Chapter 1.9

My first class, after lunch, is Combat Proficiency. It's where the students of Irorishiro are sorted into classes, according to Charm Rank, and taught how to fight using the Vorpal weapons and the abilities of our Charming Forms.

Its stated purpose is to mold us children...

Into battle-ready soldiers.

The classroom is arranged so that the students' desks form a wide circle around a flat, metal-plated ring, at the center of the room.

Various pieces of machinery, called "simulation projectors"--that look like tripod cameras, only with a more "fat," turretlike design--are suspended upside-down from the ceiling, their bottleneck lenses pointed toward the aforementioned metal-plated ring like spotlights over a stage.

My clasmates notice me as I walk in, laughing at my expense like always--because I guess if we're all piece of shit Rank F peeps, it's okay to make fun of the shittiest.

Normally, it gets to me--but not today.

They'll all see, soon enough!

I'm about to look like a total badass.

As for my instructor...she calls herself an "ex-Spetsnaz secret agent" (or so she most recently claimed, as the story changes.) She looks to be young for a teacher--about in her mid-20s-- with a soft, Nordic face structure and straight, autumn orange hair, frilled inward at its medium-length tips. A tall, slender, catlike physique but with wide hips and thighs, wrapped in a tundra camouflage trench coat with her bare, strongly-built legs exposed, and lightly beige colored croc military boots.

"Alex Strangelove." She purrs at me, just as I'm walking through the door.

She's seated, cross-legged, on top of a desk in the middle of the ring, baring an unreadable ear-to-ear grin--one that seldom leaves her face.

"You're back?" She says, holding a finger to her lips, crossing her legs more tightly.

She sighs, looking disappointed.

"Oh, what a shame."

"Ms. Berlin." I respond coldly. You bitch.

"I was enjoying not having to make special concessions for you all the time."

Her words are met with a few isolated bits of laughter from the class: she is, of course, referring to my previous sworn abstinence from becoming a little girl--a subject which she often likes to bring up, in front of the whole class.

"Miss." I say, facing her unflinchingly, as I place my palm over my Charm Ring--

Causing it to glow in activation--

Eliciting some shocked cries of excitement from my classmates, as Ms. Berlin looks on with an unflinching, serious gaze, her lips partially adrift.

Heh. I had rehearsed this scene in my head countless times on the way here.

"Today, you can call me..."

A bright light passes over me, then it's gone.

In a blink...I am changed again.

"ALICE!"

Unlike the first time, this transformation process is near-instant--as it seems I've already secured enough of Alice's trust, for the time being, to call upon her whenever I need.

The suspense-filled screams of my classmates turn to awed gasps and whoops.

They're drawing close, all around me, touching my face and hair and any uncovered parcel of skin they can find, tugging and pulling at my stupid girly outfit like I'm some playdoll that they're about to curiously undress--even as I yell for them to stop and push their zombie masses away.

Propping her chin on her elbow, set against her thigh, Ms. Berlin chuckles with laughter at the scene.

"What prompted this change, I wonder?"

I look at her, ignoring my unfortunate cloud of admirers.

"I want to raise my Rank, no matter what."

Her eyes narrow, like she's honing in.

"Is that so...?

Leaning back, against her desk--pulling up her legs to gather momentum--with a push of her backwards facing hands, she springboards upward--performing a flawless midair sommersault and landing perfectly on her feet.

Her eyes are shot wide open, crazily staring.

"Strangelove! How's about...a little test?"

Suddenly, she tears away her trenchcoat, casting it aside with a sweep of her arm.

"UWAAA!" I can't believe what she's wearing!

She is dressed in a tight, navy green pair of leather overalls--with none of the shirt part included, such that only the thin support straps cover her enormous breasts: her wide and finely curved, smoothly muscled torso fully exposed.

This...is an ideal grown woman's body!

"My challenge, is simple: you'll fight me, one-versus-one, in the ring."

