"Can these stairs fuck off! All these fancy gardens and decorations, yet there isn't a single elevator? Who the fuck designed this mess anyway!"

Finding the academy had been a simple task after asking for directions, but the location of room 313A was still a mystery. Cole had already skimmed through the first and second floors; unsurprisingly, without much luck. Next up was the third floor, but he wasn't too keen on climbing the stairs, especially when Rogg and Fellia could barely stand straight. Making sure they didn't get lost had been quite the hassle.

Not a single person could be seen roaming around the quiet hallways. One could assume the whole academy was empty if not for occasional muffled shouts from classrooms. Cole was free to whine like a child without bothering anyone, and that's exactly what he did. Although, to his credit, the stairs were actually rather lengthy due to the ridiculously tall ceiling.

"Finally! Room 313A! That only took seven years to find."

Not long after reaching the third floor, Cole finally found the correct room. The lesson was actually closer to ending than starting at this point, but better late than never, right?

The classroom door was intimidating, to say the least, but it was too late to go back now. Cole mentally prepared himself before barging in.

"Sorry, we're a bit late!"

Startled by the sudden entry, the whole class stared at Cole in awkward silence. It was unclear whether the teacher was surprised or annoyed as he silently glared at Cole and the two zombies behind him. After an uncomfortably lengthy inspection, he sighed disappointedly.

"Have a seat..."

Huh? Is he not going to ask why I'm late? Well, that makes things easier.

"Yes!"

Cole took a step forward without even having to spout an excuse. After a long journey, it was finally time to sit down and relax — though, getting to the seats without drawing more unnecessary attention proved to be quite the challenge. Mainly because of Rogg and Fellia, who had trouble walking the short distance.

"Guys, we're here! There's no way you're still this high... Oh, sorry!"

Delaying the class for longer still, Cole quickly apologized and strolled towards the three vacant seats on the front row. Luckily, they wouldn't have to sit beside strangers, as the seats were on the edge of the room, next to each other. Although, it's not like they would be completely isolated, and the front row definitely isn't Cole's favourite spot.

Could be worse, I guess...

Cole took the outermost seat of the three, as Rogg and Fellia were both way too baked for any socializing. Sitting next to him was a girl with stupidly long orange hair — reaching all the way to her thighs. She tried to hide her discomfort but was obviously displeased with her new companions. Though, Cole had no intention of talking to her anyway. Two friends and weed are more than enough to get by. The rest of his classmates could stay as strangers for all he cared. For now, he had a bigger issue facing him.

Damn, how did we smoke all 10 grams before even getting to class? Maybe there's some kief left in the bag...

Right after taking his seat, Cole checked the now empty bag of weed in hopes of scraping some kief for one last rip. To his surprise, there was enough of it for a half-decent hit. Now he just had to scrub all of it out and load the bong, but doing so was easier said than done.

Rogg immediately burst out laughing as he saw Cole bring up the sad-looking sack. It did look pretty funny, but Cole had no other choice. As they say, desperate times call for desperate measures.

"Haha, Rogg, shut the fuck up! We're in class!"

They had once again disrupted class, but to Cole's surprise, the teacher didn't seem too bothered despite getting interrupted for the third time already. He just patiently waited for Rogg to shut up and continued the lesson — all without saying a word. Cole's previous teachers would have surely had an aneurysm and spent the next two hours lecturing him about manners. Having a chill teacher for a change was a pleasant surprise.

The rest of the lesson continued normally, other than Rogg falling asleep a couple of times and Fellia once again begging for snacks. There was no other choice than to sacrifice the last piece of beef jerky for the greater good. And also, lunch break was just around the corner anyway. Hopefully, they would sell more snacks in the cafeteria.

Of course, Cole hadn't paid attention for a second, as he was too busy hand-scraping kief and thinking about lunch. He didn't even bother pretending to do something like he usually would. Maybe Abigor would pressure him if his grades were too low, but besides that, he couldn't care less.

At some point through the lesson, everyone started casting some blue energy balls. Weird, but more importantly, Cole finally succeeded in hitting the bong! Though, not without receiving odd looks from his classmates. The orange-haired woman next to Cole was especially annoyed. Maybe she had a sensitive nose for cannabis, or maybe she just couldn't stand Cole's attitude. Either way, it was her problem, not his.

In no time at all, the lesson ended, and it was time for lunch break. Cole stood up the second the clock hit 12 o'clock and headed straight towards the cafeteria. It would be foolish to waste the most important class of the day, after all.

Sanity barely intact, Curtis stomped his way straight towards the principal's office. The situation was critical — even worth sacrificing his lunch break for.

What the hell is wrong with those jackasses!? They barge in like they own the place, fall asleep, eat during the lesson, all without even paying attention! And what's up with that damn glass tube? AHH, this is driving me crazy!

Curtis' plan of ignoring the hooligans had backfired, as the three just kept messing around during the whole lesson. Two of them were basically asleep, while one kept playing with his glass toy. Never in his career had Curtis been this angry. Ignoring the stares from his colleagues, he barged into the principal's office without knocking.

"Hadeem!"

"Oh, Curtis! Perfect timing! I was just about to start looking for you!"

The academy's Principal, Hadeem, was as carefree as ever. The old man swayed on his chair in a good mood. Apparently, the mountain of paperwork stacked on his desk didn't bother him in the slightest. Curtis, however, wasn't as happy.

