The nights of a professor for Agriche were filled with different problems. One such problem was the nightly patrol that the stronger of the professors had to take turns with. Of course, the guards were more than sufficient to handle most situations, and the magic barrier present over the skies of not just the Agriche academy but the entire Agriche city was enough to make even power-hungry dictators over the world to think a dozen times before imagining the launch of an attack. But people sneaked in now and then, and having the professors handle them suited the principal's tastes more.

It was a taste that even Don Brocious couldn't help but call perverse.

Stuck on patrol duty, the professor of the Awakener Course's class 1-A as well as the teacher of the Hellish Personal Development course for all the students of the academy, Mr. Claudio Alo, a retired awakener with a previous rank of 97, was smoking a cigarette atop a small spire near the mountains of the academy. His hand moved left and right on his watch as he played a game of online poker.

Right then, a soft shuffle reached his ears.

"Tsk."

Claudio clicked his tongue.

In the blink of an eye, his senses expanded all over the place. He took in a deep breath. Despite his eyes still being stuck on the screen of the poker game, the mountains unraveled their structure in his mind. From the breaking of a twig under the weight of a person to the movement of leaves as they brushed against the body of another.

Claudio observed the scene for exactly 27 seconds, that was the time it took for him to pick his move. It was enough for him to deduce the situation as well.

"Tsk Tsk. What kind of jokers have made their way in?"

Claudio Alo stood up and clicked his tongue again.

He yawned and jumped off the spire overlooking the mountains. Like a small feather falling from the skies, Claudio swerved through the air and landed right in front of a group of seven bulky men and women.

"W-what the!?"

"Where did he come from?"

The people in front of him stopped in the face of his presence. It was natural when not even the leaves had moved to alert the world of Claudio's presence. For someone not paying attention, it was as perplexing as teleportation or blink, but all Claudio had done was kill his presence and move in front of them.

Judging from the tatters in the name of clothes they wore, the hideous growth of a new biome in the name of body hair they had, and the irredeemable filth in the name of a heart they held, Claudio could tell they weren't any invaders with kind intentions.

"Ah, um, so you guys know this is Agriche, right?"

"A-agriche...?" The bearded man at the front of the ragtag group parroted Claudio's words. "You mean, that Agriche?!"

"What! We were planning to raid an elementary school!!"

'Damn it. That wench of a principal doesn't fucking learn.'

Next was to decide if they should be let live.

Claudio peered into their soul. His senses sharpened again and a wave of killing intent burst forth from his back. He was planning to use a skill and check their 'karma,' but much to his chagrin, a thud sounded out and they fell limp to the ground.

"Ah..."

He went overboard.

Claudio then sighed again and snapped his fingers. A terminal popped open from his watch, he put a marker on the holographic map and decided to get lost. Soon enough, a few guards and robots would come up and handle these guys. He didn't think they were worth killing if they would fall just from him pushing up his presence. The guards would torture them well.

Sighing, Claudio decided to go back to the spire and rest.

A menacing sensation climbed up his spine. His expanded presence stretched out again.

In the next moment, Claudio Alo disappeared again. He hid himself into the skies, becoming one with the air. He found himself standing on the roof of the Green Wolves' dormitory.

In front of him, was a young child. A familiar child, yet the 'presence' of that child was something he had seen before.

A 'presence' that sent chills down his spine each time he encountered it.

A 'presence' that reminded him of his worst moments as a person, and the worst moments of many others.

The child's long black hair fluttered in the air, as he let out a strange sentence.

"...A tremor is going to spread through the world soon, and it will start here."

"Ralph."

Claudio voiced.

The child in front of him shuddered and turned around. He had failed to notice Claudio at all until he let himself be known. There, the boy with waving black hair and glimmering golden eyes stared at Claudio like a deer caught in the maze of a truck's headlights.

The boy, who would pass off as someone extremely cute looked hideous to Claudio's eyes. No, it wasn't the child that was hideous, but the past self that Claudio could see in him.

"Ralph." Claudio stepped forward.

The child flinched.

Regardless, his strength-filled steps continued and he clasped Ralph's shoulders.

"It's ok, I understand," summoning all the sympathy in him, Claudio infused each syllable with it. "Your delusions... they are nothing to be ashamed of. You'll outgrow them."

Ralph's face flushed a bright red as he pursed his lips and lowered his gaze.

Enough was said. Now it was up to Ralph to turn his shortcomings into his strengths.

Claudio patted his shoulders again and walked away.

Ralph did not come early to class each time he remembered this incident.