Skills test plot (2) Saving Stella part 1

I blinked a few times wondering if what I was seeing would vanish. This was not a game and yet we have a game like feature displayed in front of me.

"It's finally happening!" My otaku self exclaimed whilst my logical side laid dormant.

"I'm slowly losing it..." My logical self finally voiced as I sank my face into the palms of my hands and groaned. 'I'm losing it' was something no one should ever hear from a teacher, especially a teacher who realistically been in the industry for only two years.

I turned my gaze to the clothing that laid beside me and sighed. I guess money was never an option when making an 'imprinted' impression. The king spared no expenses in the preparation of our rooms. It was what I would imagine a five-star hotel room would look like. Bed, bathroom, dresser and a desk with a lamp on it. Above me was a chandelier that looked like a snowflake illuminating the room in white light. The whole thing was posh as if you were a noble living the high life in a Middle Aged world. Basically, if I was a history teacher which I am not then this would've at least appealed to me in that aspect.

I decided that since I got a few hours left till the banquet, I should 'iron' somethings out. First, I went to the desk and rummaged through the draws for a quill and paper. And second, I went through my memory and listed out all the names that will be held accountable to the pain my students went through.

Marlos of course was on the top of my list, along with his dad, King Rokus. Most of his vassals are corrupt including everyone that welcomed us at the summoning platform. I believed even though everyone on this list are dirt and that they deserved everything that are coming to them, I knew that in this plot they are only just puppets to a high power. Might be the church as in most of our history depiction or a secret organization at play. I do not care who they are or what their causes are but when they involve innocent people including my students in their schemes then, I won't blame myself for the acts I'll commit to take them down.

Once I finished my list, I went on to learning more about my skills set which apparently had been inside of me all along...

Whether it was due to my rebirth or it was already inside of me, these skills were all new to me. These skills did not show itself to me in my previous life and were not the basic kinds you would find as a beginner.

The first skill of the three I received was helping hand.

Skill: Helping Hand

No requirements

Description: A skill by the gods in use to help those around the user. Single target or the masses, this skill can be used to recover and boost all targets stats and power based on the user's current power and stats.

Can be upgraded.

"Oh... this is an op supportive skill." I was speechless, it was a spell with both a heal and a buff. I could thing of so many situations that I could this spell but I decided to move on to the next skill before my 'either side' of me drag me down into the rabbit hole of inner thoughts and that would be a disaster...

The next spell was master's eyes. The skill sounded ominous but intriguing.

Skill: Master's eyes

No requirements

Description: From the eyes of the gods, this skill allows the user to have enhanced sight.

No other information can be found.

Cannot be upgraded.

Holy Shit. Magical eyes? Like Ryner Lute's alpha stigma? I really hope it is like the alpha stigma powers but without the curse of course... or the lost control because of stress part but since this is a toggle spell from the looks of it, I think I am safe from that.

The last spell was called information network. I hope it is as simple as it is sound.

Skill: Information Network

???

Description: ???

"What's with the question marks?" I asked myself rhetorically. The skill's name was simple and too on the nose and with the question marks contradicting the name itself, it just made this skill the more mysterious. Yeah... simple as in 'use it at your own risk because there is no info' type of thing... excellent examination Ryan! I can still use the spell since it hasn't been greyed out like the ultimate though I'm still hesitant to press it without knowing what it would do.

So far, three out of the four spells seems to be non combatant spells. More supportive and utility based. I hope my last spell in an offensive one because if it's not, I'm a sitting duck... quack quack…

The last spell left in my skill's panel was the ultimate, ominously named 'Mastermind'. The skill is greyed out which meant that I could not use it and like information network, this skill too has question marks.

Before my mind went too deep into my thoughts and draw out my inner gamer, a knock on the door snapped me out of it.

A soft voice called out behind the door.

"Sir, it's nearly time to head down to the banquet, everyone is ready, and we've come to get you."

