The incessant sound of Hopper chewing on carrots is going to drive me insane. Why, Gods, why did Hopper have to bring carrots, and why is Penelope sitting there with her eyes closed? Is she sleeping? A groan escapes my lips as I take a bite out of the carrot that Hopper gave me. Nobody told me I was supposed to bring food or water. It’s not my fault. It’s Professor Stargazer's fault. Wasn’t she supposed to jump in and save us if things got dire? Well, guess what? I almost died, and she was nowhere to be seen.

  I might be a bit cranky. Just the tiniest of bits, but who can blame me? I sure can’t. Ok, maybe I’m also bored.

  “Oh, Penelope, what are you doing?” I ask, trying to find something to occupy my time.

  With a click of her tongue, she answers back, “I’m focusing on the mana around me.”

  “Why?” I ask, knowing full well what I’m doing.

  She lets out a shaky breath before regaining her composure. “It helps me regain some of the MP I used saving you,” she answers back with a bit of snark.

  “I see. How long does it take?”

  “Longer than it should if you keep interrupting me,” she says, hiding the anger in her voice.

  “Ok. Hopper, can I have another carrot?” I ask.

  Hopper pulls out a small bag of carrots and places it between us. “Yeah, CJ. I’ve got plenty. Are you also a fan of carrots?” he asks with a hint of joy.

  “Why, yes, I am!” I exclaim as I take an audible bite from the carrot.

  Penelope twitches as she meditates. With another bite, she clenches her hand. With another, she tightens her jaw. With ano-

  “I will punt you,” she says with her eyes closed.

  “You wouldn’t,” I say as I take another loud bite.

  Her eyes shoot open as she gets up to punt me. With a devilish smile on my face, I stand to meet her.

  “Okay, okay, okay! Let's calm down and not fight on the top spider carcass,” Hopper says as he stands between us.

  “Fine. We should get moving anyway. Staying near the body for any longer will surely draw trouble,” Penelope says before she slides to the ground.

  “Alright, but can we fight a slime or a goblin next?” I ask as I follow.

  Under his breath, Hopper mutters, “Why did I decide to join this group?”

  “Not that I’m complaining, but why haven’t we run into anything yet?” I ask as we trot through the forest.

  “I’m not sure. Every time I hear something, it’s suddenly snuffed out,” Hopper says.

  Penelope looks up, keeping an eye out for any more spiders. “Do you think it’s more giant spiders?” she asks.

  “I don’t think so,” he says as he stops and focuses on his bunny ears. “It’s as if they’re getting killed the moment we get close enough, but we haven’t even found any bodies.”

  I know what’s happening. Somebody is fucking with us, and I know exactly who. It’s that trio of humans from our class. They tried to mess with me earlier, so they obviously have a problem, and this is just the thing a bunch of uptight noblemen would do. Too scared to come face me directly. I could run down the time and not face a single creature of this forest, but I don’t let anyone fuck with me and get away with it. Now, how do I get them to show their cowardly faces? They’re obviously close if they can gauge where we’re going. Let’s bait them.

  “I’m going to the bathroom. Don’t come peeking,” I say, hopefully loud enough for our stalkers to hear me.

  “Be careful. Even if I don’t hear anything, that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything,” Hopper says as he keeps an ear out.

  “Be quick. I’d like to [Level Up] at least one more time before our time is up,” Penelope says.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll be fast.”

  Moving away from the group, I head a good distance away and stop at a nearby tree. This will work. Now, I need to wait. I face the tree pretending to go to the bathroom. A sudden pang hits me. Ok, this sucks. Now, I actually have to go. Ah, no!! The moment I unbuckle my pants is the moment they’re going to jump out. I know that’s going to be the case. Ahhh! I can’t hold it in. Quickly, I unbuckle my belt and relieve myself.

  As I do, the sound of three pairs of footsteps appears behind me.

  “Well, well, well, look what we got-” the scrawny human says.

  “Wait a second,” I interrupt as I buckle my pants back up. “Sorry, I actually had to go,” I say as I turn around.

  As I do, I’m greeted by the sight of three somewhat disappointing humans. The scrawny one who avoided my gaze during class, the tall fellow with shaggy red hair, and the short one who's got a shit eating grin. They give off a vibe that I don’t quite like.

  “Don’t joke around, ‘Chosen One’,” says the scrawny human.

  “Yeah, don’t joke,” repeats the short one.

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  “I’m not joking. I actually had to go to the bathroom. If you want, I can start joking. What did the cow say to the chicken?” I ask.

  “What?” answers the tall fellow.

  “Moooove,” I say as I imitate a cow.

  “I actually think that one was-” the short one starts to say before being interrupted.

  “Don’t get swayed by this devil's tongue. He does not deserve to be The Chosen One,” the scrawny one interrupts.

  Oof. Devil? Haven’t heard someone use that term in a while. Not even smelly Doug was that inconsiderate, and he bites people. Here I thought they wanted to pick a fight with me because I’m The Chosen One, but it seems a little deeper than that.

