Prologue

 

Saying always goes that people never realize something’s importance until they lose it.

 

The flames went wild across the village, its demonic burning mouth swallowing each house and person that came into its way, shining brighter against the eerie night sky against the pale moon itself.

 

That night is unforgettable.

 

The whole village was on fire--people scrambled across the fields and collapsing houses to escape, numerous screams pierced through the thick air as smoke made its way to fill up the area.

 

He was 8 years old back then, fiercely running across the dry grasses without his shoes on, the flames chasing him like a monster from behind. Tears filled his eyes but he brushed it away with the back of his hands, the sounds of collapsing buildings, crackling fire and the yells of the people rang into his ears.

 

Fire torches were continued to be thrown, but he couldn’t force himself to turn around and looked for the ones who threw it.

 

Look ahead.

 

He knew that if he continued to run, he would reach the forest. The village was set a few kilometers away from the forest in the mountains. But is hiding in a forest a good choice? Wouldn’t it be bad if the forest also catch the fire?

 

Collapsed, burning houses still surrounded him as he ran, and he realized how slow he was running.

 

Don’t think about it. Just run. Just run ahead.

 

Those were the words that his sister had told him to follow when he was in danger. Yes, his sister...What about her?

 

That moment of thought hesitated him as he suddenly came to a halt---his sister, she was not running with him anymore. As if brought back to reality, the unnaturally sticky wet sensation from his feet caused him to look down.

 

Blood.

 

His feet were wet with blood.

 

Surprised, he nearly let out a scream before somebody shoved him onto the ground--more villagers, they were also running away, their eyes filled with fear.

 

I shouldn’t have stopped running!

 

Struggling to get on his feet, the thick smoke filled his lungs and he coughed fiercely, the thought flying past his mind. Yet he couldn’t make himself to move once he stood up again. The fear of losing his sister is bigger than anything else.

 

“Sis? Sis!” He started to yell, choking at the smoke as he started to run in the opposite direction of where he was supposed to be running to. His legs felt sore, but he didn’t stop. Holding the urge to cry, he forced himself to look across the burning flames of the ruined buildings.

 

It wasn’t until a good distance away from where he started running from that he saw it:

 

The gruesome numbers of bloody corpses lying on the burning field in the middle of the village.

 

For a second, he felt nauseous, but as quickly as the fire caught onto the corpses, his mind was back on searching for his sister. His body trembled with fright, but he stepped across the corpses. His sister wouldn’t be with these lifeless bodies, would it?

 

“Sis!” He screamed, tears streaming down his face. “Sis! Sis! Where are you!” He looked all around him, no longer caring as he was surrounded and trapped by a circle of flames.

 

It was that moment he saw them, that he froze right where he was.

 

Tall, hooded figures, their long, inhuman arms and giant claws dripping blood as they walked slowly through the field, through the fire, and through the corpses.

 

A villager stumbled through the fallen houses and crashed right into the field, and he watched with his widened eyes as one of the hooded figure held up the villager within a second by her throat, and the next moment, blood poured out as a giant slash was made across the villager’s chest by the monster-like claws of the mysterious figure.

 

A scream almost escaped him before a hand covered his mouth and pulled him backward.

 

“Shhh,” the voice whispered gently, shushing him. The familiar voice repeated in his mind before he realized who it was.

 

Sis!

 

He struggled to be let go, and she did, but forcibly turning him around so he could stare right into her dark, brown eyes.

 

“Jake, after I free you, run right behind me and you shall see a clear path. Run ahead, don’t look back. Never look back. Just run until you saw the forest. Continue to run through it, stop only for a short moment to catch your breath. Don’t let what you just saw get to you,” she said quickly and harshly, leaving only space for the boy to nod.

 

“H-How about you, sis?” He asked back, shivering.

 

There was a moment of silence, and his sister seemed to be wondering how to answer before one of the hooded figures appeared close beside them. Noticing it, he was roughly pushed away before getting an answer to the question.

 

The last words he remembered as he struggled to run again were:

 

“Run! Now! I believe in you.”

 

~~

Author's note*

I apologize for any grammar mistakes etc. The cliparts for the book cover goes to someone else, so credit for others...Just saying in case. Although the story is marked as fantasy genre, it's also a mix of horror and mystery. Thank you very much. 

2: Chapter One - Arriving

Chapter One - Arriving

 

The building was huge.

 

Jake stood in front of it, raising a questioning eyebrow at the building first before looking down at the invitation letter in his hand. It’s 10 o’clock at night, but through the windows of the building, yellow lights shone out of it, making the building glow even at the eeriest night. The moon was pale, barely lighting the night sky.

 

He had crossed the gigantic black gates successfully--ringing its bell and the gates opened itself. But now in front of the huge double door, he couldn’t make himself to walk up the few stairs and ring the doorbell again.

 

Instead, Jake looked up, inspecting the building carefully. It’s a beautiful, gigantic building consisted of dark-colored marbles,  Behind him, a black statue of a roaring lion was placed right in the middle of the front garden, which he walked around of.

 

On top of the entrance, which was a set of double door decorated with different pattern designs, was a few letters in gigantic prints:

 

BLAZONDIA ACADEMY

 

Under the words were some other words with slightly smaller prints:

 

THE KILLER ACADEMY

 

Just where have he gotten himself to?

 

Jake frowned, letting out a sigh before stepping up the stairs, inhaling one deep breath before pressing the doorbell. Jake checked the invitation letter in his hand--yes, he must be at the right place, for the invitation letter made itself clear:

 

Dear Jake Dorozon,

 

You have been invited and successfully enrolled into the Blazondia Academy--also famous as the Killer Academy.

 

We congratulate you in your enrollment and wish you a wonderful school year…...

 

The letter was longer than that, but Jack didn’t mind reading all of it.

 

Killer Academy? Stop the bullshit. He didn’t even hear of this academy before.

 

Without anybody to welcome him, the double door opened by itself after a few seconds wait, bringing Jake back to reality from his thoughts. He blinked for a moment before peeking inside the building, the hand carrying his luggage tightened.

 

He arrived late at night due to some train delay, for, according to what he heard, some parts of the train broke halfway during the ride. Wearing only a plain black t-shirt, a thin red jacket and a pair of jeans, it was actually quite cold by the time he arrived. To make it worse, it’s some 2 hours walk to reach this academy, and he had no money or car to drive himself there.

 

Jake quickly stepped into the building to avoid the cool winds that were going to blow on him, and shut the entrance door.

 

Suddenly inside the academy, he looked around, finding nobody. Beside him, an empty counter with only a white sheet of paper on top was placed--the surface was painted in a golden color, and the rest a noble green.

