Merrick’s Announcement

It was the second day of class and everyone was eager to learn something new.

Pierre and Cain were now present in the class creating a far more active atmosphere. The two started bickering at the door, there was a sense of mysterious rivalry going on between them.

"Hey, white hair. You shouldn't strain yourself. Why don't you rest more?"

"Speak for yourself, eggplant."

"Who's the eggplant!? Then..then…then you're dandruff. Yes, you're that!! Fucking ass!"

"Such crass language, are you really of nobility? I think the alleyways would suit you better, you hooligan!"

It was mostly Pierre losing. Strangely, there was a sense of harmony between the two of them. Jana who was at the far end of the classroom eyed the duo, her mind… hides quite a bit of disturbing thoughts.

"You know," Pierre thought of a good counterattack. "How about, I just touch you?"

"What the… Don't!! I'll fucking kill you!" Cain threatened as if he was a cat being teased to be tossed at the ocean. Murderous light literally danced at the end of his fingertips.

As a germaphobe, the thought of the booger-eating Pierre touching him disgusted him to the core. "Don't touch me, booger eater…" "What!? I don't eat boogers? Don't tell me you want a taste?" "I'll fuck you!! Come at me!"

Meanwhile, Jana excitedly thought 'So, they are in that kind of relationship.' That day, a very painful misunderstanding was formed at the cost of Jana's entertainment.

Suddenly, Pierre was kicked from behind. Cain managed to dodge in time as he ducked a fist flying over his head. With Merrick's flick of his hand, the two were simultaneously teleported into their seats.

At the sight of this, Deron fixed his seating posture. Lorie however looked out of place. The chattering of the students was silenced with only Pierre as the exception as he scratched his itchy butt… It was a hard kick… Pierre thought he felt the sole of Merrick's shoe vividly imprinting itself on his ass.

"Class, I have an announcement to make."

Standing at a podium, Merrick gazed at the class. The class attentively looked at him with obvious interest.

"There has been a change in teaching personnel. From now on, Class As of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th years will be personally taught by the academy's head professors. For Class-A-year-1, I will be your acting homeroom professor."

The class went into an uproar. Whispering among themselves, the sudden announcement came as quite a shock to them. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The head professors as educators were at the pinnacle of their profession.

"Quiet," Merrick demanded, and his class immediately complied. "For the first semester, there won't be any preliminary and midterm exams. Instead, three months from now, a joint final exam will be held."

Merrick watched his students with a critical gaze. The silence continued.

"Your seniors will be participating in it as your competitors." He suddenly added.

The truth finally registered to the class. There cannot be a joint final exam without the others. Initially, the students of Class-A thought that they are going to compete with their year levels… But they were gravely wrong.

"Prof," Sheila, the green-haired lass raised her hand to ask a question. "Will it be just our seniors from Class-A? Or…" She hung on her words suggesting something…

Merrick quickly caught on. "No," And the truth can't be grimmer. "All year levels will participate. Class-A, B, C, 1st year to 4th year and so on… They will vie to pass the exam whatever it takes, and I wish all of you do the same."

A dreadful silence, unlike the silence before permeated the classroom. It was suffocating.

"Prof, why?" Philip with his insight realized that there was something wrong. "Why now? This is too much. I believe there's not even precedence to this."

"Yes, that's right!" Rodney shouted, and his lackeys echoed. Merrick's disapproving gaze landed on the three idiots. Rodney and his two other nameless lackeys quickly shut up.

"Prof?" Philip who raised his concern called to Merrick.

Merrick ignored Philip who asked a rather sensitive question. His impression of this Philip is in the 'betters' compared to the other students. Clever, knew what to say, and had a knack to make people leak information…

Philip's ashen gray hair was not as white as Cain's. This Philip's Special Ability was not that bad either. But no matter how favorable Merrick looks at this kid, he can't bring up the reason why this announcement was made.

"Now, we'll officially start our class. Get your textbooks in Phys. Sci. 1, and turn to page 42." Merrick ignored Philip's question entirely. He might as well not entertain it if he were not to answer in the first place.

