"Huaahm"
Cale yawned in disappointment, his math teacher Carlos spoke and taught all the students in class, no one heard the yawn as Cale was in the far back
"Hmm"
He wasn't paying much attention to class because it was just the first day, it wouldn't really Impact grades or anything like that if Cale didn't pay attention to classes for one day so he just relaxed and made himself at home, waiting for Carlos to finish.
"Cale"
But Carlos seemed to have noticed Cale's boredom, so like a good teacher he was, he gave his student work
" I want you to solve (a+b)^ 2 - (a-b)^ 2 . Everyone here knows that we are doing simple calculations here and revisiting what you should already know from last year In middle school."
The teacher turned back to Cale, eagerly awaiting for a satisfying correct answer.
"Uh it's... a^ 2 + 2ab + b^ 2 - (a^ 2 - 2ab + b^ 2) = a ^ 2 + 2ab + b^ 2 - a^ 2 +2ab - b^ 2= 4ab"
"And you are correct Cale!" Carlos said with excitement coming out of his voice, but well...It wasn't exactly a good thing for a student to barely know the answer to such a simple and easy algebra question
"H-hoooo"
'Thank god it was simple algebra'
Cale exhaled, thankful that Carlos didn't ask to solve anything difficult.
'Good thing I remembered I guess'
Looking to his right and seeing a clock high on the wide column
Tick~
Tick~
A soft tick from a clock made itself heard to the entire classroom
'10 minutes left on the clock...'
This was the last hour
Cale didn't know what would happen but he doubted It would be anything like the trial as he has seen himself that the trial meant essentially nothing to the real thing
'I wouldn't be surprised if that trial was a junkyard'
In all seriousness, the trial that was held did look like a junkyard
This made Cale wonder even more why Gardenia even held the trial in the first place. He didn't ponder too much on it however since his guesses were likely nowhere close to the truth instead, he focused on something more Important.
"..."
'The medicine that sludge had on him and gave to me. It isn't here'
Cale didn't want something like that on his person, however the sludge-like creature gave it to him regardless
He didn't even notice the creature closing in on him and placing the dwon in his pocket
'Does this mean that I can't bring Items outside of Gardenia'
Cale suspected as much, since he couldn't bring anything himself when getting transported to Gardenia like his phone or anything like that.
However he also knew that it was more complicated than that, because Cale was still wearing clothes which shouldn't be possible If nothing could be brought to Gardenia
'Well I don't have any Information about how It works'
The lack of information was gnawing at his sanity, almost every mystery he has encountered thus far has always been "Oh here. I know you won't understand what all of this information means but take it, you'll find out eventually"
'Call me lazy, but I don't like dragging mysteries'
What kind of novel enthusiast would love getting info dumped every chapter without actually getting closer to the truth. Cale sure wasn't a fan of such a concept where the author was throwing out plot points just for the sake of the plot
He let go of his recitation of reading preferences and looked anxiously at the clock again
'8 minutes left before the bell rings...'
Not a whole lot of time but it still was enough to get a breather
'Wait, now that I have time to think. I should organize the new Information I gained'
In the end, to pass the time, he thought about something he probably wouldn't get due to the lack of information, of course it wasn't a bad thing to think about occasionally
'Where In the world did that sludge get the dwon from?'
Cale searched and nowhere In the school was there, where someone could buy medicine from, unless it were from one of the cafeterias. Cale didn't direct step towards them whatsoever
'There also wasn't any Infirmary In the entire school building'
No Infirmary was found here either since the entire building had been thoroughly searched every time classes ended and Cale could explore Gardenia freely.
'How did that Sludge even get the medicine from? no is it even a medicine? or did he smuggle it?'
The 'medicine' looked like a dead worm, that is the most simple description Cale could give it
'It had barbs on it...'
Barbs littered its skin in grotesque formations, making it seem even less like medicine
'I know they say the more disgusting and unappetizing the medicine looks the better the effects but...there had to be some limits to that saying'
Its texture was absolutely and utterly disgusting
'I wouldn't be surprised if a dog found it and ran away disgusted as well as me'
Pinching his nose. Cale came to a swift conclusion
"Did he...get scammed maybe?"
No one ever said that monsters can't get scammed right?
Rotating his head to the clock anxiously, he waited for the seconds to pass and for the bell to ring, a voice though cut off his attention towards the clock
"Hey what will you two do after class ends?"
Catrina cocked her head to meet both Cale and Gabriel as she spoke
"Ehh I don't know... what will you do Cale?"
Gabriel asked curiously, wanting to know Cale's plans first before he revealed his
"Well normally I would just go back home, but since I have time do you want to go out with me?"
Cale answered bluntly to Catrina's question
"Yeah sure, I also have a lot of time in my hands. What about you Gabriel?"
"I think I'll have to pass"
Catrina looked taken aback by what she heard, her eyes widening and even Cale was shocked by what Gabriel said
"What, why? you're always the one who brings us together to go out, what's the sudden change?"
'Catrina, you took the words straight out of my mouth'
"Yeah you're not one to reject hanging out with us"
Cale at least did the courtesy of asking for his reasons, agreeing with Catrina
"I have Judo classes?"
"..."
"..."
Both Cale and Catrina looked at this man dead in the eyes, slightly disappointed but they couldn't do anything about it. Catrina then turned her attention to her only available friend and opened her mouth to speak
"So Cale since it's just the two of us now, where do you want to go?"