 

Talk about colors…Jake turned around and studied his surroundings. The pillars inside the academy were consisted of gold and white, the floor covered by the same noble green mats, with beautiful patterns drawn on top. Different carvings of lions, dragons and other fierce creatures or wild animals could be spot around the edges of the ceiling. Huge paintings of similar creatures were hang around the walls as well.

 

Jake was standing in the lobby right now...And directly ahead was a grand hallway, which probably leads to different classrooms or offices. On his right was the staircase that leads to different floors.

 

He quietly inspected his surroundings before walking further into the lobby, narrowing his eyes at each little details. Some fancy sofas were placed at the side, and Jake walked toward it, cautiously sitting down before letting out an exhausted sigh, relaxing himself.

 

There’s nobody around.

 

It’s understandable that everybody was probably at their dorms sleeping already, due to how late he arrived. But having nobody to guide him here...The enrollment form should probably reached the academy successfully by now, right? Well, he did receive a welcome letter….Then, shouldn’t somebody know of his arrival, and at least leave some steps to follow or guide him through this academy?

 

Jake rolled his eyes at the thought, before letting out a sigh. Thinking about what should’ve happened didn’t help on his situation right now. It was that moment his cell phone rang that he picked it up.

 

“Hello?” Didn’t even bother to check who it was, he said tiredly.

 

“Oh, Jake. What’s up? How’s the academy?” The familiar tone from the other end made Jake frown, and he let out a short whistle before he replied.

 

“Look, Keith, I just arrived. And I’m lost.”

 

There was a long pause on the other end. “You just arrived? How?”

 

“Train delay. Should’ve arrived at 7:30 but arrived at 10 instead.”

 

He replied while his eyes slowly drifted to his large luggage. It was heavy, indeed. Remembering how he had to walk to the academy carrying the luggage made Jake let out another exhausted groan. “I’m in the academy now, and I don’t know what to do. No person, no guide, no anything.”

 

He heard Keith laughed, “Don’t worry. Somebody will come to get you. He or she answered your doorbell, after all, right?”

 

Jake blinked, Keith made sense--there must be somebody who answered the doorbell. Standing up from his seat and hanging off the phone, he forcibly threw his luggage over his shoulder before walking back to the counter near the entrance, thinking he might as well look carefully to maybe find a hidden door. That’s when he finally paid extra attention on the piece of paper on top of the golden surface.

 

A sign-in sheet.

 

Raising an eyebrow, doubting that writing his name and information down can change much of anything, he took out a pen and signed in. Well, at least by tomorrow somebody would notice his coming….

 

And maybe he could spend this night on the floor or something….

 

“Who is it?”

 

A voice called from behind him, and Jake slightly jumped before turning around.

 

The sight of a young woman came to his view. She’s quite tall--at least she appeared so in her red high heels. Similar to the crimson color of her shoes, her curly long hair that was tied up as a high ponytail was consisted of the same color, only a bit lighter. She wore a pair of glasses with sharp edges, making her looks unbelievably strict and hard to deal with. However, despite her scary looks, she was extremely pretty, with green diamond eyes. If she could let down her hair and take off her glasses, she might be that one rare beautiful woman that Jack would ever known.

 

Jake had to blink a few times before replying to this sudden appearance of a person. “..Uh, a new student...Jack Dorozon. I should’ve arrived at seven but due to some train del--”

 

“You are late for 3 hours,” the woman harshly cut him off.

 

“...Well, yeah, due to some train delay,” Jake coughed.

 

As if to study him, the woman raised an eyebrow, looking at the lad up and down before crossing her arms, letting out a humph. “I see. Yes, I do have your information in my files that arrived just yesterday. Well, it’s 10:30 already. What took you so long to sign-in?”

 

“Eh? Did my sign-in bring you here?” The lad’s eyes widened a little in surprise.

 

“Sure do. In case you don’t know, that sheet of paper is no ordinary paper. Created by our skillful Doctor Fulalanko, that paper is neither rippable nor burnable, and in fact contains a tracking device within the paper which makes a report to my office whenever someone signs in. I am responsible for tracking the people down.”

 

Fulalanko...That’s a weird name. “Oh. Alright. Um, and you are…?”

 

“The assistant principal of the academy, Mariana West. You can call me anything you like as long as it’s not curse words or anything disrespectful.”

 

Jake nodded, a bit surprised that the assistant principal was that young. “Understood. So Mrs. West---”

 

“Miss West,” Mariana corrected. “ I am not married.”

 

“Okay, but I thought I can call you anything.” Jake frowned.

 

“Being called as a Mrs is disrespectful for a woman who has never married.”

 

“...Fine. So am I allowed to know if you are the one who answered the doorbell?”

 

The assistant principal threw a confused look before answering, “Nobody. Why ask?”

 

“...But the door opened after i rang the doorbells so…”

 

“The door and the doorbell system are bound together with a device that identifies any person who rings the bell as an intruder or not. For you, since we already have your information and mark you as a student, the door will automatically opens up for you.”

 

Looks like the technology here is really advanced, Jack couldn’t help but thought.  

 

“Have I answered all your questions?”

 

“For now, there will probably be more later.”

 

Mariana nodded, “Good. Then, please take out your weapons.”

 

Jack blinked, “Weapon? You mean my guns? Why?”

 

“It’s a ritual to see how strong you are when you first enter the academy. Usually, we let students enter different rooms right after the orientation at the beginning of the school year and have different teachers test the students by fighting against them or have the students fight against each other,” the assistant teacher explained. “I assume your weapons--your guns, are in that luggage of yours?”

 

Standing there as if frozen for a second, Jack slowly put the lullage onto the floor and opened it up, taking out two of the guns. He made sure they were loaded as he mumbled, “It’s ten thirty at night, you know. You sure we’re doing it now?”

 

“You are not that tired enough to have no energy at all to fight, do you? Our academy is not called the Killer Academy for nothing. We do not show mercy nor will we be taken back just because you look tired, or that it’s late at night, or that we’re out in the lobby. As long as you can stand up, the fight continues.” Mariana took out two daggers from her belt, her eyes seemed to glow underneath her glasses. “In this academy, deaths are tolerated.”

 

Jack found himself inhaling a sharp breath “You mean...It doesn’t matter if you or me kill anybody.”

 

“The only rules in the school that restricted killing is no killing in the hallways or anywhere within the school building except the fighting grounds and outside of the school, as well as no killing instructors or teachers and no teachers killing students,” the assistant principal stated as he pointed one of her daggers toward Jake. “How about enough talking? I want to get this over with. The fight lasts until somebody gets hurt, a light wound is enough.”

