The Discarded Son's Skill Market
Chapter 8: First Day of Classes

Chapter 8: First Day of Classes

Monday morning, the first day of classes.

That day, Zaid woke up early. Now that he was settled into the academy’s dorms, all he had to do was step outside, and his classroom would be just around the corner.

So, the first thing he did was cook.

He spent $150 on groceries for the entire month and put his extraordinary culinary skills to use to cook his own meals.

Near the kitchen where Zaid was preparing the day’s meal, a man was reading a book, reclining on a sofa.

It was his roommate, who had gotten up much earlier than he had... or maybe he hadn’t slept at all, in order to finish that new novel.

"Hey, wouldn’t it be great if this fantasy world we’ve ended up in had those wealth systems?" the guy said suddenly, snapping Zaid out of his thoughts about cooking.

Zaid looked up. ’A system different from that of the Awakened? Of course, there is. I have one,’ he said—but only in his mind.

"Aren’t you dreaming a little too much? You’re a money-lover," Zaid teased.

"We should all be money-lovers! The thing is, you come from a family that has everything in the world, so naturally you don’t understand how hard we poor people have it," he protested.

Zaid shook his head at his protest and continued cooking.

The two talked for a while as they ate, before each went to their respective classrooms.

.

Class F#3, taught by Robinson Shawn, had a total of 20 students.

In the room were well-known figures such as Zaid, known as the black sheep of the Zachary family, who was recently confirmed to have been expelled from the family; Alice, known for her beauty; and John, the famous bully and friend of Luke Shawn.

John got most of the attention, since he was known as the strongest kid; no one could figure out what he was doing in Class F, and also because his two friends were with him.

So Class F#3 had three famous bullies, a unique beauty, and a nobody with no last name.

By chance, the unique beauty and the nameless nobody ended up sitting next to each other.

When Alice realized that her seatmate was the same person she’d had during the test, she greeted him out of politeness.

"Hi," she smiled.

Zaid smiled back. "Hi. I hope I’m not bothering you."

A few minutes later, it was time for class to start.

Robinson Shawn stood up and looked around at everyone present.

"This Academy isn’t like a normal university—you need to know that starting today."

"We won’t be having any boring lectures on history, because theory is useless when you’re fighting monsters."

"There’s no theory in the portals. We only come here to learn how to fight. To strike. To find allies. To complete missions!"

"In addition to calling us the Awakened, they also call us Hunters. Because our mission is to hunt beasts."

"So, if you came here hoping to learn how to use your Talent, you’re in the right place. But we can’t describe your Talent or teach you the theory behind it because every Talent is unique—you’ll learn how to do it on your own."

"Do you understand?"

His words weren’t new. Everyone knew that.

Perhaps if 100 years had passed since the arrival of the portals, the academies would be teaching theory. But it was only 10 years ago that these mythical things appeared. The academies were founded 8 years ago. There isn’t enough research.

All there are are monsters, dungeons, portals, lost lands, and collapsed nations. Now they just need the Awakened to rise up in masse to fight and stabilize the world.

And that was exactly what they all wanted.

Because studying theory was boring... but going out to become rich and powerful by hunting beasts certainly wasn’t.

It was the dream of every young person who had ever dreamed of ruling the world.

"We understand, Professor."

"Very well. So, I’ll be teaching you three classes: Martial Arts and Magic, Survival, and, lastly, Adventures."

"Martial Arts and Magic will focus on helping you master your talents. Survival will teach you how to survive in dangerous environments inside the portals. Finally, Adventures is the one that will catch your attention the most—I don’t think I need to explain why, do I?"

Naturally, everyone knew what that subject entailed.

Going outside, to the portals. Sometimes with the teacher, other times with their own groups or with groups formed by the academy.

Most of the year would consist of that last subject.

"Today, we’ll start with Survival," said the teacher.

"Why, Professor? Isn’t it better to start with martial arts and magic?" a student suddenly asked.

"Because I can’t be bothered to watch you guys throw meaningless punches at some dummies," Robinson replied with a shrug. It was an answer no one had expected.

Robinson continued, "I’ll teach you how to survive and give you missions for Rank F portals. If, with your strength, you die there..." He shook his head. "I won’t need to waste my time teaching you how to fight." He was blunt.

While some were excited, others gulped.

Like Alice...

Zaid noticed it because he was very close to her. ’She must be scared of facing the beasts,’ he surmised. He couldn’t judge her; if he didn’t have the system, he’d be worried, too.

"I’m not good at working with others... Should I go alone?" she murmured in a barely audible voice.

Zaid’s left eyebrow shot up, and he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

She wasn’t scared... or maybe she was, but not for the reason Zaid thought.

’What a strange woman,’ he thought, and decided not to dwell on it; if he didn’t have to steal -ME-, he’d choose to go alone, too.

Robinson proceeded to give them a brief lesson on survival and then told them: "You have 15 minutes to reach the Academy’s South Forest. If you don’t make it in that time, you’ll be disqualified from the next outdoor test." After that, he took his final step out the classroom door and locked it from the other side... with a padlock.

The students stared at each other for several seconds, until they understood what it meant. Everyone relaxed, and the typical classroom murmurs began once the teacher left.

Zaid immediately stood up to leave, but suddenly, his desk was kicked from behind.

BAM!

It rolled across the floor. Zaid frowned and turned to see who had done it.

"Hey, little trash. Starting today, this seat is mine," declared John, the most popular bully in the class.

Alice was startled by their sudden arrival and tried to hide behind Zaid’s body, hoping not to be noticed.

However, one of them walked around behind Zaid and appeared right in front of her.

"Little Alice, our lord wants to talk to you. He sent us to protect you from this bastard. Why don’t you come with us?" Although he was smiling, his mannerisms were anything but trustworthy. He tried to grab her by the hand, but Alice jerked away.

"I... don’t have time."