Ba-thump! Ba-thump!
The moment the humanoid goat started speaking, I felt my heart beat louder and faster under sheer fear.
Its presence alone left me unsettled
'There is still no reaction'
Even though my entire body was shaking and trembling, there was no reaction from the pitch black lines remaining thin and barely visible.
When the letter first told me to not blindly have faith in my abilities that came with my 'unique' eyes and instead try to understand it, I didn't think it would be that hard.
'Why is it this hard to understand those simple lines?'
If it was just a book, I would have been able to figure it out by reading it over and over until I understood it by Rote.
But there was no manual which could tell me and help me understand what those pitch black lines that seem related to death mean.
What my abilities mean, what they symbolize and why I needed such abilities
[Esteemed students who have passed the trial and proved that you are not complete filth yet, My name is Zenox and I am the principal of Gardenia High School who will nurture and grow you for three years until you blossom beautifully]
Zenox said with excitement leaking from his voice.
Some of the people behind Zenox started grinning as he said that while others were expressionless, I was curious if Carlos was also grinning and having a sadistic like expression on his face but I quickly realized that he was invisible.
'I don't think he is?'
It was hard to tell so I assumed that he wasn't making any sadistic expression like the others and was just expressionless like the rest.
'Oh?'
Next to Carlos, a little behind him was another Invisible humanoid monster
'A woman?'
The invisible person wore stockings and a neat suit that complimented her body, she didn't wear glasses like Carlos but she did wear gloves like him, but it was thicker and fluffier than Carlos
Zenox continued speaking, his voice booming across the entire area
[There are over 500 of you here and every single one of you here are first years, You are still very much like seedlings right now and of course that means that some seedlings may turn bad....]
A creeping feeling settled deep in me as he talked
'Is he saying that if we don't keep up we'll die?'
That's how I interpreted it at least
'No wait a minute'
Realization struck me like a bright light shining on my face
'The school may be somewhat huge but over 500 of us?'
The number didn't make sense
'There's no way we fit'
They are just too many people here and even if we did fit, we would still need to consider the second years and third years.
I had noticed the school in the back of the principal being more huge and more maintained than when I was in the trial but
'maybe we fit, but just barely'
this was merely estimation, I didn't know exactly how many of us could fit in the school
'Is he saying that just that many of us will die?'
"...?"
'wait, who's us?'
It's only me that I have to worry about, the rest of the sludges can die for all I care
"..."
I had a bad premonition...but I couldn't pinpoint why such an unsettling feeling grew in me
[well then, we best not waste more of your precious time and delay the classes any longer right? I'm sure every single one of you are beyond excited to start your classes In earnest]
My thoughts were abruptly stopped by principal Zenox ending his Introduction just as abruptly and I saw him raise his hand and put his middle finger and thumb together and-
Snap!
snapped his fingers, It was just a simple snap that Zenox did but it reverberated and echoed throughout the whole area and an eerie familiar gentle darkness started consuming and engulfing my surroundings the moment Zenox snapped his fingers.
***
The darkness retreated and my vision came along with it and I found myself sitting In the classroom with the door closing as the teacher came in.
I wasn't surprised this time as I expected that I would be somewhere unexpected because of my doppelganger.
'I'm not sweating like last time either'
This was a good thing because this meant that I was rapidly adjusting and adapting to this ridiculous situation which will be desperately needed later on.
'I wouldn't want to lose my cool and do something stupid after all'
Trying to keep my cool constantly was Impossible to do or learn overnight
'The only thing I can do Is pray that I don't make a mistake that will make me pay dearly'
I was bound to lose my cool, there was no way I could stay calm and collected every time when my life is in danger.
"...."
'I'll just let future me handle that kind of situation'
Worrying about something that was bound to happen was a fruitless endeavor and will not do anything to solve my current crisis.
Of course, despite me thinking that way and telling myself that. My body refused to stay calm and kept occasionally trembling during class.
'I guess the body is more honest than the mind'
I tried making a joke patiently waiting for the class to end.
***
Trrrr~ Trrrr~
The school bells finally rang after what felt like a long time with all of my classmates starting to leave.
"You gonna come?" Gabriel asked me
"Yeah I am" I answered back almost Immediately
I got up from my seat and started following Gabriel with my book in my left hand and a pen in my right.
I got closer to the door and braced myself as if I was bracing for Impact.
Step
Stepping outside of the classroom, a familiar eerily gentle darkness crept on my body almost immediately after stepping out of the door.
My consciousness drifted to a far away place
***
"Hmm? Cale what's up?"
"...."
Cale(?) stayed silent at the words spoken by Gabriel and just stared at him for a few moments before finally opening his mouth.
"It's nothing..." Cale responded, however his voice was noticeably more monotone than before
"You sure?"
A teasing smirk tugged on the pale lips of Cale
"There was a fly that was sitting on your head and just thought it was funny"
"!"
Gabriel Immediately started ruffling his hair on Instinct, only to stop
"There's nothing on my head?"
"Obviously there wasn't since I lied, I mean what kind of fly would sit on your head of all places?"
"..."
Cale started walking ahead leaving Gabriel behind, cackling
"If you don't start walking I'll leave you In my dust~" he said before going up a floor presumably to his locker.
Gabriel started walking In the direction Cale went after a few moments of silence not knowing that his childhood friend was catapulted into danger and the person talking to him right now being a copy of him.
"..."
Staring my surroundings, I put my hands on my hips
'Is this recess?'
Seeing the Pitch black lines that had no reaction whatsoever before, they were noticeably growing thicker but still no reaction come from them.
"Well let's see how this goes"
I walked forward with my body still trembling and heart pumping but this time more mentally prepared then last time.
The moment Cale started to move
Tap
Tap
Tap
A rhythmic tapping came from the smooth wooden table in a office
Side-slit golden eyes stare out of the window, staring at the fake moon
[My lord]
A raspy, hoarse voice full of melancholy came out of Zenox
[Pass on the blessings for the next three years on Gardenia and its followers]
A prayer flowed in the air, a prayer full of genuine hope
Zenox got up from his office chair and bowed to the fake moon, a creation from his lord
[As you have always done every century]
The prayer dragged on. However, it wasn't known if Zenox's lord heard such prayers
The devout believer kept on praying nonstop, as if he had been planning and rehearsing his lines constantly