The morning began as always: Lin dragging Ren to her early morning torture routine.
“Me too…?” Taro began to ask when Lin looked at him.
“N-no… The… The attendance,” he hurried to add. “Wei still takes roll and…”
“Hmm,” Lin narrowed her eyes. “Wei hasn’t been giving good classes lately.”
“But attendance!” Taro insisted. “It’s important to maintain the record and my grade could…”
Lin sighed. “Fine. But after the final exam, you’ll come train too.”
Taro had never been so grateful for school bureaucracy.
Min and Liu were naturally saved, having other teachers in the first hours. They wouldn’t join the torture group until Yang’s class.
When Taro entered the classroom, Wei was already there, sitting at his desk with a lost look. The usual class murmur seemed more subdued, as if the professor’s depressive atmosphere was contagious.
“Taro,” a voice called from behind.
It was Mira.
Since he had leveled up, Taro had noticed a change in how his classmates treated him. Where before they barely noticed his existence, now there was always someone looking to talk to him, asking for advice, trying to become part of his circle.
It was a… strange sensation. Not necessarily unpleasant, but definitely strange.
“Have you seen any improvement in Wei?” Mira whispered as Taro sat down. “He seems worse than yesterday, after Roran corrected him in class.”
“When he mentioned the canine creatures?” Taro asked.
“Yes,” Mira nodded. “Wei just… froze when Roran said ‘as Ren mentioned to me, iron rank canine creatures generally…’ and simply stopped functioning.”
Taro made a face that clearly said “nothing to be done,” but Mira wasn’t finished.
“I’m worried about the final exam,” she continued. “If even the professors aren’t sure what’s correct…”
“They’re right,” Han commented from a nearby seat. “How are we supposed to learn if everything they’ve taught us could be wrong?”
Wei seemed to shrink in his seat although the comment had been barely a murmur.
“Ren should teach this class,” Sora turned from the first row. “Or at least grade the exam.”
The professor visibly writhed in his chair, as if each word was a needle.
“After all,” Sora continued, apparently unaware of the effect her words were having, “he seems to be the only one who really understands…”
“I’ll… I’ll take roll,” Wei interrupted with a hoarse voice, raising the attendance list like a shield. “Klein, Astor…”
The students exchanged looks while responding to roll call. Wei seemed smaller than normal, his usual confidence completely evaporated.
“Feng, Han…”
“Here,” Han responded, then added in a low voice, “though I don’t know if it matters being present when we’re not learning anything…”
Wei trembled slightly.
“Luna, Mira…”
“Present,” Mira responded, her concern about the exam clearly visible on her face.
“Larissa, Sora…”
“Here!” Sora raised her hand. “Could we ask Ren if…?”
“Liora, Rosalind…” Wei continued mechanically, as if he hadn’t heard.
Taro observed his professor, remembering how he used to strut around the classroom, sure of his knowledge, proud of his position. Now he seemed a shadow of himself, reduced to taking roll as if it was the only thing he could still do with certainty.
“Hector, Taro…”
“Present,” Taro responded, noticing how Wei avoided making eye contact. He was beginning to feel bad for Wei… But only a little.
♢♢♢♢
Wei finished taking roll and froze, as if he’d forgotten what came next. He sat heavily at his desk and grabbed his head with both hands.
“Now what?” Mira complained, unconsciously rubbing the bandage on her nose. “The final exam is near and we can’t even have a normal class. And on top of that those new adults who won’t stop asking their boring questions since the incident…”
“Are they still bothering you about the mana-blocking moss coverings of your giant rat?” Taro asked.
“They won’t stop,” Mira grimaced in pain as she touched her nose. “It’s unbearable.”
“Still hasn’t healed from your fall?” Han asked, emphasizing the last word with a tone that suggested he didn’t quite believe her story.
“I fell very hard,” Mira responded dryly.
“Such bad luck,” Han smiled. “They interrogate me all day about my coverings too, but at least I haven’t ‘tripped’ into any doors.”
Mira stuck her tongue out in response.
“Taro!” Han abruptly changed the subject, wrapping an arm around his classmate’s shoulders. “Did you get Ren to tell you anything about spiders?”
“Uh… yes,” Taro tried to wriggle out of the embrace. “But I don’t remember well. Better ask him yourself.”
A collective sigh ran through the group.
“As if it were that easy,” Mira protested. “When he’s in Yang’s class, Lin doesn’t let anyone near him to distract him.”
“And during breaks there’s always like twenty people surrounding him,” another student added. “He never manages to answer anything coherent.”
“You could…” Taro smiled mischievously, “follow us to the mines in the afternoon. In separate groups, of course.”
“You’ll keep going down to the mines?” an elegant voice interrupted. Larissa had peered from her seat, suddenly interested.
Wei observed the whole scene, his face a mask of misery. Finally, he seemed to give up.
“You can leave if you want,” he mumbled. “Study on your own. Class… class is over.”
“About time,” Jin rudely blurted while standing up and heading to the exit with his hands behind his head and elbows raised. “I don’t even know why they take roll.”
Kai and Cass followed him to the door, but most of the class remained congregated around Taro.
“So Ren really can take any beast to gold?” someone asked.
“Is it true he made you and Min double summoners?”
“How did he get a hydra?”
“Why does he know more than Wei?”
Wei dropped his forehead against the desk with a dull thud that no one seemed to notice.
“I also heard he has lots of crystals,” a girl commented excitedly.
“And that he knows how to cultivate faster than normal,” another added.
Mira and Han exchanged looks while Taro was bombarded with questions.
“Is it true he can evolve beasts that have already matured like Master Lin’s?” someone else asked.
Wei banged his head against the desk again.
“Guys,” Taro tried to calm the group. “You really should ask him directly.”
“But we never can!” several protested at once.
“Maybe if you went to his room…” Larissa suggested with a mischievous smile.
“He won’t like that!” Taro looked at her alarmed. “You shouldn’t…”
But it was too late. He could see the gears turning in his classmates’ minds, planning secret expeditions to the know-it-all’s ‘office’.
Wei lifted his head only to let it fall once more against the wood.
“At least being ignored is better,” he muttered to himself, “they’re not making fun of me all day anymore.”
Nobody heard him. They were too busy interrogating Taro about the best times to “accidentally run into” Ren in his room or the mines.