Chapter 13: Year 5 Begins, P3

~13.3~

*****

“As such, I became an instructor as soon as possible and it is my duty to ensure each and every one of you break the standard set by previous first-years!” Much of the class cheered, Yami notably excluded. Kye smiled and continued, “Starting tomorrow! Today I’m only taking your measurements, so step forward one at a time.” Kye summoned an orb and got ready to record the numbers.

Yami was the first to step forward, intent on setting precedence.

“Yami, if you score less than 100M, you will take remedials with Allison!”

Yami froze.

“Wow, she really is harder on Yami.” “I don’t think I’d want to be related to royal instructors.” “They’re strong, but they’re crazy!”

Yami shook it off and raised her hand to the orb. She channeled an even flow of neutral mana and did indeed score over 100m, 747M to be exact, with her capacity landing at 17900B.

“Wow...” “She’s amazing!” “I bet Miss Kye is way better!”

“Hey!” Yami said. “That last comment was completely unnecessary!” She turned back to her sister. “C’mon, say something!”

Kye nodded and scolded the class. “She’s right. That last comment is not becoming of an academy student.”

“Show us your score!” “I wanna see it, too!” “Please, Miss Kye!”

Kye sighed and glanced at Yami as if asking for permission. Yami also sighed and just nodded. Kye held her hand out to the orb. She channeled mana into it, and it displayed 10265b. “As you can see... my method is effective.”

“Holy shit!” “What the hell?!” “What about your capacity!”

“Well...” Kye reached for the orb again and let it scan her capacity. It briefly displayed 9999T+ before shattering. Despite the improvements done to the orbs, they were still unable to read exceptionally powerful individuals, though they could give a maximum reading.

“...” “...”

“Just so you know, that happens with all adult royals, although I’m not quite old enough to be considered an adult royal... anyway, don’t put much stock in it. Capacity grows far more than output, even if you don’t train much or at all, and I’ve trained rigorously since I was three.” Though my capacity is high for a different reason and the orb doesn’t normally shatter. “Anyway...” She summoned another orb and directed the class to continue testing. “Next! State your name, then channel into the orb.”

“Elizabeth Strauss,” said the next volunteer. She placed her hand on the orb and it soon read 114M, then 1450B.

“Very nice! Has Isabel been helping you?” With her instructor authority, Kye could see student information and knew Elizabeth and her twin sister Sophia were Isabel’s younger sisters. Isabel’s younger brother, Friedrich, was a year older and in Zen’s class.

“Yes. She has trained us very hard between terms the past few years.”

“Great! I’ll be sure to thank her later.” Elizabeth nodded, and Kye turned her eyes to Sophia.

“Sophia Strauss,” she said, accepting Kye’s offer to go next. She scored the same as Elizabeth in both output and capacity.

“Great! I can’t wait to work with this class!” Kye let her excitement show, being genuinely happy that others were growing so well. “Next!”

“Aina Inari Virtanen.” Aina scored 113M on output and 935B on capacity.

“Well done! I take it your brother helped you?”

Aina nodded. “He did!”

“Great! Next!”

“Anastasiya Viktoriya Kistanov.” She approached, but hesitated.

“Is something wrong, Miss Kistanov?”

“My name is quite long, so my friends and family shortened it. May I-?”

“Of course. You may use your preferred name here as well.”

She nodded and faced the class once more. “Anna Kistanov.” She curtsied, then returned her attention to the orb. She scored 113M and 935B. She exchanged smiles with Kye and returned to her set.

“Aero Mizutani,” said a white-haired boy, his hair tied into a ponytail. Kye narrowed her eyes as he channeled mana into the orb. He scored 111M and 850B.

“That’s quite impressive, especially for a commoner. Your name is familiar, though.”

“I am an attendant of your brother, Lord Zen II.”

“Oh! So you have received training with my method for years as well. That explains it.”

“Yes, my lady. I am beyond grateful for being accepted as an attendant and receiving such training.”