 

Jack stood there, frozen.

 

"What are you waiting for? Hurry." Mariana scowled.

 

Nodding, although hesitating a bit, Jake pointed both of his guns, one in each hand, at the assistant principal. Just where have I gotten myself into….In his mind, the thought repeated on its own. It’s not like any other academies I have been...Not like I have ever been to any academies to start with though….

 

An academy for killers--an academy that trained the students into killers, where deaths are tolerated, where there would be lots of fightings. He remembered himself talking about it to Keith when he first received the invitation letter, and Keith reacted as if it’s the most normal thing in the world and just decided to accept the invitation.

 

“It’s not like you’re an innocent person and never killed anybody before,” he had said with a light smirk, and didn’t bother to care about the sudden bitter look on Jake’s face.

 

Almost the second Jake raised his guns, Mariana lunged toward him, waving her left arm into a giant slash. Jake’s eyes widened as he barely dodged, letting the upper part of his body fell backward as he maintained his balance. Noticing an opportunity, Jake fired his guns, but Mariana dodged out of the way.

 

“Smart move,” she mumbled.

 

“Thanks,” Jake replied.

 

As soon as the words left his mouth, Mariana threw a dagger right toward his face. Jack jumped aside and the dagger went straight into the wall. Not bothering to care about that much, he immediately fired a bullet toward the assistant principal again. However, she only smirked, and within a second, almost unbelievable, the dagger in her other hand cut right through the bullet, causing it to fall apart as two pieces.

 

Jake let out a gasp. She is strong.

 

“There is a reason why I’m the assistant principal and that is nothing.” Mariana said, brushing a strand of hair that fell onto her face away.

 

“Then...There is a reason why Keith just throws me into the academy!” As if displeased by how the bullet failed to attack her, Jake gritted his teeth and tensed up, the two guns in his hand raised readily. He should be extra cautious now.

 

The fight got faster as Mariana took out another dagger. There were a total of four daggers around her belt, and she took out the last one and held it with her mouth. She started to run, aiming straight toward Jake in the speed of light. Jake’s sharpened his view as the endless attacks seemed to begin.

 

Each slash was fast, barely leaving Jake space to attack himself. However, his body moved along with the speed as he managed to dodge each of the attack, tilting his body sideways, forward and backward. Finally, he dashed aside, once again firing his guns in a total of four times, 2 times with each guns. He clicked his tongue when not a single bullets wounded Mariana.

 

“Too slow,” she heard him say. Before he knew it, she was behind him, and he felt a stinging pain as the dagger stabbed into his shoulder, and then pulled out. Letting out a painful groan, Jake fell to his knee, holding onto the wound where blood started to gush out.

 

Not minding the wound at all, Mariana’s expression remained emotionless as she took out a handkerchief and started to clean the blood off her dagger, the other two already neatly placed back to her belt. “However, you have surprisingly nice reflexes, fast movements and skills. Are you trained?”

 

“....M-my master Keith trained me…” Jake answered through the pain, it has been a while since he received a wound like this. “...And...This sure...Isn’t a light wound…”

 

Mariana furrowed her eyebrows, “Not a deep wound either. You have to get used to this if you want to survive in this academy. You are quite a talented student, however.” As if satisfied by the earlier fight, Mariana held out a hand to Jake.

 

Jake stared at it, suspicious.

 

“I’m not going to let you fall, or do you want to bleed to death here?” Mariana let out a sigh and rolled her eyes.

 

What kind of assistant principal is this, Jake glared at her before accepting her offer with his free hand, standing up. “..Are you going to bring me to the infirmary?”

 

As soon as he stood up, Mariana’s hand let go. “No. The infirmary door is long locked and the key isn’t with me right now. I shall bring you to your dorm, there are supplies there that you can use to heal yourself,” She answered.

 

“.....” Jake decided to remain silent.

 

“The dormitory is located in the school wing. At the end of the grand hallway you see there, it’s a set of double doors. Follow me,” the assistant principal said as she started to walk, her high heels creating a light tapping sound each step she took as she walked off the mats. Jake followed behind slowly, listening to her instructions.

 

“Walk out of the double door, and you shall see an open hallway. After walking through it, you reach the doors to the dormitory. Your room is 325.” Mariana explained as she guided Jake. “Inside your room, in your closet you’ll find your school uniforms prepared in there. The set of drawers contained emergency supplies and therefore have bandages, alcohol and such. On your desk, you’ll find some papers explaining the school rules and policies, as well as your schedule. You’ll understand everything once you reach your room.”

 

They stepped into a new building, then up the stairs, through long hallways with identical doors on both side, labelled with different numbers on each of them.

 

“And here is your room.” Finally reaching it, Mariana opened the wooden door, revealing a simple room, just like any clean bedroom, with only a closet, a set of drawers, a window, a desk, a mirror, and a bed.  

 

Jake slowly stepped into it, the blood soaked through his shirt as he tried to distract the pain by studying his surroundings.

 

There is another door within the room that leads to a tiny bathroom, and Jake couldn’t wait to take a bath.

 

Finally having everything dealt with, Mariana let out an exhausted sigh. “I have explained everything I can think of now. Anyway, welcome to the academy..” She said before closing the door, leaving a few words behind.

 

“It will be different than any academies you’ve seen.”

 

3: Chapter Two - The "Roommate"

Chapter 2 - The "Roommate"

 

The warm water ran down his bare skin as he hissed at the pain, where the shower poured straight down towards the wound on his shoulder, washing the blood away.

 

It’s midnight already, he realized. By the time he and Mariana finished talking and fighting, it’s well past 11. Jake yawned, it had been a long day. He never expected to fight immediately after his exhausting walk to reach the academy.

 

“Our academy is not called the Killer Academy for nothing. We do not show mercy nor will we be taken back just because you look tired, or that it’s late at night, or that we’re out in the lobby. As long as you can stand up, the fight continues.”  He remembered the assistant principal’s words, a glint of coldheartedness in her eyes. She’s almost saying as if even if he dies it’s not anybody’s fault and his own, and she most likely meant it that way.

 

He turned off the shower and let out a sigh.

 

After this, he should go bandage his wound, caused by the assistant principal of the school. The thought made Jake frown, it's not his first time receiving such wound, but to be caused by an assistant principal of a school?

 

Although he knew that this academy is not just any academy, he already knew for certain that he would have trouble getting used to it.

 

Why exactly...Have I been enrolled….

