Gray stepped into the classroom quietly, the door groaning shut behind him. The space looked plain, too plain for what the name "Monster Analogy" suggested. Rows of desks sat in neat order, their surfaces scratched with faint marks from years of restless hands. The air was cool, tinged faintly with the smell of chalk and old wood.
In the back row, Korr sat slouched in his chair, eyes half-lidded as though trying to drift into a nap. His broad frame seemed even heavier under the dim light, his arms folded tightly across his chest.
Gray walked over and dropped into the seat beside him. "Hey," he said.
Korr blinked, turned his head slowly, and gave a weak grin. "Morning Ash hair. You are brave enough to sit through this class?"
'Ash hair? Come on why did it have to get such a shitty name' Gray rolled his eyes back and replied "Why not?"
"Because it's as boring as hell itself. Just stories about monsters, nothing that will help us survive. I was planning to sleep through it."
Gray smirked faintly. "You are probably wrong. Survival sounds useful."
Before Korr could answer, Gray glanced around the room. The desks were empty, no teacher in sight. He leaned closer and whispered, "Where is the instructor?"
Korr shrugged. "Late, maybe."
As if the words had been a signal, a muffled voice rang out from beneath the front desk. "Ah, wonderful! Everyone is here, excellent just excellent!"
Both boys stiffened as a figure crawled out from under the table. A man with a shock of silver hair streaked with black stood up, brushing dust off his coat as though nothing unusual had happened. His spectacles sat crookedly, his grin wide and mischievous.
"Good morning!" he declared, arms outstretched. "I am your humble guide into the dark belly of creation, and this is Monster Analogy. You may call me Professor Lanton. Or just Professor. Or, if you prefer, monster lunatic. It all works the same."
Korr blinked at him. "You were hiding under the table."
"Observation skills! Excellent. You will need those if you want to live." Lanton chuckled, rubbing his hands together. "Now then. Let us begin."
Gray rubbed his forehead in pain.
'Great, why does every instructor have to be such a weirdo.'
Lanton clapped his hands, and the lights dimmed until the room felt like dusk. A projector mounted above hummed to life, scattering pale blue light.
A hologram flickered into view.
It was tall, hunched, and grotesque. Its body shimmered like half-liquid sludge, dripping and pulsing with sickly light. A ragged cloak draped over its shoulders, damp and heavy, concealing much of its figure. The only visible part was a wide, gaping mouth lined with teeth that resembled shattered stones. It opened and closed silently, yet the movement carried the uncanny suggestion of chewing.
Gray tensed. Even as an image, the thing radiated wrongness.
A boy leaned forward, face tight. "What in the abyss is that?"
Professor Lanton spread his arms. "That, dear pupils, is a record of a creature known as the Mire Shambler. A simple monster, by classification, but simplicity does not mean weakness. Oh no. Simplicity means efficient killing. Its body resists most blades. Strike too shallow and you cut only slime. Strike too deep and the wound closes, swallowing your weapon whole until you are dragged down. That cloak you see is not fabric but secretion, a part of itself that muffles its sound and disguises its outline. And the mouth? Merely one of many."
Gray shivered. The teeth seemed to glint with each word.
Lanton strode across the room, his hands carving gestures in the air. "Monster Analogy is vital. Perhaps you have heard whispers that this subject is meaningless. That learning about monsters is a waste of time. Wrong. Knowing how to fight is only half the battle. You must understand what you fight. You must know how it moves, how it thinks, and which rules of existence it bends or breaks. A blade without knowledge is a grave waiting to be dug."
Korr muttered under his breath, "He sounds like he enjoys this too much."
Gray smirked faintly. "At least he cares."
The professor raised a finger, and the projection rotated, revealing the monster's back, its arms, and the strange Vyre-like streams pulsing faintly through its body.
"Now listen closely. Monsters are not simply animals warped by Vyre. They are born from forces greater than mere energy. All of them are driven by one of two great currents: corruption or radiance."
The room grew still.
"Corruption," Lanton continued, "is the dominant force. It breeds hunger, decay, and endless repetition. The corrupted monster is violent, relentless, bound to instincts it cannot escape. You will see thousands of them, each one more vicious than the last. But radiance—ah, radiance is just as bad. Do not underestimate it. Monsters born of radiance are strange, unpredictable, sometimes even beautiful. They break rules not by drowning them in decay, but by twisting them into new shapes. Where corruption seeks to consume, radiance seeks to change. And change, my students, can be far more dangerous."