“Though even then, your progress is impressive. Well done!”

“Thank you, my lady.”

Kye nodded and called for the next student.

“Aira Mizutani,” said a white-haired girl, her hair the same as her brother’s. Kye watched closely as she completed the test and scored the same.

“Well done! The two of you have certainly earned your place as my brother’s attendants.”

“Thank you, Lady Kye.”

Kye nodded and continued with the next student. When the class was finished, she displayed the numbers for them to see. “Well done everyone! You are dismissed for the day. We’ll start formally tomorrow. Bring your A game!”

*****

After several more classes, the day was finally over. In the dorms, Kye plopped down on the couch in Yami’s room.

“Aneue?”

“I recorded so many numbers today. Mom said this was the worst part of the entire year, and I believe her now.”

“That sounds crazy.”

Kye rolled over and buried her face in the pillow. “Mmff ffmm mffm.”

“I don’t think so.”

“Mmf ffmfm mffmmfm.”

“Really?”

Kye rolled back over. “Yeah. I’m teaching yours, Zen’s, and even my class. That last part is a pretty surreal, to be honest.”

“Well, you never really were their classmate, though? Ever since you told us what you are...”

“Yeah, there’s that. The only things I learned here are what everyone else is capable of... which is why I was so adamant about becoming an instructor ASAP. Yaaaaamiiiii, I can’t let my people stay dumb!”

Yami smiled dryly. “I don’t know if I want to call that rude or brutally honest.”

“It’s more like... a passionate artist creating the greatest painting ever only to find out it was with bad paint and now it needs fixed.”

“That’s... fair, honestly.”

“I’m so glad you and Zen are in school now. My darling little siblings!”

“And now you’re being weird again.”

“HEY! I can’t help it. I rarely ever had siblings... family rather, that treat me like family.”

Yami sat down next to her blonde sister and patted her head. “That is so sad it makes me angry. Who would be so close-minded?”

“In most cases, the world is far less developed. This one is a few million years more advanced than most worlds, so I chok it up to civilization here having more time to mature. You’d be surprised what mortals are capable of when their lifespans are only up to one hundred years and they constantly fight for political power.”

“Those are such alien concepts to me I can’t even begin to figure out how bad that is.”

“Right? I’ve kinda grown numb to it all. What really threw me for a loop is coming here, finding out it’s basically a paradise! Like... holy shit... peace! Nevermind the lack of combat ability among the masses, that can be fixed with time. I’m so proud of how the people of this world have grown!”

“When was the last time you were here?”

“As Elysia, I created the ten realms, but I’ve never been here. I don’t know why, though.”

“Well, I, for one, am glad you ended up here. I don’t want to imagine what growing up would have been like without you.”

Kye sprang up and hugged her white-haired sister with tears in her eyes. “Yaaamiiii, that means so much!”

“Yes, yes, but you’re squeezing too hard!” Yami struggled to escape her blonde sister’s grasp.

“Oh.”

“Jeez, you’re so strong it’s ridiculous.”

Kye started spar punching. “Hehe. Just imagine if I was in my real body!”

“Huh? You’re real body?”

“Yes! My immortal body is asleep in the nexus. It’s been a very long time since I used it, but it’s still there.”

“I see... I think.”

Kye nodded. “Oh, I need to get going. I’m meeting with Allison to discuss a few things.”

“You are?”

“Yes. I promised I’d meet her after work to brag about my adorable little sister for coming first in class!”

Yami did nothing to hide the skepticism from her face. “Uh, huh...”

“No really, that topic actually is about you and your class. I’m 1-A, 2-L, 5-S, and other class’s instructor this year for mana. I need to discuss a few things with Allison about them.”

“Oh, that makes sense.”

Kye nodded. “Well then, I’ll see you at dinner!” She vanished.

“Dinner? But...” Yami sighed. “What a way to invite someone to dinner...”

*****

Revision: 2024-4-25