“Now then,” Delph said, cracking his neck. “This meeting was only meant as an introduction. I’m supposed to give you all two days to explore the campus before we start our training. Frankly, I think we can squeeze a little early training in, but it’s not mandatory. If you’re not interested, you may leave.”

Damien didn’t move. Nolan and Reena exchanged a glance. In the end, the entire group that had rode in the wagon with Damien remained on the field. Of the other students, the chubby boy and a girl bid the professor goodbye and headed for the exit at the far end of the arena.

Delph waited until they were gone before he started speaking again.

“Good. For those of you that chose to remain – congratulations. You can stay in my class. The two who just left are no longer part of our group.”

Damien’s eyes widened as Henry burst into laughter within his head.

“What a hardass,” Henry said mirthfully. “He’s on a power trip.”

Have I mentioned how incredibly strange it is that you speak like a teenager? I think I have.

“Your fault, not mine,” Henry replied, giving the mental equivalent of a shrug. “Trust me, you’ll prefer me over the true It Who Heralds the End of all Light. Now, stop talking to yourself and listen to your insane teacher.”

Delph remained silent, allowing the shocked muttering to fade away under his withering glare.

“Does anyone have a problem with that?” He asked, practically daring someone to speak up.

There was a long silence. Delph nodded and started opening his mouth to say something else. Then a short girl with long black hair in the other group of students stepped forward. Her skin was tan but her face had turned pale from fear. She wrung her hands together as the professor pierced her with a glare.

“Do you have something to say?” Delph asked.

“Yes, professor,” she said meekly. “I don’t think it’s fair to remove them just for not doing an optional training with you. We all just got to the school and everyone is excited to explore the campus. You gave no reason to believe that this training session would be that important.”

“I see,” Delph said, his words icy. He slowly turned, looking every single student in the eye. “Does anyone else share your opinion?”

There was an uncomfortable silence. The girl sent a pleading look towards her group. They shifted from foot to foot, avoiding her gaze.

“Don’t even think about it,” Henry said. “We need to be on his good side, and that means being a good little sheep. Don’t you move one step forw–

Damien stepped forward. Delph’s gaze snapped to him. Damien’s heart skipped a terrified beat as his breath caught in his chest. He dimly heard Reena and Nolan snicker off to his side.

“You agree with your classmate?” Delph asked. “Or did you happen to need to use the bathroom at an inopportune time?”

“I agree with her,” Damien said. There were always other professors, and he didn’t particularly care who taught him. Magic was magic, and the library would have most of what he needed.

“You idiot,” Henry said.

Then, to Damien’s surprise, Sylph stepped forward to stand beside him. Delph raised an eyebrow.

“Bold. Anyone else?”

Nobody else stepped forward.

“Very good,” Delph said, breaking into a predatory smile. “That’s more than I expected. You three – what are your names?”

“Damien Vale.”

“Sylph. No last name.”

“Loretta Herder.”

“Damien, Sylph, and Loretta,” Delph said, rolling their names over his tongue. “Very well. Your request is granted. Your classmates will not be removed on this day.”

Damien’s mouth dropped open. Judging by the expressions of the other students, they were just as shocked as he was.

“W-what?” Loretta asked, her eyes wide.

“Your friends will remain under my tutelage – for now. Before I explain my reasoning, I would like to know the honest reason why you all stepped forward.”

“Uh… it wasn’t fair to remove them like that. If it happened to them, it could happen to me,” Loretta said, frowning.

Delph turned to Damien.

“I just didn’t like the idea of removing people like that. If you didn’t give us any rules to play by, you can’t blame us for not following them,” Damien said.

"I stepped forward because you were testing us,” Sylph said flatly. “I don’t have any particular care for if they had remained in the class or not.”

Delph just nodded.

“Honesty is good. I appreciate honesty. All three of you were correct. This was a test, although your friends weren’t in on it by any means. It would not have been fair to remove people on a whim. However, I can tell you this. If you fail to attend my training, you will not be prepared to pass my tests. So, while your friends will be allowed to attend class, be aware that skipping any of my extra sessions will almost certainly result in your eventual removal from my tutelage.”

There was a long silence after that. Loretta licked her lips and swallowed to wet her drying throat.

“Professor, what were you testing us over?”

“Good question. I was interested to see which of you would be stupid enough to put your neck on the line for no reason. It had no purpose other than to satisfy my curiosity. Although, I’m not sure if it was entirely successful, given that one student knew it was a test before I started it,” Delph said, turning his cold gaze on Sylph.

The girl didn’t flinch. She kept eye contact with him, not moving an inch.

“We’ll have an interesting year, I think,” Delph said. “Now, some of you may be unsurprised to hear that this was not the first test I did today.”

The students exchanged uncertain glances again. Everyone remained silent until Delph spoke up again.

“Before I arrived in the arena, I waited in the stands for approximately five minutes. There were four students who spotted me. I would like to continue to speak with those four. As for everyone else – you are dismissed. Do not worry. This is not a test. I will be in contact. Enjoy the next two days.”

“Hah!” Henry crowed. “And that’s why we listen to me.”

You just told me not to step forward.

Henry didn’t respond to that.