Rain's voice seeped into my mind and soothed my thoughts. Rain, Stella and Lucy without me noticing, slowly had become a stability in my life and my career as a teacher. Seriously, they made my job so much enjoyable by showing they cared. Every student in this class had done the same, though not in the same magnitude as what these girls had done, which is why I too cared if not more about them and why without them knowing, protecting them from their fates.

I was about to answer them when the doorknob began to wiggle and then turn.

Crap... I forgot to lock the door. My heart nearly skipped a beat as the door flung open and three incredibly beautiful girls walked in.

"Sir, you're not even dressed yet," observed Rain, her voice stern like a mother scolding her child yet had a tinge of another emotion in it but I couldn't tell what it was. Her eyes tried to escape mine when she noticed I was staring back at her, a deep red blush appeared on her cheeks.

Lucy, who was always the stoic one blushed hard, her face turning a more darker shade of red than Rain's as if she was overheated and was a few seconds away from fainting.

Stella, on the other hand had a glint in her eyes as a beautiful smile formed on her face with cute little dimples on both sides of her mouth which emphasized her smile even more.

Rain and Lucy were embarrassed beyond belief whilst Stella was enjoying this a little bit too much.

As the girls continued their antics, I noticed the gowns they wore. The girls were breathtaking. Each girl wore a gown that matched their personality. Rain's gown looked elegant and refined with colorful flower patterns that looked more Orient then European in design. A belt fitted around her waistline to bring out more of her filled out features. To complete her outfit, she had brown ankle boots with small red, blue, green and yellow crystal flower lining the sides.

Lucy wore a white laced dress with a red ribbon sash belt wrapped around her waist. She looked like someone who were about to attend a wedding. She wore white ankle strap heels that brought out the curvature of her legs and made her significantly taller. With the heels on, she's probably the same height as me.

Whilst the other two wore more stylish gowns, in my mind Stella went full on cosplay... not that she had that intention in mind. If my otaku side had anything to say about it, then he would describe Stella's approach as if Elena Fisher from the uncharted series wore the wedding dress of Lunafreya from FFXV with matching white cone heel boots.

I wouldn't believe in a million years that three beautiful girls were standing in my room chatting happily as I sat on my bed in a T-shirt and shorts... basically in my sleeping attire, watching them. I knew in situations like these, I should've complimented them but before I could speak, Stella beaten me to it.

"Teach, since you've clearly hadn't even attempted to get dressed and the banquet is about to start, I thought you should allow the three of us to dress you up. After all, to look your best, you need a women's touch, in this case three of them." Stella looked at her friends before coming back to me with a huge smile on her face.

I didn't know if Stella was joking or not but if she kept this up, I didn't know what I would do. The thought of having these three girls hands all over me nearly took me out of reality.

"I... uh," I faulted as no words wanted to leave my mouth, in fear of what might accidentally come out.

"Stella!" Rain squeaked, staring at her friend in disbelief only to have Stella staring right back at her with a warm smile. To my surprise, Rain unexpectedly dropped her innocence as she let out a soft sigh before turning back to me with a whole different expression. She just simply moved forward and stopped in front of me.

Rain gave me a warm smile as she leaned forward and stared at my face. Her hands came up and cupped my face. Her face was close enough, if I wanted to, I could've leaned forward, and our lips would've met but instead I was frozen in place as my heart thumped against my chest and felt my control slowly slipping away.

This was a compromising situation and as their teacher, I shouldn't have let a situation like this escalate. So, in a moment of desperation, I stood up and ushered the three of them out of my room.

"Girls, I'm happy that you're concerned about your teacher. Thank you but don't you worry, your teacher is not as inept in this as you may think. I'll be out in a minute or two."

With haste, I quickly closed the door and tossed on the clothing like a maniac. I swore I saw frowns on their faces as I closed the door, but I knew it was for mine and their own good. I looked at the human size mirror and nodded my head before I walk to the door and opened it again.

