"Let us start our full lesson on Boons and Banes." Naomi wrote the title of today's topic onto a whiteboard behind her, both Violet and I sat down in front of her, Jordan in the back, coincidentally being dragged along the ride. "Since there are more who are either aware or have abilities now, I felt it was necessary to do a direct overview of these supernatural concepts."

  "Glad to finally get a proper rundown," I commented, watching Naomi closely.

  Violet looked like a lost child in a large park, completely overwhelmed by what was happening. She looked like she was about to speak, but stopped herself, sheepishly retreating into the shell we saw her in during our previous incident.

  "I just can't believe that the supernatural actually exists..." Jordan mumbled.

  Naomi clapped, gaining our rapt attention. "Alright, let's begin. Within the world, two supernatural concepts remain consistent throughout time. Boons and Banes. Boons are the manifestation of one's will; we've gone over that already, though. Boons are very inconsistent, but some factors are common in most Boons that you'd see out in the open. 1. They almost always have a physical manifestation in some way. 2. They always have rules that allow them to be weak in some ways, but strong in other ways. If there are more rules, it's most likely that the ability will have a lot of potential in the future to be exceptionally strong. If an ability has a lot of versatility with the few options you are provided, this logic also applies."

  I raised my hand. "So... there aren't type classifications or anything?"

  Naomi shook her head. "Not exactly. We do have ways to refer to a type of Boon, but other than that, Boons are much to inconsistent to put down any defining terms onto them to classify which is which. Moving on, we do know more about Banes, ironically enough, compared to Boons, but that's because Banes are a loud minority compared to Boons, which are much quieter in comparison and appear more on an individual basis, while Banes can range from an area, a person, or an item."

  Violet raised her hand as well. "An item?"

  "Before we get to that, Banes are the manifestation of extreme negative emotions that can either be born on an individual basis, or by the wider populace. They're typically classified as malevolence, mischief, survival, or care."

  Naomi wrote it down on the whiteboard to make it easier for us to understand.

  "Malevolence can often be associated with cases of hauntings or possession. They are malicious and leech off the life force of others to survive and are typically locked to a building, item, or place. They aren't exactly attached to a person, and... to be frank, wouldn't be since they'd have to kill the person eventually, and if they were attached to their soul with their nature, they would be unable to survive, which is the opposite of what Banes want."

  A beat.

  "Next on the list are those of mischief. They don't exactly choose what they're attached to, meaning they could be attached to anything, but they like to torment others, but will back off if things go too far, since it would inhibit their survival if they do. These could honestly be changed to Banes of Survival through the right methods, but typically, exorcisms are the way to go for Malevolent and Mischievous Banes."

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  I raised my hand. "How did... uh... we never got their name, I don't think. Alakazam's user, do we know how Alakazam exists or...?"

  Violet turned to me, "Alakazam?"

  "It was a Bane we faced. They were attached to a user who was killin' people in the town."

  "W-What!? There was a killer here, what!?"

  "Well... if there was a Vampire... Is that really that hard to believe?"

  Naomi wrote as she spoke. "Alakazam is what we would call a Bane that falls under the category of 'Care'." She wrote it down, turning back toward us. "I will say, Banes are technically uncontrollable. Care Banes are special cases wherein they directly listen to their owner, but, unlike Boons that are uncontrollable, which they can be, there is no feeling of connection that you'd feel with your Boon in comparison to, say, a Bane. You can still somewhat command an Uncontrollable Boon with just your will alone, but a Bane can only be commanded verbally, if it even listens to you at all. Some aren't even aware that they have a Care Banes, and even then, most Care Banes operate on a programmed purpose, meaning that they can't be commanded. Alakazam is a special case in this regard."

  "Interesting..."

  "We skipped it, but Survivalist Banes are the easiest to understand, because they only respond when their survival is threatened. So... if the person or item they are attached to is at risk of being damaged, they will respond in turn in an attempt for survival, very simple in comparison to my other explanations, no?"

  "Good to know now."

  "Since we've gone over this," She pointed at the whiteboard with a capped marker. "Let's go over our current issues, then. As you've seen... There seems to be an insidious force slowly bubbling beneath the town's surface. First, we encountered Oscar Patterson, the user for Alakazam."

  "You learned their name when?"

  "I while ago, just didn't bother saying it until now, cause I didn't feel the need to."

  "Oh."

  "So, we encountered Oscar Patterson, then, you all found a Vampire, and we all had to fight it later that same night. The problem is... a Vampire shouldn't typically exist, unless..."

  "Unless?"

  Violet looked at everyone. "Why would Vampires not exist?"

  Naomi sat down with the rest of us. "Because... we didn't know Banes could spread... or even last this long throughout history. We, or rather my family, theorized it was possible, but were never able to confirm it until now."

  "So... it's a Bane? Like, the Vampires?"

  "Yes, it's able to spread itself like a disease. A unique type of Bane, it doesn't necessarily mean that it wouldn't be possible. It's just... unique. Who the first Vampire was, or any other tangible information like that, is lost to us, though. I don't even know if it's possible to find out where this Bane even originated from, but it opens the theory that other Banes based on other mythological creatures could exist."

  I leaned back in my chair, scratching my head. "That actually sounds kinda cool."

  "That's all for today, though, I hope that you all don't find yourselves in any more precarious situations. My family and I will be looking into the incidents that have been occurring directly, since we can't exactly let the potential of Vampiric threats be bolstered within our town. We live here after all, we don't want people getting hurt."

  "Admirable."

  As we all started leaving the Student Council Room, I stopped Violet before she left.

  "Hey, Violet. Are you okay?"

  "That's a surprise... uh..." Violet chuckled, "I'm alright... still a little shocked by everything."

  "Sorry, I wanted to ask since you weren't acting like yourself today. It's understandable, but I just wanted to make sure if you were alright anyhow, since y'know... everything that's happened could change a person sometimes."

  "N-No, I'm okay. Thanks, Gael, for caring. I've just... I'm not exactly scared, I'm more just re-evaluating myself, I suppose."

  "Well, don't let it weigh on you too much, okay? No one could've known that'd happen, okay?"

  "I'll try."

  I bid my farewell to Violet before walking back home.