Chapter 17: A Mask.

Everyone wears a mask.

And for me? I have all kinds of them. So it helps me discern things whenever people wants to hide something from me, their intentions are exposed the moment they wear them and in that moment on — Words, body movements, eye contact doesn't matter because they all want the same thing from me.

They want me to buy their scam.

This is something that I came to understand once I thought deeply about myself; how I act with others, how I think of them and how I react to their actions. The answer is all there when I think about it alone however whenever I'm in the middle of it? I think I do the dumbest thing to do in that situation when I could have done better.

In the beginning I've been relying on luck too much, maybe...I should discipline myself, if not then my luck will dry out and that would get me killed if I'm not ready. So I wanted to be stronger, stronger for the others so that they could rely on me, I'm not a hero however I like the people around me and I don't want to lose them prematurely. I understand the principles of death however if I can prevent it then why not? If I have the power and the will to do it? Who can stop me?

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The class resumed after a 3 day reconstruction of the halls. They now built it strong enough to resist things like a monster banging its head on it. I don't know the approximate density, so yeah...

The halls were now patrolled by guys standing by in case of danger and some mysterious gadget littered the walls of the hall which I guess was a danger indicator. All I can say about it is why did they approved it just now? However now that I thought about it, this academy stood for just about 15 years and that was the first attack they experience. So now I think severe measures are placed everywhere.

Students became more disciplined with their path as the patrols made it clear to them that staying in line was a serious business and some offenders of that rule came to know the purpose of their iron fist.

I didn't bother it much as I already knew a much more worse regime, Heil Hit-

Going to my first class, what greeted me was a loud applause from my classmates, I was kinda embarrassed but I shrugged it off and continued to sit on my spot. Mr. Harian enters in after a few moments wearing a wide smile on his face, scanning the room until our eyes met.

"Mr. Hearst, I'd like to thank you previously. You have done the academy a great service and for that you shall be rewarded. I've discuss this with the committee and they conclude that you shall be given a seat for the premier elites. That is all and let's resume our class."

"Wait, what's that suppose to mean?" I glanced at Tom who was gaping at me.

"You don't know? Premier Elites means you'll be chosen for being a academy batch representative!" Tom said with eyes that sparkled and gleamed at me.

"Oh, what do I get with that?"

"Sigh, I mean you'll be free to roam various facilities available here in the academy, as well as have the opportunity to buy rare things like weapons, equipments, potions, resources and etc."

"Don't tell me I have responsibilities to do too?"

"Yeah, that's the downsides of it however you would gain a lot for being a premier elite, I think you'll know it soon enough."

"Thanks for the info." Tom nodded.

Class continued for an hour before it was finally time for the next class, I was a bit giddy just to test how I would harness the Giryotes this time. I'd also like to test how Yirene's way of harnessing it would help me.

We started the class without further ado, Mr. Tetuclise reminded us about the rules again before we started on harnessing our Giryotes.

However unlike everybody in the room I started with a stance that I've taken a liking to, it started off with a single right step forward, before rotating my head slightly to the side and finally raising my arms forward.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, Giryotes starting to cluster towards me covering my arms with a thick blue light and after that I absorb it inside of me. Slowly and surely, this is where I would apply Yirene's knowledge, it probably started of like this; I let the Giryotes flow inside my body, occupying every bit of my bloods pathways then I made various nodes connected to my arm but I became creative and I tried to let it spin forming a snail's shell that connected the flowing Giryotes. Before I finally tried releasing it.

What came out of my body was a yellow plasma light, Mr. Tetuclise and a few nearby students widened their eyes to this.

"Keep it under control Mr. Hearst. You are doing great. Maybe you truly are deserving of a premier elite." Tetuclise had a wide grin on his face. After a few seconds I finally disperse it.

I mean that's what I expected to happen, however reality is cruel.

I only release a small blue plasma ball that I almost lost control when I disperse it.

"Wonderful Mr. Hearst! Keep it up and you'll surely be a great supernatural user someday." I know he was lying, though I didn't let it get to me. I mean I'm improving right? That's what important for me.

Class ended after that short embarrassment and I continued to the next class, Tom was just behind me but we didn't speak that much just a little banter about the news that I had no importance for me.

Next class was Ms. Katerina's and I don't know if she's still resting but I hope she can appear in class now, students would be disappointed if not.

We were already at the grounds, and fortunately Ms. Katerina seems to be at the grounds already however there was something unusual on her face.

She was wearing a mask.

A white and smooth porcelain mask that had flowery designs. She didn't immediately respond to standing at the grounds, it was only after 5 minutes of uncomfortable silence did she speak.

"Hello, again class...please forgive me for my absence, alright let's just start the class. Virule, you will go first." I didn't hesitate to go in front and perform the stances with precision.

She nodded at my performance before letting the others do it as well, each of them performing excellently which Ms. Katerina just nodded about.

"I see you've all have done a great job practicing the stances, I didn't even see anyone doing it incorrectly." We didn't see her expression but the tone in her voice seemed happy for us.

"And...I would also like to announce to all of you that I'll be stepping down as your teacher, there is already a replacement for my position so don't worry. If anyone is asking why I'm stepping down then just know that I am not fit to teach you anymore. That is all." Ms. Katerina slowly walked away from us after saying her piece. All of my classmates had their jaws drop except for some exceptions.

I wasn't the type to pry into someone else's business however I also remember how much she loves teaching us...the way she smiles and gives off her energetic energy is what enforces my mind to believe that she's just discourage now and might regret it so I planned to talk to her about this...

"Hey, bro? What do you think Ms. Katerina got into for her to be like this...? I mean it doesn't make sense..." Tom looked up thoughtfully.

"I'm not sure myself, I will talk to her about this right now..."

"I hope so..."

We had nothing else to do right now but go to our rooms and rest however I dragged my tired feet to Ms.Katerina's office and knock on her door.

"Knock knock? Ms. Katerina?" There wasn't any answer, so I guessed she wasn't here...wait...

I put my ears closely to the door just to get a better hearing on what's happening inside and what I heard was something unusual...

Is she crying? I heard crying inside however what do I do if she is?

I held my breath and tried to knock at the door again...I didn't know what to expect however I'm still worried about her status...

I heard footsteps going back and forth before finally going towards the door. The door opened and I saw the same mask that Ms. Katerina wore previously, I felt weakness in her movements but her voice seemed fine when she spoke.

"Oh Virule? I didn't know you were coming...so what do you want to talk about?" She slid her hair at the side when she noticed it was impeding her vision.

"Uh, I would just like to tell you that I'm interested to be trained by you."

"What?"