He tapped the hologram. "The Mire Shambler is corruption. Straightforward, brutal, endless. Imagine, however, a radiant monster. One that bends light into illusions, or one that thrives by turning emotion itself into a weapon. You cannot fight such creatures with strength alone. You must study them, understand them, and above all, respect them."
Gray's chest tightened. The thought of something radiant yet monstrous unsettled him more than the chewing maw before him.
Korr whispered, "I would rather stick with corruption. At least you know it wants to eat you."
Gray nodded quietly.
Professor Lanton cleared his throat and tapped the holographic display, shifting the glowing monster silhouette into neat columns of letters.
"Every monster you'll face is catalogued on a scale, E through A. Simple, yes, but don't mistake simplicity for safety. Each rank is a chasm away from the last. An E-ranked monster is little more than a pest, something a group of trainees can dispatch with coordination. A D-rank will demand caution and planning. By the time you reach C, you are staring down threats that can annihilate an entire squad. B is devastation, and A…" He paused, letting the silence hang. "…A is catastrophe."
Gray thought back to every fight. Even the E ranked beasts or as he called them, pests, were deadly. The instructor was undermining their true power.
But then again, Gray could just be weak.
"Regarding the catalogues you were given, they are rare. Hard-won. Men and women bled for every page. You've been granted one not as a privilege, but as insurance. Use it well, or you'll die ignorant." Lanton spoke up.
He flicked his wrist and the projection shifted again, displaying a twisting shimmer of Vyre swirling around a monstrous form.
"There's more. Rarely at lower ranks but common at higher ranks—monsters are not just brutes. They can channel Vyre. Some manipulate elements. Others… the mind. That is where true danger lies. To fight flesh is one thing. To fight your own senses, your own memories—another." A hush fell over the room.
Lanton's eyes swept the class, his voice lowering. "A monster born of corruption may twist you through fear and despair. A monster born of radiance can be just as insidious, their powers rarer, stranger, and just as deadly. Do not forget that."
Gray's chest tightened. His mind leapt to the forgotten village. That strange memory of the past—reliving events he never should have known. At the time, he thought it was just an echo. But now… his blood chilled. Could it have been a monster, hiding unseen, manipulating him? If so, according to Lanton's words, it had to be a high rank. Something far beyond what he could imagine.
Korr noticed Grays abnormal behaviour and asked "Gray, are you alright?"
Gray scratched the back of his neck and sighed. 'It's better if he doesn't know...'
He nodded at Korr, not saying a word however.
The professor continued without pause, sketching invisible diagrams in the air as the hologram obeyed his gestures. "Monsters adapt. The longer they survive, the more cunning they become. Some learn to stalk prey like hunters. Others expand their bodies, twisting into new forms. What remains consistent is their defiance of natural order. That is the essence of monstrosity: to deny rules and replace them with chaos."
For nearly an hour, his words filled the room. He spoke of territories shaped by monstrous presence, of creatures that warped sound and light, of dangers that seemed small until they stripped flesh from bone. His tone was vibrant, theatrical, but beneath it lay a grim certainty.
Finally, he clapped his hands, and the hologram blinked out. The room returned to light.
"Well then," he said cheerfully. "That concludes your gentle introduction to the abyss. Consider yourselves fortunate. Next time, I will show you something that makes this one look like a kitten. You will not sleep for days. But you will thank me later. Until then, farewell!"
With a jaunty whistle, he turned and strode out of the room, coat flaring as though he had just finished a performance.
Korr let out a long breath. "That man is insane."
Gray chuckled softly. "He might be, but I think he knows what he is talking about."
They rose and stepped into the corridor, the voices of other students already echoing from nearby classrooms.
Korr scratched the back of his neck. "I have Strain Theory next. You?"
"Combat. Melee focus."
Korr grimaced. "Enjoy being bruised. I will sit and listen instead."
They shared a brief smile before parting at the stairwell.
As Gray made his way toward the training halls, he caught himself touching his back, brushing at the same spot again and again. A faint unease lingered, as though something invisible pressed against him. He frowned, forcing himself to shake the thought away, but the feeling clung stubbornly, no less unsettling than the memory of the chewing maw that still echoed in his mind.