Breaking Doors, Building Bonds

Sakar had managed to move ten pieces of furniture in just three hours. Despite recognizing the enormity of the task as seemingly impossible, he pressed on. Exhaustion was setting in, yet his determination didn't waver. Each piece moved was a testament to his resolve, even as fatigue clouded his thoughts and slowed his movements.

***

Kepyun stood at the entrance of Chicken Head Academy, his large frame towering as he knocked confidently. The door creaked open and Mr. Cabbar appeared, his expression one of mild curiosity. "What do you want?" he inquired brusquely.

"I am a student. Here is my acceptance document," Kepyun replied, extracting a crisply folded paper from his pocket and handing it to Mr. Cabbar.

"Wait here while I show this to Miss President," Mr. Cabbar instructed, taking the document with a nod.

"OK," Kepyun agreed calmly.

The door shut with a soft thud, and Kepyun was left alone in the quiet of the entrance. Not one to idle, he glanced around to ensure he was alone and then dropped to the ground, beginning to do pushups. Each movement was precise and controlled, his muscles flexing under the strain—a productive use of his waiting time, turning the moment of pause into an opportunity for strength training.

Kepyun continued his pushups, lost in the rhythm of his exercise, when he was interrupted by a voice. "Hey, what are you doing in front of that door?"

"I am waiting," he replied without breaking his pace.

"It didn't seem like waiting to me; you are doing pushups," the girl observed, a hint of curiosity in her tone.

"I thought not to waste time," Kepyun explained, finally stopping and looking up to meet the gaze of the newcomer.

"Hmm, you know that this school is famous for educating shamans, not warriors. You are way too muscular for a shaman," the girl commented, eyeing his build with a mix of interest and skepticism.

"Can't I grow my muscles in this school?" Kepyun asked, genuinely curious.

"I suppose you can..." she trailed off, seemingly reassessing her initial judgment.

"Then there is no problem. Don't distract me, ugly girl," Kepyun responded bluntly, his focus returning to his workout.

'Ugly?' The word echoed in the girl's mind, stinging with its unexpected cruelty. For the first time, someone had called her ugly—and so casually. She was taken aback, her thoughts swirling with confusion and hurt.

"Did I hear right? Did you just call me ugly?" she demanded, her voice rising with incredulity.

"I did, look at a mirror and you will realize it," Kepyun said flatly, not looking up from his position.

Indignant, the girl, who was none other than Olga, pulled out a hand mirror from her bag and inspected her reflection. Her features were flawless, her albino traits giving her an ethereal quality. "Do you see something I don't?" she challenged, unable to find any fault in her appearance.

"You are not muscular enough to be called beautiful," Kepyun stated, his criteria for beauty evidently skewed by his own physique-focused perspective.

"Muscle on a girl would look masculine, what are you talking about, muscle head!" Olga retorted sharply, frustration coloring her words.

"Thank you for the compliment, I am yet to build a head muscle. Sorry for calling you ugly, if I knew you would compliment me like that, I would not mention your ugliness," Kepyun responded, bizarrely taking her insult as a compliment, which only added to Olga's confusion.

'Does this guy have a screw loose?' Olga wondered silently, baffled by the interaction.

'What may have gone wrong for someone to conceive me ugly,' she pondered, more puzzled than offended now.

'I better don't take it to my heart since this guy seems strange. He even took my insult as a compliment,' she decided, resolving not to let the unusual encounter upset her any further. As she walked away, she couldn't help but shake her head, amused and bewildered by the surreal exchange.

Olga, unsure how to respond to Kepyun's odd suggestion, decided to ignore it and tried the door again. It remained unyielding. Frustrated, she raised her voice. "HEYYY! IS ANYONE THERE?"

"Please stop shouting, the doorman went to confirm my documents," Kepyun replied calmly, continuing his pushups.

"How much time has passed since?" Olga asked, her impatience growing.

"Something like half an hour," Kepyun answered without missing a beat.

"That is too much," Olga muttered, glancing anxiously at the door.

"Come, do pushups like me so you can become a beautiful being such as me," Kepyun suggested again, completely serious.

"Did you hit your head when you were small?" Olga couldn't help but ask, her tone a mix of amusement and disbelief at his strange behavior.

Their conversation was abruptly interrupted as the door suddenly swung open. Mr. Cabbar, the security guard, appeared, his expression stern. He tossed the documents out to Kepyun. "These documents are legit," he stated bluntly, then promptly shut the door.

