William's face started to twitch as he found himself sitting between Kenneth and Lilith.
When his homeroom teacher, Professor Garen, asked him to choose a place to sit, the Half-Elf immediately chose the rightmost corner of the room.
Unlike the classes at the Hellan Kingdom and Silverwind Academy that had a separate desk for each student, the sitting arrangement in Hestia Academy followed the Herringbone Arrangement, where all the seats were facing the podium at the center of the class.
Each section was meant for three people, so William had no choice, but to share his spot with others.
Since the three of them enrolled at the same time, they could only be grouped together.
William was fine sitting beside Kenneth, but Lilith gave him the chills. Although the Amazon wasn't even looking at him and paying attention to the class lecture, the Half-Elf felt that his little brother was in danger, so he decided to swap places with Kenneth to remedy the situation.
A flash of displeasure momentarily passed through the depths of Lilith's eyes, but no one was able to notice these changes.
Kenneth didn't mind changing places with William because his only purpose was to keep a close eye on him. Of course, he also knew why the Half-Elf wanted to swap places with him, but he didn't care.
Part of him even wanted to protect his Ex-Roommate from the Amazon who intended to drag him back to her Empire.
Professor Garen's lesson was about History.
This was the subject that had made countless students fall asleep in their seats when he was still back on Earth. However, the professor's approach in teaching his class was quite interesting, that even William, who had angered his History teacher in the past, was listening sincerely to the lecture.
"They said that during the Era of the Gods, all the races were fighting for supremacy," Gareth said with an impassioned voice. "Humans, Elves, Beastkins, Dwarves, Demons, Fairies, Giants, Dragons, Gnomes, Half-lings, and several other races waged war against each other. During this era, Humanity as a whole was the weakest race in the world.
"The battle was fierce because the Gods themselves had sent their avatars, to fight alongside the race that worshiped them. Alliances were formed and alliances were broken. However, the most notable event of all was that only one God sided with the Humans, and that was other than Hestia. The Goddess that created the world."
Garen paused as he allowed the students to digest the words he had said before continuing. The class was composed of different races, so this was a touchy subject for most professors, but Garen wasn't an ordinary professor.
He was a true academic that pursued truth, so even if he was dealing with a touchy subject, he was unfazed as he continued his lecture.
"When Humanity was on its last legs, and total annihilation was only days away from happening, several heroes stepped up to turn the tide of battle," Garen said. "The amazing thing was that these heroes who stepped up to defend Humanity were not Humans. One of them was the Deity of the Sky, Kasogonaga. They said that this Deity would descend from the sky bringing powerful storm winds, heavy rain, thunder, and lightning. Those who saw its mighty visage would tremble in fear."
Suddenly, a chuckle was heard inside the room, and all the students turned to look at William who was a second late in covering his mouth.
"I'm glad that you find my lecture very amusing, Mr. Ainsworth," Garen commented with a smile. "Can you please tell the entire class what is so funny?"
William knew he was the one in the wrong, so he stood up and bowed his head in apology.
"I'm sorry, Professor," William replied. "I was just surprised that a powerful Deity fought alongside Humans during the Era of the Gods."
"You still haven't answered my question, Mr. Ainsworth. I'm dying to know what you found funny in my lecture."
"Um…"
William was thinking very hard to come up with an excuse to answer Garen's question. The reason why he laughed was because of the Professor's passionate speech glorifying the rainbow-colored Anteater, who was currently doing its best to drag the corpses of Centennial Beasts to the Requiem Antz Colony, in order to raise their Antz Queen.
He just couldn't stop himself from chuckling as he envisioned Kasogonaga, fighting in a war against Demigods, and Gods, while shouting "I'm Rolling!" in its adorable voice.
Everyone was looking at William with pitiful gazes because Garen was notorious for punishing any student who made fun of his class.
After thinking of many scenarios in his head, William decided to use the safest method in order to get out of his predicament.
"When I was still in the Southern Continent, I had the opportunity to meet the Sky Deity," William explained. "Kasogonaga had been trapped inside a block of ice, frozen in time, and I was the one who set him free."
