“What is a Master?” asked Dr. Quill, the History Master. A person raised their hand. “Yes?” asked Dr. Quill. “Someone who kills.” “No. Anyone else?” “A person who hunts.” “Define ’hunt.’” “I... can’t.” “Can anyone else?” This could take a while. Thought Yohan.

Nick and Yohan had been searching for the right room for the class for two hours, and when they had finally arrived the teacher had spent over forty-five minutes asking questions, getting a response, asking another question, and stumping the person who responded. They were sitting in a clay brick amphitheater below the midday sun with three archways leading in and out of the large cubicle it was located at. Dr. Quill was a middle-aged man with messy brown hair and dressed in leather robes while wearing a pair of glasses so large and opaque that it was impossible to make out his eyes or true facial expression behind them.

“Come on people, these are things every decent Master knows. The class will not end until one of you gives me answers that I can be satisfied with.” Who’s teaching who here! Wondered a worried Yohan. None of the questions or answers made even remote sense to him, only fueling his doubts that he would never be able to graduate and must be a bum in the eyes of his uncle for the rest of his life.

Nick, sitting next to Yohan, raised his hand. “Yes?” “To hunt is to pursue a goal.” “What kind of goal?” “Any kind for any purpose.” “What if something gets in your way?” “I defeat it.” “How?” “Any way I can.” “Why?” “Because it will make me better.” “How?” “Because every experience, good or bad, will make me stronger. For better or worse.” Dr. Quill paused as if to think.

Wow, I had no idea Nick was clever enough to stump a History Master. “Who are you?” “Nicholas Xed.” “Why did you come here?” “It’s my first day and I need HCs.” “What if you don’t get that many?” “I’ll take what I can get.” “When do you plan to graduate from the Master’s Academy?” “When I get one hundred million HCs.” “How long will that take you?” “I don’t care.” “Why?” “Because my father always told me, ’people who try to rush through life as fast as possible tend to forget that it’s too early for their funeral.’” “Where is your father now?” “Dead.” “How did he die?” “I don’t know.” “Does that matter?”

At that question, Nick paused, scratched his head a bit, and gave his answer. “Not to me that much, but I think my Mom would appreciate knowing if she doesn’t get mad enough to smack me for risking my life to find out.”

What the...? Thought Yohan at Nick’s strange answer. He wasn’t the only one, nearly every student in the amphitheater craned their head to look at Nick, which made Yohan feel embarrassed for having so many eyes almost on him.

For five whole seconds, Dr. Quill stared at Nick. “The class is over. Nicholas Xed, you have given me multiple answers that I am satisfied with without failure to answer any of my questions. In recognition of your achievement, I award you with one hundred HCs, and your friend sitting next to you fifty HCs for his excellence in judging good character. You are all dismissed.” On that final note, Dr. Quill walked to one of the arches and left the amphitheater, leaving behind a class full of whispers and wonder just as he intended.

Yohan was morbidly embarrassed, and just as confused. Did I get fifty HCs for being Nick’s friend? Nick and I are friends? Do I have a... friend? For the entirety of his memory, Yohan’s life revolved around his uncle. He had met many great men while accompanying him on his business trips, but he always felt that they were his betters. Yohan felt that Nick was his better, but he was confused at being called his friend because he believed that fiends were equals in some way, and Yohan spent the majority of his adult life feeling that he had no worth despite how much his uncle disagreed with him when the subject came up in conversation.

“We should probably get back to the commons hall to find another way to make some HCs.” By the time Yohan realized what Nick had said, and the fact that Nick was talking to him, he was already halfway out of the room. Yohan jerked out of his seat and rushed to keep up with Nick.

As they were leaving, an unseen shadowy figure in the corner of the cubicle watched them like a predator stalking its prey. Those two are trouble, especially the tall one. I should take them down a few notches. Thought the figure before moving towards the same exit, unnoticed by the other students in the amphitheater.

***

Word travels fast in this place. Much faster than I expected. Cool! Thought Nick as he was walking through the common’s hall. Students all around him were staring, whispering, pointing, and looking away when he looked at him. He certainly hadn’t expected to make this big of an impression on his first day.

