Following the route he had studied yesterday closely, Alex hurried towards the classroom. Finishing the rest of his cereal had taken longer than expected due to Cynthia's request to look after Ghel. Alex didn't mind the request. He was more than willing to look after the other first-year student. If anything, it gave him a reason to get close to Ghel and Hyntia. He could use some fellow first-years as friends. While he loved that he could call Henry, Aro and Cynthia his friends, they were third-years and would normally graduate the academy in two years.

  By the time he reached the top of the stairs leading to the floor his class was on, he was surprised to see a bunch of students waiting outside the classroom. He was already later than he had hoped and would have guessed the other students would have gone inside by now. He wondered if something was wrong. That thought disappeared when he noticed Hyntia excitedly waving towards him, beckoning him over to join her and Ghel in the line.

  "Took you long enough," Ghel sneered as he saw Alex approach.

  "Sorry, you know how Aro gets when he starts talking," Alex lied. It was a white lie, but he didn't want to just outright say that Cynthia had asked him to look after Ghel.

  "Don't worry about it," Hyntia waved the excuse away. "The professor asked us to wait outside, anyway."

  "Any idea why?"

  Hyntia shook her head. "No, but it seems the other professors are doing the same." She pointed to another group of students gathering outside a nearby classroom.

  From the looks of the other students, Alex gathered they must be other first-years waiting to start their first class. He wondered if the Pearls, Powers, and Privilege class followed a strict curriculum or if the professors were free to fill it in as they liked. It didn't really matter. If everything went right, he was only going to be having the class once.

  With the question of why they were waiting outside not likely to be answered, Alex's attention turned towards the professor themselves. "What did the professor look like?"

  Once again, Hyntia shook her head. "Sorry, we didn't actually see him. There were already a few students waiting outside the classroom by the time we got here ourselves. They told us the professor had told them to wait outside."

  As if the professor didn't want to keep the mystery around him growing, he exited the classroom and addressed the group of students waiting in front of the classroom. "Good morning, students. My name is Professor Timothy Elderwind, and you will address me as Professor Elderwind."

  The man looked like the stereotypical stuck-up professor Alex remembered from media back on Earth. While the man was elder, what remained of his hair was clearly turning grey. On his long, pointy nose rested a pair of small, round glasses, barely big enough for his eyes to see through. The man wore a long green robe with the academy's emblem embroidered on the left side of his chest.

  "Now, before I let you all inside, we have to go over the first rule of this class. As you'll soon see, a Pearl has been placed on your desks," the professor seemed to start his class outside the classroom. The mention of a Pearl started excited whispering among the students.

  "Quiet!" Professor Elderwind raised his voice, grabbing the attention of the students again. "Since you can't wait, I guess I will have to start with rule number two of this class. I will, under no circumstances, be interrupted while I am teaching. Understood?" He raised both eyebrows to make his point clear.

  All students waiting in line nodded. He kept quiet for a moment before speaking up again. "Good, now back to rule number one. As I said, you will all find a Pearl sitting on your desk when you enter the classroom. You will not touch this Pearl unless I specifically tell you to."

  His general speech over, the professor turned his attention to the first student in line. Since Alex was pretty close to the front, he could overhear the question being asked.

  "Do you understand rule number one?"

  The student nodded, and Professor Elderwind let them enter the classroom, telling them to pick any free desk. He repeated this question for every student in line, all of them nodding and being let inside the classroom. Soon it was Alex's turn for the question.

  "Do you understand rule number one?" The professor repeated the same question he had asked every student so far.

  "I do, Professor."

  "Good, find an empty seat." The older man held out his arm, guiding Alex inside the classroom before turning his attention to the student behind Alex.

  As Alex entered the room, he could see the professor wasn't lying. On every desk stood a large metal holder cradling a round object covered by a piece of fabric. He wondered why the fabric was there and covering the Pearl. Both Ghel and Hyntia were already sitting down, and the young Fairy waved him over to come sit next to them. Since they were sitting close to the front of the class, he decided to do so.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  From the moment Alex had received his schedule, he had made himself the promise of, if possible, always sitting in the front row and paying attention, at least during those first two weeks. Given he had barely any knowledge of this world, he would need to pay as much attention to class as he could and try to learn as much as he could.

  "This is so exciting," Hyntia said as Alex sat down behind his desk.

  "You're vibrating again," Ghel muttered.

  "I am, and so should you, Ghel. We're getting Pearls," the green-haired Fairy was practically bouncing in her chair.

  Ninety-nine percent, those words echoed in Alex's mind as he stared at the Pearl in front of him. He wanted to touch it. Be rid of that damn voice inside his head. But he could wait a bit longer. The professor had made it clear they were not to touch the Pearl unless he told them to. Those few extra minutes couldn't hurt. The voice hadn't spoken up again ever since reaching that number, after all.

  Alex's fingers hovered over the fabric that covered the Pearl. It was so close. Maybe just a quick touch would be enough to get the voice to finish its initialization. He shook his head. From what he had heard about Professor Elderwind from Aro, Cynthia and Henry, disobeying him was not a good idea.

