16 Quests & The Arts Facility

"Alright! Let's carry on!" The professor stepped to the side and waved her hand to switch to the next topic. I looked at my desk and it was lighting up, I wondered if I could use this. Eliza notices me, and she says, "Just flow your magic into it a little and it will turn on. It's an interface that will allow you to record, take notes, and store information during class. It will automatically detect that it is you because everyone has unique magic. It's like DNA or a biometric reader. Thus, allowing you to log in into any desk you want," Eliza informed me, but as soon as I tried to flow magic, I stopped immediately.

"Hold up," I said as I pulled my hand back, and I looked at Eliza. "I'll do it later," I said, and she just shrugged her shoulders.

I almost forgot that I have Pure Magic, and it could destroy this desk or ruin it. Just like back then when I tested for my Magic Capacity test, it just didn't work. Plus, I don't want to cause a scene...

Ms. Kyoko sat on her desk with her legs crossed—she swiped her bangs to the side, and says, "Now then, just as a refresher, I will go about what a quest is, where to obtain one, and who to go to receive payment. As you all know, payment is quite important, I don't want to see any of my students suffering financially, and if you are, you can take out small loans from the bursar's. But that's a topic for another day."

"Pay attention because this is how you can stop being a bum," Eliza teases me, and I just roll my eyes.

"Simply put, quests are tasks that are requested by civilians or students who require assistance in whatever they need. Quests can range from small and tedious, to arduous life or death missions. These requests are sent through the city to get approved and then sent straight to the academies. Therefore, it'll take about 12 to 24 hours to get processed. You would pick up those Quests that have been submitted at the main lobby in the Arts building. However, there are exceptions that can be made if someone hasn't sent a request through the system. Can someone tell me what those few exceptions are?" she asked the class.

Juniper raised her hand enthusiastically, "Me! Me!"

"Go on sweetie," Ms. Kyoko gave her permission to speak.

"Um...the exceptions would be, being requested on sight if you're in the area....or....um... picking up missions yourself in person, and if the requester goes to the school and the school calls you over to meet up with them for more info on what the mission entails," Juniper finished and Ms. Kyoko looked satisfied with her response.

"Correct! Well done! Thank you, sweetie!" She praised Juniper.

"Yay!" Juniper looked like she wanted to jump out of her seat.

"Those exceptions are your traditional recruitment methods. Therefore, if you do take up requests like that, it is your responsibility, not the school. Thus, there will be no collateral if anything happens," she said nonchalantly.

I guess that makes sense since it wasn't sent through the school and they're not involved with the mission.

The presentation now had a picture of what looks like one of the academies buildings and lobby, "Now onto the part on how you can receive quests at the academy. You will have to go to the Arts building's main lobby. There will be ports to connect your horo and allow you to access the Academies' Quest interface—once there, you can discuss with your squad on what kind of missions you can take. It's right next to the Quest Administration office, so it isn't hard to miss. The cool thing is that there is a filter option. You can filter out what kind of quest's you're looking for, just try not to be too specific or no results will pop up. Also, there will be descriptions of the compensation, difficulty, and prerequisites prior to accepting the quest. Once you and your squad have come to a unanimous decision, you just tap accept and you're all set! You would just need to wait until it gets approved, which takes seconds, and you will receive an A-OK to start," she smiled and showed slides of other students connecting to ports and they're discussing stuff.

"Phew! Any questions, my beloved students?" Ms. Kyoko seemed a bit tired of explaining so much to us, but I can tell that she enjoys her job.

There were a handful of hands raised, but I didn't really bother to ask anything because she explained very well. She answered all of their questions one by one, and by the time she was finished, she said, "Alright class, we have to wrap things up! Let me do roll-call before class ends. Remember squad leaders, if you have a problem with your teammates, you have to let me know and we will go through the process of swapping. Also, everyone has to raise their hand in the squad so I can see who is here or not."

She walked over to her desk, pulled up a display of names, and she started to take attendance. She went down the list, and everyone followed her directions on what to do if someone were to be absent, but surprisingly everyone seemed like they were here. I was able to tell who was in a team or not, and most of them seemed happy every time they got called on. "Team Ian!?" Ms. Kyoko shouted. Ian raised his hand, along with Alma & Juniper.

