Lunch time had ended a few minutes ago, and so Red and I were sitting in the corner of a classroom as per usual. Since it was an alchemy class, there were lab tables instead of desks and various ingredients in different areas. It was a large room, but it still felt somewhat crowded with 100 people inside.

  "Hi everybody! We've met briefly before, but as a reminder I'm Instructor Lee and I teach alchemy-"

  "AAAAAAAAH!"

  A sudden scream from one of the students sitting at the front interrupted Instructor Lee's enthusiastic introduction. Turning to look, I saw a ghostly man with a refined aura who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. He began to float up into the air, and a few students started to shiver from fright. On the other hand, there were also some students who were preparing for a fight, which was probably not a great idea in an alchemy room full of mysterious substances.

  "Woah, is that a real ghost?!"

  Red didn't seem to mind the ghost, and he was actually pretty excited about his appearance. I kept wondering who this man really was, but my questions were soon answered.

  "Vex! I told you not to scare the freshmen like that!"

  Instructor Lee had a pouty expression on his face, while Instructor Vex had a smirk as he floated down beside him.

  "Tsk. You don't know how to have fun. Anyways, as you've heard, my name is Instructor Vex. I'm the ability of Instructor Vince, the homeroom teacher for the sophomores, so I typically stay there. However, given that this is Instructor Lee's first year teaching a class himself and that I have some knowledge in alchemy, I figured I'd give a helping hand."

  'An instructor is actually an ability of someone? That's pretty interesting. I wonder if I could make a clone of myself or something if my dark energy got stronger...'

  Putting that thought in the back of my mind, I continued to listen to Instructor Lee speak.

  "Anyways- now that you know the room isn't haunted- alchemy is a great skill to learn for anyone, not just people specializing in support. With alchemy, you can create any potion for yourself, whether it's healing or strength, rather than buy it from the market. Furthermore, with some basic knowledge of alchemy ingredients, you can save yourself or someone else in an emergency situation.

  For today's class, you will split into groups of four to five and follow the instructions on the table to make the corresponding potion. While individual ability is important in alchemy, the ability to work as a team is crucial as well, especially for more advanced potions. When you're finished, just put your names and the effect on the potion and place it on my desk. With me and Instructor Vex around, you've got nothing to worry about, so do your best!"

  Instructor Lee finished his short lecture and let the students form groups on their own. The only person that I knew was Red though, so I stuck to him like glue while he did the talking. We ended up becoming a group with another pair of students nearby us, a platinum blond boy and girl.

  "I'm Seth, and this is my twin sis Saya. She's quiet, but she's a real nice person, so be kind to her, alright? Good to meet ya."

  Seth gave us an amiable smile while Saya slightly nodded.

  "Nice to meet you too! My name's Red, and this is my friend Gene!"

  "Hello."

  I gave a polite wave, and the four of us began looking at the description of the potion we were going to make.

  "...A potion of disguise?"

  "That sounds interesting!"

  "Based on the description, once ya down it, your face gets unrecognizable. And if it's good enough, it changes your whole body too. The effect lasts an hour."

  'Woah, that's cool!'

  Red grinned in excitement after Seth explained the effects, and even I couldn't help smiling a little. After we knew what the potion was, we then looked at the ingredients we needed for it.

  "We need... a mutant rabbit foot, sixty grams of moonlit grass, and two cups of mimic blood."

  "Oh, it's like cooking!"

  "Saya and I will go get the ingredients."

  The twins went off to different parts of the alchemy room to grab all of the ingredients while I stayed behind with Red to begin preparing all of the tools we needed. Once Seth and Saya had returned, we then designated specific roles for everyone.

  I ended up with the job of making the mutant rabbit's foot into puree. So I grabbed the rabbit's foot and brought it over to an alchemy tool that looked like a food processor. Then, I put the rabbit's foot inside and closed the lid before pressing the button to blend it.

  'This is kinda... I don't really know if I want to drink any potions anymore.'

  I shuddered as that thought passed through my head, but unfortunately the effectiveness of potions meant I wasn't going to go on a potion free diet anytime soon. Regardless, the rabbit's foot soon turned into puree, so I poured it into a bowl and joined back up with the rest of the group.

  By now, the moonlit grass was all chopped up and the mimic blood was boiling. So as per the instructions, we put the moonlit grass and the puree into the boiling blood before stirring it and letting it continue to boil.

  "Since we've got ten minutes until this finishes, how about we get to know each other more?"

  Red spoke with enthusiasm as he sat on the lab table and looked towards Seth and Saya. It was clear he wanted to become friends with them, and I liked that idea too.

  "I don't got a problem with that. What sort of hobbies do ya guys like?"

  "Cooking! It's fun to make things and it's fun to see people eat the things I make!"

  "Oh? What kinda things do ya like making?"

  "Pretty much anything- oh! Actually, Gene and I made a cake yesterday, and it was really delicious!"

  "There... wouldn't happen to be any leftovers, would there?"

  "Nope!"

  Seth let out a laugh at Red's abrupt answer, before continuing to speak himself.

  "Worth a shot. Anyways, I'm a big fan of eating, but other than that, videogames are my thing. Especially speedrunning videogames, I love a good challenge."

  Seth let out a smirk of pride as he showed a screenshot on his phone to us. It was a leaderboard of a platforming game, and his name was at first place.

  "Wow, that's incredible!"

  "Yeah, that's very impressive."

  I nodded in agreement with Red, and Seth became slightly embarrassed at our vigorous approval.

  "Erm... thanks. I mean, the leaderboard's not like that anymore - it's a very competitive scene. But being at the top's a satisfying feeling."

  Seth put his phone away and leaned back on the table before turning his attention towards me.

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  "So, what about you Gene?"

  "Huh? Oh, ah... it's not really a hobby, but I like playing with my younger siblings. They're energetic and fun to be around."

  I gave a soft smile as memories of all of us playing with dolls or running around inside resurfaced in my mind. Red's eyes widened in surprise.

  "I didn't know you had siblings Gene!"

  "Well, they're not technically my siblings, but I consider everyone at Skyward Orphanage my family anyways."

  Suddenly, the lighthearted atmosphere turned a bit awkward, and I belatedly realized what I had said.

  'Ah... I would probably feel a bit awkward too if someone casually implied their parents were dead. Especially if I just met them.'

  I gave a small shrug and remained casual regardless.

  "Honestly, I've been living there for a long time, so it doesn't bother me to talk about it. In fact, I'm actually very happy with where I am right now. But sorry if it made you all uncomfortable, especially since we barely even know each other."

  "No, no, not at all! I'm just glad you're doing well!"

  Red vigorously shook his head before smiling and patting my back.

  "So, you'll definitely let me visit and hang out with your younger siblings sometime, right?"

  "Of course!"

  With his enthusiasm, the atmosphere quickly returned to normal, and we began discussing some other topics. Saya stayed quiet, but she responded to the conversation with nods or the occasional smile.

  Soon enough, ten minutes had passed, and so our disguise potion was finished. We actually ended up with two vials of it, and so Red volunteered to test it.

  "Here I go!"

  Red drank the potion, and his face began to distort wildly. His facial color turned a dark green, and his nose became much bigger and wider, forming a snout. At the end of it, Red's face truly was unrecognizable, but something felt odd about this potion.

  "...This disguise potion ain't subtle, is it?"

  "Yeah... Red just looks like an orc."

  "Hey! Isn't that a bit much?"

  "No, I'm being serious. Take a look at yourself."

  I turned on my phone camera and showed it to Red. His eyes widened in complete shock, which was hilarious to see on an orc's face.

  "Woah! That's awesome! But, uh... there's an antidote for this, right?"

  "Nope. You're stuck like that for a week."

  The sudden addition of a new male voice startled all of us, and we turned to see Instructor Vex floating there. Red started to show a rare expression of anxiety.

  "Wait, really? That's- I don't want to look like this for a week! Can't I make another disguise potion to cancel this one out or something?"

  Instructor Vex chuckled at Red's conjecture.

  "That's certainly an interesting idea, but it'd actually make things worse for you."

  "Then-"

  Before Red could get any more anxious, Instructor Vex gave him a vial of clear liquid labeled "cure".

  "Don't worry, I was just messing with you a little. Next time though, don't test potions by drinking them. There's an apparatus over there that can test them for you."

  "Thank you sir!"

  Red quickly downed the vial, and his face returned to normal. Only when he saw himself again through the phone camera did he let out a sigh of relief.

  "It's important to be careful when doing alchemy. Although this potion technically works as a disguise potion, there's actually a mistake you've made which affected the end result. Do you know what it was?"

  I remained silent, because although I knew something was off with the potion, I thought we all did our parts well. Unexpectedly though, Seth spoke up.

  "...Did I grab the wrong ingredients on accident?"

  "That's right. You grabbed moonlight grass instead of moonlit grass, making the effect stronger."

  "That's why my face became non-human!"

  Instructor Vex smiled at Red's epiphany, and he continued to speak to us.

  "I think you will all find alchemy very interesting as you learn the ins and outs of how it works throughout the year. By the way, don't worry about that mistake, you can just turn in the potion anyways. For your first time creating a potion, you all did well for not making me block an explosion."

  'Isn't that last line a little off-putting?'

  Regardless, we did as Instructor Vex told us to and placed the disguise potion on Instructor Lee's desk. Soon afterwards, class ended, and so we left the alchemy classroom and headed into our next class.

  ? ? ?

  For once, we weren't sitting in the back corner of the room. That's because some students were already sitting there, and so we were seated in the back middle of the room instead.

  "I'm really curious about that dragon trophy in the front of the room."

  "Yeah! Do you think Instructor Jenny was the one to kill it?"

  "Erm... maybe? But it also could've been sent here or something instead."

  "Well, either way, it's pretty cool."

  There were various monster trophies on the walls in this classroom, but the one that caught everyone's eyes the most was the giant red dragon trophy on the front wall. We didn't have much time to think about it though, as class started and Instructor Jenny began speaking.

  "Good afternoon everyone."

  Unlike the other instructors, Instructor Jenny appeared much more elderly. Despite this, I got the feeling that I would stand no chance against her in a sparring match.

  "Let me tell you a story. It was a peaceful day in summer; people were walking down the streets, going to jobs, spending time with their loved ones.

  ...They came out of nowhere. The gates, the monsters. The streets suddenly became filled with agonizing screams. Limbs torn apart, blood spilled everywhere. Buildings burned, crushed, destroyed. Everywhere you could look, a dying corpse was in sight. A dozen more were unseen. Sometimes, you could even see the light in their eyes. The desperation to live..."

  An uncomfortable silence.

  "...That was what my father had experienced. Numbers can share facts and statistics, but they can't share the human suffering that was felt. If you were sad, angry, or even just uneasy during that story, then that means it worked. As time moves on, we forget, but this is the real reason why we become hunters. So that something like that never happens again."

  Nobody made even a single sound. The atmosphere was too serious for that to happen.

  "...Let me properly introduce myself. I'm Instructor Jenny, and I teach about monsters and monster weaknesses. My classes may not be as entertaining as some of the other classes here, but I believe that they're just as important."

  Instructor Jenny put up an electronic presentation behind her, and as she spoke she clicked through the slides.

  "Monsters, as you know, originate from the world beyond the gates, referred to as the Otherworld. They are made up of pure attributes, such as water or lightning, causing them to have different strengths and weaknesses.

  A monster with balanced attributes doesn't have a clear weakness, but it also doesn't have any strengths either. This is what is referred to as a "normal" monster. Most monsters without any attributes in their name, such as a "goblin" or an "orc", fall under this category.

  However, if one or more attributes of a monster overpowers the others, it becomes a strength of the monster. This is where we get monsters such as a "dark wolf" or a "fire dragon". Conversely, if you know the monsters strengths, you also know their weaknesses. In the examples I've given, light can be used against the dark wolf and ice can be used against the fire dragon. Any questions?"

  One student raised their hand in the front, and Instructor Jenny nodded her head towards her.

  "Is the dragon on the wall a fire dragon?"

  "Yes; unbalanced attributes typically manifest themselves into a monster's physical characteristics. So if you see a red variation of a monster, chances are it's weak to ice."

  Seeing that Instructor Jenny had answered the student's question amicably, a few other students began raising their hands.

  "Are there any attributes that can be considered unusual?"

  "Just like how there are many elements that make up our world, there are many attributes that make up the Otherworld. Although rare, monsters can also have attributes like luck or mentality. The weaknesses to those are misfortune and hopelessness, but those are hard to conceptualize, let alone use in a fight, so you're better off just fighting normally in cases like these."

  "What happens if you fight a monster with its strength?"

  "It will be much more difficult to defeat that monster. If you must fight a monster with its strength, throw a cure potion first. This will equalize the monster's attributes and cause it to become a normal monster with no strengths or weaknesses."

  "Are all the monsters on the wall ones you've personally fought?"

  "Yes, back when I was much younger and had more ability. Students seem to be especially interested in my fight against the dragon. Would you all like to hear about it too?"

  "Yes!"

  Red shouted from beside me, causing a few students to giggle and me to facepalm in secondhand embarrassment. However, it was nice that the mood in the classroom was much lighter than before.

  "Alright, it was about five decades ago, when an extremely dangerous gate appeared in the world..."