  He looked around the room, seeing how the other students were reacting to the Pearls in front of them. They all looked intrigued by them, but like Alex, were following the professor's instructions of not touching them. The room itself wasn't remarkable. It looked like a classic classroom with a massive blackboard at the front, which the professor could use for their lectures. Aside from the Pearls waiting on top of them, the desks weren't anything special either. Neat rows of five spread twenty wooden desks throughout the classroom.

  A massive student entering the classroom grabbed Alex's attention. He was a Kahrn like Aro, or at least Alex thought he was. Unlike Aro's lion-like visage, this new student looked more like a black jaguar. His muscular body was covered with dark fur, and his golden eyes stood out against it. From the moment the student entered the room, Alex could tell they were just as cocky as Aro was, if not even more so.

  With a determined gait, the Kahrn walked over to an empty desk in the last row. Before he even sat down, he lifted the piece of fabric covering the Pearl sitting on the desk. As soon as he did, Alex felt a wave of air move through the classroom. Still from outside the classroom, the professor's voice spoke up.

  "Really, Ren of the Riverpride? Class hasn't even properly started and you already break rule number one?" There was clear disappointment in the professor's voice.

  "Hmph, I do whatever I want," a deep voice came out of the Kahrn student as he grabbed the Pearl from the metal holder. Alex could see a faint bronze light coming from the Pearl as Ren cradled it in his large hands.

  "You do not, now put the Pearl back down and go stand by the blackboard while I let the other students in."

  "Fine, a bronze Pearl isn't good enough for me anyway," Ren scoffed as he carelessly dropped the Pearl back into the holder and made his way to the blackboard.

  The next student entering the classroom was another black-furred Kahrn. She was visibly shaking her head as she walked past her male counterpart. In contrast with Ren's muscular build, she was more slender and lean. Though Alex didn't doubt there would still be massive power behind those muscles. He had expected her to sit next to the spot Ren had chosen, but instead she sat down next to him.

  "Rin of the Riverpride," the female Kahrn introduced herself as she extended an arm towards Alex.

  "Alex, Alex Vansteen," he introduced himself to her as he shook her hand. His gaze noticeably flicked between her and the other Kahrn waiting by the blackboard.

  "Oh, my older brother, though only by a year. Parents didn't want to send just one kid, so he had to wait a year. And yes, he's always been so arrogant," she laughed. "You get used to it."

  Before anything else could be said, Professor Elderwind followed the last student inside the classroom. The older man walked straight to the blackboard, ignoring the Kahrn waiting beside it. The chalk squeaked sharply as he wrote something on the board in large, deliberate letters.

  Pearls, Powers, and Privilege

  His green robe swayed as he turned back to the students. "Welcome to the academy and your first class. You have all been given the privilege of attending this academy, but that privilege comes with rules. And breaking those rules comes with consequences," he turned towards the Kahrn still standing beside the board. "As so graciously demonstrated by your classmate, Ren of the Riverpride. Could you remind me, Ren, what was the first rule I gave?"

  "Don't touch the Pearl?" The large Kahrn answered, one eyebrow raised.

  "So you do know? Then why did you break it?"

  "Cause I'm the first son of Lin of the Riverpride, leader of the Kahrn of Pythia, and I can do whatever I want." The way the Kahrn said that reminded Alex of the title Cynthia had mockingly used to call Aro this morning. Did the Kahrn really take that much pride in their titles?

  "Ah, you see, that is where you are wrong." The Professor turned his attention back to the rest of the students. "At this academy, your titles mean nothing. Nobody has any inherent privileges here. You can take pride in it, but your heritage does not matter. Everyone is equal and must follow the same rules." He turned back towards Ren. "So, Ren of the Riverpride, first son of Lin of the Riverpride, leader of the Kahrn of Pythia, you will now go to Headmaster Whylk's office and face your consequences for breaking the rules."

  "But...," the massive Kahrn protested.

  "Out!" The professor made sure to exaggerate his articulation of the word as he pointed towards the door.

  Ren was about to protest again, but the professor just repeated his gesture towards the door. With his head downwards, the Kahrn exited the classroom. Alex could hear Ren's sister next to him holding back a sniffle. She swallowed hard, as if she had seen this exact scene happen a million times before. Once Ren was out the door, Professor Elderwind turned his attention back to the rest of his student body.

  "Now then, let us begin our lecture. While I'm sure you would all like to take hold of the Pearl in front of you, it will have to wait just a bit longer. We can't have you take the power without first understanding the privilege and responsibility that come with it." The professor turned sideways and produced a long cane from under his robe. He pointed the end of the cane at the words he had written on the blackboard. "That is why every first-year has Pearls, Powers, and Privilege as their first class." He hit every word on the board as he said it.

  Placing the cane back down on the ground with a loud thud, he turned back to the students. "We will start our class with the basics of Pearls."