Nightmare Mythos

'Let's see. I have garnered a hundred contribution points in the past three years I have been here. I never wasted a single point because I knew this would be happening. Subtracting forty points to get the fourth nightmare potion, I only have sixty points left,

'Now that field trips are coming, I'll have to search for any daggers available at the academy. Then buy a specialized revolver if they have one.'

Pondering about the plans he had thought for himself that he meticulously came up with, Cesar was in denial at how fast his life was changing. One time he knew, he was struggling. The next thing, he was standing toe to toe with the strongest students in the academy.

To be stronger, he had to gear himself up. The facet was one thing but having weapons is needed as well. Now that they are nearing the time when they had to work independently without protection from the academy, one had to adjust quickly.

Bang—!

Right now, he was the only one who wasn't waiting for his turn to shoot. Either others were already in the shooting range testing their shots or waiting in line for their turn.

Bang—!

This time, they were using ordinary bullets. Surprisingly, everyone was doing very well in their shooting. Proper posture, exquisite handling, and keen eyesight were delivered by the best of the best students in the current fourth year.

However, when it comes to marksmanship, no one had beaten the person who is currently relaxing on the side after getting the highest marks on this test without any trouble.

Arnold immediately excluded him from the practice, confident in his verdict that Cesar's skills didn't deteriorate even a bit. In fact, his shooting appeared more deadly precise, and utterly lethal.

'This class really lives up to its name. This subject will be done in just a few minutes. After that… the class rankings will be shifted again.'

Class Rankings

It's not about a class venturing even higher to be the top. What the academy judged here was the potential of the students to be placed higher than their current rankings, leading them to climb higher than ever.

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It was the time of the month when student rankings shift which can potentially rank a student to other classes or make them go lower.

Cesar was the only freak, who managed to climb his way to the top through hard work and relentless effort, shaken the rankings that managed to disrupt when he was only a second year. These changes were bound to happen now that facets have come into play.

And he was right.

After a few minutes, Cesar saw Arnold returning back to his post after talking with someone who handed him a list of documents. As he returned, he skimmed through the document before closing it again.

"Everyone gather,"

Now that everyone was done, clearly waiting for further instructions, they all formed lines while they motionlessly stood up. Everyone quieted down. Arnold observed them for a few seconds before letting out a small sigh.

He didn't waste a single word from his mouth.

"All the names I'll be calling, please step forward,"

He goes straightforwardly, making most of the student's face cracked.

"Mr. Pon, Mr. Lander, Ms. Smith, Ms. Weiner…"

The surnames being called all transferred on the front right in front of Arnold, expressing their incredulity, confusion, and disheartened emotions through their faces.

The last thing Cesar knew was that more than half of the students were cut off, forming an invisible line between students who would remain and those who weren't. Fortunately and rightly so, he wasn't called.

Though Cesar found it unbelievable, seeing that twenty-six students got transferred to the front which brought surprise not only to him but to the others as well, thinking whether they were lucky to be at their line or not.

Cesar even got suspicions that the ones who didn't get called would be the ones transferring classes, but with Jacqueline on their side, his doubts wither away. And those who saw her staying in her place as they left the line that differentiates who'll be staying became even grimmer.

'Still too many. What the hell… Almost half of the class got removed. Unless we're really the ones leaving…'

Cesar mused inwardly before waiting for Arnold's judgment as to why he called those names even if there was a higher percentage every single student knew his next line of words.

Their suspicions came true.

"I'm sorry but all of you will be transferred to different classes starting tomorrow."

Those words dropped like bombshells falling over their heads. To be truthful, they expect a few or a couple of students will probably change whose students' rankings were forty-five to fifty but no one expected that exactly twenty-six people are being demoted.

It also signifies that the incoming bunch are individuals that only shined after the facet selection.

Cesar's interest was piqued.

'I have a few people in mind who will start coming to our class… Though, this is very exciting.'

Suddenly, finding that this was unfair, some of the demoted students couldn't control their emotions and weren't able to recollect the sudden change right away. Their dissatisfaction was nothing at first until it became whispers.

These hushed voices became buzzing complaints until their raging uncertainties were raised.

"Sir Arnold…"

One of the students who got called first named Ms. Weiner, called out. The shooting range quieted down, letting her think up something nice to the sudden shifting of many students of what were once impenetrable and talented students of Class 1-A of this year's fourth-grade students.

Seeing that Arnold was unresponsive, Ms. Weiner asked with disdain in her voice, "Are the new Class 1-A students really better than any of us who are being demoted? Setting the academy's judgment aside, we—no, I want to hear your opinion, sir… I-I think myself are more trained and skilled than those people… And I'm sure, at least me, I'm not wrong,"

Arnold was silent for a moment before he scratched the side of his head with his finger before slightly tilting his head.

"I thought it was something hard."

Arnold suddenly turned rigidly cold as any traces of being friendly to his students were gone, all left was his cold demeanor that was directed to Ms. Weiner and everyone else on her back.

"'More skilled', 'more trained than those people', 'at least you're not wrong'. All these qualities are enough to convince me that the academy didn't judge wrong this time as well."

Arnold paused, "The Resisting Academy is rarely wrong, you see. Yes, sometimes, these kinds of decisions are doubtful and have to be thought of very carefully. It relies on the student's capabilities and their futures, after all.

"Me too, at first, when the list was being handled to me but not now. Seeing all of you acting like immature brats and unable to contain this slight frustration just because you got demoted is not a quality a Class 1-A student must have,"

Arnold pointed at his head as if he were pointing a gun as he continued, "Your position already got the way in your head. You didn't have a chance to feel this frustration because you never felt it. Only one of this previous class who was demoted a year before experienced such a thing and is on his way here yet again,"

Cesar completely understood the words of wisdom Arnold was relying but he couldn't help to focus on the last line of his sentence which he found intriguing the most.

'That guy managed to pull it through? Impressive…'

After a while of silence, as everyone was thinking that Arnold was finished, he continued with an unbelievable scoff, "So instead of planning on whining next, trying to prove that you're better when there are other talents out there who could do more than you can, better think of a way to train more and wait for the next month's ranking list,"

Giving them time to adjust their emotional state right now, knowing they wouldn't just break down on the spot, the demoted students finally started to become normal.

Ms. Weiner, who was the one who bite all of Arnold's harsh yet eye-opening words was the most resolved. Still, there was frustration on her and the students' faces, but at least, they were returning to normal.

Seeing that everyone was coping well, Arnold nodded, "Good, I taught most of you for over three years. You guys will not just cry on your beds and continue to be like that right?"

Arnold grinned from ear to ear while the students let out awkward laughs, knowing crying would literally do nothing. It's not like somebody died that needed mourning.

Then, he turned around and looked at the ones left for his class, "About you guys, better do your best because there are other potential kids out there almost taking your positions,"

Instead of feeling nervous at his warning, the others remained silent, completely bothered. Cesar as well.

'What a bluff.' Cesar couldn't help but chuckle inwardly, 'If those potential kids are really what you were saying, I could've been replaced already. Sadly, a caliber of someone like me is definitely better,'

With a shake of his head, Arnold began to lecture them about the incoming changes then proceeded to let them go to attend for their next class.

With how damped the mood for everyone is, especially for the degraded students, the atmosphere around the class was distressing.

Only Cesar wasn't out of his situation at all, completely finding it normal. After all, he doesn't have friends to worry about to say goodbye to. Besides, these kinds of changes are already inevitable.