Chapter 35: The D-Day
The day of the inter-house sports came and all the students were gathered in their respective wears that differentiated the years.
Dressed in yellow and black sportswear were the first-year students as they marched towards a grassy plain. They were followed by the second-year students who were dressed in purple and black, and then the third-year students who were dressed in red and black sportswear. When they arrived, the three groups stood apart from each other as they waited for further announcements.
"Good morning, students!" The Dean's voice boomed throughout the whole place. The students looked around to see where his voice was coming from but they didn't see anything except for the threes and the birds flying in the air. "Today is our inter-house sport as it has earlier been announced on several occasions and I want to believe that everyone is ready for it. Well, without talking too much, let's go down to the business of the day. We are not going to be doing much today but I want nothing but the best out of every one of you, and the only thing you would be doing in this event is catching monsters."
"Catching monsters?" A student asked. He was putting on red and black sportswear.
"Yes, catching monsters!" Dean replied. "The first, second, and third-year students will all partake in this exercise and the winner will be given a reward."
"Dean, how many monsters do we need to catch?" Another student on purple and black asked.
"You can catch as many as you want. The group with the highest number of catches will automatically become the winner," the Dean replied.
"This sure sounds interesting."
"Yes and also easy."
"I can't wait to start. We'll definitely win the second and third years this time around!"
Listening to what the first-year students were saying, the second and third-year students scoffed at them and looked away.
"I assume you all think it's easy, right?" Dean asked them with a light sigh. "I hate to tell you this but I have to tell you that not every simple thing comes easy — some simple things are quite hard to get, so stop assuming wrongly or be ready to fail. Uhm, that's enough of my rants, let us begin already." After the Dean finished speaking, silence followed soon and after the brief silence, Derek's voice was heard.
"Now listen, when you hear the sound of the whistle, you all are meant to begin!" He announced. "Adding to that the Dean has said, failure and death await those of you who think too lightly of today's event."
"Derek, isn't that a bit too harsh on the students?" Dean asked Derek. "Look at their faces, they are no longer happy."
"What are they? Kids or what that I should worry about them?" Derek asked the Dean. "Their lives and success are more important than any other thing," he added.
"Hmm, you are right but at least, we should wish them luck," Dean said and cleared his throat. "Students, I wish every one of you good luck," he said to the students.
"What does teacher Derek mean?" A student who seemed upset asked.
"I hate to sound rude but he's always arrogant and thinks too highly of himself," another angry student replied.
"Well, what do you expect from the Dean's right-hand man? The Dean allows him to do whatever pleases him so yeah, he got to be proud," another one replied as well. These students were all from the third year. They clearly displayed their dislike towards Derek with no fear or remorse for their actions.
Alex and Raphael who were standing not far away from them glanced at each other and shook their heads. Unknown to the others, Derek, Kelvin, the Dean, and other teachers were watching them and listening to their conversations. Not that they were watching them but rather, they were actually standing close to them.
Earlier before they assembled, Derek had explained to them and told them every one of their plans. Among all the students, it was only the three of them who knew the teachers were following and watching them closely. This was because the teachers knew very well that the enemy was watching them and would eventually strike when the game began. To avoid losing any of their students like before, they decided to stay close and keep an eye on everyone under the spell of invisibility cast upon them by the Dean.
"The students don't like you one bit," Colt who was among them said to Derek.
"I don't expect anyone to like me," Derek replied.
"It is too easy for you to say but inwardly, it hurts you, tsk!" Colt said and clicked his tongue.
"What is there to feel sad about?" Derek asked him and moved a bit closer to him. "I simply don't care about petty things as much as you do, I focus my energy on getting strong unlike you who show no progress other than your improved beauty and getting fake likes from everyone around you. If I were you, I'd rather improve my strength and stop wasting time on things that add no meaning to my life," He whispered to him and then smirked while looking away.
At his words, Colt began to boil but he knew very well that this wasn't the time to act rashly. As such, he tried to calm down and also looked away.
The Dean glanced at them and then shook his head before signaling to one of the teachers to blow the whistle.
As soon as the whistle was blown, the students turned and took one direction. The first-year students headed west, the second-years headed north and then the third-years took south. The teachers divided themselves and each group followed a particular group of students. Derek, Colt, Kelvin, and a female teacher followed the first-year students while the others followed the rest of the other students.
While Alex and Raphael were walking alongside their classmates, one of them walked up to them and joined them.
"Hey, my name is Finn. What is yours?" The boy asked them.
Before the two boys replied to him, they glanced at each other first. "This is Raphael and I am Alex," Alex replied.
"Nice to meet the both of you. May we walk together?" The boy said and asked them again.
"The choice is yours," Alex replied.
Taking the reply as yes, the boy happily joined them and began to walk together with them and while they were walking, he could not help but raise the same topic again.
"Hey, what do you say about those third-year students, I'm talking about their thoughts concerning teacher Derek's attitude towards everyone?" He asked them
"What is there to talk about?" Alex asked him, trying to avoid the topic because the teachers were following them.
"Well, I just want to hear what you have to say about it," Finn replied. "It doesn't hurt saying the truth, you know," he added with a shrug.
Alex gazed at the short boy with black hair and blue eyes and sighed inwardly before replying to him. "I have no reason to hate the teacher, he's just trying to protect his students, that's all."
"But his attitude is bad," Finn stated.
"No one is perfect, everyone's got their bad sides," Alex corrected him.
"You seem to like him," Finn said and glanced at Alex from the corner of his eyes.
Alex was aware that the boy was looking at him, as such, he kept a straight face while replying to him. "I don't like anyone, I'm only saying the truth."
"Hmm—" Finn was about to continue but Alex suddenly moved from his spot and before he could turn his head, he was nowhere to be seen.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone