Chapter 88: Lessons

"I’m gonna be here with my partner, who would assist me here," Rakolowo said as a portal glowed beside him.

The portal emerged with a faint shimmer of pale mana, its circular surface rippling like a thin layer of water disturbed by a gentle breeze. From within it, a little spectre creature emerged with a pale, silvery appearance.

It was like an iconic ghost without legs, but it was an undead summon. Its translucent body floated effortlessly above the floor, with faint wisps of spectral energy trailing behind it. Its expression was difficult to read, yet there was something watchful about the way it moved

The spectre flew around the classroom dramatically as an active watchman. It passed between the rows of desks, floated toward the corners, and occasionally stopped in midair as though examining the students one by one.

While some of the girls had paranoid expressions, Jack and Victor narrowed their eyes. Roman only exhaled as most students seemed to force themselves into attentiveness.

Jack leaned slightly toward Victor but immediately stopped when the spectre drifted in their direction. Victor quietly unfolded his arms and placed both hands on his desk, while Roman sat stiffly beneath his cervical brace.

"So, I want each of us to introduce our names, state the reason you’re here, and your moral lessons," the teacher said before pointing at the particular Asian girl. "...starting with you."

She caught herself from a momentary shock before slowly rising to her feet. Her chair scraped lightly against the floor, making several students glance toward her.

"Um, I’m Emily Maturck from the freshman year. I slapped my classmate with a burning mark for no reason. I learnt that I should mind my own business and always stay cool."

"An exemption of what you’ve done some moments ago here," the man contradicted her lesson with the previous assault.

Emily’s expression became stiff. She lowered her gaze briefly, realizing that her own words had just been turned against her.

"Next up, start from her line down over each seat column.

One by one, the students began preparing themselves for their turn. Some looked nervous, others irritated, while a few simply seemed tired of the entire process. The spectre continued floating around them, ensuring that nobody dared to whisper while another student was speaking.

"Now, y’all should rearrange your seats to occupy the front after this phase. With the few numbers, y’all could fill the space." He gestured over to the front line of the seats that had enough vacancy for more students.

Mark pressed his lips tightly together.

Some students sighed with annoyance, but not loudly enough to be caught like Emily. Jack, Victor, and Roman froze for a moment with hard faces of disbelief.

The front seats were exactly where none of them wanted to be.

Jack slowly looked toward Victor, then toward Roman, as though silently asking whether there was some way to escape the situation. Victor gave him a blank stare in return. Roman merely closed his eyes for a moment beneath the cervical brace, already looking as though he regretted ever coming to the class.

Mark leaned back slightly and stared at the ceiling. The situation had somehow become even worse.

***

Later, after a class lesson that seemed to be one of the most unbearable to endure for many of them, the students had tried their very best not to fall asleep from the lethargic feeling of stupor while remaining attentive throughout Rakolowo’s slow, boring lectures.

The teacher had spent the lesson speaking about moral advice, school regulations, and the consequences of bad behavior. He moved from one story to another, describing examples of students who had broken school rules, received additional punishments, or nearly become another Dark Summoner because of their actions. He spoke about bad eggs turning over a new leaf and how reform was supposedly possible for anyone willing to change.

Yet every story seemed to take twice as long because of his slow delivery.

Some students had fought desperately against the heaviness in their eyes. Others had pinched their arms beneath their desks, rubbed their faces, or quietly shifted their posture whenever their heads began to dip.

The spectre had made things even worse.

Whenever someone appeared to be falling asleep, the undead summon would drift silently toward that person and hover nearby, its pale body casting a faint spectral glow over the desk. That alone was enough to make the student immediately straighten up.

Mark had spent most of the lesson listening with one ear while struggling against the same heaviness that had haunted his memories of Rakolowo’s classes.

At one point, his chin nearly touched his chest.

He caught himself immediately. His eyes widened slightly as he glanced toward the spectre.

The creature was already looking directly at him.

Mark slowly straightened himself. The spectre remained there for a few seconds before drifting away.

Mark silently cursed under his breath.

The class was finally concluded for the day as the school bell at the entrance rang as a signal. The sound traveled through the corridors, signaling the end of the afternoon lessons and the beginning of the students’ long-awaited freedom.

Rakolowo adjusted his glasses as his spectre summon flew over to him with a flipping motion in the air. Its pale body spun lazily before hovering beside his shoulder.

"It’s late afternoon, which makes today’s class after three hours," he said, dismissing his summon back into the glowing portal. "There will be no class tomorrow since it’s going to be the weekend after today. So we’ll meet again next week. I know you’ll be missing me, but it’s not long till then."

A few students stared at him in disbelief. But nobody said anything.

The idea of missing him seemed almost impossible after three hours of fighting against sleep.

Just then, Mark caught himself from falling asleep right there and then, not wanting to be caught even after the class had technically ended. His eyelids were already heavy, and his body felt strangely relaxed after spending hours fighting against the very stupor he had expected from the beginning.

He slowly lifted his head and looked toward the classroom door. Finally, the detention class was over.