 

Stepping out of the bathroom entrance, he let his thought overran his mind as he threw a towel around his bare shoulder after using it to dry his hair. Walking past the mirror, he glanced toward it and came to a halt, his reflection staring back at him.

 

A dark-haired, young lad, with a finely-built body and maybe what some would consider as a handsome face. He’s not too muscular, but the signs of muscles could be seen around his trained body.

 

Yes, he was trained--ever after the cruel fire incident, Jake, an eight years old child, struggled to survive as he hid himself in the forest, fearing that one of the hooded, mysterious frightful figures might suddenly approach him and painfully steal his life away. He had lived solely off from the tiny lakes or pools he found in the forest, and the fruits that sometimes proved poisonous as he threw up, and lost consciousness. Many times, he thought he would die. It’s almost a miracle when he stumbled upon the exit to the forest that led to a path to the city.

 

Having his poor, village clothes dirtied and tattered by then, the exhausted Jake had shivered as winter approached and snow began to fall down onto his bare skin. As he dragged himself onto the streets of the city, strangers had ignored him as an invisible being and continued on their ways. Tired, hungry, and thirsty, Jake lost his energy to stand and fell, blackness starting to invade his eyes. It was then he saw the figure of a man that he forced himself to stay conscious.

 

It’s a man in a large, warm, brown jacket, a cigarette in his mouth and a hat on his head. He has long, dark curly hair, but tied up in a loose ponytail behind him. He stared down at Jake for a moment before a tiny smile formed onto his mouth, almost a snicker.

 

“What a poor little fellow," the man had said. He paused for a moment and took the cigarette out of his mouth.

 

Jake had struggled to sit up, and as the man watched him, he threw the cigarette onto the ground.

 

“You’re coming with me, boy.”

 

That’s the last thing he remembered the man saying before he lost consciousness.

 

The man is Keith, and had become both the savior and master of Jake as he grew up in the tiny wooden house of this 34 years old man. Under him, Jake learned how to fight, to read, to write, to defend himself, and to hunt.

 

Keith is a hunter. However, he hunted not only animals, but people too. He earned money by accepting requests from people, usually polices, to catch criminals or others. Even though many jobs of his are simply to capture someone or something, there were times when he was to hunt down the targets and kill them alive.

 

Jake became his assistant at the age of 13. However, he didn’t commit his first murder until the age of 15--which is 2 years ago. Keith’s house was invaded by robbers while Keith went out shopping for dinner. Trying to fend himself and the house, Jake fought back fiercely, trying to not kill anybody. But when the house was set on fire, the sudden flashbacks of memories of his burning village caused Jake to lost control of himself.

 

That day, he killed 4 robbers, seriously wounded 3, and 2 escaped.

 

He was let go from the police for self-defense along with Keith’s persuasion, but Jake was marked as a dangerous person by the city people ever since.

 

“Dude, how long are you going to stand in front of the mirror? Do you love your body so much? That wound on your shoulder gonna start bleeding again, ya know.” A sudden voice brought Jake back to reality, and he raised an eyebrow before looking toward his bed, where the voice came from.

 

A lad, about his age, sat on the edge of the bed, smiling at him.  

 

Jake blinked, “Who are you?”

 

The lad grinned, “Edward.”

 

He has white, a bit spiky, short hair, and unhumanly green eyes. His face was extremely white and pale, his lips a faint pink. He wore, from top to bottom, a completely white outfit.  

 

“...I’m sorry but I don’t remember knowing that I have a roommate?” Jake couldn’t help but continue to stare at the other’s weird looks and outfits. He didn’t look human--rather, there was a faint glow around this lad.

 

“Of course not, you have a single room with no roommate,” the lad who called himself Edward grinned.

 

“Um..Then…”

 

“I used to have this room, and I really love my room, so I’m not going to leave this room. In fact, I hate going anywhere else. So I’m staying here. Don’t worry, I sleep in the closet, so we won’t share the same bed. Fufufu,” Edward continued to speak, tilting his head left and right, the smile never disappear from his face.

 

“...............” Jake couldn’t find himself to talk for a moment. Who is this weird guy?

 

As if remembering something, Edward suddenly looked up at Jake. “Oh, by the way, I’m a ghost.”

 

“You’re a wha----?”

 

“A ghost. I died here 3 years ago. But I forgot how I died. I know I died though, in this room. My corpse’s under your bed.”

 

Jake took three steps back.

 

“The last part is a joke. Damn, you lack a sense of humor!” Edward started to laugh, his voice is soft, yet ironically makes people feel loud hearing it.

 

“I..Uh, don’t believe in ghosts. And, uh, even if you are one, uh, please, uh, let me have this room entirely on my own in peace…? Or…” Or I’m going straight to Mariana’s office to switch room, he thought, wondering if he should say it out loud.

 

“Nooo noo don’t think of switching room you know I’ll feel happier if a girl moved in here but this is boy’s dorms after all. I’m just happy someone finally moved into this room you know they all moved out when they saw me here and you see I’m actually a pretty lonely guy you know?” As if reading the other’s mind, Edward put on a puppy face.

 

Well I’m sorry but I’m going to move out too, Jake gulped. He opened his mouth, but Edward quickly continued on with his talk.

 

“Or or or do you not want me here because I’m not a sexy girl? If it’s a sexy young female ghost will you stay here? And you’ll even ask her to sleep next to you! Well I’m sorry I’m not a sexy young female ghost but an okay guy. Oh, or do you just see me as not beautiful enough to be with? Like, if it’s a beautiful super handsome guy who has lots of charms then you will let him stay? Yeah yeah, I get it.” Edward rolled his eyes. “You just don’t want me here because I’m an ugly ghost. Well, Imma tell you something. You’re no better than me.”

 

Jake inhaled a breath, “Actually, no, I just don’t want to be with a ghost..Any ghost in general.”

 

“Oh, so you accept humans.That’s ghosist.”

 

“What?”

 

“You accept humans but not ghosts. How mean, how unfair. I call that ghosist.” Edward pouted like an immature kid.

 

“.......”

 

What am I supposed to do? Jake thought.

 

“Well, too bad. I’m staying in this room. I have decided to stay in this room therefore I will stay in this room because I’m going to stay in this room.” Edward stood up from the bed, then started to float, crossing his arms at the same time. Jake’s eyes widened, surprised at the sight of the other staying in midair.

 

“And since I’m going to stay in this room I will also not allow anybody to move out anymore unless you go bring a girl to switch yourself with. I want a nice cute girl who’s not ghosist and I want her to be super pretty who’s willing to sleep next to me.’

