Slayer Academy (Book 1)

Chapter 3: Honors Class

Thoughts of confusion were racing through Kiro's head as he walked down the academy halls. Why is an idiot like me in the Honors class? Who the hell decided to put me in that class in the first place? What time does lunch start? All of this confused Kiro. Yes, even that bit about lunch. He couldn't understand just why he was put in the Honors class. He hadn't done anything particularly noteworthy outside of school, and he certainly wasn't any kind of genius. He sighed and kept exploring the school. The interior of the academy was also very similar to that of a cathedral, except that there were multiple floors, rooms, and lockers, and there wasn't anyone praying (though the academy did have a church for devout religious followers). He glanced at a nearby clock on the wall. The time was 9:40. He looks back at the schedule Arch-Mage Maylin had given him. "Slayer History, huh. So they DO teach history here." Kiro continued to look for the classroom he was meant to be in, remembering what the Arch-Mage had told him before he left.

Oh, and one last thing Kiro, she had said. Please get along with your classmates. He frowned at the thought. He didn't think he'd have any problems with his peers. It was the people who had a problem with him. More specifically, Ren. That guy was a handful. Who starts a fight just because someone bumped into him? Kiro wondered what would happen if he did something a bit more than just bump into Ren. Maybe push him into a volcano or something. He smiled and mumbled, "Well at least on the bright side, I could make a bunch of fire jokes about him." He laughed quietly and kept walking around.

After a few minutes of walking around aimlessly, he finally arrived at his destination, classroom B-15. He reaches for the door handle, then stops himself. He took a deep breath and said, "You got this Kiro. It's just school." He grasped the door handle and turns it, then opens the door and walks inside. The classroom was set up like any other class. A whiteboard and the teacher's desk at the front of the room, bookshelves lined against the walls, and a few inspirational cat posters stapled to the walls. The desks were arranged into groups of four and spread throughout the room. Kiro counted at least 20 desks in total, all the seats filled except for one. The students inside all turned their attention to him. From the back of the class, Ren rolled his eyes and looked away.

The teacher was standing at the front of the class when Kiro walked in, then turned to him and smiled. "Well hello there sir. You must be the new student. I was wondering when you were going to show up." Kiro looked at the teacher for a moment, then gasped when he saw who he was. Grey suit, short brown hair, and thick framed glasses. The teacher was none other than the man at the top of Kiro's "Don't Fuck With Them" list--Mr. Silus.

"Holy crap!" Kiro exclaimed as he mentally and physically prepared himself for a beatdown. Mr. Silus just laughed and said, "Oh calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. How are you feeling?"

Kiro rubbed his head. "Like a first-time drinker on a Saturday morning."

"I'll assume that means you're feeling terrible." Mr. Silus turns to the class, holding his hands out to the left towards Kiro. "Class, meet your new classmate. He'll be staying with us for the rest of the year. Why don't you go and introduce yourself real quick, yeah?"

Kiro's eyes widened slightly. He didn't expect to be put on the spot like that. "Introduce myself? Uh, alright. Ahem." He claps his hands together and smiles, then turns to face the class. "Well uh, hi! My name is Kiro. Kiro Mystwalker. Though my friends call me Kiro." He laughed at his joke and looked to see the class's reaction. Everyone just gave him a blank stare. "Ah, alright. Tough crowd. Kiro party of one? That's cool . . ."

Just then, a girl at one of the front table groups stood up. She was just about the brightest girl Kiro had ever seen. Literally. Her hair was long and was an assortment of bright neon colors, mainly blue, purple, and magenta. Her pupils were a mix of neon green and blue, like they couldn't decide which color they wanted to be. She wore a bright yellow t-shirt and a red knee-length skirt. Her shoes were white sneakers that had red, orange, and purple marker scribbles all over it. But what stood out he most about this girl was what was on her head: fox ears the same color as her hair. There were also the seven long fox tails swayed from behind her, every tail the same glistening color as her ears and hair.

The girl smiled brightly and raised her hand." Ooo oo oo!" She said excitedly as she hopped up and down.

"Yes, Katsumi?" Mr. Silus asked.