I was about to step out but halted as I saw three angry girls staring at me with disappointed faces. Lucy pouted, Rain crossed her arms and Stella stomped her left foot repeatedly. I'm a teacher and they are my students... I, uhhh... ah shit.

The first thing Stella did when she saw me was to walk up and adjusted my tie, her eyes flicked up twice from what she was doing to my face with a scowl. She then patted down my suit and tug at places to release any wrinkles before getting back up and staring directly into my eyes. I could see that she was hurt because of my actions but before I could say anything to try and console her, she grabbed my hand and looked at the other two.

"Let's go," she simply said before walking towards the direction of the hall whilst pulling me along with her and the other two girls followed us in tow. I could tell as we walked through the halls that other people like the servants that watched us from the sidelines wouldn't see a teacher and his students but a wife pulling her husband out of frustration with two other women right behind them.

They knew who we were at this point, but I didn't think that would stop them from gossiping or making up stories of what they saw. I mean I'm a little intrigued at what they could have come up with and imagined, maybe those stories would've spread throughout the whole kingdom and be passed down through generations.

As we got to the door to the banquet hall, the rest of my class were already there waiting for us.

"Your finally here, Sir." One of my students called out as we approached.

"Stella! You go girl!" Another cried out.

I found it interesting that my other students were not phased or surprised that Stella was holding onto my hand or the fact that that she was pulling her teacher along.

"What's with the long face, Stella?" Asked a girl named Chloe who looked at her with concern.

Stella held my hand tighter as she answered her.

"Because teach is an idiot."

"Is it because sir didn't compliment you by saying you looked like Elena Fisher from uncharted wearing a dress that resembled Luna from FFXV?" Asked Sam, an otaku just like me.

"No, he didn't," Stella huffed.

"No, I didn't but I thought that exact thing. Good minds think alike, Sam." I grinned at Sam to Stella annoyance.

Sam grinned back sheepishly.

"I've never seen Stella so upset considering her happy-go-lucky attitude. Sir, you must've done something bad to invoke this type of emotion from her." A boy named Rex stated in a deep voice. Rex is Stella's childhood friend who can sometimes act as her overly protective brother but now just her concerned friend.

"I'll say, they're acting like an old, married couple. I'm so jealous," snickered Ann, our school's leading cross-country runner.

When we were summoned here not a few hours ago, everyone was nervous and scared about everything, about their future lives here. I'm just thankful and happy that everyone is laughing and enjoying themselves right now because I knew once we step a foot through those doors, our lives will never be the same again.

As our 'calm before the storm' antics calmed everyone's nervousness a bit, I heard a faint 'metal hitting solid stone floors' sound coming from the hallway where we had came from. As the sound grew louder, the door to the banquet hall opened and revealed a massive mystical room that even out mystified Hogwarts banquet hall.

Granted, there were no ghosts flying around or a ceiling that was made to look like the night sky but what it did have was a mosaic of legendary creatures and murals lined the walls of great heroes from this world. I read about most of them from the palace's library in my previous life, a life where I spent most of my time in as my students trained... I almost felt like I was Hajime from Arifureta... almost. I tried to mingle with some of the teaching staff that were milling around in the library, but I soon found out that everyone was giving me the cold shoulder or the sneer treatment.

Later, Sara the trainer who trained my students in sword fighting gave me the reason why. The king paid nearly all the teaching staff to never give me their 'light of day' so that they would have a better control over my students. Interestingly, Sara and Garret - the hand to hand combat specialist - never agreed to the king's persuasion. I hoped in this life we could be friends once more; they had helped me and my students from the very start in my previous life.

Sadly, the two of them went on a mission one day and never came back. I remembered Garret's grandchildren were sent to the orphanage on the bases that they all thought he was dead. No one went looking for them but in one judgement, the court presumed they were dead. They were good people; they were heroes and their kingdom turned their backs on them but this time that will not happen because this time I will have their backs.