 

I doubt anyone will want to sleep next to a ghost, Jake felt a sweatdrop. How do I get him out of this room? He seemed so determined to stay….

 

“Anyway, you better go treat that shoulder of yours,” as if finally done talking, Edward finished everything he had to say about the room and pointed at the wound on Jake’s shoulder.

 

“Oh yeah,” as if reminded, Jake let out a short gasp. The pain had ceased after the shower and he almost forgot about it.

 

Letting out a laugh, Edward floated toward the drawer of the room and pulled it open, taking out the emergency box. He then placed it next to Jake, to whom sat on the edge of the bed where Edward just sat. “I can’t believe you forgot that you have such a wound on yourself! And it’s not even a light light wound! Are you so surprised to see me, a ghost? I’m honoured.”

 

“It’s funny,” Jake suddenly spoke, watching as Edward opened the box.

 

“What’s funny?” Edward looked at Jake, curious.

 

“You really do seem like you’re not going to leave the room and is already starting to act all friendly to me as if we have known each other since forever when I don’t remember myself getting to know a ghost.”

 

“Well,” the ghost rolled his eyes. “We’re gonna be roommates after all. Besides, you gonna have a lot of advantages if you’re with me.”

 

Blinking, Jake started to treat his wound as he asked, “What advantages?”

 

“I know how to hook girls.”

 

“How awesome,” now it’s Jake’s turn to roll his eyes.

 

“No no, I really do! At least when I’m still alive! I also know a lot about the academy since people other than my roommates can’t see me. I know gossips, I know a lot.” Edward flew in front of Jake and stared right into his eyes, wearing a mischievous expression.

 

“I don’t care about gossips...Not much anyway,” Jake sighed, but Edward ignored his response.

 

“You probably fought with Mariana earlier. She’s the only one who would still tell you to fight even though you arrived super late and were super tired. Let me tell you, she got a secret relationship with a student~”

 

“You sound like one of those gossip girls….” the lad shrugged with disinterest. “Can’t you tell me more about the academy and the rules? I’m too lazy to read over the stuffs on my desk.”

 

Edward frowned, then sank onto the ground in boredom. “Uh, you better go read that on your own. But I can tell you about the academy. A little, I guess, basic knowledge, super boring but I can tell you, considering you’re new, and you won’t seem to talk to me about anything else right now.”

 

Jake looked at him as if telling him to go ahead and talk.

 

Clearing his throat, Edward crossed his arms. “Alright then, fine, whatever you say mister. I’m only going to tell you to prove that I’m useful. First, I will have to say, it’s not rare to have new students in this school. The academy accepts new students all the time--they got interested with you from your records.”

 

“Records?”

 

“Yep, not your everyday records. But criminal records. Or records that showed that you’ve done something the society would consider...Harmful. Most often, it’s because you’ve killed somebody.”

 

Jake breathed in a sharp breath. He did kill off people before…

 

“Why would the academy be interest in that?”

 

“Because that’s the type of students they want, and they use those types of students to train them into killers. They don’t accept random students--they make sure they have potentials...To become a killer.”

 

“Why..would this academy want to train students into killers?” The lad found himself asking.

 

“Nobody knows, it’s a mystery. There’s a lot of rumors about it, but they all don’t make sense. Anyway, you ask too many questions, let me go on.”

 

Damn you ghost acting like a sassy girl, Jake scowled but nodded.

 

“Second, once you’re in the academy you’re considered a criminal to the outside world.”

 

“What?”

 

“Well, duh, killers are mostly murderers to most people. But don’t worry, this academy protects you. As long as you’re one of the members in the academy, you’ll be fine.”

 

Jake remained silent, and Edward grinned. “Also, you’ll face a lot of deaths in this academy. So you have to be ready anytime that you’ll lose a friend any second.”

 

“...Students do die...A lot, and the academy won’t mind?”

 

“They won’t. All they’ll care about is dealing with bodies. One of the rules is no killing in the building except the fighting grounds. That way they won’t have to deal with corpses lying in the middle of the hallways or something.”

 

The lad frowned, “Fighting grounds?”

 

“Yep. In this academy, the most popular places to go are the fighting grounds, the training grounds, the Body Modification Room, and the shop.” Edward paused as if he’s catching his breath. “Fighting grounds allow students to fight against each other to death, only the bravest students go there. Training grounds allow students to train. We have two types of training grounds--one is where students train with dummies or against each other without killing, the other is to train with illusions. The illusion works like reality--enemies will approach you, and you’ll have to fight them. You’ll feel pain, you’ll get hurt, and you’ll get exhausted. But once you end it, everything will be over, like a dream.”

 

“...Sounds quite cool.”

 

“It is. The Body Modification Room allows you to go modify your body. For example, change your arm into a weapon.”

 

Jake’s eyes widened. “Who would do that?”

 

“People, duh. But it also modifies your weapons, so that’s actually what makes it really popular among both the students and the teachers. Doctor Fulalanko works there.”

 

How about just change the name to Modification Room and adds in the option to modify the body, you weirdly-named Sir Fulalanko? Jake commented in his mind, and Edward went on.

 

“At last, it’s the shop. You buy all kinds of stuffs there, especially weapons. We also call it the information center. There’s a guy called Cain who gives you all kinds of information he could possibly get.” Edward let out an exhausted groan. “That’s it for now. My mouth hurts.”

 

“You talk too fast, I can’t catch on….” Jake sighed.

 

“Your mind works too slow,” Edward pouted.

 

“Whatever. Am I supposed to thank you?” Nodding, Jake decided that he should at least be satisfied with what he just learned, he could always know the rest later. Long finished with bandaging and treating his shoulder wound, he put on a black t-shirt and glanced at Edward, no longer thinking him as that much of a scary ghost, although a bit annoying.

 

“OF COURSE! Now in exchange, you cannot move to another room and shall be my roommate.” Edward replied with a huge grin.

 

“..........Fine.”  

 

“Yes! Now that we’ve done talking, it’s one in the morning now. Ohoho.” Standing up, Edward flew toward the closet,then, without opening the door, flew through it. “I look forward to how you’ll be in class tomorrow, or rather, later, since it’s already one.”

 

“Mhmn.”

 

After hearing the long talk from the ghost, an overpowering tiredness finally urged Jake to close his eyes. He muttered a reply then went over to shut the lights. Climbing back onto the bed and lying down, a relieved sigh escaped him, followed by a huge yawn.

 

“Sure a way to start not even the first day of the academy…” he mumbled to himself as he slid under the covers.