The fox-girl pranced over to Kiro and stopped right in front of him, her tails swaying around quickly."Hey-a!" She said excitedly. "I'm . . . uh . . . "

"Katsumi," the class says in unison.

"Oh yeah yeah, right! I'm Katsumi!" She smiled cheerfully.

Kiro laughs slightly and says, "Well it's nice to meet you Katsumi. So uh . . ." He motioned to her tails. "What's with the tails?"

"Oh yeah that! I'm a Kitsune Slayer!. . . and stuffs." She giggled and fidgeted. "I'm going back to my desk kay bye." She skipped back to her desk and sat down. Kiro stared at her for a moment before shaking his head. "So I'm gonna guess that I sit there?" He points to the empty desk he had seen when he walked in. "Yep," Mr. Silus answered. "You'll have time to socialize with your tablemates later." Kiro nodded and went to the vacant desk, then sat down and took his backpack off. He quickly looked at the three others around him. They all looked to be around the same age as him. In the seat next to him was a girl with jet black hair which was tied into a high-set ponytail at the back of her head. She wore a simple white dress shirt, black skirt and leggings, and black boots. She glanced at Kiro and glared before looking back at the teacher. The person across from him was a boy with dark brown hair which had purple highlights. He wore a mask over his mouth, which Kiro thought was odd. He also wore a black hoodie and navy blue jeans. The masked boy didn't even look at Kiro. The last person, who was diagonal from where Kiro sat, was a girl with long brown hair, purple pupils, and red glasses. She had on a baggy grey sweater and blue jeans. She was nose-deep in a book and probably didn't even know Kiro was there.

Well I sure have lively classmates, Kiro thought to himself. He sighed softly and looked up at Mr. Silus who was just beginning his lecture. "Well since we have a new student," he went on. "Why don't we review what we've learned so far. Can anyone tell me what exactly a Slayer is?" He gauged the classroom, looking for anyone with an answer. A girl sitting in the front raised her hand. She had blonde hair and icy-blue eyes, and was probably a year or two younger than Kiro. "Well a Slayer," she explained. "is a person who was taught powerful magic that could slay all those monsters in the world. Like a Werewolf Slayer, for example." Mr. Silus nodded and wrote that down on the whiteboard. "Very good Sarah. Next question. How does a person go about learning Slayer magic?" Another person raised his hand, this time the person being a boy with spiky black hair and two red highlights in it. "Uh, from another Slayer? Or from the corresponding animal? Like, if you wanted to learn, uh, Golem Slaying magic or something, you'd have to learn it from a Golem Slayer or an actual Golem. Right?" Mr. Silus grinned and wrote that down. "Right on the money Leron. But can someone tell me why we humans were given Slayer magic?" For a few moments, no one raised their hands. But then the girl seated next to Kiro groaned and reluctantly raised her hand.

"Ah yes. Kukiko. Care to share an answer?" The teacher smiled warmly. Kukiko just scoffed and answered, "It's because the gods or whatever thought that we humans needed a way to defend ourselves." She crossed her arms and eased back into her chair. Mr. Silus nodded and wrote that down. "That is correct. Though it wasn't just the gods that decided that. It was The Three Equalizers; the dragons of Earthrealm, the gods of Overrealm, and the demons of Underrealm. They came together and held what's known as the Equalizing Conference. It was there that they decided that Slayer magic should be taught to us. Then the dragons spread the message and boom. Here we are 800 years later. Of course, while most species gladly followed these rules, there were some that refused to share their knowledge, which even led to a few wars. But yes. Slayer magic is a means of self defense."

Kiro sighed and slumped his head down on the desk. Thanks to a few of Greyner's lessons, he already knew most of this. If he had known beforehand that he'd be going through the same lessons, he never would have come to the school. No turning back now, he thought to himself. He looked back up and endured another hour of boring lessons until the bell rang. As the students began to pack up and get ready for their short break, Mr. Silus called for their attention. "Hold up everyone! I've got a surprise for you. You guys have been doing really well with classwork lately. And since we've got a new student who needs to learn the ropes, we'll be skipping break and heading right into Simulation." The entire class cheered and high-fived each other. They all looked at Kiro and grinned. He smiled back and said, "I'll be waitin' for those thank you cards." Alright, he thought. Finally we get to the fun part.