Zero to Hero (Prequel/prototype)

Chapter 32. Year Two

"Ken! You are suffocating Emma! Stop hugging her so tightly." Genesis shouting while trying to get Ken to wake up.

Since Ken told the two that he shared a bed with Lovetta the entire time he stayed with her. Genesis and Emma simply decided they would stay in Ken's room for the rest of the days they were at home. Obviously, Ken had no reason to refuse the two and the three simply slept together crammed into his bed for the past ten days.

"Sorry Emma! You should have woken me up if I was squeezing you too tightly!" Ken said while looking concerned at Emma.

"Genesis was just lying because she got jealous that you never hugged her as tightly." Emma replied while giving Genesis a side glance as the three got ready.

Pretending she couldn't hear Ken scolding her, the three headed downstairs to get breakfast with the family before it was time to head back to the academy for the start of their second year.

Saying goodbye was never easy and today was no exception. With his siblings only getting to spend a little over a week with him, they were not ready for him to leave. Gwen, who is now 13 years old, had to act as the big sister of the group. While she was also sad that Ken and Emma had to leave, Gwen comforted the younger siblings as Ken went over the final checklist.

After confirming with their mother that the family's got more than enough money for food and letting the kids go to the small school in the nearby village, Ken decided to keep the money he had left for himself. With money no longer an issue, Ken was glad that his siblings now had the chance to go to school and at least get some sort of an education.

Wishing everyone well and telling his siblings to study and train hard, the three disappeared from the tiny village back to their now familiar common room that's entirely empty due to school not starting for a whole nother week.

With the new students arriving on Monday morning, Ken spent the day with Genesis and a few others at the stadium getting the arena backstage ready for the new arrivals tomorrow while Emma spent the whole day with the housekeepers getting a new wing in the academy setup to be the common room and dorms for the class of 2001.

After a whole day of work, Emma showed up at the stadium to meet up with Ken and Genesis so the three could grab some dinner in town.

Without the students around, the town was extremely empty compared to its normal hustling streets. With most of the restaurants and shops closed and the owners who are only here for business home to be with family during the school break, only a few shops and restaurants were open for the small population of permanent residents that's always on the island.

Since Emma had a reliable source of income and the family had been provided with more than enough gold for most situations, Ken was no longer as frugal as he used to be and the three happily ordered food from one of the few restaurants that was still open for business. The trio ate, chatted, laughed and said their goodnight once they got back to the common room so they could be ready for the new students that will be starting tomorrow.

Early next morning, Emma and Genesis showed up to Ken's dorm room to wake him up like always and the trio headed to the stadium to get ready for their jobs taking care of the newly selected.

While Emma went with the housekeepers to set up the buffet table for the newcomers, Ken and Genesis sat around the stadium with other volunteers waiting for the new class to be teleported.

What Ken believed was a group of professors when he was the one down there, now he knew it consisted mostly of students looking to make some easy money with a few important positions handled by professors and of course, the headmistress was present to give the newcomers their opening speech.