Teams

I look up from my desk and look around to see a bunch of people already in their seats. Class must be starting soon. Not long after I froze as I stared at the back of someone. What was Henry doing here? Did he not receive a punishment for what he did? Or maybe it was something that doesn't take effect till after classes? He's not just getting away with it, is he?

"Good morning class," Mr. Myth said as he walked into class. "Before we start class, I have an announcement for all those in a guild."

Mr. Myth then looked around the room. He seemed like he was counting something. Finally, his eyes land on me, and he does a small squint of his eyes as if he is trying to tell me something.

"There will be a guild tournament help in about a week." Mr. Myth carries on. "If you are a part of a guild, ask your guild master about participation." Mr. Myth then pauses for a moment. "If you are a guild master, then you can sign up with Mrs. Sugio. Make sure to have your teacher representative with you."

Mr. Myth gives me a short glance after saying that last bit. I look over to see Henry leaning over to one of his seatmates.

"Sure, you know, no one here is a guild master. So next time I am sure no one here would mind if you skipped that bit of info." The seatmate of Henry quipped when Henry leaned back.

"Is that so?" Mr. Myth gave him a sly smile. "Well, I am required to say that information regardless."

"We won't say anything, sir." Another one of Henry's seatmates intervenes.

"Are you trying to get me to lower my morals?" Mr. Myth said playing up like he was offended.

He then laughs before anyone can say anything and continues class like nothing happened. The day continues as normal, though this time I kept an eye on Henry, both during classes and with our breaks in between. It seemed like he never wanted to leave the classroom. Eventually, we arrived at our last class. While waiting for Mr. Fang to come into the classroom, everyone in the class hears a loud bang on the window.

We all go to the windows and look outside to see Mr. Fang waving. I open my window.

"Good afternoon class!" Mr. Fang yelled. "The first one to jump out the window and come down here will get one skip-" 

After hearing the word skip, I was all for it. I don't know what we would get to skip but knowing him, it would be worthwhile to hold onto that. I immediately hop onto the ledge. Students behind me start panicking.

"Whoah!" One student said, "Are you crazy?!" Another yelled.

Ignoring them, I jump off from the window sill. I didn't think that through...how am I supposed to land? As I am falling I notice Mr. Fang running towards me. 'My hero!' I think. Soon my line of thinking changed as he jumped aiming to kick me! I use my hands to grab his leg and push myself off of it, allowing me to land softer than if I fell straight to the floor.

"Oof!" I exclaim as I hit the floor, sliding a bit.

"I didn't even finish yet!" Mr. Fang laughed. Mr. Fang then looks back at everyone. "Not only did he trust me to jump, he avoided my kick!"

I sit up and look at everyone staring back at me, dumbfounded. I just shrug in response, unsure of how to react to them.

"Adrian Silver everyone!" Mr. Fang said as he gestured to me. Mr. Fang then walks over to me and helps me get up. "Well, I am a man true to my word." Mr. Fang said scratching the back of his head. "You can skip any one day of school without any repercussions!"

My jaw dropped and from what I saw behind Mr. Fang, so did everyone in my class.

"What? That's not fair!" Some complained. "After that stunt? He deserves it!" Others cheered.

Somehow this class seems rather torn whether they like me or not...

"Come on down everyone!" Mr. Fang yelled.

Slowly but surely students started to leave the window, supposedly making their way down. The last person to leave was Henry... He just glared at me.

"You too Mr. Budif!" Mr. Fang called up.

Finally, Henry leaves the window as well. Everyone starts to trickle down. One of the first was Scarlet, who when she reached me, punched me in the arm.

"Ow!" I said surprised. "What was that for?"

"Don't just do dangerous things on a whim!" She said in a hushed tone.

Mary then came afterward, but her reaction was to ask if I was alright and check me for injuries.

"Mary, I am fine!" I said nervously.

"Well, you worried us when you just suddenly jumped out of the window!" Mary sighed.

I notice that I am getting a few glares from some students, namely the ones that sit around Henry. What did Henry do or say that made them not like me?

"Great, now that everyone is here, let's head over to our training grounds!" Mr. Fang cheered.

He seems to be in an odd mood today... We continued as he led us back to where we had been doing dungeon prep.

"By the way Mr. Fang," One of the students spoke. "When are you going to teach us stuff about the dungeon specifically."

"You want to be told?" Mr. Fang said surprised. "Honestly I thought everyone would want to just experience it, so I was just going to prepare everyone to go do that!"

I chuckled a little bit at that, while half of my other classmates didn't agree with that and groaned.

"Well, maybe next time then?" Mr. Fang shrugs. "But today we are going to be-"

"Sparring?" A student interrupted him.

"What is with you kids these days?" Mr. Fang asked. "No, not sparring today. It seems we need a break from that." I watch as Mr. Fang shoots a very quick glance over to Henry after saying that. "Today we are doing team fights. 3 on 3's in the spirit of the tournament coming up."

Everyone goes silent. Hard to tell if that was liked or disliked at this point.

"Alright everyone, form your teams of 3!" Mr. Fang announces.

Everyone then starts going around joining their friends.

"You guys want to be teammates?" I turn over to Scarlet and Mary.

"I thought that would be implied," Scarlet said with a smile.

Mary remained silent for a moment, as she stared off. She seemed worried.

"What about you Mary?" Scarlet asks.

"Huh?" Mary said as she turned back to us. "I...would love to." She said with a worried expression.

I glance over in the direction she was looking in and see Henry staring us down. He seemed rather upset about something. I decided it would be best to let things simmer. I am going to keep an eye on Mary during our fights...

"Okay, everyone!" Mr. Fang grabbed everyone's attention back. "We will be doing this tournament style. So I will make brackets for each team and we will go from there."

After some time, Mr. Fang announced the brackets. I look over what he made and it seems he intentionally made sure Henry and I weren't in the same one. The only way we would fight is if we both ended up being finalists.

"To make sure this stays safe, here you all go!" Mr. Fang then hands each of us a protected version of our weapons, for people like me a wooden Katana, for people like Henry, a bow with pads on the arrows, making sure they couldn't pierce anyone. "There are two ways to win. 1. Make your opponents yield. It doesn't all have to be at once either. If anyone on a team yields, they are off but the rest of the team can keep going and still win. 2. Push them off of this platform." Mr. Fang informs everyone.

We then started. Henry and his group went first. Henry and his friends were relentless in their attacks as soon as the match started. He wiped them out almost immediately by pushing them off the platform. Again half of the class cheered at his win.

Other classmates went, winners were decided. Then it was our turn. We stepped up onto the little fighting area. Mr. Fang announced it was time to begin fighting. I made sure I had Hunter on and kept an eye on Mary and Henry. We continued the fight and it seemed that Mary was starting to get pushed a little. I swiftly knocked my opponent out of the ring and made my way over to Mary.

I managed to get there in time to knock her opponent off balance to which she then knocked him off the platform. I then look over to Scarlet walking back to us, I look behind her to see her opponent slowly getting back up a few feet off of the platform.

"Alright!" Mr. Fang cheered. "On to the next set of matches!"