The Over-Break System

DONG DO DONG DO…DONG DO DONG DO

Just as Cynrik was thanking Tobs, a multitoned bell echoed throughout the campus, signaling the end of the day’s first period. In response, Professor Morningdale quickly wrapped up explaining how the Chloro Affinity can be used in battle to Gabby and told everyone she would see them again on Wednesday before dismissing the class by stating there were 30 minutes until the bell for 2nd period rang.

While the rest of the class quickly got up, stowed any note-taking materials, and rushed out of the room, Cynrik had everyone stay seated until the room was a little over half empty before allowing them to head out.

“Come along, Gabby, let’s leave the barbarians to their Tank class; we shall work our brains in World History.” Cynrik snarkily said as they walked down the platform towards the door with his nose raised.

“Eh, uh uh, see you at lunch, don’t get hurt during training.” Gabby panicked, her hair flicking back and forth as she rapidly looked from Brance to Cynrik’s back and quickly gave Brance a hug before chasing after her party leader, who was already walking out of the room.

“Hmph, he didn’t even say bye to me, what a jerk.” Selene fell in line behind Benny and Brance while complaining loud enough for the other two to hear.

“That’s on you, Selene; if you plan to capture Big Brother’s heart, you will have to be the forward one. But, if memory serves, he always had a thing for that type of girl, the ones who initiate conversation and contact first.” Rubbing his chin in thought, Brance tossed a bone to Selene, who instantly perked up.

“Really? I thought he would want the more cutesy and embarrassed type who pushes the boundary. Unfortunately, it looks like I will have to rethink my “Capture Ivar’s Heart” plan…hm…much to do, oh much to do.” Selene’s statement trailed off into a soft whisper of mumbles making Benny shake his head in disappointment and Brance chuckle internally.

‘Hehe, that should keep Cynrik occupied long enough to not overthink things too much.’ Brance thought as he went over his older brother’s earlier outburst. Although Cynrik had always been kind of touch and go when it came to anger issues, Brance had picked up on a few small actions that were starting to worry him.

From the raccoon-like dark circles under his eyes to the fact that every night since they arrived at the Academy, Cynrik had worked himself to physical exhaustion, it was evident that something was bothering him. So naturally, Brance wanted to help in any way he could but was limited in the amount he could do since Cynrik was hardheaded and introverted.

He first noticed something was up the first night after they left the Egress. When it was time for bed, the two slept in the living room at the Pinhurst Mansion since their rooms hadn’t been set up yet. Throughout the night, Cynrik would mumble in his sleep before having a bout of tossing and turning ending with him suddenly sitting up, panting, and drenched in sweat.

But it didn’t stop after that night; since Brance’s room was right beside Cynrik’s and the walls were thin, he could hear Cynrik’s violent waking up all night long. Eventually, after a couple of days, Cynrik cut his already short sleep time even further, as when he would wake up, Brance would activate [Mana Sight] and watch him go to the training room, where more often than not, he would work out to the point of passing out.

Although Brance didn’t think much about it at first, he remembered how on Earth, when they lived together, Cynrik had always had trouble falling asleep. He also had trouble staying asleep for any length of time. Eventually, having enough of it, Cynrik would go to the garage and hit the heavy bag for hours or practice takedowns with a grappling dummy. But after their reincarnation, that habit ceased to present itself until they got back from A-G-22097.

Pushing these thoughts to the back of his mind and opting to worry about his present concerns, Brance looked back at Benny.

“Lead the way, oh great navigator.” He said, wearing a warm smile, causing Benny’s face to light up as he pulled up the map of the First Year campus on his Watcet and took the lead.

Unaware that Brance was worrying about his well-being a little too much, Cynrik weaved through the crowd of students with Gabby barely able to keep up. Unlike Benny, who needed the aid of a map, Cynrik had already memorized the entire campus from top to bottom and chosen the fastest route to the building known as the Scholar Wing.

This wing held the classrooms for science, mathematics, and history lessons. It was also one of the few buildings shared between First and Second-year students since it was one of the least popular study topics.

Mostly, the kids who made it into an Academy were more concerned about learning how to fight, dive into Egresses, or Advance their Primary Classes further. So the most popular courses all had their own building. For example, the one Cynrik had just left housed a myriad of different classes about how to use Affinities and the study of the Elements in general.

Cutting a path for Gabby and himself, Cynrik expertly navigated through the sea of bodies moving in every direction and eventually found his way outside a tall, old, library-style building. From the outside, it reminded him of the pictures he had seen in his past life of the Roman Pantheon, with its impressive marble columns leading into an oddly shaped rounded walled and domed building, except for being three to four times the size of the one in his memory. Written across the front of the building, under the pointed roof above the over a hundred marble columns, was a long script of Runes which covered the exterior as far as Cynrik could tell.

