Zero Potential: Chapter 7

Chapter 7

“The entire class ranking is on its head. We have F rankers, F rankers, in both B and A class, let alone most of E and D are now the newest members of F class. This entire thing is ridiculous. This simply must be stopped.” Ms. Parsons said, she was professor who was most incumbered by these changes as her students all dropping, meant that she would now be in charge of the F rank students, which were all her former E class students.

“What is the issue, I say a little diversity is good. Most of these students would normally wash out in a month. Those students that are in F class now, no doubt would be there, or what is the new F class once the normal process works. So, what is the difference?” Mr. Ulthman said, a slight sense of delight on his lips as he watched how the female professors were all worked up over the shift in power.

In fact, the only one who was not at all upset by this was Ms. Helga, who looked as stone faced as ever.

“I bet you are loving this, Helga.” One of the male professors stated, “now that your class has risen in stature, you will once again be allowed to eat at the main dining halls, and access to more resources for cleaning.”

Helga just turned to the professor, “Clarence, I am always delighted by the success of my students. Regardless of whether I am rewarded for it or not, their accomplishments are why we have this great institution.”

While her words when read sounded one way, her tone denoted an air of annoyance, still she seemed to put up with the light jabs easily enough.

“So what is the plan?” Ms. Parsons asked, once again trying to bring the subject back to the topic at hand.

Her words were spoken directly to the Dean, who had been quietly listening to the different arguments going on up until this point. Realizing he had been given his chance to speak, he decided to do just that.

“The plan is to teach this country’s magical prodigies as best as we can. Taking away a proposed reward simply because the students have no potential for improvement in magic means that we prove to the students that regardless of what we do or promise our words mean nothing. No, for now it is best that we teach the students as we promised. That said, if you have a student who finds themselves in your class, but is unable to keep up with the curriculum, then they will learn what it means to be on academic probation early.” The Dean stated, his last comment making it abundantly clear that while the teachers had to accept the students, they were not expected to make any changes to their curriculum. Just because a student had managed to exceed at one task, did not mean their career was clear and set in stone. Rather that just meant they had a greater height to fall from.

The Dean’s message was clear, let the students enjoy their moment. Then use them as a warning to everyone who would dare to try to climb too high.

“With that settled, what should we do about this Terra Rose?” Mr. Tillerman, the head professor for the Class A students, asked.

“Why Professor Tillerman, I believe that should be obvious. Treat her as you would any upstart, train them and crush them under endless classwork, until they break.” The Dean said, not an ounce of pity in his voice.

“What about her Battle Aura? Shouldn’t we make an exception for that?” Ms. Gram asked, she was the professor in charge of female conditioning.

“Do you have any requests for the young battle fiend?” The Dean asked.

“Yes, when she fails out, I would like to offer her an apprenticeship.” Ms. Gram stated.

“Denied. She has already proven herself to be too much like her parents. Causing dissent, no, it is best that we make a special example out of her.” The Dean said.

Then just like that Ms. Gram who had been eager to join the conversation suddenly backtracked and looked resigned after the admission.

Of everyone present, only Helga remained stoic and emotionless throughout the entire exchange, her face an unreadable mask of scars and age lines.

There were a few more items covered, but by the end everyone had their orders. Accept the changes, as that was part of life and make it so that any F potential student was held to the same exact standards as everyone else.

“Oh, about the class A dungeon trip?” Mr. Tillerman asked, just before the meeting adjourned.

“You mean the trip where you take the students in Class A directly to a dungeon and force them to scavenge for their living resources for a week? It is a tradition, and one that we would be lacking in our integrity as the greatest institution on the continent if we denied our most promising students such a chance to prove themselves.” The Dean stated, then when it looked like others were about to complain, he continued. “Why I think those with a Battle Aura would be more than capable of defending themselves within a dungeon.”

“Dean, you know that a Battle Aura will draw every available monster on the floor directly to the wielder of the Aura.” Ms. Gram interjected.

“I am, and what better way to learn about one’s own limitations than in live battle. If the F Class is resourceful, they will group up with the other Class A students, providing the benefits of their Aura to the exceptional magical capabilities of others will only help out the class. This is as much about team building as it is about learning about one’s own shortcomings.” The Dean stated.

With that Ms. Gram could only back down and bite her lip as she fought back a retort. It was a shame to lose someone so promising, to only be fifteen and to be able to summon a Battle Aura was an exceptional feat. But the main purpose of going into the dungeon was so that everyone learned how they could all cooperate together as a team. If people were unable to do that much, then all their personal powers were worthless.

Silence.

“Well if there are no other questions or concerns, let us start this newest chapter in all our lives.” The Dean said happily clapping his hands as he rose to his feet and dusted them off as if he was mentally cleaning away the problems that were just presented to him.

***

Excitement.

Giddy excitement.

Despite the fact that she had worked with the people of Class A hundreds of times within her past did little to diminish the fact that she now felt she had earned the right to play with her friends. The irony of this moment was not lost on Terra, as normally she had to work hard enough to show she was not a complete waste of space to be let out of her single person classroom to train down with the Class A students. This time, she had done the exact opposite, and worked her way up to train with those same Class A students.