Kepyun stopped his pushups mid-rep, taken aback by the abrupt dismissal. "SO WHY DID YOU CLOSE THE DOOR?" he shouted, frustration evident in his voice. His documents were confirmed, yet he was still left standing outside, the door firmly closed in front of him.

Still no response came from inside, despite their efforts.

Olga, determined to get some attention, shouted again, "HEYYYY! SEE MY RECOMMENDATION LETTER!" Her voice echoed off the academy walls, but again, there was no answer.

"Did I hear wrong? He said that my documents were legit, right?" Kepyun asked, turning to Olga for confirmation.

"Yes, he said that and closed the door. So strange," Olga replied, her confusion matching Kepyun's.

As they puzzled over the situation, their attention was suddenly diverted by the arrival of a short, brown-skinned girl with vibrant green hair. Without a word to either of them, she approached the door. To their astonishment, she performed a series of intricate hand movements. Instantly, a tree sprouted from the ground directly in front of the door. It was no ordinary tree, either—it began to lash out, its branches banging against the door as if trying to force it open.

Both Kepyun and Olga watched, dumbfounded, as the scene unfolded. The surreal sight of a tree actively attacking the door only added to the day's bizarre events, leaving them even more bewildered. The power and unexpected nature of the girl's abilities hinted at the mysterious and untapped potentials that lay within the walls of Chicken Head Academy.

Kepyun's powerful punch, backed by sheer brute strength, had a dramatic effect. The door didn't just bend; it was ripped from its hinges, thrown a few meters away, and crashed to the ground with a resounding thud. Both Olga and the green-haired girl stood in stunned silence, their previous efforts with magic and nature dwarfed by Kepyun's display of raw physical power.

Olga, taken aback, couldn't help but reassess Kepyun. '*How can a guy who seems so simple do something like that? He didn't even use magic or anything similar. A black, strong guy... could he be a descendant of the legendary elemental hunters?'* she wondered internally, her curiosity piqued by the sudden realization of his potential heritage.

"Hey! Are you an elemental hunter?" Olga asked, voicing her thoughts.

"My ancestors were. But I never hunted an elemental. Anyway, forget about that, let's enter through the door," Kepyun replied casually, brushing off his lineage as if it were a minor detail, and redirecting their focus to the opportunity the broken door provided.

Mr. Cabbar, who had witnessed the entire event, was just as surprised as the girls but didn't intervene. His attention was momentarily caught by something else; he glanced upward, scanning the sky with a concerned expression. '*She will surely come any second. What will she do, I wonder,*' he thought, anticipating the arrival of a higher authority who would surely take notice of such a disruption.

As the trio stepped over the remnants of the door and entered the academy campus, a commanding voice echoed from above, catching them just as they crossed the threshold.

"Mr. Cabbar, who broke the door?" the voice demanded, sharp and authoritative, signaling the arrival of someone important—Miss Sorella herself, ready to address the chaos at the entrance.

As they all glanced upward, a figure of mesmerizing beauty hovered in the sky—Miss Sorella. Despite the gravity of the situation, her presence was commanding and ethereal.

"It was a team effort, but the guy with the documents did the final blow," Mr. Cabbar explained, his voice carrying a mix of resignation and blame towards Kepyun.

"All three of you are punished. There is another idiot that is moving furniture, your punishment is to help him. You, children, are too stupid and dangerous. You four will form a party together; I won't let you harm others. You won't be allowed to change your party for the first year," Miss Sorella declared from above, her voice stern and decisive.

Kepyun, seemingly unaffected by the scolding, was struck by Miss Sorella's appearance. "What a beautiful woman you are. Wherever I look, I see muscle! Can I be like you one day?" he exclaimed in admiration, his perception of beauty clearly different from the norm.

Olga, the green-haired girl, and Mr. Cabbar exchanged puzzled looks. They scrutinized Miss Sorella, confirming that there were no visible muscles like those Kepyun described.

"That woman has nothing like the muscle you described. Since we will form a party, I would like you to get your eyes fixed," Olga responded, her tone mixing incredulity with a hint of irritation.

Kepyun looked at Olga, surprised by her reaction. "Don't you see what I see?" he asked, genuinely confused.

Miss Sorella, observing the exchange from above, intervened with a calm yet authoritative tone, "Don't worry. Your eyes are fine."

With those final words, she drifted away, leaving the group to absorb the reality of their new situation. The party was now set, a group of misfits bound together by a peculiar twist of fate.