  “Hate to burst your guys' bubble, but I am The Chosen One and you’re terribly outclassed. How about you leave us alone and go [Level Up] somewhere else before I have to hand you your own asses,” I threaten, hoping that this doesn’t devolve into a fight.

  The tall and short humans seem rattled and are only one second away from running. The scrawny one, on the other hand, doesn’t even flinch. These guys are in the advanced class. Hells, they scored higher than Hopper.

  “We’re not going anywhere until you make a [System Contract] stating that you’ll leave Sylvian University. We can’t have you sullying our school's good name with your presence,” the scrawny one says with venom.

  As much as I think I could find a loophole around that. I’ve learned my lesson with Abrigon. No more signing contracts with my life on the line.

  “What are you going to do if I don’t?” I ask, fishing for an answer.

  The scrawny one lifts his hand as three small boulders start to float. “We’ll have to beat you until you can’t come back to school,” the scrawny one says.

  “Yeah, we’ll beat you so bad that you’ll need to leave the Princess alone, too. You’re obviously bothering her,” says the tall fellow who seems to have found his confidence again.

  “Yeah, bothering her,” repeats the short one.

  Well, that one isn’t entirely untrue. I am definitely bothering her. It’s fun to see her get all wound up, but this should probably be enough. Anymore, and it’ll break into an all-out fight.

  “Penelope, have you been listening?” I say loud enough for her to hear me.

  “Trying to scare us? Nice-” the scrawny one says cockily.

  “Yeah, I heard everything,” Penelope says with a sigh as she appears from behind one of the nearby trees.

  The trio of humans immediately falls to their knees and says in unison, “Your Royal Highness.”

  “What took you so long?” I ask.

  “I was hoping that they would rough you up a bit before you called for help,” she says with a hint of disappointment.

  “We ap-” the scrawny one goes to answer, but is cut off by Penelope.

  “Lord Garus, at what point did I give you permission to speak? Don’t answer that. It seems as though you’ve found yourself in a precarious situation. Your father, the Archduke, would be sorely disappointed in you,” she says as she shifts into a more regal attitude.

  The scrawny Garus keeps his head down as Penelope stands above him.

  “Normally, threats against The Chosen One are met with the punishment of execution, but since he’s the victim, I’ll allow him to choose your punishment,” she says, turning to me.

  “Well, I am a rule-abiding citizen,” I pause dramatically, “but if you can find the mercy in your heart, please spare them.”

  I’m not so callous as to have them killed, and I can’t get my revenge if they’re not alive.

  Penelope gives me a surprised look. “Very well then. You are free to go… as soon as you apologize,” she says with a sweet smile.

  “We apologize, Royal Highness, for this uncouth act,” the three of them say.

  “That’s good, but I’m not the one you should apologize to,” she says as she nods to me.

  They hesitate for a second before saying, “We apologize, The Chosen One, for our disgraceful conduct.”

  With a calm face, I [Lie], “Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. I appreciate it and hope we can put this behind us.”

  “You're dismissed,” Penelope says with a cold tone.

  As the trio walks away, I look over at Penelope, who rolls her eyes. She came in handy there. I would hate to think what she would do to me the moment she can prove I’m not The Chosen One. … Let's make sure that doesn’t happen.

  “How did you know that I was nearby?” she asks.

  “You wouldn’t leave me unchecked like that, and I knew Hopper would be listening in. Isn’t that right?” I say to the forest.

  From behind a tree, Hopper steps out with his bow. “You're lucky I have good hearing,” he says as he joins us.

  “Well, now we can get back to [Leveling Up],” I say, regretting my words already.

  “Is this thing even hostile?” I say as I poke the red jiggling slime with the tip of my sword.

  “They are hostile. They’re really slow at it, though,” Hopper says as he stabs through the core of his slime.

  “Stop poking at it and kill it already,” Penelope says as she cleaves through a couple of slimes.

  I kind of feel bad about killing it. Hells, it kind of looks cute in a it’ll eat you kind of way. The slime jiggles as it moves closer to me. Maybe I can bring this thing back to the dorm. As I grab it, I feel my hands catch on fire as acid burns my skin. Ow. I pull away. We were cool. Why did you have to do that? I [Throw] a pebble at it and watch its core break.

  Well, at least that’s good. It’s a shame that all we found were these slimes, but it’s better than nothing. As I stand up, a flash emanates from my pocket, and I find myself back in the classroom. Guess times up. Looking around, some of my classmates look disheveled, while others look like they didn’t even walk through the Whisperwood Forest.

  “Congratulations!! You made it through your first class. Tomorrow I’ll let you know how you did. In the meantime, get to your next class,” Professor Stargazer says as she claps her hands.

  As I follow Hopper, I hear the whispers of something interesting.

  “What club are you going to join?” one of my classmates asks his friend.

  “Maybe the cooking club. I hear they give out snacks,” he answers back.

  Clubs? Maybe I should check one out. After I get through the rest of my classes.