Today I was learning a secret. No, I was learning the secret. That's not me being dramatic, that's in Mr. Quall's own words. Mr. Quall may be a pain in my ass, but he was still my favorite teacher. Any teacher who cares for you is a teacher worth your attention and respect. And Mr. Quall is the only teacher qualified enough that even though he's a pain in the ass, he's more respectable than anyone I've ever known.

I didn't know what THE secret was, but if everything else we've learned didn't garner that title, I didn't know what did. We've learned history that is so insane that there had to be a cover-up. We've learned how to get any layer zero skill we want. How the system gives skills and their requirements. We've even learned that kings and queens are just fakes. Well, that wasn't the full story or the entire truth.

While sitting in my desk and awaiting for Mr. Quall to enter class, I started to think about my last class.

"Why are Kings and Queens so powerful?" He stared at the class. It was one of his rhetorical questions that he expected us to answer, but at the same time expected us to be wrong. So, instead of feeding his demonic fetish for making people run, we sat back and waited for the answer.

He seemed angry at us for not answering, but I really knew it was because he couldn't make anyone run. Of course, we all knew he could make us run without cause or reason, but he never broke his own rules.

"Ok, it seems I must make you all answer my questions since you think not answering is ok. New rule: Every student must answer at least once a week. If a student answers correctly, you get negative fifty laps, if you are wrong the usual three laps get quintupled to fifteen. BUT, if you are right, you must answer three more times that week. Since this rule was put in place after this question, it will not count."

I had nervous sweat all along my back and neck. I didn't know the answer to that question and he was looking at me with an evil grin.

"Saying that, you get fifteen laps if you do not answer when called upon."

My life flashed before my eyes.

Xan. Books. And... nothing else.

'Really, my life is only one friend and a few books?'

Maybe my life wasn't something to boast about, but it was still my life.

'I will answer correctly!'

"So I ask again, why are Kings and Queens so powerful? Mr. Klive"

My mind started up. I had to remember every word I've ever read. Every conversation I've ever heard. Think!

'So I heard the king's daughter won her balle-'

No, that's not helpful!

'Did the Queen give birth to another girl?'

That isn't either!

'Psss! Dylan, I heard the second prince wanted to marry, the newborn wolf princess. isn't that, like, super weird and gross?'

That isn't- wait! Why would two royals marry each other? They have no ties to each other. Humans don't need to risk breaking ties with other clans by showing favor to wolves.

So it isn't political. It isn't romantic. I see two other possibilities. One, the prince is a pervert who likes animals and babies. Or, it has something to do with her being a royal and another race. Wait! Another race? Why not marry between the human royals-

My train of thought was broken when Mr. Quall spoke.

"Klive, are you going to answer anytime soon?"

It was now or never! I had to answer with what I have.

"It is because... their race!"

Mr. Quall looked like he was going to say no, but he paused and looked to be thinking.

"You... aren't wrong." I was dancing on the inside now. I was right! "BUT you aren't right."

'Wah?'

"It is related to race, but not solely dependent on it. Zero laps for partial credit. For extra credit, does anyone know the exact answer?" He looked around the class, but soon his face donned a disappointed yet 'as expected' look.

"It actually isn't that difficult. When the Queen or King is born, their title is too powerful for their infant body to handle. So the system designated the races to have false Kings and Queens; the royals. These royals are given power by the system, but not to the point where they can't handle it as infants," He spoke in a relaxed and factual manner like you would say, " His hair is brown."

But, my mind was blank. I couldn't understand what he was saying. 'False queens and kings?'

Looking at all our blank stares, he sighed and said, "Okay, imagine it like this. When you make mana tools, you want the best materials, right?" We all nodded.

"If a race is a material then let's use iron. Between every piece of iron, the purity varies widely, but on average it is probably, 65% pure. The higher the quality, the better mana conductivity it has, right? If you try to make a sword(a baby) out of unpure iron(parents), it will be of really low quality, right?" At this point, most people could follow, even though none of us had any training in blacksmithing.

"Being a real Queen or King is a title, but it is also a race, a job, a soul, and a responsibility. It is incomprehensible to beings like you or me what being a real Queen or King is, so that is the best I can describe it as. Anyway, back to the analogy. If you try to conduct high-quality mana(put a Queen or King soul) through a low-quality sword(a baby body), it won't be able to handle it. But, what if you made the source iron, 100% pure you ask? Well, the sword will be high enough quality(a royal), it could handle the high-quality mana(the soul). So what the system does, is make pure iron ore(royals), so when it becomes a sword, or in this case a baby, the body is strong enough for the soul, the analogy equivalent of high-quality mana."

"So, royals are fakes that are made by the system to make a body a real royal could use? And because of that, they are stronger than they normally would be?" A kid in the back summarized it.

Mr. Quall laughed at that and said, "Yes, I guess that would be an easier explanation."