As I went up the stairs, I felt most of the stares shift away from , with only two lingering, seemingly persistent in their curiosity. Tracing them, I found one of the stares originating from Maki. She sat firmly in the front, as main characters tend to.
The mont I t her gaze, she seed to have gained a sudden interest in ceiling décor as she shifted her gaze toward the ceiling.
The other stare was more of a glare. It ca from a red-haired girl further out back. When I matched her stare, she didn’t even shift her gaze and just continued right on.
I could only awkwardly scratch my head at that and continued walking.
’Is she Song?’
It seed likely.
Regardless, I reached my seat and quietly slid in beside the wolfman, resulting in his grin stretching even wider.
"The na’s Shin Tae-young, but you can call Shin."
His voice ca out gruff and growl-like as he spoke, offering a clawed palm. I flashed a small smile of my own in response before taking his furry hand.
"I’m Victor. Uh, no last na."
His eyes widened a bit at that before he nodded, releasing my hand. He turned to face Alice with a smile, though that only served to show more wickedly sharp teeth.
"Nice to et you, Victor."
I could only offer a nod in response. Normally, I’d be scared out of my mind being forced to sit next to a monster like Shin. But I wasn’t... okay, maybe just a little bit.
Anyway, Shin wasn’t a monster at all. In fact, he’d been a character of so importance back in the original story. Being a hunter with the potential of S rank, he would have beco a rather high-ranking hunter, if he didn’t die during the third year.
’Why was old so cruel?’
His monstrous appearance was due to his burden. It was a curse that morphed his previously human biology into that of a wolfman, forcing wolf-like instincts and bloodlust onto his human mind. Hence why I was still a little uneasy.
But he was a nice guy when you got to know him, at least that’s how I’d written him to be.
I just had to trust my writing a bit.
’Yeah, I might be dood.’
I followed Shin’s gaze onto Alice, who had already begun the lecture.
"Well, good morning, Cadets. I held off on a proper introduction before we were complete."
’Hmm...’
That was a bit strange. In the original novel, Maki had been missing from the first class, yet the introduction still took place.
Well, it might have been because of . She was a noble, and I was an orphan. Nobles generally tended to already know most of this stuff. Still, it wasn’t that important of a change. But that added a point for her in my books.
Regardless, Alice continued, tipping her large hat a bit.
"My na is Alice Snowfield, a Paragon-rank hunter." She gave a small smile. "Though so of you may know as The Witch."
She stood straight, folding her arms in front of her.
"You would be remiss to refer to by that na though. Miss or Instructor Alice is fine."
Whispers exploded around the classroom at that. From where I was sitting, I could hear bits and pieces of it, mainly pertaining to her not being married yet and sothing about still having a chance.
I felt like covering my face from the sheer amount of secondhand embarrassnt I felt for them. After all, Alice was an A-rank hunter. If even I could hear bits and pieces from their whispers, then she’d be hearing them crystal clear.
The woman in question didn’t seem to mind that much, as she clapped her hands, instantly silencing the class. She gave a light cough before gesturing toward a holographic projector.
"Today’s topic is Hunters."
She gave the class a cursory glance before asking,
"Who are hunters?"
Multiple hands shot up imdiately, but she selected a blonde-haired girl sitting close to the front.
"Hunters are the protectors of Bastion. They hunt the monsters that lurk beyond our borders and those that pop up within to guard us from the constant threat of extinction at the hands of the beasts."
Alice nodded a bit at that before continuing dryly.
"I suppose that is acceptable, but it is a rather dull answer."
The girl sat back down, embarrassed, as Alice looked around the class a bit more before finally pointing her finger in what suspiciously seed like my direction.
’Is there soone behind ?’
I glanced back. We were the last in this line of seats.
’Maybe she’s pointing at soone in front of .’
"I’m talking to the short cadet at the back."
’Oh, thank goodness. For a second there, I thought she was referring to...’
"Cadet Victor, I don’t believe I should have to repeat myself."
I sighed before standing up, to suppressed chuckles from the classroom. I was taking back all the points I gave her before. Now the 40-odd stares from before were back on again.
Alice looked at before asking again.
"What do you think hunters are?"
I considered her question seriously. I’d written the novel, so I had much more insight into the true nature of hunters.
"I think at their core, hunters are predators. They are fundantally killers who choose their targets, be they monsters or humans, in order to further their goals. Be that protecting Bastion, growing stronger, or so other selfish reason."
Alice looked a bit surprised at my answer. She shook it off quickly though, nodding as her face reverted back to normal.
"That’s a rather thoughtful answer, Cadet Victor. You may have your seat."
I collapsed in my seat, letting out a sigh of relief as I felt the gazes shift off . Well, most of them; that red-haired girl was still sneaking glances at .
I did my best to just ignore her as Alice continued below.
"As Cadet Victor has said, hunters are killers. Yes, you might have all awakened, but you are not hunters. Not yet."
The projector behind her flashed as it switched between images of strange monsters, syringes, and weapons. She looked directly at .
"But as you will co to realize, being a hunter consists of far more than just being a killer."
She pointed to the projection again. This ti, it displayed a list.
"First the basics. I’m sure this is already common knowledge for most nobles, but spare your complaints."
There were a few grumbles at that, but the class quickly quieted down.
"It hasn’t been long since all of you awakened, so most, if not all of you, should be around Rank E- or the low novice rank. On that, I’ll explain our ranking system to you."
She paused, taking a look at the projection. I followed her gaze and saw the list on the board was actually displaying the hunter ranks. It read:
[Rank E / Novice]
[Rank D / Adept]
[Rank C / Master]
[Rank B / Grandmaster]
[Rank A / Paragon]
[Rank S / Angel or Transcendent]
[Rank SS / Demigodsl]
[Rank SSS / Archon]
Alice pointed at the Novice rank.
"You are all here."
She dragged her finger down to the Angel level.
"While the farthest our species has been able to reach is here."
She faced us again before continuing.
"The ranks above that are rely speculations based on different potentials we’ve seen."
Her eyes lingered on the front row a bit before continuing. Though, I for one knew exactly who she was looking at, even though I couldn’t see them properly this far out.
’It’s the main characters.’
"All these ranks have suffixes — high, core, and low — or plus, normal, and minus. It is, in a sense, similar to the suffixes monsters have: mature, adolescent, and fledgling. Each stage shows your general level of progress in a rank. For example, I am currently a high Paragon. Most of you are low novices."
She paused, strolling to and taking a seat at an empty desk by the side of the class.
"Next up is potential. You should all be well aware of your potential by now, but there have been so rather common misconceptions cadets have in regard to it."
The projection shifted again, this ti displaying a graph that rose sharply before tapering off gradually.
"Your rate of growth tends to reduce the closer you get to the limit of your potential. Say you have a potential of rank B. In actuality, the highest level you would likely ever reach is rank C . While it is still possible to get into rank B, it would take an extraordinary person to do so."
Alice shifted her gaze to the front row before speaking.
"Of course, the difficulty of doing this rely increases with rank. It is almost impossible for a person with a potential of rank S to actually beco that."
She leaned back, drumming her fingers on the desk.
"Finally, the last point of the basics: progression."
The projector switched to an image of a tallic, old-tiy-looking syringe.
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