"Where do you want to go?"
Cale redirected the question back to her
"Space"
'Yeah, we should go to sp-'
"..."
In Catrina's defense, who wouldn't want a trip to space?
'Seriously?'
"What, you said where I want to go? If you don't like it, you choose"
To want someone's honest answer, you have to first respect it, if you don't, obviously you should be the one choosing instead of the one you asked
'You cheeky little-'
Cale was about to curse at Catrina for skillfully forcing him to choose because she didn't know where to go.
"Huhu"
Catrina wore an arrogant face that complimented her victory, her subtle forced chuckle made her slightly embarrassed but worth it if it made Cale even a bit more annoyed with her
"...Fine I'll choose... How about a Café?"
"I don't have any problems with it but..."
"But?"
"We should buy something to drink outside, I don't want to stay In the Café"
"So takeaway then?"
"Yeah that"
Gabriel had a look of confusion etched on his face almost as if he were seeing something unbelievable.
Cale noticed the look of astonishment on him and teasingly talked to him in a low tone
"What's up with you? don't tell me you're jealous"
Gabriel snapped out of the trance like state he had been afflicted with
"No it's just that...you usually avoid going out"
His observation slightly left Cale agape, surprised by the choice of words that flowed out of his mouth
"?"
'Well I guess he's right?'
Gabriel wasn't wrong, but this was already a well known fact so it didn't make sense why he made a comment on it now
"You are right, but I haven't really rejected you guys whenever you wanted me to hang out with you?"
This was true, whenever Gabriel or Catrina asked Cale to go out with them, he never outright refused them unless he really couldn't and had things to do.
"Ah...yeah you are right"
Tearing his attention away from Gabriel's stupidity for being confused at the sight of a friend going out and hanging out
Cale stared at the petite girl In front of his pupils, looking at him excited and ready to hang out with no questions asked, a rich thin smile formed on his lips, though barely noticeable
'Look at her, she's not questioning why I want to hang out all of sudden and is just excited to hang out with a friend. Not like that Idiot who's next to me'
Said idiot looked at the whiteboard, completely ignoring the angry gaze of his friend
Catrina was an extrovert, a diehard one at that. she lives by going outside and hanging out with friends
'not only that but she also always keeps the conversation alive which I can't do at all'
After praising and complimenting Catrina's abilities for a while in his head to pass the time. Cale turned his head to the right and looked at the clock again that was ticking softly, its ticks dug like a shovel in his turmoil driven mind
5
Tick
Outwardly, Cale was positive, every single adult he met told him so, that his optimistic mind is something most didn't have, that the bright nature he shows to close friends and to others is always a pleasant thing to experience
4
Tick
To the elderly he was a gentleman and polite, to his friends and family he was a stubborn and mildly sadistic man that loved annoying people, he even rubbed some of his innate nature to his friends
3
Tick
But when has outward appearances ever been true? He was still human was he not? He still felt fear did he not? So much fear that he would experience nightmares in a form that destroyed and gnawed at him mentally
2
Tick
From the perspective of others, he was incredible
1
Tick
He had a strong and a tough frame, even when he tumbled down and hurt himself when playing he'd get back up and laugh it off with a joke, to others he was also a wise young boy, even changing some people's perspective on life, even giving good love advice and platonic advice
0
Tick
To others he was a good person, he thought that as well, but there is never a consistent time in someone's life when they were always morally 'good', people make mistakes, so many mistakes that even the stars fail to count them, but by accepting them and trying to better themselves by avoiding their historical mistakes, they grow and learn how to live a satisfying life catered to them only them
Trrrr~
Trrrr~
The bells rang softly, the supposed digging soft tick stopped at the same time
At the same time. Cale was met with a gentle darkness that consumed and gnawed at his surroundings along with his vision, faster than the previous times.
"!"
Opening the shadow filled eyes, he came to notice a peculiar but familiar scene
He was sitting in class, this time unlike the other times, in the middle front as opposed to when he was at the far right corner.
On the podium stood proudly a familiar Invisible creature wearing an Immaculate suit with silver patterned gloves on his hands and glasses on what would have been his face if it were not for his transparent glass like body.
Carlos Ashen stood there with an air of Authority emanating from him.
[Nice to meet you again, you may all have been surprised to see me but this time you need not worry as I won't be doing anything that will endanger you and will Instead tell you something that will benefit you and help you]
Cale looked behind, he could only tilt his head slightly to his right, and left. He saw the sludges sitting at their desks and it was there that he saw it again.
'The humanoid monster'
One of the humanoid monsters that he saw back when Zenox gave his speech and the only one he could vividly remember.
Its body looked to be covered in black armor that appeared to have been made specifically for mobility, stuck like glue to It's skin- no it was his skin upon closer inspection.
'This guy is in my class?!'
Cale knew from the moment that his gaze laid on that figure that staying Involved with him, it was obvious he'd die.
It wasn't out of instinct or some gut feeling that told him this. There was only one confirmation Cale needed to know that this guy was bad news.
Pitch Black Lines, unlike the previous times when they activated where they simply grew thicker and pulsed with Intensity, this time they were swirling violently around the humanoid monster with such Intensity that the entire classroom was filled with pitch black lines pointing at one single entity.
Almost as if screaming that death softly exhaled in his ears