Lesson One - A Monster School Fic

Chapter Twenty Two - Cooking Class

"Now I understand, class, especially those of you who do not need to eat," Herobrine's gaze swept over the skeletons as he said this. "That you may not find this class to be a good use of your time. However, I believe that it is important for all of us, regardless of race, to be familiar with the diet of our fellow students should we ever need to prepare food for them." You cast a glance at Cray, who was gnawing on the eraser of his pencil. At least for him, you noted, you would never have issues with knowing what to feed him.

You had slept well last night, having been thoroughly tired out by being the target for hiding class over and over. You weren't sure if Herobrine was giving you a lighthearted punishment for sneaking off, or giving you, Kai, and Morpheus some more quiet time, but either way you didn't really mind. You had fun finding new hiding places, both with and without the help of an invisibility potion.

History class had flown by, and had been about guardians and how they settled in the oceans despite being able to live comfortably on land. Herobrine had told you that there were land guardians once, but they picked a fight with the players and were defeated in a violent and bloody war. It had ended with the guardians that remained retreating into the sea, and since then guardians had remained a peaceful race who devoted themselves to knowledge and bettering the lives of their people.

You wondered what it would be like to live in a world where players respected the monster races as sentient. At the very least, Kai didn't seem to hold a grudge against you like some of your other classmates did.

"I could simply list off the typical diet of every race, but I've found that information tends to stick better when it comes straight from the source," Herobrine went on. "So, one at a time, I would like you all to come up and tell the class the diet for your race, then what a typical meal may look like for you. I advise you all to be prepared to take notes, as you will be tested on this." He glanced to the front left corner of the classroom. "Marrow, since you do not eat, I will skip over you. Isabelle, would you like to come up first?"

The classroom was filled with the sounds of paper shuffling as you and most of your classmates pulled out pieces of paper or notebooks with which to take notes on. Even Cray was prepared with a half-eaten pencil and paper, though you were pretty sure he didn't know how to write.

As the class quieted down, Isabelle cleared her throat softly. "Um, hi," she said. "I'm a spider, and I eat meat. Um, usually at home I would eat mutton or beef, raw, for every meal."

"Thank you, Isabelle," Herobrine said as you scribbled down her preferences. "You may return to your seat. Azara, please come up next." The girls switched places, Azara standing at attention as she stopped beside your teacher.

"I'm a zombie piglin," she stated, her voice flat. "And I'm an omnivore- I can eat plants and meat. At home in the nether, I would eat whatever was available to me, which may be hoglin pork, netherwart, or mushrooms." With that, she returned to her seat without prompting.

"Xa-Tul?" Herobrine called up the next student, and you sat back. You knew already, from conversations in the lunch hall, what she and the other zombies ate- pretty much anything organic. Although, Azara was a zombie too, wasn't she? She didn't say whether or not she had to eat, and Herobrine wasn't skipping over her and the other zombies like he had with Marrow... whatever. You could ask for clarification after class.

Herobrine gradually moved through the class, working his way from the front of the room to the back. Since you sat in the back row, you were one of the last ones to be called, which gave you plenty of time to rehearse what you would say and also focus on what your classmates were telling you. You'd observed a lot of their diets just from sitting with them during lunch- Fade, for example, you already knew ate chorus fruits from the End dimension.