I can barely hear a word she's saying--I'm too busy gawking, at the incredible sight in front of me, to pay attention to anything else.

My heart is beating fast, reminding me of Dusk: the true, deeply anguished love I still reserve for her.

Still, I cannot simply ignore the thrust of my base biological impulses, even as it feels so...strange, to entertain such lewd fascinations while equipped with Alice's body; not just in terms of thinking, but physically as well: an umfamiliar dizzying rush of heat flooding my brain; and a warm, sensitive tingling numbness spreading all across my arms--like if someone came up, and so much as tapped me, once...

I swear, I'd melt into a gooey Alice puddle.

I don't even notice Ms. Berlin walking toward me--until she is bending forward, her chest drooping down directly into my line of vision.

"What is it, "Alice?" You seem distracted..."

Oh, God! Now they're jostling--

"N-n-no! Of course not!" I blurt. "I'm fully focused on reaching my goal!"

She laughs under her breas--I MEAN, breath.

"Well, how's this for a goal: if, during our fight, you can manage to knock me down ONCE--"she leans back, away from me, cupping and squeezing her breasts in her hands as the entire classroom goes silent in a shared moment of breathless amazement.

"I'll let you touch THESE, all you like!"

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAH?!?!"

Beads of warm sweat are trailing down the sides of my face.

I thought I was determined before, but now I'm certain I've never wanted for anything more, than I do now, in my entire existence on this Earth.

Yes! It'll be the ultimate revenge, for all the abuses she's put me through!

I'll not only beat her test--I'll CONQUER her!

However, that still begs the question..

"What if I lose, though?" I ask, to which she--worryingly--appears to have already had a long answer prepared:

"If I knock you down first, you'll have to remain as Alice for 10 whole days--the same amount as your unaccounted-for absence from school!" She winks. "That includes sleeping, showering--everywhere! All the time! No exceptions."

Heh. This is a no-lose situation for me.

If I only have to knock her down, it sounds easy enough.

Besides, it's not like she can keep tabs on whether I'm wearing Alice in private; that way, I can always cheat if I lose, and she'd never even know about it!"

...

Ah, but is "wearing" Alice the ideal way to phrase it?

Ms. Berlin pulls an electronic cigar from her shorts pocket and brings it to her lips, puffing it as she takes a position in the ring at the center of the classroom.

"Take your place, Strangelove."

Nodding, I go to stand several paces apart from her.

"Let's start with a little warmup." She says, retrieving a tablet controller from her desk to perform a quick series of inputs. This is followed by a loud, repetitive buzzing noise coming from above, serving as a warning that the simulation projectors are now in operation, prompting the other students to inch away from the ring until they're pressing their backs to the walls.

Leaving just myself, and Ms. Berlin.

The buzzing stops, replaced by a gentle whirring of machinery--the projectors initiating their task, as laid out by Ms. Berlin, using a technology similar to what is behind the simulation room to manifest a fully-fledged, three-dimensional being in our presence.

A Jabberwock: with an appearance of a fat, slightly shrunken blue alligator, with shiny diamond crystals growing out of its back emerges, letting out a shrill roar.

"Warm up?" I say to Ms. Berlin, as I conjure my Vorpal Sword. "I won't even break a sweat."

I down the beast in one clean slash.

Some of my classmates are impressed, but Ms. Berlin's doesn't bat an eye.

"Let's try out something a BIT harder..."

I turn to her, frustratedly groaning.

"Patience, young grasshopper." She says, winking at me. "I'm just trying to establish a point here. I am still a teacher at the end of the day, aren't I?"

The next Jabberwock she summons goes down just as quickly.

Then the next. And the next. One by one.

Finally, she sets the controller back unto the desk and faces me.

"Are your joints all loosened now?"

Scoffing, I lift my sword and sling it over my shoulders. "Sure."

"Give me a real challenge, already!"