In her mind, she knew them all, and couldn’t wait as they were all so friendly to her.

At least they had always been when she met with them in her past lives. There was the class alpha Charleman, who needed to be reassured that she would not take his spot as future king of the kingdom. Terra only cared about killing the being of ultimate evil, everything else, the logistics of running a kingdom, the petty politics of nobles, even the romances were all meaningless to her.

Chuckling.

She remembered her past life where she was originally married to Charleman to ensure she would get the resources she needed to keep improving herself even after she left the Academy. In fact, the first two times Charleman had been so excited that he got so drunk that he couldn’t even perform his marital duties until the next morning.

Of course, Terra was the first to arrive in class, and she chose her seat in the back center. This way she could keep everyone else in front of her and see what they were doing. As she watched the people come in, she couldn’t help but feel a bit of nostalgia as she realized that she had at one time slept with each and every student, male and female of the class. Some were to gain resources, or key votes on an upcoming bill, others were for fun. The more time went on, they were less and less related to such emotional concerns as love, or interest, and turned more and more to transactional dealings. Still seeing the way that the high and mighty nobles strutted and preened for attention despite their shortcomings, was rather interesting. As someone who was used to being able to sneak into enemy lairs, she remained unnoticed, despite being clearly present for most everyone’s arrival.

“Where is the new girl?” Countess Vivian La’Croix exclaimed coldly.

Looking at her, Terra could almost remember the faint memories she and the countess had as children. That was part of what they had used to bond over the restarts. Yet now all she could hear was a cold callous sneer coming from the girl. Realizing that these nobles were so arrogant as to not be able to notice her while sitting directly in front of her, Terra decided to wait and listen to what the others had to say.

However, no one seemed to notice her, as their eyes simply seemed to glance at her, then instantly dismiss her. Then even the most observant of the bunch, Siegfried came in, had his eyes clearly scan over the stationary Terra and then dismiss her.

“It’s a good thing she’s not here.” Siegfried said, no less than five seconds after locking eyes with Terra. Wondering if this was some game the nobles played, she remained still, and quiet seeing if the others were still trying to bait her into acting out.

The odds of these failed future nobles drawing her ire was highly unlikely at the moment, as she had more than enough dirt on any of them to burry both them and their houses, should the need arise. Yet, the more she watched them, the more she realized that they clearly didn’t even recall locking eyes with her.

That was when she was notified of the reason why everyone had suddenly forgotten her.

Obfuscation Aura: Rank I: You have unlocked the Obfuscation Aura. All actions to hide your presence, to include your aura, are 10% easier with this aura activated, while all actions of enemy targets to locate you are 10% more taxing.

Note: Only one aura can be maintained at a time.

Seeing the message, she remembered how she took a long time to gain such an aura, as that was her only way to survive at first. As time went on, her learning to obtain this aura were harder and harder to obtain, especially as it was harder to people to dismiss her when they were actively looking for her. Here, it seemed that the nobles, while looking for her, would have been happier if she was not present, which was why she gained the aura so easily.

Still, this did make her wonder if she could have gotten this aura a lot easier in her past lives if she had done something similar. Normally, she only unlocked the aura by going to a crowded town square far at the edge of the empire and hid in plain sight, as time went on and her Attributes and Abilities increased such tactics were deemed unnecessary, particularly with how much time was often wasted by doing these very things. Especially as her tactics eventually involved drawing as much attention to herself, thus making it so the enemy would focus on her more so than the minor actions taken by her allies.

Then when Professor Tillerman came in, he glanced around the room, locked eyes with Terra and then dismissed her. This time Terra was certain that she had been noticed, but instead was met with another system message.

Obfuscation Aura: Rank II: You have unlocked the second stage of Obfuscation Aura. All actions to hide your presence, to include your aura, are 20% easier with this aura activated, while all actions of enemy targets to locate you are 20% more taxing.

Note: Only one aura can be maintained at a time.

Just when she felt this was all a mistake, Professor Tillerman began speaking and thus made it so all doubt about whether she was noticed was completely assuaged.

“Well, it seems that our F Classer is a no show for today. This will go down on her permanent markings as today, we have a pop-quest.”

“A pop what?”

“A pop-quest, you know, like a pop-quiz, but for a quest. Today we as a class will all go to the dungeon and stay there for a week. I hope you all had a hearty breakfast after your runs this morning, as you will all need it, for your stint at survival in the dungeon. The rules of this test are simple, survive and don’t kill your fellow students. Everything else goes. Anyone that is not here, will immediately be expelled from the class and the curriculum, as you will be unable to make up this quest.” Professor Tillerman stated.

Hearing this a giant smile formed on Terra’s lips as this was perfect, as she knew the hundred plus levels of the dungeon by heart at this point. Being able to go now, especially before it had been cleared by others would be a huge bonus in terms of rare drops and resources that would be available to her.