“Woah, this place looks so cool, heyah Big Bro Ivar, what does that text say?” stepping up beside Cynrik, Gabby stared wide-eyed and full of wonder at the impressive stone building. Her eyes traced each rune as if trying to commit them to memory.

“Beats me. If I had to guess, it is either some kind of protection array, or this building is so old that whatever it says has lost meaning.” Cynrik chewed the inside of his cheek and examined the long line of blocky runes.

A sharp pain slowly developed in Cynrik’s temples as he studied the runes, inhibiting his cognitive abilities, so he concluded that these were either part of some high-level spell or some forbidden language that he couldn’t understand.

“Let’s go; the bell will ring soon; I don’t want to be late; also, please, for the love of all that is unholy, don’t fall asleep. If you find the class boring, we can transfer you out at any time before week two starts. OH, and one more thing, I will give you a sourball every 15 minutes that you take notes. So keep that attention span turned on, and you can walk away with a BUNCH of candy.” Casually waving his hand and opening his palm, Cynrik retrieved a sourball and held it up, showing Gabby the initial downpayment she would receive.

“Mhm, no problem Big Bro Ivar.” Gabby didn’t even wait for Cynrik to finish his statement, the moment the sourball appeared, it was unwrapped and shoved into her mouth.

Her fast reaction left Cynrik stunned for a moment before he facepalmed and let it go.

“Sometimes I worry about your addiction to sugar, but then I remember I am mainly at fault; anyway, let’s go; I don’t want to be forced to sit at the front of the classroom, a seat in the back of the room is a must.”

Cynrik didn’t wait for Gabby’s reply and spun on his heel before approaching the impressive old building.

The columns continued several dozen meters before opening up into a wide arching doorway. The first thing Cynrik noticed upon entering the building wasn’t the architecture, but instead how few students were arriving even though there were less than 10 minutes before the bell rang.

However, he didn’t find this irregular. Cynrik had already known the attendance for all the scholarly courses was abysmal. This is due to how the Academy website structured its scheduling program. Once you chose the period you would like to take a course and then scrolled through to find the individual class, it would have a number beside the course’s name, giving a real-time numeric indicating how many students had applied to join that class.

Out of curiosity, Cynrik had scrolled through all the different History lessons and soon realized that besides the one for Year One students, the other courses were lucky to have 10 seats filled. Still, this didn’t affect Cynrik’s choice of taking these courses. He was well aware of just how little he, Brance, and Selene knew about Vinestra, and if anyone was going to be able to store all the information in their head, it would be him.

Thus, his choice was easy; he would sacrifice a chunk of time that he could instead use for combat training and learn as much as possible; this included the much-awaited trips to the school library, which he had yet to do. Aiding the party with a solid knowledge foundation wasn’t his only prerogative; it was as much for them as it was to quench the ever-growing thirst Cynrik had since day one, to learn more about Vinestra as a whole.

Navigating the corridors, Cynrik and Gabby stopped at an open door with a placard titled “Year One World History” and stepped inside. Unlike their homeroom, this classroom was vastly different. Long black four-person tables were neatly arranged in three layers around a sizeable circular hologram machine located in the direct center of the large, white-domed room.

Seeing this level of technology present in such an old building caught Cynrik off guard for a moment before he steadied himself and directed gabby over toward two empty seats on the far left side of the hologram machine.

Unlike Gabby, who was more worried about what the large machine did and how tall the rounded ceiling was, Cynrik took inventory of all 22 students present and looked for the Professor who had yet to arrive.

Nearly all the students were the typical nerdy type, and once Cynrik used [Mana Sight], he quickly realized everyone here was, at best early Tier-1. Of course, this indicated that this was the kind of class those who wouldn’t have a future in fighting would attend; still, this didn’t bother him at all, as he took out a notebook and nudged Gabby with his elbow to do the same.

Another point of interest, signifying the stark contrast between the students in this room and the ones he had encountered in his Affinities class, was that no one was talking. Instead, everyone seemed to look around the room curiously or take out note-taking utensils.

DING DONG, DONG DING, DING DONG, DONG DING

Just as the bell rang, an elderly bald man with a neat long snow-white beard slowly walked into the room using a wooden cane to help with his movement. With his appearance, every student straightened their backs and greeted him as the man walked by, including Cynrik and Gabby. Eventually, the elderly man found his way over to an oversized reclining plush chair and eased himself down before clearing his throat and addressing the students.

“Good morning, young ones. It does these old bones well to see so many fine young adults interested in our world’s history. My name is Professor Clarence Darrel Constantine, but you may refer to me as Grandpa or Professor Constantine, hehe, since I am very much at the age to be even your parent’s Grandfather.” The old man, who spoke with his eyes closed, chuckled at his own joke before pressing a few buttons on the armrest of his chair, dimming the lights, and turning on the hologram machine.

“Welcome to Year One Vinestra History.” Suddenly the room was filled with the holographic image of a massive oblong-shaped round planet.

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