It was a boring class. Merrick's teaching style adhered to the ordinary teaching style book by book. Even if it wasn't a Head professor who was teaching at this session, nothing much would have changed from what they initially expected.

Some of the students even started to doubt whether having a head professor teach them spices anything at all.

The class ended uneventfully.

It was lunchtime, but no one has yet left the class. The recent announcement was just too much to take in. The good news was… certainly good… If not good, maybe half good… But hearing the bad news changed that.

No prelims and midterms meant that the final exam's difficulty would be much harder. The head professors teaching them accompanied a new kind of pressure and lots of expectations.

The exam's spike in difficulty would be enormous. And there must be a reason why. The changing of teaching personnel to head professors must have a connection with it.

"Hey, what do you think?" Heather conferred with her seatmates, Pedro Picard, Trom, and Nika Yaun.

After what happened in the Group Battle, Heather remained spirited. With her outgoing personality, she easily made friends in the classroom.

"Nika don't know." The person who referred to herself in the third person is Nika Yaun, a black beauty with curly chestnut hair.

"I don't care," Trom, the self-proclaimed-future-Hero-King, answered flippantly. "I'd just win it. Nothing like the tournament setup will happen again." He determinedly said as he directed a challenging gaze at Deron.

On top of being humiliated after the Potential Assessment by Deron, he was defeated by the same person in the Tournament Setup. It was as if fate was playing a joke on him.

Heather didn't mind Trom's aggressive nature as she too had a score to settle. Her gaze subtly scanned in Zia's direction, and with a sigh, she directed her gaze at Pedro.

"Pedro, what do you think?"

"A-aa?" Pedro timidly muttered. "Hmmm…" But he offered his opinion nonetheless. "We should eat lunch."

"…"

...

While the others were eating their lunch, Sheila was busy hiding. She was aware of how delicate her situation stood. As someone who was a villain's daughter, it was inevitable that she would face a lot of challenges here in a school made to nurture heroes.

In fact, several attempts of bullying have already occurred to her. If not for Deron or Lorie saving her or sneakily offering assistance to her, Sheila would have suffered greatly already.

Sheila was lucky to have righteous classmates.

This bit of peace she had was temporary though.

The bullies would always find their ways.

On the academy's rooftop, Sheila was eating her lunch, a humble lunchbox full of vegetables and fruits on her lap. She'd love to eat some meat, but she doesn't really have the courage to come to the canteen and be under the derisive gazes of other students.

The veggies and fruits all came from her personal garden. One she quickly arranged secretly from the Enclosed Forest.

As she was about to take a bite of her lettuce, someone suddenly interrupted her.

"Hey, who do we have here? If it isn't the villain's spawn."

A bunch of girls unknown to her revealed themselves to Sheila.

Sheila doesn't know anyone from them. She assumed they must be from the lower class brackets. They were not even past the 41% potential grade which was the standard of Class A.

"How the hell were you even admitted to class A? Did you use some dirty trick?"

The girls gathered around her.

Sheila counted 7 of them.

Imagining several ways to inflict pain, Sheila felt nostalgic euphoria. The last time she surrendered on the impulse was a long time ago. She was but a little girl who doesn't know the concept of good and evil back then.

"I am really reluctant to do this, but some bitches really have to learn the hard way." The way she spoke is ominous, and a creepy smile was etched on her face.

Sheila stood up and reaches for the edge of the rooftop. "Tell me, would you survive if you fall from this height?"

At her question, the group of gals felt unique terror seep into their bones.

Then... Sheila suddenly jumped off... The group of girls hurriedly scurries away in fear as news of a 'suicide' aren't really welcomed lately.

Sheila had a naughty smile on her face as she dangled by the edge of the rooftop using her vines. "Bunch of idiots, they are lucky I am such a nice person."

Returning to the rooftop with renewed peace, Sheila proceeded on her lunch without any more disturbances.