“Now to make sure I have everyone, I will call out your names. When you hear your name, say here.” The professor began, a smug look on his face, as it was clear he wished to catch the fact that Terra was not here on his records as a reason to make her fail the class. Unbeknownst to him, Terra was there, already staring at him, waiting for him to call out her name.

“Vivian La’Croix?”

“Here.”

“Terra Rose…”

“Here!”

Gasps!

Everyone twisted around to hear the booming voice that came from behind them. Terra who had been preparing for the moment to make her presence felt showed off, by using her deep commanding voice that she had learned by shouting out across countless battlefields.

Charleman was one of the few who had jumped to their feet, ready to scramble out the door after feeling the threatening presence that suddenly made itself known.

Professor Tillerman also looked flustered, but quickly composed himself. “About time you showed up Ms. Rose.”

“I’ve been here, you were just too blind to see me.” Terra said.

“What is that?” Mr. Tillerman shouted, but before he could continue Terra pointed around the room.

“Two closed doors, no broken tiles on the ceiling, and three closed windows behind me. Unless you are saying that I can Teleport into here, or that I somehow managed to open the doors and silently close them after you got in, snuck into the back row of the seats and then waited for you to call out my name. What seems more plausible? You’ve got three options, one you were negligent, two Teleport, three so blind you and the rest of the class couldn’t see the object of their discussions right behind their backs.” Terra said, holding up one finger for each of the three possible options.

“None of those options seems to be…”

“Oh, I guess there could be a tunnel under the floor, that leads up here, but we all know that the only real escape hatch is under your lecture stand over there.” Terra points to the disused lecture stand that cannot be moved due to the fact that it actually does cover the one and only exit hatch from the room. A hatch that is only known about by the most senior of faculty.

At that, the professor paused, as he looked at Terra for a moment, before continuing. “Very well, we will mark you as here, as you answered when called. That said, you will also be expected to..”

“Yeah, I get it, we are going to the dungeon, you already said all that. Can we go already?” Terra asked, the excitement of being able to get funds welling up inside of her. This would be her first time truly starting from nothing, and she was eager to prove herself fully capable after having learned so many skills over all of her lifetimes.

“Very well, is everyone else here?” Professor Tillerman asked, then before anyone could state anything, he continued his speech. “We will be going to the weapons shop on our way in. This will be your last chance to buy anything before going for a week’s time.”

Then with a malicious smile he turned to Terra and said, “anyone whose account has funds available will be able to freely purchase all that they need.”

Hearing this, Terra realized this would be another challenge. Likely the professor thought that such a proposition would be impossible. Little did he know that part of Professor Chan’s master classes were for her to go down in nothing but soaking wet clothes with her bare hands after having had to run around for eight hours straight, where she would be expected to survive for a month. The fact that she was going into this fully rested and with dry clothes that had already been enchanted was more than enough to make this one of her easier trips into the dungeon that she could recall.

With a smile on her face, Terra once again reactivated her Obfuscation Aura, and decided to watch the class as they greedily purchased weeks’ worth of rations, supplies for every environment and countless tools that they would never need until far further down.

Laughing to herself, Terra realized that this would be extremely easy, especially as she just planned to pick up anything of use on day four or five, when all of these nobles realized that the gear they were carrying was excessive and unnecessary.

Finally, after spending a good four hours of watching nobles bicker over buckets and pickaxes, the class was ready to enter the first floor of the dungeon, where they would be expected to set up a camp site, and survive for a full week as their indoctrination into the A Class.

Realizing this was a way for the nobles who were lacking in funds to pay off their education, Terra took this for what it was, not only an initial benchmark of talent, but a free grab for enough wealth to pay for her schooling for this year, and others depending on how hard she pushed herself this next week.

“Go on, all of you. If you are not here in one week’s time, we will assume that you died in the dungeon.” Professor Tillerman said the last part looking directly at Terra.

“And if we don’t see you before then, we know we can find you at the Wandering Inn under the alias of Flynn.” Terra shot back, feeling the need to be a bit more aggressive after dealing with the professor’s snark and angry comments all morning.

With that comment though, the professor’s face turned completely white as he realized that she clearly knew something more than she should at this point.

Are you a demon? He found himself asking of the crazy F potential survivor who had somehow not only found its way into her class, but had given out trade secrets of the classroom, and worse seemed to have knowledge of his extra dealings. Realizing this, he watched Terra enter the dungeon, then instantly lost track of her, as she seemed to disappear between the crowd of over packed nobles who carried enough supplies for an entire garrison to survive in a dungeon for a month, let alone a bunch of talented nobles who were stationed on the first floor of this dungeon. A floor where only a few knee-high monsters would spawn at most. Even an F potential student should have no trouble surviving down there, which was why it was granted as an initiation rite for all A potential students.

Seeing her disappear, Mr. Tillerman made a note that he would inform the dean of this, that was of course after he had his slight indulgence at the Wandering Inn. A man had his vices after all, still this time he would watch to make sure he was not followed while he made his way to his resting spot.