The hallway leading to Class S was located in the basement of the Academy's West Wing. It was dark, damp, and smelled faintly of sulfur and dried blood.
Most classrooms had inspirational posters on the walls. This hallway had warning signs:
"DANGER: Enter at your own risk."
"No refunds on tuition if deceased."
"I have a bad feeling about this," Bo whispered, clutching Kaelen's sleeve. "Why is there a skeleton hanging from the ceiling? Is that a decoration?"
"It's a warning," Kaelen walked forward, his steps echoing in the silence.
Magnus had to hunch over to fit his massive frame in the corridor. "Small... tunnel. Bad... Feng Shui."
They reached a massive iron door at the end of the hall. It was dented from the inside, as if something had tried to break out.
"Ready?" Kaelen asked.
"No!" Bo cried.
Kaelen kicked the door open.
BANG!
The moment the door opened, three throwing knives flew straight at Kaelen's face.
Kaelen didn't blink. He didn't move.
Magnus's hand shot out from behind him.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
Magnus caught all three knives between his fingers. He looked at the blades. "Toys?"
Kaelen walked into the room.
Class S. The Special Class.
It didn't look like a classroom. It looked like a bombsite. Desks were overturned. The chalkboard was cracked. And the students... were not normal.
There were only ten of them.
In the corner, a girl with purple skin and horns was sharpening a scythe.
Sitting on top of a bookshelf was a boy wrapped in bandages, sleeping.
In the center of the room, a young man with flaming red hair was arm-wrestling an Orc. The Orc was losing.
The room went silent as Team Asura entered. Every pair of eyes locked onto them. The killing intent in the air was thick enough to choke a normal person.
"Fresh meat!" The red-haired boy slammed the Orc's hand into the desk, breaking it. He stood up, grinning. His teeth were filed into points.
"I am Dante," the boy sneered, his hands igniting with real fire. "And this is my territory. The entrance fee is 100 Spirit Stones. Or a broken leg. Your choice."
Bo hid behind Magnus. "We are broke! Take the leg! Uh, Magnus's leg!"
Kaelen looked at Dante. He scanned the room.
'Spirit Ocean Level 2. Level 3. Level 4... These kids are strong. They are the rejects, the crazies, the ones too dangerous for normal society.'
"I don't pay fees," Kaelen said calmly. "And I don't give legs."
Dante laughed. "Arrogant! I like it! Let's see if you burn as well as you talk!"
Dante punched. A fireball the size of a basketball shot toward Kaelen.
"Magnus," Kaelen said softly.
Magnus stepped forward. He didn't block. He opened his mouth.
And he blew.
WHOOSH.
It wasn't just breath. It was a hurricane generated by his Titan lungs.
The fireball was blown out like a candle.
Dante blinked. "What...?"
Magnus didn't stop. The force of his breath hit Dante, lifting the fire-user off his feet and slamming him into the back wall.
THUD.
"Fire... bad," Magnus grunted. "Smoke... ruins... lungs."
The class went dead silent. Dante, the class bully, was taken out by a sneeze?
The bandaged boy on the bookshelf opened one eye. The purple demon girl stopped sharpening her scythe.
Kaelen walked to the center of the room.
"Anyone else want a fee?" Kaelen asked politely.
No one answered.
"Good."
Suddenly, the chalkboard at the front of the room spun around.
"BRAVO! BRAVO!"
A man was sitting behind the chalkboard. He wore a ragged suit, had messy grey hair, and held a flask of wine. He looked like a homeless person who had broken into the school.
This was Professor Sylas. The Teacher of Class S.
"That was entertaining!" Sylas took a swig of wine. "The Big Guy has lung capacity! The Fat Guy has high-pitched screams! And the White-Haired Guy... you are scary calm."
Sylas jumped off the platform. He landed with a heavy thud, cracking the floor.
'Spirit Ocean Level 8,' Kaelen analyzed instantly. 'But his foundation is damaged. An old injury.'
"Welcome to Class S," Sylas burped. "I am your teacher. I teach Survival. The rules are simple."
He pointed to the ten desks in the room. There were now thirteen students (including Kaelen's team), but only ten desks.
"Rule 1: If you don't have a seat, you stand. If you stand for more than an hour, the gravity array in the floor activates and crushes your bones."
"Rule 2: You can take any seat you want. By force."
"Rule 3: Don't kill each other. Maiming is fine. Killing means paperwork, and I hate paperwork."
Sylas smiled, showing stained teeth.
"Begin."
It was chaos instantly.
The Orc roared and tackled a student. The Demon Girl swung her scythe.
"Boss! We need chairs!" Bo panicked as the floor runes began to glow red, signaling the gravity was charging up.
Dante (who had recovered) glared at Kaelen. "You got lucky, new kid! I'm taking that desk!"
He rushed toward an empty desk.
Kaelen didn't move toward the student desks.
He walked straight to the front of the room.
He walked up to the Teacher's Podium. There was a nice, comfortable leather chair behind it—Professor Sylas's chair.
Kaelen sat down in the Teacher's chair. He crossed his legs and put his feet on the desk.
The fighting stopped. Even Sylas froze, his wine flask halfway to his mouth.
"Uh... kid?" Sylas blinked. "That's my chair."
"You said take any seat we want," Kaelen said, leaning back comfortably. "You didn't say student seats."
The class gasped.
"Is he crazy?"
"He just stole the Mad Teacher's chair?"
Sylas stared at Kaelen. The air grew heavy. A terrifying pressure descended on the room. Sylas wasn't smiling anymore.
"Boy," Sylas whispered, his voice sounding like a rusted saw. "Do you know how many students have tried to sit there? I threw the last one out of the window. From the fourth floor."
"Try me," Kaelen replied.
His eyes—vertical dragon pupils—glowed. He released a sliver of his Emperor's Haki.
It clashed with Sylas's pressure.
CRACK.
The windows of the classroom shattered from the invisible collision.
For a second, Sylas saw it. Behind this boy, there was a shadow of a Dragon so massive it could swallow the sky.
Sylas's eye twitched. Then, he burst out laughing.
"HAHAHA! I like you! You're insane! But I like you!"
Sylas grabbed a wooden stool from the corner and sat on it.
"Fine! You keep the chair! But if you fall asleep, I burn it with you in it."
He looked at the rest of the class, who were staring with their mouths open.
"What are you looking at?! The new kid just dominated the Alpha! Back to class!"
Bo and Magnus quickly grabbed two empty desks while everyone was distracted by Kaelen's audacity.
"Today's lesson," Sylas announced, opening a book titled '100 Ways to Kill with a Spoon'. "We are going to the Beast Forest. The Headmaster wants us to clear out a Goblin Nest."
"But Sir," a student raised her hand. "Goblins are easy. That's for first-years."
"Not these Goblins," Sylas grinned wickedly. "These ones have been eating Alchemical Waste. They are mutated. And they have a King."
Kaelen stood up from the teacher's chair.
"Mutated Goblins?" Kaelen thought. 'Eclipse experiments again?'
"Class dismissed! To the forest!" Sylas shouted. "Last one there cleans the toilets!"
As the students rushed out, Dante bumped into Kaelen's shoulder.
"This isn't over, Chair-Thief," Dante hissed. "In the forest... accidents happen."
Kaelen looked at Dante.
"Make sure your accident doesn't involve me," Kaelen whispered. "Or you won't make it back to clean the toilets."
Kaelen walked out, his white cloak flowing.
Class S had a new King. And the Academy was about to realize that they hadn't admitted a student... they had admitted a catastrophecatastrophe.
Author Note: "If you like the story, please vote with Power Stones! It helps me write faster."