"Okay." She says, her grin widening. "Now then, we'll move on to the main event..."

She unholsters a handgun strapped to her left leg and a knife from a waisthilt, holding the pistol in her right hand and knife in the left, supporting it, as she adopts a combat stance: her back hunched and knees bent forward, with her dominant right arm slightly extended pointing the pistol and the knife edge pointed horizontally, her playful silver-blue eyes at once becoming laser-focused and serious.

"Remember, all you have to do is knock me down, and my treasures are all yours."

"Am I allowed to use my Vorpal Sword?"

"I wouldn't say it matters. You could even use a Vorpal Bazooka, if that were possible."

Hmph! She's cocky.

I hold my blade out, taking a deep breath, when I realize--

"Aren't you going to use your Charming Form?"

She shakes her head. "I don't need it."

Wow! She's INCREDIBLY cocky!

A Charming Form, of any type category, has so many advantages over a normal human--

That it isn't even a competition!

Believe me, I would know better than anyone.

"Suit yourself." I say with a shrug, and make my charge.

I swing wildly, but she's impressively quick.

Her lovely body bends and twists like a dancer made of Taffy, dodging by blows with apparent ease--never once wavering in her expert movements.

I extend my arm as far as I can, sweeping my blade horizontally--

She folds her entire body backwards--

Crouched on her knees, ducking the slash!

What the Hell kind of flexibility is that?!

Then, as she regains her feet, it becomes like a slowmo scene from a movie:

Everything around me draws to a crawl, as I make a brutal, stabbing lunge for her: specifically targeting one of the flimsy straps that are just barely holding her outfit.

She'll have to move her hands--leaving her chest exposed--or else risk losing a finger!

Then, when I cause her outfit to fall apart, she'll fall to the ground crying in embarrassment--frantically trying to cover herself--and I'll automatically be declared the winner!

She'll never make fun of me in front of the class again!

Suddenly, her smiling lips grow even wider.

Huh? What's she laughing about?

It happens too quickly, even for my enhanced reflexes to follow: her swivelling to the left side of me, at the very last millisecond-- catching my neck in the fingers of her knife-gripping left hand, then chokeslamming me down to the hard metal floor.

I gasp--no way! She's so much faster than me!

My perception of time returns to its normal pace, then, as Ms. Berlin brings the point of her gun up to my forehead.

"Bang." She says, with a playful wink.

The classroom erupts, as I feel my heart sink at yet another failure to add to my long list.

"Thank you, Strangelove, for helping with my demonstration." Ms. Berlin says, rising to her feet and turning to address the other students. "I hope I've provided a clear enough example of the difference between fighting a Jabberwock and a skilled human opponent."

"Recently, there was a terrorist insurgency in Tsurui, and the Vorpal Knights were called in by the government to offer their aid."

"Unfortunately...many were lost."

"Which is why, on the battlefield, it pays to be prepared for all types of situations."

While the lecture continues, I'm still on the ground, hiding my face in shame.

Gah. Really, I was the one who got cocky.

I had foolishly thought that, because I've started using my Charm Ring, everything will magically become much easier.

It hasn't. I still have a long climb ahead of me.

Still, at the very least...

I'll be able to avoid wearing Alice for the next--

Eh? Where's my Charm Ring!?

As I'm checking my right index finger, a chill of terror creeps across my spine.

Don't tell me, that big-titted bitch actually--

I look up at Ms. Berlin, while she's continuing her speech to the class: my jaw dropping at the sight...of my Charm Ring, held up high between her fingers for everyone to see.

Oh, crap! She must've snatched it while she was flooring my ass!

She half-turns to me, happily beaming.

"I hope you don't mind, but I'll be holding unto this for the next few days." She says, winking. "But don't look so blue, "Alice"...this should serve as ample time for you to grow accustomed to your new body!"

Gah. As if I would ever think of it that way...

Right now, I wish she'd REALLY put a bullet in my head!