“How did you know what to say?” asked Yohan, walking behind him. “I was completely honest.” “But how did you know your answers were the right ones?” “He wasn’t looking for right answers, he was looking for answers he could be satisfied with.” “How did you know that?” “Because he said so.” Truthfully, Nick wasn’t satisfied with the number of HCs they had because since it was his first day, he got the impression that one hundred fifty HCs weren’t much, so he wanted to find a quick way to earn more before going to bed.

Before Nick reached the board, he got the sensation that the hairs on his back were standing straight up, which he recognized as his common reaction to someone or something watching him for harmful purposes, something that has the possibility of causing him serious harm. “Hey clay head, over here!" yelled a voice behind Nick. Clay head? Never heard that one before. His mother always said that Nick inherited her terracotta-red hair, so he assumed that this disembodied voice was referring to him.

Nick turned around to face something peculiar, if not frightening. There was a person just as tall as he was standing behind him. They wore a set of hide armor made from a wide assortment of creatures, had white hair, bloodshot eyes, and pale white irises with no pupil that glowed with hot intensity. But the most defining characteristic of this figure was their skin and mouth, every exposed part of their body was solid black with no defining features, almost like a living shadow with the only other visible part being their teeth, which seemed to have no lips, cheeks or skin covering them.

Nick could pick out the individual whispers around him. It’s real, Alzolami the shadow student! They say it’s been living here its whole life destroying anyone who comes close to graduating when they are weakest but has never come close to graduating! Now that’s what I call a monster!

“You’ve got a lot of nerve! Earning a hundred HCs in one day? Nobody earns that many at one time on my watch! I challenge you to a Master game!” Suddenly, in the middle of the floor between them appeared a rectangular trap door that flipped open with a man dressed in a white button-up shirt, a red bow tie, black pants and shoes, and a lion’s pelt as a cape leaping out to stand between them. “I am Mr. Nikeman the Conflict Master! I am here because a student declared a challenge! Alzolami, you have challenged Nicholas Xed to a Master game! is this correct?" “Yes!" Cruelly replied Alzolami. “What are the terms of the game?" “One on one hide-and-seek in the Haunted City Section at midnight with K.O. rules!” “Nicholas Xed! By the laws of the Helgram, you have the right to accept or deny this challenge! If you accept, you may wager any number of HCs you wish! If you win, Alzolami must give an equal amount of HCs to you! If you lose then you must do the same or be unable to earn any HCs until you pay your wager in full! Do you accept?" Nick didn’t hesitate with his answer. “Yes!” “How much will you wager?” “Two thousand HCs!”

Everything went silent in the common’s hall. The intensity in Alzolami’s irises flickered for a moment but came back even stronger. “Alzolami! You have the right to deny Nicholas Xed’s wager and prevent the Master game from starting! Do you intend to do so?” “No!" shouted Alzolami. “Then the contract has been made! both of you must make your way to the specified location in Helgram by the indicated time or one of my Challenge Doors will transport you there to a point of my choosing! To live is to dream, to dream is to live!" shouted Mr. Nikeman before disappearing into another trap door in the floor. “See you at midnight, meat!" said Alzolami. Nick wanted to tell them that technically they were meat too, but they turned around and ran off into the halls.

Now everyone was silently staring at Nick as if they expected to never see him again. Then the crowd began to slowly disperse and go about their business as nothing had happened previously.

Suddenly, a trembling hand grabbed Nick’s elbow, reminding him that he had a companion with him. “D... D... D... Doyouknowhatyoujustdid? That monster’s going to eat you alive!” “If she were a monster, she would have attacked me without bothering to challenge me, monsters never give warnings.” “Butdidyo- wait, did you say ‘she?’ That was a woman?" “Girl actually, she can’t be much older than sixteen.”

Now Yohan’s whole body was shaking. “H... How can you tell?” “Because she reminds me of every girl I’ve ever known, and dated.” “You’vedated?" “Yeah, but my interpersonal relationships never lasted long, unfortunately. They always ended it by saying ‘you’re just not the kind of guy who likes committing.’ But I don’t like talking about stuff that makes me sad. Come on, let’s go back to our room, I need to sleep right now if I’m going to be ready for a fight at midnight!”