Before the Arima Cave, Chiron rang the bronze bell hanging from a tree branch. The students of the Typhon lineage hurried over, sat down obediently, and waited for the day's lessons to begin.
"This morning's first period is my [Herbal Identification]. Second period will be Teacher Samael's [Field Hunting Practice]. Third period is Teacher Themis's [The Spirit of Law]. As for the afternoon..."
Among the three morning classes, two were heavy on theory, but herbal studies were relatively easy, and today's law class would feature a mock trial—something new and exciting. The afternoon schedule looked decent as well.
The Typhon offspring nodded repeatedly, pleased. After all, they were all restless beasts at heart. If not for past beatings, who would willingly suppress their instincts to sit through cultural lessons?
They somehow endured the torment of identifying and mixing hemostatic herbs, antidotes, and stamina restoratives, only to have their mouths filled with bitter medicine in the practical exercises. At last, class ended.
After fifteen minutes of wild play, however, when the bell rang again, the Typhon offspring were stunned to see their beloved Teacher Horse standing at the lectern.
"Your teacher Samael is taking a few days off due to exhaustion. [Field Hunting Practice] will be replaced with [Biological Structure Lecture]..."
"Alright, open your handouts."
Chiron unfurled a parchment scroll bearing a human anatomy diagram and began his lecture. The students, who had been looking forward to the outdoor class, instantly slumped in disappointment.
Euryale and Stheno, sitting side by side, glanced at the empty seats meant for Athena and Medusa. For some reason, a sense of foreboding crept over them.
Third period.
"Your teacher Themis has a stomachache today. Law class is replaced with Philosophical Debate..."
First period in the afternoon.
"Your teacher Tina..."
"She's got a stomachache too?" Stheno asked with a strange look.
"She's away on a study trip. Handicraft class is replaced with Surgery—you'll each bandage an injured rabbit..."
Then, second period... Teacher Horse.
Third period... Teacher Horse.
The expressions of the Typhon offspring shifted from anticipation to surprise, and finally to numb resignation.
"They're all busy. That leaves just you, right?"
As class drew to a close, Euryale raised her slender arm, tugging at her long purple hair with a dispirited look.
"Uh, yeah..."
Chiron paused his lecture on constellations and nodded helplessly.
"Then why not just say so? You got our hopes up for nothing."
"Well, we still have to respect the process..."
Chiron gave a dry cough, glancing at the students' complaints.
"This semester, that guy's either got a headache, a fever, heartburn, indigestion—and the most ridiculous excuse? Too sleepy after eating and needs to nap?"
"He leaves class faster than the students, piles on assignments, and whenever it's his turn to teach, he's suddenly sick. It's absurd!"
Euryale frowned, rolling her eyes.
"Tsk, I think he's doing it on purpose."
Stheno crossed her arms and gave a short, sharp snort.
"He's not sick. He's never been well..."
The wise ram head on Chimera's back flickered with thought, delivering a quiet remark.
"How about a riddle?"
"I have no past. I shall become the past. No one has ever seen me, nor will anyone ever see me. Yet I am the secret of human life and breath. The answer is..."
The Sphinx couldn't help rising to her feet, stepping forward with her paws to squeeze into the gathering, chattering away as she tried to draw her brothers and sisters into the game.
"Shut up!"
Chimera, Euryale, and Stheno all felt their heads buzz at the jumbled riddle. In unison, they exploded in anger, roaring and flashing the universal gesture they'd picked up from someone at the overly dramatic troublemaker.
"Why reject wisdom? Why choose ignorance? This world is far too sick. To walk alongside the ignorant—I'd rather die."
The deeply wounded Sphinx, her mournful woman's face full of grief, sighed in the tone of a wandering bard. Then, clutching a head, she leapt into the nearby valley.
"Madwoman! If you want to die, why drag me into it?!"
The innocent Chimera, dragged into the mess, bristled with rage. Its lion's head of courage at the front, its ram's head of wisdom on its back, and its serpent's head of cunning at the tail all howled in unison.
Boom!
The two monsters tumbled together like falling meteors, crashing into the valley and leaving behind a conical pit several meters deep.
Stheno and Euryale didn't even glance at their siblings who had just gone over the edge. Their eyes met, and both rolled their eyes.
From that height, they could fall a dozen times over and barely shed a few hairs. There was no chance of dying.
Meanwhile, Hydra, who still hadn't fully mastered the common Titan tongue, had found a quiet spot and was dozing peacefully.
The Colchis Dragon and the Nemean Lion, however, had gotten into a roaring fight over nothing more than "what are you looking at" and "I'm looking at you."
Hydra had only wanted to bask in the sun, but after being blasted with dragonfire from the Colchis Dragon and stepped on by the Nemean Lion, its patience snapped.
Its blood-red vertical pupils widened with menace, and with a furious hiss it joined the fray. What had been a two-way duel instantly devolved into a three-way melee.
As for the absent Caucasian Eagle, it was nearing adulthood and growing more unruly by the day. It had pestered Themis until she was forced to find it a new roost.
Just days earlier, when Hera visited Themis, she had taken the bird back to Olympus. It was now Zeus's messenger, flying across the skies and roaming the earth daily under the guise of inspection.
Stheno looked around at the chaotic scene, her expression twisting with disgust at her siblings baring their bestial sides.
"Tsk. I almost miss Medusa..."
Euryale tilted her head to neatly avoid a flying dead tree, resting her chin on her hand with a sigh.
"And Athena..."
"Without them, life is just so dull."
Chiron tapped the blackboard from his spot at the lectern, trying to keep his tone calm.
"Settle down, class. We haven't—"
Crash!
The Colchis Dragon's tail slammed into a desk, splitting the stone slab clean in two.
"We haven't—"
Boom!
The Nemean Lion, flung like a cannonball by Hydra, smashed the blackboard into pieces.
"Class dismis—"
"Roar!"
The Nemean Lion rolled back to its feet, mane bristling, neck arched in a deafening roar. The violent sound waves split the stone-paved podium inch by inch.
"Class is over!"
"Yoohoo! Stop fighting, everyone! Teacher just said class is over—let's go play!"
Euryale and Stheno's eyes lit up. They leapt to their feet with renewed vigor and dashed straight for the classroom doors.
Class dismissed?
The monsters who had been locked in combat just moments earlier froze, as though under a spell. Their fury vanished in an instant. Smiling ear to ear, they scrambled upright and rushed off toward the activity grounds.
Sshh! Sshh! Sshh! Sshh!
But just as the students had taken a few steps outside, four arrows fell from the sky, embedding themselves in the four corners in alignment with the stars.
The air trembled. From the arrows as anchors, a Magecraft array unfurled, instantly forming a Barrier that sealed the flow of Ether.
"Since you dislike class so much, then next..."
Standing on the shattered podium, Chiron brushed the dust from his body. He interlaced his fingers, his knuckles cracking sharply as he spoke in a calm, detached tone.
"Make-up session—Pankration teacher-student battle!"
The divine beast students all flinched, eyelids twitching, hair standing on end.
...
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