"Hey teach, when can I become leader...I'm definitely stronger than him now!" Alma boasts.

Ian says in a calm tone, "How can you be so sure this time? You lost twice before, and now you want to make it a third?" He taunts her, and Alma clenches her fist, "Why you little..."

I hear several students instigate and one of them says, "Oohhhh he's calling Alma out!" Ms. Kyoko intervenes and says, "Ian, stop taunting Alma. And Alma, you should know that strength isn't how you become a leader."

"Ugh, this again?! Fine! I'll leave it alone, but Ian! I need my rematch!" Alma shouts.

Being behind Ian, I can't tell what his facial expression is, but I can feel that he's smirking, "Fine by me." he replied, agreeing to the runback. Ms. Kyoko finished up calling everyone except Eliza and me, but she mentioned it, "Aaaand Eliza and Kima. I know you guys are here, however, since Eliza doesn't have a partner, Kima—you two will join forces until we can find a third member to complete the squad. Eliza, you're the leader," she added.

We looked at each other for a moment and then back at the professor, "All done! I hope you guys do well on the test tomorrow!"

I looked at Eliza in frustration, and said in a whisper, "A test?! What the hell? I just got here!"

"Relax, Kima. I'm sure she knows that—just go talk to her after class," Eliza assured me that Ms. Kyoko would handle this. Eliza then said, "I'll be waiting outside of the classroom when you're done."

"Oh? You don't have to, it'll be quick," I tried to be nice.

"Is that so...I guess you know which room your next class is, AND how to get across campus from here," she looked away in dissatisfaction.

Oh damn, she's right. I don't know what I'm doing!

"Haha...you're right, sorry. Thank you for waiting then," I nervously said.

She giggled and smirked, "Exactly."

Then, the bell rang through the intercom as a melodic chime. Everyone started to get up and grabbed their belongings, many left quickly, while some took their time to talk with their friends, and there were those who wanted to speak with the professor. Kyoko dismissed everyone with a message, "Make sure to study what we went over! If anyone fails, it'll be...SEXY punishment!" She emphasized sexy punishment and winked at us. Someone reasonable shouted that she can't do that, and another student shouted that he actually wanted it.

This class is so weird, she was clearly joking....or was she? I better keep my guard up...

I get up from my desk and stretched. I said to Eliza, "Ok, I'm heading to her now, I'll be out there soon." She said ok, and as she was walking out, Juniper and Alma caught up to her and the tension between Eliza rose again. I facepalmed, "They're at it again..." I sighed, but I reached the line of students wanting to talk to Ms. Kyoko privately.

It finally reached my turn, and Ms. Kyoko was surprised in a happy way, "Well if it isn't my cute new student. How did you like the class, dear?" she asked in a caring tone.

I gulped, and said, "It was very informative, thank you. You explained and clarified things very well," she smiled and gave me a hug. I don't know how to feel about this because this isn't normal back at home. My face was embedded in her huge breasts for a few seconds, and she let go. She then said, "My apologies, and thank you for that. I just love it when my students compliment me and enjoy the class, it just makes my job much more rewarding!" I could tell that she was genuinely happy, which made me feel happy as well for her. She truly is a kind and loving professor, despite her seductive nature.

"It's okay, I'm glad. But I'm here to talk to you about the test tomorrow..." I felt a bit anxious because I didn't know how she would respond.

She says, "Oh that? You won't be taking the test, rather, you will be assigned a little bit more homework, until you've caught up with the class. During the test, you can just sit there, go on your horo, or even sleep for all I care, honey. Just don't interrupt the class or it's your ass." She giggled on the last part, but I let out a sigh of relief. I then thank her and head out.

The classroom was almost empty with just a few students behind me, and I see Eliza outside near the door. I say to her, "Okay, done. She basically said that I could just sit there and distract myself, without interrupting the class."

"See? I knew everything would work out, just be lucky you don't have my history professor...he's the worse. If he heard me say that, he wouldn't be afraid to contact my family and I would be in so much trouble," she gets chills just thinking about it and I laugh a bit. She notices I laughed and questions me, "Is it that amusing? I don't think it's funny for a 17-year-old to get tortured and get beat nearly to death."

What the hell, that took a dark a turn!

It just gets quiet and I'm shook, but then she sees my reaction and starts laughing, "I'm messing with you! Don't be lame about it; all that would happen if I did get in trouble in school is just getting scolded and a long lecture," she nudged me to snap me out of it and I shook my head.

"You really are a jokester, huh?" I chuckled a bit.

"I guess so," she shrugged, and she then said, "Alright, let's go before the bell rings again for next class to begin," she started to walk in the other direction, and I try to keep up with her. I start a conversation because I don't know how far the Arts building is, and I don't want it to get awkward, so I ask, "Since we're partners, I was wondering when we could go on our first quest?" I get a strong urge of wanting to be productive. She says, "Hmm, I would say 'until you're ready', but that would be boring, wouldn't it? Shall we grab a quest tomorrow then?"

My eyes sparkle, "YES! I can't wait!" I sounded like a child, but I didn't care. This is the first step towards becoming the actual Pawn-Wielder. Eliza smiles a bit, "You're even more childish than me at times haha," she said.

"Says the jokester. I think you're even more childish," I chuckle.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes and giggle. "You better keep that same energy tomorrow, it's much harder than you think," she added.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We walked outside and walked through a huge, yet, beautifully maintained garden. The bushes, grass, and hedges were lush green. Flowers bloomed gracefully and gave the air around us a sweet aroma. This caused the atmosphere to feel very relaxed and calm. The garden also had walkways that diverted into different paths. There were signs that led students to their Arts class from different sections outside of the building. We kept walking straight to reach the middle of the garden; there were many benches for people to sit on to rest. In the dead center, there were bushes that surrounded a water fountain. You could hear the water splash softly, giving off a delicate vibe. I looked at Eliza, waiting for her to say something, she then says, "May I ask why you're staring at me so intently?"

"Oh! Sorry, it's a habit...I'm used to you explaining everything to me. But I'm assuming the building in front of us that wraps around the garden is the Arts facility?" I said.

Eliza nods in agreement, "Correct, this area is usually filled with passing students, but today seems unusually quiet. Anyhow, follow the sword arts sign and it will bring you to your class, you're a second year, so don't go waltzing in the freshman class because they are right next to each other."

"I won't. See ya later!" I start to walk in the direction that I need to go and she also walks to her class.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I run to the Sword Arts class and the bell rings before I reach the door. I slide it open and I see my classmates around the classroom, chatting, laughing, sitting on desks, teasing, and some just chilling. The atmosphere felt like back at home. The only difference, is they're not all human, yet, they all seem friendly with one another. I scan the room and I notice all the way in the back of the class, is another door, leading to who knows where. I try not to disturb the others around me while walking past them. Once I reach the door, I get a tap on my back. I turn around and instantly get poked in the forehead, I see Blake with a grin. Blake? Why is he in my class? I thought he was a third year... Surprised on the inside, I try to hide it and I say, "So, we're in the same class. That's pretty ironic, don't you think?" He lets out a small chuckle and says, "Oh no, fuck that. I'm only here for today. I asked Mair to let me guide the up and coming Pawn-Wielder. I gotta make sure you're in tip-top SHAPE," he pushes me and I step back a bit.

Yeah, more like harass me. Doesn't he have anything better to do?

He points at the door behind me, "Back there is the sparring/training room. In there, we learn combat and magic skills. It's also the perfect place to see what the substitute Pawn-Wielder candidate can do. That is if you don't bitch out and call for that pesky Sternbriar," He sounds sarcastic, but his words are obviously begging me to challenge him.

Intimidated by his words, I try to mask the fear of wanting to run away and say, "Okay, let's spar later." The class became utterly silent from what I said, and Blake starts to laugh hysterically covering his face. "What's so funny?" I asked, trying to hold my ground. He then wipes his tears away from laughing so hard. "Don't try to hide it. I can sense the fear in you from your aura. But that's okay, this will just make things more entertaining."

This guy...I can't hide anything from him. What am I going to do? Do I really have to fight him?