The students, as well as Garen, looked at William with the "Nice try" expression on their faces.
Met the Sky Deity?
Freed him from a block of ice?
Hah! Do you really think we are gullible kids that you can trick with your sorry excuse for a story?
Pitui!
William felt helpless because he couldn't possibly summon Kasogonaga just to prove his point. So, he just stood there and allowed his classmates to snigger, and look at him in a teasing manner.
"That is a very good tale, Mr. Ainsworth." Professor Garen smiled. "If what you said is true then Humanity owes you a great favor for freeing one of our saviors."
William scratched his cheeks in embarrassment.
"Um, instead of thanking me using words, I prefer to be compensated with gold coins, precious gems, and artifacts," William said after clearing his throat. "Don't worry, I'm not too picky. Even though I saved one of the heroes of Humanity, I am not asking for much. Anything of value will do!"
Professor Garen's face twitched after hearing William's reply. He was being sarcastic earlier about thanking William for his claim of freeing the Sky Deity.
I was just joking and you were actually shameless enough to ask for compensation?
You said you were not picky but all the things you listed were all things of value.
You sure have guts!
No one knew who it was, but a chuckle was heard inside the classroom. It was the spark that ignited the flames, and the other students weren't able to stop themselves from following suit.
The men chuckled, and some even openly laughed. The girls on the other hand covered their lips and giggled.
Even Lilith's body was shaking as she did her best to stop the bubbling laughter inside her chest from escaping her lips.
In the end, Garen shook his head and decided to let William off the hook just this once. He understood that the latter had just arrived at the academy and was still adapting to his surroundings.
"Mr. Ainsworth, I'll let this incident pass this time," Garen said in a resigned manner, "but next time, you'd better come up with a better story. Although meeting the Deity of the Sky and freeing him was an interesting tale, the great historians of Hestia would frown upon such claims without solid evidence. I hope that you will not make the same mistake again in the future, Mr. Ainsworth."
William nodded his head and sat down. He applauded himself for having dealt with the situation in an amicable manner, leaving no hard feelings for him and Professor Garen.
There was only one person in the class that didn't laugh, and that was other than Kenneth. Deep inside, the silver-haired elf was shocked because of William's earlier tale.
He didn't know that the rainbow-colored Anteater whom he had seen nearly a week ago, was the same Sky Deity that Professor Garen was lecturing about.
'Just how many secrets do you have that I am not aware of?' Kenneth thought as he glanced at the red-headed teenager with a complicated expression.
William, who felt Kenneth's gaze, glanced back at him with a smile.
"Is there something wrong with my handsome face?" William inquired.
Kenneth rolled his eyes at the shameless Half-Elf, and once again shifted his attention to the professor's lecture.
He was not in a hurry to know more of William's secrets. They had just mended their friendship not long ago, and he didn't want to cause any misunderstandings between them.
Lilith, who was seated beside Kenneth, frowned.
Her divinity was that of Greed, and this allowed her to sense any kind of power, treasure, or anything of importance to a person. It also gave her the power to "snatch them" if certain conditions were met.
The Amazon Princess could sense a very powerful artifact that fluctuated from time to time within Kenneth's body. But, for some reason, her Divinity couldn't find out what it was, which perplexed her.
'Well, everyone has their secrets,' Lilith pushed Kenneth's matter to the side because she didn't want to have any direct conflicts with one of her sisters, with the exception of Princess Sidonie.
There were no more mishaps, and Professor Garen was able to end his lesson's smoothly. Right after the professor left, several of the students in the class rose from their seats and went to greet William, Kenneth, and Lilith.
The three didn't shy away from their classmates and interacted with them in a friendly manner.
William vowed that this time, he would enjoy his academy life and make lasting memories in Hestia Academy.
However, somewhere on the horizon, far away from the eyes of mortal men, enlightened creatures, and Demigods, an important event was about to take place.
An event that would make the skies of the world tremble, as a battle of great importance would be fought, in the heavens.
