wanting Rurin to feel pressured
"Whatever," Shia pouted, clearly unimpressed by the others prejudice towards Jack.
"Hey isn't it your student's turn?" Rurin asked Jack, their gazes lingering before breaking.
"It is," Jack looked down from the balcony, a small smile tugging his lips.
...
The academy captures creatures or monsters that seem to bring harm to nature or the surroundings. The captured monsters are used in events where the children can fight them under a controlled environment.
"Pick the monster you wish to face," the instructor handed Nichole a pad displaying multiple names.
"Girat, Niwolf..." she muttered as she read through the names, these are all monsters I can handle, ah this one, her finger stopped before the name, Leokun, the G+ Rank beast Aileen had mentioned.
"I guess—" she paused before tapping on the option below it, handing it over to the instructor, "this one."
The instructor looked at her skeptically, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Sir," Nichole returned a resolute nod.
"If you lose, you'll receive negative points, I'm asking you once more, are you sure?"
...
"They've been talking for some time, what's wrong?" Donatello asked Aileen.
"I hope she's not doing what I think she's doing," Aileen looked at her in worry.
"There, he's finally going to release it, wonder what she picked," Donatello pointed down.
CLANK
The gears creaked as a large black box was brought up. The sound of something scratching the insides of the metal box could be heard.
Aileen let out a gasp, "Wait, what did she pick?"
"That doesn't sound good," Finn commented
The cage doors opened, and the sound of metal screeching came to an end.
GROWL
A small growl came out of the cage as a large claw scratched the ground as the beast took a step forward, showing itself.
"No she didn't," Aileen couldn't help but look at the beast in wonder.
"What the?!" Donatello took a step back, surprised.
"Don't tell me you guys thought she was going to pick something weak, right?" Finn smirked as the beast came to light.
...
"Your student is crazy," Rurin smiled as he looked at Jack.
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