 

Wonder how things will go tomorrow...I wish you’re here with me, sis....The thought flew through his mind before he fell into a deep sleep.

 

~*~

 

The window was not entirely shut, and gentle winds blew into the room. The only light of the dorm room came from the unnaturally bright moonlight outside the window.

 

Long asleep, and Edward completely silent, the bedroom rang only the quiet breaths of Jake, and nothing else.

 

Even when the door of his room slowly creaked open, no sound was made.  

 

A young girl peaked inside, her light, short green hair with long bangs covered a little of her face. When she saw the lad sleeping on the bed, the originally emotionless expression on the girl turned into a smile.

 

A smile, as if pleased, or extremely touched, a smile of desire and hope, yet ironically hid a sense of despair and pain within it.

 

“...You’re finally here...I’ve been waiting for you,” she whispered softly, her voice disappearing with the winds.

 

4: Chapter Three - New Friends

Chapter 3 - New Friends

 

“IT’S….MORNING!!!”

 

A loud call shook Jake awake from his deep sleep.

 

“God..Shut up Keith…” He mumbled back, turning sideway to continue on with his dream.

 

“KEITH?! WHO THE HELL IS THAT!? My name’s Edward! Did you forget my name already?!” Edward said loudly, crossing his arms.

 

“................Ah?” As if woken up, Jake forced himself to open his eyes. The first ray of sunlight acted like a bullet as it shone right onto the lad’s face, and he immediately let out a gasp, looking away.

 

Jake let out a groan as he suddenly remembered what had happened--the academy, Mariana, and Edward the ghost.

 

I want to go home, he couldn’t help but thought, not caring if he’s already 17 years old.

 

“What do you mean by ‘ah’? You forgot to set up your alarm clock last night so I might as well wake you up. Damn, young man, look at yourself all messy-haired and stuffs. It’s 7:00 AM right now, you already missed breakfast! But it’s okay. Today, you’re going to start your first day! Hurry up and put on your uniform and head down to your first class by 8 o’clock.  I’m not coming with you cause I want to stay in the room.” Edward immediately started talking once he saw Jake waking up. Jake scowled at the endless talk, annoyed.

 

Sitting up from the bed, he rubbed the back of his head. “I got it...You can shut up now.”

 

“How rude, at least thank me for waking you up.”

 

“Yeah yeah thank you,” Jake rolled his eyes, saying it without much sincerity. He left the bed then, letting out a tired sigh and went to the bathroom.

 

Splashing water onto his face, he felt more refreshed. He then took a quick shower, brushed his teeth, and finally opened the door to exit the bathroom, staring right into Edward.

 

“Okay, you don’t have to follow me everywhere,” Jake grumbled.

 

“Well at least I didn’t follow you into the bathroom, stop acting like some sort of high-privacy girl,” Edward replied.

 

Giving up, Edward headed to the closet. Finally having a nice look inside, he inspected all the nicely-hanged school uniforms. They’re consisted of black long-sleeved shirt and red ties, along with black pants. The academy logo was sewed on each of the shirt, a golden logo with the simple shape of a lion, holding a dagger in its mouth. Underneath it is some tiny words: Blazondia Academy.

 

There was a jacket that goes along with the uniform, also consisted of similar color and design. While this set of long-sleeved outfit and jacket are the winter uniforms, toward the right of the closet was the short-sleeved version without the jacket, which is the spring uniform. Only the gym uniform is white, contracting greatly with the other black outfits.

 

“How nice,” the lad commented, wondering himself if he said that to be sarcastic or not. With these uniforms lining up so neatly like that and Edward speaking behind him so casually, this almost feel like an ordinary academy with no tension.

 

Jake took out the uniforms and put them on, making sure he looked neat and tidy--it was his first time wearing a school uniform after all. He fumbled a while with the tie before finally managed to wear it correctly, with Edward instructing and correcting beside him.

 

“All set to go! It’s 7:50 now! Here’s your bag, you’re ready! Ten minutes, run to the class! Damn, don’t you think I sound like a mom? If I’m still alive I might be a great daddy in the future,” Edward seemed satisfied as he stared at Jake, who was having a final check in front of the mirror, surprising himself with how...Handsome he looked as he forgot to reply to Edward.

 

Edward blinked, “Are you falling in love with yourself?”

 

“Shut up,” Jake let out a sigh and grabbed his bag from Edward, where a notebook and a pencil case was placed, along with his schedule. He was about to get out of the room when the ghost called behind him.

 

“You forgot your weapons man! You have to carry it around!!”

 

“...I need my weapons?”

 

“DUH, it’s Killer Academy! People might kill you anywhere! You have to have your weapons to fend yourself! Besides your first class is weaponry! And the weaponry teacher is super strict! Is your brain still in Lala land?” Edward crossed his arms, as if unable to believe what the other just said.

 

It felt so peaceful though.

 

“Oh, okay. Alright!” Rolling his eyes, although the thought repeated in his mind, Jake ran back to his room and grabbed his guns. Finally, he shut the door behind him and continued on his way quickly, with Edward mumbling all kinds of complaints.

 

~*~

 

Jake walked through the hallways, completely lost.

 

The bell had long rung, he was late already by 10 minutes.

 

Everything feels so normal so far...Well, there are some classes you can’t find in other academies..

 

Jake had looked through his schedule--there’s normal classes such as history, literature, etc, there, with some rare classes like weaponry and combat. If you eliminate those rare classes out, it’s even possible to forget that this academy’s for killers at all.

 

However, the hallways were dim despite the sunlights shone through the numbers of windows in the building, and illustrated by the similar designs and colors of the school lobby. The dark green and red, as well as the golden colors almost made the academy looks royal, or rather, royal enough to know that this academy isn’t normal.

 

At least that’s what he thought, for the hallways were mostly empty by the time he managed to exit the dorms in the right way after getting lost for more than 5 minutes. As he finally started to search for his class, the bell already rang, marking the beginning of class.

 

Jake remembered that Edward mentioned about how the weaponry teacher is strict, and could feel his own anxiousness of getting scold first thing on his first day. He doubt it though...He’s a new student after all. The teacher would let him go, right?

 

Anyway, he should focus on finding the classroom for now. Why is the hallway so completely empty?

 

Being all alone in the hallway actually made him more nervous than getting scolded by a teacher….

 

What does A2V43 means though? Jake stared down at his schedule, unable to understand the number that labelled the location of the classroom.  

 

Time passed, by the time he realized, he was already 15 minutes late. He sucked in a breath, this is not good. Maybe he should just skip?

 

Why didn’t Edward explain the schedule to him….

 

Why isn’t anybody around?

