Zack stood alone and to the side as he watched the new students trickle into the auditorium for the commencement ceremony. He had been one of the first ones inside that morning, specifically for this reason. He wanted the freedom to choose the spot he was going to sit in, preferably one that allowed him to watch as everyone entered.

The first few to enter after him had stared at where he was sitting and then proceeded to sit closer to the front. Gradually, the rest of the new student body trickled in. He would recognize a person occasionally from among, someone he had seen while eating, or when he was out running.

The one who drew his eye the most was the girl he had met coming out of the headmaster’s office. She was surrounded by a swarm of people trying to get close to her, while also keeping others from approaching.

Finally, the teachers and rest of the staff filed onto the raised platform at the front of the crowd. Everyone immediately grew quiet and sat up straight as the ceremony was about to begin.

The headmaster approached the podium and began to speak. “I would like to welcome everyone to the academy as we begin a new semester with a fresh class. I would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that even though this academy is a training ground for Travelers, that is not all we do here. The other classes you will be taking are to prepare you for life once you have graduated, regardless of your status."

“What that means to you is that if you don’t keep your grades up in all your classes, you may become ineligible to go through the portal for further training. I will leave it up to your teachers to relay the more salient details, however.” He looked out across the gathered students, his eyes pausing on Zack before he continued speaking. “Now, without further ado or interruptions, please welcome a special guest who has prepared a special message for you all. I present to you George Trask, the current CEO and lead designer at the prestigious Albion mana tech research firm!”

From the side of the platform, a man barely taller than the headmaster climbed the short set of stairs and stopped in front of the podium. He was dressed in a sharp suit, with glasses thicker than they should have been perched on the bridge of his nose. From his position off to the side, Zack could see the soft glow of a mana crystal plugged into the tip of the temple shafts behind his ear.

A cultured voice, filled with a passion for the chosen subject, filled the audience with that same fervor and hope.

***

Zack once more sat at the back as the rest of the class followed him in. They had come directly to the room after the ceremony and the names for each class had been called out. The teacher was the last one in and made sure the door was closed before walking to the front.

“My name is Rose Carter, and I will be the one in charge of your training and portal-based activities.” Her voice was rough, and there was a light scar that extended from the bottom of her chin to her throat. “As you can see, I do not enjoy talking for long periods of time, so do not make me repeat myself ever! Your homeroom teacher will be in a moment, be respectful to him."

“He is my husband, and he enjoys telling me all about the problem students that need extra exercise.” She coughed and rubbed a hand across her throat. “I used to be a Traveler for many years. That is how I got this lovely decoration. I will train you to the best of my abilities, regardless of what some may wish.” Her eyes lingered on Zack as she announced that. “It will be up to you all to make the best use of what you are taught from there.” Her voice had grown noticeably rougher during the short time she had been speaking.

There was a soft knock on the closed door just then, which she accepted with a relieved grin.

A man with his head shaved on the sides and the dark hair on top shaved short stepped into the room. It was apparent from the first glance that he was someone who could handle a class of rowdy, self-obsessed teens. His arms were thick with muscle and aged scars. There was the slightest hint of a limp affecting his walk that showed through as he hurried up to the front of the room.

“Sorry I’m late, it took me longer to get this than I thought it would,” He spoke in a rich but soft voice as he handed a mint-leaf wrapped lozenge to his wife.

He turned to face the class, his eyes growing cloudy and his voice deepening. “I am Quinn Carter, and this is my wife, as I’m sure she already told you. If any of you give her any problems during your training periods, then I will make sure you fail every single class I possibly can! Nod if you understand!”

The class swallowed in unison and nodded their heads in understanding.

Rose rolled her eyes and smiled as she sucked on the medicine for her throat. “I’ll see you all tomorrow for our first training session. Make sure you all are ready to impress me. Our first portal dive will happen next week, and only those who impress me will be going.” She patted her husband on his arm and quickly left the classroom.

Quinn glared at them for a moment longer before relaxing against the edge of his desk in the corner. “Today is a short day, meant for each of you to get acquainted with your homeroom teacher. That would be me, your classmates, classes, and the facilities. Tomorrow is when your lessons will begin for real, so as my wife said, be ready. Now, before we get into everything, do any of you have any pertinent questions?”

A snooty-looking brat with slicked-back hair and a smarmy smile raised his hand at the front of the class. “I have one. My father told me that the academy accepted an orphan charity case this year. Is that true?”

“What, not even one of the better off commoners, but an actual orphan?” Whispers erupted as another student exclaimed in shock.

A thick, meaty hand swung down and slapped the top of his desk as Quinn stood. “I asked for pertinent questions. Not something related to the petty squabbles of the weak-willed nobles you were apparently raised by. I will say this here and now. I have little love for most of the nobles. During the course of my previous career, I worked with many of your parents or other family members at some point. There were only a few I considered worth working with a second time.”

A student stood abruptly, his chair clattering as it fell over. “Just wait until-“

“SIT DOWN!” Quinn thundered. “Your parents have little power while you are inside the walls of this academy. If you want to continue playing your little games, that is fine, but do not bring them inside my classroom.”

The student picked up his chair and meekly sat down on trembling legs.

“I do not care if you like me, but you will respect my rules while in this room. You will no doubt quickly learn that my wife and I are a small subset of teachers that weren’t originally nobles. Our views were shaped by our past experiences. If you don’t want to be despised by those, you will be working with inside the portals in the future, then be better than your forefathers. Be the respectable nobles that you were supposedly raised to be.”

A female sitting in front of Zack timidly raised her hand, only speaking when the teacher nodded at her. “What are the classes that you keep mentioning? I’ve heard that they change from year to year.”

Quinn nodded and stood, walking over to the large whiteboard on the wall. He picked up a marker and twisted the top to select the desired color. “You are right, the classes do change from year to year, but I think you might have heard incorrectly. It would be more appropriate to say the classes are only different between years.”

He began to write on the board in a bright red, easy-to-read color. “First years always have the same classes. Ones that will give them a good foundation for hunting inside the portals. Second years are allowed to choose some of their own classes based on individual interests, but again they also have certain classes that are always the same and build on what was taught the previous year. The same goes for the rest of the years.”

He gave them a moment to read what he had written. “Does that make sense?”

The girl nodded and then shook her head. “Yes, and no. Your explanation makes sense, and I can see why I might have heard it wrong. But what is the actual difference between the classes ‘Portal Hunting 1’ and ‘Portal Hunting 2’?”

The teacher put the cap back on the marker before answering. “As a loose example, you can think of it this way. This year we will be going through all the different beasts and monsters that have been discovered inside the portals. Part of that will be how to effectively hunt them, so your miners are never in danger. Next year, you would be introduced to their specific weak points, shortcuts, if any to finding, trapping, and then killing them, as well as spending time training with mock-ups on the training fields. As I said, they build off each other and progress.”

“Thank you,” She said politely, ducking down into her seat. Her ears were burning red as she avoided the gazes of the class.

Zack had a feeling she came from one of those better-off commoner families that had been mentioned, or possibly a lower noble family.