Desmond nodded at Adam and took a steady step forward, but the trio’s pursed lips and narrowed eyes struck his confidence like folded newspapers swung at bugs. He made himself small as he halted two ters away from them. His mind drifted for a mont to mories of the last ti he stood too close to them.
"You’re not one of us, vermin," they had said, while trashing him with vicious spells. More students than he was comfortable admitting were more powerful than him, but Nadia, Trevor, and Jonathan? They made sure he rembered they were the House of Exorcism’s monstrous prodigies, teenagers beyond his reach despite their shared age.
"It’s a waste of ti," Trevor sighed, the sound almost a hiss.
"Show the pitiful beast soul you’ve imprinted on your talisman and be done with it," Nadia added, with a slow eye roll that conveyed the depth of her disdain louder than words.
Though Jonathan remained silent, he turned aside with an exaggerated expression of boredom, seemingly finding the random curves snaking the bark of a tree more interesting than Desmond’s talisman.
Worse was the students facing Desmond. They spoke aloud, insulting him as they always did.
"Parasite eating through our points." "I bet Teacher Haldris took this chance to humiliate you." "I hope he’ll expel you next."
Faced with such oppressive hostility, Desmond’s throat tightened, words refusing to pierce through his twitching lips. It felt as if a searing bar had replaced his windpipe. His breath grew labored. The world distorted at the edges of his vision.
Then, he saw him—Adam. He stood amidst the outraged students as their insults began to target him as well. Yet he rely cupped a hand over his right ear and gestured for more with the other, all the while chuckling with a smirk so provocatively disgusting that it birthed the desire to punch his face.
Did Adam really not care despite his strength? No, it was he who let others affect him.
He took a deep breath, his lips parting. "YA—HOOO," he blasted all his insecurities and frustrations out, his voice echoing through the forest. "Teacher Haldris recomnded to the House of Exorcism. I’ve risked my life with Adam, sothing none of you has dared to do. I stand where I should!"
Birds flew out of their nests with ominous caws, and the students covered their ears.
Trevor flashed in front of Desmond, gripping and lifting him off his feet by the collar. "I’ve warned you that you’ll eat mashed potatoes next ti I hear you scream."
Ready to move, Adam snickered, but before he could, Haldris clapped.
Every eye snapped at the rector, and Trevor flung Desmond to the ground. "Hide well after class. This is not over."
Before his threat could linger, Haldris massaged his brow. "It truly is a waste of ti when even discipline eludes you." He gestured at Adam, who reappeared beside Desmond with a gasp.
"For helping your partner to improve and defeating the strongest beast, you’ve won the two hundred points."
Everyone’s eyes widened, but Adam simply shrugged. "Of course we did."
But Haldris wasn’t over. He patted Desmond’s shoulders, a bright smile curving his lips. "Most would have fled, but you broke your limits to help a friend. That’s the spirit of this house—loyalty. And for it, you earn two hundred points as well."
While Desmond’s eyes widened, Adam cupped his hand over his ear again. This ti, he only heard a musical silence. It lasted for three heartbeats, then an uproar spread through the students like ripples on the disturbed surface of a lake.
"Impossible!" "They can’t beat Trevor and Nadia’s Dreadmaw Juggernaut!"
"Hahaha!" Among them, Quintella giggled as she swung her legs from the log she sat on. "Look at their ridiculous faces now."
Her new friends exchanged a glance, eyes wide upon noticing they shared the others’ ridiculous grimaces. They coughed in their clenched fists, glaring at Quintella, who enjoyed Adam’s triumph.
One roar overwheld her laughter and the crowd’s outrage.
"Enough!" A muscle in Trevor’s clenched jaw twitched when he stepped toward Haldris. Fists clenched behind his back, he forcefully suppressed his tone, but his voice still ca out deep, each word interspersed by an emphasising pause. "Dear Teacher Haldris, would you mind clarifying how these troublemakers, who have no respect for our hard work—the sha of our House—managed the miraculous feat of beating us?"
"Twice. You’ve said presenting their hunt would be useless twice. Yet, now you want to know? Very well," Haldris said, curling a finger.
The talisman phased through Desmond’s chest pocket to hover in front of everyone. The re sight of the sickly yellow eyes at the end of countless tentacles silenced their complaints. When they saw the sylvan beast’s wide-open maw, toxic gas swirling out of its abyssal depths and venom coating its sword-sized fangs, they reeled back, stomachs churning in disgust and horror.
"It’s an archmage beast too!" Soone’s strangled voice rose from the crowd.
"Isn’t it the Oozebloom Abomination we learned about in botanic class last year?"
Haldris raised his palms, causing the exclamations to turn into whispers. "Correct. An archmage-tiered sylvan beast that contaminates anything having the misfortune of approaching it. Trevor and Nadia’s Dreadmaw Juggernaut’s control over nature and ability to reshape terrain are impressive, but it can only flee when the Oozebloom intrudes into its territory to hunt. There is no debate. Adam and Desmond win."
Trevor’s fists shook, and Nadia bit her lip. They exchanged aningful glances before Trevor shook his head.
"I agree with your assessnt—we all do," he started, his anger dissolving into viciousness. "But a new student and a dunce who ends every year with tens of thousands of points in negative killing this aberration? Perish the thought that I would insinuate anything... but their victory feels rather questionable."
"Cheater!" soone in the crowd instantly scread, followed by others.
Adam chuckled at the absurd accusations, but Desmond narrowed his eyes. Just as he opened his mouth to defend himself, Haldris sighed wearily.
"Think about it for two seconds, lads. Trevor, Jonathan, and Nadia obviously didn’t help them," he said, his ageless face growing somber. "Which leaves only one conclusion—that your accusation is not against them, but against ."
Desmond puffed his cheeks, struggling not to laugh at everyone’s pale faces. Adam didn’t. He burst into laughter, stopped to gaze at Trevor, then slapped his hip and laughed again as if he had heard the most ridiculous joke.
"T-That’s not what I ant!" Trevor scread, ignoring Adam.
"But that’s what you said." Haldris shrugged. "I witnessed every mont of their hunt, as I did yours. They did not cheat. Your baseless accusation costs you fifty points." He turned toward the others. "To everyone who called a cheater."
The emblems on everyone’s chests, save Desmond, Adam, Quintella, Sarah, and Jonathan, brightened with the loss of points.
"They complained about the points I lost yesterday? They’ve just lost double like fools." Adam clapped, sneering. "Good job, guys. You’ve joined the ranks of parasites."
The others glared at him, and Haldris shook his head. "Enough with your childish provocations."
"Sure," Adam shrugged, reaching for the talisman.
Before he could, a stack of talismans materialised in Haldris’ hand, and the Oozebloom vanished. "I’ll safeguard them until you master the technique in the next lessons."
With a clap, the lush canopy of the forest faded into an open sky, the familiar sweet gardens replacing the musty scent of soil and decomposing leaves. "The class is over."
Adam cursed the abrupt ending of the lesson and blurted out—just as Haldris began to leave. "May I have a word in private with you, Teacher?"
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AN: Since longer Chapters seem to have beco the norm, I’ll stop specifying them unless they reach 1k5 words.
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