"Hadeem, what the hell were you thinking? Were you drunk when you assigned my students? This has to be the craziest bunch we've ever had!"

"Haha! I'm glad you like them! After seeing the Princess graduate with amazing results, I knew you'd be the only choice for those first years!"

Unsure whether he was being messed with, Curtis had a strong urge to punch Hadeem in the face. At this point, he couldn't figure out whether Hadeem was actually incapable of reading the mood or if he intentionally pushed work over to others. Even after three years of hard work, his devilish employer still wouldn't allow a break.

"No, I mean-"

"Oh, yeah! I had to tell you something. This semester, your class actually has four special students!"

"WHAT!?"

Curtis was about to lose his temper, only for his eyes to pop out as Hadeem casually dropped the bomb on him out of nowhere. Forget the delinquents; this matter is way more important.

"Four? Have you gone mad? Why would you invite so many special students? How is it possible that four qualified talents appear out of nowhere?"

Throughout all the years Curtis has worked as a professor, he had yet to teach a single special student. Even the Royal Princess was just a regular student under the academy's rules. Although, Curtis knew that was complete bullshit. What kind of regular student doesn't get expelled when they ruin half of the classes for everyone? Though, that just proves how unique actual special students are.

It's rare to have even one special student per year, as the bar is simply just too high. If one in ten thousand passes the entrance exam, then one in a million have even a chance of being considered special. Four in one year, though? Completely unheard of, if not borderline impossible.

"Well, the thing is... I only scouted one of them. The other three were invited by Abigor himself."

For once, Hadeem dropped his cheerful facade for a more serious look. He rarely does so, meaning this situation was serious.

"What? Abigor invited three people?"

Obviously, Curtis wasn't overly enthusiastic about the news, but he was too shocked to worry about that right now. Who the hell could be a special student in his mess of a class?

"Yes. He didn't tell me much about them, other than that they're first priority and should graduate with top scores."

And you decided to dump all of them on me... Thanks a lot.

Curtis' urge to punch Hadeem in the face grew stronger as his responsibilities kept getting bigger and bigger. Still, he was curious about who the four could be. Nobody really stood out as unique. Well, other than the three delinquents, of course. They were special, for sure — though, the different kind of special.

"If the twin princes are two of them, then who are the other two?"

"Uhh, who are you talking about?"

The Royal Princes were Curtis' first guesses, as he didn't recognize anyone else. Apparently, he was incorrect. Hadeem didn't even seem to remember the two disappointments.

"The Second and Third Prince? Are they not special students?"

"Ah, I forgot about those two... But no, they're just regular students. Even Howard Lennox grew tired of them and sent them here. You don't have to worry about them; they're not important at all, unlike the Princess. Hell, they barely even passed the entrance exam."

"First and second place, huh? What a joke."

Curtis mumbled under his breath upon remembering the prince's bold claims. At least, it'll be amusing to see how long their hopes last.

"Pardon me?"

"Oh, never mind. I was just talking to myself. Though, if those two aren't special students, then who is? I'm honestly out of guesses here."

"Well, the one I scouted is certainly an interesting fellow. He goes by the name 'Rupert', and he's a traveller. His combat skills are unprecedented among the first years — maybe even better than some graduates. Even I couldn't figure out his limits during our spar. Of course, I would have easily knocked him out if I was serious. About his goals... I'm not too sure. He was quite mysterious but accepted the invitation when I offered it. Nonetheless, he should become a powerful force for our country."

Rupert definitely wasn't someone who Curtis expected to be a special student — though that explains his earlier attitude. If he really was as skilled as Hadeem claims, then sitting in class is essentially pointless for now.

"About the other three... I honestly don't know much about them, other than that one of them is a red horn, and two are commoners. I doubt Abigor would have sent normal demons, though. Their names are Cole, Rogg, and Fellia."

Red horn... Two commoners...!

"Wait, surely you don't mean!"

Curtis' face turned ghastly pale as he put two and two together. He nearly collapsed from the shock — mind filled with disbelief, desperately trying to think around the truth. Maybe he just misunderstood, and Hadeem was talking about someone else. No, that can't be it; there's only one red horn in his class. And didn't the red horn call one of his slaves "Rogg"?

That jackass was personally invited by Abigor? How? Even his slaves are special students? No, this must be a joke. The nightmare would end any second now, and Curtis would wake up next to his loving wife.

"Hey! Are you okay?"

Nope, those hopes quickly died down as Curtis jumped back into reality — faced with Hadeem, who had a concerned look on his face. Apparently, Curtis had spaced out for a short while.

"Umm... Did something happen between those three? When I mentioned them, your face... well,-"

"Yes! Something did happen! Actually, how the hell were those guys let into the academy in the first place! They've all got not just a few serious screws loose up there!"

Hadeem's expression quickly relaxed as Curtis started ranting.

"Haha! Sounds interesting! As I thought, Abigor wouldn't just invite any ordinary foes! The most gifted are often the quirkiest, after all!"

"No, I'm serious! They..."

As Hadeem started laughing, Curtis cursed at the gods for this misfortune. Hadeem clearly wasn't listening anymore, nor was he planning to. If he had actually witnessed the jerks in action, there's no way he'd be laughing so nonchalantly right now. Maybe the principal is the one with loose screws instead.

Curtis' plan of expelling the three is now out of the question entirely. The only choice is to teach them, and on top of that, they have to graduate with top scores. Needless to say, Curtis wasn't very excited.

I should quit this job...