Who Needs Magic in a Fantasy World Anyway?

Chapter 94: Second School Year

"Hey Christina, what do you think is going to change now?" Koko asked as both of them sat down in their normal classroom.

"Things are going to change?" Christina asked in reply.

"Well yeah, second years have a lot more freedom, don't they?"

"Oh, that's what you meant..." Christina replied before appearing to think for a few moments. "You know what, I'm not really sure."

"It'll be just like last year, but rather than having field exercises, we'll have groups of our classmates clearing low-danger dungeons, participating in monster investigations along with seasoned adventurers as well as even fulfilling G-rank quests." Mark thankfully explained as both he and Richard arrived in the classroom.

"Good morning, Koko." Richard waved happily at her.

"Good morning." Koko waved slightly in reply.

"I'm here too you know..." Christina grumbled while Mark sighed.

"Don't worry, he's been giving me the cold shoulder too." Mark stated while sending Richard a soft glare. "The guy's been completely ignoring everyone for the past few days while he's looking for a memory stone, though for what, I couldn't tell you."

"I saw something amazing on the night of the dance." Richard beamed a smile to his friend while at the same time giving him a thumbs up.

"Richard, if you're meaning what I think that you're meaning, then not only will I crush that stone into powder, but your spine along with it." Koko threatened, giving her friend the same 'death stare' that she'd always seen Shell give Benson whenever he'd done something wrong.

"Y-yes ma'am." Richard recoiled slightly, shivering as he responded.

"Alright, sit down and shut up!" Austin called out as soon as he entered through the doors at the front of the class room. And to everyone's surprise, Headmaster Conner appeared as well.

"Well now, this is a familiar sight." Conner began speaking as soon as he walked to the center of the room. "If everyone can remember all of the faces that you started out with last year, you'll realize that more than half of everyone that joined the academy with you last year have either dropped out or failed. And while more people stayed than usual, I can't say that I'm displeased seeing as we'll have plenty of fine adventurers graduating this year."

"In case any of you were wondering, things will be different at the academy during your second year." Austin picked up right as Conner stopped speaking in such a fluid fashion that it was almost creepy. "While you did almost nothing but train your physical abilities, learn about monsters and the grasp the basics of education last year, this year you're going to be learning about how to actually fight and survive monster encounters."

"You will be going out on G-rank quests, be tutored by already experienced adventurers, lead the first years in field exercises and even participate in the clearing of dungeons." Conner continued, basically repeating everything that Mark had just said. "You will also be able to spar with those from the other schools and sign up for the annual arena games. However, seeing as your freedom is growing, that also means that the risks grow as well."

"What are the arena games?" Koko asked in a whisper toward Christina, who wasn't proving to be a very reliable source of information as the hero shrugged in reply.

"It's basically a gladiatorial arena where anyone can fight both each other as well as captured monsters in front of an audience." Mark thankfully explained in a whisper so that they wouldn't be heard by Austin, who had started to explain what they could expect from the year's curriculum. "The top three contestants get special rewards from the king, not to mention that it's a good way to increase your popularity if you're aiming for that kind of thing."

"Oh, that sounds like fun!" Koko enthused.

"Just be careful if you join because it can be lethal sometimes." Mark made sure to warn her, though Koko was too engulfed in her fantasies about fighting in an arena now to pay attention to him. And apparently, she was also too engulfed in them to pay attention up front as well as an eraser suddenly flew across the room before bouncing off of her head, covering the impact area with chalk.

"I'm not explaining all of this for my own benefit, Koko!" Austin almost growled at her.

"Hmm? Sorry, did you say something?" Koko asked innocently as she began to wipe the chalk residue off of her forehead, only to then hold up both of her hands in defense as Austin started grinding his knuckles just above her ears.

"You will pay more attention to my lessons this year or I'll give you so much paper work to do that you'll be at the academy for a decade! Am I understood?!" Austin yelled at her.

"Yes sir!" Koko half cried out, thinking that such a thing would be worse than death right before Conner cleared his throat so that they could continue.

"Now, as we were saying, you're all second years from this point onward so you'll need to act like it. Nobody expects you to have all of the experience that a graduated adventurer has, but you'll need to carry yourselves with a certain amount of weight seeing as you'll be representing the academy even more this year than you were the last." Conner continued. "Also, you'll be expected to help out should an emergency rise, and if you need any direction for that then ask your three class leaders."

As Conner spoke, suddenly the entire classes heads turned Christina, Koko and Richard.

"While they might not be the most disciplined bunch, they've all seen combat before and have even managed to complete an unexplored dungeon that was possibly E-rank, so go to them should you need any advice." Conner explained, and Koko was taken aback as it almost seemed as if the headmaster was complimenting them. "Well, ask Christina and Richard anyway. I don't want anyone here to pick up Koko's habits."

"Hey!" Koko called out in indignation.

"Just remember that all of you are almost adventurers and should start acting like it." Austin stated before Koko could complain anymore.

"And with that, I believe that we've gone through everything that we needed to." Conner nodded as he spoke. "All of you are the future of the Adventurer's Guild, and I will tell you all now that that an adventurer's number one priority is survival. No matter which situation you come across, make sure that you're able to return home in one peice. And with that said, welcome to your second year at the academy."

-     -     -     -     -

A/N

Surprise chapter! Somehow I managed to find time to write this, but again, please don't expect chapters away from the schedule. Enjoy your weekend everyone!