Chapter 12: The witch
As I went up the stairs, I felt most of the stares shift away from me, with only two lingering, seemingly persistent in their curiosity. Tracing them, I found one of the stares originating from Maki. She sat firmly in the front, as main characters tend to.
The moment I met her gaze, she seemed to have gained a sudden interest in ceiling décor as she shifted her gaze toward the ceiling.
The other stare was more of a glare. It came from a red-haired girl further out back. When I matched her stare, she didn’t even shift her gaze and just continued right on.
I could only awkwardly scratch my head at that and continued walking.
’Is she Song?’
It seemed likely.
Regardless, I reached my seat and quietly slid in beside the wolfman, resulting in his grin stretching even wider.
"The name’s Shin Tae-young, but you can call me Shin."
His voice came out gruff and growl-like as he spoke, offering me a clawed palm. I flashed a small smile of my own in response before taking his furry hand.
"I’m Victor. Uh, no last name."
His eyes widened a bit at that before he nodded, releasing my hand. He turned to face Alice with a smile, though that only served to show more wickedly sharp teeth.
"Nice to meet you, Victor."
I could only offer a nod in response. Normally, I’d be scared out of my mind being forced to sit next to a monster like Shin. But I wasn’t... okay, maybe just a little bit.
Anyway, Shin wasn’t a monster at all. In fact, he’d been a character of some importance back in the original story. Being a hunter with the potential of S rank, he would have become a rather high-ranking hunter, if he didn’t die during the third year.
’Why was old me so cruel?’
His monstrous appearance was due to his burden. It was a curse that morphed his previously human biology into that of a wolfman, forcing wolf-like instincts and bloodlust onto his human mind. Hence why I was still a little uneasy.
But he was a nice guy when you got to know him, at least that’s how I’d written him to be.
I just had to trust my writing a bit.
’Yeah, I might be doomed.’
I followed Shin’s gaze onto Alice, who had already begun the lecture.
"Well, good morning, Cadets. I held off on a proper introduction before we were complete."
’Hmm...’
That was a bit strange. In the original novel, Maki had been missing from the first class, yet the introduction still took place.
Well, it might have been because of me. She was a noble, and I was an orphan. Nobles generally tended to already know most of this stuff. Still, it wasn’t that important of a change. But that added a point for her in my books.
Regardless, Alice continued, tipping her large hat a bit.
"My name is Alice Snowfield, a Paragon-rank hunter." She gave a small smile. "Though some of you may know me as The Witch."
She stood straight, folding her arms in front of her.
"You would be remiss to refer to me by that name though. Miss or Instructor Alice is fine."
Whispers exploded around the classroom at that. From where I was sitting, I could hear bits and pieces of it, mainly pertaining to her not being married yet and something about still having a chance.
I felt like covering my face from the sheer amount of secondhand embarrassment I felt for them. After all, Alice was an A-rank hunter. If even I could hear bits and pieces from their whispers, then she’d be hearing them crystal clear.
The woman in question didn’t seem to mind that much, as she clapped her hands, instantly silencing the class. She gave a light cough before gesturing toward a holographic projector.
"Today’s topic is Hunters."
She gave the class a cursory glance before asking,
"Who are hunters?"
Multiple hands shot up immediately, but she selected a blonde-haired girl sitting close to the front.
"Hunters are the protectors of Bastion. They hunt the monsters that lurk beyond our borders and those that pop up within to guard us from the constant threat of extinction at the hands of the beasts."
Alice nodded a bit at that before continuing dryly.
"I suppose that is acceptable, but it is a rather dull answer."
The girl sat back down, embarrassed, as Alice looked around the class a bit more before finally pointing her finger in what suspiciously seemed like my direction.
’Is there someone behind me?’
I glanced back. We were the last in this line of seats.
’Maybe she’s pointing at someone in front of me.’
"I’m talking to the short cadet at the back."
’Oh, thank goodness. For a second there, I thought she was referring to...’
"Cadet Victor, I don’t believe I should have to repeat myself."
I sighed before standing up, to suppressed chuckles from the classroom. I was taking back all the points I gave her before. Now the 40-odd stares from before were back on me again.
Alice looked at me before asking again.
"What do you think hunters are?"
I considered her question seriously. I’d written the novel, so I had much more insight into the true nature of hunters.
"I think at their core, hunters are predators. They are fundamentally killers who choose their targets, be they monsters or humans, in order to further their goals. Be that protecting Bastion, growing stronger, or some other selfish reason."
Alice looked a bit surprised at my answer. She shook it off quickly though, nodding as her face reverted back to normal.
"That’s a rather thoughtful answer, Cadet Victor. You may have your seat."
I collapsed in my seat, letting out a sigh of relief as I felt the gazes shift off me. Well, most of them; that red-haired girl was still sneaking glances at me.
I did my best to just ignore her as Alice continued below.
"As Cadet Victor has said, hunters are killers. Yes, you might have all awakened, but you are not hunters. Not yet."
The projector behind her flashed as it switched between images of strange monsters, syringes, and weapons. She looked directly at me.
"But as you will come to realize, being a hunter consists of far more than just being a killer."
She pointed to the projection again. This time, it displayed a list.
"First the basics. I’m sure this is already common knowledge for most nobles, but spare me your complaints."
There were a few grumbles at that, but the class quickly quieted down.
"It hasn’t been long since all of you awakened, so most, if not all of you, should be around Rank E- or the low novice rank. On that, I’ll explain our ranking system to you."
She paused, taking a look at the projection. I followed her gaze and saw the list on the board was actually displaying the hunter ranks. It read:
[Rank E / Novice]
[Rank D / Adept]
[Rank C / Master]
[Rank B / Grandmaster]
[Rank A / Paragon]
[Rank S / Angel or Transcendent]
[Rank SS / Demigodsl]
[Rank SSS / Archon]
Alice pointed at the Novice rank.
"You are all here."
She dragged her finger down to the Angel level.
"While the farthest our species has been able to reach is here."
She faced us again before continuing.
"The ranks above that are merely speculations based on different potentials we’ve seen."
Her eyes lingered on the front row a bit before continuing. Though, I for one knew exactly who she was looking at, even though I couldn’t see them properly this far out.
’It’s the main characters.’
"All these ranks have suffixes — high, core, and low — or plus, normal, and minus. It is, in a sense, similar to the suffixes monsters have: mature, adolescent, and fledgling. Each stage shows your general level of progress in a rank. For example, I am currently a high Paragon. Most of you are low novices."
She paused, strolling to and taking a seat at an empty desk by the side of the class.
"Next up is potential. You should all be well aware of your potential by now, but there have been some rather common misconceptions cadets have in regard to it."
The projection shifted again, this time displaying a graph that rose sharply before tapering off gradually.
"Your rate of growth tends to reduce the closer you get to the limit of your potential. Say you have a potential of rank B. In actuality, the highest level you would likely ever reach is rank C+. While it is still possible to get into rank B, it would take an extraordinary person to do so."
Alice shifted her gaze to the front row before speaking.
"Of course, the difficulty of doing this merely increases with rank. It is almost impossible for a person with a potential of rank S to actually become that."
She leaned back, drumming her fingers on the desk.
"Finally, the last point of the basics: progression."
The projector switched to an image of a metallic, old-timey-looking syringe.