 

Completely lost on both the directions and on what to do, Jake gritted his teeth and stared down at his schedule with extreme agitation. It was then he spot a girl standing alone at the corner of the hallway that he felt the slightest hope.

 

Walking quickly over, a smile formed on Jake’s mouth as he approached the girl. “Excuse me…?”

 

The girl who was originally looking down at her notebook looked up at him, mouth closed. She has dark, messy brown hair and dark brown eyes.

 

How weird, being all alone here in a corner. Shouldn’t she go to class as well? “Um...I’m quite lost. May you tell me where to go?” Although the question lingered in his mind, he showed her the schedule instead. The girl stood there watching him for a moment before shifting her attention the paper in his hand.

 

Staring at it for quite a moment, she took out a pen and opened up the notebook that she was holding, then began to write:

 

“From your position, turn left, go straight down the hallway. There, you shall see different sets of door. Enter the door labelled ‘A’. Walk straight down until you reached a hallway facing your right. That’s the V hallway. Continue to walk down that hallway, turn right at the second hallway you see, and you shall find the classroom.”

 

“That’s complicated, but thanks,” Jake scratched the back of his head.

 

The girl shook her head, then started to write again. “It’s nothing.”

 

“Can’t you talk?” The lad found himself asking.

 

There was a long pause after that, and the girl finally looked up at Jake, staring into his eyes.

 

She slowly opened her mouth, and Jake’s eyes widened, letting out a gasp.

 

She has no tongue.

 

“U-Uh, alright, thanks! I-Imma go then!” Suddenly taken aback, Jake let out an awkward thank-you as he immediately backed up. However, he found himself couldn’t move, probably too caught up by the scene of a girl alive without a tongue.

 

“Hurry. He’s coming.” As the girl saw him still standing there, she quickly wrote again, and ripped the paper with the direction to the classroom off from her notebook, shoving it to Jake.

 

He?

 

A bit confused and not understanding what the girl was talking about, Jake found himself curious but have no time to talk. Regaining his senses, he immediately ran down the hallway to his left, away from the girl without a tongue, and away from the soon-be-coming male.

 

~*~

 

It turned out quite pleasing how once he knew how to reach the classroom, he reached there quite fast. However, he was still 20 minutes late for class.

 

Sighing, he decided to apologize right after opening the door, and ignored the stares that would probably be landed on him once he entered the classroom. Inhaling a breath, he turned the doorknob and stepped in. “Excuse me I’m so--”

 

“YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!”

 

Yet, what welcomed him is not what he originally expected. Instantly falling backward, a giant slash of a gigantic axe formed right in front of his eyes, accompanied by a loud wild yell.

 

Jake felt his butt landed on the floor with a sweatdrop as he let out a painful hiss, feeling the mini heart attack going through his body from the earlier surprise attack.

 

“Ah?” A voice identical to the loud yell earlier uttered a sound, causing Jake to look up. Frowning, he watched as a lad stepped out of the classroom, glancing down. They stared right into each other’s face, and paused there for a moment.

 

It is a lad, somehow muscular, with an eyepatch over his right eye. His pupils were of an inhuman bright orange, his short hair red. In his hands held a huge, heavy axe, which caused him to look overwhelmingly stronger than what he really should  be. He was wearing the school uniform, however, the sleeves were ripped off, showing his bare shoulders. He was not wearing the red tie of the uniform either. In fact, his uniform changed so much that it looked just like a stylish sleeveless shirt with the school logo still on it.

 

“Oh? Who’s this guy over here? Aye, Lorzo, you shouldn’t have dodged that. Look who I nearly killed because you stepped out of the way.” Jake heard this lad say as he glanced back into the classroom. He could hear another male’s voice speaking, then, next to the doorway inside the room.

 

“As a gun-user, my only and best move is to dodge, unless you really want me dead,” The voice sounded cold and emotionless, still and cool. “Dorzo.”

 

Jake forced himself to stand up then, gasping at the little pain that shot through his body as he did so. As if noticing, the eyepatch lad, or Dorzo, as the other male called him, looked back. A wide grin formed onto his mouth then. “Aye, whatever, he dodged it himself anywhere. Barely, though. Sorry buddy, didn’t expect you to open the door all of a sudden.” He stepped out of the door’s way and allowed Jake to walk into the classroom.

 

“Is it the new student? Is it? Is it?” A high, female voice entered Jake’s ears, and as he stepped into the huge classroom, he saw a girl with two long dark ponytails jumping up and down from her seat at the front. She has what people would call a baby face, looking extremely cheerful and happy, her eyes a bright green. As she saw Jake, a smile grew on her face, and she seemed to beam. “Mr. Wong, it seems like I’m right! Can he sit next to me?”

 

“.......It seems to be the only empty seat in the classroom anyway.” Jake found himself switching his attention to the source of the reply, only to stare into an elegant male. He has a fan in his hand, his fair skin, accompanied by a good-looking, charming face, almost as beautiful as that of a female, looked extremely handsome with his short, soft black hair. He looked like a male from China, or one could guess from his last name.

 

The teacher’s name is Mei Wong, even his name seemed to fit more for a lady, yet it ironically suit this elegant teacher. Jake was surprised to find such a teacher in this academy--he seemed to suit more in some fancy Japanese royal palace than this, as a teacher.

 

“Yay~Come here, new student. You gonna sit here.” The girl from earlier grinned then, as she patted the empty seat beside her, and didn’t seem to mind how handsome the teacher look at all. Jake stood there, hesitated.

 

“You may go,” he heard the teacher say with a deep, cool voice, and Jake swallowed his saliva before walking up to the seat.

 

“My name is Jen, but call me Jenny,” before Jake could neatly sit himself, the girl next to him started talking. “The guy that will sit on the other side of you will be Dorzo, who just attacked you with an axe. Behind you will sit Lorzo, his younger brother.” She pointed toward the teacher, Mei Wong, and continued. “That hot teacher is our weaponry teacher. He’s strict, though, but Dorzo never seemed to mind. Dorzo nicknamed him Meimei, at first Mr. Wong is really agitated by it by I think he got used to it.”

 

“Enough talk, Jenny. And Dorzo, Lorzo, the both of you may resume to your seats as well. You two have set a well example on how the weapons work already.” Hearing the student’s talking with her big mouth, Mei furrowed his eyebrows then stopped the chatters. Lorzo, or Dorzo’s brothers, after hearing Mei’s stopping signal, reloaded his guns then tucked it into the side of his belt, walking slowly to his seat, which, as Jenny mentioned earlier, is behind Jake.

 

He used guns as well, Jake realized, and found his eyes following Lorzo as he stepped up to the seat behind him.

 

“What.” Upon realizing the new student’s look, the lad said. Similar to his brother, he has inhuman orange eyes. However, his hair is of a medium length of snowy white.

 

“N-nothing.” Jake immediately switched his attention away.

 

“Whaaaat, but Meimei, the fight stopped earlier than usual.” Unlike Lorzo, who had returned to his seat, Dorzo still stood at the front, dragging the axe behind him then leaning it against the wall of the room. There’s a look of dissatisfaction on his face, as if extremely disappointed by the fact that the fight ends.

 

Mei’s expression remained still. “Then, take the fight to the Fighting Grounds later after class.”

 

“Hell no, Lorzo wouldn’t fight with me unless he’s forced to.”

 

“Wait till combat class.”

 

“Bro, that woman wouldn’t let us fight with our weapons right now because she’s all like ‘fighting with only your physical body is really important’ blablabla stuffs like that.”

 

Mei shot Dorzo a cold and annoyed glance. “Well then, close that mouth of yours and kindly take your seat.”

 

“Bu---”

 

“Or else, no helping me after class.”

 

Dorzo seemed taken aback. “Wha--Aye, aye,  fine, whatever.” He let out a sigh, defeated.

 

Seeing the interaction, Jake whispered toward Jenny. “They look close.”

 

Jenny chuckled. “They are close. Not sure the reason why, but Dorzo loves to fool around with Mr. Wong since the beginning of the school year. I guess in the end all the stop-fooling-around talks made them close.”

 

The lad blinked. “So close that Mr. Wong let Dorzo help after class?”

 

“Hehe~That remained a mystery. There’s rumors all around saying that Mr. Wong and Dorzo might in fact be a teacher-and-student forbidden gay love couple...We never know.”

 

Jake blinked, surprised by Jenny’s words. He turned his attention back to Mei and Dorzo as they interacted a few more words, one with a smirk and the other with a scowl. An elegant teacher and a wild student…? They...Don’t exactly suit each other do they?

 

“But isn’t it good?”

 

“Ah?”

 

Jake was so caught up in his thoughts that he missed Jenny’s words. The girl chuckled then repeated, “Isn’t it good? It’s nice to have these types of gossips going around the school...It makes this academy feels ordinary, and that’s good.”

 

“...............”

 

“Yo yo, what are the two of you talking about with your big mouths? Jen, you are really curious about our relationship huh?” Suddenly, Dorzo’s voice rang into both of their ears and Jake looked toward his side to find the lad already sitting himself into the seat next to him. For a moment, a slight embarrassed blush formed onto her face.

 

“Shut up! Your relationship with Mr. Wong has nothing to do with me.”

 

The eyepatch lad grinned teasingly. “Yeah yeah, I see the jealousy in your eyes. No girl won’t remain still after learning how close I am to their fancy prince, after all~”

 

Jake’s voice suddenly cut into the conversation. “Um, just a question, Dorzo….Are you chasing Mr. Wong just because you want the girls to be jealous of you?”

 

Jenny couldn’t help but laugh, and Dorzo gasped. “New boy, you sure knows how to talk huh! Of course not. I couldn’t care less about them girls---”

 

PA!

 

The clear sound of a fan hitting the teacher’s desk shifted their attention to Mei.

 

“How about all three of you seal those lips of yours,” the teacher said with displeasure in his voice. “Do let us resume to class.”

 

The classroom fell silent then. Satisfied, Mei crossed his arms. “Jake Dorzon, there are a few things you have to know in my class,” he paused before continuing.

 

“First, always bring your weapons with you into the class, heavy or not. Second, lateness is not tolerated unless you’re new. Third, in order to settle examples on various weapons I have mentioned, I would often have my students spar with the weapons in front of the class. Just like what Dorzo and Lorzo were doing just now before your interference, with the Bull Axe and the Speed Gun.” Finishing what he wanted to say in little breaths, his eyes then quickly scanned over the lad.

 

“May I see your weapon?” The teacher asked, then.

 

“....?”

 

“Your weapon,” Mei repeated.

 

Jake sat there, blinked for a moment, as if confused, before realizing. “Ah, yes. Um, here you go.” Quickly taking them out from the side of his pants, he handed both guns over to Mei. Lorzo’s tiny exclamation of interest on having similar weapons could be heard, although Jake assumed that there should be a lot of students in the school who use guns.

 

Outstretching his hands a bit with the weapon, Mei was about to accept it when he furrowed his eyebrows, looking a bit confused.

 

“Your hands…” Jake could hear the teacher mumble, and a question mark seemingly formed in his mind before the other brushed it off. “Never mind.”

 

Mei took the guns from Jake’s hands, then inspected them carefully. It didn’t take long before he returned them, his tone as still as usual. “They’re too ordinary and weak. You can’t survive with them. Buy some new guns or have Doctor Fulalanko modify it.”

 

“Ah, yes……” Jake mumbled a reply as the guns were returned to him, his mind curious on why Mei looked a bit confused when he was handing him the weapon.

 

“Meimei’s words are no doubt, man,” Dorzo said from aside, and Jake was caught back to reality. Before he could say anything back however, Jenny nodded before continuing.

 

“Do you know the way to the school shop or modification room?”

 

Probably nothing, Jake decided to let it go. He smiled awkwardly at the girl then, who asked the question. “Uh, not yet.”

 

“I can lead the way then!” Jenny chirped.

 

“Ah, but having a new dude and a girl to whom we don’t even know how strong she is yet walking together alone might be somehow dangerous, you know how the hallways are roaming with murderers,” as if remembering something, Dorzo let out a thought.

 

The girl’s grin widened, “No worries. Lorzo and you will come along, after all, right?”

 

“Aye aye, guess a girl do need my help," the eyepatch lad shrugged.

 

“...............” Lorzo let out a sigh, but one could tell that he did agree to come along.

 

Another slap from Mei’s fan, and the four resumed to paying attention to class. Jake, who was extremely nervous at first, especially after getting lost in the hallways in the beginning and finding a girl without a tongue before reaching the classroom, gradually found himself relaxing.

 

He didn’t expect it to be fast, but it seemed like he could handle the academy a bit better…

 

Don’t really get why but there are some unexpectedly nice people who volunteered to help me...He thought as Mei went through the different weapons during class, with Jenny and Dorzo mumbling around.

 

Maybe I would get friends and get used to this academy faster than I thought, he smiled, then, his mind filled with possible hopes that this academy wouldn’t be that bad at all.